The Great Barriers Which Have Kept Africa Shut
Are The Unhealthiness Of The Coast, And The Exclusive, Illiberal Disposition
Of The Border Tribes.
It has not within the historic period been cut into
by deep arms of the sea, and only a small fringe of its population
have come into contact with the rest of mankind.
Race has much to do
in the present circumstances of nations; yet it is probable
that the unhealthy coast-climate has reacted on the people, and aided
both in perpetuating their own degradation and preventing those more inland
from having intercourse with the rest of the world. It is to be hoped
that these obstacles will be overcome by the more rapid means of locomotion
possessed in the present age, if a good highway can become available
from the coast into the interior.
Having found it impracticable to open up a carriage-path to the west,
it became a question as to which part of the east coast
we should direct our steps. The Arabs had come from Zanzibar
through a peaceful country. They assured me that the powerful chiefs
beyond the Cazembe on the N.E., viz., Moatutu, Moaroro, and Mogogo,
chiefs of the tribes Batutu, Baroro, and Bagogo, would have no objection
to my passing through their country. They described the population there
as located in small villages like the Balonda, and that no difficulty
is experienced in traveling among them. They mentioned also that,
at a distance of ten days beyond Cazembe, their path winds round
the end of Lake Tanganyenka.
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