



Produced by Ron Swanson





Vol. I. No. 2.

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.




PUBLISHED BY THE

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.

WASHINGTON, D. C.


Price 50 Cents.




CONTENTS.


Annual Address of the President:
  Africa, its Past and Future: Gardiner G. Hubbard

Reports of the Vice-Presidents:
  Geography of the Land: Herbert G. Ogden
  Geography of the Sea: George L. Dyer, Hydrographer, U. S. N.
  Geography of the Air: A. W. Greely, Chief Signal Officer, U. S. A.
  Geography of Life: C. Hart Merriam

Annual Report of the Treasurer

Report of Auditing Committee

Annual Report of the Secretaries

Certificate of Incorporation

Officers for 1889

By-Laws

Members of the Society

  April, 1889.




PRESS OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN.




THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.

Vol. I. 1889. No. 2.




AFRICA, ITS PAST AND FUTURE.


Africa, the oldest of the continents, containing the earliest remains
of man, and the birthplace of European civilization, is the last to be
explored. Long before the temples of India or the palaces of Nineveh
were built, before the hanging garden of Babylon was planted, the
pyramids of Cheops and Cephren had been constructed, the temples of
Palmyra and Thebes filled with worshipers.

Greece owes its civilization to Egypt: its beautiful orders of
architecture came from the land of the Nile. The civilization of Egypt
had grown old, and was in its decay, when Rome was born. Think what a
vast abyss of time separates us from the days of Romulus and Remus! And
yet the pyramids of Egypt were then older by a thousand years than all
the centuries that have passed since then.

For ages upon ages, Africa has refused to reveal its secrets to
civilized man, and, though explorers have penetrated it from every
side, it remains to-day the dark continent. This isolation of Africa is
due to its position and formation. It is a vast, ill-formed triangle,
with few good harbors, without navigable rivers for ocean-vessels,
lying mainly in the torrid zone. A fringe of low scorched land, reeking
with malaria, extends in unbroken monotony all along the coast,
threatening death to the adventurous explorer. Our ignorance of Africa
is not in consequence of its situation under the equator, for South
America in the torrid zone has long been known. There the explorer
easily penetrates its recesses on its great rivers,--the Orinoco,
Amazon, and La Plata,--for they are navigable from the ocean far into
the interior. The Amazon, 3,000 miles from its mouth, is only 210 feet
above the ocean-level, and, with its branches, is navigable for 10,000
miles. Africa also has three great rivers,--one on each side of this
peninsula. On the north, the Nile, the river of the past, empties into
the Mediterranean Sea, but its navigation is soon interrupted by five
cataracts; so that the camel, the ship of the desert, bears the wares
of Europe from the foot of the first cataract far up the river, 800
miles, to Berber, whence they are again shipped by boat 2,000 miles to
Gondokoro, close to the lakes Albert and Victoria Nyanza, 4,000 feet
above the sea-level, 4,200 miles by water from the Mediterranean.

On the west, the Kongo, the river of the future, empties into the
Atlantic Ocean under the equatorial sun; but its navigation is also
impeded by successive falls extending from its mouth to Stanley Pool.
Then there is almost uninterrupted navigation on the river and its
tributaries for 10,000 miles. Far inland the head waters of its
north-eastern branches interlace with the waters of the Nile. Another
branch rises in Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa, while the main river
finds its source higher up in the mountains, north of Lake Nyassa,
5,000 feet above the sea-level. On the east the Zambezi, the great
river of southern Africa, empties into the Indian Ocean opposite
Madagascar. The navigation of its main branch, the Shire, is
interrupted not far from the ocean. The Zambezi itself is navigable to
the rapids near Tete, 260 miles from its mouth; while one or two
hundred miles higher up are the mighty falls of Victoria, only exceeded
in volume of water by the Niagara, and nearly equal in height.

In whatever direction Europeans attempted to penetrate Africa, they
were met by insurmountable obstacles. Communication by water was
prevented by falls near the mouths of great rivers. The greater part of
