Niger or Gir of the antients, called by them the Nile of the Negroes, empties itself into an immense lake in which the Nile rises. * Under the names of Zingis and Azania the antients seem to have known the coasts of Zanguebar, and Ajan, nor ought we to omit mentioning that the * The Niger has been ascertained to flow from West to East, and in the interior of Africa to form a very considerable river. In order to enable it to form a junction with the Nile in some great lake in the interior, we must suppose some practicable passage by which the Niger may descend regularly from West to East, and by the continuance of which the Nile may also descend from West to North East till it takes its Northern direction through Egypt, where it flows nearly from South to North. In other words, no chain of mountains must be so situated between the Niger and the Nile as to prevent their meeting by breaking the level. This was asserted to be the case by the antient geographers, but being contrary to general experience on such an extent of the earth's surface, was contradicted by the most intelligent of the later geographers; yet it appears from the late discoveries of Mr. Park, that the Niger undoubtedly flows from West to East, and I therefore hope I may be allowed, with becoming diffidence, to express an opinion of the possibility of a fact which has nothing but presumptive evidence to contradict it, and which has some, though certainly weak authority, in its favour. I merely mean to say, that it is not impossible ; and that as the Apurimac flows from the Western side of South America to the North Eastern, the Niger may flow from the Western side of Africa to the Eastern, till stopped by the mountains of Abyssinia and Æthiopia, when it would naturally form an immense lake, from which its course may be continued under the name of the Nile; and the increase of that lake and its tributary waters by periodical rains may cause the periodical inundations of the Nile. Mr. Park however in his last journey, and subsequent travellers, have entertained an opinion that the Niger, after passing Tombuctoo, turns to the South, the South West, and West, till it enters the Atlantic under the name of the Zaire, or Great River of Congo. The most recent accounts annexed to Riley's captivity tend to confirm this. Ophir of Solomon has been thought to be the modern Sofala. The Garamantes have been already mentioned, and it merely remains to notice their Western neighbours, the Nigritæ, in Negroland, or Nigritia, and the Hesperii Æthiopes, in Guinea. On the Western coast of the Atlantic the Fortunatæ Insulæ, or Canary Islands, were known to the antients, and were thought to be the residence of the blessed after death. * Below them were the Hesperidum Insulæ, either the Cape Verde Islands, or, if these are thought too far from the coast, possibly some small islands called the Bissagos, lying a little above Sierra Leone. Here was the famous garden of the Hesperides and the Golden Apples, the attainment of which was one of the labours of Hercules, who carried them off, having slain the watchful dragon that guarded the fruit. * Ereptum Stygiis fluctibus Æacum Virtus, et favor, et lingua potentium Hor. Od. IV. 8, 25. Hor. Epod. XVI, 41. MODERN GEOGRAPHY, INDEX I. o we a 21 Page Greek ............ Lutheran ........ · Presbyterian...... Western......... and divided. ............ polar ............... condary ............ Baber Sultan............... " the Boyne...... Corunna........ Marengo........ Trafalgar ....... - Waterloo....... 17 ...... Dalai Lama ............... 56: number of miles in 6 Cabot, Giovanni.......... 63 pean........................ 16, Eastern........... 34 Earl, title of.................. .......... form ................. rotation............ ..................... Muscovy, antient capital of .......... Heavenly bodies, rising and setting of............ term.............. Court of ... .............. Nabob of Arcot ......... ........ 19 den .......... Parallels ....... of latitude ... of........................... 33, 34 its origin.......... 33 Latitude. ........ parallels of ... how found ... degrees of, Mahomet................... 35, 51 whence seen.............. confined in Lochlevin Religion of Abyssinians Africa, central tribes of ... 62 ern tribes of 62 ern tribes of 62 • Page Europe ...... 56 England ... 31 Europe... 32 Germany Barbary minions principal errors of ... Tamerlane, or Timur the Great ................. meaning of ............. ship of a ............... Vespucci, Amerigo ...... MODERN GEOGRAPHY. · INDEX II. Page A AR .................... ... 22 Abo .......... |