Afghan (A silent)

A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan, particularly one of the dominant race of that country. The language of the dominant race, belonging to the Aryan type and akin to Persian. A knitted or crocheted blanket or coverlet, made of soft wool. African Exploration, Recent. Under the subject of Africa ( q.v. ), the story of African exploration down to a somewhat recent period has been epitomized. It is desired here to state briefly what has more lately been accomplished in that field. The close of the older period of African research may be held to date from the death of Living stone; the later period fairly begins with the adventurous march of Stanley, in 1871, from Zanzibar to Ujiji, in search of that intrepid traveler. Since that date travelers have been numerous in Africa and the "dark continent" is rapidly being opened up to the light of modern research. While Stanley was seeking Living stone, Dr. Nachtigal was following the path of Dr. Barth acro the Sahara, and Dr. Schweinfurth was journeying into unknown regions of the Soudan. Cameron (1873-75) emulated Living stone in cro ing the continent, being second to perform that feat. He surveyed the lower end of Lake Tanganyika, and traced its outflow to the westward. The third to cro the continent was Stanley (1874-77), in that most notable of recent explorations, in which he identified the Lualaba with the Congo, and first showed the vast extension and importance of that mighty stream. In 1878 Joseph Thomson followed a new route to the north end of Lake Nya a and explored the country between this lake and Tanganyika, whose outflow he traced. Serpa Pinto, a Portuguese explorer, cro ed the continent from west to east, in 1877-79, reaching Durban, in Natal; and about the same time two French travelers, De Brazza and Ballay, explored the Ogowe district, north of the Congo. Various other expeditions at about the same period aided in opening up new sections of country, one being sent out in 1878 by the Belgian International Society, from Zanzibar into the interior, while Stanley (1879-84) entered from the west coast to coöperate with the Belgians in establishing the Congo Free State. In 1881-82 Wi mann cro ed southern Africa, and in 1884 Thomson made a memorable journey from Mombesa acro Masai Land to the Victoria Nyanza, pa ing Mounts Kilima-Njaro and Kenia, the former of which was ascended the same year by H. H. Johnston to a height of 16,200 feet. In 1886 the great river Welle, which had been discovered by Schweinfurth, was traced almost to the U-bang i, the great northern tributary of the Congo, and the identity of these two streams has since been proved. The great southern tributary, the Kwa, and its af- Fig . 2654.-BISHARI fluents, the Kwango, Ka ai and Sankuru, have been traversed by Pogg, Wi mann and satisfactory typographical chart of that once unknown continent could be made. Of the many more recent explorations several of importance may be mentioned. Joseph Thomson, in 1890-92, traveled inland to Lake Bangweolo and explored the unknown region beyond, and during the same period J. Theodore Bent made an exploration of Mash on a land and studied the remarkable ruins of that locality, the remains of ancient ma ive structures supposed to have been erected by gold seekers of the remote past. In 1894-95 Dr. A. Donald son Smith made an adventurous journey through Somali Land to Lake Rudolph, cro ing much unexplored country. Belgian officers explored the country between the Congo and Nile basins, and an intrepid woman traveler, Mrs. French Sheldon, penetrated deeply into the continent and visited, unharmed, the country of the warlike Masai. Of the several expeditions of 1896, the most notable was that of two French travelers, Versepuy and Baron de Romans, who cro ed Africa from east to west via Lake Albert Edward Nyanza, traversing in a reverse direction the vast forest which Stanley had cro ed eight years before. Railways . In addition to the movements of travelers, who have been too numerous of late years for us to mention even their names, other effective steps have been taken towards opening up the continent. Great Britain, France and Germany have pushed far inland, taking po e ion of provinces of late discovery. The officials of the Congo Free State have established steamboat service on the great inland waterways of their domain; a highroad is being built through British East Africa to the Victoria Nyanza, and railways have been opened or are in proce of construction in various regions of the continent. Of the proposed railways, two are designed to extend inland to the Victoria Nyanza, one through British IMG:content-0447.png:[graphic] IMG:content-0448.png:[graphic] IMG:content-0449.png:[graphic][merged small] and the other through German East Africa, and one through the latter to Ujiji, on Lake Tanganika. Portuguese East Africa has a road completed from Fontisville, at the head of navigation on the Pungue, for 119 miles inland. It is designed to reach Salisbury, three times that distance. From Delagoa Bay another road runs inland to Pretor i a, the Transvaal capital, which is also reached by a road running through Natal to Johannes burg, and one extending north from Cape Town. British South Africa is, indeed, traversed by several railways, opening ready acce to the gold and diamond fields. In Portuguese West Africa a railway 191 miles long extends inward from St. Paul de Loando to the vicinity of Ambaca, and its extension 120 miles further inland is contemplated. Of railway enterprises in Africa, one of the most important is that now building up the Congo, past the rapids, from the head of navigable water on the lower to the beginning of nav i IMG:content-0450.png:[graphic][merged small] gation on the upper river. Over 100 miles are now completed (1897), and some 80 or more miles further are required to give ready communication to interior Africa in this important quarter. In the British domains, on the Gulf of Guinea, there are several railways, and one is being built in Sierra Leone to the county back of Liberia. The French have a road from the head of steam navigation on the Senegal to Bafulabe; this was completed in 1888, and the work of extending it further inland has now begun. Finally, we may speak of the railway southward through Algeria into the Sahara, which will probably be, eventually, extended acro the desert to Timbuctoo or Lake Tchad. The completion of these several projects will go far towards opening up Africa to the inroads of civilization. See AFRICA. Fig . 2658. NEGRO OF PORTUGUESE EAST COAST.