Weekly national intelligencer., 1851-11-08
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER:
RETURN OF THE NEGROES TO AFRICA.

OF all the great enterprises OF mankind, this II
promising, upon the soundest security, the mos
beneficial and durable results. Before entering OF
some observations on the subject let us take
glance over the theatre.
When we view Africa as whole, as land sur
face, il presents the appearance of an immense ar
chipelago, the islands separated by seas of sand as
far as known, and marked contrast to all the other
great land surfaces Of the earth to which we have
given the title of continent. All the central regions
as far as known or inferred from theory, are much
more incapable of civilized indeed of savage oil
barbarous population, than if really expanses o
water il is of all continental surfaces the most
compact. With an outline exceeding fourteen
thousand miles, its shores are not indened by one
deep bay, much less gulf the Red Sea merely Sc
parating Africa from Asia.
Within this immense perimeter is included eigh,
millions of square miles, fully one-fourh of all
the land area Of the earth. The peculiar constitu-
tien of Africa will be seen, dimly, we may admit,
divisions than as usually described in our books or
delineated on our maps, when viewed as stated
above. To commence on the northern portion, we
may note that where it is traversed by the Tropic
OF Cancer it is fifty degrees in breadth, which, ex-
cepting the eastern border, including the valley oi
the Nile and narrow slip along the Red Sea OF
about 400 miles, the residue, 1900 miles in extent,
and rock. This tropic line traverses the great
northern Sahara, or Desert of Africa, with mean
breadth rather exceeding than falling under 800
mes-area 2, 400, 900 square miles-incomparably
more difficult to pass over than the widest Of
the world. Its fearful immensity may be shown
by comparative scale to far exceed the whole
breadth of North America under similar attitudes; /;
and more, that this great sea ocean might say
of sand operates, TO all useful interests utter
barrier between the northern habitabe border of
Africa and the residue Of that singular region.
The Canary Islands, in about north latitude
% 29 is evidently the extension westward of that
extensive though narrow northern border of Africa
which, under the name of Morocco, or country of
the Moors, rises in Northwestern Africa, and with
breadth in no part of 400 miles, and mean breadth
fully estimated at 200 miles in width-area 100000
square miles-skirts all Northern Africa to the
Straits of Suez, in distance of $500 miles. This
immense band has never within times known to
history been but twice under the political power of
one people at one time. 1t was the Egypt, Lydia,
Numidia, Mauritania, DC. of the Romans. The
Saracens of the eighth century swept over it in all
its extent. In some part Christian before the Ma
hommedan conquest, this heightened region since
the latter event is either still Mahommedan or bar.
barous.
The second border region Of Africa, between the
Great Northern Sahara and the Red Sea, Persian
Gulf, and Indian Ocean, varying in breadth from
200 to 500 miles, comprises on the north Egypt on
the south Ethiopia, of ancient, and Abyssinia of
modern geography. This eastern habtable part
of Africa, as far known, has general length of
Is or 1000 understanding exceeding $4,000
square miles.
Thus we find that, estimated at its greatest COM
bined extent, the arabic border of Africa, from the
Canary Islands to the sources of the Nile, in dis
tance of about 1000 miles, is perhaps rather over
rated at 100000 square miles.
Crossing the vast interior deserts and reaching
the Atlantic coast, and, what we may designate
the Liberia region, we have country bounded
west by the Atlantic ocean, south by the Gulf Of
Gunea, and north and east by the great interior de-
serts. Length from south to north 800 miles,
width east and west 800 miles, area $50 900
square miles.
This is the region which has gained political in
divdual importance by being the seat of the United
States colony of Liberia, and ought in our books
to receive,r what no region of Africa of any thing
like equal extent ever has received, general def.
mite name, but which, to save circumlocution, we
here call Liberia.
1t is TO all habtable purposes an island, bounded
on two sides by the Atlantic ocean, and on the two
others by oceans of sand. Longitude 1Oo west and
Go north traverses Liberia Monrovia. 1t is
drained by two rivers, each of considerable length
of course; the Senegal flowing into the Atlantic
ocean very near the extreme western cape of -Afri
ca, and the Joliba, Niger, or Black river, rising
about two hundred miles from the northern part O
Liberia, flows directly inland upwards OF one
thousand miles to Timbuctoo, beyond which it
course is uncertain, but supposed to be the same
river called the Quarra, falling into the Gulf O
Guinea, and If SO it must have an entire course o.
two thousand miles.
We have regarded Liberia, as we have extended
the term, as in all essential respects island, with
the exception that it is accessible only from the At
lan,c. To illustrate this observation we may state
that in every direction inland the region under re-
view is followed by circle of desert from one to
two thousand miles; and, to traverse an expanse
of such deserts as those Of Central Africa, one
thousand miles is far more difficult than three thou
sand OF an ocean. But TO return to our general
review.
From the region of Liberia to the Cape Of Good
HOPE, the western coast of Africa, in general dis
tance oil two thousand six hundred miles, has only
made ten degrees of Longitude eastward, and with moi
single deep bay or the reception of river of any
noticeable magnitude or length or volume. In this
distance the continent is crossed by the equator