The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1873-02-15
THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA.

| The late Prof. Maury believed thai
the interior of Africa is q fertile anc
| habitat country. According to CORES
pondcnt of the Mobile Register, Prof
; Maury gave his reasons as follows:
| Upon the subject of grasses, Commo
dore Mssury gave expression to the
most perfect masterpiece of reasoning
which have ever heard or read. 1t is
an Intangible and imprcgnable chain
of inevitable corollaries, from irst tC
last, beginning with known fact Is
the initial proposition. You cannot
deny the first proposition nor can you
| deny or doubt the chain OF sequences
from it. We were talking of Africa,
| and The unknOWn character of its into
rior, when he stated his views on the
| subject in about this language, which
now repeat from memory. Said he:
; "I believe the continent of Africa to
be, not, rs commonly supposed, 81 bar
rem waste, but Il land OF beauty and
fertility. And I deduce this opinion
from the known facts Of history:
81. We all know that Africa i:s the
native home Of all the carnivOrous ami
mals-thc lion, the tiger, the hyena,
the j.ckal, which exist in vast Qunnti-
ties there.
"2. These animals live exclusively
on the flesh of the ssr;,ininivorous ami
mails, consume vast quantities of these
animals, and they destroy still more,
for it is I, known habit of carnivorous
animals to destroy and leave much
more than they consume. The carniv-
orous animals could not therefore exist
without the presence OF vast herds Of
;sraniniVOrouS animals.
s3. These great herds OF granlinivo-
rous animals could not exist without
vast quantities and varieties OF the
most llXur:ant grasses to feed upon
These grasses mast be perennial and
arborcscent to supply food for such vast
herds Of cattle.
81. These grasses could not snoNt:,nc-
ousiy grow, except upon 4 fertile soil,
:ihllnuantly Watcicd, and in a temperate
cliuntr. Such y soil and climate can
exist only in a country Of uniu!ating
and moderately elevated surface. It
must be, therefore, that the interior of
4ifric, is in soil and climate very ii mi
lar to our Southern States. It's IuNuri
ant grasses Wuul,; therefore suit them,
and these grasses should be, if possible,
obtained and reproduced llCrc.''
This reasoning is absolutely irrrsisti-
b!t, anu II tiSitltSS INC bCltiltSS ana
c!carncss OF the mind whici, conceived
it. 1t illustrates tho process; OF aGvanc-
ing from the known to tho unknown.
1t rcvcrscs the ordinary process of rca-
soning from cause to effect, by taking
the effect rs the starting point, and :,c-
counting for Known facts by assigning
to them the only causes consistent with
possibility OF natural law. Tho arHu-
mcnt is complete and docs not need the
confirmatory fact that Africa has great
rivers, besides ti.c Nile. Great rivers
always flow from fertile, Uut,ulatinS
territories. Tho InUitlincsS OF the n lie
clearly proves that it flows through a
fertile soil, soft ;l:si "lluviaI. 1t is very
like the Mississippi. Tilc annual over
flows of the .%i!o also prove that there
is Il regular season Of continual and
heavy rains i'll the interior Of Africa.
These facts confirm tho opinion Of Com.
NHury, if its splendid logic needs any
confirmation. BEN LANE.