The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-07-29
C4RRYING PEACE INTO AFRICA
tScientiHc American }

! u carry war luto AillCd oSSh .
proverb ever since Rome vowed the de-
stIuction of Carthage. But the Carthage
| nian invasion was a modern episode In
| Africa's experiences of that nature. On
one of the earlier monuments OF Egypt
there is figured q slave hunters raid upon
an Ethiopian village, the horrid details of
| which are said by travellers te be al aeeu--
rate picture of slave raid of to day. The
same mprderous work has been going on
necessarily for at least 1000 years i: how
much logger there is no telling. For all
these ages the African borders have known
war and war only, and of the most de-
structive and barbarizing nature.
Recently, under the Influence of Sir
Samuel Baker, Colonel Gordon, and the
civilized world in general, the khedtve of
Egypt has carried wsr into the interior in
the interests of peace: conquest in q
measure justified by the suppression of
inter tribal war for the filling of slave pens,
aud the abolition of the slave trade down
the Nile. A similar reform has been
effected on the east coast by the pressnre
of English power on the Sultan of Zapztta~.
Aud the immediate effect of these two
movements has been to prevent the batch
cry or enslavetnept of not less than half
million negroes annually.
A still more promising invasion of Africa
has Just been decided upon in the Interna-
tiopai Geographical Conference in Brussels:
an invasion wholly ia the interests of peace
y
ago. it was declared advisable to establish,
by intern ational effort, a line Of permanent
commercial stations from Bagomoyo, on
| the coast of z ,nzbar, to st. Paul de Loan
d a, on the opposite Atlantic coast; the first
stations to be at Ujij, where Stanley found
Livingstone, on the eastern shore OF lake
| Tanganyika; at Nyangwe, Livingstone's
furtbest point nortbward on the Lualaba !;
and at some point further west on the
route of Cameron. to be fixed in the do
minions of Muata Yamvo, one of the most
| powerful chiefs of Central Africa. At the
second conference, which ended June "a
| arrangements were made for sending out
the first expedition towards Tanganyika.
The object of the proposed stations is
| the development of civilization by COM
merce, not by religious propaganda. Pri-
| marily they will serve as bases of operation
for explorers of the interior, sort of
entrepots where the explorer may provide
! himself with provisions, Instruments, and
goods, and thus save the coat and embar-
rassment of an army of porters from the
coast. They will also serve as places OF
| refuge for explorers in times of sickness
and other reverses, which have hitherto SO
terribly hampered explorers. The heads
| of these pioneer establishments are to be
men of scientific training and proved exec
Htive ability !; and each will be aieed by a
physician aturalst and few skilled arti-
zans. The points thus far chosen are on a
lire regularly travelled by the caravans of
| Arab traders, carrying coffee, tea, sugar,
arms, and woven goods to permanent ARAB
residences and trading stations in the inte-
rior. An agent of the London Missionary
Society bas already begun the survey of q
route for OK teams as far as lake Tangau-
yika; and Cameron has expressed the
| opinion that light narrow gauge railway
could be constructed from the coast to the
lake at a cost not exceeding four Thousand
dollars a mile. The traffic along such q
;rIya iOFa n
the outlay.
Il The unexplored region thus to be opened
up to civiliZ alton and commerce {other than
in human beipge) is larger than the United
States east of the Mississippi. Around 1T
is a still larger region of partially explored
country. of uneo9aled fertility, abounding
in high lakes and Iavigabie rivers, and
for the most part 50 high above the sea
that the products of the tropics miogle with
those of the temperate zone. Tue cereals,
durah, maize, rice, sugar cane, starch
Welding roots and tubers, cotton, coffee,
tobacco, spices, gums and caoutchouc, dye
stuffs and medicinal plants, the banana, Zig,
| date, orange, and the vine are among the
known products of this region and all are
capable of becoming important staples ol
foreign commerce. The conutry is Eot
> less rich in coal, iron, copper, gold, and
> other valuable minerals. The climate,
q though moist from abundant rain, is less
/ debilitatine than India or Brazil; ard
everywhere, away from tie miasmatic
coast regions and the marshes of the lower
river courses, European explorers have
found small cause for complaining of ex-
cessive heat or unhealthiness. On the ele-
, vate pfateaus which cover SO large part
of Central Africa, the climate is like thai
r of the sanitariums of India while among
3 the mountains the finest climates of the
} world are fairly rivalled. Stanley found
in the mountainous region between the
? great lakes and within degree of the
equator every climatic condition aud every
! element of landscape beauty that coulC
attract and delight a white colony. 1t wa
+ a perfectly alpine country, with nountainI
o rising from twelve to fifteen Thousand feet
Q vet free from Alpine cold and snOw
: Countless torrents from the hills wateret
+. ever-verdant valleys as beautiful as thos
3 of Tyrol, lying under brilliant equatoris
d sun, yet with climate as cool and equabl
n as any European might desire. Furthe
D south, among the mountains about LAX
d Nyassa, the same features are presented o
g a grander scale: a country aptIy describe'
4 as q. .secOnd Switzerland of gigantic proper