GULF OF SIDRA, and the GULF OF GOLETTA in the Mediterranean ; the GULF OF FRANCE at the mouth of the Gambia; the GULF OF GUINEA, south of the Gold Coast, by far the most considerable ; and the GULF OF SOFALA, near the southern entrance of the Mozambique Channel. Tile MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL, between the island of Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique, is the only sea which may be said to be peculiar to Africa. This continent has no inland seas, like those which penetrate into Europe, America, and Asia ; nor is this delicien, y supplied by bold navigable rivers, which, by commtimcating w ith extensive lakes, might promote e and 1 It ilization throughont the interior. The kw Ekes of which it can boast, are either insulated sheets of Water, or the sources or reservoirs of insigni ficant streams, us: less for all the purposes of navigation. When the Miami regions are more lolly explored, con iclerable lakes may probably be discovered near the ranges of mountains ; at present we know of none but the IABERIA ill Nigritia, from which flows the Senegal ; the DnimBEA, or TzANA, in Abyssinia; lake MENZALEII, in the cast of Lower Egypt ; lake BERELos, in the west of the same country ; and lake I\l.ti svi, called by the Arabs Zron-bak•, cast of the Lopata mountains, ten de v,rees south of the equator, which is said to be more than 300 miles long, and scarcely 45 in its greatest breadth.
The principal rivers of Africa arc the NILE, supposed to have its source in the Jibbel Kumri, or Mountains of the Moon, in the district ()I• Dc•nga, N. Lat. 8'; the NI GER, called by the Negroes Juliba, or the Great River ; the SENEGAL, the GAmtit A, MA ROCCO, SIERRA LEONA, BENIN, CONGO, ZUME, or BAHR EL.'., CoAN•ZA, MA NICA, ZAMBEzi Or CLIAMA, COAYO, ZEP,EE, and MAGA DOXA.
Africa has many extensive ranges of mountains. The ATLAs attracted the particular attention of the ancients, according to whose fables it supported the firmament. This range extends in a north-cast direction from Cape Geer, on the Atlantic ocean, as Er as the gull of Sidra. The nirmitains oh KoNG stretch, from west to cast, from the mouth of the Gambia to 23° of E. Long. The MOUNTAINS Or •ilE Moor; seem to be a continuation of the mountains of Kong; they separate Nigritia front Caffraria, into which they run in an easterly direction. The MouNTA1Ns or LUpATA are an extensive chain of lugged uninhabitable rocks, which extend from north to south, and, as it were, encircle the kingdom of Mo caranga. _ItysTAL MOUNTAINS pervade the king doms of Co..go, Angola, and Benguela. Besides these, there arc others less important, which cannot at present he particuially mentioned.
There are many islands in the neighbourhood of the 'efrican coast, both in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Of these the most remarkable is MADAGAsc An, which is 840 geographical miles in length, and about 220 in breadth ; next to Papua and New Holland, the largest island in the world. The islands next in consequence to liladagascar, arc, in the Indian ocean, PEmBA, ZAN ZIBAR, and AloNmA, opposite the coast of Zanguebar ; the COaIORO ISLANDS, Wcsl. of Madagascar ; the islands of BouRnoN and MAuxurtus, east of Madagascar ; and the island of SocoTRA, opposite Cape Guardafui. Far to the south lies an island, called, from a late French navigator, LAND ; hut named by Captain Cooke, ;'ram its wildness and sterility, the ISLE OF DE SOLA•ION. Proceeding northward in the Atlantic Ocean, w: come to the pleasant island of ST HELENA, which is frequented by on' 1 onieward bound Indiamen. We next reach the ISLE OF ASCENSION, the Isles OF ST raw, ANNOBox. S r THem,s, and FERNANDO Po ; farther north, we discover the distinguished group of the CAPE DE VElin ISI.ANDS, and proceeding in a north east direction, we find the CAN t RIES ; north of which lie the islands or 'NI ,matt 1 and PORTO SANTO.
As Africa is nearly divided by the equator, and the greater part of it lies within the tropics, the heat, es.. pc( lady w hel. rt ilectedImm the sands of the Desel t, can scarcely Lc 1 ndured by the natives ()1 Europe. hi the country traveret, by fNI,• Park. when in tic dry season the wind b11 from the cast and nortii-ea,,i, te.v yound became so 1•11., that cven the negroes, ac custorned as they were to that temperature, could not Lear to touch it with their naked loot. Mr Park, as he lay listlessly along in his hut of reeds, could not hold his band against the current of air which pierced through the crevices, without feening very sensible pain from its scorching effect. When passing through the southern districts, which abound with wood ano water, he observed that the climate improved ; and in the mornings and even ings, the air was temperate, serene, and pleasant. In the north, rn provinces, the etimate, though hot, is ndiy to European constitutions ; along the coast it is tempereo in some degree by the sea breezes; and in the vicinity of toe mountains is comparatively cool. The countries south of the ( quator, too, enjoy' a milder tc mperz,ture than those at the same distance from it in the north ; as the Antarctic cold has a more powerful in fluence titan trio of the opposite pole.