Surface.—Senegambia comprehends a lower and a higher country. The lower country lies along the shores of the sea, and the higher extends over the interior. Though the higher region is generally the more fertile and more populous, the several parts of both regions differ greatly in fertility.
The Country between the Senegal and Gambla.—Tho valley of the Lower Senegal consists properly of the bottom which extends along its course on both sides of the river from its mouth to Bakel. It is subject to inundations during the rainy season, during which the river in servo places rises 40 feet above its lowest level. In some places this bottom is perhaps not more than 5 or 6 miles wide, but in others it spreads out to 15 or even 20 miles. As the subsoil consists of a light sand, which is covered with alluvial matter, it opposes little resistance to the rapid current of the river, and hence the Senegal frequently divides its waters, and forma arms which again reunite. These arms of the river, called `marigots; are almost countless on the southern banks of the river west of 13° W. long. The whole bottom is of great fertility. In its natural state it is covered with forests, mainly consisting of trees of immense size, which occupy the greatest part of it, the cultivated places being neither numerous nor extensive, though they yield rich crepe of rice, millet, maize, cotton, and tobacco. The population is small in number.
Between the month of the Senegal and that of the Gambia, and nearly at an equal distance from each, lies Cape Verd (14°40' N. lat.), a wide projecting promontory. Its western extremity is a mass of rocks of moderate elevation and volcanic origin. In its character it greatly resembles the Cape Verd Islands, which are nearly 500 miles from it in the Atlantic Ocean. The northern descent of this isolated mass is rather steep, and at its eastern extremity are two hills rising about 600 feet above the sea: they are called mamelles,' or papa, and serve as a beacon to mariners. The central parts of this tract have a moderately fertile soil, which is well cultivated, and produces cotton, millet, and French beans. The uncultivated districts are used as pasture-grounds for cattle, or are covered with briars. This small
tract contains about 10,000 inhabitants.
The country between Cape Verd and the mouth of the Senegal greatly resembles that part of the Sahara which extends from that river northward to the Bay of Arguin. Along the sea there is a low sandy beach, lined with sandbanks, on which there is so little water that it cannot be approached by the smallest boat. The country adjacent to the shores is a dead level, covered with a fine loose sand, which it is quite impossible to travel across, except where it has been covered and consolidated by the sea during the flood. It is destitute of vegetation. During the rainy season the soil is drenched with water, and during the dry season is subject to dense fogs and heavy dews, which fall at sunset, and moisten and penetrate like the drizzling rains of Europe. But no stream of running water ia formed by this abundant moisture. This fiat sterile tract occupies the whole coot to the distance of about two miles from the sea. At the back of it rises an unbroken ridge of sandy downs, which are likewise destitute of vegetation. The low grounds farther east are almost entirely covered with water during the rainy season, but In the dry season a great portion of the swamps is dried up, and as the alluvial soil is of great fertility, it produces rice and indigo, with large quantities of mandioo and yams.
The country contiguous to the shores of the Atlantic, between Cape Yard and the mouth of the river Gambia, has a emit-line which is well defined, but does not extend in a straight line. It is also broken by several watercourse.. The low beach is covered with mangrove trees. The country rises gradually from the beach to the distance of 30 or 40 miles. The whole tract, in its natural state, is covered with tall forest-trees, but a considerable portion of it is under cultivation, producing rice, maize, and millet is abundance. The cattle which pasture on the cleared grounds are of great size. All these products, together with pigs and poultry, are taken from these parts to the French and English settlements, especially to Gores. There are several small harbours on this coast. This part of Senegambia probably contains from 300,000 to 400,000 inhabitants.