312 GUINEA GUINEA, a name applied to all the W. coast of Africa between Cape Verga, lat. 10 19' N., and Cape Negro, lat. 15 41' S. ; that part N. of Cape Lopez, about lat. 1 S., being called Upper Guinea, and that S. of it Lower Guinea. Its coast line exceeds 3,500 in. ; its breadth is indefinite, but it is considered to extend inland from 200 to 300 m. Upper Guinea, or Guinea proper, comprises the district of Sierra Leone, the Grain coast (including Liberia), the Ivory coast, the Gold coast (including Ashantee), the Slave coast (including Dahomey), Benin, Yoruba, Biafra, and several other small native kingdoms. From Cape Lopez the coast line runs nearly N., but bends gradually W. to Cape Formosa, forming the bight of Biafra, in which are the islands of Fernando Po, Prince, and St. Thomas. From Cape Formosa to Cape Palmas the coast trends westward, forming the bight of Benin in its course ; and beyond Cape Palmas it has a general N. W. direction to Cape Verga. The waters between Capes Lopez and Palmas are called collectively the gulf of Guinea. Near Sierra Leone are high promontories and abrupt headlands clothed with tropical verdure. Cape Palmas receives its name from the immense palm groves which cover the undulating plains extending from it far inland. The Gold coast is rocky and bold, but not high, and at Accra becomes flat and sandy. Along the Slave coast are extensive salt marshes and lagoons, with outlying sand banks, and inland grassy plains which are con- verted into swamps in the rainy season. Near the equator, where the hills approach the sea, mountain scenery and tropical luxuriance greet the eye. From the latitude of Sierra Leone to the Quorra river extend the Kong moun- tains, nearly parallel to the coast and at a dis- tance from it of from 100 to 300 m. ; and from the shores of the bight of Biafra rise the Cameroons mountains, which extend far east- ward. Numerous rivers drain this slope into the Atlantic, the chief of which are the Scar- cios, Sierra Leone, Gallinas, Cape Mount, St. Paul's, Cavalla, Assinie, Tenda, Bossum Prah, Volta, Quorra or Joliba (ancient Niger), and its affluent the Tchadda, Old Calabar, Cam- eroons, Quaqua, and Gaboon. The climate is hot, oppressive, and insalubrious. At Cape Coast Castle the mean temperature during the hottest months is from 85 to 90 F. ; at the Gaboon it is 84. The heat is uniform and debilitating, and malarious fevers prevail wherever the coast is low. Tornadoes are common, and in December, January, and Feb- ruary, a dry N. E. wind, called the harmattan, fills the atmosphere with fine sand. The most valuable minerals are gold and iron, which are usually found in granitic or schistose rocks; gold is also obtained in the beds of some of the rivers. The interior is rich in virgin mines of the latter mineral. The forests, which cover a large proportion of the surface, abound in magnificent trees, among which are the bao- bab and the palm. Oranges, lemons, grapes, pepper, sugar cane, cotton, indigo, tobacco, maize, millet, rice, yams, potatoes, various gums and dye woods, and ginger are among the other vegetable productions. The ani- mals are cattle, of tough and ill-flavored flesh, sheep, horses, and goats (all of which are of poor breeds), elephants, buffaloes, jackals, tiger cats, hyaenas, leopards, deer, hares, por- cupines, sloths, monkeys, lizards, rats, and mice. Cats and dogs have been introduced from Europe ; the latter speedily degenerate, but are valued as food by the natives. Pheas- ants, partridges, snipes, turtle doves, birds of beautiful plumage, serpents, scorpions, centi- pedes, toads, frogs, locusts, and crocodiles are numerous; and the coasts abound with excel- lent fish, and are rich in coral and ambergris. The natives are divided into numerous tribes, the principal of which are the Mandingoes, Fantees, Ashantees, Dahomans, Egbas, Benins, and Fans. The Mandingoes claim to be Moham- medans; the others are pagans. All have a general resemblance in physical characteristics and customs. When the slave trade was the most flourishing branch of commerce on the coast, -the chief occupation of most of these tribes was war for the sake of procuring cap- tives to sell to the traders. The principal European settlements are Sierra Leone, the American colony of Liberia, the British Gold Coast colony, and the British settlement of Lagos and its dependencies. The French tra- ding stations have recently been abandoned, and the Danish and Dutch forts on the Gold coast have been ceded to Great Britain. The French settlement at the Gaboon is now re- duced to a mere coaling station. St. Thomas and Prince islands, in the gulf of Guinea, be- long to Portugal; Fernando Po, Corisco, and Annabon to Spain. The most important arti- cles of barter imported into Upper Guinea are lead, iron, firearms, gunpowder, cotton and woollen goods, brass vessels, salt, spirits, to- bacco, and beads, which are exchanged for valuable woods, ginger, pepper, gums, rice, gold, palm oil and kernels, ground nuts, ivory, and wax. Lower Guinea, extending from Cape Lopez to Cape Negro, comprises Loango, Congo, Angola, and Benguela. Its coast line follows a general N. N. W. direction, and is unbroken by any important indentation. It is traversed from N. to. S. by a range of moun- tains, called by the Portuguese the Crystal or Salt mountains, which are covered with dense forests. The principal rivers are the Okanda or Ogobai, Zaire or Congo, Coanza, and Cuvo. Congo, Angola, and Benguela are claimed by the Portuguese, who have their capital at St. Paul de Loanda. The Guinea coast was dis- covered by the Portuguese in 1487. A tribe called Genahoa, N. of the Senegal, are said to have been the first blacks encountered by them; and afterward the name was applied in- discriminately to all the peoples further south. For a fuller description of the country, see the articles on its various divisions.
