under the government of the Ptolemies, navigated the Red Sea, and carried
on a trade with Egypt; and some settlements were made by them in that
country. Ptolemy Euergetes conquered part of Abyssinia, and established a
kingdom, of which Axum was the metropolis; and remains of Grecian
architecture have since been found in that quarter. To the two districts
we have mentioned, the knowledge which the ancients possessed of Africa
was almost exclusively confined; though Herodotus speaks of two voyages
which had been undertaken with a view to determine the shape of the
continent; but as nothing interesting can be gleaned from his indistinct
narrative, and as the reality even of these voyages has been disputed, it
seems unnecessary to give any account of them.

As in this brief sketch we are to confine ourselves entirely to
discoveries made in the interior of Africa, we shall not mention either
the various voyages made along the shores, or the different settlements
formed upon the coast, as this would lead us far beyond our narrow
limits.

The Arabians were the first who introduced the camel into Africa, an
animal whose strength and swiftness peculiarly suited it for traversing
the immense expanse of burning sands. By means of caravans, the Arabians
were enabled to hold intercourse with the interior, whence they procured
supplies of gold and slaves; and many of them migrated to the south of
the Great Desert. Their number rapidly increased, and being skilled in
the art of war, they soon became the ruling power. They founded several
kingdoms; the principal one, called Gano, soon became the greatest market
for gold, and, under the name of Kano, is still extensive and populous,
being the chief commercial place in the interior of Africa. The Arabian
writers of the twelfth century, give the most gorgeous, and we fear
overrated, accounts of the flourishing state of these kingdoms.