Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/241

THE LOS ISLANDS. I93 is of perfectly conic shape, apparently terminating in a crater, and according to the natives at times emitting a light column of smoke. But no European has yet been permitted to ascend the " sacred mountain," m that its volcanic character is still doubtful. Towards the south-west the heights are continued through the long peninsula of Konakri and the island of Tumbo, which project westward in the direction of the Los archipelago. These " Islas de los Idolos," or " Islands of the Idols," are so called from the sacred images here found by the early navigators. They are certainly of volcanic origin, the two principal members of the group exceedino- 600 feet in height and disposed in the form of a vast and ruined crater encircling a central cone-shaped islet. The prevailing' formations are blue and yellowish lavas surrounding large masses of porphyry. The Mallecory {Mellacore) river south of the Konakri peninsula, is little more than a marine estuary, like the neighbouring Manea, Morebia, and Forekaria ; but it is of more commercial importance, giving access to a better-known region. A little farther south follow the Great and Little Scarcies, the Eios dos Carceres of the early Portuguese writers, which are true rivers, sending down a consi- derable body of water. The Little Scarcie especially, despite i+s name, is a large stream fed by copious affluents, one of which, the Fala, rises on a low saddleback within 24 miles of the Niger. The two Scarcies, flowing from Futa- Jallon and the neighbouring uplands south of Timbo, gradually converge towards each other, discharging in the same island-studded bay. Since 1882 their lower course, with the adjacent coast, belongs to Great Britain, the Anglo-French frontier here following the parting line between the Mallecory and the estuary of the Great Scarcie. The neighbauring islet of Matacong belongs to France, while the Los Islands are British territory. Climate, Flora, and Fauna. The climate, flora, and fauna differ little from those of north Senegambia. During the hot rainy season calms alternate with storms accompanied by frequent waterspouts and torrential downpours, while in the relatively cool season the trade winds are weaker and less regular than in the north. Instead of blowing from the normal north-east direction, they take a southerly course, or else follow the shore-line, or are even deflected towards the interior of the Continent. But in January the true north-east wind, that is, the Saharian harmattan, resumes the ascendancy, often charged with the desert sands and attended by dense and insalubrious morninsr foo^s. Plants yielding caoutchouc abound in the forests of the Rio Nunez. The coffee of the same region, well known in commerce, has a smaller berry but scarcely less flavour and aroma than the Mocca variety. A still more valuable plant is the oil-palm {Elceis guineensis), which here first acquires the importance of an economic product. The Mallecory basin is also a chief centre of the kola nut [Sterculia acuminata) industry. The kola flourishes best in a dry ferruginous soil exposed to periodical rains, where it attains a height of 65 or 70 feet. The nut