Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/449

THE CAMEROONS. 37X Rey, and in the soutli by the Etembue, or Rio del Campo, from the French colonial domain, the total distance along the coast being about 300 miles. Towards the interior a straight line, drawn from the north-west frontier of the Cameroons to the Benue above Yola, marks the conventional limits between the British and German imaginary possessions; but only a very small portion of the region claimed by the latter power has been explored, and a still smaller portion brought under its direct influence. This territory is estimated by M. Langhans at about 11,000 square miles, with a population of four hundred and eighty thousand. The Cameroons Mountain, facing Fernando-Po, and towering over 3,000 feet above the insular peak, is one of the most imposing summits on the surface of the globe. It is certainly exceeded in height by Kenia, Kilimanjaro, the Abyssinian Simen, and possibly even by some of the Atlas crests, but, owing to its position on the seacoast, it presents a much bolder appearance than all these mountains. From the creeks winding round the wooded headlands at its foot an uninterrupted view is commanded of the whole mass nearly 14,000 feet high, including even the terminal points known as the " Three Sisters." On the slopes follows a succession of climatic zones, revealed below by a forest vegetation, higher up by a herbaceous flora, and towards the top by ashes and bare lavas, at times streaked with snow. So formidable does the giant appear to the natives that they have named it Monga- ma-Loba, that is, the " Mountain of the gods." It was first ascended by Merrick in 1847, but a party of Alpine climbers, including Burton, Calvo, and the botanist Mann, were the first to reych the summit in 1861. Since then several explorers have also mounted to the terminal crater. Although not yet entirely surveyed, there can be no doubt as to the volcanic nature of the mountain, which everywhere presents heaps of ashes, lava streams, even some recent scoria), and dozens of lateral cones, one of which, the Little Cameroon, towards the south-west, seems, from certain points of view, almost a rival of the supreme crest. At the time of Burton's ascension smoke was emitted from the great crater, and the natives have often spoken of vapours rising from the highest peaks. The whole mass is, in fact, a vast volcano resting on a base 800 square miles in extent, and completely isolated on all sides. The forest vegetation clothing the lower slopes preserves its tropical character to a height of over 6,000 feet. The cultivated species, such as the cocoa-nut, banana, and oil-palm, disappear successively, not one being found above 3,500 feet, the limit of the zone inhabited by the natives. But the eriodendron, bombax, and other large trees, generally festooned with creepers, ascend much higher, the upper verge of the timber zone assuming a European aspect, and at last abruptly yielding to the grasses carpeting the more elevated crests. Towards the summit all is bare as if swept by the wind, except where a few trailing plants find shelter in the hollows. The Alpine flora is very poorly represented, doubtless owing to the relatively recent formation of the volcano, w4iich has been developed by innumerable layers of superimposed lavas and scoriae. Notwithstanding the heavy rainfall springs are rare, none being met higher than 9,100 feet, a phenomenon due, as in Etna, to the extremely porous character