Tropical lands

The hottest parts of the earth lie between the Tropics. On the map of the world, the Equator is marked as a line lying midway between the two Poles. At a certain distance on each side of the Equator are two lines, known as the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricon. Every place between these two lines has the sun directly overhead twice during the year. The heat is intense during the daytime, but the air becomes much cooler late in the evening, and during early morning.

These hot countries have no winter though snow can be se on the peaks of the highest mountain ranges.

At certain places within the Tropics rain never falls. The sky is always blue, and the wind hot and dry. Plants cannot grow, because there is no water, and plants need water as much as sunshine and good soil.

Places which have no vegetation are called "deserts" and are often miles of country covered with hot, dry sand. Only a few miles from such a desert, if there is a good rainfall, all kinds of plants may flourish.

In some places the damp, dark forests are so thick that one can scarcely pass through them.

Africa, the Dark Continent. – It is sometimes called the "Dark Continent", not because there is more darkness than in other places, but because, when the name was first given, so little was known about the country. Like South America, Africa is wide in the north and narrower in the south, and, also as in South America, a mighty river flows through dense forests near the Equator. This river is the Congo.

The north of Africa lies only a few miles from Europe, and the Isthmus of Suez formerly joined Africa to Asia. In former times all ships from England to India, China or Japan had to sail thousands of miles round the south of Africa.

Between the northern shore and the rest of Africa stretches the Sahara desert, the largest in the world. For hundreds of miles the ground is nothing but hot, dry sand. Very rarely you can see a plant. Water is scarce and is found only at certain wells. Such a district is known as an "oasis", or fertile area in the desert.

The river Nile flows across the desert lands of Africa. It is a large river, which has made the land near it extremely fertile. In the Nile Valley are found large groves, pretty flowers, rich orchards and fields of golden grain.

The River Nile rises in a big lake called Victoria Nyanza. When the rains are heavy, several rivers flow from the mountains to this lake.

At this season the Nile spreads itself over a large area. Mud and sand are carried from the mountains to the river, and the dark, muddy waters flow for hundreds of miles. On the flat land the river crawls along slowly and there the mud settles down.

Lakes have been made to store up water for the land and small canals have been cut to carry this water to the fields.

The Nile as it flows over the marshy land to the sea, divides into several streams and thus has various mouths. The land of the delta is mostly marshy, and in hot countries is suitable for the growth of rice. Where the land is less marshy, the cotton plant grows, and Egypt is famous for cotton and tobacco. The Suez Canal, through which ships from Europe pass to Asia is only a few miles from the Nile delta. It is nearly a hundred miles long, and on each side stretches dry, sandy desert. The canal is so wide and deep that the largest liners can go through, and at special places two ships can pass each other. It took years to cut the Suez Canal and even now boats called "dredgers" have to keep it clean, because a great deal of sand is blown into it from the desert lands around.

The map of Africa shows a line known as the Equator drawn across the middle of the continent from east to west. Twice every year the sun stands directly overhead, at all places through which this line passes. At other times of the year other places have the sun overhead at noon.

When it is summer time in England, places north of the Equator have the sun overhead, but during our winter the sun is highest and hottest at places south of the Equator.

The sun is always high in the sky in the middle of the day, in Central Africa, and this hot region has no winter. At certain times heavy rains fall, and during the "rainy season" the rivers become flooded.

Four of the largest rivers in the world flow through the hot region of Africa. These are the Nile, Congo, Niger and Zambesi. During the rainy season, the floods of the Congo spread over miles of a country, and form wide swamps. Nearly all the rivers have falls and rapids, or a delta and mud flats. Victoria Falls on the Zambesi are the highest in the world.

The climate in South Africa is cooler than in Central Africa, and white men can live here almost as well as in the hotter lands in the south of Europe. The rainfall is not so heavy as in the areas drained by the Congo and Niger, and nowhere do we find such thick, dark forests as those near the Equator.

The seasons in Africa are the opposite of ours. It is summer during our winter, and the cool season is in our hottest months. Snow is very rare, but rains are heavy in December. Before the rains fall the grasses are scorched and the ground is cracked. Even the rivers run dry at such a time, and it is possible to walk along the bed of the streams. When the rains come all this is changed. Soon the rivers are full, and the wells and springs contain plenty of water. The ground is quickly soaked and green grass covers a large part of the veldt (grassy plain).