HIST 10B Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Swahili Coast, Barter, Persian Gulf
Document Summary
Week 3 lecture 6 - 04/10/2016: features of the african landscape that have been described as causes of poverty and causes of backwardness, soil. Ppl have image of africa that fits outline where they are struck immediately by large amount of deserts and not necessarily notice the wide area in the middle that is conducive to agriculture. Mungo park reported that he never saw a soil or rich or vegetation so luxurious than that in kumalia, land well cultivated. A traveler who traveled in northern nigeria said that soil that looked incapable of getting crops to blossom. Recent soil map: shows soil samples from all over africa, more accurate than stories told or witness accounts, described tremendous resource, a lot of prime land areas that can support intensive agriculture. Think africa as an arid country bc they saw a movie about sudan or the sahara, dry desert like, barely sustaining life.
