Africa

AFRICA
  AFRICA, the name of a continent representing the  largest  of  the  three
great southward projections from the main mass of the  earth's  surface.  It
includes within its remarkably regular outline an  area,  according  to  the
most recent computations, of 11,262,000  sq.  m.,  excluding  the  islands.1
Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, it is joined to Asia at  its
N.E. extremity by the Isthmus of Suez, 80 m. wide. From the  most  northerly
point, Ras ben Sakka, a little west of Cape Blanc, in 37  deg.  21'  N.,  to
the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas, 34 deg. 51' 15'' S., is  a  distance
approximately of 5000 m.;  from  Cape  Verde,  17  deg.  33'  22''  W.,  the
westernmost point, to Ras Hafun, 51 deg. 27'  52''  E.,  the  most  easterly
projection, is a distance (also approximately) of  4600  m.  The  length  of
coast-line is 16,100 m. and the absence of deep indentations  of  the  shore
is shown by the fact that Europe, which covers only 3,760,000 sq. m., has  a
coast-line of 19,800 m.
                            I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
  The main structural lines of the continent  show  both  the  east-to-west
direction characteristic, at least in the eastern hemisphere,  of  the  more
northern parts of the world, and the north-to-south direction  seen  in  the
southern peninsulas. Africa is  thus  composed  of  two  segments  at  right
angles, the northern running from east to west, the southern from  north  to
south, the  subordinate  lines  corresponding  in  the  main  to  these  two
directions.
  Main  Geographical  Features.—The  mean  elevation   of   the   continent
approximates closely to 2000 ft., which is roughly  the  elevation  of  both
North and South America, but is considerably less than that  of  Asia  (3117
ft.).  In  contrast  with  the  other  continents  it  is  marked   by   the
comparatively small area both of very high and of  very  low  ground,  lands
under 600 ft. occupying an unusually small part of the  surface;  while  not
only are the  highest  elevations  inferior  to  those  of  Asia  and  South
America, but the area of land over 10,000 ft. is also  quite  insignificant,
being represented almost entirely by individual peaks and  mountain  ranges.
Moderately elevated tablelands are thus the characteristic  feature  of  the
continent, though the surface  of  these  is  broken  by  higher  peaks  and
ridges. (So prevalent are these isolated peaks and  ridges  that  a  special
term [Inselberg-landschaft] has been adopted in  Germany  to  describe  this
kind of country, which is thought to be in great part  the  result  of  wind
action.) As a general rule, the  higher  tablelands  lie  to  the  east  and
south, while a progressive diminution  in  altitude  towards  the  west  and
north is observable. Apart from  the  lowlands  and  the  Atlas  range,  the
continent may be divided into two regions of higher and lower plateaus,  the
dividing line (somewhat concave to the north-west) running from  the  middle
of the Red Sea to about 6 deg. S. on the west  coast.  We  thus  obtain  the
following four main divisions of  the  continent:—-(1)  The  coast  plains—-
often fringed seawards by mangrove  swamps—never  stretching  far  from  the
coast, except on the lower courses of streams.  Recent  alluvial  flats  are
found chiefly in the delta of  the  more  important  rivers.  Elsewhere  the
coast lowlands merely form the lowest steps of the system of terraces  which
constitutes the ascent to the inner plateaus. (2) The  Atlas  range,  which,
orographically,  is  distinct  from  the  rest  of  the   continent,   being
unconnected with any other area of high ground, and separated from the  rest
of the continent on the south by a depressed and desert area  (the  Sahara),
in places below sea-level. (3)  The  high  southern  and  eastern  plateaus,
rarely falling below 2000 ft., and having a mean  elevation  of  about  3500
ft. (4) The north and west African plains, bordered and traversed  by  bands
of higher ground, but generally below 2000 ft. This  division  includes  the
great desert of the Sahara.
  The third and fourth divisions may be again  subdivided.  Thus  the  high
plateaus include:—(a) The South African plateau as far as about 12 deg.  S.,
bounded east, west and south by bands of high ground which fall  steeply  to
the coasts. On this account South Africa has a  general  resemblance  to  an
inverted saucer. Due south the plateau  rim  is  formed  by  three  parallel
steps with level ground between them. The largest of these level areas,  the
Great Karroo, is a dry, barren region, and a  large  tract  of  the  plateau
proper is of a still more arid  character  and  is  known  as  the  Kalahari
Desert. The South African plateau is connected towards the  north-east  with
(b) the East African plateau,  with  probably  a  slightly  greater  average
elevation, and marked by some distinct features. It is formed by a  widening
out of the eastern axis of high ground,  which  becomes  subdivided  into  a
number of zones running north and south and consisting in  turn  of  ranges,
tablelands and depressions. The most striking feature is  the  existence  of
two great lines of depression,  due  largely  to  the  subsidence  of  whole
segments of the earth's crust, the lowest parts of  which  are  occupied  by
vast lakes. Towards the south the two lines converge and give place  to  one
great valley (occupied by Lake Nyasa), the southern part of  which  is  less
distinctly due to rifting and  subsidence  than  the  rest  of  the  system.
Farther north  the  western  depression,  sometimes  known  as  the  Central
African trough or Albertine rift-valley, is occupied for more than half  its
length by water, forming the four lakes of Tanganyika, Kivu,  Albert  Edward
and Albert, the first-named over 400 m.  long  and  the  longest  freshwater
lake in the world. Associated with these  great  valleys  are  a  number  of
volcanic peaks, the greatest of which occur on a  meridional  line  east  of
the eastern trough. The  eastern  depression,  known  as  the  East  African
trough or rift-valley, contains much smaller lakes, many  of  them  brackish
and without outlet, the only one comparable to those of the  western  trough
being Lake Rudolf or Basso Norok. At no great distance east  of  this  rift-
valley are Kilimanjaro—with its two  peaks  Kibo  and  Mawenzi,  the  former
19,321 ft., and the culminating  point  of  the  whole  continent—and  Kenya
(17,007 ft.). Hardly less important is  the  Ruwenzori  range  (over  16,600
ft.), which lies east of the western trough. Other volcanic peaks rise  from
the floor of the valleys, some of the Kirunga  (Mfumbiro)  group,  north  of
Lake Kivu, being still partially active.  (c)  The  third  division  of  the
higher region of Africa is formed by  the  Abyssinian  highlands,  a  rugged
mass of mountains forming the largest continuous area  of  its  altitude  in
the whole continent, little of its surface falling  below  5000  ft.,  while
the summits reach heights of 15,000 to 16,000  ft.  This  block  of  country
lies just west of the line of the great East African  trough,  the  northern
continuation of which passes along its eastern escarpment as it runs  up  to
join the Red Sea.  There  is,  however,  in  the  centre  a  circular  basin
occupied by Lake Tsana.
  Both in the east and west of the continent the  bordering  highlands  are
continued as strips  of  plateau  parallel  to  the  coast,  the  Abyssinian
mountains being continued northwards along the Red Sea coast by a series  of
ridges reaching in places a height of 7000 ft. In the west the zone of  high
land is broader but somewhat  lower.  The  most  mountainous  districts  lie
inland from the head of the Gulf of Guinea (Adamawa, &c.), where heights  of
6000 to 8000 ft. are reached. Exactly at the head  of  the  gulf  the  great
peak of the Cameroon, on a line of Volcanic action continued by the  islands
to the south-west, has a height of  13,370  ft.,  while  Clarence  Peak,  in
Fernando Po, the first of the line of islands, rises to over  9000.  Towards
the extreme west the Futa  Jallon  highlands  form  an  important  diverging
point of rivers, but beyond this, as far as the Atlas  chain,  the  elevated
rim of the continent is almost wanting.
  The area between the east and west coast highlands,  which  north  of  17
deg. N. is mainly desert, is divided into separate basins by other bands  of
high ground, one of which runs nearly centrally through North  Africa  in  a
line corresponding roughly with the  curved  axis  of  the  continent  as  a
whole. The best marked of the basins so formed (the Congo basin) occupies  a
circular area bisected by the equator, once probably the site of  an  inland
sea. The arid region, the Sahara—the largest desert in the  world,  covering
3,500,000 sq. m.—extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Though  generally
of slight elevation it contains mountain ranges with peaks  rising  to  8000
ft. Bordered N.W. by the Atlas range, to the N.E. a rocky plateau  separates
it from the Mediterranean; this plateau gives place at the extreme  east  to
the delta of the Nile. That river (see below)  pierces  the  desert  without
modifying its character. The Atlas range, the  north-westerly  part  of  the
continent, between  its  seaward  and  landward  heights  encloses  elevated
steppes in places 100 m.  broad.  From  the  inner  slopes  of  the  plateau
numerous wadis take a direction towards the  Sahara.  The  greater  part  of
that now desert region is, indeed, furrowed by old water-channels.
  The following table gives the approximate altitudes of the chief
mountains and lakes of the continent:—
Mountains.            Ft.       Lakes.           Ft.
  Rungwe (Nyasa)    .   10,400     Chad  . . . . 8502
  Drakensberg  .   .   10,7002 Leopold II  . . 1100
  Lereko or Sattima .   13,2143 Rudolf   . . . 1250
      (Aberdare Range)              Nyasa    . . . 16453
  Cameroon     .   .   13,370     Albert Nyanza  . 20282
  Elgon   .   .   .   14,1523 Tanganyika  . . 26243
  Karissimbi   .   .              Ngami . . . . 2950
      (Mfumbiro)    .   14,6833 Mweru . . . . 3000
  Meru    .   .   .   14,9553 Albert Edward  . 30043
  Taggharat (Atlas) .   15,0002 Bangweulu. . . 3700
  Simen Mountains,  .   15,1602 Victoria Nyanza. 37203
      Abyssinia                     Abai  . . . . 4200
  Ruwenzori    .   .   16,6193 Kivu  . . . . 48293
  Kenya   .   .   .   17,0073 Tsana . . . . 5690
  Kilimanjaro  .   .   19,3213 Naivasha . . . 61353
  The Hydrographic Systems.—-From the outer margin of the African  plateaus
a large number of streams run to the sea with comparatively  short  courses,
while the larger rivers flow for long distances on  the  interior  highlands
before  breaking  through  the  outer  ranges.  The  main  drainage  of  the
continent is to the north and west, or towards the  basin  of  the  Atlantic
Ocean. The high lake plateau of East Africa contains the head-waters of  the
Nile and Congo: the former the longest, the latter the largest river of  the
continent. The upper Nile receives its chief supplies from  the  mountainous
region adjoining the Central African trough  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the
equator. Thence streams pour  east  to  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  the  largest
African lake (covering over 26,000 sq.  m.),  and  west  and  north  to  the
Albert Edward and Albert Nyanzas, to the latter of which  the  effluents  of
the other two lakes add their waters. Issuing from it the Nile flows  north,
and between 7 deg. and 10 deg. N.  traverses  a  vast  marshy  level  during
which its course  is  liable  to  blocking  by  floating  vegetation.  After
receiving the Bahr-el-Ghazal from the west and  the  Sobat,  Blue  Nile  and
Atbara from the Abyssinian highlands (the  chief  gathering  ground  of  the
flood-water), it crosses the great desert and enters the Mediterranean by  a
vast delta. The most remote head-stream of the Congo is the Chambezi,  which
flows south-west into the marshy Lake Bangweulu. From this lake  issues  the
Congo, known in its upper course by various names. Flowing first  south,  it
afterwards turns north through Lake Mweru and descends  to  the  forest-clad
basin of west equatorial Africa. Traversing this  in  a  majestic  northward
curve and receiving vast supplies of water from many great  tributaries,  it
finally turns south-west and cuts a way to the Atlantic  Ocean  through  the
western highlands. North of the Congo basin  and  separated  from  it  by  a
broad undulation of the surface is the basin of  Lake  Chad—-a  flat-shored,
shallow lake filled principally by the  Shad  coming  from  the  south-east.
West of this is the basin of the Niger, the third river  of  Africa,  which,
though flowing to the Atlantic, has its principal source in  the  far  west,
and reverses the direction of flow exhibited  by  the  Nile  and  Congo.  An
important branch, however—the Benue—comes from the  south-east.  These  four
river-basins occupy the greater part of the  lower  plateaus  of  North  and
West Africa, the remainder  consisting  of  arid  regions  watered  only  by
intermittent streams which do not reach the sea. Of the remaining rivers  of
the Atlantic basin the Orange, in the extreme  south,  brings  the  drainage
from the Drakensberg on the  opposite  side  of  the  continent,  while  the
Kunene, Kwanza, Ogowe and Sanaga drain  the  west  corst  highlands  of  the
southern limb; the Volta, Komoe, Bandama, Gambia and Senegal  the  highlands
of the western limb. North of the Senegal for over  1000  m.  of  coast  the
arid region reaches to the Atlantic. Farther north  are  the  streams,  with
comparatively short courses, which  reach  the  Atlantic  and  Mediterranean
from the Atlas mountains.
  Of the rivers flowing to the Indian Ocean the only one draining any large
part of the interior plateaus is the Zambezi, whose  western  branches  rise
in the west coast highlands. The main stream has its rise  in  11  deg.  21'
3'' S. 24 deg. 22' E. at an elevation of 5000 ft. It flows  west  and  south
for a considerable distance before turning to  the  east.  All  the  largest
tributaries, including the Shire, the outflow of Lake Nyasa, flow  down  the
southern slopes of the band  of  high  ground  which  stretches  across  the
conbnent in 10 deg. to 12 deg. S.  In  the  south-west  the  Zambezi  system
interlaces with that of the Taukhe (or  Tioghe),  from  which  it  at  times
receives surplus water. The rest of the water of the Taukhe,  known  in  its
middle course as the Okavango, is lost in a system of  swamps  and  saltpans
which formerly centred in Lake  Ngami,  now  dried  up.  Farther  south  the
Limpopo drains a portion of the interior  plateau  but  breaks  through  the
bounding highlands on the side of the  continent  nearest  its  source.  The
Rovuma, Rufiji, Tana, Juba and Webi  Shebeli  principally  drain  the  outer
slopes of the East African highlands, the last named losing  itself  in  the
sands in close proximity to the  sea.  Another  large  stream,  the  Hawash,
rising in the Abyssinian mountains, is lost in a saline depression near  the
Gulf of Aden. Lastly, between the basins of the Atlantic and  Indian  Oceans
there is an area of inland drainage along the centre  of  the  East  African
plateau, directed chiefly into the  lakes  in  the  great  rift-valley.  The
largest river is the  Omo,  which,  fed  by  the  rains  of  the  Abyssinian
highlands, carries down a large body of water into Lake Rudolf.  The  rivers
of Africa are generally obstructed either by bars  at  their  mouths  or  by
cataracts at no great distance up-stream.  But  when  these  obstacles  have
been overcome the rivers and lakes afford a network of navigable  waters  of
vast extent.
  The calculation of the areas of African drainage systems, made by Dr A.
Bludau (Petermanns Mitteilungen, 43, 1897, pp. 184-186) gives the following
general results:—
Basin of the Atlantic  . . . . . 4,070,000 sq. m.
  ''      ''   Mediterranean   . . . 1,680,000   ''
  ''      ''   Indian Ocean . . . . 2,086,000   ''
  Inland drainage area   . . . . . 3,452,000   ''
  The areas of individual river-basins are:—
Congo    (length over 3000 m.)  . . 1,425,000 sq. m.
  Nile     (  ''  fully 4000 m.)  . . 1,082,0004 ''
  Niger    (  ''  about 2600 m.)  . . 808,0005   ''
  Zambezi  (  ''   ''   2000 m.)  . . 513,500     ''
  Lake Chad  . . . . . . . . . 394,000     ''
  Orange  (length about 1300 m.)  . . 370,505  ''
    ''    (actual drainage area)  . . 172,500     ''

  The area of the Congo basin is greater than that of any other river
except the Amazon, while the African inland drainage area is greater than
that of any continent but Asia, in which the corresponding area is
4,000,000 sq. m.
  The principal African lakes have been mentioned in the description of the
East African plateau, but some of the phenomena connected with them  may  be
spoken of more particularly here. As a rule the lakes which occupy  portions
of the great rift-valleys have steep sides and are very deep.  This  is  the
case with the two largest of the type, Tanganyika and Nyasa, the  latter  of
which has depths of 430 fathoms. Others, however, are shallow,  and  hardly,
reach the steep sides of the valleys  in  the  dry  season.  Such  are  Lake
Rukwa, in a subsidiary depression north of Nyasa, and Eiassi and Manyara  in
the system of the eastern rift-valley.  Lakes  of  the  broad  type  are  of
moderate depth, the deepest sounding  in  Victoria  Nyanza  being  under  50
fathoms. Apart from the seasonal variations of  level,  most  of  the  lakes
show periodic fluctuations, while a progressive  desiccation  of  the  whole
region is said to be traceable, tending to  the  ultimate  disappearance  of
the lakes. Such a drying up has been in progress during long geologic  ages,
but doubt exists as to its practical importance at  the  present  time.  The
periodic fluctuations in the level of Lake  Tanganyika  are  such  that  its
outllow is intermittent. Besides the East African lakes the principal are:—-
Lake Chad, in the northern area of inland  drainage;  Bangweulu  and  Mweru,
traversed by the head-stream of  the  Congo;  and  Leopold  II.  and  Ntomba
(Mantumba), within the great  bend  of  that  river.  All,  exceot  possibly
Mweru, are more or less shallow, and Chad  appears  to  by  drying  up.  The
altitudes of the African lakes have already been stated.
  Divergent opinions have been beld as to the mode of origin  of  the  East
African lakes, especially Tanganyika, which some geologists have  considered
to represent an old arm of the sea,  dating  from  a  time  when  the  whole
central Congo basin was under water; others holding that the lake water  has
accumulated in a depression caused by subsidence. The former view  is  based
on the existence in the lake of organisms of a decidedly marine  type.  They
include a jelly-fish, molluscs,  prawns,  crabs,  &c.,  and  were  at  first
considered to form an isolated group  found  in  no  other  of  the  African
lakes; but this supposition has been proved to be erroneous.
  Islands.—With one exception—-Madagascar—the African  islands  are  small.
Madagascar, with an area of  229,820  sq.  m.,  is,  after  New  Guinea  and
Borneo, the largest island of the world.
  It lies off the S.E. coast of the continent, from which it  is  separated
by the deep  Mozambique  channel,  250  m.  wide  at  its  narrowest  point.
Madagascar in its  general  structure,  as  in  flora  and  fauna,  forms  a
connecting link between Africa and southern Asia.  East  of  Madagascar  are
the small islands of Mauritius and Reunion.  Sokotra  lies  E.N.E.  of  Cape
Guardafui.  Off  the  north-west  coast  are  the  Canary  and  Cape   Verde
archipelagoes. which, like some small islands in the Gulf of Guinea, are  of
volcanic origin.
  Climate and  Health.—-Lying  almost  entirely  within  the  tropics,  and
equally to north and south of the equator, Africa does  not  show  excessive
variations of temperature. Great heat is experienced  in  the  lower  plains
and desert regions of North Africa,  removed  by  the  great  width  of  the
continent from the influence of the  ocean,  and  here,  too,  the  contrast
between day and night, and between summer  and  winter,  is  greatest.  (The
rarity of the air and  the  great  radiation  during  the  night  cause  the
temperature in the Sahara to fall occasionally to freezing  point.)  Farther
south, the heat is to some extent modified by the moisture brought from  the
ocean, and by the  greater  elevation  of  a  large  part  of  the  surface,
especially in East Africa, where the range of temperature is wider  than  in
the Congo basin or on the Guinea coast. In the extreme north and  south  the
climate is a warm temperate one, the northern countries being on  the  whole
hotter and drier  than  those  in  the  southern  zone;  the  south  of  the
continent being narrower than the north, the influence  of  the  surrounding
ocean is more felt. The most  important  climatic  differences  are  due  to
variations in the amount of rainfall. The wide heated plains of the  Sahara,
and in a lesser degree the corresponding zone of the Kalahari in the  south,
have an exceedingly scanty rainfall, the winds which  blow  over  them  from
the ocean losing part  of  their  moisture  as  they  pass  over  the  outer
highlands, and becoming constantly drier owing to  the  heating  effects  of
the burning soil of the interior; while the scarcity of mountain  ranges  in
the more central parts likewise tends to prevent condensation. In the inter-
tropical zone of summer precipitation, the rainfall  is  greatest  when  the
sun is vertical or soon after. It is therefore  greatest  of  all  near  the
equator, where the sun is twice vertical, and less in the direction of  both
tropics. The rainfall zones are, however,  somewhat  deflected  from  a  due
west-to-east direction, the drier northern conditions  extending  southwards
along the east coast, and those of the  south  northwards  along  the  west.
Within the equatorial zone certain areas, especially on the  shores  of  the
Gulf of Guinea and in the upper Nile basin, have  an  intensified  rainfall,
but this rarely approaches that of the rainiest regions of  the  world.  The
rainiest district in all Africa is  a  strip  of  coastland  west  of  Mount
Cameroon, where there is  a  mean  annual  rainfall  of  about  390  in.  as
compared with a mean of 458 in. at Cherrapunji, in Assam. The  two  distinct
rainy seasons of the equatorial zone, where the sun  is  vertical  at  half-
yearly intervals, become gradually merged into one in the direction  of  the
tropics, where the sun is overhead but once. Snow falls on  all  the  higher
mountain ranges, and on the highest the climate is  thoroughly  Alpine.  The
countries bordering the Sahara are much exposed to a very dry wind, full  of
fine particles of sand, blowing from the desert towards the  sea.  Known  in
Egypt as the khamsin, on the Mediterranean as the sirocco, it is  called  on
the Guinea coast the harmattan. This wind is not invariably hot;  its  great
dryness causes so  much  evaporation  that  cold  is  not  infrequently  the
result. Similar dry winds blow from  the  Kalahari  in  the  south.  On  the
eastern coast the monsoons of the Indian Ocean are regularly  felt,  and  on
the south-east hurricanes are occasionally experienced.
  While the climate of the  north  and  south,  especially  the  south,  is
eminently healthy, and even the intensely heated  Sahara  is  salubrious  by
reason of its dryness, the tropical zone as a whole is, for European  races,
the most unhealthy portion of the world. This is especially the case in  the
lower and moister regions, such as the west coast, where malarial  fever  is
very prevalent and deadly; the  most  unfavourable  factors  being  humidity
with  absence  of  climatic  variation  (daily  or  seasonal).  The   higher
plateaus, where  not  only  is  the  average  temperature  lower,  but  such
variations are more extensive, are more healthy; and in  certain  localities
(e.g. Abyssinia and  parts  of  British  East  Africa)  Europeans  find  the
climate suitable for permanent residence. On tablelands over 6500 ft.  above
the sea, frost is not uncommon at night, even in places directly  under  the
equator. The acclimatization of white men in tropical  Africa  generally  is
dependent  largely  on  the  successful  treatment  of  tropical   diseases.
Districts which had been  notoriously  deadly  to  Europeans  were  rendered
comparatively healthy after the  discovery,  in  1899,  of  the  species  of
mosquito which propagates malarial fever, and the measures thereafter  taken
for its destruction and the filling up of  swamps.  The  rate  of  mortality
among the natives from tropical diseases is  also  high,  one  of  the  most
fatal being that known as sleeping sickness. (The ravages of  this  disease,
which also attacks Europeans, reached alarming proportions between 1893  and
1907, and in the last-named year an international  conference  was  held  in
London to consider measures to combat it.) When removed  to  colder  regions
natives of the equatorial districts suffer greatly  from  chest  complaints.
Smallpox also makes great ravages among the negro population.
  Flora.—The vegetation of Africa follows very closely the distribution  of
heat and moisture. The northern and southern temperate zones  have  a  flora
distinct from that of the continent generally, which  is  tropical.  In  the
countries bordering the  Mediterranean  are  groves  of  oranges  and  olive
trees, evergreen oaks, cork trees  and  pines,  intermixed  with  cypresses,
myrtles, arbutus and fragrant tree-heaths. South  of  the  Atlas  range  the
conditions alter. The zones of minimum rainfall have a  very  scanty  flora,
consisting of plants adapted to resist the great dryness. Characteristic  of
the Sahara is the date-palm, which flourishes  where  other  vegetation  can
scarcely maintain existence, while in  the  semidesert  regions  the  acacia
(whence is obtained gum-arabic) is abundant. The more humid regions  have  a
richer  vegetation  —dense  forest  where  the  rainfall  is  greatest   and
variations of temperature least, conditions found chiefly  on  the  tropical
coasts, and in the west African equatorial basin with its extension  towards
the upper Nile; and savanna interspersed with trees on the greater  part  of
the plateaus, passing as the desert regions  are  approached  into  a  scrub
vegetation consisting of thorny acacias,  &c.  Forests  also  occur  on  the
humid slopes of mountain ranges up to a  certain  elevation.  In  the  coast
regions the typical tree is the  mangrove,  which  flourishes  wherever  the
soil is of a swamp character. The dense forests of West Africa  contain,  in
addition to a great variety of dicotyledonous trees, two palms,  the  Elaeis
guincensis  (oil-palm)  and  Raphia  vinifera  (bamboo-palm),   not   found,
generally speaking, in the savanna regions. The bombax or  silk-cotton  tree
attains gigantic proportions in the forests,  which  are  the  home  of  the
indiarubber-producing plants and of many valuable  kinds  of  timber  trees,
such as odum (Chlorophora excelsa), ebony,  mahogany  (Khaya  senegalensis),
African teak or oak (Oldfieldia africana) and camwood (Baphia  nitida.)  The
climbing plants in the tropical forests are exceedingly  luxuriant  and  the
undergrowth or ``bush''  is  extremely  dense.  In  the  savannas  the  most
characteristic trees  are  the  monkey  bread  tree  or  baobab  (Adanisonia
digitata), doom palm (Hyphaene) and euphorbias. The coffee plant grows  wild
in such widely separated places  as  Liberia  and  southern  Abyssinia.  The
higher mountains have a special flora  showing  close  agreement  over  wide
intervals of space, as well as affinities with the  mountain  flora  of  the
eastern Mediterranean, the Himalayas and Indo-China  (cf.  A.  Engler,  Uber
die Hochgebirgsflora des tropischen Afrika, 1892).
  In the swamp regions of north-east  Africa  the  papyrus  and  associated
plants, including the soft-wooded ambach, flourish in  immense  quantities—-
and little else is found in the way of vegetation. South Africa  is  largely
destitute of forest save in the lower valleys and  coast  regions.  Tropical
flora disappears, and  in  the  semi-desert  plains  the  fleshy,  leafless,
contorted species of kapsias, mesembryanthemums, aloes and  other  succulent
plants make their appearance. There are, too, valuable  timber  trees,  such
as the yellow pine (Podocarpus elongatus),  stinkwood  (Ocotea),  sneezewood
or Cape ebony (Pteroxylon utile) and ironwood. Extensive miniature woods  of
heaths are found in  almost  endless  variety  and  covered  throughout  the
greater part of the year with innumerable blossoms  in  which  red  is  very
prevalent. Of the grasses of Africa alfa is very abundant  in  the  plateaus
of the Atlas range.
  Fauna.—The fauna again shows the effect of  the  characteristics  of  the
vegetation. The open savannas are the home of  large  ungulates,  especially
antelopes, the giraffe (peculiar to Africa), zebra, buffalo,  wild  ass  and
four species of rhinoceros; and of carnivores, such as  the  lion,  leopard,
hyaena, &c. The okapi (a genus restricted to Africa) is found  only  in  the
dense forests of the Congo basin. Bears are confined to  the  Atlas  region,
wolves and foxes to North Africa. The elephant (though its range has  become
restricted through the attacks of hunters) is found  both  in  the  savannas
and forest regions, the latter being otherwise poor in  large  game,  though
the special habitat of the chimpanzee and gorilla.  Baboons  and  mandrills,
with few exceptions, are peculiar to Africa. The  single-humped  camel—as  a
domestic animal—is especially characteristic of  the  northern  deserts  and
steppes.
  The rivers in the tropical zone abound with hippopotami  and  crocodiles,
the former entirely confined to Africa. The vast herds of game, formerly  so
characteristic of many parts  of  Africa,  have  much  diminished  with  the
increase of intercourse with the  interior.  Game  reserves  have,  however,
been established in South  Africa,  British  Central  Africa,  British  East
Africa, Somahland, &c., while measures for the protection  of  wild  animals
were laid down in an international convention signed in May 1900.
  The ornithology of northern Affica presents a close resemblance  to  that
of southern Europe, scarcely a species  being  found  which  does  not  also
occur in the other countries bordering the Mediterranean.  Among  the  birds
most characteristic of Africa are the ostrich and  the  secretary-bird.  The
ostrich is widely dispersed, but is found chiefly in the desert  and  steppe
regions. The secretary-bird is common in the south.  The  weaver  birds  and
their allies, including the  long-tailed  whydahs,  are  abundant,  as  are,
among game-birds, the francolin and guinea-fowl. Nany of the smaller  birds,
such as the sun-birds, bee-eaters, the parrots and halcyons, as well as  the
larger plantain-eaters, are noted for the brilliance of  their  plumage.  Of
reptiles the lizard and chameleon are common, and  there  are  a  number  of
venomous serpents, though these are not so numerous  as  in  other  tropical
countries. The scorpion is abundant. Of insects  Africa  has  many  thousand
different kinds; of these the  locust  is  the  proverbial  scourge  of  the
continent, and the  ravages  of  the  termites  or  white  ants  are  almost
incredible. The spread of malaria by means of mosquitoes  has  already  been
mentioned. The tsetse fly, whose bite is fatal to all domestic  animals,  is
common in many districts of South and East Africa. Fortunately it  is  found
nowhere outside Africa. (E. HE.; F. R. C.)
  1 With the islands, 11,498,000 sq. m.
  2 Estimated.
  3 See the calculations of Capt. T. T. Behrens, Geog. Journal, vol. xxix.
(1907).
  4 The estimate of Capt. H. G. Lyons in 1905 was 1,107,227 sq. mi.
  5 including waterless tracts naturally belonging to the river-basin.

                                 II. GEOLOGY
  In  shape  and  general  geological  structure  Africa  bears   a   close
resemblance to India. Both possess a meridional extension with a broad  east
and west folded region  in  the  north.  In  both  a  successive  series  of
continental deposits, ranging from the Carboniferous to the  Rhaetic,  rests
on an older base of crystalline rocks. In  the  words  of  Professor  Suess,
``India and Africa are true plateau countries.''
  Of the primitive axes of Africa few traces remain. Both on the  east  and
west a broad zone of crystalline rochs extends parallel with the  coast-line
to form the margin of the elevated plateau  of  the  interior.  Occasionally
the crystalline belt comes to the coast, but it is usually  reached  by  two
steps known as the coastal belt and  foot-plateau.  On  the  flanks  of  the
primitive western axis certain ancient sedimentary strata  are  thrown  into
folds which were completed before the commencement of the  mesozoic  period.
In the south, the later palaeozoic rocks are also thrown  into  acute  folds
by a movement acting from the south, and which ceased towards the  close  of
the mesozoic period. In northern Africa  the  folded  region  of  the  Atlas
belongs to the comparatively recent date  of  the  Alpine  system.  None  of
these earth movements  affected  the  interior,  for  here  the  continental
mesozoic deposits rest, undisturbed by folding, on the  primary  sedimentary
and crystalline rocks. The crystalline massif, therefore, presents  a  solid
block which has remained elevated since early palaeozoic times, and  against
which earth waves of several geological periods have broken.
  The formations older than the mesozoic are remarkably unfossiliferous, so
that the determination of their age is frequently a matter  of  speculation,
and in the following  table  the  European  equivalents  of  the  pre-Karroo
formations in many regions must  be  regarded  as  subject  to  considerable
revision.
  Rocks of Archean age cover wide areas in the interior, in West  and  East
Africa and across the Sahara. Along the coastal margins  they  underlie  the
newer formations  and  appear  in  the  deep  valleys  and  kloofs  wherever
denudation has laid them bare. The prevailing types are  granites,  gneisses
and schists. In the central regions the predominant strike of the  fohae  is
north and south. The rocks, for convenience classed as  pre-Cambrian,  occur
as several unconformable groups, chiefly developed in the south where  alone
their stratigraphy has been determined. They  are  unfossiliferous,  and  in
the absence of undoubted Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian strata in  Africa
they may be regarded as of older date than  any  of  these  formations.  The
general occurrence of jasper-bearing rocks is  of  interest,  as  these  are
always present in the ancient  pressure-altered  sedimentary  formations  of
America and  Europe.  Some  unfossiliferous  conglomerates,  sandstones  and
dolomites in South Africa and on the west coast are considered to belong  to
the Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian  formations,  but  merely  from  their
occurrence beneath strata yielding Devonian  fossils.  In  Cape  Colony  the
Silurian age of the Table Mountain Sandstone is based on such evidence.
  The Devonian and Carboniferous formations are  well  represented  in  the
north and south and in northern Angola.
  Up to the close of the palaeozoic period the relative  positions  of  the
ancient land masses and oceans remain unsolved; but the  absence  of  marine
strata of early palaeozoic age from Central Africa  points  to  there  being
land in this direction. In late Carboniferous times Africa  and  India  were
undoubtedly united to form a  large  continent,  called  by  Suess  Gondwana
Land. In each country the same succession of the rocks  is  met  with;  over
both the same specialized orders of reptiles roamed and were entombed.
  The interior of the African portion of  Gondwana  Land  was  occupied  by
several large lakes in which an immense thickness—amounting to  over  18,000
ft. in South Africa—-of sandstones and marls,  forming  the  Karroo  system,
was laid down. This is par excellence  the  African  formation,  and  covers
immense areas in South Africa and the Congo basin,  with  detached  portions
in East Africa. During the whole of the time—-Carboniferous to  Rhaetic—that
this great accumulation of freshwater beds was taking  place,  the  interior
of the continent must have been undergoing depression. The  commencement  of
the period was  marked  by  one  of  the  most  wonderful  episodes  in  the
geological history of Africa. Preserved in the formation known as the  Dwyka
Conglomerate, are evidences that at this time the greater portion  of  South
Africa was undergoing extreme glaciation, while the same  conditions  appear
to have prevailed in India

                        TABLE OF FORMATIONS

Sedimentary.          Igneous.
  Recent         Alluvium; travertine;
                       coral; sand dunes; continental } Some volcanic
islands;
                       dunes. Generally distributed   }   rift-valley
volcanoes.
  Pleistocene.  Ancient alluviums and            }
                       gravels; travertine.          }
                       Generally distributed.        } A long-continued
  Pliocene.     N. Africa; Madagascar.          }   succession in the
                                                      }   central and
northern
  Miocene.      N. Africa.                      }   regions and among
                                                      }   the island
groups.
  Oligocene.    N. Africa.                      }   Doubtfully represented
                                                      }   south of the
Zambezi.
  Eocene.       N. Africa, along east and        }
                       west coasts; Madagascar.      }
  Cretaceous     Extensively developed in         } Diamond pipes of S.
                       N. Africa; along coast         }   Africa; Kaptian
                       and foot-plateaus in east      }   fissure
eruptions;
                       and west; Madagascar.         }   Ashangi traps of
                                                      }   Abyssinia
   {Jurassic     N. Africa; E. Africa;
  K{                   Madagascar; Stormberg          } Chief volcanic
period
  a{                   period (Rhaeric) in S.        }   in S. Africa
  r{                   Africa                         }
  r{Trias.      Beaufort Series in S.           }
  o{                   Africa; Congo basin;           }
  o{                   Central Africa; Algeria;       }
   {                   Tunis.                        }
   {Permian.    Ecca Series in S. Africa.       } Feebly, if anywhere
                                                      } developed.
  Carboniferous. N. Africa; Sabaki Shales         }
                       in E. Africa; Dwyka            }
                       and Wittebery Series in        }
                       South Africa                   }
  Devonian.     N. Africa; Angola; Bokkeveld     } Not recorded.
                       Series in S. Africa            }
  Silurian.    {Table Mountain Sandstone         }
                    {  in S. Africa, Silurian(?).    }
  Ordovician.  {  Doubtfully represented         } Klipriversberg and
                    {  in N. Africa, French           }   and Ventersdorp
Series
  Cambrian      {  Congo, Angola. and by          }   of the Transvaal (?).
                    {  Vaal River and Waterberg       }
                    {  Series in S. Africa            }
  Pre-Cambrian.   Quartzites, conglomerates      }
                         phyllites, jasper-bearing    } S. Africa and
generally.
                         rocks and schists.          }
                         Generally distributed.      }
 Archeaan.        Gneisses and schists of the    } Igneous complex of
                         continental platform.       }   sheared igneous
                                                      }   rocks;granites.

and Australia. At the close of the Karroo  period  there  was  a  remarkable
manifestation of volcanic activity which  again  has  its  parallel  in  the
Deccan traps of India.
  How far the Karroo formation extended beyond its present confines has not
been determined. To the east it reached India. In the south all that can  be
said is that it extended to the south  of  Worcester  in  Cape  Colony.  The
Crystal Mountains of Angola may represent its western  boundary;  while  the
absence of mesozoic strata beneath the Cretaceous rocks  of  the  mid-Sahara
indicates that the system of Karroo  lakeland  had  here  reached  its  most
northerly extension. Towards the close of the Karroo period, possibly  about
the middle, the southern rim of the great central depression  became  ridged
up to form the folded regions of the Zwaarteberg,  Cedarberg  and  Langeberg
mountains in Cape Colony. This folded belt gives Africa its abrupt  southern
termination, and may be regarded as an embryonic indication of  its  present
outline. The exact date of  the  maximum  development  of  this  folding  is
unknown, but it had done its work and some 10,000 ft.  of  strata  had  been
removed before the commencement of the  Cretaceous  period.  It  appears  to
approximate in time to the similar earth  movement  and  denudation  at  the
close of the palaeozoic period in Europe. It was  doubtless  connected  with
the disruption  of  Gondwana  Land,  since  it  is  known  that  this  great
alteration of geographical outline commenced in Jurassic times.
  The breaking up of Gondwana Land  is  usually  considered  to  have  been
caused by a series of blocks of country being let down by faulting with  the
consequent formation of the  Indian  Ocean.  Other  blocks,  termed  horsts,
remained unmoved, the island of Madagascar affording a striking example.  In
the African portion Ruwenzori is regarded by some geologists to be  a  block
mountain or horst.
  In Jurassic  times  1he  sea  gained  access  to  East  Africa  north  of
Mozambique, but does not appear to have reached far beyond the  foot-plateau
except in Abyssinia.
  The Cretaceous seas appear to have  extended  into  the  central  Saharan
regions, for fossils of this age have been discovered in  the  interior.  On
the west coast Cretaceous rocks extend continuously  from  Mogador  to  Cape
Blanco. From here they  are  absent  up  to  the  Gabun  river,  where  they
commence to form a narrow fringe as far as the Kunene  river,  though  often
overlain by recent deposits. They are again absent up to  the  Sunday  river
in Cape Colony, where Lower Cretaceous rocks (for long considered to  be  of
Oolitic age)  of  an  inshore  character  are  met  with.  Strata  of  Upper
Cretaceous age  occur  in  Pondoland  and  Natal,  and  are  of  exceptional
interest since the fossils show  an  intermingling  of  Pacific  types  with
other forms having European affinities. In Mozambique  and  in  German  East
Africa, Cretaceous rocks extend from the coast to a distance inland of  over
100 m.
  Except in northern Africa, the Tertiary formations only occur  in  a  few
isolated patches on the east and west coasts. In northern  Africa  they  are
well developed and of much interest. They contain the well-known  nummulitic
limestone of Eocene age, which has been traced from  Egypt  across  Asia  to
China. The Upper Eocene rocks of Egypt have also yielded primeval  types  of
the Proboscidea and other mammalia. Evidences for the greater  extension  of
the Eocene seas than was formerly  considered  to  be  the  case  have  been
discovered around Sokoto. During Miocene times Passarge considers  that  the
region of the Zambezi underwent extreme desiccation.
  The effect of the Glacial epoch in Europe is shown in northern Africa  by
the moraines of the higher Atlas, and the wider extension  of  the  glaciers
on Kilimanjaro, Kenya and Ruwenzori, and by the extensive  accumulations  of
gravel over the Sahara.
  The earliest signs of igneous activity in Africa are to be found  in  the
granites, intrusive into the older rocks of the Cape peninsula,  into  those
of the Transvaal, and into the gneisses and schists of Central  Africa.  The
Ventersdorp boulder beds of the Transvaal may be of  early  palaeozoic  age;
but as a whole the palaeozoic period in  Africa  was  remarkably  free  from
volcanic and  igneous  disturbances.  The  close  of  the  Stormberg  period
(Rhaetic) was one of great volcanic activity in  South  Africa.  Whilst  the
later Secondary and Tertiary  formations  were  being  laid  down  in  North
Africa and around the margins of the rest of the continent, Africa  received
its last great accumulation of strata and  at  the  same  time  underwent  a
consecutive series of earth-movements. The additional strata consist of  the
immense quantities of volcanic material on the plateau of East  Africa,  the
basalt flows of West Africa and possibly those of  the  Zambezi  basin.  The
exact period of  the  commencement  of  volcanic  activity  is  unknown.  In
Abyssinia the Ashangi traps are certainly post-Oolitic. In East  Africa  the
fissure eruptions are considered to belong to the  Cretaceous.  These  early
eruptions were followed by those of Kenya, Mawenzi,  Elgon,  Chibcharagnani,
and  these  by  the  eruptions  of  Kibo,  Longonot,  Suswa  and  the  Kyulu
Mountains. The  last  phase  of  vulcanicity  took  place  along  the  great
meridional rifts of East  Africa,  and  though  feebly  manifested  has  not
entirely passed away. In northern Africa a continuous sequence  of  volcanic
events has taken place from Eocene times to latest Tertiary;  but  in  South
Africa it  is  doubtful  if  there  have  been  any  intrusions  later  then
Cretaceous.
  During this long continuance  of  vulcanicity,  earth-movements  were  in
progress. In the north the chief  movements  gave  rise  to  the  system  of
latitudinal folding and faulting of the Moroccan  and  Algerian  Atlas,  the
last stages being represented by the formation of the Algerian and  Moroccan
coast-outline and the sundering of Europe from  Africa  at  the  Straits  of
Gibraltar. Whilst  northern  Africa  was  being  folded,  the  East  African
plateau was broken up by a series  of  longitudinal   rifts  extending  from
Nyasaland  to  Egypt.  The  depressed  areas  contain  the   long,   narrow,
precipitously walled lakes of East Africa.  The  Red  Sea  also  occupies  a
meridional trough.
  Lastly there are the recent elevations of the northern  coastal  regions,
the Barbary coast and along the east coast. (W. G.*)

  III. ETHNOLOGY In attempting a review  of  the  races  and  tribes  which
inhabit Africa, their distribution, movements and culture, it  is  advisable
that three points be borne in mind. The first of these  is  the  comparative
absence  of   natural   barriers   in   the   interior,   owing   to   which
intercommunication between tribes, the dissemination of culture  and  tribal
migration have been considerably facilitated.  Hence  the  student  must  be
prepared to find that, for the most part, there are no  sharp  divisions  to
mark the extent of the various races composing the population, but that  the
number of what may be termed ``transitional'' peoples  is  unusually  large.
The second point is that Africa,  with  the  exception  of  the  lower  Nile
valley and what is known as Roman Africa (see AFRICA, ROMAN), is, so far  as
its native inhabitants are concerned,  a  continent  practically  without  a
history, and possessing no records  from  which  such  a  history  might  be
reconstructed. The early movements of  tribes,  the  routes  by  which  they
reached their present abodes, and the origin of such  forms  of  culture  as
may be distinguished in the general  mass  of  customs,  beliefs,  &c.,  are
largely matters of conjecture. The negro is essentially  the  child  of  the
moment; and his memory, both tribal  and  individual,  is  very  short.  The
third point is that many theories which have been  formulated  with  respect
to such matters are unsatisfactory owing to the small amount of  information
concerning many of the tribes in the interior.
                          The chief African races.
  Excluding the Europeans who have found a home in various parts of Africa,
and the Asiatics, Chinese and natives  of  India  introduced  by  them  (see
section History below), the population of Africa consists of  the  following
elements: —the Bushman, the Negro, the Eastern Hamite, the  Libyan  and  the
Semite, from the intermingling  of  which  in  various  proportions  a  vast
number of ``transitional'' tribes has arisen. The Bushmen (q.v.), a race  of
short yellowish-brown nomad hunters, inhabited, in  the  earliest  times  of
which there is historic knowledge,  the  land  adjoining  the  southern  and
eastern borders of the Kalahari  desert,  into  which  they  were  gradually
being forced by the encroachment of the Hottentots  and  Bantu  tribes.  But
signs of their former  presence  are  not  wanting  as  far  north  as  Lake
Tanganyika, and even, it is rumoured, still farther north. With them may  be
classed provisionally the Hottentots, a pastoral people  of  medium  stature
and yellowish-brown complexion. who in early times shared with  the  Bushmen
the whole of what is now Cape Colony. Though the racial  affinities  of  the
Hottentots have been disputed, the most satisfactory view on  the  whole  is
that they represent a  blend  of  Bushman,  Negroid  and  Hamitic  elements.
Practically the rest of Africa, from the southern fringe of the  Sahara  and
the upper valley of the Nile to the Cape, with the  exception  of  Abyssinia
and Galla and Somali-lands, is peopled by Negroes and  the  ``transitional''
tribes to which their admixture with  Libyans  on  the  north,  and  Semites
(Arabs) and Hamites on the north-east and east, has  given  rise.  A  slight
qualification of the last statement is necessary, in so far  as,  among  the
Fula in the western Sudan, and the Ba-Hima, &c.,  of  the  Victoria  Nyanza,
Libyan and Hamitic elements are respectively stronger than the  Negroid.  Of
the  tracts  excepted,  Abyssinia  is  inhabited  mainly  by  Semito-Hamites
(though a fairly strong negroid element can be found), and Somali and Galla-
lands by Hamites. North of  the  Sahara  in  Algeria  and  Morocco  are  the
Libyans (Berbers, q.v.), a distinctively white people, who have  in  certain
respects (e.g. religion) fallen under Arab influence. In the north-east  the
brown-skinned Hamite and  the  Semite  mingle  in  varied  proportions.  The
Negroid peoples, which  inhabit  the  vast  tracts  of  forest  and  savanna
between the areas held by Bushmen to the south and the Hamites, Semites  and
Libyans to the north, fall into two groups divided by a  line  running  from
the Cameroon (Rio del Rey) crossing the Ubangi  river  below  the  bend  and
passing between the Ituri and the Semliki rivers, to Lake Albert and  thence
with a slight southerly trend to the coast.  North  of  this  line  are  the
Negroes  proper,  south  are  the   Bantu.   The   division   is   primarily
philological. Among the  true  Negroes  the  greatest  linguistic  confusion
prevails; for instance, in certain parts of Nigeria it is possible  to  find
half-a-dozen villages  within  a  comparatively  small  area  speaking,  not
different dialects, but different languages, a fact which  adds  greatly  to
the difficulty of political administration. To the south  of  the  line  the
condition of affairs is  entirely  different;  here  the  entire  population
speaks one or another  dialect  of  the  Bantu  Languages  (q.v..)  As  said
before, the division  is  primarily  linguistic  and,  especially  upon  the
border line, does not always correspond  with  the  variations  of  physical
type. At the same time it is extremely convenient and to  a  certain  extent
justifiable on physical and  psychological  grounds;  and  it  may  be  said
roughly that while the linguistic uniformity of the Bantu is accompanied  by
great variation of physical type, the converse is in the main  true  of  the
Negro  proper,  especially  where  least  affected  by  Libyan  and  Hamitic
admixture, e.g. on the Guinea coast. The variation of type among  the  Bantu
is due probably to a  varying  admixture  of  alien  blood,  which  is  more
apparent as the east coast is approached. This  foreign  element  cannot  be
identified with certainty, but since the Bantu seem to approach the  Hamites
in those points where they differ from  the  Negro  proper,  and  since  the
physical characteristics of Hamites and Semites are very similar,  it  seems
probable that the last two races have entered into the  composition  of  the
Bantu, though it is highly improbable that  Semitic  influence  should  have
permeated any  distance  from  the  east  coast.  An  extremely  interesting
section of the population not  hitherto  mentioned  is  constituted  by  the
Pygmy tribes inhabiting the densely forested regions along the equator  from
Uganda to the Gabun and living the life of nomadic hunters.  The  affinities
of this little people are undecided, owing to the small amount of  knowledge
concerning them. The theories which connected them with the Bushmen  do  not
seem to be correct. It is more probable that they are to  be  classed  among
the Negroids, with whom they  appear  to  have  intermingled  to  a  certain
extent in the upper basin of the Ituri, and perhaps elsewhere. As far as  is
known they speak no language peculiar to themselves but adopt  that  of  the
nearest agricultural tribe. They are of a dark brown complexion,  with  very
broad noses, lips  but  slightly  everted,  and  small  but  usually  sturdy
physique, though often considerably  emaciated  owing  to  insufficiency  of
food. Another peculiar tribe, also of short stature,  are  the  Vaalpens  of
the steppe region of the north Transvaal. Practically nothing  is  known  of
them except that they are said to be very dark in colour and live  in  holes
in the ground, and under rock shelters.

                        Principal ethnological zones.
  Having indicated the chief races of which in various  degrees  of  purity
and intermixture the population of Africa is formed, it remains to  consider
them in greater detail, particularly from the cultural standpoint.  This  is
hardly possible without drawing attention to the  main  physical  characters
of the continent, as far as they affect the  inhabitants.  For  ethnological
purposes three principal zones may  be  distinguished;  the  first  two  are
respectively a large region of steppes  and  desert  in  the  north,  and  a
smaller region of steppes and desert in  the  south.  These  two  zones  are
connected by a vertical strip of grassy highland lying mainly  to  the  east
of the chain of great lakes. The third zone is a vast region of  forest  and
rivers in the west centre, comprising the greater part of the basin  of  the
Congo and the Guinea coast.  The  rainfall,  which  also  has  an  important
bearing upon the culture of peoples, will  be  found  on  the  whole  to  be
greatest in the third zone and also in the eastern highlands, and of  course
least in the desert, the steppes and savannas standing  midway  between  the
two. As might be  expected  these  variations  are  accompanied  by  certain
variations  in  culture.  In  the  best-watered  districts  agriculture   is
naturally of the greatest  importance,  except  where  the  density  of  the
forest renders the work of clearing too arduous. The main portion  therefore
of the inhabitants of the forest zone  are  agriculturists,  save  only  the
nomad Pygmies, who live in the inmost recesses of  the  forest  and  support
themselves by hunting the game with  which  it  abounds.  Agriculture,  too,
flourishes in the eastern highlands, and throughout the greater part of  the
steppe and savanna region of the northern  and  southern  zones,  especially
the latter. In fact the only Bantu tribes who  are  not  agriculturists  are
the Ova-Herero of German South-West Africa,  whose  purely  pastoral  habits
are the natural outcome of the barren country they  inhabit.  But  the  wide
open plains and slopes surrounding the forest area are eminently  suited  to
cattle-breeding, and there are few tribes who do not take advantage  of  the
fact. At the same time a natural  check  is  imposed  upon  the  desire  for
cattle,  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  Bantu  peoples.   This   is
constituted by the tsetse fly, which  renders  a  pastoral  life  absolutely
impossible throughout large tracts in central and southern  Africa.  In  the
northern zone this check is absent,  and  the  number  of  more  essentially
pastoral peoples, such as the eastern  Hamites,  Masai,  Dinka,  Fula,  &c.,
correspondingly greater. The desert regions yield support  only  to  nomadic
peoples, such as  the  Tuareg,  Tibbu,  Bedouins  and  Bushmen,  though  the
presence of numerous oases in  the  north  renders  the  condition  of  life
easier for the inhabitants. Upon geographical conditions likewise depend  to
a large  extent  the  political  conditions  prevailing  among  the  various
tribes. Thus among the wandering tribes of the desert and of  the  heart  of
the forests, where large communities are impossible,  a  patriarchal  system
prevails with the family as the unit. Where the forest  is  less  dense  and
small agricultural communities begin to  make  their  appearance,  the  unit
expands to the village with its headman.  Where  the  forest  thins  to  the
savanna and steppe, and  communication  is  easier,  are  found  the  larger
kingdoms and ``empires'' such as, in the  north  those  established  by  the
Songhai, Hausa, Fula, Bagirmi, Ba-Hima, &c., and in the south the states  of
Lunda, Kazembe, the Ba-Rotse, &c.
  But if ease of communication is favourable to the rise  of  large  states
and the cultural progress that usually accompanies it, it is,  nevertheless,
often fatal to the very culture which, at first, it fostered, in so  far  as
the absence of natural boundaries renders invasion easy. A good  example  of
this is furnished by the history of the western Sudan  and  particularly  of
East and South-East Africa. From  its  geographical  position  Africa  looks
naturally to the east, and it  is  on  this  side  that  it  has  been  most
affected by external culture both by land (across  the  Sinaitic  peninsula)
and by sea. Though a  certain  amount  of  Indonesian  and  even  aboriginal
Indian influence has been traced in  African  ethnography,  the  people  who
have produced the  most  serious  ethnic  disturbances  (apart  from  modern
Europeans) are the Arabs. This is particularly  the  case  in  East  Africa,
where the systematic slave raids organized by them and carried out with  the
assistance of various warlike tribes reduced vast  regions  to  a  state  of
desolation. In the north and west of Africa, however, the  Arab  has  had  a
less destructive but more extensive and  permanent  influence  in  spreading
the Mahommedan religion throughout the whole of the Sudan.

                     The characteristic African culture.
  The fact that the physical geography  of  Africa  affords  fewer  natural
obstacles  to  racial  movements  on  the  side  most  exposed  to   foreign
influence, renders it  obvious  that  the  culture  most  characteristically
African must be sought on the other side. It is therefore in the forests  of
the Congo, and among the lagoons and estuaries of  the  Guinea  coast,  that
this earlier culture will most probably be found. That there  is  a  culture
distinctive of this area, irrespective of the linguistic line  dividing  the
Bantu from the Negro proper, has now been recognized. Its main features  may
be summed as follows:—-a purely agricultural life, with  the  plantain,  yam
and  manioc  (the  last  two  of  American  origin)  as  the  staple   food;
cannibalism common; rectangular houses with  ridged  roofs;  scar-tattooing;
clothing of bark-cloth or palm-fibre; occasional chipping or  extraction  of
upper incisors; bows with  strings  of  cane,  as  the,  principal  weapons,
shields of wood or wickerwork; religion, a primitive form of fetishism  with
the belief that death is due to witchcraft; ordeals, secret  societies,  the
use of masks and anthropomorphic figures, and wooden gongs.  With  this  may
be contrasted the culture of the Bantu peoples to the south and  east,  also
agriculturists, but in  addition,  where  possible,  great  cattle-breeders,
whose staple food is millet and milk. These are  distinguished  by  circular
huts with domed or conical roofs; clothing of skin  or  leather;  occasional
chipping or extraction of lower incisors; spears as the  principal  weapons,
bows, where found, with a sinew cord, shields of hide or leather;  religion,
ancestor-worship with belief in the power of the magicians  as  rain-makers.
Though this difference in culture may well be explained on  the  supposition
that the first is the older and more representative of Africa,  this  theory
must not be pushed too far. Many of the  distinguishing  characteristics  of
the  two  regions  are  doubtless  due  simply  to  environment,  even   the
difference in religion.  Ancestor-worship  occurs  most  naturally  among  a
people where tribal organization has reached a fairly  advanced  stage,  and
is the natural outcome of patriotic reverence for  a  successful  chief  and
his councillors. Rain-making, too,  is  of  little  importance  in  a  well-
watered region, but a matter of vital interest  to  an  agricultural  people
where the rainfall is slight and irregular.
  Within the eastern and southern Bantu area  certain  cultural  variations
occur; beehive huts are found among the Zulu-Xosa and Herero,  giving  place
among the Bechuana to the cylindrical variety  with  conical  roof,  a  type
which,  with  few  exceptions,  extends  north  to  Abyssinia.  The   tanged
spearhead characteristic of the south is replaced by  the  socketed  variety
towards  the  north.  Circumcision,  characteristic  of  the  Zulu-Xosa  and
Bechuana, is not practised by many tribes farther  north;  tooth-mutilation,
on the contrary, is absent among the more southern tribes. The  lip-plug  is
found in the eastern area, especially among the Nyasa  tribes,  but  not  in
the south. The head-rest common in the south-east and  the  southern  fringe
of the forest area is not found far north of Tanganyika until  the  Horn  of
Africa is reached.
  In the regions outside the western area occupied  by  the  Negro  proper,
exclusive of the upper  Nile,  the  similarities  of  culture  outweigh  the
differences. Here the cylindrical type of hut prevails; clothing is of  skin
or leather but is very scanty; iron ornaments are worn in profusion;  arrows
are not feathered; shields of hide, spears with leather  sheaths  are  found
and also fighting bracelets. Certain small differences  appear  between  the
eastern and  western  portions,  the  dividing  line  being  formed  by  the
boundary between Bornu and Hausaland. Characteristic of  the  east  are  the
harp and the  throwing-club  and  throwing-knife,  the  last  of  which  has
penetrated into the forest area. Typical of the west are  the  bow  and  the
dagger with the ring hilt.  The  tribes  of  the  upper  Nile  are  somewhat
specialized,  though  here,  too,  are  found  the  cylindrical  hut,   iron
ornaments, fighting bracelets, &c., characteristic of the  Sudanese  tribes.
Here the removal of the lower incisors is common, and circumcision  entirely
absent.  Throughout  the  rest  of  the  Sudan  is  found  Semitic   culture
introduced  by  the  Arabized  Libyan.  Circumcision,  as  is  usual   among
Mahommedan tribes, is  universal,  and  tooth-mutilation  absent;  of  other
characteristics, the use  of  the  sword  has  penetrated  to  the  northern
portion of the forest area. The culture prevailing in  the  Horn  of  Africa
is, naturally, mainly Hamito-Semitic; here are found both cyhnddcal and bee-
hive huts, the sword (which has been adopted by the  Masai  to  the  south),
the lyre (which has found its way to some of the  Nilotic  tribes)  and  the
head-rest. Circumcision is practically universal.
  As has been said earlier, the history of Africa reaches back but a  short
distance, except, of course, as far as  the  lower  Nile  valley  and  Roman
Africa is concerned; elsewhere no records  exist,  save  tribal  traditions,
and these only relate to very recent events.  Even  archaeology,  which  can
often sketch the main outlines of a people's history,  is  here  practically
powerless, owing to the insufficiency of data. It is true that stone  imple.
ments of palaeolithic and neolithic types  are  found  sporadically  in  the
Nile valley, Somaliland, on the Zambezi, in Cape  Colony  and  the  northern
portions of the Congo Free State, as well as in  Algeria  and  Tunisia;  but
the localities are far too few and  too  widely  separated  to  warrant  the
inference that they are to be in any way connected.  Moreover,  where  stone
implements are found they are, as a rule, very near, even actually  on,  the
surface of the earth; nothing occurs resembling the  regular  stratification
of Europe, and consequently no  argument  based  on  geological  grounds  is
possible.
  The lower Nile valley, however, forms an exception; flint implements of a
palaeolithic type have been found near Thebes. not only on  the  surface  of
the ground, which for several thousand years has been desert  owing  to  the
contraction of the river-bed, but also in  stratified  gravel  of  an  older
date. References to a number of papers bearing on the  discussion  to  which
then discovery has given rise may be found in an article by Mr  H.  R.  Hall
in Man, 1905, No. 19. The Egyptian and also the Somali land finds appear  to
be true palaeoliths in  type  and  remarkably  similar  to  those  found  in
Europe. But evidence bearing on the Stone  age  in  Africa,  if  the  latter
existed apart from the localities mentioned, is so slight  that  little  can
be said save that from the available evidence the palaeoliths  of  the  Nile
valley alone can with any degree  of  certainty  be  assigned  to  a  remote
period of antiquity, and that the chips scattered over Mashonaland  and  the
regions occupied within historic times  by  Bushmen  are  the  most  recent;
since it has been shown that the stone flakes  were  used  by  the  medieval
Makalanga to engrave their hard pottery and the  Bushmen  were  still  using
stone implements in the 19th century. Other early remains,  but  of  equally
uncertain date, are the stone circles of Algeria, the Cross  river  and  the
Gambia. The large system of ruined forts and ``cities'' in  Mashonaland,  at
Zimbabwe and elsewhere, concerning which so  many  ingenious  theories  have
been woven, have been proved to date from medieval times.

                   Origin and spread of the racial stocks.
  Thus while in Europe there is a Stone age. divided into periods according
to various types of implement disposed in geological  strata,  and  followed
in orderly succession by the ages of Bronze  and  Iron,  in  Africa  can  be
found no true Stone age and practically no Bronze at all. The reason is  not
far to seek; Africa is a country of iron, which is found distributed  widely
throughout the continent in ores so rich that the  metal  can  be  extracted
with very little trouble and by the simplest methods. Iron has  been  worked
from time immemorial by the Negroid peoples,  and  whole  tribes  are  found
whose chief industry is the smelting and forging of the  metal.  Under  such
conditions, questions relating to  the  origin  and  spread  of  the  racial
stocks which form the population of  Africa  cannot  be  answered  with  any
certainty; at best only a certain amount of probability can be attained.
  Five of these racial stocks have been mentioned: Bushman, Negro,  Hamite,
Semite,  Libyan,  the  last  three  probably  related  through  some  common
ancestor. Of these the honour of being considered  the  most  truly  African
belongs to the two first. It is true that people of Negroid type  are  found
elsewhere, principally in Melanesia, but as  yet  their  possible  connexion
with the African Negro is little more than theoretical, and for the  present
purposes it need not be considered.
  The origin of the Bushman is lost in obscurity, but he may  be  conceived
as the original inhabitant of the southern portion  of  the  continent.  The
original home of the Negro, at first an agriculturist, is most  probably  to
be found in the neighbourhood of  the  great  lakes,  whence  he  penetrated
along the fringe of the Sahara to the west and across the eastern  highlands
southward. Northerly expansion was prevented by the early occupation of  the
Nile valley, the only easy route to the Mediterranean, but  there  seems  no
doubt that the population of ancient  Egypt  contained  a  distinct  Negroid
element. The question as  to  the  ethnic  affinities  of  the  pre-dynastic
Egyptians is still unsolved; but they may  be  regarded  as,  in  the  main,
Hamitic, though it is a question how far it is just to apply  a  name  which
implies a definite specialization in what may be comparatively modern  times
to a people of such antiquity.
  The Horn of Africa appears to have been the centre from which the Hamites
spread, and the pressure they seem to have  applied  to  the  Negro  tribes,
themselves also  in  process  of  expansion,  sent  forth  larger  waves  of
emigrants from the latter. These emigrants, already affected by the  Hamitic
pastoral culture, and with a strain of Hamitic blood in their veins,  passed
rapidly down the open tract  in  the  east,  doubtless  exterminating  their
predecessors, except such few as took refuge in the  mountains  and  swamps.
The advance-guard of this wave  of  pastoral  Negroids,  in  fact  primitive
Bantu,  mingled  with  the  Bushmen  and  produced   the   Hottentots.   The
penetration of the forest area must certainly  have  taken  longer  and  was
probably accomplished as much from the south-east, up  the  Zambezi  valley,
as from any other quarter. It was a more  peaceful  process,  since  natural
obstacles  are  unfavourable  to  rapid  movements  of   large   bodies   of
immigrants, though not so serious as to prevent the spread of  language  and
culture. A modern parallel to the spread of Bantu speech  is  found  in  the
rise of the Hausa language, which  is  gradually  enlarging  its  sphere  of
influence in the western and central Sudan. Thus those  qualities,  physical
and otherwise, in which the Bantu approach the Hamites gradually fade as  we
proceed westward through the Congo basin,  while  in  the  east,  among  the
tribes to the west of Tanganyika and on the upper Zambezi,  ``transitional''
forms of culture are found. In later times this gradual  pressure  from  the
south-east became greater, and resulted, at a comparatively recent date,  in
the irruption of the Fang into the Gabun.
  The earlier stages of the southern movement must have been accompanied by
a similar  movement  westward  between  the  Sahara  and  the  forest;  and,
probably, at the same time,  or  even  earlier,  the  Libyans  crossing  the
desert had begun to press upon the primitive  Negroes  from  the  north.  In
this way were produced the Fula, who mingled further with the Negro to  give
birth to the Mandingo, Wolof  and  Tukulor.  It  would  appear  that  either
Libyan (Fula) or, less probably, Hamitic, blood enters into the  composition
of the  Zandeh  peoples  on  the  Nile-Congo  watershed.  These  Libyans  or
Berbers, included by G. Sergi in his ``Mediterranean Race,'' were active  on
the north coast of Africa in very early times, and had  relations  with  the
Egyptians from a prehistoric period. For  long  these  movements  continued,
always in the same direction, from north to south and  from  east  to  west;
though, of course, more rapid  changes  took  place  in  the  open  country,
especially in the great eastern highway from north to  south,  than  in  the
forest area. Large states arose in the western Sudan;  Ghana  flourished  in
the 7th century A.D., Melle in the 11th, Songhai in the 14th, and  Bornu  in
the 16th.
  Meanwhile in the east began the southerly movement of the Bechuana, which
was probably,spread  over  a  considerable  period.  Later  than  they,  hut
proceeding faster, came the Zulu-Xosa (``Kaffir'') peoples, who  followed  a
line nearer the coast and outflanked them, surrounding them  on  the  south.
Then followed a time of great ethnical confusion  in  South  Africa,  during
which tribes flourished, split up and disappeared; but ere this the  culture
represented by the ruins in Rhodesia had waxed and waned.  It  is  uncertain
who were the builders of the forts and ``cities,'' but it is not  improbable
that they may be found to have been early Bechuana. The Zulu-Xosa,  Bechuana
and  Herero  together  form  a  group  which  may  conveniently  be   termed
``Southern Bantu.',
  Finally began a movement hitherto unparalleled in the history of  African
migration; certain peoples of Zulu blood began  to  press  north,  spreading
destruction in their wake. Of these the  principal  were  the  Matabele  and
Angoni. The movement continued as far as the Victoria Nyanza. Here,  on  the
border-line of Negro, Bantu and Hamite, important changes had  taken  place.
Certain of the Negro tribes had retired to the swamps of the Nile,  and  had
become  somewhat  specialized,  both  physically  and  culturally  (Shilluk,
Dinka, Alur, Acholi, &c.). These had blended with  the  Hamites  to  produce
such races as the Masai and kindred tribes. The old  Kitwara  empire,  which
comprised the plateau land between the Ruwenzori range  and  Kavirondo,  had
broken up into  small  states,  usually  governed  by  a  Hamitic  (Ba-Hima)
aristocracy. The more extensive Zang  (Zenj)  empire,  of  which.  the  name
Zanzibar (Zanguebar) is a lasting memorial, extending  along  the  sea-board
from Somaliland to the Zambezi, was also extinct. The Arabs had  established
themselves firmly on the coast, and thence made continual  slave-raids  into
the interior, penetrating later to the Congo. The  Swahili,  inhabiting  the
coast-line  from  the  equator  to  about  16  deg.  S.,  are   a   somewhat
heterogeneous mixture of Bantu with a tinge of Arab blood.
  In the neighbourhood of Victoria Nyanza,  where  Hamite,  Bantu,  Nilotic
Negro and Pygmy are found in close contact, the ethnic relations  of  tribes
are often puzzling, but the Bantu not under a Hamitic domination  have  been
divided  by  F.  Stuhlmann  into  the  Older  Bantu  (Wanyamwezi,  Wasukuma,
Wasambara, Waseguha,  Wasagara,  Wasaramo,  &c.)  and  the  Bantu  of  Later
Immigration (Wakikuyu, Wakamba, Wapokomo, Wataita, Wachaga,  &c.),  who  are
more strongly Hamitized and in many cases have adopted Masai customs.  These
peoples, from the Victoria  Nyanza  to  the  Zambezi,  may  conveniently  be
termed the ``Eastern Bantu.''
  Turning to the Congo basin in the south, the great Luba and Lunda peoples
are found stretching nearly across the continent, the latter,  from  at  any
rate the end of the 16th century until the close of the 19th  century,  more
or less united under a single ruler, styled Muata Yanvo. These seem to  have
been the most recent immigrants from the south-east, and to exhibit  certain
affinities with the Barotse on the upper Zambezi. Among the western  Baluba,
or Bashilange, a remarkable politico-religious revolution took  place  at  a
comparatively recent date, initiated by a secret society termed Bena  Riamba
or ``Sons of Hemp,'' and resulted in the subordination of the old  fetishism
to a cult of hemp,  in  accordance  with  which  all  hemp-smokers  consider
themselves  brothers,  and  the  duty  of  mutual   hospitality,   &c.,   is
acknowledged. North of these, in the  great  bend  of  the  Congo,  are  the
Balolo, &c., the Balolo a nation  of  iron-workers;  and  westward,  on  the
Kasai, the Bakuba, and a large number of tribes as  yet  imperfectly  known.
Farther west are the tribes of Angola, many of  whom  were  included  within
the old ``Congo empire,'' of which the kingdom of Loango  was  an  offshoot.
North of the latter lies the Gabun, with a  large  number  of  small  tribes
dominated by the Fang who are recent arrivals from  the  Congo.  Farther  to
the north are the Bali and other tribes of the  Cameroon,  among  whom  many
primitive Negroid elements begin to appear. Eastward are the Zandeh  peoples
of the Welle district (primitive Negroids with a Hamitic or, more  probably,
Libyan strain), with whom the Dor trine of Nilotes on their  eastern  border
show certain affinities; while to the west along the coast  are  the  Guinea
Negroes of primitive type. Here, amidst great linguistic confusion,  may  be
distinguished the tribes of Yoruba speech in the Niger delta  and  the  east
portion of the Slave Coast; those of Ewe speech, in the western  portion  of
the latter; and those of Ga and Tshi speech, on the Gold  Coast.  Among  the
last two groups respectively  may  be  mentioned  the  Dahomi  and  Ashanti.
Similar tribes are found along the coast to  the  Bissagos  Islands,  though
the introduction in Sierra Leone and Liberia of settlements  of  repatriated
slaves from the American  plantations  has  in  those  places  modified  the
original ethnic distribution. Leaving the forest zone and entering the  more
open country there are, on the north from the Niger to the  Nile,  a  number
of Negroids strongly tinged with Libyan blood and professing the  Mahommedan
religion. Such are the Mandingo,  the  Songhai,  the  Fula,  Hausa,  Kanuri,
Bagirmi, Kanembu, and the peoples of Wadai and Darfur;  the  few  aborigines
who persist, on the southern fringe  of  the  Chad  basin,  are  imperfectly
known.

                     Peculiar conditions in Madagascar.
  The island of Madagascar,  belonging  to  the  African  continent,  still
remains for discussion. Here the ethnological  conditions  are  people  were
the Hova, a Malayo-Indonesian people who  must  have  come  from  the  Malay
Peninsula or the adjacent islands. The date of their  immigration  has  been
line subject of a good deal of dispute, but it  may  be  argued  that  their
arrival must have taken place in early times, since Malagasy  speech,  which
is the language of the island, is principally Malayo-Polynesian  in  origin,
and contains no traces of Sanskrit. Such traces, introduced  with  Hinduism,
are present in all the cultivated  languages  of  Malaysia  at  the  present
day.The Hova occupy the table-land of Imerina and  form  the  first  of  the
three main groups into which the population of Madagascar  may  be  divided.
They are short, of an olive-yellow complexion and have straight  or  faintly
wavy  hair.  On  the  east  coast  are  the  Malagasy,   who   in   physical
characteristics stand halfway between the Hova and the  Sakalava,  the  last
occupying the remaining portion of the island  and  displaying  almost  pure
Negroid characteristics.
  Though the Hova belong to a race naturally  addicted  to  seafaring,  the
contrary is the case respecting the Negroid population, and the presence  of
the latter in the island has been explained by  the  supposition  that  they
were imported by the Hova. Other authorities assign less  antiquity  to  the
Hova immigration and believe that they found the Negroid tribes  already  in
occupation of the island.
  As might be expected,  the  culture  found  in  Madagascar  contains  two
elements, Negroid and  Malayo-Indonesian.  The  first  of  these  two  shows
certain affinities with the culture characteristic of the  western  area  of
Africa,  such  as  rectangular  huts,  clothing  of  bark  and   palm-fibre,
fetishism, &c.,  but  cattle-breeding  is  found  as  well  as  agriculture.
However, the Negroid tribes are more and more adopting the customs and  mode
of life of the Hova, among whom are found pile-houses, the sarong,  yadi  or
tabu  applied  to  food,  a  non-African   form   of   bellows,   &c.,   all
characteristic of their original home. The Hova, during  the  19th  century,
embraced  Christianity,  but  retain,  nevertheless,  many  of   their   old
animistic beliefs; their original  social  organization  in  three  classes,
andriana or nobles,  hova  or  freemen,  and  andevo  or  slaves,  has  been
modified by the French, who have abolished kingship  and  slavery.  An  Arab
infusion is also to be noticed, especially on the north-east and  south-east
coasts.
  It is impossible to give a complete list of the tribes inhabiting Africa,
owing to the fact that the country is not fully  explored.  Even  where  the
names of the tribes are known their ethnic relations are still a  matter  of
uncertainty in many localities.
  The following list, therefore, must be regarded as purely tentative,  and
liable to correction in the light of fuller information:-

                         AFRICAN TRIBAL DISTRIBUTION
                                   LIBYANS
                       (North Africa, excluding Egypt)
Berbers, including – Kabyles, Mzab, Shawia, Tuareg
                         LIBYO-NEGROID TRANSITIONAL
Fula (West Sudan)
Tibbu (Central Sudan)
                                   HAMITES
                       (East Sudan and Horn of Africa)
Beja, including – Ababda, Hadendoa, Bisharin, Beni-Amer, Hamran, Galla,
Somali, Danakil (Afar)
Ba-Hima, including — Wa-Tussi, Wa-Hha, Wa-Rundi, Wa-Ruanda
                               HAMITO-SEMITES
Fellahin (Egypt)
Abyssinians (with Negroid admixture)
                         HAMITO-NEGROID TRANSITIONAL
Masai
Wa-Kuafi
                        NEGROID TRIBES
     West Sudan       Central Sudan                 Eastern
  Tukulor                  Songhai                      Fur       Kargo
  Wolof                    Hausa                        Dago      Kulfan
  Serer                    Bagirmi                      Kunjara   Kolaji
  Leybu                    Kanembu                      Tegele    Tumali
  Mandingo, including—    Kanuri                       Nuba
      Kassonke          Tama
      Yallonke          Maba                             Zandeh Tribes
      Soninke           Birkit                        (Akin to Nilotics,
but
      Bambara              Massalit                       probably with
Fula
      Vei                  Korunga                        element)
      Susu                 Kabbaga                       Azandeh (Niam
Niam)
      Solima                  &c.                       Makaraka
      Malinke                                         Mundu
                                                         Mangbettu
  Probably also—                                        Ababwa
      Mossi                                              Mege
      Borgu                                              Abisanga
  Tombo    }                                             Mabode{ probably
  Gurma    }                                             Momfu { with Pygmy
  Gurunga  }                                                   { element
  Dagomba  } Probably with Mandingan element                Allied are—
  Mampursi }                                            Banziri  Languassi
  Gonja    }                                            Ndris    Wia-Wia
  &c.     }                                            Togbo    Awaka
                                                               &c.
                                 NEGROES
                            West African Tribes
                            Tribes of Tshi and Ga    Tribes of Yeruba
                            speech, including—-     speech, including—
  Khabunke
  Balanta                         Ashanti                      Yoruba
  Bagnori                         Safwi                        Ibadan
  Bagnum                          Denkera                      Ketu
  Felup, including—              Bekwai                       Egba
      Ayamat                      Nkoranza                     Jebu
      Jola                        Adansi                       Remo
      Jigush                      Assin                        Ode
      Vaca                        Wassaw                       Illorin
      Joat                        Ahanta                       Ijesa
      Karon                       Fanti                        Ondo
      Banyum                      Angona                       Mahin
      Banjar                      Akwapim                      Bini
      Fulum                       Akim                         Kakanda
      Bayot                       Akwamu                       Wari
        &c.                      Kwao                         Ibo
  Bujagos                         Ga                           Efik
  Biafare                                                      Andoni
  Landuman              Tribes of Ewe speech,           Kwa
  Nalu                        including—                  Ibibio
  Baga                                                         Ekoi
  Sape                         Dahomi                       Inokun
  Bulam                           Eweawo                       Akunakuim
  Mendi                           Agotine                      Munshi
  Limba                           Krepi                        Ikwe
  Gallina                         Avenor
  Timni                           Awuna
  Pessi                           Agbosomi
  Gola                            Aflao
  Kondo                           Ataklu
  Bassa                           Krikor
  Kru                             Geng
  Grebo                           Attaldoami
  Awekwom                         Aja
  Agni                            Ewemi
  Oshiu                           Appa
     Central Negroes                           Eastern Negroes
  Bolo                                               Pure Nilotics
  Yako                                               Shilluk
  Tangala                                            Nuer
  Kali                                               Dinka
  Mishi                                              Jur (Diur)
  Doma                                               Mittu
  Mosgu, including—                                 Jibbeh
      Mandara                                        Madi
      Margi                                          Lendu
      Logon                                          Alur (Lur)
      Gamergu                                        Acholi
      Keribina                                       Abaka
      Kuri                                           Golo
        &c.
                                                  Nilotics with affinity
  Nilotics with Affinity                            with Masai
   with Zandeh tribes                            Latuka
   Dor (Bongo)                                       Bari
   NEGRO-BANTU                                 NILOTIC-BANTU
   TRANSITIONAL                                TRANSITIONAL
  Bali        Ba-Kwiri                                   Ja-Luo
  Ba-Kossi    Abo
  Ba-Ngwa     Dualla
  Ba-Nyang    Bassa                                PYGMY TRIBES
  Ngolo       Ba-Noko                              Central Arica
  Ba-Fo       Ba-Puko                                    Akka
  Ba-Kundu    Ba-Koko                                    Ja-Mbute
  Isubu                                                  Ba-Bongo
                                                         Ashango
                                                           &c.
                         BANTU NEGROIDS
     Western             Central                   Eastern
  Ogowe              Luba-Lunda Group              Lacustrians
  Ashira                 Ba-Luba, including—            Ba-Nyoro
  Ishogo                   Ba-Songe                      Ba-Toro
  Ashango                  Wa-Rua                        Wa-Siba
  Bakalai                  Wa-Guha                       Wa-Sinja
  Nkomi                    Katanga                       Wa-Kerewe
  Orungu                   Ba-Shilange (with             Wa-Shashi
  Mpongwe                    Ba-Kete element)            Wa-Rundi
  Oshekiani                                              Ba-Iro
  Benga                    Ba-Lunda                      Ba-Ganda
  Ininga                     Probably connected          Ba-Soga
  Galao                        are—                     Ba-Kavirondo,
  Apingi                   Manyema                             including—
  Okanda                   Ba-Kumu                         Awaware
  Osaka                    Wa-Regga                        Awarimi
  Aduma                    Ba-Rotse, including—           Awakisii
  Mbamba                     Ma-Mbunda                        &c.
  Umbete                     Ma-Supia
  Bule                       Ma-Shukulumbwe
  Bane                       Ba-Tonga                     Bantu of Recent
  Yaunde                       and probably                  Immigration
  Maka                       Va-Lovale
  Bomone                                                 Wa-Kikuyu
  Kunabembe                  Tribes of the Congo     Wa-Kamba
  Fang (recent immigrants          bend              Wa-Pokomo
     from the Congo group)   Ba-Kessu                    Wa-Duruma
                             Ba-Tetela                   Wa-Digo
                             Ba-Songo Mino               Wa-Giriama
                             Ba-Kuba                     Wa-Taita
  Ba-Kongo,                  Ba-Lolo                     Wa-Nyatura
      including—            Ba-Kuti                     Wa-Iramba
    Mushi-Kongo              Ba-Mbala                    Wa-Mbugwe
    Mussorongo               Ba-Huana                    Wa-Kaguru
    Kabinda                  Ba-Yaka                     Wa-Gogo  {
possible
    Ka-Kongo                 Ba-Pindi                    Wa-Chaga { Masai
    Ba-Vili                  Ba-Kwese                             { element
    Ma-Yumbe                    &c.
    Ba-Lumbo                                                Older Bantu
    Ba-Sundi                 Tribes of the Congo     Wa-Nyamwezi,
    Ba-Bwende                        bank                 including—
    Ba-Lali                  Wa-Genia                      Wa-Sukuma
}Trans-
    Ba-Kunya                 Ba-Soko                       Wa-Sumbwa
}itional
                             Ba-Poto                       Wa-Nyanyembe }to
                             Mobali                        Wa-Jui
}Bantu
                             Mogwandi                      Wa-Kimbu     }of
                             Na-Ngala{ Connected           Wa-Kanongo
}recent
                             Ba-Bangi{ with Zandeh         Wa-Wende
}immi-
                                     { group
}gration
                             Wa-Buma
                             Ba-Nunu                       Wa-Gunda
                             Ba-Loi                        Wa-Guru
                             Ba-Teke                       Wa-Galla
                             Wa-Pfuru                    Wa-Sambara
                             Wa-Mbundu                   Wa-Seguha
                             Wa-Mfumu                    Wa-Nguru
                             Ba-Nsinik                   Wa-Sagara
                             Ma-Wumba                    Wa-Doe
                             Ma-Yakalia                  Wa-Khutu
                                &c                       Wa-Sarmo
                                                         Wa-Hehe
  TRANSITIONAL                                       Wa-Bena
  FROM CENTRAL                                       Wa-Sanga
  TO SOUTHERN                                        Wa-Swahili (with Arab
     BANTU                                               elements)
  Amoela                                                   Connected are—
  Ganguela                                               Wa-Kisi
  Kioko                                                  Wa-Mpoto     }
  Minungo                                                Ba-Tonga     }
  Imbangala                                              Ba-Tumbuka   }
  Ba-Achinji                                             Wa-Nyika     }
  Golo                                                   Wa-Nyamwanga }
Akin to
  Hollo                                                  A-Mambwe     }
Luba-
      &c.                                               Wa-Fipa      }
Lunda
  Mbunda peoples,                                        Wa-Rungu     }
group
      including—                                        A-Wemba      }
    Bihe                                              A-Chewa      }
    Dembo                                                A-Maravi     }
    Mbaka                                                Ba-Senga     }
    Ngola                                                Ba-Bisa      }
    Bondo                                                A-Jawa (Yaos)
    Ba-Ngala                                             Wa-Mwera
    Songo                                                Wa-Gindo
    Haku                                                 Ma-Konde
    Lubolo                                               Ma-Wia
    Kisama                                               Ma-Nganja
      &c.                                               Ma-Kua
                          SOUTHERN BANTU
                   (South and South-East Africa)
  Ba-Nyai       }                             Ama-Zulu, including—
  Ma-Kalanga,   } Affinity                         Ama-Swazi
      including } with                             Ama-Tonga
    Mashona     } Bechuana                         Matabele
  Ba-Ronga      }                                  Angoni
  Ba-Chuana,                                       Ma-Gwangwara
      including—                                  Ma-Huhu
    Ba-Tlapin                                      Ma-Viti
    Ba-Rolong                                      Ma-Situ
    Ba-Ratlou                                      Ma-Henge
    Ba-Taung                                          &c.
    Ba-Rapulana                               Ama-Xosa, including—
    Ba-Seleka                                      Ama-Gcaleka
    Ba-Hurutsi                                     Ama-Hahebe
    Ba-Tlaru                                       Ama-Ngqika
    Ba-Mangwato                                    Ama-Tembu
    Ba-Tauana                                      Ama-Pondo
    Ba-Ngwaketse                                       &c.
    Ba-Kuena                                       Ova-Herero
       &c.                                        Ova-Mpo
  HAMITO-BANTU                                   BUSHMEN
     BUSHMEN
  TRANSITIONAL
  Hottentots,     }
      including— } S. W.
    Namaqua       } Africa
    Koranna       }
                      TRIBES IN MADAGASCAR
  MALAYO-INDONESIANS                      BANTU-NEGROIDS
  Hova                                        Sakalava, including—
  Betsileo (slight Bantu admixture)                Menabe
                                                   Milaka
            HOVA-BANTU                         Ronandra
            TRANSITIONAL                       Mahafali
                                                      &c.
  Malagasy, including—
    Bestimisaraka         Antanosi
    Antambahoaka          Antsihanaka
    Antaimoro             Antanala
    Antaifasina           Antaisara
    Antaisaka                 &c.

                                 IV. HISTORY
  The origin and meaning of the name of the continent are discussed
elsewhere (see AFRICA, ROMAN.) The word Africa was applied originally to
the country in the immediate neighbourhood of Carthage, that part of the
continent first known to the Romans, and it was subsequently extended with
their increasing knowledge, till it came at last to include all that they
knew of the continent. The Arabs still confine the name Ifrikia to the
territory of Tunisia.
                     Phoenician and Greek colonization.
  The valley of the lower Nile was the home  in  remotest  antiquity  of  a
civilized race. Egyptian culture had,  however,   remarkably  little  direct
influence on the rest of the continent, a result due  in  large  measure  to
the fact that Egypt is shut off landwards by  immense  deserts.  If  ancient
Egypt and Ethiopia (q.v.) be excluded, the story  of  Africa  is  largely  a
record of the doings of its Asiatic and European conquerors and  colonizers,
Abyssinia  being  the  only  state  which  throughout  historic  times   has
maintained its independence. The countries bordering the Mediterranean  were
first exploited by the Phoenicians, whose  earliest  settlements  were  made
before 1000 B.C. Carthage, founded about 800  B.C.,  speedily  grew  into  a
city without rival in the Mediterranean, and the Phoenicians,  subduing  the
Berber tribes, who then as now formed the bulk  of  the  population,  became
masters of all the habitable region  of  North  Africa  west  of  the  Great
Syrtis,  and  found  in  commerce  a  source  of  immense  prosperity.  Both
Egyptians and Carthaginians made attempts to reach the unknown parts of  the
continent by sea. Herodotus relates  that  an  expedition  under  Phoenician
navigators, employed by Necho, king of Egypt, c. 600  B.C.,  circumnavigated
Africa from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, a voyage stated to  have  been
accomplished in three years. Apart from  the  reported  circumnavigation  of
the continent, the west coast was well known to the Phoenicians  as  far  as
Cape Nun, and c. 520 B.C. Hanno, a Carthaginian, explored the coast as  far,
perhaps, as the Bight of Benin, certainly as far as Sierra  Leone.  A  vague
knowledge of the Niger regions was also possessed by the Phoenicians.
  Meantime the first European colonists had planted themselves  in  Africa.
At the point where the  continent  approaches  nearest  the  Greek  islands,
Greeks founded the  city  of  Cyrene  (c.  631  B.C..)  Cyrenaica  became  a
flourishing colony, though being hemmed in on all sides by  absolute  desert
it had little or no influence on inner Africa. The Greeks, however,  exerted
a  powerful  influence  in  Egypt.  To  Alexander  the  Great  the  city  of
Alexandria owes  its  foundation  (332  B.C.),  and  under  the  Hellenistic
dynasty of the Ptolemies attempts were made to penetrate southward,  and  in
this way was obtained some knowledge of  Abyssinia.  Neither  Cyrenaica  nor
Egypt was a serious rival to the Carthaginians, but all  three  powers  were
eventually  supplanted  by  the  Romans.  After  centuries  of  rivalry  for
supremacy1 the struggle was ended by  the  fall  of  Carthage  in  146  B.C.
Within little more than a century  from  that  date  Egypt  and  Cyrene  had
become incorporated in the Roman empire. Under Rome the settled portions  of
the country were very prosperous, and a Latin  strain  was  introduced  into
the land. Though Fezzan was occupied by them,  the  Romans  elsewhere  found
the Sahara an impassable barrier. Nubia and Abyssinia were reached,  but  an
expedition sent by the emperor Nero to  discover  the  source  of  the  Nile
ended in failure.  The  utmost  extent  of  geographical  knowledge  of  the
continent is shown in the writings of Ptolemy (2nd century A.D.),  who  knew
of or guessed the existence of the great lake reservoirs  of  the  Nile  and
had heard of the river Niger. Still Africa for the civilized world  remained
simply the countries bordering the  Mediterranean.  The  continual  struggle
between Rome and the Berber tribes; the  introduction  of  Christianity  and
the glories and  sufferings  of  the  Egyptian  and  African  Churches;  the
invasion and conquest of the African provinces by the  Vandals  in  the  5th
century; the passing of the supreme power in the following  century  to  the
Byzantine empire—all these events are told fully elsewhere.
  In the 7th century of the Christian era occurred  an  event  destined  to
have a permanent influence on the whole continent.
                    North Africa conquered by the Arabs.
  Invading first Egypt, an Arab host, fanatical believers in the new  faith
of Mahomet, conquered the whole country from the Red  Sea  to  the  Atlantic
and carried the Crescent into Spain. Throughout  North  Africa  Christianity
well-nigh disappeared, save in Egypt (where the Coptic Church  was  suffered
to exist), and Upper Nubia and Abyssinia, which  were  not  subdued  by  the
Moslems. In the 8th, 9th  and  10th  centuries  the  Arabs  in  Africa  were
numerically weak; they held the countries they had conquered  by  the  sword
only, but in the 11th century there was a great Arab immigration,  resulting
in a large absorption of Berber blood. Even  before  this  the  Berbers  had
very generally adopted the speech and religion  of  their  conquerors.  Arab
influence and the Mahommedan  religion  thus  became  indelibly  stamped  on
northern Africa. Together they spread  southward  across  the  Sahara.  They
also became firmly established along the  eastern  sea-board,  where  Arabs,
Persians and Indians planted flourishing colonies, such as Mombasa,  Malindi
and Sofala, playing a role,  maritime  and  commercial,  analogous  to  that
filled in earlier centuries by the Carthaginians on the northern  sea-board.
Of these eastern cities and states  both  Europe  and  the  Arabs  of  North
Africa were long ignorant.
  The first Arab invaders had recognized the authority of  the  caliphs  of
Bagdad, and the Aghlabite  dynasty—founded  by  Aghlab,  one  of  Haroun  al
Raschid's generals, at the close of the 8th century—ruled as vassals of  the
caliphate.  However,  early  in  the  10th  century  the  Fatimite   dynasty
established itself in Egypt, where Cairo had  been  founded  A.D.  968,  and
from there ruled as far west  as  the  Atlantic.  Later  still  arose  other
dynasties
                          Appearance of the Turks.
such as the  Almoravides  and  Almohades.  Eventually  the  Turks,  who  had
conquered Constantinople in 1453, and had seized Egypt in 1517,  established
the regencies of Algeria, Tunisia  and  Tripoli  (between  1519  and  1551),
Morocco remaining an independent Arabized Berber state  under  the  Sharifan
dynasty, which had its beginnings at the end of the 13th century. Under  the
earlier dynasties Arabian or Moorish culture had attained a high  degree  of
excellence, while the spirit of adventure and the proselytizing zeal of  the
followers of Islam led to a considerable extension of the knowledge  of  the
continent. This was rendered more easy by their  use  of  the  camel  (first
introduced into Africa by the Persian conquerors of  Egypt),  which  enabled
the Arabs to traverse the desert. In this  way  Senegambia  and  the  middle
Niger regions fell under the influence of the Arabs and Berbers, but it  was
not until 1591 that Timbuktu—a  city  founded  in  the  11th  century—became
Moslem. That city had been reached in 1352 by the great Arab  traveller  Ibn
Batuta, to whose journey to Mombasa and Quiloa (Kilwa)  was  due  the  first
accurate knowledge of those flourishing Moslem cities on  the  east  African
sea-boards. Except along this sea-board, which was colonized  directly  from
Asia, Arab progress southward was stopped by the broad belt of dense  forest
which, stretching almost across the continent somewhat south of 10 deg.  N.,
barred their advance  as  effectually  as  had  the  Sahara  that  of  their
predecessors, and cut them off from knowledge of the  Guinea  coast  and  of
all Africa beyond. One of the regions which came latest under  Arab  control
was that of Nubia, where a Christian civilization and state  existed  up  to
the 14th century.
  For a time the Moslem conquests in South Europe had virtually made of the
Mediterranean an Arab lake, but the expulsion in the  11th  century  of  the
Saracens from Sicily and southern Italy  by  the  Normans  was  followed  by
descents of the conquerors on Tunisia and Tripoli.  Somewhat  later  a  busy
trade  with  the  African  coast-lands,  and  especially  with  Egypt,   was
developed by Venice, Pisa, Genoa and other cities of  North  Italy.  By  the
end of the 15th century Spain had completely thrown  off  the  Moslem  yoke,
but even while the Moors were still in Granada, Portugal was  strong  enough
to carry the war into Africa.  In  1415  a  Portuguese  force  captured  the
citadel of Ceuta on the  Moorish  coast.  From  that  time  onward  Portugal
repeatedly
                Spain and Portugal invade the Barbary States.
interfered in the affairs of Morocco, while Spain  acquired  many  ports  in
Algeria and Tunisia. Portugal, however, suffered a crushing defeat  in  1578
at al Kasr al Kebir, the Moors being led by Abd el  Malek  I.  of  the  then
recently established Sharifan dynasty. By that time the Spaniards  had  lost
almost all their African possessions. The  Barbary  states,  primarily  from
the example  of  the  Moors  expelled  from  Spain,  degenerated  into  mere
communities  of  pirates,  and  under  Turkish  influence  civilization  and
commerce declined. The story of these states from the beginning of the  16th
century to the third decade of the  19th  century  is  largely  made  up  of
piratical exploits on the one hand  and  of  ineffectual  reprisals  on  the
other. In Algiers, Tunis  and  other  cities  were  thousands  of  Christian
slaves.
  But with the battle of Ceuta Africa had ceased to belong solely to the
Mediterranean world. Among those who fought there was
           Discovery of the Guinea coast—Rise of the slave trade.
one. Prince Henry ``the Navigator,'' son of King  John  I.,  who  was  fired
with the ambition to acquire for  Portugal  the  unknown  parts  of  Africa.
Under his inspiration and direction was begun  that  series  of  voyages  of
exploration which  resulted  in  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa  and  the
establishment of Portuguese sovereignty  over  large  areas  of  the  coast-
lands. Cape Bojador was doubled in 1434, Cape Verde in  1445,  and  by  1480
the whole Guinea coast was known. In 1482 Diogo Cam or  Cao  discovered  the
mouth of the Congo, the Cape of Good Hope was doubled  by  Bartholomew  Diaz
in 1488, and in 1498 Vasco da Gama, after having rounded  the  Cape,  sailed
up the east coast, touched at Sofala and Malindi, and went thence to  India.
Over all the countries  discovered  by  their  navigators  Portugal  claimed
sovereign rights, but these were not exercised in the extreme south  of  the
continent. The Guinea coast, as the first  discovered  and  the  nearest  to
Europe, was first  exploited.  Numerous  forts  and  trading  stations  were
established, the earliest being Sao Jorge da Mina (Elmina), begun  in  1482.
The chief commodities dealt in were slaves,  gold,  ivory  and  spices.  The
discovery of America (1492) was followed  by  a  great  development  of  the
slave trade, which, before the Portuguese era, had been  an  overland  trade
almost exclusively confined to Mahommedan Africa. The  lucrative  nature  of
this trade and the  large  quantities  of  alluvial  gold  obtained  by  the
Portuguese drew other nations to the Guinea  coast.  English  mariners  went
thither as early as 1553,  and  they  were  followed  by  Spaniards,  Dutch,
French, Danish and other adventurers. Much of Senegambia was made  known  as
a result of quests during the 16th century for  the  ``hills  of  gold''  in
Bambuk and the fabled wealth of Timbuktu,  but  the  middle  Niger  was  not
reached. The supremacy along the coast  passed  in  the  17th  century  from
Portugal to Holland and from Holland in  the  18th  and  19th  centuries  to
France and England. The whole coast from Senegal to Lagos  was  dotted  with
forts and ``factories'' of rival powers, and  this  international  patchwork
persists though all the hinterland  has  become  either  French  or  British
territory.
  Southward from the mouth of the Congo2  to  the  inhospitable  region  of
Damaraland, the Portuguese, from 1491 onward, acquired  influence  over  the
Bantu-Negro inhabitants, and in the early part of the 16th  century  through
their efforts Christianity was largely adopted  in  the  native  kingtom  of
Congo. An irruption of  cannibals  from  the  interior  later  in  the  same
century broke  the  power  of  this  semi-Christian  state,  and  Portuguese
activity was transferred to a great  extent  farther  south,  Sao  Paulo  de
Loanda being founded in 1576. The sovereignty of Portugal  over  this  coast
region, except for the mouth of the Congo, has been once only challenged  by
a European power, and that  was  in  1640-1648,  when  the  Dutch  held  the
seaports.
  Neglecting the comparatively poor and thinly inhabited regions  of  South
Africa,  the  Portuguese  no  sooner  discovered  than  they   coveted   the
flourishing  cities  held  by  Arabized  peoples  between  Sofala  and  Cape
Guardafui. By 1520 all these Moslem
                The Portuguese in East Africa and Abyssinia.
sultanates had been seized by  Portugal,  Mozambique  being  chosen  as  the
chief city of her East African  possessions.  Nor  was  Portuguese  activity
confined to the  coast-lands.  The  lower  and  middle  Zambezi  valley  was
explored (16th and 17th centuries), and  here  the  Portuguese  found  semi-
civilized Bantu-Negro tribes, who had been for many years  in  contact  with
the coast Arabs. Strenuous efforts were made to  obtain  possession  of  the
country (modern Rhodesia)  known  to  them  as  the  kingdom  or  empire  of
Monomotapa, where gold had been worked by the natives from  about  the  12th
century A.D., and whence the Arabs, whom the Portuguese  dispossessed,  were
still obtaining supplies in  the  16th  century.  Several  expeditions  were
despatched inland from 1569 onward and considerable quantities of gold  were
obtained. Portugal's hold on the interior, never  very  effective,  weakened
during the 17th century, and in the middle of the 18th century  ceased  with
the abandonment of the forts in the Manica district.
  At the period of her greatest power Portugal exercised a strong influence
in Abyssinia  also.  In  the  ruler  of  Abyssinia  (to  whose  dominions  a
Portuguese  traveller  had  penetrated  before  Vasco  da  Gama's  memorable
voyage) the Portuguese imagined  they  had  found  the  legendary  Christian
king, Prester John, and when the complete overthrow of  the  native  dynasty
and the Christian religion was  imminent  by  the  victories  of  Mahommedan
invaders, the exploits of a band of  400  Portuguese  under  Christopher  da
Gama during 1541-1543 turned the scale in favour of Abyssinia and  had  thus
an enduring result on the future of North-East Africa. After da Gama's  time
Portuguese Jesuits  resorted  to  Abyssinia.  While  they  failed  in  their
efforts to convert the Abyssinians to Roman  Catholicism  they  acquired  an
extensive knowledge of the country. Pedro  Paez  in  1615,  and,  ten  years
later, Jeronimo Lobo, both visited the sources of the  Blue  Nile.  In  1663
the Portuguese, who had outstayed their  welcome,  were  expelled  from  the
Abyssinian dominions. At this time  Portuguese  influence  on  the  Zanzibar
coast was waning before the power of the Arabs of Muscat,  and  by  1730  no
point on the east coast north of Cape Delgado was held by Portugal.
  It has been seen that Portugal took no steps to acquire the southern part
of the continent. To the Portuguese the Cape of
             English and Dutch at Table Bay—Cape Colony founded.
Good Hope was simply a landmark on the road to India, and mariners of  other
nations who followed in their wake used Table Bay only as a convenient  spot
wherein to refit on their voyage to the East. By the beginning of  the  17th
century the bay was much resorted to for this purpose,  chiefly  by  English
and Dutch vessels. In 1620, with the object of forestalling the  Dutch,  two
officers  of  the  East  India  Company,  on  their  own  initiative,   took
possession of Table Bay in the name of King James,  fearing  otherwise  that
English ships would be ``frustrated of  watering  but  by  license.''  Their
action was not approved in London and the proclamation they issued  remained
without effect. The Netherlands profited by the apathy of  the  English.  On
the advice of sailors who had been shipwrecked in Table Bay the  Netherlands
East India Company, in 1651, sent out a fleet of three small  vessels  under
Jan van Riebeek which reached Table Bay on the  6th  of  April  1652,  when,
164 years after its discovery, the  first  permanent  white  settlement  was
made in South Africa. The Portuguese, whose  power  in  Africa  was  already
waning, were not in a position  to  interfere  with  the  Dutch  plans,  and
England was content to seize the island of St Helena as her  half-way  house
to the East3. In its inception the settlement at the Cape was  not  intended
to become an African colony, but was regarded as the most  westerly  outpost
of the Dutch East Indies. Nevertheless, despite the  paucity  of  ports  and
the absence of  navigable  rivers,  the  Dutch  colonists,  freed  from  any
apprehension of European trouble by the  friendship  between  Great  Britain
and Holland, and leavened by Huguenot  blood,  gradually  spread  northward,
stamping their language, law and religion indelibly upon South Africa.  This
process, however, was exceedingly slow.
  During the 18th century there is little to record in the history of
Africa. The nations of Europe, engaged in the later half of the
                  Waning and revival of interest in Africa.
century in almost constant warfare, and struggling for supremacy in  America
and the East, to a large extent lost their interest in the  continent.  Only
on the west coast was there keen rivalry, and here the motive was  securance
of trade rather than territorial acquisitions. In  this  century  the  slave
trade reached its highest development, the trade in  gold,  ivory,  gum  and
spices   being   small   in   comparison.   In   the   interior    of    the
continent—Portugal's  energy  being  expended—no  interest  was  shown,  the
nations with establishments on the coast ``taking no further notice  of  the
inhabitants or their land than to obtain  at  the  easiest  rate  what  they
procure with as little trouble as possible, or to carry them off for  slaves
to their  plantations  in  America''  (Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  3rd  ed.,
1797). Even the scanty knowledge acquired by the ancients and the Arabs  was
in the main forgotten or disbelieved. It was the period when —  Geographers,
in Afric maps, With savage pictures filled their gaps, And o'er  unhabitable
downs Placed elephants for want of towns.
                  (Poetry, a Rhapsody. By Jonathan Swift.)
  The prevailing ignorance may be gauged by  the  statement  in  the  third
edition of the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  that  ``the  Gambia  and  Senegal
rivers are only branches of the Niger.'' But the closing years of  the  18th
century, which witnessed the partial awakening of the public  conscience  of
Europe to the iniquities of the slave  trade,  were  also  notable  for  the
revival of interest in inner Africa. A society,  the  African  Association,4
was formed in London in 1788 for the exploration  of  the  interior  of  the
continent. The era of great discoveries had begun a little  earlier  in  the
famous journey (1770-1772) of James  Bruce  through  Abyssinia  and  Sennar,
during which he determined the course of the Blue Nile. But it  was  through
the agents of the African Association  that  knowledge  was  gained  of  the
Niger regions. The Niger  itself  was  first  reached  by  Mungo  Park,  who
travelled by way of the Gambia, in 1795. Park, on a second journey in  1805,
passed Timbuktu and descended the Niger to Bussa, where he  lost  his  life,
having just failed to solve the question as to where the river  reached  the
ocean. (This problem  was  ultimately  solved  by  Richard  Lander  and  his
brother in 1830.) The first scientific explorer  of  South-East  Africa,  Dr
Francisco de Lacerda, a Portuguese, also lost  his  life  in  that  country.
Lacerda travelled up the Zambezi to Tete, going thence towards  Lake  Mweru,
near which he died in 1798.  The  first  recorded  crossing  of  Africa  was
accomplished between the years 1802 and 1811 by  two  half-caste  Portuguese
traders, Pedro Baptista and A. Jose, who passed from Angola eastward to  the
Zambezi.
  Although the Napoleonic wars distracted  the  attention  of  Europe  from
exploratory work in Africa, those wars nevertheless
           Effects of the Napoleonic wars—Britain seizes the Cape.
exercised great influence on the future of the continent, both in Egypt  and
South Africa. The occupation of Egypt (1798-1803) first by France  and  then
by Great Britain resulted in an effort by Turkey to  regain  direct  control
over that country,5 followed in 1811 by the establishment under Mehemet  Ali
of an almost independent state, and the extension of Egyptian rule over  the
eastern Sudan  (from  1820  onward).  In  South  Africa  the  struggle  with
Napoleon caused Great Britain to take possession of  the  Dutch  settlements
at the Cape, and in 1814 Cape Colony, which had been  continuously  occupied
by British troops since 1806, was formally ceded to the British crown.
  The close of the European conflicts  with  the  battle  of  Waterloo  was
followed by vigorous efforts on  the  part  of  the  British  government  to
become better acquainted with Africa, and  to  substitute  colonization  and
legitimate trade  for  the  slave  traffic,  declared  illegal  for  British
subjects in 1807 and abolished by all other  European  powers  by  1836.  To
West Africa Britain devoted much attention. The  slave  trade  abolitionists
had already, in 1788, formed a settlement at Sierra  Leone,  on  the  Guinea
coast, for freed slaves, and from this  establishment  grew  the  colony  of
Sierra Leone, long notorious, by reason of  its  deadly  climate,  as  ``The
White Man's Grave.''6 Farther east the  establishments  on  the  Gold  Coast
began to take a part in the politics of the interior, and the first  British
mission  to  Kumasi,  despatched  in  1817,  led  to  the  assumption  of  a
protectorate over the maritime tribes heretofore governed by the Ashanti.
  An expedition sent in 1816 to explore the Congo from its  mouth  did  not
succeed in getting beyond the rapids which bar the way to the interior,  but
in the central Sudan much  better  results  were  obtained.  In  1823  three
English  travellers,  Walter  Oudney,  Dixon  Denham  and  Hugh  Clapperton,
reached Lake Chad from Tripoli—the first white men to reach that  lake.  The
partial exploration of Bornu and  the  Hausa  states  by  Clapperton,  which
followed, revealed the existence of large and flourishing cities and a semi-
civilized people in a region hitherto unknown. The discovery in 1830 of  the
mouth of the Niger by Clapperton's servant Lander,  already  mentioned,  had
been preceded by the journeys of Major A.G. Laing (1826)  and  Rene  Caillie
(1827) to Timbuktu, and was followed (1832-1833) by the  partial  ascent  of
the Benue affluent of the Niger by Macgregor Laird.  In  1841  a  disastrous
attempt was made to plant a white colony on the lower Niger,  an  expedition
(largely philanthropic and antislavery in  its  inception)  which  ended  in
utter failure. Nevertheless from that time British traders remained  on  the
lower Niger, their continued presence leading ultimately to the  acquisition
of political rights over the delta and the Hausa states by  Great  Britain.7
Another endeavour by the British government to open up commercial  relations
with the Niger countries resulted in  the  addition  of  a  vast  amount  of
information concerning the countries between Timbuktu and Lake  Chad,  owing
to the labours of Heinrich Barth (1850-1855), originally a subordinate,  but
the only surviving member of the expedition sent out.
  Meantime considerable changes  had  been  made  in  other  parts  of  the
continent, the most notable being—the occupation of  Algiers  by  France  in
1830, an end being thereby put to the piratical proceedings of  the  Barbary
states; the continued expansion southward of  Egyptian  authority  with  the
consequent additions to the knowledge of the Nile; and the establishment  of
independent states ((Orange Free State and the Transvaal) by  Dutch  farmers
(Boers) dissatisfied with British rule in Cape Colony. Natal,  so  named  by
Vasco da Gama, had been made a British colony (1843),  the  attempt  of  the
Boers to acquire it being frustrated. The city of Zanzibar,  on  the  island
of that name, founded in 1832 by Seyyid Said  of  Muscat,  rapidly  attained
importance, and Arabs  began  to  penetrate  to  the  great  lakes  of  East
Africa,8 concerning which little more was known (and less believed) than  in
the time of Ptolemy. Accounts of a vast inland sea,  and  the  discovery  in
1848-1840, by the missionaries Ludwig Krapf and J.Rebmann, of the  snow-clad
mountains of Kilimanjaro and Kenya, stimulated  in  Europe  the  desire  for
further knowledge.
  At this period, the middle of the 19th century, Protestant missions  were
carrying on active propaganda on the Guinea

                         The era of great explorers.
coast, in South Africa and in the Zanzibar dominions.  Their  work,  largely
beneficent, was being conducted in regions and among peoples  little  known,
and in many instances missionaries turned explorers and became  pioneers  of
trade and empire. One of the first to  attempt  to  fill  up  the  remaining
blank spaces in the map was David Livings tone, who had been  engaged  since
1840 in missionary work north of the Orange.  In  1849  Livingstone  crossed
the Kalahari Desert from south to north and reached Lake Ngami, and  between
1851 and 1856 he traversed the continent from west  to  east,  making  known
the  great  waterways  of  the  upper  Zambezi.  During  these   journeyings
Livingstone discovered, November 1855, the famous Victoria Falls,  so  named
after the queen of England. In 1858-1864 the lower Zambezi,  the  Shire  and
Lake Nyasa were explored by Livingstone, Nyasa having been first reached  by
the confidential slave of  Antonio  da  Silva  Porto,  a  Portuguese  trader
established at Bihe in Angola, who  crossed  Africa  during  1853-1856  from
Benguella to the mouth of  the  Rovuma.  While  Livingstone  circumnavigated
Nyasa, the more northerly lake,  Tanganyika,  had  been  visited  (1858)  by
Richard Burton and J. H. Speke, and the  last  named  had  sighted  Victoria
Nyanza. Returning to East Africa with J. A. Grant, Speke reached,  in  1862,
the river which flowed from Victoria Nyanza, and following it (in the  main)
down to Egypt, had the distinction of  being  the  first  man  to  read  the
riddle of the Nile. In 1864 another Nile explorer, Samuel Baker,  discovered
the Albert Nyanza, the  chief  western  reservoir  of  the  river.  In  1866
Livingstone began his last great journey,  in  which  he  made  known  Lakes
Mweru and Bangweulu and discovered  the  Lualaba  (the  upper  part  of  the
Congo), but died (1873) before he had been able to demonstrate its  ultimate
course, believing indeed that the  Lualaba  belonged  to  the  Nile  system.
Livingstone's lonely death in the heart of Africa  evoked  a  keener  desire
than ever to complete the work he left undone. H. M.  Stanley,  who  had  in
1871 succeeded in finding and  succouring  Livingstone,  started  again  for
Zanzibar in 1874, and in the most memorable of all exploring expeditions  in
Africa  circumnavigated  Victoria  Nyanza  and  Tanganyika,  and,   striking
farther inland to the Lualaba, followed that  river  down  to  the  Atlantic
Ocean—reached in August 1877—and proved it to  be  the  Congo.  Stanley  had
been preceded, in 1874, at Nyangwe,  Livingstone's  farthest  point  on  the
Lualaba, by Lovett Cameron, who was, however, unable farther to explore  its
course, making his way to the west coast by a route south of the Congo.
  While the great mystery of Central Africa was being solved explorers were
also active in other parts of the continent. Southern  Morocco,  the  Sahara
and the Sudan were traversed in many directions between  1860  and  1875  by
Gerhard Rohlfs, Georg Schweinfurth and Gustav  Nachtigal.  These  travellers
not  only  added  considerably  to  geographical  knowledge,  but   obtained
invaluable information concerning the people, languages and natural  history
of the  countries  in  which  they  sojourned.9  Among  the  discoveries  of
Schweinfurth was one that confirmed  the  Greek  legends  of  the  existence
beyond Egypt of a pygmy race. But the first discoverer of  the  dwarf  races
of Central Africa was Paul du Chaillu, who found them in the Ogowe  district
of the west coast in 1865, five years before  Schweinfurth's  first  meeting
with the Pygmies; du Chaillu having previously, as the  result  of  journeys
in the Gabun country between 1855 and  1859,  made  popular  in  Europe  the
knowledge of the existence of the gorilla, perhaps the gigantic ape seen  by
Hanno the Carthaginian, and whose existence, up to the middle  of  the  19th
century, was  thought  to  be  as  legendary  as  that  of  the  Pygmies  of
Aristotle.
  In South Africa the filling up of  the  map  also  proceeded  apace.  The
finding, in 1869, of rich diamond fields in the valley of  the  Vaal  river,
near its confluence with the Orange, caused a  rush  of  emigrants  to  that
district, and led to conflicts between the  Dutch  and  British  authorities
and the extension of British authority northward. In 1871 the ruins  of  the
great Zimbabwe in Mashonaland, the chief fortress  and  distributing  centre
of the race which in medieval times  worked  the  goldfields  of  South-East
Africa, were explored by Karl Mauch. In the  following  year  F.  C.  Selous
began his journeys over South Central Africa, which continued for more  than
twenty years and extended over every part of Mashonaland  and  Matabeleland.
(F. R. C.)

                     V. PARTITION AMONG EUROPEAN POWERS
  In  the  last  quarter  of  the  19th  century  the  map  of  Africa  was
transformed. After the discovery of  the  Congo  the  story  of  exploration
takes  second  place;  the  continent  becomes  the  theatre   of   European
expansion. Lines of partition, drawn often through  trackless  wildernesses,
marked out the possessions of  Germany,  France,  Great  Britain  and  other
powers. Railways penetrated the interior,  vast  areas  were  opened  up  to
civilized occupation, and from ancient Egypt to the  Zambezi  the  continent
was startled into new life.
  Before 1875 the only powers with any considerable interest in Africa were
Britain, Portugal and France. Between 1815  and  1850,  as  has  been  shown
above, the British government devoted much energy, not  always  informed  by
knowledge, to western and southern Africa. In both directions Great  Britain
had met with  much  discouragement;  on  the  west  coast,  disease,  death,
decaying trade and useless conflicts with savage foes had  been  the  normal
experience; in the south  recalcitrant  Boers  and  hostile  Kaffirs  caused
almost endless trouble. The  visions  once  entertained  of  vigorous  negro
communities at once civilized and Christian faded away; to the  hot  fit  of
philanthropy succeeded the cold fit of indifference and a disinclination  to
bear the burden of empire. The low-water mark of British interest  in  South
Africa was reached in 1854 when independence was forced on the Orange  River
Boers, while in 1865 the mind of the nation  was  fairly  reflected  by  the
unanimous resolution of  a  representative  House  of  Commons  committee:10
``that all further extension of territory or assumption  of  government,  or
new  treaty  offering  any   protection   to   native   tribes,   would   be
inexpedient.'' For  nearly  twenty  years  the  spirit  of  that  resolution
paralysed British action in Africa, although many circumstances—the  absence
of  any  serious  European  rival,  the  inevitable  border  disputes   with
uncivilized races, and the activity of missionary  and  trader—conspired  to
make British influence dominant in large areas of the continent  over  which
the government exercised no  definite  authority.  The  freedom  with  which
blood and treasure were spent to enforce respect for the British flag or  to
succour British subjects in distress, as in the Abyssinian campaign of 1867-
68 and the Ashanti war of 1873, tended further to enhance the reputation  of
Great Britain among African races, while, as an  inevitable  result  of  the
possession of India, British officials exercised considerable power  at  the
court of Zanzibar, which indeed owed its separate existence  to  a  decision
of Lord Canning, the governor-general of  India,  in  1861  recognizing  the
division of the Arabian and African dominions of the imam of Muscat.
  It has been said that Great Britain was without  serious  rival.  On  the
Gold Coast she had bought the Danish forts in 1850 and acquired  the  Dutch,
1871-1872, in exchange for establishments in  Sumatra.  But  Portugal  still
held, both in the east and west of Africa,  considerable  stretches  of  the
tropical coast-lands, and it was in 1875 that she obtained, as a  result  of
the arbitration of Marshal MacMahon, possession  of  the  whole  of  Delagoa
Bay, to the southern part of which England also laid claim by  virtue  of  a
treaty of cession concluded with native  chiefs  in  1823.  The  only  other
European power which at the  period  under  consideration  had  considerable
possessions in Africa was France. Besides Algeria,  France  had  settlements
on the Senegal, where in  1854  the  appointment  of  General  Faidherbe  as
governor marked the beginning  of  a  policy  of  expansion;  she  had  also
various posts on the upper Guinea coast, had taken the estuary of the  Gabun
as a station for her navy, and had acquired  (1862)  Obok  at  the  southern
entrance to the Red Sea.
  In North Africa the  Turks  had  (in  1835)  assumed  direct  control  of
Tripoli, while Morocco had fallen into a state  of  decay  though  retaining
its independence. The  most  remarkable  change  was  in  Egypt,  where  the
Khedive Ismail had introduced a somewhat  fantastic  imitation  of  European
civilization. In addition Ismail had conquered Darfur,  annexed  Harrar  and
the Somali ports on the Gulf of Aden, was extending his power  southward  to
the equatorial lakes, and even contemplated reaching the Indian  Ocean.  The
Suez Canal, opened in 1869, had a great influence on the future  of  Africa,
as it again made Egypt the highway to the East,  to  the  detriment  of  the
Cape route.
  Any estimate of the area of African territory held by European nations in
1875 is necessarily but approximate, and varies chiefly

                   The division of the continent in 1875.
as the compiler of  statistics  rejects  or  accepts  the  vague  claims  of
Portugal to sovereignty over the hinterland of  her  coast  possessions.  At
that period other European nations—with the occasional  exception  of  Great
Britain—were indifferent to Portugal's pretensions, and her estimate of  her
African empire as covering over 700,000 sq. m.  was  not  challenged.11  But
the area under effective control of Portugal at that  time  did  not  exceed
40,000 sq. m. Great Britain then held some  250,000  sq.  m.,  France  about
170,000 sq. m. and Spain 1000  sq.m.  The  area  of  the  independent  Dutch
republics (the Transvaal and Orange Free State) was some 150,000 sq. m.,  so
that the total area of Africa ruled by Europeans did  not  exceed  1,271,000
sq. m.; roughly one-tenth of the continent. This estimate, as it admits  the
full extent of  Portuguese  claims  and  does  not  include  Madagascar,  in
reality considerably overstates the case.
  Egypt and the  Egyptian  Sudan,  Tunisia  and  Tripoli  were  subject  in
differing ways to the overlordship of the sultan of Turkey, and  with  these
may be ranked, in the scale of organized governments,  the  three  principal
independent states, Morocco, Abyssinia  and  Zanzibar,  as  also  the  negro
republic of Liberia. There remained, apart  from  the  Sahara,  roughly  one
half of Africa, lying mostly within the tropics, inhabited  by  a  multitude
of tribes and peoples living under various forms of government  and  subject
to frequent changes in respect of political  organization.  In  this  region
were the negro states of Ashanti, Dahomey and Benin on the west  coast,  the
Mahommedan sultanates of the central Sudan, and a number of  negro  kingdoms
in the east central and south central regions. Of these Uganda on the north-
west shores of Victoria Nyanza, Cazembe and Muata Hianvo (or Yanvo)  may  be
mentioned. The two last-named  kingdoms  occupied  respectively  the  south-
eastern and south-western parts of the Congo basin. In all this vast  region
the Negro and Negro-Bantu races predominated, for the  most  part  untouched
by Mahommedanism or Christian influences. They  lacked  political  cohesion,
and possessed  neither  the  means  nor  the  inclination  to  extend  their
influence beyond their own borders. The exploitation of Africa continued  to
be entirely the work of alien races.
  The causes which led to the partition of Africa may  now  be  considered.
They are to be found in the economic and political

                       Causes which led to partition.
state of western Europe at the time.  Germany,  strong  and  united  as  the
result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, was seeking new outlets  for  her
energies —new markets for her growing  industries,  and  with  the  markets,
colonies. Yet the idea of colonial expansion was of slow growth in  Germany,
and when Prince Bismarck at length acted Africa was the only field  left  to
exploit, South America  being  protected  from  interference  by  the  known
determination of the United States to enforce  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  while
Great Britain, France, the Netherlands,  Portugal  and  Spain  already  held
most of the other regions of the world where colonization was possible.  For
different reasons the war of 1870 was also the starting-point for France  in
the building up of a new colonial empire. In her  endeavour  to  regain  the
position lost in that war France had to  look  beyond  Europe.  To  the  two
causes mentioned must be added others.  Great  Britain  and  Portugal,  when
they found their interests threatened,  bestirred  themselves,  while  Italy
also conceived it necessary to become an African power. Great Britain  awoke
to the need for action too late to secure predominance in  all  the  regions
where formerly hers was the only European influence. She had to contend  not
only with the economic forces which urged her  rivals  to  action,  but  had
also to combat the jealous opposition of almost  every  European  nation  to
the further growth  of  British  power.  Italy  alone  acted  throughout  in
cordial co-operation with Great Britain.
  It was not, however, the action of any of  the  great  powers  of  Europe
which precipitated the struggle. This was brought  about  by  the  ambitious
projects  of  Leopold  II,  king  of  the  Belgians.  The   discoveries   of
Livingstone, Stanley and others had  aroused  especial  interest  among  two
classes of men in western Europe, one the manufacturing and  trading  class,
which saw in Central Africa possibilities  of  commercial  development,  the
other the philanthropic and missionary class,  which  beheld  in  the  newly
discovered lands millions of  savages  to  Christianize  and  civilize.  The
possibility of utilizing both these  classes  in  the  creation  of  a  vast
state, of which he should be  the  chief,  formed  itself  in  the  mind  of
Leopold II. even before Stanley had navigated the Congo. The  king's  action
was immediate; it proved successful; but no sooner was  the  nature  of  his
project understood in Europe than it provoked  the  rivalry  of  France  and
Germany, and thus the international struggle was begun.

                Conflicting ambitions of the European powers.
  At this point it is expedient, in the light of subsequent events, to  set
forth the designs then entertained by the European powers that  participated
in the struggle for Africa. Portugal was  striving  to  retain  as  large  a
share as possible of her shadowy empire, and particularly to  establish  her
claims to the Zambezi region, so as to secure a  belt  of  territory  across
Africa from Mozambique  to  Angola.  Great  Britain,  once  aroused  to  the
imminence of danger, put forth vigorous efforts in East Africa  and  on  the
Niger, but her most ambitious dream was the  establishment  of  an  unbroken
line of British possessions and spheres of influence from south to north  of
the continent, from Cape Colony to Egypt. Germany's ambition can  be  easily
described. It was to secure as much as possible, so as to make up  for  lost
opportunities. Italy coveted Tripoli, but that province could not be  seized
without risking  war.  For  the  rest  Italy's  territorial  ambitions  were
confined to North-East Africa, where she  hoped  to  acquire  a  dominating,
influence over Abyssinia. French  ambitions,  apart  from  Madagascar,  were
confined to the northern and central portions of the  continent.  To  extend
her possessions on the Mediterranean littoral, and to connect them with  her
colonies  in  West  Africa,  the  western  Sudan,  and  on  the  Congo,   by
establishing her influence over the vast intermediate regions, was  France's
first ambition. But  the  defeat  of  the  Italians  in  Abyssinia  and  the
impending downfall of the khalifa's power in the valley of  the  upper  Nile
suggested a still more daring project to the  French  government—none  other
than the establishment of French influence over a broad  belt  of  territory
stretching across the continent from west  to  east,  from  Senegal  on  the
Atlantic coast to the Gulf of Aden. The fact that France possessed  a  small
part of the Red Sea coast gave point to this design. But  these  conflicting
ambitions could not all be realized  and  Germany  succeeded  in  preventing
Great Britain obtaining a continuous band of British  territory  from  south
to north,while Great Britain,  by  excluding  France  from  the  upper  Nile
valley, dispelled the French dream of an empire  from  west  to  east.  King
Leopold's ambitions have already been indicated. The part of  the  continent
to which from the first he directed his energies was the equatorial  region.
In September 1876 he took what may be described as the first  definite  step
in the modern partition of the continent. He summoned  to  a  conference  at
Brussels  representatives  of  Great  Britain,  Belgium,  France,   Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Italy and Russia, to deliberate on the best methods  to  be
adopted for the exploration and civilization of Africa, and the  opening  up
of the interior of the continent to commerce and  industry.  The  conference
was entirely unofficial. The delegates who attended neither represented  nor
pledged their respective governments. Their deliberations lasted three  days
and  resulted   in   the   foundation   of   ``The   International   African
Association,'' with its headquarters at Brussels. It  was  further  resolved
to establish national  committees  in  the  various  countries  represented,
which should collect  funds  and  appoint  delegates  to  the  International
Association. The central idea appears to have been to  put  the  exploration
and development of Africa upon an  international  footing.  But  it  quickly
became  apparent  that  this  was  an  unattainable  ideal.   The   national
committees  were   soon   working   independently   of   the   International
Association, and the Association  itself  passed  through  a  succession  of
stages until it became purely Belgian in character, and  at  last  developed
into the Congo Free State, under the personal sovereignty of  King  Leopold.
At first the Association devoted itself to sending expeditions to the  great
central lakes from the east  coast;  but  failure,  more  or  less  complete
attended its efforts in this direction, and it was not until the  return  of
Stanley, in January 1878, from his great journey down the  Congo,  that  its
ruling spirit, King Leopold, definitely  turned  his  thoughts  towards  the
Congo. In June of that year, Stanley visited the king at  Brussels,  and  in
the following November a private conference was held, and  a  committee  was
appointed for the investigation of the upper Congo.
  Stanley's remarkable discovery had stirred  ambition  in  other  capitals
than Brussels. France had always taken a keen interest
                         The struggle for the Congo.
in West Africa, and in the years  1875  to  1878  Savorgnan  de  Brazza  had
carried out a successful exploration of the Ogowe river to the south of  the
Gabun. De Brazza  determined  that  the  Ogowe  did  not  offer  that  great
waterway into the interior of which he was in search,  and  he  returned  to
Europe without having heard of the discoveries  of  Stanley  farther  south.
Naturally, however, Stanley's discoveries were keenly  followed  in  France.
In Portugal, too, the discovery of the Congo, with its magnificent  unbroken
waterway of more than a thousand miles  into  the  heart  of  the  continent
served to revive the languid energies of the Portuguese, who promptly  began
to furbish up claims whose age was  in  inverse  ratio  to  their  validity.
Claims, annexations and occupations were in the air,  and  when  in  January
1879 Stanley left Europe as the accredited agent of  King  Leopold  and  the
Congo committee, the strictest secrecy was observed as to his real aims  and
intentions. The expedition was, it was alleged, proceeding up the  Congo  to
assist the Belgian expedition which had entered from  the  east  coast,  and
Stanley himself went first to Zanzibar. But in  August  1879  Stanley  found
himself again at Banana Point, at the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  with,  as  he
himself  has  written,  ``the  novel  mission  of  sowing  along  its  banks
civilized settlements to peacefully conquer and subdue it, to remould it  in
harmony with modern ideas into national  states,  within  whose  limits  the
European merchant shall go hand in hand with the dark  African  trader,  and
justice and law and order shall prevail, and murder and lawlessness and  the
cruel barter of slaves shall be overcome.'' The irony of  human  aspirations
was never perhaps more plainly demonstrated than  in  the  contrast  between
the ideal thus set before themselves by those who employed Stanley, and  the
actual results of their intervention in Africa. Stanley  founded  his  first
station at Vivi, between  the  mouth  of  the  Congo  and  the  rapids  that
obstruct its course where it breaks over the western  edge  of  the  central
continental plateau. Above the rapids he established a  station  on  Stanley
Pool and named it Leopoldville, founding other stations on the  main  stream
in the direction of the falls that bear his name.
  Meanwhile de Brazza was far from idle. He had returned to Africa  at  the
beginning of 1880,  and  while  the  agents  of  King  Leopold  were  making
treaties and founding stations along the southern  bank  of  the  river,  de
Brazza and other French agents were equally busy on the  northern  bank.  De
Brazza was sent out to Africa by the French committee of  the  International
African Association, which provided him with the funds for  the  expedition.
His avowed object was to explore the  region  between  the  Gabun  and  Lake
Chad. But his real object was  to  anticipate  Stanley  on  the  Congo.  The
international character of the  association  founded  by  King  Leopold  was
never more than a polite fiction, and the rivalry  between  the  French  and
the Belgians on the Congo was soon open, if not avowed. In October  1880  de
Brazza made a solemn treaty with a chief on the north  bank  of  the  Congo,
who claimed that  his  authority  extended  over  a  large  area,  including
territory on the southern bank of the river.  As  soon  as  this  chief  had
accepted French protection, de Brazza crossed  over  to  the  south  of  the
river, and founded a station close to the present site of Leopoldville.  The
discovery by Stanley of the French station  annoyed  King  Leopold's  agent,
and he promptly challenged the rights of the chief  who  purported  to  have
placed the country under French protection, and himself  founded  a  Belgian
station close to the site selected by de Brazza. In the result,  the  French
station was withdrawn to the northern side of Stanley Pool, where it is  now
known as Brazzaville.
  The activity of French and Belgian agents on the  Congo  had  not  passed
unnoticed in Lisbon, and the Portuguese government saw that no time  was  to
be lost if the claims it had never ceased to put forward on the  west  coast
were not to go by default.  At  varying  periods  during  the  19th  century
Portugal had put forward claims to the whole  of  the  West  African  coast,
between 5 deg. 12' and 8 deg. south. North of the Congo  mouth  she  claimed
the territories of Kabinda and Molemba, alleging that they had been  in  her
possession since 1484. Great  Britain  had  never,  however,  admitted  this
claim,  and  south  of  the  Congo  had  declined  to  recognize  Portuguese
possessions as extending north of Ambriz.  In  1856  orders  were  given  to
British cruisers to prevent  by  force  any  attempt  to  extend  Portuguese
dominion north of that place. But the  Portuguese  had  been  persistent  in
urging their claims, and in 1882 negotiations were  again  opened  with  the
British government for recognition of Portuguese rights over both  banks  of
the Congo on the coast, and for some distance inland. Into  the  details  of
the negotiations, which were conducted for Great Britain  by  the  2nd  Earl
Granville, who was then secretary for foreign affairs, it is unnecessary  to
enter; they resulted in the signing on  the  26th  of  February  1884  of  a
treaty, by which Great Britain recognized the sovereignty  of  the  king  of
Portugal ``over that part of the west coast of Africa,  situated  between  8
deg. and 5 deg. 12' south latitude,'' and inland as  far  as  Noki,  on  the
south bank of the Congo, below Vivi. The navigation of the Congo was  to  be
controlled by  an  Anglo-Portuguese  commission.  The  publication  of  this
treaty evoked immediate protests, not only on the  continent  but  in  Great
Britain. In face of the disapproval aroused by the  treaty,  Lord  Granville
found himself unable to ratify it. The protests had  not  been  confined  to
France and the king of the Belgians. Germany had  not  yet  acquired  formal
footing in Africa, but she was crouching for the spring prior to taking  her
part in the  scramble,  and  Prince  Bismarck  had  expressed,  in  vigorous
language, the objections entertained  by  Germany  to  the  Anglo-Portuguese
treaty.
  For some time before 1884 there had been growing up a general  conviction
that it would be desirable for the powers who  were  interesting  themselves
in Africa to come to some agreement as to ``the rules of the game,'' and  to
define their respective interests so  far  as  that  was  practicable.  Lord
Granville's ill-fated treaty brought this sentiment to a head,  and  it  was
agreed to hold an international conference on African  affairs.  But  before
discussing the Berlin conference of 1884-1885, it will be well to  see  what
was the position, on the eve of  the  conference,  in  other  parts  of  the
African continent. In the southern section of Africa, south of the  Zambezi,
important events had been happening. In 1876 Great Britain had concluded  an
agreement

               British influence consolidated in South Africa.
with the Orange Free State for an adjustment of  frontiers,  the  result  of
which was to leave the Kimberley diamond fields  in  British  territory,  in
exchange for a payment of L. 90,000 to the Orange Free State.  On  the  12th
of April 1877 Sir Theophilus Shepstone had issued a  proclamation  declaring
the  Transvaal—  the  South  African  Republic,   as   it   was   officially
designated—to be British territory (see TRANSVAAL.)  In  December  1880  war
broke out and lasted until March 1881, when a treaty of  peace  was  signed.
This treaty of peace was followed by a convention, signed in August  of  the
same year, under  which  complete  self-government  was  guaranteed  to  the
inhabitants of the Transvaal, subject to the suzerainty  of  Great  Britain,
upon certain terms and conditions and subject to  certain  reservations  and
limitations. No sooner was the convention signed than it became  the  object
of the Boers to obtain a modification  of  the  conditions  and  limitations
imposed, and in February 1884 a fresh convention was  signed,  amending  the
convention of 1881. Article IV. of the new convention  provided  that  ``The
South African Republic will conclude no treaty or engagement with any  state
or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with  any  native  tribe  to
the eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same has  been  approved
by Her Majesty the Queen.'' The precise effect of the  two  conventions  has
been the occasion for interminable discussions, but as the  subject  is  now
one of merely academic interest, it is  sufficient  to  say  that  when  the
Berlin  conference  held  its  first  meeting  in  1884  the  Transvaal  was
practically  independent,  so  far  as  its  internal   administration   was
concerned, while its foreign relations were  subject  to  the  control  just
quoted.
  But although the Transvaal had thus, between the  years  1875  and  1884,
become and ceased to be British territory, British influence in other  parts
of Africa south of the Zambezi had been steadily extended. To  the  west  of
the Orange Free State, Griqualand West was annexed  to  the  Cape  in  1880,
while to the east the territories beyond the  Kei  river  were  included  in
Cape Colony between 1877 and 1884, so that in the   latter  year,  with  the
exception of Pondoland, the whole of South-East Africa was in  one  form  or
another under British control. North of Natal,  Zululand  was  not  actually
annexed until 1887, although since 1879, when  the  military  power  of  the
Zulus was broken up, British  influence  had  been  admittedly  supreme.  In
December 1884 St Lucia Bay—upon which Germany was casting covetous  eyes—had
been taken possession of in virtue of its cession to Great  Britain  by  the
Zulu king in 1843, and three years later  an  agreement  of  non-cession  to
foreign powers made by Great Britain with the regent and paramount chief  of
Tongaland completed the chain of British possessions on the coast  of  South
Africa, from the mouth of the Orange river on the west to Kosi Bay  and  the
Portuguese frontier on the east. In the interior of South  Africa  the  year
1884 witnessed the beginning of that final  stage  of  the  British  advance
towards the north which was to extend British influence  from  the  Cape  to
the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika. The activity of the Germans  on  the
west, and of the Boer republic on the east, had brought  home  to  both  the
imperial and colonial authorities the  impossibility  of  relying  on  vague
traditional claims. In May 1884 treaties were made  with  native  chiefs  by
which the whole of the country north of Cape Colony, west of the  Transvaal,
south of 22 deg. S. and east  of  20  deg.  E.,  was  placed  under  British
protection, though a  protectorate  was  not  formally  declared  until  the
following January.
  Meanwhile some very interesting events had been taking place or: the west
coast, north of the Orange river and south of  the  Portuguese  province  of
Mossamaede. It must be sufficient here to touch very briefly on  the  events
that preceded the foundation of the colony of German South-West Africa.  For
many years before 1884 German missionaries had  settled  among  the  Damaras
(Herero) and Namaquas, often combining small trading operations  with  their
missionary work. From time to time trouble arose  between  the  missionaries
and the native chiefs, and appeals

                          Germany enters the field.
were made to the German government for protection. The German government  in
its  turn  begged  the  British  government  to  say  whether   it   assumed
responsibility  for  the  protection  of   Europeans   in   Damaraland   and
Namaqualand. The position of the British  government  was  intelligible,  if
not very intelligent. It did not desire to see any other European  power  in
these countries, and it did not want to assume the responsibility and  incur
the expense of protecting  the  few  Europeans  settled  there.  Sir  Bartle
Frere, when governor  of  the  Cape  (1877-1880),  had  foreseen  that  this
attitude portended trouble, and had urged that the whole of  the  unoccupied
coastline, up to the Portuguese frontier, should be declared  under  British
protection. But he preached to deaf ears, and  it  was  as  something  of  a
concession to him that in  March  1878  the  British  flag  was  hoisted  at
Walfish Bay, and a small part of the adjacent land declared to  be  British.
The fact appears to be that  British  statesmen  failed  to  understand  the
change that had come over Germany. They believed that Prince Bismarck  would
never give his sanction to the creation of a colonial empire,  and,  to  the
German inquiries as to what rights Great Britain claimed in  Damaraland  and
Namaqualand,  procrastinating  replies  were  sent.  Meanwhile  the  various
colonial societies established in  Germany  had  effected  a  revolution  in
public opinion, and, more important still,  they  had  convinced  the  great
chancellor. Accordingly when, in November 1882, F. A. E. Luderitz, a  Bremen
merchant, informed the German government of his  intention  to  establish  a
factory on the coast between the Orange river and  the  Little  Fish  river,
and asked if he might rely on the protection of his government  in  case  of
need, he met with no discouragement from Prince Bismarck. In  February  1883
the German ambassador  in  London  informed  Lord  Granville  of  Luderitz's
design, and asked ``whether Her Majesty's government exercise any  authority
in that locality.'' It was intimated that if Her  Majesty's  government  did
not, the German government would extend to  Luderitz's  factory  ``the  same
measure of protection which they give to their subjects in remote  parts  of
the world, but without having the least design to establish any  footing  in
South Africa.'' An inconclusive reply was sent, and  on  the  9th  of  April
Luderitz's agent landed at Angra Pequena, and after a short delay  concluded
a treaty with the local chief, by which some 215 square miles  around  Angra
Pequena were ceded to Luderitz. In England and at  the  Cape  irritation  at
the news was mingled with incredulity, and it  was  fully  anticipated  that
Luderitz would be disavowed by his government. But for this  belief  it  can
scarcely be doubted that the rest of the unoccupied  coast-line  would  have
been promptly declared under British protection. Still Prince  Bismarck  was
slow to act. In November the  German  ambassador  again  inquired  if  Great
Britain made any claim over this coast, and Lord Granville replied that  Her
Majesty exercised sovereignty only over certain parts of the  coast,  as  at
Walfish Bay, and suggested that arrangements might be made by which  Germany
might assist in the settlement of Angra Pequena. By this time  Luderitz  had
extended his acquisitions southwards to the Orange  river,  which  had  been
declared by the British government to  be  the  northern  frontier  of  Cape
Colony. Both at the Cape and in England it was  now  realized  that  Germany
had broken away from her former purely continental  policy,  and,  when  too
late, the Cape parliament showed great eagerness to  acquire  the  territory
which had lain so long at its very doors, to be had for the  taking.  It  is
not necessary to follow the course-of the subsequent  negotiations.  On  the
15th of August 1884 an official note was addressed by the German  consul  at
Capetown to the high commissioner, intimating that the  German  emperor  had
by proclamation taken ``the territory belonging to Mr  A.  Luderitz  on  the
west coast of Africa under the direct  protection  of  His  Majesty.''  This
proclamation covered the coast-line from the north bank of the Orange  river
to 26 deg. S. latitude, and 20 geographical miles  inland,  including  ``the
islands belonging thereto by the law of nations.'' On the 8th  of  September
1884 the German government intimated to Her Majesty's government ``that  the
west coast of Africa from 26  deg.  S.  latitude  to  Cape  Frio,  excepting
Walfish Bay, had been placed under the protection of the  German  emperor.''
Thus, before the  end  of  the  year  1884,  the  foundations  of  Germany's
colonial empire had been laid in South-West Africa.
  In  April  of  that  year  Prince  Bismarck  intimated  to  the   British
government, through the German charge d'affaires in London,

                     Nachtigal's mission to West Africa.
that ``the imperial consul-general, Dr Nachtigal, has been  commissioned  by
my government to visit the west coast of Africa in the course  of  the  next
few months, in order to complete the information now in  the  possession  of
the Foreign Office at Berlin, on  the  state  of  German  commerce  on  that
coast. With this object Dr Nachtigal  will  shortly  embark  at  Lisbon,  on
board the gunboat `Mowe.' He will put himself into  communication  with  the
authorities in the British possessions on the said coast, and is  authorized
to conduct, on behalf of the  imperial  government,  negotiations  connected
with certain questions. I venture,'' the  official  communication  proceeds,
``in accordance with my instructions, to beg your excellency to be  so  good
as to cause the authorities in the British possessions in West Africa to  be
furnished with suitable recommendations.'' Although  at  the  date  of  this
communication it must have been apparent, from what was happening  in  South
Africa, that  Germany  was  prepared  to  enter  on  a  policy  of  colonial
expansion, and although the wording of the letter was studiously  vague,  it
does not seem to have occurred to  the  British  government  that  the  real
object of Gustav Nachtigal's journey was to make other  annexations  on  the
west  coast.  Yet  such  was  indeed  his  mission.   German   traders   and
missionaries had been particularly active of late years on the coast of  the
Gulf of Guinea.  German  factories  were  dotted  all  along  the  coast  in
districts under British protection, under French protection  and  under  the
definite protection of no European power at all.  It  was  to  these  latter
places  that  Nachtigal  turned  his  attention.  The  net  result  of   his
operations was that on the 5th of July 1884 a treaty  was  signed  with  the
king of Togo, placing his country under German  protection,  and  that  just
one week later a  German  protectorate  was  proclaimed  over  the  Cameroon
district. Before either of these  events  had  occurred  Great  Britain  had
become alive to the fact that she could no longer dally  with  the  subject,
if she desired to consolidate her possessions in West  Africa.  The  British
government  had  again  and  again  refused  to  accord  native  chiefs  the
protection they demanded. The Cameroon chiefs had several  times  asked  for
British protection, and always in vain. But  at  last  it  became  apparent,
even to the official  mind,  that  rapid  changes  were  being  effected  in
Africa, and on the 16th of May Edward Hyde Hewett, British consul,  received
instructions to return to the  west  coast  and  to  make  arrangements  for
extending British protection over certain regions. He arrived  too  late  to
save either Togoland or Cameroon, in the  latter  case  arriving  five  days
after King Bell and the other chiefs on the river had signed  treaties  with
Nachtigal. But the British consul was in time to secure  the  delta  of  the
river Niger and the Oil Rivers District, extending from Rio del Rey  to  the
Lagos frontier, where for a long period British traders had  held  almost  a
monopoly of the trade.
  Meanwhile France, too, had been busy  treaty-making.  While  the  British
government still remained under the spell of the

                 French and British rivalry in West Africa.
fatal  resolution  of  1865,   the   French   government   was   strenuously
endeavouring to extend France's influence in West Africa, in  the  countries
lying behind the coastline. During the year 1884  no  fewer  than  forty-two
treaties were concluded with native chiefs, an  even  larger  number  having
been concluded in the previous twelve months. In  this  fashion  France  was
pushing on towards  Timbuktu,  in  steady  pursuance  of  the  policy  which
resulted in surrounding all the old British possessions in West Africa  with
a continuous band of French territory. There was,  however,  one  region  on
the  west  coast  where,  notwithstanding  the  lethargy  of   the   British
government, British interests were being vigorously  pushed,  protected  and
consolidated. This was on the lower Niger, and the  leading  spirit  in  the
enterprise was Mr Goldie Taubman (afterwards Sir George Taubman Goldie).  In
1877 Sir  George  Goldie  visited  the  Niger  and  conceived  the  idea  of
establishing a settled government in that region. Through  his  efforts  the
various trading firms on the lower Niger formed themselves in 1879 into  the
``United African Company,'' and the foundations were laid of something  like
settled administration. An application was made to  the  British  government
for a charter in 1881, and  the  capital  of  the  company  increased  to  a
million sterling.  Henceforth  the  company  was  known  as  the  ``National
African Company,'' and it was acknowledged that its object was not  only  to
develop the trade of the lower Niger, but to extend its  operations  to  the
middle reaches of the river, and to open up direct relations with the  great
Fula empire of Sokoto and the smaller states associated with Sokoto under  a
somewhat loosely defined suzerainty. The great development  of  trade  which
followed the combination of British interests  carried  out  under  Goldie's
skilful guidance did not  pass  unnoticed  in  France,  and,  encouraged  by
Gambetta, French traders made a bold bid for a position on  the  river.  Two
French companies, with ample capital,  were  formed,  and  various  stations
were  established  on  the  lower  Niger.  Goldie  realized  at   once   the
seriousness of the situation, and lost no time in declaring  commercial  war
on the newcomers. His bold tactics were entirely successful, and a few  days
before the meeting of the Berlin  conference  he  had  the  satisfaction  of
announcing that he had bought out the whole of the French interests  on  the
river, and that Great Britain alone possessed any  interests  on  the  lower
Niger.
  To complete the survey of the political situation in Africa at  the  time
the plenipotentiaries met at Berlin, it is necessary to

                     The position in Tunisia and Egypt.
refer briefly to the course of events in North and East Africa  since  1875.
In 1881 a French army entered Tunisia, and  compelled  the  bey  to  sign  a
treaty placing that country under French protection. The  sultan  of  Turkey
formally protested against this invasion of Ottoman rights,  but  the  great
powers took no action, and France was left in undisturbed possession of  her
newly acquired territory. In Egypt the extravagance of Ismail Pasha had  led
to the establishment in 1879, in the interests of European  bondholders,  of
a Dual Control exercised by France and Great Britain. France  had,  however,
in 1882 refused to take part in the suppression  of  a  revolt  under  Arabi
Pasha, which  England  accomplished  unaided.  As  a  consequence  the  Dual
Control had been abolished in January 1883, since when Great  Britain,  with
an army quartered in the country, had  assumed  a  predominant  position  in
Egyptian affairs (see EGYPT.) In  East  Africa,  north  of   the  Portuguese
possessions, where the sultan of Zanzibar was the most  considerable  native
potentate, Germany was secretly preparing the  foundations  of  her  present
colony of German East Africa. But no overt act had  warned  Europe  of  what
was impending. The story of the foundation of German East Africa is  one  of
the romances of  the  continent.  Early  in  1884  the  Society  for  German
Colonization was founded, with the avowed object  of  furthering  the  newly
awakened colonial aspirations of the  German  people.12  It  was  a  society
inspired and controlled by young men, and  on  the  4th  of  November  1884,
eleven days before the conference assembled at Berlin, three  young  Germans
arrived as deck passengers at Zanzibar. They were  disguised  as  mechanics,
but were in fact Dr Karl Peters, the president of the Colonization  Society,
Joachim Count Pfeil, and Dr Juhlke, and their stock-in-trade consisted of  a
number of German flags and a supply of blank treaty forms. They proposed  to
land on the mainland opposite Zanzibar, and

                   The German flag raised in East Africa.
to conclude treaties in the back country with native  chiefs  placing  their
territories under German protection. The enterprise was frowned upon by  the
German government; but, encouraged by  German  residents  at  Zanzibar,  the
three young pioneers crossed to the mainland, and on the 19th  of  November,
while the diplomatists assembled at  Berlin  were  solemnly  discussing  the
rules which were to govern the game of partition, the first  ``treaty''  was
signed at Mbuzini, and the German flag raised for the  first  time  in  East
Africa.
  Italy had also obtained a footing on the  African  continent  before  the
meeting of the Berlin conference. The Rubattino  Steamship  Company  as  far
back as 1870 had bought the port of Assab as a coaling station, but  it  was
not until 1882 that it was declared an Italian colony. This was followed  by
the conclusion of a treaty with the sultan of Assab, chief of  the  Danakil,
signed on the 15th of March 1883, and subsequently approved by the  king  of
Shoa, whereby Italy obtained the cession of part of  Ablis  (Aussa)  on  the
Red Sea, Italy undertaking to protect with her fleet the Danakil littoral.
  One other event must be recorded as happening before the meeting  of  the
Berlin conference. The king of the Belgians had
                Recognition of the International Association.
been driven to the conclusion that, if his African enterprise was to  obtain
any  measure  of  permanent  success,  its  international  status  must   be
recognized. To this end negotiations were opened with  various  governments.
The  first  government  to  ``recognize  the  flag  of   the   International
Association of the Congo as the flag of a friendly government'' was that  of
the United States, its declaration to that effect bearing date the  22nd  of
April 1884. There were, however, difficulties in the way  of  obtaining  the
recognition of the European powers, and in order to obtain that  of  France,
King Leopold, on the 23rd of April 1884, while labouring under the  feelings
of  annoyance  which  had  been  aroused  by  the  Anglo-Portuguese   treaty
concluded  by  Lord  Granville  in  February,  authorized  Colonel  Strauch,
president of the International Association, to engage to give  France  ``the
right of preference if, through unforeseen  circumstances,  the  Association
were compelled to sell its possessions.''  France's  formal  recognition  of
the Association as a government was, however, delayed by the  discussion  of
boundary questions  until  the  following  February,  and  in  the  meantime
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Holland and  Spain  had  all
recognized the Association; though Germany alone had done so—on the  8th  of
November—before the assembling of the conference.
  The conference assembled at Berlin on the  15th  of  November  1884,  and
after protracted deliberations the ``General Act of

                      The Berlin Conference of 1884-85.

the Berlin Conference'' was signed by the representatives of all the  powers
attending  the  conference,  on  the  26th  of  February  1885.  The  powers
represented were Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Spain,  the
United States, France, Great  Britain,  Italy,  Holland,  Portugal,  Russia,
Sweden and Norway, and Turkey,  to  name  them  in  the  alphabetical  order
adopted  in  the  preamble  to  the  French  text  of   the   General   Act.
Ratifications were deposited by all the signatory powers with the  exception
of the United States. It is unnecessary to examine in detail the results  of
the labours of the conference. The  General  Act  dealt  with  six  specific
subjects: (1) freedom of trade in the basin of  the  Congo,  (2)  the  slave
trade, (3) neutrality  of  territories  in  the  basin  of  the  Congo,  (4)
navigation of the Congo, (5) navigation of the Niger, (6) rules  for  future
occupation on the coasts of the African continent. It will be seen that  the
act dealt with other matters than the political partition  of  Africa;  but,
so far as they concern the present purpose,  the  results  effected  by  the
Berlin Act may be summed up as follows. The signatory powers undertook  that
any fresh act of taking possession on any portion of the African coast  must
be notified by the power taking possession, or assuming a  protectorate,  to
the  other  signatory  powers.  It  was  further  provided  that  any   such
occupation to be valid must be effective. It is  also  noteworthy  that  the
first reference in an international act  to  the  obligations  attaching  to
``spheres of influence'' is contained in the Berlin Act.
  It  will  be  remembered  that  when  the   conference   assembled,   the
International Association of the Congo had only been

                      Constitution of the Congo State.
recognized as a sovereign state by the United States and Germany.  But  King
Leopold and his agents had taken full advantage  of  the  opportunity  which
the  conference  afforded,  and  before  the  General  Act  was  signed  the
Association had been recognized by all the signatory powers,  with  the  not
very important exception  of  Turkey,  and  the  fact  communicated  to  the
conference by Colonel Strauch. It was not, however, until two months  later,
in April  1885,  that  King  Leopold,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Belgian
legislature, formally assumed the headship of the new state; and on the  1st
of August in the same year His Majesty notified the powers  that  from  that
date the ``Independent State of the Congo''  declared  that  ``it  shall  be
perpetually neutral'' in conformity with the provisions of the  Berlin  Act.
Thus was finally constituted the Congo Free State, under the sovereignty  of
King Leopold, though the  boundaries  claimed  for  it  at  that  time  were
considerably modified by subsequent agreements.
  From 1885 the scramble among the powers went on with renewed vigour,  and
in the fifteen years that remained of the

                        The chief partition treaties.
century the work of partition,  so  far  as  international  agreements  were
concerned, was practically completed. To attempt to follow  the  process  of
acquisition year by year would involve  a  constant  shifting  of  attention
from one part of the continent to another,  inasmuch  as  the  scramble  was
proceeding simultaneously all over Africa. It will  therefore  be  the  most
convenient plan to deal with the continent in  sections.  Before  doing  so,
however, the international agreements  which  determined  in  the  main  the
limits of the possessions of the various  powers  may  be  set  forth.  They
are:— I. The agreement of the 1st of July 1890  between  Great  Britain  and
Germany defining their spheres of influence in  East,  West  and  South-West
Africa. This agreement was the most comprehensive of all  the  ``deals''  in
African territory, and included in return for the recognition of  a  British
protectorate over Zanzibar the cession of Heligoland to Germany.
II.  The  Anglo-French  declaration  of  the  5th  of  August  1890,  which
    recognized a French protectorate over Madagascar, French  influence  in
    the Sahara, and British influence between the Niger and Lake Chad.
III. The Anglo-Portuguese treaty of the  11th  of  June  1891,  whereby  the
    Portuguese possessions on the west and east coasts were separated by  a
    broad belt of British territory, extending north to Lake Tanganyika.
IV. The Franco-German convention of the 15th of March 1894,  by  which  the
    Central Sudan was left  to  France  (this  region  by  an  Anglo-German
    agreement of the 15th of November 1893 having been recognized as in the
    German sphere).  By  this  convention  France  was  able  to  effect  a
    territorial )unction of her possessions in North and West  Africa  with
    those in the Congo region.
 V. Protocols of the 24th of March and the 15th  of  April  1891,  for  the
    demarcation of the Anglo-Italian spheres in East Africa.
VI. The  Anglo-French  convention  of  the  14th  of  June  1898,  for  the
    delimitation of the possessions of the two countries west of Lake Chad,
    with the supplementary declaration of the 21st of  March  1899  whereby
    France recognized the upper Nile valley as in  the  British  sphere  of
    influence.
  Coming now to a more detailed consideration  of  the  operations  of  the
powers, the growth of the Congo Free State, which

                       The growth of the Congo State.
occupied, geographically, a central position, may  serve  as  the  starting-
point for the story of the partition after the  Berlin  conference.  In  the
notification to the powers of the 1st of August 1885, the boundaries of  the
Free State were set out in considerable detail. The limits  thus  determined
resulted partly from agreements made with France, Germany and Portugal,  and
partly from treaties with native chiefs. The state acquired the  north  bank
of the Congo from its mouth to a point in the unnavigable  reaches,  and  in
the interior the major part of  the  Congo  basin.  In  the  north-east  the
northern limit was 4 deg. N. up to 30 deg.  E.,  which  formed  the  eastern
boundary of, the state. The south-eastern frontier claimed by  King  Leopold
extended to Lakes Tanganyika, Mweru and Bangweulu,  but  it  was  not  until
some years later that it was recognized and defined by the agreement of  May
1894 with Great Britain.  The  international  character  of  King  Leopold's
enterprise had not long been maintained, and his  recognition  as  sovereign
of the Free State confirmed the distinctive character which the  Association
had assumed, even before that event.
  In April 1887 France was informed that the right of pre-emption  accorded
to her in 1884 had not been intended by King Leopold to prejudice  Belgium's
right to acquire the Congo State,  and  in  reply  the  French  minister  at
Brussels took note of the explanation, ``in so far  as  this  interpretation
is not contrary to pre-existing international engagements.''  By  his  will,
dated the 2nd of August 1889, King Leopold made  Belgium  formally  heir  to
the sovereign rights of the Congo Free State. In  1895  an  annexation  bill
was introduced into the Belgian parliament, but at that time Belgium had  no
desire to assume responsibility for  the  Congo  State,  and  the  bill  was
withdrawn. In 1901, by the terms of a loan  granted  in  1890,  Belgium  had
again an opportunity of annexing the Congo State, but a bill  in  favour  of
annexation was opposed by  the  government  and  was  withdrawn  after  King
Leopold  had  declared  that  the  time  was  not  ripe  for  the  transfer.
Concessionaire companies and a Domaine de la Couronne had  been  created  in
the state, from which  the  sovereign  derived  considerable  revenues—facts
which helped to explain the altered attitude of Leopold  II.  The  agitation
in Great Britain and America against the Congo  system  of  government,  and
the  admissions  of  an  official  commission  of  inquiry  concerning   its
maladministration,  strengthened,  however,  the  movement  in   favour   of
transfer. Nevertheless in June 1906 the king again declared himself  opposed
to immediate annexation. But under pressure  of  public  opinion  the  Congo
government concluded, 28th of November 1907, a new annexation treaty. As  it
stipulated for the continued  existence  of  the  crown  domain  the  treaty
provoked vehement opposition. Leopold  II.  was  forced  to  yield,  and  an
additional act was signed, 5th of March 1908, providing for the  suppression
of the domain in return for financial subsidies.  The  treaty,  as  amended,
was approved by the Belgian parliament in the  session  of  1908.  Thus  the
Congo state, after an existence of 24 years as an independent power,  became
a Belgian colony. (See CONGO FREE STATE.)
  The area of the Free State, vast as it was, did not  suffice  to  satisfy
the ambition of its sovereign. King Leopold maintained that the  Free  State
enjoyed equally with any other state the right to extend its frontiers.  His
ambition involved the state  in  the  struggle  between  Great  Britain  and
France for the upper Nile. To understand the situation it  is  necessary  to
remember the condition of the  Egyptian  Sudan  at  that  time.  The  mahdi,
Mahommed Ahmed, had preached a holy war against the  Egyptians,  and,  after
the capture of Khartum and the death of General C. G. Gordon, the Sudan  was
abandoned to the dervishes. The Egyptian  frontier  was  withdrawn  to  Wadi
Haifa, and the vast provinces of Kordofan,  Darfur  and  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal
were given over to dervish tyranny and misrule. It was  obvious  that  Egypt
would sooner or later seek to recover her position  in  the  Sudan,  as  the
command of the upper Nile was  recognized  as  essential  to  her  continued
prosperity. But the international position of the  abandoned  provinces  was
by no means clear. The British government, by the Anglo-German agreement  of
July 1890, had secured the assent of  Germany  to  the  statement  that  the
British sphere of influence in East Africa was bounded on the  west  by  the
Congo Free State and by ``the western watershed of the basin  of  the  upper
Nile''; but this claim was not recognized either by France or by  the  Congo
Free State. From her base on the Congo, France was  busily  engaged  pushing
forward along the northern tributaries of the great river. On  the  27th  of
April 1887 an agreement was signed with the Congo Free State  by  which  the
right bank of the Ubangi river was secured  to  French  influence,  and  the
left bank to the Congo Free State. The desire of France to secure a  footing
in the upper Nile valley was partly due, as has been seen,  to  her  anxiety
to extend a French zone across Africa, but it was also and to a large

                       The contest for the upper Nile.
extent attributable to the belief, widely entertained  in  France,  that  by
establishing herself on the upper Nile France could regain the  position  in
Egyptian affairs which  she  had  sacrificed  in  1882.  With  these  strong
inducements France set steadily to work to consolidate her position  on  the
tributary streams of the upper Congo basin,  preparatory  to  crossing  into
the valley of the upper Nile. Meanwhile a similar  advance  was  being  made
from the Congo Free State northwards and eastwards.  King  Leopold  had  two
objects in view—-to obtain control of the  rich  province  of  the  Bahr-el-
Ghazal and to secure an outlet on the Nile.  Stations  were  established  on
the  Welle  river,  and  in  February  1891  Captain  van  Kerckhoven   left
Leopoldville for the upper Welle with the  most  powerful  expedition  which
had, up to that time, been organized by the Free  State.  After  some  heavy
fighting the expedition reached the Nile in September 1892,  and  opened  up
communications with the remains of the old  Egyptian  garrison  at  Wadelai.
Other expeditions  under  Belgian  officers  penetrated  into  the  Bahr-el-
Ghazal, and it was apparent that King Leopold proposed to rely on  effective
occupation as an answer to any claims which  might  be  advanced  by  either
Great Britain or France. The news of  what  was  happening  in  this  remote
region Of Africa filtered through to Europe very slowly,  but  King  Leopold
was warned on several occasions that Great Britain would not  recognize  any
claims by the Congo Free State on the Bahr-el-Ghazal.  The  difficulty  was,
however, that neither from Egypt, whence the road was barred by the  khalifa
(the successor of the mahdi), nor from Uganda,  which  was  far  too  remote
from the coast to serve as the base of a large expedition, could  a  British
force be despatched to take effective occupation of the upper  Nile  valley.
There was, therefore, danger lest the French should succeed in  establishing
themselves on the upper Nile before the preparations which were  being  made
in Egypt for ``smashing'' the khalifa were completed.
  In these circumstances  Lord  Rosebery,  who  was  then  British  foreign
minister, began, and his successor, the 1st earl of

                   The Anglo-Congolese agreement of 1894.
Kimberley, completed, negotiations with King Leopold which resulted  in  the
conclusion of the Anglo-Congolese  agreement  of  12th  May  1894.  By  this
agreement King Leopold recognized the British sphere of  influence  as  laid
down in the Anglo-German agreement of July 1890, and Great  Britain  granted
a lease to King Leopold of certain territories in the western basin  of  the
upper Nile, extending on the Nile from a point on Lake  Albert  to  Fashoda,
and westwards to the Congo-Nile watershed.  The  practical  effect  of  this
agreement was to give the Congo Free State a lease, during  its  sovereign's
lifetime, of the old  Bahr-el-Ghazal  province,  and  to  secure  after  His
Majesty's death as much of that territory as lay west of the 30th  meridian,
together with access to a port on Lake Albert,  to  his  successor.  At  the
same time  the  Congo  Free  State  leased  to  Great  Britain  a  strip  of
territory, 15 1/2 m. in breadth, between the north end  of  Lake  Tanganyika
and the south end of Lake Albert Edward. This  agreement  was  hailed  as  a
notable triumph for British diplomacy. But the triumph was  short-lived.  By
the agreement of July 1890 with Germany, Great Britain had been  reluctantly
compelled to abandon her hopes of through communication between the  British
spheres in the northern and southern parts of the continent, and to  Consent
to the boundary of German East Africa marching with the eastern frontier  of
the Congo Free State. Germany frankly avowed that she did not wish  to  have
a powerful neighbour interposed between herself and the  Congo  Free  State.
It was obvious that the new agreement would effect  precisely  what  Germany
had declined to agree to in 1890.  Accordingly  Germany  protested  in  such
vigorous terms that, on the 22nd of June 1894,  the  offending  article  was
withdrawn by an exchange of notes between Great Britain and the  Congo  Free
State. Opinion in France was equally excited by the new  agreement.  It  was
obvious that the lease to the Congo  Free  State  was  intended  to  exclude
France from the Nile by placing the Congo Free State  as  a  barrier  across
her path. Pressure was brought to bear  on  King  Leopold,  from  Paris,  to
renounce the rights acquired under the agreement, and on the 14th of  August
1894 King Leopold signed an agreement with France by which, in exchange  for
France's acknowledgment of the Mbomu river as  his  northern  frontier,  His
Majesty renounced all occupation and all  exercise  of  political  influence
west of 30 deg. E., and north of a line drawn  from  that  meridian  to  the
Nile along 5 deg. 30' N.
  This left the way still open for France to the Nile,  and  in  June  1896
Captain J.  Marchand  left  France  with  secret  instructions  to  lead  an
expedition into the Nile valley. On the 1st of March in the  following  year
he left Brazzaville, and  began  a  journey  which  all  but  plunged  Great
Britain and France into war. The difficulties which Captain Marchand had  to
overcome were mainly those connected with transport.  In  October  1897  the
expedition reached the banks of the Sue,  the  waters  of  which  eventually
flow into the Nile. Here a post was established  and  the  ``Faidherbe,''  a
steamer which had been carried across the Congo-Nile watershed in  sections,
was put together and launched. On the 1st of May 1898  Marchand  started  on
the final stage of his journey, and reached Fashoda on  the  10th  of  July,
having established a chain of posts en route. At  Fashoda  the  French  flag
was at once raised, and a ``treaty'' made with the  local  chief.  Meanwhile
other expeditions had been concentrating on

                           The French at Fashoda.
Fashoda—a mud-flat situated in a swamp, round which for  many  months  raged
the angry passions of two great peoples. French expeditions, with a  certain
amount of assistance  from  the  emperor  Menelek  of  Abyssinia,  had  been
striving to reach the Nile from the east, so as to join hands with  Marchand
and complete the line of  posts  into  the  Abyssinian  frontier.  In  this,
however, they were unsuccessful. No better success attended  the  expedition
under Colonel (afterwards Sir) Ronald Macdonald, R.E., sent by  the  British
government from Uganda to anticipate the French in  the  occupation  of  the
upper Nile. It was from the north that claimants  arrived  to  dispute  with
the French their right to Fashoda, and  all  that  the  occupation  of  that
dismal post implied. In 1896 an Anglo-Egyptian army, under the direction  of
Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord) Kitchener, had  begun  to  advance  southwards
for the reconquest of the Egyptian Sudan.  On  the  2nd  of  September  1898
Khartum was captured, and the khalifa's army dispersed.  It  was  then  that
news reached the Anglo-Egyptian commander, from native sources,  that  there
were white men flying  a  strange  flag  at  Fashoda.  The  sirdar  at  once
proceeded in a steamer up the Nile, and  courteously  but  firmly  requested
Captain Marchand to remove the French flag.  On  his  refusal  the  Egyptian
flag was raised close to the French flag, and the dispute  was  referred  to
Europe  for  adjustment  between  the  British  and  French  governments.  A
critical situation ensued. Neither government was inclined to give way,  and
for a  time  war  seemed  imminent.  Happily  Lord  Salisbury  was  able  to
announce, on the 4th of November, that France was willing to  recognize  the
British claims, and the incident was finally closed on  the  21st  of  March
1899, when an Anglo-French declaration was signed, by  the  terms  of  which
France withdrew from the Nile valley and  accepted  a  boundary  line  which
satisfied her earlier ambition by uniting the whole of  her  territories  in
North, West and Central Africa into a homogeneous whole,  while  effectually
preventing the realization of her dream of a  transcontinental  empire  from
west to east. By this declaration it  was  agreed  that  the  dividing  line
between the British and French spheres,  north  of  the  Congo  Free  State,
should follow the Congo-Nile water-parting up to its intersection  with  the
11th parallel of north latitude, from which point it was to  be  ``drawn  as
far as the 15th parallel in such a manner as to separate  in  principle  the
kingdom of Wadai from what constituted in 1882  the  province  of  Darfur,''
but in no case was  it  to  be  drawn  west  of  the  21st  degree  of  east
longitude, or east of the 23rd degree. From the 15th parallel the  line  was
continued north and north-west to the intersection of the Tropic  of  Cancer
with 16 deg. E. French influence was to prevail west of this  line,  British
influence to the east. Wadai was thus definitely assigned to France.
  When, by the declaration of the 21st of March 1899, France renounced  all
territorial ambitions in the upper Nile basin, King

                         Fate of the Bar-el-Ghazal.
Leopold revived his claims to the Bahr-el-Ghazal province  under  the  terms
of the lease granted by Article 2 of the Anglo-Congolese agreement of  1894.
This step he was encouraged to take by the assertion of Lord  Salisbury,  in
his  capacity  as  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs  during   the
negotiations with France concerning Fashoda, that the lease to King  Leopold
was still in full force. But the assertion was made simply as a  declaration
of British right to dispose of the  territory,  and  the  sovereign  of  the
Congo State found that there was no disposition in Great  Britain  to  allow
the Bahr-el-Ghazal to fall into his hands. Long and  fruitless  negotiations
ensued. The king at length (1904) sought to force a  settlement  by  sending
armed forces into the province. Diplomatic representations having failed  to
secure the withdrawal  of  these  forces,  the  Sudan  government  issued  a
proclamation which had the effect of cutting off  the  Congo  stations  from
communication with the Nile,  and  finally  King  Leopold  consented  to  an
agreement, signed in London on the 9th of May 1906, whereby the  1894  lease
was formally annulled. The Bahr-el-Ghazal  thenceforth  became  undisputedly
an integral part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. King Leopold had, however,  by
virtue of the 1894 agreement administered the  comparatively  small  portion
of the leased area in which his presence was not resented  by  France.  This
territory, including part of the west bank of the  Nile  and  known  as  the
Lado Enclave, the 1906 agreement allowed King Leopold to  ``continue  during
his reign to occupy.'' Provision was made that  within  six  months  of  the
termination of His Majesty's reign the enclave should be handed over to  the
Sudan government (see CONGO FREE STATE.)  In  this  manner  ended  the  long
struggle for supremacy  on  the  upper  Nile,  Great  Britain  securing  the
withdrawal of all European rivals.
  The course of events in the southern half of the  continent  may  now  be
traced. By the convention of the 14th of February

                      Portugal's trans-African schemes.
1885, in which Portugal recognized the sovereignty of the Congo Free  State,
and by a further convention concluded with France in 1886, Portugal  secured
recognition of her claim to the territory  known  as  the  Kabinda  enclave,
lying north of the Congo, but not to the northern bank of the river. By  the
same convention of 1885 Portugal's claim to the southern bank of  the  river
as far as Noki (the limit of navigation from the  sea)  had  been  admitted.
Thus Portuguese possessions on the west coast extended  from  the  Congo  to
the mouth of the Kunene river. In the interior the boundary  with  the  Free
State was settled as far as the Kwango river, but disputes arose as  to  the
right to the country of Lunda, otherwise  known  as  the  territory  of  the
Muato Yanvo. On the 25th of May 1891 a  treaty  was  signed  at  Lisbon,  by
which this large territory was divided between Portugal and the Free  State.
The interior limits of the Portuguese possessions in  Africa  south  of  the
equator gave rise, however, to  much  more  serious  discussions  than  were
involved in the dispute as to the Muato Yanvo's kingdom.  Portugal,  as  has
been stated, claimed all the territories between Angola and Mozambique,  and
she succeeded in inducing both France and Germany,  in  1886,  to  recognize
the king of Portugal's ``right to  exercise  his  sovereign  and  civilizing
influence in the territories which separate the  Portuguese  possessions  or
Angola and Mozambique.'' The publication of  the  treaties  containing  this
declaration, together with a map showing Portuguese  claims  extending  over
the whole of the Zambezi valley, and over Matabeleland to the south and  the
greater part of Lake Nyasa to  the  north,  immediately  provoked  a  formal
protest from the British government. On the 13th of August 1887 the  British
charge d'affaires at Lisbon  transmitted  to  the  Portuguese  minister  for
foreign affairs a memorandum  from  Lord  Salisbury,  in  which  the  latter
formally protested ``against any claims not  founded  on  occupation,''  and
contended that the doctrine of effective occupation  had  been  admitted  in
principle by all the parties to the Act of Berlin.  Lord  Salisbury  further
stated  that  ``Her  Majesty's  government   cannot   recognize   Portuguese
sovereignty in territory not occupied by  her  in  sufficient   strength  to
enable her to maintain order, protect foreigners and control the  natives.''
To this Portugal replied that  the  doctrine  of  effective  occupation  was
expressly confined by the Berlin Act to the African coast, but at  the  same
time expeditions were hastily despatched up the  Zambezi  and  some  of  its
tributaries  to  discover   traces   of   former   Portuguese    occupation.
Matabeleland and the districts of Lake Nyasa werespecially mentioned in  the
British protest as countries  in  which  Her  Majesty's  government  took  a
special interest. As a matter of fact the  extension  of  British  influence
northwards  to  the  Zambezi  had  engaged  the  attention  of  the  British
authorities ever since the appearance of Germany in  South-West  Africa  and
the declaration of a British  protectorate  over  Bechuanaland.  There  were
rumours of German activity in Matabeleland, and

                     Rhodesia secured for Great Britain.
of a Boer trek north of the Limpopo. Hunters and explorers had  reported  in
eulogistic terms on  the  rich  goldfields  and  healthy  plateau  lands  of
Matabeleland and Mashonaland,  over  both  of  which  countries  a  powerful
chief,  Lobengula,  claimed  authority.  There   were   many   suitors   for
Lobengula's favours; but on the 11th of February 1888  he  signed  a  treaty
with J. S. Moffat, the assistant commissioner in  Bechuanaland,  the  effect
of which was to place all his territory under British protection.  Both  the
Portuguese and the Transvaal Boers  were  chagrined  at  this  extension  of
British influence. A number of Boers attempted unsuccessfully to  trek  into
the country, and Portugal opposed her ancient claims to the new treaty.  She
contended that Lobengula's authority did not extend over Mashonaland,  which
she claimed as part of the Portuguese province of Sofala.
  Meanwhile preparations were being actively made  by  British  capitalists
for the exploitation of the  mineral  and  other  resources  of  Lobengula's
territories. Two rival syndicates obtained, or  claimed  to  have  obtained,
concessions  from  Lobengula;  but  in  the  summer  of  1889  Cecil  Rhodes
succeeded in amalgamating the conflicting interests,  and  on  the  29th  of
October of that year  the  British  government  granted  a  charter  to  the
British South Africa Company  (see  RHODESIA.)  The  first  article  of  the
charter declared that ``the principal  field  of  the  operations''  of  the
company ``shall be the region of  South  Africa  lying  immediately  to  the
north of British Bechuanaland, and to  the  north  and  west  of  the  South
African Republic, and to the west of the  Portuguese  dominions.''  No  time
was lost in making preparations for effective occupation. On the  advice  of
F. C. Selous  it  was  determined  to  despatch  an  expedition  to  eastern
Mashonaland by a new route, which would avoid  the  Matabele  country.  This
plan was carried out in the summer of 1890,  and,  thanks  to  the  rapidity
with which the column moved and Selous's intimate knowledge of the  country,
the British flag was, on the 11th of September, hoisted at  a  spot  on  the
Makubusi river, where the town of Salisbury  now  stands,  and  the  country
taken possession of in  the  name  of  Queen  Victoria.  Disputes  with  the
Portuguese ensued, and there were several frontier  incidents  which  for  a
time embittered the relations between the two countries.
  Meanwhile, north of the Zambezi, the Portuguese were making desperate but
futile attempts to repair the neglect

                Anglo-Portuguese disputes in Central Africa.
of centuries by hastily organized expeditions and the hoisting of flags.  In
1888 an attempt to close the Zambezi to British vessels  was  frustrated  by
the firmness of Lord Salisbury. In a despatch to  the  British  minister  at
Lisbon, dated the 25th of June 1888, Lord Salisbury,  after  brushing  aside
the Portuguese claims founded on doubtful discoveries three  centuries  old,
stated the British case in a few sentences:—
  It is (he wrote) an undisputed point that the recent discoveries  of  the
English traveller, Livingstone, were followed by organized attempts  on  the
part of English religious and commercial bodies to open up and civilize  the
districts surrounding and adjoining the lake. Many British settlements  have
been established, the access to which from the sea is by the rivers  Zambezi
and Shire.  Her  Majesty's  government  and  the  British  public  are  much
interested in the welfare of these settlements. Portugal  does  not  occupy,
and has never occupied, any portion of the lake, nor of the Shire;  she  has
neither authority nor influence beyond  the  confluence  of  the  Shire  and
Zambezi, where her interior custom-house, now withdrawn, was placed  by  the
terms of the Mozambique Tariff of 1877.
  In 1889 it became known to the British  government  that  a  considerable
Portuguese expedition was being organized under the command of  Major  Serpa
Pinto,  for  operating  in  the  Zambezi  region.  In  answer  to  inquiries
addressed to the Portuguese government, the  foreign  minister  stated  that
the object of the expedition was to visit the Portuguese settlements on  the
upper Zambezi. The British government was, even  so  late  as  1889,  averse
from declaring a formal protectorate over the Nyasa  region;  but  early  in
that year H. H. (afterwards Sir Harry) Johnston was sent out  to  Mozambique
as British consul, with instructions to travel in the  interior  and  report
on the troubles that had arisen with the Arabs on Lake Nyasa  and  with  the
Portuguese. The discovery by D. J. Rankin in 1889 of a  navigable  mouth  of
the Zambezi—the Chinde—and the offer by Cecil Rhodes  of  a  subsidy  of  L.
10,000 a year from the British South Africa Company,  removed  some  of  the
objections to a protectorate entertained  by  the  British  government;  but
Johnston's  instructions  were  not  to  proclaim  a   protectorate   unless
circumstances compelled him to take that course. To  his  surprise  Johnston
learnt on his arrival at the Zambezi that  Major  Serpa  Pinto's  expedition
had been  suddenly  deflected  to  the  north.  Hurrying  forward,  Johnston
overtook the Portuguese expedition and warned its leader  that  any  attempt
to establish political influence north of the Ruo river would compel him  to
take steps to protect British interests. On arrival at the Ruo, Major  Serpa
Pinto  returned  to  Mozambique  for  instructions,  and  in   his   absence
Lieutenant Coutinho crossed the river,  attacked  the  Makololo  chiefs  and
sought to obtain possession of the Shire highlands by a coup de  main.  John
Buchanan, the British vice-consul, lost no time  in  declaring  the  country
under British protection, and  his  action  was  subsequently  confirmed  by
Johnston on his return from a treaty-making expedition  on  Lake  Nyasa.  On
the news of these events reaching Europe the  British  government  addressed
an ultimatum to Portugal, as  the  result  of  which  Lieutenant  Coutinho's
action was disavowed, and he was ordered to withdraw the  Portuguese  forces
south of the Ruo. After prolonged  negotiations,  a  convention  was  signed
between Great Britain and Portugal on the 20th  of  August  1890,  by  which
Great Britain obtained a broad belt  of  territory  north  of  the  Zambezi,
stretching from Lake Nyasa on the east, the southern end  of  Tanganyika  on
the north, and the Kabompo tributary of  the  Zambezi  on  the  west;  while
south of the Zambezi Portugal retained the right bank of the  river  from  a
point ten miles above Zumbo, and  the  western  boundary  of  her  territory
south of the river was made to coincide roughly  with  the  33rd  degree  of
east longitude. The publication of the convention  aroused  deep  resentment
in Portugal, and the government, unable to obtain its  ratification  by  the
chamber of deputies, resigned. In October the abandonment of the  convention
was accepted by the new Portuguese ministry as a fait accompli; but  on  the
14th of November the  two  governments  signed  an  agreement  for  a  modus
vivendi,  by  which  they  engaged  to  recognize  the  territorial   limits
indicated in the convention of 20th August ``in so far that  from  the  date
of the present agreement

                   British and Portuguese spheres defined.

to  the  termination  thereof  neither  Power  will  make  treaties,  accept
protectorates, nor exercise any act of sovereignty  within  the  spheres  of
influence assigned  to  the  other  party  by  the  said  convention.''  The
breathing-space thus gained enabled feeling in Portugal to  cool  down,  and
on the 11th of June 1891 another treaty was signed, the ratifications  being
exchanged on the 3rd of July, As already stated, this  is  the  main  treaty
defining the British and Portuguese spheres both  south  and  north  of  the
Zambezi.  It  contained  many  other  provisions  relating  to   trade   and
navigation, providing, inter alia, a maximum transit duty of 3%  on  imports
and exports crossing  Portuguese  territories  on  the  east  coast  to  the
British sphere, freedom of navigation of  the  Zambezi  and  Shire  for  the
ships of all nations, and stipulations as to the making of  railways,  roads
and telegraphs. The territorial  readjustment  effected  was  slightly  more
favourable to Portugal  than  that  agreed  upon  by  the  1890  convention.
Portugal was given both banks of the Zambezi to a point ten  miles  west  of
Zumbo—the farthest settlement of the Portuguese on the river. South  of  the
Zambezi the frontier takes a south and then an east course till  it  reaches
the edge of the continental plateau,  thence  running,  roughly,  along  the
line  of  33  deg.  E.  southward  to  the  north-eastern  frontier  of  the
Transvaal. Thus by this treaty Portugal was left in the  possession  of  the
coast-lands, while Great  Britain  maintained  her  right  to  Matabele  and
Mashona lands. The boundary between the Portuguese sphere  of  influence  on
the west coast and the British sphere of influence north of the Zambezi  was
only vaguely indicated; but it was to be drawn in such a manner as to  leave
the Barotse country within  the  British  sphere,  Lewanika,  the  paramount
chief of the Marotse, claiming that his territory extended much  farther  to
the west than was admitted by the Portuguese. In August  1903  the  question
what were the limits of the Barotse kingdom was referred to the  arbitration
of the king of Italy. By his award, delivered  in  June  1905,  the  western
limit of the British sphere runs from the northern frontier of German South-
West Africa up the Kwando river to 22 deg. E., follows that  meridian  north
to 13 deg. S., then runs due east to 24 deg. E., and  then  north  again  to
the frontier of the Congo State.
  Before the conclusion of the treaty  of  June  1891  with  Portugal,  the
British government had made certain arrangements for the  administration  of
the large area north of the Zambezi reserved to British  influence.  On  the
1st of February Sir Harry Johnston was appointed  imperial  commissioner  in
Nyasaland, and a fortnight later the British South Africa Company  intimated
a desire to  extend  its  operations  north  of  the  Zambezi.  Negotiations
followed, and the field of operations of the Chartered Company was,  on  the
2nd of  April  1891,  extended  so  as  to  cover  (with  the  exception  of
Nyasaland) the whole of  the  British  sphere  of  influence  north  of  the
Zambezi (now known as Northern Rhodesia).  On  the  14th  of  May  a  formal
protectorate was declared over Nyasaland, including the Shire highlands  and
a belt of territory extending along the whole of the western shore  of  Lake
Nyasa. The name was changed in 1893 to that of the  British  Central  Africa
Protectorate, for  which  designation  was  substituted  in  1907  the  more
appropriate title of Nyasaland Protectorate.
  At the date of  the  assembling  of  the  Berlin  conference  the  German
government had notified that the coast-line on the

                      Germany's share of South Africa.
south-west of the continent, from the Orange river to Cape  Frio,  had  been
placed under German protection. On the 13th of April 1885 the German  South-
West Africa Company was constituted under an order of the  imperial  cabinet
with the  rights  of  state  sovereignty,  including  mining  royalties  and
rights, and a railway and telegraph monopoly.  In  that  and  the  following
years the Germans vigorously pursued the business of treaty-making with  the
native chiefs in the interior; and when,  in  July  1890,  the  British  and
German  governments  came  to  an  agreement  as  to  the  limits  of  their
respective spheres of influence in various parts of Africa,  the  boundaries
of German South-West  Africa  were  fixed  in  their  present  position.  By
Article III. of this agreement the north bank of the Orange river up to  the
point of its intersection by the 20th degree of east longitude was made  the
southern boundary of the German sphere of influence.  The  eastern  boundary
followed the 20th degree  of east longitude to its intersection by the  22nd
parallelof south latitude, then ran eastwards along that  parallel   to  the
point of its intersection by the 21st degree of east  longitude.  From  that
point it ran northwards along the last-named meridian to the  point  of  its
intersection by the 18th parallel of south latitude, thence eastwards  along
that parallel to the river Chobe or Kwando, and along the  main  channel  of
that river to its junction  with  the  Zambezi,  where  it  terminated.  The
northern frontier marched with the  southern  boundary  of  Portuguese  West
Africa. The object of deflecting the  eastern  boundary  near  its  northern
termination was to give Germany access by her own  territory  to  the  upper
waters of the Zambezi, and it was declared that this strip of territory  was
at no part to be less than 20 English miles in width.
  To complete the survey of the political partition of Africa south of  the
Zambezi, it is necessary briefly to refer to the events

                        Fate of the Dutch Republics.
connected with the South African Republic and  the  Orange  Free  State.  In
October  1885  the  British  government  made  an  agreement  with  the  New
Republic, a small community of Boer farmers who had in 1884-85  seized  part
of Zululand and set up a government of  their  own,  defining  the  frontier
between the New Republic and Zululand; but in July  1888  the  New  Republic
was incorporated in the South African Republic. In  a  convention  of  July-
August 1890 the British government and the government of the  South  African
Republic confirmed  the  independence  of  Swaziland,  and  on  the  8th  of
November 1893 another convention was signed with the  same  object;  but  on
the 19th of December  1894  the  British  government  agreed  to  the  South
African  Republic  exercising  ``all  rights  and  powers   of   protection,
legislation,  jurisdiction  and  administration  over  Swaziland   and   the
inhabitants thereof,'' subject to certain conditions and provisions, and  to
the  non-incorporation  of  Swaziland  in  the  Republic.  In  the  previous
September Pondoland had been annexed to Cape Colony; on the  23rd  of  April
1895 Tongaland was declared by proclamation to be added to the dominions  of
Queen  Victoria,  and  in  December  1897   Zululand   and   Tongaland,   or
Amatongaland, were incorporated with the colony of  Natal.  The  history  of
the events that led up to the Boer War  of  1899-1902  cannot  be  recounted
here (see TRANSVAAL,  History),  but  in  October  1899  the  South  African
Republic and the Orange Free State addressed an ultimatum to  Great  Britain
and invaded Natal and Cape Colony. As a result of  the  military  operations
that followed, the  Orange  Free  State  was,  on  the  28th  of  May  1900,
proclaimed by Lord Roberts a British colony under the  name  ``Orange  River
Colony,'' and the South African Republic was on the  25th  of  October  1900
incorporated in the British empire as the ``Transvaal Colony.''  In  January
1903 the districts of Vryheid (formerly the New Republic), Utrecht and  part
of the Wakkerstroom district, a tract of territory comprising in  all  about
7000 sq. m., were transferred from the Transvaal colony to  Natal.  In  1907
both  the  Transvaal  and  Orange  River  Colony  were  granted  responsible
government.
  On the east coast the two great rivals were Germany and Great Britain.
Germany on the 30th of December 1886, and Great

                    Anglo-German rivalry in East Africa.
  Britain on the 11th of June 1891, formally recognized the Rovuma river as
the northern boundary of the Portuguese sphere of influence on  that  coast;
but it was to the north of that river, over the vast area of  East  or  East
Central  Africa  in  which  the  sultan  of  Zanzibar  claimed  to  exercise
suzerainty, that the struggle between the two rival powers was  most  acute.
The independence of the sultans of  Zanzibar  had  been  recognized  by  the
governments of Great Britain and France in 1862, and the sultan's  authority
extended almost uninterruptedly along the coast of the mainland,  from  Cape
Delgado in the south to Warsheik on the north—a stretch of coast  more  than
a thousand miles  long—though  to  the  north  the  sultan's  authority  was
confined to  certain  ports.  In  Zanzibar  itself,  where  Sir  John  Kirk,
Livingstone's companion  in  his  second  expedition,  was  British  consul-
general, British influence was, when the Berlin conference met,  practically
supreme, though German traders had established themselves on the island  and
created considerable commercial interests. Away from the coasts  the  limits
and extent of the sultan's  authority were far from being  clearly  defined.
The sultanhimself claimed that it extended as far as  Lake  Tanganyika,  but
the claim did not rest on any very solid  ground  of  effective  occupation.
The little-known region of the Great Lakes had for some time  attracted  the
attention of the men who were directing the colonial  movement  in  Germany;
and, as has been stated, a small band of pioneers  actually  landed  on  the
mainland  opposite  Zanzibar  in  November  1884,  and  made   their   first
``treaty'' with the chief of Mbuzini on the 19th of that  month  Pushing  up
the Wami river the  three  adventurers  reached  the  Usagara  country,  and
concluded more ``treaties,'' the net result being that when, in  the  middle
of December, Karl Peters returned to the coast  he  brought  back  with  him
documents which were claimed to concede some 60,000 sq.  m.  of  country  to
the German Colonization Society. Peters hurried back to Berlin, and  on  the
17th of February 1885 the German emperor issued a ``Charter of  Protection''
by  which  His  Majesty  accepted  the  suzerainty  of  the   newly-acquired
territory, and ``placed under our Imperial  protection  the  territories  in
question.'' The conclusion of these treaties  was,  on  the  6th  of  March,
notified  to  the  British  government  and  to  the  sultan  of   Zanzibar.
Immediately on  receipt  of  the  notification  the  sultan  telegraphed  an
energetic protest to Berlin, alleging that the places  placed  under  German
protection had belonged to the sultanate of Zanzibar from the  time  of  his
fathers. The German consul-general refused to  admit  the  sultan's  claims,
and meanwhile agents of the German society were energetically  pursuing  the
task of treaty-making. The sultan (Seyyid Bargash) despatched a small  force
to the disputed territory, which was  subsequently  withdrawn,  and  in  May
sent a more imposing expedition under the command of General Lloyd  Mathews,
the commander-in-chief of the Zanzibar army, to  the  Kilimanjaro  district,
in  order  to  anticipate  the  action  of  German  agents.  Meanwhile  Lord
Granville, then at the British Foreign Office, had

               Lord Granville's complaisance towards Germany.
taken up an extremely friendly attitude towards the  German  claims.  Before
these events the  sultan  of  Zanzibar  had,  on  more  than  one  occasion,
practically  invited  Great  Britain  to  assume  a  protectorate  over  his
dominions. But the invitations had been declined. Egyptian affairs were,  in
the year 1885, causing considerable anxiety to the British  government,  and
the fact was not without influence on the attitude of  the  British  foreign
secretary. On the 25th of May 1885, in a despatch to the British  ambassador
at Berlin, Lord Granville instructed Sir E. Malet to communicate  the  views
of the British cabinet to Prince Bismarck:—
  I have to request your Excellency to state that the supposition that  Her
Majesty's Government have no intention of  opposing  the  German  scheme  of
colonization in the neighbourhood of Zanzibar  is  absolutely  correct.  Her
Majesty's Government, on the contrary, view with favour these  schemes,  the
realization of which will entail  the  civilization  of  large  tracts  over
which hitherto no European influence has been  exercised,  the  co-operation
of Germany with Great Britain in the work of the suppression  of  the  slave
gangs, and the encouragement of the  efforts  of  the  Sultan  both  in  the
extinction of the slave trade and  in  the  commercial  development  of  his
dominions.
  In the same despatch Lord Granville instructed Sir E. Malet  to  intimate
to the German government that some prominent capitalists  had  originated  a
plan for a British settlement in the  country  between  the  coast  and  the
lakes, which are the sources of the White  Nile,  ``and  for  its  connexion
with the coast by a  railway.''  But  Her  Majesty's  government  would  not
accord to these prominent capitalists  the  support  they  had  called  for,
``unless they were fully  satisfied  that  every  precaution  was  taken  to
ensure that it  should  in  no  way  conflict  with  the  interests  of  the
territory that has  been  taken  under  German  protectorate,''  and  Prince
Bismarck was practically invited to say whether British capitalists were  or
were not to receive the protection of the British government. The  reference
in Lord Granville's despatch was to a proposal made by a number  of  British
merchants and others who had long been interested in Zanzibar, and  who  saw
in the rapid advance  of  Germany  a  menace  to  the  interests  which  had
hitherto been regarded  as  paramount  in  the  sultanate.  In  1884  H.  H.
Johnston had concluded treaties with the chief of Taveta in the  Kilimanjaro
district, and had transferred these treaties to John Hutton  of  Manchester.
Hutton, with Mr (afterwards Sir William) Mackinnon, was one of the  founders
of what subsequently became the Imperial British East  Africa  Company.  But
in the early stages the  champions  of  British  interests  in  East  Africa
received no support from their own government,  while  Germany  was  pushing
her advantage with the energy of a recent  convert  to  colonial  expansion,
and had even, on the coast, opened negotiations with the sultan of  Witu,  a
small territory situated north of the Tana river, whose ruler claimed to  be
independent of Zanzibar. On the 5th of May 1885 the sultan of Witu  executed
a deed of sale and cession to a German subject of certain tracts of land  on
the coast, and later in the same year other treaties or sales  of  territory
were effected, by which German subjects acquired rights  on  the  coast-line
claimed by the sultan. Inland, treaties had  been  concluded  on  behalf  of
Germany with the chiefs of the Kilimanjaro  region,  and  an  intimation  to
that effect made to the British government. But  before  this  occurred  the
German government had succeeded  in  extracting  an  acknowledgment  of  the
validity of the earlier treaties from  the  sultan  of  Zanzibar.  Early  in
August a powerful German squadron appeared off Zanzibar, and on the 14th  of
that month the sultan yielded to the  inevitable,  acknowledged  the  German
protectorate over Usagara and Witu, and undertook to withdraw his soldiers.
  Meanwhile  negotiations  had  been  opened  for  the  appointment  of  an
international commission, ``for the purpose of inquiring

                   Partition of the sultanate of Zanzibar.
into the claims of the sultans  of  Zanzibar  to  sovereignty  over  certain
territories on the east coast of Africa, and of ascertaining  their  precise
limits.'' The governments to be represented were Great Britain,  France  and
Germany, and towards the end  of  1885  commissioners  were  appointed.  The
commissioners reported on the 9th of June 1886, and assigned to  the  sultan
the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Lamu, Mafia and  a  number  of  other  small
islands. On the mainland they  recognized  as  belonging  to  the  sultan  a
continuous strip of territory, 10 sea-miles in depth, from  the  south  bank
of the Minengani river, a stream a short distance south of  the  Rovuma,  to
Kipini, at the mouth of the Tana river, some 600  m.  in  length.  North  of
Kipini the commissioners recognized as belonging to the sultan the  stations
of Kismayu, Brava, Marka and Mukdishu,  with  radii  landwards  of  10  sea-
miles, and of Warsheik with a radius of  5  sea-miles.  By  an  exchange  of
notes in October—November 1886 the governments of Great Britain and  Germany
accepted the reports of the delimitation commissioners, to which the  sultan
adhered on the 4th of the following December. But  the  British  and  German
governments did more than determine what territories were to be assigned  to
the  sultanate  of  Zanzibar.  They  agreed  to  a  delimitation  of   their
respective spheres  of  influence  in  East  Africa.  The  territory  to  be
affected by this arrangement was to be bounded on the south  by  the  Rovuma
river, ``and on the north by a line which, starting from the  mouth  of  the
Tana river, follows the course of that river or its affluents to  the  point
of intersection of the equator  and  the  38th  degree  of  east  longitude,
thence strikes direct to the point of intersection  of  the  1st  degree  of
north latitude with the 37th  degree  of  east  longitude,  where  the  line
terminates.'' The line of demarcation between the  British  and  the  German
spheres of influence was to start from the mouth of the river Wanga or  Umba
(which enters the ocean opposite Pemba Island to  the  north  of  Zanzibar),
and running north-west was to skirt the northern  base  of  the  Kilimanjaro
range, and thence to be drawn direct to the point on  the  eastern  side  of
Victoria Nyanza intersected by the 1st degree of south  latitude.  South  of
this line German influence was  to  prevail;  north  of  the  line  was  the
British sphere. The sultan's dominions having been thus  truncated,  Germany
associated herself with the recognition of the ``independence'' of  Zanzibar
in which France and Great Britain had joined in 1862.  The  effect  of  this
agreement was to define the spheres of influence of  the  two  countries  as
far as Victoria Nyanza, but it provided no limit  westwards,  and  left  the
country north of the Tana river, in which Germany had already acquired  some
interests near the coast, open for fresh annexations. The conclusion of  the
agreement immediately stimulated the enterprise  both  of  the  German  East
African Company, to which Peters's earlier treaties  had  been  transferred,
and of the British capitalists to whom  reference  had  been  made  in  Lord
Granville's despatch. The German East African Company  was  incorporated  by
imperial  charter  in  March  1887,  and  the  British  capitalists   formed
themselves into the British East Africa Association, and on the 24th of  May
1887 obtained,  through  the  good  offices  of  Sir  William  Mackinnon,  a
concession of the 10-miles strip of coast from the Umba river in  the  south
to Kipini in the north. The British association  further  sought  to  extend
its rights in the sphere reserved to British influence  by  making  treaties
with the native chiefs behind the coast strip, and for this purpose  various
expeditions were sent into the interior. When they had obtained  concessions
over the country for some 200 m. inland the associated

                      Formation of British East Africa.
capitalists applied to the British  government  for  a  charter,  which  was
granted on the 3rd  of  September  1888,  and  the  association  became  the
Imperial British East Africa Company (see BRITISH EAST AFRICA).
  The example set by the British company in obtaining a lease of the  coast
strip between the British sphere  of  influence  and  the  sea  was  quickly
followed by the German association,  which,  on  the  28th  of  April  1888,
concluded an agreement with  the  sultan  Khalifa,  who  had  succeeded  his
brother Bargash, by which the  association  leased  the  strip  of  Zanzibar
territory between the German sphere and the sea. It was  not,however,  until
August that the German officials took over  the  administration,  and  their
want of tact and  ignorance  of  native  administration  almost  immediately
provoked a rebellion of so serious a character that it  was  not  suppressed
until the imperial authorities had taken the matter in hand.  Shortly  after
its suppression the administration was entrusted  to  an  imperial  officer,
and the sultan's rights on  the  mainland  strip  were  bought  outright  by
Germany for four millions of marks.
  Events of great importance had been happening, meanwhile, in the  country
to the west and north of  the  British  sphere  of  influence.  The  British
company had sent caravans into the interior to survey the country,  to  make
treaties with the  native  chiefs  and  to  report  on  the  commercial  and
agricultural possibilities. One of these had gone up  the  Tana  river.  But
another and a rival expedition was proceeding along  the  northern  bank  of
this same river. Karl Peters, whose energy cannot be  denied,  whatever  may
be thought of his methods, set out with an armed caravan up the Tana on  the
pretext of leading an expedition to the relief of Emin Pasha,  the  governor
of the equatorial province of  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  then  reported  to  be
hemmed in by the dervishes at Wadelai. His expedition was not sanctioned  by
the German government,  and  the  British  naval  commander  had  orders  to
prevent his landing. But Peters succeeded in  evading  the  British  vessels
and proceeded up the river, planting German flags and fighting  the  natives
who opposed his progress. Early in 1890  he  reached  Kavirondo,  and  there
found letters from Mwanga, king of Uganda, addressed to F. J.  Jackson,  the
leader of an expedition sent out by the British East Africa

                      Uganda secured by Great Britain.
Company, imploring the company's representative to come  to  his  assistance
and offering to accept the British flag. To previous letters,  less  plainly
couched.  from  the  king,  Jackson  had  returned  the  answer   that   his
instructions were not to enter Uganda, but that he would do so  in  case  of
need. The letters that fell into Peters's hands were in reply to those  from
Jackson. Peters did not hesitate to open the letters, and  on  reading  them
he at once proceeded to Uganda, where, with the  assistance  of  the  French
Roman Catholic priests, he succeeded in inducing Mwanga to  sign  a  loosely
worded treaty intended to place him under German protection. On  hearing  of
this Jackson at once set out for Uganda, but Peters did  not  wait  for  his
arrival, leaving for the south of Victoria Nyanza some days  before  Jackson
arrived at Mengo, Mwanga's capital. As Mwanga would not agree  to  Jackson's
proposals, Jackson returned to the coast, leaving a representative at  Mengo
to protect the company's interests. Captain (afterwards Sir) F.  D.  Lugard,
who had recently entered the company's employment, was at  once  ordered  to
proceed to Uganda. But in the meantime an  event  of  great  importance  had
taken place, the conclusion of  the  agreement  between  Great  Britain  and
Germany with reference to their different spheres of  influence  in  various
parts of Africa.
  The Anglo-German agreement of the 1st  of  July  1890  has  already  been
referred to and its importance insisted upon. Here we have to deal with  the
provisions in reference to  East  Africa.  In  return  for  the  cession  of
Heligoland, Lord Salisbury  obtained  from  Germany  the  recognition  of  a
British  protectorate  over  the  dominions  of  the  sultan  of   Zanzibar,
including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, but excluding the strip  leased
to Germany, which was subsequently  ceded  absolutely  to  Germany.  Germany
further agreed to withdraw the  protectorate  declared  over  Witu  and  the
adjoining coast up to Kismayu in favour of Great Britain, and  to  recognize
as within the British sphere of influence the  vast  area  bounded,  on  the
south by the frontier line laid down in the agreement of 1886, which was  to
be extended along the first  parallel  of  south  latitude  across  Victoria
Nyanza to the frontiers of the Congo Free State, on the west  by  the  Congo
Free State and the western watershed of the Nile, and  on  the  north  by  a
line commencing on the coast at the north bank of the  mouth  of  the  river
Juba, then ascending that bank of the river until it reached  the  territory
at that time regarded as reserved to the influence of Italy13  in  Gallaland
and Abyssinia, when it followed the frontier of the Italian  sphere  to  the
confines of Egypt. To the south-west of the German  sphere  in  East  Africa
the boundary was formed by the eastern and northern  shore  of  Lake  Nyasa,
and round the western shore to the mouth of the  Songwe  river,  from  which
point it crossed the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau to the  southern  end  of  the
last-named lake,

                    Limits of German East Africa defined.
leaving the Stevenson Road on the British side of the boundary.  The  effect
of this treaty was to remove all serious causes of dispute  about  territory
between Germany  and  Great  Britain  in  East  Africa.  It  rendered  quite
valueless Peters's treaty with Mwanga and his promenade along the  Tana;  it
freed Great Britain from any fear of German competition to  the  northwards,
and recognized that her influence extended to  the  western  limits  of  the
Nile valley. But, on the other hand, Great Britain  had  to  relinquish  the
ambition of connecting her sphere of influence in the Nile valley  with  her
possessions in Central and South Africa. On this  point  Germany  was  quite
obdurate; and, as already stated, an attempt subsequently  made  (May  1894)
to secure this object by the lease of a strip of territory  from  the  Congo
Free State was frustrated by German opposition.
  Uganda having thus been assigned to the British sphere  of  influence  by
the only European power in a position to contest its  possession  with  her,
the subsequent history of that  region,  and  of  the  country  between  the
Victoria Nyanza and the coast, must be traced in  the  articles  on  BRITISH
EAST AFRICA and UGANDA, but it may  be  well  briefly  to  record  here  the
following facts:—The Imperial  British  East  Africa  Company,  finding  the
burden of administration too heavy for  its  financial  resources,  and  not
receiving the assistance  it  felt  itself  entitled  to  receive  from  the
imperial authorities, intimated that it would be compelled  to  withdraw  at
the end of the year 1892.  Funds  were  raised  to  enable  the  company  to
continue its administration until the  end  of  March  1893,  and  a  strong
public protest against evacuation compelled the government to  determine  in
favour of the retention of the country. In January 1893  Sir  Gerald  Portal
left the coast as a special commissioner to inquire into  the  ``best  means
of dealing with the country, whether through  Zanzibar  or  otherwise.''  On
the 31st of March the union jack was raised, and on the 29th of May a  fresh
treaty was concluded with King Mwanga  placing  his  country  under  British
protection. A formal protectorate was declared over  Uganda  proper  on  the
19th of June 1894, which was subsequently extended  so  as  to  include  the
countries westwards towards the Congo Free State, eastwards to  the  British
East Africa  protectorate  and  Abyssinia,  and  northwards  to  the  Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan. The British East  Africa  protectorate  was  constituted  in
June 1895, when the Imperial British East Africa  Company  relinquished  all
its rights in exchange for a  money  payment,  and  the  administration  was
assumed by the imperial authorities. On the 1st of April  1902  the  eastern
province of the Uganda protectorate was  transferred  to  the  British  East
Africa protectorate, which thus secured control of the whole length  of  the
so-called Uganda railway, and at  the  same  time  obtained  access  to  the
Victoria Nyanza.
  Early in the 'eighties, as already seen, Italy  had  obtained  her  first
formal footing on the African coast at the Bay of Assab

                            Italy in East Africa.
(Aussa) on the Red Sea. In 1885 the troubles in which  Egypt  found  herself
involved compelled the khedive and his advisers to loosen their hold on  the
Red Sea littoral, and, with the tacit approval of Great Britain, Italy  took
possession of Massawa and  other  ports  on  that  coast.  By  1888  Italian
influence had been extended from Ras Kasar on  the  north  to  the  northern
frontier of the French colony of Obok on the south, a distance of  some  650
m. The interior limits of Italian influence were but ill  defined,  and  the
negus  Johannes  (King  John)  of  Abyssinia  viewed  with  anything  but  a
favourable  eye  the  approach  of  the  Italians  towards  the   Abyssinian
highlands. In January 1887  an  Italian  force  was  almost  annihilated  at
Dogali, but the check only served to  spur  on  the  Italian  government  to
fresh efforts.
  The Italians occupied Keren and Asmara in the highlands, and  eventually,
in May 1889, concluded a treaty of  peace  and  friendship  with  the  negus
Menelek, who had seized the throne on  the  death  of  Johannes,  killed  in
battle with the dervishes in March of the same year. This  agreement,  known
as the treaty of Uccialli, settled the frontiers between Abyssinia  and  the
Italian sphere, and contained the following article:—
  XVII. His Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia consents to avail himself
of the Italian government for any negotiations which he may enter into  with
the other powers or governments.
  In Italy and by other European governments  this  article  was  generally
regarded as establishing an Italian protectorate over  Abyssinia;  but  this
interpretation was never accepted by the emperor Menelek,  and  at  no  time
did  Italy  succeed  in  establishing  any  very  effective   control   over
Abyssinian affairs. North of the Italian coast sphere the Red  Sea  littoral
was still under Egyptian rule,  while  immediately  to  the  south  a  small
stretch of  coast  on  the  Gulf  of  Tajura  constituted  the  sole  French
possession on the East African mainland  (see  SOMALILAND.)  Moreover,  when
Egyptian claims to the Somali coast were withdrawn, Great Britain  took  the
opportunity to  establish  her  influence  on  the  northern  Somali  coast,
opposite Aden. Between the 1st of May 1884 and the 15th of  March  1886  ten
treaties were  concluded,  placing  under  British  influence  the  northern
Somali coast from Ras Jibuti on the west to Bandar Ziada  on  the  east.  In
the meantime Italy, not content with her acquisitions on the  Red  Sea,  had
been concluding treaties with the Somali  chiefs  on  the  east  coast.  The
first treaty was made with the sultan of Obbia on the 8th of February  1889.
Later in the same year  the  British  East  Africa  Company  transferred  to
Italy—the  transference  being  subsequently  approved  by  the  sultan   of
Zanzibar—the ports of Brava,  Marka,  Mukdishu  and  Warsheik,  leased  from
Zanzibar. On the 24th of March 1891 an agreement  between  Italy  and  Great
Britain fixed the northern bank of the Juba up to latitude 6 deg. N. as  the
southern boundary of Italian influence in  Somaliland,  the  boundary  being
provisionally prolonged  along  lines  of  latitude  and  longitude  to  the
intersection of the Blue Nile with 35 deg. E.  longitude.  On  the  15th  of
April 1891 a further agreement fixed  the  northern  limit  of  the  Italian
sphere from Ras Kasar on the Red Sea to the point  on  the  Blue  Nile  just
mentioned. By this agreement Italy was to  have  the  right  temporarily  to
occupy Kassala, which was left in the Anglo-Egyptian sphere,  in  trust  for
Egypt—a right of which she availed herself in 1894. To complete the work  of
delimitation the British and Italian governments, on the 5th  of  May  1894,
fixed the boundary of the British sphere of  influence  in  Somaliland  from
the Anglo-French boundary, which had been settled in February 1888.
  But while  Great  Britain  was  thus  lending  her  sanction  to  Italy's
ambitious schemes,  the  Abyssinian  emperor  was  becoming  more  and  more
incensed at Italy's pretensions to exercise a  protectorate  over  Ethiopia.
In 1893 Menelek denounced the treaty  of  Uccialli,  and  eventually,  in  a
great battle, fought at Adowa on the 1st of March 1896,  the  Italians  were
disastrously defeated. By the subsequent treaty of Adis Ababa, concluded  on
the 26th of October 1896, the whole of the country to the

                  The independence of Abyssinia recognized.
south of the Mareb, Belesa and Muna rivers was restored  to  Abyssinia,  and
Italy acknowledged the absolute independence of  Abyssinia.  The  effect  of
this was practically to destroy the value of the Anglo-Italian agreement  as
to the boundaries to the south and west of Abyssinia; and negotiations  were
afterwards set  on  foot  between  the  emperor  Menelek  and  his  European
neighbours with the object of determining the Abyssinian frontiers.  Italian
Somaliland, bordering on the south-eastern  frontier  of  Abyssinia,  became
limited to a belt of territory with a depth inland from the Indian Ocean  of
from 180 to 250 m. The negotiations concerning  the  frontier  lasted  until
1908, being protracted over the question as to the  possession  of  Lugh,  a
town on the Juba, which eventually fell to Italy. After the battle of  Adowa
the Italian government handed over he administration of  the  southern  part
of the country to the enadir Company, but in  January  1905  the  government
resumed control and at the same time transformed  the  leasehold  rights  it
held from the sultan of Zanzibar into sovereign rights  by  the  payment  to
the sultan  of  L.  144,000.  To  facilitate  her  communications  with  the
interior, Italy also secured from the British  government  the  lease  of  a
small area  of  land  immediately  to  the  north  of  Kismayu.  In  British
Somaliland the frontier fixed by agreement with Italy in 1894 was  modified,
in so far as it marched with Abyssinian territory,  by  an  agreement  which
Sir Rennell Rodd concluded with the emperor Menelek in 1897. The  effect  of
this agreement was to reduce the area of British Somaliland from  75,000  to
68,000 sq. m. In the same  year  France  concluded  an  agreement  with  the
emperor, which is known to have fixed the  frontier  of  the  French  Somali
Coast protectorate at a distance of 90 kilometres (56 m.)  from  the  coast.
The determination of the northern, western and southern limits of  Abyssinia
proved a more difficult matter.  A  treaty  of  July  1900  followed  by  an
agreement of November 1901 defined the boundaries of Eritrea on the side  of
Abyssinia and the Sudan respectively.  In  certain  details  the  boundaries
thus laid down were modified by an  Anglo-Italian-Abyssinian  treaty  signed
at Adis Ababa on the 15th of May 1902. On the same day  another  treaty  was
signed at the  Abyssinian  capital  by  Sir  John  Harrington,  the  British
minister plenipotentiary, and the emperor Menelek, whereby the  western,  or
Sudan-Abyssinian, frontier was defined as far south as the  intersection  of
6 deg. N. and 35 deg. E. Within the British sphere were left the  Atbara  up
to Gallabat, the Blue Nile up to Famaka and the Sobat up to the junction  of
the Baro and Pibor. While not satisfying Abyssinian  claims  to  their  full
extent, the  frontier  laid  down  was  on  the  whole  more  favourable  to
Abyssinia than was the line fixed in the Anglo-Italian  agreement  of  1891.
On  the  other  hand,  Menelek  gave  important  economic   guarantees   and
concessions to the Sudan government.
  In Egypt the result of the abolition of the  Dual  Control  was  to  make
British  influence  virtually  predominant,  though   theoretically   Turkey
remained the suzerain power; and after the reconquest of the  Sudan  by  the
Anglo-Egyptian  army  a  convention  between  the   British   and   Egyptian
governments was signed at Cairo on the 19th of January  1899,  which,  inter
alia, provided for the joint use of the British and Egyptian  flags  in  the
territories  south  of  the  22nd  parallel  of  north  latitude.  From  the
international point of view the British position in Egypt  was  strengthened
by the Anglo-French declaration of the 8th of  April  1904.  For  some  time
previously there had been

                 The Anglo-French agreements of April 1904.
a movement on both sides of the Channel in favour of  the  settlement  of  a
number of important questions in which British  and  French  interests  were
involved. The movement was no doubt strengthened by the desire to reduce  to
their least dimensions the  possible  causes  of  trouble  between  the  two
countries at a time when the outbreak of  hostilities  between  Russia  (the
ally of France) and Japan (the ally of Great Britain) rendered the  European
situation peculiarly delicate. On the 8th of April 1904 there was signed  in
London by the British foreign secretary, the marquess of Lansdowne, and  the
French ambassador, M. Paul  Cambon,  a  series  of  agreements  relating  to
several parts of the globe. Here  we  are  concerned  only  with  the  joint
declaration respecting Egypt and  Morocco  and  a  convention  relating,  in
part, to British and French frontiers in West Africa. The  latter  we  shall
have  occasion  to  refer  to  later.  The   former,   notwithstanding   the
declarations embodied in it that there was ``no intention  of  altering  the
political status'' either of Egypt or of Morocco, cannot be ignored  in  any
account of the  partition  in  Africa.  With  regard  to  Egypt  the  French
government declared ``that they  will  not  obstruct  the  action  of  Great
Britain in that country by asking that a limit of  time  be  fixed  for  the
British occupation or in any other manner.''  France  also  assented—as  did
subsequently the other powers interested—to a khedivial  decree  simplifying
the international control exercised by the  Caisse  de  la  Dette  over  the
finances of Egypt.
  In order to appreciate aright that portion of the declaration relating to
Morocco it is necessary to say a  few  words  about  the  course  of  French
policy in North-West Africa.  In  Tunisia  the  work  of  strengthening  the
protectorate established in 1881 had gone steadily forward; but  it  was  in
Algeria that the extension of French influence had  been  most  marked.  The
movement of expansion  southwards  was  inevitable.  With  the  progress  of
exploration it became increasingly evident that the  Sahara  constituted  no
insurmountable barrier between the French  possessions  in  North  and  West
Central Africa. But France had not only  the  hope  of  placing  Algeria  in
touch with the Sudan to spur her forward. To  consolidate  her  position  in
North-West Africa she desired to make French influence supreme  in  Morocco.
The relations between the two countries did not favour  the  realization  of
that ambition. The advance southwards of the  French  forces  of  occupation
evoked loud protests from the Moorish government, particularly  with  regard
to the occupation in 1900-1901 of the Tuat Oases. Under  the  Franco-Moorish
treaty of 1845 the frontier between Algeria and  Morocco  was  defined  from
the Mediterranean coast as far south as the pass  of  Teniet  el  Sassi,  in
about 34 deg. N.; beyond that came a zone in which no frontier was  defined,
but in which the  tribes  and  desert  villages  (ksurs)  belonging  to  the
respective spheres of influence  were  named;  while  south  of  the  desert
villages the treaty stated that in view of  the  character  of  the  country
``the delimitation of it would be superfluous.''  Though  the  frontier  was
thus left undefined, the sultan maintained that in  her  advance  southwards
France had trespassed on territories that unmistakably belonged to  Morocco.
After some negotiation, however, a protocol was signed in Paris on

                  France's privileged position in Morocco.
the 20th of July 1901, and commissioners appointed to  devise  measures  for
the co-operation of the French and Moorish authorities  in  the  maintenance
of peaceful conditions in the frontier  region.  It  was  reported  that  in
April 1902 the  commissioners  signed  an  agreement  whereby  the  Sharifan
government undertook to consolidate its authority on  the  Moorish  side  of
the  frontier  as  far  south  as  Figig.  The  agreement  continued:   ``Le
Gouvernement francais, en raison de son voisinage, lui  pretera  son  appui,
en cas de besoin. Le Gouvernement francais etablira son autorite et la  paix
dans les regions du Sahara, et le Gouvernement  marocain,  son  voisin,  lui
aidera de tout  son  pouvoir.''  Meanwhile  in  the  northern  districts  of
Morocco the conditions of unrest under the rule of the young sultan, Abd  el
Aziz IV., were attracting an increasing amount of attention  in  Europe  and
were  calling  forth  demands  for  their  suppression.  It  was  in   these
circumstances that  in  the  Anglo-French  declaration  of  April  1904  the
British  government  recognized  ``that  it  appertains  to   France,   more
particularly as a  power  whose  dominions  are  conterminous  for  a  great
distance with those of Morocco, to preserve order in that  country,  and  to
provide  assistance  for  the  purpose  of  all  administrative,   economic,
financial and military reforms which it may require.'' Both parties  to  the
declaration, ``inspired by their feeling of sincere  friendship  for  Spain,
take into special consideration the interests  which  that  country  derives
from her geographical position and from her territorial possessions  on  the
Moorish coast of the Mediterranean. In regard to these interests the  French
government will come to an understanding with the Spanish government.''  The
understanding thus foreshadowed was reached later in the  same  year,  Spain
securing a sphere of interest on the Mediterranean coast.  In  pursuance  of
the policy marked out in the Anglo-French declaration,  France  was  seeking
to strengthen her influence in Morocco when in 1905 the attitude of  Germany
seriously affected her position. On the 8th of July France secured from  the
German government formal ``recognition of the situation created  for  France
in Morocco by the contiguity of a vast extent of territory  of  Algeria  and
the Sharifan empire,  and  by  the  special  relations  resulting  therefrom
between the two adjacent countries, as well as by the special  interest  for
France, due to this fact, that order should reign in the Sharifan  Empire.''
Finally, in January-April 1906, a conference  of  the  powers  was  held  at
Algeciras to devise, by invitation of the sultan, a scheme of reforms to  be
introduced into Morocco (q.v..) French capital was allotted a  larger  share
than that of any other power in the Moorish state bank which it was  decided
to institute, and French  and  Spanish  officers  were  entrusted  with  the
organization of  a  police  force  for  the  maintenance  of  order  in  the
principal coast towns. The  new  regime  had  not  been  fully  inaugurated,
however, when a series of outrages led, in 1907, to the military  occupation
by France of Udja, a town near the Algerian frontier, and  of  the  port  of
Casablanca on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
  It only remains to be noted,  in  connexion  with  the  story  of  French
activity in North-West Africa, that with such energy was the penetration  of
the Sahara pursued that in  April  1904  flying  columns  from  Insalah  and
Timbuktu met by arrangement in mid-desert, and in the following year it  was
deemed advisable to indicate on the maps the boundary between  the  Algerian
and French West African territories.
  Brief reference must be made to the position of Tripoli. While Egypt  was
brought under British control and  Tunisia  became  a  French  protectorate,
Tripoli remained a province of the Turkish empire with  undefined  frontiers
in the hinterland, a state of affairs which more  than  once  threatened  to
lead to trouble with France during the expansion of the  latter's  influence
in the Sahara. As already stated, Italy early gave evidence that it was  her
ambition to succeed to the province, and, not only by the sultan  of  Turkey
but in Italy also, the Anglo-French declaration of  March  1899,  respecting
the limits of the British and French spheres of influence in  north  Central
Africa, was viewed with some  concern.  By  means  of  a  series  of  public
utterances on the part of French and Italian statesmen in the  winter  1901-
1902 it

                        Italy's interest in Tripoli.
was made known that the two powers had come to an understanding with  regard
to their interests in North Africa, and in May 1902  Signor  Prinetti,  then
Italian minister for foreign affairs, speaking in parliament in reply to  an
interpellation on the subject of Tripoli, declared that if ``the status  quo
in the Mediterranean were ever disturbed, Italy would be sure of finding  no
one to bar the way to her legitimate aspirations.''
  At the opening of the Berlin conference Spain had established  no  formal
claim to any part of the coast to  the  south  of  Morocco;  but  while  the
conference was sitting, on the 9th of January 1885, the  Spanish  government
intimated that in view of the importance of the Spanish settlements  on  the
Rio de Oro, at Angra de Cintra,

                              Spanish colonies.
and at Western Bay (Cape Blanco), and  of  the  documents  signed  with  the
independent tribes on that coast, the king of  Spain  had  taken  under  his
protection ``the territories  of  the  western  coast  of  Africa  comprised
between the fore-mentioned Western Bay  and  Cape  Bojador.''  The  interior
limits of the Spanish sphere were defined by an agreement concluded in  1900
with France. By this document some 70,000 sq. m. of the western Sahara  were
recognized as Spanish.
  The same agreement settled a  long-standing  dispute  between  Spain  and
France as to the ownership of the district  around  the  Muni  river  to  be
south of Cameroon, Spain securing a block of  territory  with  a  coast-line
from the Campo river on the north to  the  Muni  river  on  the  south.  The
northern frontier is formed by the German Cameroon colony,  the  eastern  by
11 deg. 20' E., and the southern by the first parallel of north latitude  to
its point of intersection with the Muni river.
  Apart from this small block of Spanish territory south of  Cameroon,  the
stretch of coast between Cape Blanco and the

                        Division of the Guinea coast.
mouth of the Congo is partitioned among four European powers—Great  Britain,
France, Germany and Portugal —and the negro republic of  Liberia.  Following
the coast southwards  from  Cape  Blanco  is  first  the  French  colony  of
Senegal, which is indented, along the Gambia river,  by  the  small  British
colony  of  that  name,  and  then  the  comparatively  small  territory  of
Portuguese Guinea, all that remains on this Coast  to  represent  Portugal's
share in the scramble in a region where she once  played  so  conspicuous  a
part. To the south of Portuguese Guinea is the  French  Guinea  colony,  and
still going south and east are the  British  colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  the
republic of Liberia, the French colony of the Ivory coast, the British  Gold
Coast, German Togoland, French Dahomey, the British colony  (formerly  known
as the Lagos colony)  and  protectorate  of  Southern  Nigeria,  the  German
colony of Cameroon, the Spanish settlements on the Muni  river,  the  French
Congo colony, and the small Portuguese enclave north of the Congo  to  which
reference has already been made,  which  is  administratively  part  of  the
Angola colony. When the General Act of the Berlin conference was signed  the
whole of this coast-line had not been formally  claimed;  but  no  time  was
lost by the powers interested in  notifying  claims  to  the  unappropriated
sections, and the  conflicting  claims  put  forward  necessitated  frequent
adjustments by international agreements. By  a  Franco-Portuguese  agreement
of  the  12th  of  May  1886  the  limits  of  Portuguese  Guinea—surrounded
landwards by French territory—were defined, and  by  agreements  with  Great
Britain in 1885 and France in  1892  and  1907  the  Liberian  republic  was
Confined to an area of about 43,000 sq. m.
  The real struggle in West Africa was between France  and  Great  Britain,
and France played the dominant part, the exhaustion of Portugal, the  apathy
of the British government and the late appearance of Germany  in  the  field
being all elements that  favoured  the  success  of  French  policy.  Before
tracing the steps in the historic contest between France and  Great  Britain
it is necessary, however, to deal briefly with the part played  by  Germany.
She naturally could not be disposed of by the  chief  rivals  as  easily  as
were Portugal and Liberia. It will be remembered that  Dr  Nachtigal,  while
the proposals for the Berlin conference were under discussion,  had  planted
the German flag on the coast of Togo and in Cameroon in the  month  of  July
1884. In Cameroon Germany found herself with Great Britain for  a  neighbour
to the north, and with France as her southern neighbour on the Gabun  river.
The utmost activity was displayed in making  treaties  with  native  chiefs,
and in securing as wide a range  of  coast  for  German  enterprise  as  was
possible. After various provisional agreements had  been  concluded  between
Great Britain  and  Germany,  a  ``provisional  line  of  demarcation''  was
adopted in the famous agreement of the 1st of July 1890, starting  from  the
head of the Rio del Rey creek and going to the point, about 9  deg.  8'  E.,
marked ``rapids'' on the British Admiralty chart. By a further agreement  of
the 14th of April 1893, the right bank of the  Rio  del  Rey  was  made  the
boundary between the Oil Rivers  Protectorate  (now  Southern  Nigeria)  and
Cameroon. In the following November (1893) the boundary was  continued  from
the ``rapids'' before mentioned,  on  the  Calabar  or  Cross  river,  in  a
straight line towards the centre of the town of Yola, on  the  Benue  river.
Yola itself, with a radius

                       Germany in West Central Africa.

of some 3 m., was left in  the  British  sphere,  and  the  German  boundary
followed the circle eastwards from the point of intersection  as  it  neared
Yola until it met the Benue river. From that point it crossed the  river  to
the intersection of the 13th degree of longitude with  the  10th  degree  of
north latitude, and then made direct for a point on the  southern  shore  of
Lake Chad ``situated 35 minutes east of the  meridian  of  Kuka.''  By  this
agreement the British government withdrew from  a  considerable  section  of
the upper waters of the  Benue  with  which  the  Royal  Niger  Company  had
entered into relations. The limit of Germany's possible extension  eastwards
was fixed at the basin of the river Shari,  and  Darfur,  Kordofan  and  the
Bahr-el-Ghazal were to be excluded from her sphere of influence. The  object
of  Great  Britain  in  making  the  sacrifice  she  did  was  two-fold.  By
satisfying Germany's desire for a part of Lake  Chad  a  check  was  put  on
French designs on the Benue region, while by recognizing the  central  Sudan
(Wadai, &c.) in the German sphere, a barrier was interposed to  the  advance
of France from the Congo to the Nile. This last  object  was  not  attained,
inasmuch as Germany in coming to terms with France as to  the  southern  and
eastern limits of Cameroon abandoned her claims to the  central  Sudan.  She
had already, on the 24th of December 1885, signed  a  protocol  with  France
fixing her southern frontier, where  it  was  coterminous  with  the  French
Congo colony. But to the east German explorers were crossing  the  track  of
French explorers from the northern bank of the Ubangi, and the need  for  an
agreement  was  obvious.  Accordingly,  on  the  4th  of  February  1894,  a
protocol—which, some weeks later, was confirmed by a convention— was  signed
at Berlin, by which France accepted the presence of Germany on Lake Chad  as
a fait accompli and effected the best bargain she could by making  the  left
bank of the Shari river,  from  its  outlet  into  Lake  Chad  to  the  10th
parallel of north latitude, the eastern  limit  of  German  extension.  From
this point the boundary line went due west some 230 m., then  turned  south,
and with various indentations joined the south-eastern frontier,  which  had
been slightly extended so as to give Germany access to the  Sanga  river—  a
tributary of the Congo. Thus, early in 1894, the German Cameroon colony  had
reached fairly definite limits. In 1908 another  convention,  modifying  the
frontier, gave Germany a larger share of  the  Sanga,  while  France,  among
other advantages, gained the left bank of the Shari to 10 deg. 40' N.
  The German Togoland settlements occupy  a  narrow  strip  of  the  Guinea
coast, some 35 m. only in length, wedged in between the British  Gold  Coast
and French Dahomey. At  first  France  was  inclined  to  dispute  Germany's
claims to Little Popo and Porto Seguro; but  in  December  1885  the  French
government acknowledged the German protectorate over these

                    Exclusion of Germany from the Niger.
places, and the boundary between French and  German  territory,  which  runs
north from the coast to the 11th decree of latitude, was laid  down  by  the
Franco-German convention of the 12th of July 1897. The fixing  of  the  11th
parallel as the northern boundary of German expansion towards  the  interior
was not accomplished without some  sacrifice  of  German  ambitions.  Having
secured an opening on  Lake  Chad  for  her  Cameroon  colony,  Germany  was
anxious to obtain a  footing  on  the  middle  Niger  for  Togoland.  German
expeditions reached Gando, one of the tributary states of the Sokoto  empire
on the middle Niger, and, notwithstanding the existence  of  prior  treaties
with Great Britain, sought to conclude agreements with the  sultan  of  that
country. But this German ambition conflicted both with the British  and  the
French designs in West Africa, and eventually  Germany  had  to  be  content
with the 11th parallel as her northern frontier. On the  west  the  Togoland
frontier on the  coast  was  fixed  in  July  1886  by  British  and  German
commissioners at 1 deg. 10' E. longitude,  and  its  extension  towards  the
interior laid down for a short distance. A curious feature  in  the  history
of its prolongation was the establishment in 1888 of a neutral zone  wherein
neither power was to seek to acquire protectorates nor exclusive  influence.
It was not until November 1899 that, as part of the Samoa  settlement,  this
neutral zone was  partitioned  between  the  two  powers  and  the  frontier
extended to the 11th parallel.
  The story of the struggle between France and Great Britain in West Africa
may roughly be divided into two sections, the

                    Anglo-French rivalry in West Africa.
first dealing with the Coast colonies, the second dealing with the  struggle
for the middle Niger and Lake Chad. As regards the  Coast  colonies,  France
was wholly successful  in  her  design  of  isolating  all  Great  Britain's
separate possessions in that region, and of securing for herself  undisputed
possession of the upper Niger and of the countries lying  within  the  great
bend of that river. When the British government awoke to  the  consciousness
of what was  at  stake  France  had  obtained  too  great  a  start.  French
governors of the Senegal had succeeded, before  the  Berlin  Conference,  in
establishing forts on the upper Niger, and the  advantage  thus  gained  was
steadily pursued. Every winter season French posts were pushed  farther  and
farther along the river, or in the vast  regions  watered  by  the  southern
tributaries of the Senegal and Niger rivers.  This  ceaseless  activity  met
with its reward.  Great  Britain  found  herself  compelled  to  acknowledge
accomplished facts and to conclude agreements with France,  which  left  her
colonies mere coast patches, with  a  very  limited  extension  towards  the
interior. On the 10th of August 1889 an agreement was signed  by  which  the
Gambia colony and protectorate was confined to a narrow strip  of  territory
on both banks of the river for about 200 m. from the sea. In June  1882  and
in August 1889 provisional agreements  were  made  with  France  fixing  the
western  and  northern  limits  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  commissioners  were
appointed  to  trace  the  line  of  demarcation  agreed  upon  by  the  two
governments. But the commissioners failed to  agree,  and  on  the  21st  of
January 1895 a fresh agreement was made,  the  boundary  being  subsequently
traced by a mixed commission. Sierra Leone, as now  definitely  constituted,
has a coast-line of about  180  m.  and  a  maximum  extension  towards  the
interior of some 200 m.
  At the date of the Berlin conference the  present  colonies  of  Southern
Nigeria and the Gold Coast constituted a single colony under  the  title  of
the Gold Coast colony, but  on  the  13th  of  January  1886  the  territory
comprised under that title was erected into two separate colonies—Lagos  and
the Gold Coast (the name of the former being changed  in  February  1906  to
the colony of Southern Nigeria). The coast limits  of  the  new  Gold  Coast
colony were declared to extend from 5 deg.  W.  to  2  deg.  E.,  but  these
limits were subsequently curtailed by agreements with  France  and  Germany.
The arrangements that fixed the eastern frontier of the  Gold  Coast  colony
and its hinterland  have  already  been  stated  in  connexion  with  German
Togoland. On the western frontier it marches with the French colony  of  the
Ivory Coast, and in July 1893, after an unsuccessful attempt to achieve  the
same end by an agreement concluded in 1889, the frontier  was  defined  from
the neighbourhood of the Tano lagoon and river of the same name, to the  9th
degree of north latitude. In August 1896, following the destruction  of  the
Ashanti power and the deportation of  King  Prempeh,  as  a  result  of  the
second Ashanti campaign, a British protectorate was declared over the  whole
of the Ashanti territories and a resident was installed at  Kumasi.  But  no
northern limit  had  been  fixed  by  the  1893  agreement  beyond  the  9th
parallel, and the countries to the north—Gurunsi (Grusi), Mossi and  Gurma—-
were  entered  from  all  sides  by  rival  British,   French   and   German
expeditions. The conflicting claims established by these  rival  expeditions
may, however,  best  be  considered  in  connexion  with  the  struggle  for
supremacy on the middle Niger and in the Chad region, to  which  it  is  now
necessary to turn.
  A few days before the meeting of the Berlin conference Sir George  Goldie
had succeeded in buying up all the French interests on the lower Niger.  The
British company's influence had at that date been extended by treaties  with
the native chiefs up the main Niger stream to its junction with  the  Benue,
and some distance along this latter river But the great Fula states  of  the
central Sudan were still outside European influence, and this fact  did  not
escape attention in Germany. German merchants  had  been  settled  for  some
years on the coast, and one of them,  E.  R.  Flegel,  had  displayed  great
interest in, and activity on, the river. He recognized that in  the  densely
populated states of the middle Niger, Sokoto and Gando, and in Bornu to  the
west of Lake Chad, there was a  magnificent  field  for  Germany's  new-born
colonizing zeal. The  German  African  Company14  and  the  German  Colonial
Society listened eagerly to Flegel's proposals, and in April  1885  he  left
Berlin on a mission to the Fula states of  Sokoto  and  Gando.  But  it  was
impossible to  keep  his  intentions  entirely  secret,  and  the  (British)
National African Company had no desire to see the French rivals,  whom  they
had with so much difficulty dislodged from the river, replaced by  the  even
more troublesome German. Accordingly  Joseph  Thomson,  the  young  Scottish
explorer, was sent out to the Niger, and had the satisfaction of  concluding
on the 1st of June 1885 a treaty with ``Umoru, King  of  the  Mussulmans  of
the Sudan and Sultan of Sokoto,'' which practically  secured  the  whole  of
the trading rights and the control of the sultan's foreign relations to  the
British company. Thomson concluded a  similar  treaty  with  the  sultan  of
Gando, so as to provide against the possibility of its  being  alleged  that
Gando was an independent state and not subject  to  the  suzerainty  of  the
sultan of Sokoto. As Thomson descended the river with his treaties,  he  met
Flegel going up the river, with bundles of German  flags  and  presents  for
the chiefs. The German government continued its efforts to secure a  footing
on the lower Niger until the fall of Prince Bismarck  from  power  in  March
1890, when opposition  ceased,  and  on  the  failure  of  the  half-hearted
attempt made later to establish relations with Gando from Togoland,  Germany
dropped out of the competition for the

                    The Niger Company granted a charter.
western Sudan and left the field to France  and  Great  Britain.  After  its
first great success the National African  Company  renewed  its  efforts  to
obtain a charter from the British government, and on the 10th of  July  1886
the charter was granted, and the company became ``The Royal  Niger  Company,
chartered  and  limited.''  In  June  of  the  previous   year   a   British
protectorate had been proclaimed Over the whole of the coast  from  the  Rio
del Rey to the Lagos frontier,  and  as  already  stated,  on  the  13th  of
January 1886 the Lagos settlements had been separated from  the  Gold  Coast
and erected into a separate colony. It may be convenient to state here  that
the  western  boundary  of  Lagos  with  French  territory   (Dahomey)   was
determined in the Anglo-French agreement of the 10th of  August  1889,  ``as
far as the 9th degree of north latitude, where it shall  stop.''  Thus  both
in the Gold Coast hinterland and in the Lagos hinterland  a  door  was  left
wide open to the north of the 9th parallel.
  Notwithstanding her strenuous efforts, France, in her  advance  down  the
Niger from Senegal, did not succeed in reaching Sego on the upper  Niger,  a
considerable distance above Timbuktu, until the  winter  of  1890-1891,  and
the rapid advance of British influence up the  river  raised  serious  fears
lest the Royal Niger Company  should  reach  Timbuktu  before  France  could
forestall her. It was, no doubt, this consideration that induced the  French
government to consent to the insertion  in  the  agreement  of  the  5th  of
August 1890, by which Great Britain recognized  France's  protectorate  over
Madagascar, of the following article:
  The  Government  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  recognizes  the  sphere  of
influence of France to the south of her Mediterranean possessions  up  to  a
line from Say on the Niger to Barrua on Lake Chad, drawn m such a manner  as
to comprise in the sphere of action of the Niger  Company  all  that  fairly
belongs to the  kingdom  of  Sokoto;  the  line  to  be  determined  by  the
commissioners to be appointed.
  The commissioners never were in fact appointed, and the proper meaning to
be attached  to  this  article  subsequently  became  a  subject  of  bitter
controversy between the two countries. An examination of  the  map  of  West
Africa will show what possibilities of trouble were left open at the end  of
1890 by the various agreements concluded up to that date. From  Say  on  the
Niger to where the Lagos frontier came to an abrupt stop in 9 deg. N.  there
was no boundary line between the French and British  spheres  of  influence.
To the north of the Gold Coast and of the French Ivory Coast colony the  way
was equally open to Great Britain and to France, while the vagueness of  the
Say-Barrua line left an opening of which France was quick to avail  herself.
Captain P. L. Monteil, who was despatched by the French government  to  West
Africa in 1890, immediately after the conclusion of  the  August  agreement,
did not hesitate to pass well to the south of the Say-Barrua  line,  and  to
attempt to conclude treaties with chiefs  who  were,  beyond  all  question,
within the British sphere. Still farther south, on the Benue river, the  two
expeditions of Lieutenant Mizon—in 1890 and 1892—failed to do any real  harm
to British interests. In 1892 an  event  happened  which  had  an  important
bearing on the future course of the dispute.

                          French advance Timbuktu.
  After a troublesome war with Behanzin king of  to  the  native  state  of
Dahomey, France annexed some portion of Dahomeyan territory  on  the  coast,
and declared a protectorate over the rest of the kingdom. Thus  was  removed
the barrier which had up to that time prevented France from pushing her  way
Nigerwards from her possessions on the Slave Coast,  as  well  as  from  the
upper Niger and the Ivory Coast. Henceforth  her  progress  from  all  these
directions was rapid, and in particular Timbuktu was occupied  in  the  last
days of 1893.
  In 1894 it appears to have been suddenly realized in France that, for the
development of the vast regions which she was placing under  her  protection
in West Africa, it was extremely  desirable  that  she  should  obtain  free
access to the navigable portions of the Niger, if  not  on  the  left  bank,
from which she was excluded by the Say-Barrua agreement, then on  the  right
bank, where the frontier had still to be fixed by  international  agreement.
In the neighbourhood of Bussa there is  a  long  stretch  of  the  river  so
impeded by rapids that  navigation  is  practically  impossible,  except  in
small boats and at considerable risk.  Below  these  rapids  France  had  no
foothold on the river, both banks from Bussa to the  sea  being  within  the
British sphere. In 1890 the Royal Niger Company had concluded a treaty  with
the emir and chiefs of Bussa (or Borgu); but the French  declared  that  the
real paramount chief of Borgu was not the king of Bussa,  but  the  king  of
Nikki, and three expeditions were despatched in hot haste to Nikki  to  take
the king under French protection. Sir George Goldie, however, was not to  be
baffled. While maintaining the validity of the earlier  treaty  with  Bussa,
he despatched Captain (afterwards General Sir) F.D.  Lugard  to  Nikki,  and
Lugard was successful in distancing all his French  competitors  by  several
days, reaching Nikki on the 5th of November 1894  and  concluding  a  treaty
with the king and chiefs.  The  French  expeditions,  which  were  in  great
strength, did not hesitate on their arrival to compel the  king  to  execute
fresh treaties  with  France,  and  with  these  in  their  possession  they
returned to Dahomey. Shortly  afterwards  a  fresh  act  of  aggression  was
committed. On the  13th  of  February  1895  a  French  officer,  Commandant
Toutee, arrived on the right bank of the Niger opposite Bajibo and  built  a
fort. His presence there was  notified  to  the  Royal  Niger  Company,  who
protested  to  the  British  government  against  this  invasion  of   their
territory. Lord Rosebery, who  was  then  foreign  minister,  at  once  made
inquiries in Paris, and received the assurance that  Commandant  Toutee  was
``a  private  traveller.''  Eventually  Commandant  Toutee  was  ordered  to
withdraw, and the fort was occupied by the  Royal  Niger  Company's  troops.
Commandant Toutee subsequently published the official instructions from  the
French government under  which  he  had  acted.  It  was  thought  that  the
recognition of the British claims, involved in the withdrawal of  Commandant
Toutee, had marked the  final  abandonment  by  France  of  the  attempt  to
establish herself on the navigable portions of the Niger  below  Bussa,  but
in 1897 the attempt was renewed in the most determined manner.  In  February
of that year a French force  suddenly  occupied  Bussa,  and  this  act  was
quickly followed by the occupation of Gomba and Illo higher  up  the  river.
In November 1897 Nikki was occupied. The  situation  on  the  Niger  had  so
obviously been outgrowing the capacity of a chartered company that for  some
time before these occurrences  the  assumption  of  responsibility  for  the
whole of the Niger region

                   The Franco-British settlement of 1898.
by the imperial authorities had been practically decided on;  and  early  in
1898 Lugard was sent out to the Niger with a number of imperial officers  to
raise a local force in preparation for the contemplated change. The  advance
of the French forces from the south and west was the signal for  an  advance
of British troops from the  Niger,  from  Lagos  and  from  the  Gold  Coast
protectorate. The situation thus created was extremely serious. The  British
and French flags were flying in close proximity, in some cases in  the  same
village. Meanwhile the diplomatists were busy in London and  in  Paris,  and
in the latter capital a  commission  sat  for  many  months  to  adjust  the
conflicting  claims.  Fortunately,  by  the  tact  and  forbearance  of  the
officers on  both  sides,  no  local  incident  occurred  to  precipitate  a
collision, and on the 14th of June 1898  a  convention  was  signed  by  Sir
Edmund Monson and M. G. Hanotaux which practically completed  the  partition
of this part of the continent.
  The settlement effected  was  in  the  nature  of  a  compromise.  France
withdrew from Bussa, Gomba and Illo, the frontier line  west  of  the  Niger
being drawn from the 9th parallel to a point ten miles, as the  crow  flies,
above Giri, the port of Illo. France was thus shut out  from  the  navigable
portion of the middle and lower Niger; but for  purely  commercial  purposes
Great Britain agreed to lease to France two  small  plots  of  land  on  the
river-the one on the right bank between Leaba and the  mouth  of  the  Moshi
river, the other at one of the mouths of the Niger. By accepting  this  line
Great Britain abandoned Nikki and a great part of  Borgu  as  well  as  some
part of Gando to France. East of the Niger the Say-Barrua line was  modified
in favour of France, which gained parts of both Sokoto and Bornu where  they
meet the southern edge of the Sahara.  In  the  Gold  Coast  hinterland  the
French withdrew from Wa, and Great Britain abandoned  all  claim  to  Mossi,
though the capital of the latter country, together with a further  extensive
area in the territory assigned to both powers, was declared  to  be  equally
free, so far as trade and navigation were concerned,  to  the  subjects  and
protected persons of both nationalities. The western boundary  of  the  Gold
Coast was prolonged along the Black Volta as far as  latitude  11  deg.  N.,
and this parallel was  followed  with  slight  deflexions  to  the  Togoland
frontier. In consequence  of  the  acute  crisis  which  shortly  afterwards
occurred  between  France  and  Great  Britain  on  the  upper   Nile,   the
ratification of this agreement was delayed until  after  the  conclusion  of
the Fashoda agreement of March 1899 already referred to.  In  1900  the  two
patches on the  Niger  leased  to  France  were  selected  by  commissioners
representing the two countries,  and  in  the  same  year  the  Anglo-French
frontier from Lagos to the west bank of the Niger was delimited.
  East of the Niger the frontier, even  as  modified  in  1898,  failed  to
satisfy the French need for a practicable route to Lake  Chad,  and  in  the
convention of the 8th of April 1904, to which reference has been made  under
Egypt and Morocco, it was

                       Further concessions to France.
agreed,  as  part  of  the  settlement  of  the  French  shore  question  in
Newfoundland, to deflect the frontier  line  more  to  the  south.  The  new
boundary was described at some  length,  but  provision  was  made  for  its
modification in points of detail on the return of the commissioners  engaged
in surveying the frontier region. In 1906 an agreement was  reached  on  all
points, and the frontier at last definitely  settled,  sixteen  years  after
the Say-Barrua  line  had  been  fixed.  This  revision  of  the  Niger-Chad
frontier did not,  however,  represent  the  only  territorial  compensation
received by France in West Africa in connexion with the  settlement  of  the
Newfoundland question. By the same convention  of  April  1904  the  British
government consented to modify the frontier between Senegal and  the  Gambia
colony ``so as to give to France  Yarbutenda  and  the  lands  and  landing-
places belonging to that locality,'' and further agreed to  cede  to  France
the tiny group of islands off the coast of French Guinea known  as  the  Los
Islands.
  Meantime the conclusion of the 1898 convention had left both the  British
and the French  governments  free  to  devote  increased  attention  to  the
subdivision and control of their West African possessions.  On  the  1st  of
January 1900 the imperial authorities assumed direct responsibility for  the
whole  of  the  territories  of  the  Royal  Niger  Company,  which   became
henceforth a purely  commercial  undertaking.  The  Lagos  protectorate  was
extended northwards; the Niger Coast protectorate,  likewise  with  extended
frontiers,  became  Southern  Nigeria;  while  the  greater  part   of   the
territories formerly administered by the company were constituted  into  the
protectorate of Northern Nigeria—all three  administrations  being  directly
under the Colonial  Office  In  February  1906  the  administration  of  the
Southern Nigerian protectorate was placed under that of Lagos  at  the  same
time as the name of the  latter  was  changed  to  the  Colony  of  Southern
Nigeria, this being a step towards the eventual

            Organization of the British and French protectorates.
amalgamation of all three  dependencies  under  one  governor  or  governor-
general. In French West Africa changes in the internal frontiers  have  been
numerous and important. The coast colonies have all been increased  in  size
at the expense of the French Sudan, which has vanished from the maps  as  an
administrative entity. There are carved out of the territories comprised  in
what is officially  known  as  French  West  Africa  five  colonies—Senegal,
French Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Dahomey and the  Upper  Senegal  and  Niger,
this last being entirely cut off from the sea—and  the  civil  territory  of
Mauritania. To the colony of the Upper Senegal and  Niger  is  attached  the
military territory of the Niger, embracing  the  French  Sahara  up  to  the
limit of the Algerian sphere of influence. Not only are all these  divisions
of French West Africa connected  territorially,  but  administratively  they
are united under a governor-general. Similarly the French Congo  territories
have been divided into three colonies—the Gabun, the Middle  Congo  and  the
Ubangi-Shari-Chad—all united administratively under a commissioner-general.
  There are, around the coast, numerous islands or groups of islands, which
are regarded by geographers as outliers of the

                      Ownership of the African Islands.
African mainland. The majority of these African  islands  were  occupied  by
one or other of the European powers long before the  period  of  continental
partition. The  Madeira  Islands  to  the  west  of  Morocco,  the  Bissagos
Islands, off the Guinea coast, and Prince's Island and  St  Thomas'  Island,
in the Gulf of Guinea, are Portuguese possessions of old standing; while  in
the Canary Islands and Fernando Po Spain possesses remnants of  her  ancient
colonial empire which are a more valuable asset than any  she  has  acquired
in recent times on the mainland. St Helena in the  Atlantic,  Mauritius  and
some small groups north of Madagascar  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  are  British
possessions acquired long before the opening of  the  last  quarter  of  the
19th century. Zanzibar, Pemba and some smaller islands which the sultan  was
allowed to retain were, as has already been  stated,  placed  under  British
protection in  1890,  and  the  island  of  Sokotra  was  placed  under  the
``gracious favour and protection'' of Great Britain on  the  23rd  of  April
1886. France's ownership of Reunion dates back to the 17th century, but  the
Comoro archipelago was not placed under French protection until April  1886.
None of these islands, with the  exception  of  the  Zanzibar  group,  have,
however, materially affected the partition of the continent, and  they  need
not be enumerated in the table which follows. But the  important  island  of
Madagascar stands in a different category, both on account of its  size  and
because it was during the period under review that  it  passed  through  the
various stages which led to its becoming a French  colony.  The  first  step
was the placing  of  the  foreign  relations  of  the  island  under  French
control, which was effected by the treaty of  the  17th  of  December  1885,
after the Franco-Malagasy war that had broken out in  1883.  In  1890  Great
Britain and Germany recognized a French protectorate over  the  island,  but
the Hova government declined to acquiesce in this  view,  and  in  May  1895
France sent an expedition to enforce her claims. The  capital  was  occupied
on the 30th of September in the same year, and on the  day  following  Queen
Ranavalona signed a  convention  recognizing  the  French  protectorate.  In
January 1896 the island was declared a French possession, and on the 6th  of
August was declared to be  a  French  colony.  In  February  1897  the  last
vestige of ancient rule was swept away by the deportation of the queen.
  Thus in its broad outlines the partition of Africa was begun and ended in
the short space of a quarter of a century. There are  still  many  finishing
touches to be put to the structure. The southern frontiers  of  Morocco  and
Tripoli remain undefined, while the mathematical lines by which the  spheres
of influence of the powers were separated  one  from  the  other  are  being
variously modified on the do ut des principle as they come  to  be  surveyed
and as the effective occupation of the continent progresses. Much labour  is
necessary before the actual area of  Africa  and  its  subdivisions  can  be
accurately determined, but in the following table the figures are  at  least
approximately correct. Large areas of  the  spheres  assigned  to  different
European powers have still to be brought under European  control;  but  this
work is advancing by rapid strides.

 BRITISH— Sq. m.
   Cape Colony  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276,995
   Natal and Zululand . . . . . . . . . . .  35,371
   Basutoland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10,293
   Bechuanaland Protectorate  . . . . . . . 225,000
   Transvaal and Swaziland  . . . . . . . . 117,732
   Orange River Colony  . . . . . . . . . .  50,392
   Rhodesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450,000
   Nyasaland Protectorate . . . . . . . . .  43,608
   British East Africa Protectorate . . . . 240,000
   Uganda Protectorate  . . . . . . . . . . 125,000
   Zanzibar Protectorate  . . . . . . . . .   1,020
   Somaliland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  68,000
   Northern Nigeria   . . . . . . . . . . . 258,000
   Southern Nigeria (colony and protectorate) 80,000
   Gold Coast and hinterland  . . . . .  82,000
   Sierre Leone (colony and protectorate) .  34,000
   Gambia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4,000
       Total British Africa . . . . . . . 2,101,411

   Egypt and Libyan Desert  . . . . . . . . 650,000
   Anglo-Egyptian Sudan . . . . . . . . . . 950,000
                                       1,600,000

 FRENCH—
   Algeria and Algerian Sahara  . . . . . . 945,000
   Tunisia  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51,000
   French West Africa—
     Senegal  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  74,000
     French Guinea  . . . . . . . . . . . . 107,000
     Ivory Coast  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129,000
     Dahomey  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40,000
     Upper Senegal and Niger, and
       Mauritania (including French West
       African Sahara)  . . . . 1,581,000 1,931,000
   French Congo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700,000
   French Somaliland  . . . . . . . . . . .  12,000
   Madagascar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227,950
       Total French Africa  . . . . . . . 3,866,950

 GERMAN—
   East Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364,000
   South.West Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . 322,450
   Cameroon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190,000
   Togoland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33,700

       Total German Africa  . . . . . . . . 910,150
ITALIAN—
   Eritrea  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  60,000
   Somaliland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,000
       Total Italian Africa . . . . . . . . 200,000

 PORTUGUESE—
   Guinea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14,000
   West Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480,000
   East Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293,500
       Total Portuguese Africa  . . . . . . 787,500

 SPANISH—
   Rio de Oro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,000
   Muni River Settlements . . . . . . . . . . 9,800
         Total Spanish Africa . . . . . . . . 79,800

 BELGIAN—
   Congo State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900,000

 TURKISH—
   Tripoli and Benghazi  . . . . . . . . . . 400,000

 SEPARATE STATES—
   Liberia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,000
   Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220,000
   Abyssinia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350,000
       Total Independent Africa  . . . . . . 613,000

  Thus, collecting the totals, the result of the ``scramble'' has been to
divide Africa among the powers as follows:—
                                            Sq. m.
   British Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,101,411
   Egyptian Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,600,000
   French Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,866,950
   German Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910,150
   Italian Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200,000
   Portuguese Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . 787,500
   Spanish Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,800
   Belgian Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900,000
   Turkish Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,000
   Independent Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . 613,000
                                          11,458,811
                                          (J. S. K.)

1. Commercial treaties between Carthage and Rome were made in  the  6th  and
  5th centuries B.C.. The first armed conflict between  the  rival  powers,
  begun in 264 B.C., was a contest for the possession of Sicily.
2. This river was called by the Portuguese the Zaire. They  appear  to  have
  made no attempt  to  trace  its  course  beyond  the  rapids  which  stop
  navigation from the sea.
3. France acquired, as stations for her ships on  the  voyage  to  and  from
  India, settlements in Madagascar and the neighbouring islands. The  first
  settlement was made in 1642.
4. The Association, in 1831, was merged in the Royal Geographical Society.
5. The Mamelukes, whom the Turks had overthrown in  the  16th  century,  had
  regained practically independent power.
6. In imitation of the British example, an American society founded in  1822
  the negro colony (now republic) of Liberia.
7. The first territorial acquisition made by Great Britain  in  this  region
  was in 1851, when Lagos Island was annexed.
8. As early as 1848 an Arab from Zanzibar journeying  across  the  continent
  had arrived at Benguella.
9. Another great traveller of this stamp was Wilhelm Junker, who  spent  the
  greater part of the period 1875-1886 in the east central Sudan.
10. Specially appointed to consider West African affairs.
11. See the tables in Behm and Wagner's Bevolkerung der Erde (Gotha, 1872).
12. in 1887 this  society  united  with  the  German  Colonial  Society,  an
  organization founded in 1882. The united society took the  title  of  the
  German Colonial Company.
13. At this period negotiations between Great Britain and  Italy  had  begun
  but were not concluded.
14. This association, formed in 1878 by a union  of  associations  primarily
  intended for the exploration of Africa, ceased to exist in 1891.

                    VI. EXPLORATION AND SURVEY SINCE 1875
  In giving the history of the partition of the continent, the  later  work
of exploration, except where, as in the case of de Brazza's expeditions,  it
had direct political consequences, has  of  necessity  not  been  told.  The
results achieved during and  after  the  period  of  partition  may  now  be
indicated. Stanley's great journey down the Congo in 1875-1876  initiated  a
new era in African exploration. The numbers of  travellers  soon  became  so
great that the once marvellous feat of crossing the continent  from  sea  to
sea became common.  With  increased  knowledge  and  much  ampler  means  of
communication trans-African travel  now  presents  few  difficulties.  While
d'Anville and other cartographers of the 18th century, by omitting all  that
was uncertain, had left a great blank on  the  map,  the  work  accomplished
since 1875 has filled it  with  authentic  topographical  details.  Moreover
surveys of high accuracy have been made at several points. As  the  work  of
exploration and survey  progressed  journeys  of  startling  novelty  became
impossible—save in the eastern  Sahara,  where  the  absence  of  water  and
boundless wastes of sand render exploration more  difficult,  perhaps,  than
in any other region  of  the  globe.  Within  their  respective  spheres  of
influence each power undertook detailed surveys, and the most solid  of  the
latest accessions to knowledge have  resulted  from  the  labours  of  hard-
working colonial officials toiling individually in obscurity. Their work  it
is impossible here to recognize adequately; the following lines record  only
the more obvious achievements. The  relation  of  the  Congo  basin  to  the
neighbouring  river  systems  was  brought  out  by  the  journeys  of  many
travellers. In 1877 an important expedition was sent out by  the  Portuguese
government under Serpa Pinto, Brito Capello and Roberto

                             Work in the Congo.
Ivens for the exploration of the interior of Angola. The  first  named  made
his way by the head-streams of the Kubango to the upper  Zambezi,  which  he
descended to the Victoria Falls, proceeding thence to Pretoria  and  Durban.
Capello and Ivens confined their attention to the  south-west  Congo  basin,
where they disproved the existence of Lake Aquilunda, which had  figured  on
the maps of that region since the 16th century. In a  later  journey  (1884-
1885) Capello and Ivens crossed the continent from Mossamedes to  the  mouth
of the Zambezi, adding considerably to  the  knowledge  of  the  borderlands
between the upper Congo and the upper Zambezi. More important  results  were
obtained by the German travellers Paul Pogge and Hermann von  Wissmann,  who
(1880-1882) passed through previously unknown regions beyond  Muata  Yanvo's
kingdom, and reached the upper Congo at Nyangwe, whence  Wissmann  made  his
way to the east coast. In  1884-1885  a  German  expedition  under  Wissmann
solved the most important geographical  problem  relating  to  the  southern
Congo basin by descending the Kasai, the largest southern tributary,  which,
contrary to expectation, proved to unite with the Kwango and  other  streams
before joining the main river. Further additions to  the  knowledge  of  the
Congo tributaries were made at the same time by the Rev. George Grenfell,  a
Baptist missionary, who (accompanied  in  1885  by  K.  von  Francois)  made
several voyages in the steamer ``Peace,'' especially up  the  great  Ubangi,
ultimately proved to be the lower course of the Welle,  discovered  in  1870
by Schweinfurth.
  In East as in West Africa  operations  were  started  by  agents  of  the
Belgian committee, but with less success than on the Congo.

                           Opening up East Africa.
  The first new journey of importance on this side was made (1878-1880)  on
behalf of the British African Exploration Committee by Joseph  Thomson,  who
after the death of his leader, Keith Johnston, made his way from  the  coast
to the north end of Nyasa, thence to Tanganyika, on both sides of  which  he
broke new ground, sighting the north end of Lake Rukwa on the east. In 1882-
1884 the French naval lieutenant Victor Giraud proceeded  by  the  north  of
Nyasa to Lake Bangweulu, of which he made  the  first  fairly  correct  map.
North of the Zanzibar-Tanganyika route  a  large  area  of  new  ground  was
opened in 1883-1884 by Joseph Thomson, who traversed  the  whole  length  of
the Masai country to Lake Baringo and Victoria Nyanza,  shedding  the  first
clear  light  on  the  great  East  African  rift-valley  and   neighbouring
highlands, including Mounts Kenya and Elgon. A great advance in  the  region
between  Victoria  Nyanza  and  Abyssinia  was  made  in  1887-1889  by  the
Austrians, Count Samuel Teleki and Lieut. Ludwig von Hohnel, who  discovered
the large Basso Norok, now known as Lake  Rudolf,  till  then  only  vaguely
indicated on the map as Samburu. At this time Somaliland  was  being  opened
up by English and Italian travellers. In 1883 the brothers F. L. and  W.  D.
James penetrated from Berbera to the Webi Shebeli; in 1892 Vittorio  Bottego
(afterwards murdered in the Abyssinian highlands) started from  Berbera  and
reached the upper Juba, which he explored to its source. The  first  person,
however, to cross from  the  Gulf  of  Aden  to  the  Indian  Ocean  was  an
American, A. Donaldson Smith, who in 1894-1895 explored the  headstreams  of
the Webi Shebeli and also explored the Omo, the feeder of Lake Rudolf.
  In the region north-west of Victoria Nyanza  the  greatest  additions  to
geographical knowledge were made by H. M. Stanley in  his  last  expedition,
undertaken for the relief of Emin Pasha. The expedition set out in  1887  by
way of the Congo to carry supplies to  the  governor  of  the  old  Egyptian
Equatorial province. The route lay up the Aruwimi, the  principal  tributary
of the Congo from the north-east, by which  the  expedition  made  its  way,
encountering immense difficulties, through the great equatorial forest,  the
character and extent of which were  thus  for  the  first  time  brought  to
light. The return was made to the east coast, and resulted in the  discovery
of the great snowy range of Ruwenzori or Runsoro, and  the  confirmation  of
the existence of a third Nile lake discharging its waters  into  the  Albert
Nyanza by the Semliki river. A further discovery was that of  a  large  bay,
hitherto unsuspected, forming the south-west corner of the Victoria Nyanza.
  Great activity was also displayed  in  completing  the  work  of  earlier
explorers in North and West Africa. Morocco was in

                    Expeditions in North and West Africa.
1883-1884 the scene of important explorations by de  Foucauld,  a  Frenchman
who, disguised as a Jew, crossed and re-crossed the Atlas and  supplied  the
first trustworthy information as to the  orography  of  many  parts  of  the
chain. In 1887-1889 Louis Gustave Binger, a French  officer,  made  a  great
journey through the countries enclosed in the Niger bend, and  in  1890-1892
Col. P. F. Monteil went from St Louis to Say, on the Niger,  thence  through
Sokoto to Bornu and Lake Chad, whence he  crossed  the  Sahara  to  Tripoli.
Meantime explorers had been busy in the region between Lake Chad,  the  Gulf
of  Guinea  and  the  Congo.  The  Sanga,  one  of  the  principal  northern
tributaries of the Congo, was reached from the north by Lieut. Louis  Mizon,
a French naval officer, who drew the first  line  of  communication  between
the Benue and the Congo (1890-1892).  In  1890  Paul  Crampel,  who  in  the
previous year had explored north of the Ogowe, undertook a great  expedition
from the Ubangi to the Shari, but was attacked and killed, with  several  of
his companions, on the borders of the  Bagirmi.  Several  other  expeditions
followed, and in 1806 Emile Gentil reached the Shari, launched a steamer  on
its waters and pushed on to Lake Chad. Early in  1900  Lake  Chad  was  also
reached by F. Foureau, a French traveller, who had  already  devoted  twelve
years to the exploration of the Sahara and who on this occasion had  crossed
the desert from Algeria and had reached the lake via Air and Zinder.
  The last ten years of the 19th century also  witnessed  many  interesting
expeditions in east Central Africa. In 1891 Emin

                  Lakes and mountains of Equatorial Africa.
Pasha, accompanied by Dr F.  Stuhlmann,  made  his  way  south  of  Victoria
Nyanza to the western Nile lakes, visiting for the first time  the  southern
and western shores of Albert Edward. Stuhlmann also ascended  the  Ruwenzori
range to a height of over 13,000 ft. In the same year  Dr  O.  Baumann,  who
had already done good work in Usambara, near the coast, started  on  a  more
extended journey through the  region  of  steppes  between  Kilimanjaro  and
Victoria Nyanza, afterwards exploring the headstreams  of  the  Kagera,  the
ultimate  sources  of  the  Nile.  In  the  steppe  region  referred  to  he
discovered two new lakes, Manyara and Eiassi, occupying parts  of  the  East
African valley system. This region  was  again  traversed  in  1893-1894  by
Count von Gotzen, who continued his route westwards to Lake Kivu,  north  of
Tanganyika, which, though heard of by Speke over thirty  years  before,  had
never yet been visited. He also reached for  the  first  time  the  line  of
volcanic peaks north of Kivu, one of which he ascended, afterwards  crossing
the great equatorial forest by a new route to the Congo and the west  coast.
Valuable scientific work was done in 1893 by Dr J.W. Gregory,  who  ascended
Mount Kenya to a height of 16,000 ft.  In  1893-1894  Scott  Elliot  reached
Ruwenzori by way of Uganda, returning by Tanganyika and Nyasa, and  in  1896
C. W. Hobley made the circuit of the great  mountain  Elgon,  north-east  of
Victoria Nyanza. In 1899 Mount Kenya was ascended to its summit by  a  party
under H. J. Mackinder. The exploration of Mount  Kilimanjaro  has  been  the
special work of Dr Hans Meyer, who first directed his  attention  to  it  in
1887.
  The region south of Abyssinia proper and  north  of  Lake  Rudolf,  being
largely the basin of the Sobat tributary  of  the  Nile,  was  traversed  by
several explorers, among whom may be mentioned Capt. M. S.  Wellby,  who  in
1898-1899 explored the chain of small lakes in south-east Abyssinia,  pushed
on to Lake Rudolf, and thence traversed  hitherto  unknown  country  to  the
lower Sobat. Donaldson Smith crossed  from  Berbera  to  the  Nile  by  Lake
Rudolf in 1899-1900, and Major H. H. Austin  commanded  two  survey  parties
between the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Lake Rudolf during 1899-1901.  Meantime
in south Central Africa the Barotse country had been partly  made  known  by
the missionary F. Coillard, who settled there in 1884, while the middle  and
upper Zambezi basin were scientifically explored and mapped by Major  A.  St
H. Gibbons and his assistants  in  1895-1896  and  1898-1900.  In  the  same
period the Congo-Zambezi watershed was traced by a  Belgian  officer,  Capt.
C. Lemaire, who had ascended one of the upper tributaries of the Kasai.
  In the early years of the 19th century the  first  recorded  crossing  of
Africa took place. That crossing and all subsequent crossings had been  made
either from west to east or east to west.  The  first  journey  through  the
whole length of the continent was accomplished in the two last years of  the
century when a young Englishman, E.  S.  Grogan,  starting  from  Cape  Town
reached the Mediterranean by way of the Zambezi, the central line  of  lakes
and the Nile. Other travellers followed in  Grogan's  footsteps,  among  the
first, Major Gibbons.
  Additions to topographical knowledge were made from about 1890 onwards by
the international commissions which traced

          Work of international commissions and surveying parties.
the frontiers of the  protectorates  of  the  European  powers.  On  several
occasions the labours of the commissions disclosed errors of  importance  in
the maps upon which international agreements had  been  based.  Among  those
which yielded valuable results were the  Anglo-French  commission  which  in
1903 traced the Nigerian frontier from the  Niger  to  Lake  Chad,  and  the
Anglo-German commission which  in  1903-1904  fixed  the  Cameroon  boundary
between Yola, on the Benue, and Lake  Chad.  These  expeditions  and  French
surveys in the same region during 1902-1903 resulted in the  discovery  that
Lake Chad had greatly decreased  in  area  since  the  middle  of  the  19th
century.  In  1903  a  French  officer,  Capt.  E.  Lenfant,  succeeded   in
establishing the fact of a connexion between  the  Niger  and  Chad  basins.
Subsequently Lenfant explored the western basin of  the  Shari,  determining
(1907) the true upper branch of that river.
  In East Africa a German-Congolese commission  surveyed  (1901-1902)  Lake
Kivu and the volcanic region north of the lake, R. Kandt  making  a  special
study of Kivu and  the  Kagera  sources,  while  the  Anglo-German  boundary
commission of 1902-1904 surveyed the valley of the lower Kagera,  and  fixed
the exact position of Albert Edward Nyanza. Much new information  concerning
the border-lands of British East Africa and Abyssinia  between  Lake  Rudolf
and the lower Juba was obtained by the survey executed  in  1902-1903  by  a
British officer, Captain P. Maud.
  While political requirements led to the exact determination of frontiers,
administrative needs forced the governments concerned to take  in  hand  the
survey of the countries under their protection.  Before  the  close  of  the
first decade of the 20th century tolerably accurate maps had  been  made  of
the German colonies, of a considerable part of  West  Africa,  the  Algerian
Sahara and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, mainly by military officers. A  British
naval officer, Commander B.  Whitehouse,  mapped  the  entire  coastdine  of
Victoria Nyanza. Government and railway surveys apart, the chief  points  of
interest for explorers during 1904-1906 were the  Ruwenzori  range  and  the
connexion of the basin of Lake  Chad  with  the  Niger  and  Congo  systems.
Lieut. Boyd Alexander was the leader of  a  party  which  during  the  years
named surveyed Lake  Chad  and  a  considerable  part  of  eastern  Nigeria,
returning to England via the Shari, the Ubangi and the Nile. Two members  of
the party, Capt. Claud Alexander and Capt. G. B. Gosling,  died  during  the
expedition. The Ruwenzori Mountains proved a  great  source  of  attraction.
Sir H. H. Johnston had in 1900 ascended beyond the snow-line to 14,800  ft.;
in 1903 Dr J. J. David had reached from the west to a height he believed  to
exceed 16,000 ft.; and in the same year Capt. T. T. Behrens, of  the  Anglo-
German Uganda boundary commission, fixed the highest summit  at  16,619  ft.
During 1904-1906 some half-dozen expeditions were at  work  in  the  region.
That of the duke of the Abruzzi was the most successful. In  the  summer  of
1906 the duke or members of his party climbed all the  highest  peaks,  none
of  which  reaches  17,000  ft.,  and  determined  the  main  lines  of  the
watershed. Major Powell-Cotton, a British officer who  had  previously  done
good work in Abyssinia  and  British  East  Africa,  spent  1905-1906  in  a
detailed examination of the Lado enclave and the country west  of  Ruwenzori
and Albert and Albert Edward lakes. This expedition was  specially  fruitful
in additions to zoological knowledge.
  Archaeological research,  stimulated  by  the  reports  of  Thomas  Shaw,
British consular chaplain  at  Algiers  in  1719-  1731,  by  James  Bruce's
exploration, 1765-1767, of the ruins in Barbary, and by the French  conquest
of Egypt in 1798, has been systematically carried out in North Africa  since
the middle of the 19th century (see  EGYPT  and  AFRICA,  ROMAN.)  In  South
Africa the first thorough examination of the ruins in Rhodesia was  made  in
1905, when Randall-MacIver demonstrated that the great Zimbabwe and  similar
buildings were of medieval or post-medieval origin. (F. R. C.)

                     VII. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
  The eagerness with which the nations of western Europe partitioned Africa
between them was due, as has been seen, more to the necessities of  commerce
than to mere land hunger. Yet, except  in  the  north  and  south  temperate
regions, the commercial intercourse of the continent with the  rest  of  the
world had been until the closing years of the 19th century of  insignificant
proportions. In addition to slaves, furnished  by  the  continent  from  the
earliest times, a certain amount of gold and ivory  was  exported  from  the
tropical  regions,  but  no  other  product  supplied  the  material  for  a
flourishing trade with those parts. To their Asiatic and  European  invaders
the Africans indeed owed many creature comforts—the introduction  of  maize,
rice, the sugar cane, the orange, the lemon and the  lime,  cloves,  tobacco
and  many  other  vegetable  products,  the  camel,  the  horse  and   other
animals—but invaluable to Africa as were these  gifts  they  led  to  little
development of commerce. The continent continued in virtual  isolation  from
the great trade movements of the

                            Causes of isolation.
world, an isolation due not so much to its poverty in natural resources,  as
to the special circumstances which likewise caused so large a  part  of  the
continent to remain so long a terra incognita. The principal  drawbacks  may
be summarized as: (1)  the  absence  of  means  of  communication  with  the
interior;  (2)  the  unhealthiness  of  the  coast-lands;  (3)   the   small
productive activity of the natives; (4) the effects of the  slave  trade  in
discouraging legitimate  commerce.  None  of  these  causes  is  necessarily
permanent, that most difficult to remove being the third;  the  negro  races
finding the means of existence easy  have  little  incentive  to  toil.  The
first drawback has almost disappeared, and the building of railways and  the
placing of steamers on the rivers and lakes—a work  continually  progressing
—renders it year by year easier for producer and consumer to come  together.
As to the second  drawback,  while  the  coast-lands  in  the  tropics  will
always  remain  comparatively  unhealthy,  improved   sanitation   and   the
destruction of the malarial mosquito have rendered  tolerable  to  Europeans
regions formerly notorious for their deadly climate.
  At various periods since the partition of  the  continent  began,  united
action has been taken by the powers of Europe in the  interests  of  African
trade. The Berlin conference of 1884-1885 decreed freedom of navigation  and
trade on the Congo and the Niger, and the Anglo-Portuguese  treaty  of  1891
secured like privileges for the  Zambezi.  The  Berlin  conference  likewise
enacted that over a wide area of Central Africa—the  conventional  basin  of
the Congo—there should be complete freedom of trade, a freedom  which  later
on was held to be infringed in the Congo  State  and  French  Congo  by  the
granting to various companies proprietary rights  in  the  disposal  of  the
product of the  soil.  More  important  in  their  effect  on  the  economic
condition of the continent than the steps taken to ensure freedom  of  trade
were the measures concerted by the powers for the suppression of  the  slave
trade. The British government had for long borne the  greater  part  of  the
burden of combating the slave trade on the east coast of Africa and  in  the
Indian Ocean, but the changed conditions which resulted from the  appearance
of other European powers in Africa  induced  Lord  Salisbury,  then  foreign
secretary, to address, in the autumn of 1888, an invitation to the  king  of
the Belgians to take the initiative in inviting a conference of  the  powers
at Brussels to concert measures for ``the gradual suppression of the

                       Suppression of the slave trade.
slave trade on the continent of Africa, and the  immediate  closing  of  all
the external markets which it still supplies.'' The conference assembled  in
November 1889, and on the 2nd of July 1890 a general act was signed  subject
to the ratification of the  various  governments  represented,  ratification
taking place subsequently at different dates, and  in  the  case  of  France
with certain reservations. The general act began with a declaration  of  the
means which the powers were of opinion might  be  most  effectually  adopted
for ``putting an end to  the  crimes  and  devastations  engendered  by  the
traffic  in  African   slaves,   protecting   effectively   the   aboriginal
populations of Africa, and ensuring for that vast continent the benefits  of
peace and civilization.''  It  proceeded  to  lay  down  certain  rules  and
regulations of a practical character on the lines suggested. The act  covers
a wide field, and includes no fewer than a  hundred  separate  articles.  It
established a zone ``between the 20th parallel of north  latitude,  and  the
22nd parallel of south latitude, and extending westward to the Atlantic  and
eastward to the Indian Ocean and its dependencies,  comprising  the  islands
adjacent to the coast as far as 100 nautical miles from the shore,''  within
which the importation of firearms and ammunition  was  forbidden  except  in
certain specified cases, and within which also the powers  undertook  either
to  prohibit  altogether  the  importation  and  manufacture  of  spirituous
liquors, or to impose duties not below an agreed-on minimum.1  An  elaborate
series of rules was framed for the prevention of the transit  of  slaves  by
sea, the conditions on which European powers were to grant  to  natives  the
right to fly the flag of the protecting power, and regulating the  procedure
connected with the right of search on vessels flying  a  foreign  flag.  The
Brussels Act was in effect a joint declaration by the  signatory  powers  of
their joint and several  responsibility  towards  the  African  native,  and
notwithstanding the fact that many of its articles  have  proved  difficult,
if not impossible, of enforcement, the solemn engagement taken by Europe  in
the face of the world has undoubtedly exercised a material influence on  the
action of several of the powers. Moreover, with the  increase  of  means  of
communication and  the  extension  of  effective  European  control,  slave-
raiding  in  the  interior  was  largely  checked  and   inter-tribal   wars
prevented, the natives being thus given security in  the  pursuit  of  trade
and agriculture.
  Other important factors in the economic as well as the social  conditions
of Africa are the advance in civilization made by  the  natives  in  several
regions  and  the  increase  of  the  areas   found   suitable   for   white
colonization. The advance in civilization among the natives, exemplified  by
the granting to them of political rights in such countries  as  Algeria  and
Cape Colony, leads directly to increased commercial activity;  and  commerce
increases in a much greater degree when new  countries—  e.g.  Rhodesia  and
British East Africa—become the homes of  Europeans.  Finally,  in  reviewing
the chief factors which govern the commercial development of the  continent,
note must be taken of the sparsity of the population over the  greater  part
of Africa, and the efforts made to supplement  the  insufficient  and  often
ineffective native labour  by  the  introduction  of  Asiatic  labourers  in
various districts—of Indian coolies in Natal and elsewhere, and  of  Chinese
for the gold mines of the Transvaal.
  The resources of Africa may be considered under the head of:  (1)  jungle
products; (2) cultivated products; (3) animal

                          Chief economic resources.
products; (4) minerals. Of the first named the  most  important  are  india-
rubber and palm-oil. which in tropical Africa  supply  by  far  the  largest
items in the export list. The rubber-producing plants are  found  throughout
the whole tropical belt, and the most important are creepers  of  the  order
Apocynaceae, especially various species  of  Landolphia  (with  which  genus
Vahea is now united). In East Africa Landolphia kirkii (Dyer)  supplies  the
largest amount, though various other species are known Forms  of  apparently
wider distribution are L. hendelotii, which is found in the  Bahr-el-Ghazal,
and extends right across the  continent  to  Senegambia;  and  L.  (formerly
Vahea) comorensis, which, including its variety L. florida, has  the  widest
distribution of all the species, occurring in Upper and  Lower  Guinea,  the
whole of Central Africa, the east coast, the Comoro Islands and  Madagascar.
In parts of East Africa Clitandra orienitalis is a valuable rubber vine.  In
Lagos and elsewhere rubber is produced by the  apocynaceous  tree,  Funtumia
elastica, and in West Africa generally by various  species  of  Ficus,  some
species of which are also found in  East  Africa.  The  rubber  produced  is
somewhat inferior to that of South America,  but  this  is  largely  due  to
careless methods of preparation. The  great  destruction  of  vines  brought
about by native methods of  collection  much  reduced  the  supply  in  some
districts,  and  rendered  it  necessary  to  take  steps  to  preserve  and
cultivate the rubber-yielding plants. This has been done in  many  districts
with  usually  encouraging  results.  Experiments  have  been  made  in  the
introduction of South American rubber plants, but opinions differ as to  the
prospects of success,  as  the  plants  in  question  seem  to  demand  very
definite conditions of soil and climate. The second  product,  palm-oil,  is
derived from a much more limited area than  rubber,  for  although  the  oil
palm is found throughout the greater part of West Africa, from  10  deg.  N.
to 10 deg. S., the great bulk of the export comes from the  coast  districts
at the head of the Gulf of Guinea. A larger  supply,  equal  to  any  market
demand, could easily be obtained. A third valuable  product  is  the  timber
supplied by the forest regions, principally  in  West  Africa.  It  includes
African teak or oak (Oldfieldia africana), excellent for  shipbuilding;  the
durable odum of the  Gold  Coast  (Chlorophora  excelsa);  African  mahogany
(Khaya senegalensis); ebony (Diospyros  ebenum);  camwood  (Baphia  nitida);
and many other ornamental and dye woods. The timber  industry  on  the  west
coast was long neglected, but since 1898 there have been  large  exports  to
Europe. In parts of East Africa the Podocarpus milanjianus,  a  conifer,  is
economically  important.  Valuable  timber  grows  too  in   South   Africa,
including the yellow wood (Podocarpus), stinkwood  (Ocotea),  sneezewood  or
Cape ebony (Euclea) and ironwood.
  Other vegetable products of importance are:  Gum  arabic,  obtained  from
various species of acacia (especially A. senegal),  the  chief  supplies  of
which are obtained from Senegambia and the steppe regions  of  North  Africa
(Kordofan, &c.); gum copal, a  valuable  resin  produced  by  trees  of  the
leguminous order, the best, known as Zanzibar or  Mozambique  copal,  coming
from the East African Trachylobium  hornemannianum,  and  also  found  in  a
fossil state under the soil; kola nuts, produced chiefly in the  coast-lands
of Upper Guinea by a tree  of  the  order  Sterculiaceae  (Kola  acuminata);
archil  or  orchilla,  a  dye-yielding   lichen   (Rocella   tinctoria   and
triciformis) growing on trees and rocks in East  Africa,  the  Congo  basin,
&c.; cork, the bark of the cork oak, which flourishes in Algeria; and  alfa,
a grass used in paper  manufacture  (Machrochloa  tenacissima),  growing  in
great abundance on the dry steppes of Algeria, Tripoli,  &c.  A  product  to
which attention has been paid in Angola  is  the  Almeidina  gum  or  resin,
derived from the juice of Euphorbia tirucalli.
  The cultivated products include those of the tropical and warm  temperate
zones. Of the former, coffee is perhaps the most valuable indigenous  plant.
It grows wild in many parts, the home of one  species  being  in  Kaffa  and
other Galla countries south of Abyssinia, and of  another  in  Liberia.  The
Abyssinian coffee is equal to the best produced in any  other  part  of  the
world. Cultivation is, however, necessary to ensure the  best  results,  and
attention has been given to this in various European  colonies.  Plantations
have been established in Angola, Nyasaland, German  East  Africa,  Cameroon,
the Congo Free State, &c.
  Copra, the produce of the cocoa-nut palm, is supplied chiefly by Zanzibar
and neighbouring parts of  the  east  coast.  Groundnuts,  produced  by  the
leguminous plant, Arachis hypogaea, are grown chiefly in  West  Africa,  and
the largest export is from Senegal and the Gambia;  while  Bambarra  ground-
nuts (Voandzeia subterranea) are very generally cultivated  from  Guinea  to
Natal. Cloves are extensively grown on Zanzibar  and  Pemba  islands,  Pemba
being the chief source of the world's supply of cloves. The chief  drawbacks
to the industry are the fluctuations of the yield  of  the  trees,  and  the
risk of over-production in good seasons.
  Cotton grows wild in many parts of tropical Africa, and  is  exported  in
small quantities in the raw state; but the main export is from Egypt,  which
comes third among the world's  sources of supply of the article. It is  also
cultivated in West Africa—the industry in the Guinea coast  colonies  having
been developed since the beginning of the 20th  century—and  in  the  Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan, whence came  the  plants  from   which  Egyptian  cotton  is
grown. Sugar, which is the staple crop of Mauritius, and in a lesser  degree
of Reunion, is also produced in Natal, Egypt, and, to a certain  extent,  in
Mozambique. Dates are grown in Tunisia and  the  Saharan  oases,  especially
Tafilet; maize in Egypt, South Africa and parts of the tropical zone;  wheat
in Egypt, Algeria and the higher regions of Abyssinia; rice  in  Madagascar.
Wine is largely exported from Algeria, and in a much smaller  quantity  from
Cape Colony; fruit and vegetables from Algeria. Tobacco is widely  grown  on
a small  scale,  but,  except  perhaps  from  Algeria,  has  not  become  an
important article of export, though plantations  have  been  established  in
various tropical colonies. The cultivation of cocoa  has  proved  successful
in the Gold Coast, Cameroon and other colonies,  and  in  various  districts
the tea plant is  cultivated.  Indigo,  though  not  originally  an  African
product, has become naturalized and grows wild in many parts,  while  it  is
also cultivated on a  small  scale.  The  main  difficulty  in  the  way  of
tropical  cultivation  is  the  labour  question,  which  has  already  been
referred to.
  Of animal products one of the most important is ivory, the largest export
of which is from the Congo Free State.  The  diminution  in  the  number  of
elephants with the opening up of the remoter districts must in time cause  a
falling-off in this export. Beeswax is obtained from various  parts  of  the
interior of West Africa, and from Madagascar.  Raw  hides  are  exported  in
large quantities from South Africa, as are also the wool  and  hair  of  the
merino sheep and Angora goat. Both hides and wool  are  also  exported  from
Algeria and Morocco,  and  hides  from  Abyssinia  and  Somaliland.  Ostrich
feathers are produced chiefly by the ostrich farms of Cape Colony, but  some
are also obtained from the steppes to the north of the Central  Sudan.  Live
stock, principally sheep, is exported from Algeria and cattle from Morocco.
  The exploited minerals of Africa are confined to  a  few  districts,  the
resources of the continent in this respect being largely

                               Mineral Wealth.
undeveloped. Since the discovery of gold in the Transvaal,  particularly  in
the district known as the Rand (1885), the output has grown  enormously,  so
that in 1898 the output of gold from South Africa was greater than from  any
other gold-field in the world. The Anglo-Boer  War  of  1899-1902  lost  the
Rand the leading position, but by 1905  the  output—in  that  year  over  L.
20,800,000—was greater than it had ever been. The supply of gold from  South
Africa is roughly 25% of the world's output.  The  gold-yielding  formations
extend northwards through Rhodesia. The Gold Coast  is  so  named  from  the
quantity of gold obtained there, and since the close  of  the  19th  century
the industry has developed largely in the hands of Europeans. In  the  Galla
countries gold has long been an article  of  native  commerce.  It  is  also
found in various parts of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan  and  along  the  western
shore of the Red Sea. Diamonds are found in large quantities in a series  of
beds known as the Kimberley shales, the principal mines being at  Kimberley,
Cape Colony. Diamonds are also found in Orange River Colony,  while  one  of
the richest diamond mines  in  the  world—the  Premier—is  situated  in  the
Transvaal near Pretoria. Some 80% of  the  world's  production  of  diamonds
comes from South Africa. Copper is found in the  west  of  Cape  Colony,  in
German South-West Africa, and in the Katanga country in the  southern  Congo
basin, where vast beds  of  copper  ore  exist.  There  are  also  extensive
deposits of copper in the Broken Hill  district  of  Northern  Rhodesia.  It
also occurs in Morocco, Algeria, the Bahr-el-Ghazal, &c. Rich  tin  deposits
have been found in the southern Congo basin and in Northern  Rhodesia.  Iron
is found in Morocco, Algeria (whence there  is  an  export  trade),  and  is
widely diffused, and worked by  the natives, in the tropical zone.  But  the
deposits aregenerally  not  rich.  Coal  is  worked,  principally  for  home
consumption, in Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal, Orange River Colony,  and
in Rhodesia in the neighbourhood of the Zambezi. Coal  deposits  also  exist
in the German territory north of Lake Nyasa. Phosphates  are  exported  from
Algeria and Tunisia. Of other minerals which occur, but are  little  worked,
zinc, lead and antimony are found in Algeria, lead  and  manganese  in  Cape
Colony, plumbago in Sierra Leone.
  The imports  from  foreign  countries  into  Africa  consist  chiefly  of
manufactured goods, varying in character according  to  the  development  of
the different countries in civilization. In Egypt, Algeria and South  Africa
they include most  of  the  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  civilized  life,
manufactured cotton and woollen goods, especially  the  former,  taking  the
first place, but various food stuffs, metal goods,  coal  and  miscellaneous
articles being also included. In tropical Africa, and  generally  where  few
Europeans have settled, the great bulk of the imports consists as a rule  of
cotton goods, articles for which there is a constant native demand.
  No continent has in the past been so lacking in means of communication as
Africa, and it was only in the last decade

                   Development of means of communication.
of the 19th century that decided steps were taken to remedy  these  defects.
The African  rivers,  with  the  exception  of  the  middle  Congo  and  its
affluents, and the middle course  of  the  three  other  chief  rivers,  are
generally unfavourable to navigation, and  throughout  the  tropical  region
almost the sole routes have been native footpaths, admitting the passage  of
a single file of porters, on whose heads all goods have  been  carried  from
place to place. Certain of these native  trade  routes  are,  however,  much
frequented, and lead for hundreds of miles from the coast to  the  interior.
In the desert regions of the north  transport is by caravans of camels,  and
in the south ox-wagons,before the advent of railways, supplied  the  general
means of locomotion. The native trade routes led generally from the  centres
of greatest population or production to the seaports by the  nearest  route,
but to this rule there was a striking exception. The dense forests of  Upper
Guinea and the upper Congo proved a barrier which kept the  peoples  of  the
Sudan from direct access to the sea, and from Timbuktu to Darfur  the  great
trade routes were either west to east or south to north across  the  Sahara.
The principal caravan routes across the desert lead  from  different  points
in Morocco and Algeria to Timbuktu;  from  Tripoli  to  Timbuktu,  Kano  and
other great marts of the western and central Sudan; from Bengazi  to  Wadai;
and from Assiut on the Nile through the Great Oasis and  the  Libyan  desert
to Darfur. South of the equator the principal  long-established  routes  are
those from Loanda to the Lunda and  Baluba  countries;  from  Benguella  via
Bihe to Urua and the upper Zambezi; from Mossamedes  across  the  Kunene  to
the upper Zambezi; and from  Bagamoyo,  opposite  Zanzibar,  to  Tanganyika.
Many  of  the  native  routes  have  been   superseded   by   the   improved
communications introduced by Europeans in the utilization of  waterways  and
the  construction  of  roads  and  railways.  Steamers  have  been  conveyed
overland in sections and  launched  on  the  interior  waterways  above  the
obstructions to navigation. On  the  upper  Nile  and  Albert  Nyanza  their
introduction was due to Sir S. Baker and General C. G.  Gordon  (1871-1876);
on the middle Congo and its affluents to Sir H.M. Stanley and the  officials
of the Congo Free State, as well as  to  the  Baptist  missionaries  on  the
river; and on Lake Nyasa to the supporters of the Scottish mission. A  small
vessel was launched on Victoria Nyanza 1896 by a  British  mercantile  firm,
and a British government steamer made its first trip in  November  1900.  On
the other great lakes and on most of  the  navigable  rivers  steamers  were
plying regularly  before  the  close  of  the  19th  century.  However,  the
shallowness of the water in the Niger and Zambezi renders  their  navigation
possible only to light-draught steamers. Roads suitable for wheeled  traffic
are few. The first attempt at road-making  in  Central  Africa  on  a  large
scale was  that  of  Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton  and  Mr  (afterwards  Sir  W.)
Mackinnon, who completed  the first section of  a  track  leading  into  the
interior fromDar-es-Salaam (1879). A still more  important  undertaking  was
the ``Stevenson road,'' begun in 1881 from the head of  Lake  Nyasa  to  the
south end of Tanganyika, and constructed  mainly at the expense of Mr  James
Stevenson, a director of theAfrican Lakes  Company—a  company  which  helped
materially in the opening up of Nyasaland. The Stevenson road forms  a  link
in the ``Lakes route'' into the heart of  the  continent.  In  British  East
Africa a road connecting Mombasa  with  Victoria  Nyanza  was  completed  in
1897, but has since been in great measure superseded by  the  railway.  Good
roads have also been  made  in  German  East  Africa  and  Cameroon  and  in
Madagascar.
  Railways, the chief means of affording easy access to the interior of the
continent, were for many years after  their  first  introduction  to  Africa
almost entirely confined to the extreme north  and  south  (Egypt,  Algeria,
Cape Colony and Natal). Apart from short lines in  Senegal,  Angola  and  at
Lourenco Marques, the rest of the continent was in 1890  without  a  railway
system. In Egypt the Alexandria and Cairo railway dates from 1855, while  in
1877 the lines open reached about 1100 miles, and in 1890,  in  addition  to
the lines traversing the delta, the Nile had been  ascended  to  Assiut.  In
Algeria the construction of  an  inter-provincial  railway  was  decreed  in
1857, but was still incomplete twenty years later, when the total length  of
the lines open hardly exceeded 300 miles. Before 1890 an extension to  Tunis
had been opened, while the plateau had been crossed  by  the  lines  to  Ain
Sefra in the west and Biskra in the east. In Senegal the railway from  Dakar
to St Louis had been commenced and completed  during  the  'eighties,  while
the  first  section  of  the  Senegal-Niger  railway,  that  from  Kayes  to
Bafulabe, was also constructed during  the  same  decade.  In  Cape  Colony,
where in about 1880 the railways were limited to the neighbourhood  of  Cape
Town, Port Elizabeth and East London, the next decade saw the completion  of
the trunk-line from Cape Town to Kimberley, with a junction at De  Aar  with
that from Port Elizabeth. The northern frontier had, however,  nowhere  been
crossed. In Natal, also, the main line had not  advanced  beyond  Ladysmith.
The settlement, c.  1890,  of  the  main  lines  of  the  partition  of  the
continent  was  followed  by  many  projects  for  the  opening  up  of  the
possessions and spheres of influence of the various powers by  the  building
of  railways;  several  of  these  schemes  being  carried  through   in   a
comparatively short time. The building of railways  was  undertaken  by  the
governments concerned, nearly all the African lines  being  state-owned.  In
the Congo Free State  a  railway,  which  took  some  ten  years  to  build,
connecting  the  navigable  waters  of  the  lower  and  middle  Congo,  was
completed in 1898, while in 1906 the middle and upper courses of  the  river
were linked by the opening of a line  past  Stanley  Falls.  Thus  the  vast
basin of the Congo was rendered easily accessible to commercial  enterprise.
In North Africa the Algerian and Tunisian railways  were  largely  extended,
and proposals were made for a great trunk-line from Tangier  to  Alexandria.
The railway from  Ain  Sefra  was  continued  southward  towards  Tuat,  the
project of a trans-Saharan line having  occupied  the  attention  of  French
engineers since 1880. In French West Africa  railway  communication  between
the upper Senegal and the upper  Niger  was  completed  in  1904;  from  the
Guinea coast at Konakry another line runs north-east  to  the  upper  Niger,
while from Dahomey a third line goes to the Niger at Garu.  In  the  British
colonies on the same coast the building of railways was  begun  in  1896.  A
line to Kumasi was completed in 1903, and the line from Lagos to  the  lower
Niger had reached Illorin in 1908. Thence the railway was continued  to  the
Niger at Jebba. From Baro, a port on the lower Niger which  can  be  reached
by steamers all the year round, another railway, begun  in  1907,  goes  via
Bida, Zungeru and Zaria to Kano, a total distance of 400 miles. A line  from
Jebba to Zungeru affords connexion with the Lagos railway.
  But the greatest development of the railway systems was in the south  and
east of the continent. In British East Africa  a survey for a  railway  from
Mombasa to Victoria Nyanza was made in 1892. The first rails  were  laid  in
1896 and the line  reached the lake in December 1901. Meanwhile,  there  had
been a great extension of railways in South Africa. Lines  from  Cape  Town,
Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Delagoa Bay  all  converged  on  the
newly risen city of Johannesburg, the centre of the Rand gold mines. A  more
ambitious project was  that  identified  with  the  name  of  Cecil  Rhodes,
namely, the extension northward of  the  railway  from  Kimberley  with  the
object of effecting a continuous railway connexion from Cape Town to  Cairo.
The line from Kimberley reached Bulawayo in 1897. (Bulawayo is also  reached
from Beira on the east coast by another line, completed in 1902, which  goes
through Portuguese territory and Mashonaland.) The  extension  of  the  line
northward from Bulawayo was  begun  in  1899,  the  Zambezi  being  bridged,
immediately below the Victoria Falls, in 1905. From this point  the  railway
goes north to the Katanga district of the Congo State. In the north  of  the
continent a step towards the completion of  the  Cape  to  Cairo  route  was
taken in the opening in 1899 of the railway from Wadi Haifa to   Khartum.  A
line of greater economic  importance  than  the  lastnamed  is  the  railway
(completed in 1905) from Port Sudan on the Red Sea  to  the  Nile  a  little
south of Berber, thus placing the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan within easy reach  of
the markets of the world. A west to east connexion across the  continent  by
rail and steamer, from the mouth of the Congo to Port  Sudan,  was  arranged
in 1906  when  an  agreement  was  entered  into  by  the  Congo  and  Sudan
governments for the building of a railway from Lado, on  the  Nile,  to  the
Congo frontier, there to meet a railway starting from the river  Congo  near
Stanley Falls. A railway of considerable importance is that from  Jibuti  in
the Gulf of Aden to  Harrar,  giving  access  to  the  markets  of  southern
Abyssinia.
  Besides  the  railways  mentioned  there  are  several  others  of   less
importance. Lines run from Loanda and other  ports  of  Angola  towards  the
Congo State frontier, and from Tanga  and  Dar-es-Salaam  on  the  coast  of
German East Africa towards the great lakes.  In  British  Central  Africa  a
railway connects Lake Nyasa with the navigable  waters  of  the  Shire,  and
various lines have been built by the French in Madagascar.
  All the main railways in South Africa, the lines in British West  Africa,
in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and in Egypt south of Luxor are of 3 ft.  6  in.
gauge. The main lines in Lower Egypt and in Algeria and  Tunisia  are  of  4
ft. 8 1/2 in. gauge. Elsewhere as in French West  and  British  East  Africa
the lines are of metre (3.28 ft.) gauge.
  The telegraphic system of Africa is on the whole older than that  of  the
railways, the newer European possessions having in most cases been  provided
with telegraph lines before railway  projects  had  been  set  on  foot.  In
Algeria, Egypt and Cape Colony the systems date back to the  middle  of  the
19th century, before the end of which the lines had in each country  reached
some thousands of miles. In tropical  Africa  the  systems  of  French  West
Africa, where the line from Dakar to St Louis was begun in  1862,  were  the
first to be fully  developed,  lines  having  been  carried  from  different
points on the coast of Senegal and Guinea towards the Niger, the  main  line
being prolonged north-west to Timbuktu, and west and south to the  coast  of
Dahomey. The route for a telegraph line to  connect  Timbuktu  with  Algeria
was  surveyed  in  1905.  The  Congo  region  is  furnished   with   several
telegraphic systems, the longest going from the mouth of the river  to  Lake
Tanganyika. From Ujiji on the east coast of that lake there  is  telegraphic
communication via Tabora with Dar-es-Salaam and via Nyasa and Rhodesia  with
Cape Town. The last-named line is the longest link in the  trans-continental
line first suggested in 1876 by Sir (then Mr) Edwin  Arnold  and  afterwards
taken up by Cecil Rhodes. The northern link from Egypt to Khartum  has  been
continued southward to Uganda,  while  another  line  connects  Uganda  with
Mombasa. At the principal seaports the inland  systems  are  connected  with
submarine cables which place Africa in telegraphic  communication  with  the
rest of the world.
  Numerous steamship lines run from  Great  Britain,  Germany,  France  and
other countries to the African seaports,  the  journey  from  any  place  in
western Europe to any port on the African coast occupying, by  the  shortest
route, not more than three weeks. (E. HE., F. R. C.)
  1 Further conferences respecting the liquor traffic in Africa  were  held
in Brussels in 1899 and 1906. In both instances conventions were  signed  by
the powers, raising the minimum duty on imported spirituous liquors.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Authoritative works dealing with Africa as a whole  in  any
of its aspects are comparatively rare. Besides such  volumes  the  following
list includes therefore books  containing  valuable  information  concerning
large or typical sections of the continent:—
sec. I. General Descriptions.—(a) Ancient and Medieval.  Herodotus,  ed.  G.
Rawlinson, 4 vols.1 (1880); Ptolemy's Geographia, ed.  C.  Muller,  vol.  i.
(Paris, 1883-1901); Ibn Haukal, ``Description de l'Afrique (transl. McG.  de
Slane), Nouv.  Journal  asiatique,  1842;  Edrisi,  ``Geographie''  (transl.
Jaubert), Rec. de voyages . . .  Soc.  De  Geogr.  vol.  v.  (Paris,  1836);
Abulfeda, Geographie (transl. Reinaud and Guyard, Paris, 1848-1883);  M.  A.
P.d'Avezac, Description de l'Afrique ancienne (Paris, 1845); L.  de  Marmol,
Description general de Africa (Granada, 1573); L.  Sanuto,  Geografia  dell'
Africa (Venice, 1588); F. Pigafetta, A Report of the Kingdom of  Congo,  &c.
(1597); Leo Africanus, The History and Description  of  Africa  (transl.  J.
Pory, ed. R. Brown), 3 vols. (1896);  O.  Dapper,  Naukeurige  beschrijvinge
der afrikaensche gewesten, &c. (Amsterdam, 1668) (also  English  version  by
Ogilvy, 1670, and French version, Amsterdam, 1686); B. Tellez, ``Travels  of
the Jesuits in Ethiopia,'' A New Collection of Voyages,  vol.  vii.  (1710);
G. A. Cavazzi da Montecuccolo, Istorica Descrittione  de  tre  Regni  Congo,
Matamba, et Angola (Milan, 1690) (account of the  labours  of  the  Capuchin
missionaries and their observations on the country and people);  J.  Barbot,
``Description of the Coasts of  North  and  South  Guinea  and  of  Ethiopia
Inferior,', Churchill's Voyages, vol. v. (1707); W. Bosman,  A  New  .  .  .
Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea, &c.,  2nd  ed.  (1721);
J. B. Labat, Nouvelle relation de l'Afrique  occidentale,  5  vols.  (Paris,
1728); Idem, Relation historique de l'Ethiopie occidentale, 5 vols.  (Paris,
1732). (b) Modern. B. d'Anville, Memoire conc. les rivieres  de  l'interieur
de l'Afrique (Paris, n.d.); M. Vollkommer, Die Quellen  B.  d'Anville's  fur
seine kritische Karte von Afrika Munich, 1904); C. Ritter, Die Erdkunde,  i.
Theil, 1. Buch, ``Afrika'' (Berlin,  1822);  l.  M`Queen,  Geographical  and
Commercial View of Northern and Central Africa  (Edinburgh,  1821  );  Idem,
Geographical Survey of Africa ( 1840); W. D. Cooley, Inner Africa laid  open
(1852); E. Reclus, Nouvelle geographie universelle,  vols.  x.-xiii.  (1885-
1888); A. H. Keane, Africa (in Stanford's  Compendium),  2  vols.,  2nd  ed.
(1904-1907); F. Hahn and W. Sievers, Afrika, 2. Aufl.  (Leipzig,  1901);  M.
Fallex and A.Mairey, L'Afrique au debut du XXe siecle (Paris, 1906); Sir  C.
P. Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonies, vols. iii.  and  iv.
(Oxford, 1894, 1904); F. D. and A. J.  Herbertson,  Descriptive  Geographies
from Original Sources: Africa (1902); British  Africa  (The  British  Empire
Series,  vol.  ii.,  1899);  Journal  of  the  African  Society;  Comite  de
l'Afrique   francaise,   Bulletin,   Paris;   Mutteilungen   der    afrikan.
Gesellschaft in Deutschland (Berlin, 1879-1889); Mitteilungen . . . aus  den
deutschen Schutzegebieten (Berlin); H. Schirmer, Le  Sahara  (Paris,  1893);
Mary  H.Kingsley,  West  African  Studies,  2nd  ed.   (1901);   J.   Bryce,
Impressions  of  South  Africa  (1897);  Sir  Harry  Johnston,  The   Uganda
Protectorate, 2 vols. (1902) (vol ii. is devoted  to  anthropology);  E.  D.
Morel, Affairs of West Africa (1902).

sec. II. Geography (Physical), Geology, Climate, Flora  and  Fauna.  —  (For
Descriptive Geogr. see sec. I.)—G. Gurich, ``Uberblick uber den geolog.  Bau
des afr. Kontinents,'' Peterm. Mitt., 1887; A. Knox, Notes  on  the  Geology
of the Continent of Africa (1906) (includes a bibliography); L. von  Hohnel,
A. Rosiwal, F. Toula and E. Suess, B eitrage zur geologischen Kenntniss  des
omstlichcn Afrika (Vienna, 1891);
E. Stromer, Die Geologie der deutschen  Schutzgebieten  in  Afrika  (Munich,
1896); J. Chavanne,  Afrika  im  Lichte  uniserer  Tage:  Bodengestalt,  &c.
(Vienna, 1881); F.Heidrich, ``Die mittlere Hohe  Afrikas,''  Peterm.  Mitt.,
1888;  J.  W.  Gregory,  The  Great  Rift-Valley  (1896);  H.  G.Lyons,  The
Physiography of the River Nile and its Basin (Cairo,  1906);  S.  Passarage,
Die Kalahari: Versuch einer physischgeogr. Darstellung .  .  .  des  sudafr.
Beckens  (Berlin,  1904);  Idem,   ``Inselberglandschaften   im   tropischen
Afrika,''  Naturw.  Wochenschrift,  1904.  654-665;  J.  E.  S.  Moore,  The
Tanganyika, Problem (1903); W. H. Hudleston, ``On the Origin of  the  Marine
(Halolimnic) Fauna of Lake Tanganyika,'' Journ. Of  Trans.  Victoria  Inst.,
1904, 300-351 (discusses the whole question of  the  geological  history  of
equatorial Africa); E.Stromer, ``Ist  der  Tanganyika  ein  Rellikten-See?''
Peterm. Mitt., 1901, 275-278; E. Kohlschutter, ``Die  .  .  .  Arbeiten  der
Pendelexpedition   .   .   .   in   Deutsch-Ost-Afrika,''    Verh.    Deuts.
Geographentages Breslau, 1901, 133-153; J. Cornet, ``La geologie  du  bassin
du  Congo,''  Bull.  Soc.  Beige  geol.,  1898;  E.  G.  Ravenstein,   ``The
Climatology of Africa'' (ten  reports),  Reports  Brit.  Association,  1892-
1901; Idem,  ``Climatological  Observations  .  .  .  I.  Tropical  Africa''
(1904); H. G. Lyons, ``On the Relations between  Variations  of  Atmospheric
Pressure . . . and the Nile Flood,'' Proc. Roy. Soc., Ser. A,  vol.  lxxvi.,
1905;  P.  Reichard,  ``Zur  Frage  der   Austrocknung   Afrikas,''   Geogr.
Zeitschrift,  1895;  J.  Hoffmann,  ``Die  tiefsten  Temperaturen  auf   den
Hochlandern,'' &c., Peterm. Mitt., 1905; G. Fraunberger, ``Studien uber  die
jahrlichen  Niederschlagsmengen  des  afrik.  Kontinents,''  Peterm.  Mitt.,
1906; D. Oliver and Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, Flora of) Tropical Africa,  10
vols.  (1888-1906);  K.  Oschatz,  Anordnung  der   Vegetation   in   Afrika
(Erlangen,  1900);  A.  Engler,  Hochgebirgs-flora  des  tropischen   Afrika
(Berlin, 1892); Idem, Die Pflanzenwelt Ostaftikras und  der  Nachbargebiete,
3 vols. (Berlin, 1895);  Idem,  Beitrage  zur  Flora  von  Afrika  (Engler's
Botan. Jahrbucher, 14 vols. &c.); W. P.  Hiern,  Catalogue  of  the  African
Plants Collected by Dr Friedrich Welwitsch  in  1853-1861,  2  vols.  (1896-
1901); R. Schlechter, Westafrikanische Kautschuk-Expedition (Berlin,  1903);
H. Baum, Kunene-Sambesi-Expedition (Berlin, 1903)  (largely  concerned  with
botany); W. L. Sclater,  ``Geography  of  Mammals,  No.  iv.  The  Ethiopian
Region,'' Geog. Journal, March 1896; H. A.  Bryden  and  others,  Great  and
Small Game of  Africa  (1899);  F.  C.  Selous,  African  Nature  Notes  and
Reminiscences (1908); E. N.  Buxton,  Two  African  Trips:  with  Notes  and
Suggestions on Big-Game Preservation in Africa (1902) (contains  photographs
of living animals); G. Schillings, With Flash-light and Rifle in  Equatorial
East Africa (1906); Idem, In Wildest Africa (1907) (striking  collection  of
photographs of living wild animals); Exploration scientifique de  l'Algerie:
Histoire naturelle, 14 vols. and 4 atlases, Paris  (1846-1850);  Annales  du
Musee du Congo:  Botanique,  Zoologie  (Brussels,  1898,  &c.).  The  latest
results of geographical research and a bibliography  of  current  literature
are given in the  Geographical  Journal,  published  monthly  by  the  Royal
Geographical Society.

sec. III. Ethnology.—H. Hartmann, Die Volker  Afrikas  (Leipzig,  1879);  B.
Ankermann, ``Kulturkreise in Afrika,'' Zeit. f. Eth.  vol.  xxxvii.  p.  34;
Idem,  ``Uber  den  gegenwartigen  Stand  der  Ethnographie  der   Sudhalfte
Afrikas,'' Arch. f. Anth. n.f. iv. p. 24;G.Sergi, Antropologia della  stirpe
camitica (Turin, 1897); J.  Deniker,  ``Distribution  geogr.  et  caracteres
physiques des Pygmees africains,'' La Geographie, Paris, vol. viii. pp. 213-
220; G. W. Stow and G. M. Theal, The Native Races of  South  Africa  (1905);
K.  Barthel,  Volkerbewegungen  auf  der  Sudhalfte  des  afrik.  Kontinents
(Leipzig, 1893); A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking Peoples of  the  Gold  Coast
(1887); Idem, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast (1890); Idem,  The
Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave  Coast  (1894);  H.  Ling  Roth,  Great
Benin, its Customs, &c. (Halifax, 1903); H. Frobenius, Die Heiden-Neger  des
agyptischen  Sudan  (Berlin,  1893);  Herbert   Spencer   and   D.   Duncan,
Descriptive Sociology, vol. iv. African Races (1875); A.  de  Preville,  Les
Societes africaines (Paris, 1894); D. Macdonald, Africana or, the  Heart  of
Heathen  Africa,  2  vols.  (1882);   L.   Frobenius,   Der   Ursprung   der
afrikanischen Kulturen (Der Ursprung der Kultur, Band  i.)  (Berlin,  1898);
Idem, ``Die Masken und Geheimbunde Afrikas,'' Abhandl. Kaiserl.  Leopoldin.-
Carolin. Deuts. Akad. Naturforscher, 1899,  1-278;  G.  Schweinfurth,  Artes
africanae Illustrations and Descriptions of . . . industrial Arts,  &c.  (in
German and English) (Leipzig, 1875); F. Ratzel, Die afsikanischen Bogen .  .
. eine anthrop. geographische  Studie  (Leipzig,  1891);  K.  Weule,  .  Der
afrikanische Pfeil (Leipzig,  1899);  H.  Frobenius,  Afrikanische  Bautypen
(Dauchau bei Munchen, 1894); H.  Schurtz,  Die  afrikan.  Gewerbe  (Leipzig,
1900); E. W. Blyden, Christianity, Islam and the Negro  Race  (1887);  James
Stewart, Dawn in the Dark Continent, or Africa and its  Missions  (Edinburgh
and London, 1903); W. H. J. Bleek,  Comparative  Grammar  of  South  African
Languages, 2 parts (1862-1869);  Idem,  Vocabularies  of  the  Districts  of
Lourenzo Marques, &c.,  &c.  (1900);  R.  N.  Cust,  Sketch  of  the  Modern
Languages of Africa, 2 vols. (1993): F. W. Kolbe, A Language Study based  on
Bantu  (1888);  J.  T.  Last,  Polyglotta  Africana  orientalis  (1885);  J.
Torrend, Comparative Grammar of the South African  Bantu  Languages  (1891);
S. W. Koelle, Polyglotta  Africana  (1854);  C.  Velten,  Schilderungen  der
Suaheli von Expeditionen v. Wissmanns, &c.,  &c.  (1900)  (narratives  taken
down from the mouths of natives); A. Vierkandt, Volksgedichte im  westlichen
Central-Afrika  (Leipzig,  1895).  For  latest  information  the   following
periodicals should be consulted:— Journal of the  Anthropological  Institute
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland;  Man  (same  publishers);  Zeitschrift  f.
Ethnologie; Archiv f. Anthropologie; L'Anthropologie.

sec. IV. Archaeology and Art.—  Publications  of  the  Egyptian  Exploration
Fund; A. Mariette-Bey, The Monuments of Upper Egypt (1890); H. Brugsch,  Die
Agyptologie (Leipzig, 1891); G. Maspero, L' Archeologie  egyptienne  (Paris,
1890?); R. Lepsius, Denkmaler aus Agypten und  Athiopien  .  .  .,  6  vols.
(Berlin, 1849-1859); G. A. Hoskins, Travels in Ethiopia . .  .  illustrating
the Antiquities of the Ancient Kingdom  of  Meroe  (1835);  Records  of  the
Past: being English Translations of . . . Egyptian Monuments,  vols.  2,  4,
6, 8, 10, 12  (1873-1881);  Ditto,  new  series,  6  vols.  (1890-1892);  D.
Randall-MacIver  and  A.  Wilkin,  Libyan  Notes  (1901)  (archaeology   and
ethnology of  North  Africa);  G.  Boissier,  L'Afrique  romaine  Promenades
archeologiques en Algerie et en Tunisie, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1901); H.  Randall-
MacIver, Mediaeval Rhodesia (1906);  Prisse  d'Avennes,  Histoire  de  l'art
egyptien d'apres les monuments, &c. with atlas (Paris, 1879; G.  Perrot  and
C. Chipiez, History of Art in Ancient Egypt,  2  vols.  (1993);  H.  Wallis,
Egyptian Ceramic Art (1900); C. H. Read and O. M. Dalton,  Antiquities  from
the City of Benin and from other parts of West Africa (1899).

sec.  V.  Travel  and  Exploration.—Dean  W.  Vincent,  The   Commerce   and
Navigation of the Ancients, vol. 2,  The  Periplus  of  the  Erythraean  Sea
(1807); G. E. de Azurara, Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of  Guinea
(Eng. trans., 2 vols., 1896, 1899); R. H. Major, Life of  Prince  Henry  the
Navigator (1868); E. G. Ravenstein, ``The Voyages of Diogo  Cao  and  Barth.
Diaz,'' Geogr. Journ., Dec. 1900; O. Hartig, ``Altere  Entdeckungsgeschichte
und Kartographie Afrikas,'' Mitt. Geogr. Gesells. Wien, 1905; J. Leyden  and
H. Murray, Historical Account of Discoveries, &c., 2 vols., 2nd ed.  (1818);
T. E. Bowditch,  Account  of  the  Discoveries  of  the  Portuguese  in  the
Interior of  Angola  and  Mozambique  (1824);  P.  Paulitschke,  Die  geogr.
Forschung  des  afrikan.  Continents  (Vienna,  1880);   A.   Supan,   ``Ein
Jahrhundert der Afrika-Forschung,''  Peterm.  Mitt.,  1888;  R.  Brown,  The
Story of Africa and its Explorers, 4 vols. (1892-1895); Sir Harry  Johnston,
The Nile Quest (1903); James Bruce, Travels to discover the  Source  of  the
Nile  in  1768-1773,  5  vols.,  Edinburgh  (1790);   Proceedings   of   the
Association for . . . Discovery of!the Interior Parts of Africa,  1790-1810;
Mungo Park, Travels into the Interior  Districts  of  Africa  (1799);  Idem,
Journal of a Mission, &c. (1815);  Capt.  J.  K.  Tuckey,  Narrative  of  an
Expedition to explore the River Zaire or Congo in  1816  (1818):  D.  Denham
and H. Clapperton, Narrative of Travels and  Discoveries  in  N.  and  Cent.
Africa (1826); R. Caillie, Journal d'un voyage a  Temboctu  et  a  Jenne,  3
vols., Paris (1830); D. Livingstone, Missionary  Travels  .  .  .  in  South
Africa (1857); The Last Journals of David  Livingstone  in  Central  Africa,
ed. H. Waller (1874);  H.  Barth,  Travels  and  Discoveries  in  North  and
Central Africa, 5 vols. (1857); J. L. Krapf, Travels,  Researches,  &c.,  in
Eastern Africa (1860); Sir  R.  F.  Burton,  The  Lake  Regions  of  Central
Africa, 2 vols. (1860); J. H. Speke, Journal of the Discovery of the  Source
of the Nile (1863).: Sir S. W. Baker, The Albert Nyanza, 2 vols. (1866);  G.
Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, 2 vols. (1873);  V.  L.  Cameron,  Across
Africa, 2 vols. (1877); T. Baines, The Gold Regions of South-Eastern  Africa
(1877); Sir H. M. Stanley, Through  the  Dark  Continent,  2  vols.  (1878);
Idem, In Darkest Africa, 2 vols. (1890); G. Nachtigal, Sahara und  Sudan,  3
vols. (Berlin, 1879-1889); P. S. De Brazza, Les Voyages  de  .  .  .  (1875-
1882), Paris, 1884; i. Thomson, Through Masai Land (1885); H. von  Wissmann,
Unter Deutscher Flagge quer durch  Afrika,  &c.  (Berlin,  1889);  Idem,  My
Second Journey through Equatorial  Africa  (1891);  W.  Junker,  Travels  in
Africa 1875-1886, 3 vols. (1890-1892); L. G. Binger, Du Niger  au  Golfe  de
Guinee, &c.  (Paris,  1892);  O.  Baumann,  Durch  Masailand  zur  Nilquelle
(Berlin, 1894); R. Kandt, Caput Nili  (Berlin,  1904);  C.  A.  von  Gotzen,
Durch Afrika von Ost nach West (Berlin, 1896); L. Vanutelli and C.  Citerni,
Seconda spedizione Bottego: L'Omo (Milan,  1899);  P.  Foureau,  D'Alger  au
Congo par le Tchad (Paris, 1902); C. Lemaire, Mission  scientifique  du  Ka-
Tanga: Journal de route,  1  vol.,  Resultats  des  observations,  16  parts
(Brussels, 1902); A. St. H. Gibbons, Africa  from  South  to  North  through
Marotseland, 2 vols. (1904); E. Lenfant, La Grande Route  du  Tchad  (Paris,
1905); Boyd Alexander, From the Niger to the Nile, 2 vols. (1907).

sec. VI. Historical and Political.—H.Schurtz, Africa (World's History,  vol.
3, part 3) (1903); Sir H.  H.  Johnston,  History  of  the  Colonization  of
Africa by Alien Races (Cambridge, 1899)  (reprint  with  additional  chapter
``Latest  Developments,''  1905);  A.  H.  L.  Heeren,  Reflections  on  the
Politics, Intercourse and Trade of the Ancient Nations of  Africa,  2  vols.
(Oxford, 1832); G. Rawlinson, History of Ancient Egypt  (1881);  A.  Graham,
Roman Africa (1902); J. De Barros, Asia: Ira Decada, Lisbon (1552 and  1777-
1778); J. Strandes, Die Portugiesenzeit von . . . Ostafrika (Berlin,  1899);
R. Schuck, Brandenburg- Preussens Kolonial-Politik . . . 1641-1721, 2  vols.
Leipzig, 1889): G. M`Call Theal, History and Ethnography of Africa south  of
the Zambesi  . . . to 1795,  3  vols.  (1907-1910),  and  History  of  South
Africa since September 1795 (to 1872)  5  vols.  (1908);  Idem,  Records  of
South-Eastern  Africa,  9  vols.,  1898-1903;  Lady   Lugard,   A   Tropical
Dependency: Outline of the History of the Western Sudan,  &c.;  (1905);  Sir
F. Hertslet, The Map of Africa by Treaty, 3 vols. (3rd ed., 1909);  J  .  S.
Keltie, The Partition of Africa, 2nd ed. (1895); F. Van Ortroy,  Conventions
internationales definissant les limites . . . en Afrique  (Brussels,  1898);
General Act of the Conference of Berlin, 1885: The Surveys and  Explorations
of British Africa (Colonial Reports, No. 500)  (1906),  and  annual  reports
thereafter; Sir F. D. Lugard, The Rise or our East African Empire,  2  vols.
(1893); E. Petit, Les colonies francaises, 2 vols.  (Paris,  1902-1904);  E.
Rouard de Card,  Les  Traites  de  protectorat  conclus  par  la  France  en
Afrique, 1870-1895 (Paris, 1897); A. J.  de  Araujo,  Colonies  portuguaises
d'Afrique Lisbon, 1900); B.Trognitz, ``Neue Arealbestimmung  des  Continents
Afrika,'' Petermanns Mitt., 1893, 220-221; A. Supan, ``Die  Bevolkerung  der
Erde,'' xii., Peterm. Mitt.  Erganzungsh.  146  (Gotha,  1904)  (deals  with
areas as well as population).

sec. VII.  Commerce  and  Economics.—A.  Silva  White,  The  Development  of
Africa, 2nd ed. (1892): K.  Dove,  ``Grundzuge  einer  Wirtschaftsgeographie
Afrikas,'' Geographische Zeitschrift, 1905, i-18; E.  Hahn,  ``Die  Stellung
Afrikas  in  der  Geschichte  des  Welthandels,''  Verhandl.  11.   Deutsch.
Geographentags zu  Bremen  (Berlin,  1896);  L.  de  Launay,  Les  Richesses
minerales  de  l'Afrique  (Paris,  1903);  K.  Futterer,  Afrika  in  seiner
Bedeutung  fur  die  Goldproduktion  (Berlin,  1894);  P.  Reichard,   ``Das
afrikan. Elfenbein und  sein  Handel,''  Deutsche  geogr.  Blatter  (Bremen,
1889); Sir A. Moloney,  Sketch  of  the  Forestry  of  West  Africa  (1887);
Dewevre, ``Les Caoutchoucs africains,'' Ann. Soc. Sci. Bruxelles, 1895;  Sir
T. F. Buxton, The African Slave Trade  and  its  Remedy  (1840);  C.  M.  A.
Lavigerie, L'Esclavage africain (Paris, 1888); E. de Renty, Les  chemins  de
fer coloniaux  en  Afrique,  3  vols.  (Paris,  1903-1905);  H.  Meyer,  Die
Eisenbahnen im tropischen Afrika (Leipzig, 1902); G. Grenfell,  ``The  Upper
Congo as a Waterway,'' Geogr. Journ., Nov. 1902; A. St.  H.  Gibbons,  ``The
Nile and Zambezi Systems as Waterways,'' Journ. R. Colon.  Inst.,  1901;  K.
Lent,  ``Verkehrsmittel  in  Ostafrika,''  Deutsches  Kolonialblatt,   1894;
``Trade of the United Kingdom with the  African  Continent  in  1898-1902,''
Board of T. Journ., 1903; Diplomatic and Consular  Peports,  Annual  Series;
Colonial Reports; T. H. Parke, Guide to  Health  in  Africa  (1893);  R.  W.
Felkin, Geographical Distribution of Tropical Diseases in Africa (1895)

The following bibliographies may also be consulted:  J.  Gay,  Bibliographie
des ouvrages relatifs a l'Afrique, &c. (San  Remo,  1875);  P.  Paulitschke,
Die Afrika-Literatur von 1500 bis 1750  (Vienne,  1882);  Catalogue  of  the
Colonial  Office  Library,  vol.  3,  Africa   (specially   for   government
publications). (E. HE.) 1 Where no place of publication is given, London  is
to be understood.