i896. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 3 



The Sanctity of Life in Africa. 



The Congo Free State having paid the German Government 

 ;^4,ooo as compensation for loss, owing to the death of the latter's 

 agent, Stokes, and having agreed to the trial of Major Lothaire in 

 Brussels, this unfortunate business has been simplified. With the 

 political aspect of the case we have nothing to do, but attempts have 

 been made to prejudice the Congo Free State officers, by declarations 

 that no European's life would be safe in Africa in the future ; and that 

 is a question which concerns naturalists. There never has been 

 any doubt that Major Lothaire acted illegally in the execution of 

 Stokes ; and now, there is no doubt that his conduct was also reck- 

 lessly injudicious. The technical illegahty does not count for much 

 no explorer can do anything in Africa without breaking many of the 

 silly regulations of the Brussels and Berlin conventions, and dis- 

 regarding ordinances issued by well-meaning officials. But when 

 such illegalities affect the lives of Europeans they become more 

 serious. The discussion this summer of the Bembire incident has 

 reminded us that acts take place in Africa which would never for a 

 moment be tolerated in Europe. If a courageous official, in order to 

 suppress piratical proceedings, were to punish the offenders, it would 

 be the duty of those who have the interest of x\frica at heart to see 

 that he was given fair play, and not tripped up by mere technical 

 illegalities. But no official ought to inflict a death penalty on a 

 European, especially on a native of another country, without recognis- 

 ing that he is incurring a great and risky responsibility. Illegal 

 executions can only be tolerated under circumstances of great urgency 

 or of extreme provocation, and then carried out with dignity and 

 judicial care. It is because Major Lothaire's action lacked these 

 characteristics that it has been unanimously condemned. But random 

 statements that his action has for ever broken European prestige on 

 the Upper Congo may be dismissed as worthless ; for so many 

 Europeans have met their deaths in that region at the hands of 

 rebellious natives and slave-trading Arabs, that our prestige has long 

 been dependent on character and conduct, instead of on colour. 



Dr. Donaldson Smith's Journey. 



Dr. Donaldson Smith is heartily to be congratulated on the 

 successful termination of the difficult journey from the Somali coast, 

 across the countries of the Somali, the Galla, the Reschiat, and the 

 Pokomo, to the coast at Lamu. This long journey has been frequently 

 projected, but the fickleness of the Somali, the hostihty of the Wa-suk, 

 and the great tracts of barren, waterless wastes in the Lake Rudolf 

 region, have prevented its achievement. The only previous European 

 visitors to Lake Rudolf were Count Teleki and Lieutenant von Hohnel, 

 who reached it from the south. Dr. Smith is the first to gain it from 

 the north, and thus his work helps to bridge the gap between the 



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