RID THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
o 
from further conquest by the previous occupation of the 
neighboring countries by England. He will soon be 
threatening the English interests along the Nile, in the 
land over which England’s forces are now struggling. 
And he will be in dangerous proximity to the French pos- 
sessions on the west, to the Germans on the south, and to 
the Congo tree State. (Sceimap me) Sscottiteliies Pine 
Partition of Africa,” 1895.) 
A natural sequence to the extensien of Menelek’s con- 
quests would be the occupation of a vast amount of the 
newly acquired territory by the French or Russians. The 
Abyssinians, French, and Russians will not long delay in 
pressing to the south. 
It behooves England to act at once. If she does not 
immediately check Abyssinian advance, it will only be a 
necessity deferred, and then, when finally she is obliged to 
possess herself of the country to the east of Lake Rudolf, 
and perhaps far to the south of the northern end of the 
lake, she will have lost all of that magnificent, fertile, and 
mountainous country of great commercial value, extending 
a hundred miles north of Lake Rudolf, embracing Lake 
Abaya and the sources of the river Jub, and the greater 
half of the Boran country. ‘This is a district I have every 
reason to believe to be rich in mineral wealth. There is a 
rainfall of between twenty and thirty-five inches a year dis- 
tributed fairly evenly over the twelve months, although 
greater in summer than in winter; and the climate is such 
that a European farmer can work here without being op- 
pressed by heat. Maize and cereals of all kinds, vegetables. 
and fruits, can be planted with good and quick results in al- 
most any season. The markets would be amply sufficient 
to supply the artisans and merchants required by colonists. 
Except in the valleys through which a river runs, or near 
the lakes, the country is most healthy. In fact, no better 
