-^ Recent History 



for some time, and the late Lord Salisbury had induced France 

 to restrain her aggressions on Liberian territory within reasonable 

 limits. Consequently, in the French official notification of 

 October 26th, 1891, the French boundary was drawn at the 

 Cavalla. The Liberians protested in vain against this spoliation, 

 but receiving no assurances of support either from the United 

 States or Great Britain, they were fain to conclude a treaty with 

 France on December 8th, 1892, according to which the River 

 Cavalla became the boundary between PVance and Liberia from 

 its mouth "as far as a point situated at a point" about twenty 

 miles to the south of its confluence with the River " Fodedougou- 

 ba," at the intersection of the parallel 6° 30' N. Lat. and the 

 (Paris) meridian 9° 12' of W. Long/ From this "point at a 

 point " so contradictorily fixed on the Cavalla, the boundary 

 was then to be carried along 6° 30' parallel of N. Lat. as far 

 west as the Paris Meridian 10° of Longitude, with this proviso, 

 that the basin of the Grand Sesters River should belong to 

 Liberia and the basin of the Fodedougou-ba to France. Then 



• This starting-point of Franco-Liberian delimitation on the River Cavalla is 

 determined in the most contradictory manner. The treaty first says that it shall 

 be situated at a point on the Cavalla about twenty miles to tlie south of its confluence 

 with the River Fodedugu-ba, which was at that time supposed to be an affluent of the 

 Cavalla. But the treaty supplements this definition by adding the words " at the 

 intersection of the parallel 6° 30' N. Lat. and the (Paris) meridian q° 12' of W. Long." 

 At the date this treaty was drawn up, almost nothing was known of the course 

 of the River Cavalla. The name Fodedugu-ba is a Mandingo word (apparently) 

 for river or watercourse which under varying forms appears and reappears con- 

 stantly in the Upper Niger basin. The river which is indicated under this name 

 in the Franco-Liberian treaty is obviously the main course (Dugu or Duyu) of the 

 River Cavalla, placed a good deal too much to the north in tiie hypothetical map 

 of 1892. This was confused by native tradition with a real " Fodedugu-ba" which 

 occurs a great deal farther to the north as an affluent of the Sasandra River. It 

 was therefore foolish enough that the negotiatiors of this treaty should assume a 

 point of junction between a hypothetical Fodedugu-ba and an equally hypothetical 

 Upper Cavalla ; but when in addition they went on to postulate that twenty miles 

 below the confluence of these two streams the main course of the Cavalla would 

 beintersected by 6° 30' N. Lat. and 9° 12' (Paris) W. Long., they were simply courting 

 gubsecjuent confusion. 



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