280 



FRANCE. 



is partly to be accounted for by the heavy and 

 constantly increasing duties. These were in 

 1860-'61, per 100 kilogrammes, 33f. ; 1862-'63, 

 45f.; 1864-70, 47f. ; 1871-72, 61f. ; 1873, 70f. 

 50c. ; 1874-78, 73f. 32c. Greut Britain, on the 

 other hand, with her constantly diminishing 

 duties, which disappeared finally in 1874, has a 

 consumption which increased from 450,000,000 

 kilogrammes in 1860 to 918,000,000 in 1878. 



On December 31, 1877, there were 538 au- 

 thorized savings-banks with 777 branches. The 

 number of books out on December 31, 1877, 

 was 2,863,283, and there was due to depositors 

 862,834,155 francs. According to a report of 

 the Minister of Commerce on the savings-banks 

 in France the number of depositors in 1870, 

 before the war, was 2,130,000 ; in 1872, 2.016,- 

 000; in 1875,2,642,000; in 1877,2,863,000; 

 and in 1878, over 3,000,000. The deposits in 

 this interval rose correspondingly from 711,- 

 000,000f. in 1870 to l,010,000,000f. in 1878. 

 From 1851 to 1870 (eighteen years) the whole 

 progress made was 1,500,000 in the case of the 

 number of depositors, and 553,000,000f. as re- 

 gards the deposits. 



The French colonies and dependencies had, 

 according to the latest official reports, the fol- 

 lowing areas in square kilometres (1 square 

 kilometre = 0'386 square mile) and popula- 

 tion : 



From a comparison of the above table with 

 that given in the "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 

 1879, it will appear that Tahiti, in Oceania, 

 no longer belongs to the dependencies of 

 France, but to its colonies. It was on June 

 29, 1880, formally annexed to France. (See 

 article AUSTRALIA, in the present volume.) 



Special attention is given by the French Gov- 

 ernment to the extension of its rule and influ- 

 ence in Central Africa. The Minister of Pub- 

 lic Works, in 1880, sent out a mission to study 

 the line of the proposed trans-Saharan Rail- 

 way, and the plan of a railway connecting the 

 colony of Senegal with the Niger is under con- 

 sideration at the Ministry of the Marine. In 

 1879 the French built the fort ofBafoulabe, 

 and thus brought their frontier considerably 

 nearer the Niger. In 1880 they began to build 

 a fort at Kita, which will advance their fron- 

 tier 250 kilometres and bring them within 250 

 kilometres of the river. At the beginning of 

 the year a mission, under the guidance of Cap- 

 tain Gallieni, was sent out to secure the friend- 

 ship of the tribes through whose territory the 

 railway is to pass. The expedition left St. 

 Louis on January 30th, and arrived at Kita on 

 April 27th, without accident. Captain Gallieni 

 obtained all the concessions necessary for the 

 construction of a fort, and made treaties of 

 friendship with the neighboring chiefs. The 

 caravan was then formed, and the mission pro- 

 ceeded eastward until May llth, when they 

 were attacked by the Bambarras and lost half 

 their number. The rest escaped, and succeed- 

 ed in passing the Niger on May 15th. 



On September 16th the "Journal Officiel" 

 published two decrees touching the question 

 of bringing Central Africa into communication 

 with the civilized world. There are in Central 

 Africa two vast and fertile regions which are 

 placed in a state of complete isolation by their 

 distance from the sea and the difficulty of 

 communications. One of these regions in the 

 southern hemisphere will, perhaps, be some 

 day connected with the Mediterranean by the 

 Nile, with the Indian Ocean by a railway, and 

 with the Atlantic by the Congo. The other 

 region, in the northern hemisphere, may be 

 connected with the Mediterranean by the pro- 

 posed Sahara Railway, and with the Atlantic 

 by several proposed lines of railway, one of 

 which would pass through the French colony 

 of Senegal, and put it into communication with 

 the upper basin of the Niger, which is inhabit- 

 ed by independent tribes. This railway from 

 the Atlantic to the upper basin of the Niger 

 was proved to be possible by the explorations 

 of Lieutenant Mage. The decrees mentioned 

 above were intended to organize expeditions 

 for studying the details of the line, first of all 

 between the upper basin of the Senegal River 

 and the upper basin of the Niger. 



The first change in the Ministry of M. de 

 Freycinet took place on May 16th, when the 

 Minister of the Interior, M. Lepere, resigned. 

 The reason for this resignation was found in a 



