268 



EAST AFRICA. 



drada was enrolling an expedition to plant the 

 Portuguese flag where territory was claimed by 

 Portugal in northern Mashonaland, demanded 

 on Jan. 10, without waiting for an answer to his 

 last dispatch, that the Governor- General of Mo- 

 zambique should be instructed to withdraw all 

 Portuguese troops on the Shire south of the 

 Kuo in the JMakololo country, in Mashonaland, 

 or south of the Zambesi, and unless such a dis- 

 patch was sent within twenty-four hours the 

 English minister at Lisbon was instructed to 

 leave with the whole diplomatic staff. At the 

 same time the English naval forces at Zanzibar 

 sailed for Quilimane and Delagoa Bay, two men- 

 of-war made a threatening demonstration against 

 St. Vincent, the capital of the Cape Verd Isl- 

 ands, and the two fleets within hail of Lisbon 

 at Vigo and Gibraltar made ready to sail at any 

 moment. On receiving this unexpected ultima- 

 tum the Portuguese Cabinet, after a meeting of 

 the State Council had been held in haste under 

 the presidency of the King, yielded under pro- 

 test to the British demands and ordered the 

 evacuation of the disputed territories, reserving 

 the Fights of Portugal to the regions in question, 

 and claiming the right to have the question set- 

 tled by mediation or arbitration under Article 

 XII of the general act of Berlin, which provides 

 that in case of a serious disagreement on the 

 subject of African territories the powers bind 

 themselves, before appealing to arms, to have re- 

 course to the mediation of one or more of the 

 friendly powers, or to exercise the option that is 

 reserved to them of having recourse to arbitra- 

 tion. The excitement caused by the backdown 

 of the Portuguese Government seemed likely to 

 result in the overthrow of the monarchy and the 

 establishment of a republic. The Cabinet re- 

 signed, and a new one was formed by Serpa 

 Pimentel, the leader of the Liberal Conservative 

 or Regenerador party, who, on June 6, 1889, had 

 introduced a resolution in the Chamber of Peers 

 affirming the rights of Portugal in eastern and 

 central Africa as based on discovery, conquest, 

 effective occupation, or permanent commercial 

 enterprise, and the political influence of Portu- 

 gal during centuries past. The indignation of 

 the people against England was universal, and 

 was manifested not merely in violent language 

 and in the boycotting of English goods, but in 

 insults and the violation of the houses and per- 

 sons of Englishmen, even of the consuls, in con- 

 sequence of which a British squadron steamed 

 into the Tagus. The new Minister for Foreign 

 Affairs, Hint/.; Ribeiro, told Mr. Petre on Jan. 

 18 that the late ministry had on the 12th ordered 

 the evacuation of the posts north of the Ruo 

 and south of the Zambesi. In reply to the Portu- 

 guese request for mediation the Marquis of Salis- 

 bury wrote on Jan. 28 that the territory in dis- 

 pute, not being under the free-trade system, did 

 not come within the provisions of the Berlin 

 act, and that if it did Great Britain was the 

 power that had a right to demand mediation, 

 not those who had infringed the act by invading 

 the disputed territory' with an armed force to 

 dishonor the flag and 'kill the allies of the other 

 party to the controversy. 



Anglo-Portuguese Convention. The Por- 

 tuguese Government had much difficulty in carry- 

 ing out its engagements, owing to the unwilling- 



ness of the local authorities in east Africa, who 

 became more annoying in their treatment of the 

 English, who in turn instigated the vassal chiefs 

 in Portuguese possessions to revolt and fur- 

 nished them firearms. Lieut. Valadin, of the 

 Portuguese navy, and a custom-house officer were 

 massacred with their escort of 200 native troops by 

 a chief named Mataca between Lake Nyassa and 

 Mozambique. Gungenhemo, who, like Lobengula, 

 denied that he had ceded away any part of his 

 sovereign rights, began to make war on friendly 

 chiefs, and a Portuguese expedition was sent under 

 Capt. Soares d 'Andrea in consequence into the 

 Gaza country. A considerable force was concen- 

 trated at the Ruo boundary, occupying Chiloma. 

 The English continued to hoist flags in the dis- 

 puted districts, and stirred up the natives of Ma- 

 kanga and Massangano against the Portuguese. 

 The negotiations between the two governments 

 were continued, and on Aug. 20 a convention 

 was signed in London which was considered so 

 disadvantageous to Portugal that the Chambers 

 refused to ratify it. Great Britain agrees to rec- 

 ognize as the boundary of Portuguese east Af- 

 rica on the north the river Rovuma to its con- 

 fluence with the M'Sinje and thence a line run- 

 ning due west to Lake Nyassa. The boundary 

 follows the shore of the lake southward to 13 

 30' of south latitude, and thence runs south- 

 eastward to Lake Shirwa and along its shore 

 to its extreme southeasterly point, from which 

 the frontier takes a direct line to the easternmost 

 affluent of the Ruo, and follows the Ruo west- 

 ward to its junction with the Shire, and con- 

 tinues westward to a point on the Zambesi above 

 Tete, from which it follows that river to Zumbo, 

 where it leaves the river, passing due south a 

 short distance, in order to leave Zumbo in Portu- 

 guese territory, but quickly turning at a right 

 angle to run eastward parallel with the Zambesi. 

 At 33 of south latitude it takes a southeasterly 

 course to 32, and then follows the Sabi river to 

 the Limpopo, and thence runs along the Trans- 

 vaal and Swaziland frontier to Delagoa Bay. 

 While in west Africa Portuguese possessions ex- 

 tend to the iipper Zambesi and the Kabompo as 

 their eastern limit, all the central and eastern 

 part of the great region formerly claimed by Por- 

 tugal is abandoned to Great Britain except the 

 district between the coast and Lake Nyassa, a nar- 

 row strip between the Shire and Tete, a wedge 

 of Hinterland behind Sofala and Senna, with the 

 south bank of the Zambesi as far as Zumbo, and 

 elsewhere only the coast districts. The British ac- 

 quire a solid tract extending north of the Zambesi 

 through ten degrees of latitude and reaching from 

 Cape Colony to the confines of the Congo Free 

 State and Lake Tanganyika. Portugal agreed to 

 cede no part of her territory to a third power 

 without the consent of Great Britain, to build a 

 railroad to facilitate communication between 

 British territory and Pungwe Bay, to maintain 

 telegraphic communications between the coast 

 and the river Ruo. to grant absolute freedom of 

 passage across her territory to British territory, to 

 charge only 3 per cent, transit duty, and, in regard 

 to the Zambesi and its tributaries, to declare them 

 free to the commerce and shipping of all nations. 

 From Zumbo to the Katiina Rapids both banks 

 of the Zambesi belong to Great Britain, but Por- 

 tugal acquires the right to construct roads, rail- 



