SEYCHELLES BRITISH WEST AFRICA 647 



sugar cane. Moreover it produces little else for home consumption. Dependent on a single 

 industry, the .colony suffers when that industry is depressed. Owing to ; the high price 

 fetched by sugar the colony during 1910-12 attained however a sounder position than it had 

 held for years. The value of imports in 1909 was 1,800,000; in 1910 it had increased tb 

 2,333,000. Exports in 1909 were valued at 2,295,000 and in 1910 at 2,435,000. About 

 79%;of the total imports came from the United Kingdom and British Possessions, to whom 

 went nearly 99% of the exports. 



The sugar crop of 1910-11, exclusive of sugar for local consumption, was 214,372 tons 

 (metric) as compared with the " record " 1909-10 crop of 246,560 tons; the value was 2,000,- 

 ooo. Over 144,000 acres, one-third of the whole area of the island, were in 1910 under 

 sugar cultivation. There were at the same time sixty-two sugar factories working. ; The 

 colony's three largest customers for sugar were in 1910:. British India, 146,510 tons (metric); 

 the United Kingdom, 47,316 tons, and Cape Colony, 19,137 tons. Great improvements 

 have been made in the manufacture, and steam ploughs have been introduced for work in 

 the cane-fields, but much of the land under cultivation is rocky and hand labour has not been 

 superseded. Aloe-fibre and vanilla are the only other exports of any note. Imports of tea have 

 increased considerably, although locally-grown tea has-been found very satisfactory, and 

 nearly 60,000 worth of culinary oils, etc., was imported in 1910 notwithstanding that the 

 soil and climate are eminently suited to the cultivation of oil-bearing plants and trees. 

 Experiments in the cultivation of cotton have been made. 



The revenue for the financial year 1909-10 was 720,000, considerably exceeding that 

 of any previous year. The expenditure was 630,000. In 1910-11 the revenue was 742,- 

 ooo, and the expenditure 638,500. The net debt of the colony in 1911 was 1,296,000. 



Sir Cavendish Boyle (b. 1849), after serving as Governor of Mauritius for eight years, 

 retired in 1911. He was succeeded by Major John Robert Chancellor (b. 1870), an officer 

 who had served with distinction in the Tirah Expedition (1897-98) and in other campaigns, 

 and who had been Secretary to the Imperial Defence Committee. . 



See A. Walter, 1911 Census Report (Port Louis, 191?); and Report of the Mauritius Royal 

 Commission (Cd. 5186) issued in 1910, a valuable guide to the economic condition of the 

 colony. (F.'R. CANA.) 



SEYCHELLES 1 



The population of Seychelles at the 1911 census was 22,691 (148 persq. m.) of whom only 

 2,159 were n t born in the islands; the increase in ten years was 3,454, or 18 per cent. 85 

 per cent are Roman Catholics. 



The value of exports in 1911 fell to 126,867 from 149,467 in 1910 and imports were 

 90,126 as against 98,460 in the previous year. The United Kingdom and British 

 Possessions took about a quarter of the total. France, with purchases to the extent of 

 47,000, was the colony's best customer. The chief article of export was copra, valued at 

 51,000, guano ( 43,800) coming second. It is estimated that at the present rate of exploit- 

 ation the supplies of guano will not last beyond 1920. Vanilla (15,533) was spoilt by un- 

 seasonable rainfall, and the crop was one of the smallest on record since 1907, when the 

 value of the harvest was nearly 67,000. Cinnamon bark comes fourth on the list; the 

 trees were introduced during the French rule about 1775, but their cultivation was abandoned 

 almost immediately and the trees spread through the forest and were neglected until 1908. 

 A ton of tortoise shell was exported to London and Paris. Experiments have been made in 

 the rearing of young turtles from the eggs in enclosed areas. The turtles grow more quickly 

 in confinement and the weight of the shell is proportionately greater. Most of the imports 

 came from the United Kingdom and British Possessions, the total for 1911 being 74,067 

 as against 16,047 from other countries. The chief import was rice, which India supplied 

 to the value of 16,333. Methods of agriculture have been improved, and coco-nut 

 plantations in particular show the results of more scientific treatment. Many thousands 

 of seedlings have been planted out from the seeds of rubber trees growing in Seychelles, and 

 in 1911 rubber appeared for the first time as an export. 



The revenue in 1911 was 36,333 and the expenditure 34,133. 



In October 1912 Mr. W. E. Davidson (b. 1859), who became Governor of Seychelles in 

 1904, was appointed Governor of Newfoundland, and Lieut-Col. C. R. M. O'Brien (b. 1859), 

 Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (who had served with distinction througho'ut the Anglo- 

 Boer War 1899-1903), was made Governor. (F. R. CANA.) 



BRITISH WEST AFRICA 



In West Africa the British colonies and. protectorates form separate governments 

 directly dependent upon the Colonial Office in London. They are (i) the Gambia; (2) 

 Sierra Leone; (3) the Gold Coast, with Ashanti and the Northern Territories; (4) S. and 

 N. Nigeria. In every part of British West Africa the outstanding features of the period 

 1910-12 were practically unbroken public peace and a remarkable development of trade 



1 See E. B. xxiv, 751 et seq. 



