120 



CAMEROONS. 



missionary settlement of Victoria, at the head 

 of Ambas Bay, had been decided upon the year 

 before. This portion of the Cameroons Mount- 

 ain district was formally annexed and declared 

 a British colony on July 19, 1884, before the 

 German protectorate over the neighboring coast 

 was known. On Dec. 1 Prince Bismarck said 

 to Sir E. Malet that if the British were gradu- 

 ally surrounding the Cameroons with further 

 annexations, he would regard it as a very un- 

 friendly act. On Jan. 20, after an additional 

 footing had been obtained on the coast in the 

 way mentioned further on, Lord Granville an- 

 nounced that the British Government had found 

 it expedient to place under its sovereignty or 

 protection the territories extending from Am- 

 bas Bay to Lagos. Bismarck construed this as 

 " intended, in spite of assurances to the con- 

 trary, to prevent the extension of our posses- 

 sions." 



On the 24th of November, 1884, the Ham- 

 burg Syndicate of merchants trading in West 

 Africa complained to the German Government 

 of the " peace-imperiling " conduct of the Eng- 

 lish Vice-Consul in the Cameroons, Mr. Buchan, 

 and of an English trading-firm. Count Mun- 

 ster requested Lord Granville to put a stop 

 to Buchan's anti-German machinations. Earl 

 Granville promised to inquire into the matter, 

 and asked that in the future such differences 

 should be adjusted between the German squad- 

 ron commander and the English authorities. 

 Later Lord Granville said that the merchants 

 complained of were highly respectable, and that 

 Mr. Buchan would soon be replaced by a regu- 

 lar official, who would investigate the matter 

 further. The Hamburg Syndicate declared 

 on Dec. 30 that the natives were disorderly be- 

 cause power was divided between the Germans 

 and the English, and that the English Consul, 

 Mr. Hewett, and the consular agent, Mr. Bu- 

 chan, endeavored to thwart and hamper Ger- 

 man authority and aimed at bringing all the 

 region surrounding Cameroons under British 

 sovereignty. The attention of the English 

 Government was thereupon called to the cir- 

 cumstance that complaints of efforts of British 

 officials to prevent the extension inland of Ger- 

 man possessions and to injure German prestige 

 were based upon facts. The natives had taken 

 prisoner the captain of an English vessel and 

 killed two of his crew. To avenge this out- 

 rage the German squadron was ordered to Cam- 

 eroons. 



A Pole, named Rogozinski, with two of 

 his compatriots, had established some stations 

 before the coming of the Germans in the Cam- 

 eroons Mountains. Hearing that Dr. Nachtigal 

 intended to extend the German protectorate 

 over this region, he did all that he could to 

 turn the chiefs against the Germans. Fearing 

 energetic action on the part of Dr. Nachtigal, 

 he entered into communications with English- 

 men with the view of getting the English Gov- 

 ernment to forestall the Germans, and prom- 

 ised to use his influence with the chiefs if an 



English gun-boat arrived for the purpose. He 

 and his associate Janikowski acquired proprie- 

 tary rights over a portion of the Cameroons 

 Mountains, and worked upon the tribes to con- 

 clude a treaty with England. At this stage 

 the British gun-boat Forward entered Cam- 

 eroons Bay, and her commander intimated the 

 readiness of Consul Hewett to agree to the 

 proposals of Rogozinski. The latter placed his 

 property under English protection. The gun- 

 boat steamed to the mountainous part of the 

 coast with Rogozinski on board. There a treaty 

 was signed with the chiefs by which the whole 

 coast region between Victoria and Calabar was 

 exempted from German sovereignty. This 

 was scarcely concluded when the German 

 cruisers Leipzig and Move steamed up to the 

 coast with Dr. Nachtigal on board, just as the 

 English war -vessel was leaving. 



Prince Bismarck related these facts to the 

 Reichstag in asking, June 10, for a vote for 

 a steamer to be used by the Governor of the 

 Cameroons, the vote carrying with it the sanc- 

 tion for the creation of such an office. The 

 Chancellor declared that he was in utramque 

 paratus, whether to apply his hand firmly in that 

 part of Africa or to withdraw it altogether. 

 In reply to Dr. Windthorst, who expressed mis- 

 givings as to the safety of colonial expansion 

 while Germany was surrounded by enemies, 

 Prince Bismarck declared that Germany had 

 around her only friendly governments with 

 whom she stood in the closest trustful relations. 

 The league of the three empires was in itself a 

 vaulted arch, which could bear much stress 

 from other quarters ; with Italy and Spain in- 

 timate friendship subsisted ; and with France 

 Germany was on a better footing than at any 

 time since before 1866. "With England, Ger- 

 many was on good terms, though certain sec- 

 tions of the English people, accustomed to the 

 belief that Britannia rules the waves, feel an 

 unwelcome surprise at seeing England's " land- 

 lubberly cousin " go to sea. If the English 

 Government should adopt the opinions of cer- 

 tain classes of English subjects regarding the 

 German colonial policy, then, he said, " we 

 should scarcely be able to support the English 

 policy in other questions which deeply interest 

 England without incurring the disapproval of 

 the German people. We should, perhaps, be 

 forced to support, without wishing it, those 

 who are adversaries to England, and to estab- 

 lish some do, ut des." Deprecating the thought 

 of the good relations with England being dis- 

 turbed, he vaunted the military power of Ger- 

 many in the following words : " We are sur- 

 rounded by governments which have the same 

 interest as we in maintaining peace. There is 

 no Government which could bear a war bet- 

 ter than the German Government can, and if 

 another believed itself able to break the peace 

 of Europe without injury to other of its inter- 

 ests, Germany would still say, ' We can do 

 that still more easily ; only we are more con- 

 scientious and more considerate.' " Denying 



