FRANCE. 



FRIENDS. 



299 



Lagos, conceiving the opinion that the region 

 belonged within the sphere of British influ- 

 ence, led a force into the district in April, 

 1887, and placed a chief in power who was 

 friendly to the English. The French there- 

 upon repelled him, and reinstated their protege, 

 raising the French flag over the districts of 

 Badiboo Saba and Sangally. The officer in 

 command of the troops at Lagos marched into 

 the disputed territory, and pulled down the 

 French flag. The British and French Govern- 

 ments both sent gunboats and higher officials 

 to the spot, and entered into diplomatic cor- 

 respondence over the question. Sir Samuel 

 Rowe, Governor of the British West African 

 settlements, hoisted the British flag at various 

 points on the Gambia river, but the French 

 remained in practical possession of the Badiboo 

 district. The estimated area of the French 

 possessions at Gaboon and on the Congo is 

 670,000 square kilometres. On May 27, 1887, 

 a diplomatic arrangement was concluded be- 

 tween France and Germany, legalizing the 

 importation of spirituous liquors, rifles, gun- 

 powder, and tobacco into their possessions on 

 the Slave Coast, at fixed rates of duty. The 

 expenditure of the colonial government in 

 Gaboon in 1885 was 619,000 francs, and that 

 of the home Government 125,000 francs. The 

 trade is about 1,900,000 francs either way. 

 For the French Congo, M. de Brazza, the 

 Governor, was allowed 1,600,000 francs in the 

 budget of 1887. A convention concluded in 

 April, 1887, between France and the Congo 

 Free State, alters the boundaries indicated in 

 the original treaty in favor of France. The 

 Lecona river and the 17th meridian of east 

 longitude were to mark the eastern boundary 

 of the French possessions. It has since been 

 ascertained that the Lecona is not a favorable 

 route into the interior, and by the new arrange- 

 ment the boundary will follow the Dubrangi 

 or Mabongi, the right bank of which is to 

 belong to France, and the right bank of the 

 Congo below their junction. The Congo Free 

 State in return acquires the right of having its 

 loan quoted in Paris to the amount of 80,000,- 

 000 francs. France also admits that the pre- 

 emptive rights acquired in 1883 over the Congo 

 possessions can not be exercised against Bel- 

 gium, should it desire to acquire the territory 

 of the Free State, but only in respect to other 

 powers, should the founders desire to cede the 

 territory. On the east coast of Africa are the 

 colonies of Reunion, Sainte- Marie do Madagas- 

 car, Mayotte, Nossi-Be, and Obock, besides 

 the recently annexed Comoro Islands, which 

 were occupied without fighting, and the resi- 

 dent installed at Anjouan on March 25, 1887. 

 These islands, which lie between the island of 

 Madagascar and the African continent, are 

 1,606 square kilometres in extent, and contain 

 53,000 inhabitants. There occured in the 

 early part of 1887, disputes between French 

 and English authorities on the Somali coast, 

 and a line of demarkation was agreed on, be- 



yond which each power engaged not to extend 

 its possessions, after an English officer had 

 hauled down the French flag at a place called 

 Dongareta. The understanding that was ar- 

 rived at between Lord Salisbury and M. Flou- 

 rens, recognizes the rights of France over the 

 Obock territory and the Gulf of Tadjourah, 

 Great Britain ceding the island of Mashah, 

 lying in the middle of the gulf. The frontier 

 line of the French territory extends from Cape 

 Djiboujeh to Harrar, and thence westward to 

 Shoa. France acknowledges the rights of Eng- 

 land to the territory situate to the east of Cape 

 Djiboujeh, including Dongareta. 



The colony of St. Pierre and Miquelon, with 

 an area of 235 square kilometres, had, in 1885, 

 6,300 inhabitants. The imports were 13,200,- 

 000 francs, and the exports 20,200,000 francs. 

 Guadaloupe and its dependencies have 1,870 

 square kilometres of territory, and in 1885 

 contained 181,098 inhabitants, and exported 

 7,700,000 francs worth of goods, with imports 

 amounting to 4,800,000 francs. Martinique is 

 988 kilometres in area, with 169,232 inhabit- 

 ants, and imported 21,900,000 francs, and ex- 

 ported 21,500,000 francs worth of merchandise. 

 French Guiana has an area of 121,413 square 

 kilometres, and 26,502 European inhabitants. 

 The imports in 1885 were 19,500,000 francs, 

 and the exports 18,000,000 francs. 



In the Pacific the penal colony of New Cale- 

 donia, with the Loyalty Islands, has an area of 

 19,950 square kilometres, and had a population 

 of 56,453 souls in 1885. The imports amounted 

 to 8,500,000 francs, and the exports to 4,600,- 

 000 francs. The New Hebrides, occupied by 

 French troops, have not yet been definitively 

 annexed. (See NEW HEBRIDES). The other 

 possessions in the Pacific include Tahiti, the 

 Touamotou Archipelago, and the Wallis Isl- 

 ands, which were annexed in 1886. The latter 

 have an area of 96 square kilometres and 3,500 

 inhabitants. They are situated between the 

 Fiji and Samoa islands, and were occupied, 

 with the intention of making them a coaling- 

 station, by the expedition which went from 

 Noumea in April, 1887. The total expendi- 

 ture of the French Government on its colonies 

 in 1885 was 32,659,000 francs. 



FRIENDS. General Conference of Yearly Meet- 

 ings. A General Conference of the yearly 

 meetings of Friends in America, with those of 

 London and Dublin, met in Richmond, Ind., 

 September 22. The meeting was held in pur- 

 suance of a call which was made by the Indi- 

 ana Yearly Meeting in 1886, for such a confer- 

 ence, to consider matters of doctrine, govern- 

 ment, and methods of work, and to consult 

 with respect to a closer union of the several 

 bodies of Friends. Thirteen yearly meetings 

 were represented by 103 delegates. The first 

 question discussed after the preliminary mat- 

 ters of organization were disposed of " Is it 

 desirable that all the yearly meetings of Friends 

 in the world should adopt one declaration of 

 doctrine?" was answered in the affirmative. 



