FRANCE. 



241 



resources and labor of the country but the trade 

 routes between the Soudan and the Mediterranean 

 coast and between Morocco and Tripoli. The occu- 

 pation of Insalah was followed on March 19, 1900, 

 by the conquest of Inrhar, the chief place in the 

 oasis of Gurara, after hard fighting by a force 

 commanded by Col. U'Eu, which killed over 600 

 of the inhabitants. This movement to the west- 

 ward led to a concentration of Moorish forces at 

 Figuig, which was also threatened, as it lies near 

 the route of the railroad that has been built from 

 Oran southward and has had its terminus at Ain 

 Sefra, on the northern slope of the Atlas range, 70 

 miles northwest of Figuig. The continuation south 

 of the mountains is to be through Igli and Tuat. 

 In February, 1900, it was opened to Jenien-bu- 

 Kezg, and preparations were made to extend it to 

 the French military post of Duveyrier, near Figuig, 

 and thence to Tuat and Tidikelt, by way of Igli, 

 as soon as the occupation of the oases could be com- 

 pleted. On March 25 Col. Bertrand marched with 

 a strong column of foreign legionaries, Algerian 

 rifles, African mounted rifles, spahis, artillery, and 

 engineers, with a train of 2,500 camels, against 

 Igli, which surrendered without fighting on April 

 5. This place, lying south of Figuig, was claimed 

 as Moorish territory, and its occupation was sus- 

 pected to be preliminary to an attack on the 

 Moorish oasis of Tafilet. Although the French 

 Government denied such intention, the frontier 

 tribes gathei'ed to retake Igli. The Sultan dis- 

 patched an envoy to Tangiers to protest to the 

 representatives of the powers against what was 

 alleged to be an invasion of Moorish territory. 

 Igli lies south of Morocco, not of Algeria, and in 

 the boundary treaty of 1845 France recognized as 

 Moorish territory the Tuat oases, which are east of 

 the boundary line of Morocco extended. Great 

 Britain was precluded from interfering in the dis- 

 pute by the agreement of 1890, which practically 

 recognized the oases of Tuat, Tidikelt, and Gurara 

 as lying within the French sphere. The occupation 

 of Gurara was completed on May 26 by Col. Me- 

 nestrel. The inhabitants in general welcomed the 

 French, who as far as they pushed their occupa- 

 tion gave employment to the poverty-stricken la- 

 boring population and paid much higher wages 

 than they had ever received. The district of Tim- 

 mimun was annexed later, and instructions were 

 then given to the French posts already established 

 to limit their operations to reconnoissances neces- 

 sary for their security. In a reconnoissance at the 

 beginning of September a French force was at- 

 tacked by Berbers near Salah Metarfa, in the Del- 

 dul region, and came away with the loss of 26 

 killed and wounded. 



The regency of Tunis is under the nominal rule 

 of the Bey Sidi Ali, born Oct. 5, 1817, and is 

 nominally a vassal of Turkey. The French protec- 

 torate was established in 1882. The French Resi- 

 dent General, R. P. Millet, is Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, and of the 8 other ministers only 2 are 

 Arabs. The French army of occupation is kept at 

 a strength of about 600 officers and 16,000 men, 

 and the gendarmery of 150 men is French, while 

 the rural police is composed of natives. Tunis has 

 an area of about 51,000 sqiiare miles and a popu- 

 lation estimated at 1,500,000, mainly composed of 

 Kabyles and Bedouin Arabs. The ordinary rev- 

 enue' for 1898 was estimated at 24.0(51,100 francs, 

 for 1899 at 24,733,100 francs, for 1900 at 26,089,300 

 francs: expenditure for 1898 at 24,060,525 francs, 

 for 1899 at 24,731,053 francs, for 1900 at 25,988,215 

 francs. Of the revenue for 1900 direct taxes pro- 

 duced 7,944,400 francs according to the estimates, 

 customs and other duties 8,791,700 francs, monopo- 

 lies 7,182,300 francs, domains 1,273,400 francs, and 

 VOL. XL. 16 A 



various sources 897,500 francs. Of the expendi- 

 tures 11,780,445 francs were for finance and the 

 expenses of the debt, 4,541,900 francs for public 

 works, 3,615,110 francs for administration, 1,680,000 

 francs for the civil list, 1,346,515 francs for posts 

 and telegraphs, 1,022,270 francs for agriculture and 

 forestry, 1,011,500 francs for instruction, and 

 990,475 francs for the army and various other 

 expenses. Arrears of revenue and of expenditure 

 estimated at 1,992,500 francs are not included in 

 the ordinary budget, nor 8,334,213 francs of ex- 

 ceptional expenditure raised by loan. The public 

 debt of Tunis, consolidated in 1884 into a perpetual 

 3-per-cent. rente of 6,307,520 francs a year, was 

 converted again into a 3-per-cent. loan in 1888. 



Agriculture is the main business of the country. 

 Cereals are the chief product. There were 435,337 

 hectares of wheat in 1895, 433,978 hectares of bar- 

 ley, 8,069 hectares of vineyard, 12,000,000 olive 

 trees producing 20,000,000 kilogrammes of oil, 

 value 15,000,000 francs, and 1,350,000 date trees in 

 the south, the export of dates being 1,000,000 francs 

 a year. The number of horses in 1896 was 61,121; 

 of asses and mules, 128,908; of cattle, 252,220; of 

 sheep, 907,642; of goats, 612,621; of camels, 112,265. 

 The fisheries, which are mainly followed by Ital- 

 ians, yielded 208,430 kilogrammes of sardines, 

 19,800 kilogrammes of anchovies, and 180,000 kilo- 

 grammes of sponges and sepia, in 1895. The total 

 value of imports in 1898 was 62,744,681 francs, 

 against 53,820,670 francs in 1897; exports, 52,- 

 214,651 francs, against 36,730,871 francs. The 

 values of the principal imports in 1898 -were 

 6,900,000 francs for cotton goods, 5,500,000 francs 

 for groats, 5,000,000 francs for grain, 2,000,000 

 francs for flour, 1,700,000 francs for sugar, 1,700,000 

 francs for rails and metal goods, 1,600,000 francs 

 for machines, 1,500,000 francs for woolen and silk 

 goods, and 9,223,500 francs for precious metals. 

 The values of the principal exports were 13,500,000 

 francs for wheat, 3,000,000 francs for olive oil, 

 3,000,000 francs for zinc ore, 2,000,000 francs for 

 alfalfa, 1,500,000 francs for wine, and 1,500,000 

 francs for tan bark. The imports of precious metals 

 were 9,223,500 francs, and exports 8,018,000 francs. 

 The length of railroads is 883 miles, of which the 

 Government owns 866 miles. There are 2,060 miles 

 of telegraphs, with 3,670 miles of wire. The postal 

 traffic in 1897 consisted of 3,084,539 internal and 

 9,732,873 foreign letters. The number of telegraph 

 messages was 526,634. The number of vessels en- 

 tered at Tunisian ports in 1898 was 9,377, of 2,221,- 

 805 tons. The merchant fleet belonging to Tunis 

 consists of 403 vessels, all of small tonnage. 



The convention signed on June 14, 1898, delimit- 

 ing French and English possessions in the bend of 

 the Niger, anal the Anglo-French agreement of 

 March, 1899, conceding to France the Sahara and 

 the central Soudan westward to the Libyan desert 

 and the Nile basin, remove nearly every possible 

 ground for contention between France and Eng- 

 land over their respective spheres of influence in 

 northern Africa (see WEST AFRICA). In East 

 Africa France has the colony of Obok, connected 

 with which is the protectorate of French Somnli- 

 Ifind. Since the port of Obok, first acquired in 

 1855, was occupied in 1881 French influence has 

 been extended in that part of Somaliland and into 

 Gallaland. The port of Jibutil was created in 

 1888 and made the seat of government. It has 

 a population of 15,000, including 2.500 Europeans. 

 A railroad to Harar has been partly constructed. 

 The imports amount to 3,500,000 francs a year, 

 and exports, chiefly coffee, wax, and ivory, to 

 1,300,000 francs. The inhabitants of this region 

 are Danakils and Gallas. The local revenue in 1899 

 was estimated at 650,000 francs. The supplemen- 



