148 



10 FREE STATE, 



Although the charges of the missionaries were 

 MMpnd over and discredited, their publication in 

 Europe spurred theOover ral to men 



getic action for the correction of abuses. 

 soldiers and traders were punished for cruelty, and 

 some of the worst officials were got rid of. The 

 Congo State encourages the developm. -m of mis- 

 sions, both ('t! Protestant, and tin- num- 

 ber of missionaries has increased sevenfold since 

 the SUto was founded, being 828 in 1 <-'.:. m.-bidini; 



'rotestants. s-uirtiuiu' has IN-.-II done ;- put 

 a stop to cannibalism and human sacrifice, winch 

 )ted rrimes bv une of the decrees of the 

 State. On the Ubangi the trafflc in human M-tim- 

 has almost ceased ; but on the up| ran 



Baron lh:ni- i* ^ud to have given out ration- ..f 

 human flesh to his troops, and cannibalism has, ac- 

 cording to some observers, been on the increase 

 since Europeans apjn .ir.-.l in the Congo basin. 

 Some of the decrees of the State are in direct n.n- 

 tli.-t with the Brussels act, such as the decree an- 

 nouncing the confiscation of all lands in which 

 private pro|crty has not l>c-n recocni/ed. and tli> 



iedaring that all products of domain lands 

 belong to the State. There are, however, regula- 

 tions leaving the natives in possession of all the 

 land that they can cultivate, and allowing them to 

 settle OD vacant land-. 



The freedom of navigation and commerce on tin- 

 Congo has become a fiction since the State estab- 

 lished a practical monopoly of rubber and r 

 The Government boasts, in spite of the severe criti- 

 cism to which it has been subjected, that it has 

 accomplished much for the civilization of Africa, 

 summing up its work in the report for 1897 as fol- 

 lows: "The peril of the slave trade aver: 

 territory entirely opened to progress, center- <.f 

 civilization springing up everywhere, roads being 

 built, communications rendered easy and speedy, a 

 railroad in course of completion, a flotilla sailing 

 over all the course of the river and its tribut. 

 trade developing, missions flourishing, schools be- 

 ing opened, the population protected by justice 

 and getting initiated to cultivation and handicrafts, 

 their material and moral situation improving. 

 Christian villages forming themselves, barbarous 

 practices disappearing such is the work of ten 

 years." In September, 1896, six missionaries were 

 constituted a commission that was charged with 

 the protection of natives throughout the territory 

 of UM 1 authori/ed to notify to the judi- 



cial authorities such acts of violence of which the 

 natives may be the victims as come within their 

 cognizance. The president of the Court of Appeal 

 has since been charged with the duty of making 

 tours of inspection for the special purpose of en- 

 forcing the regulations for the proper treatment of 



Military Operations. The military forces of 

 rec State were operating in the early part of 

 the year on the upper Congo and in the Nile terri- 

 tory leased from Kgypt by arrant -incut with Great 

 Britain. In January the guard stationed at Han/y- 

 villo. on the 1'bangi", fired upon the French admin- 

 istrator from Mobaye, who crossed the river to se- 

 cure the return of a woman captured bv natives of 

 -'ate. The French returned the fire, and 

 several were wounded on both -id. s. The admini*- 

 :i of the Congo State apologized to th> French 

 authorities and promised to puni-h the (.(Tenders. 



An expedition under ('apt. Chaltin. consisting of 

 700 soldiers, supplemented by ."in fu-ileers and 500 

 lancers under native chief*, leaving Dungu on Dec. 

 14, 1896, reached the site of Hcdden. on the Nile, two 

 months later, after engaging in some skin 

 with native tribes, and on Feb. 17 attacked 

 Mahdists who occupied a strong position. While 



I attempted to inclose the ('0111:0 State 



- with the two flanks. the-e charged the eeii- 



.d carried a defile and the neighboring heights 



at the point <>f the bayonet, whereupon the Mah- 



dists fled in the direction ol 



tl.cir arms, ammunition, and baggage. The v'OQM 

 troops ma; , lies the SB arriving^! 



front of Kcjaf. which \\a- held by !.""(> Mahdi-ls. 

 half of whom v ininedaiis from the north 



armed with l>r< After a severe 



engagement the dm i-hr- were driven from their 



.'ii and fled northward. They lost 

 hundred men. Tin ' ' troops capt i, 



li-loadini: rilli -. an enormous <|iian- 

 f ammunition, Lain I, the town ar- 



ch ive-. and many herds of < Ion test ic animal-. K< jaf 

 was found to be 'the only fortified place in the 1 

 torial Province, with spacious, well-built houses. 

 Ijodo hod ceased to e\i-t .ml its 



site was overgrown with vegetation. Vatako. I.-.n- 

 gomerri, and other stations hud al>o <i 

 The defeated Mahdists made no attempt to r 

 the country, and were not seen or heard of 

 The pcople'were glad to In? delivered from their 

 and made their Mibmi-sion top ^tatc. 



Supporting this expedition was a force of 30H 

 Han a-aii'l a small army of Congo natives, sta^ 

 tioned at different points on the northeastern fron- 

 tier to guard against incursions of the Mahdists. 

 Baron Dhanis had brought up this force while 

 Capt. Michaux with 5<Hi picked troops w a 

 in Damping out the rebellion of the Hatal* 

 the south. Mutinous Hatatcla troops, after organiz- 

 ing their lirM revolt at Luluaburg in 1 *!"> and suf- 

 fering defeat at the hands of Major (Jillain and 

 ('apt. Lothaire in November of that 

 in making their escape toward the smith 

 penetrable forests. Baron Dhanis organi/"! 

 mini at Koasongo, which was sent in pur-nit under 

 ( 'apt. Michaux. This force proceeded south w . 

 Mnn/.a, between the Lualaba and the Lomami. and 

 there encountered the rebels on Nov. 1 1, 1806. After 

 a preliminary skirmish a battle was fought in com- 

 plete darkness, which ended in the flight an 

 persion of the rebels, ('apt. Michaux continued 

 the campaign, coming up with the rebels again in 

 January. ls;7, when no gave them another - 

 defeat. 



The bulk of the force taken to the north by 

 Baron Dhanis consisted of Batatelas and Hal 

 impressed troops who were subject. 

 cipline by the trained soldiers from Sierra 1 

 and the middle Congo in order to keep them in 

 order. The Batatelas were especially n-tiv and 

 morose on account of bring taken so far from their 

 homes to fight for the State in a strange country. 

 They eipected to be led next against the der 

 and" were afraid that they would never see their 

 native land nu r nin. On the same day that ('apt. 

 Chaltin attacked Hejaf a battalion of l.o(K) I: 

 las and Baku--u-. under a brother of Maron 1 )( 

 mutinied and killed their commander. Another 

 column, led by Major I.-roi. revolted near Ndursi. 

 and after killing their chiefs the rebel- marched ff 

 in the direction of the upper Ituri, where tin \ 

 joined in March by the mutineers of Huron Dl ; 



;ition. The rebels oarried off 8,000 rifl< 



all the stores and ammunition of the expedition. 

 They made their way to the south, toward 

 own country beyond the Arab zone, by way .f tin- 

 valley of the Scmliki. occasionally cnis-injr the 

 border into the British sphere. During 01 

 these incursions one of their detachmen 1 

 the F.ngli-h fort of Katwe, which had been strength- 

 ened by 40 Congo State soldier-, who aided the 

 small Knglish garri-.n to repel the a^nult. Tli<- 

 soldiers who remained faithful to Baron Dhanis 



