WEST AFRICA. 



855 



burned down. The West African regiments have 

 been recruited from the Mendis and Kimanis, the 

 warlike tribes lately in revolt against the hut 

 tax, and they receive higher pay than the West 

 Indian regiments which have constituted the 

 British military force on the coast hitherto. The 

 British Government in 1899 renewed the demand 

 for compensation from the French Government 

 for the families of British officers killed in the 

 collision with French troops at Waima in 1896. 

 The French have protested that Waima is in 

 Liberian, not in British, territory, while the Eng- 

 lish assert that it is several miles on their side of 

 the border. 



Lagos, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Gam- 

 bia are Crown colonies. The island of Lagos and 

 the protected territory on the coast have an area 

 of about 1,500 square miles and a population es- 

 timated at 100,000. The country of Yoruba in 

 the interior has an area of about 18,500 square 

 miles, with 3,000,000 inhabitants. The revenue 

 of Lagos in 1897 was 177,421, of which 159,819 

 came from customs; expenditure, 182,669. The 

 value of imports was 770,511; exports, 810,- 

 $75, of which 306,834 represent palm kernels, 

 283,184 caoutchouc, and 97,591 and the re- 

 mainder ivory, gum copal, cotton, cacao, and 

 coffee. There are about 200 Europeans in Lagos. 

 The colonial loans bill included a loan of 792,000 

 to build a railroad from Lagos through Abeo- 

 kuta to Ibadan, whence it is to be carried to the 

 Niger. The line runs through a thickly peopled 

 and productive district, the town of Abeokuta 

 having a population estimated at 150,000 and 

 Ibadan 200,000. The railroad was opened to 

 Abeokuta early in 1899, and thousands of men 

 were at work constructing the extension to Iba- 

 dan. The Egbas objected to the alienation of the 

 lands through which the railroad runs, and only 

 agreed to give a lease when a large force of 

 Hausa troops was moved into their country. 



(Itimbia has an area of 2,700 square miles, with 

 about 50,000. The population in the settlement, 

 covering 69 square miles, is 14,978, of whom 62 

 are whites. Ground nuts, caoutchouc, rice, cot- 

 ton, and corn. The revenue in 1897 was 39,415; 

 expenditure, 27,059; imports, 176,328; ex- 

 ports, 165,894. 



French Possessions. By the last two agree- 

 ments with Great Britain the French have suc- 

 ceeded in uniting all their possessions in Africa 

 in one continuous empire. The area and popu- 

 lation of the chain of protectorates and spheres 

 of influence extending from the Congo to Algeria 

 and Tunis, and from Senegal to the watershed of 

 the Nile, can be only vaguely estimated. The 

 Sahara region south of Algeria is reckoned at 

 1,684,000 square miles, with a population of 

 2,500,000; the French Soudan at 250,190 square 

 miles, with 4,900,000 population; Senegal at 

 115,800 square miles, with 2,000,000 poulation; 

 the Ivory Coast and hinterland at 64,420 square 

 miles, with 650,000 population; Dahomey at 

 14,140 square miles, with 600,000 population; 

 Bagirmi, declared a French protectorate in 1897, 

 at 65,650 square miles, with 1,000,000 population; 

 the French Congo at 496,920 square miles, with 

 8,950,000 population. These make together a 

 total area of 2,691,120 square miles, with an esti- 

 mated population of 21,600,000. Algeria and 

 Tunis, with the Algerian Sahara, bring up the 

 total to 3,049,934 square miles, with 27,580,000 

 population. Included in the French sphere as 

 now recognized by England are furthermore the 

 Mohammedan countries of the central Soudan. 

 Bornu has an area estimated at 50,000 square 

 miles and a population estimated at 5,000,000, 



while Wadai and Kanem have an area estimated 

 at 107,000 square miles and a population of about 

 1,600,000. East of these are other territories fall- 

 ing within the French sphere, and on the north 

 are the desert regions of the eastern Sahara, con- 

 taining Tibesti, Borku, and other inhabited coun- 

 tries. 



The French Congo and Gabun territories extend 

 along the north bank of the Congo and the Mo- 

 bangi eastward to the Anglo-Egyptian sphere on 

 the Nile, and run northward behind the Came- 

 roons and along the eastern bank of the Shari to 

 Lake Chad. The whole region is mostly covered 

 with forests. There are about 300 Europeans be- 

 sides the military. The export of caoutchouc in 

 1897 was 518 tons; of ivory, 105 tons; of palm oil, 

 140 tons; of palm kernel's, 806 tons; of ebony, 

 1,748 tons; of mahogany, 3,421 tons. Kola nuts, 

 prassava, and other products are also exported, 

 and coffee and cacao are cultivated. The local 

 revenue in 1898 was 3,501,400 francs. The ex- 

 penditure of France for 1899 was 2,491,165 francs. 



Bagirmi is a marshy country on the shore of 

 Lake Chad and the bank of the lower Shari. In 

 accordance with a treaty made with the Sultan 

 a French resident was appointed to Massenia, the 

 capital. The people are Mohammedans, who hold 

 in subjection pagan tribes in the south and hunt 

 slaves in the territories beyond. 



Senegal is a French colony, consisting of the 

 port of St. Louis and chains of stations on the 

 river Senegal and along the coast between Gam- 

 bia and Cape Verde, each with a district around 

 it denned by fixed boundaries. The total popu- 

 lation of these settlements is about 135,000. The 

 Governor General is assisted by a Colonial Coun- 

 cil. The colony is represented by one Deputy in 

 the French Chamber. The troops, French and 

 native, number 2,508, with 66 officers. The rail- 

 roads have a length of 246 miles. There are 574 

 miles of telegraph line, with 1,022 miles of wire. 

 The trade is almost exclusively with France, from 

 which merchandise of the value of 23,524,534 

 francs was imported in 1897, of which 14,242,351 

 francs represent imports for consumption within 

 the colony, while native produce of the value 

 of 13,532,087 francs was exported to France. The 

 exports are ground nuts, gums, caoutchouc, palm 

 kernels, palm oil, hides, mats, and gold. The 

 revenue collected in 1898 was 3,929,367 francs. 

 The contribution of France for 1899 was 6,106,942 

 francs. 



The settlements of French Guinea, formerly 

 united to Senegal, were made a separate colony 

 in 1890 and called originally the Rivieres du Sud. 

 The capital is Conakry, on the island of Tombo. 

 The population of the colony proper is 47,541. 

 The value of the imports in 1896 was 4,634,000 

 francs, of which 525,000 francs came from France ; 

 the exports were 5,787,000 francs, of which 864,000 

 francs went to France. 



The French Soudan embraces the territory on 

 the upper Senegal, and districts some distance 

 beyond that have been annexed by France and 

 are under the direct administration of the mili- 

 tary commandant residing at Kayes and also the 

 Mohammedan countries on the upper and middle , 

 Niger and in the rear of the Ivory Coast and 

 Liberia, including Samory's and Tieba's king- 

 doms. The annexed territory has an estimated 

 area of 54,000 square miles and a population of 

 360,000; the protectorates are estimated to have 

 an area of 300,000 square miles and 2,500,000 in- 

 habitants. The military commandant acts under 

 the instructions of the Governor of Senegal. A 

 railroad, 94 miles in length, runs from Kayes 

 toward the Niger as far as Bafoulabe. The ex- 



