EAST AFRICA. 



225 



Major R. G. T. Bright and German commission- 

 ers. Major Bright and Major H. H. Austin in 

 1901 conducted an expedition from the Nile up 

 the Sohat river, and thence overland through the 

 Rudolf province of Uganda, to which the Abys- 

 sinians lay claim, to the British post on Lake 

 Baringo, losing in the journey three-fourths of 

 their (Soudanese soldiers and attendants, as none 

 of the tribes of the disputed region would fur- 

 nish them with food. 



The railroad has wrought great economical 

 changes in the country through which it runs 

 and in Uganda. Where wire, beads, and cloth 

 were used in exchange rupees are now current. 

 The journey from Mombasa to Port Florence 

 takes two days and a half, the steamer journey 

 of 148 miles to Mengo one day more. The cara- 

 van journey occupied seventy days. Suahili is 

 spreading as the language of commerce and gen- 

 eral intercourse. There are 90,000 Christian con- 

 verts in Uganda and 90,000 children in the mis- 

 sion schools. The route of the railroad through 

 the British East Africa Protectorate is mountain- 

 ous, rising to 7,700 feet above the sea 350 miles 

 from the starting-point, falling to 6.000 feet in the 

 next 75 miles, rising again to 8,300 feet in 65 

 miles, and finally descending to 3,700 feet at the 

 lake terminus. Little unskilled and no skilled 

 labor could be found in the country, and this 

 necessitated the importation of 20,000 laborers 

 and mechanics from India, for whom supplies 

 had to be brought from India and Great Britain, 

 and in the dry tracts water was transport- 

 ed from 20 to 60 miles. The railroad was the 

 only means of transport, since pack animals 

 could not live in the country, owing to the tsetse 

 fly. The workmen suffered from fevers and from 

 ulcers caused by jiggers, and in some parts they 

 were frightened from their work by man-eating 

 lions. The maximum grade on the line is 1 in 

 50; the sharpest curves have 800 feet radius. 



The sultanate of Zanzibar, comprising the is- 

 lands of Zanzibar and Pemba, was declared a 

 British protectorate in 1891. The Sultan, or Sey- 

 yid, in the beginning of 1902 was Hamud bin 

 Mohammed bin Said, who was set up by the 

 British on the death of Seyyid Hamed bin 

 Thwain on Aug. 27, 1896. _ The Sultan receives 

 an allowance of 195,000 rupees from the public 

 revenue for the maintenance of his court and 

 harem, and no expenditure can be incurred with- 

 out the consent of the British agent and consul- 

 general. Sir C. N. E. Elliot. The military and 

 police force of 900 men is commanded by Gen. 

 A. E. Raikes. The Prime Minister is A. S. Rogers, 

 appointed in November, 1901. A duty of 5 per 

 cent, in aid of the suppression of the slave-trade 

 was imposed from Oct. 1, 1899, previous to which 

 date Zanzibar had been since Feb. 1, 1892, a free 

 port. The legal status of slavery on the islands 

 was abolished on April 6, 1897. The area of 

 Zanzibar is 640 square miles; of Pemba, 380 

 square miles. The population of Zanzibar is 

 about 150,000; of Pemba, 50,000. The foreign 

 population includes about 50 English, 40 Ger- 

 mans, and smaller numbers of American, Greek, 

 French. Italian, and other traders. The native 

 population, aside from about 7.000 East Indians 

 and 10,000 Arabs, consists of negro slaves and ex- 

 slaves. The town of Zanzibar has about 100,000 

 inhabitants. The revenue is derived from cus- 

 toms and a tax on produce. The value of imports 

 in 1900 was 1,116,041, and of exports 1,167,794, 

 including only the commerce with foreign coun- 

 tries. The imports of cotton goods were valued 

 255,720, and exports at 264,701; imports 

 af rice at 159,353; imports of ivory at 94,817, 

 VOL. XLII. 15 A 



and exports at 115,354; imports of grain at 

 33,482, and exports at 98,351; imports of 

 groceries at 54,326, and exports at 55,168; 

 imports of kerosene at 37,102; exports of cloves 

 at 158,148. Cloves are the chief product. The 

 tonnage entered in 1900 was 348,405 tons. The 

 value of the trade with different countries in 1900 

 is shown in the following table: 



Sultan Hamud died, and Seyyid AH, his minor 

 son, was on July 20, 1902, proclaimed his suc- 

 cessor and A. S. Rogers was appointed regent 

 until the new Sultan attains the age of twenty- 

 one. 



British Somaliland, on the Gulf of Aden, for- 

 merly a dependency of Egypt, was declared a 

 British protectorate in 1887, delimited by agree- 

 ment with Italy in 1894, and in 1897 an arrange- 

 ment was made with the Emperor of Abyssinia 

 by which 7,000 square miles were conceded to 

 him. The present area is about 68,000 square 

 miles. The revenue in 1901 was 334,858 rupees; 

 expenditure, 389,557 rupees. The value of im- 

 ports at Berbera and Bulhar in 1901 was 2,838,- 

 776 rupees, and of exports 2,170,403 rupees. At 

 these ports a duty of 5 per cent, is levied on 

 imports and a 3-per-cent. duty on exports. At 

 Zeyla, where the import duty is 5 per cent, on 

 some articles and on others from 1 per cent, up, 

 and the export duty is only 1 per cent., the im- 

 ports were 3,070,577 rupees and the exports 3,289,- 

 919 rupees in value. Cotton goods, rice, and 

 dates are imported. The exports are hides and 

 skins, cattle, sheep, gum, and ostrich-feathers. 

 The administration of the protectorate was left 

 with the Indian officials of Aden till 1898, when 

 it was taken in hand by the Imperial Govern- 

 ment. 



Col. Swayne, \vho in 1901, cooperating with an 

 Abyssinian army, carried on an indecisive cam- 

 paign against the enemy to the British in Somali- 

 land, Mohammed Abdullah, called the Mad 

 Mullah, resumed operations in the spring of 

 1902. When the British force concentrated at 

 Burao the Mad Mullah gathered his followers, 

 who were increased by the hitherto neutral east- 

 ern tribes, against which Col. Swayne led a flying 

 column in May. The combined forward move- 

 ment followed. The friendly tribes gave aid to 

 the British. The Mad Mullah retired as before 

 into a waterless region, the Haud country. A 

 mounted column under Col. Cobbe seized the cam- 

 els and sheep of some of the Mullah's allies. 

 Other animals were captured by a second column 

 under Major Phillips. The main column endeav- 

 ored to get between the Mullah and the tribes 

 that supported him. The British force marched 

 and countermarched on short rations, but were 

 not able to overtake the enemy. The Somalis on 

 their fleet ponies always evaded a fight, although 

 the British formed a camel corps to enable them 

 to move faster. On Oct. 6 the British main col- 

 umn, advancing from the zareba, or fortified 

 camp, against the Mullah at Mudug. was sur- 

 prised while marching through the dense jungle. 

 The native levies were rallied, and they beat off 

 the tribesmen, only to be attacked on the other 

 flank. The transport and the firing-line were 



