226 



EAST AFRICA. 



ECUADOR. 



thrown together in confusion and the artillery 

 was driven back. Many camels were captured 

 by the Mullah, and one of the Maxim guns. Col. 

 Swayne finally checked the Mullah's horde by a 

 gallant charge and retook some of the camels. 

 Major Phillips and another officer and 50 men 

 were killed and about 100 wounded. Col. Swayne 

 retreated to Erego and called for 600 reliable 

 men to reenforce his command, numbering about 

 3,000, mostly Somalis, whose loyalty and confi- 

 dence in their leaders were shattered owing to 

 the mishap. A much larger development of force 

 was required to awe the Mullah and the hostile 

 Somalis, who now had allies in the Italian pro- 

 tectorate. Col. Swayne was compelled to con- 

 tinue his retreat northward from the Italian 

 border into the center of British Somaliland. 

 The rainy season was beginning, in which the 

 Somalis, as well as the British, could move more 

 freely. None of the sheikhs or mullahs of So- 

 maliland, of whom there are about 15, each at 

 the head of a village of cultivators, has show r n 

 hostility to Europeans until the fanatical Mo- 

 hammed Abdullah began to preach a holy war 

 against Christians. Hia supporters came from 

 the nomadic Somalis, who rear sheep, goats, cat- 

 tle, asses, horses, and camels, and are addicted 

 to plundering. One tribe often sends out a party 

 of horsemen to carry off the live stock and grain 

 of a neighboring tribe, but they never attack the 

 settlements over which the pious mullahs preside. 

 White traders and hunters have usually been re- 

 spected .until the troubles arose in British So- 

 maliland which have almost put a stop to the com- 

 merce of Zeila, Berbera, and Bulhar. The So- 

 malis are an active and intelligent race, fine 

 horsemen and skilful fighters with native weap- 

 ons, proud of their Arab blood, regarding as an 

 inferior race the pure Gallas who live to the west 

 of them. The force that the Mad Mullah led 

 against the British was 12,000 strong at the end 

 of 1901, and in 1902 he had at least 15,000 fol- 

 lowers, many of them armed with rifles. 



Italian Somaliland. The sultanate of Obbia 

 was declared an Italian protectorate in 1889, and 

 the Mijertain Sultan accepted Italian protec- 

 tion for a part of his dominions and agreed not 

 to conclude treaties with other powers regarding 

 the rest. The ports of Brava, Merka, Mogado- 

 scio, and Warsheik and a zone extending 180 

 miles inland by cession of the Sultan of Zanzibar 

 in 1892 and by agreement with England in 1891 

 and 1894 were included in the Italian sphere, the 

 total extent of which is estimated at 100,000 

 square miles, with about 400,000 inhabitants. 

 The agreed boundary between the British and 

 Italian spheres is the Juba river up to 6 of 

 north latitude, that parallel to 35 of east longi- 

 tude, and that meridian northward to the Blue 

 Nile. 



French Somaliland. The French occupied 

 Obok in 1881 and proclaimed a protectorate over 

 Tajura, Sagallo, and Ambado in subsequent 

 years. France claims also the Bay of Adulis. 

 The area of the French sphere is estimated at 

 45,000 square miles, with 200,000 inhabitants. 

 The port of Jiboutil has 15,000 inhabitants, in- 

 cluding 2,500 Europeans. The people of the 

 country are Danakils and Gallas. A railroad to 

 Harar has been built for a distance of 100 miles, 

 and caravans travel at regular intervals between 

 the present terminus and Harar. The imports 

 are grain, provisions, tobacco, beverages, and cot- 

 ton and silk goods. The exports are ivory, sheep- 

 skins, gold, civet, coffee, and gum arabic. The 

 value of imports in 1900 was 5,929,107 francs, and 

 of exports 093,013 francs. The local revenue and 



expenditure was 581.000 francs, and the expendi- 

 ture of France 200,000 francs. The fisheries off 

 the coast are valuable. 



ECUADOR, a republic in South America. The 

 legislative power is vested in the Congress, con- 

 sisting of a Senate of 32 members, 2 for each 

 province, and a House of Representatives, 41 in 

 number, elected for two years by adult male citi- 

 zens who can read and write. The President i 

 elected for four years by direct popular suffrage, 

 and the Vice-President, who is called upon in cer- 

 tain contingencies to take the place of the Presi- 

 dent, is elected for the same term at the succeeding 

 biennial election. The President elected for the 

 term ending Aug. 31, 1905, is Gen. Leonidas Plaza. 

 The Vice-President is Carlo Freile Zaldumbide. 

 The Cabinet appointed by President Plaza was 

 composed as follows: Minister of the Interior, 

 Police, Public Works, and Public Charity, A. 

 Moncayo; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Public In- 

 struction, Worship, and Justice, Jos6 Peralta; 

 Minister of Finance, T. Gagliardo; Minister of 

 Fomento, Dr. F. Lopez; Minister of War and 

 Marine, Gen. Nicolo Arellano. 



Area and Population. Ecuador has an esti- 

 mated area of 120,000 square miles. The popula- 

 tion is estimated at 1,271,861. Quito, the capital, 

 has about 180,000 inhabitants; Guayaquil, 51,000; 

 Cuenca, 30,000. 



Finances. The ordinary revenue in 1899 was 

 7,805,191 sucres, and the expenditure was 6,662,- 

 945 sucres for ordinary purposes and 2,234,715 

 sucres for railroads, wharves, debt, etc., under 

 special appropriations, which left a deficit of 

 1,271,829 sucres. The total revenue for 1900 was 

 estimated at 8,268,100 sucres and the total expen- 

 diture at 8,967,783. 



The foreign debt, the payment of which was 

 undertaken by the Guayaquil and Quito Railroad 

 Company, was 671,000 on July 1, 1901. The 

 internal debt, which was 4,580,000 sucres in 1896, 

 has since been increased. The railroad company 

 was merged in the Ecuadorian Association, and the 

 majority of the shares were transferred from Eng- 

 lish to American holders, who raised the money 

 to continue the railroad as far as Guamote. The 

 cost of completing the whole line was estimated 

 at 200,000. 



The coinage law of 1898 adopting the gold 

 standard, which went into operation on Nov. 4, 

 1900, provided for the coinage of gold condores of 

 10 sucres, of the same value as the English sov- 

 ereign. In 1900 100,000 condores were minted. 

 There were in circulation 1,000,000 silver sucres, 

 and 2,000,000 sucres were in the vaults of the 

 banks, which are required by law to hold metal- 

 lic reserves equal to one-half of the bank-notes is- 

 sued. There are two banks of issue. The Bank 

 of Ecuador on Jan. 1, 1899, had 2,138,170 sucres 

 of notes in circulation and 1,955,424 sucres of 

 gold and silver in its reserve. The Banco Comer- 

 cial y Agricola had 3,522,242 sucres of notes out 

 and a reserve of 1,495,251 sucres, of which 600,000 

 sucres were gold. 



The Army. The regular army numbers 3,341 

 officers and men, consisting of 1 brigade of field- 

 artillery, 1 brigade of fortress-artillery, 4 bat- 

 talions of infantry, 2 companies of light infantry, 

 and 1 regiment of cavalry. The naval force con 

 sists of a torpedo-launch and a transport steamer. 



Commerce and Production. The leading 

 product is cacao. There are estimated to be 47,- 

 200,000 cacao-trees in the coast provinces, and 

 in 1900 the production was 18,280,000 kilograms. 

 Of vegetable ivory, another valuable product, 19,- 

 620,800 kilogram's were exported. The export 

 of sugar was 1,733,500 kilograms; of coffee, 2,300,- 



