234 HISTORY OF THE PROTECTORATE TERRITORIES 



will be some time yet before the great ne^^s of his exploits is thoroughly 

 realised. 



Lugard's return to England caused the whole question of Uganda to 

 be discussed from an Imperial point of view. Thp F.nst Africa. Tom pan v 

 was beginnin ^_ _to find tha t^s funds wi ere wholly ina de q ua te for ma in- 

 taining a large forceo^^rmedmen in I ^stern Afr kia, keeping the peace, 

 and" admiuisteringa ten-itory which from jNIombasa to the White Nile 

 represented an area of something like 300,000 square miles. They gave 

 notice, therefore, of their intention to withdraw , x^t the same time the 

 French Government had espoused the cause of the French missionaries 

 in Uganda, who. having taken sides with the Catholic party in the 

 civil war, had suffered incidentally from the defeat of that party. Tlie 

 question which really lay with the B ritMi^ fTr>\rarTimp nt was wh et her o r 

 not a direct British Protectorate shou ld__be_ established oyer Ugand a, 

 involving the Imperial Government in the responsibility for the main- 

 tenance of law and order on the Victoria Nyanza 800 miles and more 

 from the only possible base of operations, the coast of the Indian Ocean. 

 It was felt that the proclamation of the Protectorate must lead inevitably 

 before long to the serious expense of constructing a railway from Mombasa 

 to the north-east coast of the Victoria Xyanza. 



Mr. Gladstone's Administration decided to send Sir Gerald Portal as 

 Commissioner to report on the situation in Uganda and the advisability 

 of declaring a British Protectorate. It may almost be said that the 

 verdict was a foregone conclusion. In 1890 the British Government 

 had distinctly negotiated for the inclusion of Uganda within the British 

 sphere of influence. They had encouraged the Imperial British East 

 Africa Company to advance their responsibilities in that direction, and 

 Sir (xerald Portal was so far convinced beforehand of the need of this 

 Protectorate that he took with him a staff large enough to enable him 

 to leave some of its members behind to assume the political control 

 over Uganda before the creation of a proper Administration. Sir Gerald 

 Portal did not stay long in Uganda, and as a matter of fact does not 

 seem personally to have been very favourably impressed with the country. 

 His brother. Captain Kaymond Portal, a most promising officer, who had 

 re-established law and good government in the Kingdrm of Toro, died 

 on his return from that country. 



What must have impressed Sir Gerald Portal himself most unfavour- 

 ably was the gLl>]jallin^__tran sport diffic ulty, the well-nigh heart-bi'eaking 

 trouble of conveying constant sup^tlies of goods over those 800 miles that 

 separate Uganda from Mombasa. He made an excursion on his homeward 

 journey to report on what use the Tana Kiver might be as a means of 

 penetrating some distance inland with water ti'ansport. He found it was 



