APPENDIX VI 



The Economic Conditions of British Somaliland, 

 Abyssinia, and Erythrea. 



I. British Somaliland. ^ 



The British Coast Protectorate, though of small value in itself, is a useful 

 possession as a distributor and entrepot for the hinterland. It is especially 

 of great and growing importance as affording the readiest means of access 

 to Southern Abyssinia. 



The Ports of the Protectorate are three in number : Zeila, Berbera, 

 and Bulbar. The population of these in the trading season (October to 

 March) maybe roughly estimated as follows : Zeila 15,000, Berbera 30,000 

 to 35,000, Bulbar 10,000 to 12,000. In the slack season (March to 

 October) it sinks to something like half these numbers. 



Zeila labours under a great disadvantage in the matter of its harbour, 

 the entrance to which is rendered dangerous by sunken reefs, while the 

 water is so shallow that goods can only be landed or shipped at high 

 and half tides, and vessels of 100 to 200 tons have to anchor a mile from 

 the pier-head. Berbera, on the other hand, has an excellent natural 

 harbour, in which vessels of almost any draught can lie with safety in 

 any weather. Of late years, however, the approach to the pier, alongside 

 of which vessels of 14 feet draught used formerly to lie, has been rendered 

 difficult by an accumulation of silt, due to the action of the sand-laden 

 winds which blow from the interior during the summer months. Local 

 resources have failed to cope with this evil. Bulbar is, strictly speaking, 

 not a port, but an open roadstead, in which only vessels of shallow draught 

 can find shelter. 



1 The facts and figures contained in this abstract are mostly taken from the Foreign 

 Office reports of 1898, 1899, and 1899-1900. The opinions expressed are my own. 



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