Vol. XV, No. n WASHINGTON 



November, 1904 



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THE NEW ENGLISH PROVINCE OF 

 NORTHERN NIGERIA 



THE attention of the world has 

 been focussed so sharply dur- 

 ing the last five years on South 

 Africa, the Philippines, and the Far 

 East that the remarkable extension of 

 British control over northern Nigeria, a 

 territory of 500,000 square miles and 

 containing a population of 20,000,000, 

 has passed completely unnoticed. This 

 extension has been made by Sir Fred- 

 erick D. Lugard, British high commis- 

 sioner to northern Nigeria, assisted by 

 a few score white men and at an annual 

 expenseof about$2,ooo,ooo. Organized 

 slave raiding and flourishing slave mar- 

 kets have been stopped, and it is be- 

 lieved a productive and rich commercial 

 field opened to English capital. The 

 fact that northern Nigeria is almost the 

 only part of British tropical Africa 

 which possesses a history extending 

 over man)' centuries and a semi-civili- 

 zation of its own long antedating the 

 coming of the European give the re- 

 gion unique interest. Sir Frederick 

 Lugard has recently given a report of 

 his work,* including an account of the 

 history of the province, from which 



* An address before the Royal Geographical 

 Society, published in the Geographical Jour- 

 nal of London. 



the following notes are quoted in his 

 own words : 



The British force, consisting of 50 

 whites and 700 native troops, reached 

 Kano (which is about 600 miles inland 

 from Lagos) in February, 1903, and 

 faced the stupendous walls, 30 to 50 feet 

 high and 40 feet thick at the base, with a 

 double ditch in front. Their perimeter 

 was 11 miles, with 13 gates set each in 

 a massive entrance tower. A small 

 breach was made by our guns, and a 

 storming party charged, under Lieu- 

 tenant Dyer. The determined nature 

 of the assault, and the prestige our 

 troops had gained, and the effect of our 

 shells combined to dissipate the courage 

 of the defendants. Their leisurely re- 

 treat was changed into a panic-stricken 

 rout by the charge of the mounted in- 

 fantry. The town lies at the further 

 end of the enceinte, inclosed by walls, 

 and a distance of 1 ^ miles separated it 

 from the scene of the fighting ; so that 

 no one was hurt except the actual com- 

 batants, and no damage whatever was 

 done to the city. The troops marched 

 to the king's inclosure, itself no mean 

 citadel, covering 33 acres of ground. 

 Sentries were posted at the gates, and 

 no man was allowed to go out with 



