85 
about 10° north latitude. * * * * Тһе whole of these vast 
districts are under the general supervision of the British Consul for the 
Bights of Benin and Biafra, but on the 10th of July 1886 a Royal 
Charter was granted to the Royal Niger Company (formerly the 
of 
they have treaty rights, including a belt of 30 miles on each bank of the 
Niger and Binué. The operations of the Company ser as far inland 
as Gando and Sockatoo, with the — of which countries treaties 
have been ообой The Company’s rations on the sea coast are 
mainly confined to Akassa, the Nin Pair i to the Niger 
The original trade both of the cen велели and of other West 
African possessions was in the ral products of the country. 
gradually opened up there has been a marked disposition to utilise Из. 
physical resources in the growth of every suitable kind of tropical pro- 
duce. It is upon the development of this policy that the material 
progress and peaceful prosperity of these countries must ultimately 
depend. 
The Kew I for — 1890 — (pp. 195-199) a 
memorandum drawn up by the Assistant Director, in the first instance 
for the Royal Niger Санан but subsequently bons wait expanded so 
as to cover the cultural industries of West Africa generally. 
The Royal Niger Company has on various occasions applied to Kew 
for assistance in turning to commercial account the natural products of 
its peer many of whick were ка le known in trade. In 1889 it 
supplied with two picked men, George Woodr 
Бана Bartlett, from Kew, to take charge of the botanical stations 
which it had — Жы in the interior. 
The rs at Kew are specially trained to fit them for en 
appétit uter The Royal Gardens have, in fact, always bee 
ed technical school. Each gardener is admitted for a two de 
urse, during which he has the opportunity of seeing every kind of 
банып carried on in the establishment, and in addition obtains 
systematic instruction in scientific subjects connected w “ith his profession. 
The best men receive appointments as орната offers, and they are 
now to be found in every part of the w 
It has always been the practice < in up as far as possible 
informal corre: i 
- tropics that is strange and unfamiliar to them, by giving the advice sug- 
gested by long experience in dealing with such difficulties. 
In the case of the two men sent to iin Niger Protectorate, the Royal 
ny PEN set its face against their carrying опа 
correspondence with K seemed a short-sighted policy, as the 
Company had obviously everything to gain by such assistance as Kew 
could give to the men in its employ. 
Both men unhappily have di ed, the last at the commencement of 
the presen r 6, however, of the семаи kind can attach 
to the Royal Niger Company. for this untoward res {t is evident 
that it did ele in its power to promote the health and comfort 
of the Kew 
