T20 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April 1, 190L 
vantage is likely to arise from that, as the con- 
samers we wish to reach have no means ol: investing 
in teapots, ckidalis, pannikins, etc, any more 
than their compeers at. iionie have, yet the con- 
sumption of made tea among the latter is enormous. 
Our own opinion is that, if tea depots properly 
supervised were established at the .several points 
where natives congest during the day, European 
supervision would not be needed for more than a 
couple of months, as the profits would be ample 
enough to induce respectable natives to take up 
the business ; and in a very short time depots for 
the sale of ready-biewed tea would be as numerous 
as are those now for the sale of ice and the various 
syrups, while the demand from these places for 
leaf would go on increasing annually. Fatting 
the matter -into figures the returns from one pound 
work out as follows : — 6 anuas 1 lb. tea, 2 annas 
fuel, etc. 12S cups at 1 pice=Ks. 2. We allow 
one-eighth of an ounce to a cup. Profit enough 
in all conscience to justify the venture. — Indian 
Planters' Gazette, March ] 6. 
— 
THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN 
ABYSSINIA. 
SOME ACCOUNT OF KING MENELIK'S 
NEW, RAILWAYS, 
(BY HERBERT VIVIAN.) 
The French traders at Addis Ababa are really 
too fine for their place. They did very well so 
long as they possessed more or less of a monopoly. 
One of them, M Chefneux, is partner with M 
Ilg, Menelik's Swiss Minister for Foreign Affairs, 
as concessionaire of the Jibuti Railway, and they 
all consider themselves very great personages in- 
deed. When Menelik grants them an audience, 
they go away again if he keeps them waiting five 
minutes. But their day is done. They cannot 
compete with Indian traders, who bring frugality, 
industry, and even honesty to bear, and there- 
fore are not easy for a Frenchman to compete 
with. An Indian is content to travel down to the 
coast attended by one native servant and just 
the necessary amount of men to look after his 
baggage mules or camels. A Frenchman, on the 
other hand, thinks it necessary to travel like a 
prince, with a great retinue of armed men, and the 
expense of this swallows up the greater part of 
his profits. Moreover, he labours under tlie de- 
lusion that anything is good enough to sell to 
a native, whereas his system of sharp practice, 
though it may pay for a moment, cannot do so 
permanently. Before my departure from Addis 
Ababa, I had occasion to visit the store of one of 
THE LEADING FRENCH TRADERS, 
assomeof my supplies were running out. Heshowed 
me several shelvesof bottles, andl noticed inthetwo 
lower ones some very elaborate labels — "Grande 
Marque Extra Fine," and all the rest of it. 
Moreover, many bottles were done up elaborately 
in wire, like the very choicest and oldest brands 
in Europe. My curiosity was pricked as to the 
market which the man could hope to find for 
such luxuries in the heart of Abyssinia, but he 
said with a smile, " I don't recommend those. 
They are intended for the natives, and contain 
the filthiest stuff you ever imagined." This struck 
me as a very eloquent as well as a very frank 
epigram upon the attitude of French colonial trade. 
The advantage which the French obtained by 
being first in the field is now rapidly fading 
away before the s«ijeiiority of our methods and 
the .superioiity of our commercial honesty. The 
French themselves readily admitted Colonel 
Harrington, our representative at Addis Ababa, 
is an extremely able diplomatist, and he has cer- 
tainly secured the confidence of the Emperor in 
a way that no European diplomatist ever did be- 
fore. He is feared as well as respected, and Men- 
elik knows that he will stand no nonsense. 
" Our influence in Abys^-inia," wrote a French- 
man, who has spent many years in the country, 
"\s nulla archinulle, a.nd has never existed there, 
s \\ ii in the imagination of the promoters of the 
railway company. . . . The cnly nation which 
possesses a i-eal and serious infiuenee, imposed by 
fear, is the English, who use M Lagarde iis their 
catspaw. The English have at Addis Abal a a 
master in the art of diplomacy, a man who knows 
his own mind, who does not humiliate himself with 
humble entreaties, and wlio has obtained every- 
thing he desires, and will continue to do so, tor he 
exacts it." This is an exagggeration in sofar ascon; 
cerns the statement that French influence never 
has existed in Abjssiuia. Indeed, at one time it 
was almost ]jaramount, and I believe that an able 
diplomatist could revive it again. At present, 
Menelik feels that he cannot trust the French; 
while, as he told me when he received me in audi- 
ence, he knows that 
WHAT AN ENGLISHMAN SAYS IS A FACT, 
and that what he undertakes to do is as good as 
done, 
Just as French laudatory articles on Abyssiiiia 
were spread out over many yeai's, to pave the way 
for the flotation of a Frencli railway into the coun- 
try, so the whole of my remai ks have been intended 
to lead up to a survey of the past, present, and 
future of that enterprise. On March 9th, 1894, 
Menelik conceded to MM. Ilg and Chefneux the 
right to make a railway from Jibuti to Harrar, on 
to Addis Ababa, and thence to Kaffaand tlie White 
Nile. This railway was started as a commercial 
enterprise, and money was oljrained from ordinary 
investors, who were actuated by the ordinary ex- 
pectation of dividends. The [iromoters knew very 
well tnat the railway never could be a comaiereial 
.success, and that it was impossible that there 
ever should be any dividends. But they were con- 
tent with what the articles of association have 
called " the gratuitous transfer " to the company 
of their righis in the concession. This, being in- 
terpreted, means that they should receive (I) 8,000 
shares ; (2) £40,000 on the commencement of the 
second section from Barrar to Addis Ababa: (3) 
£40,000 more on the commencement of the third 
section towards Kaffa ; (4) 100 founders' shares. 
THE KEYNOTE OF FRENCH POLICY IN ABYSSINIA 
for a very long time was to raise up an adversary 
against England in the Valley of the Nile. Menelik 
lenthimself to this idea for what he could get, and 
negotiations proceeded very far for the advance of 
a Franco-Abyssinian army against us at the time of 
Fashoda. Whether or not his professions of friend- 
ship for France ever riieaut anything, he lias now 
certainly come to his senses, and underst ,inds that 
if he weakened himse!f by a fruitless st' iigLde with 
Egy|5t, the only result would be that ho would find 
hiniself threatened v. ilh a FrencI) cccupatiDn. He 
gave a concession to the French railway, with the 
idea that he would obtain arms and ammunition 
more easily and more cheaply. But he has since 
realised that, while the railway would make the 
