Africa

whole of the territories of the Royal Niger Company, which became

henceforth a purely commercial undertaking. The Lagos protectorate was

extended northwards; the Niger Coast protectorate, likewise with extended

frontiers, became Southern Nigeria; while the greater part of the

territories formerly administered by the company were constituted into the

protectorate of Northern Nigeria—all three administrations being directly

under the Colonial Office In February 1906 the administration of the

Southern Nigerian protectorate was placed under that of Lagos at the same

time as the name of the latter was changed to the Colony of Southern

Nigeria, this being a step towards the eventual

Organization of the British and French protectorates.

amalgamation of all three dependencies under one governor or governor-

general. In French West Africa changes in the internal frontiers have been

numerous and important. The coast colonies have all been increased in size

at the expense of the French Sudan, which has vanished from the maps as an

administrative entity. There are carved out of the territories comprised in

what is officially known as French West Africa five colonies—Senegal,

French Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Dahomey and the Upper Senegal and Niger,

this last being entirely cut off from the sea—and the civil territory of

Mauritania. To the colony of the Upper Senegal and Niger is attached the

military territory of the Niger, embracing the French Sahara up to the

limit of the Algerian sphere of influence. Not only are all these divisions

of French West Africa connected territorially, but administratively they

are united under a governor-general. Similarly the French Congo territories

have been divided into three colonies—the Gabun, the Middle Congo and the

Ubangi-Shari-Chad—all united administratively under a commissioner-general.

There are, around the coast, numerous islands or groups of islands, which

are regarded by geographers as outliers of the

Ownership of the African Islands.

African mainland. The majority of these African islands were occupied by

one or other of the European powers long before the period of continental

partition. The Madeira Islands to the west of Morocco, the Bissagos

Islands, off the Guinea coast, and Prince's Island and St Thomas' Island,

in the Gulf of Guinea, are Portuguese possessions of old standing; while in

the Canary Islands and Fernando Po Spain possesses remnants of her ancient

colonial empire which are a more valuable asset than any she has acquired

in recent times on the mainland. St Helena in the Atlantic, Mauritius and

some small groups north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, are British

possessions acquired long before the opening of the last quarter of the

19th century. Zanzibar, Pemba and some smaller islands which the sultan was

allowed to retain were, as has already been stated, placed under British

protection in 1890, and the island of Sokotra was placed under the

``gracious favour and protection'' of Great Britain on the 23rd of April

1886. France's ownership of Reunion dates back to the 17th century, but the

Comoro archipelago was not placed under French protection until April 1886.

None of these islands, with the exception of the Zanzibar group, have,

however, materially affected the partition of the continent, and they need

not be enumerated in the table which follows. But the important island of

Madagascar stands in a different category, both on account of its size and

because it was during the period under review that it passed through the

various stages which led to its becoming a French colony. The first step

was the placing of the foreign relations of the island under French

control, which was effected by the treaty of the 17th of December 1885,

after the Franco-Malagasy war that had broken out in 1883. In 1890 Great

Britain and Germany recognized a French protectorate over the island, but

the Hova government declined to acquiesce in this view, and in May 1895

France sent an expedition to enforce her claims. The capital was occupied

on the 30th of September in the same year, and on the day following Queen

Ranavalona signed a convention recognizing the French protectorate. In

January 1896 the island was declared a French possession, and on the 6th of

August was declared to be a French colony. In February 1897 the last

vestige of ancient rule was swept away by the deportation of the queen.

Thus in its broad outlines the partition of Africa was begun and ended in

the short space of a quarter of a century. There are still many finishing

touches to be put to the structure. The southern frontiers of Morocco and

Tripoli remain undefined, while the mathematical lines by which the spheres

of influence of the powers were separated one from the other are being

variously modified on the do ut des principle as they come to be surveyed

and as the effective occupation of the continent progresses. Much labour is

necessary before the actual area of Africa and its subdivisions can be

accurately determined, but in the following table the figures are at least

approximately correct. Large areas of the spheres assigned to different

European powers have still to be brought under European control; but this

work is advancing by rapid strides.

BRITISH— Sq. m.

Cape Colony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276,995

Natal and Zululand . . . . . . . . . . . 35,371

Basutoland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,293

Bechuanaland Protectorate . . . . . . . 225,000

Transvaal and Swaziland . . . . . . . . 117,732

Orange River Colony . . . . . . . . . . 50,392

Rhodesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450,000

Nyasaland Protectorate . . . . . . . . . 43,608

British East Africa Protectorate . . . . 240,000

Uganda Protectorate . . . . . . . . . . 125,000

Zanzibar Protectorate . . . . . . . . . 1,020

Somaliland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,000

Northern Nigeria . . . . . . . . . . . 258,000

Southern Nigeria (colony and protectorate) 80,000

Gold Coast and hinterland . . . . . 82,000

Sierre Leone (colony and protectorate) . 34,000

Gambia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,000

Total British Africa . . . . . . . 2,101,411

Egypt and Libyan Desert . . . . . . . . 650,000

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan . . . . . . . . . . 950,000

1,600,000

FRENCH—

Algeria and Algerian Sahara . . . . . . 945,000

Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,000

French West Africa—

Senegal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,000

French Guinea . . . . . . . . . . . . 107,000

Ivory Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129,000

Dahomey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000

Upper Senegal and Niger, and

Mauritania (including French West

African Sahara) . . . . 1,581,000 1,931,000

French Congo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700,000

French Somaliland . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000

Madagascar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227,950

Total French Africa . . . . . . . 3,866,950

GERMAN—

East Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364,000

South.West Africa . . . . . . . . . . . 322,450

Cameroon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190,000

Togoland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,700

Total German Africa . . . . . . . . 910,150

ITALIAN—

Eritrea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,000

Somaliland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,000

Total Italian Africa . . . . . . . . 200,000

PORTUGUESE—

Guinea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,000

West Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480,000

East Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293,500

Total Portuguese Africa . . . . . . 787,500

SPANISH—

Rio de Oro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,000

Muni River Settlements . . . . . . . . . . 9,800

Total Spanish Africa . . . . . . . . 79,800

BELGIAN—

Congo State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900,000

TURKISH—

Tripoli and Benghazi . . . . . . . . . . 400,000

SEPARATE STATES—

Liberia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,000

Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220,000

Abyssinia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350,000

Total Independent Africa . . . . . . 613,000

Thus, collecting the totals, the result of the ``scramble'' has been to

divide Africa among the powers as follows:—

Sq. m.

British Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,101,411

Egyptian Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,600,000

French Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,866,950

German Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910,150

Italian Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200,000

Portuguese Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . 787,500

Spanish Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,800

Belgian Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900,000

Turkish Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,000

Independent Africa . . . . . . . . . . . 613,000

11,458,811

(J. S. K.)

1. Commercial treaties between Carthage and Rome were made in the 6th and

5th centuries B.C.. The first armed conflict between the rival powers,

begun in 264 B.C., was a contest for the possession of Sicily.

2. This river was called by the Portuguese the Zaire. They appear to have

made no attempt to trace its course beyond the rapids which stop

navigation from the sea.

3. France acquired, as stations for her ships on the voyage to and from

India, settlements in Madagascar and the neighbouring islands. The first

settlement was made in 1642.

4. The Association, in 1831, was merged in the Royal Geographical Society.

5. The Mamelukes, whom the Turks had overthrown in the 16th century, had

regained practically independent power.

6. In imitation of the British example, an American society founded in 1822

the negro colony (now republic) of Liberia.

7. The first territorial acquisition made by Great Britain in this region

was in 1851, when Lagos Island was annexed.

8. As early as 1848 an Arab from Zanzibar journeying across the continent

had arrived at Benguella.

9. Another great traveller of this stamp was Wilhelm Junker, who spent the

greater part of the period 1875-1886 in the east central Sudan.

10. Specially appointed to consider West African affairs.

11. See the tables in Behm and Wagner's Bevolkerung der Erde (Gotha, 1872).

12. in 1887 this society united with the German Colonial Society, an

organization founded in 1882. The united society took the title of the

German Colonial Company.

13. At this period negotiations between Great Britain and Italy had begun

but were not concluded.

14. This association, formed in 1878 by a union of associations primarily

intended for the exploration of Africa, ceased to exist in 1891.

VI. EXPLORATION AND SURVEY SINCE 1875

In giving the history of the partition of the continent, the later work

of exploration, except where, as in the case of de Brazza's expeditions, it

had direct political consequences, has of necessity not been told. The

results achieved during and after the period of partition may now be

indicated. Stanley's great journey down the Congo in 1875-1876 initiated a

new era in African exploration. The numbers of travellers soon became so

great that the once marvellous feat of crossing the continent from sea to

sea became common. With increased knowledge and much ampler means of

communication trans-African travel now presents few difficulties. While

d'Anville and other cartographers of the 18th century, by omitting all that

was uncertain, had left a great blank on the map, the work accomplished

since 1875 has filled it with authentic topographical details. Moreover

surveys of high accuracy have been made at several points. As the work of

exploration and survey progressed journeys of startling novelty became

impossible—save in the eastern Sahara, where the absence of water and

boundless wastes of sand render exploration more difficult, perhaps, than

in any other region of the globe. Within their respective spheres of

influence each power undertook detailed surveys, and the most solid of the

latest accessions to knowledge have resulted from the labours of hard-

working colonial officials toiling individually in obscurity. Their work it

is impossible here to recognize adequately; the following lines record only

the more obvious achievements. The relation of the Congo basin to the

neighbouring river systems was brought out by the journeys of many

travellers. In 1877 an important expedition was sent out by the Portuguese

government under Serpa Pinto, Brito Capello and Roberto

Work in the Congo.

Ivens for the exploration of the interior of Angola. The first named made

his way by the head-streams of the Kubango to the upper Zambezi, which he

descended to the Victoria Falls, proceeding thence to Pretoria and Durban.

Capello and Ivens confined their attention to the south-west Congo basin,

where they disproved the existence of Lake Aquilunda, which had figured on

the maps of that region since the 16th century. In a later journey (1884-

1885) Capello and Ivens crossed the continent from Mossamedes to the mouth

of the Zambezi, adding considerably to the knowledge of the borderlands

between the upper Congo and the upper Zambezi. More important results were

obtained by the German travellers Paul Pogge and Hermann von Wissmann, who

(1880-1882) passed through previously unknown regions beyond Muata Yanvo's

kingdom, and reached the upper Congo at Nyangwe, whence Wissmann made his

way to the east coast. In 1884-1885 a German expedition under Wissmann

solved the most important geographical problem relating to the southern

Congo basin by descending the Kasai, the largest southern tributary, which,

contrary to expectation, proved to unite with the Kwango and other streams

before joining the main river. Further additions to the knowledge of the

Congo tributaries were made at the same time by the Rev. George Grenfell, a

Baptist missionary, who (accompanied in 1885 by K. von Francois) made

several voyages in the steamer ``Peace,'' especially up the great Ubangi,

ultimately proved to be the lower course of the Welle, discovered in 1870

by Schweinfurth.

In East as in West Africa operations were started by agents of the

Belgian committee, but with less success than on the Congo.

Opening up East Africa.

The first new journey of importance on this side was made (1878-1880) on

behalf of the British African Exploration Committee by Joseph Thomson, who

after the death of his leader, Keith Johnston, made his way from the coast

to the north end of Nyasa, thence to Tanganyika, on both sides of which he

broke new ground, sighting the north end of Lake Rukwa on the east. In 1882-

1884 the French naval lieutenant Victor Giraud proceeded by the north of

Nyasa to Lake Bangweulu, of which he made the first fairly correct map.

North of the Zanzibar-Tanganyika route a large area of new ground was

opened in 1883-1884 by Joseph Thomson, who traversed the whole length of

the Masai country to Lake Baringo and Victoria Nyanza, shedding the first

clear light on the great East African rift-valley and neighbouring

highlands, including Mounts Kenya and Elgon. A great advance in the region

between Victoria Nyanza and Abyssinia was made in 1887-1889 by the

Austrians, Count Samuel Teleki and Lieut. Ludwig von Hohnel, who discovered

the large Basso Norok, now known as Lake Rudolf, till then only vaguely

indicated on the map as Samburu. At this time Somaliland was being opened

up by English and Italian travellers. In 1883 the brothers F. L. and W. D.

James penetrated from Berbera to the Webi Shebeli; in 1892 Vittorio Bottego

(afterwards murdered in the Abyssinian highlands) started from Berbera and

reached the upper Juba, which he explored to its source. The first person,

however, to cross from the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean was an

American, A. Donaldson Smith, who in 1894-1895 explored the headstreams of

the Webi Shebeli and also explored the Omo, the feeder of Lake Rudolf.

In the region north-west of Victoria Nyanza the greatest additions to

geographical knowledge were made by H. M. Stanley in his last expedition,

undertaken for the relief of Emin Pasha. The expedition set out in 1887 by

way of the Congo to carry supplies to the governor of the old Egyptian

Equatorial province. The route lay up the Aruwimi, the principal tributary

of the Congo from the north-east, by which the expedition made its way,

encountering immense difficulties, through the great equatorial forest, the

character and extent of which were thus for the first time brought to

light. The return was made to the east coast, and resulted in the discovery

of the great snowy range of Ruwenzori or Runsoro, and the confirmation of

the existence of a third Nile lake discharging its waters into the Albert

Nyanza by the Semliki river. A further discovery was that of a large bay,

hitherto unsuspected, forming the south-west corner of the Victoria Nyanza.

Great activity was also displayed in completing the work of earlier

explorers in North and West Africa. Morocco was in

Expeditions in North and West Africa.

1883-1884 the scene of important explorations by de Foucauld, a Frenchman

who, disguised as a Jew, crossed and re-crossed the Atlas and supplied the

first trustworthy information as to the orography of many parts of the

chain. In 1887-1889 Louis Gustave Binger, a French officer, made a great

journey through the countries enclosed in the Niger bend, and in 1890-1892

Col. P. F. Monteil went from St Louis to Say, on the Niger, thence through

Sokoto to Bornu and Lake Chad, whence he crossed the Sahara to Tripoli.

Meantime explorers had been busy in the region between Lake Chad, the Gulf

of Guinea and the Congo. The Sanga, one of the principal northern

tributaries of the Congo, was reached from the north by Lieut. Louis Mizon,

a French naval officer, who drew the first line of communication between

the Benue and the Congo (1890-1892). In 1890 Paul Crampel, who in the

previous year had explored north of the Ogowe, undertook a great expedition

from the Ubangi to the Shari, but was attacked and killed, with several of

his companions, on the borders of the Bagirmi. Several other expeditions

followed, and in 1806 Emile Gentil reached the Shari, launched a steamer on

its waters and pushed on to Lake Chad. Early in 1900 Lake Chad was also

reached by F. Foureau, a French traveller, who had already devoted twelve

years to the exploration of the Sahara and who on this occasion had crossed

the desert from Algeria and had reached the lake via Air and Zinder.

The last ten years of the 19th century also witnessed many interesting

expeditions in east Central Africa. In 1891 Emin

Lakes and mountains of Equatorial Africa.

Страницы: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18