NIGERIA.

Nigeria includes the entire basin of the Lower and Middle Niger, with the whole of the coast from the French Dahome to the Rio del Rey, and the "hinterland” to Lake Chad, and thus adjo'ns French West Africa on the west and north and the German Prostectorate of the Kameruns on the East.

On the north the British boundary (according to the Anglo French Agree ments of 1898, supplemented by those of 1904 and 1906) stretches, with some deviations, from Lake Chad, at the mouth of the Komadugu to a point on the Niger, 10 miles north of Ilo, thus including Bornu and Sokoto within the British sphere, and giving France a trade route between Lake Chad and her other West African possessions. Yoouba, Nups, and parts of Borgu and Gando, are included within the British sphere.

On the south-east British territory is divided from the German Protectorate by a treaty line drawn from the head of the Rio del Rey to the Ethiope Rapids on the Cross River, which debouches into the old Calabar River, and thence continues in a north-easterly direction to the east of Yola on the Benue, and

thence to the south shore of Lake Chad.

The River Niger and its great tributary, the Benue, are the natural highways into the rich and populous countries of the Central Sudan, and the whole navigable course of both rivers is through British territory, while the enormous internal and coast trade is wholly in the hands of British merchants.

The dead level of the Niger Delta is broken by numerous channels, many of which, such as the Benin and the Forcados Rivers to the west, and the Brass, New Calabar and Bonny Rivers to the east, of the main channel-the Nun River-are navigable by steamers of light draught, while vessels of 600 tons can ascend the Niger itself beyond the confluence of the Benue to RABBA, 600 The Benue, also, which joins the Niger near LOKOJA, 300 miles from the sea, is navigable to GARUA, 70 miles above YOLA and 670 miles from its confluence with the Niger, and 970 miles from the sea.

miles frrm the sea.

Nigeria, which has an area of 333,700 square miles, and a popu lation of perhaps 15 millions, includes (1) Southern Nigeria (including the colony of Lagos and the Oil Rivers District), and (2) Northern Nigeria.

The staple products of this region-palm-oil and palm kernels, vegetable butter, gums, ivory, hides, india rubber, &c.—are exchanged for cotton and woollen goods, hardware, spirits, guns, gunpowder, salt, &c., at the "factories," or trading stations, of which there are a large number on the coastal estuaries and on the

Niger and its tributaries.

Nearly the whole of the internal trade of the Niger and the Benue is carried on by the New Niger Company (now known as the Niger Company, Ltd.), which has over 150 factories on or near the main stream and its tributaries, and a river fleet of go steamers, constantly employed in conveying the palm-o and other native products collected at the various factories to Akassa, the port of entry at the Nun river (the main entrance to the Niger) where they are transhipped to the ocean steamers, most of which make Liverpool ther terminal port. ASABA, a large town on the right bank of the Lower Niger, in Southern Nigeria, 150 miles from the sea and 50 miles above Abo, the very centre of the palm-oil region at the head of the Delta, was the administrative centre of the old Niger Company. The military headquarters are at Lokoja, in Northern Nigeria, an important trading centre, near the confluence of the

Niger and the Benue and nearly opposite the town of Igbegbe. Further south, on the same side of the river, is Onitsha, which marks "the northern limit of the palm oil trading region; higher up, ivory and shea-butter are the chief articles of trade.'

SOUTHERN NIGERIA.

SOUTHERN NIGERIA was divided in 1906 into 3 Provinces, the Western or Lagos Province, comprising the former Colony and Protectorate of Lagos, the Central or Niger Province, and the Eastern or Calabar Province. The two latter provinces correspond to the former Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Southern Nigeria now includes the whole of the coastline between Dahome and the Kameruns. British control is chiefly exercised in the estuaries between the Benin, Brass, and the old Calabar Rivers, and at Lagos. The area is 77,260 square miles, with a population of about 41⁄2 millions.

LAGOS, or the Colony of Southern Nigeria, as this province was officially destgnated in 1906, includes the lagoon islands of Lagos, and Iddo, and the adjoining lagoon covered coast from Kononu on the west to the Benin River on the east, and extends northwards over YORUBA. Lagos Island has an area of only 34 square miles, but the whole province includes about 38,910 square miles, with a population of 1,319,333, only about 308 of whom are Europeans.

LAGOS, the capital, is the largest town and most important port in all West Africa. It has a mixed population of about 42,000. Owing to the insecurity of the harbour, large steamers require to anchor in the Forcados River, in the Niger delta, whence goods and passengers are transported in smaller vessels to Lagos. Lagos was formerly one of the chief slave marts on the Guinea Coast, but the trading stores or factories now exchange guns, cloth, tobacco-" anything from a fish-hook to a cask of rum "-for palm oil and kerne's, cotton, ivory, gum copal, and other native products. A large trade is also carried on at Badagry to the west, and at Palma and Leckie to the east, of Lagos. The "Liverpool" of West Africa, as Lagos is called, is in regular communication with Liverpool itself by the mail steamers of the African Steamship Co. and by those of the British and African Steam Navigation Co., and with Hamburg, New York, and Rio Janeiro by steamers and sailing vessels. The internal communication is chiefly by water along the network of lagoons. A railway is now open to Ibadan (124 miles), with a short branch to Abbeokuta, and is being extended northwards to Oshogbo and Northern Nigeria.

The Ogun River affords an easy and direct passage from Lagos to Abbeokuta, the well-known and populous capital of Yoruba, an exquisitely beautiful and remarkably fertile country, bounded on the north and east by the Lower Niger. Northern Yoruba has been conquered by the Fulahs, and forms the riverain district of Nupe, a former vassal state of the empire of Sokoto, but now under the administration of Northern Nigeria. South-east of Yoruba, and extending thence to the Lower Niger and its delta, is the old kingdom of Benin, now entirely within the British sphere. The Yoruba-Benin region, which measures about 250 miles from east to west, and some 200 miles from north to south, was split up into a number of more or less powerful native kingdoms "-every petty chief in West Africa is a "king which were perpetually embroiled in little wars, and were active centres of the slave trade. The beneficent rule of the British authorities at Lagos, and the energetic action of the Royal Niger Company in their successful campaigns against Nupé and Benin, together with the missionery work carried on at Abbeokuta and elsewhere, have gradually brought order and security into their richly

productive tropical country, the climate of which, although not excessively unhealthy in the interior, debars the European from active labour, but does not injuriously affect the indigenous inhabitants. The chief industry of the Colony is agriculture, and the principal articles of export are palm-oil and kernels, gum, copal, ivory and rubber, cotton, coffee and cocoa.

The Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, comprising the Central or Niger, and the Eastern or Calabar provinces, were formerly known as the Oil Rivers District and so called from the enormous amount of palm-oil brought down the Benin, Brass, New Calabar, Bonny, Old Calabar, and other "oil rivers" to the coast-most of the trade is in the hands of the African Association of Liverpool. The principal trading stations are at Old Calabar-Duke Town, Creek Town, &c.-Opobo, Bonny, New Calabar, Brass, Warri, Benin. In these provinces palm-oil and kernels are the staple articles of trade at all the depots in the district, and the principal imports are cotion goods, coopers' stores, hardware, cutlery, spirits, brass and copper rods, gunpowder, guns, and fancy

articles.

Warri and Calabar are the respective headquarters of the two provinces, and their united area is about 49,000 square miles, with a population of over three millions, including over 500 Europeans.

NORTHERN NIGERIA.

Northern Nigeria includes the whole of the Midd e and Lower Niger to about 7° N. lat., and the area formerly governed by the ROYAL NIGER COMPANY (but under the control of the Colonial Office since 1900), in virtue of treaties concluded with the Mohammedan native states and tribes (about 300 in number) including the Empire of Sokoto, and the vassal kingdoms of Gando, Borgu, Nupe, etc.

The area of Northern Nigeria is 256 400 square miles, with a population of 9,200,000. The new headquarters are at Zungeru, situated near Wushishi on the Kaduna River, a tributary of the Niger.

For administrative purposes, Northern Nigeria, so far as it has been effectively occupied, is divided into 17 provinces, and absorbs the form.r Empire of Sokoto, the largest and most populous of all the old Central Sudan States (see page 526 for full description), and also the former Haussa States lying between Lake Chad and the Niger, including portions of Bornu (page 526) Adamawa, Gando, Nupe, Borgu (page 527) and other smaller "Kingdoms in the Niger-Benue Region.

We have now described the countries and colonies of

Senegambia and Upper Guinea. Lower Guinea has not been subdivided to such an extent, and, with the exception of the small Spanish enclave in Corisco Bay, contains but four divisions-the German Protectorate of Kamerun, the French Congo Protectorate, the Congo Free State, and Portuguese West Africa.

THE KAMERUN PROTECTORATE.

The German Kamerun Protectorate includes the coast region on the Bight of Biafra, between the Rio del Rey on the north and the Campo River on the south. A treaty line, running from the head of the Rio del Rey to the cast of Yola on the Upper Benue, and then north-east to the south of Lake Chad, forms the boundary between the British Nigeria Protectorates and the German territories, which are divided from the French Congo on the south by a line running eastwards from the mouth of the Campo

River along the 2° N. lat. The eastern or inland limit of the Protectorate is now defined, and extends to the new frontier of the French Congo. The area is estimated at 191,000 square miles, and the population at 31⁄2 millions, only about 830 of whom are Europeans, most of them Germans.

Between the Rio del Rey and the estuary of the Kamerun River, the volcanic Kamerun Peak-the Mongo Ma-L ba, or "Mountain of the Sky"-rises majestically, like a gigantic pyramid, to 13,370 feet above sea level, from a torrid coast region covered with a most luxuriant vegetation, and possessing a soil capable of producing the most valuable plants in profusion. A German Company, founded in 1886, has large plantations of tobacco, coffee, and cacao, and the trade in palm-oil, ivory, india-rubber, and other valuable products, which was actively carried on before Germany took possession of the country in 1885, has largely increased. The principal factories, or trading stations, are at Victoria, on Ambas Bay, formerly an English missionary settlement, and Great Batanga, in the south. Kamerun (22) (now called Duala), at the head of the Kamerun estuary, also formerly an English missionary settlement, is the seat of government, which is carried on by an Imperial commissioner, assisted by a local Council of merchants. Buëa, on the slopes of Kamerun l'eak, is the Residence of the Governor. The annual trade is over £800,000. THE FRENCH CONGO.

The French Congo Protectorate includes the basins of the Gabun, Ogowai, and Kwilu rivers, and extends inland to the Congo and its tributary, the Mcbangi. This vast region has an area of over 450,000 square miles and a native population of perhaps 8 or more millions.

The Gabun is the finest estuary in West Africa, but the rivers which enter it, though abundantly supplied by an excessively heavy rainfall, have short courses, rising, as they do, in the Serra do Cristal, a mountain range from 2,600 to 4,600 feet in height, and scarcely 60 miles from the coast. The Ogowai River, which is 600 miles in length and has many long tributaries, rises in the plateau which overlooks the Congo to the north of Stanley Pool, and emerges on the coast plain as a broad navigable river, which inundates the country when in flood, and forms a large delta at its mouth. The Kwilu, or Kwilu-Niadi, a smaller river than the Ogowai, also rises in the same plateau on the right bank of the Congo, and forms even a better route to Stanley Pool and the Upper Congo. The French slope of the Congo is drained by several large rivers-the Sekoli, Licoma, Alima, and other streams join the Congo between its confluence with the Mobangi and Stanley Pool.

The native inhabitants include the Mpongwas, or Gabunese, and other Bantu tribes on the coast, and the Batekes on the Congo slope, but the cannibal Fans in the north are the most numerous. Gums and ivory are brought down to the factories on the coast and to the trading stations on the Ogowai and the Congo. The principal settlement and seat of government is LIBREVILLE, on the estuary of the Gabun. There are several stations and fortified posts on the Ogowai, the furthest inland being Franceville, from which a route has been opened to Leheti, a fortified post on the Alima, a tributary of the Congo. Brazza ville is a small station, founded by the French explorer De Brazza, on the northern

1. The extreme point of the delta of the Ogowai is Cape Lopez,

side of Stanley Pool, and almost opposite Leopoldville, the capital of the Upper Congo division of the Congo Free State. A hundred miles west of Brazzavill is Philippeville, the easternmost station on the Kwilu-Niadi. It is proposed to build a railway from Libreville to the Corgo,

On the coast, about 20 miles south of the mouth of the Kwilu, is Loango, the capital of the old kingdom of Loango. The annual trade is nearly a million sterling, the chief exports being rubber, ivory, palm-oil and nuts, coffee, av l

timber.

A few small settlements on Corisco Bay, with Corisco Island, about 40 miles north of the Gabun River, belong to Spain, and are politically attached

to Fernando Po.

There is another small enclave on the Loango coast-the Portuguese terri tory of Cabinda and Landana, which has a seaboard of about 60 miles and extends inland along the Chiloango River, and is separated from the Congo estuary by the narrow strip of land which forms the only part of the West African coast that belongs to the Congo Free State.

THE CONGO FREE STATE.

THE CONGO FREE STATE-L'Etat Indépendant du Congofounded in 1885 and of which the King of Belgium is sovereign, is estimated by Stanley to have an area of over a million square miles and a population of 27 millions. The State includes the greater part of the basin of the Congo, and is bounded on the west by the French Congo and the Portuguese territory of Cabinda, on the north by the Mobangi River, on the east by British and German East Africa, and on the south by Zambesia and Portuguese

West Africa.

Stanley's estimate of the area and population of the State, of which he was the founder and first Governor-General, is undoubtedly excessive-later estimates give the area as not more than 900,000 square miles, while the population is variously estimated at 8, 12, 15, and 20 millions. The natives, whatever their number may be, belong mostly to the Bantu race, and there are many Arab slave-hunters in the north-eastern part of the State, and numerous tribes of dwarfs or pygmies in the great forest of the Aruwimi region.

The great natural features of the State are the mighty Congo and its numerous tributaries, which form an incomparable network of over 10,000 miles of navigable waterways. great rivers of the world, but several of the more important waterways, including, The magnificent fluvial system of the Congo entitles it to rank among the few unhappily, the main stream, are obstructed by falls and rapids.

The CONGO itself is navigable from its mouth to MATADI, a distance of 110 miles, but between Matadi and LEOPOLDVILLE, a distance of 200 miles, it flows from gorge to gorge over no less than 32 falls and numerous rapids. The highest of the cataracts, the Yellala Falls, are only 15 feet in height, but the river, as it leaves Stanley Pool, is 1,030 feet above its level at Matadi. From MATADI to ISANGILA (50 miles) the river is absolutely impassable, but the 88 obstructed by cataracts and rapids from MANYANGA to LEOPOLDVILLE (85 miles from ISANGILA to MANYANGA is navigable water, above which it is again