Page:West African Studies.djvu/417

the French possessions. This is a grave commercial position for us, but to it is largely owing the advance of the prosperity of these French possessions during the past three years.

The Gold Coast has on the west a French possession, the Ivory Coast, on the east the German Togoland. Togo is a narrow strip, and to its east and surrounding it to the north is the French colony of Dahomey, whose recent expansion has told heavily on its next-door neighbours, both Togo and the English colony to the east, Lagos. I give below the latest available figures for the foreign West African possessions. ^[1]

1. French colonies—

   	Imports.		Exports
   	$\scriptstyle {\overbrace {\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad } }$		$\scriptstyle {\overbrace {\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad } }$
   	1896.	1897.	1896.	1897.
   	£	£	£	£
   Senegal. . . . . . .	1,047,000	1,167,000	783,000	845,000
   French Guinea. . .	185,000	240,000*	231,000	201,000*
   Ivory Coast. . . .	186,000	188,000	176,000	189,000
   Dahomey. . . . . .	389,000	330,000	364,000	231,000
   French Congo. . .	192,000	†	190,000	†
   * For nine months only.			† No statistics.

   Trade of Dahomey and the Ivory Coast for the first three months of 1898—

   	Imports.	Exports.	Total trade.
   	£	£	£
   Ivory Coast. . . .	58,658	58,560	117,518
   Dahomey. . . . . .	84,064	72,771	156,835

   German possessions―

   	Imports.			Exports.
   	$\scriptstyle {\overbrace {\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad } }$			$\scriptstyle {\overbrace {\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad } }$
   	1895.	1896.	1897.	1895.	1896.	1897.
   	£	£	£	£	£	£
   Togoland. . .	117,000	94,000	99,000	152,000	83,000	39,000
   Cameroons	283,000	268,000	*	204,000	198,000	*
   Total. . .	400,000	362,000	*	356,000	281,000	*
   * No figures available for calendar year. Board of Trade Journal, September, 1898.