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AFRICA
under the British flag would shake themselves free from the control of the mother-country, and begin an independent existence, as soon as they felt themselves able to walk alone. There was a strong disinclination to increase Great Britain’s commitments abroad, and in Africa the repeated solicitations of native kings and chiefs in the neighbourhood of British settlements, to be taken under British protection, were rejected in pursuance of a deliberately adopted policy. In 1865 a strong representative committee of the House of Commons unanimously resolved “that all further extension of territory or assumption of government, or new treaty offering any protection to native tribes, would be inexpedient.” But while the overtures of native kings were rejected, the fact that they were made, coupled with the further fact that the exploration of the continent had been mainly undertaken by British subjects, or under British auspices, gave rise to the feeling that, in some not very clearly defined way, Great Britain had a sort of vague claim over regions, which, if they were not British, were not claimed by any other European Power. It was not until France had fairly entered on her career of annexation in West Africa, and Germany had entered the field, that the British Government and the British public awoke to the consciousness of the fact that there was no time to be lost if Great Britain was to take her part in the “ scramble.” A brief survey of the political situation, and of the position of the European Powers in Africa, at the beginTheposi- ning th0 ^asf quarter of the 19th century, tlon in will form a fitting prelude to the history of tfie 1875. modern partition of the continent. In 1875 Egypt was under the rule of Ishmail Pasha, who had, two years before, been granted by the Sultan the right of concluding treaties with foreign Powers and of maintaining armies. The Khedive’s troops had by this time pushed their way southwards along the Nile valley, and had established Egyptian rule in Darfur and Kordofan, while Egyptian influence may be said to have extended right up to the Albert Nyanza. Tripoli was then, as now, a province of the Turkish empire. Morocco, then as now, was an independent state, while Algeria, which had been conquered by France in the second quarter of the century, had been for four years under civil administration so far as the coast regions were concerned, though military rule Avas still maintained in the interior, and the Saharan tribes did not recognize French authority in any form. On the west coast France had, since the 17th century, been settled at the mouth of the Senegal river, and had made successive advances into the interior towards the valley of the Upper Niger. On the coast her influence was recognized by treaty, from Cape Blanco to the British settlements on the Gambia, and a considerable region had been brought under some sort of administrative control. BcIoav the Gambia France touched the coast again at Casamance, and had extended her influence for some distance towards the interior. On the Ivory Coast France had acquired vague rights, which were turned to good account in the subsequent scramble at Grand Bassain and Assinie, but in 1875 she had taken no practical steps to occupy and administer even these isolated points. The same observation applies to Porto Novo, where France had acquired some sort of footing which enabled her to lay the foundation of her present colony of Dahomey. Farther down the coast the French had establishments at the estuary of the Gabun and on the Ogowe river, but M. Savorgnan de Brazza had not yet begun the work of founding the French Congo Colony. Save for the islands of Reunion, St Marie, Mayotte, and Nossi-Be, and for the port of Obok, near the southern entrance to the Red Sea—which had been acquired by purchase in 1862, though it was not
[history
effectively occupied till 1883—this exhausts the list of French possessions in Africa in 1875. Spanish possessions in Africa at the same date consisted of the Canary Islands, an old fort on the Rio d’Oro,—on the ownership of which Spain subsequently based claims to the stretch of coast between the southern limits of Morocco and France’s Senegambian possessions, extending from Cape Bojador to Cape Blanco, a distance of some 500 miles,—the island of Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea, and a small strip of territory on the banks of the Muni river, Avhich was also claimed by France. The position of Portugal in Africa in 1875 is very difficult to define. The glorious record of the Portuguese in the exploration of the continent cannot be recapitulated here. But on the strength of her achievements in the past Portugal put forward claims which were as vague as they were extensive, and which the other European Powers interested in Africa firmly refused to recognize. Compared with the claims which she subsequently made, the area of African territory which was actually administered by Portugal in 1875 was ludicrously small. Apart from hexisland possessions Portugal had a small settlement on the Guinea Coast, south of the French settlement of Casamance, another small settlement at Kabinda, north of the estuary of the Congo, and more extensive possessions south of that river, constituting the provinces of Loanda, Benguela, and Mossamedes. On the east of the continent the Portuguese were settled at Sofala, Mozambique, and other parts of the coast, but their administration was sunk in lethargy, and it is impossible to say, with any approach to accuracy, what were the limits within which they exercised any effective supervision. It was, however, in 1875 that Marshal MacMahon, the then President of the French Republic, settled the long-standing dispute between Great Britain and Portugal for the possession of Delagoa Bay in favour of the latter Power. In 1875 Great Britain was without question, both as regards the area and the importance of her possessions, the European Power most considerably interested in Africa. But her interests were not confined to territorial rights. British explorers, missionaries, and traders had established British “ influence ” in various regions of the continent, without obtaining, and in some cases without seeking, Government sanction. For this apparent slackness in regularizing British interests by formal engagements there Avere two reasons. In the first place the home Government, acting in pursuance of the resolution of 1865, Avas unwilling to extend the area of its obligations; and in the second place, except in West Africa, Avhere France had shown considerable activity, little or no fear was entertained of the competition of other European Powers. Native chiefs, in many parts of the continent which are now included in non-British spheres of influence, petitioned for British protection; but their requests were refused, partly because of an unwillingness to extend responsibilities beyond the coast, and partly because it was assumed that Great Britain could at any moment take formal possession, should it suit her purpose to do so. In this way British influence “ predominated ” on the Niger and in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, but in neither case had that predominating influence found formal expression, and Avhen the scramble suddenly began, intruding rivals forced Great Britain to defend her position, Avhich she Avas only able to make good by considerable sacrifices. At the beginning of the last quarter of the 19th century Great Britain had in fact no recognized footing on the eastern mainland of the African continent north of Natal, the area of which colony was at that period estimated at less than 12,000 square miles. To the north of Natal, along the coast, Zululand was still independent. South
