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HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY.

The Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria is situated on the northern shores of the Gulf of Guinea. It is bounded on the west and north by French territory and on the east by the former German Colony of the Cameroons. Great Britain has recently received a mandate over a small portion of the Cameroons (31,150 square miles) which, for purposes of administration, has been placed under the Nigerian Government. The remainder of the Cameroons is administered by the French under a mandate, so that, for practical purposes, all the land frontiers of Nigeria march with French territory.

2. The area of Nigeria, including the mandated area of the Cameroons, is approximately 373,078 square miles (Southern Pro vinces and Colony 91,139 square miles, Northern Provinces 281,939 square miles) and it is thus larger than any British Dependency other than Tanganyika, India and the selfgoverning Dominions. It is more than three times the size of the United Kingdom. Along the entire coast-line runs a belt, from 10 to 60 miles in width, of dense mangrove forest and swamp, intersected by the branches of the Niger delta and other rivers, which are connected one with another by innumerable crecks, the whole constituting a continuous inland waterway from beyond the western

Rsumé.

HISTOIRE ET GÉOGRAPHIE.

La superficie de la Nigérie, y compris les territoires à mandat du Cameroun, est d'environ 373,078 milles carrés. C'est le plus grand domaine colonial anglais après le Tanganyika, les Indes et les Dominions. Il dépasse trois fois en étendue le Royaume-Uni. Tout le long de la côte, s'étend sur une profondeur de 10 à 60 milles, une ceinture dense de forêts de palétuviers et de marais interrompue par les branches du delta du Niger et d'autres cours d'eau qui, tous réunis entre eux par d'innombrables criques forment un réseau de voies d'eau intérieures s'étendant depuis la frontière occidentale du Niger jusque près du Cameroun. Derrière cette ceinture, il y a d'épaisses forêts tropicales, riches en palmiers à huile et en acajou précieux. Plus loin, vers l'intérieur, les forêts deviennent moins denses et derrière elles se trouvent de vastes plaines herbues parsemées de groupes d'arbres.

boundary of Nigeria almost to the Cameroons. Behind this belt lie dense tropical forests, rich in oil-palm trees and valuable mahoganies. Further inland the forests become thinner and are succeeded by open ground covered with long grass and occasional clumps of trees. In the extreme north, where there is a very small rainfall and little vegetation, the desert is slowly but steadily encroaching. There are few mountains in the southern portion of Nigeria except along the eastern boundary, but north and east of the junction of the rivers Niger and Benue there is a large plateau from 2,000 to 6,000 feet in height. The country is well watered by rivers, especially in the south. Besides the Niger and Benue, which during the rainy season are navigable by steamers as far as Jebba and Yola respectively, there are a number of important rivers of which the Cross River is the largest. Except for Lake Chad, on the extreme north-east frontier, there are no large lakes.

3. The population of Nigeria according to the latest returns is 18,765,790 (1): Southern Provinces and Colony, 8,532,856, Northern Provinces, 10,232,834, larger than that of any British Dependency except India. There are about 4,000 Europeans temporarily resident in Nigeria, chiefly in the employ of the Government, and of mercantile and mining companies. The country is not suited for European settlement. Of the native inhabitants the greater number are of pure negro race, but in the north there are Berber and negroid tribes. Of the former the Yorubas, Ibos and Bonis are the most important, and of the latter the Fulani, the Kanuri and the Hausa-speaking tribes, generally called Hausas. The Yorubas

(1) Includes population of the mandated area of the Cameroons.

occupy the south-west corner of Nigeria and from an early date possessed an organised government. The Benis are now a comparatively small tribe, but Benin was formely a very powerful kingdom and its influence extended over a considerable area. The Ibos are a large unorganised tribe who occupy most of the land east of the lower Niger. The Kanuri occupy Bornu, in the north-east of Nigeria, a kingdom which has survived for many centuries in spite of great vicissitudes. It was known to the Portuguese as early as the 15th century and to Arab geographers several centuries earlier. The Hausas occupy the greater portion of northern Nigeria and from an early date had attained to a fairly high level of civilisation. At the beginning of the 19th century the Hausa States were conquered by the Fulani, a nomad people who had settled in the towns and country of Hausaland and who, by their superior intelligence, had acquired great power and influence. The existing Hausa system of law and administration based on the Koran was retained, but Fulani dynastics were established in various

states.

rers.

4. The coast of Nigeria first became known to Europe towards the end of the 15th century as the result of the visits of Portuguese exploShortly afterwards the demand for negro labour in the American and West Indian colonies created an immense trade in slaves and for over three hundred years the west coast of Africa was visited in large numbers by the slave ships of all nations. At the beginning of the 19th century, efforts were made to suppress the traffic, which was declared illegal, and a British naval squadron was stationed on the Coast to intercept the slave ships. With the decline of the slave trade the traffic in palm oil and other tropical products rapidly

A l'extrême Nord, où les pluies sont rares, règne le désert. Le pays est peu montagneux, si ce n'est le lang de la frontière orientale. Au Nord et à l'Est du confluent du Niger et de la Benue, il y a un vaste plateau de 2,000 à 6,000 pieds d'altitude. Il est très bien arrosé surtout dans le Sud. Il y a deux fleuves, le Niger et le Benue que les vapeurs peuvent remonter pendant la saison des pluies, jusque Jebba et Yola. Sauf le lac Tchad à l'extrême Nord-Est, il n'y a pas de lacs importants.

La population totale de la Nigérie, y compris celle du Cameroun est de 18,765,790 habitants. C'est la colonie anglaise la plus peuplée après les Indes. Dans cette population on compte 4,000 Européens, principalement au service du Gouvernement et de sociétés commerciales et minières. La Nigérie n'est pas une colonie de peuplement européen. La majorité des habitants est de race nègre; dans le Nord on rencontre des Berbères et des négroïdes de races diverses.

La côte de la Nigérie fut découverte au XVe siècle par les Portugais. La demande de maind'œuvre noire en Amérique et aux Indes Occidentales fit que la traite y fut pratiquée bientôt. Au bout de trois siècles seulement cet honteux trafic fut déclaré illégal et on fit des efforts pour le réprimer. c'est ainsi qu'au début du XIXe siècle une escadre anglaise stationna le long de la côte pour s'em

increased, and the visits of naval ships and later, of the British Consul at Fernando Po gave to the British a considerable prestige and influence among the tribes inhabiting the coast of Nigeria. In 1851, British support was given to an exiled King of Lagos, who, in return, pledged himself to abolish the slave trade in Lagos, which was at that time, the chief slave market in West Africa. Finding himself powerless against the slave-dealing faction, his son ceded Lagos to the British in 1861 and the British Colony of Lagos came nto being the following year.

5. By the exertions of Mungo Park (17961805), Captain Clapperton (1822-26), Richard Lander (1826-30), Doctor Barth (1850-55) and numerous other explorers, most of whom lost their lives in the country, the course of the Niger and the existence of the Fulani kingdoms in the interior became known, and an attempt was made by Mr. Macgregor Laird and others to open up the interior to trade. In spite of the efforts of these pioneers, who were supported to a certain extent by the British Government and philanthropists, eager to strangle the slave trade by legitimate traffic, the early efforts were not successful, owing to the heavy mortality among the European crews of vessels ascending the river. A better knowledge of conditions, and the use of quinine as a prophylactic against malaria, made later operations more successful and before 1860 trade was established along the banks of the Rivers Niger and Benue. In 1879, the various British firms trading on these rivers were amalgamated, and in 1887, a Charter was granted to the amalgamated companies, which became known as the Royal Niger Company, Chartered and Limited. By this Charter the Company became responsible for the govern

ment of the river basins and the whole of Hausaland and Bornu, but, in practice, its influence extended little beyond the banks of the rivers.

6. The Berlin Conference of 1885 had recognised the British claim to a protectorate over Nigeria and that part of the country which was not included within the Lagos territories of the sphere of the Chartered Company was made into a separate administration under Foreign Office control and became known as the Oil Rivers Protectorate and later as the Niger Coast Protectorate.

7. Owing to the restrictions on trade caused by artificial boundaries and the virtual monopoly which the Niger Company exercised, to the inability of the Company's forces to restrain the slave-raiding propensities of the Fulani Chiefs, and to foreign aggression on the western frontiers, it became necessary for the British Government to assume a more direct control over the country. The Company's Charter was accordingly revoked on the 1st January, 1900, and the northern portion of their territories became the Northern Nigeria Protectorate; the southern portion was added to the Niger Coast Protectorate and the whole was renamed the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Both the Northern and the Southern Protectorates were placed under Colonial Office control.

8. In 1898, an Imperial Force, recruited locally, but with British Officers, was raised by Sir Frederick Lugard, and was later taken over by the Colonial Government. This force was named the West African Frontier Force and the armed constabularies of the other West African Colonies and Protectorates were modelled on it. Soon after the establishment

parer des vaisseaux esclavagistes. En 1851, la Grande-Bretagne donna son appui à un roi exilé du Lagos, qui en retour abolit la traite dans son Royaume, qui était le principal marché d'esclaves. Comme il était impuissant à la réprimer, il céda le Lagos à l'Angleterre en 1861. Il devint colonie britannique l'année suivante.

Les explorations de pionniers anglais eurent pour conséquence d'ouvrir l'intérieur du pays au commerce. En 1887, les diverses sociétés commerciales furent fusionnées pour former une compagnie à Charte, la « Compagnie Royale du Niger » (Royal Niger Company, Chartered and Limited).

En 1885, la Conférence de Berlin reconnut le Protectorat de la Grande-Bretagne sur la Nigérie. La Compagnie à Charte étant impuissante à empêcher les chefs Fulanis à se livrer à la traite et à défendre le pays contre des agressions de peuplades voisines, le Gouvernement anglais jugea opportun d'exercer un contrôle plus direct sur le protectorat. Il révoqua donc, le 1er janvier 1900, la Compagnie et la Nigérie fut placée sous l'autorité du Ministère des Colonies. L'abolition de la traite et la pacification du pays fut alors poursuivie avec succès.

L'hinterland du Lagos fut peu-à-peu, à la suite de cessions, ajouté aux territoires primitivement

of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, these troops were used to subdue the Muhammadan rulers of the Hausa states and Bornu who had persistently ignored the British requests for the cessation of slave-raiding and whose attitude was one of open hostility to an administration of whose power they had had no proof. As each in turn was conquered a new ruler was appointed who undertook to govern his country according to local law and tradition, but without slave-raiding and the extortion and inhuman cruelties which had marked the former regime. British Residents were stationed throughout the country and exercised a wholesome check on any tendency to relapse.

9. In the south there were fewer large states and the people on the whole were of a much lower standard of intelligence and development. On the lower reaches of the Benin River, a Jekri chief, named Nana, defied the Protectorate Government and dealt openly in slaves. He was attacked by a naval and military force and defeated in 1894 after severe fighting. In 1897 a peaceful mission to the King of Benin was massacred and another combined expedition was despatched; Benin was captured and was found to be full of the remains of human sacrifices, for which the City had long had an unpleasant reputation. In 1902 the Aro tribe was subdued.

10. While the remainder of the country was being opened up, the hinterland of Lagos was being added by cession to the territories originally ceded by the King of Lagos in 1861. In 1866 Lagos had been included in the West African Settlements and in 1874 it was united with the Gold Coast Colony. It became the separate Colony and Protectorate of Lagos in 1886.

11. In 1906 Lagos and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated and in 1914 Northern Nigeria was included and the whole country became the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

12. On the outbreak of war in 1914, the Nigeria Regiment (of the West African Frontier Force) took part in the campaign which resulted in the conquest of the neighbouring German Colony of the Cameroons and a strong contingent of the Regiment also fought in the East African Campaign. On the whole the loyalty of the chiefs and people of Nigeria throughout the war was very marked, but there was a somewhat serious rising in Egbaland in 1918 which was quickly subdued.

13. The principal languages spoken are, in the Nothern Provinces, Hausa, Fulani, and Arabic; and in the Southern Provinces, Yoruba, Efik, Ibo, and Ibibio.

14. The currency is controlled by the West African Currency Board which was constituted in November, 1912, to provide for the currency of the British West African Colonics and Protectorates.

The coins current are : United Kingdom gold, silver, and bronze; West African silver and alloy coins of the values of two shillings, one shilling, sixpence and threepence; and Nigerian nickel-bronze coins of the values of one penny, one halfpenny and one-tenth of a penny. United Kingdom notes are legal tender; and West African notes of one pound and ten shillings are also current. The United Kingdom coins are being gradually superseded by the West African and Nigerian coinage.

15. The weights and measures used in Nigeria are the same as those used in Great Britain.

cédés par le Roi du Lagos en 1861. En 1866, tous ces territoires furent incorporés dans les « Etablissements de l'Afrique Occidentale » (West African Settlements); en 1874, ils furent ajoutés à la Colonie de la Côte d'Or (Gold Coast Colony) et, en 1886, ils furent érigés en colonie séparée sous le nom de « Colonie et Protectorat du Lagos » (Colony and Protectorate of Lagos). En 1906, le Lagos et la Nigérie Méridionale furent réunis; en 1914, on y ajouta la Nigérie Septentrionale. Cet ensemble constitue la Colonie et le Protectorat actuel de la Nigérie (Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria). Les troupes indigènes ont participé pendant la guerre à la conquête du Cameroun et à la campagne dans l'Est Africain. Les principales langues parlées sont, dans le Nord le Haussa, le Fulani et l'Arabe, et dans le Sud, le Yoruba, l'Efik, l'Ibo et l'Ibibio.

Les monnaies en usage sont : la monnaie d'or, d'argent et de bronze du Royaume-Uni; la monnaie d'argent et d'appoint de l'Afrique Occidentale qui comprend des pièces de deux et de un shelling, de six et de trois pence; ainsi que les pièces de nickel et bronze de un penny, d'un demi-penny et d'un dixième de penny. Tous les billets de banque du Royaume-Unis ainsi que ceux d'une livre et de dix shelling de l'Afrique Occidentale ont cours légal. Les monnaies du Royaume-Uni sont graduellement

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