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CONGO. FREE

Tanganyika. Gold lias been discovered in Katanga, but before the advent of Europeans was held in less repute than copper. Lead, tin (Mobangi basin), sulphur, anti mercury are also reported to exist, but until the introduction of European methods it is impossible to say what are the mineral resources of the Congo region, and whether they can be worked at a profit. Animal and Vegetable Products.—Elephant and hippopotamus ivory formed for some years the most important article of export. When Europeans first entered the Congo basin the natives were found to have large stores of “dead ivory” in their possession. These stores are still being drawn on for export, supplemented by the “live ivory” obtained by the killing of elephants in the present day. In July 1889, as a precaution against the extermination of the elephant, the King issued a degree prohibiting the killing of elephants without special permission. Large herds still exist in the Congo forests, especially in the eastern and northeastern districts. A reference to the commercial statistics will show that ivory is still the second most important export from the Free • State. It is, however, a bad second to caoutchouc, the rubber of commerce, which is obtained from the rubber-bearing liana—Landolphia florida—which exists in practically inexhaustible quantities. In 1886 the value of the rubber exports only amounted to 159,000 francs. In 1900 the value had risen to 28,973,505 francs. Palm oil, palm nuts, gum copal, and timber are other natural products which swell the volume of exports, though not at present to any considerable extent. Timber is as yet only exported to the value of between £3000 and £4000, but the vast forests contain many trees, 'the wood of which is sufficiently valuable to pay the cost of transport to Europe. Ebony, teak, African cedar, mahogany are a few only of the woods that abound on the Congo. Coffee and tobacco are found in a wild state, and there is an immense number of fruit-bearing trees, and of plants yielding spices and essences which may in time be turned to profitable account. Agriculture.—Until the advent of Europeans the natives, except in the immediate neighbourhood of some of the Arab settlements, did little more than cultivate small patches of land close to their villages. They grew bananas, manioc, the Spanish potato, the sugar cane, maize, sorghum, rice, millet, eleusine, and other fruits and vegetables, as well as tobacco, but the constant state of fear in which they lived, both from their neighbours and from the Arabs, offered small inducement to industry. Future agricultural development will depend on the success which attends the efforts to turn the native into a regular labourer. Plantations have been established both by the State and by private companies, and already small quantities of coffee, cocoa, tobacco, and maize have been exported. There are no statistics of the number of domestic animals in the country, but there is a number of horses, mules, donkeys, cattle and pigs, and it is believed that cattle-rearing may be profitably undertaken in the eastern portions where the country rises towards the Mitumba Range, when the political conditions and improved transport arrangements make such an experiment possible. Industries.—In some districts the natives possess considerable skill in working in wood, ivory, and metals, but the Congo industries are at present purely local. Iron and copper are extracted by certain tribes, which enjoy a practical monopoly of this kind of work. The knives, spears, and shields of native workmanship frequently show both ingenuity and skill, alike in design and in execution. European fabrics have, among the tribes nearest the coast, already affected the weaving of cloths by the natives, but over a great part of the State territory the natives still manufacture cloth from vegetable fibres. They employ four different colours, yellow, the natural colour, black, red, and brown, which are obtained by dyeing, and these colours they combine into effective designs. In some tribes a rude form of printing designs on cloth is practised, and on the Sankuru and Lukenye a special kind of cloth, with a heavy pile resembling velvet, is made by the Basongo-Meno and other tribes. Commerce.—The following table shows the total exports under the headings—(1) Special Commerce, which includes only such articles as originate from the Congo Free State ; and (2) General Commerce, which includes exports of all kinds from the Free State, whatever their place of origin :—

1887 1890 1895 1898 1899

. . . ..

Special.

General.

1,980,441 8,242,199 10,943,019 22,163,482 36,067,959

7,667,949 14,109,781 12,135,656 25,396,706 39,138,283

The following table shows the value of the principal products

STATE

exported from the Free State (Special Commerce) at three periods:— Articles. Caoutchouc Ivory. Palm nuts Palm oil Timber Miscellaneous

1887. Francs. 116,768 795,700 590,781 462,609

1899.

14,583

Francs. 2,882,585 5,844,640 1,242,898 935,658 12,200 25,038

Francs. 28,100,917 5,834,620 1,293,413 734,511 91,312 13,186

1,980,441

10,943,019

36,067,959

The increasing importance of the trade with Belgium is shown in the following table, in which will be found the value of the general exports to Belgium, Holland, and Great Britain at three periods :— Country. Belgium Holland Great Britain

1890.

1895.

1899.

Francs. 2,217,599 8,073,208 833,941

Francs. 8,999,660 885,405 592,496

Francs. 32,367,828 1,656,561 281,593

The first year for which full statistics of imports are available is 1893. The following table shows the Special and General Imports in that year and in two subsequent years. “ Special ” imports are goods intended for consumption immediately on their arrival, or on their being taken out of the entrep6t:—

1893 1897 1899

Special.

General.

Francs. 9,175,103 22,181,462 22,325,846

Francs. 10,148,418 23,427,197 27,102,581

Of the special imports in 1899,Belgium sent 15,592,745 francs ; Great Britain, 2,922,739; Germany, 1,359,688 ; and Holland, 882,426. The principal articles imported in 1899 were textile fabrics and clothing, 5,147,610 francs; food substances, 3,887,912; steamers and machinery for steamers, 2,704,819 ; drinks, 1,718,627 ; metal and metal goods, 1,667,391 ; machinery other than for steamers, 1,492,310 ; arms, ammunition, &c., 932,073. Shipping and Navigation.—There is a fortnightly service of steamers between Antwerp and Boma and Banana. There is also frequent steam communication with Liverpool, Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Lisbon. In 1899 there entered at Boma and Banana 192 seagoing vessels of 369,645 tons, and cleared 197 vessels of 375,715 tons. Of the tonnage entered, 191,843 was Belgian ; 79,037, British; and 65,682, German. Of the tonnage cleared 189,933 was Belgian ; 85,588 was British ; and 67,113, German. During the same year 440 coasting vessels of 19,838 tons entered, and 451 vessels of 20,557 tons cleared from the same ports. Internal Communications.—Prom the mouth of the Congo to the beginning of the rapids, which render the river unnavigable—a distance of about a hundred miles—the State maintains a fleet of seven steamers, in which passengers and goods are transpoited from the larger ocean-going steamers to Matadi, the point ot departure of the railway. Matadi can, however, be approached by ships of considerable burden. Before the railway, all merchandise and goods for the interior had to be carried by porters from the coast to Stanley Pool. This method wms both costly and inconvenient. The journey took three weeks. In 1887 the King granted to the Congo Industrial and Commercial Company a concession to construct a railway from the lower river to Stanley Pool, and, after a survey had been made, a Congo Railway Company was founded in Brussels in July 1889, with a capital of 25 million francs, of which the Belgian Government subscribed 10 millions. The moving spirit in this great enterprise was Colonel Thys. The work was begun almost immediately, but nearly insuperable difficulties were encountered, both engineering and financial. The line viis finally completed in March 1898, and formally opened to traffic in the following July—nine years after its practical inception. The length of the line is 260 miles, and its inland terminus is at Ndolo on Stanley Pool, a short distance from Leopoldville. There