Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/347

 the Faithful for the Holy War. The French had no direct relations with him till 1881, when they sent him a native envoy, who ran great risk of his life in undertaking this mission. Soon after their respective forces came into collision, with the result that Samory acknowledged the French protectorate on the left bank of the Niger below Tankisso or Bafing, while consolidating his own power in the upper regions and eastwards beyond Wassulu.

Since the foundation of this Mussulman kingdom a veritable social revolution is said to have been accomplished by the new Mandingan sultan, who has

generally suppressed the slave trade, enlisting the captives as soldiers, arming them with modern rifles, and accustoming them to European discipline. These tactics will probably lead to fresh conquests, especially in the direction of Sierra-Leone, by the absorption of the Kuranko and Timni territories.

On the other hand, the Toucouleur empire below the French protectorate on the left bank of the Niger has entered on a state of decadence. It was founded in 1850 by the pilgrim Omar, who after overrunning the Jallonké country, received a first serious check at the French station of Medina in 1857. But although