Page:EB1911 - Volume 24.djvu/672

 and other countries in the Niger bend with the river ports and the colonies on the Gulf of Guinea. There is a complete system of with all the French colonies in West. The principal line (over m. long) connects  with  and from  goes east to. At Burrem on the Niger, m. below, starts a line across the  to.

Trade and Agriculture.—The chief exports are (which comes largely from the northern districts such as Kaarta),, ,  nuts,  and  feathers. Part of the trade is still done by s across the to  and, and a goodly proportion of the exports from the middle Niger are shipped from Konakry in. Under the direction of French officials, -growing on scientific methods was begun in the Niger basin in. and Egyptian varieties were introduced, the varieties proving well adapted to the soil. Indigenous varieties of are common and are cultivated by the s for domestic use, weaving being a general. is found in the basin of the Faleme and of the Tankisso. is abundant in the southern part of the Niger bend, the latex being extracted by the s in large quantities. The people are great agriculturists, their chief crops being millet, maize,, and. is cultivated by the river folk along the banks inundated by the s. is grown in the neighbourhood of, the seed having been, in all probability, brought from  at the time of the ish invasion (see ). The of the karite or shea-butter tree, common in the southern and western regions, is largely used. are plentiful; there are several good breeds of s; s are numerous and largely used as transport animals; wool bearing —distinct from the smooth-haired of the coast regions—are bred in many districts, the s using the wool largely in the manufacture of blankets and rugs. es are fairly numerous in the upper portion of the Niger bend and on the left bank of the Niger east of, and their feathers form a valuable article of trade. Most of the trade of this vast region is with France and through Senegal.

The story of the Frenchconquests throughout West Africa is inseparably connected with the history of Senegal. Trading stations were established elsewhere on the coast, but the line of penetration into the interior of the continent was, until the last few years of the th century, invariably by way of the. Hence there is a peculiar interest in the record of the early settlements on this coast. The had some establishments on the banks of the  in the th century; they penetrated to Bambuk in search of, and were for some time masters of that country, but the inhabitants rose and drove them out. Remains of their s are still to be seen. The first French settlement was probably made in (see, ). Between, when the French settlements were assigned to 's West India Company, and , when the was seized by the British, Senegal had passed under the administration of seven different companies, none of which attained any great success, though from  to  affairs were conducted by a really able , André Brue, who did not, however, spend the whole of his time in ; from  to  he directed the affairs of Senegal from. Brue made many exploring expeditions and was on one occasion captured by the s, who extorted a heavy ransom. Under his direction the regions of Bambuk, long since abandoned by the, were revisited  and the first map of Senegal drawn. In the meantime the French had captured from the  Rufisque, Portugal, Joal and  and they were confirmed in possession of these places by the treaty of Nijmwegen. In the French acquired Portendic, a road stead half way between capes Verde and Blanco, and in  Arguin, an island off the coast of the, which still belongs to the. and the district of Cape Verde were captured by the British under Commodore Keppel in, but were surrendered to the French in , and by the treaty of peace in the whole of the  was also restored. The British again captured the in the wars of the  (, St Louis ) and, though the treaty of  authorized a complete restitution, the French authorities did not enter into possession till. At that time the authority of France did not extend beyond the island of and the town of, whilst up to  little was effected by the thirty-seven s who followed each other in rapid succession. Of these s Captain (afterwards Admiral) Bouët-Willaumez had previously explored the as far as Médine and was anxious to increase French influence, but his stay in Senegal (–) was too brief to permit him to accomplish much.

The appointment of General Faidherbe as in  proved the turning-point in the history of Senegal. In the meantime the Niger had been explored, visited by ans and the riches of the region were attracting attention. General Faidherbe sought to bring these newly opened-up lands under French sway, and dreamed of a French empire stretching across from west to east. As far as concerned West he did much to make that dream a reality. On taking up the ship he set about subduing the ish s of the Trarzas, Braknas and Duaish, whose &ldquo;kings,&rdquo; especially the king of the Trarzas, had subjected the French settlers and traders to grievous and arbitrary exactions; and he bound them by treaty to confine their authority to the north bank of the. In he annexed the country of Walo and, ascending the river beyond, erected the fort of Médine for the purpose of stemming the advancing tide of  invasion, which under Omar al-Haji (Alegui) threatened the safety of the. In Médine was brilliantly defended by the mulatto Paul Holle against Omar, who with his army of  men had to retire before the advance of General Faidherbe and turn his attention to the conquest of the  states within the bend of the Niger. The conquest of the n region by the French followed. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in checked the French schemes of penetration for some five or six years, but the delay proved to be no disadvantage for Great Britain, France’s only serious rival in West Africa at the time, remained inert.

The first French expedition into the heart of the Niger country was undertaken in, when General Faidherbe sent Lieut. E. Mage and Dr Quintin to explore the country east of the. The two travellers pushed as far as Segu on the Niger, then the capital of the almany Ahmadu, a son of Omar al-Haji. At Segu they were forcibly detained from February to March. During this period they gathered much valuable information concerning the, and  of the middle Niger region. In the explorer Paul Soleillet (–) also penetrated to Segu. In Colonel Briére de l'Isle ( of Senegal, –) appointed Captain Joseph S. Gallieni to investigate the route for a  and to reopen communications with the almany Ahmadu; and at this time the post of Bafulabé was constructed. The armed conquest began in, and for more than fifteen years was carried on by Borgnis-Desbordes, J. S. Gallieni, H. N. Frey, Louis Archinard, Col. Combes, Tite Pierre Eugène Bonnier and other officers. In the Niger was reached; the fort of Kita was erected to the south-east of Médine to watch the region between the  and the Joliba (upper Niger); the fort of  on the Niger was built in ; a  was made,  m. of  line laid down and the work of  construction begun. In Ahmadu, who had formerly been anxious to obtain , signed a treaty placing the whole of his country under French protection. Besides Ahmadu the principal opponent of the French was a Malinké chieftain named Samory, a man of humble origin, born about, who first became prominent as a reformer of , and