Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/686

Rh 660 SENEGAL SENEGAL, a river of western Africa, which falls into the Atlantic about 16 N. lat., 9 or 10 miles below St Louis. It is formed at Bafulab^ 1 (13 50' N. lat. and 10 50' W. long.) by the junction of the Ba-fing or Black River and the Ba-khoy or White River. The Ba-fing, which has a width at the confluence of 1475 feet, descends from the highlands of Futa-Jallon by a northward course of about 350 miles, during which it passes by a series of rapids from the altitude of 2460 feet, at which it takes its rise, to that of 360 feet, and receives from the right the Nunkolo and the Funkumah (with its tributary the Boki). The Ba-khoy, 800 feet wide at the confluence, has been previously flowing from east to west and gives that general direction to the Senegal, but its source is away in the south-east behind the country of Bur6. That of its prin- cipal tributary, the Ba-ule (Red River), is more to the east and lies within a few miles of the course of the Niger in the Mandingo plateau. Below Bafulabd the Senegal, flow- ing north-west, passes a succession of falls those of Guina (160 feet) and of Felu (50 or 60) and arrives at M6dine, after having accomplished 440 of its total course of 1000 miles. It receives only two important affluents, from the right the "marigot" of Kulu, which comes fromKuniakhary, draining the slopes of the Kaarta plateau, and from the left the Falem6, which rises in the Futa-Jallon between Labe" and Timbo and flows north-west in a permanent stream. Below M6dine the Senegal presents a series of great reaches, which become more and more navigable as they approach the sea. From the 1st of August to the 1st of October it is open as far as Medine to vessels not drawing more than 8 feet. Between Medine and Bakel (85 miles) there are twenty-seven "narrows," of which several, such as that at Kayes, are difficult; it is on this account that a railway has been projected between Kayes and the Niger. At Bakel below the confluence of the Falem6 the river is navigable till the 1st of December, from Bakel to Sald^ between the 15th of July and the 15th of December, and lastly from Mafu to the sea for a distance of 215 miles it is navigable all the year round. Outside the limits indicated navigation between Mafu and Medine is often precarious even for barges drawing little over a foot, and above Medine, though some reaches are deep enough, troublesome transhipments are necessary between reach and reach. Between Mafu and Salde the Senegal changes its direction from north-west to west, and shortly before reaching the sea to south-west. The bar at the mouth can usually be crossed by vessels not drawing more than 10 feet, or at high tides a little more. Below Bakel the river becomes tortuous and encloses the great island of Morfil, 110 miles long, and a series of other islands, of which one is occupied by St Louis. At this point the right branch of the river is only 500 feet from the sea, but the dunes along the coast turn it south for other 9 miles. The scantiness of its sources, the steepness of its upper course, and the rapid evaporation which takes place after the short rainy season would soon dry up the river-system of the Senegal, especially in the upper regions; but natural dams cross the channel at intervals and the water accumulates behind them in deep reaches, which thus act as reservoirs. In the rainy season the barriers are submerged in succession, beginning with the farthest up, the reaches are filled, and the plains of the lower Senegal are changed into immense marshes. Like Lake Mceris in antiquity on the Nile and the lake of Cambodia at the present time on the Me-kong, Lake Cayor on the right side of the lower Senegal and Lake Panieful on the left constitute reserve basins, receiving the surplus waters of the river during flood and restoring them in the dry season. For months together the latter forms the only drink- ing pond for the wild beasts of the surrounding country, lions, elephants, leopards, panthers, ounces, cheetahs, hyaenas, lynxes, giraffes, antelopes, gazelles, monkeys, jackals visiting it in crowds. In the upper part of the river the reservoirs are successively emptied to the level of the dams and receive no more water except from the permanent springs; but they are partially protected by curtains of verdure from the effects of the evaporation which makes itself so severely felt on the treeless seaboard. Owing to these natural "locks," similar to those of an artificial canal, the Senegal river never discharges less than 1700 or 1800 cubic feet per second. The lower Senegal forms the boundary between the dry and barren Sahara and the rich and productive region of the western Sudan; the line of its inundations is an ethnographic march between the nomadic Moor and the settled Negro. Bafulabi is a native word for " confluence." SENEGAL, 2 a French colony of western Africa, com- posed of lines of fortified posts and a loose agglomeration of states and territories in various degrees of subjugation. The forts extend (a) from St Louis at the mouth of the Senegal to Bammako on the Niger, 3 (&) along the coast of the Atlantic between St Louis and the mouth of the Salum to the south of Cape Verd, and (c) along the so-called rivers of the south which fall into the ocean between the Gam- bia and SIERRA LEONE (q.v.). French influence is fully dominant along those lines either in the form of actual territorial possession or of a recognized protectorate. 4 The colony is ruled by a governor, sends a deputy to the French legislature, and elects a general council of sixteen members, ten for the electoral district of St Louis, four for that of Goree-Dakar, and two for that of Rufisque. The three communes just named have each its municipal council. The population of those French pos- sessions was in 1884 197,644, 46,364 urban, 143,200 rural, 8080 " floating." In the whole number there were only 1474 Europeans, of whom 1461 were French. The population of the protected countries cannot be ascertained. The most important places in the colony are St Louis (18,924 inhabitants in 1883), Dagana (5375), Rufisque (4244), Medine (3000), Jpal (2372), Goree and Dakar (each 2000). The colony has only a single true port, that of Dakar to the east of the peninsula of Cape Verd, since 1885 connected with St Louis by a railroad, 163 miles long, and visited by Atlantic steamers on their way from France to South America. Rufisque and Goree have open roadsteads, where vessels anchor at some dis- tance from the shore. The port of St Louis in the Senegal is diffi- cult of access owing to the bar, but it is the only place where vessels can repair serious damages. The principal commercial centres are St Louis (imports and exports), Goree (exports), and Rufisque (exports). The upper Senegal sends ground-nuts (known as Galam nuts), gum, millet, leather, and receives in exchange blue calico (guinee) from India, England, and Belgium, various other cotton stuffs, cotton yarn, guns and ammunition, tobacco, crushed rice, sugar (raw and refined), molasses, biscuits, tinsmiths' wares, &c. The colony also imports Swedish iron, which is manu- factured by the native blacksmiths into agricultural implements, knives, daggers, and spearheads. Cayor sells its ground-nuts for money. The rivers of the south district export ground-nuts, palm kernels, india-rubber, leather, coflee, in return for English and Bel- gian blue calico, Hamburg brandy, English gunpowder, English and Belgian guns, and American tobacco. An English firm has twenty-three factories on the Rio Nunez, and others on the Rio Pongo and the Mellacoree. The total value of the exports and imports of the colony was 1,325,711 in 1879, 1,774,089 in 1880, and 1,888,657 in 1883, the imports slightly preponderating over the exports. The value of the ground-nuts exported in 1883 was 700,000, that of the gums only 120,000; and the ground-nut trade is still rapidly developing. The imports comprise French 3 For the physical geography, &c., see SENEGAMBIA. 8 Along this line lie Richard Toll, Dagana (founded in 1821), Podor (1743 and 1854), Saldd (1859), Matam (1857), Bakel (1820), Kayes, Medine (1855), and Bafulabe 1 (1879) on the Senegal, and between ilii.s river and the Niger the forts of Badumbe' and Tukota on the Ba-khoy, Kita (1881), Kondu (1882), Niagassola (1884-85), and lastly Bam- mako (1883) or Bammaku, on the Niger. 4 ARRONDISSEMENT I. On the circle of Bakel depend the post of Matam, the protected countries of Damga (1859), Guoy, Kamera, Guidimakha, Bondu, and Bambuk; on the circle of Medine, Khasso, Logo, and Natiaga; on the circle of BafulaM, Bariuta, Makadugu, Beteadugu, Farimbula, Bafing; on the circle of Kita, the province of Kita and Fuladugu; on the circle of Bammako, Birgo and Little Beledugu. This arrondisseraent is under the command of a superior officer resident at Kayes. ARRONDISSEMENTS II., III. These are formed by Lao and Toro (1863), protected countries attached to the circle of Soldi; the circle of Podor, which comprises the French portion of Toro and a fragment of Dimar; the circle of Dagana, on which depend the other portion of Dimar and a portion of Walo; the sub- urban district of St Louis, including the other portion of Walo, Ross, Merinaghen, the cantons of Gandiole, M'pal, Khattet, Gondu, Diala- khar, N'diago, and Tube; N'diambor and Merina N'guick, separated from Cayor and placed under French protection, as well as the king- doms of Cayor and Baol; the suburb of Dakar with the island of Goree, the cantons of Rufisque and the circles of Afbijfm, Thies, Portudal, and Joal. ARRONDISSEMENT IV. The Rivers of the South district constitutes the fourth arrondissement under a lieutenant- governor, and comprises the circle of Kaolack or Saln.m; those of Carabane and Sedhiu on the Cazamance, with the protected countries of Pakao, Balmadu, Suna, Yacine, Firdu; the circle of Rio Nitftez formed by the Nalus and Landuman tribes; the circle of the Rio Pongo with the country of the Susus; the circle of MellacorSe with the protected countries of Samo, Kaback, Kabita, Kalum, Tabu.ssn, Maneah, Correra, and the island of Tombo.