Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/967

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'riic militery force consists of 7 Germans and 150 natives, and an anucd police force of 100 negroes lias been organised. The four missionary societies at work in the colony have schools largely attended by native cldldren, at the chief centres of population. The climate at the coast is unhealthy for Europeans. Inland the country is hilly with streams and watercourses. There are long stretches of forest and brushwood, and dry plains alternate with cultivable land. Maize, yams, tapioca, ginger, and bananas are culti- vated to some extent by the natives, most of whom are Ewe negroes; and cocoa, oil-palms, caoutchouc, and dye-woods grow in the forests; but the country is still entirely unexploited, and the main commerce is the barter trade for palm oil, palm kernels, and gum, carried on by a few factories on the coast. There are now considerable plantations of palms, and coffee culture is being tried. In 1897 there had been planted 61,200 palms, and 90,940 cotlee bushes, with 17,500 seedlings. The cofiee yield was 4,300 kilogrammes. Native industries are weaving, pottery, smith-work, straw* plaiting, wood-cutting. On August 1, 1887, an import tax was imposed upon European goods. In 1895-96 the revenue, chiefly from customs, amounted to 382,020 marks, and expenditure, 388,180 marks, deficit, 6,160 marks. Togoland is the only German colony which is nearly self-supi)orting. Budget revenue for 1899, 550,000 marks (subvention [1900] 254,100). The imports for the year 1897 were of the value of 1,975,940 marks; 1896, 1,886,840 marks; exports in 1897, 771,025 marks; in 1896, 1,651,416 marks. In 1897 the chief exports Avere palm kernels, 427,681 marks; gum, 245,369 marks; palm oil, 84,677 marks. The chief imports were cottons, spirits, toliacco. In the year 1896-97, 270 vessels of 309,724 tons (129 German, 85 English, and 50 French vessels), entered and cleared the ports.

Kamerun.

The KamerUn region, with a coast line of 199 miles on the Bight of Biafra, between the Campo River and the Rio del Rey, is bounded on the north-east l)y a treaty-line running north-east to about 30 miles east of Yola on the Upper Benue, whence a further line of demarcation has been drawn to the southern shore of Lake Chad (see under Niger Territories, p. 191). On the south the boundary line runs inland due east from the mouth of the Campo River to aljout the meridian of long. 15° E., which may be regarded as the eastern or inland limit of the protectorate. The area is estimated at 191,130 square miles; the population at 3,500,000. The native population consists of Bantu negroes near the coast, and Sudan negroes inland. In 1897 (June) there were 253 whites, of whom 181 German. It became a German protectorate in 1884, and is placed under an imperial governor, assisted by a chancellor, two secretaries, and a local council of three representative mer- chants. The military force consists of 28 Germans and 341 natives. There are two Government schools with 150 pupils. Four missionary societies with schools attended by about 5,000 pupils, are at work in the colony. The soil in the coast region, volcanic in its nature, is fertile, and numerous valuable African vegetable productions grow in profusion. Plantations of cacao, coffee, and tobacco have been formed; in 1895 there had been planted 364,820 cacao trees and 31,596 coffee bushes; and experiments are being made towards the cultivation of cloves, caoutchouc, vanilla, ginger, pepper; numerous factories carry on an active trade in ivory and palm-oil. On January 1, 1888, an im- port duty was imposed on European goods, and from this the revenue is mainly derived. The revenue in 1895-96 amounted to 1,166,560 marks (in- cluding imperial grant in aid of 620,000 marks); the expenditure was

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