Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/349

 NORTflERN NIGEIUA 227

Medical, 32,556^. ; Police, 26,425Z. ; Transport, 35,906Z. ; Marine, 36,196^. ; Baro-Kano Railway, open lines, 61,067/.

In 1911 there was established in each native State a Treasury, locally known as a "Beit-el-Mal," which regulates the expenditure of that portion of the local revenue which is annually assigned to the native administration of each Emirate for its support and maintenance. The establishment of a Beit-el-Mal consolidates the rank and authority of the Emirs and Chiefs in each province. It strengthens the position of the native judiciary and diminishes extortion and corruption.

Production and Industry. — The products of the low country are palm-oil and kernels; of the inland regions, rubber, ground-nuts, shea-butter, ivory, hides, live stock, ostrich feathers, capsicums, kola-nuts and various drugs. Cotton-growing is now carried on and several ginneries are at work. Tobacco is also grown. Sheep and goat skins are tauned and dyed. A geological survey under the direction of the Imperial Institute has been completed and the final reports have been published. The natives have worked iron, lead and tin for centuries. Rich alluvial deposits of tin ore have been discovered in the Bauchi, Kano, Zaria, Nassarawa and Kabba Provinces. Lodes have also been found and mining operations have com- menced. At present the ore is being won almost entirel}'' by panning or calabashing, but the ground is suitable for sluicing operations, and some of the companies have imported and are erecting extensivf sluicing plant. The ore is exported in the form of washed and dressed concentrates which average 70 per cent, of metallic tin. It is anticipated that the tin mining indnstiy Avill ultimately develop into one of the greatest sources of wealth of the Protectouite. The tin-bearing area so far as it is now known extends over 9,000 square miles of territory, its general direction in point of length being from north-east to south-west. The output of tin in 1911 was 1,471 tons.

Rich reefs of galena carrying a considerable silver return are known to exist in the province of Muri ; these reefs, which are to some extent worked by the natives for Tozali, are now being closel}^ prospected and assayed. Pockets of native silver have from time to time been discovered in the vicinity of Orufu and Wukari.

The whole of the mining rights are vested in the Government, but under an agreement made with the Royal Niger Company at the date of the revocation of the charter, the Niger Company will receive half the gross profits derived from royalties on minerals won between the main stream of the Niger on the west and a line running direct from Yola to Zinder on the east for a period of 99 years with effect from January 1, 1900.

Commerce and Communication. —Considerable trade is carried on in Northern Nigeria, and several new trading stations have been recently opened. There is, besides, a large trade by caravans which, coming from Salaga in the west, Tripoli, Morocco, and the Sahara in the north, and Lake Chad and Wadai in the east, make use of Kano as an emporium. It is anticipated that on the railway reaching Kano this trade will be diverted and come in from the south. The imports are chiefiy cottons, hardware, building material, machinery, and tinned provisions, which are bartered for the produce of the country. (For statistics of trade, see pages 234-5. ) Spirits are prohibited throughout the Protectorate.

The construction of a railway of 400 miles from Baro (at the head of the permanently navigable portion of the Niger) to Bida, Zungeru, Zaria, and Kano, was completed in March, 1911. The railway has a 3ft. 6in. gauge. The Lagos railway was opened to Jebba in August, 1909, and was joined up with the Minna-Zungeru link in June, 1911. A weekly boat-tiain with

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