Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/962

 840 FRANCE; — FRENCH WEST AFRICA

collected. The mahogany forests inland are worked ; gold is found near Grand Bassam in Baonli, on ihe Comoe River and on the Bia River ; gold ore output in 1908, 2,857 grammes (7,412 francs). The ports of the Colony are visited by the liners of two French, one British (Elder, Dempster), one German, and one Belgian shipping company. It is proposed to create a port and railway at Petit Bassam, and a sum of 10,000,000 francs has been assigned from the colonial loan for this purpose. The port works at Petit Bassam (now called Port Bouet) are in ])rogiess, and from Abijean, on the north side of the lagoon, the railway is being constructed ; .since June 1, 1909, there has been communication between Abijean and Dimbokro, (114 miles). There were at the end of 1907, 1,840 miles of telegraph and 420 miles of tele])hone lines with 5 miles of submarine wires. Telegraph lines connect the principal towns and extend to adjoining colonies. Telephonic communication exists between Bassam and Bingerville and other places. The budget of the colony for 1911 pi'ovided for the sum of 5,474,000 francs.

British Vice-Consul at Grand Ba^ssam, — Vacant,

Dahomey stretches from the coast between German Togoland on the west and the British possessions of Lagos and Nigeria on the east, and extends northwards to the French Military Territories, France obtained a footing on the coast in 1851, and gradually extended her power until in 1894 the whole kingdom of Dahomey was annexed. The colony has only about 70 mile-s of coast, but opens out northwaixls into a wide hinterland. The colony is divided into 11 circles. The circles of Fada N'Gourma and Say (comprising about 24,000 square miles) were, in March, 1907, transi'erred to the Upper Senegal and Niger Colony. The population in 1910 was about 825,950, including 377 Europeans. The seat of government is Porto Novo (the chief business centre), which has about 19,000 inhabitants. Village, regional, and urban schools are instituted under the new West African educational system. In 1907 there were 6 official schools with 709 pupils, and 21 private schools with 1,944 pupils. The natives are of pure Negro stock, and belong to the Foil branch of the Ewe family. They are industrious agriculturists in the coast region, and grow maize, manioc, yams, and potatoes. The forests contain baobab trees and coco-nut and oil palms. At Porto Novo there is an experimental farm. Total imports (1910), 1,427,931Z ; exports, 715,294Z, The principal imports were cottons, machinery, liquors, and tobacco ; the chief exports were maize, palm kernels, palm oil, copra ; the exports of kola nuts and of rubber are decreasing. In 1907, 439 vessels entered and cleared. There are few roads in the colony. At Kotonu an iron pier has been erected, and from that port a railway runs into the interior to Save (156 miles) with a branch line to Whydah and Segborue in Lake Alieme (20 miles). The line is intended to run to Chaoru (400 miles). The gauge is a metre. Line open (1908), 192 miles ; under construction, 125 miles, A metre gauge railway has also been constructed from Porto Novo to Sakete (25 miles) along the Lagos frontier. A telegraph line connects Kotonu with Abomey, the Niger, and Senegal. In the colony there are 1,725 miles of telegraph line, and 120 miles of telephone line, French and English coins are in circulation, as well as cowrie shells. On coins other than French there is an import duty of 25 per cent. The budget of the colony for 1911 provided for the sum of 3,582,000 francs.

The Colony of Upper Senegal and the Niger was formed in 1904 from the Territories of Senegamlna and the Niger, less the Senegal Protectoni^te, which was restored to Senegal.