Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/655

* NIGERIA. 559 NIGHTHAWK. Ecnue, and a number of smaller rivers. The principal seaports are Akassa, Old and New Calabar, and New Benin. The imports and ex- ports for l'JOO-01 amounted to $5,842,490 and $5,079,135 respectively. At the head of the administration of Nigeria are two high commissioners, assisted by resi- dents. There are a supreme court, at Asaba, and a number of resident courts. The revenue is derived principally from customs duties, which are collected at the ports of Lagos and Southern Nigeria, and distributed among these two gov- ernments and that of Northern Nigeria. In 1900-01 the revenue and expenditure amounted to .$I.8o5.;!92 and .$1,481,170 respectively. The control of the British Government thus far ex- tends only to a small proportion of the ter- ritory along the coast. The prerogatives of the Sultan of Sokoto are still recognized in a large measure. The inhabitants of the coast region are pure negroes in a very low state of civilization. The inhabitants of the interior are also of negro descent, intermixed with some of the races of Northern Africa. They show some traces of Jloorish influence. The reMgion is Jlohammedan- isni tinged with fetishism. The most advanced and intelligent of the population are the Hausas. (See Hausa States.) British settlements and trading stations were established along the Gulf of Guinea in the re- gion of the Niger at a very early period, but these were only private enterprises without any political powers or aims. It was only with the establish- ment of the United African Company, reorgan- ized into the National African Company by Sir George Goldie in 1882, that the movement look- ing toward the future acquisition of Nigeri.a by Great Britain was started. After having concluded political treaties with the native rulers the company obtained a ro.yal charter in 1886, and its name was changed to the Royal Niger Company. The boimdaries were fixed by treaties with Germanv in 18S5. 1880. and 1893, and with France in "l889, 1890, and 1898. In 1884 and 1887 the territory of Nigeria was declared a British protectorate, and the sea- board region was organized into the Oil Rivers Protectorate, and was put under the authority of a royal commissioner in 1891, the company having no jurisdiction in that part of the eotm- try. The name of the Oil River Protectorate was soon changed to Niger Coast Protectorate, and its territory was augmented by tlu; addition of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, and further extensions along the Cross River in the south- eai5t. On January 1, 1900, the company sur- rendered its charter and the whole territory passed under the British control. BiBLTOGRAPHY. Lucas, Historical Geo(!riij)hi/ of the British Colonies, vol. iii. (Oxford. 1894)"; Keltic. The Partition of Africa (2d cd., Lon- don. 1895) : Robinson, JJauf<alaiifI : Fifteen Hun- dred Miles Throiifih Central Soudan (ib., 1800) ; Miickler-Ferryman. Imperial Africa, vol. i.(ib., 1898) ; Hourst, The Exploration of the Ifiger (trans., ib.. 1898) ; Blindloss, In the Nif/cr Cotin- tr;i (ib., 1898) : Johnston, The Colonization of Africa (Cambridge, 1890); Robinson, Nifieria: Our Latest Protectorate (London, 1900) ; Mock- ler-Ferryman, British yir/cria (ib., 1902). NIGGER CHUB, or Nigger Dick. A chub {Exoglossuni inaxillingua) of the lakes and rivers of the Middle States, distinguishable from all other cyprinids by its three-lobed under jaw. it is about six inelies long, dusky greenish on the back, with a black bar behind the gill-cover. Compare Citlip.s (a name also locally given to the present fish ) . NIGGER-FISH. One of the many names given to the sea-bass of the genus Bodianus, allied to the groupers. They are small, bright- colored spotted fishes that live in warm seas. A common species about Bermuda, Florida, and "'-^jSji'" NiGGER-Fise (Boflianiis fulrust- southward is Bodianus fulrus, also called 'yellow fish' and "butter-fish,' a dark variety of which is especially designated by 'nigger-fish.' The Span- ish name for the group is guativere. They are brought to market. NIGGER-TOES. See Brazil-Nuts. NIGHT- APE. A nyctipithecine monkey. See DOUROUCOULI. NIGHT-BLINDNESS. A form of amblyo- pia, or a limited ability to see in a faint light, due to defective power of retinal adaptation; nyctalopia. See Sight, Defects of. NIGHTHAWK. The North American night- jar (Chordeiles ]'irfiinianus), numerous and well known in all temperate parts of the continent in summer, whence in winter it migrates to the tropics. It is about 10 inches long and 23 inclies in expanse of wing. The gape is destitute of bristles. The tail is slightly forked. The general color is brown, much mottled, and marked with white. There is a white mark on the throat, in shape like the letter V, and a broad white bar, which extends across the first five primary wing-feathers, is plainly visible when the bird is near by and flying. The middle toe is provided with a comb-like process used by the bird to free itself of vermin. The nighthawk is seen pursuing its insect prey in the air, chiefly after sunset and before dawn, and attracts at- tention by its sharp, tearing cry. It also pro- duces in its flight a remarkable hollow booming sound, "like blowing into the bung-hole of a barrel," in the moments of its perpendicular descent through the air, which has gained for it such rustic names as 'buUbat' and "piraniidig;* also 'mosquito hawk.' Its movements in the air are extremely beautiful and rapid. When fat and plump, as it usually is on its southward migration, it is said to be good eating, and some are shot for that purpose. A closely allied species occurs in Texas and Jlexico, and another in the West Indies. The latter is very generally kno i as the 'gie-me-a-bit,' from its vei'y char- acteristic note. Nighthawks lay their eggs on the bare grotind or on a flat rock or roof of a building. They are usually two in number, and are dull white, closely marked with fine specks of grayish brown. At rest these birds roost by squatting lengthwise on a large horizontal tree-