EDUCATION. Rector, Royal College, T. B. Barnes, Rs. 15,000. Royal College School. Headmaster (vacant), Rs. 10,000. Masters, L. R. A. Glover, Rs. 7,000-9,000, and Dr. W. Ithier. Government Schools. Superintendent of Schools, P. Henri, Rs. 11,000. RAILWAY DEPARTMENT. General Manager of Railways, Superintendent of Granary and Harbour Engineer, Director of Electricity, H. C. M. Austen, C.B.E., Rs. 22,500 (a). Assistant Engineer P. Cantin, Rs. 7,500. Accountant, H. E. Barlow, Rs. 7,500-500-8,500. Traffic Superintendent, E. Lamberty, Rs. 7,500. Works Manager, T. B. B. Giles, Rs. 10,500-12,500. Electrical Department. Spain, Senor Don Juan Lapuente (Cape Town). Sweden, H. G. Robinson; Captain J. F. Ireland (acting). Finland, Louis V. Goupille (Vice-Consul); Maingard U.S.A., Hugh S. Muller (at Durban). NIGERIA. Situation, Area and Population. The British Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria is situated on the north-eastern shore of that deep indentation in the western coast of the African continent known as the Gulf of Guinea, and is enclosed roughly by parallels of latitude 4° and 14° N. and by meridians of longitude 3° and 14° E. It is bounded on the north and north-west by the military territories of the French Sudan, on the east and south-east by the Cameroons, on the south and south-west by the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, and on the west by the French Director of Electricity and Telephones, T. Williams, colony of Dahomey. Its greatest length from Rs. 13,500. Assistant Director of Electricity and Telephones, R. T. Stevens, Rs. 6,300-250-7,800-400-9,000. RODRIGUES. Magistrate, J. Le Roy, Rs. 9,000-12,000. east to west is 700 miles and greatest breadth from north to south 650 miles. Great Britain has received a mandate over a small portion (amounting to 34,081 square miles) of the former German territory of the Cameroons, which portion has been placed, for purposes of administration, under the Nigerian Government. The area of Nigeria, including the area of Government Medical Officer, M. Rousset, Rs. 7,000- Cameroons under British Mandate, is approximately 10,000. LESSER DEPENDENCIES. 372,599 square miles (Southern Provinces and Colony 90,896 square miles, Northern Provinces 281,703 square miles). The country is therefore District and Stipendiary Magistrate, J. Le Roy, a little less in area than the United Kingdom, France Rs. 9,000-12,000. Topographically speaking, Nigeria consists of the following four main zones or areas : (1) An area of swamp and mangrove forest with parallel to the coast-line and varying in depth almost impenetrable undergrowth, running from 20 to 60 miles. This area, which includes the deltaic region of the River Niger, is covered by a network of creeks and traversed by numerous rivers, the most important of which are the Rivers Benin, Forcados (branch of the River Niger), Nun (branch of the River Niger), Sombreiro, Bonny, Imo, Kwa-Ibo, and Cross. (2) A belt of dense forest with thick undergrowth extending from the western to the eastern boundary and from 50 to 100 miles in width. The southern border of this area is some 20 miles from the coast-line in the west and thence follows the northern limit of the swamp and mangrove area. Its northern edge is difficult to determine exactly, as the belt gradually changes to patches of forest alternating with thick scrub and grass plains running approximately along a line drawn in a general east-south-easterly direction from about 7° 30' N. on the western border to 6° N. on the extreme east. The country is generally undulating with scattered hills, and an extensive 430 view can seldom be obtained; there are, however, hills rising to over 3,000 feet, and the region becomes mountainous as the Cameroons frontier is approached. The zone is well watered by numerous rivers, which with few exceptions run from north to south, and contains extremely rich oil-palm areas. There are no open spaces, except around villages and clearings for farms. (3) A zone of comparatively open country gradually developing into park-like land and thence into open expanses covered with high grass as the watershed of the River Benue and that of the Niger (above its confluence with the Benue) are neared. The zone is generally hilly and mountainous on the Cameroons frontier, where heights above 6,000 feet are to be found. (4) A plateau occupying the greater portion of Nigeria north of the Rivers Niger and Benue. East of longitude 7° the southern limits of this plateau are determined by a zone of hills which succeeds the undulating grass country to the south. The features of the plateau are generally similar, and although many rivers take their rise in this tableland, it is broken to no great extent by their valleys, except in the cases of those of the Rivers Niger and Benue on the south and west. In elevation it does not exceed an altitude of much over 2,000 feet, except in the mountainous parts of Bauchi, where heights of 6,000 feet and more occur, and in the south-west of Yola, which is occupied by a part of the Cameroons mountain system. The surface is generally undulating, marked here and there by hills of granite and sandstone, which rise abruptly from the surrounding land. The country is clothed to a large extent with thin forests which become more and more scanty as the Western Sudan is entered and the arid 'steppes" " of the Sahara Desert are approached Climate. West Africa formerly had the reputation of being so unhealthy that almost certain death would be the fate of the white man who endeavoured to make it his permanent home. And in this general condemnation Nigeria has been included. Though it cannot be claimed, even at the present day, that the country is a healthy one for the European except to a moderate extent on the plateau, the conditions of living have been so greatly improved during recent years that the possibilities of good health during temporary residence have been enormously increased. Medical and sanitary efforts have effected much by anti-malaria precautions, such as the use of quinine, and, around Lagos, the reclamation of considerable areas of swamp lands at great expense to Government. In spite, however, of this undoubted improvement in the conditions of life, Nigeria is not a land which can be colonised in the proper sense of the term by Europeans. The dry season,' characterised by the "Harmattan," a dry north-easterly wind accompanied by a thick haze composed chiefly of dust, and the are the predominating rainy season features in the climate of Nigeria. The former begins in the north in October, extending its influence gradually southward until it is perceptible at Lagos early in November. There it appears intermittently up to the beginning of March, but in the north the dust and haze are more continuous and last until April. During this period the maximum diurnal variations of temperature occur. The wind blows generally from the north-east, and both diurnal varia- History. At As far back as the 17th century British traders have had mercantile depôts on the mouths of the Niger and adjacent rivers and creeks, known as the Oil rivers, and in those early times the trade was mainly confined to the traffic in slaves. At this epoch the French attempted a settlement at the mouth of the Niger, but were unsuccessful, and during the 18th century British interests preponderated. At the beginning of the 19th century the exploration of the upper river, which had hitherto been supposed to be identical with the Nile or Congo, began, and Mungo Park traced its course from Bamako to Bussa, where he lost. his life in the rapids. Lander in 1830 demonstrated the identity of Mungo Park's river at Bussa with the lower Niger, and followed its course to the sea. In the next two decades, 1840-60, efforts were made, both by the British Government and private individuals, including French and German merchants, to develop the trade of the Niger, while our knowledge of the interior was greatly enlarged by the travels of Clapperton and Allen, both British, and of Barth and others, all at A consulate was founded at British instigation. Lokoja, and, at the cost of much money and many lives, some progress seemed to have been made, only to result in failure. The pioneer of these efforts was McGregor Laird, who in 1852 began to establish stations and to endeavour to secure the country for England, but the stations were destroyed by natives, or removed after Laird's death in 1861. The good results of his work were not, however, entirely lost. The situation in the early seventies was that were numerous trading firms-English, there French, and German-on the Oil rivers, where the export trade in palm oil had begun to assume importance, the imports being chiefly confined to The expeditions sent spirits, guns and powder. by the British Government to the higher river, and the subsidies voted by Parliament, had been withdrawn, and European intercourse with the Niger would have ceased had it not been for the perseverance of a few British firms, who during the four months of high water each sent a trading steamer up the river, and soon established a few primitive stations, where the white population of Nigeria lived. These bold pioneers were at the mercy of powerful chiefs, and gross outrages were from time to time avenged by the despatch of a light draught gunboat. At the close of 1877, Mr. Goldie-Taubmanafterwards Sir G. Taubman Goldie-visited the Niger and recognised that amalgamation of interests and a settled government must replace the chaotic rivalry of traders. With this object in view he determined to secure a charter for a British Company. After much negotiation the small British interests, which were the only ones existent on the Niger at that date, were amalgamated in the United African Company in 1879, and in 1881 a charter was applied for. The objection was raised that the capital of the Company was too small, and hence the National African Company was formed with a capital of a million sterling, with the object of opening up direct relations with the great chiefs of the interior. With great energy the new company founded stations, sent out a river flotilla, and pushed up the Niger and Benue, but meanwhile the foresight of Gambetta had prompted the establishment of two French Companies, which, being backed by the French Government, acquired a great influence on the lower Niger. Of these the Compagnie du Senegal had a capital of 600,000l., and some thirty French stations were formed, and while the French flag remained the charter could not, of course, be granted. The energy of Sir George Goldie, however, secured the disappearance of the French flag just in time to announce at the Berlin Conference in 1885 that the British flag alone flew on the Niger, and to secure to Great Britain the guardianship of the international navigation rights on the Niger while the French companies and rival British interests which had meantime grown up were absorbed in the National African Company. In April, 1885, a new danger arose from the mission of Herr Flegel to secure treaties with Sokoto and Gando on behalf of Germany, but he was anticipated by the British Company, who concluded treaties with those powerful emirs. Great Britain was, therefore, able to conclude the Agreement of 1886 with Germany, which settled the frontiers between Nigeria and the Cameroons as far north as Yola, and in July, 1886, the longdelayed charter was granted, and the Company changed its title to that of the Royal Niger Company. Meanwhile, the territories adjacent to the river had been placed under British protection. The first decade was spent in founding a number of commercial and quasi-administrative stations on the Niger and Benue Rivers, and in making treaties with the native tribes, and consolidating the commercial organisation on which the Company was dependent for its revenue. The expeditions of Monteil to Lake Chad from the west, of Crampnel from the south-east, and of Mizon by way of the Niger and Benue, were checkmated, and finally, in 1890, an agreement was arrived at with France by which the line dividing the French Sudan on the north from Nigeria was drawn with certain deflections from Say, on the Niger, to Barua, on Lake Chad, and in 1893 the Cameroons boundary was extended from Yola to the south of the same lake. In 1897 the growing hostility of the great Fulah Power culminated in a plan to drive the white men out of the country. The Company were not unprepared, and they took the field with some 500 or 600 soldiers, led by about 30 British officers, against many thousands of the enemy, of whom a large proportion were mounted. Nupe, a dependency of Sokoto, which had thus challenged the Company's existence, was divided by the Niger into two nearly equal portions. The southern portion was first conquered, and then northern Nupe after a two days' fight before the capital at Bida. Ilorin, a smaller de pendency, was next subdued. Prior to this southern Nupe had been partially cleared of the Fulah slave raiders, and on the 20th June, 1897, the legal status of slavery in the Niger Territories was declared abolished by the Company. Simultaneously with this crisis another, which was to have far-reaching effects, arose. The only indeterminate frontier remaining was that to the west. The Company perceiving, in 1894, that French enterprise contemplated the annexation to Senegal and Dahomey of the Borgu country, sent out Captain Lugard (now Lord Lugard) to negotiate treaties with the king or chiefs of that country. Anticipating the powerful French expeditions by only a few days, he succeeded in making treaties at the capital of Nikki, and with other semi-independent chiefs of districts. Disregarding these prior British treaties, a swarm of French expeditions spread over Borgu, and having obtained a pledge from our Government that Sir George Goldie's powerful expedition, then in the field against the Fulani, should not advance north of latitude 9°, they invaded Bussa, with which we had a specific treaty of many years' standing, and established themselves on the Niger at several points. At the end of 1897, in view of this situation, the British Government decided to raise an Imperial local force, and the task was confided to Colonel Lugard, who left England in March, 1898. After a period of great tension, during which the British and French troops faced each other, and a conflict was daily imminent, a convention was signed laying down a boundary line from the intersection of the 9th parallel with the frontier of Dahomey to Illo on the Niger, and thence to the northern frontier, which was more accurately defined, to Lake Chad, and to its junction with the Cameroons frontier. Meanwhile, the Emir installed at Bida by the Company was ousted, and the Nupes were again in arms, while the army of Rabeh, which had penetrated from the Nile Valley to Lake Chad, conquered and laid waste the territory of Bornu, but eventually returned to the south of Lake Chad. The Imperial force, called the West African Frontier Force, with a Commissioner and Commandant" at its head, and independent of the Company, was rapidly being formed, with its headquarters at Jebba, and with numerous detachments holding the posts evacuated by the French throughout Borgu, and a strong garrison at Lokoja. The Imperial Government having decided that the charter of the Royal Niger Company should be revoked, and that its administrative rights and powers should be transferred to the Crown, steps to this end were taken at the end of 1898, when the convention with the French Government had been signed. The actual transfer of the Company's rights and possessions to the Crown took place on the 1st of January, 1900, when the territories north of a line extending, with deflections, from approximately latitude 9° on the Dahomey frontier to Idah on the River Niger, thence to Takum on the Cameroons border, were formed into the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria under Colonel Lugard as High Commissioner. During the first years of the protectorate of Northern Nigeria, the Government was engaged in bringing under control the powerful Emirates of the Hausa States and the Kanuri Kingdom of Bornu. These Emirs, who maintained large standing armies, a large proportion of which was mounted, annually took the field and devastated vast tracts of country in slave-raiding expeditions. Despite the treaty with Sokoto, under which the Royal Niger Company paid him an annual subsidy, the Fulani Emirates now defied the Government. The Emirs of Nupe and Kontagora were brought under control in 1901; Yola, Bauchi and Bornu in 1902; and the work of pacification was practically completed in 1903 with the taking of Kano and Sokoto, and the action at Birmi. Since that date the Hausa States have maintained a record of peaceful progress, with the exception of a rising by a so-called Mahdi" in 1906 at Satiru in the Sokoto Province, which was, however, quickly suppressed with the loyal assistance of the Emir of Sokoto. The minor Emirate of Hadeija in the extreme north, which had not previously been brought under control, assumed an aggressive attitude in 1906 which, however, was suppressed. It was necessary also to send minor expeditions against various unruly and truculent pagan tribes, of which the more important were the Munshis on both banks of the Benue, the Okpotos in the Bassa Province, and various hill-tribes in the Bauchi and Nassarawa Provinces. In addition to the pacification of these vast areas-hitherto largely unexplored-the early years of the Protectorate were devoted to creating a Civil Government in all its departments, and to the housing of the civil and military officials, and the erection of public offices; the building of the first light railway from Barijuko (on the navigable Kaduna) to Zungeru (22 miles), to which place the seat of Government was transferred in 1902 from the temporary capital at Jebba; and the opening up of communications both by land and by the navigable waterways of the Niger, Benue, Kaduna and Gongola Rivers. In 1907 the construction of the main trunk line from the navigable Niger at Baro to Kano (356 miles), the great market of the Hausa States, was commenced and completed, as a pioneer line, in 1912. During the 14 years from the inception of the Government of Northern Nigeria on 1st January, 1900, to its amalgamation with Southern Nigeria on 1st January, 1914, there were constructed in the Protectorate 700 miles of railways and 5,500 wire miles of telegraphs, while the Marine Department worked 1,000 miles of river. In the political and administrative sphere a complete Civil Service was created, which increased from half a dozen officers in 1900 to an establishment of 132 residents and assistants in 1913. The guiding principle of the Administration was indirect rule through the native chiefs, the powers delegated to whom varied with their degree of enlightenment. A form of direct taxation was evolved, based on the elaborate system which obtained in the Hausa States prior to the British occupation, but shorn of its abuses. The collection of these taxes was made through the chiefs, a fixed proportion of them being retained in "Native Treasuries," from which the salaries of the native officials were paid. As an indication of the progress achieved, the Durbar held at Kano on 1st January, 1913, may be instanced, when practically all the chiefs of the Protectorate-from the great Mohammedan Emirs to the petty chiefs of pagan hill tribesassembled with such retinues as they were allowed to bring, estimated at 20,000 horsemen and 40,000 foot. THE OIL RIVERS PROTECTORATE.-When, in 1885, the British Government at the conference of the European Powers, held at Berlin, was able to | obtain acknowledgment of the fact that a British protectorate had been virtually established over the Niger districts, an Order-in-Council defining them was made, and the portion lying on the coast line was designated the Oil Rivers Protectorate, and placed under Consular rule. In 1891 the rule of the Consul over the Oil Rivers Protectorate was exchanged for that of a Commissioner and Consul-General, stationed at Old Calabar (now Calabar), while Deputy Commissioners and Vice-Consuls were appointed to the Rivers Benin, Bonny, Brass and Forcados, and to the districts of Sapele and Warri. By an Order-in-Council of 1893 the Oil Rivers Protectorate was extended definitely into the hinterland under the name of the Niger Coast Protectorate, and an administration established under an Imperial Commissioner and Consul-General. BENIN.-In 1892 Captain Gallwey (now Sir H. L. Galway) concluded a treaty with the king of Benin. As time passed, however, it became evident that this potentate had no intention of adhering to its provisions. At this period Benin held enormous power over the surrounding territory, and it was said that her influence extended even so far as Sierra Leone on one side and the Congo River on the other. The terrible nature of the fetish rites and the wholesale human sacrifices which took place in Benin City, urgently demanded European intervention and the introduction of civilised rule. Early in 1897 a peaceful mission, organised by the Acting Consul-General to establish friendly relations with Overami, the king of Benin, and to induce him to carry out the terms of the treaty of 1892, was treacherously attacked, and with the exception of two, all the European members of the party were massacred. A powerful expedition was sent against Benin, and in a short time the capital had been captured, but the king made good his escape. The state in which Benin City was found passes all description. In every direction human remains, pits filled with bodies in various stages of decomposition, and altars dripping with fresh human blood were to be seen. Överami eventually surrendered and was sent into exile at Calabar, where he died in the early part of 1914. In 1899 there was a second expedi tion into the Benin country, which resulted in the capture and execution of Ologboshere, the leader of the attack on the mission. THE PROTECTORATE OF SOUTHERN NIGEria, 1900-1906.-When in 1900 the charter of the Royal Niger Company was revoked by the Crown that portion of its territories lying between Idah and the coast was added to the Niger Coast Protectorate. At the same time by an Order-inCouncil the Niger Coast Protectorate was constituted the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, the administration being transferred from the Foreign Office to the Colonial Office, and placed under Sir R. Moor as High Commissioner. In 1901 the Niger Coast Protectorate troops were organised into a regiment of the West African Frontier Force, and remodelled on the lines of the original territories by Colonel F. D. Lugard in 1898. of that name raised in the Niger Company's corps Towards the close of 1901 preparations for the Aro Expedition were commenced. These operations were directed against the southern Ibo people in general and the Aro, or Inokun tribe in particular. The Aros, who may be described as the dominant section of the great Ibo family. held paramount power over a large extent of country lying between the Niger and Cross Rivers. They had established a powerful fetish, probably derived from Benin, known as the Long Juju which exercised an extremely evil influence on the ignorant and superstitious natives for miles around. After five months of arduous work, the Field Force accomplished the subjuga. tion and disarmament of the Aro tribe, the destruction of the Long Juju and the bringing under Government control of that portion of the territories as far north as about the 5th parallel. Between 1905 and 1909 several expeditions were sent into the hinterland with the object of opening to trade and civilisation previously unexplored tracts of country. The principal operations were the Bende-Onitsha Hinterland Expedition, 1905-06, and the Niger-Cross River Expedition, 1908-09. As the troops progressed through the country new administrative districts and stations were formed, broad roads constructed in all directions, and many new markets established. The eastern frontier from the Cross River rapids to the sea was surveyed by an AngloGerman Commission in 1905-06; and from Cross River rapids to Yola in 1907-09. For some years before these delimitations, there were frequent raids across the border by German native soldiery from the Cameroons, which were invariably accompanied by robbery with violence and seizure; and even after the boundary line had been demarcated this violation of British territory did not cease. LAGOS OR EKO.-During the reign of Kosoko, Lagos, or Eko as it is known to the natives, became the chief centre of the slave trade in the Bight of Benin. Akitoye, his cousin, from whom the throne had been usurped, issued a proclamation to the effect that he would make common cause with the British against slavery if he were reinstated. Acting on this statement, the British Government took decisive measures, and in 1851 a party of bluejackets from Her Majesty's warships attacked and reduced the town. Kosoko fled and Akitoye was restored to power. In 1852 Akitoye and his chiefs signed a treaty by the terms of which they agreed to abolish the export of slaves, and to encourage the work of missionaries and the establishment of stations for them. A Consul was appointed to Lagos for the protection of British interests. About nine months after the signature of this treaty some Portugese slave traders, who had been expelled, returned to Lagos and renewed their old practices. Akitoye was informed of what was going on, and their attempts were promptly suppressed. In consequence of this, the slave trade party, under the leadership of Kosoko, organised a rebellion which broke out in 1853. Indecisive encounters took place between the two factions, and bluejackets were landed to protect the Consulate. Attempts which were made by the Consul and officers to mediate failed, and finally marines were sent to assist Akitoye, when, after a short fight, Kosoko was defeated and fled. Dosumu, who succeeded his father Akitoye, was unable to adhere to the terms of the treaty, and was induced in 1861 to cede the sovereignty of Lagos and dependent territories to the Crown in consideration of a pension, which he continued to draw until his death in 1885. THE COLONY OF LAGOS.-In 1862 these territories were erected into a Colony, and the following year Kosoko, who in 1854 had been acknowledged king of Lekki and Palma, districts lying to the eastward, ceded these places to the Lagos Government. At the same time Protectorate rights were established over Ado and Oke-Odan on the west. In 1866 the Colony became a portion of the West African Settlements, retaining a separate Legislative Council, but being subject to the Governor-in-Chief at Sierra Leone. In 1874 the Colony, which extended from Badagri on the west to Odi on the east with an indefinite inland boundary, was united to the Gold Coast Colony. In 1883 Appa, lying on the western border of the Colony, was the next district to be brought under British jurisdiction. In 1884, the British Consul concluded a treaty with the Jekris by which their country as far as Mollume was placed under British protection, and similar treaties were made with the chiefs of Ogbo and Mahin, small tribal areas situated in the creek region to the eastward. In 1886 the Lagos territories were separated from the Gold Coast and erected into a separate Colony and Protectorate. Between the years 1886 and 1895 Mahin, Ijebu-Ro, Itebu, and Aiyesan to the east, and Kotonu, Igbessa, Ado and Ilaro to the west were proclaimed part of the Protectorate. An expedition was sent against the Ijebus in 1892, which resulted in the military occupation of their country, and in the opening of a most important trade route to the interior. From this time onward British influence gradually spread inland towards the Niger, and in 1899 the Protectorate was extended to the confines of Northern Nigeria and to the border of the Niger Coast Protectorate. The country generally prospered, and Lagos became a great trading port with many large mercantile firms, both European and native, established. Great trade routes were opened into the interior, and a railway was constructed from Lagos to Ibadan, passing through a thickly populated and fertile agricultural country. THE COLONY AND PROTECTORATE OF SOUTHERN NIGERIA, 1906-1913.-In 1906 the Colony of Lagos and its protected territory were amalgamated with the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria under one administration and designated the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. For administrative purposes the country was partitioned into three main divisions-the Western Province, which coincided with the former Colony and Protectorate of Lagos; and the Central and Eastern Provinces, which previously formed the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. The next few years were spent in building up an extensive system of communications. The railway from Lagos to Ibadan was extended over the Northern Nigeria border to Jebba; thence across the Niger to Zungeru; and finally linked up with the railway in operation from Baro on the Niger to Kano, the great Mohammedan trade centre of the north. A light railway was built joining the main line at Zaria with the tin fields of Bauchi. Broad main roads were driven in all directions and telegraph lines constructed between important administrative and trade centres. In 1901 the great undertaking of making Lagos an open port by the construction of huge moles and by the dredging of the sandbar, which obstructed the entrance to the harbour, was commenced; and by the end of 1913 sufficient progress had been made to permit of large oceangoing steamers entering the harbour and berthing alongside the wharves. For several years vessels drawing 25 feet of water have been able to use the harbour. Large areas in the north-eastern portion of the Protectorate, notably the country inhabited by the |