height, where moderately good conditions are found. On the sea at the foot of the mountains lies the settlement of Victoria on Ambas Bay, where a flourishing British Mission under the Baptist Church had existed long before the German occupation. This was very unceremoniously dealt with by the Germans; and, in any settlement which may be made in the future, the coast southwards from Nigeria up to and including this settlement should be under British rule. From this point southwards the coast, including the harbour of Duala, should no doubt come under French management. Indeed an arrangement was come to after the joint British and French occupation, which was completed in 1916, by which the greater part of the colony, that in the southern and eastern part, was left to the French, while a narrow strip on the north-west, extending from the sea to Lake Chad, has been administered as an extension of British Nigeria. This would give a much better frontier than the unscientific boundary which, following a geographical line laid down without much regard to the natural configuration of the country, was previously followed. The navigable head-waters of the Benué, the great tributary of the Niger, were cut off from their natural centre at Yola; and the old kingdom of Bornu, of which the greater part is in Northern Nigeria, was cut in two. These defects have been remedied by the present provisional boundary, which should form the basis of any future settlement.

With this exception, however, the natural destiny of the Cameroons is to be united with French Equatorial Africa. Its water communications are with the great Congo River and its main affluent, the Ubangi; and a large portion of it was under French rule before 1911, when it was very unwillingly surrendered to Germany, which extended its territory to the Congo and the Ubangi. The southern portion includes vast tropical forests where wild rubber is collected; and it was here that German methods of government, with their cruel and ruthless treatment of the primitive forest tribes, were most fully exhibited. Under the present arrangement the existing railways would be included in the French sphere. These are two, one leading northwards from Bonaberi on the Bay of Duala into the mountainous

country (stopping short of Jang, which is a healthy place at a high altitude within the British boundary), and the other from Duala crossing the Zanaga River at Edea into the central part of the colony.

The

The portions of the Cameroons included within the British region are comparatively small but of great value. The Rio del Rey district on the coast is a natural extension of the Old Calabar district, one of the oldest of our establishments in West Africa; it is rich in tropical products, especially palm-oil and palm-kernels. northern tracts form part of the system of Mohammedan Emirates prevailing in North Nigeria, which has been maintained by our Government with a minimum of interference with internal administration. A large part of this territory is good grazing country; and its products are very valuable for supplying the coast districts, where the prevalence of the tsetse-fly prevents the existence of cattle. The ancient kingdom of Adamawa, also a good grazing district, is included in the French territory; while the Sultanate of Bornu will now be consolidated on the British side of the border.

on.

The shores of Lake Chad will now be entirely in the hands of the British and French, its principal feeder, the Shari, a navigable river, being in the French zone. The importance of this region, and of the consolidation of the administration of the Mohammedan regions round Lake Chad in English and French hands, must be insisted One of the favourite schemes of the Germans was to obtain influence over the Muslim population of the Lake Chad district, by opening out the old trade route across the Sahara to Tripoli. This rested on the anticipation of a victory over the Allies which would establish German and Turkish power on the Mediterranean. As this hope has been frustrated, it seems possible that some such project may be realised with good results under better auspices; and it certainly seems that such an opening should not be neglected if competent opinion on the spot regards it with favour.

The future of the remaining German colony, Togoland, also rests with Britain and France, who jointly occupied it in the early days of the war. Here, as in the Cameroons, a division of the country for administrative purposes was made between the occupying

Powers. Togoland is a narrow block interposed between the British Gold Coast and French Dahomey. It is divided by a belt of hills into a western and an eastern section. The western part, the smaller of the two, borders on the Gold Coast; and most of it is included in the basin of the Volta River, which, for part of its course, was the boundary between the British and German Governments, its upper and lower reaches being entirely in Gold Coast territory. Its principal tributary in Togoland is the river Oti, which, in the northern part of its course, forms the eastern boundary of the Mohammedan kingdom of Dagomba, with its capital at Yendi. This kingdom, which was divided between the two countries, is now under British administration; and the change was welcomed by the people and their chief. Similar demonstrations took place at Kpandu on the lower Volta, the chief of which had been deported by the Germans and imprisoned at Duala in the Cameroons. He was restored to his home after the British occupation; and Sir Hugh Clifford, the Governor of the Gold Coast, has described his joyful reception by his people on his return.

The British boundary extends to the coast, including Lome, the capital, and the railway which runs thence to the hill-pass of Misahöhe. The French portion east of the hills takes in all the basin of the Monu River and the greater part of the coast, as well as the whole of the most northerly portion of the country. The greater part of the railway running north from Lome to Atakpame is included in French territory. The southern part of Togoland is inhabited by the Ewe-speaking negro tribes, who have attained a fair level of civilisation and occupy numerous populous villages. They are good cultivators and, under a sympathetic system of government, will attain to a prosperous and satisfied existence. The perpetual exactions and regulations of the Germans had the effect, however, of driving them from their homes; and there was a constant drift of the population into the Gold Coast Colony, and a corresponding decrease in Togoland. Since the occupation by the Allied forces cultivation has increased 33 per cent.

The northern part of Togoland is a pastoral country, drier and healthier than the coast, and is inhabited

mainly by Mohammedan tribes more or less affected by Arab influence. Here also iron is found, and an indigenous system of smelting has been evolved.

Such are the African lands which have been conquered during the war, East Africa by British forces, with a strong contingent from the Union of South Africa and the co-operation of Belgian and Portuguese troops, South-West Africa by the forces of the South African Union, the Cameroons and Togoland by British and French forces mainly drawn from the native races of Africa. These regions have now to be disposed of, and the manner of their disposal is before the Peace Conference. If the Peace Treaty is at last successfully negotiated, and some form of government, whether mandatory or other, is devised for the late colonies of Germany, we may be permitted to assume that the British Empire will be answerable for the government or management of the two large colonies, East and SouthWest Africa, and we may also take it for granted that South-West Africa will form part of the Union of South Africa, and that it will ultimately have a large white population. But East Africa and those parts of the Cameroons and Togoland which we may have to administer can never support any large population of this character; and it is here that the questions of the management of the Native Races will be of the greatest importance. To develop these countries British capital must and will flow in. The building and working of railways and roads, river navigation, mines, trading centres of every sort, will all call for labour; and this at once brings the thorny question of the supply and management of native labour into prominence. This will demand immediate solution, and it is clear that we must avoid the methods which found favour under German rule. There must be no forcing of the small cultivators by excessive taxation or other means, to abandon their holdings and villages for labour either on public works or for private firms, but we must rely on fair dealing in the open market to attract the unattached population, who will come willingly enough if the terms are inviting.

The whole method of government also will have to