The morning call., 1894-06-08
EUROPEAN PROGRESS IN AFRICA.


The changes which are taking place in
the map of Africa are enough to affllct
geographers with sOftening of the brain.
Not many months ago the English prac-
tically annexed the kingdom of Uganda,
where King Mwsnga nominally reigns.
Northwest of Uganda is the kingdom of
Unyoro. populous and powerful state.
whose people are jealous of foreign intru-
sion; against this state an EngliSh-expedi-
ton, consisting largely of blacks who
have been trained like the Indian Sepoys.
has just been dispatched with every
prospect of accomplishing its purpose.
The annexation of Uganda and Unyoro
would give the English the whole country
between the Albert and the Victoria lakes,
with control of the headwaters of the
Nile. The headquarters of the new prov
ince would be Wadelai, where the great
river emerges from the lake.
Two European powers are affected by
this extension of British dominion in
Africa. One of these is Belgium, whose
mon arch is practically the owner of the
Congo State. extending into the dark
forests of Uny0ro; the other is France,
which has been pushing expeditionary
columns from French Congo into the Cen
trail Soudan, in the direction of Lake
TSad. England has compromised with the
King of the Belgians by giving him for
life the west side of the Nile from its
source TO Khartoum, in exchange for
strip of Congo territory along the west
shore of Tanganyika and from the north
end OF that lake to Uganda. What is to be-
come Of the Belgian territory on the Nile
after the death of the King of the Belgians
does not appear; but as it is separated
from the Congo State proper by long
stretch of country and is practically
isolated, Belgium will probably evacuate
it, and allow the English to take it if they
want it.
French Africa is so far away from the
new central African possessions of
England that there appears to be no
chance of a collision between the two
powers. The latest movement of the
French has been the dispatch of an ex-
petition from base at Brazzaville on the
Congo in DortheasteTly direction, with
an ultimate objective at Bahr-el-Gu
on the White Nile. The success of this
expedition would give to the French the
most valuable part of the Soudan. COUP
Ny dDOGhuAbS II popOAAAAOu obN lOohOlOCos
and embracing the Oar Banda and the
Nyam Nyam region. II would bring the
French and the English outposts into close
proximity, and would involve questions of
frontier which might be troublesome TO
adjust.
In both cases the European invaders
would be embarrassed by the length of
their line of communication with their
primary bases. England foresaw this
difficulty long ago. and projected q rail-
road from MOmbasa 10 Victoria Lake,
which would give the new provinces q
base on the Indian Ocean easily reached
by steamers. But Mr.. Cecil Rhodes. who
is the master spirit in the scheme OF
British extension in Africa, proposes a
railroad from the cape through Matabele.
land to the chain Of lakes, so as TO estab-
lish an unbroken line of communication
from the head waters of the Nile to Cape
town. resting on the forts in the newly
occupied states of South Africa and Oh
suitable spots 90 the borders of the lakes.
This gigantic enterprise is at present a
mere project; it would take decades to carry
it out, even if the British Government were
prepared to appropriate the money.
France meanwhile has partially sur
veyed an extension of the railroad line
through the Algerian Sahara to Bamba,
on the Niger. There are no physical diff
culties to be overcome, but the construc-
ton of a railroad a thousand miles long
through a sand desert is an enterprise of
DO mean magnitude. This road, how
ever, would only serve the purposes of the
Senegambian provinces: the coveted ter
ritory in the Upper Nile country would
require another road from French Congo
along the valley Of one OF the northern
aff1uents of the great river with the Nyam
Nyam country. Such a road has been
talked of. but as yet no surveys have been
made.
Thus it will be seen that the partition of
Poland, which occupies SO largeIa place in
history, is nothing to the schemes which
the great European powers are meditating,
That was a scramble for few square
miles of morass and forest The plans oil
to-day embrace the division OF a continent,
and a continent parts Of which ara as
densely peopled as France, and clothe ed
with a soil of infinite capacity. 1t has
been discovered that the new provinces OF
| Uganda and Unyoro will grow as fine cot
| fee as Arabia or Java, and the supply Of
labor is adequate. a safe outlet might
make the region one Of the most prosper
Gus in the world.