The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-03

ish mariners, however, knew nothing or
the interior. which is one vast forest.
with cleared spaces round the natlNe
villages. There the banana trees grow,
each tree bearing a mark TO indicate
its owner: cocoa trees abound every
where; pineapples are common, as are
also oil palms, almond trees, rubber
trees and mahogany. The exploitation
of the forests for commercial purposes
is, however, confined to the river banks
near the sea, where the forest swans
with chattering apes, ana it's gloom is
broken by multitudes of birds Of bril-
liant and gorgeous plumage. Near
the swamps are found crocodiles. hip
popotami, serpents and troublesome in
sects. The rivers, which are so numer-
Gus that the Ivory Coast has been lik
ened to Japan, swarm with fish. The
villages are rich in fowls. pigs, and
goats; and well inland there are sheep
and cattle.
The most striking physical feature
is presented by the immense fagoons
that line the shore from it's eastern
boundary westward for over 200 miles.
some of these run parallel with, and
some at right angles to the ocean. The
superficial area of these lagoons-
which are Itavigable for any craft,
and have been termed a small Medi
terranean-is about 1900 square miles.
On the narrow spits Of sand that sepa-
rate them from the sea, and which
never exceed half a mile in width, are
the European factories or warehouses,
the nutbrown villages of natives, and
the buildings and stores of the Jack
Jacks'-eager traders who act as mid
dlemen between the inland natives and
the Europeans. The Jack Jacks" are
so named from their speech resembling
the cry of the duck. Bosnian, a seven
teenth century Dutch trader called
them "Qua-Quaans" and the part of
the coast where they dwell the QUA
Qua" Coast; it was also known as
Tooth Coast and the Five ana Six
Stripes" Coast. The latter designa-
tion was derived from native made
cigars that used to find their way from
far inland to the hands of the Jack
Jacks" by whom they were sold to
the European factors, who in turn
found market for them on the Gold
Coast. 1t is now known that the max
ers of these cloths live in the extreme
north of the colony, near the water
shed that divides the Niger basin from
the area drained by the Ivory Coast
rivers. These races, who have been
for over 200 years under the influence
of Mahometan civilization, are skilled
weavers and dyers, raise fine cotton
and rice, breed stock, and dwell in
roomy houses of rectangular shape,
thatched with straw
Previous to Binger's discoveries, Eu-
ropean notions of the Ivory Coast
hinterland were based on Mungo Parks
descriptions. According to Park the
Ivory Coast was shut off from the
Niger valley by an impenetrable noun
tain range-the Kong mountains. But
for these mythical mountains-which.
had they existed, would have robbed
the Ivory Coast of it's strategic value
Great Britain would have secured the
territory long ago, and that without
violating any ~of the recognized prin-
ciples under which modern communi-
ties advance: for all last century she
was, and still is, the chief trader with
the coast. Even Binger could not help
remarking with some regret that, of
the fifty sailing ships he saw anchored
in the Gulf of Guinea off Grand Bas-
sam, two were American and the rest
British. However, the territory is
now French, and it was Frenchmen
who explored II and demonstrated its
true worth, though it looks as if Brit
ish capital and enterprise were to de-
velop il.
Binger showed that the divide be-
tween the rivers of the Ivory Coast
and the Niger was much further in
land than had been supposed; and
what was Of more Importance, he
found that that divide was formed
not by a huge range of mountains, but
by rising ground of moderate eleva-
ton. In fact he marched out of
Niger alley into the Ivory Coast, and
down the valley of the Comoe to
Grand Bassam on the Gulf of Guinea.
These discoveries changed, French
colonial policy in West Africa, and led
to more exploring and development
work in the Ivory Coast.