The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-23
! I


View the most important period In ia his
tory since lie discovery by Europeans, for
II was then that the series Of explorations
began which opened up the centre Of the
continent and removed the veil which had
hidden for 40 long the great lakes and the
sources Of the ME-. To this exploration
Of East Central Africa three very dis
similar bodies Of men contributed slave
traders, missionaries and geographical
investigators. Infamous as the slave trade
was, II tended 70 give tboee who practiseG
il an acquaintance with the geography
Of the interior, 1t Ia clear from the testi-
mony Of the earlier European explorers
that the Arabs, even at Zanzibar, had a
far better notion Of the general location OF
tho great lakes and the course Of the Nile
than had the geographers Of Europe. A
chapter Of the work before us IL allotted
to the exploring work done by missionaries,
especially the eminent German, Krapf.
who discovered Mount Kenya in is4o, a
year after his colleague Rebman had dis
covered Mount KilimAnjaro. Our author
reproduces In a condensed form from
Johnston's THE Nile Quest an account Of
the various travellers who from tho fifth TO
the tenth decade Of the nineteenth century
investigated the sources OF the Nile and the
adjacent equatorial lands. The journeys
Of Livingstone were mostly TO the south
Of the region with which Sir Charles Eliot
is here concerned; but in 1857 Burton and
Spoke made their way from Badamoyo to
Tanganyika. Spoke parted from Burton
and discovered Lake Victoria. He subse-
Quently made a second expedition with
Grant in 1890 by the same route TO Ugan a,
where he was we'll received by King Mtesa,
and joined Sir Samuel Baker on the Nile.
In 1894 Baker discovered Lake Albert. In
the '70s Stanley and Cameron crossed
equatorial Africa: TO the former was due
the foundation OF the Congo Free State
and the commencement Of our interest In
Uganda, which ended in the establishment
Of the Protectorate. Not until the SIS did
Europeans explore the territory between
Mombasa and the lakes. In 1882 DR..
Fischer a German naturalist, proceeded
from Pangani to Mount KilimAnjaro, and
thence across Masiland to Naivasha, where
he WAS stopped by the Mas, {, and had to
return. In the next year Joseph Thomson
succeeded in reaching lake Victoria by the
same route. The last important discoveries
in East Africa were made in 1887 by Count
result Of this expedition was the discovery
Of Lakes Rudolf and StephAnie but. incl
dentally. Teliki was the first European
70 visit Kikuyu, which had been merely
skirted by Fischer and Thomson.
In the early sos German merchants
began 10 DO active In the coast towns Of
East Africa, and made several treaties
with the chiefs Of the hinterland. In 1885
the German Government, determined TO
inAuglrabe a colonial policy, gave a charter
Of protection to a society. organized for
the purpose Of promoting German colonial
don. which had acquired these treaty rights.
From this date begins the partition Of East
Africa, and its administration by Great
Britain and Germany. Great Britain had
not at the date last mentioned any direct
interest In the coast. but her influence was
practically paramount at Zanzibar. II
was the Vlceroy Of India who had settled
the succession Of Seyyid Said, ruler Of
Oman and Zanzibar, who died in 1850 In
1872 the British India Steam Navigation
Company established regular communion
ton between India. Zanzibar and Europe.
In 1877 the Sultan, or Seyyid. Of Zanzibar
offered 10 the chairman Of that company
concession Of his mainland dominions
on the East African coast The British
Government did not favor the acceptance
Of this concession. but It's official interest
in Zanzibar was increased by the measures
taken for the suppression Of the slave trade.
In 1880 It became necessary to define the
oxact limits Of tho Sultanate Of Zanzibar,
and by an agreement between England
and Germany the Sultan's dominions were
described as consisting OF the islands of
Zanzibar and Pomba the Malta and Lamu
archipelagOes, and on the mainland a strip
Of coast stretching ten miles inland from
Tungi Bay in the south to Kipini az the
mouth Of the OH River To the north OF
Kipini, the ports Of KlsmRyiI, Bravo, Merk1,
Makdishu and WArsheik were also recog-
nized az belonging 10 his Highness. The
hinterland behind the ten mile strip, be-
tween the Rovuma and Tana rivers, was
divided into two spheres Of influence,
German to the south and British to the
north. the boundary being a line drawn
from the mouth Of the Umba River past
the northern base Of Mount Kilimanjaro
10 the point where the fiTst degree Of south
latitude intersects tho eastern shore Of
Lake Victoria, This agreement did not
extend beyond tho River Tana to the north
and complications soon began in With
behind Lamu. Ultimately the Germans
claimed the country between With and the
Juba River The difficulty was finally
settled by the Anglo-GermAn treaty Of July
/. 1890. which dealt with several parts Of
the world. In East Africa Germany re-
nounoed all claims 10 With and other terri
tory north Of a line drawn from Umba to
Lake Victoria, 90 a. 10 leave Mount Kilima-
njaro in her territory. and recognized a
British proteotorate over Zanzibar, Pemba
and the sultans mainland dominions be-
tween the Umbs and the Juba. France
also recognized England's protectorate
over Zanzibar in return for England's
recognition Of the French protectorate over
Madagascar. In 1891 an arrangement was
made with Italy a. 10 the territory north
of the Juba.
III.
The history OF Uganda forms an inn
portant appendix 10 the history Of the
East African coast. In 1877 the Church
Missionary Society had sent a party Of
pioneers 70 Uganda, who we're soon fol-
lowed by a Roman Catholic mission. Il Il