Part 2

In 1879, when Sir George Taubman Goldie organised the amalgamation of the rival trading firms of the Lower Niger and formed the United Africa Company, only a few far-sighted people could have had any idea of the possibilities of future commercial greatness that were possessed by this utterly unattractive and uncivilised region. “The Niger,” as Colonel Mockler-Ferryman tells us, “was absolutely tabooed; its name was mentioned only in whispers, and the British public regarded it as an unlucky, pestilential spot, out of which no good could ever come.” It must be remembered, in explanation of this pessimistic attitude, that all attempts to explore Nigeria and open up commerce on the river had failed more or less completely; a great number of lives had been sacrificed in successive expeditions, and no practical good had been accomplished. McGregor Laird, some quarter of a century earlier, had founded the African Shipping Company, with monthly sailings to the West African ports and, with the grudging co-operation of the Government, had contracted to keep a steamer on the Niger. But Laird died in 1857, when his spirited enterprise appeared to be on the point of yielding tangible results, and the country was still under a cloud when, twenty years later, the first organised attempt was made to develop its commercial resources.

THE PROTECTORATE PROCLAIMED

The United Africa Company’s efforts were recognised by the grant of a Royal Charter in 1886, but its mission and its potentialities failed to appeal to the general public; and even when in 1900 the Territory, with its area equal to that of Germany and the British Isles combined, was added to the Dependencies of the Empire, the new Protectorate was regarded with indifference and suspicion as a present burden and a probable source of future trouble.

That was but a decade since, yet it was only the other day that Lord Crewe declared that “there is no part of the Empire about which higher hopes may properly be entertained than the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria;” and the Colonial Report, in emphatic corroboration of this optimistic opinion, asserted that “very few countries have witnessed such great changes for the better in such a short space of time, as has been the case with this Cinderella of the British Dominions.”

It must be admitted that the Nigerias have been of late years more favoured in the matters of ocean transport and inter-communication. Since McGregor Laird started his monthly service to Lagos, the African Shipping Company has been succeeded by six shipping lines—the British and African Steam Navigation, African Steamship, Elder Dempster, Woermann, Hamburg-America, and the Hamburg-Bremen-Africa—the first three of which, to all intents and purposes, may be classed as Elder Dempster’s. Twenty-five liners and Elder Dempster’s regular services call at Lagos each month—one nearly every day of the week. Two vessels of some four thousand tons are exclusively employed in bringing Welsh coal to Lagos; and a cargo service, another Elder Dempster enterprise, now runs from inside Lagos Lagoon to Hamburg, thus avoiding the transhipping of cargo in Lagos Roads or at Forcados. Persons who only know of Elder Dempster’s famous service of ocean liners, which leave Liverpool every Wednesday and arrive at Lagos Roads sixteen days later, may be surprised to learn that they have a large and distinct inter-colonial service between Lagos and Secondi. These vessels, built of light draught to enable them to cross Lagos bar, not only afford shippers a short and rapid means of forwarding their produce, but are of immense service to the growing number of natives who travel, mostly for trade purposes, between Lagos and the smaller ports along the Gold Coast; while another Elder Dempster service runs weekly to and from Porto Novo in Dahomey and Lagos, carrying general outward cargo and bringing back produce for shipment to the United Kingdom and the Continent.

These services, which cater for the ramifications of the commercial activities of West Africa, are practically unknown at home, and the organisation and development of this enormous industry was, to a great extent, the work of one man—the late Sir Alfred Lewis Jones. It has been said of him that “when the story of our times comes to be written comprehensively, he will be bracketed with Cecil John Rhodes. One obtained a large territory for the Empire; the other enhanced immeasurably countries formerly judged as of questionable value. He was a pioneer in building up their commerce, and is of still higher estimate—he was instrumental in making them more fit to live in by revolutionising the health conditions.” His varied commercial enterprises in West Africa are well known, and it is unnecessary here to enlarge upon them. They ranged from coaling and engineering companies with dry docks, to banking—which facilitated relations between the natives and the European traders—and included his cold-storage scheme, which the medical faculty admit has been one of the most powerful factors in lowering the mortality of West Africa. This object was also largely assisted by the investigations carried out at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The school was financed by Sir Alfred Jones, who also provided the means for putting the resultant discoveries into practice. He further established a branch of the School at Grand Canary, and arranged with Elder Dempster a cheap service from the West African Coast to the Canary Islands for malaria patients, whose lives depend upon their reaching that Mecca for invalids. By such means the dead merchant prince has lowered the death-rate among Europeans and natives in West Africa to a degree unthought of fifteen years ago, and he has built in that part of the Continent a monument to his name more enduring than brass, because the foundation was made for the betterment of his fellow-men.

THE NIGER COMPANY

But if the Elder Dempster Line have accomplished great things in establishing regular communication between England and the new Dependencies, much splendid pioneer work has been done in the country by the Niger Company. During the last few years they have opened up the Bauchi tin field in Northern Nigeria, and their trading and transport facilities have made it possible for them to carry out an enormous amount of development under great difficulties. The directors have had the courage of their convictions. In forwarding their own interests they have benefited the Protectorate, and if they have profited by their enterprise they have made the country a source of profit for others.

From the proceeds of the surrender of its charter to the British Government in 1900, the company were able to make a special distribution to its shareholders amounting to 145 per cent., and the sale of certain of their mining rights in the Bauchi Province has more than repaid them for the work that they had carried on in the district since 1902, and resulted in raising their dividend payment in 1909 from ten to twenty per cent. And in addition the Niger Company possess practically a monopoly of the transport to the tin fields, the value of which cannot be overestimated.

The Niger Company’s share of the credit that is due for effecting this great improvement in the present condition and future prospects of the Protectorate may be at once admitted; but much has been accomplished since the control of the country devolved upon the British Colonial Office. In 1900 only some 30,000 square miles, out of a total of 250,000 in Northern Nigeria, were under some form of organised control. The remainder was controlled and ruled under conditions giving no guarantee of liberty or even life. To-day the whole condition of the country is entirely altered. Sixteen provinces, comprising the entire Protectorate, have been organised by the never-ceasing efforts of Residents, and the sum total of the unadministered area does not now exceed the 30,000 square miles that were under administration ten years ago.

PROGRESS OF SOUTHERN NIGERIA

At the date of the proclamation of the Nigerian Protectorates the Southern Colony was in a much more advanced state of development than its Northern neighbour, and was naturally regarded as the paramount partner. It had a sea border, a port at Lagos, which to-day is the most important town in West Africa, and it was destined to be the terminus of the first railway to be built in the new Dependencies. The markets and trading stations of the Niger Company were within its boundaries, the fertility of the soil was proved, its richness in rubber, tobacco, and coal was established, and its wealth of other vegetable products was well known. It is not at all surprising, then, that British pioneers and capitalists saw the splendid commercial future that was before Southern Nigeria, and were somewhat neglectful of the distant, isolated, and inaccessible Northern territories. Nor were they wrong, for the advance of its trade justified the most sanguine predictions, and, as will be seen by a glance at the appended tables (prepared in francs by Mr. C. A. Birtwistle, the Commercial Intelligence Officer of the Colony), its commerce to-day practically equals the total of the French Colonies of Senegal, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and Dahomey:—

All French West African Colonies. Nigeria. Imports and Exports. Imports and Exports. Value in Francs. Value in Francs.

1899 116,843,000 78,000,000 1900 129,861,000 90,575,000 1901 131,459,000 96,625,000 1902 130,906,000 112,325,000 1903 161,819,000 111,700,000 1904 155,949,000 130,100,000 1905 152,471,000 128,775,000 1906 163,442,000 144,925,000 1907 177,436,000 192,550,000 1908 193,090,000 184,550,000

It will be noted at a glance that whilst French West African trade has increased by 65 per cent., that of Nigeria has grown by 136 per cent.

ANTICIPATIONS OF NORTHERN NIGERIA’S FUTURE

Northern Nigeria, however, was known to be rich in iron, and the existence of other minerals was suspected; its suitability as a field for the exploitation of the cotton-growing industry was realised and the British Cotton-Growing Association reported a few years ago that “in Northern Nigeria alone lies the possible salvation of Lancashire.” Moreover, the Directors of the Niger Company had always foretold the ultimate importance that would be attained by the regions north of the Niger and the Benue. The company’s trade flourished in the south, new products were being continually discovered and new factories opened, and the optimism of its shareholders was justified by the declaration of substantial dividends, but Sir George Goldie consistently predicted the boundless potentialities of the unopened North, and as far back as 1889 declared: “We can hardly impress too strongly upon our shareholders that our hopes of future prosperity rest far less on the lower regions of the Niger than upon the higher, inner, and recently explored country.”

Sir Percy Girouard and others have warned the public against confusing Northern and Southern Nigeria, and running away with the idea that there is no great difference between them. As Colonel Mockler-Ferryman says: “Commencing with what is called the Niger Delta, we have a land of swamps and impenetrable forests, intersected by a vast network of streams and creeks and inhabited by numerous pagan tribes addicted to every species of vile custom, including even cannibalism and human sacrifices.... Above the pagan land—_i.e._, at the confluence [of the rivers Niger and Benue] there is a marked change, not only in the type of the people but also in the nature of the country. Mohammedan influence commences to show itself, and low swampy wastes are superseded by rocky hills or far-extending grassy plains, well studded with magnificent trees.”

NATIVE TIN WASHING

The existence of alluvial tin in these Northern regions was known for some considerable time, but until a year or two ago its value as a commercial asset was not seriously considered. Rumours of such sources of wealth frequently reached the Niger Company, and quantities of small faggots of very pure metal, which occasionally found their way down to the coast, afforded evidence that the natives had been working and smelting tin for a lengthy period. It was subsequently discovered that the procedure adopted by the native Nigerian tin miners, and described by Mr. Nicolaus, is as follows:

“The washers, usually working in gangs of three or four, wade into the river, tributary creeks and gullies, generally at or near some shallow rapids, and, loosening the gravel under water with a short hoe-like implement, scoop it into large calabashes about 18 inches to 24 inches in diameter. As soon as sufficient gravel is collected (about 30 lbs.), it is washed, and the resulting rough concentrate placed in a smaller calabash, 6 inches to 8 inches in diameter, and thoroughly cleansed, nearly all the fine tinstone being lost. The resulting ‘black tin’ containing the equivalent of from 60 to 65 per cent. metal, is sun-dried, and packed in bags and skins for transport to the smelting furnaces.

“This ‘black tin’ is usually smelted in various parcels on a royalty basis, exclusively by members of one family, who hold the process a profound secret. Only three native smelting furnaces are in use, and these are each capable of turning out about 2 cwt. of metal per diem. They are built of well-puddled clay, and are 3 feet 6 inches in diameter, and have at the back four tuyère holes conducting the blast from primitive sheepskin bellows to the hearth. The tin is reduced by means of charcoal, and runs through a channel 2 feet 6 inches long and 4 inches broad to a catch-pot, whence it is ladled by small gourds or calabashes and poured. The tin is cast in the form of thin bars of about an eighth of an inch in diameter and 12 inches long, which are produced by pouring the molten metal on semi-circular banks of clay, 18 inches high, perforated by dry Guinea corn-halms.”

THE DISCOVERY OF BAUCHI TIN

The first actual discovery of tin in the Protectorate, or the first conclusive evidence of its actual existence there, has hitherto been ‘wrop in mystery,’ but, thanks to the courtesy of Sir William Wallace, late acting Governor of Northern Nigeria, I am in a position to dispel all uncertainty on the subject. In the course of a letter I received from Sir William, dated 21st October 1910, he says:—“Up to ’84 we used to believe that the tin used by the Hausa people for tinning their brass ware was brought across the desert. I then, being busily engaged opening up the Benue River to trade, got a hint that the tin was being smelted in some of the Hausa States, and, on making inquiries, found that it was being produced in Bauchi. We did all possible to develop the trade in the tin straws, but with little success, as the pagan tribes would have no dealings with the Hausa merchants, and rightly so, as it would have only led to the subjection of the tribes to the Fulani, whom they kept at bay till our advent in 1902. Early in that year I went with the little army as Political Agent to subdue the Emir of Bauchi, and after settling that matter I was able to get messengers through to the Delimi River, close to the Naraguta, from whence they brought about a quarter of a hundredweight of the tin sands, the first ever procured or seen by Europeans. This sample I brought home, and submitted to the Directors of the Niger Company, who shortly afterwards took out a prospecting licence over 1000 square miles. Since then, thanks principally to Mr. Laws, the mining industry has slowly forged ahead, until the rush came along this year. Year in, year out, I have been urging companies and encouraging prospectors to come along until I almost despaired of success; but now, given a railway to the tin field, the industry cannot but prosper if the Government do not hamper it with too many restrictions.”

THE NIGER COMPANY’S EXPEDITION

Sir William Wallace’s tribute to the work done by Mr. Laws, the plucky and importunate mining adviser of the Niger Company, is entirely merited. The existence of paying tin was regarded with some scepticism. It has also been surmised that the officials and civil servants had too comfortable berths to risk the disappointments and discomforts of prospecting work. Moreover, the Niger Company was in a flourishing condition, and its directors were not anxious to launch into mining enterprises. But Mr. Laws and his assistants were indefatigable. In 1902 and 1903 three expeditions were despatched to locate the tin areas. The little party, under the protection of an armed escort—for at that time the natives, now so friendly, were somewhat hostile—proceeded to make a geological examination of the country east of the Niger, and eventually found tin in the Province of Bauchi, some 600 miles to the north-east of Lokoja. Further prospecting located the stanniferous area to the outlines of the Gura Mountains, a small range known as the Naraguta and Shere Hills in the Badiko district of that province.

THE FIRST GEOLOGICAL REPORTS

The geology of the area, as described by Mr. R. C. Nicolaus, is composed of granites, igneous intrusions of diabase and porphyry forming the prominent peaks of the hill range. Near the river a coarse grey gneiss forms a contact with the granite, both of which rocks are traversed by lenticles and gash veins of quartz, and several small igneous dykes cross diagonally the general strike of country, which is north-east and dips west.

Although the stream tin had so far only been prospected in the neighbourhood of the rivers, there was abundant evidence to show that the source of the tin supply came from a stockwork formation in the granite at the slopes and at the base of the foot-hills. A somewhat remarkable feature of this deposit was that a considerable quantity of metallic tin was discovered under the river banks during prospecting operations. It was found in small grains and nodules about the size of a bean, its surface very thinly coated with only a trace of iron. It was very ductile, and emitted, on crushing, the peculiar tin cry. Its mode of occurrence in the gravels, associated with coarse grains of stream tin at a depth of some 15 feet under the surface, did not at first allow its genesis being determinable, but it was unhesitatingly put down as “native tin”—a mineral up to that time of very rare occurrence.

FIRST SHIPMENT OF TIN

Mr. Laws and his engineers were so well satisfied with their work, and the results they produced were so encouraging, that the Niger Company applied in 1905 for a number of mining leases in selected areas. In spite of slight difficulties arising from a scarcity of water in the dry season, a considerable amount of development work was accomplished, and the company secured an output of one ton of black tin per diem. These results proved that the gravels could be worked profitably, while the geological structure of the country compelled experts to the conclusion that the field represented by far the most important discovery of native tin that had been made. Further examination of the district, which fully confirmed the expectations raised by the first reports, has inspired the prediction that this Northern Nigerian tin field is perhaps the richest in the world.

The Niger Company continued to treat the alluvial in the old primitive method, which consists in the main of the use of calabash and sluice boxes, by which they have, up to the present time, secured over 1000 tons of black tin. Still, the mineral resources of the colony were not, until recently, appreciated in accordance with the proved facts. Lord Scarborough year after year had told the British public, in his annual speech to the shareholders of the Niger Company, that there was treasure in Northern Nigeria in the shape of alluvial tin. He told them, in March 1907, that during the previous fifteen months roughly 240 tons of black tin, of the approximate gross value of £30,000, had been obtained from one property, the Naraguta, or an average of 16 tons a month. He told his shareholders in 1908 that the Niger Company had won £29,933 worth of tin for that year. Last year he said: “As regards tin development, we have brought home and marketed an increased quantity of ore compared with the previous year.” This year the chairman of the Niger Company declared a 2s. dividend per share as a result of the sale of a small portion of their mining lands.

OFFICIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE NEW FIELD

The first official recognition of the importance of the Bauchi tin deposits was conveyed to the public in the Colonial Report on Northern Nigeria in 1905, and in 1906 was published the First Report on the Results of the Mineral Survey of Northern Nigeria, 1904-5. “The mineral resource of Northern Nigeria being virtually unknown” (to quote the report), “a mineral survey of the Protectorate to be carried out under the general supervision of the Director of the Imperial Institute by surveyors nominated by him, was proposed by Sir F. Lugard, the High Commissioner of Northern Nigeria, and sanctioned by the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1904.” It was arranged that the officers of the Survey should spend about eight months of each year in Northern Nigeria in exploring the mineral deposits of selected districts.

In the general introductory summary of the first report of the surveyors, the prospects of the tin fields of Northern Nigeria are described with the customary official reserve. “Tin, in the form of cassiterite,” the report stated, “has now been found in the stream beds of other districts. It is probable that as soon as suitable transport is provided Northern Nigeria will become an important tin-producing country. Already deposits in the Bauchi Province are being worked by the Niger Company, and the metal smelted on the spot. The first consignment of tin from the Protectorate has reached this country.”

The prospect presented by this information, backed up by substantial shipments of tin, might have been expected to stimulate the curiosity of both prospectors and capitalists, and that other Richmonds would have made an appearance in the Bauchi field. But any hopes of such a result were doomed to disappointment. The Niger Company continued to win mineral, and the Mineral Survey persisted in their efforts to prove the extent of country over which the granites were tin bearing. It is possible that the remoteness and inaccessibility of the Protectorate operated unfavourably in the minds of mining adventurers, and the evil reputation which had been erroneously given to the country may have moved financiers to an excess of cautiousness. The colony made no new friends, and, as will be shown later, it was not until last year and then only by the accident of failure in another direction, that capital was diverted into the new tin field.

TINSTONE CONCENTRATES ANALYSED

Eleven specimens of tinstone concentrates from the Zagi River, south of Bauchi, from Bula, Tilde, and the river beyond Joss were forwarded to the Imperial Institute, and with only one exception were found upon analysis to contain tin in quantities of from mere traces up to 80.85 per cent, of tin oxide, equivalent to 63.5 per cent. of metallic tin in the concentrate.

The official general remarks on the specimens analysed were as follows: