Part 2

Oil-palms 46

Cocoa Tree with Fruit 47

Seven-year-old Oil-palm Trees 48

The Oil-palm. Crown with Clusters of Fruit 49

Station Yard at Edea 50

The Sanaga River near Edea 51

The Sanaga River near Edea 52

Bridge over the Southern Arm of the Sanaga River (Duala-Nyong Railway) 53

Entrance to the Forest near Edea 54

Woermann Line Boats on the Sanaga River 55

Rapids in the Sanaga River 56

Maize Stores at Jaunde 57

Park-like District in a Clearing of the Forest on the Edea-Jaunde Road 58

Native Soldiers at Jaunde 59

Native Troops in Camp 60

Native Troops on Active Service 61

Native Village. Gabled Huts 62

On the Upper Nyong River 63

Colonial Troops at a Factory on the Upper Nyong River 64

Ferry Boat on the Nyong River 65

Steamer at the Landing-place of a Factory on the Nyong River 66

Collecting Rubber in the Forest 67

Dehane Rubber Plantation (Nyong River) 68

Dehane Rubber Plantation (Nyong River) 69

Manager’s House on the Dehane Rubber Plantation 70

Clearing the Ground for Planting Rubber Trees 71

Ground Cleared for Planting 72

Mixed Trees in a Plantation 73

Pay Day on a Rubber Plantation 74

A Path through the Dehane Plantation on the Nyong River 75

Natives Waiting for the Dinner Bell 76

Banana Trees on a Rubber Plantation 77

A Four-year-old Rubber Tree ready for Tapping 78

Natives at Dehane 79

Roll Call of Labourers on a Plantation 80

Elephant Grass 81

Tapping the Rubber Tree 82

Small huts for Patients suffering from Sleeping Sickness 83

Forest on the Banks of the Mungo River 84

Native Suspension Bridge over the Mungo River 85

Native Suspension Bridge over the Mungo River 86

The “Mungo” German Government Steamer on the River 87

A Tree Trunk used as a Bridge 88

Village of Ninong at the Western Base of the Manenguba Mountains 89

The Elong Mountain in the Bamenda Range seen from the foot of the Manenguba Mountains 90

Forest on the Banks of the Cross River 91

Fishing on the Cross River 92

The Cross River at Nssanakang 93

Factory on the Cross River for Trading with the Natives 94

Banana Trees near Ossidinge 95

A Village in Keakaland, Ossidinge 96

Head-dress and Tribal Marks of Keaka Women 97

Native Musical Instruments in Keakaland 98

Caravan Crossing the Ndi River near Fontschanda 99

Typical Vegetation 100

A Palm Grove 101

A Suspension Bridge 102

A Suspension Bridge 103

Suspension Bridge over the Fi, near Tinto 104

Fumban in Bamum 105

Native Market at Bamum. Provisions and Kolo Nuts being Sold 106

Ndjoia, Sultan of Bamum, between two War Drums, at Fumban 107

Sultan of Bamum with the Captains of his Troops 108

Made by the Natives of Bamum 109

Trial Field for Cotton and Tobacco at the Government Station, Fumban, Bamum 110

Bamum. Note the Frieze of Animals under the Grass Roof 111

Street Scene in Bamum 112

Street Scene in Bamum 113

Street Scene in Bamum 114

A House in Bamum 115

A Street in the Women’s Quarter 116

Cotton Field near Bamum 117

Dracæna the Fetish Trees of West Africa 118

Market-place at Banjo with the Banjo Mountains in the Distance 119

The “Malam” of Banjo in Hausa State Costume 120

Banjo, a Settlement in the Interior 121

Vegetation in the Forest 122

The “Island” Mountain District in North Adamaua between Ntem and the Ribäu Slope on the Banjo Road 123

Granite Mountain in Central Cameroon 124

Sudan Natives of Central Cameroon. Wute Natives in War Costume 125

War Games of the Wute Natives 126

Woman of the Wute Tribe 127

Woman of the Wute Tribe 128

Sudan Natives in Central Cameroon. Wute Archers 129

Sudan Natives in Central Cameroon. Wutes with their War Drums 130

Hump-backed Cattle of Adamaua 131

Hump-backed Cattle of Adamaua 132

The Faro above Tschamba 133

Caravan Travelling. Resting 134

Kumbo Highlands on the way to Lake Mauwe, between Bakumbi and Banka 135

Kumbo Highlands between Banka and Lake Mauwe 136

The Remains of a Volcano in the Kumbo Highlands 137

Forest in the Highlands 138

Change from Forest to Grass Country on the broken edge of the Inner Highlands near Fontem 139

Cultivated Portions of Grass Country 140

Typical Grass Country in Bafu-Fondong, on the Great Dschang-Bamenda Road 141

Women Working in the Fields in the Grass Country, North-west Cameroon 142

Death Dance of the Natives near Dschang 143

The Chief Bafu-Fondong on his Throne 144

Tatooed Fondong Negro 145

A Chief’s Wife in the Grass Country 146

Parasites on a Tree, near the Grass Country 147

Bali Negress in the Grass Country 148

Mbo, a Fortified Station near the Grass Country 149

Kusseri, a Fortified Station in North Cameroon 150

The Resident’s House at Kusseri 151

Mecca Pilgrims at Kusseri 152

Log Path through a Swamp 153

Horsemen in North Cameroon 154

View of Elephant Lake 155

Village of Kilgrim in the Mandara Mountains 156

The Lagone River at Musgum 157

Caravan Crossing a River 158

Njoja, with his Wives and Children, sitting in front of his Palace 159

Bakwiri Women and Children Dancing 160

The Head Chief Balwen in his War Costume 161

Chieftain in Gala Attire 162

Hausa Girl at a Spring 163

Natives of North Cameroon 164

Deng-Deng, a Settlement in the Interior 165

Dikoa, a Settlement in the Interior 166

Ebolowa, a Settlement in the Interior 167

Floods near Ssigal 168

Sultan of Ngaumdere with his Bodyguard 169

Market at Ngaumdere 170

Main Buildings of the Bibundi Plantation 171

Bungalow on the Bibundi Plantation 172

Plantation in Full Bearing 173

Baia Youths 174

Baia Women 175

Dead Elephant 176

Walrus 177

A Hausa Village 178

A Native Village. Musgum Huts 179

A Native Village. Huts with Cone-shaped Roofs 180

Caravan Travelling. Hiring Carriers 181

Rubber Caravan 182

Ivory Caravan 183

Scene at an Ivory Factory 184

Weighing the Ivory 185

Factory in the Interior of South Cameroon 186

Roll-call of Labourers 187

Bridging over a Ravine 188

Sawing Wood 189

Njem Woman, South Cameroon 190

Prow of a War Canoe 191

MAPS vPLATE

Density of the Population 192

Flora 193

Fauna 194

River Basins 195

Ivory Districts 196

Chart showing Entrance to Duala from the Sea 197

Hausa Territory 198

Profile of Cameroon 199

A. F. Calvert’s Map of Cameroon 200

THE CAMEROONS

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION.

The large bay or estuary in the Gulf of Guinea, lying south of Nigeria and facing the island of Fernando-Po, was discovered by Portuguese navigators in the fifteenth or sixteenth century and christened the Rio dos Camaroes (the River of Prawns), from the abundance of Crustacea that infested its waters. The name was also used to designate the neighbouring mountains, which rise to the north-west of the bay. The English usage, until the end of the nineteenth century, was to confine the term, the Cameroons, to the mountain range, and to speak of the estuary as the Cameroon River. It was left to the acquisitive Germans to extend the use of the name in its Teutonic form--Kamerun--to the whole Protectorate.

The establishment of German trading firms and factories at various places on the West African coast suggested to the Imperial Chancellor the practicability of laying the foundations of his projected German Colonial Empire in the Cameroon region of the Dark Continent. On March 19th, 1884, Dr. Nachtigal, a former Consul at Tunis, was instructed to proceed on this civilising mission, and on July 5th and 6th he hoisted the German flag at Bayida and Lome, in Togoland. On the 10th of that month the English gunboat _Goshawk_ entered the Cameroon River, and the mission’s hope of further extending the sphere of German influence on the coast of West Africa appeared doomed to extinction. But the _Goshawk_ departed on the following day, leaving the field clear for Nachtigal, who rushed through some agreements with the chiefs Deido, Bell and Akva, declared the country to be under the protection of Germany on July 14th, and appointed Doctor Buchner Provisional Governor of the newly acquired territory. The new Governor acknowledged the protest against German occupation, which was formally made by the British Consul on July 19th, and proceeded to hoist the German flag at Bumbia, Maliba, and Batanga.

In this nefarious and undignified manner the German Government obtained a foothold in the Gulf of Guinea, but it still remained for them to regulate their intrusion among the nations already established in the region. In order to solidify the position they had taken up, and, in the phrase employed by Siegfreid Passarge, “to withstand the intrigues and provocations of the English,” who laid claims to Victoria and the Rio del Rey coast, it was necessary to have the treaty of occupation confirmed. On May 7th, 1885, a treaty was concluded by which the British waived their claims in favour of Germany, who reciprocated by renouncing their nominal claims to Forcados, at the mouth of the Niger, and to St. Lucia. In the same year the French ceded Great Batanga and the island west of Kwakwa-Kriek in exchange for the German possession of Konakry. These treaties legalised the position, and Germany was left a free hand to develop her possessions in the Cameroons, under the Governorship of Baron von Goden.

In July, 1911, the German cruiser _Panther_ appeared off the coast of Morocco, at Agadir, for the alleged purpose of protecting German interests, of which no trace existed in that quarter of the globe. The incident was ultimately closed by the cession to Germany of the French territory to the south of their Cameroon colony, which was subsequently incorporated with it under the name of New Cameroon. The transfer was made in June, 1913. Under French domination, three military stations, garrisoned with a total force of four officers, twelve non-commissioned officers, and 200 native troops, had been sufficient to preserve order, but the new rulers had their own ideas as to the military requirements of their growing Empire. We read in _Jahrbuch über die Deutscher Kolonien_ (1913) that the German defence force numbers 185 Europeans and 1,550 natives, while it was the intention of the Government to form an additional corps of mounted infantry, to establish a stud farm for the breeding of troop horses, and to arm all the troops with 98·3 carbines. Since the declaration of war in August last, Togoland has capitulated to the French and British, and the German Cameroons are now being systematically and successfully invaded by the allied forces. The political future of these territories is, as yet, undetermined, but however they may be ultimately allocated, German domination in West Africa, with its blundering mismanagement and bumptious militarism, is a chapter of colonial history that is closed for ever.

THE EXPLORATION OF THE INTERIOR.

Although the commercial activities of the tribes inhabiting the African Mohammedan empires, and the construction of trade routes connecting Senegal with the Red Sea, had opened up the Soudan to Europeans, the territory which since 1884 has been known as German Cameroon was practically unexplored at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1822 an English expedition succeeded in reaching Lake Tchad and exploring its western and southern boundaries. This discovery was supplemented in 1851-52 by Barth and Overweg. Barth went from Kuka to Yola, and discovered the upper course of the Benue. He penetrated further, through the country south of Lake Chad to Bagirmi. In 1854 Baikie went up the Benue, as far as Djen, about fifty kilometres from Yola. Rohlf’s journey in 1865-67 and Nachtigal’s in 1869-74 are of little importance. In 1879 began the activity of Edward Flegel, who, on the steamer _Henry Benn_, navigated the Benue as far as Garna. Of much greater importance were the explorations of the Benue district in 1882 and 1883, the southern limit of which was marked by the towns of Ngaumdere, Banjo, Gaschaka, and Takum.

The knowledge of the coastal district was extremely limited. Burton and Mann had ascended the Cameroon mountains in 1861-62. In 1872-75 three German scientists, Buchholz, Reichenow and Lüders, made important zoological discoveries, while Rogozinsky, a Pole, in 1883, reached as far as Lake Barombi. But all efforts to penetrate into the interior were frustrated by the impracticable condition of the roads, the unhealthiness of the coast district--which was for the greater part uninhabited virgin forest--and by the hostile attitude of the natives.

After many fruitless endeavours to explore this coastal region, an expedition in 1888 succeeded in crossing from Batanga by way of Njong and Sanaga, and in settling the boundary between Bantio and Sudannegern. The effort to reach the Cameroon estuary was frustrated by the opposition of the Bakoko; and after a journey of much difficulty the expedition returned to the coast. In 1899 a station was established and a foothold secured. In the same year the region north of Duala was explored, and the forest district traversed, the plateau of Baliland was ascended, and the grassy lands reached. With indescribable difficulty the districts from Ibi on the Benue to Yola were traversed. In 1902-4 an Anglo-German expedition, after a very minute survey, fixed the boundary line between Yola and Lake Chad, and in 1908 an agreement was made between Germany and France regarding the south and east boundaries. In 1907-8 the frontier between Cameroon and the Nigerias was surveyed by the British and German representatives, and the approximate line of demarcation subsequently settled between the two Governments was fixed and marked by an Anglo-German commission in 1912-13.

BOUNDARIES AND TOWNS.

The Cameroons are bounded on the north-west by Nigeria, on the north-east and east by the French possessions of the Military Territory of Chad and the Middle Congo and the French possession of Gaboon. The frontier runs in a north-easterly direction from near Calabar in the Southern Provinces of Nigeria to Lake Chad, and then in a general south-south-east direction to about lat. 2° N., from whence it strikes south-west by west, reaching the Atlantic just south of Spanish Guinea, which is thus surrounded on the north, east and south by German territory. The general outline of the country thus described is broken in the middle east by a triangular piece of land which gives access to the Ubangi river, an affluent of the Congo, at Singa, in lat. 3° 40´ N.; whilst in the south-east corner a strip of land seventy miles broad runs southwards, giving access to the Congo itself in about lat. 1° S.

The Protectorate, with an area of 290 square miles, had in 1913 an estimated native population of 2,650,000, and a European population of 1,871, of whom 1,643 were Germans.

The chief towns on the coast, from north to south, are Victoria, Duala (the capital), Kribi, and Ukoko. Buea is a large town on the eastern slopes of the Cameroon mountain, and Edea is on the Sanaga, about forty miles from its mouth. In the mountainous region in the north-west are Bare, Dschang, Bali, Bamenda, Wum, Esu, and Kentu; to the east of these is Fumban, and to the west, in the low-lying country near the Nigerian border, Ossidinge. In the western portion of the plateau are Tibati, Banyo and Tingere, and in the centre, at the junction of the main routes of the interior, is Ngaumdere. In the country north of the plateau the chief towns are Garua, an important trading centre on the Benue, Lere, Binder, Marua, Mora, Dikoa, and Kusseri. In the southern part of the country are Yaunde, Dume, Bertua, Gaza, Carnot, Bania, Lomie, and Akoafim. Molondu is in the extreme south-east.

THE PROGRESS OF THE PROTECTORATE.

In the first twenty-eight years of their occupation the Germans had established courts of justice at Buea, Duala, Kribi, and Lomie, custom houses at Duala and Buea, thirty-eight post offices throughout the territory, and had maintained order among the natives by means of twelve companies of Imperial troops. They had constructed and opened 108 kilometres of the 1-m. gauge line of 160 kilometres from Duala to the Manenguæ Mountains, and had opened the central line from Duala to Widimange, on the Nyong River--a distance of 293 kilometres of 1-m. gauge line--as far as Edea, ninety kilometres from Duala. The imports had increased from 9,296,796 marks in 1898 to 29,317,514 marks in 1911, and their exports in the same period had risen from 4,601,620 to 21,250,883 marks, a total increase in the trade of the colony of nearly thirty-seven million marks. The want of means of communication was found a hindrance in the economic development of the territory, which was admittedly possessed of “unlimited liabilities.” Vast tracts in the interior were proved to be suited for cotton cultivation; oil palms, cocoa, and rubber were ascertained to be of “incalculable wealth,” and the Cameroons were described by Dr. Grotewold as among the most productive countries in the world.