E. 1,062,000l.—a surplus of E. 200,000l. A revival of prosperity was indicated by an increased estimate of revenue over that of 1909. The subvention from the Egyptian Treasury to the Soudan was reduced by 10,000l. Thirty-one persons were tried and given sentences of various degrees for being implicated in the murder of a Government agent and three policemen at Siwa Oasis in October; the trouble arose in the course of the suppression of a local traffic in slaves and arms. An account published in Cairo in August by Mr. E. H. Ross of his campaign against mosquitoes at Port Said and Ismailia, showed that, as the result of the work of the mosquito brigades in the destruction of larvæ, there was a diminution of dengue fever and of infant mortality at Port Said. But a continuous campaign is necessary and this is being maintained at Ismailia, which is under the control of the Suez Canal Company. Much success has attended the prospecting for oil in the Jezah district of the Suez Canal and the industry promises well. The new railway from Khartoum southwards along the west bank of the Blue Nile was, at the end of the year, 120 miles south, as far as Wad Medani, the headquarters of the Blue Nile Province. Three trains a week are to be run each way. The railway is to run south a farther fifty miles and then to turn westward and cross the White Nile to El Obeid, in Kordofan. The Khedive paid a visit to Constantinople in September. In December he made a pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places. He made the necessary circuit of the House of God on entering the city at daybreak, kissed the Black Stone and drank of the Zemzen Well.

The Soudan has been tranquil on the whole, but not free from signs of latent unrest. Indeed, Sir Eldon Gorst's separate report referred to above sounds a distinctly pessimistic note. He points out that the tenth year of the reoccupation has been marked by tribal unrest, and says that recent events— he was writing in March, 1909-show that the overthrow of the Khalifa did not extinguish Mahdism as a faith. His view was that unless carefully watched and checked at every turn it might again become a danger to the peace and security of the country. He called attention to the steady increase in the population, especially the child population. Complaint was again made of lawlessness along the Abyssinian border and raids on Soudanese frontier villages. The deficit for 1908 was E. 238,000l. The revenue for 1909 (including the Egyptian subsidy of E. 208,0001.) was estimated at E. 1,222,000l. and the expenditure at a like sum: In addition E. 380,000l. was advanced by the Egyptian Government for the extension of the railway south of Khartoum, improvement of existing railways, the commencement of the bridge over the White Nile for the railway into Kordofan, and the completion of Port Soudan town and harbour. Summing up the masses of reports, departmental and provincial, into a few general observations, Sir Eldon Gorst emphasises

the liability of the Soudan to sporadic outbreaks; the raiding and fighting instincts of the savage tribes in remote districts are a constant danger to peace. Moreover, the most dangerous districts are so unhealthy that neither British nor Egyptian troops can permanently be stationed in them; the only course is to increase the Soudanese battalions. As to finance, a long period must pass before the ordinary revenue of the country will be sufficient for its annual needs, quite apart from the large capital expenditure necessary to develop the resources of the provinces. Progress must be slow; "and in the meantime the Soudan is supporting a period of military and financial strain which puts a severe burden on those who are responsible for its administration." The Soudan Government appropriated a sum of money for anthropological investigations to be carried on for two years by Dr. and Mrs. Seligmann. The first district to be studied is the White Nile and country to the west-the Dinka and Shelluk peoples and the Pagan Nubas of Southern Kordofan. Opportunities will be taken for original investigation, but the chief purpose is to lay down the lines of study for provincial and local officials and afford such sociological information as will be helpful to them. Dr. and Mrs. Seligmann will conclude their first journey in April, 1910.

III. NORTH-EAST AFRICA AND THE PROTECTORATES.

The record of the year in Abyssinia is one of apprehension of internal troubles on the death of the Emperor Menelik, of renewed raids into the Soudan by the frontier tribes-who have given considerable annoyance to the Egyptian authorities-and of the steady advance of French interests in the kingdom. A reassuring feature of the situation is, however, that the question of the succession has been settled. The probability that any difficulty will be set up in Europe by changes in Abyssinia is much reduced by the agreement of 1906 between Great Britain, France and Italy (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1906, p. 417). In July it was reported that the Emperor was seriously ill and that the government was in the hands of the Empress Taitou, and it was said that there was civil strife between partisans of the Emperor and of the Empress. Lidj Jeassu, son of Ras Mikhael and of the Emperor Menelik's daughter Shoagash, was proclaimed as the Emperor's successor. He is thirteen years of

age and was married to a bride of seven, the Princess Romanie, granddaughter of the late Emperor John and niece of the Empress Taitou. The marriage was regarded as of political importance, inasmuch as it united the two dynasties and the families. of certain powerful chiefs. In October it was reported that Menelik had suffered a paralytic stroke and that arrangements had been made by which Ras Tassama would act as Regent for the young heir-apparent, Lidj Jeassu. There were rumours that the Empress was hostile to the succession and that an anti

DD

foreign agitation would break out; but these stories were discredited in Rome, where keen interest is taken in Abyssinian affairs owing to the peril in which Eritrea would stand if the border tribes broke away from the authority of the central government at Addis Abeba. On November 3 it was reported that the Emperor Menelik had caused a proclamation to be read exhorting the chiefs and people to unity, confirming Ras Tassama as guardian of Lidj Jeassu, and invoking the curse of Heaven upon any one who did not repudiate the pretensions of any other claimant to the throne. This was regarded as a death-bed declaration, but at the close of the year the Emperor Menelik was still alive.

British Somaliland has again been disturbed by the activity of the Mullah, and early in the year it became necessary to strengthen the local forces with Indian troops and with King's African Rifles from Mombasa. The arrival of these troops eased the situation, and it was reported that the Mullah had made overtures by which hostilities could be avoided. They were, in fact, avoided, the Mullah apparently being content so long as his mastery of the hinterland was not threatened, and the British Government being anxious at all reasonable cost not to be compelled to resume operations in the interior. This last was the view put forward in Parliament in March (p. 47). The Mullah resumed his activity in October, and on the 21st cut up a small convoy. The Pioneer (Allahabad) stated on December 7 that the Imperial Government had decided to appoint a Military Governor, and that Major-General de Brath, Commander-inChief and Political Resident at Aden, had been selected for the post. On December 12, it was reported that the Mullah was near Adida station and that more tribesmen were joining him. The Protectorate troops were then at Sheik. The posts in Italian Somaliland are now furnished with the Marconi wireless telegraph system.

Much controversy occurred in the Protectorate of East Africa and in England owing to the misconduct of a British official in an up-country station (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1908, p. 418). His punishment was regarded as inadequate, and his dismissal was pressed for; and Colonel Seely, in reply to questions in Parliament, declined to inflict additional punishment, but announced that similar misconduct would in future. be met by instant dismissal (July 27; p. 179). In April Mr. Roosevelt, the ex-President of the United States, arrived at Mombasa with a hunting party and spent several months in the interior, having much sport with big game. Mr. Roosevelt was received with all honours and entertained at Mombasa, Mr. F. J. Jackson, the Acting-Governor of the Protectorate, reading a message of welcome from the King. Mr. Roosevelt contributed to the Daily Telegraph a series of vivid articles on his experiences. On his return Mr. Roosevelt was entertained at Nairobi and spoke of the country he had been through as "a real white

man's land." He had seen large tracts suitable for a population of settlers. This was one of the regions of the world still left for a new white settlement and it would be a calamity to neglect it. Besides that it was "the most attractive playground in the world." At Mr. Roosevelt's request the United States Government are sending a supply of black bass to be deposited in Lake Naivasha. The Report for 1908-9 had not appeared at the time this volume went to press, nor had that of Uganda, which is very slowly recovering from the devastating plague of sleeping-sickness. A Court of Appeal for East Africa was constituted in November, the members to be the Judges of the East Africa, Nyassaland and Uganda Protectorates. A scheme is under consideration for a railway from Jinja, on the Victoria Nyanza to a point on the Nile forty miles below Ripon Falls. A further agreement was come to during the year with Germany on Uganda frontier questions. Miss E. Benham communicated to the Times a letter dated Mombasa, November 27, describing a journey she made with a cook and six porters, unarmed, through Central Africa. Starting from Broken Hill she walked through Northern Rhodesia by Lake Tanganyika to German East Africa, and thence on to the Victoria Nyanza and Uganda, returning via British East Africa, ascending to the summit of Kilimanjaro. She had no difficulty or annoyances either from natives or wild animals. Of Nyassaland there is little to note. save the prohibition of the recruiting of labour for places outside the Protectorate, namely the Transvaal mines. German East Africa has continued an uneventful course, except for minor native difficulties. The Union-Castle line have extended their service northward from Beira to Mombasa, thus giving a British steamboat service to the East African Protectorate. But passengers via the Suez Canal are still dependent on the direct German service.

An exhaustive Report on Zanzibar and Pemba by Mr. Basil S. Cave, His Majesty's Agent and Consul-General, was issued in September. It is in the form of a review of historical and economic data since the declaration of the British Protectorate in 1890, and though it does not touch events later than 1908 it is the most recent and accurate account of the state of the island. One point only can here be brought out-namely, the entire success of the slave emancipation policy inaugurated by the Decree of 1897, which ordained that no child thereafter born could be a slave and made provision by which slaves could obtain their freedom. Mr. Cave states that 11,000 slaves had been emancipated in eleven years without a hand, and almost without a voice, being raised in protest. If His Majesty's Government had followed the advice to liberate the whole of the servile population, including concubines, by a stroke of the pen, the result would, in his opinion, have been disastrous; the Arabs would have been converted into a discontented rebellious community, the natives would have become demoralised and un

manageable and all local industries would have been brought to a standstill. So well had matters gone that Mr. Cave was of opinion that the time had now come to consider whether the status of domestic slavery could not be for ever abolished in the Protectorate; but care would need to be taken to safeguard the position of concubines and the right of their children to inheritance. Following upon these opinions the Sultan signed in June, 1909, a Decree that the Courts "shall not in any case recognise the status of slavery in the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba." The Decree provided for compensation to slaves to whom a previous master refused support by reason of the slave's age, illhealth or other infirmity which made him unable to earn a living. It repealed Article 5 of the Decree of 1897, subject to the condition that all concubines and their children, though free, shall continue to be entitled to all the rights and privileges previously enjoyed under the Mohammedan Law; but such rights are sacrificed if any concubine leaves her master without his consent, including the right to the custody of her children by him. During 1909 there was some disaffection among East Indians in Zanzibar and a memorial of grievances was sent to the Foreign Office.

IV. NORTH AND WEST AFRICA.

The story of Morocco for 1909 is again complicated and obscure, but the outstanding fact is that the new Sultan, Mulai Hafid, has consolidated his position and maintained the independence of the country, proving himself an astute negotiator, quite able to hold his own with the diplomatists of France or any other Power. In January France sent a Mission to Fez under M. Regnault to deal with pending local, not international questions, and in April a British Mission under Mr. Lister was received in that city. Meanwhile the Sultan had sent El Mokri, his Finance Minister, on a special mission to Europe to raise funds for the reorganisation of the Empire. A loan of 3,200,000l. was eventually negotiated. The earlier news from Morocco was to the effect that the relations between the Missions and the Sultan were excellent, and that the internal condition of the country was improving. Mr. Harris, the correspondent of the Times, had an interview with the Sultan at Fez on February 13, and after "nearly two hours of most cordial and intimate conversation" came to the conclusion that Mulai Hafid possesses the strength of character in which Abdul Aziz was deficient. "It is quite evident that Mulai Hafid is a man of large and independent ideas, with a leaning towards democracy. In appearance and manner he is most attractive, and both his looks and his conversation betoken a character at once strong and of quick decision. Everything he says is very much to the point, and his remarks are often touched with humour and even cynicism. His openmindedness and cordiality extend almost to breaches of the