AFRICA.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 August 1921, Page 4

AFRICA.

in “Tlie Backbone of Africa,” Sir. Alfred Sharpe, formerly Governor of N.vasaland, lias written an interesting account of a region which seems destined to play an important part in the future of the continent. Few would say offhand that there is a close connection between the three chief riverine systems in Africa, blit reference to the map shows this to be the case. The Nile, tiie Congo, and the Zambesi, with their tributaries, though debouching into the - .(literranean, the Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean, have their rise in the one central plateau, whic-h, with an average height of from three to four thousand feet, extends from the Soudan to Rhodesia. Though this plateau runs longitudinally a huge trough, in which the great lakes are situated, and lateral valleys give access to the lowlands and the coast. Now that Germany has lost- “ German East,” Britain, Belgium, and Portugal are the Powers which have territorial interests in this locality. During the war Sir Alfred Sharpe made several journeys to this region to report on various questions relating to the economic development and its administration. He approached it from north south, and east; he traversed it in every direction, and his observations and eonelusions are embodied in a very readable book. He is profoundly impressed with the potentialities of this country, which possesses every variety ol soil and climate. Anything, apparently, can he grown ; cotton, coffee, maize, tobacco, and flax arc among the most successful crops. It is rich in minerals and though the surface of the ground has barely been scratched in many district's, gold and copper mines are being profitably worked. particularly in Belgian territory. It is worth noting that the author speaks in appreciative terms of the Belgian administration. We used to hear a great deal about the scandals in the Congo, but Sir Alfred Sharpe found the treatment of the natives by the Belgian officials to be conspicuously enlightened and humane. It the Belgian methods had a fault it was that they tended >" coddle the nativ.es unduly. Prices are fixed, and the native in Belgian territory receives more for his wares than his brother over the border. Wages are also higher, so lie waxes affluent, 1 conies “too big for his boots,” and ii he can he induced to work at all regards it as an act of gracious condescension. Indeed, everywhere through the Backbone” labour is a serious problem. The negro is naturally indolent, and at the best an ineffective worker. The stories ! of bis strength and endurance are very i mnoli exaggerated. He is not equal to 1 any continuous exertion : a porter, for instance, will only carry a light pack ten miles a day. Sir Alfred Sharpe attributes this want of stamina to the universal diet of bananas. Communications were another serious problem, but this is being solved by railways connecting the great lakes—themselves great thorough!raes of traffic, and (filling the war the scene of lively naval ; fighting—with the coast. The plateau : is in general quite suitable for white settlement. Time lias yet to show ; whether British stock will not deteriorate there in the course of two or three j generations, but there is nothing to : prevent a white man spending his ac- : live life in the country without detriment to his health. To he successful, however, the settler must have some capital. With regard to the,future ol the British territories, Sir Alfred Sharpe recommends that Uganda, British East Africa, German East Africa, and Nyasaland should lie under one supreme control. Economically and geographically they are a single unit. The present ! system of four separate and independ--1 out administrations is unnecessary and wasteful, and lias produced a lack ot ■ unifonnitv in such matters as taxation

and land policy which is unsatisfactory both from the British and the native point of view. He also thinks that Eastern Africa should have a more direct and effective form of representation in the home country than now exists. He is not an advocate of the Capc-to-Cairo railway. Since Cecil Rhodes conceived the idea conditions in Central Africa have greatly changed. Many of the districts lying along the Ca|K* to Cairo route are already being served and developed by lines running ! to the Kasi Coast. The natural outlet !of Hie cent.al pin can is neither north ! nor south: its.nearest ports are Momj basa, Dar-es-Salaam, and ltoira. and j its trade will always go to these in preference' to tin' more distant terminals. Moreover, if it be des: e l to establish through communication between the Cape and Cairo, why build a railway line the whole way, when for thousands of miles it is possible to travel by water? Link up the great lakes with existing railheads niid with each other, and you have a mixed rail and steamer route from north to south. Sir Allred Sharpe's conclusion is that, though there may be sentimental or diplomatic reasons for a through railway from the On jn* to Cniro, tlicrfc is no economic reason. In the introduction to “Sun, Sand, and ,Sounds” Major 11. Bayne observes that, although Africa as a whole is liecoming rather civilised, there is still one place, Somaliland, where the endeavour flourishes. Major Bayne ought to know, for as District Commissioner in British Somaliland lie has had ample opportunity of witnessing the diversions of the artless native and the depredations of the wild tribesmen from the border. The Sound is a cosmopolitan and much-travelled individual. He is to be found in the stokeholds of most ol the liners on the Eastern run. Major Ravne knows a Somali tobacconist in Cardiff and a Somali mechanic in New York, also a Somali trader in Bombay w ho s|>eaks several European languages Ihn-ntly. But the Sound abroad and the Sound at home are two very different propositions. In his native desert, out off from the rest of the world by the sterile mountains of Abyssinia and the dangerous shoals of the Gulf of Aden, the Somali lives very much as did his ancestors three centuries ago. His ideals are the same; his manners and customs the same, although the British authorities are endeavouring to wean him from his ancient wayH.

The outsider may lie excused if he thinks the Somals a thoroughly objectionable race, instinctive liars,, treacherous, double-dealing ruffians, who do not hesitate to stab their dearest friends in the back should Die whim seize them. Major Bayne admits that

ney are pemaps a iruie uuuareu •.•* issassination, but to understand all is o pardon all, and if you make allowmees for the Somal’s point of view and mtional idiosyncrasies you will find him piite a likeable fellow . You must renember that, according to immemorial radition, he may kill any one he .-booses, provided that be pays a bunIred camels as blood money if bis victim sa' male, or fifty il she 1 is female. Consequently, murder with .him is a question not of ethics but ol economics, rile British solicitude for human life was incomprehensible to him, though he is beginning to resign himself to the inevitable, and to curb [iis natural impulse towards homicide, lie is a very litigious person, and in Somaliland, as in more civilised communities, matrimonial causes bulk large in the business of the law courts. Major Ravne describes the country and its people with great verve, and in his last chaptet gives an.account of tin’ final subjugation of the Mad Mullah. In the past the Government had had immense difficulty in dealing with this gentleman and other insurgents of his kidney. They would elude pursuit in the trackless, waterless desert, and had their rallying posts in inaccessible strongholds where the arm of authority did not reach. But in 11)2(1 the old order gave place to the now, and the British employed aircraft, against the Mad Mullah. These annihilated distance, bombed his forts, stampeded his camels, cut off the caravan containing his wives and valuables, and demoralised his supporters. The old man had his prestige utterly destroyed, and was left without a follower or a friend to give him shelter. There is something pathetic in his fate, although he so richly deserved it. ___