A MONARCHY IN THE FRENCH SOUDAN.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2416, 25 October 1892, Page 2

A MONARCHY IN THE FRENCH SOUDAN.

News has been received in Paris (saya a London contemporaay) that MadembaSeye, a native of Senegal, who began life as an operater in the employment of the Franco-Eastern Telegraph Company, has become monarch of & kingdom which is twice as large as France. Mademba I, as he is termed, may be numbered among the founders of tha French Soudan, together with Colonel. Borgoi;3-Desbordes, Colonel Gallien, and Colonel Archinard. In 1883, when the French troops entered Bummako and took possession for the first time of the Niger, Mademba organised a telegraph service, placing this new French possession in communication with the mother country. Colonel Desbordes, in his official report, says it was entirely through Mademba's efforts, courage, and perseverance that the telegraphic line between Basonlabe and the Niger (427 kilometres) had been successfuly constructed. In 1883, while the line from Kita to Bammako was being built, the warriors of the Samory tribe stole the greater part of the wire destined for telegraphic purposes. Mademba immediately repaired to the camp Colonel Borgois-Desbordes, and requested to be allowed to join in the engagements which took place daily between the French soldiers and the Sofas of Almany. Permission having been granted to him he put himself at the head of a score of subordina,te telegraph employees, and he three days later managed to penetrate into the enemy's camp and to recover the missing wire. This feat was only the beginning of a long series of similar acts of military prowess, and in 1886 Mademba-Seye was decorated by the President of the French Republic with the Cross of the Legion of Honour as a reward for his exceptional services. In 1890 the ex-telegraph operator was placed in command of a large corps of native troops, which accomplished wonders and was known as the Mademba column. This army corps, for such it must be called, was entirely composed of colored men who, followed by their wives and belongings, formed a most imposing tout ensemble, preceded as it was by jugglers, sorcerers, and medicine men in picturesque costumes; Mademba, himself a black, realising that in order to maintain his influence over his men it was indispensable that he should retain a certain portion of their customs. Colonel Archinard, seeing the wonderful power wielded by Mademba, conceived the project of creating a large kingdom comprising all the different territories on the left bank of the Niger, and of confining its management to the man who had given so many proofs of absolute devotion to France. This plan having found much favor in the eyes the French Government, Mademba-Seye started about a year ago to take possession of his kingdom, where, after a perilous voyage, he was enthusiastically proclaimed " Fama of Sansanding," which was the title used by the ancient Bambara Sovereigns of Segou, who were in times gone by dethroned by the great Ul-Hadj-Oumar. The post lie occupies is both dangerous and difficult, but Mademba holds it securely, and his power is daily increasing.