(1917) The Black Man's Part in the War: An Account of the Dark Skinned Population of the British Empire, How It is and Will Be Affected by the Great War

THE

BLACK

MAN'S

_PAR?

IN

THE

WAR

»

f

I. 'fig?*-* 5

AN ACCOUNT

OF

THE

DARK-SKINNED POPULATION

OF

THE

BRITISH EMPIRE;

HOW

IT IS

AND

WILL

BE AFFECTED BY

THE

GREAT

_WAR;

AND THE

SHARE IT HAS

TAKEN

IN

WAGING THAT

WAR

.

• '*

BY

SIR

HARRY

H.

_JOHNSTON,

G.G.M.G.

AUTHOUOF "THETRUTH ABOUT TnE WAR"'J "THE HISTORY OF THE

COLONISATION OFAFRICA*'J

"_THENEGRO

INTHENEWWORLD," ETC.

-%

Jr.-''

_#9*

"•

«

^

h

l i_ >r~

SIMPKIN,

MARSHALL,

HAMILTON

KENT

&

CO., LTD., 4

STATIONERS'

HALL COURT

: :

LONDON,

E.C.4 '

_/?

_/~7

f

Copyright First published 1917

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I

The

Ethnology

of

the Case

7

CHAPTER

II

British

West

Africa

14

CHAPTER

III

British

East

Africa

. 49

CHAPTER

IV

British

South

Africa

70

CHAPTER V

The

Negroids

of

America

and

the

Pacific

...

89

CHAPTER

VI

What we

must do

for

the

Dark

Races

after the

war

....

5

LIST

OF

ILLUSTRATIONS

A

'Polynesianfrom Tonga Islands

An

Egyptian Fellah

A

Hausa of Nigeria

A

Fula of Nigeria .

A

Fula of the Gambia .

A

Kruboy

of Sierra Leone

A

Mandingo of Sierra Leone

A

Hausa Gun-crew .

A

Somali of East Africa

Masai Spearmen

A

Native of

Uganda

A

Hima of

Uganda

.

A

Hamite of the Nile Valley

An

Omu-herero of Damaraland

A

Cape Colony Kafir

Zulus of the Olden Time

A

British Guiana Bush Negro

A

Blond Negroid of the

West

Indies

An

Oceanic Negro _(Northern SolomonIslands

Melanesians of the

New

Hebrides .

A

West

Indian Pilot _(Bahamas)

A

Negro Clergymanfrom Barbados .

West

Indian_{Boatmen (Leeward Islands)}

A

Mulatto Engineer, Trained at Tuskegee

6 PACING PAGE 10 11 22 23 36 37 44 45 50 51 54 55 64 65 74 75 88 89 94 95 108 109 118 119

THE

BLACK

MAN'S

PART

IN

THE

WAR

AN ACCOUNT OF THE DARK-SKINNED POPULATION OF

THE BRITISH EMPIRE;

HOW

IT IS AND WILL BE

AFFECTED BY THE GREAT WAR; AND THE SHARE

IT HAS TAKEN IN WAGING THAT WAR.

CHAPTER

I

THE

ETHNOLOGY

OF

THE

CASE

The

United

_Kingdom

of Great Britain

and

Ireland rules

more

or less _directly

some

44,700,000 Africans,

about

1,700,000

Afra-mericans in the

West

Indies,

Honduras and

Guiana,

and

about

338,000 Oceanic Negroes, Melanesians

and

_Polynesians in the Pacific

archipelagoes.

And

in addition the

Daughter

Nation

of the

South

African

Union

_governs

another _{4,000,000 of}

Bantu

_Negroes,

Hotten-tots

and

half-breeds ; lastly, the

Common-wealth ofAustralia

and

the

Dominion

of

New

Zealand

are _responsible for the _safe-keeping

and

welfare of

about

_400,000

_Papuans,

_150,000

Australoids,

and

100,000 Polynesians,

Mela-nesians

and

Micronesians.

THE ETHNOLOGY

OF

THE

CASE

This

_approximate

total of our dark-skinned

peoples,

mainly

of

Negro

or

_Negroid

race

—

for the

_Negro

_sub-species of

Man

_actually has

inhabited for _ages the Pacific _{archipelagoes,}

and was

introduced

two and

three

hundred

years

ago

by

our forefathers into

America

—

amounts

to _51,388,000; all

but

_4,650,000

of

whom

are

more

or less _directly

under

the

control of the Colonial

and

_Foreign Offices in

London.

Of

coursethis_contingent ofcoloured

British subjects

compares

poorly in numerical

value with the _{nearly 325,000,000} of British

Asiatics in India, Indo-China, China, Malaysia,

Ceylon, the Persian Gulf

and

Arabia

;

but

it is not

much

inferior in

numbers

to the

61,700,000 of the _governing

White

race, in

the

United

_Kingdom,

_{Canada, South}

_Africa,

Australia

and

New

Zealand.

No

other

com-parison is _possible.

The

total wealth of the

British

Whites

isalmost

immeasurable

. . .

per-haps, capitalised, £85,400,000,000, as _against

a _{hypothetical £300,000,000}

_{owned by}

our

Negro and

Negroid

populations.

The

physical

strength

and

well-being of the

Whites

is

superior in the average to that of the Blacks

and

Browns

;

and

of course their education

is far

more

universal

and

advanced.

When

all these circumstances are

taken

into

consideration it will

be found

_{that the Negro,}

Negroid

and

Polynesian

have

played a part

in the

war

_{quite proportionate} to their

THE ETHNOLOGY

OF

THE

CASE

tunities

and

means

;

and

actually

would have

done

much

more

_{to help the} Allies _against the

Central

Powers

had

_{they not}

been

restrained

for

one

reason

and

another

_by

their white

guardians, advisers or administrators.

It is the _object of this little

book

to set

forth to those

who

do

not

_know,

or are careless

of the _knowledge, the

Black

Man's

_{loyalty to}

the British

_Empire

in this dire _struggle; the

sympathy

he

has shown, the _great services

he has rendered _already;

and

the

much

greater extent to

which

he

might be employed

as

an

_adjunct to our

White

and Yellow

man-power

: _{but, per contra,} the _obligation that

lies

on

us after the

war

_{to recognise}

and

affirm

his _rights as a citizen of the _Empire. British

Asia will

have

as

much

as Africa _{(or more)} to

do

in _{closing the great} conflict

and

in _helping

to set the world _{right again.} It

_may

be

advisable for

some

writer

who

knows

his

India, his _Malaysia

and

_Ceylon

to tell the

White

_{peoples of} the

_{Empire what}

has

been

the _fighting

worth

of the Indian _troops in

France, in _Palestine,

_{Mesopotamia and}

East

Africa ;

and

what

sacrifices for the

common

cause

have

been

made

_by

coloured British

subjects in Ceylon, in the

_Malay

Peninsula

and

even

in distant

Borneo

; besides the

handsome

financial contributions to

war

funds

or

war

charities

from

the Chinesein

_Hong-Kong.

But

_my

intention in _{the present}

book

is to

THE ETHNOLOGY

OF

THE

CASE

deal _{only with the}

Black Man's

_part in the

struggle, associating in this survey, with the

Negro

and

Negroid

of Africa

and

Tropical

America, the _{Oceanic Negroes, the} Australoids,

the Melanesians

and

_{the Polynesians} of

Aus-tralasia.

And

further to enforce the _principle that the dark-skinned races of _{every degree} of

civilisation

have

come

to the assistance of the

British _{(and Belgian}

and

_French)

White

_peoples

because our recent treatment of

them

_has, in

the main,

won

their

_sympathy

and

even

their _gratitude ; because they are intelligent

enough

to _perceive that

we

are _fighting

on

the side _{of liberty for} all

mankind.

_Perhaps

the

most

_important

_(though it is the

most

neglected) study that should enter into the

Imperial education of the British people is

Ethnology, or the Science of Races.

Every

British

_{boy and}

_{girl, every} white, brown,;_and

black child

and

student,

above

all those

who

are _likely to rise to _{play a part, small or great}

in the affairs of State, should before all _things

be

versed in a

_knowledge

ofthe different races

of

man

_living at the _{present day.} If this

education

were

_imparted in its _simplest

form

to school-children as a _subject of _elementary

tuition, if it

were

the incentive to _{scholarships,}

the cause of degrees at universities, the winner

of

_many

marks

in

Government

examinations,

we

should not _repeat the _grievous mistakes recorded in our _past colonial _history

and

our

RoyalAnthropologicalInstitute.

10]

A POLYNESIAN,

AN EGYPTIAN FELLAH.

THE

ETHNOLOGY

OF

THE

CASE

foreign policy, our trade precepts

and

our

warfare.

Let us, therefore, deal first with the

Eth-nology of these dark-skinned races before

appraising their part in the

War.

I foresee

from

several directions

an

_objection

to

_my

_title, in that it

_may

seem

to lay

undue

emphasis

on

the colour of the

Negro

or the Negroid.

The

Polynesian is often quite _light

in _tint, for he is

an

_amalgam

of

some

ancient

form

of

_wandering

white

_{man, which}

_mingled

with the

_{brown Malay and}

the black

and

brown

_{Oceanic negroes}

and

Melanesians.

Then

again,

many

of the

Negroes and

Negroids of

the

West

Indies,

South

Africa

and

the

Sudan

are far

from

_being black, are _perhaps best described as i

yellow

'

in their tint of_colouring.

Still the scope of

_my

book

is _principally

con-cerned with the _Negro,

and

the

_Negro

_may

be

described in

_rough

classification as *

black,'

just as

we

call

Europeans

and

their descendants

in Asia, Africa,

America

and

Australasia, the

1

White

'

race. Millions of

_Negroes

_{in Africa,}

Oceania

and

America

are not of the

coal-black tint

which

characterises

some

African

tribes taken to

be

_{typical of} the _sub-species;

they are chocolate-brown,

brownish

yellow,

even

reddish _yellow in skin colour; just as

millions of '

White

'

people are not really

white,

but

of a

cream complexion

or yellowish

tint.

And

_probably

to

an

inhabitant of

THE ETHNOLOGY

OF

THE

CASE

another _planet the bleached colour of the

European

—

due

in the

main

to ages of clothing

—

_{might be}

far less attractive

than

the bronze,

the

warm

_{sepia of the Negro.}

But

in

rough-and-readyclassification

we

_speakofthe'

Black

'

Man

when we

allude to the _aboriginal

Aus-tralian,

Papuan,

or Melanesian, or the Negroes

of the

Old

and

New

Worlds

; of the

'

White

'

Man

when we mean

the

_European

_sub-species

(many

of

whose

varieties are quite

dark

in

skin-colour) ; of the '

Red

'

Man

as indicating

the Amerindian, the '

Brown

'

Man

in referring

to the _average Indian

and

_Malay,

and

the

Yellow

Man

as a _{covering phrase} for the

Chinese, Siamese

and

their

Mongolian

relations.

The

_Negro

has

no

cause to

be

ashamed

of

wearing

"the

burnished livery of the Sun," as

far-seeing Shakespeare so aptly puts it.

He

was more

or less restricted in his _range to the

warm

belt ofthe world, firstly

by

the recurrent

Ice

_Ages

and

next

_by

the _hostility of the

White and

Yellow

_peoples,

who

had

struggled

through

the last of the Glacial periods

and

emerged

enormously

strengthened

by

their

endurance.

Meanwhile

the

_Negro

and

the

Australoid lived

naked

in _{the Tropics} for such

an immensely

long time that

no doubt under

the effect of sun-heat their skins

—

_originally

yellow, as in the ancestral

Man

from

whom

we

are all

descended—

_grew

_deeper in tone, till

in the _{equatorial regions}

where

great moisture

THE ETHNOLOGY

OF

THE

CASE

was

combined

with _great heat _they

became

really black in maturity.

Negro

babies,

how-ever, are still

born

reddish _yellow in skin

colour,

and

the

women

who

are a little

more

protected

from

the sun are less

dark

than the

men.

Where,

as in

America

and

the civilised

parts of Africa, the

'

Black

'

man

has lived for

generations

accustomed

to

be

fully clothed,

he is _{already lighter in complexion.}

So

also

is it with the Australoid.

In addition to the care of _{37,700,000 Negroes}

and

_Negroids in _Africa,

we

of the

United

Kingdom

are answerable for the destinies

and good government

of _{11,000,000 Egyptians,}

who

_though

'

Africans '

are not to

be

classified

as _Negroes,

_though

there is

much

evidence of

ancient

and

modern

intermixture with the

Negro

in the features

and

skin colour of the

ten millions of _peasant cultivators.

We

have

recently realised

by

objects of early

Egyptian

art, that the pristine people of

Lower Egypt

were Negro

pygmies,

but

more

likethe

pygmies

of

_Papua

or

New

Guinea than

the

_Congo

pyg-mies _{of to-day.}

The

_{Egyptian upper}

classes

are _{practically a white people} recruited

origin-ally

from

Eastern

and

Southern

Europe, Asia

Minor and

_Syria,

and

_scarcely

descended

from

the wonderful Ancient

Egyptian

stock. This

with

much

Arab,

Nubian

and Negro

infusion

still _lingers in the ten millions of cultivators

and

herdsmen.

CHAPTER

II

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

"

_A

great impression was made upon both sections _of the

Nigerian public by the _{departure of the Negro Nigerian} con-tingent forthe WarinEastAfrica. Thesemen_{were going}some

5,000 miles from their homes to _{fight for} the _{Empire. They}

had already done splendid work in the Cameroons. Their

loyalty even attracted attention and comment _from the French

Press in the adjoining protectorateof Dahome" (West Africa,

March 18, 1917).

The

_thirty-seven millions of

_Negroes

who

have been born

in or

_{been brought under}

the

British

_Empire

have

their _{strongest contingent}

in _Nigeria,

Southern

and

Northern.

Here

they

muster

over sixteen millions.

Of

these

there are

about

five million _Negroes of _very

pronounced

type, really black people, in

South-ern Nigeria (Lagos

and

its _hinterland,

Benin

and

the _Niger delta,

Old

Calabar

and

the

Cross _River),1

_and

in the _{lower Niger} lands

1 _As

to the rather turbulent people of Southern _Nigeria,

amongst

whom

I have known how difficultit is to _compose

feuds between tribe and tribe, they quickly realised what

this Warmeanttothem andtothe British _{Empiregenerally.}

A

British officer, writing from Southern Nigeria to the Daily Graphic, reportedhow the people of New Calabar and

their hereditary enemies, the _people of Okrika, had now

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

northwards to the State of

_Nupe.

There

are

perhaps

two

million

Yorubas

and

allied tribes

who

are

somewhat

_lighter in skin-colour

and

occasionally

have

in

them

a trace of

Northern

blood.

The

Yorubas

are a_particularly

_worthy

people, valiant in

war

but

of peaceable

dis-position,

keen

traders, very cleanly

and

self-respecting, industrious,

and

Muhammadan

in

religion.

But

the Niger delta negroes already

mentioned

include the

Ibo

tribe,

which

has

strong artistic capacities

and

is very clever

and

deft in

_workmanship.

The

Ibos are still

largely

pagan

in religion,

though

a small

pro-portion of

them

are

becoming

Christians or

Muhammadans.

The

Old

Calabar

and

Cross

River

tribes either belong to the bloodthirsty,

'

fetish' _religions that

have

so _long

been

the

curse of the

Ibo

tribes, of the old

_Kingdom

of

Benin

and

the mysterious

Aro

_country, or a

proportion of

them

have been

converted during

the _{last fifty years} to Christianity

by

English

and

Scottish missionaries.

sworn blood brotherhood (lest their intertribal quarrels

should embarrassus), and hadbrought in £1,000

—

each tribe

contributing £500

—

which they begged the local Political Officer toforward asa token of_{personal loyalty}to_{the King.}

Theywrote letters inbrokenEnglish saying thattheywanted to_helpinthe greatWarbecause they weregrateful forhaving such good and kind rulers. The whole division contributed £1,600 for War funds. This means a great deal when one realises what keen,hard-headed traders are the fewheadmen

with _{money, and} how comparatively poor (except in food

stuffs) are the mass of the people.

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

In the direction of the

Cameroons

frontier

the natives _{speak Semi-Bantu, or true}

_Bantu

languages,1

and

in _{physical appearance} often

represent the average

'

Bantu

'

type of figure

and

_physiognomy,

_being

_sometimes

very

plea-sant-featured. Cannibalism _prevailed in all

this Cross River-lb6 district

down

to _quite

recent times, yet the people are singularly

intelligent,

and

spring toanythinglike_practical civilisation.

The

Aro

_caste,

which

dwells

amongst

them,

and was

chiefly remarkable for

the hideous

and

_mysterious

religion that it

stimulated, is _evidently the _vestige of

some

unrecorded invasion

from

the

more

northern

parts of Nigeria, for in physical type

many

of the

Aros

are

_Negroid

rather _{than Negro,}

with _{finely chiselled features}

and

_lighter skins.

The

_industry

and

_energy of the

_Egba

and

Jekri _people of

_Lagos

and

its _hinterland

(radiating especially

from

the partially

self-governing State of

Abeokuta)

are remarkable.

The

Alake

or Chief of

Abeokuta

_{paid a} visit

to the

United

_Kingdom

some

_years

_{ago and}

1 _I

hope the readerwillbear with

_my

foiblefor_mentioning sometimes the _type of _{language spoken, becauae}

language studyin Africaand Oceania is of _{such importance}in

under-standing the history and the mentality of these '

backward'

peoples, who are as _{often retrograde as primitive.}

Certainly

many Negro languages seem to contain evidence of _{a past}

of_{greater mind-culture}thanwasevident_{amongNegropeoples}

a hundred oreven _{fiftyyears ago,}when the White man first

beganto realise them.

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

created _{a very favourable impression}

_by

his

intelligence

and

good-humour.

This native

ruler

and

his little _{country contributed early}

in the

War

£500 to our

war

funds.

Abeokuta

was

the scene of _{early missionary} efforts

on

the

part of the

Church

Missionary Society, laughed

at inthe 'forties

and

_'fifties,

but

now

_producing

ample

results in the

_way

_{of education, industry}

and

_{peaceableness.}

There

still _{linger in} the extraordinary

laby-rinth of forest

and

tidal creeks, characteristic

of the _Niger delta, savage tribes scarcely

known

to scientific _ethnology, almost _entirely

naked

and

_speaking unclassified _languages.

But

the

advance

in civilisation ofthe _populous

Niger delta ever since it

became

a British

possession at the close of the last century

has

been

_very

marked.

The

writer of this

little

book

knew

it as far

back

as 1882,

and

lived _{three years}

_amongst

its _peoples in

1885-88, pursuing his researches often at risk to

his life _{along streams}

which

are

now

as safe

to traders

and

_explorers as the

Thames.

In the _region

between

the

_Upper

Cross

River

and

the

Middle

Benue

there is the

remarkable tribe

known

as Munshi. It

had

a

bad

_reputation

down

to the last

two

or three

years for its raids

on

_neighbouring tribes

and

its cannibalism.

But

one or

two

_wisely

conducted

_punitive

—

_{yet explanatory}

—

expedi-tions

have

made

a _great difference to this

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

virile_people

who

_{are rapidly}

_becoming

civilised

by

the _presence in their midst of officials

and

missionaries.

_They

_speak a _language

which

is _{exceedingly interesting} because of its

rela-tionships with the

Bantu

family.

To

the west

and

east of the

Munshi

there

are other tribes _{quite unrelated} in _language

and

somewhat

different in _physique,

but

usually of higher civilisation.

Such

are the

Juku,

who

were

Muhammadanised

some

time

in the _{nineteenth century}

and

dress like the

Muhammadans

of the Sudan.

In

_{the region}

immediately south of the

Benue and

north

of the

Cameroons

frontier there are _powerful

Muhammadan

chiefs _usually of

mixed

Fula

descent

whose

districts

were

_{originally part}

of the _great

Fula

_Empire

in Central Africa.

But

there are also other

Semi-Bantu

tribes

allied _{linguistically} to the

Munshi

and

the

people of the Cross River,

and

to the

Semi-Bantu

of

Northern

_Nigeria.

These

are similar

in

_physiognomy

to the

Zulu

and

the

Bantu

tribes of Central Africa.

_They

_mostly incline

to nakedness, are of vigorous physique

and

industrious _{agriculturists.}

North

of the

Benue

we come

to _{a country}

which

—

as

_you

_proceed

northward

—

becomes

better suited to

nomadism

or tothe _shepherd's

life, as the rain _supply

_grows

less

and

less

abundant. Still in such a district as the

Bauchi Mountains

there are

_many

industrious

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

agricultural tribes, the so-called

•

pagans

•

of

Bauchi.

Some

of these _{people speak}

Semi-Bantu

_languages

and

_bring us

_by

this

and

that deduction to the _original

home

of the

Bantu

language family,

which

has exercised

during the last

two

thousand

years such

an

enormous

influence over Central

and

Southern

Africa.

The

_{Bauchi pagans}

are either _wholly

naked

_{or nearly} so,

but

everywhere north of

the

Benue

in _Nigeria

_Proper

we

are never out

of _sight of clothed _{people belonging} to the

Muhammadan

religion,

and

often Negroids in

racial characteristics rather

than

_Negroes.

At

the

same

time

_throughout

_Nigeria

—

the

limits of

which on

most

lines of classification

are

Lake Chad

and

the Shari

on

the east, the

forest _{region of}

West

Africa

on

the south, the

Sahara

Desert

on

the north,

and

Senegambia

on

the west

—

we

have

_{a very large population}

of

_Negroes

that are _vaguely classified as

'

Sudanic,'

and

are represented typically

by

the tribes _speaking the

Hausa

_language.

These

Sudanese

_Negroes,

who

furnish us with the

majority ofourinvaluable

Hausa

and Sudanese

troops, are usually tall

and

_well-made,

but

with a

_tendency

to

_prominent

cheek-bones

and

flat noses.

The

men

are _{better-looking}

than

the

women.

_They

differ littlein _physical

appearance

from

the

Sudanese

tribes of the

Bahr-al-Ghazal, as far east as _{the Nile}

pro-vinces of

_{Uganda, and westwards}

they stretch

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

over _{the grass lands} south of the _Niger

Bend

till _{they mingle} with the coast _peoples of

Senegal,

from which

indeed they cannot

be

sharply distinguished in physical appearance.

The

_many

tribes that

now

use

Hausa

as their

home-speech

or their trade _language

have

diverse characteristics in _culture, but _they

are_{beinggradually}

welded

intoa

_homogeneous

type

by

Muhammad

anism, the

Hausa

lan-guage,

and what

might be termed Arabian

culture. This last in

some

_way

assimilates

the _{inner regions of the Niger} basin

and

the

Sudan

with

Arabia

and

India.

The

Hausa

_tongue

was

_probably

formed

about

three

thousand

_{years ago,}

more

or less,

by

the

_coming

across the

Sahara

Desert

and

into Eastern _Nigeria of

bands

of _Egyptians

or

_Libyans

—

or

both

—

who

_brought

with

them

languages allied either to the

Hamitic

_speech

of

_{Egypt and}

the

Red

Sea coastlands, or to

the

_Libyan

_language of

North

Africa.

The

Northern

_tongues,

_very

_distantly akin to the

Semitic _languages of Arabia

and

_Syria, fused

with the _indigenous

_Negro

_{speech-types,} one

of

which

_may

have

been

_Semi-Bantu;

and

from

out of the _mingling

was

formed

the

compromise

language

—

'

Hausa

'

—

with sex

distinctions _(foreign as a rule to the

_Negro

languages),

and

many

features that recall

unmistakably

the languages of the half-white

people of

Northern

and

North-eastern Africa.

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

Hausa was

_probably as _quickly

made

as

were

the

Romance

_{languages during the} decline of the

Roman

_Empire, or

Hindustani

after the

Arab, Turkish,

and

British invasions of India.

But

onceestablished it

became

a

most

_powerful

medium

of intercommunication,

and

the _study of

Hausa

is of the _{highest importance} to

British interests in Africa; for

an

under-standing of this language

would

enable one to

communicate

with the natives

between

Lake

Chad

on

the east

and

the

_{Senegal-Gambia}

basins

on

the west,

between

Lagos

on

the

south

and

the

Sahara

Desert

on

the north.

These

Hausa

communities

must

have

_grown

up

and

nourished

two

to three

thousand

_years

ago under

the first definite '

White

' invasion

of Central Africa since Neolithic times ;

and

they

have been

associated with the

commerce

of the

Sudan

ever afterwards.

_Though

_they

had

_{formed kingdoms}

in Bornu, at

_Kano,

and

elsewhere in Eastern

and

Central _Nigeria, the

Hausa

_people

were

still further united

_by

the

preaching of the

Muhammadan

religion,

which

'they

adopted

gradually

between

the tenth

and

the nineteenth centuries.

To

the west of

Hausaland

is the

country of

Sokoto,

which

is inhabited

_mainly

_by

the

Sofighai, a negroidpeople with a greathistorical

past.

They

are quite distinct in language

from

either

Fula

or

_{Hausa, and}

are _supposed

to

have

reached the _Niger

from

the oasis of

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

Agades

in the Sahara.

The

Sofighai

founded

a

remarkable

civilisation

on

the

_Upper

Niger,

but

_gradually lost their

_power

to _{the Moors,}

Mandingos and

Fulas.

To

the east of

Hausa-land arose the _important State of _Bornu,

where, however, a totally different language

was

enthroned

—

the Kanuri,

which

seems to

have been imported from

the north,

from

the

interesting

Tibu

Negroids

who

occupy

many

Sahara

oases

between

_Tripoli

and

Lake

Chad,

and

are _especially the _people of the Tibesti

Mountains—

that _ever-present link or _bridge

between

Mediterranean

North

Africa

and

Ethiopian Africa.

The

Negroids of Tibesti

did

much

to _carry

an

Arab

civilisation into

Bornu.

They

founded

dynasties

which

en-dured

for centuries.

The

last

but

one of

these arose

about

the time of the Crusades,

but

inthe _early nineteenth century

had become

very

enfeebled. It was, however, greatly

reverenced

by

the people,

though

it

had

_very

little _power.

About

a

hundred

years

ago

there

came

on

the scene a _religious teacher

who

was

_partly of

Arab and

_{partly of}

Kanem

or

Tibu

descent,

and

therefore

much

like a

White

man

in features

though

of darker

com-plexion.

He

was

reverenced as a holy

man

and

known

as the Sheikh

Muhammad-al-Amin.

He

became Prime

Minister to the effete

_King

of _Bornu, because he alone

seemed

able to

resist the attacks of the

Fula

conquerors

A HATJSA OF NIGERIA.

^W^§kkj

6q O o Hi &

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

from

the west.

In

course oftime

Muhammad-al-Amin

was

the real ruler of _Bornu,

and

received with the _greatest friendliness

and

hospitality the first British expedition

which

crossed the

Sahara

Desert. _(It

had been

sent

thither

_by

the British

_Government,

who

wished

to

_open

_up

a trade

between

the Mediterranean

and

the heart of _Africa.)

The

_family of

Sheikh

Muhammad-al-Amin

_became,

in the middle of the nineteenth _{century, the}

recog-nised rulers of _Bornu,

but

this

new

_dynasty

was

_upset

and

driven into exile

_by

the

Mahdist

rebellion in the

_Egyptian

Sudan.

One

of the

eminently gratifying results of the subsequent

British _{conquest of Nigeria}

—

_which, so far as

fighting went,

was

largely a struggle with the

Mahdism

ofthe

Sudan

—

was

the restoration to

the throne of his _{great-grandfather of} Sheikh

Bukar

Garbai, so that

Bornu

is once again a

self-respecting principality

under

British

tute-lage.

The

gratitudefelt for this

by

the _present

representative of the

Kanemi

dynasty

is

re-ferred to in the

Blue

Book

_published

_by

the

Colonial Office in _April 1915.

The Emir

of

Bornu

was

one of the readiest of African

subsidiary rulers to recognise the justice of

our cause.

_Though

not a rich

man, he had

already proffered to the Governor-General a

sum

of_£4,000 to

be devoted

_{to education,}

but

when

war

broke

out

he

asked that £3,200 of

this

_{might be}

_given to our

War

funds. In

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

addition

he

sent horses, donkeys, bullocks

and

corn

and

a _large force of native _porters to

assist _{our Nigerian troops} in the Cameroons.

The Hausa

States

between

Bornu

and

the

middle _Niger

have

_probably furnished us

with

_twenty

to _thirty

thousand

admirable

soldiers for

_employment

in this

War

_against

Germany.

With

such troops

and

others

we

have conquered and

occupied half Togoland,

and

with

_them,

in alliance with the

French and

their _{Senegalese troops,}

we

have

conducted

an

_{extremely difficult,} arduous,

but

successful

campaign

against the

German

forces in the

Cameroons.

And

at the time this

book

is

being written there are important contingents

of

Hausas

on

their

_way

to finish _{the struggle}

in

German

East

Africa.

Beside the

Kanuri

of_Bornu,

and

the

Hausa-speaking folk

who

probably

number

six

mil-lions within British limits in

Northern

Nigeria,

there are anotherthree millionsof

_Negro

tribes,

including the people of

Nupe,

Bauchi, the

Kaduna

basin

and

_Borgu.

Some

of _{these, as}

already mentioned, speak languages of

Bantu

affinities, _exceedingly interesting in their

rela-tionships

both

with small clusters of languages

in

_{Senegambia on}

the one hand, or with the

great

Bantu

family south of the

Benue

and

Northern

_Congo. Others _again use isolated

languages not easy to

put

into

any

one of the

great divisions of African speech ;

and

all

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

of these

North

_Nigerian

_Negro

tribes are

agriculturists in preference to the herdsman's

life,

and

in contrast with the

more

nomadic

Arabs, Fulas,

Kanembu

and

Tuareg.

One

of the

most

_important race elements in

British

and French

_Nigeria is the Ful, _or, as

it is _{generally rendered,} the

'

Fula

'

type.

The

Fulas

have

_played a _{leading part} in

nineteenth-century Nigeria.

They

are _nothing

but a _{ruling caste, there,} as well as in

Western

and

Central _Nigeria. In _{British Nigeria they}

may

not exceed in

numbers

—

those that are of

pure lineage

—

a quarter of a million.

The

pure-blood

Fula

is _very like

an

Arab

in

appear-ance, with, however,

an

occasional _suggestion

in features of the Mediterranean

_European

or

the Pharaonic _Egyptian. Their _origin is as

yet

an

unsolved mystery, but the probable explanation

seems

to

be

that they are de-scended

from

a

semi-White

race _{that formerly}

inhabited

Northern

_{Africa, especially Morocco,}

and

that _they

were

driven into the

Sahara

Desert

_by

the immigration into

North

Africa

of the

Hamitic

_peoples

from

the direction of

Egypt, or the Iberians

from

Spain.

They

were

certainly established

two

to three

thousand

years ago in

_Senegambia

and

on

the

_upper

Niger. Originally they were herdsmen,

more

concerned with the keeping of _{cattle, sheep}

and

_goats

than

with _agriculture or

_mining

industries. Their _history, as far as it

can

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

be

established

_by

traditions

and

archaeo-logy, is oldest in the countries south of the

Central _Niger ; in

what

is called the Niger

Bend.

_{Here, they always regarded themselves}

as _{greatly superior} to the

_Negroes

_amongst

whom

_they dwelt,

and

until the nineteenth

century

kept

themselves pure

from

inter-mixture of blood.

The

_{language they}

_speak

is another _puzzle,

because it is,

though

_exceedingly refined

and

developed, a

Negro

language so far as

_any

of its affinities

can be

understood. It even has very distant resemblances to the

Bantu

group,

and

is _obviously related at the _present

day

to

Negro

languages that are

spoken

north

of Ashanti

and

_Togoland.

_Although

the Fulas

in their _{physical appearance}

and

customs

suggest repeatedly resemblances to theBerbers

of

North

Africa or to the _{Ancient Egyptians,}

they

have no

trace

whatever

of this

Northern

influence in their _{language, except} of course

in the

_many

words

_they

have borrowed

in

recent times

from

Arabic.

_They

_began

to

be

converted to the _religion of Islam

_by

the first

Arab and

Moorish

_pioneers in

Western

_Nigeria

in the tenth

and

eleventh centuries.

Some

of

the _{cattle-keeping} Fulas, however, of the

country of

Borgu

(north of

Yorubaland) and

of the _regions south of

Lake Chad

have

re-mained

_pagans

almost

down

to the _present

date. a

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

But

_{during the eighteenth} century all the

Fula

tribes in

French

West

Africa

had become

not _only

Muhammadans,

but

_very

earnest-minded

Muhammadans,

desirous of _spreading

this _religion in all directions. In fact, for

religious reasons they rose against the old

Moorish

rule

on

the _Niger

and

the

_kingdoms

established

_by

the

_{Mandingos, and}

in a short

time

_conquered

the

whole

valley of the

upper

and

_{middle Niger}

down

to its confluence with

the

Benue

River.

_They

subdued

also

Hausa-land, with its _capital at

_{Kano, and}

extended

their rule south of the

Benue

River to the

hinterland of the

Cameroons.

Their rulers

tried to

_open

_up

communications

with

_Lagos

and Badagry

so as to

have

a _seaport

on

the Atlantic.

Eastwards

their influence

and

their colonies extended into Darfur

and

the

_Egyptian

Sudan.

_They

had

_long

been

acquainted with

Egypt by

the religious

pil-grimage to

Mekka

which

passed that

way.

Many

of

them

_adopted

Arabic as a second

language,

and

wrote a

good

deal of literature

in Arabic.

_They

tried, but failed, to conquer

the

_Kingdom

of

_Bornu,

their failure _being in

some

_degree attributable to British help

ren-dered to

Bornu

and

to the obstinate valour of

the _family of the

Kanem

Sheikh of _Bornu,

whose

descendant, the Emir, has _just

been

referred to.

During

the nineteenth century, however, the

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

ruling caste of Fulas not only mingled very

much

with the

Hausas

and

_Nupes

_(so that

they

became

in _appearance

more

_Negro

than

Negroid), but they engaged very deeply in the

slave _trade,

and

devastated

_many

countries

of the

Western

Sudan

in their slave raids.

They

were

not _originally well _disposed

to-wards

_{a British protectorate} over _{Nigeria, just}

as _{they similarly fought hard against}

French

overlordship.

But

when

this

was

'shown

to

be

the _only solution of _{Nigerian troubles, they}

accepted it with a

_good

_grace;

and

_directly

the

War

_opened

_they declared _emphatically

that _{they wished}to _{support the}British

Govern-ment

with all the

means

at their _disposal,

and

in

no

_way

toembarrassus

_by

_allowing

_any

local _questions or disturbances to divert our

troops

from

first of all _repelling

German

in-vasions^of _Nigeria,

and

_{secondly, carrying} out

a counter invasion of the

Cameroons.

1

Togoland,

which

lies

between

the British

Gold

Coast

and

French

_{Dahome, was}

_speedily

conquered and

occupied

by

the British

and

French

forces a

month

after the declaration of

1

A

tribute, indeed, ought to be _paid to _{the loyalty}ofall the tribes in British _Nigeria, bothMuhammadan and_pagan, and this _{notwithstanding} the _very active propaganda of the

enemy among our Muhammadan troops. Appeals printed

inArabic,andalleged toemanatefromtheSultan of Constan-tinople, were distributed throughout Northern Nigeria and the Northern Cameroons, usually enclosed in bottles and attached totrees, buttheattempts to influence Fula, Hau^a, Songhai orKanemi wereutterlyfutile.

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

war, the

whole mass

of the natives _being

over-whelmingly on

the side of the Allies.

Ethnic-ally

—

that is to _{say, according} to the character

of its native _populations

—

this _{region belongs}

about

two-thirds to

Dahome

and

one-third to

the

Gold

Coast.

The

_region destined to

be

British is that

which

lies

more

or less within

the watershed of the _great Volta River.1

1 _{One chief of Western}

Togoland had asked in 1886 to be taken under _{British protection,} and having been given a British_{flag just} before his territorywas _{arbitrarily brought}

within theGermansphereof influence,heretainedandhid the

flag. This fact was discovered by the Germans,who exiled

him to the Cameroons. There he was eventually released

when theAllied forces_{captured Duala,}and hewasenabled to

return to his country. Soon after _doing so, he addressed to

the Governor-General ofthe Gold Coast_{the following}letter:

"

I, the Head Chief, Dagadu, of _Kpandu, have _{given here} £50, and

my

village young men have also assisted mewith

cash £51 10s. (to total £101 10s.), being a fund to _{help the}

English Government towards the _Imperial War between England, France, Russia, and Germany, Austria-Hungary

and _Turkey. It was

_my

_{willing to give} more than what I have doneabove, buton account of theGermans, and owing to theirbadtreatment_giving, mostof

_my

_villageyoungmen

haveremovedfrom thislandand entered intoanother_calling

for _daily bread: also

my

land is _{very poor to-day. May}

God Almighty bless Great Britain to master the _victory. I

congratulate the Localandthe ImperialGovernmentandthe

District Political Officer, Mr. R. S. _Rattray, who is _treating

us here_very well and gentle. May he live _long! And Mr.

J. T. _Furley, who is a best and good gentleman. May he live _long! May God bless the

English Government and prolong their _power to be second to none. God save the

King. _"

Yours _obediently,

"

Head Chief, Dagadu of Kpandu."

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

Over

the eastern _portion the _bloodthirsty

Kings

of

Dahome

at one time exercised

au-thority

—

more

or less;

but

the chiefs

and

peoples of the

Western

part

had

long

been

accustomed

to _regard the British

_power

as

their suzerain

when Germany

in the _'eighties

of the last _century

more

or less _forcibly took

possession of their territory.

These

tribes of

Western Togoland

belong in _language either

to the

_{Semi-Bantu group}

or to that of the

1

Si ' _{languages (Mo-si, Gurun-si, etc.)}

char-acteristic of the

Northern

Territories of the

Gold

Coast.

The

_{peoples of} the

Gold

Coast, a large

and

important British possession having

an

area

of _{over 80,000 square miles,}

and

divided into

three administrative _regions, the

Gold

Coast

Proper, the province of Ashanti,

and

the

Northern

Territories, are of three stocks in

regard to language division.

There

are the

Ga

_people of the south-east often called

4

Accras '

; the Fanti-Ashanti congeries,

whose

languages belong to the

Agni

family

and

have

far-off affinities with the

Semi-Bantu

;

Da-gomba,

a

group

north of Ashanti in the

Northern

Territories,

whose

speech belongs to

the 4

Si '

family, which, together with the

Teme

_languageintheborder_regionsof

Northern

Togoland, has perhaps distant affinities with

the

Fula

_tongue, being governed mainly

by

suffixes

and

not

_by

_prefixes.

The

tribes of

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

the

Northern

Territories are

_Muhammadan,

and

are a _{specially vigorous blend} of

_Negro

and

_Negroid.

For

_many

centuries _they

have

been

in touch with the

_Negroid

_peoples of the

Niger Basin, with

Hausa, Fula

and

Mandingo,

and an

occasional

_wandering

Arab

or _Moor,

and

have

thus attained to a well-marked

Muhammadan

civilisation. Their

towns

are

clean, their houses

and

_mosques

mostly built

of sun-dried _{clay, they}

_keep

large herds of

cattle, goats

and

sheep,

and

use horses. Their

country is

an

_open

_parkland

or _region of

grassy downs,

and

is _perhaps healthier

than

the _great forest _{region farther south.}

The

Ashanti

and

allied tribes are

emphatic-ally peoples of the forest,

but

the rocks

and

streams are_{rich in gold,}

and

it

was

the

rumours

of this _gold

which

_{long ago} attracted to the

northern _part of Ashanti the _enterprising

Negroids, Arabs,

and Moors

of the Sudan, so

that this _region

became rumoured

to

_Europe

as the rich _{gold-bearing country} of

_Wangara

years before

any

adventurous

European

navi-gator

found

his

way

by

sea to the

Gold

Coast.

The

Gold

Coast

_Proper

_(often

known

as

4

The

_Colony

'), south of the

Pra

River, is

inhabited

_by

tribes _closely related to the

Ashanti inrace

and

_language, all of

whom

were

somewhat

superior,

when

first discovered

by

Europeans,tothe savage

and

cannibal Negroes

of the _{Ivory Coast} or of

Dahome.

This _arose,

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

no

_doubt,

from

the

commerce

in _gold dust.

The

_gold dust

was

carried at first _through

Ashanti to the

Northern

_Territories,

where

it

was

_exchanged

for the trade _goods of the

Mediterranean

_brought

thither

_by

_Negroid

merchants

either

from

_Egypt

or

from

_Tripoli.

The

result

was

that the _glass beads

from

Italy

and Egypt

of 2,000 years ago or

more

actually

found

their

way

across the

Sahara

and

_through

_{Nigeria to the}

Gold

Coast,

where

they were

greatly treasured

by

chieftains, in

whose

_{graves they}

were

buried.

These

_glass

beads

and

i

aggri

'

beads

of _porcelain are

found

here

and

there

_through

the forested

regions of the

West

Coast,

from

Yoruba

to

Liberia.

Ashanti sprang into public notice early in

the nineteenth _century. Its wealth in _gold,

the savage

customs

of its

_{monarch, and}

the

fact that the Ashanti _people

were

in touch with the

Hausas

on

the north

and

thus

_might

furnish information _regarding the

unknown

course of the _Niger

and

the fate of

_Mungo

Park, induced the British

Government more

than

a

hundred

_years

_ago

to send missions to

that _country,

and

_envoys

who

concluded

treaties.

_When,

after _{the general settlement} of the_Napoleonic

_Wars,

we

took over a_portion

of the

Dutch

Gold

Coast,

we

inherited a long

quarrel

which

had

arisen over the slave trade

between

the

Dutch and

the Ashanti King.

A

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

military defence of our settlements

was

ren-dered _necessary,

and

in the course of it the

British

Governor

of the

Gold

Coast lost his

life

and

the Ashanti warriors

were

with

diffi-culty repelled

from

our coast possessions.

As

years

went

on

they

grew

more

and

more

overbearing towards the Fanti people

under

our _protection,

and

at last

we

were

_compelled

to

embark

on

the

Second

Ashanti

_War,

in

which

Sir

Garnet

_Wolseley

won

his laurels

and

succeeded in _reaching

and

_burning

Kumasi

the _capital.

But

the Ashanti

were

not

_conquered

_finally

until the

two

_{further expeditions of} 1896

and

1900. In 1901 their _country

became

a British

province,

and from

that time

onwards

they

have

not _only

been

_peaceable,

but

have

in-creased in

numbers and

made

_{very great}

pro-gress in civilisation

and

industry.

A

number

of

them

are

now

enlisted inBritish_{fighting forces,}

and

_{have probably}

taken _part in the

cam-paign against the

Germans

in the

Cameroons.

There

are

_many

chiefs in the

Gold

Coast

Colony, quite a

number

of local dynasties

respectable in antiquity

and

jealously

pre-serving their genealogies.

Not

a

few amongst

their

modern

_{representatives} are educated

gentlemen, able to speak English with aptitude

and

even

_elegance,

and

_quite alive to the

importance of science

and good

government.

They

are _taking

an

_{ever-increasing part} in

BRITISH

WEST

AFRICA

the councils of their _country.

At

one time

the

Gold

Coast

_Colony

was

_chiefly celebrated

for its _gold,

and

the _{output of gold}

from both

the

Gold

Coast

and

Ashanti is stillconsiderable.

This

was

the first _gold that

came

within the

control of the British

_{Empire by}

the

establish-ment

of forts

on

this coast in the _reign of

Charles II.

who

coined his _guineas

from

this

1

Guinea

'

gold. (

4

Guine"'

was

_{the Portuguese}

rendering of a great native centre of

civilisa-tion

—

Jenne

or

Ghana

—

on

the

_Upper

_Niger,

applied in course of time to

much

of the

West

African _coastlands).

But

the

modern

Gold

Coast is wealthier

and

more

celebrated in _regard to its _output of

cocoa,

which

in quality ranks with the best

grades of tropical America.

Some

forty or

fifty years ago missionaries introduced the

cultivation of the cacao shrub into _{this region.}

Similar _experiments with it

had

been

tried

with

moderate

success in

Fernando

P6

and

the

Cameroons.

_{After hanging} fire as such

intro-ductions often

do

for a

number

of _years, the

industrysuddenly

began

to_{prosper. Gradually}

it

was

realised that the soil

and

climate of

the

Gold

Coast_exactlysuitedthe cacao _species,

which

is a very

4

pernickety

'

shrub not _easy

to _please. Moreover, thanks to _missionary

impulse

and

the

encouragement

—

somewhat

late in the

_day

—

of the British

Government,

the cultivation of cacao

became

a _really native