The Gambia Colony and Protectorate. By F. B. Archer. (St.
Bride's Press. 10s. net.)—This volume is the " Official Handbook " of the Gambia Colony and Protectorate. The region thus described measures, to give round figures, a hundred and fifty miles from North to South, and two hundred from West to East, the popu- lation of the interior being distributed along the course of the two rivers, the Gambia and the Kasamanse. Bathurst, situated on St. Mary Island, at the mouth of the former river, has a popu- lation (by the Census of 1901) of 8,807, the rest of the Colony having between four and five thousand. The numbers of the Protectorate as officially given amount to 76,948, but Mr. Archer thinks that about 40 per cent. should be added. The natives do not like being counted. The finance seems prosperous. The latest year given (1903) shows, it is true, an excess of expendi- ture over revenue (£67,501 as against £55,564), but it was a year when much was spent on offices, hospitals, &c., and the Colony has a handsome balance in hand. The imports and exports were nearly balanced in 1904 (the latest year given), imports being £306,149, and exports £311,262. The latter chiefly consist of ground nuts. An effort is being made to push the cultivation of cotton. (We were horrified to see in the index under " Slave Trade," " worst horrors of, due to free trade" ; but were reassured by noticing that the words were not spelt with capitals. At one time, it seems, only the Royal African Company had the right to export slaves; then the trade was made free to private adventurers. But the Tariff Reformers might make some use of the words.) Mr. Archer, whose book is in every way an excellent specimen of the Colonial handbook, tells us everything we want to know about the place. He cannot conscientiously recommend it as a health resort, but assures us that great progress is being made in this respect. Some of the officials show respectable periods of service,—one extends to thirty-four years. The ex- Governors since 1884 still live, and the present holder of the office succeeded in 1900.
Previous page
