Senegal

A railway finished in 1885, 163 m. long, goes from Dakar to St. Louis, from which point the Senegal river is navigable by steamer from August to November, both inclusive, for about 500 m., the navigable reach terminating at Kayes, whence a railway runs to the Niger. Direct communication between Dakar and the Niger is afforded by a railway (667 km.) starting from Thies, a station on the way to St. Louis, and ending at Kayes, where it connects with the railway from Kayes to the Niger; a branch line of 21 km. runs from Guinguines to Kaolak; this line was completed in 1923. Telegraph lines connect the colony with all other parts of French West Africa. Dakar is in direct cable communication with Brest, and another cable connects St. Louis with Cadiz. Steamship com munication between Europe and Dakar and Rufisque is maintained by several French, British and German lines. Over 50% of the shipping is French, Great Britain coming second.

The

story of the French conquests throughout West Africa is inseparably connected with the history of Senegal. Trading sta tions were established elsewhere on the coast, but the line of pen etration into the interior was, until the last few years of the 19th century, invariably by way of the river Senegal. Hence there is a peculiar interest in the record of the early settlements on this coast. The Portuguese had some establishments on the banks of the Senegal in the 15th century; they penetrated to Bambuk in search of gold, and were for some time masters of that country, but the inhabitants rose and drove them out. Remains of their buildings are still to be seen. The first French settlement was probably made in 1626 by the Compagnie Normande at St. Louis (q.v.), near the mouth of the Senegal river. Between 1664, when the French settlements were assigned to Colbert's West India Company, and 1758, when the colony was seized by the British, Senegal had passed under the administration of seven different companies. None attained any great success, though from 1697 to 1724 the administration was in the hands of a really able gover nor, Andre Brue, who, however, from 1703 to 1714 directed the affairs of Senegal from Paris. Brue made many exploring expe ditions and was on one occasion 0700 captured by the natives, who extorted a heavy ransom. Under his direction the auriferous regions of Bambuk were revisited (1716) and the first map of Senegal drawn (1724). In the meantime (1677) the French had captured from the Dutch Rufisque, Portudal, Joal and Goree and they were confirmed in possession of those places by the treaty of Nijmwegen (1678). In 1717 the French acquired Portendic, a

roadstead half way between capes Verde and Blanco. Goree and the district of Cape Verde were captured by the British under Commodore Keppel in 1758, but were surrendered to the French in 1763, and by the treaty of peace in 1783 the whole of Senegal was also restored. The British again captured the colony in the wars of the first empire (Goree 180o, St. Louis 1809) and, though the treaty of Paris authorized a complete restitution, the French authorities did not enter into possession till 1817. At that time the authority of France did not extend beyond the island of Goree and the town of St. Louis, whilst up to 1854 little was effected by the 37 governors who followed each other in rapid succession. Of these governors Captain (afterwards Admiral) Bouet-Willaumez had previously explored the Senegal river as far as Medine and was anxious to increase French influence, but his stay in Senegal (1842-1844) was too brief to permit him to accomplish much.

The appointment of General Faidherbe as governor in proved the turning-point in the history of Senegal. In the mean time the Niger had been explored, Timbuktu visited by Europeans and the riches of the region were attracting attention. Faidherbe sought to bring these newly opened-up lands under French sway, and dreamed of a French empire stretching across Africa from west to east. In the territory of West Africa he did much to make that dream a reality. On taking up the governorship he set about subduing the Moorish (Berber) tribes of the Trarzas, Brak nas and Duaish, who had subjected the French settlers and traders to grievous and arbitrary exactions; he bound them by treaty to confine their authority to the north bank of the Senegal. In 1855 he annexed the country of Walo and, ascending the river beyond Kayes, erected the fort of Medine for the purpose of stemming the advancing tide of Muslim invasion, which under Omar al-Haji (Alegui) threatened the safety of the colony. In 1857 Medine was brilliantly defended by the mulatto Paul Holle against Omar, who with his army of 20,000 men had to retire before the advance of Faidherbe and turn his attention to the conquest of the native states within the bend of the Niger. The conquest of the Senegam bian region by the French followed.