Infolded with them, and on the flanks, are three rock systems ascribed | to the Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous. These are unfossiliferous, but fossils of Devonian age occur on the Congo (see CONGO FREE STATE). Granite covers wide areas north-west of the Crystal Mountains. The plateau sandstones lie horizontally and consist of a lower red sandstone group and an upper white sandstone group. They have not yielded fossils. Limestones of Lower Cretaceous age, with Schloenbachia inflata, occur north of the Gabun and in the Ogowe basin. Marls and limestones with fossils of an Eocene facies overlie the Cretaceous rocks on the Gabun. A superficial iron-cemented sand, erroneously termed laterite, covers large areas in the littoral zone, on the flanks of the mountains and on the high plateau. Climate. The whole of the country being in the equatorial region, the climate is everywhere very hot and dangerous for Europeans. On the coast four seasons are distinguished: the dry season (15th of May to 15th of September), the rainy season (15th of September to 15th of January), then a second dry season (15th of January to 1st of March), and a second rainy season (1st of March to 15th of May). The rainfall at Libreville is about 96 in. a year. Flora and Fauna.-The elephant, the hippopotamus, the crocodile and several kinds of apes-including the chimpanzee and the rare gorilla-are the most noteworthy larger animals; the birds are various and beautiful-grey parrots, shrikes, fly-catchers, rhinoceros birds, weaver birds (often in large colonies on the palm-trees), icebirds, from the Cecyle Sharpii to the dwarfish Alcedo cristata, butterfly finches, and helmet-birds (Turacus_giganteus), as well as more familiar types. Snakes are extremely common. The curious climbing-fish, which frequents the mangroves, the Protopterus or lung-fish, which lies in the mud in a state of lethargy during the dry season, the strange and poisonous Tetrodon gullifer, and the herringlike Pellona africana, often caught in great shoals are the more remarkable of the fishes. Oysters are got in abundance from the lagoons, and the huge Cardisoma armatum or heart-crab is fattened for table. Fireflies, mosquitoes and sandflies are among the most familiar forms of insect life. A kind of ant builds very striking bent-house or umbrella-shaped nests rising on the tree trunks one above the other. Among the more characteristic forms of vegetation are baobabs, silk-cotton trees, screw-pines and palms-especially Hyphaene guineensis (a fan-palm), Raphia (the wine-palm), and Elaeis guincensis (the oil-palm). Anonaceous plants (notably Anona senegalensis, and the pallabanda, an olive-myrtle-like tree, are common in the prairies; the papyrus shoots up to a height of 20 ft. along the rivers; the banks are fringed by the cottony Hibiscus tiliaceus, ipomaeas and fragrant jasmines; and the thickets are bound together in one inextricable mass by lianas of many kinds. In the upper Shari region and that of the Kotto tributary of the Ubangi, are species of the coffee tree, one species attaining a height of over 60 ft. Its bean resembles that of Abyssinian coffee of medium quality. Among the fruit trees are the mango and the papaw, the orange and the lemon. Negro-pepper (a variety of capsicum) and ginger grow wild. Inhabitants and Chief Towns.-A census, necessarily imperfect, taken in 1906 showed a total population, exclusive of Wadai, of 3,652,000, divided in districts as follows:-Gabun, 376,000; Middle Congo, 259,000; Ubangi-Shari, 2,130,000; Chad, 885,000. The country is peopled by diverse negro races, and, in the regions bordering Lake Chad and in Wadai, by Fula, Hausa, Arabs and semiArab tribes. Among the best-known tribes living in French Congo are the Fang (Fans), the Bakalai, the Batekes and the Zandeh or Niam-Niam. Several of the tribes are cannibals and among many of them the fetish worship characteristic of the West African negroes prevails. Their civilization is of a low order. In the northern regions the majority of the inhabitants are Mahommedans, and it is only in those districts that organized and powerful states exist. Elsewhere the authority of a chief or "king".extends, ordinarily, little beyond the village in which he lives. (An account of the chief tribes is given under their names.) The European inhabitants are chiefly of French nationality, and are for the most part traders, officials and missionaries. The chief towns are Libreville (capital of the Gabun colony) with 3000 inhabitants; Brazzaville, on the Congo on the north side of Stanley Pool (opposite the Belgian capital of Leopoldville), the seat of the governor-general; Franceville, on the upper Ogowé; Loango, an important seaport in 4° 39' S.; N'Jole, a busy trading centre on the lower Ogowé; Chekna, capital of Bagirmi, which forms part of the Chad territory; Abeshr, the capital of Wadai, Bangi on the Ubangi river, the administrative capital of the Ubangi-Shari-Chad colony. Kunde, Lame and Binder are native trading centres near the Cameroon frontier. Communications.-The rivers are the chief means of internal communication. Access to the greater part of the colony is obtained by ocean steamers to Matadi on the lower Congo, and thence round the falls by the Congo railway to Stanley Pool. From Brazzaville on Stanley Pool there is 680 m. of uninterrupted steam_navigation N.E. into the heart of Africa, 330 m. being on the Congo and 350 m. on the Ubangi. The farthest point reached is Zongo, where rapids block the river, but beyond that port there are several navigable stretches of the Ubangi, and for small vessels access to the Nile is possible by means of the Bahr-el-Ghazal tributaries. The Sanga, which joins the Congo, 270 m. above Brazzaville, can be navigated by steamers for 350 m., i.e. up to and beyond the S.E. frontier of the German colony of Cameroon. The Shari is also navigable for a considerable distance and by means of its affluent, the Logone, connects with the Benue and Niger, affording a waterway between the Gulf of Guinea and Lake Chad. Stores for government posts in the Chad territory are forwarded by this route. There is, however, no connecting link between the coast rivers-Gabun, Ogowé and Kwilu and the Congo system. A railway, about 500 m. long, from the Gabun to the Sanga is projected and the surveys for the purpose made. Another route surveyed for a railway is that from Loango to Brazzaville. A narrow-gauge line, 75 m. long, from Brazzaville to Mindule in the cataracts region was begun in November 1908, the first railway to be built in French Congo. The district served by the line is rich in copper and other minerals. From Wadai a caravan route across the Sahara leads to Bengazi on the shores of the Mediterranean. Telegraph lines connect Loango with Brazzaville and Libreville, there is telegraphic communication with Europe by submarine cable, and steamship communication between Loango and Libreville and Marseilles, Bordeaux, Liverpool and Hamburg. Trade and Agriculture.-The chief wealth of the colony consists in the products of its forests and in ivory. The natives, in addition to manioc, their principal food, cultivate bananas, ground nuts and tobacco. On plantations owned by Europeans coffee, cocoa and vanilla are grown. European vegetables are raised easily. Gold, iron and copper are found. Copper ores have been exported from Mindule since 1905. The chief exports are rubber and ivory, next in importance coming palm nuts and palm oil, ebony and other woods, coffee, cocoa and-copal. The imports are mainly cotton and metal goods, spirits and foodstuffs. In the Gabun and in the basin of the Ogowé the French customs tariff, with some modifications, prevails, but in the Congo basin, that is, in the greater part of the country, by virtue of international agreements, no discrimination can be made between French and other merchandise, whilst customs duties must not exceed 10% ad valorem.1 In the Shari basin and in Wadai the Anglo-French declaration of March 1899 accorded for thirty years equal treatment to British and French goods. The value of the trade rose in the ten years 1896-1905 from £360,000 to £850,000, imports and exports being nearly equal. The bulk of the export trade is with Great Britain, which takes most of the rubber, France coming second and Germany third. The imports are in about equal proportions from France and foreign countries. Land Tenure. The Concessions Régime.-Land held by the natives is governed by tribal law, but the state only recognizes native ownership in land actually occupied by the aborigines. The greater part of the country is considered a state domain. Land held by Europeans is subject to the Civil Code of France except such estates as have been registered under the terms of a decree of the 28th of March 1899, when, registration having been effected, the title to the land is guaranteed by the state. Nearly the whole of the colony has been divided since 1899 into large estates held by limited liability companies to whom has been granted the sole right of exploiting the land leased to them. The companies holding concessions numbered in 1904 about forty, with a combined capital of over £2,000,000, whilst the concessions varied in size from 425 sq. m. to 54,000 sq. m. One effect of the granting of concessions was the rapid decline in the business of non-concessionaire traders, of whom the most important were Liverpool merchants established in the Gabun before the advent of the French. As by the Act of Berlin of 1885, to which all the European powers were signatories, equality of treatment in commercial affairs was guaranteed to all nations in the Congo basin, protests were raised against the terms of the concessions. The reply was that the critics confused the exercise of the right of proprietorship with the act of commerce, and that in no country was the landowner who farmed his land and sold the produce regarded as a merchant. Various decisions by the judges of the colony during 1902 and 1903 and by the French cour de cassation in 1905 confirmed that contention. The action of the companies was, however, in most cases, neither beneficial to the country nor financially successful, whilst the native cultivators resented the prohibition of their trading direct with their former customers. The case of the Liverpool traders was taken up by the British government and it was agreed that the dispute should be settled by arbitration. In September 1908 the French government issued a decree reorganizing and rendering more stringent the control exercised by the local authorities over the concession companies, especially in matters concerning the rights of natives and the liberty of commerce. History. The Gabun was visited in the 15th century by the Portuguese explorers, and it became one of the chief seats of the slave trade. It was not, however, till well on in the 19th century that Europeans made any more permanent settlement than was absolutely necessary for the maintenance of their commerce. In 1839 Captain (afterwards Admiral) BouětWillaumez obtained for France the right of residence on the left bank, and in 1842 he secured better positions on the right bank. The primary object of the French settlement was to secure a Berlin Act of 1885; Brussels conference of 1890 (see AFRICA; History). Congo State of the 12th of May of that year, against which both the German and the French governments protested, the last named because it erected a barrier against the extension of French territory to the Nile valley. By a compromise of the 14th of August the boundary was definitely drawn and, in accordance with this pact, which put the frontier back to about 4° N., France from 1895 to 1897 took possession of the upper Ubangi, with Bangasso, Rafai and Zemio. Then began the French encroachment on the Bahr-el-Ghazal; the Marchand expedition, despatched to the support of Victor Liotard, the lieutenantgovernor of the upper Ubangi, reached Tambura in July 1897 and Fashoda in July 1898. A dispute with Great Britain arose, and it was decided that the expedition should evacuate Fashoda. The declaration of the 21st of March 1899 finally terminated the dispute, fixing the eastern frontier of the French colony as already stated. Thus, after the Franco-Spanish treaty of June 1900 settling the limits of the Spanish territory on the coast, the boundaries of the French Congo on all its frontiers were determined in broad outline. The Congo-Cameroon frontier was precisely defined by another Franco-German agreement in April 1908, following a detailed survey made by joint commissioners in 1905 and 1906. For a comprehensive description of these international rivalries see AFRICA, §-5, and for the conquest of the Chad regions see BAGIRMI and RABAH ZOBEIR. In the other portions of the colony French rule was accepted by the natives, for the most part, peaceably. For the relations of France with Wadai see that article. port wherein men-of-war could revictual. The chief establish- | the signature of the convention between Great Britain and the ment, Libreville, was founded in 1849, with negroes taken from a slave ship. The settlement in time acquired importance as a trading port. In 1867 the troops numbered about 1000, and the civil population about 5000, while the official reports about the same date claimed for the whole colony an area of 8000 sq. m. and a population of 186,000. Cape Lopez had been ceded to France in 1862, and the colony's coast-line extended, nominally, to a length of 200 m. In consequence of the war with Germany the colony was practically abandoned in 1871, the establishment at Libreville being maintained as a coaling depot merely. In 1875, however, France again turned her attention to the Gabun estuary, the hinterland of which had already been partly explored. Paul du Chaillu penetrated (1855-1859 and 1863-1865) to the south of the Ogowé; Walker, an English merchant, explored the Ngunye, an affluent of the Ogowé, in 1866. In 1872-1873 Alfred Marche, a French naturalist, and the marquis de Compiègne1 explored a portion of the Ogowé basin, but it was not until the expedition of 1875-1878 that the country east of the Ogowé was reached. This expedition was led by Savorgnan de Brazza (q.v.), who was accompanied by Dr Noel Eugène Ballay, and, for part of the time, by Marche. De Brazza's expedition, which was compelled to remain for many months at several places, ascended the Ogowé over 400 m., and beyond the basin of that stream discovered the Alima, which was, though the explorers were ignorant of the fact, a tributary of the Congo. From the Alima, de Brazza and Ballay turned north and finally reached the Gabun in November 1878, the journey being less fruitful in results than the time it occupied would indicate. Returning to Europe, de Brazza learned that H. M. Stanley had revealed the mystery of the Congo, and in his next journey, begun December 1879, the French traveller undertook to find a way to the Congo above the rapids via the Ogowé. In this he was successful, and in September 1880 reached Stanley Pool, on the north side of which Brazzaville was subsequently founded. Returning to the Gabun by the lower Congo, de Brazza met Stanley. Both explorers were nominally in the service of the International African Association (see CONGO FREE STATE), but de Brazza in reality acted solely in the interests of France and concluded treaties with Makoko, "king | of the Batekes," and other chieftains, placing very large areas under the protection of that country. The conflicting claims of the Association (which became the Congo Free State) and France were adjusted by a convention signed in February 1885.2 In the meantime de Brazza and Ballay had more fully explored the country behind the coast regions of Gabun and Loango, the last-named seaport being occupied by France in 1883. The conclusion of agreements with Germany (December 1885 and February-March 1894) and with Portugal (May 1886) secured France in the possession of the western portion of the colony as it now exists, whilst an arrangement with the Congo Free State in 1887 settled difficulties which had arisen in the Ubangi district. De Brazza's treaties. The advance towards the Nile: Fashoda. | Following the acquisitions for France of de Brazza, the ancient Gabun colony was joined to the Congo territories. From 1886 to 1889 Gabun was, however, separately administered. By decree of the 11th of December 1888 the whole of the French possessions were created one " colony "under the style of Congo français, with various subdivisions; they were placed under a commissioner-general (de Brazza) having his residence at Brazzaville. This arrangement proved detrimental to the economic development of the Gabun settlements, which being outside the limits of the free trade conventional basin of the Congo (see AFRICA, § 5) enjoyed a separate tariff. By decree of the 29th of December 1903 (which became operative in July 1904) Congo français was divided into four parts as named in the opening paragraph. The first commissioner-general under the new scheme was Emile Gentil, the explorer of the Shari and Chad. In 1905 de Brazza was sent out from France to investigate charges of cruelty and maladministration brought against officials of the colony, several of which proved well founded. De Brazza died at Dakar when on his way home. The French government, after considering the report he had drawn up, decided to retain Gentil as commissioner-general, making however (decree of 15th of February 1906) various changes in administration with a view to protect the natives and control the concession companies. Gentil, who devoted the next two years to the reorganization of the finances of the country and the development of its commerce, resigned his post in February 1908. He was succeeded by M. Merlin, whose title was changed (June 1908) to that of governor-general. The extension of French influence northward towards Lake Chad and eastward to the verge of the basin of the Nile followed, though not without involving the country in serious disputes with the other European powers possessing rights in Administration and Revenue.-The governor-general has control over the whole of French Congo, but does not directly administer those regions. By creating the posts of Bangi (1890), any part of it, the separate colonies being under lieutenant-governors. Wesso and Abiras (1891), France strengthened her The Gabun colony includes the Gabun estuary and the whole of the hold over the Ubangi and the Sanga. But at the same coast-line of French Congo, together with the basin of the Ogowé time the Congo Free State passed the parallel of 4° N.-which, river. The inland frontier is so drawn as to include all the hinterafter the compromise of 1887, France had regarded as the southern cepted). The Middle Congo has for its western frontier the Gabun land not within the Congo free-trade zone (the Chad district exboundary of her possessions-and, occupying the sultanate of colony and Cameroon, and extends inland to the easterly bend of Bangasso (north of the Ubangi river), pushed on as far as 9° N. the Ubangi river; the two circumscriptions extend east and north The dispute which ensued was only settled in 1894 and after of the Middle Congo. There is a general budget for the whole of French Congo; each colony has also a separate budget and adminis Louis Eugène Henri Dupont, marquis de Compiègne (1846-trative autonomy. As in other French colonies the legislative power 1877), on his return from the West coast replaced Georg Schwein-is in the French chambers only, but in the absence of specific legis furth at Cairo as president of the geographical commission. Arising lation presidential decrees have the force of law. A judicial service out of this circumstance de Compiègne was killed in a duel by a independent of the executive exists, but the district administrators German named Mayer. also exercise judicial functions. Education is in the hands of the missionaries, upwards of 50 schools being established by 1909. The military force maintained consists of native officered by Europeans. A Franco-Belgian agreement of the 23rd of Dec. 1908 defined precisely the frontier in the lower Congo. Bamu Island in Stanley Pool was recognized as French. Revenue is derived from taxes on land, rent paid by concession companies, a capitation or hut tax on natives, and customs receipts, supplemented by a subvention from France. In addition to defraying the military expenses, about £100,000 a year, a grant of £28,000 yearly was made up to 1906 by the French chambers towards the civil expenses. In 1907 the budget of the Congo balanced at about £250,000 without the aid of this subvention. In 1909 the chambers sanctioned a loan for the colony of £840,000, guaranteed by France and to be applied to the establishment of administrative stations and public works. BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Fernand Rouget, L'Expansion coloniale au Congo français (Paris, 1906), a valuable monograph, with bibliography and maps; A. Chevalier, L'Afrique centrale française (Paris, 1907). For special studies see Lacroix, Résultats minéralogiques et zoologiques des récentes explorations de l'Afrique occidentale française. el de la région du Tchad (Paris, 1905); M. Barrat, Sur la géologie du Congo français (Paris, 1895), and Ann. des mines, sér. q. t. vii. (1895); J. Cornet, Les Formations post-primaires du bassin du Congo,' Ann. soc, géol. belg. vol. xxi. (1895). The Paris Bulletin du Muséum for 1903 and 1904 contains papers on the zoology of the country. For flora see numerous papers by A. Chevalier in Comptes rendus de l'académie des sciences (1902-1904), and the Journal d'agriculture pratique des pays chauds (1901, &c.). For history, besides Rouget's book, see J. Ancel, Étude historique. La formation de la colonie du Congo français, 1843-1882," containing an annotated bibliography, in Bull. Com. l'Afrique française, vol. xii. (1902), the works cited-under BRAZZA; and E. Gentil, La Chute de l'empire de Rabah (Paris, 1902). Of earlier books of travels the most valuable are:Paul du Chaillu, Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa (London, 1861); Aurney to Ashonga Land (London, 1867); and Sir R. Burton, Twe Trips to Gorilla Land (London, 1876). Of later works see Mary H. Kingsley, Travels in West Africa (London, 1897); A. B. de Mézières, Rapport de mission sur le Haut Oubangui, le M'Bomou et le Bahr-el-Ghazal (Paris, 1903); and C. Maistre, A travers l'Afrique centrale du Congo au Niger, 1892-1893 (Paris, 1895). For the story of the concession companies see E. D. Morel, The British Case in French Congo (London, 1903). (F. R. C.) FRENCH GUINEA, a French colony in West Africa, formerly known as Rivières du Sud. It is bounded W. by the Atlantic, N. by Portuguese Guinea and Senegal, E. by Upper Senegal and the Ivory Coast, and S. by Liberia and Sierra Leone. With a sea-board running N.N.W. and S.S.E. from 10° 50' N. to 9° 2' N., a distance, without reckoning the indentations, of 170 m., the colony extends eastward 450 m. in a straight line and attains a maximum width N. to S. of nearly 300 m., covering fully 100,000 sq. m., and containing a population estimated at 2,000,000 to 2,500,000. Physical Features.-Though in one or two places rocky headlands jut into the sea, the coast is in general sandy, low, and much broken by rivers and deep estuaries, dotted with swampy islands, giving it the appearance of a vast delta. In about 9° 30' N., off the promontory of Konakry, lie the Los Islands (q.v.), forming part of the colony. The coast plain, formed of alluvial deposits, is succeeded about 30 m. inland by a line of cliffs, the Susu Hills, which form the first step in the terrace-like formation of the interior, culminating in the massif of Futa Jallon, composed chiefly of Archean and granite rocks. While the coast lands are either densely forested or covered with savannas or park-like country, the Futa Jallon tableland is mainly covered with short herbage. This tableland, the hydrographic centre of West Africa, is most clevated in its southern parts, where heights of 5000 ft. are found. Near the Sierra Leone frontier this high land is continued westward to within 20 m. of the sea, where Mount Kakulima rises over 3300 ft. East and south of Futa Jallon the country slopes to the basin of the upper Niger, the greater part of which is included in French Guinea. The southern frontier is formed by the escarpments which separate the Niger basin from those of the coast rivers of Liberia. Besides the Niger, Gambia and Senegal, all separately noticed, a large number of streams running direct to the Atlantic rise in Futa Jallon. Among them are the Great and Little Scarcies, whose lower courses are in Sierra Leone, and the Rio Grande which enters the sea in Portuguese Guinea. Those whose courses are entirely in French Guinea include the Cogon (or Componi), the Rio Nuñez, the Fatalla (which reaches the sea through an estuary named Rio Pongo), the Konkure, whose estuary is named Rio Bramaya, the Forekaria and the Melakori. The Cogon, Fatallah and Konkure are all large rivers which descend from the plateaus through deep, narrow valleys in rapids and cataracts, and are only navigable for a few miles from their mouth. Climate.-The climate of the coast district is hot, moist and unhealthy, with a season of heavy rain lasting from May to November, during which time variable winds, calms and tornadoes succeed one another. The mean temperature in the dry season, when the "harmattan" is frequent, is 62° Fahr., in the wet season 86°. Throughout the year the humidity of the air is very great. There is much rain in the Futa Jallon highlands, but the Niger basin is somewhat drier. In that region and in the highlands the climate is fairly healthy for Europeans and the heat somewhat less than on the coast. Flora and Fauna.-The seashore and the river banks are lined with mangroves, but the most important tree of the coast belt is the oilpalm. The dense forests also contain many varieties of lianas or rubber vines, huge bombax and bamboos. Gum-producing and kola trees are abundant, and there are many fruit trees, the orange and citron growing well in the Susu and Futa Jallon districts. The cotton and coffee plants are indigenous; banana plantations surround the villages. The baobab and the karite (shea butter tree) are found only in the Niger districts. The fauna is not so varied as was formerly the case, large game having been to a great extent driven out of the coast regions. The elephant is rare save in the Niger regions. The lion is now only found in the northern parts of Futa Jallon; panthers, leopards, hyenas and wild cats are more common and the civet is found. Hippopotamus, otter and the wild boar are numerous; a species of wild ox of small size with black horns and very agile is also found. The forests contain many kinds of monkeys, including huge chimpanzees; antelope are widespread but rather rare. Serpents are very common, both venomous and non-venomous; the pythons attain a great size. Fights between these huge serpents and the crocodiles which infest all the rivers are said to be not uncommon. Turtles are abundant along the coasts and in the Los Islands. Oysters are found in large numbers in the estuaries and fixed to the submerged parts of the mangroves. Freshwater oysters, which attain a large size, are also found in the rivers, particularly in the Niger. Fish are abundant, one large-headed species, in the Susu tongue called khokon, is so numerous as to have given its name to a province, Kokunia. Birds are very numerous; they include various eagles, several kinds of heron, the egret, the marabout, the crane and the pelican; turacos or plantain-eaters, are common, as are other brilliantly plumaged birds. Green and grey parrots, ravens, swallows and magpies are also common. Inhabitants. On the banks of the Cogon dwell the Tendas and lolas, primitive Negro tribes allied to those of Portuguese Guinea (q.v.). All other inhabitants of French Guinea are regarded as comparatively late arrivals from the interior who have displaced the aborigines. Among the earliest of the new comers are the Baga, the Nalu, the Landuman and the Timni, regarded as typical Negroes (qv). This migration southward appears to have taken place before the Cogon and the Rio Pongo, and the Landuman the country the 17th century. To day the Baga occupy the coast land between immediately behind that of the Baga. The other tribes named are but sparsely represented in French Guinea, the coast region south of the Nuñez and all the interior up to Futa Jallon being occupied forced its way seaward about the beginning of the 18th century by the Susu, a tribe belonging to the great Mandingan race, which and pressed back the Timni into Sierra Leone. Futa Jallon is peopled principally by Fula (q.v.), and the rest of the country by Malinké and other tribes of Mandingo (g.v.). The Mandingo, the Fula and the Susu are Mahommedans, though the Susu retain many of their ancient rites and beliefs-those associated with spirit worship and fetish, still the religion of the Baga and other tribes. In the north-west part of Futa Jallon are found remnants of the aborigines, such as the Tiapi, Koniagui and the Bassari, all typical Negro tribes. The white inhabitants number a few hundreds only and are mainly French. Many of the coast peoples show, however, distinct traces of white blood, the result chiefly of the former presence of European slave traders. Thus at the Rio Pongo there are numerous mulattos. South of that river the coast tribes speak largely pidgin English. Towns. The principal towns are Konakry the capital, Boké, on the Rio Nuñez, Dubreka, on the coast, a little north of Konakry, Benty, on the Melakori, Timbo and Labe, the chief towns of Futa Jallon, Heremakono and Kindia, on the main road to the Niger, Kurussa and Siguiri, on a navigable stretch of that river, and Bissandugu, formerly Samory's capital, an important military station east of the Niger. Konakry, in 9° 30′ N., 13° 46′ W., population about 20,000, is the one port of entry on the coast. It is built on the little island of Tombo which lies off the promontory of Konakry, the town being joined to the mainland by an iron bridge. During the administration of Noël Ballay (1848-1902), governor of the colony 18901900, Konakry was transformed from a place of small importance to one of the chief ports on the west coast of Africa and a serious rival to Freetown, Sierra Leone. It has since grown considerably, and is provided with wharves and docks and a jetty 1066 ft. long. in the centre of the town. In front of Government House is a statue There is an ample supply of good water, and a large public garden of M. Ballay. Konakry is a port of call for French, British and German steamship companies, and is in telegraphic communication with Europe. It is the starting-point of a railway to the Niger (see below). The retail trade is in the hands of Syrians. The town is governed by a municipality. Products and Industry.-French Guinea possesses a fertile soil, and is rich in tropical produce. The chief products are rubber, brought from the interior, and palm oil and palm kernels, obtained in the coast regions. Cotton is cultivated in the Niger basin. Gum copal, ground-nuts and sesame are largely cultivated, partly for 1 Numerous remains of a stone age have been discovered, both on the coast and in the hinterland. See L. Desplagnes, "L'Archéo logie préhistorique en Guinée française," in Bull. Soc. Géog. Comm. de Bordeaux. March 1907, and the authorities there cited. export. Among minor products are coffee, wax and ivory. Large French Guinea was made a colony independent of Senegal in 1891, but in 1895 came under the supreme authority of the newly constituted governor-generalship of French West Africa. Guinea has a considerable measure of autonomy and a separate budget. I It is administered by a lieutenant-governor, assisted by a nominated council. Revenue is raised principally from customs and a capitation tax, which has replaced a hut tax. The local budget for 1907 balanced at £205,000. Over the greater part of the country the native princes retain their sovereignty under the superintendence of French officials. The development of agriculture and education are objects of special solicitude to the French authorities. In general the natives are friendly towards their white masters. See M. Famechon, Notice sur la Guinée française (Paris, 1900); J Chautard, Elude géophysique et géologique sur le Fouto-Djallon (Paris, 1905); André Arcin, La Guinée française (Paris, 1906), valuable monograph; J. Machat, Les Rivières du Sud et la Fouta-Diallon (Paris, 1905), another valuable work, containing exhaustive bibliographies. Consult also F. Rouget, La Guinée (Paris, 1908), an official publi cation, the annual Reports on French West Africa, published by the British Foreign Office, and the Carte de la Guinée française by A. Méunier in 4 sheets on the scale 1: 500,000 (Paris, 1902). FRENCH LANGUAGE. I. Geography.-French is the general name of the north-north-western group of Romanic dialects, the modern Latin of northern Gaul (carried by emigration to some places-as lower Canada-out of France). In a restricted sense it is that variety of the Parisian dialect which is spoken by the educated, and is the general literary language of France. The region in which the native language is termed French consists of the northern half of France (including Lorraine) and parts of Belgium and Switzerland; its boundaries on the west are the Atlantic Ocean and the Celtic dialects of Brittany; on the north-west and north, the English Channel; on the northeast and east the Teutonic dialects of Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In the south-east and south the boundary is to a great extent conventional and ill-defined, there being originally no linguistic break between the southern French dialects and the northern Provençal dialects of southern France, north-western Italy and south-western Switzerland. It is formed partly by spaces of intermediate dialects (some of whose features are French, others Provençal), partly by spaces of mixed dialects resulting from the invasion of the space by more northern and more southern settlers, partly by lines where the intermediate dialects have been suppressed by more northern (French) and more southern (Provençal) dialects without these having mixed. Starting in the west at the mouth of the Gironde, the boundary runs nearly north soon after passing Bordeaux; a little north of Angoulême it turns to the east, and runs in this direction into Switzerland to the north of Geneva. II. External History.-(a) Political.-By the Roman conquests the language of Rome was spread over the greater part of southern and western Europe, and gradually supplanted the native tongues. The language introduced was at first nearly uniform over the whole empire, Latin provincialisms and many more or less general features of the older vulgar language being suppressed by the preponderating influence of the educated speech of the capital. As legions became stationary, as colonies were formed, and as the natives adopted the language of their conquerors, this language split up into local dialects, the distinguishing features of which are due, as far as can be ascertained (except, to some extent, as to the vocabulary), not to speakers of different nationalities misspeaking Latin, each with the peculiarities of his native language, but to the fact that linguistic changes, which are ever occurring, are not perfectly uniform over a large area, however homogeneous the speakers. As Gaul was not conquered by Caesar till the middle of the first century before our era, its Latin cannot have begun to differ from that of Rome till after that date; but the artificial retention of classical Latin as the literary and official language after the popular spoken language had diverged from it, often renders the chronology of the earlier periods of the Romanic languages obscure. It is, however, certain that the popular Latin of Gaul had become differentiated from that of central Italy before the Teutonic conquest of Gaul, which was not completed till the latter half of the 5th century; the invaders gradually adopted the language of their more civilized subjects, which remained unaffected except in its vocabulary Probably by this time it had diverged so widely from the artificially preserved literary language that recognized as a distinct language, and the first to be used in it could no longer be regarded merely as mispronounced Latin; literature; and though the oldest specimen now extant is probthe Latin documents of the next following centuries contain ably not the first, it is considerably earlier than any existing many clearly popular words and forms, and the literary and documents of the allied languages. In 813 the council of Tours popular languages are distinguished as latina and romana. ordered certain homilies to be translated into Rustic Roman or The term gallica, at first denoting the native Celtic language into German; and in 842 Louis the German, Charles the Bald, of Gaul, is found applied to its supplanter before the end of the and their armies confirmed their engagements by taking oaths in 9th century, and survives in the Breton gallek, the regular term both languages at Strassburg. These have been preserved to for "French." After the Franks in Gaul had abandoned their us by the historian Nithard (who died in 853); and though, in native Teutonic language, the term francisca, by which this consequence of the only existing manuscript (at Paris) being was denoted, came to be applied to the Romanic one they more than a century later than the time of the author, certain adopted, and, under the form française, remains its native name alterations have occurred in the text of the French oaths, they to this day; but this name was confined to the Romanic of present more archaic forms (probably of North-Eastern French) northern Gaul, which makes it probable that this, at the time than any other document. The next memorials are a short poem, of the adoption of the name francisca, had become distinct probably North-Eastern, on St Eulalia, preserved in a manuscript from the Romanic of southern Gaul. Francisca is the Teutonic of the 10th century at Valenciennes, and some autograph fragadjective frankisk, which occurs in Old English in the form ments (also at Valenciennes) of a homily on the prophet Jonah, frencise, this word, with its umlauted e from a with following in mixed Latin and Eastern French, of the same period. To the i, survives under the form French, which, though purely Teutonic same century belong a poem on Christ's Passion, apparently in in origin and form, has long been exclusively applied to the a mixed (not intermediate) language of French and Provençal, Romanic language and inhabitants of Gaul. The German name and one, probably in South-Eastern French, on St Leger; both franzose, with its accent on, and o in, the second syllable, comes are preserved, in different handwritings, in a MS. at Clermontfrom françois, a native French form older than français, but Ferrand, whose scribes have introduced many Provençal forms. later than the Early Old French franceis. The Scandinavian | After the middle of the 11th century literary remains are comsettlers on the north-west coast of France early in the 10th paratively numerous; the chief early representative of the main century quickly lost their native speech, which left no trace dialects are the following, some of them preserved in several except in some contributions to the vocabulary of the language MSS., the earliest of which, however (the only ones here menthey adopted. The main feature since is the growth of the tioned), are in several cases a generation or two later than the political supremacy of Paris, carrying with it that of its dialect; works themselves. In Western French are a verse life of St in 1539 Francis I. ordered that all public documents should be Alexius (Alexis), probably Norman, in an Anglo-Norman MS. in French (of Paris), which then became the official language at Hildesheim; the epic poem of Roland, possibly also Norman, of the whole kingdom, though it is still foreign to nearly half its in an A.-N. MS. at Oxford; a Norman verbal translation of the population. Psalms, in an A.-N. MS. also at Oxford; another later one, from a different Latin version, in an A.-N. MS. at Cambridge; a Norman translation of the Four Books of Kings, in a probably A.-N. MS. at Paris. The earliest work in the Parisian dialect is probably the Travels of Charlemagne, preserved in a late AngloNorman MS. with much altered forms. In Eastern French, of rather later date, there are translations of the Dialogues of Pope Gregory, in a MS. at Paris, containing also fragments of Gregory's Moralities, and (still later) of some Sermons of St Bernard, in a MS. also in Paris. From the end of the 12th century literary and official documents, often including local charters, abound in almost every dialect, until the growing influence of Paris caused its language to supersede in writing the other local ones. influence, occasionally apparent about the end of the 12th century, was overpowering in the 15th, when authors, though often displaying provincialisms, almost all wrote in the dialect of the capital, the last dialect to lose its literary independence was the North-Eastern, which, being the Romanic language of Flanders, had a political life of its own, and (modified by Parisian) was used in literature after 1400. The conquest of England in 1066 by William, duke of Normandy, introduced into England, as the language of the rulers and (for a time) most of the writers, the dialects spoken in Normandy (see also ANGLO-NORMAN LITERATURE). Confined in their native country to definite areas, these dialects, following their speakers, became mixed in England, so that their forms were used to some extent indifferently; and the constant communication with Normandy maintained during several reigns introduced also later forms of continental Norman. As the conquerors learned the language of the conquered, and as the more cultured of the latter learned that of the former, the Norman of England (including that of the English-speaking Lowlands of Scotland) became anglicized; instead of following the changes of the Norman of France, it followed those of English. The accession in 1154 of Henry II. of Anjou disturbed the Norman character of Anglo-French, and the loss of Normandy under John in 1204 gave full play to the literary importance of the French of Paris, many of whose forms afterwards penetrated to England. At the same time English, with a large French addition to its vocabulary, was steadily recovering its supremacy, and is officially employed (for the first time since the Conquest) in the Proclamation of Henry III., 1258. The semi-artificial result of this mixture of French of different dialects and of different periods, more or less anglicized according to the date or education of the speaker or writer, is generally termed "the Anglo-Norman dialect "; but the term is misleading for a great part of its existence, because while the French of Normandy was not a single dialect, the later French of England came from other French provinces besides Normandy, and being to a considerable extent in artificial conditions, was checked in the natural development implied by the term " dialect." The disuse of Anglo-French as a natural language is evidenced by English being substituted for it in legal proceedings in 1362, and in schools in 1387; but law reports were written in it up to about 1600, and, converted into modern literary French, it remains in official use for giving the royal assent to bills of parliament. (b) Literary.-Doubtless because the popular Latin of northern Gaul changed more rapidly than that of any other part of the empire, French was, of all the Romanic dialects, the first to be This III. Internal History.-Though much has been done in recent years, in the scientific investigation of the sounds, inflexions, and syntax of the older stages and dialects of French, much still remains to be done, and it must suffice here to give a sketch, mainly of the dialects which were imported into England by the Normans-in which English readers will probably take most interest, and especially of the features which explain the forms of English words of French origin. Dates and places are only approximations, and many statements are liable to be modified by further researches. The primitive Latin forms given are often not classical Latin words, but derivatives from these; and reference is generally made to the Middle English (Chaucerian) pronunciation of English words, not the modern. (a) Vocabulary.-The fundamental part of the vocabulary of French is the Latin imported into Gaul, the French words being simply the Latin words themselves, with the natural changes undergone by all living speech, or derivatives formed at various dates. Comparatively few words were introduced from the Celtic language of the native inhabitants (bec, lieue from the Celtic words given by Latin writers as beccus, leuca), but the number |