cause was concerned, by an Agreement, signed in London on the 21st of
March, 1899, by Lord Salisbury and M. Cambon. The Declaration limiting
the respective spheres of influence of the two Powers took the form of
an addition to the IVth Article of the Niger Convention, concluded in
the previous year. Its practical effect is to reserve the whole drainage
system of the Nile to England and Egypt, and to engage that France shall
have a free hand, so far as those Powers are concerned, in the rest of
Northern Africa west of the Nile Valley not yet occupied by Europeans.
This stupendous partition of half a continent by two European Powers
could scarcely be expected to excite the enthusiasm of the rest. Germany
was, however, soothed by the promise of the observance of the 'Open
Door' policy upon the Upper Nile. Italy, protesting meekly, followed
Germany. Russia had no interests in this quarter. France and England
were agreed. The rest were not consulted: and the Declaration may thus
be said to have been recognised by the world in general.

It is perhaps early to attempt to pronounce with which of the
contracting Powers the advantage lies. France has acquired at a single
stroke, without any serious military operations, the recognition
of rights which may enable her ultimately to annex a vast African
territory. At present what she has gained may be described as a
recognised 'sphere of aspiration.' The future may convert this into
a sphere of influence, and the distant future may witness the entire
subjugation of the whole region. There are many difficulties to
be overcome. The powerful influence of the Senussi has yet to be
overthrown. The independent kingdom of Wadai must be conquered. Many
smaller potentates will resist desperately. Altogether France has enough
to occupy her in Central Africa for some time to come: and even when
the long task is finished, the conquered regions are not likely to be
of great value. They include the desert of the Great Sahara and wide
expanses of equally profitless scrub or marsh. Only one important river,
the Shari, flows through them, and never reaches the sea: and even Lake
Chad, into which the Shari flows, appears to be leaking through some
subterranean exit, and is rapidly changing from a lake into an immense
swamp.

Great Britain and Egypt, upon the other hand, have secured a territory
which, though smaller, is nevertheless of enormous extent, more fertile,
comparatively easy of access, pr