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CAMEROON 1 (Ger. Kamerun)

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 113 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CAMEROON 1 (Ger. Kamerun) , a See also:

German See also:protectorate in See also:West See also:Africa, bounded W. by the See also:Atlantic, N.W. by See also:British See also:Nigeria, N. by See also:Lake See also:Chad, E. and S. by See also:French See also:Congo, See also:save for a See also:short distance on the See also:south where it is conterminous with the See also:Spanish Muni See also:river See also:settlement. Boundaries and See also:Area.—The See also:sea frontier extends from the Rio del Rey, just where the See also:great See also:bend of the See also:coast-See also:line See also:east to south begins, forming the See also:Bight of Biafra, to the Campo river, a distance of 200 M. The See also:north-western boundary, laid down in an agreement between See also:Germany and Great See also:Britain on the 15th of See also:November 1893, runs from the mouth of the Rio del Rey to the " rapids " of the See also:Cross river in 8° 48' E. Thence it is continued in a north-east line towards See also:Yola, as far as the confines of that 1 This See also:English See also:form of the name, adopted in the loth ed. of the Ency. Brit., from 'the German, appears preferable both to the un-English Kamerun and to the older and clumsy " the Cameroons."See also:town. The boundary is then deflected south so as to leave Yola in British territory, turning north again to cross the See also:Benue river at a spot 3 M. west of where the See also:Faro joins the Benue. From this point the frontier goes north-east to the border of Lake Chad, 35 M. east of the See also:meridian of the town of See also:Kuka. The See also:southern shores of Lake Chad for a distance of some 40 M. belong to tte protectorate. The south and east boundaries were laid down by agreements between Germany and See also:France on the 24th of See also:December 1885, the 15th of See also:March 1894 and the 18th of See also:April 1908. The south boundary runs in a fairly See also:direct line from the mouth of the Campo river to the river Dscha (or Ngoko), which it follows to its confluence with the Sanga. The eastern boundary runs from the Sanga irregularly north to 10° N., where it approaches the British frontier at Yola, so that at its narrowest See also:part the protectorate is little more than 5o m. across.

From See also:

roe N. the frontier turns eastwards to the Logone, thence going north-east to the See also:Shari river, which it follows to Lake Chad. The protectorate has an area of about 190,000 sq. m. Estimated See also:population (1908) 3,500,000, of whom 1128 were whites. Origin of the Name.—The name Camaroes was first given by the Portuguese discoverers of the 15th and 16th centuries to a large See also:bay or See also:estuary, lying south-east of a great See also:mountain See also:close to the sea, met with after passing the See also:Niger See also:delta. This estuary they called the Rio dos Camaroes (the river of Prawns), from the abundance of the See also:crustacea found therein. The name Camaroes was also used to designate the neighbouring mountains. The English usage until nearly the end of the 19th See also:century was to confine the See also:term " the Cameroons " to the mountain range, and to speak of the estuary as the Cameroons river. Locally it was often called " the Bay." On their acquisition of the See also:country in 1884 the Germans extended the use of the name in its See also:Teutonic form—Kamerun—to the whole protectorate. See also:Physical Features.—Cameroon forms the north-west corner of the great Central See also:African See also:plateau. This becomes evident in its eastern See also:section, where are wide-spreading plains, which farther west assume an undulating See also:character, and gradually See also:merge into a picturesque mountain range. This range, See also:running from north to south, is flanked by a parallel and See also:lower range in the west, with a wide valley between. In the north-west the Upper See also:Guinea mountains send their eastern spurs across the boundary, and from a volcanic rift, which runs south-west to north-east, the Cameroon See also:peak towers up, its See also:summit 13,370 ft. high.

This mountain, whose south-western See also:

base is washed by the Atlantic, is the highest point on the western See also:side of Africa, and it alone of the great mountains of the See also:continent lies close to the coast. E,n,,y'See also:Walker se From any vantage point, but especially from the sea, it presents a magnificent spectacle, while some 30 M. westward rises See also:Clarence peak, the culminating point of Fernando Po. With an area, on an isolated base, of 700 to Boo sq. m., Cameroon mountain has but two distinct peaks, Great Cameroon and Little Cameroon (5820 ft.), which is from See also:foot to See also:top covered with dense See also:forest. The native designation of the highest peak is Mongo-ma-Loba, or the Mountain of See also:Thunder, and the whole upper region is usually called Mongo-mo-Ndemi, or the Mountain of Greatness. On the See also:principal summit there are a See also:group of craters. In 1909 the mountain was in eruption and huge streams of See also:lava were ejected. Inland the Chebchi and Mandara mountains indicate the direction and extent of the rift. The mountains of the plateau sweep grandly See also:round to the A See also:Longitude East ,a°of See also:Greenwich east on reaching the eighth degree of N. See also:lat. Here they give rise to a number of small See also:rivers, which collect in the rift and form the Benue, the great eastern affluent of the Niger. This part of the protectorate is known as See also:Adamawa (q.v.). Farther north, beyond the Mandara mountains, the country, here part of the See also:ancient sultanate of See also:Bornu, slopes to the shores of Lake Chad, and has a See also:general level of 800 to r000 ft. The greater part of Cameroon is thus a mountainous country, with, on the coast, a See also:strip of See also:low See also:land.

In the south this is very narrow; it widens to-wards the north savewhere the Cameroon peak reaches to the sea. At the foot of the Cameroon peak a number of estuaries cut deep bays which form excellent harbours. The small rivers which empty into them can be ascended for some See also:

miles by See also:steam launches. The principal estuary, which is over 20 M. wide, is called, as already noted, the Cameroon river or bay. The term river is more particularly confined to a ramification of the estuary which receives the See also:waters of the Mungo river (a considerable stream which flows south from the Cameroon mountains), the Wuri, a river coming from the north-east, and various smaller rivers. Under the See also:shadow of Cameroon peak lies the bay of Ambas, with the islands of Ndami (Ambas) and Mondola. It forms a tolerable See also:harbour,°'capable of receiving large vessels. Traversing the central portion of the country is a large river known in its upper course as the Lom, and in its lower as the Sanaga, which enters the ocean just to the south of the Cameroon estuary. Both the Lom and the Nyong (a more southerly stream) rise in the central plateau, from which they descend in splendid cascades, breaking through the parallel coast range in rapids, which indicate the extent of their navigability. The Lokunja and Kribi are smaller rivers with courses parallel to and south of the Nyong. In the south-east of the See also:colony the streams—of which the See also:chief are the Dscha and Bumba—are tributaries of the Sanga, itself an affluent of the Congo (q.v.). About roo m. of the right See also:bank of the Sanga, from the confluence of the Dscha upwards, are in German territory.

In the north the country drains into Lake Chad through the Logone and Shari (q.v.). Including the headwaters of the Benue the colony has four distinct river-systems, one connecting with the Niger, another with the Congo, and a third with Lake Chad, the See also:

fourth being the rivers which run direct to the sea. The Niger and Shari systems communicate, with, at high See also:water, but one obstruction to See also:navigation. The connecting See also:link is a marshy lake named Tuburi. From it issues the Kebbi (See also:Mao Kebi) a tributary of the Benue, and through it flows a tributary of the Logone, the chief affluent of the Shari. The one obstruction in the waterway is a fall of 165 ft. in the Kebbi. See also:Geology.—The See also:oldest rocks, forming the greater See also:mass of the See also:hinterland, are gneisses, See also:schists and granites of Archaean See also:age. Along the Benue river a See also:sandstone (Benue sandstone) forms the See also:banks to 14° E. Cretaceous rocks occur around the See also:basalt See also:platform of the Cameroon mountain and generally along the coastal See also:belt. Basalt and See also:tuff, probably of See also:Tertiary age, form the great mass of the Cameroon mountain, also the See also:island of Fernando Po. Extensive areas in the interior, more especially towards Lake Chad, are covered with See also:black See also:earth of alluvial or lacustrine origin. See also:Climate.—The country lies wholly within the tropics and has a characteristic tropical climate.

In the interior four seasons can be distinguished; a comparatively dry and a wet one alternating. See also:

July to See also:October are the coldest months, and also bring most See also:rain, but there is hardly a See also:month without rain. On the coast the temperature is high all the See also:year round, but on the plateau it is cooler. Malarial See also:fever is frequent, and even the Africans, especially those coming from other countries, suffer from it. The See also:middle See also:zone of the Cameroon mountain has, however, a temperate climate and affords excellent sites for sanatoria. See also:Flora and See also:Fauna.—The southern part of the low coast is chiefly grass land, while the river mouths and arms of the bays are lined with mangroves. The mountainous region is covered with primeval forest, in which See also:timber and valuable See also:woods for See also:cabinet-making are plentiful. Most important are the Elaeis guineensis, Sterculia acunsinata and the See also:wild See also:coffee See also:tree. On Cameroon peak the forest ascends to 8000 ft.; above it is grass land. Towards the east the forest gradually grows thinner, assumes a See also:park-like See also:appearance, and finally disappears, wide grass uplands taking its See also:place. The country north of the Benue is See also:rich and well cultivated. See also:Cotton and See also:rubber are found in considerable quantities, and See also:fields of See also:maize, See also:corn, See also:rice and See also:sugar-See also:cane See also:bear See also:witness to the fertility of the See also:soil.

Animals are plentiful, including the great pachyderms and See also:

carnivora. The latter See also:prey on the various kinds of antelopes which swarm on the grass lands. Two kinds of buffaloes are found in the forests, which are the See also:home of the See also:gorilla and See also:chimpanzee. Large rodents, like the See also:porcupine and cane See also:rat, are numerous. Of birds there are 316 See also:species, and several of venomous See also:snakes. Inhabitants.—The north of Cameroon is inhabited by See also:Fula (q.v.) and See also:Hausa (q.v.) and allied tribes, the south by See also:Bantu-speaking races. The Fula came from the north and north-east, gradually See also:driving the Bantu-negroes before them. They brought horses and horned See also:cattle, unknown in these regions until then, and they founded well-organized states, like that of Adamawa, now divided between Cameroon and the British protectorate of Nigeria. In the vicinity of the rivers Benue, Faro and Kebbi, the See also:people, who are See also:good agriculturists, raise cereals and other crops, while on the plateaus stock-raising forms the chief pursuit of the inhabitants. In this See also:northern region villages are built in the Sudanese zeriba See also:style, surrounded with See also:thorn fences; more important places are enclosed by a well-built See also:wall and strongly fortified. Of See also:martial disposition, the people often waged See also:war with their neighbours, and also amongst themselves until the pacification of the hinterland by Germany at the beginning of the loth century. The Bantu-negroes inhabit the country south of about 70 N.

Chief among the tribes are the See also:

Dualla (q.v.), the Ba-kwiri (q.v.), the Ba-See also:Long, the Ba-Farami, the Wuri, the See also:Abo and the Ba-Kundu. They build square houses, are active traders and are ruled by See also:independent chiefs, having no See also:political cohesion. Among the Dualla a curious See also:system of See also:drum signals is See also:note-worthy. In the coast towns are See also:numbers of See also:Krumen, who, however, rarely See also:settle permanently in the country. The Fula, as also most of the Hausa, are Moslems, the other tribes are pagans. Missionary See also:societies, both See also:Protestant and See also:Roman See also:Catholic, are represented in the colony, and their See also:schools are well attended, as are the schools belonging to the See also:government. In all the schools German is taught, but See also:pidgin-English is largely spoken at the coast towns. Chief Towns.—Duala, the chief town in the protectorate, is situated on the Cameroon estuary at the mouth of the Wuri river in 40 2' N. 9° 42' E. It consists of various trading stations and native towns close to one another on the south bank of the river and known, before the German occupation, as Cameroon, See also:Bell town, Akwa town, &c. See also:Hickory, on the north side of the stream and the starting point of the railway to the interior, is also part of Duala, which has a See also:total population of 22,000, including about 170 Europeans. Duala is the headquarters of the merchants and missionaries.

The principal streets are wide and tree lined, the sanitation is good. The government offices are placed in a See also:

fine park in which are statues of Gustav See also:Nachtigal and others. The See also:port is provided with a floating See also:dock. The seat of government is Buea, a See also:post 3000 ft. above the sea on the slopes of the Cameroon mountain. See also:Victoria is a flourishing town in Ambas Bay, founded by the British Baptist missionaries expelled from Fernando Po in 1858 (see below). Batanga and Campo are trading stations in the southern portion of the colony. On the route from Duala to Lake Chad is the large commercial town of Ngaundere, inhabited chiefly by Hausas and occupied by the Germans in Igor. Another large town is Garua on the Benue river. Farther north and within 30 m. of Lake Chad is Dikwa (Dikoa), in Bornu, the town chosen by Rabah (q.v.) as his See also:capital after his See also:conquest of Bornu. Gulfei on the lower Shari and Kusseri on the Logone are also towns of some note. Ngoko is a trading station on the Dscha, in the south-east of the protectorate, near the confluence of that river with the Sanga . Products and See also:Industry.—Cameroon is rich in natural products, one of the most important being the oil-See also:palm.

See also:

Cocoa cultivation was introduced by the Germans and proved remarkably successful. Rubber is collected from the Landolphia and various species of Ficus. Palm-oil, palm kernels, cocoa, See also:copal, See also:copra, See also:Calabar beans, See also:kola-nuts and See also:ivory are the principal exports. There are several kinds of finely-grained See also:wood, amongst which a very dark See also:ebony is specially remarkable. Cotton, See also:indigo and various See also:fibres of See also:plants deserve See also:notice. The natives grow several kinds of bananas, yams and batatas, maize, See also:pea-nuts, sugar-cane, See also:sorghum and See also:pepper. Minerals have not been found in paying quantities. See also:Iron is smelted by the natives, who, especially amongst the Hausas, are very See also:clever smiths, and manufacture fine lances and arrow heads, knives and swords, and also hoes. Dikwa is the centre of an important See also:trade of which the chief articles are coffee, sugar, See also:velvet, See also:silk and weapons, as well as See also:gold and See also:silver See also:objects brought by caravans from See also:Tripoli. The natives round the Cameroon estuary are clever carvers of wood, and make highly ornamental figure heads for their canoes, which also sometimes show very fine workmanship. In the interior the people use the wild-growing cotton and fibres of plants to manufacture coarse drapery and See also:plait-See also:work. Plantations founded by German industry are fairly successful.

Large reserves are set apart for the natives by government when marking off the land granted to See also:

plantation companies. The best-known of these companies, the Sud-Kamerun, holds a concession over a large See also:tract of country by the Sanga river, exporting its rubber, ivory and other produce via the Congo. The principal imports are cotton goods, See also:spirits, See also:building material, firearms, hardware and See also:salt. The See also:annual value of the See also:external trade in the See also:period 1 goo–1905 averaged about 800,000. In 1907 the value of the trade had increased to, 1,700,000: Some 70% of the import and export trade was with Germany, the See also:remainder being almost entirely with Great Britain. The percentage of the trade with Germany was increasing, that with Britain decreasing. Communications.—There is See also:regular steamship communication with See also:Europe by German and British boats. On the rivers which run into the Cameroon estuary small steam launches ply. The protectorate belongs to the Postal See also:Union, and is connected by See also:cable with the British See also:telegraph station at Bonny in the Niger delta. An imperial See also:guarantee of See also:interest was obtained in 1905 for the construction of a railway from Hickory to Bayong, a place See also:loo m. to the north, the See also:district traversed being fertile and populous. From Victoria a line runs to Soppo (22 m.) near Buea and is continued thence northward. Another line, sanctioned in 1908, runs S.E. from Duala to the upper waters of the Nyong.

In the neighbourhood of government stations excellent roads have been built. The chief towns in the coast region are connected by telegraph and See also:

telephone. Government See also:Revenue, &c.—The See also:administration is under the direction of a See also:governor appointed by and responsible to the imperial authorities. The governor is assisted by a See also:chancellor and other officials and an advisory See also:council whose members are merchants See also:resident in the protectorate. Decrees having the force of See also:law are issued by the imperial chancellor on the See also:advice of the governor. In Adamawa and German Bornu are various See also:Mahommedan sultanates controlled by residents stationed at Garua and Kusseri. Revenue is raised chiefly by customs dues on spirits and See also:tobacco and a general 1o% ad valorem See also:duty on most goods. A See also:poll tax is imposed on the natives. The See also:local revenue (f 131,000 in 1905) is supplemented by an imperial See also:grant, the protectorate in the first twenty-one years of its existence never having raised sufficient revenue to meet its See also:expenditure, which in 1905 exceeded (230,000. See also:Order is maintained by a native force officered by Germans. See also:History.—Cameroon and the neighbouring coast were discovered by the Portuguese navigator, Fernando Po, towards the close of the 15th century. They were formerly regarded as with-in the Oil Rivers district, sometimes spoken of as the Oil Coast.

Trading settlements were established by Europeans as See also:

early as the 17th century. The trade was confined to the coast, the Dualla and other tribes being recognized intermediaries between the coast " factories " and the tribes in the interior, whither they allowed no See also:strange trader to proceed. They took a quantity of goods on See also:trust, visited the tribes in the forest, and bartered for ivory, rubber and other produce. This method of trade, called the trust system, worked well, but when the country came under the administration of Germany, the system See also:broke down, as inland traders were allowed to visit the coast. Before this happened the "See also:kings " of the chief trading stations—Akwa and Bell—were wealthy See also:merchant princes. From the beginning until near the end of the 19th century they were very largely under British See also:influence. In 1837 the See also:king of Bimbia, a district on the mainland on the north of the estuary, made over a large part of the country round the bay to Great Britain. In 1845, at which See also:time there was a flourishing trade in slaves between Cameroon and See also:America, the Baptist Missionary Society made its first settlement on the mainland of Africa, See also:Alfred Saker (1814–1880) obtaining from the Akwa See also:family the site for a See also:mission station. In 1848 another mission station was established at Bimbia, the king agreeing to abolish human sacrifices at the funerals of his great men. Into the Cameroon country Saker and his colleagues introduced the elements of See also:civilization, and with the help of British men-of-war the oversea slave trade was finally stopped (c. 1875). The struggles between the Bell (Mbeli) and Akwa families were also largely composed.

In 1858, on the See also:

expulsion of the See also:Baptists from Fernando Po (q.v.), Saker founded at Ambas Bay a colony of the freed negroes who then See also:left the island, the settlement being known as Victoria. Two years after this event the first German factory was established in the estuary by Messrs Woermann of See also:Hamburg. In 1870 the station at Bimbia was given up by the missionaries, but that at Akwa town continued to flourish, the Dualla showing themselves eager to acquire See also:education, while Saker reduced their See also:language to See also:writing. He left Cameroon in 1876, the year before See also:George Grenfell, afterwards famous for his work on the-Congo, came to the country, where he remained three years. Like the earlier missionaries he explored the adjacent districts, discovering the Sanaga in its lower course. Although British influence was powerful and the British See also:consul for the Oil Rivers during this period exercised considerable authority over the native chiefs, See also:requests made by them—in particular by the Dualla chiefs in 1882—for See also:annexation by Great Britain, were refused or neglected, with the result that when Germany started on her quest to pick up unappropriated parts of the African coast she was enabled to secure Cameroon. A treaty with King Bell was negotiated by Dr Gustav Nachtigal, the See also:signature of the king and the other chiefs being obtained at midnight on the 15th of July 1884. Five days later Mr E. H. See also:Hewett, British consul, arrived with a mission to annex the country to Great Britain.' Though too See also:late to secure King Bell's territory, Mr Hewett concluded See also:treaties with all the neighbouring chiefs, but the British government decided to recognize the German claim not only to Bell town, but to the whole Cameroon region. Some of the tribes, disappointed at not being taken over by Great Britain, refused to acknowledge German See also:sovereignty. Their villages were bombarded and they were reduced to sub-mission.

The settlement of the English Baptists at Victoria, Ambas Bay, was at first excluded from the German protectorate, but in March 1887 an arrangement was made by which, while the private rights of the missionaries were maintained, the sovereignty of the settlement passed to Germany. The Baptist Society thereafter made over its See also:

missions, both at Ambas Bay and in the estuary, to the See also:Basel Society. The See also:extension of German influence in the interior was gradually accomplished, though not without considerable bloodshed. That part of Adamawa recognized as outside the British frontier was occupied in 1901 after somewhat severe fighting. In 1902 the imperial troops first penetrated into that part of Bornu reserved to Germany by agreements with Great Britain and France. They found the country in the military occupation of France. The French See also:officers, who stated that their presence was due to ' On the 26th of July a French gunboat also entered the estuary on a belated annexation mission. the See also:measures rendered necessary by the ravages of Rabah and his sons, withdrew their troops into French territory. The shores of Lake Chad were first reached by a German military force on the and of May 1902. In 1904 and again in 1905 there were native risings in various parts of the protectorate. These disturbances were followed, early in 1906, by the recall of the governor, Herr von Puttkamer, who was called upon to See also:answer charges of maladministration. He was succeeded in 1907 by Dr T.

Seitz. Collisions on the southern border of the protectorate between French and German troops led in 1905-1906 to an accurate survey of the south and east frontier regions and to a new See also:

convention (1908) whereby for the straight lines marking the frontier in former agreements natural features were largely substituted. Germany gained a better outlet to the Sanga river. The ascent of the Cameroon mountain was first attempted by See also:Joseph Merrick of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1847; but it was not till 1861 that the summit was gained, when the ascent was made by See also:Sir See also:Richard See also:Burton, Gustav See also:Mann, a noted botanist, and Senor See also:Calvo. The starting-point was Babundi, a place on the seashore west of the mountain. From the south-east the summit was reached by See also:Mary See also:Kingsley in 1895. See Mary H. Kingsley, Travels in West Africa (See also:London, 1897) ; Sir R. Burton, See also:Abeokuta and the Cameroons Mountains (2 vols., London, 1863) ; E. B. Underhill, Alfred Saker . A See also:Biography (London, 1884) ; Sir H.

H. See also:

Johnston, George Grenfell and the Congo and Notes on the Cameroons . . . (London, 1908) ; Max See also:Buchner, Kamerun Skizzen and Betrachtungen (See also:Leipzig, 1887) ; S. Passarge, Adamaua (See also:Berlin, 1895) ; E. Zintgraph, See also:Nord-Kamerun (Berlin, 1895) ; F. See also:Hutter, Wanderungen and Forschungen See also:im Nord-Hinter, land von Kamerun (See also:Brunswick, 1902); F. See also:Bauer, See also:Die deutsche Niger-Benue-Tsadsee-Expedition, 1902–1903 (Berlin, 1904) ; C. Rene, Kamerun and die deutsche Tsadsee Eisenbahn (Berlin, 1905) ; O. See also:Zimmermann, Durch See also:Busch and See also:Steppe vom Campo bis zum Schari, 1892–1902 (Berlin, 1909) ; also British See also:Foreign See also:Office Reports. For See also:special study of particular sciences see F. Wohltmann, Der Plantagenbau in Kamerun and See also:seine Zukunft (Berlin, 1896) ; F.

Plehn, Die Kamerunkiiste, Studien zur Klimatologie, Physiologic and Pathologic in den Tropen (Berlin, 1898) ; E. Esch, F. Solger, M. See also:

Oppenheim and 0. Jaekel, Beitrage zur Geologie von Kamerun (See also:Stuttgart, 1904). For geology the following See also:works may also be consulted: Stromer von See also:Reichenbach, Geologie der deutschen Schutzgebiete in Afrika (Berlin, 1896) ; A. von Koenen, " Ober Fossilien der unteren Kreide am Ufer See also:des Mungo in Kamerun," Abh. k. Wiss., See also:Gottingen, 1897; E. See also:Cohen, " Lava vom Camerun-Gebirge," Neves Jahrb. f. See also:Mina, 1887. (F. R.

End of Article: CAMEROON 1 (Ger. Kamerun)

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