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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 383 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FRENCH See also:

SOMALILAND French Somaliland (Cote francaise See also:des Somalis) lies at the entrance to the Red See also:Sea. The sea frontier extends from See also:Ras Dumeira on the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, a little See also:north of See also:Perim See also:Island, to Ras Gurmarle, a few See also:miles See also:south of the Gulf of Tajura. The See also:protectorate is bounded N. by the Danakil See also:country; S. by See also:British Somaliland; W. by the See also:Harrar See also:province of See also:Abyssinia. It extends inland at its greatest See also:depth about 130 M. The country consists chiefly of slightly elevated arid plains, largely waterless See also:save along the See also:southern frontier. The only See also:good See also:harbour along the See also:coast is at See also:Jibuti. The Gulf of Tajura is 28 m. across at its entrance and penetrates inland 36 m. At its western end an opening 87o yds. wide leads into the circular See also:bay of Gubbet-Kharab (See also:Hell's Mouth), behind which rise a chaotic See also:mass of volcanic rocks, destitute of vegetation and presenting a See also:scene of weird desolation. A pass through the hills gives See also:access to See also:Bahr-Assal ; the last of a See also:chain of See also:salt lakes beginning 6o m. inland in the depression in which the See also:waters of the Hawash (see ABYSSINIA) lose themselves. It is conjectured that at some remote See also:period the Hawash flowed into Tajura Bay and that the See also:present See also:condition of the country is the result of volcanic upheaval. Assal See also:Lake, according to this theory, formed See also:part of the sea See also:bed. It is now 5 m. inland from Gubbet-Kharab, is 5 m. See also:long by 4 broad, and lies 490 ft. below sea level.

About 16o ft. above the present level of the lake a See also:

white See also:band marke distinctly a former level. The waters of Bahr-Assal are deeply impregnated with salt, which, in thick crusts, forms See also:crescent-shaped See also:round the banks—dazzling white when reflected by the See also:sun. Two. streams, one saline and at a temperature of 194° F., flow into the lake. The See also:climate of the protectorate is very hot, but not unhealthy for Europeans if reasonable precautions be taken. Inhabitants and Towns.—The inhabitants are, on the north See also:side of the Gulf of Tajura, chiefly Danakils (See also:Afars, q.v.); on the southern See also:shore Galla and Somali. There are a number of See also:Arabs, Abyssinians, See also:Indians, and about 2000 Europeans and Levantines. The See also:chief See also:town and seat of See also:administration is Jibuti (q.v.), pop. about 15,000, which has taken the See also:place of See also:Obok (q.v.), on the opposite (See also:northern) side of the Gulf of Tajura. Also situated on the gulf are the small towns of Tajura, See also:Sagallo, Gobad and Ambabo. See also:Trade and Communications.—The collection of salt from Bahr-Assal is an See also:industry of some importance. In 1903 a beginning was made in the cultivation of See also:cotton in the dry See also:river beds, where See also:water can always be obtained at a depth of 10 ft. On the coast turtle and See also:mother-of-See also:pearl fishing are carried on. But the value of the protectorate depends upon the carrying trade with Harrar and the supplying of victuals and coals to French warships.

In 1897 the See also:

building of a railway from Jibuti towards Harrar was begun. By See also:Christmas 1902 the railway, called the Imperial Ethiopian railway, was completed to Dire Dawa (or Adis Harrar), 30 m. See also:short of Harrar, and 188 by See also:rail from Jibuti, of which but 64 m. are in French territory. By a See also:law passed by the French See also:chambers in 1902 a subvention of L20,000 a See also:year for fifty years was granted to the See also:company owning the railway (see further ABYSSINIA). The exports are chiefly See also:coffee, hides, See also:ivory (all from Abyssinia), See also:gum, mother-of-pearl and a little See also:gold ; the imports cotton and other See also:European stuffs, cereals, beverages, See also:tobacco and arms and See also:ammunition for the Abyssinians. The See also:total See also:volume of trade in 1902, the year of the completion of the railway, was £725,000, in 1905 it had risen to 1,208,000—imports £480.000, exports £728,000. See also:History.—French See also:interest in the Somali and Danakil coasts See also:dates from the days of the Second See also:Empire. See also:Count Stanislas See also:Russell, a See also:naval officer, was sent on a See also:mission to the Red Sea in 18J7, and he reported strongly on the See also:necessity of a French See also:establishment in that region in view of the approaching completion of the See also:Suez See also:Canal. The only result of his enterprise was the abortive treaty for the cession to See also:France of See also:Zula (q.v.), now in the See also:Italian See also:colony of See also:Eritrea. In 1856, however, M. See also:Monge, See also:vice-See also:consul of France at See also:Zaila, had bought Ambabo, and shortly afterwards See also:Henri See also:Lambert, French consul at See also:Aden, bought the town and territory of Obok. Lambert (who was assassinated by Arabs, See also:June 1859) had the support of his See also:government, which viewed with alarm the establishment (1857) of the British on Perim Island, at the entrance to the Red Sea. The cession of Obok was ratified by a treaty (signed on the 11th of See also:March 1862) between the French government and various Danakil chiefs.

It was not, however, until 1883 that, in consequence of events in See also:

Egypt and the See also:Sudan (see EGYPT: History), formal See also:possession was taken of Obok by the French government. In 1884 Leonce See also:Lagarde, subsequently French See also:minister to Abyssinia, was sent to administer the See also:infant colony. Between 1883 and 1887 See also:treaties with Somali sultans gave France possession of the whole of the Gulf of Tajura. An agreement with See also:Great See also:Britain (See also:February 1888) fixed the southern limits of the protectorate; protocols with See also:Italy (See also:January 190o and See also:July 1901) the northern limits. The frontier towards Abyssinia was fixed by a See also:convention of March 1897 with the See also:Negus Menelik. In this direction the protectorate extends inland some 56 m. In 1889 a Cossack chief, See also:Captain Atchinoff, who had occupied Sagallo, was forcibly removed by the French authorities (see SAGALLO). The transference of the seat of government to Jibuti in May 1896 and the building of the railway to Harrar gave the protectorate a stability which it had previously lacked. Its importance to France is, nevertheless, chiefly strategic and See also:political. It serves as a coaling station for men-of-See also:war and as a highroad to Abyssinia.

End of Article: FRENCH

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