SENEGAL  , a

country of West Africa belonging to France . As a geographical expression it is the land watered by the Senegal river; politically it has a much wider significance . The French possessions in this region are divided into (1) the colony of Senegal, and dependent native states; (2) the colony of Upper Senegal and Niger, with a dependent Military Territory; (3) the Territory of Mauretania . The first colony includes the most westerly coast region of Africa; a large part of the second colony is the country enclosed in the great bend of the Niger; while the Military Territory is east of that river . The Territory of Mauretania is part of the western Sahara, stretching indefinitely north from the Senegal river . It includes the oasis of Adrar Temur (see ADRAR) and the coast regions between Cape Blanco and the Senegal river . In the present article the two colonies are dealt with in separate sections (I. and II. below), the story of French conquest and colonization throughout this vast region forming section III . I . SENEGAL Senegal is bounded N. by the Territory of Mauretania, W. by the Atlantic, S. by Portuguese Guinea and French Guinea, and E. by the Faleme, which separates it from Upper Senegal and Niger . Wedged into Senegal and surrounded by it save seawards is the British colony of the Gambia . Senegal colony proper consists of the towns of Dakar, St Louis, Goree and Rufisque, a narrow strip of territory on either side of the Dakar-St Louis• railway, and a few detached spots, and has an area of 438 sq. m. with a population (census of 1904) of 107,826 . The rest of the country consists of native states under French protection, and includes, since 19o9, the northern bank of the river Senegal below Bakel .

In this larger sense, which is that employed in this article, Senegal covers about 74,000 sq. m., with an estimated population of 1,800,000 . Among the protected states is

Bondu (q.v.) lying immediately west of the lower Faleme . Physical Features.—The coast follows a S.S.W. direction from the mouth of the Senegal to Cape Verde, the most western point of the African continent; thence it bends south as far as Cape Roxo, where the Portuguese frontier begins . The only gulf on the coast is that which lies to the south of Cape Verde and contains the island of Goree (q.v.) . The coast in the northern part is low, arid, desolate and dune-skirted, its monotony relieved only here and there by cliffs and plateaus . Further south it becomes marshy, and clothed with luxuriant vegetation . A little to the north of the Gambia the coast-line is much broken by the archipelago of islands formed by the Salum estuary, whilst south of the Gambia is the broad estuary of the Casamance . Between the Senegal and the Gambia and as far east as about 13° W., the country behind the seaboard is a slightly elevated and, for the most part, barren plain . Further east is a mountainous and fertile region with altitudes of over 4000 ft . The mountains sink abruptly towards the Niger valley, while southwards they join the Futa Jallon highlands . On the north they extend to the left bank of the Senegal and throw out spurs into the desert beyond . The Senegal (q.v.), its tributary the Faleme, and the upper course of the Gambia (q.v.) are the chief rivers which drain the country .

The Salum, already mentioned, is a river-like estuary which penetrates fully too m. and is split into many channels . It is navigable from the

sea for 6o m . The Casamance flows between the Gambia to the north and the Cacheo to the south, and has a drainage area of some 6000 sq. m . Rising in the Futa Jallon, the river has a course of about 212 m., and at Sedhiu, toy m. from the sea, is 1i m. broad . Forty miles lower down it is joined by a northern tributary, the Songrogu, and thence to the ocean forms, with its numerous lateral channels, an estuary . The mouth of the river is fully 6 m. wide . Six to seven feet of water cover the bar at low tide, the river being navigable by shallow draught vessels for the greater part of its length . Geology.—The low region of the seaboard has a very uniform character . It consists of sandstones or clay rocks and loose beds of reddish soil, containing marine shells . At certain points, such as Cape Verde and Cape Roxo (or Rouge), the red sandstones crop out, giving to the latter its name . Clay slates also occur, and at intervals these sedimentary strata are interrupted by basaltic amygdaloid and volcanic rocks . For instance, the island of Goree is basaltic .

The

base of the mountains is formed in certain places of clay slate, but more generally of granite, porphyry, syenite or trachyte . In those districts mica-schists and iron ores occur . Iron and gold are found in the mountains and the alluvial deposits . Many of the valleys are covered with fertile soils; but the rest of the country is rather arid and sterile . Climate.—There are two seasons, the dry and the rainy or winter, the latter contemporaneous with the European summer . In the rainy season the wind blows from the sea, in the dry season the har-mattan sweeps seaward from the Sahara . Along the seaboard the dry season is cool and agreeable ; in the interior it is temperate in the three months which correspond to the European winter, for the rest of the year the heat is excessive . The maximum readings (90° to too° F.), which are exceptional at St Louis, become almost the rule at Bakel on the upper Senegal . The mean temperature at St Louis is 68° to 70° F . The rainy season begins at Goree between the 27th of June and the 13th of July . During this period storms are frequent and the Senegal overflows and floods the lowlands, the heat and humidity rendering the country affected very unhealthy . Several districts formerly covered with forest, to which fact Cape Verde owed its name, are now treeless, a continual slow diminution in the rainfall being the result.' No part of the country is suited for permanent occupation by Europeans .

Yellow

fever, malaria, &c., once prevalent in the towns, have been successfully combated by attention to sanitation . Flora.—The principal tree is the baobab (Adansonia digitata), which sometimes at the height of 24 ft. has a diameter of 34 and a circumference of 104 ft . Acacias are numerous, one species, A. adansonia, being valuable for ship-timber . Among the palm-trees is the ronier, whose wood resists moisture and the attacks of insects; in some places, as in Cayor, it forms magnificent forests . The mampatas grows sometimes too ft. high, its branches beginning at a height of about 25 ft . Landolphia and other rubber plants, and the oil-palm, grow luxuriantly in the Casamance district . The karite, or shea-butter tree, is common . Wild indigo is abundant, and the cotton plant is indigenous . Fauna.—The lion of Senegal and the neighbouring countries differs from the Barbary lion; its colour is a deeper and brighter yellow, and its mane is neither so thick nor so long . Other beasts of prey are the leopard, the wild cat, the cheetah, the civet and the hyena . The wild boar is clumsier than the European variety . Antelopes and gazelles occur in large herds; the giraffe is found in the region of the upper Senegal; the elephant is rare; the hippopotamus is gradually disappearing .

Crocodiles swarm in the upper Senegal . Monkeys and apes of different species (the

chimpanzee, the colobus, the cynocephalus, &c.), the squirrel, rat and mouse abound . The hedgehog, marmot, porcupine, hare, rabbit, &c., are also met with . Among the more noteworthy birds are the ostrich, which migrates to the Sahara ; the bustard, found in desert and uncultivated districts; the marabout, a kind of stork, with its beak black in the middle and red at the point, which frequents the moist meadowlands and .the lagoons; the brown partridge, the rock partridge and the quail in the plains and on the mountain sides; and the guinea-fowl in the thickets and brush-wood . Along the coast are caught the sperm whale, the manatee and the cod-fish . Inhabitants.—The inhabitants of Senegal are, mainly, " Moors " and allied Berber races, and Negroids . The Moors, or rather Berbers (Trarzas, Braknas and Duaish), inhabit the right bank of the Senegal . Fula (Peuls) are found in various parts of the country . Negroids, however, form the bulk of the population . There are few, if any, tribes of unmixed Negro blood, though in most of them the Negro element largely predominates . The best known of these tribes are the Wolofs and Mandingos, the last-named a widespread group of allied peoples bearing many names such as Sarakoles and Bambaras . Mandingos inhabit the basins of the upper Niger and the upper Senegal, and the western slope of the mountains of Futa Jallon .

Under the name of Wakore or

Wangara they are also found in all the immense tract enclosed in the bend of the Niger . The Berbers, Fula and Mandingos are Moslems . The Wolofs and the Serers inhabit the seaboard from St Louis to the Gambia, and the left bank of the Senegal from its mouth to Dagana . The Balanta inhabit the left bank of the Casamance; they are allied to the Mandingos . The principal languages spoken are Wolof, Fula, Serer, Mandingo and Arabic . The river Senegal marks the line of separation between Wolof and Arabic . Fula is the language of the Fula and Tukulors (Fula half-breeds) ; Mandingo comprises several dialects and is widely spoken . Polygamy is generally practised . Slave raiding has been stopped and domestic slavery is not' recognized by the French . (See BERBERS, FULA, WOLOF, MANDINGO, &C.) Towns.—The chief towns of Senegal are St Louis, pop . (1904) 28,469, Dakar (23,452), Goree (1500) (all separately noticed) and Rufisque . Rufisque (12,446; including suburbs, 19,177) is a seaport 14 m .

E. of Dakar and is on the railway connecting that

town with St Louis . It is the chief place in the colony for the export of ground-nuts . Portudal and Joal are small places on the coast south of Rufisque . (Midway between Cape Verde and Cape Blanco is the small port of Marsa or Portendic, a little south of Jell [Old Portendic], ' See A . Knox, " The Isohyets 'twixt Sahara and Western Sudan," in Geog . Journ . (June 1909) . which was formerly noted for the export of gum arabic, and on the shores of the bay formed by Cape Blanco is Port Etienne, a fishing station provided with jetties and guarded by a military post . These last-named ports are in the Territory of Mauretania, but are most conveniently mentioned here.) On the river Senegal are the towns of Richard-toll (Richard's garden), Dagana and Bakel, all three founded by the French government in 1821 . Carabane, Zighinchor and Sedhiu are settlements on the Casamance river . St Louis, Dakar, Goree and Rufisque are communes, with a franchise exercised by natives and Europeans alike . The total white population of the four towns is about 5000 .

Agriculture and Trade.—Senegal's chief commercial product is the ground-nut, which, since 1888, has yielded about 30,000 tons a year . Millet,.the staple food of the native population, maize and rice occupy about two-thirds of the cultivated land . Acacia gum is gathered by the Moors in the northern region; the kola nut is cultivated and rubber is collected in the district of Casamance, which projects between Portuguese Guinea and British Gambia . There are large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats, besides numerous camels, asses and horses . Gold, iron, quicksilver and copper are found . The natives carry on weaving, pottery, brickmaking, and manufacture trinkets . Cotton goods (chiefly from England) form the most important articles of import, and after them come kola nuts (mainly from Sierra Leone), rice, wines and spirits, tobacco, implements, sugar, coal and fancy goods; the exports are mostly ground-nuts; rubber (much of which comes from the Niger regions), gum and gold coming next in value . The imports and 'exports of Senegal are not shown separately, the figures for Upper Senegal and Niger being included . The average annual value for the five years ending 1905 was £3,100,000 . By 1910 the value had risen to nearly £4,000,000 . France takes 75% of the exports; Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark the bulk of the remainder " In value ground-nuts form four-fifths of the exports . Communications.—A railway, 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 starting from Thies, a station on the way to St Louis, and ending at Kayes . The construction of this line began in 1907 . 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 communication 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 . IL UPPER SENEGAL AND NIGER This colony is bounded N. by the Saharan territories dependent on Algeria, W. by Senegal and the Territory of Mauretania, S. by the French colonies of Guinea and the Ivory Coast, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast (British), Togoland (German) and Dahomey (French) . The Military Territory dependent on the colony extends E. of the Niger to the Lake Chad territory of French Congo, being bounded S. by Nigeria (British) . The colony and its dependent territory thus form the link connecting all the possessions of France in north, west and central Africa . Their area is estimated at 210,000 sq. m., with a population of some 3,000,000 . Those tribes living north and east of the Niger are mainly of Berber (Tuareg) stock; the inhabitants of the Niger bend are chiefly Negroids, such as the Mandingo, with Fula in certain districts . The colony, as a whole, consists of a great plateau of granite and sandstone, rarely more than 1600 ft. high, and in its N.W. part, the Kaarta, all but desert .

HydrographicalIy the western portion belongs to the

basin of the Senegal, the central to that of the Niger . At Mopti, 200 M . S.W. of Timbuktu, the Niger receives the Mahel Balevel, which rises in about 91°N. and with its tributaries drains a very Iarge area . In its lower courses its divergent channels, uniting with offshoots from the Niger, form in the flood season an immense lake . This region—apparently the Wangara country of Idrisi—is sometimes called Bambara, the name of the chief race inhabiting it . The lakes or widenings of the Niger itself occupy vast areas; Lake Debo, the Lake of Horo, the Lake of Dauna, Lake Faguibini are all to the south or west of Timbuktu, and are permanent . The greater part of the colony lies within the bend of the Niger, but westward it includes both banks of the Senegal as far as the Faleme confluence . It also extends north of the Niger so as to include the fertile land on the borders of the Sahara .