The chief towns on the coast, from north to south, are Victoria, Duala
(the capital), Kribi, and Ukoko. Buea is a large town on the eastern
slopes of the Cameroon mountain, and Edea is on the Sanaga, about forty
miles from its mouth. In the mountainous region in the north-west are
Bare, Dschang, Bali, Bamenda, Wum, Esu, and Kentu; to the east of these
is Fumban, and to the west, in the low-lying country near the Nigerian
border, Ossidinge. In the western portion of the plateau are Tibati,
Banyo and Tingere, and in the centre, at the junction of the main routes
of the interior, is Ngaumdere. In the country north of the plateau the
chief towns are Garua, an important trading centre on the Benue, Lere,
Binder, Marua, Mora, Dikoa, and Kusseri. In the southern part of the
country are Yaunde, Dume, Bertua, Gaza, Carnot, Bania, Lomie, and
Akoafim. Molondu is in the extreme south-east.
THE PROGRESS OF THE PROTECTORATE.
In the first twenty-eight years of their occupation the Germans had
established courts of justice at Buea, Duala, Kribi, and Lomie, custom
houses at Duala and Buea, thirty-eight post offices throughout the
territory, and had maintained order among the natives by means of twelve
companies of Imperial troops. They had constructed and opened 108
kilometres of the 1-m. gauge line of 160 kilometres from Duala to the
Manenguæ Mountains, and had opened the central line from Duala to
Widimange, on the Nyong River--a distance of 293 kilometres of 1-m.
gauge line--as far as Edea, ninety kilometres from Duala. The imports
had increased from 9,296,796 marks in 1898 to 29,317,514 marks in 1911,
and their exports in the same period had risen from 4,601,620 to
21,250,883 marks, a total increase in the trade of the colony of nearly
thirty-seven million marks. The want of means of communication was found
a hindrance in the economic development of the territory, which was
admittedly possessed of “unlimited liabilities.” Vast tracts in the
interior were proved to be suited for cotton cultivation; oil palms,
cocoa, and rubber were ascertained to be of “incalculable wealth,” and
the Cameroons were described by Dr. Grotewold as among the most
productive countries in the world.
But the administration, or the critics of the administration of the
Protectorate, had discovered that the lack of proper means of
communication was not the only factor that retarded the progress of this
richly endowed country. The unrest amongst the natives had revealed on
the part of the authorities the lack of that sympathetic understanding
of their native subjects which makes for successful colonisation. Their
treatment of the natives was culpably injudicious, and their mistakes in
dealing with them were so frequent and serious that the relations
between the Government and the native population were constantly
strained, and the services of the Imperial troops were in great demand.
GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL FEATURES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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