RECENT CAMPAIGNS IN WEST AFRICA. 784 Kong. On February 12th he was besieged there by Samory's forces. Although the little garrison was short of provisions and water, so that towards the end of the siege there were several deaths from thirst,Demars held out for thirteen days. He was then relieved by Commandant Caudrelier, who attacked and defeated tlae Sofas under the walls of the town. Menaced by two strong columns,Samory made an attempt to reach the country to the southwestward,between the frontiers of Liberia and tlae Upper Niger, the scene of his earlier triumphs, where he hoped to arouse the tribes against the French. Harassed on the march by the French flying columns, he was defeated while attempting to cross the Sassandra River. His army now broke up into a number of scattered bands. Early in October his own personal escort was surprised by a detachment of Spahis, and the once terrible Sultan of the Western Soudan foundhimself aprisoner in the hands of the French. With his capture ended the last formidable native power of the Niger region.

Both France andEngland were turning their attention to the countries east of the Niger. Englandhad secured the overlordship ofSokoto. France wasbusy planning the occupation of the country about Lake Chad. After many failures, she also succeeded, in 1899, in linking her Algerian possessions with her territory south of the Sahara. Commandant Foureau, who had started from Tuggurt, near Biskra, in the autumn of 1898 with a well-equipped column, had penetrated to the Niger. It is pleasant to note that the gold medals of the Royal Geographical Society for 1899 were conferred on two French officers— on Captain Binger for his exploration of the Niger, and on Commandant Foureau for his daring journeys in the Sahara: an act ofinternational courtesythat showedthat the struggle for West Africa, which had so lately threatened to involve the two nations in war, had ended in friendlyrivalry.

SKETCH MAP TO ILI.USIRATE EVENTS IN UGANDA AND UNYORO.