CAMPAIGNS IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA, 1890— 1899. 794 King of Unyoro, the country that lies between Uganda and the Albert Nyanza, had for some time been giving serious trouble. An old slave raider, he still made an occasional foray into Uganda, and he was believed to be in relation with the malcontents of the district. To secure the country from disturbance,Colville organised an expedition against Kabarega. An army of Waganda (the people of Uganda), stiffened with a handful of Soudanese under a few British officers,enteredthesouth of Unyoro,droveback Kabarega'sill-organised levies, andmade a road protected by aline of forts through his country to the shore of Albert Nyanza. A steel boat wascarried to the lake, and launched under the Britishflagonits waters. Captain Thruston,with 300 men, was left to garrison the station established on the lake, andMajor "Roddy" Owen, taking the boat with a machine gun and a few native riflemenon board ofit, madeabold dash down the Nile as far as Wadelai. He was fired at from the banks,but he reached Wadelai after a dangerous voyage, and persuaded the local chief to hoist the British flag, accept the English protectorate, and promise his help for further operations.

that as yet has been very imperfectly explored. On the westitsboundary is Lake AlbertNyanza and the Upper Nile, its frontiers here touching those of the Congo Free State. This large territory, the total areaof which is estimated at about a million squaremiles,was secured for the British Empire in the first instance by the Chartered East Africa Company, whichobtained a concession of the port of Mombasa and the neighbouringcoast from the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1888, and endeavoured successfully to open trade withUgandaand the countries about the Great Lakes by the caravan route that runs from Mombasa to the shores of Victoria Nyanza, the route along which the construction of a railway wasbegun in1895. In December, 1890, Captain (now Colonel) Lugard succeeded in persuading Mwanga, the King of Uganda, to accept the protectorate of the Company as the representative of Great Britain. Civil wars in Uganda checked the developmentof trade, the difficulties of the route to the coast made it almost impossible to carry on any paying commerce along it, and at the end of 1892 the financial position of the Company led its directors to request theImperialGovernment to takeits concessions off its hands. The Government, not unnaturally, hesitated about taking over an enterprise that so far had been barren of tangible results. Before coming to a final decision, it was resolvedto send aCommissioner to report on the spot, and on January ist Sir GeraldPortal, K.C.B., who had been entrusted with this mission,left Mombasa for the interior with a staff of officers and an escort of armed Zanzibaris. He reachedKampala, ontheVictoria Nyanza, onMarch 17th, and as the result of his report it was decided to retain Uganda, leaving King Mwanga nominally to rule the country under the supervision of a British Commissioner. Major Macdonald was appointed to this post, with a few officers to assist him, the armed force at his disposal being formedchiefly of Soudanese soldiers who had taken refuge in Uganda on the collapse of Enain Pasha's rule in Equatoria before the Dervish advance. In the summer Major Macdonald and his officers had to deal with a formidable revolt originating in an organised attack of the Mohammedans of Uganda on the native Christians. Intwo battles the latter, assisted by the British officers, defeated their enemies, and then peace was arranged. In November Colonel Colville came up from Mombasa to take over tlae office of Commissioner. When he arrived, Kabarega, the But the Home Government was not yet prepared to embark in new ventures on the Nile. Owen's annexationof Wadelai was for the time disavowed, and Colville was not even given permission to break up the power of Kabarega, who stillheld Northern Unyoro. In a despatch from the Foreign Office in June,1894, Colville was told that " any partial and temporary occupation ofUnyoro must be for purely defensive purposes,with the object of protecting Uganda against aggression. Every effort is to be made with a view to establish friendly relations with Kabarega, and to prevent him from entering into an alliance withadherentsof theMahdi."

But Kabarega was not peacefully inclined. From his headquarters at Mashudi inNorthern Unyorohe raided convoys and detachments on the new roadbetween the Nyanzas. InNovember Captain Thruston triid to surprise and capture him. He broke up his following by a sudden attack after a forced march and seized a large quantity of cattle,but theking himself got away. The result of this defeat was that Kabarega sent inenvoys to treat, but apparently was only trying to gain time, for in February, 1895, his messengers suddenly left the fort of Hoima, where they were staying, and then came news that 2,000 ofKabarega'speople,taking advantage of the natural relaxationof precautions while the