Anglo-Egyptian] FRONTIER HISTORY 35 hardly penetrated east of Lake Chad, and it was not until their effective occupation of Wadai and its capital Abesher ( Abechr) in 1909 that direct relations were ( 4 established by the border officials of the two countries.

In 1910 these met to concert measures against the slave trade, of which Wadai was the last and flourishing refuge, and by a system of passes to restrict the travelling companies of merchants and pilgrims to their professed and legitimate employments. In 1912 the question, difficult here as on the Eritrean frontier, of the conditions under which native chiefs and their adherents should be allowed to migrate over the fron tier was subject to similar discussion, and the working principle of disarmament and removal some distance inland ( unless in the case of fugitives from justice ) was adopted.

The actual delimitation of the frontier and the pro ject for a railway to link the Bahr el-Ghazal and Upper Ubanghi had hardly come under consideration when they were stopped by the outbreak of the Euro pean War. In 1916 a rebellious chief, Mopoi , gave trouble to French , Belgian, and Sudanese authorities alike . German intrigue, as also Pan -African propa ganda, were suspected but not proved. Joint action by the officials on the spot suppressed the rising, which had caused the French some loss. In 1917 an old elephant-poacher, Krikri , had also to be dealt with on the frontier . The French have been during the last few years most active in keeping robber frontier tribes such as the Gura'an in check . The relations between the officials of the two countries have been most friendly, and it is recognized that their interests are identical.

( c ) Darfur. — Darfur, which for eighteen years (1899-1916) constituted dependent state lying between Sudan territory and French Equatorial Africa , is a land rectangular in shape, measuring approximately 153,300 square miles , some 450 miles from north to south , and 350 from east to west . On the north it borders the Libyan desert and Dongola a