34 HISTORY [No.98 December 23, 1894. Thus by the end of this year the whole basin of the Welle was in Belgian occupation , while a good foothold had been won in the Bahr el Ghazal province.

(9) ANGLO-CONGOLESE AGREEMENT (1894) When it became apparent that King Leopold pro jected an effective occupation of these regions, the British Government instructed its Minister at Brussels to open negotiations with a view to terminating this aggressive policy. After considerable discussion the Anglo-Congolese Agreement of May 1894 was drawn up and signed. By this instrument King Leopold recognized British supremacy in the Nile valley and in the Bahr el-Ghazal province, but in return obtained a lease of certain térritory in the western basin of the Upper Nile, which virtually gave the Congo Free State possession of the province in question during the King's lifetime, and secured to his successor that part of it lying west of the 30th meridian. The Anglo Congolese Agreement provided also for the lease by Great Britain of a strip of territory 154 miles in width, stretching from the most southerly point of Lake Edward to the most northerly point of Lake Tan ganyika.

( 10) GERMAN INTERVENTION The importance of this lease was manifest, for under the Berlin Act navigation on Lake Tanganyika was declared free . This concession in effect was intended to constitute the last link in the chain of Great Britain's possessions in North and South Africa. King Leopold also agreed to allow the erection of a British line of telegraphs through the Free State territory. This pro posal to facilitate territorial and water communication between British North and South Africa drew a vigorous protest from Germany, and the Wilhelmstrasse acted