22 THE EXPLORATION OF THE NIGER

port it would be ! Into what an impregnable citadel, what

a well-stocked arsenal, our rivals would h.ave converted it.

But Dakar is French, and although we cannot deny that

it has made progress, there is no shutting our eyes to

the fact that the progress is slow. Yet it would be simply impossible to find a better site on the western coast of Africa. It is a Cherbourg of the Atlantic. The roadstead

is very safe, it can be entered at any time, the anchorage is

excellent, the air comparatively healthy, and there is plenty of water.

And what a splendid position too from a military point of view !

When war is declared, and the Suez Canal is blocked, the old route to India and the far East will resume its former

importance, and Dakar will become, as Napoleon said of

Cherbourg, " a dagger in the heart of England." Well stored with coal, and provided with good docks and work-

shops, etc., Dakar might in the next great war become a

centre for the re-victualling of a whole fleet of rapid cruisers and torpedo boats, harassing the commerce of England. It

will also be the entrenched camp or harbour of refuge in which our vessels will take shelter from superior forces. Let

us hope that this vision will be realized. Meanwhile the

rivalry between St. Louis, Dakar, and Rufisque is not very beneficial to any one of the three towns.

Dakar is of special importance to the Niger districts, and

this is why I have dwelt a little on its present position and probable future. Some day no doubt it will become the port of export of the trade of the Sudan, which will, I think, become very considerable when Kayes is connected with St. Louis and Badomb6 with Kolikoro by the great

French railway of West Africa.

Dakar interested me for yet another reason. It was there I set foot once more on African soil after an absence of two