48o A TROPICAL DEPENDENCY native police force has been organised under white officers, of which detachments are stationed in every province, thus liberating the troops of the West African Frontier Force for more purely military duties. The troops are now stationed in certain capitals, and chiefly at the headquarters of Zungeru, Kano, and Lokoja. There are also garrisons at Maifoni and Dumjeri, the respective British capitals of Western and Eastern Bornu, and in order to preserve the northern states from the incursions of desert tribes, a chain of frontier forts has been established and garrisoned by mounted infantry, who have 170 miles to patrol between each fort.

It has been essential that the organisation of the British Administration, both central and provincial, should as far as possible keep pace with the rapid development of the Protectorate. There are now four classes of Residents, as well as police officers, charged with political duties in the provinces. The rank of the Residents is divided into first class, second class, third class, and assistant, and though the roll is not yet complete, four Residents have been generally allotted to each province. Six out of the seventeen provinces into which the Protectorate is divided have been formed into double provinces, and placed under the charge of a first-class Resident. The six which have been selected for the first experiment are Sokoto and Gando, Kano and Katagum. Eastern and Western Bornu, and the Residents placed in charge as first-class Residents have, of course, been chosen for their special ability and experience. It is proposed to devolve upon these officers a large measure of administrative control, and gradually to extend the system of grouped provinces with a view to relieving the central administration of the direct supervision of separate provincial units. Within each province the same system of devolution will be adopted as a larger body of officers having experience of the special kind of work is formed.

The duties of Residents are extraordinarily diversified, ranging from those of political adviser to the native