PREFACE
The present conspicuous position which Northern Nigeria holds in the public eye is of very recent attainment, and its development has been, comparatively speaking, the work of a moment. The discovery of tin in paying quantities within its boundaries is the secret of its sudden leap to an eminence from which it compels interest, and attracts to itself more than ordinary curiosity and attention. It is with Northern Nigeria as it was with New South Wales and California, with the Malay Peninsula and Rhodesia. Their potentialities were admitted long before the existence of their mineral wealth was made known, but it was not until their minerals were discovered that they loomed into absorbing prominence.
The importance of Northern Nigeria as a British possession was demonstrated by the Niger Company; her possibilities as an exporter of cotton, rubber, and other vegetable products were early admitted; but it needed the revelation of her enormousalluvial tin deposits in the Province of Bauchi to attract to the development of her resources the capital and enterprise which alone can ensure the growth of a country’s commerce.
But this sudden and surprising discovery also served to expose the widespread ignorance which prevailed in connection with our newest Protectorate, while it generated a desire for information concerning it. This little volume is put forward to satisfy this new-felt want, and it has, I think, the merit of being the first issued with that object. It has been compiled in haste, but care has been taken to verify the facts, and, as far as possible, the data has been derived from official sources.
I believe that no apology will be required for the illustrations, but for the use of the photographs from which they were produced I tender my grateful and sincere thanks to his Excellency Sir Walter Egerton, K.C.M.G., Governor and High Commissioner of Southern Nigeria; Sir William Wallace, K.C.M.G., late Acting Governor of Northern Nigeria; Mr. H. W. Laws, Engineer to the Niger Company; Mr. C. G. Lush, Consulting Engineer to the principal Nigerian Tin Companies; Mr. S. R. Bastard, Chairman and Director ofseveral of the most important Nigerian tin mining companies; the Editor of theEngineer, Mr. R. Ernest Hope; Messrs. John Holt & Co., Ltd.; Mr. G. W. Christian; Messrs. E. H. Stein & Co., Ltd., and other prominent traders in Northern Nigeria.
A. F. CALVERT.
“Royston,” Eton Avenue,London.