That this vast, far-flung region, in parts even now largely uncharted
and unknown, should have been brought, within comparatively recent
times, under a settled and stable government, and tribal and
internecine warfare practically abolished, speaks volumes, I venture
to think, for the character and abilities of the men who have
accomplished the task. Earliest among these pioneers was Dr. Gruner,
who took the German flag right up to the Niger bend, but who had to
withdraw owing to the shortsightedness of the German Parliament. The
British Government, by the way, made no such mistakes, I notice. I have
read in our history books how, some twenty years ago, Lord Rosebery's
Government was on the eve of adopting a similar policy of scuttle in
regard to Uganda. But the Rosebery Government went down in response to
a popular outcry, and as a result your Union Jack waves over all that
portion of East Africa. Our Parliament was subject to no such popular
pressure--at all events at that time, and in regard to this matter. But
here I had better stop. I am trenching upon high imperial, not to say
international, politics, and such things are not for a girl like me.