The Liman came today, and went off to see the King and finally arrange about who was to represent him, regarding the business I wanted to speak of. He promised to be back again by 1or2 P.M. He duly turned up with two more ch1efs who with himself were deputed to represent the King. We went though
the treaty very carefully, as before I explained and paraphrased every sentence, and those who understood Hausa re-translated it into Borgu for those who did not. The Liman of course speaks Hausa. He led the way the moment Joseph had translated each sentence in saying ‘Keoh’ (good, excellent) with the air of a man calling for ‘3 cheers’. The other principal chief only spoke Borgu, and a man of his own, I think, translated it for him, when he too was quite pleased with everything. So we finished by sunset.
I have written a great number of English letters today. I showed them the
King of Ilorin’s letter, also Kaiama’s-one of the men read them. They took
IIorin’s letter as a sample to write me another like it to carry me on my way.
[Treaty inserted from Foreign Office Records]
(A copy of the Nikki treaty was sent to the Fore1gn Office by the Niger Company and is in F.O. 2/167, p.194. The printed treaty form is used, with insertions copied by hand; here these insertions are given in italics.)
(Form No. 12.) (For Moslems.) Treaty made on the 10th day of November
1894, between The King of Nikki (which is the capital of Borgu), on the one hand, and THE ROYAL NIGER COMPANY, Chartered and Limited, tor themselves and their assigns, forever, hereinafter called ‘The Company’, on the other hand.
- 1. I, Lafia (also called Absalamu, son of Wurukura), King of Nikki and of all Borgu country, with the view of bettering the condition of my country and people, hereby give to The Company and their assigns, for ever, full criminal and civil jurisdiction of every kind over aJI Foreigners to my country, including the rights of protection and taxation, and I pledge myself and my successors not to exercise any jurisdiction whatsoever over such Foreigners without the sanction of The Company.
2. I bind myself not to have any intercourse, as representing my tribe or State, on tribal or State affairs with any Foreigner or Foreign Government other than The Company; but this provision shall not be interpreted as authorizing any monopoly of trade, direct or indirect, by The Company or others, nor any restriction of private or commercial intercourse with any person or persons; subject, however, to such administrative measures as may be taken by The Company, as a Government, in the interests of order and of commerce.
3- I recognize that the Company, as a Government, represents Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and T accept the protection of the British Flag, but I understand that such protection against the attacks of neighbouring tribes can only be afforded as far as practicable.
4. I give to The Company and their assigns, forever, the sole right to mine or dispose of mining rights in any portion of my territory.
5. In consideration of the foregoing, The Company bind themselves to interfere with any of the native laws or customs of the country, consistently with the maintenance of order and good government and the progress of civilization.
6. As a pledge of their good £1ith, The Company have this day paid the said Lafia, King of Nikki and Borgu, a donation, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged.
This Treaty having been interpreted to us (the representation deputed to act for him by the above-mentioned Lafia, King of Nikki and of Borgu), we hereby approve and accept it for the King and for his successors forever.
(Signature of Native Ruler.)
Arabic signatures of The Leman, The Sirkin Powa, The Naimin
(Attestation.) Witness to all signatures: (Signed) T.A. Rynolds, Guy N Mottram.
I, Captain F. D. Lugard, for and on behalf of The Company, do hereby approve and accept the above Treaty, and hereby affix my hand.
(Signed) F.D. Lugard, Captain Commanding Borgu Expedition.
I certify and solemnly declare that I was sent to the King Lafia by Captain Lugard to carry to him a present from The Company, and that at that interview, in accordance with my instructions, I asked the King myself. in the presence of various Chiefs and people, whether he bad himself deputed the Leman and Sirkirr Powa and Naimin to act for him in the matter of this Treaty, and that he thrice declared to me that he had done so.
(Signed) T.F joseph
Witnesses:(Signed) T. A. Reynolds. Guy N. Mottram.
Declaration by Interpreter
1, T. F joseph, native of Sierra Leone, do hereby solemnly declare that
I am well acquainted with the Hausa language and that on the 10th day
of November, 1894, I truly and faithfully explained the above Treaty to the representatives deputed by the said Lafia, and that they understand its meanings.
Signature or mark of interpreter (Signed} T.F. joseph Witnesses to the above Interpreter’s mark or signature: (Signed} T.A. Reynolds, Guy N. Mottram.
Done in triplicate at Nikki, Borgu, this 10th day of November,1894.
The King being blind, and also having a superstitious dread of personally meeting any European, has deputed the Leman and the Sirkin Powa to be his representativs and proxy, and to sign the treaty on his behalf In the presence of these and other important men the treaty has been translated word by word, and fully explained in Hausa-many understanding that language-and retranslated again, sentence by sentence, into Borgu dialect.
(Signed) F D. Lugard, Captain, Commanding Borgu Expedition. 10th Signed the treaty early this morning. Made out the present or donation which the Company gives. I gave about £6 to the King, £5 to the Liman and
15/- each to the two chiefs. Reynolds all day opening bales and getting it out. It goes early tomorrow.
Tomorrow the letter is to be ready and also the guide. The 3 ides from
Kaiama return, and will take my letters to Jebba for me. They are excellent fellows, and very great friends of ours. It is largely due to them that we have got on here- they are interpreters and go-betweens and .work all day. I made out presents for them, also for the guide the King of Nikki sent to bring us here. I found out some information about routes, trade, &c. today, and wrote more home letters. The question of sending back men from here is no longer on the tapis for the Kaiama guides decline to take them.
Twice lately we have had a dense fog at sunrise, which has lifted about 7
A.M. and been succeeded by a blazing hot day.
11th
Joseph took the present to the King, and I instructed him to ask the King if he had in reality deputed the 3 men to act for him in the matter of the treaty. He did so three times over, and each time the King said ‘Yes’. The King, who is old and blind, was behind a screen. He was very cordial, and sad that never before had Europeans entered Borgu. Now he thanked God that it was in his life-time they had first come, and even if he died tomorrow that fact and honor would remain. Now we had made a treaty of friendship, and from North to South and East to West, whichever direction we wished to go in at an)’ time, the country was open to us and we were welcome. Guides and envoys would be provided, both to precede us and to go with us, and make us welcome everywhere. I sincerely and most earnestly hope after the treaties that I have made, which are thorough and not a farce, that the Company w1ll never ‘swap’ or abandon Borgu to France, but get it included in the British Empire eventually.
