of an individual or department and take evidence on oath. Discipline on board of steamers is prescribed by the Marine Discipline Act. The preservation of wild animals and birds in accordance with international agreements is enforced by law. The importation or possession of arms of precision is forbidden, except by permits in conformity with the Brussels Act, and in further application of that act the importation of spirits for sale to natives is wholly prohibited. The cantonments are regulated by a municipal ordinance, establishing rates and laying down various regulations for order and sanitation. In order to prevent hydrophobia dogs may only be kept under certain restrictions. Patents, marriages (of non-natives), &c., &c., form the subject of other laws.
Administrative Divisions.—For administrative purposes the territories were at first divided into seventeen provinces: Sokoto, Gando, Kano, Katsena, Bornu East, Bornu West, Zaria, Bauchi, Borgu, Kontagora, Nassarawa, Muri, Yola, Bassa, Kabba, Illorin, Nupe. Of these Sokoto and Gando, Kano and Katsena, Bornu East and Bornu West have been carried a step further in organization and now form three double provinces, each under the charge of a first-class resident. Illorin, Nupe and Kabba have been formed into one province called the Niger province, and also placed under the charge of a first-class resident, and it is intended to continue this process so as to make finally eight first-class provinces of the whole territory. The first-class residents of the double provinces are assisted by about twelve residents and assistant residents of subordinate rank. In the Mahommedan states the native system of administration remains intact, and is carried on under British supervision by native emirs and officials. In the Pagan states there is no organized system of native administration, and the British residents are responsible for good government.
Amalgamation of Lagos and Southern Nigeria.—The political reasons which had resulted in the Nigerian territories being divided into three distinct administrations no longer existing, it was decided to unite them under one government, and as a first step in that direction Sir Walter (then Mr) Egerton was in 1904 appointed both governor of Lagos and high commissioner of Southern Nigeria. This was followed in February 1906 by the amalgamation of the two administrations under the style of “the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria,” with headquarters at Lagos town. The former colony and protectorate of Lagos (q.v.) became the western or Lagos province of the new administration. In the year the amalgamation was effected the revenue reached a record figure, the amount collected being £1,083,000, to which Lagos province contributed £424,000. Over 80% of the revenue was derived from customs. In the same year the expenditure from revenue was £1,056,000.
Northern Nigeria Railway.—In Northern Nigeria, which continued for the time to be a separate protectorate, Sir Frederick Lugard was, at the beginning of 1907, succeeded as high commissioner by Sir Percy Girouard. In August of that year the British government, on administrative, strategic and commercial grounds, came to a decision to build a railway which should place the important cities of Zaria and Kano in direct communication with the perennially navigable waters of the Lower Niger. In view of the approaching unification of Southern and Northern Nigeria, the money needed, about £1,250,000, was raised as a loan by Southern Nigeria. The route chosen for the line was that advocated by Sir Frederick Lugard. This important work, essential for the welfare of the northern territories, was begun under the superintendence of Sir Percy Girouard,[1] the builder of the Wadi Haifa-Khartum railway. At the same time the decision was taken to continue the Lagos railway till it effected a junction with the Kano line near Zungeru, the Niger being bridged at Jebba.
Land Tenure.—Sir Percy Girouard devoted much attention to land tenure, probably the most important of the questions concerning imperial policy in West Africa. He adopted the land policy of Sir F. D. Lugard, and recommended “a declaration in favour of the nationalization of the lands of the Protectorate.” This was in accord with native laws—that the land is the property of the people, held in trust for them by their chiefs, who have not the power of alienation. Thereafter the secretary for the colonies appointed a strong committee, which, after hearing much evidence, issued a report in April 1910 in substantial agreement with the governor’s recommendations. This policy was adopted by the Colonial Office. By this means the natives of Nigeria were secured in the possession of their land—the government imposing land taxes, which are the equivalent of rent. This exclusion of the European land speculator and denial of the right to buy and sell land and of freehold tenure was held by all the authorities to be essential for the moral and material welfare of the inhabitants of a land where the duty of the white man is mainly that of administration and his material advantages lie in trade. (See an article on “Land Tenure in West Africa” in The Times, May 24, 1910.)
Authorities.—Of early books dealing with large areas of Nigeria, H. Barth’s Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (London, 1857–1858) is a standard authority. See also Lady Lugard, A Tropical Dependency (London, 1905); Boyd Alexander, From the Niger to the Nile (London, 1907); C. Larymore, A Resident’s Wife in Nigeria (London, 1908); the annual Reports on Southern and Northern Nigeria issued by the Colonial Office; E. D. Morel, Affairs of West Africa (London, 1902); C. H. Robinson, Hausaland (London, 1896); S. Vandeleur, Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger (London, 1898), with introduction by Sir George Goldie; Major A. G. Leonard, The Lower Niger and its Tribes (London, 1906); C. Partridge, The Cross River Natives (London, 1905); E. Dayrell, Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (London, 1910). Maps of the country on the scale of 11,000,000 and 1250,000 are published by the War Office. The Blue Books, Cd. 2325 (1904), 2787 (1905) and 4523 (1909), deal with railway construction, harbours and river navigation. (F. L. L.)
NIGHT, that part of the natural day of twenty-four hours during which the sun is below the horizon, the dark part of the day from sunset to sunrise (see Day). The word in O. Eng. takes two forms, neaht and night, the latter form apparently being established by about the 10th century. The word is common in varying forms to Indo-European languages. The root is usually taken to be nak-, to perish, the word meaning the time when the light fails (cf. Gr. νέκος, Lat. nex, death, nocere, to hurt). It was customary to reckon periods of time by nights, and we still use “fortnight” (O. Eng. feowertyne niht, fourteen nights), but “se’n-night” (seven nights) has been displaced by “week” (q.v.).
NIGHTINGALE, FLORENCE (1820–1910), younger daughter of William Edward Nightingale of Embley Park, Hampshire, and Lea Hurst, Derbyshire, was born at Florence on the 15th of May 1820, and named after that city, but her childhood was spent in England, chiefly in Derbyshire. From her earliest years her strong love of nature and animals manifested itself. Her games, too, were characteristic, for her great delight was to nurse and bandage her dolls. Her first living patient was a shepherd’s dog. From tending animals she passed to human beings, and wherever there was sorrow or suffering she was sure to be found. Her most ardent desire was to use her talents for the benefit of humanity. She had a natural shrinking from society; and though her social position necessitated her presentation at Court, her first season in town was spent in examining into the working of hospitals, reformatories and other charitable institutions. This was followed by a tour of inspection of foreign hospitals. At that time England was sadly behind-hand in matters of nursing and sanitation, and Miss Nightingale, who desired to obtain the best possible teaching for herself, went through a course of training in the Institute of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth. She remained there six months, learning every detail of hospital management with a thoroughness rarely equalled. Miss Nightingale neglected nothing that could make her proficient in her self-chosen task. From Kaiserswerth she went to Paris, where she studied the system of nursing and management in the hospitals under the charge of the sisters of St Vincent de Paul. After her return to England she devoted herself to reorganizing the Governesses' Sanatorium in Harley Street (now the Home for Gentlewomen during Temporary Illness), which was at that time badly managed and in great need of funds. Miss Nightingale grudged neither time nor money to this work, and she had the satisfaction of placing it on a thoroughly satisfactory basis. In the year 1854 England was stirred to its depths by the report of the sufferings of the sick and wounded in the Crimea. There was an utter absence of the commonest preparations to carry out the first and simplest demands in a place set apart
- ↑ In 1909 Sir Percy Girouard was succeeded by Sir H. H. J. Bell. The title High Commissioner had meantime been changed to that of Governor.
