Mauritius-Seychelles-Zanzibar-Aden. Branch-lines unite certain French and German possessions in those regions to our main line, and the international character of our cable enterprise is preserved, while all-British communication is also provided.
West Coast.
The growth of the cable system on the West Coast of Africa has been somewhat complex. By 1870, as already stated, Lisbon had been united to Britain. By 1874 a line of cables had been run from Lisbon to the Portuguese stations of Madeira and St. Vincent, and so on to Brazil.[1] Thus by 1874 we had cable communication already well advanced down the coast of West Africa from Britain to St Vincent The next step was to unite St Vincent with our Colonies on the West Coast of Africa, but this was not so easy as might appear.
On the shore immediately opposite to St Vincent the Colonies of Portugal, of France, and of England lay almost inextricably intermixed. By the year 1886 these Colonies were joined up to each other, and the whole united by cable to St. Vincent But to us this was unsatisfactory on two grounds: this system was mainly controlled by France and Portugal; and, next, it was so arranged that our Colony of Sierra Leone, for instance, could only communicate with the outside world through Conakry, a French possession. The situation called for the exercise of the powerful will or genius of the late Sir John Pender, who now secured the interests of England on this, as on so many other occasions.
Under his direction a transformation-scene occurred in 1886. The cable uniting St. Vincent to the mainland was bought and taken direct into our Colony of Bathurst, and forthwith a British cable was laid, under
- ↑ I have not dealt with the important British system of cables connecting South America and Britain, because South America is not a part of the British Empire.
