■ The Berlin He would lie obliged if Mr. Stanley would inform him whether he
- 'Conf'el'ence- had seen any localities where canals might he advantageously constructed.
Mr. Stanley replied th a t he knew only of one place, and
th a t was between Lake Mantumba and Lake Leopold II., by
which a canal might easily be constructed, of a length of 25
miles, to connect the two places along a depression which showed
th a t a t high water it was possible the two lakes might even' be
now connected.
Baron de Courcel inquired whether there were any tunnels to
be made along the proposed railway between Yivi and Stanley
Pool ? Mr. Stanley replied in the negative.
After some remarks from Dr. Ballay depreciatory of the value
of the produce of the Congo basin, and of the Ogowai river as a
channel for transporting produce from the Upper Congo to the
sea, Mr. Stanley replied as follows : Whereas Dr. Ballay ascended
the Ogowai river, crossed the watershed, and descended the
Alima river to the Upper Congo with a steamer and large quantities
of goods, and whereas M. de Brazza likewise ascended the
Ogowai river and descended the Alima river, and on a former
occasion struck across to Stanley Pool, it is evident th a t the
Ogowai river must also be considered as a stream belonging to the
commercial delta of the commercial basin of the Congo. And
whereas in 1881 I received from M. de Brazza a lette r wherein he
stated th a t he strongly recommended my sending by the Ogowai
. route my letters, and officers incapacitated by sickness from
fu rth er work, as from experience he judged th a t route to be
shorter and superior to the route by the Congo to the sea, I
am bound to take M. de Brazza’s own written statements, and
Messrs. de Brazza and Ballay’s successes by the Ogowai-Alima
route and Ogowai-Stanley Pool route as indisputable proofs of the
correctness of my assertions th a t if the commercial basin of the
Congo, w ith its various outlets to the sea, shall be declared free for
commerce to come and go untaxed, the free littoral should have its
northern limit at S. lat. 1° 25' to long. 13° 30' east of Greenwich,
and thence north along th a t meridian to the water-parting
between the waters flowing to the Niger-Binue and those flowing
to the Congo, and th a t the southern limit of the littoral will be
ju s t if fixed at the mouth of the Loge river, thence east along
th a t river easterly to the left bank of the Kwango or Kwa river
a t S. lat. 7° 50'.
PROTOCOL, No. 9.
February 23rd, 1885.
T he sitting opened at half-past Three o’clock, under the Presidency The Berlin
Of M. B usch. v . Conference.
The President, before proceeding to the order of the day, communicated
to the High Assembly a letter which had been addressed
to His Serene Highness Prince Bismarck by the President of the
International Association of the Congo, and which was in these
terms
“ P rince.— The International Association of the Congo has
concluded treaties in succession with all the Powers represented
a t the Berlin Conference (except one) which among their clauses
contain a provision recognising its flag as th a t of a friendly
State or Government. The negotiations in progress with the
remaining Power will, there is every reason to hope, have an early
and favourable termination. I bring this fact to the knowledge
of your Serene Highness in accordance with the wishes of His
Majesty the King of the Belgians in bis capacity as Pounder of the
Association.
“ The meeting and the deliberations of the eminent Assembly
now in session a t Berlin under your High Presidency have
materially contributed to hasten this felicitous result. The Conference,
to which I beg to offer due homage, will, I venture to
hope, be disposed to consider the accession of a Power whose
exclusive mission is to introduce civilisation and commerce into
the interior of Africa as an additional token of the results due to
its important labours.
“ I am, with the profoundest respect,
“ Your Serene Highness’s most humble and
most obedient servant,
“ S trauch, •
“ B er l in , 2 3 rd February, 1885.
“ To His Serene Highness Prince Bismarck,
“ President of the Berlin Conference.”