ABSTRACT
A comparison of a map of European colonial possessions in West Africa in 1850 with one of 1880 shows very little change in their extent, with the notable exception of Senegal where Faidherbe’s expansionist policy had brought almost a third of the modern state under French control between 1854 and 1865. In 1850 Britain’s interests were limited to Bathurst on St. Mary’s island at the mouth of the river Gambia; Freetown and its peninsula; and the Gold Coast Forts. Britain, apart from the acquisition of Lagos, had, despite its avowed policy, extended its territorial interests in West Africa, but these were in very small size. The interests of British traders before 1880 were concentrated mainly in the Niger Delta region and along the river Niger, where the palm-oil trade, which together with groundnuts was the only major produce of West Africa of interest to Europe at that time, was the chief attraction.
