ABSTRACT
Even before Stanley had arrived back in Europe, other initiatives designed by Leopold to establish a presence on the Nile were well under way. In the spring of 1889, he had proposed a contract with Tippu Tib, under which the latter would set up three posts in the Bahr-el-Ghazal and, if possible, a fourth on the upper Nile. In 1890 de Brazza despatched an expedition with orders 'to occupy progressively the territories to which have access, notably the upper Ubangi, and to make of it a French region with an open door to the Nile'. To secure the upper Nile, Lord Salisbury first reached an agreement with the Italians, who were active in Ethiopia, under which the latter undertook to stay away from the Nile valley. Meanwhile, at the end of 1895, the French government approved the despatch of a small, 200 man expedition under Jean-Baptiste Marchand, with orders to plant the French flag on the Nile at Fashoda.
