§ SIR RICHARD TEMPLE (Worcester, Evesham)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, under the recent Anglo-French Agreement, the British sphere includes the Houssa plateau and extends to the Western shore of Lake Tchad; and, if so, to what point; and whether the Bornu State is outside the French sphere?
§ SIR J. FERGUSSONThe line is to run from Say on the Niger to Barruwa on Lake Tchad, but the details of it will be settled by the Joint Commission. The only stipulation which the Declaration contains for their guidance is that the line is to include within the sphere of the company's influence all that fairly belongs to Sokoto. This would entail a deviation to the northwards, and I believe that the Houssa plain and Bornu lie to the south of the points indicated.