§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT (Sheffield, Ecclesall)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have any information as to French or Belgian Expeditions reported to be approaching Lado or other points of the Nile; and whether the whole of the Nile waterway is within the sphere of British influence?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GKEY,) Northumberland, BerwickWe have no information as to the approach of a French Expedition to Lado or other points on the Nile. An Agreement with His Majesty King Leopold, the Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, relating to the spheres of influence of Great Britain and the Congo State in East and Central Africa, has just been presented to Parliament, in which the hon. Member will find full details respecting the basin of the Upper Nile.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTIs it in the power of the hon. Gentleman to answer the second part of the question directly? Is it not a fact that the whole of the Nile waterway is within the sphere of British influence?
§ SIR E. GREYThe last part of the hon. Member's question includes the whole of the Nile country, extending from Alexandria to the Victoria Nyanza. I certainly cannot answer that question in the affirmative.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTNo, Sir. I do not, of course, mean Egypt, but the Nile waterway, which flows through what is known as "the Hinterland" of our Uganda and Zanzibar Protectorates; that is, practically, the equatorial provinces of the Soudan.
§ SIR E. GREYThe hon. Member will find that the details with regard to the upper basin of the Nile are given in the Paper which has just been laid before Parliament. I have nothing to add to the details in that statement, and I could not give them fully without referring to the Paper.