Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3

t gum-arabic of good quality is obtained. From the nut of the horse-radish tree ben oil is expressed. Cattle are numerous and of excellent breed, and game is abundant. Borgu is inhabited by a number of pagan negro tribes, several of whom were dependent on the chief of Nikki, a town in the centre of the country, the chief being spoken of as sultan of Borgu. The king of Bussa was another more or less powerful potentate. In the early years of the 19th century Borgu was invaded by the Fula (q.v.), but the Bariba (as the people are called collectively) maintained their independence. In 1894 Borgu became the object of rivalry between France and England. The Royal Niger Company, which had already concluded a treaty of protection with the king of Bussa, sent out Captain (afterwards Sir) F.D. Lugard to negotiate treaties with the king of Nikki and other chiefs, and Lugard succeeded in doing so a few days before the arrival of French expeditions from the west. Disregarding the British treaties, French officers conclude