PORTUGAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 133, 28 February 1908, Page 7

PORTUGAL.

FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS. : . COLONIAL ASSETS, nt TELEdiuru—rKEss association—corrmonT. London) February 26. " Owing to ■ Portugal's financial embarrassments, foreign bankers suggest the' sale of Delagoa Bay (South-east' Africa) to Great Britain, Angola' (South-wost Africa) to Germany, and Portugueso Timor (an island in tho-Malay Archipelago) to France. . .'!.■ Tho Portugueso elections will be held early 'in April. . . ' ■ ' : ■ . VALUABLE:, ' ; , It is understood that' Britain claims a'preemptive right to Delagoa Bay, but Portuguese, public feeling hits been strongly against selling. I'he importance of . Delagoa . Bay, is that it is ft natural port for the Transvaal and Rhodesia, with both.of which British colonies it is connected by railway. Portuguese East Africa comprises tho. two districts of Lorenzo Mar-' ques and Mozambique, l which aro separated from ■ ono; ano^ierv by 1 tho Zambesi, and; the other smaller districts of Zambesia, Inhambane, Gaza, and Tete. Its . coast-line extends southwards from Capo Delgado, the southern extremity of the.: coast-lino ,of German East Africa, to Ivosi Bay,, just; >bolow Delagoa .Bay, at a point separating British from Portugueso torritory, as fixed by the Anglo-Portuguese Agreement, 0f.'91; ' The colony, is administered by a Royal Commissioner appointed for threo years. There is a military force of about 3000 men. Tho Manica and Sofala region, where gold exists, is placed under! the Mozambique Company, .which has , a royal charter. The iNyassa Company 1 , which also has a royal charter, administers the region; between the Rovuma, Lake Nyassa, and the Lurio. Angola, or Portugese ' Lower Guinea, is bounded on the north and east by tho Congo Stato and Rhodesia, on the south by Germau South-West Africa, and on the, west ■by tho Atlantic Ocean. Theboundary, between Angola and the Barotse region of Rhodesia was settled ;in July, 1905. Tho government is vested in a Governor-General. The estimated area is 517,000 square 'miles; the population is estimated at-s,ooo,ooo;'the capitul is St. Paul de Loanda. The greater part' of the country is in the hands of the'Biuitus, under their tribal chiefs. There are 250 miles of railway in operation', tho line running from Loanda to Ambacca. A lino 1242 miles in length, from Lobito Bay in Bengupla •to Katanga (where there aro rich copper mines) and the Tanganyika Company's concessions, is being constructed. A line from Mossamcdps to the tableland of Cliclla is also being built. The chief products aro coffee; rubber;' sugar, oils, and ivory, and tho trade is'chiefly carried on by bartering with the natives, but there aro great agricultural and mining possibilities. Timor is an island in the Malay Archipelago. Tho eastern portion of , it, with tho island of Pulo Climbing, is Portuguese. The chief products arc coffee, and wax. • Tho port is Dilly. Area, 7290 square miles; population, 300,000. . '