Chapter VII: Front Matter (7)

_Physical Features._--The coast of German East Africa (often spoken of
as the Swahili coast, after the inhabitants of the seaboard) is
chiefly composed of coral, is little indented, and is generally low,
partly sandy, partly rich alluvial soil covered with dense bush or
mangroves. Where the Arabs have established settlements the coco-palm
and mango tree introduced by them give variety to the vegetation. The
coast plain is from 10 to 30 m. wide and 620 m. long; it is bordered
on the west by the precipitous eastern side of the interior plateau of
Central Africa. This plateau, considerably tilted from its horizontal
position, attains its highest elevation north of Lake Nyasa (see
LIVINGSTONE MOUNTAINS), where several peaks rise over 7000 ft., one to
9600, while its mean altitude is about 3000 to 4000 ft. From this
region the country slopes towards the north-west, and is not
distinguished by any considerable mountain ranges. A deep narrow
gorge, the so-called "eastern rift-valley," traverses the middle of
the plateau in a meridional direction. In the northern part of the
country it spreads into several side valleys, from one of which rises
the extinct volcano Kilimanjaro (q.v.), the highest mountain in Africa
(19,321 ft.). Its glaciers send down a thousand rills which combine to
form the Pangani river. About 40 m. west of Kilimanjaro is Mount Meru
(14,955 ft.), another volcanic peak, with a double crater. The greater
steepness of its sides makes Meru in some aspects a more striking
object than its taller neighbour. South-east of Mount Kilimanjaro are
the Pare Mountains and Usambara highlands, separated from the coast by
a comparatively narrow strip of plain. To the south of the Usambara
hills, and on the eastern edge of the plateau, are the mountainous
regions of Nguru (otherwise Unguru), Useguha and Usagara. As already
indicated, the southern half of Victoria Nyanza and the eastern
shores, in whole or in part, of Lakes Kivu, Tanganyika and Nyasa, are
in German territory. (The lakes are separately described.) Several
smaller lakes occur in parts of the eastern rift-valley. Lake Rukwa
(q.v.) north-west of Nyasa is presumably only the remnant of a much
larger lake. Its extent varies with the rainfall of each year.
North-west of Kilimanjaro is a sheet of water known as the Natron Lake
from the mineral alkali it contains. In the northern part of the
colony the Victoria Nyanza is the dominant physical feature. The
western frontier coincides with part of the eastern wall of another
depression, the Central African or Albertine rift-valley, in which lie
Tanganyika, Kivu and other lakes. Along the north-west frontier north
of Kivu are volcanic peaks (see MFUMBIRO).

The country is well watered, but with the exception of the Rufiji the
rivers, save for a few miles from their mouths, are unnavigable. The
largest streams are the Rovuma and Rufiji (q.v.), both rising in the
central plateau and flowing to the Indian Ocean. Next in importance is
the Pangani river, which, as stated above, has its head springs on the
slopes of Kilimanjaro. Flowing in a south-easterly direction it
reaches the sea after a course of some 250 m. The Wami and Kingani,
smaller streams, have their origin in the mountainous region fringing
the central plateau, and reach the ocean opposite the island of
Zanzibar. Of inland river systems there are four--one draining to
Victoria Nyanza, another to Tanganyika, a third to Nyasa and a fourth
to Rukwa. Into Victoria Nyanza are emptied, on the east, the waters of
the Mori and many smaller streams; on the west, the Kagera (q.v.),
besides smaller rivers. Into Tanganyika flows the Malagarasi, a
considerable river with many affluents, draining the west-central part
of the plateau. The Kalambo river, a comparatively small stream near
the southern end of Tanganyika, flows in a south-westerly direction.
Not far from its mouth there is a magnificent fall, a large volume of
water falling 600 ft. sheer over a rocky ledge of horse-shoe shape. Of
the streams entering Nyasa the Songwe has been mentioned. The Ruhuhu,
which enters Nyasa in 10 deg. 30' S., and its tributaries drain a
considerable area west of 36 deg. E. The chief feeders of Lake Rukwa
are the Saisi and the Rupa-Songwe.

Mafia Island lies off the coast immediately north of 8 deg. N. It has
an area of 200 sq. m. The island is low and fertile, and extensively
planted with coco-nut palms. It is continued southwards by an
extensive reef, on which stands the chief village, Chobe, the
residence of a few Arabs and Banyan traders. Chobe stands on a shallow
creek almost inaccessible to shipping.

_Geology._--The narrow foot-plateau of British East Africa broadens
out to the south of Bagamoyo to a width of over 100 m. This is covered
to a considerable extent by rocks of recent and late Tertiary ages.
Older Tertiary rocks form the bluffs of Lindi. Cretaceous marls and
limestones appear at intervals, extending in places to the edge of the
upper plateau, and are extensively developed on the Makonde plateau.
They are underlain by Jurassic rocks, from beneath which sandstones
and shales yielding _Glossopteris browniana_ var. _indica_, and
therefore of Lower Karroo age, appear in the south but are overlapped
on the north by Jurassic strata. The central plateau consists almost
entirely of metamorphic rocks with extensive tracts of granite in
Unyamwezi. In the vicinity of Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika, sandstones
and shales of Lower Karroo age and yielding seams of coal are
considered to owe their position and preservation to being let down by
rift faults into hollows of the crystalline rocks. In Karagwe certain
quartzites, slates and schistose sandstones resemble the ancient
gold-bearing rocks of South Africa.

The volcanic plateau of British East Africa extends over the boundary
in the region of Kilimanjaro. Of the sister peaks, Kibo and Mawenzi,
the latter is far the oldest and has been greatly denuded, while Kibo
retains its crateriform shape intact. The rift-valley faults continue
down the depression, marked by numerous volcanoes, in the region of
the Natron Lake and Lake Manyara; while the steep walls of the deep
depression of Tanganyika and Nyasa represent the western rift system
at its maximum development.

Fossil remains of saurians of gigantic size have been found; one thigh
bone measures 6 ft. 10 in., the same bone in the _Diplodocus Carnegii_
measuring only 4 ft. 11 in.

_Climate._--The warm currents setting landwards from the Indian Ocean
bring both moisture and heat, so that the Swahili coast has a higher
temperature and heavier rainfall than the Atlantic seaboard under the
same parallels of latitude. The mean temperature on the west and east
coasts of Africa is 72 deg. and 80 deg. Fahr. respectively, the
average rainfall in Angola 36 in., in Dar-es-Salaam 60 in. On the
Swahili coast the south-east monsoon begins in April and the
north-east monsoon in November. In the interior April brings
south-east winds, which continue until about the beginning of October.
During the rest of the year changing winds prevail. These winds are
charged with moisture, which they part with on ascending the
precipitous side of the plateau. Rain comes with the south-east
monsoon, and on the northern part of the coast the rainy season is
divided into two parts, the great and the little Masika: the former
falls in the months of September, October, November; the latter in
February and March. In the interior the climate has a more continental
character, and is subject to considerable changes of temperature; the
rainy season sets in a little earlier the farther west and north the
region, and is well marked, the rain beginning in November and ending
in April; the rest of the year is dry. On the highest parts of the
plateau the climate is almost European, the nights being sometimes
exceedingly cold. Kilimanjaro has a climate of its own; the west and
south sides of the mountain receive the greatest rainfall, while the
east and north sides are dry nearly all the year. Malarial diseases
are rather frequent, more so on the coast than farther inland. The
Kilimanjaro region is said to enjoy immunity. Smallpox is frequent on
the coast, but is diminishing before vaccination; other epidemic
diseases are extremely rare.

_Flora and Fauna._--The character of the vegetation varies with and
depends on moisture, temperature and soil. On the low littoral zone
the coast produced a rich tropical bush, in which the mangrove is very
prominent. Coco-palms and mango trees have been planted in great
numbers, and also many varieties of bananas. The bush is grouped in
copses on meadows, which produce a coarse tall grass. The river banks
are lined with belts of dense forest, in which useful timber occurs.
The _Hyphaene_ palm is frequent, as well as various kinds of
gum-producing mimosas. The slopes of the plateau which face the
rain-bringing monsoon are in some places covered with primeval forest,
in which timber is plentiful. The silk-cotton tree (_Bombax ceiba_),
miomba, tamarisk, copal tree (_Hymenaea courbaril_) are frequent,
besides sycamores, banyan trees (_Ficus indica_) and the deleb palm
(_Borassus aethiopum_). It is here we find the _Landolphia florida_,
which yields the best rubber. The plateau is partly grass land without
bush and forest, partly steppe covered with mimosa bush, which
sometimes is almost impenetrable. Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru
exhibit on a vertical scale the various forms of vegetation which
characterize East Africa (see KILIMANJARO).

East Africa is rich in all kinds of antelope, and the elephant,
rhinoceros and hippopotamus are still plentiful in parts.
Characteristic are the giraffe, the chimpanzee and the ostrich.
Buffaloes and zebras occur in two or three varieties. Lions and
leopards are found throughout the country. Crocodiles are numerous in
all the larger rivers. Snakes, many venomous, abound. Of birds there
are comparatively few on the steppe, but by rivers, lakes and swamps
they are found in thousands. Locusts occasion much damage, and ants of
various kinds are often a plague. The tsetse fly (_Glossina
morsitans_) infests several districts; the sand-flea has been imported
from the west coast. Land and water turtles are numerous.

_Inhabitants._--On the coast and at the chief settlements inland are Arab and Indian immigrants, who are merchants and agriculturists. The Swahili (q.v.) are a mixed Bantu and Semitic race inhabiting the seaboard. The inhabitants of the interior may be divided into two classes, those namely of Bantu and those of Hamitic stock. What may be called the indigenous population consists of the older Bantu races. These tribes have been subject to the intrusion from the south of more recent Bantu folk, such as the Yao, belonging to the Ama-Zulu branch of the race, while from the north there has been an immigration of Hamito-Negroid peoples. Of these the Masai and Wakuafi are found in the region between Victoria Nyanza and Kilimanjaro. The Masai (q.v.) and allied tribes are nomads and cattle raisers. They are warlike, and live in square mud-plastered houses called _tembe_ which can be easily fortified and defended. The Bantu tribes are in general peaceful agriculturists, though the Bantus of recent immigration retain the warlike instincts of the Zulus. The most important group of the Bantus is the Wanyamwezi (see UNYAMWEZI), divided into many tribes. They are spread over the central plains, and have for neighbours on the south-east, between Nyasa and the Rufiji, the warlike Wahehe. The Wangoni (Angoni), a branch of the Ama-Zulu, are widely spread over the central and Nyasa regions. Other well-known tribes are the Wasambara, who have given their name to the highlands between Kilimanjaro and the coast, and the Warundi, inhabiting the district between Tanganyika and the Kagera. In Karagwe, a region adjoining the south-west shores of Victoria Nyanza, the Bahima are the ruling caste. Formerly Karagwe under its Bahima kings was a powerful state. Many different dialects are spoken by the Bantu tribes, Swahili being the most widely known (see BANTU LANGUAGES). Their religion is the worship of spirits, ancestral and otherwise, accompanied by a vague and undefined belief in a Supreme Being, generally regarded as indifferent to the doings of the people.

The task of civilizing the natives is undertaken in various ways by the numerous Protestant and Roman Catholic missions established in the colony, and by the government. The slave trade has been abolished, and though domestic slavery is allowed, all children of slaves born after the 31st of December 1905 are free. For certain public works the Germans enforce a system of compulsory labour. Efforts are made by instruction in government and mission schools to spread a knowledge of the German language among the natives, in order to fit them for subordinate posts in administrative offices, such as the customs. Native chiefs in the interior are permitted to help in the administration of justice. The Mission du Sacre Coeur in Bagamoyo, the oldest mission in the colony, has trained many young negroes to be useful mechanics. The number of native Christians is small. The Moslems have vigorous and successful missions.

_Chief Towns._--The seaports of the colony are Tanga (pop. about
6000), Bagamoyo 5000 (with surrounding district some 18,000),
Dar-es-Salaam 24,000, Kilwa 5000, (these have separate notices),
Pangani, Sadani, Lindi and Mikindani. Pangani (pop. about 3500) is
situated at the mouth of the river of the same name; it serves a
district rich in tropical products, and does a thriving trade with
Zanzibar and Pemba. Sadani is a smaller port midway between Pangani
and Bagamoyo. Lindi (10 deg. 0' S., 39 deg. 40' E.) is 80 m. north of
Cape Delgado. Lindi (Swahili for The Deep Below) Bay runs inland 6 m.
and is 3 m. across, affording deep anchorage. Hills to the west of the
bay rise over 1000 ft. The town (pop. about 4000) is picturesquely
situated on the north side of the bay. The Arab _boma_, constructed in
1800, has been rebuilt by the Germans, who have retained the fine
sculptured gateway. Formerly a rendezvous for slave caravans Lindi now
has a more legitimate trade in white ivory. Mikindani is the most
southern port in the colony. Owing to the prevalence of malaria there,
few Europeans live at the town, and trade is almost entirely in the
hands of Banyans.

Inland the principal settlements are Korogwe, Mrogoro, Kilossa, Mpapua
and Tabora. Korogwe is in the Usambara hills, on the north bank of the
Pangani river, and is reached by railway from Tanga. Mrogoro is some
140 m. due west of Dar-es-Salaam, and is the first important station
on the road to Tanganyika. Kilossa and Mpapua are farther inland on
the same caravan route. Tabora (pop. about 37,000), the chief town of
the Wanyamwezi tribes, occupies an important position on the central
plateau, being the meeting-place of the trade routes from Tanganyika,
Victoria Nyanza and the coast. In the railway development of the
colony Tabora is destined to become the central junction of lines
going north, south, east and west.

On Victoria Nyanza there are various settlements. Mwanza, on the
southern shore, is the lake terminus of the route from Bagamoyo:
Bukoba is on the western shore, and Schirati on the eastern shore;
both situated a little south of the British frontier. On the German
coast of Tanganyika are Ujiji (q.v.), pop. about 14,000, occupying a
central position; Usumbura, at the northern end of the lake where is a
fort built by the Germans; and Bismarckburg, near the southern end. On
the shores of the lake between Ujiji and Bismarckburg are four
stations of the Algerian "White Fathers," all possessing churches,
schools and other stone buildings. Langenburg is a settlement on the
north-east side of Lake Nyasa. The government station, called New
Langenburg, occupies a higher and more healthy site north-west of the
lake. Wiedhafen is on the east side of Nyasa at the mouth of the
Ruhuhu, and is the terminus of the caravan route from Kilwa.

_Productions._--The chief wealth of the country is derived from
agriculture and the produce of the forests. From the forests are
obtained rubber, copal, bark, various kinds of fibre, and timber
(teak, mahogany, &c.). The cultivated products include coffee, the
coco-nut palm, tobacco, sugar-cane, cotton, vanilla, sorghum,
earth-nuts, sesame, maize, rice, beans, peas, bananas (in large
quantities), yams, manioc and hemp. Animal products are ivory, hides,
tortoise-shell and pearls. On the plateaus large numbers of cattle,
goats and sheep are reared. The natives have many small smithies.
Gold, coal, iron, graphite, copper and salt have been found. Garnets
are plentiful in the Lindi district, and agates, topaz, moonstone and
other precious stones are found in the colony. The chief gold and iron
deposits are near Victoria Nyanza. In the Mwanza district are
conglomerate reefs of great extent. Mining began in 1905, Mica is
mined near Mrogoro. The chief exports are sisal fibre, rubber, hides
and skins, wax, ivory, copra, coffee, ground-nuts and cotton. The
imports are chiefly articles of food, textiles, and metals and
hardware. More than half the entire trade, both export and import, is
with Zanzibar. Germany takes about 30% of the trade. In the ten years
1896-1905 the value of the external trade increased from about
L600,000 to over L1,100,000. In 1907 the imports were valued at
L1,190,000, the exports at L625,000.

Numerous companies are engaged in developing the resources of the
country by trading, planting and mining. The most important is the
_Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft_, founded in 1885, which has
trading stations in each seaport, and flourishing plantations in
various parts of the country. It is the owner of vast tracts of land.
From 1890 to 1903 this company was in possession of extensive mining,
railway, banking and coining rights, but in the last-named year, by
agreement with the German government, it became a land company purely.
The company has a right to a fifth part of the land within a zone of
10 m. on either side of any railway built in the colony previously to
1935. In addition to the companies a comparatively large number of
private individuals have laid out plantations, Usambara and Pare
having become favourite districts for agricultural enterprise. In the
delta of the Rufiji and in the Kilwa district cotton-growing was begun
in 1901. The plantations are all worked by native labour. The
government possesses large forest reserves.

_Communications._--Good roads for foot traffic have been made from the
seaports to the trading stations on Lakes Nyasa, Tanganyika and
Victoria. Caravans from Dar-es-Salaam to Tanganyika take 60 days to do
the journey. The lack of more rapid means of communication hindered
the development of the colony and led to economic crises (1898-1902),
which were intensified, and in part created, by the building of a
railway in the adjacent British protectorate from Mombasa to Victoria
Nyanza, the British line securing the trade with the lake. At that
time the only railway in the country was a line from Tanga to the
Usambara highlands. This railway passes through Korogwe (52 m. from
Tanga) and is continued via Mombo to Wilhelmstal, a farther distance
of 56 m. The building of a trunk line from Dar-es-Salaam to Mrogoro
(140 m.), and ultimately to Ujiji by way of Tabora, was begun in 1905.
Another proposed line would run from Kilwa to Wiedhafen on Lake Nyasa.
This railway would give the quickest means of access to British
Central Africa and the southern part of Belgian Congo. On each of the
three lakes is a government steamer. British steamers on Victoria
Nyanza maintain communication between the German stations and the take
terminus of the Uganda railway. The German East Africa Line of Hamburg
runs a fleet of first-class steamers to East Africa, which touch at
Tanga, Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar. There is a submarine cable from
Dar-es-Salaam to Zanzibar, and an overland line connecting all the
coast stations.

_Administration, Revenue, &c._--For administrative purposes the
country is divided into districts (_Bezirksamter_), and stations
(_Stationsbezirke_). Each station has a chief, who is subordinate to
the official of his district, these in their turn being under the
governor, who resides in Dar-es-Salaam. The governor is commander of
the colonial force, which consists of natives under white officers.
District councils are constituted, on which the European merchants and
planters are represented. Revenue is raised by taxes on imports and
exports, on licences for the sale of land and spirituous liquors, and
for wood-cutting, by harbour and other dues, and a hut tax on natives.
The deficiency between revenue and expenditure is met by a subsidy
from the imperial government. In no case during the first twenty-one
years' existence of the colony had the local revenue reached 60% of
the local expenditure, which in normal years amounted to about
L500,000. In 1909, however, only the expenditure necessary for
military purposes (L183,500) was received by way of subsidy.

_History._--Until nearly the middle of the 19th century only the coast lands of the territory now forming German East Africa were known either to Europeans or to the Arabs. When at the beginning of the 16th century the Portuguese obtained possession of the towns along the East African coast, they had been, for periods extending in some cases fully five hundred years, under Arab dominion. After the final withdrawal of the Portuguese in the early years of the 18th century, the coast towns north of Cape Delgado fell under the sway of the Muscat Arabs, passing from them to the sultan of Zanzibar. From about 1830, or a little earlier, the Zanzibar Arabs began to penetrate inland, and by 1850 had established themselves at Ujiji on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. The Arabs also made their way south to Nyasa. This extension of Arab influence was accompanied by vague claims on the part of the sultan of Zanzibar to include all these newly opened countries in his empire. How far from the coast the real authority of the sultan extended was never demonstrated. Zanzibar at this time was in semi-dependence on India, and British influence was strong at the court of Bargash, who succeeded to the sultanate in 1870. Bargash in 1877 offered to Sir (then Mr) William Mackinnon a lease of all his mainland territory. The offer, made in the year in which H.M. Stanley's discovery of the course of the Congo initiated the movement for the partition of the continent, was declined. British influence was, however, still so powerful in Zanzibar that the agents of the German Colonization Society, who in 1884 sought to secure for their country territory on the east coast, deemed it prudent to act secretly, so that both Great Britain and Zanzibar might be confronted with accomplished facts. Making their way inland, three young Germans, Karl Peters, Joachim Count Pfeil and Dr Juhlke, concluded a "treaty" in November 1884 with a chieftain in Usambara who was declared to be independent of Zanzibar. Other treaties followed, and on the 17th of February 1885, the German emperor granted a charter of protection to the Colonization Society. The German acquisitions were resented by Zanzibar, but were acquiesced in by the British government (the second Gladstone administration). The sultan was forced to acknowledge their validity, and to grant a German company a lease of his mainland territories south of the mouth of the Umba river, a British company formed by Mackinnon taking a lease of the territories north of that point. The story of the negotiations between Great Britain, Germany and France which led to this result is told elsewhere (see AFRICA, section 5). By the agreement of the 1st of July 1890, between the British and German governments, and by agreements concluded between Germany and Portugal in 1886 and 1894, and Germany and the Congo Free State in 1884 and later dates, the German sphere of influence attained its present area. On the 28th of October 1890 the sultan of Zanzibar ceded absolutely to Germany the mainland territories already leased to a German company, receiving as compensation L200,000.

While these negotiations were going on, various German companies had set to work to exploit the country, and on the 16th of August 1888 the German East African Company, the lessee of the Zanzibar mainland strip, took over the administration from the Arabs. This was followed, five days later, by a revolt of all the coast Arabs against German rule--the Germans, raw hands at the task of managing Orientals, having aroused intense hostility by their brusque treatment of the dispossessed rulers. The company being unable to quell the revolt, Captain Hermann Wissmann--subsequently Major Hermann von Wissmann (1853-1905)--was sent out by Prince Bismarck as imperial commissioner. Wissmann, with 1000 soldiers, chiefly Sudanese officered by Germans, and a German naval contingent, succeeded by the end of 1889 in crushing the power of the Arabs. Wissmann remained in the country until 1891 as commissioner, and later (1895-1896) was for eighteen months governor of the colony--as the German sphere had been constituted by proclamation (1st of January 1897). Towards the native population Wissmann's attitude was conciliatory, and under his rule the development of the resources of the country was pushed on. Equal success did not attend the efforts of other administrators; in 1891-1892 Karl Peters had great trouble with the tribes in the Kilimanjaro district and resorted to very harsh methods, such as the execution of women, to maintain his authority. In 1896 Peters was condemned by a disciplinary court for a misuse of official power, and lost his commission. After 1891, in which year the Wahehe tribe ambushed and almost completely annihilated a German military force of 350 men under Baron von Zelewski, there were for many years no serious risings against German authority, which by the end of 1898 had been established over almost the whole of the hinterland. The development of the country was, however, slow, due in part to the disinclination of the Reichstag to vote supplies sufficient for the building of railways to the fertile lake regions. Count von Gotzen (governor 1901-1906) adopted the policy of maintaining the authority of native rulers as far as possible, but as over the greater part of the colony the natives have no political organizations of any size, the chief burden of government rests on the German authorities. In August 1905 serious disturbances broke out among the Bantu tribes in the colony. The revolt was due largely to resentment against the restrictions enforced by the Germans in their efforts at civilization, including compulsory work on European plantations in certain districts. Moreover, it is stated that the Herero in rebellion in German South-west Africa sent word to the east coast natives to follow their example, an instance of the growing solidarity of the black races of Africa. Though the revolt spread over a very large area, the chief centre of disturbance was the region between Nyasa and the coast at Kilwa and Lindi. Besides a number of settlers a Roman Catholic bishop and a party of four missionaries and nuns were murdered in the Kilwa hinterland, while nearer Nyasa the warlike Wangoni held possession of the country. The Germans raised levies of Masai and Sudanese, and brought natives from New Guinea to help in suppressing the rising, besides sending naval and military contingents from Germany. In general, the natives, when encountered, were easily dispersed, but it was not until March 1906 that the coast regions were again quiet. In July following the Wangoni were beaten in a decisive engagement. It was officially stated that the death-roll for the whole war was not below 120,000 men, women and children. In 1907 a visit was paid to the colony by Herr B. Dernburg, the colonial secretary. As a result of this visit more humane methods in the treatment of the natives were introduced, and measures taken to develop more fully the economic resources of the country.

AUTHORITIES.--S. Passarge and others, _Das deutsche Kolonialreich_,
Erster Band (Leipzig, 1909); P. Reichard, _Deutsch Ostafrika, das Land
und seine Bewohner_ (Leipzig, 1892); F. Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pasha im
Herzen von Afrika_ (Berlin, 1894); Brix Foerster, _Deutsch-Ostafrika;
Geographie und Geschichte_ (Leipzig, 1890); Oscar Baumann, In
_Deutsch-Ostafrika wahrend des Aufstands_ (Vienna, 1890), _Usambara
und seine Nachbargebiete_ (Berlin, 1891), and _Durch Massailand zur
Nilquelle_ (Berlin, 1894). For special studies see P. Samassa, _Die
Besiedelung Deutsch-Ostafrikas_ (Leipzig, 1909); A. Engler, _Die
Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete_ (Berlin, 1895-1896)
and other works by the same author; Stromer von Reichenbach, _Die
Geologie der deutschen Schutzgebiete in Afrika_ (Munich and Leipzig,
1896); W. Bornhardt, _Deutsch-Ostafrika_ (Berlin, 1898); F.
Fullerborn, _Beitrage zur physischen Anthropologie der
Nord-Nyassalander_ (Berlin, 1902), a fine series of pictures of native
types, and _Das Deutsche Nyassa- und Ruwuma-gebiet, Land und Leute_
(Berlin, 1906); K. Weule, _Native Life in East Africa_ (London, 1909);
Hans Meyer, _Der Kilimandjaro_ (Berlin, 1900) and _Die Eisenbahnen im
tropischen Afrika_ (Leipzig, 1902); J. Strandes, _Die Portugiesenzeit
von Deutsch- u. Englisch-Ostafrika_ (Berlin, 1899), a valuable
monograph on the Portuguese period. See also British Official Reports
on East Africa (specially No. 4221 ann. ser.), the German White Books
and annual reports, the _Mitteilungen aus den deutschen
Schutzgebiete_, and the _Deutsches Kolonialblatt_, published
fortnightly at Berlin since 1890. The _Deutscher Kolonial-Atlas_ has
maps on the 1:1,000,000 scale. (F. R. C.)

GERMAN EVANGELICAL SYNOD OF NORTH AMERICA, a Protestant church dating from October 1840, and known, in its early years, as the German Evangelical Association of the West. It was formed by six German ministers who had been ordained in Prussia and were engaged in missionary and pioneer work in Missouri and Illinois. The original organization was strengthened in 1858 by amalgamation with the German Evangelical Church Association of Ohio, and later by the inclusion of the German United Evangelical Synod of the East (1860), the Evangelical Synod of the North-West (1872) and the United Evangelical Synod of the East (1872). The church bases its position on the Bible as interpreted by the symbols of the Lutheran and Reformed churches so far as they are in agreement, points of difference being left to "that liberty of conscience which, as a component part of the basis of man's ultimate responsibility to God himself, is the inalienable privilege of every believer." The church, which has (1909) 985 ministers and some 238,000 communicant members, is divided into seventeen districts, with officers responsible to the General Synod, which meets every four years. There are boards for home and foreign missions, the latter operating chiefly in the Central Provinces of India. The literature of the church is mainly in German, though English is rapidly gaining ground.

GERMANIC LAWS, EARLY. Of those Germanic laws of the early middle ages which are known as _leges barbarorum_, we here deal with the principal examples other than Frankish, viz. (1) _Leges Wisigothorum_, (2) _Lex Burgundionum_, (3) _Pactus Alamannorum_ and _Lex Alamannorum_, (4) _Lex Bajuvariorum_, (5) _Lex Saxonum_, (6) _Lex Frisionum_, (7) _Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, hoc est, Thuringorum_, and (8) _Leges Langobardorum_. All these laws may in general be described as codes of procedure and tariffs of compositions. They present somewhat similar features with the Salic law, but often differ from it in the date of compilation, the amount of fines, the number and nature of the crimes, the number, rank, duties and titles of the officers, &c. For the Salic law and other Frankish laws, see SALIC LAW, and for the edict of Theodoric I., which was applicable to the Ostrogoths and Romans, see ROMAN LAW.

For the whole body of the Germanic laws see P. Canciani, _Barbarorum
leges antiquae_ (Venice, 1781-1789); F. Walter, _Corpus juris
germanici antiqui_ (Berlin, 1824); _Monumenta Germaniae historica,
Leges_. For further information on the codes in general, see H.M.
Zopfl, _Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte_ (4th ed., Heidelberg, 1871-1876);
J.E.O. Stobbe, _Geschichte der deutschen Rechtsquellen_ (Brunswick,
1860-1864); Paul Viollet, _Histoire du droit civil francais_ (2nd ed.,
Paris, 1893); H. Brunner, _Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte_ (2nd ed.,
Leipzig, 1906).

1. _Leges Wisigothorum._--Karl Zeumer's edition of these laws in the 4to series of the _Mon. Germ. Hist._ throws new light on all questions relating to their date and composition. It is now certain that the earliest written code of the Visigoths dates back to King Euric (466-485). Besides his own constitutions, Euric included in this collection constitutions of his predecessors, Theodoric I. (419-451), Thorismund (451-453), and Theodoric II. (453-466), and he arranged the whole in a logical order. Of this code fragments of chapters cclxxvi. to cccxxxvi.[1] have been discovered in a palimpsest MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris (Latin coll., No. 12161), a fact which proves that the code ran over a large area. Euric's code was used for all cases between Goths, and between them and Romans; in cases between Romans, Roman law was used. At the instance of Euric's son, Alaric II., an examination was made of the Roman laws in use among Romans in his dominions, and the resulting compilation was approved in 506 at an assembly at Aire, in Gascony, and is known as the Breviary of Alaric, and sometimes as the _Liber Aniani_, from the fact that the authentic copies bear the signature of the _referendarius_ Anian.

Euric's code remained in force among the Visigoths of Spain until the reign of Leovigild (568-586), who made a new one, improving upon that of his predecessor. This work is lost, and we have no direct knowledge of any fragment of it. In the 3rd codification, however, many provisions have been taken from the 2nd, and these are designated by the word "_antiqua_"; by means of these "_antiqua_" we are enabled in a certain measure to reconstruct the work of Leovigild.

After the reign of Leovigild the legislation of the Visigoths underwent a transformation. The new laws made by the kings were declared to be applicable to all the subjects in the kingdom, of whatever race--in other words, they became territorial; and this principle of territoriality was gradually extended to the ancient code. Moreover, the conversion of Reccared I. (586-601) to orthodoxy effaced the religious differences among his subjects, and all subjects, _qua_ Christians, had to submit to the canons of the councils, which were made obligatory by the kings. After this change had been accepted, Recceswinth (649-672) made a new code, which was applicable to Visigoths and Romans alike. This code, known as the _Liber judiciorum_, is divided into 12 books, which are subdivided into _tituli_ and chapters (_aerae_). It comprises 324 constitutions taken from Leovigild's collection, a few of the laws of Reccared and Sisebut, 99 laws of Chindaswinth (642-653), and 87 of Recceswinth. A recension of this code of Recceswinth was made in 681 by King Erwig (680-687), and is known as the _Lex Wisigothorum renovata_; and, finally, some additamenta were made by Egica (687-702). In Zeumer's edition of the _Leges Wisigothorum_ the versions of Recceswinth and Erwig, where they differ from each other, are shown in parallel columns, and the laws later than Erwig are denoted by the sign "_nov_."

For further information see the preface to Zeumer's edition; H.
Brunner, _Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte_ (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1906); Urena y
Smenyaud, _La Legislacion Gotico-hispana_ (Madrid, 1905).

2. _Lex Burgundionum._--This code was compiled by King Gundobald (474-516), very probably after his defeat by Clovis in 500. Some additamenta were subsequently introduced either by Gundobald himself or by his son Sigismund. This law bears the title of _Liber Constitutionum_, which shows that it emanated from the king; it is also known as the _Lex Gundobada_ or _Lex Gombata_. It was used for cases between Burgundians, but was also applicable to cases between Burgundians and Romans. For cases between Romans, however, Gundobald compiled the _Lex Romana Burgundionum_, called sometimes, through a misreading of the MSS., the _Liber Papiani_ or simply _Papianus_. The barbarian law of the Burgundians shows strong traces of Roman influence. It recognizes the will and attaches great importance to written deeds, but on the other hand sanctions the judicial duel and the _cojuratores_ (sworn witnesses). The vehement protest made in the 9th century by Agobard, bishop of Lyons, against the _Lex Gundobada_ shows that it was still in use at that period. So late as the 10th and even the 11th centuries we find the law of the Burgundians invoked as personal law in Cluny charters, but doubtless these passages refer to accretions of local customs rather than to actual paragraphs of the ancient code.

The text of the _Lex Burgundionum_ has been published by F. Bluhme in
the _Mon. Germ. hist._, _Leges_, iii. 525; by Karl Binding in the
_Fontes rerum Bernensium_ (vol. i., 1880); by J.E. Valentin Smith
(Paris, 1889 seq.); and by von Salis (1892) in the 4to series of the
_Mon. Germ. hist._ Cf. R. Dareste, "La Loi Gombette," in the _Journal
des savants_ (July 1891).

3. _Pactus Alamannorum_ and _Lex Alamannorum._--Of the laws of the Alamanni, who dwelt between the Rhine and the Lech, and spread over Alsace and what is now Switzerland to the south of Lake Constance, we possess two different texts. The earlier text, of which five short fragments have come down to us, is known as the _Pactus Alamannorum_, and from the persistent recurrence of the expression "et sic convenit" was most probably drawn up by an official commission. The reference to affranchisement _in ecclesia_ shows that it was composed at a period subsequent to the conversion of the Alamanni to Christianity. There is no doubt that the text dates back to the reign of Dagobert I., i.e. to the first half of the 7th century. The later text, known as the _Lex Alamannorum_, dates from a period when Alamannia was independent under national dukes, but recognized the theoretical suzerainty of the Frankish kings. There seems no reason to doubt the St Gall MS., which states that the law had its origin in an agreement between the great Alamannic lords and Duke Landfrid, who ruled the duchy from 709 to 730.

The two texts have been published by J. Merkel in the _Mon. Germ.
hist._, _Leges_, iii., and by Karl Lehmann in the 4to series of the
same collection.

4. _Lex Bajuvariorum._--We possess an important law of the Bavarians, whose duchy was situated in the region east of the Lech, and was an outpost of Germany against the Huns, known later as Avars. Parts of this law have been taken directly from the Visigothic law of Euric and from the law of the Alamanni. The Bavarian law, therefore, is later than that of the Alamanni. It dates unquestionably from a period when the Frankish authority was very strong in Bavaria, when the dukes were vassals of the Frankish kings. Immediately after the revolt of Bavaria in 743 the Bavarian duke Odilo was forced to submit to Pippin and Carloman, the sons of Charles Martel, and to recognize the Frankish suzerainty. About the same period, too, the church of Bavaria was organized by St Boniface, and the country divided into several bishoprics; and we find frequent references to these bishops (in the plural) in the law of the Bavarians. On the other hand, we know that the law is anterior to the reign of Duke Tassilo III. (749-788). The date of compilation must, therefore, be placed between 743 and 749.

There is an edition of the _Lex Bajuvariorum_ by J. Merkel in the
_Mon. Germ. hist._, _Leges_, iii. 183, and another was undertaken by
E. von Schwind for the 4to series of the same collection. Cf. von
Schwind's article in the _Neues Archiv_, vol. xxxi.

5. _Lex Saxonum._--Germany comprised two other duchies, Saxony and Frisia, of each of which we possess a text of law. The _Lex Saxonum_ has come down to us in two MSS. and two old editions (those of B.J. Herold and du Tillet), and the text has been edited by Karl von Richthofen in the _Mon. Germ. hist._, _Leges_, v. The law contains ancient customary enactments of Saxony, and, in the form in which it has reached us, is later than the conquest of Saxony by Charlemagne. It is preceded by two capitularies of Charlemagne for Saxony--the _Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae_ (A. Boretius i. 68), which dates undoubtedly from 782, and is characterized by great severity, death being the penalty for every offence against the Christian religion; and the _Capitulare Saxonicum_ (A. Boretius i. 71), of the 28th of October 797, in which Charlemagne shows less brutality and pronounces simple compositions for misdeeds which formerly entailed death. The _Lex Saxonum_ apparently dates from 803, since it contains provisions which are in the _Capitulare legi Ribuariae additum_ of that year. The law established the ancient customs, at the same time eliminating anything that was contrary to the spirit of Christianity; it proclaimed the peace of the churches, whose possessions it guaranteed and whose right of asylum it recognized.

6. _Lex Frisionum._--This consists of a medley of documents of the most heterogeneous character. Some of its enactments are purely pagan--thus one paragraph allows the mother to kill her new-born child, and another prescribes the immolation to the gods of the defiler of their temple; others are purely Christian, such as those which prohibit incestuous marriages and working on Sunday. The law abounds in contradictions and repetitions, and the compositions are calculated in different moneys. From this it would appear that the documents were merely materials collected from various sources and possibly with a view to the compilation of a homogeneous law. These materials were apparently brought together at the beginning of the 9th century, at a time of intense legislative activity at the court of Charlemagne.

There are no MSS. of the document extant; our knowledge of it is based
upon B.J. Herold's edition (_Originum ac Germanicarum antiquitatum
libri_, Basel, 1557), which has been reproduced by Karl von Richthofen
in the _Mon. Germ. hist._, _Leges_, iii. 631.

7. _Lex Angliorum el Werinorum, hoc est, Thuringorum._--In early times there dwelt in Thuringia, south of the river Unstrut, the Angli, who gave their name to the _pagus Engili_, and to the east, between the Saale and the Elster, the Warni (Werini, or Varini), whose name is seen in Werenofeld. In the 9th century, however, this region (then called Werenofeld) was occupied by the Sorabi, and the Warni and Angli either coalesced with the Thuringi or sought an asylum in the north of Germany. A collection of laws has come down to us bearing the name of these two peoples, the _Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, hoc est, Thuringorum_. This text is a collection of local customs arranged in the same order as the law of the Ripuarians. Parts of it are based on the _Capitulare legi Ribuariae additum_ of 803, and it seems to have been drawn up in the same conditions and circumstances as the law of the Saxons. There is an edition of this code by Karl von Richthofen in the _Mon. Germ. hist._, _Leges_, v. 103. The old opinion that the law originated in south Holland is entirely without foundation.

8. _Leges Langobardorum._--We possess a fair amount of information on the origin of the last barbarian code, the laws of the Lombards. The first part, consisting of 388 chapters, is known as the _Edictus Langobardorum_, and was promulgated by King Rothar at a diet held at Pavia on the 22nd of November 643. This work, composed at one time and arranged on a systematic plan, is very remarkable. The compilers knew Roman law, but drew upon it only for their method of presentation and for their terminology; and the document presents Germanic law in its purity. Rothar's edict was augmented by his successors; Grimoald (668) added nine chapters; Liutprand (713-735), fifteen volumes, containing a great number of ecclesiastical enactments; Ratchis (746), eight chapters; and Aistulf (755), thirteen chapters. After the union of the Lombards to the Frankish kingdom, the capitularies made for the entire kingdom were applicable to Italy. There were also special capitularies for Italy, called _Capitula Italica_, some of which were appended to the edict of Rothar.

At an early date compilations were formed in Italy for the use of legal practitioners and jurists. Eberhard, duke and margrave of Rhaetia and Friuli, arranged the contents of the edict with its successive additamenta into a _Concordia de singulis causis_ (829-832). In the 10th century a collection was made of the capitularies in use in Italy, and this was known as the _Capitulare Langobardorum_. Then appeared, under the influence of the school of law at Pavia, the _Liber legis Langobardorum_, also called _Liber Papiensis_ (beginning of 11th century), and the _Lombarda_ (end of 11th century) in two forms--that given in a Monte Cassino MS. and known as the _Lombarda Casinensis_, and the _Lombarda Vulgata_.

There are editions of the _Edictus_, the _Concordia_, and the _Liber
Papiensis_ by F. Bluhme and A. Boretius in the _Mon. Germ. hist.,
Leges_, iv. Bluhme also gives the rubrics of the _Lombardae_, which
were published by F. Lindenberg in his _Codex legum antiquarum_ in
1613. For further information on the laws of the Lombards see J.
Merkel, _Geschichte des Langobardenrechts_ (1850); A. Boretius, _Die
Kapitularien im Langobardenreich_ (1864); and C. Kier, _Edictus
Rotari_ (Copenhagen, 1898). Cf. R. Dareste in the _Nouvelle Revue
historique de droit francais et etranger_ (1900, p. 143). (C. Pf.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The lacunae in these fragments have been filled in by the aid of
the law of the Bavarians, where the chief provisions are reproduced.

GERMANICUS CAESAR (15 B.C.-A.D. 19), a Roman general and provincial governor in the reign of Tiberius. The name Germanicus, the only one by which he is known in history, he inherited from his father, Nero Claudius Drusus, the famous general, brother of Tiberius and stepson of Augustus. His mother was the younger Antonia, daughter of Marcus Antonius and niece of Augustus, and he married Agrippina, the granddaughter of the same emperor. It was natural, therefore, that he should be regarded as a candidate for the purple. Augustus, it would seem, long hesitated whether he should name him as his successor, and as a compromise required his uncle Tiberius to adopt him, though Tiberius had a son of his own. Of his early years and education little is known. That he possessed considerable literary abilities, and that these were carefully trained, we gather, both from the speeches which Tacitus puts into his mouth, and from the reputation he left as an orator, as attested by Suetonius and Ovid, and from the extant fragments of his works.

At the age of twenty he served his apprenticeship as a soldier under Tiberius, and was rewarded with the triumphal insignia for his services in crushing the revolt in Dalmatia and Pannonia. In A.D. 11 he accompanied Tiberius in his campaign on the Rhine, undertaken, in consequence of the defeat of Varus, with the object of securing the German frontier. In 12 he was made consul, and increased his popularity by appearing as an advocate in the courts of justice, and by the celebration of brilliant games. Soon afterwards he was appointed by Augustus to the important command of the eight legions on the Rhine. The news of the emperor's death (14) found Germanicus at Lugdunum (Lyons), where he was superintending the census of Gaul. Close upon this came the report that a mutiny had broken out among his legions on the lower Rhine. Germanicus hurried back to the camp, which was now in open insurrection. The tumult was with difficulty quelled, partly by well-timed concessions, for which the authority of the emperor was forged, but chiefly owing to his personal popularity. Some of the insurgents actually proposed that he should put himself at their head and secure the empire for himself, but their offer was rejected with indignation. In order to calm the excitement Germanicus determined at once on an active campaign. Crossing the Rhine, he attacked and routed the Marsi, and laid waste the valley of the Ems. In the following year he marched against Arminius, the conqueror of Varus, and performed the last rites over the remains of the Roman soldiers that still lay there unburied, erecting a barrow to mark the spot. Arminius, however, favoured by the marshy ground, was able to hold his own, and it required another campaign before he was finally defeated. A masterly combined movement by land and water enabled Germanicus to concentrate his forces against the main body of the Germans encamped on the Weser, and to crush them in two obstinately contested battles. A monument erected on the field proclaimed that the army of Tiberius had conquered every tribe between the Rhine and the Elbe. Great, however, as the success of the Roman arms had been, it was not such as to justify this boastful inscription; we read of renewed attacks from the barbarians, and plans of a fourth campaign for the next summer.

But the success of Germanicus had already stirred the jealousy and fears of Tiberius, and he was reluctantly compelled to return to Rome. On the 26th of May 17 he celebrated a triumph. The enthusiasm with which he was welcomed, not only by the populace, but by the emperor's own praetorians, was so great that the earliest pretext was seized to remove him from the capital. He was sent to the East with extraordinary powers to settle a disputed succession in Parthia and Armenia. At the same time Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, one of the most violent and ambitious of the old nobility, was sent as governor of Syria to watch his movements. Germanicus proceeded by easy stages to his province, halting on his way in Dalmatia, and visiting the battlefield of Actium, Athens, Ilium, and other places of historic interest. At Rhodes he met his coadjutor Piso, who was seeking everywhere to thwart and malign him. When at last he reached his destination, he found little difficulty in effecting the settlement of the disturbed provinces, notwithstanding Piso's violent and persistent opposition. At Artaxata Zeno, the popular candidate for the throne, was crowned king of Armenia. To the provinces of Cappadocia and Commagene Roman governors were assigned; Parthia was conciliated by the banishment of the dethroned king Vonones.

After wintering in Syria Germanicus started for a tour in Egypt. The chief motive for his journey was love of travel and antiquarian study, and it seems never to have occurred to him, till he was warned by Tiberius, that he was thereby transgressing an unwritten law which forbade any Roman of rank to set foot in Egypt without express permission. On his return to Syria he found that all his arrangements had been upset by Piso. Violent recriminations followed, the result of which, it would seem, was a promise on the part of Piso to quit the province. But at this juncture Germanicus was suddenly attacked at Epidaphne near Antioch by a violent illness, which he himself and his friends attributed to poison administered by Plancina, the wife of Piso, at the instigation of Tiberius. Whether these suspicions were true is open to question; it seems more probable that his death was due to natural causes. His ashes were brought to Rome in the following year (20) by his wife Agrippina, and deposited in the grave of Augustus. He had nine children, six of whom, three sons and three daughters, survived him, amongst them the future emperor Gaius and the notorious Agrippina, the mother of Nero. The news of his death cast a gloom over the whole empire. Nor was Germanicus unworthy of this passionate devotion. He had wiped out a great national disgrace; he had quelled the most formidable foe of Rome. His private life had been stainless, and he possessed a singularly attractive personality. Yet there were elements of weakness in his character which his short life only half revealed: an impetuosity which made him twice threaten to take his own life; a superstitious vein which impelled him to consult oracles and shrink from bad omens; an amiable dilettantism which led him to travel in Egypt while his enemy was plotting his ruin; a want of nerve and resolution which prevented him from coming to an open rupture with Piso till it was too late.

He possessed considerable literary abilities; his speeches and Greek comedies were highly spoken of by his contemporaries. But the only specimen of his work that has come down to us is the translation in Latin hexameters (generally attributed to him, although some consider Domitian the author), together with scholia, of the _Phaenomena_ of Aratus, which is superior to those of Cicero and Avienus (best edition by A. Breysig, 1867; 1899, without the scholia). A few extant Greek and Latin epigrams also bear the name Germanicus.

In addition to monographs by A. Zingerle (Trent, 1867) and A. Breysig
(Erfurt, 1892), there are treatises on the German campaigns by E. von
Wietersheim (1850), P. Hofer (1884), F. Knoke (1887, 1889), W. Fricke
(1889), A. Taramelli (1891), Dahm (1902).

See Tacitus, _Annals_, i.-iv. (ed. Furneaux); Suetonius, _Augustus,
Tiberius_; J.C. Tarver, _Tiberius_ (1902); Merivale, _Hist. of the
Romans under the Empire_, chs. 42, 43; H. Schiller, _Geschichte der
romischen Kaiserzeit_, i. 1 (1883), pp. 227, 258, 261-266, 270-276; M.
Schanz, _Geschichte der romischen Litteratur_, pt. ii. (2nd ed.,
1901), and Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman Literature_ (Eng. tr.,
1900), 275.