FRENCH BERRIES

known also as Avignon Berries and Yellow Berries, the fruit of the Rhamnus Clusti, or other species of buckthorn, rather le than a pea, have a bitter and astringent taste, and are used by dyers and painters as a yellow colouring-matter, FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA, or FRENCH CONGO, an African territory bounded on the south and east by the Rivers Congo and Ubangi and by the Anglo-Hgyptian Sudan, on the north by the Sahara, and on the west by the Came roons (part of which is now included in French Equatorial Africa), Rio Muni, and the Atlantic; total area, 912,049 sq. miles; pop. (1931), 3,192,282, In 1910 the French Congo was divided into three colonies, Gabun, Middle Congo, and UbangiShari (including Chad Territory), and the name was changed to French Equatorial Africa. In 1911 France ceded parts of the colony to Germany, but received them back in 1919. In 1920 the Chad territory was separated from the Ubangi-Shari and erected into a colony. The chief rivers are the Gabon, Ogowe, and Kwilu, and the principal stations are Libreville (capital of Gabun Colony), Brazzaville (cunital of Middle Congo), Bangui (capital of Ubangi-Shari), Fort Lamy (capital of Chad), Njola, and Loango. In spite of the fact that the region is very unhealthy, a considerable trade is carried on in caoutchoue, cocoa, coffee, ivory, ebony, mahogany, palmoil, . The natural resources of the colony are comparatively undeveloped; there are 300,000 sq. miles of tropical forest awaiting exploitation, and a lack of adequate means of transport is a serious drawback. Each colony has a Lieutenant Governor under the Governor-General, who resides at Brazzaville. Every colony, too, has an administrative council and a separate budget, though there is a general budget for French Equatorial Africa. Railway mileage is about 2,366 miles; a new railway line was completed in 1930 between Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire on the Atlantic. There is a radio service with France. The total length of telegraph line is about 3,253 miles.—Cf. F. W. H. Migeod, Acro Equatorial Africa. _FRENCH HONEYSUCKLE (Hedysarum coronarium), the inappropriate name of a leguminous plant, a common perennial in gardens, where it is grown for the sake of its beautiful scarlet flowers. In Sicily and Spain it is largely cultivated as a green crop, yielding an enormous quantity of herbage. FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. See FRANCE.