The object of the negotiations between us and England, which had begun
before my arrival, was to alter and amend our treaty of 1898, which
contained many impossible features--for example, with regard to the
geographical delimitation. Thanks to the conciliatory attitude of the
British Government, I succeeded in giving to the new treaty a form which
entirely accorded with our wishes and interests. All Angola, as far as
the 20th degree of longitude, was allotted to us, so that we reached the
Congo territory from the south. Moreover, the valuable islands of San
Thomé and Principe, which lie north of the equator, and therefore really
belonged to the French sphere of interest, were allotted to us--a fact
which caused my French colleague to make lively, although vain,
representations. Further, we obtained the northern part of Mozambique;
the frontier was formed by the Likungo.
The British Government showed the utmost readiness to meet out interests
and wishes. Sir Edward Grey intended to prove his good-will to us, but
he also desired to promote our colonial development, because England
hoped to divert Germany's development of strength from the North Sea and
Western Europe to the world-sea and Africa. "We don't want to grudge
Germany her colonial development," a member of the Cabinet said to me.