GERMAN COLONIZATION IN SOUTHWEST AFRICA 75
sovereignty or jurisdiction by a foreign power between the
southern point of Portuguese jurisdiction at latitude 18°
and the frontier of Cape Colony would infringe their legiti-
mate rights.” And Derby wrote the Cape Government on
December 13 asking it to take up the advisability of Cape
Colony extending its jurisdiction to Angra Pequena.
Count Miinster answered Granville’s note in a long letter,
dated December 31, 1883, in which he argued strongly
to prove that Great Britain had no claim to sovereignty in
the disputed region, and asserted that it was the duty of the
German Government to “afford protection and encourage-
ment to German subjects trafficking in districts where suf-
ficient protection is not guaranteed by a recognized civil
government.” He concluded with the following query:
“What institutions [does] England possess on that coast,
which could secure such legal protection for German sub-
jects in their commercial enterprises and justly won requi-
sitions as would relieve the Empire from the duty of pro-
viding itself directly for its subjects in that territory the
protection of which they may stand in need?” This was
interpreted by the British Government to mean that the
German authorities would extend their protection to Angra
Pequena, in case the British declined to place it under
their jurisdiction, and give all the traders there the benefit
of their institutions and military protection.
Lord Granville, feeling that perhaps the time had come
when his Government could afford to widen its jurisdiction
in South Africa, — particularly if Cape Colony should as-
sume the expense involved, — referred the matter to Lord
Derby asking that the Government of Cape Colony be ap-
proached with this move in view. He recognized that the
position of Liideritz on the coast could easily be defended
and that, while the German missions were located rather far
in the interior and were not easy of access, it would not be a