Imperialism, colonialism and cartography

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62 JEFFREY C. STONEthe one political status to the other by virtue ofdiffering functions.Latterly, DOS was devoting a decreasing pro-portion of its effort in Africa to former Britishterritories with programmes of work or trainingprovision for Ethiopia, Liberia, Chad and Madagascar
(Directorate of Overseas Surveys, 1985). Not onlywas a more internationalist attitude to Africabecoming apparent, but with the responsibilities ofthe Directorate now transferred to the OrdnanceSurvey’s Overseas Surveys Directorate and withmuch overseas work to be transferred to the privatesector (McGrath, 1982) we may see commercial firmsperhaps from several European countries workingunder Ordnance Survey and Overseas DevelopmentAgency supervision, thus restoring the commercialand international dimensions of European cartographyin Africa which were associated withseventeenth and eighteenth century imperialism.Recent writing (e.g., Griffiths, 1986; Either, 1986)still does not always accept that the delegates tothe Berlin Conference of 1884-85 ‘were not talkingabout partitioning Africa’ (Hargreaves, 1984, p. 17)and that it was a last-ditch attempt to sustain Europe’straditionally internationalist approach of commonaccess to Africa. Nevertheless, differentiationbetween the historical continuity of the imperialistmercantile ethic which was still on display in Berlin acentury ago and its brief demise in direct colonial ruleprovides a framework for challenging long-standingInterpretations of pre-colonial cartographic evolutionand for appreciating the prime characteristics ofcolonial surveys. It also provides a stimulus to furtherwork on colonial cartography, in the form of ahypothesis which envisages disparate and comparativelyuncoordinated activity across seven shortlivedspheres of European rule. Although brief, it wasan important phase of map making, since it perforceprovided the bases for both the cadastral and thetopographic surveys of the independent nations ofAfrica, who are now restored to a more indirect, if notImperial relationship with Europe.Imperialism, colonialism and cartography 63
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Page 5: alienated land, reserved land and a

Imperialism, colonialism and cartography

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