Lagos was made a separate government in 1863; in 1866 it was placed in political dependence upon Sierra Leone; in 1874 it became (politically) an integral part of the Gold Coast Colony, whilst in 1886 it was again made a separate government, administered as a crown colony. In Sir William Macgregor, M.D., formerly administrator of British New Guinea, governor 1899-1904, the colony found an enlightened ruler. He inaugurated the railway system, and drew much closer the friendly ties between the British and the tribes of the protectorate. Meantime, since 1884, the whole of the Niger delta, lying immediately east of Lagos, as well as the Hausa states and Bornu, had been acquired by Great Britain. Unification of the British possessions in Nigeria being desirable, the delta regions and Lagos were formed in 1906 into one government (see [Nigeria]).
See C. P. Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonies, vol. iii. West Africa (Oxford, 1896); the annual Reports issued by the Colonial Office, London; A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples (London, 1894); Lady Glover, The Life of Sir John Hawley Glover (London, 1897). Consult also the works cited under [Nigeria] and [Dahomey].
LAGOS, a seaport of West Africa, capital of the British colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria, in 6° 26′ N., 3° 23′ E. on an island in a lagoon named Lagos also. Between Lagos and the mainland is Iddo Island. An iron bridge for road and railway traffic 2600 ft. long connects Lagos and Iddo Islands, and another iron bridge, 917 ft. long, joins Iddo Island to the mainland. The town lies but a foot or two above sea-level. The principal buildings are a large government house, the law courts, the memorial hall erected to commemorate the services of Sir John Glover, used for public meetings and entertainments, an elaborate club-house provided from public funds, and the police quarters. There are many substantial villas that serve as quarters for the officers of the civil service, as well as numerous solidly-built handsome private buildings. The streets are well kept; the town is supplied with electric light, and there is a good water service. The chief stores and depôts for goods are all on the banks of the lagoon. The swamps of which originally Lagos Island entirely consisted have been reclaimed. In connexion with this work a canal, 25 ft. wide, has been cut right through the island and a sea-wall built round its western half. There is a commodious public hospital, of the cottage type, on a good site. There is a racecourse, which also serves as a general public recreation ground. Shifting banks of sand form a bar at the sea entrance of the lagoon. Extensive works were undertaken in 1908 with a view to making Lagos an open port. A mole has been built at the eastern entrance to the harbour and dredgers are at work on the bar, which can be crossed by vessels drawing 13 ft. Large ocean-going steamers anchor not less than 2 m. from land, and goods and passengers are there transhipped into smaller steamers for Lagos. Heavy cargo is carried by the large steamers to Forcados, 200 m. farther down the coast, transhipped there into branch boats, and taken via the lagoons to Lagos. The port is 4279 m. from Liverpool, 1203 from Freetown, Sierra Leone (the nearest safe port westward), and 315 from Cape Coast.
The inhabitants, about 50,000, include, besides the native tribes, Sierra Leonis, Fanti, Krumen and the descendants of some 6000 Brazilian emancipados who were settled here in the early days of British rule. The Europeans number about 400. Rather more than half the populace are Moslems.
LAGOS, a seaport of southern Portugal, in the district of Faro (formerly the province of Algarve); on the Atlantic Ocean, and on the estuary of the small river Lagos, here spanned by a fine stone bridge. Pop. (1900) 8291. The city is defended by fortifications erected in the 17th century. It is supplied with water by an aqueduct 800 yds. long. The harbour is deep, capacious, and completely sheltered on the north and west; it is frequently visited by the British Channel fleet. Vines and figs are extensively cultivated in the neighbourhood, and Lagos is the centre of important sardine and tunny fisheries. Its trade is chiefly carried on by small coasting vessels, as there is no railway. Lagos is on or near the site of the Roman Lacobriga. Since the 15th century it has held the formal rank and title of city. Cape St Vincent, the ancient Promontorium Sacrum, and the south-western extremity of the kingdom, is 22 m. W. It is famous for its connexion with Prince Henry (q.v.), the Navigator, who here founded the town of Sagres in 1421; and for several British naval victories, the most celebrated of which was won in 1797 by Admiral Jervis (afterwards Earl St Vincent) over a larger Spanish squadron. In 1759 Admiral Boscawen defeated a French fleet off Lagos. The great earthquake of 1755 destroyed a large part of the city.
LA GRÂCE, or Les Grâces, a game invented in France during the first quarter of the 19th century and called there le jeu des Grâces. It is played with two light sticks about 16 in. long and a wicker ring, which is projected into the air by placing it over the sticks crossed and then separating them rapidly. The ring is caught upon the stick of another player and thrown back, the object being to prevent it from falling to the ground.