Leopold II, that turncoat, had tipped off East Africa, letting it understand British intentions. It seemed East Africa held no small attraction for the British.
After communicating with Leopold II, Britain also contacted Italy, Abyssinia, Egypt, and even the Kingdom of Imerina across the Mozambique Channel, engaging them in a cordial exchange.
The rudiments of a simple encirclement, stretching from every direction—east, south, west, and north—thus took shape. Yet anyone with clear eyes knew that this encirclement was useful, and yet useless.
This was especially true of the northern countries, whose attitude toward East Africa was highly ambiguous. Portugal was the only one sincerely following Britain. Besides, even if the other countries truly joined Britain in blockading East Africa, they could not pull it off. Just as when Britain had blockaded the United States, the United States had simply turned toward the Pacific Ocean and easily defused British measures.
East Africa did not need to imitate the United States. The East African Navy was quite capable in the Indian Ocean and could protect East African trade. The Royal Navy posed a great threat, but its strength was also spread thin.
Moreover, the United States was actually in a better position than East Africa to be sanctioned. After all, it lay far from the center of the international market—Europe—whereas East Africa was close to the very core of the world's shipping routes. Though it was somewhat off those routes, that also made blockading East Africa difficult. Even if the sea routes were closed, there were still overland routes.
The British had not even spared the Kingdom of Imerina, which was interesting. It showed that, in order to blockade East Africa, Britain was already so hungry that it would eat anything.
In July 1879, the British Government passed a sanctions bill against