Post by greaden on Apr 7, 2023 19:56:45 GMT
Before French Guinea was established as a colony, the coast was a dependency of Senegal called Rivieres du Sud, or Southern Rivers. Some German merchants also claimed it, but the Kaiser was less than enthusiastic, and traded the claim in exchange for towns that could be attached to Togo and Cameroon.
The postmark is from Conakry, Rivieres du Sud in 1892. It is on what appears to be the reply part of German postal stationary. I take that this must have been permitted under the newly-established UPU guidelines. It does not appear to be ship mail, which normally accounts for mismatches between the countries mentioned on postmarks and stamps. The paquebot is French, traveling a route from Loango (now in Congo) to Marseilles.
It is from a Norman Metz writing from Boulbinet, now a neighborhood in Conakry, to his little brother back in Munich. It is written in broken English. Perhaps Norman Metz was part of the old German claim to the area?
