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KING PELLINORE’S LITERARY MAGAZINE

"See here, governor! He's a likely-looking animal,—but I can't manage
him! If you won't take him, I must let him go!!"

It’s metaphor, right? The African explorer is a emp ng to sell his
white elephant to a rich bloke. The elephant ‐‐ the white elephant,
don’t you know ‐‐stands for a valuable but burdensome possession of
which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost of upkeep is out of
propor on to its usefulness or worth. In 1892, the Bri sh East Africa
Company (the explorer, see?), was administering vast swathes of East
Africa (including the territory of Uganda, the white elephant of its
day). It was having troubles nego a ng the difference between its
role as a commercial company and ruling en ty with colonial
administra ve rights. By 1894, the Bri sh government (the wealthy
man, if you’re following...) had assumed administra on rights of the
territory and established the Uganda Protectorate, effec vely
dissolving the company.

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