The
Change Of Prospect Was Most Grateful To Those Who Had Spent Two Months In
A Flat, Marshy, And Uninteresting Country.
These mountains lie in the
direction of W.N.W. and E.S.E., where they are intersected by the Niger.
Their outlines are extremely bold, and they appear to be chiefly composed
of granite.
The navigation of the channel between them is full of danger,
as large fragments of granite have fallen into the stream, and produced
eddies and shoals. At a little distance beyond this point, a noble
prospect opened before the Voyagers. "An immense river, about three
thousand yards wide, extending as far as the eye could reach, lay before
us, flowing majestically between its banks, which rose gradually to a
considerable height, and were studded with clumps of trees and brushwood,
giving them the appearance of a gentleman's park; while the smoke rising
from different towns on its banks, and the number of canoes floating on
its bosom, gave it an aspect of security and peace." Here the vessel ran
aground with a violent shock, and they experienced the greatest
difficulty in relieving her.
A great misfortune happened to the expedition a little above Attah. The
Quorra again ran aground, near the confluence of the Tshadda with the
Niger, and all their efforts to extricate her proved vain; she was
stopped for four months, after which the rising of the water lifted her
up.
Mr. Laird, accompanied by Dr. Briggs, visited Addakudda, which was the
largest town in sight from the vessel on the western bank of the river;
it is situated on an eminence of granite, which gives it the appearance
of a fortified place.
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