Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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As They Approached The Falls Of
Barraconda, The Fears Of The Native Crew Began To Manifest
Themselves, And, As Is
Usual with minds immersed in ignorance and
superstition, they commenced to foretell the most dreadful disasters,
if their captain should
Attempt to proceed above the falls of
Barraconda; numerous stories were now told of the fearful accidents,
which had happened to almost every person who had attempted to
navigate the river above the falls; the upsetting of a single canoe,
from unskilful management, was magnified into the loss of a hundred,
and of course not a single individual escaped a watery grave. The
natives expected that their terrible narratives would have a proper
influence upon the mind of their captain, and that he would, in
consequence, desist from prosecuting his journey beyond the falls,
but when, contrary to their expectations, he expressed his
determination to proceed to the utmost extent to which the river
would be found to be navigable, the natives presented themselves in
a body before him, and declared their firm determination not to
proceed any further, for, to the apparent surprise of Stibbs, they
informed him that Barraconda was the end of the world, and certainly
no person but a fool, or a madman, would attempt to penetrate any
further. Instances, certainly, they confessed had been known of
persons going beyond the end of the world, but then, as might be
naturally expected, they never were seen any more, being either
devoured by enormous beasts, or carried away into another world, by
some horrid devils, who were always on the watch to catch the
persons, who rejecting the advice, which they themselves were now
giving, were so fool hardy as to throw themselves in their power.
Stibbs now found himself in rather an unpleasant predicament, the
natives appeared resolute not to proceed beyond Barraconda, and Stibbs
knew well that it would be highly imprudent in him to proceed without
them. A palaver was held, and all the arguments which Stibbs could
bring forward, failed to produce the desired effect upon his alarmed
crew. He, however, suddenly bethought himself, that he had an
argument in his possession, of greater potency, than any that could
be afforded by the most persuasive arguments, and taking a bottle of
brandy from his chest, he gave to each man a glass of the spirit,
when, on a sudden, a very extraordinary change appeared to take place
in their opinions and sentiments. They might have been misled as to
Barraconda being the end of the world, and they did now remember some
instances of persons returning, who had been beyond the falls, and as
to the enormous animals, who were said to have devoured the voyagers;
they now believed that no other animals were meant than crocodiles
and river horses, which, although certainly formidable, were not by
any means such dreadful objects as to prevent them prosecuting their
voyage. Thus, what the powers of oratory could not effect, nor the
arguments of sound and deliberate reason accomplish, was achieved in
a moment by the administration of a small quantity of spirituous
liquid, giving bravery to the coward, and daring to the effeminate.
They had now arrived at the dreaded boundary of the habitable world,
but the falls were not found to be nearly so formidable as they had
been represented; they bore rather the character of narrows than of
falls, the channel being confined by rocky ledges and fragments,
between which there was only one passage, where the canoes rubbed
against the rocks on each side. Contrary to the reports, which had
been in general circulation, of the dispositions of the natives of
the Upper Gambia, in which they were represented to be of a most
ferocious and savage nature, they were found to be a harmless, kind,
and good-humoured people, who, on every occasion, hastened to render
every assistance in their power to the navigators, making them
presents of fowls and provisions, and, in some instances, refusing to
take any thing in return for the articles which they gave away.
The most laborious part of the journey now presented itself, which
consisted in the great exertions, which were necessary in order to
pass the flats and quicksands, which seemed to multiply as they
ascended the river, and which obliged the natives to strip and get
into the water, to drag the boats over the shallows by main force.
Although the natives had now ascertained beyond all further doubt,
that Barraconda was not the end of the world, yet, one part of their
story was fully verified, which was that relating to the enormous
animals, with which these desolate regions were tenanted. To the
present travellers, they appeared far more formidable than to their
predecessors, for the very elephants that had fled precipitately
before the crew of Jobson, struck the greatest terror into the party
of Stibbs; for one of them showed such a determined disposition to
exhibit the extent of his strength, that he turned suddenly upon the
crew, and in a very short time put the whole of them to flight. So
little did they show any symptoms of fear for the crew, that they
were frequently seen crossing the river in bands, at a very short
distance from the boats, throwing up the water with their trunks in
every direction, and raising such an emotion in the water, as to make
the boats rock about, to the great alarm of the crews, and
particularly the natives, who now began to wish, that they had not
been seduced by the potency of the spirituous liquid, to venture into
a region, where death presented itself to them, in the strict embrace
of an elephant's trunk, or bored to death by the teeth of the river
horse. In regard to the latter animal, the danger which they
incurred, was more imminent than with the elephants, but this did not
arise from the greater ferocity or savageness of the animal, for the
river horse moves in general in a sluggish and harmless manner; but
in the shallow places of the river, the horses were seen walking at
the bottom, and the space between them and the boat so small, that
the keel often came into collision with the back of the animal, who,
incensed at the affront offered to him, would be apt to strike a hole
through the boat with his huge teeth, and thereby endanger its
sinking.
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