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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Instead Of Another Niagara, Which General Report Had
Led Them To Expect, They Saw Only A Comparative Brook Bubbling Over
Its Stony Bed.
The fall appears to be occasioned merely by masses of
granite, fragments of which have fallen down and blocked up the
stream.
Yet this obstruction rendered it quite impossible for the
boats to pass, nor could they be carried across the precipices and
deep ravines, by which the country was intersected. The discoverers
were, therefore, obliged to proceed by land through this difficult
region, which, without a guide on whom they could rely, was attended
with overwhelming toil. Cooloo Inga, and Mavoonda, the principal
villages, were separated by wide intervals, which placed the
travellers under the necessity of often sleeping in the open air.
At length the country improved and became more level; the river
widened, and the obstacles to its navigation gradually disappeared.
But just as the voyage began to assume a prosperous aspect,
indications of its fatal termination began to show themselves.
The health of the party was rapidly giving way under the effects of
fatigue, as well as the malignant influence of a damp and burning
atmosphere. Tudor, Crouch and Galwey, were successively obliged to
return to the ship. Captain Tuckey, after struggling for some time
against the increasing pressure of disease and exhaustion, as well as
the accumulating difficulties of the expedition, saw the necessity of
putting a stop to its further progress. Mr. Smith at first expressed
deep disappointment at this resolution, but soon became so ill that
he could scarcely be conveyed to the vessel. On reaching it, a sad
scene awaited the survivors; Crouch, Tudor and Galwey, were no more;
they had successively sunk under the weight of disease. Mr. Smith
soon shared their fate, and Captain Tuckey himself, on the 4th
October, added one more to the number of deaths, without having
suffered the usual attack of fever. He had been exhausted by constant
depression and mental anxiety.
From this unfortunate expedition, however, some information was
obtained respecting a part of Africa, not visited for several
centuries. No trace indeed was seen of the great kingdoms, or of the
cities and armies described by the Portuguese missionaries, so that
though the interior may very probably be more populous than the banks
of the river, there must in these pious narratives be much
exaggeration; indeed it is not unworthy of remark, that all the
accounts of the early missionaries, into whatever part of the world
they undertook to intrude themselves, can only be looked upon as a
tissue of falsehood, and hyperbolical misrepresentation.
The largest towns, or rather villages, did not contain above one
hundred houses, with five hundred or six hundred inhabitants. They
were governed by chenoos, with a power nearly absolute, and having
mafooks under them, who were chiefly employed in the collection of
revenue. The people were merry, idle, good-humoured, hospitable, and
liberal, with rather an innocent and agreeable expression of
countenance. The greatest blemish in their character appeared in the
treatment of the female sex, on whom they devolved all the laborious
duties of life, even more exclusively than is usual among negro
tribes, holding their virtues also in such slender esteem, that the
greatest chiefs unblushingly made it an object of traffic. Upon this
head, however, they have evidently learned much evil from their
intercourse with Europeans. The character of the vegetation, and the
general aspect of nature, are pretty nearly the same on the Congo, as
on the other African rivers.
Meantime the other part of the expedition, under Major Peddie, whose
destination it was to descend the Niger, arrived at the mouth of the
Senegal. Instead of the beaten track along the banks of that river or
of the Gambia, he preferred the route through the country of the
Foulahs, which, though nearer, was more difficult and less explored.
On the 17th November 1816, he sailed from the Senegal, and on the
14th December, the party, consisting of one hundred men, and two
hundred animals, landed at Kakundy, on the Rio Nunez; but before they
could begin their march, Major Peddie was attacked with fever, and
died. Captain Campbell, on whom the command devolved, proceeded on
the line proposed till he arrived at a small river, called the
Ponietta, on the frontier of the Foulah territory. By this time many
of the beasts of burden had sunk, and great difficulty was found in
obtaining a sufficient supply of provisions. The king of the Foulahs,
on being asked permission to pass through his territory, seemed
alarmed at hearing of so large a body of foreigners about to enter
his country. He contrived, under various pretexts, to detain them on
the frontier four months, during which their stock of food and
clothing gradually diminished, while they were suffering all the
evils that arise from a sickly climate and a scanty supply of
necessaries. At length, their situation became such as to place them
under the absolute necessity of returning. All their animals being
dead, it was necessary to hire the natives to carry their baggage, an
expedient which gave occasion to frequent pillage. They reached
Kakundy with the loss only of Mr. Kum-Doer, the naturalist; but
Captain Campbell, overcome by sickness and exertion, died two days
after, on the 13th of June 1817. The command was then transferred to
Lieutenant Stokoe, a spirited young naval officer, who had joined the
expedition as a volunteer. He had formed a new scheme for proceeding
into the interior; but unhappily he also sunk under the climate and
the fatigues of the, journey.
A sentence of death seemed pronounced against all, who should attempt
to penetrate the African continent, and yet were still some, daring
spirits, who did not shrink from the undertaking. Captain Gray, of
the Royal African corps, who had accompanied the last-mentioned
expedition, under Major Peddie and Captain Campbell, undertook, in
1818, to perform a journey by Park's old route along the Gambia.
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