Story of the Niger. A record of travel and adventure from the days of Mungo Park to the present time ... With ... illustrations

Front matter

MUNGO PARK SEEING THE MOSS IN THE DESERT. r^^jo Story of the Niger Ruins of the Cottage at Feiulskieis, near Selkirk, in which Mungo Park was born. Hbomas iRclson ano Sons, NDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK. STORY OF THE NIGER A Record of Travel and Adventure From the Days of Mungo Park To tlie Present Time. BY IRobert IRtcbaroson Author of "Adventurous Boat Voyages," "Almost a Hero," "Ralph's Year in Russia," etc etc. With 31 Illustrations JSfonDctt : T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YORK. i888. preface. This Story of the Niger is a rapid summary of facts. The material upon which the narrative is based is found scattered over many bulky volumes, such as few readers would have either the leisure or the inclination to attack. But it has been thought that, from the intrinsic interest of the story, a brief continuous narrative might prove acceptable to all who love a tale of travel and adventure.

The story in these pages is essentially that told by the actors in the drama themselves, and is such as demanded no decoration at second hand. What has been aimed at was simply to collect all that was most striking and interesting, most pathetic or most humorous, and to weld the whole together in a consecutive and trustworthy narrative. Attention may be called specially to the Sketch

Preface

. Map of the Basins of the Senegal and Niger, showing Mungo Park's intended route on his second expedi tion to Central Africa, which is here reproduced in facsimile from the original drawing made by the traveller, and presented by him to his niece, Miss Jane Park. t> p R. R. desontents. I. AFRICAN DISCOVERY PREVIOUS TO PARK, ... ... 15 II. PARK'S 1TRST JOURNEY, ... ... ... ... ... 22 III. PARK'S SECOND JOURNEY, ... ... ... ... 78 IV. CLAPPERTON AND THE LANDERS, ... ... ... ... 92 V. EXPLORATION OP THE NIGER AND BENUEH, ... 129 VI. CAPTAIN GALLIENl'S EXPEDITION TO THE UPPER NIGER, ... 154 VII. DR. BARTH'S TRAVELS, ... ... ... ... ... 267 VIII. MR. THOMPSON ON THE NIGER, ... ... ... ... JSast of MUNGO PARE SEEING THE MOSS IN THE DESERT, .. .. Frontispiece RUINS OF THE COTTAGE AT FOWLSHIELS, NEAR SELKIRK, IN WHICH mungo park was eorn, .. .. .. ..

Vignette MAP OF CENTRAL AFRICA, SHOWING THE BASIN OF THE NIGER AND ADJACENT COUNTRIES, .. .. .. .. xiv MAP OF PARK'S TRAVELS IN AFRICA, WITH THE COURSE OF THE NIGER, 23 MUNGO PARK'S FIRST SIGHT OF THE NIGER, .. .. 43 TOWN HOUSE OF THE SOMONOS OF SEGO, ON THE NIGER, .. 47 THE NEGRO SONG, .. .. .. .. 51 A LION IN THE WAY, .. .. .. 59 MEAT-MARKET AT YAMINA, ON THE NIGER, .. .. .. 63 BAMBOO BRIDGE ACROSS THE BAKING, . . . - 75 FACSIMILE OF BKETCH MAP OF MUNGO PARK'S INTENDED ROUTE IN HIS second expedition to the niger.— From a Drawing by himself, .. 87 RIVER SCENE IN WESTERN AFRICA, .. .. .. 107 KING OBIE'S VISIT TO THE "ALBURKAH," .. 123 FR.ENCH EXPEDITION AGAINST THE TOUCOULEURS, .. • .. 159 GALLIENl'S EXPEDITION ON THE SENEGAL BETWEEN MATAM AND BAKEL, 165 FIRE ON THE LEFT BANK OF THE BAKHOY, NEAR DEMBA-DIOUB6, 179 VILLAGE OF SOLINTA, ON THE BAKHOY, -. 183 FOREST NEAR THE BILY FALLS, ON THE BAKHOY, .. 191 THE REFRACTORY ASS-DRIVERS, .. ■• ■• 195 IMPROVISED BRIDGE OVER THE KEGNEKO, .. .. ..

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. REVIEW ON THE PLAINS OF KITA TO CELEBRATE THE TREATY OF PRO TECTORATE WITH FRANCE, . . . . . . 207 CROSSING THE "BANDINGHO, . . . . . . 211 RETREAT OF GALLIENl'S EXPEDITION FROM DIO, . . . . . . 219 TORNADO IN THE BIRGO COUNTRY, . . . . . . 231 MARKET AT SOKOTO, . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 SONGHAY VILLAGE, . . . . . . . . . . 283 TJMBUCTOO, .. .. .. .. 301 ENCAMPMENT OF SHEIK BL BAKAY, .. .. .. 307 A NUPE VILLAGE, . . . . . . 339 FILLANI NOBLEMAN AND ATTENDANTS, .. .. 343 VIEW IN SOKOTO, .. .. MAP OF CENTRAL AFRICA, SHOWING THE BASIN OF THE NIGER AND ADJACENT COUNTRIES. STORY OF THE NIGER,

Chapter I. African Discovery Previous To Park

From very early times down to the present day Africa has exercised a fascination for the traveller : no weaker word will so well serve to express the truth. At this moment no other land seems to pos sess such a spell for the discoverer — not even the regions of the North Pole. The two geographical secrets which our modern explorers, land and mari time, most covet, are probably the discovery of the remaining sources of the Nile and the discovery of the North Pole. To the ancients, Africa was a land of mystery and marvel ; and though every year now sees some new region in its vast territory opened up and reclaimed from darkness, it is to a large extent a land of mystery and marvel still. It still offers to the explorer an unrivalled field for discovery and adventure. The nations of antiquity were, however, perfectly well acquainted with the northern portions of Africa — those bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, and in cluding- Carthage and Egypt.

It was in respect to the regions 'beyond this circuit that their knowledge was vague and conflicting. South of the countries skirting the sea-board extended the immeasurable tract of desert now known as the Great Sahara, whose vast ness and appalling desolation were for long sufficient to daunt the most adventurous spirits, checking the advance alike of the conqueror and the traveller. The interest attached to early African discovery may be said to centre in the river Niger. When the attention of modern European nations began to be turned towards Africa as a land offering rich oppor tunities for the acquisition of territory, and the in crease of national wealth and power, it was quickly seen that the Niger formed the natural highway to the heart of the country ; and to hold the secret of the mighty river, to trace and follow its course throughout its whole vast extent, became the chief object of ambition among the discoverers of many dif ferent lands.

Among the earliest historical references — probably the earliest reference— to what modern geographers have supposed to be the Niger, is to be ' found in an account given by Herodotus of a journey made by five young Nasamones of noble birth and ardent spirit, who may be regarded as having formed the first Geographical Association. After a long and adventurous journey, the travellers came upon a great river flowing from west to east, on whose banks dwelt a nation of small black men. This river Herodotus without hesitation declared to be the Nile. That it was not the Nile is certain ; and even that it was the Niger is a disputed point among those who have most closely considered the question. It has been contended by some writers that the young Nasamones, by followinothe course described by their historian, could never have reached the Quorra or Niger ; while others maintain that such a goal to their journey was quite possible, and that the city which the travellers found on the banks of the river, peopled by a diminutive race of black men, was no other than Timbuctoo.

Mention is made of the Niger by both Strabo and Pliny, the former briefly, the latter at great length. Pliny adopts the idea of Herodotus that the Niger was one and the same river with the Nile ; but when Ptolemy comes to treat the subject he directly con troverts this theory, though, from lack of accurate knowledge, he offers nothing in its place save vague surmise. We learn a good deal of the geography of Africa from Arabian writers, but very little that is either accurate or even suggestive in regard to the river Niger. The Arabs at one time exercised a great in- (w) fluence over Africa — planted colonies, built cities, carried on an extensive commerce with the natives in gold and slaves, and finally established themselves as the dominant power in the land. The most famous among Arabian travellers was Ibu Batutu, a Moham medan gentleman distinguished by his learning and accomplishments, who lived in the fourteenth century.

In the course of his travels, Ibu Batutu undoubtedly beheld the Niger, but made the same mistake in regard to it as had been made by older writers, suppos ing it to be identical with the Nile. The next traveller who contributed anything note worthy to our knowledge of Africa was the geographer Leo, a native of Granada, who, for his explorations in the African continent, received the cognomen of Afri canus. He, too, elaborated a theory in regard to the Niger, affirming that it had its source in a lake lying to the south of Bornou. While Portugal was in the zenith of her power, and her ships were supreme upon the seas, she directed her energies towards Africa with a view to coloniza tion and national aggrandizement. Portuguese navi gators made important discoveries along the western shores of the continent, opening up to commerce and the world the mouths of three several rivers — the Senegal, the Gambia, and the Rio Grande — all of which they believed to be the channels by which the Niger emptied itself into the Atlantic.

The power and influence of Portugal, both on land and sea, waned until the nation ceased to be a factor in the councils of Europe. But after a long period of inglorious tor por in the direction of discovery and scientific enter prise, Portugal is again showing signs of coming to the front, if we may take as evidence the recent spirited and wonderful journey of Major Serpo Pinta across Africa. From this brief survey of early African discovery it will be seen that the river Niger, though it was made the focus of exploration, for a long period baffled the attempts of travellers to determine accurately either its source or its course. It was reserved for England to pierce and dissipate the thick cloud of obscurity which veiled the great river. Yet this was not accomplished immediately, nor without sacrifice.

An association was formed in England in 1788, which took the title of the African Association. As its name suggests, the object of the association was to stimulate and encourage African discovery. The endeavours of the committee to find persons willing and competent to attempt the arduous task of penetrating into the interior of Africa met with a quick response, the first volunteer for the required work being Mr. Ledyard. The chief qualifications which this gentleman possessed for the enterprise, besides dauntless courage and great ardour, were his having been a comrade of the illustrious Cook in his voyage round the world, and his having spent many years of adventurous life among the North American Indians. Mr. Ledyard's career in Africa was a sadly brief one. While at Cairo, whence his expedition was to set out, he was laid low by fever, induced, there can be little doubt, by the fretting of his eager and impetuous spirit at some hindrance in the starting of his caravan.

Hasty and injudicious treatment of himself completed what anxiety and vexation had begun ; and thus the first envoy of the African Association brought to an untimely close an enterprise which, had intrepidity and enthusiasm been all that was required, might have had a brilliant and important issue. The next traveller employed by the Association was Mr. Lucas. He was unfortunate in the timing of his journey, for the regions of Africa through which he endeavoured to pass were in a disturbed and dangerous state, owing to a rebellion among the Moors. Neither camels nor guides could be procured, and at last the traveller was obliged to abandon his enterprise. Nevertheless Mr. Lucas succeeded in collecting various notes relative to the country contiguous to Tripoli, which added something to the general know ledge of Africa.

It will be observed that these two attempts to ad vance into the interior of Africa were land expeditions. The next undertaken was so far of the same character, but the start was from an entirely different point. Major ■2} AFRICAN DISCOVERY PREVIOUS TO PARK. Houghton, the third adventurer in the field of African exploration, chose the route by the river Gambia, be lieving that he would thereby most surely and quickly reach the Niger. Few episodes in the record of African adventure are more pitiable than the fate of this gal lant and ardent gentleman. He reached in safety Ferbanna, on the Faleme, where he was welcomed with every hospitality by the king, who forwarded him on his journey by all the means in his power. The next and last personal communication from Major Hough ton told of his being in good health and spirits ; but shortly thereafter the report came of his death — a report which was subsequently confirmed in every essential by Park.

Plundered of everything he pos sessed, and left to wander without food and clothing in the heart of the desert, the ill-fated traveller perished of starvation, exposure, and fatigue.

Chapter II

park's first journey. We now arrive at a very important stage in the history of African discovery — ■ that marked by the appearance of Mungo Park. Park's success as a discoverer having so greatly exceeded that of any pre vious traveller, it is fitting that we should place before the reader a few particulars regarding his early life, before proceeding to give an epitome of his two great journeys. Mungo Park's birth-place was Fowlshiels, near Sel kirk, where he first saw the light in September 1771. The elder Park was a well-to-do farmer, who had so strong an infusion of the ambition common among Scottish parents of giving their children the best edu cation in their power, that he engaged a tutor for his boys and girls — a rare proceeding on the part of a farmer in those days. Young Mungo Park subsequently attended a school in Selkirk, where he does not appear to have displayed more than an average degree of ability in his studies.

He was fond of all kinds of reading, however, and was generally of a thoughtful temperament. It is related of the boy that old romances and the stirring Border ballads were among his favourite reading, which would seem to indicate that beneath the quiet reserve of his outward bearing there smouldered no little imagination and enthusiasm. It was the desire of his parents that young Mungo should study for the ministry, but the lad's own in clinations were not in this direction. He wished to follow the medical profession, and was accordingly apprenticed to a surgeon in Selkirk. In the year 1789 he began to attend the medical lectures at the Edinburgh University, and finished the usual three years' course. His favourite study at this time, and indeed always, was botany. In 1792 Park sailed for Sumatra, as assistant sur geon on board the East Indiaman Worcester, returning to England after a year's absence.

The desire of the African Association to find some individual qualified and ready to prosecute still further the work of ex ploration in Africa, and to endeavour to finish what Major Hough ton and his predecessors had little more than begun, roused the ambition and enthusiasm of Park, and he offered his services to the Association. The committee deemed Mr. Park's qualifications for his task fully sufficient, his services were accepted, and preparations were begun for his departure for Africa. Nearly two years elapsed, however, before he was ready to start. Park sailed from Portsmouth on the 22 nd of May 1795, and disembarked in Africa at Jillifree, a town on the Gambia. On the 5 th July he reached Pisania, where he was warmly welcomed by Dr. Laidley. During a residence of five months with his hospitable host, Park attained to considerable proficiency in the Mandingo language ; while at the same time he was active in studying the customs and character of the natives and the natural features of the country— a pursuit which even an attack of fever only partially interrupted.

He describes the Gambia at this stage of its course as deep and muddy, its shores hidden by thickets of mangrove, the stream itself being full of fish of strange and unknown varieties, and higher up of hippopotami and alligators. Mr. Park took leave of Dr. Laidley early in De cember 1795. His companions were three in num ber — a man, a boy, and a horse. The first was a native named Johnson, who spoke both English and Mandingo ; the second a negro lad, Demba, who was also acquainted with several languages besides his own ; while the horse was a small but wiry animal, of much spirit and hardihood. Johnson and Demba had also an ass each, which carried both their masters and the packs. On December the 5th the little party of travellers reached Medina, a town containing some one thousand houses, and the capital of the kingdom of Wooli.

King Jatta, the ruling sovereign of Wooli, was the king who had so hospitably received Major Houghton during his sojourn in his dominions; and he now mani fested the same disposition to befriend and assist Mr. Park. Nevertheless he thought it incumbent on him to try to dissuade the traveller from his journey, assuring him that the same fate which befell Major Houghton awaited every white man who should en deavour to pass through the countries east of Wooli. Mr. Park thanked the king for his kindly and well meant advice, but said that he must at all hazards complete the task he had begun. On the 8th the travellers reached Kolor, a town of some size, where Mr. Park first made the acquaintance of that curious African deity or demon — whichever it may be regarded as — Mumbo Jumbo. He beheld, sus pended from the bough of a tree, a sort of masquerade suit made of bark, and this, he was informed, belonged to Mumbo Jumbo.

A Kafir may marry as many wives as he pleases, or can afford to add to his house hold. One result of this system of polygamy, as it obtains among the Mandingoes, is that the wives occasionally fall out. When these intestine wars wax so fierce that the authority of the husband is set at defiance, the aid of Mumbo Jumbo is invoked, and seldom, it would appear, without the desired effect. " This strange minister of justice," writes Mr. Park, "(who is supposed to be either the husband himself or some person instructed by him), disguised in the dress that has been mentioned, and armed with the rod of public authority, announces his coming by loud and dismal screams in the woods near the town. He begins the pantomime at the approach of night ; and as soon as it is dark he enters the town and proceeds to the bentang, at which all the inhabitants immediately assemble."

It will thus be seen that Mumbo Jumbo is the great bugbear or " Bogey " of Mandingo Kafir wives. At Ko'ojar, the frontier town of the kingdom of Bondou, our traveller was invited to witness a neobering or wrestling-match. The antagonists, athletic young men fired with emulation, stripped naked, save for a short pair of drawers, and with their limbs well lubricated with shea butter, like the com petitors in the ancient classic games, approached each other on all fours. After some little feinting and warding the rivals closed, and then began a display of agility and strength which Mr. Park believed few English athletes would have been able to match. The combatants were stimulated in their contest by the music of a drum, to whose rude strains they even, in some degree, timed their movements. On the morning of the 12 th the travellers entered the wilderness that stretches between the kingdoms of Wooli and Bondou.

At noon they found them selves beneath a large tree, the odd appearance of which could not fail to strike Mr. Park. The tree was called by the natives Neema Taba. Its branches were ornamented with a ragged drapery of scraps and patches of cloth which various travellers had fastened to them — at first, Mr. Park suggests, to indicate that water was to be found close at hand ; and the custom having in time come to be regarded as a sort of religious rite, at length no wayfarer cared to pass without hanging up something. Mr. Park's next halting-place was Tallika, the chief town in the Bondou territory, the inhabitants of which seemed to do a brisk commerce in supplying passing caravans with provisions, and also in ivory two sources of wealth which enabled them to live in comfortable estate. The travellers quitted Tallika on December 14th, but had ridden only a short distance when the har mony of the little company — which, it must be stated, was at this time increased by a party of Serawoollies — was interrupted by a fierce quarrel between two of the number.

These breakers of the peace indulged in some very unflattering epithets towards each other ; which causes Mr. Park to relate, as a circumstance worthy of note, that a blow is a much lighter insult to an African than a slighting word spoken of his rela tives. " Strike me, but do not curse my mother," is an expression frequently heard even from the lips of slaves. Mr. Park took prompt measures to put an end to this unseemly quarrel between his fellow travellers, by plainly informing the one who was mani festly in the wrong, that if he attempted to draw his cutlass again, he should regard him as a robber and shoot him on the spot — a threat which had all the desired effect. The above is an example of the prompt and fearless measures which Mr. Park could command whenever any crisis called for such — a quality all the more remarkable in one naturally disposed to be pro pitiatory, where propitiatory action would by any means serve his end.

On the 21st Mr. Park arrived at Fatteconda, the chief town in Bondou, where he was quickly presented to the king, Almami. The traveller approached the presence of this personage with some feeling of doubt, for he had heard that Almami's conduct towards Major Houghton was marked by great unkindness. Mr. Park therefore took the precaution of bringing J. o o with him gifts of some value. The king received the presents more graciously than the giver had hoped for, and then, after some long and circumlocutory praise of white men in general, their riches and their generosity, descended to particulars by passing a warm eulogium on Mr. Park's coat — a blue one, gay with yellow buttons — and finally wound up his speech in the manner that the traveller probably anticipated, by begging him to present him with the garment.

Though the coat was the only good one in Mr. Park's possession, he deemed it politic to consent to the king's request, knowing that with an African prince a request is usually synonymous with a com mand. The traveller's mortification in this instance must have been all the greater from the circumstance that he had put on his new blue coat in the fond expectation that his back was the safest place for it — a process of reasoning altogether too simple for the occasion, as the event proved. King Almami, however, so far reimbursed Mr. Park for the loss of his coat as to supply him with plenty of provisions, and subsequently — as a mark of special favour probably — introduced him to the ladies of his household, who had expressed a wish to see the stranger. This interview with King Almami's wives formed one of the funniest episodes in Park's travels.

These were about a dozen in number, for the most part of comely aspect and lively demeanour. Two features in the traveller's appearance especially sur prised and amused them — the whiteness of his com plexion, and the prominence of his nose. He had been washed in milk when a child, they insisted, and had thus become so white, while his nose had attained its present unnatural and preposterous shape by dint of daily pinching. Mr. Park met the badinage of the dusky beauties in a like light and lively vein, indulging in a liberal strain of compliment on the good looks of African ladies. His entertainers replied that honey-mouth, their expressive phrase for flattery, was but lightly regarded in Bondou. Nevertheless they did not seem altogether indifferent to the white man's approval, one proof of which may have been the little present — a jar of honey and some fish — which they afterwards sent to his hut.

Park quitted Fatteconda on the 23rd, and presently reached Joag, in the kingdom of Kagaaga, the in habitants of which are called Serawoollies, a people who show a marked capacity for business, are fairly honest and straightforward in their dealings, and many of whom attain to comparative wealth from the sale of gold, salt, and cotton. Our traveller was not well treated by the Serawoollies, being robbed of his money by a party of horsemen, who pretended that he had contravened the laws of the country by entering it without paying duty. As an offset to this indignity, however, he met with unexpected kindness at the hands of an old woman, who behold ing him sitting, disconsolate and hungry-looking, be neath a bentang tree, asked him if he had had his dinner. On Park's replying in the negative, and recounting the circumstances of his robbery, the old woman, placing on the ground the basket she had been carrying on her head, took from it some hand fuls of nuts, and, with a look of much solicitude and pity, presented them to the white man.

This was the first of many similar instances of spontaneous and unlooked-for kindness which Park experienced from the rude and untutored peoples among whom his journey led him, and it will be seen, as the narrative proceeds, how, in his sorest straits, he was especially indebted to women for succour and solace. Park's next important halting-place was Koonia kari in the kingdom of Kasson, where he was well received by the king, Demba Sego Jalla, a favourable specimen of a native prince, whose prowess in war and clemency in peace had secured the sincere attachment of his people. Demba Sego Jalla had seen Major Houghton, and had made him a present of a white horse. He knew that the traveller had been killed by the Moors, but could not supply Mr. Park with the particulars of his death. Park was fur nished by the king with two guides to conduct him to Kaarta, the capital of which, Kemmoo, he presently reached.

Towards sunset of the same day he had an audience of the king (Daisey Koorabani) who received the white man seated simply on a bank of earth, which, covered with a leopard-skin, formed the royal throne. King Daisey was surrounded by a large body of guards and attendants, who preserved excellent order ; but save for the elevation of his seat and the leopard -skin, there was nothing about the king to distinguish him from the rest of his court. When Park had explained to King Daisey the cir cumstances and object of his journey, and asked his aid in forwarding him on his way, the latter listened to the traveller with attention, but replied that he would be unable to render him much assistance. There was feud between the people of Kaarta and of Bambarra, the adjoining kingdom ; and hence it was impossible that the king of the former country could at present enter into friendly communication with one who was his enemy.

King Daisey strongly recom mended Mr. Park to return by the way he had come ; but as the traveller expressed a firm determination not to do this, the king advised, as the next best course to adopt, that Park should proceed to Bam barra by a circuitous route through the Moorish territory of Ludamar. It was identically the same path which led Major Houghton to his death ; but as he had no other choice, Park determined to follow it also, and on February the 13th set out from Kemmoo, accompanied by three of King Daisey's sons. Shortly before entering Jarra, the frontier town of Ludamar, Park witnessed an episode of curious and painful interest. A native herdsman had been wounded by a Moorish robber, and was being slowly led home, supported on his horse by a number of comrades. In front of the little cortege walked the young man's mother, wild with grief, clapping with her hands, and singing the praises of her son — his virtues, gifts, and graces.

" Ee maffo fonio ! " (He never told a lie.) " Ee maffo fonio ; abada " (He never told a lie ; no, never !), she cried. The wounded youth was carried into her hut and placed upon a mat — a crowd of his friends gathering around the white, and bewailing the mishap with pitiable howling and moaning. Mr. Park being requested to examine the young man's wound, did so, and found that the bone of the leg had sustained a serious fracture, which would ne cessitate the amputation of the limb, if there was to be any hope of saving the lad's life. This the boy's relatives and friends would not hear of, regarding it as an act of unheard-of cruelty ; and the sufferer died the same evening. On the 18th Park and his companions passed the village of Simbing, a place which must have had pain ful associations for the traveller; for it was from here that his gallant predecessor, Major Houghton, dated his last letter — written in pencil — to Dr. Laidley.