Enterprise and Adventure/The Discoverers of the Niger
THE DISCOVERERS OF THE NIGER.
The story of the discovery of the course of the Niger, by Richard and John Lander, has, in many respects, no parallel in the history of exploration. Richard Lander, the faithful servant of Captain Hugh Clapperton, and the sole survivor of the unfortunate expedition of that most patient and enterprising of African travellers, returned to England in 1827, and soon afterwards volunteered his services in continuing those researches which had been so unhappily terminated by the death of Clapperton and his companions. The proposal of the enthusiastic Lander did not meet with any great amount of encouragement. He had, in fact, little but his familiarity with the country and his good constitution to recommend him. A Cornish boy, gifted with no extraordinary talent, he had not the advantage of high birth, or even of a good education. He was entirely destitute of that scientific training which had always been considered indispensable to an explorer setting out under the patronage of Government or of a learned society. He was unable to make astronomical observations, so necessary in determining the position of places, with the accuracy required for the construction of a map. He had scarcely any knowledge of natural history, of botany, of geology, or any other of those sciences which enable a traveller to observe with accuracy. A common compass was actually the only scientific instrument which he carried with him, and even this was lost by an unfortunate accident during his travels. But his extraordinary perseverance outweighed all these objections, and enabled him to surmount every difficulty, and finally to unlock the great secret of Western Africa—the course of the great river Niger—which had baffled the efforts of a long line of travellers of far higher powers.
John Lander, the younger brother of Richard, who proposed to accompany him, had, in some respects, the advantage of his brother in education and literary attainments. He had cultivated a taste for literature in his own way, and had produced several essays in prose and verse, not wanting in merit; he had, besides, drawn up the account of his brother's former journey after the death of Clapperton. A man of warm heart and some imagination, strongly attached to his elder brother, he determined to accompany him this time in his wanderings and to share his fortunes. The government, however, somewhat meanly refused to allow him any salary during the expedition, or even to make him the promise of a reward in the event of success. Even to Richard the encouragement afforded was exceedingly scanty. A sum of one hundred pounds was agreed to be paid to his wife, who remained in England, in four instalments during the year following his departure, and on the return of the party, another hundred pounds was promised to be paid to himself. Meanwhile he was furnished with all the articles considered necessary for his personal convenience during the journey, together with a sum of two hundred dollars in coin, with the proviso that, in case of need, he might at Badagry, on the coast of Africa, draw upon the treasury for any sum not exceeding three hundred dollars. Such was the trifling equipment with which the two brothers set forth on a mission of the highest importance to geographical science.
Park and Clapperton, and their predecessors, had traced the course of the Niger for many hundreds of miles as it flowed in a north-easterly direction from the great mountain range which gives rise to the Senegal to Timbuctoo. Park had traced it hither in a southerly course as far as Boussa, where he perished, and the heroic Clapperton had determined the position of the place; but the question of whither it flowed from this point, or where it fell into the sea, was still entirely unknown. This was the question which the Landers started to solve, and their efforts were happily crowned with success. By tracing the course of the river from Boussa downwards, they established beyond all doubt the fact that the Quorra river, which flows into the sea in the Gulf of Guinea, was in fact the mouth of the Niger; and thus these two unlettered travellers completed in a few months what had been the work of ages.
No book of African travel surpasses in interest the narrative of these indefatigable explorers. During all the trials and hardships of their journey, their journals were invariably written on the spot at the close of each day; and when they returned they made no alteration, nor introduced a single sentence in the original manuscript. "It was intimated to us," they remark in the simple preface to their book, "that the public would prefer it in that state, however faulty in style, rather than a more elaborate narrative which might gain less in elegance than it would lose in accuracy and vividness of description;" and few readers will doubt the correctness of this advice.
Among the most interesting episodes of their travels were the discoveries which they made of traces of the unfortunate Mungo Park, the manner of whose end was still uncertain. The information which they obtained placed beyond doubt the fact that Park and his companions had perished at Boussa, while attempting to escape in their canoe from an attack of the natives. A tobe or cloak which appeared to have belonged to Park, was seen by them in possession of the king of that country. To rescue Park's journals which must have contained so much which would be of interest to geographical students was their chief object, and in this they seemed at one moment about to be successful. One day the king came to see them followed by a man with a book under his arm, which was said to have been picked up in the Niger after the loss of Park's canoe. It was enveloped in a large cotton cloth, and the travellers' hearts beat high with expectation as the man was slowly unfolding it, for by its size they guessed it to be Park's journal; but to their great disappointment it turned out, on opening it, to be merely an old nautical publication of the last century, with a title page missing, and containing only tables of logarithms. The relic, however, was interesting, for between its leaves they found a few loose notes of very little consequence, but sufficient to prove that these really were relics of their ill-fated predecessor. One was a tailor's bill addressed to Mr. Anderson, one of Park's party; the other was a brief note dated Strand, 9th November, 1804, containing an invitation to dinner, from a Mr. and Mrs. Watson, and addressed to Mr. Park.
Among other interesting incidents were the shifts to which the Landers were put to make presents to the various royal personages through whose territories they passed, a necessity of their progress for which the means placed at their disposal by the Government appeared ludicrously inadequate. Unfortunately for them, a great quantity of needles had been distributed through the country by the last mission, so that one of the resources on which they had relied partially failed them. "When they arrived in a region less stocked with these instruments, a new trouble awaited them. They had brought from England nearly a hundred thousand needles of various sizes, and among them a great quantity of what were called "Whitechapel sharps," warranted "superfine" and "not to cut in the eye." Thus highly recommended, the unfortunate travellers had imagined that their needles must be excellent indeed; but, to their great chagrin, a number which they had disposed of were returned to them with the complaint that they were all eyeless, a fact which certainly justified the boast of the maker that they "would not cut in the eye." On an examination, it was found that the same charge was applicable to the whole remainder of the so-called "Whitechapel sharps," so that to save their credit they were compelled to throw them away. Their next best, and indeed their only resource was then the metal buttons attached to their clothes. These, when polished highly, looked well, and completely won the people of all ranks from the Sultan to the slave. The clothes of the whole expedition became, in consequence, stripped of their buttons, after which they had to depend for support on a quantity of livery and soldiers' buttons, which were very dull and dirty, and required many hours' labour to polish them to the suitable degree of brightness.
The Landers returned from their expedition completely successful, and obtained handsome rewards both from the Government and the Geographical Society. The unhappy fate of Richard Lander is well known. Descending the Niger on a subsequent visit in 1834, his canoe was attacked by a party of natives armed with muskets. Lander defended himself gallantly, and the party escaped, but in the engagement, the manly, kindhearted, indefatigable explorer received a wound from a musket ball in the thigh, which, thirteen days later, proved fatal. He died at Fernando Po, at the mouth of that river which he had identified with his name.