accompanying this work, it may be observed, that it is extremely
probable the course of the stream in the middle part is still too much
(perhaps a degree and a half) to the north. This would bring the lake
Fittre into the latitude assigned by Ptolemy to the Nuba Palus. The
bend, or angle formed by the river northward of Wara, is also, in all
probability, much less acute than is represented on the map; and Wara is
perhaps more to the west, and not so much to the north of Darfur. This
would give the river, in appearance, a more natural course in those
parts, and which the bearings given by the Arabian and native merchants
would admit of without unnecessarily wresting their meaning. The rivers
that descend from the north would thus have a greater space to traverse
before these joined the Gir. On the other hand, the mountains which give
these birth, may be more to the southward than I have placed them; and,
in this particular, corresponding with the accounts given by Ptolemy
more accurately than their position as supported by the testimony of
Arab merchants. From 21° to 22° north latitude, there is reason to
believe, is the true position of the highest chain of those natural
barriers which divide the desert from the fruitful land. Northward,
there is no doubt, lesser chains gradually decreasing in height, till
these reach the desert. Northward of Ashantee, we have no difficulty in
ascertaining the highest land. The magnitude of the rivers which flow
S.E. point that out very distinctly. Thus we learn from Bowditch, (p.
171.) that at, and near Boopee, the Adirri and Addifoosoo, the two chief
sources of the Rio Volta, are about 120 yards broad. Lower down, and in
the route from Coomassie to Sallagha, the rivers Kirradee, and Oboosoom,
running S.E. are each about 60 yards broad. These things are sure guides
in determining the most elevated parts of the country. Independent of
the positive testimony of Sidi Hamed, regarding the very high ridges of
mountains in the central parts of Africa, with other concurrent
circumstances, we have the positive testimony of various other
intelligent Arabian travellers and merchants, that stupendous mountains
cover these parts of Africa. Leo informs us that Guber is environed with
mountains; and from Cashna, southward to Ashantee, all authorities agree
in stating that prodigious high hills raise their lofty heads throughout
all the space mentioned. The country northward from Ashantee to Sego and
Jinnë is full of exceeding high mountains, which renders commercial
communications almost impracticable. On the other hand, merchants and
travellers who come from the country of Houssa, to the sea coast at
Lagos and Bonny, make no mention of any particular chain of mountains,
or inconvenience therefrom to travellers; but speak of heights, and
complain chiefly of interruption and difficulties arising from large
rivers, lakes, and morasses. This shews the parts of the country where
the mountains become less elevated, and the land more open, thus
affording an easy passage for the mighty rivers in their course to the
ocean.
The word Kong is Mandingo, and signifies a mountainous country, and not
one particular ridge. Did an impenetrable ridge, as is imagined, extend
from Kong in 10° north latitude to Komri in 7° degrees north latitude,
then the distance from its summit to Benin would not exceed 240
geographic miles. In such a distance, it is utterly impossible that so
many, or indeed any one of the great rivers which enter the sea through
the Delta of Benin, could be formed. From the westward none of them does
or can come; and from the east it is equally obvious that they cannot
flow. All this portion of Africa is mountainous; but it is evident these
mountains admit a passage for the united waters of the Niger and the Gir
from the northward, which, emerging from the mountainous districts, flow
through a level country, and, in the lapse of ages, have formed the
alluvial Delta of Benin.
In the Bights of Biafra and Benin, therefore, is the great outlet of the
Niger, bearing along, in his majestic stream, all the waters of Central
Africa, from 10° west longitude to 28° east longitude, and from the
Tropic of Cancer to the shores of Benin. It is certain it is navigable
from Balia, for Park informs us canoes can pass the rapids at Marraboo.
This celebrated traveller descended the stream in safety to Boussa,
where an accident terminated his life. The traders from the coast go up
the river above this place. The course of the Niger will greatly
resemble, on the map, that of the Orinoco of South America, and the
length from the extreme sources (and those nearest its mouth) will be,
on general bearings, 2250 geographic, or about 2600 British miles. The
cannon, therefore, which thundered at Aboukir, and made the Nile
tremble—those cannon which burst asunder, for ever, the chains of
Christian slavery at Algiers, and which bore the fame of Britain[8] into
the deepest recesses of Africa, may in safety awaken with their echoes,
to obedience and respect, the uncivilized, or half civilized, nations of
all Central Africa.
We have noticed, and from sure authority, the magnitude of the Niger at
Bammakoo—in flood, one mile broad. At the ferry in the route to Houssa,
it is described as two miles broad; at Yaoora, three miles. In other
places it is stated by the Moors as five miles broad. We have noticed
the magnitude of the Gir, the Shary, and the Tzad, in the early part of
their courses—we have noticed the probable magnitude of the Bahr Kulla
and the supposed Gulbe, all uniting in the Gir, which, where it passes
through part of Kashna, with a rapid current, is twenty-three to twenty-
four feet deep, and very wide; and having considered these things
minutely, it is obvious that the united flood (making large allowances
for African amplification,) must form a river equalled by few, very few,
on this globe. The Maranon alone can exceed it. Neither sands can
absorb, nor lakes contain, such streams. When Bowditch mentioned to the
Arabs whom he met with at Ashantee, the European theory, that the Niger
was lost in lakes or sands, they expressed the utmost astonishment.
“God,” they said, “made all the great rivers to flow into the sea, and
did Europeans think that he made the Quolla (Niger,) the greatest of
them all, to be lost in the sands of the desert.”
It has been argued that the diminished size of the Bahr-el-Abiad at
Shilluk, compared with that of the Niger at Bammakoo, and more eastward
in its course, was easily accounted for by evaporation. This argument
might have been allowed some weight, had it been shewn that the supposed
course of the Niger from Timbuctoo to Shilluk lay through countries as
dry and sandy as those countries are through which the Nile flows from
Shilluk to the shores of Egypt. The reverse, however, is, from every
information we can receive, the case. The country along the supposed
course of the Niger, from Timbuctoo to Shilluk, is all remarkably hilly,
woody, mountainous, in many places well cultivated, and abounding with
large rivers, which must increase, not diminish, any great river which
flowed through it. Again, it is argued that the Bahr-el-Abiad being
_full_ all the year, is a proof that it is the Niger. This account,
however, proves the very reverse, because the Niger is not _full_, or in
flood, (for so those who reason thus would take the expression used by
Bruce,) all the year, but only during a part thereof. The expression,
“full all the year,” however, does not mean that the Bahr-el-Abiad is in
perpetual flood, but that it does not diminish in size during the dry
season so much as the Bahr-el-Azreek, and other streams that flow from
the south-eastward. That this is the true meaning of the expression is
obvious, for Bruce also expressly states that “_all_ the rivers in these
parts fail when the sun goes South of the line.”
This continued fullness, or rather greater copiousness of the stream,
during the dry season, in comparison with the eastern branches of the
Nile, proves to a demonstration that the chief branches of the Bahr-el-
Abiad either spring greatly to the southward, (some of them most
probably do,) near the equator, or else considerably to the south-
westward of Shilluk, amidst stupendous mountains covered with
impenetrable forests, where the sun’s rays, during the dry season, have
no influence in lessening the damps and moisture which give vigour to
the springs, and where also the height of the mountains may be such, as
melting snows may at all times add resources to the stream. From Donga,
where the Bahr-el-Abiad is said to rise, to Shilluk, is above 300 miles.
In an equal space, and through similar countries and Alpine scenery, the
Niger becomes a much larger river than the Bahr-el-Abiad is represented
to be at Shilluk. At its junction with the Bahr-el-Azreek it is said to
be three times as large as that stream when it is low. At this junction,
which is in 16° north latitude, the Bahr-el-Azreek can be _crossed on
foot, and is only mid-leg deep_. The magnitude, therefore, of the Bahr-
el-Abiad, calculated by the scale given, it is evident, cannot be very
large. Besides, the Bahr-el-Adda intervenes between the Bahr-el-Abiad
and the conjectured course of the Niger southward and eastward; and
whichever of the former streams may be chosen as the continuation of the
latter, still the theory in question exhibits the Niger in its lower
course as running, not down from, but up against, the hills and high
lands; for such are, and must be, situate about the sources of either
the Bahr-el-Adda or the Bahr-el-Abiad. The latter also is represented,
not as a still river, but of a current so rapid that a considerable
distance is passed over before its waters are mixed with those of the
Bahr-el-Azreek.
Considering all these things attentively, it is not possible that the
Niger, and its collected waters, can flow to form the Bahr-el-Abiad, or
the Nile of Egypt. They may have a communication. That is possible, but
not probable. They are certainly distinct rivers. Can a river which is a
British mile broad, as the Niger is at Bammakoo, in longitude 4° west,
and latitude 13° north, flow through all Central Africa, passing in its
progress east the parallel of 16° north latitude, and then returning
south to 7° north latitude, through a country filled with stupendous
mountains covered with snow, extensive forests, and drenched with
tropical rains— Can such a river, receiving, as it does, and must do,
mighty streams on either hand, flow again northward to north latitude
14°, and to the eastward as far as east longitude 33°; a distance, upon
the general bearings of its course, equal to 2700 geographic (3127
British) miles; and then and there dwindle down to a stream such as the
Bahr-el-Abiad is at Shilluk; the breadth of which, according to Browne,
is only such that _the human features could not be distinguished, but
the human voice could be heard, by a person on the opposite bank?_ This
breadth cannot exceed a quarter of a mile. The identity, therefore, of
the Niger and the Bahr-el-Abiad, is, for this as well as for many other
reasons too tedious to mention, altogether impossible. Swelled by the
tropical rains, which make the dry-bedded torrents of the deserts of
Africa become mighty streams, the Niger, with his accumulating,
accumulated flood, would become a river of such force and magnitude, as
would sweep all the cultivated land of Nubia bare as the rocks which
there compose the bed of the Nile—bear Egypt and her cities headlong
into the Mediterranean Sea, and cover perpetually, with its waters, all
her land, fertile and sterile, from Rosetta “to the tower of Seyne.”
CHAP. V.
_Country south of the Elrei — High land of Cameroons — An extinct
Volcano — Chariot of the Gods — Old Cameroons — Jamoor and Malemba
rivers — Moöhnda or Danger river — Gaboon river — Nazareth, Liverpool,
Bristol, and Tawney rivers — Congo river — Rivers west of the Rio de
Formosa — Rio Lagos — Mory river — Country around it — Rio Volta —
Boosempra, Ancobra, and Assinee rivers — Mesurada river — Sierra Leone —
Way to explore Africa — Distances of places, how ascertained — How to
command Africa — Fernando Po, a sure stronghold — Sierra Leone, a
secondary place — A settlement inland of the greatest importance —
Extent of country it would command — French settlement in Africa — Wish
to extend their power in that quarter — Rivers, their great use in the
Torrid Zone — East coast of Africa, important for Commerce — Rivers
Zambezi and Zebee — Island of Socotora — Situation of Africa — Slavery —
The slave trade — Extent thereof — Slavery and superstition scourges of
Africa — How to benefit Africa — Colonization — Advantage of colonies —
The chief strength of Britain — Eagerly coveted by France — Our efforts
in Central Africa would civilize all Northern Africa — Must expect to
meet difficulties — Perseverance will ensure success._
It is now time to turn our attention to the rivers south of the Elrei.
But first the high land of Cameroons demands our attention. This part of
the coast extends from the mouth of the Elrei to Cameroons river, about
45 miles in a north north-west bearing. The ridge comes close to the
sea. The nearest peak is a volcano, and is higher than the Peak of
Teneriffe. A third of its height is above the limits of vegetation, and
its top every morning _covered with snow_. Considering the latitude so
near the equator, the height, before snow and ice could appear, must
exceed 16,000 feet. Still farther inland, three other peaks are
discernible, each rising in height; for, seen from the sea, the most
distant appears of the same height as the nearest. In the clear
atmosphere of these latitudes, such mountains may be seen at a distance
of 200 miles. The face of these hills does not front the Bight of
Biafra, but fronts south south-east; as the view from old Cameroons
river clearly establishes. It is therefore almost certain, that this is
the termination of a mighty chain of mountains, which branch off from
the mountains of the Moon. It would be contrary to all the knowledge we
have of other parts of the globe, to suppose the mountains inland were
less high than those on the sea-coast. Such a chain must completely bar
the passage of any river from the northwards. This chain is distinctly
indicated in the maps constructed from the accounts of Arabian
geographers. The chain, no doubt, follows the course of the Bahr Kulla;
and thus shows how the Elrei and the Old Calabar rivers may have their
course in elevated lands, and their springs amidst their hills. It also
points out the deflection of the Niger to the west, as it descends from
the north, and approaches the western extremity of these mountains. What
we have noticed is a most extraordinary feature in African geography,
not paralleled, I believe, in any other part of this globe.
There is the strongest reason to believe, that the high land which we
have been considering is the “Chariot of the Gods” of the ancients.
According to Hanno it was situated in a bay or gulf. The flame that
issued from it at night, he says, extended to the stars, and by day the
same tremendous appearance was maintained. Hence that navigator called
it the _Chariot of the Gods_. It is clear, that it was beyond, and
greatly beyond “Hesperus his Horn,” which Ptolemy places in 8° north
latitude, and 13° east longitude from Ferro. Whoever considers the
latter author with attention, will readily see, that, in the place we
are considering, he has placed his “Deorum Currus.” There is no part on
the coast of Africa which answers so accurately to the description given
by Hanno. The mountain is an extinct volcano, but which, in the days of
Hanno, might have been in full activity. Nothing is more probable. The
Bights of Benin and Biafra must have undergone great changes since that
early period. The Delta must be greatly increased, if not, in a great
measure, formed, during the space of 2390 years. The island of Fernando
Po also is evidently of volcanic origin. But it is foreign to my purpose
to enter at length into these subjects.
Immediately south of this ridge, in 3° 40′, is Old Cameroons river,
about two miles broad. It is navigable upwards, for vessels drawing 18
feet water. About 3° 20′ north latitude we have the great estuary of Old
Cameroons, or Jamoor, and Malemba rivers. The extreme breadth is 12
miles. It communicates with Old Cameroons by Bimbia and other creeks. At
a short distance from the sea, is an island between the Jamoor and
Malemba rivers, on which the town of Cameroons is situated. The natives
say, that all these three rivers come from one parent stream in the
interior; but of whose source they are ignorant, as it was far distant.
Southward, the coast rises into a table land, extremely beautiful, and
very healthy. Passing Cape Claro, in 1° 10′ north latitude, we have
Moöhnda, or Danger River, a deep and powerful stream, navigable for
vessels of any burden. Its entrance is narrow and dangerous; but once
entered, it is quite safe. The island of Corisco (Thunder) is in its
mouth. Its banks abound with the finest timber for ship-building and
other purposes. Forty miles south, passing along a low swampy coast,
(almost a morass,) in latitude 0° 30′ north, is the entrance of the Rio
de Gaboon, 30 miles broad, but inwards contracted to 12 miles. 45 miles
from the sea, the river divides into two branches; the one streaching
north-east in a deep stream, till, according to the natives, it comes
from the Moöhnda. The other runs south-east, and about 60 miles upwards
is formed by several streams from the mountains. The sources of the
Moöhnda are said to be far into the interior, northward of east.
Southward of the Gaboon, the land is low, and the navigation of the
coast dangerous, by reason of currents in the sea. Northward of Cape
Lopez, we have Nazareth River, which has a bar, with only 12 feet water
at its mouth. It is a large and deep river, and navigable in the
interior. Such are the accounts given by the natives. Southward, and
round Cape Lopez, is Liverpool, Bristol, Tawney, and Cape Lopez rivers,
said to be considerable streams, and, with the Nazareth River, to come
from one river in the interior called Avongo, which, at a considerable
distance from the coast, is said to fall over an immense precipice. The
course, however, and sources of these rivers, are unknown, except that
they come from the eastward. Towards the mountains of the Moon they, no
doubt, have their rise, where the land is greatly elevated. South-west
of that ridge, the maps constructed from the authorities of the Arabs,
represent several rivers. It is a fact, and one worth attending to, that
from Old Cameroons river inclusive, the natives on the coast are wholly
unacquainted with Moors and Arabs, which shews they have no
communication with the northern interior countries; a circumstance which
could not have happened, had either the Niger or the Gir flowed to the
southward.
From Cape Lopez to the mouth of the Congo, the land is hilly, and the
shore in many places bold. Few rivers of any magnitude enter the sea on
this part of the coast. The mountains seem to run parallel with the
coast. The mouth of the Congo is in nearly 6° south latitude. The voyage
of Tuckey has made us accurately acquainted with this stream in its
lower course. Its magnitude has been greatly exaggerated. At Fathomless
Point, the true mouth of the river, it is only three miles broad. The
depth, however, is about forty fathoms. Higher up, and approaching the
cataracts and rapids, it contracts to two miles, and even to one mile.
These cataracts are numerous. The rapids continue for a considerable
space, during which the river is frequently contracted to a very narrow
channel. The ridges, on either side, rise steep, bare, and barren.
Navigation is impracticable. The course is from N.E. Above the rapids
and rocks it expands to the breadth of three and four miles. This is
about 280 miles from its mouth. At this point Tuckey was forced to turn
back. The navigation upwards was said to be open. Ten days’ journey
above this, a large branch comes from the N.W. The great stream comes
from the N.E.; and, in all probability, rises on the S.E. side of the
Mountains of the Moon, in about 5° north latitude, and 31° or 33° east
longitude. According to the Portuguese, near Concabella is the junction
of several great rivers. A branch comes from the east, and one as large
as the Po comes from the south. The Congo begins to rise in September.
The flood is greatest in December. It begins to rise at the cataracts on
the first of September. This rise begins a month before the rains
commence in these parts. This is a convincing proof that its source is
north of the equator, and south of those hills which give birth to the
Nile, where the rains are greatest in August. From November to January
the rains are heaviest in the lower parts of the Congo. Comparatively
speaking, it may be said to be in perpetual flood. The reason is
obvious. Its chief sources lie in different hemispheres, with one branch
in the middle, between those extending eastward into the interior. The
consequence is, that the Congo receives supplies from the rains of both
Zones. The one beginning to swell it, before the flood from the other
ceases. These things are a complete proof that it is no part of the
Niger. Tuckey and his companions were surprised at the vast volume of
water in the Congo, both above and below the cataracts, compared to that
which rolled over them. They conceived the stream found subterraneous
passages, from the number of tremendous whirlpools in it. Proyart, in
his account of Loango, mentions some curious circumstances, which would
favour Tuckey’s supposition. All the rivers in Loango, he says, flow in
an equal stream in the dry and the rainy seasons. They suffer no
diminution. However deep the natives dig, neither tuffe nor stone is
found. A stratum of compact argile confines the waters to the interior
of the earth. In some places it is interrupted, where the water
undermines the surface, and often excavates large and deep abysses,
which open spontaneously during the rains. The inhabitants fly as far as
possible from these moving grounds. (_Proyart_, Pinkerton’s Coll. vol.
xvi. p. 550.) Loango is west of the cataracts of the Congo, and situate
beyond the chain of hills which run along its N.W. bank. Can the
phenomena mentioned by Proyart, be occasioned by the subterraneous
passages in the Congo, as supposed by Tuckey?
If the Congo were the Niger, then the latter must pass south, in the
latitude of Benin, at the utmost not more than 300 miles east of the
high land of Cameroons: now a mighty chain of mountains is from the
coast seen to stretch two-thirds of this distance in that direction; and
all the country in the interior, we are informed, is exceedingly
mountainous. The vale, if I may use the expression, through which a
river of such magnitude as the Niger is, can flow, must be very broad.
Large streams would also join it from the west, as well as from the
east. Bearing this in mind, it is plain that if the Niger passed to the
Congo, no space of sufficient extent could remain between those
mountains and the sea, to yield those immense rivers which enter the sea
from Rio Lagos to Cape Lopez. The utmost extent of the course of any of
them could not exceed 200 miles. If the Niger continued to flow to the
Congo, after throwing off branches which form all the rivers in the
Delta of Benin, and southward to Cape Lopez, then, considering the
elevation which, in that case, the bed of the Niger behoved to have,
their streams would have the rapidity of torrents; whereas, in all but
the Old Calabar and Elrei river, it is the reverse.
Westward of the Rio de Formosa, we have the Rio Lagos river, which a
branch from the Rio de Formosa joins at its mouth. The current is very
rapid during the flood; bearing down floating islands, and forcing
vessels from their anchorage, when in the roads. The chief stream comes
from the northward, and above its junction with the branch of the Niger
is said to be ten fathoms deep, and so broad, that when in the middle,
the banks on either hand, though covered with lofty trees, can scarcely
be discerned. This stream has different names, in different parts of its
course. Seven days’ journey N.E. of Ardrah, it passes under the name of
Azewoa. Six days’ journey N.E. of Yahndi, it passes S.E. under the name
of Mory. Four days’ journey northward of Yngwa, the Kontoorooa, one of
its branches, is found flowing S.E. half a mile broad, and near its
junction with the Kirhala, which is a larger stream. This latter river
is readily identified, as being that which travellers cross at twelve
days’ or eleven days’ journey distant from Kong, in their route to
Jinnë. The united stream of the Kontoorooa and Kirhala flows S.E., and
is undoubtedly the Lagos river, which flows through populous and
powerful countries and states.
The Mory, or Lagos river, has been mistaken by Robertson for the Niger;
and, accordingly, he confounds the kingdoms and states on each, as if
these were around or upon the same river. Soko, in Ashantee, he has thus
put down as Sego, which place is 400 miles from Soko. The Mory river
must be of great magnitude. Descending from such stupendous mountains,
it must soon increase and become a very large stream. Six or seven days’
journey north of Ardrah, travellers represent it as being six miles
broad. In length it must exceed 500 miles. Various accounts state that,
north of Dahomey, is a very large lake from which several rivers issue.
Robertson says it is 10 days’ journey N.E. of Agombe, the capital of
Dahomey. Bowditch says it is situated in Hio, 10 days’ journey north of
Dahomey; and Snelgrave and Barbot state that this lake lay between Gago
and Dauma (Dahomey) 370 miles N.N.E. of Ardrah, a distance much greater
than either of the two former authorities allow. There is little doubt,
however, but it is the same lake that each authority has in view.
Snelgrave and Barbot call it Guarde, and estimate its length at 100, and
its breadth at 50 leagues. In this, however, they may be deceived, from
estimating the days’ journey, the usual mode of calculation, at much
more than it really is. There is little doubt, however, but that it is
of considerable size, and its true position seems to be about 100 miles
to the northward of east from Dahomey.