The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-24 00:00:00

THE NIGER EXPEDITION.

The public mind has been already prepared for the
afflicting intelligence respecting the Niger Expedition.
which it is the object of this article to communicate. It
is, therefore, only necessary that we should preface the
narrative with the assurance that the facts about to be
stated may be entirely relied on, having been drawn from
letters and other documents of unquestionable authority.
On the 20th of August the vessels of the expedition
commenced the ascent of the river, having passed safely
over the bar is days previously. This delay was oc-
casioned by the necessity they were under of repairing
what is technically termed " the tails " of their rudders,
which had been damaged during their passage from
Accra to the mouth of the stream. On the 26th they
anchored opposite to Eboe, a place situated at the upper
angle of the Delta, and distant 120 miles from the sea.
Thus far no case of sickness had occurred amongst the
Xuropeans which did not immediately yield to medical
treatment. The weather was remarkably favourable,
the thermometer ranging from 74 degrees to 84 degrees,
with a clear, sky and occasional refreshing showers.
After receiving a visit from Obi, the King of Eboe,
on which occasion a treaty was concluded with him for
the total abolition of the slave trade and human seen-
' fices, the expedition proceeded on its course, arriving at
Iddah, 100 miles higher up, on the 2d of September.
Here for the first time the African fever broke out
amongst the crew with violence,' commencing on board
the Albert, and rapidly spreading to the "Wilberforce
and the Soudan. Captain Trotter, however, considered
it his duty still to persevere. In this resolve it is some
comfort to know that the other officers of the squadron
fully concurred. Accordingiy, after the ratification of
a treaty similar to the one already described, with the
Attah (King) of Iddah; and the purchase from him
of a piece of land, to be chosen higher up the stream,
for the establishment of a model farm (the selection of
which was left to the Commissioners, the three com-
manders, and Mr. Cook) the vessels ascended to the con-
fluence of the Niger and the Chadda, 270 miles above the
sea. This they reached on the 11th September. A tract
of land having been fixed on, not far from this point, for
the farm, and having been duly made over by accredited
agents f the Attah, the stores were landed, and the
persons originally appointed to the office left in charge
of them. In the meantime disease continued its afflict-
ing ravages. To such an extent, indeed, did it spread,
that on the 19th it was resolved to put the sick, now
amounting to 46, on board the Soudan, and to dispatch
her to the sea. Lieut. Fishbourne, of the Albert, was
placed in charge of her, while her commander, Capt. B.
Allen, removed on board the Albert. With regard to
the Soudan we need only further remark that at the
mouth of the river she happily fell in with her Majesty's
steamer Dolphin, to which the sufferers were trans-
ferred, and which proceeded with them direct to the
island of Ascension, while the Soudan continued her
course to Fernando Po. Meanwhile it was deter
mined by the commanders of the vessels still up the
river to prosecute their voyage, the Wilberforce as-
cending the Chadda, and the Albert the Niger. The
particulars thus far recounted have, by scraps, been
for the most part before the public for the last three
weeks. It seems necessary, however, briefly to recapitulate
them, in order to a perfect understanding of the re-
mainder of this sad narrative. By sunset on the evening
of the 19th (the day on which the Soudan sailed from
the confluence) several entirely new cases of fever had
broken out on board the Wilberforce ; the history of
which vessel, now about to be separated from her consort,
we shall take up first. Amongst these were her com-
mander, Captain William Allen, her master and purser;
also the botanist and the mineralogist attached to the
expedition. To ascend the Chadda under these circum-
stances would, of course, have been madness; to stay at
the confluence but little less. No alternative remained
except that of turning the vessel's head down the
stream and following in the track of the Soudan.
Accordingly immediate preparations were made for
carrying into effect this new change of plan, and on
the morning of the 21st the Wilberforce began her
downward voyage, having previously taken on board
sundry fresh patients from the Albert. Owing to
various stoppages occasioned by the necessity of pro-
curing supplies of wood, a duty of peculiar difficulty in the
weak-handed condition of the vessel, she did not reach
the open sea until the 29th. On the morning of October
the 2d, however, by the blessing of Almighty God, she
anchored safely in the port of Clarence, Fernando Po.
During her passage to the mouth of the river she lost
her purser, Mr. Wakaham, and after her arrival at
Clarence, Mr, Harvey, the master of the Albert, and
Mr. Collman, assistant-surgeon of the Soudan. Here it
affords us the greatest pleasure to record an instance of
that noble generosity which we trust and believe marks
the character of the British merchant and the British
sailor. Mr.:Jamieson, of Liverpool, the owner of several
vessels trading on the western coast of Africa, had sent
out instructiocs to the ship-masters in his employ to ren-
der all the assistance in their power to the officers and
crews of the Niger expedition. Accordingly, on the
6th of October, the Ethiope steamer, one of the vessels
alluded to, made her appearance at Fernando Po, and
her commander, Mr. Becroft, at the solicitation of Cap-
tain William Allen, instantly turned his vessel's head
towards the Niger, with an intent to ascend in search of
the Albert, and render her any assistance she might
appear to require.
On the 9th the Wilberforce again weighed anchor and
set sail for Ascension, where she arrived after a tedious
passage of more than five weeks, on the 17th of Novem-
ber. During the former part of this passage she was
accompanied by her Majesty's steamer Pluto, which, in
various ways, rendered her effective assistance. The last
accounts received from the Wilberforce convey the gra-
tifying intelligence that the fever appeared to have been
almost subdued, for that no serious case of illness re-
mained on board.
We now return to the Albert, which we left on the
eve of her departure from the confluence to ascend the
Niger. This, as we have already said, was on the 21st
of September. On the 28th she arrived at Egga, situ-
ated between 50 and 60 miles above the junction of the
Chadda and 320 from the sea. During this short passage
she lost two of her seamen, whilst several others were
taken ill; nor did the officers escape—Capt. Bird Allen
was attacked within four hours after the departure of the
Wilberforce, and Capt. Trotter himself whilst the yes-
sel lay at Egga. At this place the Kroomen were em-
ployed in taking a large quantity of firewood. This, ne-
cessary duty, of course, occupied considerable time. As
soon as it was completed Captain Trotter, who now saw
clearly the necessity of abandoning the enterprise, and
whose judgment was confirmed by that of the surgeon,
Dr. M‘Williain, gave the necessary orders for returning
down the river. On the 4th of October, therefore, the
steam was once more got up, and the Albert followed her
consorts to the sea. Her condition at this period may be
judged of by the fact that she had but a single officer and
two or three European seamen capable of performing
their duty. The confluence was passed upon the 9th, and
immediately afterwards the model farm, where, finding the
Europeans all ill of the fever, Captain Trotter took them
on board, and continued to pursue his melancholy voyage.
On the 12th the vessel anchored off Eboe, and was sup-
plied by King Obi with a quantity of wood, which he
had previously got ready for her, and which with great
kindness, he put on board with the least possible delay.
Here Mr. Kingdon, the clerk of the Soudan, died. He
had remained ashore at the farm during the Albert's
absence at Egga, and was dangerously ill at the period
of his re-embarkation. Thus far the Albert had made
her way in safety, through the merciful Providence of
God; but her poor suffering inmates could not forget the
dangerous bar which was still to be passed before they
could leave the region of pestilence and death behind
them. Happily, their anxieties on this head were
destined to a speedy termination, for in the afternoon of
the 13th their eyes were gladdened with the sight of the
Ethiope's smoke as she steamed rapidly up the water of
the Delta. Capt. Becroft at once put his first engineer on
board the unfortunate Albert, and by incessant exertions
both vessels crossed the bar soon after sunrise on the
16th, and cast anchor in Clarence Cove late in the even-
ing of the following day.
Next morning 28 patients were taken ashore, and
kindly received into various private houses. Amongst
the sufferers were Captains Trotter and Bird Allen—
the former happily convalescent, the latter, alas, fast
sinking into the grave. On the 25th, at half-past nine,
A.M., his brave and gentle spirit exchanged a world of
sorrow for one of unmixed and unchanging joy. Of the
condition of the remaining patients our accounts are too
general to enable us to speak with anything like cer-
tainty ; as the Lady Combermere, which sailed from
Clarence on the 26th, and by which we have received the
accounts communicated above, left but nine days after the
return of the Albert from the Niger, it could not of course
be expected that she should bring intelligence of so sa-
tisfactory a kind as we may hope, and, we would fain
trust, look for by the next arrivals.
Such is the melancholy story which it has become our
duty to set before the public.