New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-04-19
DISCOVERY IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

"a, historical inheritance. Many of the expaoratNs
ub;ch have been mudo during the last fifty years,
,h,oush The deser1s 10 the heart Of this mysterious
and unacceptable continent have added more TO our
knowledge uf the ebnogrsphy, history and geography
of the country than THE, and many have been made
utd,r greater difficulties and have demanded nobler
rntutOl and moral qualifications on the part OF the
trav~ lcs Still they were Of ess consequence to the
history Of civilization than the discovery OF river
naveable for steamboats, far eastward as the me-
ritisn Of Tipoh, in Barbary.
TIE river was discovered by DR.. Barth. In the
year 1851, aroused by the glowing descriptions ne re-
received in Sudan of certain country called Adam
aus, which was said to be watered 10y the River
Bipue he endeavored to reach il from huka. lie
discovered the country, but supposed that be recoy
niztd in the Binue the left source OF the Niger or
Kowara which has hitherto been named on the maps
the Chadda Hs report reached England, and Mr..
A. Peterrnann awaited himself Of the opportunity TO
aeitate the question in The Times and AhenGum in
order TO send out an expedition, under DR.. Barths
hypothesis to explore the route from Adamaua up the
Niger by way Of the Chsdda-Bnue We have al
ready mentioned the complete success of the expedi-
ton. We now have the reports Of the leader OF the
expedition, Dr. w. Il. Bake and the journal OF
another traveller the Rev. Samuel Crowther,
published in the seventh and eighth numbers
of Perths Geographical Instructor, and accom-
panied with map, copied in part from original
drawn gs. The country of the Niger has OF late years
become Of great importance to European commerce in
palm oil, obtained from the Elaeis Guneensis, which
fourshes on the delta of the river The export of this
product TO Great Britain amounted in 1921 to tuns
and hts since then been continually increasing Last
wear it amorued 30 600 tuns worth in the market
&c 10 ,o;l
trade bich by the way is mOnopozed by the City OF
Liverpool has put end to the slave traffic at the
mouth OF the Niger the slavedealers have found
more to their advantage to carry on the business in
palm oil than the traffic in uman flesh.
The distance from the month of the Niger TO its con
uence with the River Chadds Bnue is 10 miles. But
the fuIthtst point reached by the explorers OF the
Bitue lay 400 miles above its confluence with the
Nger-m ore than the distance from Mayence to Chur;
so that river has been navigated by steamboat as
far into the heart of Africa from the mouth Of the
Mississippi to the City of Memphis. And it seems
probable that the stream is navigabe for still greater
distance its banks, far it has been explored,
are very little higher than the level of the sea.
An EDglshman named McGregor, who assisted in
the frst exploration of the Kowara Niger, has de-
rived for himself the impershable fame Of this i'm
petition s7O 0OO and built at his expense hand
some steamer called the Plead The British Govern
ment added eco 900, and sent along two officers, Dr.
William Balfour Baikie and DIR. William Beck, from
Bonn provided with special instructions to take charge
Of the expedition. An unfortunate mistake was made
in the choice Of captain, certain Taylor, who,
through his Encouragement and drunkenness, and
particularly through his extravaganza in the use of
coal delayed the enterprise; and at length in the
midst of the voyage DIR. Bake compelled TO take
away his command.
The Plead left Liverpool on the 18th of May, 1884,
and taking on board at Sierra Leone 60 or 70 black
sailors the best men for navigating African waters, and
three black interpreters they reached Fernando Pc on
the 25th of june and on the 9Th of July commenced
their explorations. The great result of the expedition
was that it re ached point 800 mikes higher up the
Binue than Allen and Oldfeld in 1923; they learned
that they were only 60 miles below the mouth of the
Faro southern tributary of the Bnue, aud that the
Bnue was Lavgabe during the rainy season as far as
10 80 cas-, longitude Had they found coal along the
shores they might have penetrated still further into the
country, but as they were not able to find any and
with genuine English lack Of foresight had started on
the expedition without axes to cut wood for the FUR
naces, they were obliged to return.
On the 2lst Of July they reached the City of Abo
on the Niger and the I'd of August they made the
mouth of the Bnue. The river had fallen considera-
bly,, by which its ascent was materially him
dered On the 18th Of August DR.. Bake was
obliged to take the command of the steamer from the
drm ken captain The vessel then in the countries
Donna and Michi and at the City of Ojogo, in Donna,
which they reached on the ed Of August, they got
their first and only of DIR. Barth, over whose
probable death all Europe mourning. man
who had come to Ojogo from Keana told about two
white men who were in Keana when he left, and who
had exchanged presents with the Sultan Bake showed
him the sgnette on the title page of the work of Pc
temanp, and he recognized the white man in
the portrait of DR.. Barth, but remarked
that he had big beard now. Doctor Vogel
also was identified except that he hsd hair his
cheeks and lips. When they arrived at this point the
river had risen five feet, and they had cause to
complain Of lack of water thereafter. On the 9th Of
September they reached the considerable city of Gan
diko in the kingdom Of kororofa. AT first the inhab
ants manifested disposition to give the strangers
hoste reception but when they were satisfied Of their
peaceful intentions, they welcomed them Hospitality.
The King paid DR.. Bake visit, and friendly and
profitable trade sprang up between the city and the
steamer. The greateet difficulties commenced in
Hsmsruwa. On the 18th of September and the four
following days they had to contend with a current of
frCm two and half TO three knots per hour. The
wood burned poorly, and they made small progress
For two weeks there had been considerable sickness
on board. The crew suffered from sweled limbs;
there were symptoms also Of dropsy The disease aT-
peared to be of scOrbu,ic character and was soon
found that the ships raons eight gills rice
with cold water were not sufficient for the exgencies
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