Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-12-26
Traysls in Equatorial Africa.

Louisville on the 2lst;
In the country / always travelled on
foot, and made large collections. l
stuffed and brought out more than two
thousand birds, of which sixty we're new
to science. killed one thousand quad
rupeds, Of which more than two hundred
were stuffed by me and sent home, with
more than eighty skeletons. About thirty
OF these quadrupeds were new to science.
When / returned to New York, in 1859,
had also twenty-one gorilla skins aud
skeletons, besides chimpanzees and col
lections. of insects, reptiles and shells.
need not tell you how difficulty it was
for me to transport such collections.
Now | will try, to the best Of my ability,
to give you a bird eye view Of the
physical geography Of the country have
explored, and OF some Of the tribes which
inhabit it. NV explorations have demon
strated that Equatorial Africa, from the
west coast, forms q belt of impenetrable
Jungle as far as have been. This i'm
mense forest did not stop there, but was
seen as far as my eyes could reach, and
the natives had never heard where 1t
ended. The breadth Of this gigantic
forest extends north and south Of the
equator two or three degrees on each
side. Now and then prairies, looking
| like islands, are seen in the midst of the
dark sea of everlasting foliage; and how
gratefully my eyes met them no one can
conceive unless he has lived in such a
solitude, Alta certain distance from the
coast the mountainous regions beyond it
rise almost parallel with it. This range
of mountains seems almost to grid the
whole of the west coast of Africa. Be
tween these mountains and the sea
the country | have explored is low
aud marshy and several rivers are
found, the principal ones being the
Benito, the NUM- Mexias, Gaboon,
Nazareth, Monday and Fernand-Vaz The
four northern rivers are short, on ac-
count of their sources being on the first
tabe-land. The Nazareth, the Mexies
and the Fernand-Vaz are formed by the
river Ogobai, which is formed Ly the
Rembo Okando and Rembo Ngonyai.
The lowland is alluvial, and has no
doubt been formed in the course of time
by the washing of deposit coming
| from the table-lands. How far eastward
this immense belt of woody country ex
tends further explorations alone can
show, but / suppose it will be seen to
be more than 1000 miles in length; in
deed / should not be surprised if it
reached the lake regions of Eastern
Africa. The Mexias and Nazareth are
only outlets of the Ogobia river, which
also throws portion of its waters into
the Fernand- -Vaz, chiefly through the
Nponloungy. Thus those three rivers
are in fact mouths of the 0gobia, and
they form, with the intervening lowlands
(which are undoubtedly alluvial depos-
its an extensive and very complicated
network of creeks, swamps anl dense
forests, for which | have proposed the
name of the "Delta of the Ogobia My
explorations in this labyrinth we're ex
ceedingIy tedious, and resulted in the
knowledge that this large tract - en-
tirely uninhabitel by human heings;
that during the rainy seasons, when the
rivers and their divergent creeks are
swollen, the whole country is overfowed,
and that the land is covered with i'm
mense forests of palm, there being found
none of the customary mangrove swamps.
Land and water are tenanted only by
wild beasts, venomous reptiles and in
tolerable Swarms of mosquitoes. In this
great woody wilderness man is scat
tered about and divided into a
great number of tribes. / found,
and was struck by the alb
sence of those species of animals which
are found in almost every other part of
Africa. On reflection | did not wonder
at this, for the country now visited was
wholly unlike those parts that had been
explored before. / found neither lion,
rhinoceros, zebra, giraffe nor ostrich;
the several varieties of antelopes, too,
although found everywhere else in Africa,
were here not to be seen. The forest,
thinly inhabited by man, was, still more
thinly inhabited by beast Now and
then by the side of the wild man roamed
the ape, among which class of animals
there are several varieties, chief among
which was the savage gorilla, who some
times destroyed the plantations of the
native and sent hunger into bis house
hold. There were no beasts OF burden,
no horse, no camel, no cattle, no donkey
man, or rather woman, was the beast OF
burden. Often after traversing miles
without hearing the sound of bird, the
chatter of a monkey or the footsteps OF
a gazelle, or the humming noise OF in
sects, the falling of leaf or the gentle
murmur of some hidden stream came
only upon ones ears TO break the dead
ness of this awing silence and disturb
the hushed stiffness of the grandest soli-
tude man could ever behold or intrude
upon-s solitude which often chilled me,
but which was well adapted for the great
study of nature, In this country the
explorer has continually to fight against
hunger and thirst, and starvation often
stares him in the face. The forests,
which have been resting for ages in their
gloomy solitude, seem to be even unia- !
vorable to the rapid increase of the
beasts that are their Inhabitants. |
Still worse than hunger, however,
was the wretched climate, and |
| really could not tell you how often
was prostrated by fever and sickness |
but amidst the perils / had to endure | |
was sustained by an enthusiasm which !
cannot describe, ! felt that ! was the |
pioneer of the country, and my whole |
soul was engaged and wrapped up in the |
work | had undertaken. Days passed |
pleasantly when sickness did not oontine
me in horizontal position, and now and
then was rewarded by the discovery Of
new bird, fresh animal, or something
else; and following up these forgot the
hardships l had previously passed
through. The farther | went into the
interior the higher rose the level Of the
country. 1 crossed four mountain
ranges which ran in a direction OF
The oompsss from the northeast 10 the