, 1889-02-27

Y ing Wa(cr-Sl0OOIu cu EOCh3 CAI"HN'o ~
broad. sluggish flow, to whose banks
come the numerous herds of the natives
cattle ia, drink and wallOw in the mud;
) where the Iong.gowned, turbaned MoSlem
4. trader arrives from the north with MS
horses and asses and guns, to buy slaves
of the naked. industrious, cannlbal agrlcul'
j. .turjsts,. or to steal them or to selze Chem
if. the negroes are too weak 10 resist
g. This is the fascinating part OF AFRICA
. full of history and human movement
the land Of want0n b~lOOdShed, OF gandy
r. barbaFic pomp, of populOus negro towns'
of dry grassy plains, aat-topped noun,
taitls, clumps of huge sycamoreS ana
(, ~acaeiass and graceful groups OF tan'pa'mS
+, 7the land where the Moslem rooOers
ride, through the thOrny stuDble ana Che
maizefelds on long.tailed ragged pomieS'
where the cannibal negro chief, alter'
ahateIv the ally and the victim OF the
M~Ohatnmedan SLAYER, shows you the clean
interior of his clay-walied dwelllng-house,
studded with a frieze of a hundred
human skulls, where the vultureS are as
tame as domestic fowls, and have no
lack of offal on which to g%orge-the land
of the lion. the antelope, the ostrich, and
the baboOn. .4..
Having given You this general de-
scriptiOn of what it is Like to ascend Cne
larger oil rivers and the branches or tne
Niger, l will now proceed to describe III
a more detailed manner some OF the I'M
portant places and districts comprised
within the British ProtectOrate OF the
Niger Territories.
As no doubt you know, the main streams
of the Niger and Binue,l with a cOnSldera-
ble extent of land on either side. are
under the administration OF the Royal
Niger Company, which, by royal charter,
has become a territorial power. The re-
manning portions of the Protect0rAte com
prising the greater part OF the dtlta-lh
fact, the country between the boundary
of Lagos and the German boundary OF
Ca~meroons-is at present administered
by Her Majesty's consular officers, under
various Orders in Council. me chlrt
port of the Niger Company Is at AkaHa,
at the mouth OF the main Niger, ara thtIf
administrative capital is at present "t
Asaba. above the delta. The headQnar'
taro If tha consular establishment is at
the important and relatively healthy town
of Did 'Calabar, on an %af1uent OF the Cross
river. Old Calabar not only contributes
- Iarge@ share of the trade than any OF
+ the sAI dement's on the Oil Rivers, but 1t
uromlses from its position and relative
y h,al,hinesS to be an important admlllstra'
s five re tire in the future. 1t has a popula.
T. zion of probably 5000 natives, and about
15O British subjects who are foreigners, OF
40 whom over fifty are whites. Some or the
q, Enropeans (missiOnaries) have resided
there Tor over thirty-seven years two OF
q them are aged respectively elghty-tw0
and eighty. one, and the health OF the
d whites. both in Ola Qalabar and Greek
Town. is generally superior to. that OF any
other town in the Oil Rivers, or, indeed
In West Africa ..
The natives bf the Old Calabar district
are thoroughly loyal TO Great Britain, and
very gladly accept its rule. They are
tr,llSd over by n number of native kings
And chiefs, some of them of long descent
and proud lineage, who live in handsome
3 we'll. built European residences, ana on
Sundays and feast days dress elaborateiy
in European clothes, at other times ana
seasons ureferring to walk abontin scarlet
eliimney-pot hats or theNpeaked caps or
I the mercantile marine, and little else for
1nakedness knows no shame tinNthese nappy
Glands.n At times, however, the<chlets can
array themselves gorgeOusly IN royal
robes, crowns, and Sceptres, whhe thelr
chieftainesses put on secondhand dinner
dresses OF Partisan make, which Nhang
: about their supple bodies in deploraole
.shapelessness from a lack of the under
clothing which would accompany them
in Europe. The Callahan women of lesser
degree are very oSiight in their costume,
~ tthAx, holon0 RI the mission. in which