The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1916-11-10
EXPLORING A RIVER
The Niger, the Mystery of Africa,
Was Long a Puzzle.
SOLVED IN A CURIOUS WAY.
Two "Armchair" Scientists, Who Never
Set Foot In the Dark Continent
Worked Out the Problem Of Where
the Great Stream Entered tho Sea.

Worked Out the Problem or Where
tho Great Stream Entered tho Sea.
The Niger Is the third greatest river
in Africa and the eleventh in rank IN
the world. a century ago nobody had
found where the Niger river reached
the sea, and as the mystery grew TIA"
theory became popular that the KOngp
or Zaire river was the lower part Of
the Niger.
The most impressive fact known
about the Kongo WAS that the majestic
flood it poured into the Atlantic fresh
ened the sea several miles from the
shore. 1t certainly was great river
MungO Park. the splendid and in
trcpid young Scotchman who inaugu
rated the modern era Of African ex
ploratIon. was largely responsible for
the theory that the KOngo might be the
outlet Of the Niger He was enthusi
astic over the idea. He wrote that If
the theory turned out TO be true the
fact, I'm a commercial sense would bc
second In importance only TO the dis
covcry Of the Cape Of Good Hope.
The German geographer Relchard
became interested In the problem Of
! the Niger, and, gathering all data
available with regard to the waters
in the equatorial regions OF West AZ
rica, he came to the conclusion that
the Niger must find It's way to the
ocean through the streams Of delta
and that this delta was probably on
the coast Of the blight Of Benin. where
a large number Of small streams were
known to enter the Atlantic.
The eminent gcographer hit the nail
on the head. His theory told the truth
| The problem was solved in an arm
chair, but the English gentlemen, who
! Mt that time were organizing the Tuck.
ey (Kongo) expedition, laughed to
| scorn the German hypothesis, declared
| that Richards deductions were zen
titled to very little attention" and that
| his data were wholly gratuitous."
James Mcqueen was another arm
| chair investigator but the books he
read were hundreds of black slaves
! taken to the West Indies from the Nj.
! ger river region. He had read Mungo
| Parks fascinating story of his jour
ney down the Niger for hundreds of
miles and thought it very strange that
no explorer had ever found where the
: great river reached the sea, Mcqueen
began to question every native of the
| lower Niger he could find and kept ac-
cumulating this testimony for five
years before he was ready TO publish
| his results.
In 1921, when he had solved the puz-
| Zle to his satisfaction, he issued n book
In which he announced As fact and
not as a theory that the Niger reached
the sea through a wide spreading delta
in the region Of the "oil rivers" AS
fact, the delta front is exactly where
Mcqueen said II was. The oil rivers
are the delta streams OF the Niger.
McQueen's book made more fun for
the learned geographers than any
comic newspaper. The idea that an
obscure trader in the West Indies
should dream that his confabs with
ignorant slaves had solved the Niger
mystery was a most amusing joke
Mcqueen lived to see the day when his
joke was recognized as a solemn geo.
graphical fact.
The Niger delta, one OF the largest in
the world. stretches $50 miles along
the coast Most Of Its streams are
small. and. skirting the coast, one can
hardly observe them, so completely
are they hidden in the dense region of
mangrove swamps. Explorers soon
found that they might struggle for
weeks up stream only to prove 1t a
blind alley. for popularity Of the
Niger is that not few independent
rivers form between tthe delta branch
es and have no connections with the
Niger itself Most OF the delta Is a
network, difficult TO enter or 10 retreat
from.
All nature is hideous thcre-the
brown waters laZily CourSing, the evil
odors of the slime and ooze. the rcpul-
sive animal life from crocodile 70
pythons, lurking in the shadow for
their prey. and choice collection OF
insect plaques, including the anophelcs
mosquito. with its poisonous sting
These terrible conditions. persiStinc
for about forty miles inland. are then
succeeded by solid earth. noble trees
and sweet air. but the swamp region
) OF the lower delta is one OF the most
forbidding parts of Africa.
Richard Lander ut last. in 1890
floating down the Niger, was taken by
, natives into the Nun branch Of the
delta and descended ii 10 the sea. Th,
Niger problem was solved.
, England gave the Niger wild,
. berth till after 1850 Ii was thought
TO be plague stricken region from
which no good would ever come. IL
terrors have 6ed today before the ad
vance In knowledge. Large vessel,
/ ascend the Forcsdos branch. carry
| Ing commerce to and from the far In
f: terror OF Africa. and Nigeria com
/ ing empire Of industry. with its grea
! cattle. cotton. tin mines and other re
4. sources. Is Joined TO the sea both b,
rail and river.-Cyrus c. Adams II
American Review Of Reviews.