The Dickinson press., 1916-10-14

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 the
theory became popular that the Kongo
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 u great river.
Mungo Park. the splendid and in
trepid 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 enthus1-
astic over the idea. He wrote that If
the theory turned out to be true the
fact, in a commercial sense, would be
second in importance only to the dis
covery of the Cape of Good Hope.
The German geographer Reichard
became interested in the problem of
the Niger, and, gathering all data
available with regard to the waters
in the equatorial regions Of West At
RIGA, he came to the conclusion that
the Niger must find it's way to the
ocean through the streams Of a 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 geographer hit the nail
on the head. His theory told the truth.
The problem was solved in an arm.
chaii but the English gentlemen, who
at 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 bis satisfaction, he issued a book
in which he announced as a 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 a
fact, the delta front is exactly where
Mcqueen said it 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, n Of the largest in
the world. stretches $50 miles along
the coast. Most Of it's streams are
small, and, skirting the coast, n 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 a stream only to prove it a
olind alley, for a popularity Of the
Niger is that not a few independent
rivers form between THE delta branch.
es and have no connections with the
Niger itself. Most of the delta is a
network, difficult to enter or to. retreat
from.
All nature is hideous there-the
brown waters lazily coursing, the evil
odors of the slime and ooze, the repul-
sive animal life from crocodile to
pythons, lurking in the. shadow for
their prey, and a choice collection of
insect plaques, including the %anopheles
mosquito, with its poisonous sting.
L ueSc lcl1lOlc CO11O1ClOuS, pei SlSCllS
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 at last, In 1880,
floating down the Niger, was taken by
natives into the Nun branch of the
delta and descended it to the sea. The
Niger problem was solved.
England gave the Niger a wide
berth till after 1850. 1t was thought
to be a plague stricken region from
which no good would ever come. Its
terrors have fed today before the ad.
vance in knowledge. Large vessels
ascend the Forcados branch, carry
ing commerce to and from the far in
terror Of Africa, and Nigeria, a com
ing empire Of industry, with it's great
cattle. cotton, tin mines and other re-
sources, is joined to the sea both by
rail and river.-Cyrus G. Adams in
American Review of Reviews.