The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1917-04-07
EXPLORING 4 RIVER
The Niger. the Mystery Of Africa,
Was lclg a Puzzle.
SOLVED IN A CURIOUS WAY.
I've -Asr,>hair" Scientists. who Never
est Foot In the DARK Continent
Worked Out ths Problem Of Whsrs
the Great Stssan, Entered tj,s Sea

62t Foot IN th0 DARK No0ttne6t
Worked Out the Problem Of Whsrs
the Great Stssae, Entered ths 8sa.
The Niger IL the third grestest river
10 Africa and the eleventh IN rank In
the world A century ago nobody had
found " here the Niger rir4 reached
the sea. and ~ the mystery grew the
theory became popular that the kongo
or Zsire liver WAS the lower f'ar Of
tho Niger.
The most impressive fact known
shout the KoDgo WAS that the majestic
1ootI II poured into the Atlantic fresh
ebed the ses several miles from the
shore II certainly wss . great river.
Mungo Park. the sDlendh and In
trepid young Scotcbman who inaugu
rated the modern err Of African ex-
ploration. was largely responsible for
the theory that the Kongo might be the
outlet Of the Niger. He was enthusi-
asiic over the Idea. He wrote that II
the theory turned out TO he true the
fact. in q commercial sense. would be
second In Importance only TO the dis
rovery Of the Care Of Good HOPE.
The German geoxrapb fteschard
became interested In the problem o:
the Niger. and. gathering al data
available with regard to the water.
in The equatorial regions Of West AT
rica. he came to the conciusIon :hai
the Niger must ind It's way to the
ocean through the streams Of 4 delts
and that this delta was probably on
the coast Of the blight Of Benin. where
. large number Of small streams were
known TO enter the Atlantic.
The eminent geographer hit the nail
on the bead Ills theory told the truth
The problem WIS solved In m arm
chair. 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
bis data were wholly gratuitous.
James Mcqueen was another arm
chair investigator. but the books b.
read were hundreds OF black slaves
taken to the West Indies from the Nj
ger river region. He hsd 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. sMcQueen
began to question every native OF the
lower Niger he could 6nd and kept &C.
cumulating this testimony for I'VE
years before he was ready to publish
bis results
In 1921. when be had solved the pun
zis to his satisfaction. be issued book
10 which he announced as q fact and
not as a theory that the Niger reached
the sea through . wide spreading delta
In the region Of the "oil rivers" As
fact. the deIts front 10 exactly where
Mcqueen sgd II was. The oil riverx
are the deIia streams Of the Niger.
McQueen'x book made more fun for
the learned geOgrapherx than any
comic newspaper. The idea that an
obscure trader In the West Indies
should dream that bis confabs with
ignorant slaves had solved the Niger
mystery was q most amusing joke.
Mcqueen lived TO see the day when his
joke was recognized ~ q 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. xkirtinR the coast. one can
hardly observe them. 10 completely
are they hidden In the dense region Of
m mas EynlnrAPa
found that they might struggle for
weeks up q stream only to prove II q
blind alley. for = peculiarity Of the
Niger Is that NOT q few independent
rivers form bet ween THE delta branch
es and have no connections with the
Niger itself Most Of the delta II q
network. difiicult to enter or to retreat
from.
All nature IL hideous. there-the
brown winters laxily coursing. the evil
odors Of the slime and one. the repul-
sivc animal life from crocodile to
pythons. lurking In the shadow for
their prey. and q choice collection Of
INJECT plaques. including the anopheIes
mosquito. with Its poisonous sting.
These terrible conditions. persdsting
for about forty miles inland. are then
succeeded by solid earth. noble trees
and sweet air. but the swamp region
Of the lower delta II one Of the most
forbidding parts OF Africa.
Richard Lander at last. In 1890
floating Gown the Niger. was taken by
natives Into the Nun branch Of the
delta md descended II to the sea. The
Niger problem was solved.
England gnve the Niger q wide
berth TIL after 1850. II was thought
to he 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. . com.
ing empire Of industry. with it, great
cattle. cotton. tin mines and other re-