STEAM EXPEDITION UP THE NIGER.
HAVING last week given a general ascount of this expeditiodo, well as of its subjects and character, we return to the pointsa left untouched,—namely, the causes of the failure of the eaie. prise, and a view of Mr. LAIRD'S plan for extending our comes, with Western Africa.
Nothing is easier than to criticize an action after its fallen; and the slightest commentary seems harsh upon the conducts men who have procured us the information we possess at the riik of their lives ; and who, having undertaken the expedition use commercial motives, would have been justified in abandoningit at any moment they pleased after it was evident that their dim could not be obtained. In our remarks upon the causes of the expedition's failure, or the commercial capabilities of Ceatril Western Africa, we must not be understood as implying censure, but as stating facts which cannot be omitted in coming to a right conclusion as regards the past, or, which is more iroportansdy future.
And first, as regards the failure of the expedition; which seems in a measure to have arisen from misinformation, and tos great a reliance on the forethought of a man unaccustomed % look at large undertakings. However enterprising as travellers neither CLAPPERTON nor LANDER were men of very compreheo. sive minds, nor had they expanded them by study or retlectico, From a superficial observation of single facts, LANDER jumped us general conclusions ; and, seeing that in certain markets ales commodities in European demand were plentiful compared with the savage scarcity in other places, he got exaggerated notion as to the existing capabilities of trade, withoat considering outlay on an expedition calculated to pass into the interior at Africa, the subsequent expenses on the transport home, and the large quantity of common-priced commodities that must he collected in order to yield any thing like a profit. For the di- ficulties of the navigation no blame can be attached to any oat L.ANDER'S first descent was made as a captive in a native came; and had it been otherwise, he is not the first by very many who has been deceived by a tropical river—arguing from its breadth to its depth—making no allowance for the dry or the rainy seas, or for the shifting nature of the sand or mud banks in such t stream. It does, however, appear to have been an oversight to the ascent when the river was at its very lowest (and iU fall is no less than sixty feet in some places) ; not merely on at count of impediments to navigation, but because, we believe, the commencement of the rainy season is the most unhealthy time in the tropics. We may, too, regret that one of the other branches of the Niger had not been traversed; for, near Dot, the mighty river separates into several streams, one of which a reported as being deep and freely navigable to Benin. But, under the circumstances, this was impossible. Mr. LAIRD, when de- scending, was at death's-door : Mr. OLDFIELD had not a Europeao aboard; his machinery was worn out of order; and he might feel fettered by his instructions. Let us hope that this undertaking will be accomplished by Government. Reasoning from analogy, this survey might be finished in a few weeks, by picking seasoned men from our squadron on the coast, and using a light steamer. Of the commercial capabilities Mr. LAIRD is sanguine: and, no doubt, Nature has adapted the territories of the Niger for .fin scene of a vast commerce. The soil is teeming, its productions valuable, and the people industrious and enterprising beyond their condition; its own stream and its numerous tributaries afford great facilites of' water-carriage, and the regions they intersect are of vast extent. But two social evils militate against even a moderate development of these resources,—first, the system of petty sove. reignty, which always shackles and often' stops intercoininumcee tion between places not very distant ; second, the general io.se curity of life and property, owing to the tyranny of the chieftains their frequent wars with one another, and the existence of the slave-trade. Like most other improvements, the removal of these evils must be the work of time ; but Great Britain has no doubt the means of rapidly hastening the consummation,—though the plas is so extensive, the scene of action so remote, and the dread of thi climate so well founded, that we are fearful Mr. LAIRD 'S FON sition is not likely to be adopted. This, however, it is; but tin reader will form a better idea of it by taking a map of Africa E
and then glancing along the deeplv-ernbayed Western his hand,
t from the Senegal to the mouth of the Old Calabar, he will
ooas
see that the shore is thickly set with the embouchures of rivers, supposed to spring from a range of hills or mountains whose sourees ennairng
nearly parallel with the sea. The other side . ghlands gives rise to various streams which collectively
dfortw mbethe.Niger.1 This celebrated river, whose source, direction, and terrainationlave been a mystery from the days of HERODOTHS IO our time, and have yet not fully solved, runs in an easterly and southerly direction for the greater part of its course nearly parallel to the Atlantic ; into which, sweeping suddenly to the west, it finally discharges itself by several mouths. This immense, fertile, and not scantily-peopled district, bounded by the ocean and the Niger, and intersected by many rivers, L
is the theatre of Mr. AIRD'., project. And as land tra- velling -
is impracticable to any one in Western Africa. and physically impossible to Europeans, he would use to their fullest To extent thenumerous water-roads which Nature has provided. accomplish this, be proposes to run a chain of posts through the interior along the banks of the Niger ; the furthest of which, situated near the supposed heads of the Niger, and those of the Gambia and Senegal, should be able to communicate with our settlements on those rivers. Another should be placed on the branch or tributary of the Niger which takes its rise in Kissi, about 200 miles from Sierra Leone, so as to allow of ready communication with that colony. By this means, the whole of central Western Africa, from the borders of the Great Desert to the southernmost mouth of the Niger, would be occupied both in- land and coastwise by a chain of posts. Of these the inland would readily communicate with each other by a line of water-commui- cation, and by various channels with the sea. They would serve as a depot far the goods of the English merchant—all he requires. They would offer an emporium—a point of attraction for native traders, and become, in Mr. LAIRD'S view, arbitrators and pacifi- cators amongst native princes—so great is their reverence for a White man. In addition to which they would form a nucleus for civilizing Africa, and become the means of indefiaitely ex- tending a trade which now undee every disadvantage of confine- ment to a few spots on the unhealthy coast, perpetual opposition from the slave-trade, and the exactions and it is said enormous profits of the coast chieftains, is already very important.
The direct export of British manufactures to the coast of Africa in 1834 was fire times greater than that to 3weden, nearly five and a half times greater than to Norway, three and a half times greater than to Denmark, and nearly two sad a half times more than to Prussia. The British shipping employed is it was double that employed in the trade to Sweden, six times greater than 0 Norway, ten per cent, more than to Denmark, fifteen per cent, more than to Prussia, nearly double that to Turkey and the Levant, equal to the whole of the Brazil trade, and exceeding the total tonnage employed in the whale-fishery.
The expense of this measure is not worth a thought. Mr. LAIRD merely suggests the placing a company of the African Corps at each station, with a White captain and two White sub- alterns on double pay, and the offer of quick promotion. With regard to the purchase of laud, there would be no difficulty ; a stockade would be all the defence required, not against attack but intrusion; Mr. LAIRD asserts that the native chiefs would rather be pleased than otherwise with the plan ; and these depilts once established, the enterprise of the British merchant will do all the rest. As regards the friendly disposition of the petty kings within the region Mr. LAIRD visited, we entertain no doubt ; but with respect to the greater monarchs of interior, acted upon by Arab and Moorish hostility, we think he is far too sanguine : DiNHAM found that adventurers from Barbary and Egypt had excited suspicion by tales of India, and even OLDFIELD had to dissipate a report that "White man" had come to seize the "Black man's country," by a solemn "palaver," a commercial treaty drawn in English, and signed and sworn to, the natives swearing both upon Prayer-book and Koran. Our author, we also think, is too confident as regards the healthy locality of the upper parts of the Niger; for OLDFIELD and LANDER were both mooned men, and the rainy season in Africa is always dreaded eves by the natives. It is possible, however, that a post on the Kong Mountains, just below the confluence of the Shary and Niger, and another near our old friend the King of Attah, might escape pretty well. It is certaili they would be highly useful, if officers of ability and judgment were selected for the command. In conjunction with these new establishments, Mr. LAIRD also suggests an extensive and judicious alteration in the management of the settlements on the coast; and gives it as his opinion, that in order to give full effect to the native trade, or even fair play to our existing trade, it is necessary to declare the slave-trade piracy ; for as long as that continues, the Negroes will not apply to regular industry, nor will any peace or security exist. To extinguish this traffic would no doubt be desirable,—though it may be questioned whether declaring it piracy would completely accomplish that object; but Mr. La Ian's facts seem to show that a change in our Present absurd system would achieve nearly all that is requi- site, so far as commerce is concerned. Besides the Cameroon, the great emporiums of the slavers are the mouths of the Nun, Bonny, and Calabar rivers, all supposed to be outlets of the Niger. If a pan of war were to remain at their mouths, it is quite clear that in those, or any other streams, the traffic would be stopped The slavers could not get in without being seen, nor off without being taken. But as our sailors are paid so much per head for all the slaves they take, or rather all they land at Sierra Leone, (and we may say that they cost more directly, not to mention redirect charges, than they could be bought for at first hand,) this mode of proceeding would not answer the purpose of our cruizers. They therefore keep out of sight, standing on and off the coast ; a look-out man being stationed at the mast-head to give notice as soon as land is seen. When the cruiser is absent, or is supposed to be absent, the slaver comes out. If perceived, she acts according to circumstances. Should returning be the best shift, she gets into the river, lands her cargo, and lets her pur- suers search and welcome. If cut off from the shore, she trusts to her speed, throwing the slaves overboard if hard pressed, and where the sharks are plentiful marking her course with blood. The number of vessels that escape compared with the number taken with slaves on board, may be guessed by the rate of in- surance, which is in the proportion of one to twelve.
Nor is this the only evil of the present state of things. When the slave-trade was legal, the vessels were fitted up expressly for their cargoes, and the Negroes suffered as little as possible. Now, every thing is sacrificed to speed : the slaves are crowded—no, not crowded, packed together—the dead and the living being chained in couples, and sometimes under circumstances too revolting to be quoted. When taken by our cruisers to be set free, their lot is not mended. A detachment of seamen are sent on board the prize, to work her to Sierra Leone : the loss in this passage is from one- sixth to one-half, beating the mortality of the horrid "middle pas- sage," as 8 is exceeded by 17 to 50. Mr. LAIRD suggests that the Mixed Commission Court should be moved from Sierra Leone to Fernando Po, and that additional pay and promotion should be offered instead of head-money. But if we will neither do one nor the other, then let us wink at the existence of the trade, and not aggravate its necessary horrors.
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