Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 446, 3 November 1904, Page 7

Traveller.

THE rtIGEJ? TEJ?J?ITORY. AUTHORITIES differ as to the origin of the name of the river, which Ptolemy called 'Nigeir,' and other old writers Niger. The old theory that the name is the Latin for ' black ' seems now generally abandoned; and Dv Brown's theory seems tho most reasonable one—that the name is probably derived from the same root as the Berber Ghir, which is applied to many streams in North Africa. The river is, howevor, nowhere called Niger by the tribes along its course, but by a variety of names (such as Joliba, Kworra, Ujimini, &c). all or most of which just signify ' The, Great Water.' For some distance above Akassa, the countryß remains flat and the scenery uninteresting, if not indeed positively dismal, But after passing the confluence with the Wari River both the surroundings and tho people improve. The inhabitants of the Niger Delta are of poor physique and a very low type of humanity—all fetich worshippers, and many of them cannibals. The farther one gets from tho coast tho higher do the tribes seem to rise in the human scale, although when one reaches Lokoja, which is the point of junction of the Niger and its great arm the Benue, one meets the advancing wave of Mohammedanism, which is speading down from the interior towards the sea, with its usual •accompaniment of slave-raiding horrors. On the Delta, too, missionary enterprise seems to have effected little, if any change in the people ; but higher up the river one finds encouraging results. .

The palm oil, which is the staple product of the Lower Niger, as of the West Coast generally, is obtained from a wild palm. The natives use it both for cooking, for burning, and for smearing their bodies with. It is to them, indeed, a great deal more than ghee is to the Hindu. The fruit of the tree grows in large prickly clusters, and its skin is of a bright red or orange colour, turning to yellow when ripe. The pulp is rather bitter in taste, and is reddish-white in colour. Within tho fruit is a stone or kernel, about the size of a filbert. The natives, gathering the fruit when ripe, bruise it gently in. a wooden mortar, and then boil it with water in large caldrons; whilst simmering, it is stirred with a stick, to separate the pulp from the kernels, which sink to the bottom and are reserved, for other uses. The oil, which floats on the surface of the water as the boiling proceeds, is skimmed off, and placed in earthenware vessels.

The Niger affords two kinds of palm oil. The one is of the consistency of butter, and is called ' hard ' oil, and for this the only market is England. The other is liquid, and is called ' soft oil,' and for this the highest price is obtained in all the European markets. There is hardly any difference in the quality, but only in the method of preparation. The buying price on the river ranges from five pounds to six pounds ten shillings per cask of two hundred and twenty gallons; and it is calculated that about eight thousand tons are annually exported from the Niger to Europe, where it is employed in making candles, soap, railway-grease, &c. Both the. trading and the transport to the ' Factories ' is carried on chiefly by women, after the manner of the noble savage; "and the streams of females, each with a pot of palm oil •tin her head and a baby on her back, are among the every-day sights of the country. At the Factories the oil is carefully measured by the agents, and is paid for in salt or cotton cloth. Then it is casked and stored in the station, waiting for transport down the river, to be put on board the ocean steamers at Akassa.

The commodity next in importance in the export trade of the Niger is ivory, although this can hardly be regarded as an increasing trade. It is mostly in the hands of Hausa (native) merchants, who convey it vast distances.

Few persons who finger tbeir ivoryhanded knives at dinner think of the enormous distances that have been traversed by the smooth pleasant-feeling material, of the incalculable labour it represents, and of the suffering, and perchance bloodshed, which have marked its transit since it fell with some mighty elephant in a remote African jungle. Some who know Centra; Africa say that if it were not for ivory, the raiding and selling of slaves would soon cease. If this be true, then this beautiful product of nature stands in the civilised world as the representative of the traffic in human flesh, which annually makes countless thousands mourn.

Trade on the Benue only dates from 1574, and has not as yet attained great dimensions ; but the land along this river is reported to be of great promise, and it is believed that this will ultimately prove one of the most remunerative portions of the Niger Territories. One of the principal items of trade bore is rubber, which is thus collected, The natives make an incision in the tree, and allow the sap to flow over their naked arms until it forms a thick coating. When this has hardened, it is scraped off and rolled into balls, which are known as ' Niger lumps,' and which are taken to the Factories, where they are worth in goods the equivalent' of ninety to one hundred pounds per ton. This rubber sells in England at from, one shilling to two shillings per pound, according to quality—for there are many varieties of the rubber-tree. Shea butter is another product. This is obtained from the Shea-tree (BassiaParkii), a handsome tree resembling an American oak, the fruit of which is a nut about the size of a walnut. The treatment is much the same as that followed in the manufacture of palm oil, above described, and the solid oil, or butter, has medicinal properties which the natives appreciato. In market value, Shea butter is pretty much that of palm oil, and in England it is used largely in the manufacture of ointmont, although it has numerous other uses. One of the principal tribes of the Lower Benue basin is the Basa tribe—an industrious, energetic, and muscular people, who are heathens and idol worshippers. Not much is known of their customs, but their mode of burial is curious. They wrap the corpse in white cloth and place it in the grave in a standing position along with' a bag of provisions for the journey to tho other world. A whole month is spent in mourning, and then there is a general meeting of the relatives, who spend a day in feasting and dancing.

One of the chief towns on the Bonue is Loko, a clean place of some four thousand inhabitants, composed of a collection of round-topped huts, like hayricks, fenced by matting seven feet high. This is both an important station of the Royal Niger Company and also the capital of the Mohammedan State of Nassarawa, which is ruled over by an Emir.

The Benue headquarters of the Niger Company are at a place called Ibi, a town belonging to the Juko tribe, who have succeeded in escaping from the Mohammedan influence which oppresses surrounding tribes, and have placed themselves under British protection. The whole country about here is fertile and well wooded.

Above Ibi, the river is a magnificent stream' more than a mile wide, with a succession of important native States] stretching along both banks, Here is one little sketch of the physical aspects:

' Few villages or inhabitants were seen during our day's run of fifty miles, the country still remaining densely wooded, with occasional; open plains of high grass. At dusk, the'river had slightly narrowed, and we lay between two high black walls of impenetrable forest:' once we thought we heard a lion's distant roar, but otherwise all was magnificently still—not a ripple on the water, not a rustle among the trees—and as we sat on dock gazing pensively into the black night, the moon, almost at the full, rose gradually above the dark belt oj forest, and shed a silvery lustre over the water. It was one of the grandest nightscones I can remember, and certainly one which can never be equalled out of the tropics.'

Farther on, the country becomes more open and rnoro thickly populated. Cultivation, too, is actively pursued, as also a number of native industries such as lcatherwoiking, brass-working, and cloth-dyeing with native indigo. Altogether life on the Benue seems on a higher plane than in the basin of the Lower Niger. Yola, tho capital of tho Mohammedan State of Adamawa, through which passes the boundary-line of the Anglo-German agreement of 188G, lies at tho foot of a fine group of mountains, on the slopes of which it is proposed to establish a sanatorium for the European traders. Above Yola, the Benue presents much variety of scenery and character. Suffice it to say that much interesting exploration was done, both on the upper waters of the Benue and also on the Middle Niger (or Kworra) above Lokoja. In conclusion it may be said that the commercial potentiality of this region is limited in range ; but it remains to be seen if any minoral resourcos can be discovered, or cultivation developed so as to make agriculture a remunerative industry.. The climate of tho Niger Delta is, as It has always been, deadly for Europeans ; but beyond tho junction of tho Niger and Benue it will comparo favourably with India. In these inner parts Europeans may safely reside for three or four years at a time, and even longer if hill sanatoriums be established. But there is no field for European colonisation in tho Niger Territories,