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EXPEDITION TO CENTRAL AFRTCA

The following interesting particulars of the. expedition of Drs.Barth and Overweg (two Germans) into Central Africa, is taken from the ' Athenceum of November 15. The boat with which Dr. Overweg explored- Lake Tsad was sent from England, and after being taken, to pieces in Tripoli, was carried for twelve months on the backs of camels, across the burning. sands of the Sahra : — _ '-'Dr. Barth, in a letter to Dr. Beke daled the 12th Ap'ri), 1851, in the kingdom of Adamawa, concluded his remarks thus : — "From uH that 1 have heard it must be-ihe most beauti-

fill country of Central Africa. Adamaioa must be visited." Though this determination was probably not taken by any one of those who know the undaunted courage and perseverance of this distinguished traveller as an empty boast, -yet no one who is aware of the immense difficulties of travelling in the countries to the south of Lake Tsad.wjmld have expected that about three months a f ter _'n ame ]y, on the 22nd of July— he would have returned' to Kuka from a highly interesting and successful journey to Yola, the capital of Adamawa, and distant from the former place 340 miles, — which it took him twenty "days to travel. Dr. Barth has already sent a full official report of this important journey to the Foreign Office : — and it is to be hoped that the particulars may soon be published. Dr. Barth started from Kuka, on the 29th of May, and at a distance of abon,t 100 miles came to the country of Margin', — a remarkable Pagan' nation of npgroes/ which frequently suffers from the razzias of the Feilatahs in the south, as well as from the people of Bornu in the nortlv He elso passed through Mora, the capital of Manuara, visited by Denhara. Four days' journey before reaching Yola, he had to cross the two principal rivers of Adamaua, the Benu6 and the Faro ; the former being half a mile broad and as mucK as ten feet deep, qomrngfrom. the south and south-east, — and the lajSer, a tributary of the Benue, 5-12tbs of a milebroad and from three to'four feet deep. This magnificent river the source of which was said to be nine days distant from the place where Barth crossed it, runs towar Js the Kawara, — and is, in fact, the upper coupse of the Tschadda. Yola the capital of the whole country -and the residence of Mohammed Loel, the sultan of the Fellatahs, was reached on the 22nd of June. It lies on a marshy plain 5 but the, country generally consists of pastures, here and there interspersed with cultivated fields. Although the people of Adamawa.and Bornu are at enmity with each other, Dr. Barth, as a friend and protege of the Sheikh of Bornu, was received very kindly by the inhabitants, as well as by the sultan :—-who,: — -who, however r could not but look with apprehension on the surveys and observations of the traveller. He was permitted to stay three days in the capital, — and on his leaving was treated with regard and honours. Dr. Overweg had in the mean time most successfully explored Lake Tsad, in the Lord Palmerston — as -he has named the" boat, in grateful acknowledgement of his Lordship's patronage. . On the 7th May, Dr. Overweg had arrived in Kuka, — where he was welcomed by his companions as one who had roa-le himself already quite at home. They received from the sheikh a good house of large size to live in ; and were supplied daily with plenty of mutton, rice, wheat, butler and honey. While Dr. Barth was preparing for his journey to Adaraawa, Dr. Overweg, with theassistance of Arab carpenters, put the boat together. On the 18ih June, he embarked at Bree, eight miles east from Kuka ; the only place ft here an occasiona' trade' is carried on between the inhabitants of Bornu and the Biddumas. Two of their boats happened to be in that harbour when the Lord Palmerston was launched. Dr. Overweg soon became friendly with their crews 4 and engaged some of the men as sailors and interpreters, — one of them a very intelligent person, to remain with him afterwards as a servant. He started accompanied by the. two Bidduma boats, and reached, at a distance of twelve miles from Bree, the first of the islands, — of which there are about one hundred large ones scattered over the lake. They are wooded, ~and inhabited by the. Biddumas, with their herds of cattle and goats. The shores are infested by numerous crocodiles _ and hippopotami. The dimensions of the lake were found by Dr. Overweg to be considerably smaller than those given by Denham : — from Bree to the east shore being only sixty miles, whereas in Denham's map it is more than double. These apparent discrepancies, however, may'find their explanation in the remarkable nature of the lake : — it being an immense body of water which is greatly augmented in the rainy. season, but in the season of drought evaporates so much that it seems at times to dry up entirely. This is an occurrence which is said to have happened six years ago. This fact would also seem to explain Dr. Barth's first impression of the lake, when he spoke of it .as a marsh, and of the Bidduraa islands as meadow lands. The average depth of the lake is from ten to fifteen feet, and its waters axe fresh and clear. Dr. Overweg was received •with great kindness by the Biddumas on his landing at several of the islands, and during his visit to many of their villages. — On the Bth of August, he returned to Kuka. The foregoing communications were despatched by courier from Kuka on the 10th of August, and reached Tripoli on the sth of October :—: — being an interval of only fifty-six days. Augcstus Petermah. The following interesting letter from Dr. Barth lias been put at our disposal by Dr. Beke. — , Kuka, July 25, 1851. My Dear Sir. — Earlier than T entertained •the hope — and, indeed, earlier than I expected — ' am -I returned from my journey to Adamawa. My return has been forced ; Mohammed Loel, the governor of that country, having (as it seems) suspected my exploration of his province for two reasons.' The one was, the claim made by the Sheikh, in the letters of which my companion and escort Kashella Billama was the bearer, to the lotfg-disputed frontier territory; the other reason was, the circumstance that the Fellatas of Adamawa have become but too well acquainted with the gun-armed " Insarah"- on the, shores of the Gulf of Benin. Thus it happened, that after a stay of only three days in Yola, the residence of the governor of that country, 1 was obliged to make my retreat, greatly disappointed and in indifferent health ; so that the results of this journey are not so extensive as I had entertained the enthusiastic hope they would have been. I trust,nevertheless, that my jqurney to Yola will make a valuable addition to the knowledge of the geography of Central Africa. The two most important results of it seem to me to be, — first, the evidence that there is no idea of a continued chain of mountains running W.N.W. from Mount Mendif; second; that" the question as to the .connection of the Niger with the Sbary by means of the river of Adamawa (or the Tsbadda/as it has been called in its low.er course) is now altogether settled. I crossed the Benue and the Faro at the very pofnt where they unite ; the former coming from the east, a distance of about ten

days, — while the Faro has its sources in a mountain called Hosere(the rock)Labul, atadistance of seven day's journey south. Besides, by fixing the position of Yala, a certain point has been obtained for the, routes through the country of which I sent you itineraries by the last kafla. 1 am now about to lay down my route in a sketch which I shall send* to Government by the next caravan, — which is to leave in a fortnight ; while my letters are to be sent 10-morrow or the day after by a courier.' The map and its itinerary will, I am sure, be of interest in many respects ; for not only is the physical configuration of the country interesting, but the different nationalities are perhaps still more so. Adamawa is indeed a fine country, with very extensive valley-plains of a most' fertile soil ; and, irrigated as it is by a rainy season of seve"n months' duration, it is immensely rich in pasturegrounds, and consequently full of cattle. With the exception of slaves, cattle form jn "fact the only wealth of the masteis of the country : who wage continued — I might say daily — war with the pagans settled on the mountains. For, with the exception of the celebrated -Mendif, and some remarkable peaks near it which appear to be steep calcareous peaks, quite bare and naked to the summit, all the mountains in Adamawa, as well as-in Mandara, as far as I have been able to make out, consist of granite, and are covered all over with trees, — the more plain spots being cultivated. The most common produce of the country is, ghafule. Rice is also, cultivated ; for "which the valley of the Benue is -well suited, — it being covered for forty days by the overflowing floods of the river, which rises to a height of from 40 to 50 feet. I can-say almost with certainty, that there is gold in Adamawa; everybody having assured me that that .precious -metal is washed down by the Benue, though at this season at least it was not possible for me personally to ascertain the fact. There are, however, no snowcapped mountains :— Alantiga, which I saw in its whole extent at a distance of about 100 miles, appearing to me scarcely to. reach the height 6i 9,000 or 10,000 feet in its highest part. Neither does that mountain, which had been represented to me as a volcanic one, appear to coDtain anything of the sort. But it is quite true that it contains hot springs. At Yola, a prospect opened to me of alluring magnitude. I there met a very amiable Arab, Shereef Mohammed -ben Ahmedu, a native of Mokha, in Yeraan, who had travelled all over the eastern shores of the African continent, from Djard Hafun as far doivn as Sofala, and had penetrated from Mozambique to Nyassi, — and who, being-well acquainted with the character of (he English, declared himself ready,- for a sum of 300 dollars to be paid at Zanzibar, to try to penetrate with me across the continent, in ihe direction of that magnificent lake. For, Nyassi being the great centrum of the commerce of an immense part of Southern Africa, I am sure we should have, to go scarcely a month's journey from Baia in that direction before we fell into a very frequented road proceeding towards that market. In crossing the lake from Ngombo to its western side, where the capital of the Sultan of Nyassi is situated, you pass one night on an island in the middle of the lake. The lake neither rises nor falls at any season of the year. My informant thinks it most probable that the Nile takes- its origin from this lake, though he did not visit the northern portion of it. To the west — according to my informant, — but as he says he travelled directly west in going from Mozambique to Mcala, it would seem rather to be W.N.W. — from lake Nyassi he heard of another extensive lake called Timbaze, /distant about a month's journey. Thus much about my own proceedings :—: — now, a word about Dr. Overweg's. During my absence he got the boat ready ; and he is now sailing on and exploring the lake of Central Africa and its shores, under the protection of the Kashella Fuggo Ali of Meduvvari (with whom I had previously explored the shores of the lake where it .was still very shallow), and guided by •some Buddama chiefs. On account of the strong winds — which did not allow the Buddama boats to proceed, while the English,, boat is said to have tacked about in every direction under full sail, — it took him nine days to go from Kawa, the village by the, shore of the lake on this side, to the chief town of the Buddamas — who (it is said) everywhere do him the greatest honour, — at the same admiring the structure ef that strange boat. The results with which I expect him back in a few days will be of the greatest interest for the whole geography of Central Africa ; and I am sure the "English public, as well as the Government, will see that the German scientific travellers are worth a little assistance in their arduous undertakings. God be praised ! supplies to the amount of £100 -have at length arrived by a very circuitous route ; others of like value, sent by the direct road of Bilma, — together with letters and news from our friends in Europe, of which we are sadly in need, — have not yet arrived. After having made the tour of the lake by land, I shall'try, if possible, to penetrate southward, by the route from Baghrimmr, Bangbay, and Somrai,' — of which I have sent an Itinerary to Mr. Petermann. — I have another most important Itinerary from hence by way of Loggun to Somrai and further south, which is of the greatest interest for the course of the Shary ; but at present I have no leisure to communicate it. At Kuka, the rainy season, properly speaking, ought to have commenced ; but all is still dry here, — though- two days further south everything has already become green, and the crops are shooting. For one month to come, nothing is to be done but to occupy ourselves with inquiries, languages,, &c. — Yours, &c, Dr. Barth, 'Abd el Kereem.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZSCSG18520717.2.3.4

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 726, 17 July 1852, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,326

EXPEDITION TO CENTRAL AFRTCA New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 726, 17 July 1852, Page 3

EXPEDITION TO CENTRAL AFRTCA New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 726, 17 July 1852, Page 3

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