EXPLORERS' VICISSITUDES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2519, 1 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

EXPLORERS' VICISSITUDES.

White men who bury themselves in the depths of savage countries and attempt to carry on all norts of enterprises there are compelled, on account of their inability to procure various supplies, to resort to all sorts of ingenious shifts. A French expedition was sent a few months ago far south on the Niger Eiver to take possession of a newly annexed region and to build a fort at Siguiri .where the Tankisso River joins the Niger. While on the march one day they came to the Korokoro River. It was too deep to ford, and native canoes for ferrying the expedition across were out of the question on account of the bulky nature of some of the baggage. Various plans, including a poontoon bridge, were discussed, but it was finally decided that it would be most expeditions to build a suspension bridge. The expedition had among ics stores 600 feet of telegraph wire. This wire was fastened to trees on both banVs and then passed from shore to shore again and again, and stretched to form a wide roadway they were covered with straight boughs, and on'these was laid mixture of grass and clamp earth. This completed the bridge, and the little eannon and ammunition and provision carts passed safely over, to the great astonishment of the natives, who had flocked from far and near to see the wonderful work. The poor blacks were completely bewildered by the white men's ingenuity. The expedition at last reached the Niger. It had a waggon loaded with tools, and a number of kegs of nails, but for the rest it was compelled to depend upon the country for the materials to bnild the fort. There was plenty of stone for the walls, but no lime in which to Jay them. The first thing the carpenters did was to build some log shops on the edge of the timber. Then they made a boat, and , several men were kept at work for days dredging the river for clam shells. By burning the shells they turned them into very fair lime, and so this necessary article was supplied. For a mortar bed they made a big trough out of a tree trunk, autl in this they mixed their lime and sand. They used the forward wheels of their artillery for carrying logs. Of course it would never do to have a thatch roof or any inflammable matorial enter into the construction of their powderhouse. Its walls were built of stone. Little storehouses were built for the supplies of coffee and sugar, and then the tin boxes that had contained these provisions were unsoldered, and a very neat tin roof was made for the magazine. They needed doors and window frames for their log barracks, and for these purposes they utilised quite a large number of wooden boxes in which they had brought a part of their supplies. The boxes were knocked to pieces, and the lumber was carefully husbanded to make it go as far as possible. Some of the boxes, made of very thin boards, were turned into Venetian blinds, and they all contributed to the comfort and convenience of the colony. The new comers were welcomed heartily by the chiefs of the country, who were so glad to have the white men among them that they gratuitously furnished the services of over 300 men who assisted in building the fort. Many men are now in putting up a telegraph line from this now white settlement. to one of the French posts on the Senegal River, and before very long it is expected that Paris will be able to get news by telegraph and cable from this little isolated fort far in the interior of Africa on the very day it is sent,