Niger
(307)
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£ On Board of H.M. Schooner Joliba,
At Anchor off Sansanding,
November //, 1805.
‘ My Lord,
I have herewith sent you an account of each
day’s proceedings since we left Kayee. Many of the
incidents related are in themselves extremely trifling, but
are intended to recall to my recollection (if it pleases God
to restore me again to my dear native land) other parti¬
culars illustrative of the manners and customs of the
natives, which would have swelled this bulky communi¬
cation to a most unreasonable size.
‘ Your Lordship will recollect that I always spoke of
the rainy season with horror, as being extremely fatal to
Europeans ; and our journey from the Gambia to the
Niger will furnish a melancholy proof of it.
‘ We had no contest whatever with the natives, nor was
any one of us killed by wild animals or any other accidents;
and yet I am sorry to say that of forty-four Europeans who
left the Gambia in perfect health, five only are at present
alive—viz., three soldiers (one deranged in his mind),
Lieutenant Martyn and myself.
c From this account I am afraid that your Lordship will
be apt to consider matters as in a very hopeless state ; but
I assure you I am far from desponding. With the assist¬
ance of one of the soldiers I have changed a large canoe
into a tolerably good schooner, on board of which I this
day hoisted the British flag, and shall set sail to the east
with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of the
Niger or perish in the attempt. I have heard nothing that
I can depend on respecting the remote course of this
mighty stream, but I am more and more inclined to think
that it can end nowhere but in the sea.
‘ My dear friend Mr. Anderson, and likewise Mr. Scott,
are both dead ; but though all the Europeans who are
301
At Anchor off Sansanding,
November //, 1805.
‘ My Lord,
I have herewith sent you an account of each
day’s proceedings since we left Kayee. Many of the
incidents related are in themselves extremely trifling, but
are intended to recall to my recollection (if it pleases God
to restore me again to my dear native land) other parti¬
culars illustrative of the manners and customs of the
natives, which would have swelled this bulky communi¬
cation to a most unreasonable size.
‘ Your Lordship will recollect that I always spoke of
the rainy season with horror, as being extremely fatal to
Europeans ; and our journey from the Gambia to the
Niger will furnish a melancholy proof of it.
‘ We had no contest whatever with the natives, nor was
any one of us killed by wild animals or any other accidents;
and yet I am sorry to say that of forty-four Europeans who
left the Gambia in perfect health, five only are at present
alive—viz., three soldiers (one deranged in his mind),
Lieutenant Martyn and myself.
c From this account I am afraid that your Lordship will
be apt to consider matters as in a very hopeless state ; but
I assure you I am far from desponding. With the assist¬
ance of one of the soldiers I have changed a large canoe
into a tolerably good schooner, on board of which I this
day hoisted the British flag, and shall set sail to the east
with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of the
Niger or perish in the attempt. I have heard nothing that
I can depend on respecting the remote course of this
mighty stream, but I am more and more inclined to think
that it can end nowhere but in the sea.
‘ My dear friend Mr. Anderson, and likewise Mr. Scott,
are both dead ; but though all the Europeans who are
301
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| The books of Lewis Grassic Gibbon > Niger > (307) |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/205178261 |
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| Description | The life of Mungo Park / by Lewis Grassic Gibbon. |
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| Shelfmark | R.176.i |
| Attribution and copyright: |
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More information
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| Description | Sixteen books written by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (1901-1935), regarded as the most important Scottish prose writer of the early 20th century. All were published in the last seven years of his life, mostly under his real name, James Leslie Mitchell. They include two works of science fiction, non-fiction works on exploration, short stories set in Egypt, a novel about Spartacus, and the classic 'Scots Quair' trilogy which includes 'Sunset Song'. Mitchell's first book 'Hanno, or the future of exploration' (1928) is rare and has never been republished. |
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