Benue River

“ In 1851 Barth crossed the Benue at its junction with the Faro, but the region of its sources was first explored by Flegel (1882–1884) , who traversed the whole southern basin of the river and reached Ngaundere. Other German travellers added to the knowledge of the southern tributaries, the Tarabba, Donga and others, which in the rains bring down a large body of water from the highlands of southern Adamawa. ”

“ Including the headwaters of the Benue the colony has four distinct river-systems, one connecting with the Niger, another with the Congo, and a third with Lake Chad, the fourth being the rivers which run direct to the sea. The Niger and Shari systems communicate, with, at high water, but one obstruction to navigation. ”

“ From this point the inland fluvial route already offers a continuous navigable highway accessible to steamers for over 900 miles unob- structed by a single difficult impediment. Of all the great African rivers, the Benue alone is free from rapids in its middle course ; and even at the head of its navigation the slope of the land is continued eastwards through the Shari basin, while all reports agree in anticipating the existence of easy routes through the Niam-Niam territory from the Tsad to the Nile basin. ”

“ The changes which a lapse of nearly two thousand years may be supposed to have occasioned on the northern coast of Africa, are fully sufficient to have reduced the river Lathon to the spring which now flows into the Lake of Bengazi.
The lake itself is salt, and in the summer is nearly dry; while the small stream in question takes its rise within a few yards of the lake, and running along a channel of inconsiderable breadth, bordered with reeds and rushes, might be mistaken by a common observer for an inroad of the lake into the sandy soil which bounds it. ”

“ East and south this basin is encircled by mountains and uplands, north and west by disconnected hills and terraces, falling in the south-west to open, low-lying plains, through which the great lacustrine depression almost merges in the Benue hydrographic system. Thus the central region is almost everywhere easily accessible, and also contains a relatively dense population, estimated at certainly more than seven millions in a total area exceeding 280,000 square miles. ”

“ It may be described as bounded W. by Lagos, S. by the territory of the Jakri and other tribes of the Niger delta, E. by the Niger river, and N. by Yorubaland. The coast-line held by Benin had passed out of its sovereignty by the middle of the 19th century. In physical characteristics, climate, flora and fauna, Benin in no way differs from the rest of the southern portion of Nigeria (q.v.) . The coast is low, intersected by creeks, and forms one huge mangrove swamp; on the rising ground inland are dense forests in which the cotton and mahogany trees are conspicuous. ”

“ Many overlanders took advantage of the port by shearing or lambing their sheep wherever a chance offered, and after obtaining supplies for the road, were prepared to extend their search for new country still further away. The Bowen River country is very interesting and its scenery most picturesque; it has first-class grazing qualities, small open plains, with patches of brigalow scrub scattered over black-soil country. Sandstone ranges bound the creeks on the coast side, whence they come down to the main stream. ”

“ Where was this river going? To join the Aller, which meets the Weser, which flows into the North Sea, which joins the Channel, which is an arm of the Atlantic, which receives the waters of the Adour, into which the river of Pan, swollen by the Ossau stream, runs close by the blue hamlet of Peyrehorade. Little German trout, little French trout. Foolish, childish thoughts which carry the mind of a man facing death back through the course of his life, and bridge the gulf between distant epochs.
"I am sorry to have kept you waiting, Herr Professor. But it's not yet quite six o'clock."
Hagen! ”

“ Indeed Blea was much cut off from the world; there was a bridge over the stream on the west side, but over the other channel was no bridge, so that to fare eastward it was requisite to go in a boat. To seaward there were wide sands, when the tide was out; when it was in, it came up nearly to the end of the village street. The people were mostly fishermen, but there were a few farmers and labourers; the boats of the fishermen lay to the east side of the village, near the river channel which gave some draught of water ”

“ Land-locked to every wind that blows, with only a narrow channel open to the sea, the navies of the world could lie peacefully together in its sheltered waters. The coast that environs the harbour abounds in natural beauties, but of all the wooded creeks—fair stretches of undulating downs—or stately curves of winding river, none surpasses the little bay formed by the turn of Benita, the northern postern of the Golden Gates. ”

“ At length a real river greeted the gaze of our travellers, and, by the enormous ant-hills seen in its vicinity, the doctor recognized the Benoué, one of the great tributaries of the Niger, the one which the natives have called “The Fountain of the Waters.”
“This river,” said the doctor to his companions, “will, one day, be the natural channel of communication with the interior of Nigritia. Under the command of one of our brave captains, the steamer Pleiad has already ascended as far as the town of Yola. You see that we are not in an unknown country.” ”

“ A vessel steering along the shore finds it difficult, from the numerous shoals, while pretty islets are scattered about in every direction. If the Benggaya be approached in a direct line, the water gradually decreases from three to one and a half fathoms; but, keeping close into the front, it deepens to five, seven, and no bottom with a ten-fathom line. The country, as viewed from the mouth of this river, presents only mangrove jungle, with an occasional glimpse at the distant mountains: its entrance is very shallow, not deep enough at low tide to float a ship’s cutter. ”

“ Or coast level fifty miles, plateau level 400 miles, central level 900 miles, of which 800 miles are forest-clad banks.
The cataract region is the obstacle that has kept so long secret this great highway; but that passed, on the upper river there are 1,100 miles of unimpeded navigation, while the affluents are estimated at 2,000 miles; beyond the Stanley Falls stretch another 2,000 miles of riverway. Two of27 the affluents have been explored, and on each was found a lake, while the natives at the mouths of other affluents speak of lakes. ”

“ The stream was, however, deeper than I anticipated, and the horse immediately began to stumble and flounder in an alarming manner, showing that the river bed was uneven and rocky. About half-way across was a small island, that divided the stream, which after much difficulty he reached; resting here about a minute, I again urged him forward, but the animal seemed very reluctant to go. He wheeled short round, snorted loudly as if in fear, and was evidently in unusual alarm. ”

“ The level of the Tsád and that of the river Bénuwé near Géwe, where it is joined by the Máyo Kébbi, seem to be almost identical; at least, according to all appearance, the Bénuwé at the place mentioned is not more than eight hundred and fifty or nine hundred feet above the level of the sea. All this bounty of Nature will, I trust, one day be turned to account, though many changes [590] must take place in this country before a regular and peaceful intercourse can be established. The very scenes which I witnessed are an unmistakable proof of the misery into which these regions are plunged. ”

“ All the public buildings are in an efficient state, a large extent of flat, stinking shore has been filled up and embanked, ruins of churches and monasteries cleared away, walks and squares laid out and planted, a large new market is being built, and good shops and stores are now abundantly supplied with every description of European goods; and if a good supply of water were brought to the city from the River Bengo, there would certainly not be a finer place to live in on the whole Western Coast of Africa. ”

“ The port of Bengazi is formed by rocks, that project from the castle, and Juliana point; and is rendered very secure by a reef that extends across at a short distance from the mouth of it, leaving a narrow channel on either side: both these passages are very difficult, and upon an average the depth of water in the harbour will be found greater by a foot and a half, or two feet, in winter, than in summer. But we must not always depend upon this, or upon a rise with the winds that may be blowing at Bengazi at the moment; as they may be confined to a short distance only from the coast ”

“ I met them at every corner, and heard their happy 277 voices in every dwelling, and a more perfectly beautiful race of creatures, I never before saw in any city.
The distance from Bangor to the ocean is eighty miles. For twenty miles the river averages three quarters of a mile in width, when it gradually widens into an expansive bay or gulf. The water is deep, always covered with vessels, and abounds with salmon, which are only taken with the net. ”

“ Landers, as is well known, descended a large river from the interior of Africa to the sea, at what is called the Bite of Benin, where the river loses itself by flowing in divided streams through a delta created by the deposit of alluvial debris, brought down from the highlands by the force of its own current. ”

“ As for my part, I can at present certify, with the greatest confidence, that there is no connection whatever between those two rivers, the Chadda, which is identical with the Bénuwé, on the one, and the Sháry, the principal tributary of Lake Tsád, on the other side. Nevertheless, the Fáro as well as the Bénuwé seem to have their sources to the east of the meridian of Kúkawa; and the river formed by these two branches being navigable for large boats into the very heart of Ádamáwa, there will be a great facility for Europeans to enter that country after it shall have been sufficiently explored. ”

“ CROSSING AN ELEVATED RIDGE, Captain Bonneville now came upon Bear River, which, from its source to its entrance into the Great Salt Lake, describes the figure of a horse-shoe. One of the principal head waters of this river, although supposed to abound with beaver, has never been visited by the trapper; rising among rugged mountains, and being barricadoed [sic] by fallen pine trees and tremendous precipices. ”

“ Moreover the Forcados bar shifts little laterally, and within the bar is a natural harbour with an area of 3 to 4 sq. m. having a depth of 30 ft. at low water spring tides. From the mouth of the Forcados to the main stream is 105 m., with a minimum depth in the dry season of 7 ft. A northern arm affords ocean-going vessels access to Wari and Sapele. The other western mouths of the Niger have as a rule shallow and difficult bars. The delta is the largest in Africa and covers 14,000 sq. m.
The Benue is by far the most important of the affluents of the Niger. ”

“ Around, the hills rose lofty, precipitous, and abrupt from the margin of the lake; some were covered with foliage to the summit, and others, bare and bleak, covered only with the whin bush or purple heather, where the red roe and the black cock roved wild and free; while, dimly seen in the distance, rose the misty crest of Benmore, (nearly four thousand feet above the level of the sea,) the highest mountain, save one, in Perthshire. ”

“ The Upper Benue basin lies almost entirely within the province of Adamawa, which is tributary to the Sultan of Wurno. According to native report, the most frequented market in this almost unknown region is Ngaundere, on the water-parting between the streams flowing to the Benue, Logon-Shari, Congo, and Old Calabar. Here are also the large towns of Chamba, on the south slope of Mount Alantika ; Kontcha, where the sugar-cane grows wild, and Yola, near the south bank, present capital of Adamawa, or Fumbina, as it was called before the Fulah conquest. ”

“ The uniformity of the little river Bogan from its spring to its junction with the Darling is very remarkable. In a course of 250 miles no change is observable in the character of its banks, or the breadth of its bed, neither are the ponds near its source less numerous or of less magnitude than those near its junction with the principal stream. Mr. Dixon estimated the velocity of the current at four miles per hour where its course is most westerly. ”

“ The average runoff of Deschutes River at Benham Falls during the past seven years has been 1,220,000 acre-feet. The Benham Falls reservoir, the largest storage basin which has been surveyed in the State of Oregon, can be developed to any capacity that the water supply will warrant, and as this river varies only slightly from year to year practically the entire runoff can be utilized. ”

“ The cattle came on faster this day, and we encamped on the skirts of the plain, near a fine reach of water in the river. We were now upwards of twenty miles to the westward of Bindango, with abundance of water; whereas I had always looked back to much difficulty in returning by that route, as the ponds near it were likely to be dried up. I had seen the higher parts of these downs from the summit of Bindango, but did not then suspect that a large river was in the midst of them, whose course was so favourable for a traveller proceeding northward. ”