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83-488: The valley was the birthplace of Mungo Park and has inspired several well-known songs and poems. Its traditions and folk tales were well documented by Walter Scott , who spent part of his childhood nearby, and in adult life returned to live in the vicinity at Abbotsford House , near Melrose . Its source is St. Mary's Loch and from there the Yarrow Water flows 20 kilometres (12 mi) in an easterly direction with

166-637: A Berber language, in which "gher" means "watercourse", confusion could easily arise. Pliny connected these two rivers as one long watercourse which flowed (via lakes and underground sections) into the Nile, a notion which persisted in the Arab and European worlds – and further added the Senegal River as the "Ger" – until the 19th century. While the true course of the Niger was presumably known to locals, it

249-402: A book, the result of 25 years of research, in which he correctly (it would later be seen) laid out the entire course of the Niger, however like Reichard, his theories did not receive much notice. A number of failed expeditions were mounted but the mystery would finally be solved 25 years after Park's death, in 1830. Richard Lander and his brother became the first Europeans to follow the course of

332-647: A fall of 123.5 metres (405 ft) passing the settlements of Yarrow Feus, Yarrow and Yarrowford before joining the Ettrick near to the site of the 1645 Battle of Philiphaugh just west of Selkirk . This confluence, which occurs at the eastern edge of the Duke of Buccleuch 's Bowhill Estate, is known as the Meetings Pool. The valley is traversed by the A708 that runs from Selkirk to Moffat . The explorer Mungo Park

415-470: A fellow Borderer , was draughtsman, and the party included four or five artificers. At Gorée (then in British occupation) Park was joined by Lieutenant Martyn, R.A., thirty-five privates and two seamen. The expedition got a late start into the rainy season and did not reach the Niger until mid-August, when only eleven Europeans were left alive; the rest had succumbed to fever or dysentery . From Bamako

498-434: A group of slaves when travelling through Mandinka country Mali: They were all very inquisitive, but they viewed me at first with looks of horror, and repeatedly asked if my countrymen were cannibals. They were very desirous to know what became of the slaves after they had crossed the salt water. I told them that they were employed in cultivating the land; but they would not believe me; and one of them putting his hand upon

581-464: A hill not far from Carterhaugh, had tired of his labour and laid him down to sleep upon a Fairy ring. When he awakened he was amazed to find himself in the midst of a populous city, to which, as well as to the means of his transportation, he was an utter stranger. His coat was left upon the Peatlaw; and his bonnet, which had fallen off in the course of his aerial journey, was afterwards found hanging upon

664-444: A pariah. Park was running a gauntlet of hostile tribes in part of his own making. To his wife, Park wrote of his intention not to stop nor land anywhere until he reached the coast, where he expected to arrive about the end of January 1806. These were the last communications received from Park, and nothing more was heard of the party until reports of disaster reached Gambia. At length, the British government engaged Isaaco to go to

747-475: A physician. In the autumn of 1803, Park was invited by the government to lead another expedition to the Niger. Park, who chafed at the hardness and monotony of life at Peebles, accepted the offer, but the expedition was delayed. Part of the waiting time was occupied perfecting his Arabic ; his teacher, Sidi Ambak Bubi, was a native of Mogador (now Essaouira in Morocco) whose behavior both amused and alarmed

830-463: A pocket compass, and on the 21st reached the long-sought Niger River at Ségou , being the first European to do so. He followed the river downstream 80 miles (130 km) to Silla, where he was obliged to turn back, lacking the resources to go further. Moreover, while traveling within Niger, many local inhabitants of the region would consistently think that he was himself a Moor, rather than European. On his return journey, begun on 29 July, he took

913-614: A prisoner; but after penetrating a little distance inland he died of fever. Park's widow, Allison, received a previously agreed upon £4,000 settlement from the African Association as a result of the death of Mungo Park. She died in 1840. Mungo Park's remains are believed to have been buried along the banks of the River Niger in Jebba, Nigeria. With Park's death the mystery of the Niger remained unsolved. Park's theory that

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996-603: A recommendation by Joseph Banks he obtained the post of surgeon's mate on board the East India Company's ship Worcester . In February 1793 the Worcester sailed to Benkulen in Sumatra . Before departing, Park wrote to his friend Alexander Anderson in terms that reflect his Calvinist upbringing: My hope is now approaching to a certainty. If I be deceived, may God alone put me right, for I would rather die in

1079-461: A route more to the south than that originally followed, keeping close to the Niger River as far as Bamako , thus tracing its course for some 300 miles (500 km). At Kamalia he fell ill, and owed his life to the kindness of a man in whose house he lived for seven months. Eventually he reached Pisania again on 10 June 1797. Unable to book passage directly to England from Bathurst , he boarded

1162-621: A similar subject". "The Sang of the Outlaw Murray" is a lay that may have been composed in the reign of James V and which was collected by Walter Scott. Local tradition held that the events took place in the vicinity of Newark Castle, although Scott himself believed that the old tower at Hangingshaw, a seat of the Philiphaugh family near Yarrowford, was the correct location. He was assured by "the late excellent antiquarian Mr. Plummer, sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire... that he remembered

1245-528: A slave ship bound for Charleston . Having learned the Mandinka language during his travels, he served as doctor to the slaves, many of whom died en route. The ship was eventually forced to dock in Antigua , from which he returned to Scotland on 22 December. He had been thought dead, and his return home with news of his exploration of the Niger River evoked great public enthusiasm. An account of his journey

1328-665: A year in the natural history course taught by Professor John Walker . After completing his studies, he spent a summer in the Scottish Highlands, engaged in botanical fieldwork with his brother-in-law, James Dickson , a gardener and seed merchant in Covent Garden . In 1788 Dickson along with Sir James Edward Smith and six other fellows founded the Linnean Society of London . In 1792, Park completed his medical studies at University of Edinburgh . Through

1411-407: Is an accepted version of this page (Period: 1971–2000)7,922.3 m /s (279,770 cu ft/s) The Niger River ( / ˈ n aɪ dʒ ər / NY -jər ; French : (le) fleuve Niger [(lə) flœv niʒɛʁ] ) is the main river of West Africa , extending about 4,180 kilometres (2,600 miles). Its drainage basin is 2,117,700 km (817,600 sq mi) in area. Its source

1494-889: Is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali , Niger , on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria , discharging through a massive delta , known as the Niger Delta , into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean . The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded by the Nile and the Congo River . Its main tributary

1577-417: Is part of the larger African massive physiographic division. The Niger River basin, located in western Africa , covers 7.5% of the continent and spreads over ten countries. Niger River basin: areas and rainfall by country within the basin rainfall in the basin (mm) Hydrometric stations on the Niger River kilometer (rkm) (m) (km ) start Average, minimum and maximum discharge of

1660-469: Is referred to in various other local traditions. Scott recorded that: The peasants point out upon the plain [of Caterhaugh], those electrical rings which vulgar credulity supposes to be traces of the Fairy revels. Here, they say, were placed the stands of milk, and of water, in which Tamlane was dipped in order to effect the disenchantment; and upon these spots, according to their mode of expressing themselves,

1743-657: Is the Benue River . The Niger has different names in the different languages of the region: The earliest use of the name "Niger" for the river is by Leo Africanus in his Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili che ivi sono , published in Italian in 1550. Nevertheless, "Nigris" was already the name of a river in West Africa, as mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Solinus, among others. Whether this river

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1826-514: The African Association , then looking for a successor to Major Daniel Houghton , who had been sent in 1790 to discover the course of the Niger River and had died in the Sahara . Supported by Sir Joseph Banks , Park was selected. On 22 May 1795, Park left Portsmouth, England, on the brig Endeavour , a vessel travelling to Gambia to trade for beeswax and ivory. On 21 June 1795, he reached

1909-546: The Duke of Buccleuch . He was the seventh in a family of thirteen. Although tenant farmers, the Parks were relatively well-off. They were able to pay for Park to receive a good education, and Park's father died leaving property valued at £3,000 (equivalent to £306,000 in 2023). His parents had originally intended him for a ministry in the Church of Scotland. He was educated at home before attending Selkirk grammar school. At

1992-530: The Gambia River and ascended it 200 miles (300 km) to a British trading station named Pisania . On 2 December, accompanied by two local guides, he started for the unknown interior. He chose the route crossing the upper Senegal basin and through the semi-desert region of Kaarta . The journey was full of difficulties, and at Ludamar he was imprisoned by a Moorish chief for four months. On 1 July 1796, he escaped, alone and with nothing but his horse and

2075-498: The Kainji Dam , Shiroro Dam , Zungeru Dam , and Jebba Dam are used to generate hydropower. The water resources of the Niger River are under pressure because of increased water abstraction for irrigation. The construction of dams for hydropower generation is underway or envisaged in order to alleviate chronic power shortages in the countries of the Niger basin. The FAO estimates the irrigation potential of all countries in

2158-561: The Mountains of Kong - a mountain range rumored to be located in West Africa, beginning near the source of the Niger River and spanning the majority of the African continent from east to west. This mountain range was published by geographer and cartographer James Rennell . Debate surrounding the existence of the mountain range occurred frequently, however, it was French officer and explorer Louis-Gustave Binger officially reported that

2241-591: The Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century. As part of the West Africa Sahel region, Niger River has a hot climate characterized by very high temperatures year-round; a long, intense dry season from October–May; and a brief, irregular rainy season linked to the West African monsoon. The Niger River is a relatively clear river, carrying only a tenth as much sediment as the Nile because

2324-588: The Wadi Ghir on the north-western edge of the Tuat , along the borders of modern Morocco and Algeria . This would likely have been as far as Ptolemy would have had consistent records. The Ni-Ger was likely speculation, although the name stuck as that of a river south of the Mediterranean's "known world". Suetonius reports Romans traveling to the "Ger", although in reporting any river's name derived from

2407-425: The 18th-century visits of Mungo Park , who travelled down the Niger River and visited the great Sahelian empires of his day, that Europeans correctly identified the course of the Niger and extended the name to its entire course. The modern nations of Nigeria and Niger take their names from the river, marking contesting national claims by colonial powers of the "upper", "lower" and "middle" Niger river basin during

2490-592: The 1980s. The Niger takes one of the most unusual routes of any major river, a boomerang shape that baffled geographers for two centuries. Its source ( Tembakounda ) is 240 km (150 mi) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, but the river runs directly away from the sea into the Sahara Desert , then takes a sharp right turn near the ancient city of Timbuktu and heads southeast to the Gulf of Guinea . This strange geography apparently came about because

2573-525: The Dead ." Mungo Park appears as one of the two protagonists in T. C. Boyle 's 1981 historical novel Water Music . Tom Fremantle's 2005 travelogue The Road to Timbuktu: Down the Niger on the Trail of Mungo Park details Mungo Park's biography and retraces his travels. Nigerian singer Burna Boy mentions Park in his song "Monsters You Made" on the 2020 album Twice as Tall . Niger River This

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2656-615: The Death of James Hogg" includes the lines: The wood of Carterhaugh near the confluence of the Yarrow and Ettrick, is the setting for the ballad " Tam Lin ". This song, collected in 1729, tells the story of a maiden and her relationship to the faery world. It begins: It is possible that this tale is derived from the 13th century ballad, "Thomas the Rhymer", that concerns Thomas Learmonth of nearby Erceldoune . The subject matter of Tam Lin

2739-571: The Inner Delta between Ségou and Timbuktu to seepage and evaporation. The water from the Bani River , which flows into the Delta at Mopti , does not compensate for the losses. The average loss is estimated at 31 km /year but varies considerably between years. The river is then joined by various tributaries but also loses more water to evaporation. The quantity of water entering Nigeria

2822-489: The Interior Districts of Africa became a best-seller because it detailed what he observed, what he survived, and the people he encountered. His dispassionate — if not scientific or objective — descriptions set a standard for future travel writers to follow and gave Europeans a glimpse of Africa's humanity and complexity. Park introduced them to a vast continent unexplored by Europeans. If the African Association

2905-654: The Interior of Africa . Park proposed a theory that the Niger and Congo were the same river. Although the Niger Delta would seem like an obvious candidate, it was a maze of streams and swamps that did not look like the head of a great river. He died in 1806 on a second expedition attempting to prove the Niger-Congo connection. The theory became the leading one in Europe. Several failed expeditions followed; however

2988-720: The Mountains of Kong did not exist during an expedition in 1887-1888. It was not long after this that the Mountains of Kong were dropped from most map publications. While the Mountains of Kong have been disproven, it has remained periodically on maps in until the early 20th century. Settling at Foulshiels, in August 1799 Park married Allison, daughter of his apprenticeship master, Thomas Anderson. A project to go to New South Wales in some official capacity came to nothing, and in October 1801 Park moved to Peebles , where he practiced as

3071-412: The Niger River at Koulikoro (Upper Niger), Niamey (Middle Niger) and Lokoja (Lower Niger). Period from 2000/06/01 to 2024/05/31. Average discharge of the Niger River at Niger Delta (period from 2010 to 2018): Niger River at Lokoja average, minimum and maximum discharge (1946 to 2023): The main tributaries from the mouth: tributary tributary (km) (km ) (m /s) At

3154-467: The Niger River is two ancient rivers joined together. The upper Niger, from the source west of Timbuktu to the bend in the current river near Timbuktu , once emptied into a now dry lake to the east northeast of Timbuktu, while the lower Niger started to the south of Timbuktu and flowed south into the Gulf of Guinea. Over time upstream erosion by the lower Niger resulted in stream capture of the upper Niger by

3237-654: The Niger River), and in it, with the surviving members of his party, he set sail downstream on 19 November. Anderson had died at Sansanding on 28 October, and in him Park had lost one of his few remaining valuable members. Those who embarked in the Joliba were Park, Martyn, three European soldiers (one mad), a guide and three slaves. Before his departure, Park gave to Isaaco, a Mandingo guide who had been with him thus far, letters to take back to Gambia for transmission to Britain. The Muslim traders along this section of

3320-427: The Niger and Congo merged to become the same river, though it was later proven that they are different rivers. He was killed during a second expedition, having successfully travelled about two-thirds of the way down the Niger. If the African Association was the "beginning of the age of African exploration " by Europeans, then Mungo Park was its first successful explorer; he set a standard for all who followed. Park

3403-411: The Niger and Congo were the same river became the general opinion in the years after his death. However even while Park was alive, an amateur German geographer named Reichard proposed the Niger delta was the mouth of the river, but his theory was one of many and did not have much currency because the delta had so many small streams it did not appear to be from a great river. In 1821, James McQueen published

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3486-481: The Niger bend region also brought Islam to the region in approximately the 14th century CE. Much of the northern Niger basin remains Muslim today, although the southern reaches of the river tend to be Christian. Classical writings on the interior of the Sahara begin with Ptolemy , who mentions two rivers in the desert: the "Gir" (Γειρ) and farther south, the "Nigir" (Νιγειρ). The first has been since identified as

3569-485: The Niger did not believe Park was exploring purely for intellectual curiosity but was scouting European trading routes, they saw Park as a threat to their trading dominance. They lobbied Mansong Diarra to have Park killed, and when Mansong did not, they lobbied tribes further down the river. Park understood the politics and adopted a policy of staying away from the shore towards the middle of the 2-to-3-mile-wide (3-to-5-kilometre) river while attacking anyone who came near. In

3652-720: The Niger from source to ocean. His son Mungo Park (1800–1823) died in India at the age of 22, while in government service, and was buried at Trichinopoly . The Royal Scottish Geographical Society award the Mungo Park Medal annually in Park's honour. A life-size statue was erected to Park on the High Street in Selkirk in 1859. The monument was sculpted by Andrew Currie . In 1905 the monument had bronze figures added on

3735-456: The Niger to ascertain Park's fate. At Sansanding, Isaaco found Amadi Fatouma (Isaaco calls him Amaudy), the guide who had gone downstream with Park, and the substantial accuracy of the story he told was later confirmed by the investigations of Hugh Clapperton and Richard Lander . Amadi Fatouma stated that Park's canoe had descended the river as far as Sibby without incident. After Sibby, three native canoes chased them and Park's party repulsed

3818-700: The Niger's headwaters lie in ancient rocks that provide little silt . Like the Nile, the Niger floods yearly; this begins in September, peaks in November, and finishes by May. An unusual feature of the river is the Inner Niger Delta , which forms where its gradient suddenly decreases. The result is a region of braided streams , marshes , and large lakes; the seasonal floods make the Delta extremely productive for both fishing and agriculture. The river loses nearly two-thirds of its potential flow in

3901-604: The Peulh man obtained the sword belt and after a voyage of eight months met up with Amadi and gave him the belt. Isaaco met Amadi in Sego and having obtained the sword belt returned to Senegal. Isaaco, and later Richard Lander , obtained some of Park's effects, but his journal was never recovered. In 1827 his second son, Thomas, landed on the Guinea coast, intending to make his way to Bussa , where he thought his father might be detained

3984-453: The Poule nation and kept to the opposite bank to avoid an action. After a close encounter with a hippopotamus they continued past Caffo (3 canoe pursuers) to an island where Isaaco was taken prisoner. Park rescued him, and 20 canoes chased them. This time they merely asked Amadi for trinkets which Park supplied. At Gourmon they traded for provisions and were warned of an ambush ahead. They passed

4067-475: The age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to Thomas Anderson, a surgeon in Selkirk. During his apprenticeship, Park became friends with Anderson's son Alexander and was introduced to Anderson's daughter Allison, who would later become his wife. In October 1788, Park enrolled at the University of Edinburgh , attending for four sessions studying medicine and botany. Notably, during his time at university, he spent

4150-506: The army "being all Moors" and entered Haoussa , finally arriving at Yauri (which Amadi calls Yaour), where he (Fatouma) landed. To this point of the journey of some 1,000 miles (1,600 km) Park, who had plenty of provisions, stuck to his resolution of keeping away from the natives. Below Djenné , came Timbuktu , and at various other places the natives came out in canoes and attacked his boat. These attacks were all repulsed, Park and his party having plenty of firearms and ammunition and

4233-541: The beginning of the river near Kissidougou in Guinea, walking at first till a raft could be used, then changing to various local crafts as the river broadened and changed. Two of them reached the ocean on March 25, 1947, with Ponty having left the expedition at Niamey , somewhat past the halfway mark. They carried a 16mm movie camera , the resulting footage giving Rouch his first two ethnographic documentaries: "Au pays des mages noirs", and "La chasse à l’hippopotame". A camera

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4316-636: The corners and two bas-relief panels, all by Thomas J. Clapperton . Circa 1836, Richard Adams Locke (author of the Great Moon Hoax ) composed a fictional Lost Manuscript of Mungo Park , in which Park explores the interior of the hollow Earth . Mungo Park is mentioned in Herman Melville 's 1851 novel Moby-Dick (Chapter 5: Breakfast), and several times, parodically, in Ernest Hemingway 's short story " A Natural History of

4399-636: The delusion than wake to all the joys of earth. May the Holy Spirit dwell in your heart, my dear friend, and if I ever see my native land again, may I rather see the green sod on your grave than see you anything but a Christian. On his return in 1794, Park gave a lecture to the Linnaean Society , describing eight new Sumatran fish. The paper was not published until three years later. He also presented Banks with various rare Sumatran plants. On 26 September 1794, Mungo Park offered his services to

4482-746: The end of the African humid period around 5,500 years before present, the modern Sahara Desert, once a savanna , underwent desertification . As plant species sharply declined, humans migrated to the fertile Niger River bend region, with abundant resources including plants for grazing and fish. Like in the Fertile Crescent , many food crops were domesticated in the Niger River region, including yams , African rice ( Oryza glaberrima ), and pearl millet . The Sahara aridification may have triggered, or at least accelerated, these domestications. Agriculture, as well as fishing and animal husbandry, led to

4565-539: The grass will never grow. He went on to complain that "in no part of Scotland, indeed, has the belief in Fairies maintained its ground with more pertinacity than in Selkirkshire" and describes a story "implicitly believed by all" said to have occurred in the seventeenth century on Peat Law, to the east of Foulshiels Hill: The victim of elfin sport was a poor man, who, being employed in pulling heather upon Peatlaw,

4648-602: The ground, said with great simplicity, "have you really got such ground as this, to set your feet upon?" A deeply-rooted idea that the whites purchase Negroes for the purpose of devouring them, or of selling them to others that they may be devoured hereafter, naturally makes the slaves contemplate a journey towards the Coast with great terror, insomuch that the Slatees are forced to keep them constantly in irons, and watch them very closely, to prevent their escape. His book Travels in

4731-450: The insignia of the unicorns, &c. so often mentioned in the ballad, in existence" there. In his 1803 publication " Yarrow Unvisited " William Wordsworth wrote: although this deprecation did not deter a further visit to the area when he journeyed down the length of the Yarrow in the company of James Hogg and the subsequent publication of "Yarrow Visited" in 1814 and "Yarrow Revisited" in 1838. Wordsworth's 1835 "Extempore Effusion upon

4814-459: The journey to Ségou was made by canoe. Having received permission from the local ruler, Mansong Diarra , to proceed, at Sansanding , a little below Ségou, Park made ready for his journey down the still unknown part of the river. Helped by one soldier, the only one capable of work, Park converted two canoes into one tolerably good boat, 40 feet (12 m) long and 6 feet (2 m) broad. This he christened H.M. schooner Joliba (the native name for

4897-418: The king what had occurred. The king sent an army past "Tombouctou" ( Timbuktu ) to Sacha but decided that Haoussa was too far for a punitive expedition. Instead they went to Massina , a small "Paul" Peulh country where they took all the cattle and returned home. Amadi appears to have been part of this expedition: "We came altogether back to Sego" ( Segou ). Amadi then returned to Sansanding via Sego. Eventually

4980-469: The king where Amadi was accused of not having given the chief a present. Amadi was "put in irons". The king then sent an army to Boussa where there is a natural narrowing of the river commanded by high rock. But at the Bussa rapids , not far below Yauri , Park's boat became stuck on a rock and remained fast. On the bank were gathered hostile natives, who attacked the party with bow and arrow and throwing spears. Their position being untenable, Park, Martyn, and

5063-402: The locality. According to Walter Scott the song is based on a real incident that took place in the seventeenth century, although some modern scholars are sceptical about this story as one of the origins of the song. These include a poem by William Hamilton of Bangour called "The Braes of Yarrow" first published in Edinburgh in 1724 and said to be "written in imitation of an old Scottish ballad on

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5146-419: The lower Niger. The northern part of the river, known as the Niger bend , is an important area because it is the major river and source of water in that part of the Sahara. This made it the focal point of trade across the western Sahara and the centre of the Sahelian kingdoms of Mali and Gao . The surrounding Niger River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the Sudan province, which in turn

5229-445: The mystery of the Niger would not be solved for another 25 years, in 1830, when Richard Lander and his brother became the first Europeans to follow the course of the Niger to the ocean. In 1946, three Frenchmen, Jean Sauvy, Pierre Ponty and movie maker Jean Rouch , former civil servants in the African French colonies , set out to travel the entire length of the river, as no one else seemed to have done previously. They travelled from

5312-409: The natives having none. The boat also escaped the many perils attendant on navigating an unknown stream strewn with many rapids; Park had built Joliba so that she drew only 1 foot (30 cm) of water. At Haoussa, Amadi traded with the local chief. Amadi reports that Park gave him five silver rings, some powder and flints to give as a gift to the chief of the village. The following day Amadi visited

5395-399: The people of Peebles. In May 1804, Park went back to Foulshiels, where he made the acquaintance of Walter Scott , then living nearby at Ashiesteil and with whom he soon became friendly. In September, Park was summoned to London to leave on the new expedition; he left Scott with the hopeful proverb on his lips, "Freits (omens) follow those that look to them." Park had at that time adopted

5478-425: The process he also avoided paying tolls/bribes to pass through each kingdom, earning the rage of local rulers, Moorish or not, who would send messengers ahead to the next tribe downriver that a dangerous interloper was coming their way. Furthermore, Park's policy of shoot first and not engaging with locals, in some cases slaughtering significant numbers of natives using superior firepower, made the Europeans something of

5561-503: The pursuers with firearms. A similar incident occurred at Cabbara and again at Toomboucouton. At Gouroumo seven canoes pursued them. One of the party died of sickness leaving "four white men, myself [Amadi], and three slaves". Each person (including the slaves) had "15 musquets apiece, well loaded and always ready for action". After passing the residence of the king of Goloijigi, 60 canoes came after them which they "repulsed after killing many natives". Further along they encountered an army of

5644-402: The rise of settlements like Djenné-Djenno in the Inner Delta, now a World Heritage Site . The region of the Niger bend, in the Sahel , was a key origin and destination for trans-Saharan trade , fueling the wealth of great empires such as the Ghana , Mali, and Songhai Empires . Major trading ports along the river, including Timbuktu and Gao, became centers of learning and culture. Trade to

5727-410: The river Niger. As Timbuktu was the southern end of the principal Trans-Saharan trade route to the western Mediterranean , it was the source of most European knowledge of the region. Medieval European maps applied the name Niger to the middle reaches of the river, in modern Mali, but Quorra ( Kworra ) to the lower reaches in modern Nigeria , as these were not recognized at the time as being

5810-461: The river – the myth connecting the Niger to the Nile persisted. Many European expeditions to plot the river were unsuccessful. In 1788 the African Association was formed in England to promote the exploration of Africa in the hopes of locating the Niger, and in June 1796 the Scottish explorer Mungo Park was the first European to lay eyes on the middle portion of the river since antiquity (and perhaps ever). He wrote an account in 1799, Travels in

5893-412: The same river. When European colonial powers began to send ships along the west coast of Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Senegal River was often postulated to be the seaward end of the Niger. The Niger Delta, pouring into the Atlantic through mangrove swamps and thousands of distributaries along more than 160 kilometres (100 mi), was thought to be coastal wetlands. It was only with

5976-447: The steeple of the church of Lanark. 55°33′11″N 2°54′47″W  /  55.5531°N 2.9130°W  / 55.5531; -2.9130 Mungo Park (explorer) Mungo Park (11 September 1771 – 1806) was a Scottish explorer of West Africa. After an exploration of the upper Niger River around 1796, he wrote a popular and influential travel book titled Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa in which he theorized

6059-477: The theory that the Niger and the Congo were one, and in a memorandum drawn up before he left Britain he wrote: "My hopes of returning by the Congo are not altogether fanciful." On 31 January 1805, he sailed from Portsmouth for Gambia , having been given a captain's commission as head of the government expedition. Alexander Anderson, his brother-in-law and second-in-command, had received a lieutenancy. George Scott,

6142-400: The two remaining soldiers sprang into the river and were drowned. The sole survivor was one of the slaves. After three months in irons, Amadi was released and talked with the surviving slave, from whom was obtained the story of the final scene. Amadi paid a Peulh man to obtain Park's sword belt. Amadi then returned first to Sansanding and then to Segou . After, Amadi went to Dacha and told

6225-463: Was a mystery to the outside world until the late 18th century. The connection to the Nile River was made not simply because this was then known as the great river of " Aethiopia " (by which all lands south of the desert were called by Classical writers), but because the Nile like the Niger flooded every summer. Through the descriptions of Leo Africanus and even Ibn Battuta – despite his visit to

6308-421: Was born at Foulshiels on the left bank of the river in 1771. In May 1804 Walter Scott came upon Park throwing stones into a deep pool in the river and remarked that "This appears but an idle amusement for one who has seen so much adventure". Park replied that this was "Not so idle perhaps, as you suppose. This was the way I used to ascertain the depth of a river in Africa". Although he had not yet told anyone, Park

6391-584: Was considering his second and fateful expedition at the time. At about the same time, James Hogg ("The Ettrick Shepherd") had come to the attention of Scott whilst the former was working at Blackhouse Farm in the Yarrow valley. The impressive ruins of Newark Castle , held by the Earls of Douglas in the 15th century, lie on the right bank of the river opposite Foulshiels. The folk song " The Dowie Dens o Yarrow " (English: "the dismal, narrow wooded valleys of Yarrow") refers to an ambush and murder that takes place in

6474-478: Was drawn up for the African Association by Bryan Edwards, and his own detailed narrative appeared in 1799 ( Travels in the Interior of Africa ). Park was convinced that: whatever difference there is between the negro and European, in the conformation of the nose, and the colour of the skin, there is none in the genuine sympathies and characteristic feelings of our common nature. Park encountered

6557-524: Was estimated at 25 km /year before the 1980s and at 13.5 km /year during the 1980s. The most important tributary is the Benue River which merges with the Niger at Lokoja in Nigeria. The total volume of tributaries in Nigeria is six times higher than the inflow into Nigeria, with a flow near the mouth of the river standing at 177.0 km /year before the 1980s and 147.3 km /year during

6640-419: Was the "beginning of the age of African exploration " then Mungo Park was its first successful explorer, he set a standard for all who followed. After his death, European public and political interest in Africa began to increase. Perhaps the most lasting effect of Park's travels, though, was the influence on European colonial ambitions during the 19th century. Mungo Park is credited with the original report of

6723-606: Was the first Westerner to have recorded travels in the central portion of the Niger, and through his popular book introduced the European public to a vast unexplored continent which influenced future European explorers and colonial ambitions in Africa. Mungo Park was born in Selkirkshire , Scotland, at Foulshiels on the Yarrow Water , near Selkirk , on a tenant farm which his father, Mungo Park (1714–1793), rented from

6806-456: Was the same as the actual Niger, or rather the river also known as Ger (currently known as Oued Guir, in Morocco), is a matter of discussion. This Nigris was said to divide "Africa proper" from the land of the (Western) Ethiopians to the south, and its name (as well as that of the river Ger) might well come from the Berber phrase gr-n-grwn meaning "river of rivers", as the current Tuareg name for

6889-743: Was used to illustrate Rouch's subsequent book "Le Niger En Pirogue" (Fernand Nathan, 1954), as well as Sauvy's "Descente du Niger" (L'Harmattan, 2001). A typewriter was brought as well, on which Ponty produced newspaper articles he mailed out whenever possible. The water in the Niger River basin is partially regulated through dams. In Mali the Sélingué Dam on the Sankarani River is mainly used for hydropower but also permits irrigation. Two diversion dams, one at Sotuba just downstream of Bamako , and one at Markala , just downstream of Ségou , are used to irrigate about 54,000 hectares. In Nigeria

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