GEBA.
At Geba, as at Auru, the Niger is haunted by evil spirits, who are fond of red, so instead of advising us to follow the deep but narrow main channel between the lofty rocks, our guide wanted us to pass the rapid where the Morning Star, the boat of Richard Lander, the first explorer who had passed Bussa, had been wrecked.
To the great disappointment of our adviser, however, we insisted upon going between two large pillars of rock where there was no danger whatever. The rocks hid all the red on board our boats, except that in our flag.
Our boats came up one after the other, and anchored off the bank near the station of Geba.
A negro of Sierra Leone, a commercial agent, now came and placed himself at our disposal, pending the arrival of the Governor of the station, who, he informed us, had gone inland, and would not be back till near nightfall. Naturally I refused all offers of help until the Governor should return. An hour later we saw two canoes being paddled down-stream, and recognized them as those which had followed us since we left Guadjibo. In them were the Governor of the station, Captain Carrol, and some English soldiers in the service of the Company.
Having heard at Lakodja, the Governor told us, of our approaching arrival at Bussa, he had started at once with a strong escort, and by forced marches had gone up the banks of the river, knocking up two horses and getting fever, all for the sake of helping us in the name of the Company, and he had come back after all with an empty bag! At Leba he had heard of our passage, and had gone back, covering some seventy miles in twenty-four hours, to Fort Goldie, where he had waited for us to breakfast with him. Not having seen any whites there, however, he concluded we had passed, so that by chance, and chance is responsible for a good many things, it was I, who had come down from Timbuktu to his station, who welcomed him at his own post with the words, “How do you do?”
This was really one of the most amusing incidents of our journey. To a cynical observer the episode would have appeared truly unique.
The situation, amusing as it was, was however just a little strained. I confess too that with the memory fresh in my mind of all the difficulties I had had at Bussa and at Ilo, and which might easily have led to the loss of our boats, I did nothing to relieve the tension between us.
“Before I talk about anything else,” I said to Carrol, “I must tell you what happened at Bussa and at Auru, a few miles from your post at Leba. I will not accept the offers of service from the Company, nor from its agents, nor from its officers, until I know that you had nothing to do with those difficulties.”
Quite upset by what I said, he gave me his word, the word of a soldier, that he knew absolutely nothing about them. The same assurance was given to me later by Major Festing, military Commandant, and by the civilians Messrs. Drew and Wallace.