OPENING UP OF THE " DARK CONTINENT."

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 342, 4 March 1911, Page 2

OPENING UP OF THE " DARK CONTINENT."

[ As the result of an expedition l<itc|ly concluded by the Southern Ni- | .cerian Government, some 5,000 square j mih's of hitherto unknown and un- ! administered country in the nortn | and on the borders of Northern Ni- | geria have been opened up and ! brought under effective control. The expedition commenced early in November last, and only concluded in the middle of April. The British force consisted of 700 men in the Southern Nigeria Regiment, under the command of Colonel Tranchard, who had with him thirty officers, two millimetre guns, six Maxims, and 700 carriers. The Yala people, in whose country the columns remained for a month, gave a good deal of trouble. On their villages being entered they were found to he deserted, the women and live stock having been removed. The men meanwhile had formed bush camps in the open yam fields, where they could see the approach of the British, and had also hidden in the branches of trees scouts, whose duty it was to fire signal guns. The people then took to their heels and encamped elsewhere, but fired on the column when they were in what they regarded as a tight corner. This tribe, like most of those encountered, were armed with flintlocks, and carried poisoned arrows ; but, fortunately, the country was fairly open, and the aim not very accurate. After some weeks of this kind of thing the Yala came in, but declined to give up their arms. In places the natives, who bad never before seen a white man, dug pits and planted stakes to prevent their progress. What little hostility there was occurred during the earlier part of the operations in the Okpoto country, and among the Northern Ibo tribes. Colonel Trenchard's force started in two columns, one from the Niger and one from the Cross.River, with instructions to make for an unknown spot marked X, the two afterwards joining at Ikem, where the first base camp was formed. From this base small columns were sent out in various directions, which was to be mapped, and where the officers' duty was to get into touch with the natives, and to show them how to make good roads. In each case the commanding officer of the column summoned the local chief, and explained the Government terms, emphasising the fact that all human sacrifices must stop, that good roads must be made, and that a British Commissioner would be appointed who would settle all disputes. On these occasions there were impressive gatherings of thousands of natives, in many cases cannibals, and for the most part naked, or principally so. The heat was terrific, and the long marches, sometimes in waterless districts, were very trying, even to the native troops. Almost all the officers were on foot, and in many cases they did over 1,100 miles of walking. No white man was wounded during the whole operations, and there were only a few native casualties.