8 THE EXPLORATION OF THE NIGER

the navigable portion of the great river, or, if it were

possible, to the sea itself, but the authorization was refused.

He was stopped at Nuhu in Massina. Weakened by dys-

entery and fever, he was compelled, greatly against his

will, to return to France, without having even reached Timbuktu.

That honour was reserved for his successor, Caron, who,

with Sub-Lieutenant Lefort and Dr. Jouenne, reached

Koriom^, the port of the mysterious town ; but the intrigues of the Toucouleurs and the merchants of the north made

the Tuaregs hostile. He was unable to enter the ancient capital of the Sahara, but he brought back with him a

magnificent map on the scale of .j^Joq^ of the course of the river, such as had, perhaps, never before been made of any

river of Africa. It proved beyond a doubt, that from Kuli- koro to Timbuktu, that is to say, for a length of about 500

miles, the Niger is perfectly navigable, free from obstacles, everywhere accessible to small craft, and nearly always to steamers and barges of considerable draught.

Davoust returned to the charge in 1888, when he did me

the honour of taking me as his second in command, and it was decided that we should go down the river, until the absolutely insuperable obstacles in our path barred our

progress.

Alas ! it was decreed that Davoust should never realize

success.

What happened ? Just as we were going to start came an order that we were to do nothing. We wintered at

Manambugu, a terribly unhealthy spot, and there, with infinite trouble, we constructed a few wretched huts of

straw and loam, to protect ourselves and our goods.

Under such conditions, death soon wrought havoc in our ranks. We white men numbered eighteen when we started ;

less than a year later we were but five. The rest we had