Up the Niger. By Captain A. F. Mockler-Ferryman. (G. Phillip
and Son.)—Major Macdonald was sent on a mission by Government in the summer of 1889, his object being, to put the matter briefly, to examine the working of the Royal Niger Company, For this purpose he was to seek personal interviews with all the chiefs on the Niger and the Beunt. The story of what he did and saw has now been told by a colleague, whose apology for the want of exciting incident is certainly not neces- sary. There is no want of interest, though it is not of a tragic kind. Horrors, indeed, are not wanting,—witness the story of what happened after the birth of certain twins (pp. 226-27). The birth of twins is, it seems, a fatal crime in one, at least, of the Niger tribes. Whatever the report Major Macdonald made to his employers, one can hardly help concluding that the action of the Niger Company is a blessing to the region which it influences. The author seeks to disabuse his readers of the notion that the par- tition of Africa, into "spheres of influence" of European Powers moans spoliation of the natives. If French and German agents were as scrupulous as the managers of the Niger Company, it would be all right, but what we have just heard of Lieutenant 'Alison makes us doubt. There is an emphatic testimony to the good work done by missionaries; they are described as an "im- mense aid to the civilisation of the natives."
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