NIGER, or Jothna. The third largest river of Africa (Map: Africa. D 3). It has no single native name. it is generally known, however, as the doliba in the upper course. the lssa and Alayn in the middle, and the Kwara (Quorra) in the lower course. The Niger rises on the inner frontiers of Sierra Leone and Liberia, and tlows first northeastward to Tim buktu: thenee eastward along the escarpment of the Sahara Plateau: finally it. turns to the south east, which direction it maintains, with a few deviations, to its mouth. It enters the (1u1f of (,:hinea throng]] a vast delta extending 100 miles inland, and oet.upying an area of 14.000 square miles. 'The delta consists almost wholly of low and malarions mangrove swamps, and its size is increasing rapidly, owing to the constant in land breezes which prevent the sediment from being carried to sea. (tidy one of the numerous arms of the delta, the Nun, is aece.sible to sea going vessels. The length of the Niger is about 21100 miles, and the incline of it. bed through its whole course is vet•y ;male. with few rapids, in which respect the .iger differs conspic'uousl• from other rivers. it I,, however, navi gable only in sect ,11, being obstructed at several places. At Bamako, '250 miles from its source, it is already 500 and from here it is navigable for small steamers to Timhuktn, above which place it out inter a large inland delta converging in the marshy Lake Dod.o. lidow Tintliuktn it runs through a rocky gorge. where it is narrmved to a width of 301) feet. and obstructed by rapids. The greater part of coupe in a desert region, it. receives seareely any tributarie., and
where Vegetation only immediately its ha nk,. As it flow.: southward, how ever, the country becomes more and more fer tile and populous. The bend of permanent steam is at Itabba. 010 miles from the month of the river, which below that point is n broad and tranquil stream feet deep in the dry season, and over during floods. Some hvilow nabl la Niger 'Twelves its largest tributary, the Benne (q.v.) The chief towns or settlements on the river are, in descending order. Bamaku, Sego-Sikaro, Sansanding, Cundam, Timbuktu, Cog°, Birni, Say. Busah, Rabba, Lakoja, and places situated in the delta.
The name Niger is mentioned by ancient writers, but did not probably refer to this river. The stream was first made known to Arabian geographers in the Middle Ages by travelers across the Sahara, but it was then believed to communicate with the Nile, It had not been seen by Europeans until Mungo Park explored its upper course in 1796. The lower• course was first explored by Clapperton, Denham, and Lander in 1825-32. Consult : 'talkie, Re ports on. the Ueographieal Position of the Coun tries in the Neighborhood of the Niger (London, 18631; floblfs. Quer (larch .t frika ( Leipzig, 1874) ; 'Thomson, Mungo Park and the Niger (London, 1890) : Un the ( ib., 1892) ; 'Trotter. The Niger Nourees and the Borders of the Nierra Leone Protecto rate (ib., 189S) llourst, The Exploration of the Niger, trans. (ib., 159S) Vandehlu, Campaign ing on the Upper Nile and Niger (ib., 1898).