QUORRA, KWORA, or KAWARA, a large river of Central Africa, which has long excited the interest of geographers, and the attempts to explore which have unfortunately, in too many cases, been attended with a melancholy loss of life. The points long undecided regarding this river were—whether the large river in the interior of Africa, first mentioned by Herodotus, and afterwards by Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, and others, could be identified with what is now called the Quorra or Joliba, the latter being the name given to it in the earlier part of its course?—whether it lost itself in the great Lake Tschad, or terminated in the Atlantic Ocean?—whether it carried its waters underground through the Great Desert into the Gulf of Syrtis?—or whether it flowed in an easterly direction, and formed a branch of the Nile?

It is now very generally agreed that the modern Niger or Quorra is identical with the Nigeir of Ptolemy and others. Herodotus gives an interesting account of an expedition undertaken by five young men of the tribe of the Nasamones, a Libyan people who occupied the country lying between that of the Garamantes, or the modern Fezzan, and the great Bay of Syrtis. They set out for the interior, and after passing through the inhabited region and the country of the wild beasts, they traversed for many days, in a western direction, the great sandy desert, until they arrived at a country inhabited by men of low stature, who conducted them through extensive marshes to a city built on a great river, which contained crocodiles, and which flowed towards the east. This river was then supposed to be a branch of the Nile; but without going into the arguments for and against, we may give it as the now generally received opinion that they had reached the Quorra at a place where its course is eastward; and some hold that the city to which they were conducted was none other than Timbuctoo itself. Notice is taken of the Niger by Strabo; and Pliny treats of it at considerable length, as the Nigris of Ethiopia, but in a very confused manner, and as an affluent of the Nile. Mela, however, confessed that when the Niger reached the middle of the continent, it was not known what became of it. Ptolemy, who wrote later than the preceding geographers, and was better informed regarding the interior of Africa, lays down as the course of the Niger what corresponds tolerably well with what we know to be the course of the Joliba or upper part of the Quorra. He seems to have considered it as an interior river, having no communication with the sea. The celebrated Arabian geographers Abulfeda and Edrisi, and Leo Africanus, a native of Spain, all assigned to the Niger a westerly course; and the two former represented it as rising from the same source as the Nile; but Leo supposed it to take its rise in a lake situated to the south of Bornou, whence it was believed to flow westward to the Atlantic Ocean.

The early European navigators, in their discoveries on the western coast of Africa, found successively the estuaries of the Senegal, Gambia, and Rio Grande, and believed them to be the mouths of the Niger. In course of time they were tempted to explore these rivers for the purpose of reaching the far-famed city of Timbuctoo, the reputed wealth of which had excited their curiosity. These they traced till they became mere rivulets, and yet found themselves no nearer to the object of their desires. In the meantime the French geographers De Lisle and D'Anville devoted their attention to Africa. De Lisle, in a map published in 1714, gave the sources both of the Niger and Senegal—the former being made to flow eastward and the latter westward, which was an approximation to the truth. D'Anville followed up this view in his map of Africa published in 1749; and thus far a correct knowledge of the source and direction of the Niger was obtained, by its being separated on the east from the Nile, and on the west from the Senegal.

The formation of the African Association in England in 1788 marks the commencement of a new era in the history of African geography. The first and principal object which occupied the attention of this body was the course and termination of the Niger; and a reward was held out to the person who should succeed in determining them. We pass over the names of Ledyard and Lucas, the former having died at Cairo before accomplishing anything; and the latter having only gathered some information from the Arabs, which tended rather to perplex than to elucidate the subject. The third adventurer employed by the association was Major Houghton, who had acted as British consul at Morocco, and had thus become familiar with Moorish manners. He sailed up the Gambia to Pisania, and thence proceeded into the interior, but he there met his death without accomplishing anything of importance. The honour of determining the course of the Niger was reserved for the celebrated traveller Mungo Park. Having offered his services to the association, and been accepted, he, on the 22nd May 1795, left England, and on the 5th of July reached Pisania, where he remained for some time to acquire the Mandingo language. On 2d December he began his journey, and after crossing the country E.N.E. to Yarra, and then turning S.E. through the kingdoms of Ludamar and Bambarra, he came in sight of the Niger near Segoe. "I saw," says he, "with infinite pleasure, the great object of my mission, the long sought-for majestic Niger glittering to the morning sun as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward." He traced its course downwards to Silla, and upwards as far as Bammakoo, an extent of about 300 miles. From the latter place he crossed the country by a more southern route than his former track, and at length reached Pisania on the 10th June 1797. At the request of the British government he undertook another expedition, and set sail from Portsmouth, fully equipped, on 30th January 1805. Pisania was again his point of departure, which he left on the 4th of May 1805, accompanied by his brother-in-law Mr Anderson, surgeon; Mr George Scott, draughtsman; five artificers from the royal dockyards; Lieutenant Martyn, and thirty-five privates of the Royal African Corps stationed at Goree; and a Mandingo, Isaco, a priest and trader, who acted as guide. He chose the route by which he had returned on his first journey, but he had not proceeded far when the rainy season set in, and by the time that he reached Bammakoo only eleven men remained with him, the rest having either died by the way, or been left sick in charge of friendly natives, but never afterwards heard of. The expedition descended the river in two canoes to Sansanding, where Mr Anderson and some others fell victims to the climate. His last despatches are from this place. Writing to Lord Camden he said—"I am sorry to say that of forty-four Europeans who left the Gambia in perfect health, five only are at present alive; viz., three soldiers (one deranged in his mind), Lieutenant Martyn, and myself." He added—"We had no contest whatever with the natives, nor was any one of us killed by wild animals or any other accident." He set sail from Sansanding on the 19th November, and from information since obtained, he seems to have proceeded down as far as Boussa, 650 miles below Timbuctoo, where, having been attacked by the natives, he and his companions attempted to save themselves by swimming, but were drowned.

Park had been led to adopt the opinion of Captain Maxwell, a slave trader, who had been accustomed to frequent the Congo, that that river formed the lower part of the Niger. After the time of Park this opinion continued to gain ground, and the government was at length induced, in 1816, to despatch an expedition to attempt the solution of this question. It was divided into two parts: the one, under the command of Major Peddie, was to pene- trate across West Africa to the Niger; the other, under Captain Tuckey, to ascend the Congo. These threw no new light on our subject, and were attended with very disastrous results; the commanders and most of the men having fallen victims to the climate. More recently the travellers Laing, Caillie, Clapperton, and Richard Lander ascertained important facts regarding the Niger; but it is to the last of these that we are indebted for having pointed out the true mouth of the Niger. His first journey was undertaken as confidential servant to Captain Clapperton, and on the death of that enterprising traveller at Saccatoo on the 13th of April 1827, he brought home his journal and papers. On his return to England he volunteered to navigate the river from Boussa, the point where Park perished, to its mouth. His offer having been accepted by the government, he set out on his mission, accompanied by his brother John, and reached Boussa on the 17th of June 1830. From Boussa the Landers proceeded up the river about 100 miles to Yassori, where they arrived on the 27th of June. They commenced the descent of the river on the 2d of August; and on the 18th of November following they entered the Atlantic by the River Nun, and thus set at rest the long disputed question of the mouth of the Niger.

The return of the brothers Lander awakened anew the spirit of enterprise, and an expedition was fitted out by some merchants of Liverpool for commercial as well as geographical purposes. It consisted of two steam vessels, and the general direction of it was intrusted to R. Lander. It proceeded up the Niger as far as Rabia, and likewise for nearly 100 miles up a hitherto unexplored affluent, the Shary or Tschadda. The results of the expedition, however, were unsatisfactory to the projectors, and most fatal to those who had undertaken it, very few of the Europeans having survived. Among those who perished were the two Landers—John from the effects of the climate, and Richard from a wound received in an encounter with the natives. No further attempt of any magnitude was made until 1841, when the government fitted out three steamers built specially for the purpose. This expedition was intended to carry out, besides extended researches, various philanthropic but ill-matured schemes. It shared no better fate than its predecessors, having only reached Eggga, about 50 miles above the confluence of the Tschadda, when it was obliged to return in consequence of the sickness and death on board.

In 1852 intelligence was received from Dr Barth, that on the 18th of June 1851 he had crossed a large stream named the Benue, or "Mother of Waters," which, from the information received from the natives, he conjectured to be the upper part of the Tschadda affluent of the Niger. He reached it at a point called Taepé, where it is joined by the Faro, in Lat. 9.2 N., Long. 14. E., 235 geographical miles S. of Kuka, and 415 in a direct line E. by N. from the confluence of the Tschadda with the Quorra. It was here half a mile broad, and, when crossed, was 9½ feet deep in the channel, but on their return, eleven days later, it had risen 13 feet. The Faro was five-twelfths of a mile broad, and 3 feet deep, and by their return had increased to 7½ feet in depth. Both rivers had a very strong current, and flowed westward.

Another expedition was now resolved on to explore the Tschadda branch of the Niger, and the Admiralty entered into a contract with Mr Macgregor Laird, one of the survivors of the Liverpool expedition, to build and equip a suitable vessel for that purpose. Accordingly, an iron screw schooner, named the Pleiad, was built at Birkenhead. "She was of 260 tons measurement, 100 feet in length, with 24 feet beam, and her engine was of 60 horse-power. Her draught of water, when laden, was 7 feet, or 6 feet when in ordinary trim. A sailing-master, surgeon, officers, and crew, were provided for her by Mr Laird, and it was arranged that she should be sent to Fernando Po, where the officers appointed by government should join. The peculiar features of this expedition were, first, the employment of as few white men as possible; secondly, entering and ascending the river with the rising waters, or during the rainy season; and lastly, it was anticipated that the use of quinine, as a prophylactic or preventive, would enable the Europeans to withstand the influence of the climate. Mr Laird being permitted, by his agreement with the Admiralty, to trade with the natives whenever it was practicable, provided a well-sorted cargo, and sent out persons specially to attend to this branch. The Pleiad having made a very satisfactory trial trip across the Irish Channel, finally took her departure from Dublin on the 20th of May 1854." The expedition set out from Fernando Po on the 8th of July, and four days later entered the Nun branch of the Niger. In the beginning of August they reached the confluence of the two great rivers, speaking of which, Dr Baikie says—"From our anchorage at the confluence, near the Sacrifice Rock, as well as from the heights of Mount Patte, the Chadda appeared a much nobler and finer stream than the Kwora. The latter seemed small and narrow, and could be seen pursuing in the distance its meandering route from the northward, while full in front comes pouring from the E. the broad, the straight-coursed Chadda. The natives allege that there is a difference in the colour of the two streams, and hence the Kwora is named in Hansa Fari 'n rwa, or the 'White Water,' while the other is known as Baki 'n rwa, or the 'Black Water.' I found the temperature of the former to exceed that of the latter by from half a degree to a degree of Fahrenheit." The Pleiads ascended the Tschadda 250 miles above the point reached by the Liverpool expedition, and within about 50 miles of the confluence of the Benue and Faro where crossed by Dr Barth; and returned to Fernando Po on the 7th of November. The party numbered 66 persons (12 Europeans, and 54 persons of colour), and though they had been 118 days on the river, very little sickness had been experienced, and no life lost.

The Quorra, or rather the Joliba, though its source has not been actually explored, is said to rise in Mount Loma, one of the Kong Mountains, in Lat. 9. 15. N., Long. 9. 36. W. Its course is at first N., then N.E. to Curuassa, about 100 miles from its source, where it was crossed by Caillie, and found to be, before the inundation commenced, 900 feet in width and 9 in depth, with a current of 2½ miles an hour. Before reaching Bammakoo, it receives the Tankiso and Sarano, both large streams; and at Bammakoo it commences its course over the plain of Bambarra, flowing still in a N.E. direction. It pursues the same course till it reaches Jenne, when it takes a bend nearly due N., flowing in that direction till it arrives at Lake Dibbie, where it reverts to the N.E., and continues in that direction till it reaches Timbuctoo, where the Quorra proper commences. Caillie navigated the river from Jenne to Timbuctoo, and represents the banks between these places as low and marshy. Below Lake Dibbie, which is of considerable size, the river is very deep, and from half a mile to a mile in breadth, with a considerable current. Near Kabra, the port of Timbuctoo, it divides into two branches; the larger of which is about three-fourths of a mile broad, and the smaller about 100 feet broad, but very deep. They appear to unite at no great distance farther down; but from Timbuctoo to Yaoori very little is known of this great river, except that its general direction seems to be S.E. From Yaoori to the sea it was navigated by the Landers, and was found to flow at first nearly due S., then to take a rapid bend to the E., and afterwards gradually to return and take a S.S.W. direction to the Atlantic, which it enters by 22 mouths, the principal of which is the Nun.

C. PESCENNIIUS, a Roman general, was born at Aquinum in Italy in the former half of the second century, and rose from a low rank in the army to be governor of Syria. In this office his graceful and athletic frame, his soldier-like accomplishments, and his rigid enforcement of discipline, secured the esteem of the soldiers; while his mild but impartial rule rendered him a favourite among the provincials. Accordingly, on the assassination of Pertinax in 193, he was proclaimed emperor by the united voices of the people of Asia and his own army. The intelligence that Septimius Severus was also up in arms for the crown soon hurried him into action. He marched westward from Antioch, securing the most important Asiatic cities, and despatching troops to occupy Thrace and Northern Greece. But the chivalrous unsophisticated soldier of Syria was no match for the wily and rapid Severus. His troops were finally routed at the Gulf of Issus, near the Cilician gates, and he himself was sacrificed to the revenge of his victorious rival A.D. 194. (See Roman History.)