In the ill-fated Niger expedition, three
vessels were employed, of which the 'Albert' stayed the longest time in
the river, namely two months and two days. Her English crew consisted of
62 men; of these, 55 caught fever in the river, and 23 died. Of the
remaining seven, only two ultimately escaped scot-free; the others
suffering, more or less severely, on their return to England. In Dr.
McWilliams's Medical History of this expedition, it is laid down that the
Niger fever, which may be considered as a type of pestilential fever
generally, usually sets in sixteen days after exposure to the malaria;
and that one attack, instead of acclimatising the patient, seems to
render him all the more liable to a second. Every conceivable precaution
known in those days, had been taken to ensure the health of the crew of
the 'Albert.' A great discovery of modern days is the power of quinine to
keep off many types of fever. A person would, now, have little to fear in
taking a passage in a Niger steamer; supposing that vessels ran regularly
up that river. The quinine he would take, beginning at the coast, would
render him proof against fever, until he had passed the delta; but
nothing would remove the risk of a long sojourn in the delta itself.
However, I should add that Dr. Livingstone's experience on the zambesi
throws doubt on the power of quinine to keep off the type of fever that
prevails upon that river.
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