himself greatly disappointed with the results of his expedition, and began to look upon the golden mines of Africa, represented as they had been to be inexhaustible, as nothing more than the grossest falsifications, made to suit some private purpose, or to throw a certain degree of ridicule upon the plans and exertions of the African company.  He had been informed of a mighty channel, which was to lead him into the remote interior of Africa, but he had as yet only navigated a river, which in certain seasons is almost dry, and where the crews were obliged to assume the character of the amphibious; for at one time, they were obliged to be for hours in the water, dragging the boats over the shallows, and at another, they were on the land, dragging the boats over it, in order to surmount the ledges of rocks, which extended from shore to shore.  At one time they were rowing over the backs of the river horses, and the next, they ran the risk of being thrown upon their own back, by the trunks of the elephants, or having them snapped in two between the jaws of the crocodiles.

The source of the great river, which, according to the description then given of it, could not be any other than the Niger, was, according to the opinion of Stibbs, “nothing near so far in the country, as by the geographers has been represented.”  The river, which he had navigated, did not answer in any degree with the description which had been given of the Niger.  The name was not even known in the quarters through which he had passed; it did not flow from any lake, that he could hear of, or which was known to any of the natives, nor did it communicate with the Senegal, or any other great river; and so far from it being a mighty stream in the interior, the report was given to him by the natives, that at about twelve days journey above Barraconda, it dwindled into a rivulet, so small that the “fowls could walk over it.”

On the return of Stibbs to the company’s settlement at the month of the Gambia, these reports were received with great reluctance, and the strongest doubts were thrown upon their authenticity.  At that time, a person of the name of Moore was the company’s factor on the Gambia; and in order to invalidate the statements of Stibbs, he produced Herodotus, Leo, Edrisi, and other high authorities, whilst on the other hand, Stibbs declared, that he had never heard of such travellers before, and that he did not see why greater faith should be put in their reports, than in his.

Stibbs for some time supported the veracity of his statements, but Moore and Herodotus at length prevailed, and Stibbs retired from the service in disgust.  There were, however, many strongly inclined to attach implicit belief to the statements of Stibbs, at all events, they had the direct tendency of preventing any other voyage being undertaken for some time, for exploring that part of the African continent.