122 CHALLENGER 



An African who had navigated these waters in small craft came 

 to indicate the passages through the sandbanks which the ship 

 followed, sometimes having as little as two feet of water beneath 

 the keel, but often as many fathoms as she entered the deep water 

 close oft the downstream bank on the river bends. 



Every half mile the taut wire measuring dial was read and a 

 simple flag signal indicated to the boats that this was a fix so 

 that they marked their echo sounding records accordingly, for 

 both ship and boats were sounding continuously. On the bridge 

 an officer was obtaining the width of the river at frequent intervals 

 by using a light rangefinder, while cross bearings by the gyro 

 compass were being used to intersect the position of any topo- 

 graphical feature. This was a 'running survey' and there was no 

 time for mistakes and oversights as the little fleet pressed relent- 

 lessly on upstream. It was a blessed relief for those on the bridge 

 when one of the landing sites was reached. The ship came to 

 anchor, and while relief crews manned the boats to survey the 

 approaches to the landings a quick meal was snatched onboard. 



It took four days to reach Kuntaur, i 2 2 miles from St. James 

 Island, for there was thankfully no chance of furthering the work 

 by night. At Kuntaur the ship came to anchor with barely room 

 to swing, further up the Gambia River than any modem ocean- 

 going steamship had been before. 



And while the fresh water did its work cleansing the ship's 

 bottom the surveyors took astrolabe sights ashore on New Year's 

 Eve to fix the Kuntaur end of the long river traverse, and con- 

 tinued the drawing of the surveys of the lower river in order 

 that copies could be left in Bathurst before the ship sailed for 

 the United Kingdom. 



The taut wire traverse from St. James Island was plotted on a 

 sheet of drawing paper over 6 feet long, and the final position of 

 the landing at Kuntaur diff'ered less than half an inch on the paper 

 from the position found for Kuntaur by astrolabe sights. Thus 

 the traverse was satisfactorily closed, but the various landing 

 places inspected during the passage up river were shallow and 

 backed by mud and were of no use for landing transport or even 

 infantry if they were to take many stores with them. They could 

 not be recommended as beach-heads over which to pass a con- 

 siderable military force. 



