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The Barsac Mission #1
Into the Niger Bend
The last novel by Verne first published in France fourteen years after Verne's death. In it, two politicians and their entourage travel through French West Africa in the late 19th or early 20th century to gather evidence to support arguments for and against giving voting rights to black Africans.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1905
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About the author
Jules Verne
6,360 books12k followersNovels of French writer Jules Gabriel Verne, considered the founder of modern science fiction, include
Journey to the Center of the Earth
(1864) and
Around the World in Eighty Days
(1873).
This author who pioneered the genre. People best know him for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).
Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before people invented navigable aircraft and practical submarines and devised any means of spacecraft. He ranks behind Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie as the second most translated author of all time. People made his prominent films. People often refer to Verne alongside Herbert George Wells as the "father of science fiction."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_V...
This author who pioneered the genre. People best know him for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).
Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before people invented navigable aircraft and practical submarines and devised any means of spacecraft. He ranks behind Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie as the second most translated author of all time. People made his prominent films. People often refer to Verne alongside Herbert George Wells as the "father of science fiction."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_V...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 14, 2025
Favorite Jules Verne book so far
August 14, 2007
This is the first half of a Verne novel (The Barsac Mission).
After a quite vivid English bank robbery, very little happens. Two deputies in the French parliament disagree about whether the Africans in France's West African colonies
deserve the right to vote ( a concept I found advanced for its time). They are sent on a joint mission to Africa to
determine the abilities of the Africans (who are generally described in quite sordid and by modern standards racist terms). The mission splits up and the part led by Barsac
(the pro-voting deputy) is harrassed by mysterious enemies.
Just before the end of this volume, a woman traveling with the group reveals she is the sister of a man blamed for the bank robbery, and of another man who supposedly died a rebel in Africa, whose grave she finds. Shortly thereafter, the group is captured and carried away by their mysterious enemies.
Aside from the robbery at the beginning and the capture at the end, very little happens in this volume. There is a good deal of feeble humor at the expense of a character who is an obsessive fisherman, and a good deal of treachery by the party's African guides, which suggests how dependent the
European explorers of the period were on local support. The
general pattern --small group of Europerans traveling through exotic landscapes while betrayed by natives-- is very similar to The Demon of Cawnpore. I would say, however, having begun the second part of Barsac Mission--The City in the Sahara--that it rapidly becomes much more interesting and much more science fiction.
After a quite vivid English bank robbery, very little happens. Two deputies in the French parliament disagree about whether the Africans in France's West African colonies
deserve the right to vote ( a concept I found advanced for its time). They are sent on a joint mission to Africa to
determine the abilities of the Africans (who are generally described in quite sordid and by modern standards racist terms). The mission splits up and the part led by Barsac
(the pro-voting deputy) is harrassed by mysterious enemies.
Just before the end of this volume, a woman traveling with the group reveals she is the sister of a man blamed for the bank robbery, and of another man who supposedly died a rebel in Africa, whose grave she finds. Shortly thereafter, the group is captured and carried away by their mysterious enemies.
Aside from the robbery at the beginning and the capture at the end, very little happens in this volume. There is a good deal of feeble humor at the expense of a character who is an obsessive fisherman, and a good deal of treachery by the party's African guides, which suggests how dependent the
European explorers of the period were on local support. The
general pattern --small group of Europerans traveling through exotic landscapes while betrayed by natives-- is very similar to The Demon of Cawnpore. I would say, however, having begun the second part of Barsac Mission--The City in the Sahara--that it rapidly becomes much more interesting and much more science fiction.
September 14, 2012
Into the Niger Bend (and its sequel, City in the Sahara) isn't the most famous Verne, and its colonial-era portrayal of Africans is borderline offensive, but it is also one of his most impressive pieces of forward thinking as he predicts guided missiles and the use of helicopters in combat (with frightening accuracy; some of the scenes might've been ripped right out of a Vietnam War novel)
June 7, 2021
This and the next part are my absolute favorite of Jules Verne's magic. I have read both for countless times and hope to do some more in the future.
April 18, 2021
Apparently published posthumously, he autor has a flair for local details and cultres
April 17, 2013
review of
Jules Verne's Into the Niger Bend
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - April 16, 2013
This the 1st bk of the 2 bk The Astonishing Adventure of the Barsac Mission & the 7th Verne bk I've read in my recent Verne spree. Fortunately, I also have the 2nd & final bk, The City in the Sahara, wch I'll be reading & reviewing next. On the back of this 2nd bk it's proclaimed that this "may well have been Jules Verne's crowning work of science-fiction." That is probably born out by the 2nd bk but, so far, this 1st bk is mostly an adventure novel w/o any SF (except for by mysterious implication).
In I. O. Evans' intro to the 2nd bk he says: "Book 1 of Jules Verne's posthumous story, L'Étonnante Aventure de la Mission Barsac, published in this series under the title Into the Niger Bend, described the vicissitudes of the Barsac Mission, sent out at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century to ascertain whether the Negroes of French West Africa were qualified to become voters and citizens." (p 5) I'm a bit confused by this b/c French Guinea, where this African journey more or less begins, wasn't established until 1891 (according to Wikipedia). As such, I think Evans probably meant to write 'at the beginning of the Twentieth Century' instead of the "Nineteenth".
In the intro to bk 1, Evans writes: "Its opening sequence recalls Conan Doyle: as Kenneth Allott points out in his biography of Verne, "It is the very accent of Watson about to relate another of the cases of Sherlock Holmes." The rest of the chapter almost outdoes Edgar Wallace. Chapter III might have been written by one of the romantic novelists of the nineteenth century. The rest of Book I, with its adventures in the African bush and the forebodings of its witch-doctor, is reminiscent of Rider Haggard. Only in Book II does Jules Verne, master of science fiction, come into his own." (p 5) I agree. But it's a testimonial to Verne's adaptability that this 1st bk is as successful as it is just as an adventure story w/, as I've noted in my other recent Verne reviews, the usual assortment of racism problems. But, as I've also noted, I DO think that Verne's racism is more an internal struggle between the typical attitudes of a person of his class & culture of the day & Verne's own presentiments of what we might call a more 'enlightened' attitude.
[It's springtime, it's raining nicely outside (I love rain), I'm drinking red wine, I just witnessed some of the movie called Elephant Walk, & I'm listening to a recording of George Perle's "Three Movements for Orchestra". Life is good. I am alone. Life is bad.]
As much as I'm glad that this series of Verne bks called the "Fitzroy" edition exists, as much as I'm thankful to Ace for publishing it, as much as I'm grateful to I. O. Evans for his translations & informative notes, I find myself, again & again, disliking his editorial decisions: "I have" [..] "taken the liberty, found necessary by most of Verne's other translators, of abbreviating or omitting a few passages of minor interest." (p 7) Uh.. I'd like to decide that for myself! Of "minor interest" to Evans, of MAJOR interest to me!
The novel revolves around several plots - one of wch is that French politicians were in conflict over whether black citizens of 'French West Africa' shd have the right to vote. Interesting. Verne makes the proponent of blacks voting, Barsac, a central character - implying, I think, his sympathies w/ this position. "It had begun on the subject of a law proposed by the former [Barsac], to create five deputies' seats in Senegal, Gambia, Upper Guinea, and the French Soudan situated west of the Niger, and to extend the vote, granted their eligibility, to the coloured peoples without distinction of race." (p 27) I'd like to see the implied 'people-w/o-color' - even 'albinos' have color. Verne is subtle. I suspect him of writing in a 'realistic' racist manner typical of his time partially so he can sneak in a subtext of anti-racism.
"The one [Barsac again], citing the authority of many civil and military travellers familiar with the region, declared that the Negroes had risen to a high degree of civilization, he added that it availed little to have suppressed slavery unless the subject peoples were given the same rights as their masters, and in a series of perorations which the Chambre applauded vociferously, he pronounced the mighty words "liberté, egalité, et fraternité." (p 28) Of course Barsac has a political opponent. They both go to Africa to study the situation w/ the intent of accumulating 'evidence' for their respective positions - in the hope of influencing the voting in their respective favors.
Barsac's opponent seems to be proven 'correct' again & again in this 1st novel as the European travelers encounter frightening behavior from the black natives over & over again. Of course, Verne is setting up the reader in a way that may not've been so obvious to early 20th century readers but that're perhaps all-too-obvious to myself as a reader of the early 21st century. As usual, Verne's a curious mix of a 19th century novelist w/ a 20th century one's imagination. He's even cynical about politicians (wch is a 'time-honored' tradition but one not necessarily completely obvious to many people, I reckon, of the time): "M. le Governeur Valdonee then gave the usual signal for "spontaneous" applause, while Barsac stepped backwards and Bandrières [his rival] came to the front." (p 31) ""Never forget this truth, M. Florence: anyone in politics can make a mistake. That doesn't matter. But if he admits his error, he's lost."" (p 151)
Reasons for imperialism are most obvious when the conquering country is small & highly populated & when its natural resources are approaching depletion: "The region involved" [..] "exceeded 1,000,000 square miles" [..] "about three times the size of France". (p 32)
There's even a nice part where Verne throws in slang:
""Who are they?" asked Barsac.
""A type and his lady," was all the fellow said.
""Colonials?"
""I shouldn't think so, to judge by the look of them," the orderly replied. "The man's tall, with not much lawn on his pebble."
""His pebble?"
""He's bald! Tow-coloured whiskers and eyes like the knob of a staircase." - p 34
Nice. I wish there was more like that. But there isn't. The "eyes like the knob of a staircase" presumably means he has a thyroid problem. What there is instead of slang is a multi-lingual-ism that strikes me as quite impressive. One of the worst things that the worst forms of imperialism does is banish the languages of the areas conquered. The British, eg. forced the Irish to speak English. Under Franco, in mid 20th century Spain, Catalan was illegal. This is IMPORTANT. Verne actually explores multiple languages more beautifully in this than in any other bk of his I've read:
"Jane did not look amused. "That's why it would be better to ask them in Bambara."
""In Bambara? Am I supposed to know Bambara?"
""Well, you can learn it."
""At my age?"
""Well, I've learned it, and I'm your aunt."
""You? Can you speak Bambara?"
""Certainly. Just listen to this: "Dfi lokho a bé na'."
""Whatever's that gibberish?"
""That means 'I'm thirsty.' And 'I dou, nono i mita.'"
""I swear . . . nono . . . mita."
""That means, 'Come in, I'll give you some milk.'" - p 53
How many other French novels at the time had Bambara parts in them?! I offer my sincere & deep respect to Verne for this. Bambara is a language spoken in Mali. I actually have the pleasure of knowing a guy from Mali. He has a computer repair business in Pittsburgh. I asked him about the effects of French colonialism & whether there was resentment about it. He told me something to the effect that the French had left behind a pretty nice infrastructure.
Of course, no Verne hero is w/o 'their' servants (unless in distress): "The convoy, correctly so called, comes behind them. It consists of fifty donkeys led by twenty-five muleteers, of whom ten really belong to Mlle. Mornas and M. de St. Bérain. On the flanks are Captain Marcenay's cavalrymen. As for your humble servant, he makes it his humble task to canter along the column from one end to the other. / Tchoumouki and Tongané, Mlle Mornas' two servants, form the rearguard." - p 62
I have no idea how common cannibalism was in the late 19th & early 20th century in Africa. Verne seems to think it was quite common (both here & in The Village In The Treetops - see my review here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3... ):
""Me make it fine stew with sadé (lamb)," he tells us, "tender as a baby."
"Tender as a baby! That comparison makes our flesh creep. Has Moriliré ever tasted human flesh, we wonder? We ask him. He tells us, in rather hypocritical terms, that he's never eaten it himself, but he's heard its exquisite savour praised highly. H'm!" - p 67
Common or not, cannibalism makes for an exciting story, eh? But, actually, there's no cannibalism, except in allusion, in this. & Moriliré turns out to be a bad guy.
I'm pleased w/ the ongoing use of Bambara: ""Allah ma toula kendé," they say, touching their foreheads with their right hands. "Karo koutayé." ("God has been good to us; we can see the new moon.")" (p 69) Not that I wd know whether it's accurate or even authentic - I reckon I trust Verne.
While there isn't any cannibalism, there IS slavery. I've always found it odd that people act like the Americans & the British were the only big bad slavers in the world & as if the Africans were just these poor victims. It seems to be much more realistic that the Africans have their own long history of slavery wch persists to the recent past if not to this day (see Mauritania, eg).
"Moriliré tells her that a young Negress, the servant of a farmer of the same colour who's away just now, is offering her hospitality in a hut. This is quite clean and - unlikely as it seems - is furnished with a bedstead of European type.
""You give money," the guide adds. "This good!"
"Mlle Mornas accepts the proffered hospitality and we escort her ceremonially to her new lodging. There the promised servant is waiting for us. She is standing near one of the trees. She is a girl of middling height, aged about fifteen, and not at all ugly. As she had no clothing except a simple leaf which plainly came neither from the Louvre nor from the Bon Marché but perhaps from the Magasin du Printemps as St. Bérain cheerfully suggests, she looks like a fine statue in black marble." - p 71
"The little black servant is stretched on the ground near the threshold of the hut. her back is marked, zebra-fashion, with red weals, and the poor child is sobbing to break one's heart.
"Before her, and protecting her with her body, Mlle Mornas - really superb when she loses her temper - is holding at bay a huge Negro who, a few steps away, is making horrible grimaces and who is still grasping a blood-dappled stick. We ask for an explanation.
""Just think of it," Mlle Mornas tells us, "I had hardly gone to bed. Malik - the little Negress is called Malik - was fanning me and I was just dropping off. Then here comes this big brute, her master, coming home unexpectedly. As soon as he sees me he flies into a rage, drags the poor child out, and starts beating her unmercifully to teach her to bring white people into his hut!"" - p 72
Ha ha! I'm sure a Frenchman, returning from work & finding 'his' servant fanning a black person in his bed wdn't flip out? (NOT)
"While the discussion proceeds, Mlle Mornas has lifted Malik to her feet and is dressing her wounds with Karité butter. [Uh oh, she's using butter! Is Mornas going to eat Malik?!] The bargain made, she leads her to our camp, dresses her in a white blouse, and puts a few coins in her hand.
""Now," she says, "you're not a slave any longer. I set you free."
"But Malik bursts into sobs. She says she is alone and she doesn't want to leave "so good a white lady." She will be her chambermaid and will serve her faithfully until she dies. She weeps, she implores.
""Keep her, little girl," St. Bérain puts in. "You'll certainly find her usefull. She'll render the thousand little services which a woman always needs [..]"" - p 73
Seems like more than a bit of a self-serving fable to me, but I reckon it's possible. The narrator is usually a French reporter named Amédée Florence. He writes: "The 2nd December we strike camp at five in the morning, and our column, now larger by a unit - or rather should I say by half a unit, for one white is worth two blacks? - gets on the march." (p 74) So what's Verne doing here? After the heroic rescue of the slave he has the now-willing-servant 'devalued' to being a half-human in contrast to a white. Is Verne just being realistic in his depiction of racist 'values'? Or does he share them? It's ambiguous. But by the next page in Florence's article, he has the reporter write: "They have absurd names, these villages: Fongoumbi, Manfourou, Kafou, Ouossou, etc. I give it up. Can't they call themselves Neuilly or Levallois like everybody else?" (p 75) THAT seems like a flagrant parody of French chauvinism.
Verne has Florence & Barsac be sympathetic characters &, given that Barsac's agitating for equal voting rights for the black Africans, Barsac is even potentially an anti-racist hero. HOWEVER, these sympathetic characters are hardly flawless - so maybe, again, it's Verne's realism w/ a little parody thrown in. More from Florence:
"these blacks, about ten in number, are traders and witchdoctors who have no hostile intentions and simply want to sell us their produce and to entertain us.
""Lock up the silver!" M. Barsac suggests humorously, "and show them into the dining room!"
"So the blacks are shown in, each more ugly and more sordid than the others. Among them are craftsmen, masters of thirty-six trades, makers of pottery, trinkets, baskets, objects in wood or iron; and vendors of weapons, fabrics and especially Kola nuts, of which we lay in an ample store."
[..]
"These troubadours from Negro-land are two in number. The first holds a guitar. What a guitar! . . . Imagine a calabash crossed lengthwise by three shoots of bamboo each provided with a catgut string." - p 77
Now what's the 'reporter' really describing here? Is it a kora? It might be. Is this a parody of the French reporter's ignorance? if so, wd early 20th century French readers have understood this?
The travelers are talked into visiting a fortune-teller (Kéniélala) by the treacherous Moriliré:
"He begins by piling up in front of him a heap of very fine sand, which he spreads out fan-wise by one movement of a little broom. Then he asks us for a dozen Kola nuts, half red and half white, which he moves rapidly over the sand while babbling incomprehensible words; then, setting them out on the sand in several figures, circles, squares, diamonds, rectangles, triangles, and so forth, he males strange gestures above them as though he were blessing them. At last he collects them carefully and holds out his dirty hands in which we place the consultation fee." - p 100
I find this interesting. I wonder how accurate of a description this is & I wonder about the ideas behind the ceremony.
Florence's racism proceeds apace. He uses words like "darkies" (p 120) & "ugly little piccaninny" (p 134), or, at least the British translator does (I don't know what Verne's original words wd've been), & somewhat casually mentions a proposed plan to make the porters march under threat of death. (pp 120-121) But, then, he questions this: "As for the natives, how can we possibly compel them? What's to be done if they lie down, if they resist us only with the force of inertia? Shooting them would be a very poor means of making sure of their services!" (p 121) The Eurocentrism goes largely unquestioned: "Isn't it clear that the further East we go, which means the further from the sea, the less contact the natives have had with Europeans, and so their veneer of civilization (?) will wear thinner and thinner." (p 121) This being the reporter's logic against voting rights for the black Africans. But, then, why does Florence interpolate the question-mark after "civilization"?
Racism aside, there's really much, MUCH more to this (pair of) novel(s). Termites & their dwellings fascinate me. W/ this in mind, I was interested in this:
"11th February. Early this morning, we came into the midst of cultivated fields, showing that a village is near. These fields would be fairly well kept up were not so much of them devastated by termites, which are terribly destructive.
[Not as terribly so as humans daddio!]
"These insects build mushroom-shaped termitaries, sometimes the height of a man [ie: their 'high-rises'], and at the beginning of winter they leave them like winged ants. then they infest the villages. But the people never lose a chance of amusing themselves. The appearance of these winged ants is the signal for feasts and nameless orgies. Fires are lighted, and on these the ants singe their wings. The women and children collect them and fry them in Cé butter. Then it's not enough to eat. the people must drink. So, when evening comes, the whole village is drunk." - pp 132-133
As w/ other novels I've read by Verne, there're parts where the solution to certain mysteries is painfully obvious to the reader but completely opaque to the characters. It's hard to say whether Verne was using this as a device to make the reader feel smarter & tensely engaged w/ waiting for the characters to figure out the obvious OR whether Verne's readership at the time of writing wdn't've found these things as obvious as I do a century later.
As the 1st of these 2 novels reaches its end, the characters are taking stock of the difficulties that have befallen them. Barsac concludes that their hidden enemies haven't really done anything that bad. The Dr. points out that they bayonetted their black guide & left him for dead.
""There's Tongané," Dr. Chatonnay pointed out gently.
""Tongané is a Negro," Barsac replied, "and for many people the life of a Negro doesn't count."
So does it count for Barsac the voting crusader or not?!
Jules Verne's Into the Niger Bend
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - April 16, 2013
This the 1st bk of the 2 bk The Astonishing Adventure of the Barsac Mission & the 7th Verne bk I've read in my recent Verne spree. Fortunately, I also have the 2nd & final bk, The City in the Sahara, wch I'll be reading & reviewing next. On the back of this 2nd bk it's proclaimed that this "may well have been Jules Verne's crowning work of science-fiction." That is probably born out by the 2nd bk but, so far, this 1st bk is mostly an adventure novel w/o any SF (except for by mysterious implication).
In I. O. Evans' intro to the 2nd bk he says: "Book 1 of Jules Verne's posthumous story, L'Étonnante Aventure de la Mission Barsac, published in this series under the title Into the Niger Bend, described the vicissitudes of the Barsac Mission, sent out at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century to ascertain whether the Negroes of French West Africa were qualified to become voters and citizens." (p 5) I'm a bit confused by this b/c French Guinea, where this African journey more or less begins, wasn't established until 1891 (according to Wikipedia). As such, I think Evans probably meant to write 'at the beginning of the Twentieth Century' instead of the "Nineteenth".
In the intro to bk 1, Evans writes: "Its opening sequence recalls Conan Doyle: as Kenneth Allott points out in his biography of Verne, "It is the very accent of Watson about to relate another of the cases of Sherlock Holmes." The rest of the chapter almost outdoes Edgar Wallace. Chapter III might have been written by one of the romantic novelists of the nineteenth century. The rest of Book I, with its adventures in the African bush and the forebodings of its witch-doctor, is reminiscent of Rider Haggard. Only in Book II does Jules Verne, master of science fiction, come into his own." (p 5) I agree. But it's a testimonial to Verne's adaptability that this 1st bk is as successful as it is just as an adventure story w/, as I've noted in my other recent Verne reviews, the usual assortment of racism problems. But, as I've also noted, I DO think that Verne's racism is more an internal struggle between the typical attitudes of a person of his class & culture of the day & Verne's own presentiments of what we might call a more 'enlightened' attitude.
[It's springtime, it's raining nicely outside (I love rain), I'm drinking red wine, I just witnessed some of the movie called Elephant Walk, & I'm listening to a recording of George Perle's "Three Movements for Orchestra". Life is good. I am alone. Life is bad.]
As much as I'm glad that this series of Verne bks called the "Fitzroy" edition exists, as much as I'm thankful to Ace for publishing it, as much as I'm grateful to I. O. Evans for his translations & informative notes, I find myself, again & again, disliking his editorial decisions: "I have" [..] "taken the liberty, found necessary by most of Verne's other translators, of abbreviating or omitting a few passages of minor interest." (p 7) Uh.. I'd like to decide that for myself! Of "minor interest" to Evans, of MAJOR interest to me!
The novel revolves around several plots - one of wch is that French politicians were in conflict over whether black citizens of 'French West Africa' shd have the right to vote. Interesting. Verne makes the proponent of blacks voting, Barsac, a central character - implying, I think, his sympathies w/ this position. "It had begun on the subject of a law proposed by the former [Barsac], to create five deputies' seats in Senegal, Gambia, Upper Guinea, and the French Soudan situated west of the Niger, and to extend the vote, granted their eligibility, to the coloured peoples without distinction of race." (p 27) I'd like to see the implied 'people-w/o-color' - even 'albinos' have color. Verne is subtle. I suspect him of writing in a 'realistic' racist manner typical of his time partially so he can sneak in a subtext of anti-racism.
"The one [Barsac again], citing the authority of many civil and military travellers familiar with the region, declared that the Negroes had risen to a high degree of civilization, he added that it availed little to have suppressed slavery unless the subject peoples were given the same rights as their masters, and in a series of perorations which the Chambre applauded vociferously, he pronounced the mighty words "liberté, egalité, et fraternité." (p 28) Of course Barsac has a political opponent. They both go to Africa to study the situation w/ the intent of accumulating 'evidence' for their respective positions - in the hope of influencing the voting in their respective favors.
Barsac's opponent seems to be proven 'correct' again & again in this 1st novel as the European travelers encounter frightening behavior from the black natives over & over again. Of course, Verne is setting up the reader in a way that may not've been so obvious to early 20th century readers but that're perhaps all-too-obvious to myself as a reader of the early 21st century. As usual, Verne's a curious mix of a 19th century novelist w/ a 20th century one's imagination. He's even cynical about politicians (wch is a 'time-honored' tradition but one not necessarily completely obvious to many people, I reckon, of the time): "M. le Governeur Valdonee then gave the usual signal for "spontaneous" applause, while Barsac stepped backwards and Bandrières [his rival] came to the front." (p 31) ""Never forget this truth, M. Florence: anyone in politics can make a mistake. That doesn't matter. But if he admits his error, he's lost."" (p 151)
Reasons for imperialism are most obvious when the conquering country is small & highly populated & when its natural resources are approaching depletion: "The region involved" [..] "exceeded 1,000,000 square miles" [..] "about three times the size of France". (p 32)
There's even a nice part where Verne throws in slang:
""Who are they?" asked Barsac.
""A type and his lady," was all the fellow said.
""Colonials?"
""I shouldn't think so, to judge by the look of them," the orderly replied. "The man's tall, with not much lawn on his pebble."
""His pebble?"
""He's bald! Tow-coloured whiskers and eyes like the knob of a staircase." - p 34
Nice. I wish there was more like that. But there isn't. The "eyes like the knob of a staircase" presumably means he has a thyroid problem. What there is instead of slang is a multi-lingual-ism that strikes me as quite impressive. One of the worst things that the worst forms of imperialism does is banish the languages of the areas conquered. The British, eg. forced the Irish to speak English. Under Franco, in mid 20th century Spain, Catalan was illegal. This is IMPORTANT. Verne actually explores multiple languages more beautifully in this than in any other bk of his I've read:
"Jane did not look amused. "That's why it would be better to ask them in Bambara."
""In Bambara? Am I supposed to know Bambara?"
""Well, you can learn it."
""At my age?"
""Well, I've learned it, and I'm your aunt."
""You? Can you speak Bambara?"
""Certainly. Just listen to this: "Dfi lokho a bé na'."
""Whatever's that gibberish?"
""That means 'I'm thirsty.' And 'I dou, nono i mita.'"
""I swear . . . nono . . . mita."
""That means, 'Come in, I'll give you some milk.'" - p 53
How many other French novels at the time had Bambara parts in them?! I offer my sincere & deep respect to Verne for this. Bambara is a language spoken in Mali. I actually have the pleasure of knowing a guy from Mali. He has a computer repair business in Pittsburgh. I asked him about the effects of French colonialism & whether there was resentment about it. He told me something to the effect that the French had left behind a pretty nice infrastructure.
Of course, no Verne hero is w/o 'their' servants (unless in distress): "The convoy, correctly so called, comes behind them. It consists of fifty donkeys led by twenty-five muleteers, of whom ten really belong to Mlle. Mornas and M. de St. Bérain. On the flanks are Captain Marcenay's cavalrymen. As for your humble servant, he makes it his humble task to canter along the column from one end to the other. / Tchoumouki and Tongané, Mlle Mornas' two servants, form the rearguard." - p 62
I have no idea how common cannibalism was in the late 19th & early 20th century in Africa. Verne seems to think it was quite common (both here & in The Village In The Treetops - see my review here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3... ):
""Me make it fine stew with sadé (lamb)," he tells us, "tender as a baby."
"Tender as a baby! That comparison makes our flesh creep. Has Moriliré ever tasted human flesh, we wonder? We ask him. He tells us, in rather hypocritical terms, that he's never eaten it himself, but he's heard its exquisite savour praised highly. H'm!" - p 67
Common or not, cannibalism makes for an exciting story, eh? But, actually, there's no cannibalism, except in allusion, in this. & Moriliré turns out to be a bad guy.
I'm pleased w/ the ongoing use of Bambara: ""Allah ma toula kendé," they say, touching their foreheads with their right hands. "Karo koutayé." ("God has been good to us; we can see the new moon.")" (p 69) Not that I wd know whether it's accurate or even authentic - I reckon I trust Verne.
While there isn't any cannibalism, there IS slavery. I've always found it odd that people act like the Americans & the British were the only big bad slavers in the world & as if the Africans were just these poor victims. It seems to be much more realistic that the Africans have their own long history of slavery wch persists to the recent past if not to this day (see Mauritania, eg).
"Moriliré tells her that a young Negress, the servant of a farmer of the same colour who's away just now, is offering her hospitality in a hut. This is quite clean and - unlikely as it seems - is furnished with a bedstead of European type.
""You give money," the guide adds. "This good!"
"Mlle Mornas accepts the proffered hospitality and we escort her ceremonially to her new lodging. There the promised servant is waiting for us. She is standing near one of the trees. She is a girl of middling height, aged about fifteen, and not at all ugly. As she had no clothing except a simple leaf which plainly came neither from the Louvre nor from the Bon Marché but perhaps from the Magasin du Printemps as St. Bérain cheerfully suggests, she looks like a fine statue in black marble." - p 71
"The little black servant is stretched on the ground near the threshold of the hut. her back is marked, zebra-fashion, with red weals, and the poor child is sobbing to break one's heart.
"Before her, and protecting her with her body, Mlle Mornas - really superb when she loses her temper - is holding at bay a huge Negro who, a few steps away, is making horrible grimaces and who is still grasping a blood-dappled stick. We ask for an explanation.
""Just think of it," Mlle Mornas tells us, "I had hardly gone to bed. Malik - the little Negress is called Malik - was fanning me and I was just dropping off. Then here comes this big brute, her master, coming home unexpectedly. As soon as he sees me he flies into a rage, drags the poor child out, and starts beating her unmercifully to teach her to bring white people into his hut!"" - p 72
Ha ha! I'm sure a Frenchman, returning from work & finding 'his' servant fanning a black person in his bed wdn't flip out? (NOT)
"While the discussion proceeds, Mlle Mornas has lifted Malik to her feet and is dressing her wounds with Karité butter. [Uh oh, she's using butter! Is Mornas going to eat Malik?!] The bargain made, she leads her to our camp, dresses her in a white blouse, and puts a few coins in her hand.
""Now," she says, "you're not a slave any longer. I set you free."
"But Malik bursts into sobs. She says she is alone and she doesn't want to leave "so good a white lady." She will be her chambermaid and will serve her faithfully until she dies. She weeps, she implores.
""Keep her, little girl," St. Bérain puts in. "You'll certainly find her usefull. She'll render the thousand little services which a woman always needs [..]"" - p 73
Seems like more than a bit of a self-serving fable to me, but I reckon it's possible. The narrator is usually a French reporter named Amédée Florence. He writes: "The 2nd December we strike camp at five in the morning, and our column, now larger by a unit - or rather should I say by half a unit, for one white is worth two blacks? - gets on the march." (p 74) So what's Verne doing here? After the heroic rescue of the slave he has the now-willing-servant 'devalued' to being a half-human in contrast to a white. Is Verne just being realistic in his depiction of racist 'values'? Or does he share them? It's ambiguous. But by the next page in Florence's article, he has the reporter write: "They have absurd names, these villages: Fongoumbi, Manfourou, Kafou, Ouossou, etc. I give it up. Can't they call themselves Neuilly or Levallois like everybody else?" (p 75) THAT seems like a flagrant parody of French chauvinism.
Verne has Florence & Barsac be sympathetic characters &, given that Barsac's agitating for equal voting rights for the black Africans, Barsac is even potentially an anti-racist hero. HOWEVER, these sympathetic characters are hardly flawless - so maybe, again, it's Verne's realism w/ a little parody thrown in. More from Florence:
"these blacks, about ten in number, are traders and witchdoctors who have no hostile intentions and simply want to sell us their produce and to entertain us.
""Lock up the silver!" M. Barsac suggests humorously, "and show them into the dining room!"
"So the blacks are shown in, each more ugly and more sordid than the others. Among them are craftsmen, masters of thirty-six trades, makers of pottery, trinkets, baskets, objects in wood or iron; and vendors of weapons, fabrics and especially Kola nuts, of which we lay in an ample store."
[..]
"These troubadours from Negro-land are two in number. The first holds a guitar. What a guitar! . . . Imagine a calabash crossed lengthwise by three shoots of bamboo each provided with a catgut string." - p 77
Now what's the 'reporter' really describing here? Is it a kora? It might be. Is this a parody of the French reporter's ignorance? if so, wd early 20th century French readers have understood this?
The travelers are talked into visiting a fortune-teller (Kéniélala) by the treacherous Moriliré:
"He begins by piling up in front of him a heap of very fine sand, which he spreads out fan-wise by one movement of a little broom. Then he asks us for a dozen Kola nuts, half red and half white, which he moves rapidly over the sand while babbling incomprehensible words; then, setting them out on the sand in several figures, circles, squares, diamonds, rectangles, triangles, and so forth, he males strange gestures above them as though he were blessing them. At last he collects them carefully and holds out his dirty hands in which we place the consultation fee." - p 100
I find this interesting. I wonder how accurate of a description this is & I wonder about the ideas behind the ceremony.
Florence's racism proceeds apace. He uses words like "darkies" (p 120) & "ugly little piccaninny" (p 134), or, at least the British translator does (I don't know what Verne's original words wd've been), & somewhat casually mentions a proposed plan to make the porters march under threat of death. (pp 120-121) But, then, he questions this: "As for the natives, how can we possibly compel them? What's to be done if they lie down, if they resist us only with the force of inertia? Shooting them would be a very poor means of making sure of their services!" (p 121) The Eurocentrism goes largely unquestioned: "Isn't it clear that the further East we go, which means the further from the sea, the less contact the natives have had with Europeans, and so their veneer of civilization (?) will wear thinner and thinner." (p 121) This being the reporter's logic against voting rights for the black Africans. But, then, why does Florence interpolate the question-mark after "civilization"?
Racism aside, there's really much, MUCH more to this (pair of) novel(s). Termites & their dwellings fascinate me. W/ this in mind, I was interested in this:
"11th February. Early this morning, we came into the midst of cultivated fields, showing that a village is near. These fields would be fairly well kept up were not so much of them devastated by termites, which are terribly destructive.
[Not as terribly so as humans daddio!]
"These insects build mushroom-shaped termitaries, sometimes the height of a man [ie: their 'high-rises'], and at the beginning of winter they leave them like winged ants. then they infest the villages. But the people never lose a chance of amusing themselves. The appearance of these winged ants is the signal for feasts and nameless orgies. Fires are lighted, and on these the ants singe their wings. The women and children collect them and fry them in Cé butter. Then it's not enough to eat. the people must drink. So, when evening comes, the whole village is drunk." - pp 132-133
As w/ other novels I've read by Verne, there're parts where the solution to certain mysteries is painfully obvious to the reader but completely opaque to the characters. It's hard to say whether Verne was using this as a device to make the reader feel smarter & tensely engaged w/ waiting for the characters to figure out the obvious OR whether Verne's readership at the time of writing wdn't've found these things as obvious as I do a century later.
As the 1st of these 2 novels reaches its end, the characters are taking stock of the difficulties that have befallen them. Barsac concludes that their hidden enemies haven't really done anything that bad. The Dr. points out that they bayonetted their black guide & left him for dead.
""There's Tongané," Dr. Chatonnay pointed out gently.
""Tongané is a Negro," Barsac replied, "and for many people the life of a Negro doesn't count."
So does it count for Barsac the voting crusader or not?!
July 10, 2022
Op zich een leuk verhaal, maar wel duidelijk niet meer van deze tijd. Zeker de manier waarop over Afrikaanse karakters wordt gesproken, kan echt niet meer.
September 10, 2015
It turns out that this book is not by JUles Verne, but by his son, Michel, who published several of his own works after his famous father's death, and under Jules Verne's name. He also added to unpublished novels by the older Verne. Many of the original novels, shorn of Michel's additions, have been published and translated in recent years.
In the case of the two volumes of The Barsac Mission, this was not done. Jules Verne left notes and outlines for two apparently unrelated novels that Michel was to combine and elaborate on to create this book.
Although I'm annoyed that Michel published under his father's name, I do think he deserves more credit than he usually gets. The older Verne sought to try to ground most of his writings in reality (he didn't always succeed, but his stuff is well-researched, and often a lot of it is based on existing technology or near extrapolations), but Michel was willing to take more chances and liberties in his imaginings. He gave us the first Tractor Beam (and "Pressor beam") in his additions to The Meteor Hunt, for instance.
Most of this book is set-up and build-up for the more exotic and imaginative second half, and so it is comparatively dull. Verne -- both Vernes, I assume -- try to liven it up with typically Vernean idiosyncratic characters -- the two French officials of contrasting physical and mental types, the dashing military leader, the odd aunt/uncle/neiuce/nephew civilians, the journalist, and the enigmatic statistician make their way into Africa and are beset by conspiracies and hidden traitors. As others have written, the stereotypes of the Africans do not show Verne at his best. Although the older Verne tried to portray most cultural and ethnic groups in a positive light -- he had French, English, Canadian, American, German (until the Franco-Prussian War), Indian, Russian, Turkish, and Chinese heroes in his books -- he tended to portray American and African natives as "savages", and he or his son continue to do so in this book. It is almost certainly the result of being "men of their times" than due to any other reason, but you rather hope that the man who could make a Pole or a Chinese Gentleman his hero could deal as fairly with inhabitants of Africa.
The book is worth slogging through if only to set up the second half. I first read this one by itself, unaware that there was a second volume. I didn't find a copy of the second volume until two or three years had passed. This summer, for the first time, I read them back-to-back.
In the case of the two volumes of The Barsac Mission, this was not done. Jules Verne left notes and outlines for two apparently unrelated novels that Michel was to combine and elaborate on to create this book.
Although I'm annoyed that Michel published under his father's name, I do think he deserves more credit than he usually gets. The older Verne sought to try to ground most of his writings in reality (he didn't always succeed, but his stuff is well-researched, and often a lot of it is based on existing technology or near extrapolations), but Michel was willing to take more chances and liberties in his imaginings. He gave us the first Tractor Beam (and "Pressor beam") in his additions to The Meteor Hunt, for instance.
Most of this book is set-up and build-up for the more exotic and imaginative second half, and so it is comparatively dull. Verne -- both Vernes, I assume -- try to liven it up with typically Vernean idiosyncratic characters -- the two French officials of contrasting physical and mental types, the dashing military leader, the odd aunt/uncle/neiuce/nephew civilians, the journalist, and the enigmatic statistician make their way into Africa and are beset by conspiracies and hidden traitors. As others have written, the stereotypes of the Africans do not show Verne at his best. Although the older Verne tried to portray most cultural and ethnic groups in a positive light -- he had French, English, Canadian, American, German (until the Franco-Prussian War), Indian, Russian, Turkish, and Chinese heroes in his books -- he tended to portray American and African natives as "savages", and he or his son continue to do so in this book. It is almost certainly the result of being "men of their times" than due to any other reason, but you rather hope that the man who could make a Pole or a Chinese Gentleman his hero could deal as fairly with inhabitants of Africa.
The book is worth slogging through if only to set up the second half. I first read this one by itself, unaware that there was a second volume. I didn't find a copy of the second volume until two or three years had passed. This summer, for the first time, I read them back-to-back.
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