El desarrollo social de los niños 6. ed. Edition Marjorie J. Kostelnik

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El desarrollo social de los niños 6. ed. Edition Marjorie J. Kostelnik
El desarrollo social de los niños 6. ed. Edition Marjorie J. Kostelnik
El desarrollo social de los niños 6. ed. Edition Marjorie J. Kostelnik


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El desarrollo social de los niños 6. ed. Edition Marjorie
J. Kostelnik Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Marjorie J. Kostelnik
ISBN(s): 9781428336940, 142833694X
Edition: 6. ed.
File Details: PDF, 8.19 MB
Year: 2009
Language: english

"VTUSBMJBt#SBTJMt$PSFBt&TQB×Bt&TUBEPT6OJEPTt+BQØOt.ÏYJDPt3FJOP6OJEPt4JOHBQVS
El desarrollo social
de los niños
Marjorie J. Kostelnik, Ph.D.
Universidad de Nebraska-Lincoln
Alice Phipps Whiren, Ph.D.
Anne K. Soderman, Ph.D.
Kara M. Gregory, Ph.D.
Universidad del Estado de Michigan
Traductor
José Carmen Pecina Hernández

El desarrollo social de los niños
Marjorie J. Kostelnik Ph.D., Alice Phipps
Whiren, Ph.D., Anne K. Soderman, Ph.D.
y Kara M. Gregory, Ph.D.
Presidente de Cengage Learning
Latinoamérica:
Javier Arellano Gutiérrez
Director general México y
Centroamérica:
Pedro Turbay Garrido
Director editorial
Latinoamérica:
José Tomás Pérez Bonilla
Director de producción:
Raúl D. Zendejas Espejel
Coordinadora editorial:
María Rosas López
Editora de desarrollo:
Claudia Islas Licona
Editora de producción:
Abril Vega Orozco
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Grupo Insigne O.T.A., S.A. de C.V.
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Dreamstime
Composición tipográfica:
Mariana Sierra
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Dreamstime
© D.R. 2009 por Cengage Learning Editores, S.A. de C.V.,
una Compañía de Cengage Learning, Inc.
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Traducido del libro
Guiding Children’s Social
Development & Learning
, 6th ed.
Kostelnik, Marjorie J., Ph.D., Alice Phipps Whiren, Ph.D.,
Anne K. Soderman and Ph.D., Kara M. Gregory, Ph.D.
Publicado en inglés por Delmar, Cengage Learning ©2009
ISBN-13: 978-1-4283-3694-0
ISBN-10: 1-4283-3694-X
Datos para catalogación bibliográfica:
Kostelnik, Marjorie J., Alice Phipps Whiren, Anne K.
Soderman y Kara M. Gregory
El desarrollo social de los niños
ISBN-13: 978-607-481-356-2
ISBN-10: 607-481-356-6
Visite nuestro sitio en:
http://latinoamerica.cengage.com

Prefacio xvii
Capítulo 1 Cómo influir en la vida de los niños 1
Los niños en el mundo social 2
Conocimiento y habilidades sociales del niño 2
Competencia social 3
Beneficios de la competencia social 6
Desarrollo y competencia social 7
El desarrollo está interrelacionado 7
El desarrollo social es una secuencia ordenada 8
El ritmo del desarrollo varía entre los niños 9
El desarrollo social tiene periodos óptimos 10
El desarrollo social tiene efectos acumulativos y retroactivos 10
El aprendizaje y la competencia social 11
Los niños participan activamente en el aprendizaje social 11
Los niños disponen de muchas maneras de conocer
el mundo social 12
La competencia social plantea un reto continuo
y exige dominio 13
El aprendizaje social requiere tiempo 13
Contextos donde se adquiere la competencia social 14
Microsistemas 15
Mesosistemas 17
Exosistemas 17
Macrosistemas 18
Pensando en los niños dentro del contexto 19
Función del profesional de la niñez temprana en la promoción
de la competencia social 21
Trabajo profesional con los niños 22
Prácticas adecuadas al nivel del desarrollo y competencia social 25
Prácticas adecuadas a la edad 25
Prácticas adecuadas al individuo 26
Prácticas adecuadas al nivel sociocultural 26
Bases de la competencia social 27
Contenido

iv Contenido
Resumen 31
Puntos para comentar 31
Actividades de campo 32
Capítulo 2 Las relaciones sociales en la infancia 33
Características del infante como factor de las relaciones sociales 34
Estados de conducta 34
Capacidad sensorial e interacción social 38
Apego 39
Control motor e interacción social 40
Temperamento 41
Individualización y socialización 44
Cómo enfrentar la separación entre niño y adulto 47
Diferencias individuales de los resultados 48
Amistad 49
Surgimiento de la competencia comunicativa 50
Niños que empiezan a caminar: transición de la infancia 53
Infantes y niños de 1 a 2 años con necesidades especiales 56
Errores a evitar 59
Resumen 60
Puntos para comentar 61
Actividades de campo 61
Capítulo 3 Cómo establecer relaciones positivas
mediante la comunicación no verbal 63
Funciones de la comunicación no verbal 64
Canales de la comunicación no verbal 66
Posición en el espacio 67
Movimiento corporal 69
Orientación del cuerpo 70
Gestos 71
Contacto físico 72
Expresión facial 74
Paralingüística 75

Contenido v
Abusos de la conducta no verbal por parte de los adultos 79
Habla infantil 79
Gritos 80
Contacto físico nocivo 80
Comunicación referente a las relaciones 80
Tiempo 81
Afabilidad 81
Poder 82
El impacto de los mensajes mixtos 83
Adquisición de las habilidades de la comunicación no verbal
en la infancia 84
Cómo guiar a los niños mediante la conducta no verbal del adulto 86
Errores a evitar 87
Resumen 88
Puntos para comentar 89
Actividades de campo 89
Capítulo 4 Cómo fomentar la adquisición del sentido
del yo en los niños mediante la comunicación verbal 91
Evolución del conocimiento social y del yo en la infancia 93
Autoconocimiento y conocimiento social 93
Autoconcepto 94
Autoestima 96
Evolución de la autoestima 97
Relación entre las prácticas de adultos y la autoestima 100
Crianza 102
Orientación 102
Cómo relacionar el ambiente con el habla adulta 102
El ambiente verbal 103
El ambiente verbal negativo 103
El ambiente verbal positivo 106
Cómo crear un ambiente verbal positivo 106
Reflexiones (comentarios) sobre la conducta 108
Cómo usar la conversación para apoyar la adquisición de
la identidad personal y del conocimiento social,
así como para establecer una relación 111

vi Contenido
Uso de preguntas para invitar a una conversación 112
Comentarios parafrásticos 114
Elogio eficaz 119
Cómo brindar apoyo lingüístico a diversos niños
mediante estrategias verbales 121
Errores a evitar 122
Resumen 125
Puntos para comentar 127
Actividades de campo 127
Capítulo 5 Cómo apoyar el desarrollo emocional
de los niños 129
¿De dónde provienen las emociones? 130
Por qué las emociones son importantes 131
Desarrollo emocional del niño 132
Cómo se desarrollan las emociones en la infancia 132
Cómo adquiere el niño conciencia de las emociones 134
Cómo aprende el niño a identificar las emociones de otros 136
Cómo aprende el niño a controlar sus emociones 138
Cociente emocional 138
Las etapas emocionales de la niñez 139
Variaciones individuales en los estilos expresivos del niño 141
Las diferencias de género en la expresión emocional del niño 142
Variaciones familiares y culturales en la expresión emocional
del niño 143
Variaciones de la interpretación de las emociones 144
Retos del niño frente a las emociones 145
Problemas de los niños de 2 a 7 años de edad 147
Problemas de los niños de 7 a 12 años de edad 147
Conducta no solidaria del adulto 149
Formas apropiadas de reaccionar ante las emociones del niño 150
Hablar con el niño de sus emociones 150
Comentarios afectivos 151
Cómo ayudar al niño a usar palabras para expresar sus emociones 152
Errores a evitar 153
Resumen 154

Contenido vi
Puntos para comentar 155
Actividades de campo 156
Capítulo 6 Cómo apoyar al niño en situaciones de estrés 157
Naturaleza del estrés 159
Causas del estrés del niño 160
Personalidad del niño 160
Causantes de estrés en la familia 160
Causas de estrés extrafamiliares 169
Problemas relacionados con la salud 172
Desastres naturales, guerra, terrorismo y violencia 174
Otras agresiones 175
Reacciones del niño ante el estrés 176
Reacciones físicas 177
Reacciones psicológicas 177
Cómo sortea el niño el estrés 177
Técnicas para superar el estrés: aspectos del desarrollo
y conducta aprendida 179
Qué pueden hacer los adultos para ayudar al niño a manejar
el estrés 180
Errores a evitar 181
Resumen 183
Puntos para comentar 184
Actividades de campo 185
Capítulo 7 Cómo mejorar el juego 187
La naturaleza del juego 188
Bases genéticas 189
Cognición 189
Lenguaje 190
Desarrollo perceptual-motor 191
Desarrollo emocional 191
Desarrollo social 191
Diferencias de género en el juego 192
Tipos de juego 195
Conducta exploratoria 195

viii Contenido
El juego con objetos 197
El juego dramático 199
Juego de construcción 207
Juego con movimiento 208
Los juegos 212
Humorismo 214
Errores a evitar 216
Resumen 218
Puntos para comentar 219
Actividades de campo 219
Capítulo 8 Cómo apoyar las relaciones y la amistad
con los compañeros 221
Relaciones e interacciones 222
Relaciones entre adulto y niño 223
Relaciones con los compañeros 223
Relaciones de amistad 223
Factores que influyen en las amistades del niño 225
Cognición social 225
Control de las emociones 226
Experiencias de juego 226
Lenguaje 226
Apoyo de los adultos 226
Valores culturales 227
Ideas del niño acerca de la amistad 227
Surgimiento de la amistad 227
El modelo de la amistad 228
Selección de amigos 233
Inquietudes de los adultos respecto a la amistad 234
Selección poco grata de amigos 234
Tipos de interacciones poco recomendables con los compañeros 235
Etapas de la amistad 237
Inicio del contacto 237
Mantenimiento de relaciones positivas 238
Negociación de los conflictos 238
Fin de la relación/amistad 239

Contenido ix
Estrategias que los adultos usan para mejorar las relaciones
y la amistad con los compañeros 239
Métodos aplicables a todos los niños para mejorar
la interacción social 240
Relaciones con los compañeros y los niños con necesidades
especiales 241
Errores a evitar 243
Resumen 245
Puntos para comentar 245
Actividades de campo 246
Capítulo 9 Cómo influir en el desarrollo social del niño
estructurando el ambiente físico 247
Estructuración del espacio y de los materiales 249
Edificio y terrenos 250
Adaptación de los espacios exteriores para fomentar
el desarrollo social 253
Disposición del mobiliario y del equipo 255
Dimensiones controlables 257
Selección de los materiales adecuados 260
Necesidad de aumentar o eliminar los materiales y de crear
un ambiente a prueba de niños 263
Estructuración del tiempo 266
El horario 266
Ritmo e intensidad de los programas 270
Cómo asesorar a los niños a fijarse objetivos,tomar decisiones,
planear, implementar y evaluar 270
Objetivos personales de los niños 271
Cómo ayudar a los niños a tomar decisiones 271
Cómo ayudar a los niños a elaborar un plan y llevarlo a cabo 273
Cómo ayudar a los niños a establecer y evaluar normas 274
Errores a evitar 275
Resumen 277
Puntos para comentar 277
Actividades de campo 278

x Contenido
Capítulo 10 Cómo fomentar la autodisciplina en los niños:
comunicación de las expectativas y las reglas 279
¿Qué es la autodisciplina? 280
Evolución de la autodisciplina 281
Orientación amoral (sin control) 281
Adhesión (control externo) 282
Identificación (control compartido) 283
Internalización (control interno) 284
Procesos evolutivos que influyen en la autodisciplina 286
Desarrollo emocional 286
Desarrollo cognoscitivo 287
Desarrollo del lenguaje y de la memoria 289
Cómo influye la experiencia en la autodisciplina 291
Instrucción directa 291
Moldeamiento 292
Reforzamiento y consecuencias negativas 293
Integración del desarrollo y la experiencia 293
Cómo la conducta de los adultos afecta la del niño 294
El estilo autoritario de disciplina 295
El estilo permisivo de disciplina 295
El estilo desinteresado de disciplina 296
El estilo autoritativo de disciplina 296
Consecuencias 297
La interacción dinámica entre el temperamento infantil
y los estilos de disciplina del adulto 299
Cómo volverse autoritativo 300
Formulación de las expectativas 300
Cómo saber cuándo hay que cambiar la conducta 301
Parte uno del mensaje personal 303
Parte dos del mensaje personal 305
Parte tres del mensaje personal 308
Componer un mensaje personal íntegro: las cuatro “R“ 311
Mensajes personales positivos 311
Errores a evitar 313
Resumen 315
Puntos para comentar 315
Actividades de campo 316

Contenido xi
Capítulo 11 Cómo fomentar la autodisciplina en los niños:
ofrecer soluciones y explicar las consecuencias 317
Uso de las consecuencias para fomentar la competencia social 318
Problemas de conducta y sus soluciones 319
Consecuencias 323
Consecuencias que aumentan las conductas aceptables 323
Consecuencias que reducen las conductas erróneas 324
Tipos de consecuencias inhibidoras 325
Cómo decidir cuáles consecuencias inhibidoras utilizar 328
Cómo establecer las consecuencias inhibidoras 330
Seguimiento de las consecuencias inhibidoras 331
Cuándo implementar consecuencias inhibitorias 332
Combinación de la advertencia y el cumplimiento con
el mensaje personal 333
Razones de la secuencia de habilidades 333
Uso sucesivo de la secuencia de habilidades 335
Cómo dirigir la conducta social de los niños con necesidades
especiales 336
Tiempo fuera 338
¿Qué es el tiempo fuera y cuándo conviene utilizarlo? 339
Implementación del tiempo fuera 340
Qué hacer una vez terminado el tiempo fuera 340
Variaciones del tiempo fuera 340
Comparación entre el tiempo fuera y la exclusión 341
Alternativas frente al mal uso del tiempo fuera 341
Dónde encajan las consecuencias dentro del repertorio
de las estrategias de dirección 343
Errores a evitar 344
Resumen 346
Puntos para comentar 347
Actividades de campo 348
Capítulo 12 Control de la conducta agresiva en los niños 349
¿Qué es la agresión? 350
Tipos de agresión 350
Asertividad frente a agresión 352

xii Contenido
Por qué son agresivos los niños 353
Biología 353
La hipótesis de frustración igual a agresión 354
Hipótesis de la percepción distorsionada 354
Instrucción directa 354
Reforzamiento 354
Moldeamiento 355
Falta de conocimiento y de habilidades 355
Surgimiento de la agresión 355
Cambios de la agresión con el tiempo 355
Diferencias de género en la agresión 357
Estrategias ineficaces que los adultos usan para tratar de reducir
la conducta agresiva del niño 358
Ignorar la agresión 360
Desplazamiento 360
Incongruencia 361
Estrategias eficaces que los adultos usan para disminuir
la conducta agresiva del niño 361
Moldeamiento 362
Reforzamiento 362
Instrucción directa 362
Un modelo para mediar en conflictos 368
Paso 1: Comenzar el proceso de mediación 368
Paso 2: Explicar la perspectiva de cada niño 368
Paso 3: Planteamiento del problema 369
Paso 4: Generación de alternativas 369
Paso 5: Aceptar una solución 369
Paso 6: Reforzamiento del proceso de resolución de problemas 370
Paso 7: Seguimiento 370
La mediación de conflictos en acción 370
Cómo ven los niños la resolución de conflictos 372
¿De verdad funciona la mediación en los conflictos? 373
Cuando la agresión se vuelve hostil 373
Víctimas de la intimidación 374
Bravucones 375
Testigos presenciales 376
Papel de los adultos en la prevención de la intimidación 376

Contenido xiii
Errores a evitar 379
Resumen 381
Puntos para comentar 382
Actividades de campo 382
Capítulo 13 Cómo fomentar la conducta prosocial 383
Conducta prosocial y los niños 384
Beneficios de las acciones prosociales 384
Motivación del niño para realizar actos prosociales 386
Pasos de la conducta prosocial 386
Paso 1: El conocimiento 386
Paso 2: La decisión 388
Paso 3: La acción 389
Factores de la conducta prosocial de los niños 389
Biología y la conducta prosocial 390
Cognición social y conducta prosocial 390
Lenguaje y conducta prosocial 390
Experiencias sociales y la conducta prosocial 392
Expectativas y experiencias culturales y la conducta prosocial 393
Conducta de los adultos y conducta prosocial 393
Errores a evitar 397
Resumen 398
Puntos para comentar 399
Actividades de campo 399
Capítulo 14 Cómo apoyar el desarrollo del niño:
sexualidad, etnicidad y necesidades excepcionales 401
Desarrollo psicosexual del niño 403
Aprendizaje de los papeles sexuales 403
La adquisición de las actitudes sexuales 405
Aspectos problemáticos del desarrollo psicosexual del niño 407
Efectos de la ausencia de los padres en el desarrollo
psicosexual 408
Identidad étnica, preferencias y actitudes en los niños 409
Inclusión de los niños con necesidades especiales 411
Categorías de discapacidad 413

xiv Contenido
Inclusión 416
Percepción de los niños sobre las discapacidades 417
Actitudes de los niños hacia los compañeros con necesidades
especiales 417
Directrices para integrar al grupo a los niños con discapacidades
en las instituciones educativas 419
Otras diferencias 419
Errores a evitar 424
Resumen 426
Puntos para comentar 427
Actividades de campo 428
Capítulo 15 Cómo tomar decisiones éticas
y realizar juicios éticos 429
Cómo los objetivos, las estrategias y las normas de un programa
se relacionan con el juicio ético 431
Factores que influyen en el juicio ético 433
Valores 433
El contexto situacional 436
Juicios sobre la conducta ética 437
Principios de prioridad 439
Consideraciones éticas sobre la conducta extrema de los niños 439
Lo que constituye una conducta extrema 439
Causas frecuentes de la conducta extrema 443
Juicios éticos referentes al maltrato y abandono del niño 445
Definición de abuso y de abandono 445
Alcance del problema 446
Los que maltratan 446
Las víctimas 448
Señales de maltrato y de abuso sexual 449
Denuncia de maltrato o abuso sexual contra el niño 449
Prevención del maltrato al niño en las instituciones
educativas 453
Aspectos éticos del trabajo con las familias 453
Errores a evitar 455

Contenido xv
Resumen 457
Puntos para comentar 458
Actividades de campo 459
Apéndice 461
Implementación correcta del tiempo fuera 461
Referencias bibliográficas 463
Índice analítico 499

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thedecks. These tents, moreover, were no longer water-tight, and
thesleeping-place in the damp boats was very small.
Our negroes generally managed to stow themselves away under
shelter somehow, often one on top of the other, but I should have
liked better weather for this last bit of the journey, so that they might
have been able to get over all they had gone through atBussa. They
made up for their discomfort at night by getting uplate in the
morning. All this, however, did not prevent us from making good
headway without any over pressure, borne on as we wereby the
strong current. On the 13th we covered forty-five miles, going on
until eight in the evening, just in time to anchor before we were
overtaken by a tornado, and an awful one too. Fortunately we found
shelter in a little gulf, and escaped with a goodducking.
IGGA.
On the 14th, judging by the rate at which we went, the current
must have been yet stronger. We made some fifty miles, passed the
night near Igga,and arrived there at eight o’clock in the morning on
the 15th.

The country between Geba and Igga is uninteresting; no villages,
or scarcely any, were passed, and there was no cultivation. The
appearance of the banks is much what it is between Say and Bussa;
afew karités occur here and there, that is all. We met acanoe now
and then only. The oil-palms, which had begun to appear beyond
Say, now became more numerous, but the country stillappeared
deserted.
In a large plain near Igga there is a factory kept by a white man.
Just before we reached it we saw a big boat called theNigritian,
which was formerly the pontoon of Yola. The Royal Niger Company
had just been driven from the Benuë and from the Adamawa; its
trading agents had been recalled, together withthe pontoon they had
been authorized to use on the river.This must have been a very
severe blow to the Company, for much ofthe ivory exported through
their agents came from Adamawa andMuri.
The Ribago, a pretty little craft of from six to seven hundred tons,
is moored at Igga. She is the best boat belonging tothe Company.
She brings down palm-oil in the nut before it isextracted, karités and
other articles for export. The oilis of a very fine quality indeed. It will
probably be theRibago which will tow us down-stream if all is
satisfactorily settled with the Company about Bussa and Auru.
The agent at Igga thought we should find Mr. Wallace at Lokodja.I
was very anxious to see him, for it is with him I must get the
misunderstanding, if misunderstanding there were, explained. His
word alone would suffice to exonerate the Company from blame, and
only if he couldgive me that word, should I care to accept his good
offices on mybehalf.
After passing an hour at our anchorage at Igga, we started for
Lokodja to look for Mr. Wallace, whom it was very difficult tocatch.
Fortunately for us, the current was still very strong, butnavigation
was very tiring, for with the banks inundated as they were, it was
difficult to find the bottom amongst the tall grass. Late in the evening
we at last anchored near the left bank, and landed to cook a hasty
meal. Fili, one of the coolies who looked after the kitchen
department, had cleared a corner of bushes andlit a fire when, all of

a sudden, the men made a rush for the boats screaming manians!
manians! They had been attacked by the black ants they call
manians, the bite of which is very severe. Nocooking for us to-night,
no meal however simple! No sleep either for our poor men, for the
rain began to pour down again. Worse still, the terrible manians
began to climb on board by theanchor-chains, by the ropes of the
grappling-hooks, by everything, in fact, which held us to the bank.
They had come to storm thebarges, and the ropes and chains
became black with their swarms. The only way we were able to
check this novel kind of invasion was by lowering the chains and
ropes into the water.
This horribly comfortless night over, we started again with almost
empty stomachs. The scenery was very picturesque, butalthough
the water was high we felt the boats grate on the rocks lining the bed
of the stream. Navigation must be generally far fromeasy here.
The vegetation now became denser, and the oil-palm of much
more frequent occurrence. There were, however, few villages, and
theybecame further apart, on the banks at least, as we advanced. At
last in the evening our pilot told us we were approaching Lokodja.
Picturesque hills,from about six hundred to a thousand feet high,
lined the right bank, whilst on the left we could see the mouth of the
Benuë, nowgreatly increased in width by inundations.
About six o’clock we came in sight of the huts of the village, rising
in tiers from the slopes of a hill, their zinc roofs shining amongst the
verdure in the glow of the setting sun. We were atLokodja, and as it
was nearly night we anchored off the bank.
Here we found Mr. Drew, the executive officer of the Company for
the Lokodja-Geba district, for whom we had waited in vain at Geba,
and also another officer who spoke French.
We were received with all due etiquette and invited to dinner.We
talked about the river; and Mr. Drew, who did not allow himself to
show any surprise at our having passed safely down it, must really
have been astonished. He told us he had himself achieved the
arduous task of going over the rapids in a light canoe accompanied
by one man only. He had intended to go down to Bussa by the

channel used by the natives. He had even been capsized, and
dragged downinto the whirlpool. He owed his life entirely to his
canoe-man, whohad plunged after him and brought him up from the
bottom. He stillhad the scar of a wound he had got from the sharp
flints, amongstwhich he had been rolled over and over .
Major Festing, who came in to dessert, invited us to go to himthe
next day. We cut but sorry figures beside our hosts in their
unimpeachable costumes, for our clothes were torn by our struggles
in the bush, our gold lace was tarnished, our breeches were
patched, our boots had been bought in the country, and our helmets
were terribly battered about.
I do not know which agent of the Company it was who refused to
receive the leader of a French expedition because of his
disreputable appearance, with untrimmed beard and clothes in rags.
Times are greatly changed since then, or rather perhaps the
instructionsgiven have been modified.
The next day we had breakfast with Major Festing, and were most
cordially received. Our host was then Commander-in-chief of the
troops in the service of the Niger Company. Lokodja was his
headquarters, and his soldiers, who were Haussas, were well
lodged. Their cantonments are charming, and the Major’s house had
every English comfort that could possibly be expected. Big airy
rooms adorned with weapons, looking-glasses and hunting pictures,
etc., native mats on the ground, flowers growing in the copper pots
manufactured in the country. Everything very simple and suitable.
Music was going on whilst we were at breakfast, as if we were on
board an admiral’s flag-ship or at the Grand Hotel in Paris. Children
played to us on the flute, regaling us with the familiar airs of the café-
concerts of France. We had printed menus, dainty salt-cellars,
caviare, whisky-and-soda, good stout, etc. Oh, what a delight it was
to eat a well-served meal ona table-cloth decked with fresh flowers!
If only we had had a fewladies in light summer costumes to share it
with us, it wouldindeed have been complete.
Major Festing most courteously placed at our disposal as
interpreter, a Haussa sergeant of his from the Senegal, who had

been at one time in the service of Mizon, and also of De Brazza. He
spoke a little French, and had been one of the last to leave the
station of Yola. He told us of all his strange wanderings to and fro,
and piloted us about the town when we went to make ourpurchases,
for we did make some purchases at Lokodja. To beginwith, we
supplemented our stores of provisions, which was very necessary, if
we wished suitably to return thehospitality wereceived. We had,
moreover, very little of the dinner service leftwhich we had brought
from France three years before. We had, itwill be remembered, sent
to the bottom of the river everything notabsolutely indispensable,
and we wanted some claret andchampagne-glasses badly .
The natives of Lokodja were very civilized, using table napkins,
basins, dishes with covers, china flower-pots, etc., sold to them by
the Company, or rather bartered for native productions, forthere is
no money currency in the Niger districts. The wages of thetroops,
labour, and raw material are all paid for in merchandise, such as salt,
stuffs or ware of different kinds. The Company seemto make
considerable profit on these transactions. As for us, wewere rich
enough to be generous. Suleyman, our interpreter,received orders
to buy everything offered at the price asked, forwe should only have
to throw the things which were too heavy totake on, into the water
later. So we gave silk drawers for a dozen eggs, and long strings of
pearls, false ones of course, for threebananas.
The generosity of Commandant Mattei, agent of the old French
Niger Company, whom we so clumsily allowed an English Company
tosupplant, has become proverbial, and the natives often quote it
apropos of the stinginess of the Niger Company. I am very sure that
our stay at Lokodja did nothing to lessen the fame of French
liberality. The natives of the banks of the Niger still bemoan theloss
of French traders and the hauling down of the French flag.
Lokodja, which we were able to visit, is a fairly large village,very
picturesquely situated on a mountain. It is cut across byravines and
shaded by banana and papaw-trees, with numerous oil-palms. There
is a splendid view of the meeting of the Benuë and the Niger. The
remains of the steam-boat Sokkoto, whichwas wrecked on a rock,

are still to be seen, and further down theriver are other stranded
boats.
We were told that Lokodja is the principal town of an extensive
district numbering from twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants. The
town properly so called, however, does not contain more than from
four to five thousand at the very most. The market, which is very
extensive, is much frequented, and is held in the afternoon. All
manner of European articles are offered for sale in it. The only native
industries are the beating of copper and the manufacture ofrather
peculiar drawers made of two pieces of stuff sewn together and
adorned with a kind of open work. The blacksmiths, who are very
skilful in a kind of repoussé work done with a pointed instrument on
copper, make vases, cups, and ewers of it, which arereally very
original in design.
Most curious of all the specialities of Lokodja, however, arethe
games and the tam-tams held there. In the former, theperformers
are all young graceful girls who are perfectly nude. Ihave visited
many towns of low morality. I know Naples, Port Saïd, and Colombo.
I have seen the so-called flower-boats of China and the Japanese
yoshivaras in that Orient where everything ispossible, but never did I
witness anything to be compared with whatgoes on at Lokodja.
The chief of the village is the well-known Abegga, and the name
calls up for us French all manner of memories. Abegga is really
almost a relation of mine, for he is a freed man who was bought at
Sokoto, and given his liberty by my Uncle Barth. Abegga followed his
master to England first and then to Germany. Back again inAfrica,
he entered the service of Commandant Mattei as interpreter,and to-
day he is king of Lokodja. Such are the chances of life!
We were received by him with effusion, for we awoke all his old
memories. Taburet, who from his translations from Barth’s book
knew more about Abegga than Abegga did himself, had a long talk
with him inEnglish. In the end we sent our royal friend, Baudry’s
hunting-piece as a present, by the hands of his envoy.
We expected every minute to hear of the arrival of Mr. Wallace,
but he did not come. I could not remain at Lokodja for ever, so Itook

Mr. Drew’s word for it that neither he nor the Company had had
anything to do with our difficulties at Bussa and Auru, accepting the
offer made to me with so much urgency that we should be towed
down-stream by the Ribago, the steamboat we had met atIgga, and
which had now come down again to Lokodja.
MOUNT RENNEL ABOVE LOKODJA.
We were to start at two o’clock. After we had made our farewell
visits I went to Mr. Drew and said, “I have decided to accept your
offer of having us towed down-stream.” Then I added rather
awkwardly, “How much?”
“Five pounds foreach white man, and one for each black, was the
reply.
A good price truly just for towing us down-stream! It would come
to 1450 francs altogether! I merely, however, said “Oh!” just torelieve
my feelings.
Now was not this rather sharp practice on the part of the
Company? After pressing me so much to accept a service, I had

imagined that it was offered gratuitously as between one friendly
government and another, and what had annoyed me was the thought
ofbeing under an obligation to the Royal Niger Company. But I was
quite wrong; I was dealing with the traders of the Company only,and
that put me at my ease.
They may have thought that having come so far I should not have
money enough left to pay them, and that I should have to leave in
their debt, but I simply said to Mr. Drew—
“All right; I will come back and settle with you in aminute.”
A few moments later I arrived with my bag of crown-pieces. I had
not, however, brought enough after all, for by some
misunderstanding, no doubt, we really had to pay six pounds for
each white man, and twenty-five shillings for each black, which
mounted the sum-total up to 1800 francs. However, I was able to
make up the difference at once all but two sous, I think, and those I
sent by Digui.
No doubt Carrol foresaw all these mercenary dealings when we
were at Geba, when he made such a fuss about paying Taburet for
hisattendance on the people who were ill at the station, and wanted
togive me money for the miserable little musical-box which I had
beenso glad to leave with him as a token of my gratitude.
The Royal Niger Company had in fact treated our expedition as a
party of traders, and I preferred that both for myself and forFrance. I
do not therefore owe the members of that Company any more
gratitude than I should the conductor of an omnibus in Paris when I
have paidhim my six sous.
The loading of the Ribago went on slowly, but at fiveo’clock we
started; the pipers of Major Festing came down to thequay and
played the Marseillaise, whilst the guns of thestation fired a salute
as, towed by the Ribago, we leftfor Assaba.
Now for a couple of words about the Royal Niger Company. I will
say nothing of the treaties or of the constitutive acts which preceded
its formation, for I have not got to draw up an indictment against it. I
will confine myself to quoting what Naval Lieutenant Agoult said on

the subject—“The Company is but the screen behind which England
hides herself.”
To the great detriment of the shareholders, the Company tries to
create an Empire, and in view of its acquisitions of territory, tomake
head against the revolts caused by its rapacity, it is obliged to
maintain an army relatively large. This necessity causes a
mischievous friction between the military and civilian officers inthe
service of the Queen, they and the trading agents sometimes
carrying their animosity to each other so far as to come toblows.
Then again the officers are anything but well treated by the
Company. Like the agents, they are taxed and taxed again. Heaven
only knows what an arduous profession theirs is. Carrol was always
on the road, and Festing, when we saw him, was suffering horribly
from a liver complaint. He had just returned from a twenty days’
campaign against the villages in the bush on the left bank, and he
was so tired he could not remain in the saddle. We were told of
several officers having recently been killed by poisoned arrows, and
of one who had died from eating poison in a village on thebanks of
the river.
Moreover, thisarmed force and all the courage and devotion of
those who command it, fail to secure peace. Whilst we were on our
voyage, thehorsemen of Bidda had come down to pillage as far as
the bank opposite Lokodja. It is only in the immediate neighbourhood
of thestations that things are quiet. The steam-launches have to be
constantly going up and down the arms of the river, especially inthe
delta, to keep the natives in awe with their riflemen and their
machine-guns. It is rare for a boat to go down the river without being
fired at. At Abo, lower down-stream, the people were astonished that
we had been able to come so far without any fighting. It may have
been the effect of the flag we carried, forthe tricolour flag is still
beloved and regretted in these parts for the sake of the memory of
Commandant Mattei.
The Company does not hold the country beyond the banks of the
river. Then, again, there are no means of communication between
oneplace and another. Truly we French may be proud of our work in

theFrench Sudan. We have done better than the English on the
Upper Niger; our colonization is far superior to theirs. On the Lower
Niger they have neither telegraph wires, for these go no further than
Akassa and Brass, at the mouth of the river, no road at all tobe
compared with our line of revictualling posts, and of course,need we
add? they have no railway!
It seems to me a fact that of all the Niger districts, therichest and
the most favoured by Nature from every point of view are those we
occupy in the French Sudan.
Assaba is the residence of the Agent-general of the Company,
and there is a hospital there for the use of the employés. When the
French mission of the Pères du Saint Esprit left Lokodjait
established itself at Assaba.
A missionary waswaiting for us when we landed, and I went at
once to his house. The situation is beautiful enough, but what a hard
life the Fatherslead! They are, I believe, rather harassed by the
Company, as much because they are French as because they are
Catholic, and as aresult their tale of converts is not very long. Some
Sisters ofCharity work in connection with them, and make their way
on footfrom village to village in the interior, marching at night to
avoid the heat of the sun, and visiting the Christian natives far away
from the river.
A few hours’ walk off, the Fathers told us, are some big, very big,
villages, into which alone they are able to penetrate, notwithout
considerable danger to life sometimes. Terrible scenes ofhuman
sacrifice and cannibalism have been witnessed by the devoted
Sisters. Such atrocities would never be tolerated in the French
Sudan.
But what does all that matter to the Company as long as it can
buy its palm-oil at the market-price, a price fixed by force?
That evening we had to dine with us the only Father of the
mission just then at Assaba, and two Sisters, one the Superior,
Sister Damien, a pale-faced Italian, whose hands had become
almost transparent, and whose features were wasted through

successive attacks of fever. For all that she still eagerly pursued her
vocation. I know nothing finer than the life led by these women atthe
extreme advance guard of civilization, exposed to the heat ofthe
sun, to fever, to all manner of fatigue, to the indifference ofthe
negroes, and sometimes, as if all that were not enough, to themalice
of the whites.
I imagine that it was long since the Father and the Sisters had
enjoyed themselves so much. Unfortunately a tornado burst upon us
in the middle of dinner, and at eight o’clock we had to take refuge in
Father Hacquart’s rooms, through the cracks in the roof of which,
however, the rain poured in torrents.
We escorted our guests back to the mission house through the
rain.
That same night the long-expected Mr. Wallace, Agent-general of
the Company, arrived on the launch Nupé. I went to call onhim the
next day. After congratulating me on our successful journey, he
renewed the assurances already made to me by Carrol, Festing, and
Drew. I heard later that Mr. Flint, another important member of the
Company, was also on board the Nupé. But hepreferred to avoid us.
When we left we were able to rejoice the hearts of the
missionaries of Assaba, with a few bales of stuffs and knick-knacks,
with which they could reward their faithful natives.W e wanted to stop
at Onitcha, the cross of the mission of which wecould already see,
to give a greeting to the Pères de Lyonstationed there, but the
captain of the Ribago told us hehad been ordered not to go there,
although Mr. Wallace had assured me to the contrary only a minute
before.
Avoiding Onitcha, therefore, we went to anchor for a few
moments, first at Illuchi, and then at Abo, where theRibago was to
leave us.
The Company, however, was determined to escort us to the very
threshold of their territories. Those who know what it is to be
suspected, will involuntarily compare this conduct to the way in

which, in certain shops, customers are escorted to the door lestthey
should steal anything on their way out.
No doubt, without being exactly sharpers, we might have got alot
of information, and have made observations on many things if we
had remained longer on the river. Would that have been altogetherto
the advantage of the Company? D’Agoult says he saw the steamer
laden with spirits going by, yet all the time, according to the
Company, all its subjects, white or black, would, under itsbeneficial
influence, become teetotalers or total abstainers.
It was politic too, perhaps, to hide from us the troubled stateof the
district all along the river, and the precarious position ofthe
Company. Do its members know, I wonder, how happy these
discontented regions once were under the French Company, and all
that would result from the mere presence once again of the French
flag?
As for me, however, I prefer to think simply that this
obsequiousness of the Company towards us, this insistence on our
accepting the offer of being towed down-stream, and paying for the
service rendered, this eagerness to see us off, had but one aim, and
that aim a humane one.
We were escorted to Wari to save us from another attack from the
Patanis. Our departure was hastened because we were tired, worn
out, eager to taste once more the joys of home and family life. All
serious thinkers, whose opinion is of any weight, and who know
anything about English ways, will agree with me, irony or noirony!
We dined at Abo, and when night had fallen, a launch arrived at
our anchorage, which was to take charge of us. On board was a
bright, jovial young officer, Lieutenant Aron by name, ofAustralian
birth. Judging from what we saw of him, Australia must be to
England what the south of France is to the French. Did he nottell us
one day that the Company had a post at Kano, another atKuka, and
twelve big steamers on the river? But for these venial exaggerations
he was a charming companion, what the English call avery good
fellow, who made the hours we were in his company pass very
pleasantly. We shall all, Lieutenant Aron included, long remember

the dinnerwe had together on the Kano, as the Ganagana pontoon
iscalled, whilst a tornado was raging, and he sung at the top of his
voice all the comic songs in the Anglo-Franco repertory, to the
accompaniment of the flute and the harmonium, whilst quaffing the
whisky and the claret we still had left.
As is well known, the Niger flings itself into the sea in animmense
number of branches. Two of these branches, viz. that ofBrass and of
Forcados, are more practicable for navigation than anyothers. The
first belongs to the Royal Niger Company, the second tothe Niger
Protectorate, a regular colony governed directly from England, and I
was told that the competition in trade between thetwo was very
keen.
I had long intended to go down to the sea, not by the Brass, but
by the Forcados branch, which would enable me to get away from
theRoyal Niger Company sooner, and pass a few days in the
Englishdistricts on the coast belonging to the Niger Protectorate.
I preferred to embark there than in a port belonging to the
Company. The two Companies are, as already stated, more or less
rivals, and those on the French despatch boat Ardent had cause to
speak in terms of high praise of the way in which they were treated
by the English of the Protectorate.
Lieutenant Aron accompanied us on the Forcados branch as far
as Wari, where resides an English vice-consul. We were
breakfasting onboard the launch when we came in sight of the
houses of Wari. Our three barges were roped together, and their
three tricolour flags flying. The launch, however, could not hoist the
British flag, itsgear having somehow got damaged.
The Dantec now brought us up to the stockade, where weawaited
the arrival of the officers of the Protectorate. Then between
ourselves and our guide began an animated and certainly very
curious colloquy; astonishment on one side, vehement explanations
on the other. What changes in the expressions of thefaces of those
engaged in the conversation! What shouts oflaughter! What were
they saying? This is what I thought I made out. Seeing our three
barges each flying a tricolour flag, and thelaunch with no colours at

all, the English of the Protectorate had thought we had retaliated on
the Company by a skilful manœuvre forthe bad turn they had done
the French the year before. “TheCompany,” they said, “had intended
to confiscate our barges, butthey being well manned and well
armed, had instead captured thelaunch and taken her down under
the French flag to Wari.”
No, I cannot have understood the conversation, I must have
dreamed it all! The English never could have believed us capable of
such a thing, and would never have suggested it, even in their own
language. And yet—!
Who was it told me that the Protectorate and the Company were
enemies at heart, and that the English of Wari are always brooding
on the damages paid to the Niger traders on account of a certain
attack on the people of Brass from Akassa?
No doubt all these are merely such calumnies as are always
circulating.
We shall, all five of us, always remember the welcome we
received at Wari from the agents of the Protectorate, and this
memory will be the more cherished because a few days after our
return to France we heard the terrible news of the death of several of
them, who, having gone on a mission to the interior almost unarmed,
were massacred by the natives of Benin.
We had the best of receptions at Wari; the officers even gave up
their rooms and their very beds to us, knowing how greatly we
should appreciatesuch comforts. We became much attached to our
new friends.
At Wari I got rid of all the rest of my stores, which would have
been an encumbrance to me on my return journey. There were
plenty for the missionaries and for the servants at the Consulate.
Suzanne, our bicycle, rejoiced the heart of a Sierra Leonese; the
Dantec, with a few bottles of claret, delighted Lieutenant Aron; even
the Aube we left as a token of our friendship with the agents at the
Consulate. We were generous, no doubt, butunless we had sunk

our barges when we got to the sea, what else could we have done
with them?
As for the Davoust, it took us two days to empty,dismantle, and
take her to pieces, after which she was embarked insections on
board the Axim, a Liverpool steamer, whichtook her back to Europe.
Sold as old metal, and what she fetched debited to the credit of
the budget of our expedition, all that is left of theDavoust is now
circulating in fairs or figuring inshop-windows, in the form of light
match-boxes and other small articles such as are made of
aluminium.
And this was the end of all the three sturdy barks: Davoust, Aube,
and Dantec, which fortwelve whole months were all the world to us!
The Dantec had often seemed likely never to get to theend of her
journey; the Aube certainly ought not to have arrived, judging by the
two or three occasions on which she had seemed done for; at the
end of the voyage you could put your fingers through her rotten
planking. If she had run aground butonce more, or if she had got
another blow in passing the lastrapid, all would have been over with
her worm-eaten keel, and also with her crew. The Davoust too had
received many wounds, and what was more serious still, oxidation
was beginning to work havoc in hersections.
Ten times at least, face to face with some specially bad rapids, I
had made up my mind to lose one of the three, if not all; but, asthe
English said, they were gallant ships. Bravely, in spite ofrapids,
whirlpools, and rocks, they had made for the appointed goal, the
mouth of the river, bringing there without faltering the whole
expedition: we white men, the coolies, all our goods, and theFrench
flag!
No doubt it was Aube, Dantec, and Davoust, their sponsors, our
comrades, who had died at the task of the conquest of the Niger,
who had brought good luck to our three boats.
Thanks to them, I had kept my oath of 1888.
It was not therefore without emotion, without a sadness which
may have been childish, but which many will understand, that we

parted finally with the companions of so many dangers.
Have not boats souls? Sailors love them like old friends, like
heirlooms. We must attach ourselves affectionately to something in
this life, must we not?
The Axim took us to Forcados; the Forcados toLago; the Olinda,
chartered specially for us, to PortoNovo.
On November 1, at five o’clock in the morning, there was great
excitement at the house of the officers of Porto Novo. Some people
had suddenly arrived, and were banging against the shutters. The
door was soon half-opened and a voice inquired, “Who are
you?”—“Hourst!”—“Where do you come from?”—“Timbuktu”—and
the nextmoment, without any further questioning, we all fell into
eachother ’s arms.
After all Iexperienced in Dahomey and in the Senegal, I will not
dwell toomuch on the goodness the Governor-General, M. Chaudié,
showed to uson our return, on the kindness he lavished upon every
member of theexpedition, or on the reception our friends of St. Louis
gave uslater , but I can never thank any of them enough.
We dismissed our coolies at St. Louis, thus effecting an immense
economy. Abdulaye, the carpenter, at once changed his costume for
that of a private citizen. A soft hat, a frock-coat, and a cane with a
silver handle, converted the chrysalis into a butterfly; atthe same
time our old servant began to make up for his long months of
sobriety and abstinence. It was, in fact, impossible to find himeven
to give him an extra tip.
The rest of our coolies dispersed about the town, holding
receptions in all the public places of the Sarracolais quarter,telling
their adventures with much declamation, and eliciting considerable
applause.
The negroes also, it seems, have their mutual admiration for
geographical societies!
Later all the brave fellows who had been devoted to us to the
death, and some of whom we looked upon as real friends, dispersed
themselves once more amongst the Galam villages dotted along the

banks of the Senegal, and there at least I can confidently assert our
mission, or rather, as Digui called it, the Munition,was and still is
popular.
That is something, at all events.
On December 12, 1896, we landed from the steamer on the quay
ofMarseilles, where men were spitting just as they had been when I
left Brest. Looking out of the window of my cab upon the deserted
street, I saw a little Italian boy in the drizzling rain which wasfalling,
holding in his arms a plaster statuette representing anude woman
with graceful, supple limbs, probably meant for Diana resting on a
crescent of the moon. She and her bearer looked cold and
melancholy enough. This was my first sight of a reallycivilized
human being after my three years’ exile.

NATIVES OF AFRICA.

EPILOGUE
I have now narrated all our adventures, and I leave my readers to
judge of our work. I think it necessary still just to jot down here the
practical conclusions I came to,which may be of use later in French
colonial policy.
To begin with, let us consider how to turn the Niger to account as
a highway for reaching the heart of the Western Sudan.
The French Journal Officiel of Western Africa has published a
report written by Baudry on the possible importations and
exportations, to which I have nothing to add. To every unprejudiced
mind he has clearly proved that there is great wealth of natural
produce to be found in these districts, such asindia-rubber, gutta-
percha, skins, wool, wax, karité,cotton, etc., which can easily be
bought, and are, in fact, simplywaiting to be developed.
Now which would be the best route to take these products to
France? This is the point we have to elucidate to begin with.
We brought home our hydrographical map of the Niger, from
Timbuktu to Bussa, on a scale of 16 miles to the inch, in fiftysheets.
One glance at it will suffice to show that the river is notreally
practically navigable further than Ansongo: that is to say,435 miles
below the last French port in the Sudan.
Further down than Ansongo the river is simply one hopeless
labyrinth of rocks, islands, reefs, and rapids; and although at the time
of ourtransit there seemed to be fewer obstacles between Say and
Tchakatchi than elsewhere, it must be remembered that we passed
when the water was at its maximum height. As for the Bussa rapids,
they are simply impassable for laden boats.
“You passed all right, though!” some one said to me; and so we
did, but I think the tour de force by which, thanks to ourlucky star,

we achieved our passage under the greatest difficulties, would not
be successful once in three times. Wemight, however, go down
again once more, but to go up would bequite a dif ferent matter.
None but little boats, very lightly laden, or without any cargo, such
as the canoes of the natives, can venture without foolhardiness into
such passes as we came through.
This is certainly not the way in which a river can be
remuneratively navigated. Even if an attempt were made to employ
the primitive means alone likely to succeed, beasts of burden, such
as camels, could compete on disastrous terms with the waterway.
To attempt therefore to turn the river to account in supplying the
central districts with merchandise, or to bring down their products to
the coast, would simply result in failure. To take merchandise up to
Say by means of the lower branches of the river,is but a utopian
dream, which would but result in disaster to those traders involved in
the speculation.
Nature has, in fact, laid her interdict on the navigation of agreat
part of the course of the Niger; but at least the 435 navigable miles
above Ansongo, and between it and Timbuktu, added to the 622
between the latter town and Kolikoro, form what may be
characterized as a safe mill-stream, well within the French districts.
We have not as yet nearly realized all the resources of those
districts.
How then shall we get to this mill-stream of ours, or,as we may
perhaps call it, this inland trading lake? A unique solution to the
problem presents itself: we must finish the line of railway uniting
Kayesto Kolikoro.
The first workers at the task of penetrating into Africa were right.
The project of Mungo Park, and Faidherbe, taken up and continued
by the Desbordes, the Gallieni, the Archinards, etc., should be
continued, pushed on and completed without delay.
All has already been explored. We are no longer discussing a
castle in the air, with no firm foundations. We know what thatrailway
will cost, its whole course has been decided on and surveyed; only

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