AFRICA. mercial adventure in 1783 to Senegal, and in 1785 to Gallam, in the preface to his narrative, proposes a plan for penetrating into the interior; first along the Niger to Tombuctoo, and then across the continent to Abyssinia, or to Mozambique, but the government did not regard the suggestion.

Er fish.

We have little information with regard to the exploratory attempts of the English in the same direction, till the seventeenth century. Queen Elizabeth indeed granted a patent to certain merchants of Exeter, in 1588, to carry on the trade of the Senegal and the Gambia, and these rivers were visited successively by Richard Rainolds and Thomas Dassel, in 1591. On the Gambia they found the Portuguese settled in considerable numbers, but from the banks of the Senegal they had disappeared. The rival traders of the two nations viewed each other with jealousy, and the dissatisfaction was naturally fomented by the evident preference given to the English. The subsequent transactions have not been recorded, till we find the stirring of an ambitious eagerness for discovery and for gold, in the early part of the seventeenth century. Fascinating accounts of the internal riches of the continent had been industriously propagated, and in 1618 a company was founded for the purpose of penetrating as far as Tombuctoo, which was deemed the center of African splendour and commerce. Thompson, a Barbary merchant, was accordingly sent with a vessel, and a cargo of nearly two thousand pounds value. He ascended the Gambia, but having left his vessel, she was seized and the crew massacred. He received repeated reinforcements of strength from home; but after pushing as far as Tenda he died, some say, in consequence of a quarrel with the natives, by assassination. Jobson, who went out in 1620, was not overwhelmed and disheartened, though he was afflicted at the intelligence, but sailed up the river to Kassan, where he was received with civility by the governor: thence he proceeded to Jerakonda and Oranto, where Thompson had established his factory, and afterwards penetrated as far as the hill of Tenda, where the king professed to make a cession of Tenda and the vicinity, in lieu of some bottles of brandy.

From this period, if we except a questionable narrative inserted at the end of Moore's Travels, and said to be written by a merchant in King Charles the Second's time, no effort was made to penetrate Africa, till about the year 1723, when Captain Stibbs was commissioned by the Royal African Company, to ascend the Ganibia as far as possible, to ascertain whether the reports in circulation were true, respecting the quantity of gold to be found there. He proceeded after numerous obstructions, to nearly the same spot as that whence Jobson had returned. Others of inferior note followed, without adding any thing of importance to the knowledge already acquired. Moore, who was employed by the African Company as superintendant of their different trading stations on the Gambia, collected more information than any traveller prior to Park, although he did not actually penetrate so far into the interior as some of his predecessors. fica As Feeling a laudable dissatisfaction at the imperfect degree of the knowledge which had hitherto been acquired of Africa, several gentlemen of rank and literature, formed themselves into a society in the year 1788, for the purpose of adopting such measures as might

VOL. XVII.

appear best calculated to gain an acquaintance with AFRICA. the interior of this interesting continent. They justly deemed it reproachful to an enlightened and wealthy people, at so advanced a period of the world, to be totally ignorant of those immense regions of the earth, which a little of the spirit of adventure, combined with their pecuniary resources, might enable them to explore. Accordingly, the African Association was formed, and the first person who engaged in their service was Mr. Ledyard, by extraction an American, and distin- Ledyard. guished by those peculiar qualifications which the mighty enterprize required. From early youth he had cherished an eager ambition to explore unknown regions. He had spent several years among the American Indians, had sailed round the world with Captain Cook, in a very subordinate station, rather than be deprived of the opportunity; and upon his return, formed the project of traversing the continent of America, from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean, commencing on the northwestern, and proceeding to the eastern coast. Having resolved to travel overland to Kamschatka, he went by Denmark and the Sound to Stockholm, and attempted to cross the Gulph of Bothnia, from which he was only prevented by the middle part being unfrozen; so that he walked round the head of the gulph to Petersburgh. There the Portuguese ambassador, compassionating his wretched appearance, advanced him twenty guineas upon the credit of Sir Joseph Banks, and procured him permission to accompany a detachment of stores to Yakutz in Siberia, whence he proceeded to Oczakow on the Kamschatkan sea, which the ice prevented his crossing; and whence, in consequence, he returned to Yakutz; where, being seized by two soldiers in the name of the empress, he was conveyed through the deserts in a sledge, in the depth of winter, to the frontiers of Poland. At Konigsberg, he obtained a small sum of five guineas on the credit of Sir Joseph Banks, which enabled him to retrace his steps to England. The African Committee having communicated to him their wish that he should explore Africa, he instantly signified his joyful acquiescence in their desires. Ledyard set sail from London on the 30th of June, 1788, and in thirtysix days arrived at Alexandria, and on the 19th of August at Cairo; where, with an instinctive perception of the best means of acquiring instruction, on every spot and at all times, he repaired to the slave markets, and entered into free conversation with the travelling merchants of the caravans. After communicating the result of his inquiries, which produced much informa tion with regard to Egypt, the caravans and other subjects, and announcing to the Association, that his next letter would be dated Sennaar, the vexatious delays of the caravans with which he was about to proceed, so deeply affected him as to occasion a bilious attack, which, notwithstanding every exertion of medical skill, terminated in his death.

The next geographical missionary of the Association Lucas. was Mr. Lucas, who had resided three years in Morocco, in consequence of having been captured by a corsair of Sallee, and afterwards being sent to Gibraltar, he was constituted vice consul and chargé d'affaires to Morocco, where he lived sixteen years, and was appointed on his return oriental interpreter to the British court. In unison with his own desire, Mr. Lucas was directed to traverse the desert of Sahara, from Tripoli to Fezzan, and afterwards return by Gambia or the coast of

2 c

AFRICA. Guinea.

Major

Having embarked at Marseilles on the 18th of October, 1788, he arrived before the end of the month at Tripoli, where he was introduced to the bashaw. After experiencing some difficulties, he at length proceeded on the 1st of February, 1789, towards Fezzan by the route of Mesurata, which was deemed the safest. The first night the encampment was formed on a sandy eminence, where the shereefs who accompanied Mr. L. supped familiarly with him. The second day was spent in travelling over a barren waste of loose sand, till on the third day they emerged into a hard stony soil, with some symptoms of scattered vegetation, while a few olive and date trees appeared at a distance. They reached the ruins of Lebida, a Roman colony, on the fourth day, and on the fifth approached Mesurata, when they were alarmed by a report of the depredations of an Arab tribe; and seeing a party they prepared for an attack, the shereef Fourvad leading the Discovering, however, that they were friends, they hastened forward to Mesurata, where they arrived in the evening. Here the governor received Mr. L. with great courtesy and politeness, but was totally unable to assist him in his proposed journey, and as no camels could by any means be procured, our traveller was necessitated to return, about the end of March, to Tripoli, and in July to England. The short period of his continuance at Mesurata, had, however, been wisely improved in procuring all the information in his power respecting Fezzan, and the countries beyond it to the south.

van.

The unfortunate Major Houghton was the third adHoughton. venturer employed by the African Association. During his residence at Morocco, as British consul, he had acquainted himself with the Moorish manners. While at Goree, he had sailed up the Gambia to Pisania, a small village in the kingdom of Yani, established by the English on the river Gambia, as a trading factory. From this place the major proceeded to the kingdom of Woolli, which he found extremely fertile and well cultivated. The red iron-stone is found on the summits of the mountainous ridges; while cotton, tobacco, and esculent plants, appear in the vallies. On the sloping grounds corn is cultivated. He was received in a very friendly manner by the king at Medina, who gave him an account of the different routes by which the country might be traversed; and from the traders and travellers he obtained considerable information respecting the interior, which was transmitted to the Association. Advancing from Medina to Bambouk, he crossed the Falemé at Cacullo, in lat. 13o, 54', and arrived at Ferbauma, where the king of Bambouk not only gave him a hospitable entertainment, but furnished him with directions with regard to his journey to Tombuctoo, a guide, and money to defray his expenses. After persevering through numberless difficulties, he went in a northerly direction, intending to pass through Ludamar. From the frontier town of this district, Simbing, while in a narrow pass, and encompassed with a high wall, he wrote his last letter, in pencil, addressed to Dr. Laidley of Pisania, at a time when his negro servants had deserted, having refused to attend him into the Moorish territory. His words were, "Major Houghton's compliments to Dr. Laidley, is in good health, on his way to Tombuctoo, robbed of all his goods by Fenda Bucar's son." At Jarra he engaged some Moorish merchants who were going to purchase salt in the de

sert, to convey him to Tisheet, ten days journey to the AFRI north of Jarra, at the end of two days, having some reasons to suspect the perfidy of his companions, he refused to proceed, when he was plundered and deserted by the Moors. Returning on foot through the desert, alone and famishing for want, he at last reached Jarra, where he was either murdered or left to perish under a tree.

After such repeated disappointments, it might have Park. been expected that the Association would have felt extremely discouraged, if not utterly given up to despondency. Fortunately for the interests of geography and science, this was by no means the case, but iminediately and with eagerness applying themselves to the great object of providing a suitable successor to the highly gifted travellers, who had already perished in the track of African discovery, they met with Mungo Park, a name which must be familiar to every reader, and can never be obliterated from the historic page. Park was born near Selkirk, in Scotland; and after receiving a medical education at Edinburgh, went on a voyage to the East Indies, whence he had at this period recently returned, and being at his own request proposed to the African Association, by Sir Joseph Banks, was engaged in their design, and sailed from Portsmouth on the 22d of May, 1795; and on the 21st of June reached Jillifree, on the northern bank of the Gambia. Having proceeded to Pisania, he resided some time with Dr. Laidley, where he devoted himself to the study of the Mandingo language, and the accumulating of all possible information respecting the interior. His pursuits suffered, however, some degree of interruption from his having caught the country fever.

Our traveller began his journey on the 2d of December, 1795, at the commencement of the dry season; and advanced into the kingdom of Walli, with two negro servants, two slatees of the Serawooli nation, and two free Mahometan negroes. One of his negro servants spoke English and Mandingo. On the 5th of the month they arrived at Medina, the capital of Woolli, where Mr. Park was introduced to the chief who had received Major Houghton with so much hospitality; and who earnestly intreated him to desist from his dangerous expedition, but offered him a guide in case of persistance. On the 8th he reached Kolor, at the entrance of which, he saw the dress of Mumbo Jumbo hanging on a tree on the 11th he was at the frontier town of Woolli, and hired three elephant hunters to accompany him through the wilderness which divides that country from Bondou. One of his guides having absconded during the night, Park deemed it expedient to hasten forward immediately; his attendants having provided a saphie or charm against misfortunes. On the 18th he arrived at Tallika, the frontier town of Bondou; and traversed an open fertile country to Koorkarany, in latitude 13°, 53' N. At this place he was shown the Al Sharra, and other Arabic manuscripts. In advancing they soon came to the banks of the Falemé, flowing through a cultivated and cornbesprinkled country; and on the 21st they were at Fatteconda, the capital of Bondou; where Park had a private conference with the king Almani, who had ordered the plunder of Major Houghton, and to whom he presented, because he did not dare to refuse his majesty's eloquent entreaty, the blue coat which he

CA wore; receiving, on his part, five drachms of gold. In the seraglio of this monarch, he was rallied on the whiteness of his skin and the prominence of his nose; which the ladies could not believe to be otherwise than artificial. In return, Park complimented them on the glossy jet of their skins, and the lovely depression of their noses; but they averred that in Bondou "honeymouth" was not esteemed. Departing on the 23d, they traversed the wilderness which separates Bondou and Kajaaga, by moonlight; and on the 24th, attained Joag, the frontier town of the latter, at the distance of 247 miles east from Pisania. This place contains 2,000 inhabitants, and is fenced by a high wall with holes for musquetry. Here the house of the judge, or dooty, in which he slept, was surrounded in the night by a party of horse, who demanded, in the name of the king of Kajaaga, the duties which they alleged he had refused to pay on his entering the country: and he was, in fact, obliged to compound with the loss of half his property. He met, however, with a hospitable supply of nuts from an aged female slave; and afterwards, being visited by Demba Sego, nephew of the king of Kasson, went with him, upon his offer of direction, to the Mandingo kingdom of Kasson. On the 29th he arrived at Teessee, an unwalled town of considerable size, where one curious custom is recorded, that of not allowing any woman to eat an egg. Before Park left the place, he was plundered of half his remaining property by his professed friend Demba, under the pretexts of duties and presents. On the 12th of January they came to Jumbo, the native place of one of his attendants, whose relatives testified the most extravagant joy at his return. At length they arrived at Kooniakary, the capital; and our traveller was favourably received by the king, who listened with satisfaction to the account of his journey. This place is situated in N. lat. 14°, 34', about 594 geographical miles to the east of Joag. The journey was now pursued along the banks of Krieko, which are very populous, to Kemmoo, the capital of Kaarta. The king, who received him kindly, displayed nothing of that rapacious disposition which his brother sovereigns had so uniformly evinced; but as a continuance at Kaarta was unsafe, and disagreeable to Daisy Koorabarri, the king, who might have been charged with the death of a white man, Mr. Park proceeded through the kingdom of Ludamar. At Funingkedy he witnessed a singular specimen of the hardiness of the Moors, of whom five, armed with muskets, drove off some cattle within pistol shot of five hundred of the inhabitants, who scarcely resisted. One of the herdsmen died in the hands of the Bushreens, in consequence of a fractured leg, and Mr. Park obtained the reputation of being a cannibal for proposing amputation. Mr. Park proceeded by Simbing to Jarra, and was accompanied on his march by fugitive Kaartans, who fled from the arms of Bambara, hostilities existing at this time between these states. From this large town, inhabited chiefly by negroes, he advanced on the 27th of February, through a sandy region to Deena, where the Moors, notwithstanding a protection from Ali, plundered him. Thence he proceeded to Sampaka, where he lodged in the house of a negro who manufactured gunpowder from nitre collected from the reservoirs of water resorted to by the cattle, and sulphur supplied by the Moors, who procure it from the Mediterranean. Having gone forward to

In

Dalli, within two days' journey of Goomba, where he AFRICA. arrived March 5th, he was seized in a neighbouring village by a party of Moors, whom Ali had ordered to convey him to Benown, that his wife Fatima might gratify her curiosity by the sight of a white man. that place he remained till the 30th of April, and was treated with insolence and brutality by the Moors, who shut him in a hut where a wild hog was tied up, which the boys were continually worrying, while the men and women amused themselves with the Christian in a similar manner. Their curiosity also was extreme, never satisfied with examining his clothes and his person. Various consultations were held respecting his destination; some advising that he should be put to death, others that he should be maimed. The king's brother proposed putting out his eyes, which he thought resembled those of a cat, to which all the Bushreens agreed; but Ali deferred executing the sentence till the queen should return from the north. At this place he had an oppotunity of obtaining considerable information from two Mahometan travellers, who traded in salt; one of whom was a resident in Walet, and had been at Tombuctoo and Houssa; the other was a native of Morocco, and had resided some months in Gibraltar. At length Mr. Park had an opportunity of seeing the queen at Bubaker, who put many questions, and seemed to compassionate his situation. From no other person did he receive any kindness in Ludamar. He suffered extremely from scarcity of water, and, excepting the supplies received from Fatima, he was obliged to content himself with what he could procure from the troughs with the cows; no Moor allowing his vessel to be polluted by the touch of a Christian. At length, after several attempts, he effected his escape, and directed his way through the dreary wilderness. The heat of the sun was intense, and he grew weary and disheartened, nothing appearing on the level horizon but underwood and hillocks of white sand, even from the highest tree he could climb. At length, however, he was somewhat relieved by a shower, whose descending drops he collected, and afterwards wrung from his clothes. Next day he arrived at a Foulah village, where his wants were disregarded, and he was threatened with being re-conveyed to Ali; but he deceived them by a retrograde movement as if to return to the Moors. For several days he travelled on, till, on the 5th of July, he reached Wawra, which was situated beyond the boundaries of Ludamar and the tyranny of Ali. Thence he proceeded to Dingyee, then to Wassiboo, where corn is much cultivated; then to Moorja, and other places in succession. On the 21st of July he came to Sego, and just before his arrival he had the pleasure of seeing the long-sought Niger, glittering to the sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing at a slow rate from west to east. Sego contains 30,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Bambarra. It consists of four distinct towns, two of which are on the northern and two on the southern bank of the river, surrounded with high mud walls, and having Moorish mosques prominent in every direction. The king had been prejudiced against the traveller, and prevented his entrance till the next morning, when he intended to visit him. In the village, where he was unsheltered by any friendly house, a woman at length, returning from the field, took him to her hut and gave him some food and a mat; then began with some young women

AFRICA. to spin cotton during great part of the night, relieving the labour by an extempore song, which deeply affected the weary traveller. "The winds roared and the rains fell. The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree. He has no mother to bring him milk, no wife to grind his corn. Chorus: Let us pity the poor white man-No inother has he," &c. The next day Park was ordered to quit the vicinity, after being presented with 5000 cowries; 250 cowries he estimates at the value of one shilling. From Sego he advanced to Sansanding, a place of nearly 10,000 inhabitants, and a considerable mart of Moorish commerce; and thence to Sibili, Negara, and Nyaneebo Modiboo Kea; from which latter place he was transported in a canoe to Moorzan, a fishing town, whence he was conveyed across the Niger to a large place named Silla, about 1090 miles east of Cape Verd. Here poor Park was in a most destitute condition, and perpetually exposed to the violence of the tropical rains and the dreadful fanaticism of the Moors. Having now approached within 200 miles of Tombuctoo, and finding it impracticable to proceed, at least without imminent hazard of losing the benefit of all his discoveries, he began his retreat by the same route, the southern bank of the Niger being represented as impassable. He was pursued every where by suspicions, and received the unpleasant information, that the king of Bambarra had sent a canoe to Jemré to bring him back to Sego. He hastened, therefore, through muddy roads and swamps, sometimes swimming over creeks, with his horse's bridle in his teeth and his papers in the crown of his hat, and often subsisting on the same raw corn with his horse; and at length, after various adventures, arrived at Pisania, where his friends, who had been told he was killed, received him with strong and mingled emotions of surprize and delight. Having refreshed himself, he proceeded to Goree in an American slave vessel, and after a voyage of thirty-five days, reached Antigua, where embarking in the Chesterfield packet, the adventurous traveller arrived at Falmouth on the 22d of December. In one part of his journey homewards, when on his way from the romantic village of Kooma to Sibidooloo, he was robbed and stripped of all his clothes, and left solitary in the wilderness, in the rainy season, 500 miles distant from the nearest European settlement, and on the very brink of despondency: no alternative seemed to remain but to lie down and die. In this wretched situation he depicts the train of his thoughts, upon seeing a moss in flower, in a manner so truly touching, that we cannot refrain from inserting his words: "I was indeed a stranger, in a strange land; yet I was still under the protecting eye of that Providence who has condescended to call himself the stranger's friend. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the extracrdinary beauty of a small moss, in fructification, irresistibly caught my eye. I mention this to show from what trifling circumstances the mind will sometimes derive consolation; for though the whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and capsula, without admiration. Can that Being (thought I) who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of creatures formed after his own image?

Surely not! Reflections like these would not allow AFRIC me to despair. I started up, and disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, assured that relief was at hand; and I was not disappointed."

Although Park did not reach the ultimate object of his journey, it was on the whole the most important of any that had hitherto been achieved; for he established a number of geographical positions in a direct line of 1100 miles from Cape Verd, fixed the boun daries of the Moors and negroes in the interior, and pointed out the sources of the rivers Senegal, Gambia, and Niger, restoring to the latter its ancient course. He also explained the mode of propagating the Mahomedan religion among the negroes by proselytism, and illustrated the history of the ancient Lotophagi.

While Park was engaged in his adventurous expe- Browne dition, Mr. W. G. Browne a private traveller, penetrated into Darfur, with the view of traversing the continent from east to west. Having set out from Assiut with the Soudan caravan, on the 28th of May, 1793, he accompanied them over a barren and mountainous track, and after passing through various places, and over rocks and sands diversified with occasional date trees, arrived at Darfür on the 23d of July; but, notwithstanding his utmost efforts, he could not proceed on his intended journey, and his effects were seized for the use of the sultan. At length, after three years residence, during which he accumulated a stock of information, he contrived to procure permission to return to Egypt with a caravan. The population of Darfûr he estimates at 200,000, consisting of the native black tribes of Fûr, Arabs, and others. He learnt also some particulars of the neighbouring districts of Begarmee, Bergoo, Darkulla, &c.; and found that the sources of the Bahr el Abiad, or western Nile, called the White River, are about eight journies to the east of the copper mines of Fertit. These sources are no less than forty hills, termed Kumbri, or the mountains of the Moon, which unite into one stream, flowing in a north-western direction, coinciding with the Gir of Ptolemy and the Nile of the Negroes. Mr. B. heard that Azran, on the west of Bornou, abounds so much in silver, that the natives make their defensive armour of this precious metal, and even the corslets of their horses.

In the summer of 1795, the Association had the good fortune to find another person well qualified to promote their designs in Freidric Horneman, the son of a clergyman, who had studied divinity at the university of Gottingen. Dr. Blumenbach, professor of Natural History, recommended him so strongly, that Sir Joseph Banks, in replying to the application, said, "if Mr. Horneman be really the person you describe, he is the very identical person we are in search of." Upon this being communicated to him at Hanover, the professor beheld him with surprise enter his apartment before he had imagined his letter could have reached him, a satisfactory evidence of his zeal and talent. In one night he formed a most excellent plan of his journey, and after devoting the summer of 1796 to the lectures at Gottingen on Natural History, and the study of the Arabic and other oriental languages, he went to London in February, 1797, and received the sanction of the African Association. Proceeding to Paris and Marseilles, he embarked for Cyprus, and on the 31st of August arrived at Lernica, and on the 10th of Sep

Horner

CA. tember in the bay of Caroubé. He resided ten days at Alexandria, and thence accompanied an aged monk, who spoke Arabic with great fluency, to Cairo; and after devoting several months to the language of the western Arabs, was on the point of departure when Buonaparte landed, who, on learning the chief object which Horneman had in view, offered him every facility, and accordingly he set off with the caravan on the 5th of September, 1799, three days afterwards entering the Libyan desert. The surface of the ground resembled a shore from which the waters retired after a storm, being covered with fragments of petrified wood and trunks of trees. In eleven days they reached Ummesogeir, a small village of 120 inhabitants, romantically situated on a sequestered rock in the midst of a desert. After this they came to Siwah, in the vicinity of which to the westward, some remarkable ruins are found, believed to have been no other than the shrine of Jupiter Ammon. Perseverance through toils and dangers at length brought them to Temissa and Zuila, in the territory of Fezzan, where they were received with great joy. Fezzan he considers as 300 miles in the length of its cultivated part, and 200 in its greatest breadth, containing a population of about 70,000 to 75,000. After some stay, Mr. Horneman went to Tripoli, whence he returned on the 29th of January, 1800. On the 1st of April he wrote that he was on the point of setting out with the caravan for Bornou with two shereefs; but no intelligence was received of him for two years afterwards, when great apprehensions were entertained of his safety. Some occasional intimations of his existence have since transpired, but many years having elapsed since the last account, the hope of his re-appearance in civilized society is extinguished. The uncertainty of his fate, and the evident enterprize of his character, invests his name with a degree of celebrity, but he has not added any thing material by his communications to the geography of Africa. The Association having relinquished all hopes of seeing him, appointed Mr. Nicholls, to a similar undertaking, but his career was prematurely cut short at Calabar, when a young German, whose name was withheld, was chosen. He imitated the plan of Horneman, who passed himself for a Mahometan, familiarized himself with Arabic, and adopted the eastern costume. In 1809 he arrived at Mogadore, and set out with two guides to join the Soudan caravan, but soon after he was found dead at a little distance, probably mur dered by his guides.

Afilicting as these details must be, we have yet to record another disaster, which has produced a still deeper and more permanent impression on the public mind. The adventurous and highly-gifted Mungo Park, although he had already travelled, during eighteen months, in the wildest and most sultry regions, and not only earned for himself a lasting fame, but extended the boundaries of human knowledge, did not hesitate to renew the fatigues he had suffered, and continue his exploratory researches on the continent whence he had so narrowly escaped. In October, 1801, he was informed that government intended to send out an expedition on a large scale, and that he was desired to take the command. A change of ministry, however, occasioned delay in the execution of the plan till September, 1804. After proceeding to

Goree, and making all necessary preparations, he ad- AFRICA. vanced to Pisania, from which he departed on the 4th of May, hoping to reach the Niger by the middle of June, when the rainy season should have scarcely commenced. On the 11th he reached Madina, and on the 13th the village of Kanipe, about four miles distant from which they entered the woods of Simbani. As a civil war prevailed at the time, they found it requisite to proceed with extreme caution. On emerging from the woods, they beheld the Gambia, with a regular tide and one hundred yards in breadth. On the 25th they entered the Tenda wilderness, and passed several places successively. On the 8th of June they crossed the Falemé, and experienced a tornado for the first time; the ground became covered with water to the depth of three inches, and in three days twelve men were on the sick list. As they advanced the sickness increased, till half of them were affected, and Park's anxiety every moment increased for the result. Great difficulties were experienced in driving the cattle up some of the precipitous acclivities, and the natives availed themselves of every advantage this affordedthem of purloining whatever was unprotected; in some cases they proceeded further. The country was ex-tremely beautiful and romantic; indeed the whole territory between Ba Fing and Ba Lee, two tributaries of the Senegal, is sublimely grand. On the 11th of July, they reached Keminoon or Maniakorro, the best fortified town that had been seen in Africa, but the people are described as universally notorious thieves. On the 19th they came to the banks of the Ba Woollina, and after crossing, reached Bangassi, a town equally well fortified with Maniakarro, and four or five times as large. Several of their party died from time to time, and Mr. Park was once sick himself; but on the 19th, at three o'clock, he reached the summit of the mountainous ridge which separates the Niger from the remote branches of the Senegal, and approaching the brow of the hill, he once more to his inexpressible satisfaction, saw the Niger "rolling its immense stream along the plain." On the 21st, having hired a canoe to convey the baggage to Marraboo, he embarked on the following day with Mr. Anderson. The river was here an English mile in breadth, and at the rapids spread out two miles. On the 12th, Mr. Park advanced in the way to Sego through Bambarra; and after receiving full permission to build his boat wherever he pleased, and assurances of a cordial reception, he chose Sansanding, at which place he collected some intelligence respecting the countries to the east. On the 28th, his friend and relation, Anderson, died, and his whole party was reduced to five Europeans, himself included. His anticipations were dark, yet his enthusiasm carried him forward, and he writes to Lord Camden, "I shall set sail to the east, with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of the Niger, or perish in the attempt.” On the 17th of November, 1805, he went forward, and it is certain he did perish in the attempt, in what manner has not been very satisfactorily ascertained; but the only account assuming the shape of authenticity, makes him and his party cut off, with the exception of one man, by an attack upon the boat. Park is said to. have leaped into the water to avoid the lances, pikes, arrows and stones, with which they were assaulted, and met a no less certain death in the river. Thus unhap