an advantageously situated territory; along its most extensive frontier it has the Senegal, and its soil is watered by a number of minor rivers, which communicate fertility to a wide tract. The Poulas are now a mixed race; originally from the north, and of a complexion bronzed by the climate, they have lost their primary distinction by mingling with the native blacks, whom they had probably reduced to subjection. The government of Foutatoro is what M. Mollien is pleased to call a sort of theocratic oligarchy, in which the people possess considerable influence.' Seven chiefs are the masters of the country, each having a separate portion, but they govern in conjunction; the two most powerful enjoy a superiority over the others, and their agreement in council is binding on the remainder. The Almamy, who is merely a titular chief, and can venture on no step without their approbation, is chosen and deposed by them at pleasure: he is always selected from among the Marabouts.

In Foutatoro, and among the Moors, there exists a sort of free masonry, the secret of which has never been revealed; the adept is shut up for eight days in a hut, he is allowed to eat but once a day; he sees no person, excepting the slave, appointed to carry him his food; and, at the end of that period, a number of men in masks present themselves, and employ all possible means to put his courage to the proof; if he acquits himself with honour, he is admitted. The initiated pretend that, at this moment, they are enabled to behold all the kingdoms of the earth, that the future is unveiled to them, and that thenceforward heaven grants all their prayers. In the villages where persons of this fraternity reside, they perform the functions of conjurers, and are called Almousseri. One day Boukari told me, after attesting the truth of what he was about to say, by the most solemn oaths, that, being in a canoe with one of these men, there fell such a heavy shower of rain that he would not depart; yielding, however, to the wishes of the Almousseri, he set sail; " torrents of rain fell on all sides," added Boukari: "but our bark remained perfectly dry, and favourable wind swelled our sails." I asked the Almousseri to explain his secret, but he answered, that if he revealed it, his brethren would infallibly destroy him.'

There is another extraordinary class of persons, called Diavandos, who inhabit a particular district of the country: they are griots, or musicians by profession; but seem to be a set of profligate and impudent knaves, who have, by their dexterous management, secured a strong influence over the population. Their persons are held in the utmost contempt, and yet, so strong is the general desire for their praise, and so great is the dread of their satire, that their demands, however exorbitant, are always complied with. The Poulas have large flocks of horned cattle, they likewise breed asses; their horses are small, but swift. They 'are,' M. Mollien affirms, one of the most vain-glorious nations in existence;' they look down, with a feeling of national superi

brity, on Europeans, and on all Africans, excepting the Moors; they are treacherous, and, like most mixed races, despise both the sources whence they descend, the negro and the red Poula.

On his entrance into the territory of Bondou, M. Mollien assumed the native dress, and passed through the country, which is nearly all forest, without much obstruction. He found the inhabitants gentle and accommodating. The government is despotie, and to this circumstance M. M. partly refers the mildness of the people, while the republican forms of Foutatoro, he says, render the native insolent and encroaching! At the moment when he was about to enter the wood which separates Bondou from Fouta Jallon, his guides refused to follow him, and even the faithful Boukari shewed symptoms of insubordination: harmony was, however, at length restored, and the party proceeded together. In this part of the work, the Author introduces a few particulars respecting the country and gold mines of Bambouk, but they are nothing more than meagre repetitions of information long since before the world. A far more copious detail will be found in the volumes of Golberry, and a very sufficient abstract in the able work on Africa, of Leyden and Murray. After some days of severe privation and toil, they entered on the frontier territory of Fouta Jallon. At Niebel he was detained, and laid under heavy contribution by Iman Ali and his wife, and found no small difficulty in escaping from their fierceness and rapacity. Accompanied by his Marabout, and a native, whose name was Boubou, he then set forward for Timbo, the capital; but his horse was now completely exhausted, and he was compelled to leave the animal at Bandéia, in the care of Boubou, whose residence was in that village. At this place, he engaged a guide to Timbo, who proved of the greatest service in his subsequent enterprises. It was not until the travellers had left Bandéia, that they had properly entered the kingdom of Fouta Jallon, for, though the previous districts acknowledge the authority of the Almamy, they seem to be a sort of lawless frontier, situated in a difficult country, and yielding a somewhat imperfect allegiance to the sovereign. At the village of Toulou, M. Mollien was in the immediate vicinity of the reputed sources of the Gambia and Rio Grande, and he intimated to his guide Ali, his intention of visiting them. Ali, terrified, or affecting to be so, assured him that the attempt would draw down the vengeance of the natives; but a few grains of amber allayed his fears, and he led him to the spot. After winding along bye-paths to the summit of one of the mountains of Badet, he discovered below him, he says, two 'thickets, the one concealing from view the sources of the Gam'bia, the other, those of the Rio Grande.' We shall omit M. Mollien's description of his feeling of awe,' and his classical flourish about the sacred springs, and simply state that the

6

sources of the latter river slowly rolled along its turbid waters,' but became clear at about three hundred paces from the spring.

Proceeding south-south-east in the same meadow, Ali suddenly stamped upon the ground, and the earth echoed in a frightful manner. Underneath,' said he, are the reservoirs of the two rivers; the noise thou hearest, proceeds from their being empty.' After walking about thirteen hundred paces, we reached the wood which concealed the source of the Gambia. I forced my way through the thorny bushes which grew between the trees, and obtained a sight of it. This spring, like the other, was not abundant; it issues from beneath a kind of arch in the middle of the wood, and forms two branches; one running south-south-west, stops at a little distance on account of the equality of the ground, which does not allow it to go any farther, even in the rainy season; the other runs down a gentle declivity, and takes a south-south-east direction. At its exit from the wood, and even six hundred paces farther, it is only three feet broad.'

The valley in which these sources rise, is conjectured by M. M. to be the crater of an extinct volcano: it is funnel-shaped, with no other outlets than the two passages where the streams have found their way. Into the hallowed and spirit-haunted woods which shade the springs, the natives never penetrate, and had the adventurous Frenchman been detected, his death would have been the inevitable consequence. He escaped, however, unseen, and proceeding along the banks of the Gambia, whose windings obliged him repeatedly to ford its slowly gliding stream, he ascended the mountains and reached Cambaia, a delightful village, with streets shaded by orange trees in blossom. This plant was introduced by the Portuguese. The region in which he was now travelling was rich beyond any thing he had before witnessed in Africa; papaw, orange, and banana trees, shaded the road, and the kindness and hospitality of the residents corresponded with the beauty of the scenery. The house of a rich invalid, whom M. Mollien visited as a physician, was replete with conveniences, and adorned with some taste; a covered promenade surrounded the house, the roof was supported by bamboos painted of a brilliant red, the bedstead was ornamented with tracery, and arms were suspended over it; the doors were of mahogany, and, though only finished with the hatchet, were laboured with much care. The source of the Talemé is not far from this place; it rises among mountains, at the foot of a hillock, it springs in an unsheltered spot, and runs south, previously to taking its northward course. The travellers entered Timbo through an avenue of bananas, and found some difficulty in procuring a shelter, which was the more necessary, as the rainy season was commencing. This capital of Fouta Jallon is fortified with a loop-holed wall, and ports: it is a military post, is wealthy, and well built; and the population may amount to about

nine thousand individuals. Fortunately for his visitors, Almamy was absent, or it is not improbable that they would have been stripped of all their property, but the temporary governor was a man of letters, and the present of two quires of paper completely satisfied his moderate desires, while a double-barrelled gun was given for the chief. From Timbo, M. Mollien retraced his steps, and inclined to the west of his former road, in search of the head of the Senegal, and, after traversing a fertile plain watered by that stream, and ascending part of a steep mountain, his guide Ali pointed to a grove on their left.

Boukari and I stole along the mountain, reached this thick wood, into which the rays of the sun had never penetrated, and crossed the Senegal, which could not be so much as four feet broad. Ascending the stream, I perceived two basins, one above the other, from which the water gushed forth, and still higher a third, which was only humid, as well as the channel that led to the basin immediately below it. The negroes consider the upper basin as the principal source of the river. These three springs were situated about the middle of the side of the mountain. In the rainy season, two ponds, at equal distances above the upper source, supply it with water by two deep channels.'

A quarrel between Ali and Boukari, which terminated in the angry departure of the former, occasioned M. Mollien some embarrassment, but he at length reached Bandéia a second time, where he found his old host Boubou, who affected the utmost joy at his re-appearance. His present intention was, to direct his course towards the Niger, and to descend that river in a canoe as far as Tombuctoo; but the rains in the first instance, and afterwards fever and dysentery, effectually defeated this plan. Boubou now unmasked himself, and treated his guest with consummate treachery; he attempted to poison the white man, that he might seize his property, and, when that scheme failed, endeavoured to interrupt all supply of food. This was rendered abortive by the humanity of an old woman, and an effort at nocturnal assassination was defeated by the vigilance of M. Mollien. He made one essay to escape in vain, but a second, by the help of a liberal distribution of amber, coral, and gunpowder, was successful. Surrounded by difficulties, and exhausted by disease, no alternative remained to M. M. but to endeavour to reach the Portuguese forts on the coast, and towards them he now bent his course, with feeble hopes of holding out until he should again mingle in European society. The territory of Fouta Jallon is mountainous, but intersected by rich and well-watered valleys; the inhabitants are temperate and industrious. We insert in this place the following account of the slave-police, in this part of Africa.

The Rumbdés, which I have several times had occasion to mention, are establishments truly honourable to humanity. Each village, or se

veral inhabitants of a village, assemble their slaves, and make them build themselves huts close to each other; this place is called a Rumbdé. They chuse a chief from among themselves: if his children are worthy of the distinction, they succeed to the post after his death. These slaves, who are so but in name, cultivate the plantations of their masters, and accompany them to carry their burdens, when they travel. They are never sold when they have attained an advanced age, or when they are born in the courtry any departure from this practice, would cause the desertion of the whole rumbdé; but the slave who conducts himself improperly, is delivered up by his comrades to their master, that he may sell him.'

The communication between the Niger and the Nile, was again affirmed by some traders of this country who had visited Tombuctoo. M. Mollien effected his passage, with difficulty, through the small territory of Tenda Maié, and crossing Kabou, on the 19th July reached the Portuguese settlement of Geba, where he met with a most hospitable reception from M. Dioqui, the governor. This inland establishment is in the Mandingo country, sixty leagues north-east of Bissao, the nearest port on the coast, for which, after a short stay, M. Mollien embarked on the river of Geba, and, during three days, experienced the most brutal treatment from the negroes who navigated the vessel. M. de Mattos, the governor of Bissao, a man of commanding stature, dignified aspect, liberal sentiments, and immense fortune,' lavished the kindest attentions on his guest during three miserable months of disease and debility. When the dry season returned, health was imperfectly restored, and M. Mollien arranged his plans for crossing the country from Geba to the banks of the Gambia, but the arrival of a French vessel determined him on returning by sea, and on the 15th of January, 1819, he reached St. Louis.

It will be seen from this summary, that the only very important feature of M. Mollien's discoveries, relates to the sources of the great rivers which he was directed to explore; and we confess, that on this point he seems to us to have been satisfied with incomplete evidence. We are not, by any means, prepared to say that he was incorrect in his inferences; but we yet require some corroborative particulars, before we can implicitly assent to the essential innovations which he has introduced into this part of the map of Africa. We are, indeed, aware that the accuracy of former representations, rests in very few instances, on actual inspection, and we admit that, on the whole, more credit may be due to the local observations and inquiries of M. Mollien; but it is impossible to lose sight of the fact, that his guide, Ali, was interested in deceiving him, since he was paid for pointing out the sources of certain rivers, and, if they were really at too great a distance, he might direct to others in their stead. We are, perhaps, influenced in our hesitation, by the extraordinary prox