what more protracted, it being a task of less ease to settle the conditions, than it had been at Aboh. Ample oportunity was thus allowed our travellers to observe the peculiarities of Iddah, a town of no mean importance, the largest in the Eggarah country, its population falling little short of nine thousand. The difficult access from the river completely shields it on that side, though a thick mud wall is not considered too much as a protection for that part of the town where the houses are assembled on an undulating slope, terminating at the bottom of a deep valley. The number of artizans in this place is considerable. They are skilful in the various processes of dyeing, and the manufacture of swords and other weapons. Human sacrifices are much in vogue, though the faith of Islam has made considerable progress. Among races, however, ignorant of the true basis of belief, the practices of religion are made subservient to habit, and where any particular tenet or prohibition comes into collision with custom, it is usually set aside. Such will ever prove the case where no deep-rooted feeling exists, no firm conviction in the power of the Deity, indeed, no steady belief at all. Their own religion is of themselves, their forefathers raised it up, and they have continued to follow it, modifying it, doubtless, through the course of ages. Fur The death of a young seaman, from the effects of climate, threw a gloom over the whole party, and a day or two afterwards they rapidly approached the confluence of the Niger and Chadda rivers. They buried him on a spot near to the place where some victims of the former expedition reposed. ther on, they selected the site for the Model Farm, an experiment which failed, though its want of success ought not to be attributed to any circumstances such as should deter others from making a similar attempt. Passing Eggarah, they reached the confluence of two streams. Here our authors take occasion to present us with an interesting and exceedingly able sketch of the manners and customs prevailing among the races through whose territory they had passed, and of the resources and productions of those regions. We cannot follow them through these descriptions, the yet more novel portions of the work demanding our attention. The pestilential influences of the climate proved too formidable antagonists for our enterprising explorers to contend against. After the establishment of the Model Farm, a discussion arose as to the propriety of pursuing the research any further. At first the proposition to return was overruled; but fever made rapid progress among the ship's company, and it was resolved that the Wilberforce should steer a seaward course, while the Albert endeavoured to push its voyage above the confluence. We shall : not accompany our authors on their way down the passage was marked by few, but melancholy events. Frequent deaths occurred, and numerous green mounds dotted the fertile banks of the still unknown Niger. We read in history of a conqueror who was driven, with all his armed hosts, with all his pride and pomp, to abandon a country which he longed to take possession of. It was not the strength of his enemies that overcame him: they were not bulwarks of stone that opposed him his ranks were not thinned by the weapons of brave and patriotic races, banded together for the defence of their land. The power which triumphed over him was the influence of a malignant climate: the obstacles which stood in his way were immense morasses, reeking with deadly exhalations: the weapons before which his armies fell were fever, pestilence-all the fatal accompaniments of an ungenial climate, and the destroying rays of a scorching sun. Such were the difficulties before which the adventurous explorers of 1841 succumbed. As they pursued their melancholy course towards the ocean, little attention was bestowed on the magnificent park-like scenery which, on both banks of the stream, presented itself to the view. Seldom was a party sent on shore but for the purpose of depositing beneath the earth of that distant land one of the many who, but a few months previous, had entered the river with hearts bounding with hope and energy. Under such auspices, and in a disabled state, the Wilberforce, on the 9th October, once more put out to sea, having spent nearly a year in the Niger. A short visit to Annobone restored health to the shattered crew of the Wilberforce. After so protracted a sojourn in a country where every wind blows disease, it was a peculiar privilege to inhale the pure breezes of the Southern Ocean. We take leave of them here for a time to follow Dr. M'Williams in his onward progress above the confluence. The course of the river becomes more winding; the land, on either hand, more undulating. Entering the Kakandah territory, they observed several peculiar characteristics of national manners. Numerous villages were seen, the houses built of mud and roofed with grass. The dwellers in these picturesque spots complained that their prosperity, simple and humble as it was, was not allowed an unbroken period of peace. The Filatahs were in the habit of coming down, in large mounted bodies, from the upper country, laying waste the cultivated ground, burning the hamlets, and carrying away the people as slaves. At Gori, a small island in the stream, a market or fair of considerable importance took place during Captain Trotter's visit. Some sixty canoes, of various sizes, lay in a narrow creek, ready to be unladen. Articles of different species were exposed for sale: salt, in bags made of stout matting, cloth of native manufacture and various patterns, camwood in balls, agricultural implements, calabashes elaborately carved, wooden spoons and platters, mats, straw hats with immense brims, bows and arrows, Indian corn in large quantities, seeds of different kinds, twine and silk, Shea butter, yams, dried buffaloes' flesh, dried fish and kouskous. Slaves and ivory were also stated to be sold. Captain Trotter had here an opportunity of showing to the native authorities that, did they once enter into engagements with the British government, those engagements should not, in any case, and under any circumstances, be set aside. The attah of Iddah had, as will be in our readers' recollection, signed a treaty, stipulating that he should not only himself cease to traffic in slaves, but that his subjects should observe the same condition; and it was lawful for British officers to seize and take possession of, or destroy, any vessel in which captives were found. While the Albert was at Gori, a large canoe came alongside, containing three slaves, two women, and a man. The boat was the property of Agidi, chief of Muyè, a province tributary to the attah of Iddah, and had been left in charge of Ajimba, the great man's son. Captain Trotter ordered this young man to be brought on board, and put to his trial for unlawfully dealing in slaves. His plea consisted of an affirmation that he had committed the offence while in ignorance of the prohibition. Though not very probable, his story was listened to, and the canoe, with the property it contained, restored, though the slaves were detained on board the vessel, that they might be carried to some safe destination. The choice was, however, given them to remain or go, as they pleased. They accepted the offer to be taken down to Fernando Po. Shortly after dark, the sorrows and troubles of the women were, for awhile, drowned in deep sleep. I saw them lying under the awning, closely locked in each other's arms. It appeared that the elder of the two had become an object of jealousy to her husband, and that he, in consequence, sold her to a slave-dealer who, at the time, happened to be trading in their country. She said that, before she saw the waterNiger-the slave-gang to which she belonged travelled wearily for nearly a month. They were some days on the water before they reached Egga; and, during the passage, parties of her unhappy companions were, from time to time, disposed of at villages on the banks of the river. At Egga she was exposed for sale in the market place, where she became the property of a slave merchant there, and shortly afterwards passed into the hands of a third master (Ajimba) who was conveying her to Muyè when we fell in with the canoe.'-Vol. ii. p. 88. It is to be hoped that the course of time will lay open to the curiosity of the traveller the wild provinces, from one of which the slave-woman had been brought so far. Who knows what strange races people those vast woods and plains-what great cities flourish there-what rivers water the boundless, but as yet hidden regions! We must pause, however. We have here no space for speculation. Our limits demand that we rejoin the travellers at Gori, where a supply of wood for fuel and some fresh provisions were procured. The Albert then proceeded on her way, the river traversing several provinces whose inhabitants are characterised by manners and habits almost wholly distinct one from the other, until it flows past Egga, a town where articles of elaborate manufacture were observed, which had evidently been imported from very distant markets. Immense numbers of slaves were here exposed for sale. One of the European gentlemen addressed the dealer, and urged the sinfulness of the practices he followed, saying that the trade in human flesh was contrary to God's law, and abhorrent to the feelings of man. The merchant admitted that it was contrary to God's law; but the laws of the king of Rabbah allowed it, and nothing could be urged against that. If the king would alter the law, he himself would be very glad, and so would all the other people; but, until that happened, he must buy and sell slaves as heretofore. Failing in the attempt to establish political relations with the chief of Egga, Captain Allen thought of proceeding towards Rabbah. But every hour rendered it more apparent that further progress was hopeless. The number of the sick increased with fearful rapidity, and death occasionally left a gap in the company. It was a stern necessity thus to be compelled to steer their course seaward, just at the period when every moment opened up new scenes before them, plunged them deeper into the bosom of a magnificent country, where all they saw was new and strange, every object invested with interest. But there was no alternative, and, on the 3rd of October, the Albert commenced her descent of the Niger. As they passed downwards, it was observed with pleasure that the people entertained pleasant recollections of the late visit. At Aboh a great crowd stood on the banks, uttering every note of welcome which their vocal ingenuity could invent. Below that town numerous canoes were ready at every village to put off, laden with fuel for the steamer. Let any one call those facts to his recollection, and he will not, we venture to say, be so ready to describe the Niger Expedition as a total failure. Great results take time to show themselves, and we have not yet seen the last of the effects produced in Africa by the visit of the three English steamers. Many interesting excursions were undertaken; among others, one to the place inhabited by the wild and barbarous, but yet amiable, Edeeyahs, who dwell, exposed to all the winds of heaven, beneath a thatch roof supported by four bare posts. The roons. settlement at Bassapu was next visited, and, after a variety of little expeditions like these, it was proposed to ascend the CameA native prince, King Bell, was invited to accompany the Europeans in their excursion. He objected, saying that it would take twelve moons to explore the river, that the natives of the interior were jealous of white visitors, and would throw every possible obstacle in their way. Nevertheless, after much discussion, he consented to go. Accordingly, the Wilberforce was steered into one of the numerous creeks with which it was said the Cameroons formed a junction some distance inland. After several attempts, this project was given up, and the true channel entered. This, however, was found to be so intricateso studded with mangrove islands, as to render it a matter of prudence to abstain from taking the Wilberforce further up. A large forty-foot galley, built to navigate the Niger, and well armed and provisioned, was therefore selected for the enterprise. An hour's paddling brought her out on a clear stream, two thousand yards in width. The banks were low, firm, and clothed with luxurious vegetation. Long grass covered the ground: behind this grew ferns, patches of plantain, and bushes of endless variety and form, many covered with brilliant flowers, and matted over with an abundance of blossoming creepers. Still further stood groves of palm and cocoa nut, and, pre-eminent above every other tree, the towering bombax reared its ambitious head, the enormous natural bulwarks surrounding its base, rendering it secure from every hurricane. While the fierce wind, so frequent in those regions, continually bowed down and snapped the less gigantic trees, whose humbler dimensions opposed less surface to the storm, the bombax, rising branchless to the height of an hundred and ninety feet, sustained at its utmost summit a ponderous crown of foliage, which seemed elevated, as it were, above the range of the tempest, defying its utmost power, while the supporting bulwarks beneath afforded, in some degree, protection to the neighbouring forest. 'Frequently, on either side of us, little barques, containing each but one crouching native, darted across the stream, or under the dark banks, seeking shelter amid the long grass, alarmed at the appearance of white men in their hitherto unexplored waters. Soon some large huts were seen on the banks, the property of domestic slaves or freed men belonging to Bell or Aqua, having spacious clearings around them, cultivated with bananas, plantains, cocoas, and all denoting plenty; and the cleanliness of the houses and the platforms in front far surpassed the miserable hovels of the lean and dirty gentlemen on the lower parts of the Niger. As we advanced villages became numerous, and all had a comfortable aspect, being built in the neat style of the Cameroon's towns. As most of the principal natives were in the habit of trading with the ships, they |