A Narrative of the Expedition sent by Her Majestys Government to the River Niger in 1841, under the command of Capt. H. D. Trotter

Front matter

A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION SENT BY HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT TO THE RIVER NIGER, IN 1841. UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN H. D. TROTTER, R.N. BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM ALLEN, R.N. F.R.S. FR GS. CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, GEOGRAPHICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHICAL SOCIETIES OF PARIS; LATE COMMANDER H. M. S. WILBERFORCE. AND T. R. H. THOMSON, M.D., Surgeon, R.N. FELLOW OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, FELLOW OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; ONE OF THE MEDICAL OFFICERS OF THE EXPEDITION. PUBLISHED WITH THE SANCTION OF THE COLONIAL OFFICE AND THE ADMIRALTY. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. Ptblisljer in ©rolnarn to TL)a jjiajjsui. 1848. LONDON: Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. ro HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE ALBERT, K.G WHO AS PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE EXTINCTION OF THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE CIVILIZATION OF AFRICA, TOOK SUCH PHILANTHROPICAL INTEREST IN ITS OBJECTS AND IN THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE NIGER EXPEDITION; THESE VOLUMES, ARE DEDICATED WITH GRACIOUS PERMISSION, BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS', MOST DEVOTED HUMBLE SERVANTS, WILLIAM ALLEN, T. R. H. THOMSON.

ILLUSTRATIONS. VOL. ii. THE PALAVER To face Title Page. FUNERAL CEREMONY, ANNABON CHURCH BAY, PRINCE'S ISLAND EDEEYAH HUTS, FERNANDO PO EDEEYAH HUNT, FERNANDO PO 64 159 197 213 KING BELL'S HOUSE, CAMEROONS . . . 240 PIRATE ISLAND ..... 282 MADAME TEMEIRA'S HOUSE, PORT ST. ANTONIO, PRINCE'S ISLAND 315 WOOD ENGRAVINGS. ONIAH MARKET .... Pat/e 5 POINT WILLIAM, FERNANDO PO . . . 31 HUTS AT MAN-OF-WAR BAY, ISLAND ST. THOMAS . . 37 WATERING-PLACE AT ST. THOMAS'S ... 44 PALM TREES A TYPE OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE . . 64 OLDFIELD PLAINS, NIGER .... 90 BRANCH OF THE SHEA BUTTER TREE AND NUT 104 THE ARCH AT ASCENSION .... 174 SHARK RIVER, FERNANDO PO, AND H.M.S.V. ' WILBERFORCE ' . 187 PIRATE ISLAND . . , 281 EDEEYAH DANCE . . . gjy> PORT ST. ANTONIO, PRINCE'S ISLAND 313 THE BURIAL PLACE OF THE EXPEDITION AND OF LANDER, FERNANDO PO . . 339 ARMS, JU-JUS, &C. To face Page

Preface

Events of the deepest excitement supersede one another so rapidly, that it can scarcely be expected the public will be solicitous to know why so long a period has been allowed to pass since the return of the Niger Expedition, before any authentic statement of its proceedings has been given to the world. The authors, conceiving that a faithful record of the progress of that philanthropic experiment is due to the public, as well as in justice to the conductors of it, have ventured to draw up the following Narrative. They are indebted to the late Dr. Vogel, Mr. Roscher, and Dr. Stanger, of whose botanical and geological journals (placed at their disposal by the kindness of Captain Trotter) they have availed themselves ; and they have to express their deep obligations to Dr. McWilliam for the account of the proceedings of H. M. Steam-vessel 'Albert' whenever separated from the 'Wilberforce,' and for a series of well-arranged tables of the vital statistics. The account of the second ascent of the ' Wilberforce,'

PREFACE.

. VIII is derived from the report of Lieutenant Webb to the Admiralty Some valuable philological remarks on the vocabu laries of the African tribes have been kindly furnished by Dr. Latham. Colonel Sabine, R.A., had obligingly undertaken to reduce the magnetical observations, but the attention required by the numerous scientific works to which he is so unremittingly devoted, has prevented their timely preparation; grateful acknowledgments are, however, due to that officer for supplying the accompanying letter, which will show that this important branch of science was not neglected. Woolwich, June 13, 1848. "My Dear Sir, " I regret extremely, that the reduction and co ordination of your magnetic observations are not sufficiently advanced to enable me to furnish you with such an abstract of the results, and such a general notice of their importance and bearing on our know ledge of the magnetism of the earth, as would have had a proper place in your Work, and have been satisfactory to yourself and to your readers.

Your determinations of the absolute values of the magnetic declination, dip, and intensity of the magnetic force on the western coast of Africa, will undoubtedly supply for

PREFACE.

. IX the magnetic maps now in construction, the principal part of the materials for that quarter of the globe. " Having made some progress in reducing these, I have had frequent occasion to admire the scrupulous and persevering attention which you paid to all those minute circumstances on which, in observations of this nature, tbe accuracy of the results is mainly dependent ; and which is the more important in your case, because the interior of the continent of Africa is altogether without such determinations, and the direction of the magnetic lines is consequently more than usually dependent for its correctness on the accuracy of the observations on the coasts. I need scarcely say, that the peculiar objects and circumstances of your Expedition, and the sufferings which it underwent, render such careful attention to minutiæ the more worthy of admiration.

The co ordination of your observations on Term-days, with the simultaneous observations made in different parts of the globe, is also in progress, and promises to afford some interesting and valuable results, particularly the Term-day of April, 1842, which you observed at Fernando Po. It was a day of considerable magnetic disturbance apparently over the whole globe, and Western Africa seems to have had its full share. Fernando Po, as a station, is well placed, in con nection with the surrounding stations of the Cape

PREFACE.

. X of Good Hope, St. Helena, Algiers, and Southern Europe. " Believe me, " My dear Sir, " Very sincerely yours, " Edward Sabine." To Captain William Allen, R.N. F.R.S The prominence given in the following Narrative to the ' Wilberforce,' arises from the fact of that vessel having been actively engaged during the whole period of the Expedition, the command of which devolved on Captain William Allen. LONDON, JUNE 20, 1848. CONTENTS ,,t THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I

Ancient Copts first acquainted with the interior of Africa — Herodotus, his account of the earliest African explorers — Ptolemy — Greeks and Romans — Imperfect knowledge of the interior of Africa — Arab travellers — Ibn Batuta and Leo Africanus — First Association formed in England for promoting discovery in Africa — Messrs. Ledyard and Lucas — Major Houghton — Mungo Park, his discovery of the Niger — Horneman — Park's second expedition — Captain Tuckey's attempt to penetrate Africa by the Zaire — Ritchie and Lyon — Clapperton, Oudney andDenham's overland route — Clapperton's second attempt — Sultan Bellos' idea of the Nile and Kowara, or Niger — Major Laing reaches Timbuktuh — Richard and John Lander trace the Niger from Bussah to the coast — Commercial Expedition formed at Liverpool to ascend the Niger — Lieutenant W. Allen accompanies it — Mr. Macgregor Laird and Richard Lander take charge of the enterprise — Its failure as a commercial speculation — Mr. Becroft ascends the Niger. . . . 1 — 21

Chapter II

The exploration of Africa desirable for nobler ends than the acquisition of wealth— Sir Fowell Buxton proposes "The Remedy" — Formation of the Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade and the civilization of Africa — Lord John Russell's views on the Slave CONTENTS. XII Trade— Proposes to send an Expedition to communicate with the interior of Africa, and to establish commercial treaties— Size and construction of the vessels— Arrangements for artificial ventilation suggested by Dr. Reid— Armament— Paddle-box boats— Officers appointed— Captain H. D. Trotter to command the expedition— The 'Wilberforce' touches at Kingston— Visit of the Viceroy—Proceed ings at Kingston— Awkward mistake— The ' Wilberforce' arrives at Woolwich— H.R.H. Prince Albert visits the vessels— His interest in the expedition — Munificent present to the Commanders — Commissioners appointed— Scientific gentlemen attached to the mission — Detentions .... 22 — 39

Chapter III

Departure from England — Madeira — Hospitable reception — A fair Nun — Santa Cruz — Teneriffe — Spanish beggars — Dress and peculiarities of the People — Iglesia Concepcion — Extraordinary Painting — Fish-market — Convents — Monks — Peasants — Cochineal insect procured for introduction into West Africa — Fertility of the Soil — Remarks on the growth and cultivation of the Opuntia Tuna and Cochineal — Museum — Remains of the Guanches — Arrival at St. Vincent — Cape de Verd Islands — Meet the 'Soudan' and 'Harriot' — Their stormy passage — Appearance of St. Vincent — Fort Major turned laundress — Magnetical observations — Botany and Geology of the Island — Vaccination introduced — Shooting "Cabras bravas" or Wild Goats — Its dangers — Fossil shells — Curious spider's nest — Seining — The doctor fish — Melancholy accident . 40 — 67

Chapter IV

Departure from St. Vincent — Watering at Tarafal Bay — St. Antonio — Orange groves— Plants— Phosphorescence of the sea— Luminous acalephæ— Precursory signs of a tornado— Curious appearance of the sea —Sierra Leone — Polite attentions of the acting Governor— Engage the interpreters and Krumen— Ludicrous names— Schooner purchased —Free-town— Markets— Abundance of fruit— African fruit-sellers— Violent tornado— Some Aku people killed while worshipping the lightning— Awful spectacle— Botany— Liberated Africans— Remarks CONTENTS. XIII on the condition of the colony— Missionary labours — Flight of locusts — Leave Sierra Leone — Arrival at Cape Mesurado Liberia, prospects of its advancement — Vegetation — Soil — Leewardly character of the vessels — Sinu River — Intermarriage of Fishmen and Blue-Barra people ...... 68—91

Chapter V

Visit Edina — Gran Bassa — ' Black Will,' King of Bassa — Dexterity of the Fishmen in the management of their canoes — Wooding — Huts of the natives — Grave of 'Jack-be-off' — Foulahs at war with the Fishmen — Senegal larkheel — Naturalist shoots a black boy by mistake, or danger of " hopping the twig" — Trees and plants — Chameleons — Popular belief that the saliva of this reptile produces blindness — Pestilential swamps — Hammer-headed sharks — Cape Palmas — Procure fuel — ' Jack Smoke,' Captain W. Allen's old Kru servant, joins him — Appearance of the town and surrounding country — Dress of the natives — Missionary establishment — Interesting history of an American missionary — Sun-birds — Migratory black ants — Their destructiveness — Geology — Superstitious dread of the natives against planting Cocoa-nut trees — Meteorology. 92 — 112

Chapter VI

The Grain Coast — Krumen and Fishmen, or Grebus — Peculiar characteristics — Mode of government — Religious observances — Diseases — Music — Curious tradition — Good and evil spirits — Marocho, or Kru Christmas —Marriages — Observances on the death of individuals — Ceremony of drinking " Sassa water " — Aggri beads found among the Krus — Supposed communication with the ancient Egyptians — Kru fondness for finery — No slaves exported from the Kru country — Animosities of Krus and Grebus — Emigration recommended — Sail from Cape Palmas — Dangerous situation of the ' Wilberforce ' — Bottomless pit — Bobsum Accra — Whale-boat swamped in landing — Sudden death of a liberated African — Several cases of fever — Fatal case — Arrival at Cape Coast — Governor M'Lean's desire to forward the views of the expedition — Appearance of Cape Coast — Governor M'Lean's policy — Fanti aversion CONTENTS. to labour — Difficulty of improving the condition of the natives — The Governor visits the ' Wilberforce ' — Amusing scene — Surf — Town of Cape Coast— Huts— Weaver-birds and their pensile nests — Mr. Freeman's missionary labours among the Fantis — Searching for gold dust ..... 113—136

Chapter VII

Messrs. B. Marshall and W. H. Webb volunteer to proceed overland to the confluence of the Niger and Chadda — Resting-place of the gifted L. E. L. — Inscription on the tomb — Fanti soldiers — Indolence of the natives — Dress — Marriages — Gold ornaments usually buried with females — Native method of carrying children — Ornithology — The oriole babbler — Its singular note — Fanti canoe men — Singing and paddling — Mr. Schwansey's model garden — Botany and soil — Governor M'Lean settles a dispute between two Akim chiefs — Isert, the philanthropic Botanist — Growth of coffee — Doctor Vogel's anxiety for his collection — Accra — Its superior salubrity — Gregre idols, or Fetiches — Manufacture of gold ornaments — Moral and physical condition of the people on the Gold Coast — Fanti language — Appearance of the natives — Sail from Accra — Heavy sea — Employed removing Model Farm property from the transport — Liability to mistake the Sengana for the River Nun — Rollers off the mouth of the river — Curious appearance of the " Meeting of the Waters." ..... 137—158

Chapter VIII

The Expedition enters the Nun branch of the Niger — Death of Bach, the instrument-maker from fever — Physical characters of the mouth of the river — Curious effect of the rising tide — Chemical examination of the waters — Geology — Shells — Bodies of females exposed on the sea-beach— Surprise of the natives at our interest in them— Woods on the right bank — Beautiful birds— The black swallow — Rhyncops, or scissor-bill — Dangers of seining — Saw-fish sharks — The village of Akassa — Dwellings of the natives — Their customs— Diseases of the natives — The Chief, Enemery — ' Boy's' traffic with Aboh— 'Jack Fire'— The Reverend J. Muller's prayer— CONTENTS. XV Pass through Louis Creek — Magnificent scenery — Monkeys in their native woods — Village of Paraboli — Alligator as a Ju-ju, or Fetiche — Alarm of the natives — Stillness of the Niger at night — Insect music — Natives — Rum preferred to Coffee — Village of Kiambli — White man said to live at Tchebhy — Rude Ju-ju idol — Ingyama — Inhabitants terrified by the ' Devil ship ' — Lofty trees — New channel — Ogulbah — Scenery — Otua — Communication with the natives — Curious fashions in arranging the hair . 159 — 186

Chapter IX

Town of Amazuma — Ogulba — " Dash," or present from the natives — The " smoke-canoe" creates much alarm — Botany — Little Ibu, or O'korotombi — Stirling Island — Indyama — Brass and Bonny canoes — Benin branch — Town of Anyah — Orissa and his wives — Ladies offended — African hair-dressers — Methods of catching fish — Granby, our interpreter recognizes an old friend — Native fishing-houses — Fishermen's Ju-jus, or idols — Ipatani — Utok — Visit of the Chief — Beautiful birds — Arrival at Aboh — Prince Ejeh — Odd costume of a person of rank — Obi Ossai, the Ezzeh or King, visits the ' Wilberforce' — Recognizes a former acquaintance — The royal dress — Native music — Harsh tones of the ope and eriki-riki — Obi's favourite wife and daughter — Prince Ejeh makes an addition to his wardrobe — The princes afraid of a sand-toy — The ' Albert' and ' Soudan' arrive — Honesty of a native woman — Amusing scenes — The pride of the Bimmenah people — Refuse to take the cowries because they were thrown on the ground — The ' Soudan' examines a creek opposite Aboh 187—213

Chapter X

Obi Osa'i's numerous sons — Visit to the ' Albert' — Large canoes — Officers of state — Conference with the Commissioners— Object of the Expedition explained to Obi Osai — Questions relative to the slave-trade — Duty or per centage to be allowed the King — Obi Osai promises to enter into a treaty for abolishing the slave-trade — Obi, on his return to shore, makes " Fetiche" — Rejoicings in the town of Aboh — Obi's wives — His "arrisi," or idols — The war- CONTENTS. XVI god— Religious ritual— Title and right of succession to the sovereignty of Aboh— Royal prerogatives— Headmen, or elders, of the several towns and villages— Adultery, its punishment— Murder— The priests or Ju-ju men— Their cunning — Large war-canoes— Mode of levying people in time of war — King Boy's faithless wife, a daughter of Obi— Ibu women celebrated for their personal charms — Mode of fattening wives — Demoralising effects of the slave-trade — Aboh slaves often sent by Benin branch to sea-coast — Number of inhabitants— Obi's power . . 214 — 240

Chapter XI

Physical characteristics of the Ibus — Religious superstitions — Idols numerous — Horrible practice on the birth of twins — Large earthen idol — Tshuku or the Great Spirit — Absurd stories of the priests — Aboh Creek — Beautiful birds — Native dwellings — Ezzeh Obi Osa'i's mud palace — The Harem — Human sacrifices — Insalubrity of Aboh — Ornithology — Rare animals shot by accident — Plants — Domestic slavery — Obi Osa'i's second visit to the ' Albert' — Obi kneels down with the white men to worship their God — His sudden fear — The " arrisi" or idol called for — The presents — Obi's anxiety to establish trade with England — Departure from Aboh — Ogou ladies — Proceed up the river — Body of a female floating in the stream — Ali Here, the Ibu pilot — Beauty of the country — "Osocha'i" — Aboh trade-canoes— Okoh — Splendid sunset — Fishinghuts — Appearance of the hills— Anno — Abain-him or the "meeting of the waters" — Adda-Mugu or Abela — Sufferings of the former Expedition at this place — Circular huts first met with — The Edoh examined— Uliain village— King William's Mountain— Anchor off Iddah. ..... 241 — 277

Chapter XII

Appearance of Iddah by moonlight— Native welcome — Landing-place —Splendid panoramic view from the cliffs of Iddah— Doctor Me William and Mr. Schon sent to communicate with the Attah— Native mode of salutation— Edina, a chief— His wives— Etiquette to be observed by strangers at Iddah— Princess Amada Bue— The CONTENTS. XVII Attah's pretty daughter, Idjee-Futhul— Amada Bue prepares a breakfast in native fashion for the strangers — The Attah's unwillingness to appear — His dress — Ministers of State — The message delivered — Singular reply of the Attah — Rain must never fall on the Attah — Conference of the Commissioners with the Attah — Natives testify their joy at seeing white men — Amada Bue's idea of human sacri fices — Appearance of the Attah and his courtiers — Lobo, the chief judge — Articles of a treaty agreed on for the suppression of the Slave Trade and human sacrifices — The Attah's desire for the establishment of a model farm — Promises to protect white settlers, and wishes to have " white teachers" — His evident anxiety to obtain the presents .... 278 — 305

Chapter XIII

The ' Wilberforce' and ' Soudan' dispatched across the river to procure fuel — Hostile character of the natives — Their wars with the Eggarras — Savage appearance — Arms — Beauty of the country — Ants' nests — Their formation — Snakes — The kola or goora-nut — Town of Wappa — The Chief " Egada Yaluelama" — King Obah of Benin — Human sacrifices — Specimens of birds — Snakes— Venomous centipedes — African scorpion — Final interview of the Commissioners with the Attah — The treaty signed and attested — Arabic Bible presented — List of presents — Scene in the Attah's palace — City of Iddah — Divided into districts — Militia — Houses — Market place — Articles for sale — Cotton manufactures — Native smiths — Arms, &c. — Dying — Method of fishing — The Mallams — Physical character of the natives — Form of government and laws — Cavalry — Sale of charms — Religion of the people — Their notions of God — Human sacrifices — Prospects of Missionary labours — Polygamy — Melancholy death — The ' Wilberforce' gets aground — Fever com- 306—335 mences

Chapter XIV

Mount Franklin — Villages — Nearly all the officers of the ' Soudan' aid up with sickness — Adda Kudda in ruins — English doctors appreciated by the natives — Kakanda people — Ameh Abokko, the Annajah, or Governor, visits the ships — Deaths of some of the VOL. I. b CONTENTS. XVIII crews from fever — Insupportable heat and closeness of the atmos phere — Visits from snakes — How accounted for — Drs. Stanger and Vogel ascend Mount Patteh — Stirling Hill selected as the best locality for the Model Farm — First instalment of purchase money paid to the Attah of Eggarah — Model Farm utensils and furniture landed — Malam Sabah — Towns on the banks of the Chaddah — Mr. W. H. Webb left in charge of the 'Amelia' tender and Model Farm — Fever progressing at an alarming rate in all the vessels — Death of Mr. Nightingale — Mortality in the vessels — Weekly con dition of the crews generally — Captain Trotter decides on sending the sick to the sea-side in the ' Soudan' — Meeting of the Com missioners — The sick received on board the ' Soudan' — Increase of the fever on board the ' Wilberforce' . . 336 — 369

Chapter XV

Recapitulatory remarks — The entrance to the River Nun — The extent of the Delta — The Nun the principal outlet — Dense forests — Increasing population as we ascend — Various nations — Conquests of the Filatahs — Lobo, the chief Judge of Iddah — Schools — Religion — Advance of Mahomedanism — Simple architecture — Description of a native dwelling — Cooking — Native beer of the Pagans — Politeness of the natives in the interior — Treatment of the women — Languages very numerous— Interpreters speak many languages fluently— Haussa, the language of commerce — Dress and ornaments —Growth of cotton, indigo, &c— The love of traffic, the ruling passion— Markets — Dilatory traders— Lander's promissory notes —The principal articles of trade enumerated— The average profit on European goods stated— Erroneous estimate of the quantity and price of ivory by Lander . . . 370 A NARRATIVE OF TBE EXPEDITION TO THE RIVER NIGER.

Chapter I

Ancient Copts first acquainted with the interior of Africa— Herodotus, his account of the earliest African explorers — Ptolemy — Greeks and Romans — Imperfect knowledge of the interior of Africa — Arab travellers — Ibn Batuta and Leo Africanus — First Association formed in England for promoting discovery in Africa — Messrs. Ledyard and Lucas — Major Houghton — Mungo Park, his discover)- of the Niger — Horneman — Park's second expedition — Captain Tuckey's attempt to penetrate Africa by the Zaire — Ritchie and Lyon — Clapperton, Oudney andDenham's overland route — Clapperton's second attempt — Sultan Bellos' idea of the Nile and Kowara, or Niger — Major Laing reaches Timbuktuh — Richard and John Lander trace the Niger from Bussah to the coast — Commercial Expedition formed at Liverpool to ascend the Niger — Lieutenant W. Allen accompanies it — Mr. Macgregor Laird and Richard Lander take charge of the enterprise — Its failure as a commercial speculation — Mr. Becroft ascends the Niger.

The vast regions of central Africa, for inscrutable purposes, have been, as it were, a sealed book which has excited and eluded the curiosity of civilized nations of all ages. Although many attempts have been made vol. I. b SLAVE TRADE OF THE COPTS. to search into the contents of the mysterious volume, but a few scanty pages only, have with difficulty, and at long intervals been deciphered. We have thought it desirable to put together the information thus sparingly gleaned ; and therefore pro pose to give a succinct account of the discoveries of our precursors, in order that the reader may be able to connect them with the following Narrative of the late Government Expedition ; confining our chain of introduction to such facts as relate to its peculiar object — the River Niger and the nations on its banks.

In commencing at the earliest possible period, we have good precedent in the case of the Venetian Senator ; who, wishing to give a brief sketch of the revolutions of empires, began his oration with an investigation into the causes of the Fall of the Angels. Among the representations of contemporaneous events, &c, on the walls of ancient temples and tombs in Upper Egypt, fettered groups of black figures, bearing appa rently the peculiar characteristics of the Negro,* lead to the belief not only that the Copts, as far back as 3,400 years, had some acquaintance with the interior of their continent, but that this devoted race was even at that remote periods victims of the oppression and rapine RosseUini, vol. I. pi. 64, 85, 86, &c. f The traffic in slaves was tolerated in Egypt ; and it is reasonable to suppose that many persons were engaged, as at present, in bringing them to Egypt for public sale, independent of those who were sent as part of the tribute. — Sir G. Wilkinson, vol. I. p. 404.

HERODOTUS. EARLY EXPLORERS. which — perpetuated through all intermediate periods — have in our own proud age produced "a sum of human misery — the most painful of any which, in the survey of the condition of mankind, it is possible to contemplate." Whether the geographical knowledge of the Copts was confined to the scenes of their predatory warfare in those parts of Ethiopia in their immediate neighbour hood, or was extended to the interesting field of modern research, there are no records left for our information earlier than 484 years before Christ ; when, we learn from Herodotus, the " Father of Historians," that in his time there was a spirit of inquiry respecting the remote and almost inaccessible countries lying beyond the Desert. " He was informed by some Cyrenians, that in a journey they took to the Oracle of Ammon, they had conferred with Etearchus, King of the Ammonians ; and that, among other things, discoursing with him concerning the head of the Nile, as of a thing altogether unknown, Etearchus acquainted them that certain Nasamones, a nation of Lybia inhabiting the borders of the Syrtis to the eastward, coming into his country, and being asked by him if they had learned any thing new touching the Lybian Deserts, answered that some petulant young men, sons to divers persons of great power among them, had, after many extravagant actions, resolved to send five of their number to the Deserts of Lybia, to see if they b THE NASAMONES DISCOVER THE NIGER. could make any further discoveries than others had done.

" The young men chosen by their companions to make this expedition, having furnished themselves with water and other necessary provisions, first passed through the inhabited country ; and when they had likewise traversed that region which abounds in wild beasts, they entered the Deserts, making their way towards the south west. After they had travelled many days through the sands, they at length saw some trees growing in a plain ; and while they were eating the fruit they found on the branches, divers little men, less than those we account of a middling stature, came up to them, speaking a language which the Nasamones understood not ; neither did they understand the speech of the Nasamonians. However, they conducted them over vast morasses to a city built on a great river; running from the west to the east and abounding in crocodiles, where the Nasamo nians found all the inhabitants black, and of no larger size than their guides.

" The Nasamonians all returned safe, and said that the little men were all enchanters. But for the river which passes by their city, he thought it to be the Nile ; and his opinion is not unreasonable."* No task could be more hopeless than the attempt to identify any geographical position by an account so Herodotus, Euterpe, p. 155, Littlebury's translation. THE NASAMONES DISCOVER THE NIGER. vague and even so questionable. Nevertheless, the reviving curiosity of the middle and subsequent ages has given these early travellers credit for having reached the Niger. With regard to the " great city" on its banks, speculation can have no clue, since the lapse of ages may have witnessed the destruction of many mud-built cities on its banks, prior to the erection of Timbuktuh; which Leo Africanus says, was in the year 610 of the Hegira.

Thus, a single passage of the Greek historian has directed the researches of travellers in Africa to one principal object. As usual with all things difficult of attainment, this interest has increased in proportion to the physical obstacles which seemed to be almost insur mountable ; and the failure of one adventurer has only had the effect of stimulating others ; who flattered themselves that circumstances might be more favourable to their energy and perseverance. Uncertain glimmerings of light on the subject have been handed down to us from the ancients, and through the middle ages ; but until within a century of our own times, the knowledge of the interior of Africa has remained almost as vague as it was left by the " petulant Nasamonians." There is, however, even in their slight allusion, a degree of romance which has tinctured all subsequent enterprises ; and that short passage of Herodotus may be said to shadow forth the difficulties which would attend those who should follow and attempt to verify their discoveries.

NIGR1TIA KNOWN BY PTOLEMY. The Greeks, in the time of Ptolemy, must have had extensive information respecting the countries south of the Desert, by means of itineraries of numerous travellers of his day. He has laid down the positions of many places, which from his imperfect means, are hardly to be identified, but he clearly shews that two large rivers traversed Sudan ; namely, the Gir and the Nigir ; that the latter is the River Joliba, of Park, cannot admit of a doubt. Succeeding researches will also, perhaps, shew as clearly that the Gir is the Chadda. Although the Romans crossed the great Desert with their armies, and even readied the countries since discovered by Denham and Clapperton, they have left no information respecting our river ; and for many centu ries after them, the interior of Africa remained forgotten and unknown ; until some Arabian geogra phers restored it to the speculations of the spoiler, of the explorer, and in our own better times, of the philanthropist.