you, and you will yet live to see your country.' I thought I should at one time, Richard,' continued he; "but all is now over; I shall not be long for this world: but God's will be done.' He then took my hand betwixt his, and looking me full in the face, while a tear stood glistening in his eye, said, in a low but deeply affecting tone, My dear Richard, if you had not beer with me, I should have died long ago; I can only thank you, with my latest breath, for your kindness and attachment to me; and if I could have lived to return with you, you should have been placed beyond the reach of want; but God will reward you.' This conversation occupied nearly two hours, in the course of which my master fainted several times, and was distressed beyond measure. The same evening he fell into a slumber, from which he awoke in much perturbation, and said he had heard distinctly the tolling of an English funeral bell. I entreated him to be composed, and observed that sick people frequently fancy they hear and see things that cannot possibly have any existence. He made no reply."-pp. 274, 275.

A few days after this he breathed his last.

From a brief memoir of Clapperton prefixed to this volume, we learn that his grandfather and father were respectable medical practitioners in the county of Dumfries; that the traveller (born in 1788), being the youngest of a very large family, entered life in the merchant service, and was, in fact, impressed into a king's ship; that an uncle, a Captain of Marines, accidentally found out his situation, and, being a friend to his captain, Sir Thomas Li vingston, immediately got him to be put on the quarter-deck, as a midshipman. He was one of the midshipmen sent, in 1814, to Plymouth, to learn the new sword-exercise of Angelo, and afterwards distributed through the fleet, to teach it generally. Clapperton, being a young man of Herculean strength and mercurial agi lity combined, was sure to distinguish himself in any such exercise: but it was by his gallant conduct in command of a small detachment, in Upper Canada, during Mr. Madison's war, that he attracted the special notice of Sir E. Owen, who gave him an order as acting lieutenant, and subsequently interested the Admiralty in his favour. An anecdote of his Canadian career is too beautiful to be omitted.

"In the winter, he was in command of a blockhouse on Lake Huron, with a party of men, for the purpose of defending it: he had only one small gun for its defence; he was attacked by an American schooner; the blockhouse was soon demolished by the superiority of the enemy's fire, and he found that himself and the party must either become prisoners of war, or form the resolution of immediately crossing Lake Michigan upon the ice, a journey of nearly sixty miles, to York, the capital of Upper Canada, and the nearest British depôt. Notwithstanding the difficulty and danger attending a journey of such length over the ice in the depth of winter, the alternative was soon adopted, and the party set out to cross the lake, but had not gone more than ten or twelve miles, before a boy, one of the party, was unable to proceed from the cold; every one of the sailors declared that they were unable to carry him, Museum.-VOL. XIV.

Lander immediately sent to ask permission of the sultan to bury the corpse, and that he would point out the place where his remains might be deposited. Bello immediately ordered four slaves to dig a grave at the village of as they were so benumbed with the cold, and had scarcely strength sufficient to support themselves. Clapperton's generous nature could not bear the idea of a fellow-creature being left to perish under such appalling circumstances, for a dreadful snow-storm had commenced; he therefore took the boy upon his back, holding him with his left hand, and supporting himself from slipping with a staff in his right. In this manner he continued to go forward for eight or nine miles, when he perceived that the boy relaxed his hold; and on Clapperton examining the cause, he found that the boy was in a dying state, from the cold, and he soon after expired. The sufferings of the whole party were great before they reached York; the stockings and shoes completely worn off their feet; their bodies in a dreadful state from the want of nourishment, they having nothing during the journey except one bag of meal. From the long inaction of Clapperton's left hand, in carrying the boy upon his back, he lost, from the effects of the frost, the first joint of his thumb."—pp. vii., viii.

Being paid off in 1817, Clapperton returned to Scotland, and remained quietly with his family, amusing himself with rural sports, for three years; till accidentally meeting Dr. Oudney, on a visit to Edinburgh, in 1820, the first notion of an expedition to Africa was suggested to him. Weary of inaction, he eagerly offered to accompany Oudney, and the doctor, hearing from a mutual friend that in every variety of fortune Clapperton's courage and good temper might be relied on, and considering him, from the extraordinary vigour of his bodily frame and constitution, to be in a manner made for such purposes, the matter was soon determined. The rest of this gallant and gentle-hearted officer's story we need not recur to. The Scotch readers of this book will not fail to observe one particular of Clapperton's pedigree-viz., that his grandmother was a daughter of Colonel Campbell of Glenlyon; the officer by whom the soldiers that committed the massacre of Glencoe were commanded. General Stewart, in his history of the Highland regiments, tells a most woful story of a Captain Campbell of this family, who being in command, not many years back, where a deserter was under orders for execution, received a reprieve, but with strict injunctions not to produce it until the man was on his knees expecting the fatal discharge of muskets. Campbell, when the moment was come, put his hand into his pocket, to pull out the reprieve, but in his hurry he plucked out a white handkerchief along with it; the soldiers, taking this for the signal, fired, and the man fell to rise no more. Captain Campbell exclaimed "The curse of Glencoe is on my head;" and never lifted up his head again from that miserable hour. There are many honest Highlanders at this day, who will think poor Clapperton's untimely and unmerited fate abundantly accounted for by his having the blood of Glenlyon in his veins.

No. 18.-2 X

Jungavie, about five miles to the south-east of Soccatoo, whither the body was conveyed. When all was ready, "I opened a prayer-book," says this faithful servant, "and, amid showers of tears, read the funeral service over the remains of my valued master. This being done, the union jack was taken off, the body slowly lowered into the earth, and I wept bitterly as I gazed for the last time upon all that remained of my generous and intrepid master." He then agreed to give some of the natives two thousand cowries to build a house four feet high over the spot, which they promised to do. "I then returned, disconsolate and oppressed, to my solitary habitation; and, leaning my head on my hand, could not help being deeply affected with my lonesome and dangerous situation-a hundred and fifteen days' journey from the sea-coast, surrounded by a selfish and cruel race of strangers, my only friend and protector mouldering in his grave, and myself suffering dreadfully from fever. I felt, indeed, as if I stood alone in the world, and earnestly wished I had been laid by the side of my dear master all the trying evils I had endured never affected me half so much as the bitter reflections of that distressing period. After a sleepless night, I went alone to the grave, and found that nothing had been done; nor did there seem the least inclination, on the part of the inhabitants of the village, to perform their agreement. Knowing it would be useless to remonstrate with them, I hired two slaves at Soccatoo the next day, who went immediately to work, and the house over the grave was finished on the 15th."-pp. 277, 278.

Ten days after this, Lander still being in a state of fever, the gadado and two others came with a commission from the sultan to search his boxes, as he had been informed they were filled with gold and silver; but they were surprised on finding that there was not money enough to bear his expenses to the coast. They took from him, however, two guns, some powder and shot, and some other articles, for the payment of which they gave him an order on Kano for a certain number of cowries. After this, the sultan, with some hesitation, allowed him to leave Soccatoo.

pitality to strangers: but what did it amount to? The stranger whom they had caressed, protected, and nourished, if observed to have any thing of value about him, they would way. lay and murder within sight of their habitation. Whether Bello ever had any intention to murder Clapperton can only be matter for conjecture, but he is strongly suspected of being instrumental to the death of the unfortu nate Laing, concerning whose fate we have now received authentic information, which it may not be amiss to give in this place.

Our readers may recollect the doubts we entertained of the reported murder of Major Laing, and our opinion that the story arose from the circumstance of his being attacked, plundered, and severely wounded by the Tuarics. From those wounds we now know he recovered, and actually reached Timbuctoo, where he was well received by the governor, and remained five weeks, about the end of which time his host received and communicated to him an order from Laboo, the Sultan of Massina (Laing himself says Bello), that he should forthwith be sent away; and that three days after he had left the city, he was basely murdered by his conductor. The following letters, written by Laing himself, will be read with interest; the first gives an account of the attack of the Tuarics; the other is dated from Timbuctoo.

“Blad Sidi Mahomed, May 10th, 1826. "My dear Consul,-I drop you a line only, by an uncertain conveyance, to acquaint you that I am recovering from my severe wounds far beyond any calculation that the most sanguine expectation could have formed; and that to-morrow, please God, I leave this place for Timbuctoo, which I hope to reach on the 18th. I have suffered much, but the detail must be reserved till another period, when I shall a tale unfold' of base treachery and wo that will surprise you. Some imputation is attachable to the old Sheik (Babani), but as he is now no more, I shall not accuse him: he died very suddenly, about a month since.

"When I write from Timbuctoo, I shall detail precisely how I was betrayed, and nearly murdered in my sleep. In the mean time, I shall acquaint you with the number and nature of my wounds, in all amounting to twenty-four, eighteen of which are exceedingly severe. I have five sabre cuts on the crown of the head, and three on the left temple-all fractures, from which much bone has come away; one on my left cheek, which fractured the jaw bone and has divided the ear, forming a very unsightly wound; one over the right temple, and a dreadful gash on the back of the neck, which slightly scratched the windpipe, &c, &c. I am, nevertheless, as I have already said, doing well; and hope yet to return to England, with much important geographical information. The map, indeed, requires much correction; and, please God, I shall yet do much, in addition to what I have already done, towards putting it right."

है

whence the foregoing letter was written; and he did not arrive at Timbuctoo till the 18th of August, as appears from a letter to the Consul of Tripoli, of which the following is a copy.

"Tinbuctù, Sept. 21st, 1826. "My dear Consul,-A very short epistle must serve to apprize you, as well as my dearest Emma, of my arrival at, and departure from, the great capital of Central Africa; the former of which events took place on the 18th ult.-the latter will take place, please God, at an early hour to-morrow morning. I have abandoned all thoughts of retracing my steps to Tripoli, and came here with an intention of proceeding to Jenné by water; but this intention has been entirely upset, and my situation in Tinbuctù rendered exceedingly unsafe, by the unfriendly disposition of the Foolahs of Massini, who have this year upset the dominion of the Tuaric, and made themselves patrons of Tinbuctù, and whose Sultan, Bello, has expressed his hostility towards me in no unequivocal terms, in a letter which Al Saidi Boubokar, the Sheik of this town, received from him a few days after my arrival. He has now got intelligence of my being in Tinbuctù; and as a party of Foulahs are hourly expected, Al Saidi Boubokar, who is an excellent, good man, and who trembles for my safety, has strongly urged my immediate departure; and I am sorry to say that the notice has been so short, and I have so much to do previous to going away, that this is the only communication I shall, for the present, be able to make. My destination is Sego, whither I hope to arrive in fifteen days; but I regret to say the road is a vile one, and my perils are not yet at an end; but my trust is God, who has hitherto bore me up amidst the severest trials, and protected me amidst the numerous dangers to which I have been exposed.

"I have no time to give you any account of Tinbuctù, but shall briefly state that, in every respect, except in size, (which does not exceed four miles in circumference,) it has completely met my expectations. Kabra is only five miles distant, and is a neat town, situated on the very margin of the river. I have been busily employed during my stay, searching the records in the town which are abundant, and in acquiring information of every kind; nor is it with any common degree of satisfaction that I say my perseverance has been amply rewarded. I am now convinced that my hypothesis, concerning the termination of the Niger, is cor

rect.*

delight, to the hour of our meeting, which, please God, is now at no great distance."

This letter was left behind at Timbuctoo, and appears to have been brought by the nephew of Babani, together with an important document in Arabic, of which the following is the substance :

666

"About a month after their safe arrival at Timbuctoo [Laing and young Mocktar], the Prince of the Faithful, Sultan Ahmad Ben Mohammed Labo, the lord and sovereign of all those countries, wrote a letter to his lieutenant-governor Osman, containing as follows:"I have heard that a Christian intends coming to you; but whether he has already arrived or not, I do not know. You must prevent him from arriving, if he has not reached you; and if he has, you must expel him the country in such a manner as to leave him no hope of returning to our countries, because I have received a letter from the tribe of Foodah, containing a caution against allowing Christians to come into the Mussulman countries in Soudan; which letter was written in the East, and contained an account of the mischiefs and impieties by which they have corrupted Spain and other countries.'

"When Governor Osman received this letter, he could not but obey it. He therefore engaged a sheik of the Arabs of the desert, named Ahmed, son of Obeid-allah, son of Rehal, of Soliman Barbooshi, to go out with the Christian, and protect him as far as the town of Arwan. Barbooshi accordingly went with him from Timbuctoo; but, on arriving at his own residence, he treacherously murdered him, and took possession of all his property. This is within our knowledge-we who know the affair, and have seen the letter of the Prince of the Faithful, Sultan Ahmad Labo."

The document is attested in Timbuctoo by fifteen signatures. The following examination, by the British consul, of Bungola, who represents himself as the servant of the late Major Laing, gives the catastrophe of this melancholy story.

"What is your name?-Bungola.

"Were you Major Laing's servant?—Yes; (and he produced the following paper:)

"Azoad, 2d July, 1826.

"I promise to pay the bearer, Bungola, the sum of six dollars per month, from the 15th Dec. 1825, till my return to Ghadamis; or, on the failure of that event, till the 15th Dec. 1826; previously deducting fifty dollars which I paid for his freedom. A. GORDON LAING."

"Were you with Major Laing at the first attack?-Yes, and wounded. (Showing his head.)

"Did you remain with him at Mocktar's?Yes.

"Did you accompany him from thence to Timbuctoo?—Yes.

"How was he received at Timbuctoo?Well.

This person appears (Appendix, No. 1.) to rule over Maséna, Timbuctoo, Jerri, Oonbori, and may be called Sovereign of the Gharb (West) in Soudan. He is a Fellata, to whom it is supposed Bello sent his instructions.

"How long did he remain at Timbuctoo?— About two months.

"Did you leave Timbuctoo with Major Laing? Yes.

"Who went with you?-A koffle of Arabs. "In what direction did you go?-The sun was on my right cheek.

"Do you know where you were going?To Sansanding.

"Did you see any water, and were you molested? We saw no water, nor were we molested till the night of the third day, when the Arabs of the country attacked and killed my

master.

"Was any one killed besides your master?I was wounded, but cannot say if any were killed.

"Were you sleeping near your master?

Yes.

"How many wounds had your master?I cannot say; they were all with swords; and in the morning I saw the head had been cut off.

"Did the person who had charge of your master commit the murder?-Sheik Burbasch, who accompanied the Reis, killed him, being assisted by his black servants, by swords, when asleep.

"What did the Sheik then do?-He went on to his country. An Arab took me back to Timbuctoo.

"What property had your master when he was killed?-Two camels: the one carried the provisions; the other carried my master and his bags.

"Where were your master's papers?-In his bag.

"Did you endeavour to preserve them?-I was so stunned with the wound, I never thought of the papers.

"Were the papers brought back to Timbuctoo?-I dont know."

And this Arab thus deposes before the kadi of Tripoli :

"Appeared before me, &c. &c., and maketh oath, according to the established form of the Mahomedan faith, Bungola, servant to the late Major Laing, who swears that he was with his master three days beyond Timbuctoo,

and saw his master murdered, and that he actually saw the head separated from the body. "Signed, &c. in presence of his highness's minister,

"(Signed) H. D. GHIES.”

Thus perished poor Laing, by the hand of an assassin, after being the first to accomplish an object, the attainment of which has long been considered as a desideratum in geography, and the pursuit of which has cost so many valuable lives! But his death is still the more to be lamented, as the result of his successful enterprise is likely to be unavailing for the benefit of the living. There is, however, a faint hope that his journals may be recovered. An Arab, who carried a correct account of the murder to our consul at Mogadore, reported also, that a friend of his had books, not printed, but written, that belonged to the Christian, and thought he could get them, in which attempt we need scarcely say the consul gave him every encouragement.

We must now return to our poor desolate Lander, whose journal will be read with great interest. At first Bello seems to have made up his mind to detain him; but on the representation of one of his officers, of the impolicy as well as injustice of such a measure, he let him go, but threatened to detain the old Hous sa negro. At length, however they proceeded to Kano, and striking off to the eastward of the former route, passed several towns, at all of which they were very kindly received. At Damoy, Lander was told that a range of hills, which appeared in the east, was inhabited by the ferocious Yamyams, who were declared by all to be cannibals. We are not apt to give credit to what one tribe of savages may say of another, especially when they touch on such horrors as the unnatural propensity to devour human flesh; but as Bello asserted to Clapperton, that he had ocular proof of the fact that these same people are in the constant habit of doing so, we shall at least give his account of them.

"The sultan said, it was strange what people would eat: in the district of Umburm, belonging to Jacoba, they eat human flesh. I said I did not think any people existed on the face of the earth that eat their own kind as food; that certainly there were some savages in different parts of the world who eat their ene mies. The sultan said he had seen them eat human flesh; that on the governor of Jacoba telling him of these people, he could hardly believe it himself; but on a Tuarick being hanged for theft, he saw five of these people eat a part, with which he was so disgusted that he sent them back to Jacoba soon after. He said that whenever a person complained of sickness amongst these men, even though only a slight headach, they are killed instantly, for fear they should be lost by death, as they will not eat a person that has died by sickness; that the person falling sick is requested by some other family, and repaid when they had a sick relation; that universally when they went to war, the dead and wounded were always eaten; that the hearts were claimed by the head men; and that, on asking them why they eat human flesh, they said it was better than any other; that the heart and breasts of a woman were the best part of the body; and that they had no want of food, as an excuse for eating one another. Indian corn, millet, doura, and sweet potatoes, were in plenty; that both men and women went naked, though their houses were much neater and cleaner than those of the common people of Soccatoo; that, excepting this bad custom, they were very cleanly, and otherwise not bad people, except that they were Kaffirs; that he would make me a present of some of them to let the king of England see that such was the fact. I said, "I would rather be excused taking them, as both the king and the people of England would be too much disgusted at seeing such a sight. You will see them, he said, when you go to Jacoba: he would write to the governor to show them to me when I went."-pp. 250, 251.

At Fullindushee the inhabitants were all of them perfectly naked, disgusting in their manners, and filthy in their persons, but exceedingly artless and good-humoured; and Lander

says they are a fine handsome poople, bearing a strong resemblance to Europeans. He describes the vast and beautiful plain of Cuttup, near the river Coodoonia, to contain nearly five hundred villages almost adjoining each other. He mentions, among the numerous trees growing there, the plantain, the palm, and the Cocoa-nut in great abundance; and, in his return to the northward, he passed large groves of cocoa-nut trees. We perfectly recollect that one of the strongest objections to the truth of Adams's narrative made by Sir Joseph Banks was, his mentioning cocoa-nut trees growing in the neighbourhood of Timbuctoo, Sir Joseph affirming that they could not grow beyond a certain distance from the seacoast. This shows, among many instances, that we ought not hastily to reject any information regarding Africa, which is not physically impossible, so true is the observation of Pliny, that "Africa semper aliquid novi affert."

Just as Lander was leaving Dunrora, four armed men rode up to him and said he must immediately return to the king of Zegzeg: remonstrance was in vain, and he therefore complied with the best grace he could. On his arrival the king told him that he had ordered him back on account of the war between Bello and the king of Funda, the latter of whom would certainly have murdered him: as some compensation for the trouble and disappointment, he gave him a female slave for a wife, and a pack-bullock: to these Lander added a male slave, and a strong Yarribee pony, which he purchased, and with the old Houssa interpreter, he once more set out on his journey to Badagry, by the way they had come from thence. The old king of Wawa was delighted to see him; wondered at his being alive after visiting the barbarous Fellatas, and deeply lamented the death of his master; said he must stay with him a few days "to clean seven muskets and three pistols, which he afterwards told me belonged to the white men who were drowned at Boussa. They had the Tower mark on them." From a mallam, or priest, Lander received the following account of Park's death, which is a curious corroboration of the other reports.

"You are not, Christian, the first white man I have seen. I knew three of your countrymen very well. They arrived at Youri at the fast of the Rhamadan (April). I went with two of them three times to the sultan. The person that appeared to be the head of the party made the sultan a valuable present on one of his visits, which consisted of a handsome gun, a cutlass, a large piece of scarlet cloth, a great quantity of beads, several knives, and a looking-glass. He was a very tall and pow. erful man, with long arms and large hands, on which he wore leather gloves reaching above the elbows. Wore a white straw hat, long coat, full white trowsers, and red leather boots. Had black hair and eyes, with a bushy beard and mustachios of the same colour. The sultan of Youri advised your countrymen to proceed the remainder of the way on land, as the passage by water was rendered dangerous by numerous sunken rocks in the Niger, and a cruel race of people inhabiting the towns on its banks.

They refused, however, to accede to this, observing that they were bound to proceed down the Niger to the Salt Water.' The old mallam further observed that, as soon as the sultan of Youri heard of their death, he was much affected; but it was out of his power to punish the people who had driven them into the water. A pestilence reaching Boussa at the time, swept off the king and most of the inhabitants, particularly those who were concerned in the transaction. The remainder fancying it was a judgment of the white man's God, placed every thing belonging to the Christians in a hut and set it on fire. It is not a little remarkable that it is now a common saying, all through the interior of Afriea, 'Do not hurt a Christian, for if you do, you will die like the people of Boussa.' The old man left me shortly afterwards; and I thanked him for his information thus voluntarily given."—pp. 316, 317.

This king of Wawa made him a present of a beautiful mare, and afterwards the sultan of Kiama of a strong pony, and told him, that if his king wished to send any one to Bornou, he would conduct him thither by a safe route, without the necessity of going through the Fellata country. In short, throughout the whole journey from Kano to Badagry, he experienced nothing but kindness from the natives; but here he became an object of hatred to a nest of villanous Portuguese slave-dealers, who had nearly succeeded in destroying him.

"Three of the Portuguese slave-merchants residing at Badagry went to the king one day, and told him and his principal men that I was a spy sent by the English government, and, if suffered to leave, would soon return with an army and conquer their country. This the credulous people believed, and I was treated with coldness and distrust by the king and his subjects, who seldom came to see me. All the chief men at length assembled at the fetish hut, and having come to a resolution that I was to drink a fetish, sent for me to appear before them. On my way five or six hundred people gathered round me, and I could proceed with difficulty. A great number of them were armed with hatchets, bows and arrows, and spears; and waited outside the hut till I came out. On entering, one of the men, presenting me with a bowl, in which was about a quart of liquid much resembling water, commanded me to drink it, saying, if you come to do bad, it will kill you; but if not, it cannot hurt you.' There being no resource, I immediately, and without hesitation, swallowed the contents of the bowl, and walked hastily out of the hut, through the armed men, to my own lodgings, took powerful medicine and plenty of warm water, which instantly ejected the whole from my stomach, and I felt no ill effects from the fetish. It had a bitter and disagreeable taste, and I was told almost always proved fatal.

"When the king and chief men found, after five days, that the fetish had not hurt me, they became extremely kind, and sent me presents of provisions, &c., daily, and frequently said I was protected by God, and that it was out of the power of man to do me an injury.”—p. 326.

These Portuguese ruffians took every means