professional pursuits. The Swedes have a good regulation, by which every young man who graduates at Upsal is required to produce a printed dissertation in Latin, upon some topic of national antiquities. If more attention were paid, during education, to our own history, men would not be betrayed so easily as they now are into political errors and delusions: there would be less of contented ignorance-less of pragmatical sciolism. Some good may be expected from the fair rivalry between the King's College and the Gower-street one. They are already mutually beholden to each other. King's College will owe its existence to the earlier institution; and to the announcement of the later one it is owing that the irreligious principle of the Gowerstreet scheme has been abandoned. There is room for both. The dissenters and the absenters, and those who are of any denomination which ends in ist or in arian, will properly encourage the college in which any religion may be taught, or none; and some will prefer it for considerations of local convenience or personal predilections. But upon all who are attached by feeling and principle to our free constitution in church and state-emphatically free in both; upon all who know and can justly appreciate how happy it is for them to have been 'born under good stars, Where what is honest they may freely think— Speak what they think, and write what they do speak'upon all such the King's College has a strong and paramount claim, being founded in support of those principles which have made England what it is, and the English what they are. The city of London (let us be permitted to add) could not do a more fitting thing than to convert the Gresham lectureships into fourteen scholarships for this college, retaining the name and reserving the right of presentation. A bounty which is at present useless would thus be rendered efficient, and to the very end which was intended by Gresham himself. An act of parliament would be necessary; and the annexations would of course take place as the lectureships became vacant. ART. V. Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Africa, from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo. By the late Captain Clapperton, of the Royal Navy. To which is added, The Journal of Richard Lander, from Kano to the Sea-coast, partly by a more Eastern Route. With a Portrait of Clapperton, and a Map of the Route. London. 4to. 1829. A NARRATIVE of travels into regions of the earth hitherto unexplored, while it is sure to awaken curiosity, must be dull indeed, and its author destitute of the talent of common ob servation, servation, if it fail to communicate new and amusing informa> tion. The posthumous Journal of the late lamented Clapperton, which contains a copious detail of occurrences, mingled with lively sketches of the scenery of a country untrodden by Christian foot, and of the manners and customs of tribes of people entirely unknown, will not disappoint the expectations of the reader in this respect; while regret and sympathy will be strongly excited by the sufferings, the unkind treatment, and the untimely fate, of a brave, straightforward, and kind-hearted officer, who, at the very outset of the journey, had the melancholy misfortune of burying the only two companions joined with him on an expedition full of interest and enterprise. Thus left alone, and in a state of great debility himself from disease, he boldly pushed forward, determined, should life remain, to accomplish, as far as human means would admit, the object of his mission. When Denham and Clapperton returned from their successful mission into the central parts of Northern Africa, the latter brought back a letter from Bello, the Sultan of the Fellans, or Fellatas, resident at Soccatoo, addressed to the King of England, in consequence of conversations that had passed between him and Clapperton. In that letter the sultan proposed three things;—the establishment of a friendly intercourse between the two nations, by means of a consul, who was to reside at the seaport of Raka;— the delivery of certain presents described, at the port of Funda, supposed to be somewhere near Whidah ;-and the prohibition of the exportation of slaves, by any of the Houssa merchants, to Atagher, Dahomey, or Ashantee. On the arrival of Clapperton in England, Lord Bathurst, then secretary of state for the colonies, conceived these proposals to afford a fair opportunity for endeavouring to carry into effect objects of such considerable importance; and Clapperton immediately volunteered his services on the occasion. He had arranged with Bello, that his messengers should, about a certain time, be at Whidah, to conduct the presents and the bearers of them to Soccatoo. Clapperton was allowed to take with him, on this novel and hazardous enterprise, two associates; one of whom was Captain Pearce, of the Navy, an excellent draughtsman; and the other, Dr. Morrison, a surgeon in the navy, well versed in various branches of natural history; and, at his particular request, a fellow-countryman, of the name of Dickson, who had served as a surgeon in the West Indies, was added to the list. These gentlemen, with their servants, embarked on His Majesty's ship Brazen, on the 25th August, 1825, and arrived off Whidah on the 26th of the following November. Mr. Dickson, for some reason or other, landed at Whidah, and proceeded, in company company with a Portuguese, of the name of De Sousa, to Dahomey, where the latter had resided for some time. Here he was well received, and sent forward, with a suitable escort, to a place called Shar, seventeen days' journey from Dahomey, where he also arrived in safety, and thence proceeded, with another escort towards Youri, but has not since been heard of. The Brazen proceeded with the rest to the river Benin, or Formosa, where they met with an English merchant of the name of Houtson, who advised them by no means to think of proceeding by that river, as the king bore a particular hatred to the English, for their exertions in putting a stop to the slave-trade; nor did he (Mr. Houtson) know how far, or in what direction, that river might lead them. He recommended Badagry as the nearest and most convenient spot to proceed from, with safety, into the interior; and offered to accompany them to a certain distance, which offer was accepted. It appears that their inquiries at Whidah after Bello and his messengers were entirely fruitless; and equally so as to Funda or Raka-names never heard of on that part of the coast. It is now known that these places are near two hundred miles inland, and that Raka is not even on the banks of any river; and that neither of them were then under the dominion of Bello. On the 7th December they commenced their journey from Badagry, accompanied by their servants, and a Houssa black, of the name of Pascoe, who had been lent from one of the king's ships to accompany the late Belzoni as interpreter. Clapperton was attended by his faithful servant, Richard Lander, to whose care and discretion we are entirely indebted for the materials which compose the present volume. For a short distance they proceeded in canoes to a place, where a great market is held, called Bawie. The banks of the creek are represented as low, and covered with reeds; and from the following sentence we are persuaded that this is the spot, where the seeds of those diseases were sown, on the very first night of their journey, which speedily proved so fatal to a part, and eventually to the whole, of the company: The morning thick and hazy; and, though sleeping close to the river, in the open air, for the first time since we have been on shore, we did not hear the hum of a single mosquito.' How an old naval surgeon, and two experienced naval officers, could commit such an imprudence, in such a climate, is to us most surprising, when most dreadful consequences are well known to have almost invariably resulted from such a practice in tropical climates. The next night (the 9th), they again slept in the open air, in the market-place of Dagmoo, a large town where they might have had as many houses as they wanted. On the 10th, Clapperton was seized with fever and larly his wives, laughed immoderately. The old gentleman wore a rich crimson damask robe and a red velvet cap; but during the ceremony of reception he changed his dress three different times, each time increasing the splendour of his appearance. The whole court, which was large, was filled, crowded, crammed, with people, except a space in front where we sat, into which his highness led Mr. Houtson and myself, one in each hand, and there we performed an African dance, to the great delight of the surrounding multitude. The tout ensemble would doubtless have formed an excellent subject for a caricaturist, and we regretted the absence of Captain Pearce to sketch off the old black caboceer, sailing majestically around in his damask robe, with a train-bearer behind him, and every now and then turning up his old withered face to myself, then to Mr. Houtson, then whisking round on one foot, then marching slow, with solemn gait, twining our hands in his-proud that a white man should dance with him. We gave in to the humours of the day, and thus "cheered we our old friend, and he was cheered."-pp. 14, 15. The approach to Emmadoo is described as extremely beautiful, through a long, broad, and majestic avenue of trees, at the end of which a stockade, eighteen feet high, with a wicker gate, and another of the same kind, at the distance of a hundred paces, defend the entrance of the town. The surface of the adjoining country is broken into gentle hills and dales, a small stream of water running through every little valley. At Afoora the granite formation began to shew itself. The town of Assulah is surrounded with a wall and a ditch, and may contain six thousand people. Assouda, another walled town, had about ten thousand inhabitants. At both the party was abundantly supplied with provisions; and regaled with dancing and singing the whole night, by the apparently happy inhabitants. The appearance of the country improved as our travellers advanced; they had now reached the mountainous range, the width of which is stated to be about eighty miles. The highest point would appear not to exceed two thousand five hundred feet at that part where the travellers crossed them; and the road, by the edge of the hills and through the valleys, not more than one thousand five hundred. The valleys were planted with cotton, corn, yams, and plantains; and on the tops and hollows of the hills were perched the houses and villages of the proprietors of these plantations. The town of Duffoo in these mountains is said to have a population of fifteen thousand souls; and Chiadoo, seven thousand. On departing from the latter, Clapperton was attended by the chief, and an immense train of people, of all ages and sexes, with drums, horns, and gongs, making a strange discord when mingled with the agreeable voices of the women. The The highest summit of these mountains is between Erawa and Chaki. The road through this mountain pass was grand and imposing, sometimes rising almost perpendicularly, and then descending in the midst of rocks into deep dells; then winding beautifully round the side of a steep hill, the rocks above overhanging us in fearful uncertainty In every cleft of the hills, wherever there appeared the least soil, were cottages, surrounded by small plantations of millet, yams, or plantains, giving a beautiful variety to the rude scenery. The road continued rising, hill above hill, for at least above two miles, until our arrival at the large and populous town of Chaki, situated on the top of the very highest hill. On every hand, on the hills, on the rocks, and crowding on the road, the inhabitants were assembled in thousands; the women welcoming us with holding up their hands and chanting choral songs, and the men with the usual salutations and every demonstration of joy. The caboceer was seated on the outside of his house, surrounded by his ladies, his singing men and singing women, his drums, fifes, and gong-gongs. He is a good-looking man, about fifty years of age, and has a pleasing countenance. His house was all ready for us; and he immediately ordered us a large supply of goats, sheep, and yams; pressing us strongly to stay a day or two with him. He appeared to consider us as messengers of peace, come with blessings to his king and country. Indeed a belief is very prevalent, and seems to have gone before us all the way, that we are charged with a commission to make peace wherever there is war; and to do good to every country through which we pass. The caboceer of this town indeed told us so; and said he hoped that we should settle the war with the Nyffee people and the Fellatah; and the rebellion of the Housa slaves, who have risen against the king of Yarriba. When I shook hands with him, he passed his hand over the heads of his chiefs, as confirming on them a white man's blessing. He was more inquisitive and more communicative than any one whom we have yet seen. He sat until near midnight, talking and inquiring about England. On asking if he would send one of his sons to see our country, he rose up with alacrity, and said he would go himself. He inquired how many wives an Englishman had? Being told only one, he seemed much astonished, and laughed greatly, as did all his people. "What does he do," said he," when one of his wives has a child? Our caboceer has two thousand."-pp. 24, 25. The town of Koosoo, at the northern termination of the mountains, is stated to be the largest that our traveller yet had seen, and supposed to contain twenty thousand inhabitants. Next to it was Yaboo another large town, and then Ensookosoo, between which and the former is a beautiful plain, well cultivated and studded with a number of Fellatah villages, whose inhabitants are living here, as they do in most parts of Soudan, a quiet and harmless pastoral life, unmolested by the black natives, and not interfering |