filled with water, and a brass basin to drink out of; and with this she supplied the wounded and the thirsty. I certainly was much obliged to her, for she twice gave me a basin of water. The heat and the dust made thirst almost intolerable.'-p. 188.

At the conclusion of this memorable battle, in which nothing was concluded, the whole army set off in the greatest confusion, men and quadrupeds tumbling over each other, and upsetting every thing that fell in their way. Clapperton made his way to Soccatoo, where he found the same house he had formerly inhabited prepared for his reception. Here, and in the neighbourhood, he resided nearly six months, in the course of which time he collected much information respecting the first irruption of the Fellatas, or Foulahs, from Foota Torra, Foota Jella, &c., on the western side of Africa, under Othman Danfodio, the father of Bello; the manner in which he succeeded in subjugating the greater part of Houssa; the manners of these Mahommedans; the state of society, of their agriculture, commerce, and manufactures: for an account of all which we must refer our readers to the volume itself, contenting ourselves with briefly running over the author's transactions with the present ruler, who certainly did not treat him with that kindness he had a right to expect, though some palliating circumstances may be pleaded in excuse, on account of the peculiar situation in which he was then placed with regard to the Sheik of Bornou.

A very few days after Clapperton's arrival in Soccatoo, he was visited by Sidi Sheik, Bello's doctor, and one of his secretaries, who, after some preamble, told him, that by whatever road he might choose to return home, he should be sent, under an escort, -were it even by Bornou,-though it was right to inform him that, on his former visit, the Sheik of Bornou had written, advising Bello to put him (Clapperton) to death. This, Clapperton observed, was very extraordinary, after the kind manner in which the sheik had behaved to him, to the very last hour of his departure, and insisted on seeing the letter. For this purpose he lost not a moment in repairing to the gadado, who affected ignorance, and said there must be some mistake, as he was sure there was no such letter. The next day the gadado took him to the sultan, who told him that such a letter had certainly been written with the sheik's sanction, by Hadje Mohamed, who therein said he was a spy, and that the English had taken possession of India by first going there by ones and twos, until they got strong enough to seize upon the whole country. A few days after this it was announced to Clapperton that the sultan had sent for his servant and all his baggage to be brought from Kano to Soccatoo, and in a day or two afterwards Lander actually arrived with it. The next

step

step was to seize the baggage, under pretence that Clapperton was conveying guns and warlike stores to the Sultan of Bornou; and lastly, he ordered Lord Bathurst's letter to the sheik to be given up to him. This conduct of the sultan had such an effect on Clapperton's spirits, that his servant Richard says he never saw him smile afterwards; but he found it in vain to remonstrate. He told the gadado that the conduct of Bello was not like that of a prince of the Faithful; that he had broken his faith, and done him all the injury in his power, The gadado now assured him that not only the sheik, but the two hadjis of Tripoli, had written letters to Bello, denouncing him as a spy, and observing that the English wanted to take Africa as they had done India. I told the gadado they were acting like robbers towards me, in defiance of all good faith.' In short, their jealousy proceeded so far as to seize every thing that could be supposed to be any part of the present intended for the Sheik of Bornou.

Not long after this, intelligence was received at Soccatoo, of the total defeat of the Bornou army, which put the sultan in such good spirits, that he began to resume his former kind conduct towards Clapperton, discussing with him which would be the best and safest way for his return to England; but it was now too late; Clapperton's health had never been restored since the first night's fatal sleeping on the reedy banks of a stagnant ditch; and his spirits were now completely broken down by disappointment and ungenerous treatment. His journal about this time, the 12th March, terminates abruptly in the midst of a conversation as to the best route to be taken homewards. The rest is supplied by his faithful servant, Lander.

6

On the same day it appears he was attacked with dysentery, which he told Lander had been brought on by a cold, caught by lying down on the ground which was soft and wet, when heated and fatigued with walking. Twenty days,' says Lander, my poor master remained in a low and distressed state. His body, from being robust and vigorous, became weak and emaciated, and indeed was little better than a skeleton.' Lander himself was in a fever, and almost unable to stir; but he was assisted in taking care of his master by Pascoe and an old black slave. Towards the beginning of April, Clapperton became alarmingly ill.—

His sleep was uniformly short and disturbed, and troubled with frightful dreams. In them he frequently reproached the Arabs with much bitterness, but being an utter stranger to that language, I did not understand him. I read to him daily some portions of the New Testament, and the ninety-fifth Psalm, to which he was never weary of listening; and on Sundays added the Church Service, to which he invariably paid the profoundest attention.'-p. 273.

At

At length, calling honest Lander to his bed-side, Clapperton said

""Richard, I shall shortly be no more; I feel myself dying." Almost choked with grief, I replied, "God forbid, my dear master: you will live many years yet. "Don't be so much affected, my dear boy, I entreat you," said he: " it is the will of the Almighty; it cannot be helped. Take care of my journal and papers after my death; and when you arrive in London, go immediately to my agents, send for my uncle, who will accompany you to the Colonial Office, and let him see you deposit them safely into the hands of the secretary. After I am buried, apply to Bello, and borrow money to purchase camels and provisions for your journey over the desert, and go in the train of the Arab merchants to Fezzan. On your arrival there, should your money be exhausted, send a messenger to Mr. Warrington, our consul at Tripoli, and wait till he returns with a remittance. On reaching Tripoli, that gentleman will advance what money you may require, and send you to England the first opportunity. Do not lumber yourself with my books; leave them behind, as well as the barometer, boxes, and sticks, and indeed every heavy article you can conveniently part with; give them to Malam Mudey, who will take care of them. The wages I agreed to give you my agents will pay, as well as the sum government allowed me for a servant; you will of course receive it, as Columbus has never served me. Remark what towns or villages you pass through; pay attention to whatever the chiefs may say to you, and put it on paper. The little money I have, and all my clothes, I leave you sell the latter, and put what you may receive for them into your pocket; and if, on your journey, you should be obliged to expend it, government will repay you on your return." I said, as well as my agitation would permit me, "If it be the will of God to take you, you may rely on my faithfully performing, as far as I am able, all that you have desired; but I trust the Almighty will spare you, and will yet live to see your country." "I thought

66

you

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 been with me, I should have died long ago; I can only thank with you, latest breath, for your my 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 pertubation, 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

A few days after this he breathed his last.* Lander immediately

sent

*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 Livingston, 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 agility 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. Maddison'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 ememy'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, 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 woeful 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

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 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.

This mean conduct of Bello detracts sadly from that reputation which his treatment of Clapperton on his first visit to Soccatoo had gained for him in Europe. We blame him not for taking every precaution that no contraband of war should pass

of Cilencoe 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.