257 



Niger Expedition. — Dr. Baikie's Second Exploring Voyage up the 



Kwora (Niger). 



The information received from Dr. Baikie and Mr. Barter increases 

 more and more with every succeeding letter, and as they approach the 

 scene of their labours. 



Of the intention of the Admiralty to send out another Expedition 



dda) 



W 



R.N., and of the appointment of Mr. Barter to accompany it as bota- 

 nist, we gave a brief notice at p. 122 of our present volume. In our 

 last number, for August, are given extracts from the first letters that 

 have been received from " Off Monrovia," from " Cape Coast Castle, 5 ' 

 and from n Fernando Po," the last of those letters being dated May 

 30th, 1857 ; and it was there mentioned that the arrival of the several 

 cases of dried plants, fruits in alcohol, museum objects, living plants 

 in a Wardian case, and a box of thirty species of Orchidaceee y from Sierra 

 Leone, were daily expected. The fate of these has been most unfortu- 

 nate : they were embarked on board the * Niger* steam packet-ship, 

 belonging to the African Ship Company, which was wrecked, on its 

 voyage to England, off the Canary Islands. Two out of four cases 

 only appear to have been rescued, and those have reached us in a state of 

 almost utter destruction ; a few of the large hard seed-vessels and mu- 

 seum objects only can be preserved, though much injured by saturation 

 in salt-water. The Wardian case scarcely shows a vestige of life in 

 its contents, and the well-packed herbarium paper and specimens 

 were a perfect mass of rottenness. All this is the more to be regretted, 

 because the list of contents sent us by post shows that the contents of 

 these cases were of no ordinary value ; and, ruined as they are, it is 

 easy to see that the collection was made and preserved with great 

 judgment and patience. The herbarium specimens show that they 

 were well selected, and every one was accompanied by a label, with 

 name, notes, etc., made on the spot. It is a consolation to know that 

 all that were cpllected up to the time of coming away were not de- 

 spatched, many of the specimens not being sufficiently dry to bear the 

 voyage % and further, that Messrs. Baikie and Barter have retained a 

 duplicate set, and may have it in their power to visit some of the locali- 

 ties on their return from the Kwora, and even at a more favourable (less 



vol. IX. 



2 L 



