328 JOHN LEDYARD. 



acid. The quantity taken proved to be too great, 

 and he endeavored to relieve himself by a powerful 

 dose of tartar emetic. This unfortunate combina- 

 tion of pernicious influences, after a few hours of 

 acute suffering, produced his death ; though he 

 was finally attended by the best medical aid in 

 Cairo. He expired on the 26th of November, 1788, 

 in the thirty-eighth year of his age. 



Thus prematurely terminated the life and the 

 vicissitudes of one of the most extraordinary tra- 

 vellers of modern times. It is highly probable that, 

 had Ledyard lived to execute his bold and compre- 

 hensive plans in reference to the exploration of 

 Central Africa, he would have attained results and 

 achieved a fame which would far exceed those of 

 any other adventurer in that clime ; for he was 

 undoubtedly the most determined, the most intrepid, 

 and the most sagacious of all the men who have 

 ever attempted to fathom the great geographical 

 and historical mysteries which yet overhang, with 

 such profound and impressive effect, those vast and 

 diversified realms ; where the gorgeous ruins of 

 Meroe and Luxor, the still existing commerce of 

 Sennaar, Nubia, and Abyssinia in spices, gold, and 

 aromatic gums, the glorious temples of Thebes, 

 the colossal tombs of Sesostris and Rameses, the 



