GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 365 



travelers return, and for a long time its final fate seemed to hang by a thread 

 which the slightest chance might snap. One after one the intrepid explorers 

 sickened and died, and when, a year ago, it was reported that Dr. Earth, the 

 last remaining member of the original company, had been murdered in Tim- 

 buctoo, the world was almost ready to believe that the Central African secret 

 was but a lure to tempt brave men to their destruction. 



But the truth is, this expedition seems destined to become the turning point 

 in the history of African exploration. After much disaster, it is at last suc- 

 cessful beyond all expectation. On the morning of the 8th of September Dr. 

 Earth landed at Marseilles, precisely five years and nine months after his de- 

 parture from that port in 1849, on his way to Tripoli to join Mr. Richardson, 

 who had command of the expedition. The intervening period contains a 

 history of greater peril and privation, greater hazards, and more wonderful 

 escapes, greater disappointments and more complete triumphs, than has ever 

 fallen to the lot of any African traveler. As the return of Dr. Earth may be 

 looked upon as the termination of the original expedition, notwithstanding 

 Dr. Yogel still remains to attempt further discoveries, we proceed to give a 

 brief outline of what it has accomplished. 



The undertaking originated with Mr. James Richardson, who had previously 

 explored the northern part of the Sahara. In the summer of 1849 he re- 

 ceived a commission from the British Government to visit Central Africa on a 

 political and commercial mission. Drs. Earth aud Overweg, who were highly 

 recommended by Humboldt, Ritter, and Encke, volunteered to accompany 

 him, the former as antiquarian and philologist, the latter as naturalist, on con- 

 dition that the British Government should defray their expenses. Their offer 

 was accepted, and an appropriation of $4,000 made for them, in addition to 

 which they received $3,000 from the Geographical Society of Berlin, the 

 King of Prussia and other sources. The explorers met at Tripoli, where they 

 were delayed some time for the purpose of having a boat constructed for the 

 navigation of Lake Tsad. Finally, on the 30th of March, 1850, the party 

 started, comprising a caravan of forty camels, with which they joined, the 

 great semi-annual caravan to Bornou. 



On the 6th of May they reached Mourzuk, the capital of Fezzan, where 

 they were obliged to await the arrival of a chief of the Tuarick tribe, who 

 was to escort them to Ghat. Instead of following the caravan route from 

 Mourzuk to Central Africa by way of Bilma, they determined to proceed 

 from Ghat in a south western direction through the unknown kingdom of 

 Air or Ashen, which had never been visited by Europeans. Dr. Earth, in at- 

 tempting to explore a group of hills near Ghat, called Kasr Djenovn, or the 

 Palace of Demons, lost his way and remained twenty-eight hours in the des- 

 ert without water. His tortures were so great that he opened a vein and 

 drank his own blood. The Tuaricks considered his preservation miraculous, 

 as they had never known any one to survive more than twelve hours' depri- 

 vation of water. 



Leaving Ghat on the 25th of July they continued their journey southward 

 through unexplored deserts, and in a month reached the frontiers of Air. 

 Here, after being attacked by Tuaricks, threatened with death by the fanatical 



