1830.] Affairs in General . 335 



the bottom. This young Englishman,, on coming into the country, used 

 no precautions with regard to the preservation of his health ; but, adopt- 

 ing the habits of the people with whom he mingled, anointed his head 

 and body with clay and oil, ate unreservedly the food of the natives, and 

 exposed himself, with scarcely any clothing, to the heat of the sun by 

 day, and the influence of the pernicious dews by night, in consequence 

 whereof, as might have been expected, he was attacked with fever, which 

 put an end to his existence after a very short illness. Mr. Thomas Park 

 had formed the pious resolution of discovering the spot where his intrepid 

 father had met his fate, and of ascertaining, if possible, the cause and 

 manner of his death ; in which attempt he was defeated only by his own 

 dissolution. Had the young gentleman survived a few days longer, I 

 could have fully satisfied him in these particulars, and given him direc- 

 tions, in case of his recovery, for proceeding to the island of Boussa." 



But it is only justice to this young adventurer to say, in the Irish 

 style, that he had good reason for what he did, he being evidently as 

 mad as a March hare. Nothing but insanity could have been the cause 

 of his exposures to the whole fierceness of this climate of death, unless 

 we are to say, that he felt the absurdity of all precaution, and daringly 

 defied the danger, because it was inevitable. 



All the African adventurers have rapidly perished. And what have 

 their adventures produced ? Books. And what have the books pro- 

 duced ? Nothing. To this hour we know no more of any channel of 

 intercourse with the interior, nearer than the horrid journey over the 

 deserts of Barbary, than was known a thousand years ago. But Tim- 

 buctoo has been reached. Yes, by Major Laing, who has told us nothing, 

 partly, perhaps, from that seizure of his papers, which, as well as his 

 murder, makes the regular policy of Africa ; but evidently in a much 

 greater degree from his having nothing to tell, for he had opportunities 

 of sending intelligence during his journey and stay. But the Frenchman 

 Caille has been at Timbuctoo. On this point we cannot help feeling much 

 doubt ; and we must have strong testimony before we can believe the 

 Frenchman. But if Timbuctoo were traversed to-morrow, and we 

 knew as much about its fairs and its wares, its women and its huts, as 

 we know about Waterloo-place, how much nearer are we to the disco- 

 very of the mouth of the Niger ? for that is the grand affair after all. 

 We have known for those three thousand years that Africa has been 

 traversed in length and breadth, by caravans from the north, east, and 

 west, but the point with us is, how can we reach its internal commerce 

 with our ships ? Our object is to find the river's mouth that will carry 

 our ships up to Timbuctoo, or any where else, within reach of gold dust, 

 gums, and elephant's teeth. The only rational hope of this discovery is, 

 by sending a steam-boat to try every river falling into the Bight of 

 Benin. In three months the survey might be finished, and the ques- 

 tion of a great central river set at rest in one way or other. The settle- 

 ment at Fernando Po may do something for this project ; and we are 

 strongly inclined to think that government will be culpable in giving its 

 sanction to adventures in any other direction. 



The French funds are falling. Not from French fear, but from En- 

 glish fear. The absentees do not much like the idea of having their 

 gold locked up in the bank of France by the next popular shock, nor 



