MEMOIR OF BURCKHARDT. 21 



Professor of Natural History at Gottingen, to Sir 

 Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, and 

 one of the most active members of the committee 

 of the Association for promoting discovery in the 

 interior of Africa. This accidental circumstance 

 gave a new impulse to the enterprising genius of 

 Burckhardt, and determined the future course of 

 his life. 



A desire to explore Africa had at an early period 

 turned the attention of European nations to that 

 unknown portion of the globe. At first these ad- 

 venturers were satisfied with making discoveries 

 along the western coasts ; but hearing afterwards of 

 the golden treasures stored in the markets of Tim- 

 buctoo, they directed their researches towards the 

 central region, in the hope of penetrating to that 

 mysterious El Dorado of the desert. Portugal, for 

 a certain time, took the lead in the career of mari- 

 time and commercial enterprise, and was foremost 

 in the grand movement which took place about the 

 end of the fifteenth century in behalf of science, 

 civilisation, religion, and industry. Its local posi- 

 tion, its w^ars and expeditions against Morocco, 

 naturally pointed out the western shores of Africa 

 as the best field for the discovery ; and in a short 

 time the fertile districts watered by the Senegal and 

 the Gambia were reached by the Portuguese navi- 

 gators. 



Their progress gradually extended to the Gold 

 Coast in 1471, and thence to the Congo River, 

 which they ascended, and opened a friendly inter- 



