EXCURSIONS 



IN 



MADEIRA AND PORTO SANTO, 



8(c. 



CHAPTER I. 



Observations on Portuguese Government. — Geological Excursions in 

 the Environs of Lisbon. — Aqueduct. — Fishes. — Almada. — Shells. 

 Voyage to Madeira. — Fellow Passengers.— Gull. — Fishes and 

 Mollusca. 



HaA''ING devoted the three j sars and a half which had elapsed 

 since my publication of the Mjssion to Ashantee, to a patient 

 study of physical science and i; aral history, I became anxious, 

 on the extinction of the Afr''"an Committee, and the formation 

 of the new government for t j Gold Coast, to repair to Sierra 

 Leone, with the view of making myself useful, if permitted to do 

 so. I determinetl, however, to proceed to Lisbon, in the first 

 instance ; in the hope of getting access to some MSS. in the pubhc 

 and private archives of that city, which might enable us to form 

 an idea of the extent of the Portuguese discoveries, estabhshments, 

 commerce, and influence, in the interior of Congo, Angola, Ben- 

 guela, and ]Mozambique. Although fm-nished with very strong 

 letters to distinguished individuals at Lisbon, the difficulties 



B 



