74 The Niger — S.'eayn Ent^i/ies in Coinwo//. 



poitcd to his government the expedirncy and practica'oilitv of 

 acquiring land, by purchase of tl^e native!, at a very low price 5 

 and has therefore recoainiended that extensive purcliases should 

 be made with a view to convert tlie san>e into plantations of cot- 

 ton and coffee, and that he has already made considerable pro- 

 gress in clearing tlm land of wood, ivc. The general further 

 states, that tlie river Ancohar is navigable as far as ihe centre of 

 the Dinkiva country, the first province of the king of AshanteC'; 

 and lie adds, that it is certain this river was navigable in the 

 time of Bosnian. The general then refers to ancient Dutch 

 maps, copied from the Portuguese, to show that formerly the 

 Portuguese had several estaldishments on the Ancobar, at which- 

 were convents of monks and christian churches, above 40 leagues 

 in the interior of the country. The general suggests, that were 

 the British and Dutch to agree to estal)lish forts on each side of 

 the river, with the consent of the king of Ashantee, not only 

 might the whole commerce of that countrv l)e attracted, but also 

 that of the country on this side of Long Mountains. Tlic ex- 

 pense of such a project to the two governments, th.e genera! 

 thinks, would not exceed 10,000/. sterling, as he conceives the 

 king of Asiumtee would supply a number of workmen to carry 

 wood, stones, and lime, of which there is an abundance in the 

 weighlwurhocd. ■ 



THE KIGER. 



By the follo^ving extract of a letter from India, it ajTpcars as 

 if the Niger did not lose itself in the interior of Africa, as gene- 

 rally supposed : 



" Siiint, '?r,th Nov. ir.i.'i. 



" In my next I hope to give you an account of the di>-covrry 

 of the mouth of the Niger, certainly of some very large river 

 in Africa, of which the report given by the natives is, that, after 

 sailing sir wmiiks upon it, you come to a part of the countrv 

 where ivliilc 7nen are found, or resort. The mouth of this river 

 is insignificant, as is the case with many large streams in India ; 

 even the Burrampcoter, the Ganges, and the Indus mav lie 

 quoted as examples ; but mv informant entered it in his boat, 

 and ascended it about 60 m.ilen, and found the stream incrca->e 

 in magnitude the further he advanced." 



STEAM F.NGINrS IN CORNWALL. 



The average work performed by thirty- three engines in t!ic 

 month of May was, according to Messrs. Leans' Report for that 

 month, 20,897,040 pounds of water, lilted one foot high with 

 each bushel of coals consumed. During the same month the 

 ^^ork done by Woolf's engine at Wheal Vor was 49,.')55,244 ; 

 and by his engine at Wheal Abraham 56,1)17,312 poundsj lifted 

 one foot high with each bushel of coals. 



