208 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



slightest difficulty ! ! We should have no point of junction, in this region 

 of the Equator, between the 2d and ; 3lst degrees of east longitude, which 

 were respectively reached by Bowdich and by Frederick Cailliaud, were it. 

 not for the bold and fortunate enterprise accomplished by the English 

 travellers in 1823. Before presenting a sketch of their discoveries, we shall 

 complete the tour of Africa on the west and the north-west. 



The results of the two expeditions of Mungo Park are too celebrated to 

 dwell upon here. Who knows not that his first journey leads us to Silla, at 

 the further side of Sego, in the 2d degree of west longitude ; and that infor- 

 mation of a less positive nature, drawn from the account of his second and 

 last journev, lead us as far as Boussa, only three degrees farther towards 

 the east' From thence to the Nile, what an enormous distance? 



Between the Senegal and the mountains of Kong, the travels of Adamson, 

 of Winterbottom, ofMolien, of Major Gray, of Major Laing, and several 

 other excursions of less celebrity, have jiven us tolerable information re- 

 specting the nature of the country and the probable position of the sources 

 of the rivers; but beyond that district, and until we reach the confines of 

 Morocco, the Europeans are only acquainted with a narrow border of the 

 continent, the interior being guarded against all visitors by the avaricious- 

 ness and the' perfidy of the Moors. We have not forgotten the melancholy 

 end of Major Houghton, nor that of Roentgen, nor the cruel treatment 

 undergone by Cochelet aud his unhappy companions, by their having fallen 

 into the hands of the ferocious natives of Soudan. What European, who 

 should attempt to penetrate into that country by the way of Morocco, dare 

 flatter himself with the hope of escaping them I .4s for the travels of the 

 sailor Adams, of Alexander Scott, and of a few others, what information can 

 be drawn from them? Can we even place credit in them' On this side of 

 Africa, the greatest advances hitherto made into the interior have been by 

 the French traveller Compagnon, who penetrated as far as Bambouk, and 

 by Mungo Park. 



All the northern border, with the exception of the ancient Cyrena'ica, is 

 tolerably well known; for which we are indebted to the travels of Schaw, 

 Jackson, and several others. We may, therefore, direct our researches to- 

 wards another direction. Within a short distance of this skirt or border, is 

 the line of country leading from Egypt to Syouah, in the country of Am- 

 nion, respecting which we possess considerable information. Brown and 

 Hornemann were the first travellers who visited Syouah. Calliaud and 

 Drovetti have since visited it, and have been followed by others; but 

 Hornemann is the only traveller who continued his researches in the same 

 line of country as far as Fezzan, and the still more remote parts, where 

 death arrested his course. His unhappy fate has not, however, deprived 

 geography of the advantage of his discoveries. Mourzouk has been made 

 better known to us by his relations, and is looked upon by travellers as the 

 entrance-gate of Central Africa. The enterprising Ritchie directed his steps 

 thither, with that ardour which we have all witnessed, and which cost that 

 intrepid young man his life. Capt. Lyon, the more fortunate companion of 

 his enterprize, advanced to a still greater distance, and prepared the way 

 for the En?lish expedition. Hornemann had laid down the position of 

 Mourzouk, and Ritchie and Lyon ascertained the shortest way leading to 

 it. The three English travellers, therefore, reached it without meeting any 

 obstacle; and aHliouarh situated at an immense distance in the interior, it 

 was only considered by them as a point of departure, whence they were 

 enabled to push their enquiries farther. In this manner it is that the va- 

 rious discoveries are of mutual assistance to each other, and that the 

 smallest acquisition is of the greatest importance to the progress of the 

 science of geography. The two latter travellers quitted Fezzan about the 

 end of 1822, and traversed, without stopping, the great desert which lies to 

 the north of Soudan. On arriving at about the 14th degree of north lati- 

 tude, they found themselves on the confines of the empire of Bornou.and 

 soon after" reached the capital itself, which had till then been placed by 

 geographers 600 miles more towards the north-west than was right ; which 

 (as a passing remark) may be taken as an instance of the little faith due to 

 the information given by the natives, as to the exact geography of the 

 country. One of these travellers, Major Denham, with a confidence bor- 

 dering on rashness, continued his route 300 miles farther, and engaged in 

 an adventerous expedition, in company with the negro mountaineers. In 



