MEMOIR OF BURCKHARDT. 23 



ing either of those streams, it was deemed possible 

 to reach the golden city of the wilderness, whose 

 wealth was considered full compensation for all the 

 dangers and fatigues to be encountered in approach- 

 ing it. The accomplishment of this object became 

 a favourite enterprise with several European na- 

 tions. 



In 1618, an English company was formed for 

 exploring the Gambia; and that same year, Mr. 

 Richard Thompson was sent out with a vessel of 

 1 20 tons, and a cargo worth nearly , 2000 sterling. 

 This expedition, however, and several others which 

 followed, proved unsuccessful, and led to nothing 

 but a better acquaintance with the inhabitants, ani- 

 mals, and productions of these hitherto unknown 

 countries. The only gold heard of, existed in the 

 descriptions of the natives, in mines which nobody 

 has yet discovered, or on the roofs of cities which 

 always happened to lie three or four months' jour- 

 ney into the interior. 



Whilst the English sought to penetrate to Tim- 

 buctoo by ascending the Gambia, the Senegal was 

 the branch which the French identified with the 

 Niger, and by which they endeavoured to attain the 

 same object. About the year 1626 they founded 

 the settlement of St. Louis at the mouth of that 

 river, and this, until lately, continued to be the 

 capital of their possessions in Africa. M. Janne- 

 quin, the Sieur Brue, and some other adventurers, 

 explored the country to the distance of four hundred 

 miles from the coast, and these efforts were conti- 



