253 



CLAPPERTON CLARE. 



canon law, he was much distinguished, anil possess- 

 ed, also, a competent knowledge of Greek, Latin, 

 and Hebrew. He prosecuted nis ecclesiastical la- 

 bours at \Vindham, Connecticut, from 1726 to 1739, 

 when he succeeded the reverend Elislia Williams in 

 the presidency of Yale college. He was an impres- 

 sive and powerful preacher, and a man of exemplary 

 piety and singular industry. His religious sentiments 

 were in accordance with the Calvinism of the West- 

 minster assembly. He constructed the first orrery 

 or planetarium made in America, and published a 

 History of Yale College, a Brief History and Vindi- 

 cation of the Doctrines received and established in 

 the Churches of New England, two Sermons, and 

 ( ' on jectures upon the Nature and Motion of Meteors 

 which are above the Atmosphere. He had prepared 

 il.so materials for a history of Connecticut, but his 

 manuscripts were carried off in the expedition against 

 New Haven under general Tryon. He died on the 

 7th of January, 1767, in the 64th year of his age, 

 having resigned his station as president the year 

 previous. 



CLAPPERTON, captain HUGH, the African tra- 

 veller, was born in Annan, Dumfries-shire, in 1788. 

 After some elementary instruction in practical ma- 

 thematics, he was bound apprentice at the age of 

 thirteen, to the owner of a vessel trading between 

 Liverpool and North America, in which he made 

 several voyages. He was then impressed into the 

 king's service, was soon after made a midshipman, 

 served on the American lakes in the year 1815, 

 and, in 1816, received the commission of lieutenant. 

 Having retired to Scotland, he became acquainted 

 with doctor Oudney, who was about to embark for 

 Africa, and requested permission to accompany him. 

 Lieutenant (since colonel) Denham having volunteer- 

 ed his services, and it being intended that researches 

 should be made, to the east and west, from Bornou, 

 where doctor Oudney was to reside as British con- 

 sul, his name was added to the expedition by lord 

 Bathurst. In the Recent Discoveries in Africa, 

 made in 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain 

 Clapperton and Doctor Oudney (London, 1826), we 

 have accounts of an excursion from Mourzouk to 

 Ghraat, a town of the Tuarics, by doctor Oudney ; 

 of a journey across the desert to Bornou, of various 

 expeditions to the southward and eastward, by ma- 

 jor Denham ; and of an excursion through Soudan 

 to the capital of the Fellatahs, by captain Clapper- 

 ton. The expedition set out from Mourzouk, Nov. 

 29, 1822, and arrived at lake Tchad, in the kingdom 

 of Bornou, Feb. 4, after a journey of 800 miles. Six 

 days after they entered the capital, Kouka, Clapper- 

 ton, in company with doctor Oudney, who died on 

 the way, set out on an expedition to Soccatoo, the 

 capital of Houssa, more than 700 miles east of Kouka, 

 which he reached in ninety days. He was not per- 

 mitted to pursue his journey to the west, and return- 

 ed to Kouka, and thence to England in 1 825. The 

 information which the travellers collected, in regard 

 to the habits and commerce of the people ofCentral 

 Africa, was important, as showing the existence in 

 that quarter of a large population of a peaceable dis- 

 position, and possessed of a considerable civilization. 

 The geographical information collected was not with- 

 out its value, although it left undecided the disputed 

 questions of the course and termination of the Niger. 

 They proceeded south from Tripoli (lat. 32 30^ to 

 Musfeia (lat. 9" 10% being 1400 miles in difference 

 of latitude, and from Zangalia, on the east of lake 

 Tchad (Ion. 17 E.), to Soccatoo (Ion. 6 E.), making 

 a difference of longitude of 660 miles. They thus 

 determined the position of the kingdoms of Mandara, 

 Bornou and Houssa, their extent, and the position of 

 their principal cities. On his return to England, 



lieutenant Clapperlon received the rank of captain, 

 and was immediately engaged, by lord Bathurst, for 

 a second expedition, to start from the Bight of Ben- 

 in. Leaving Badagry, Dec. 7, 1825, he pursued a 

 north-easterly direction, with the intention of reach- 

 ing Soecatoo and Bornou. Two of his companions 

 captain Pearce and doctor Morrison, perished a sheet 

 time after leaving the coast, and Clapperton pursued 

 his way, accompanied by his faithful servant Lander. 

 At Katunga, he was within thirty miles of the Quorra 

 or Niger, but was not permitted to visit it. Continu- 

 ing his journey north, he reached Ksino, and then 

 proceeded westward to Soccatoo, the residence of his 

 old friend Bello. Bello refused to allow him to pro- 

 ceed to Bornou, and detained him a long time in liis 

 capital. This conduct appears to have arisen from 

 the war then existing between Bello and the sheik 

 of Bornou, and to the intrigues of the pacha of Tri- 

 poli, who had insinuated that the. British meditated 

 the conquest of Africa, as they had already conquer- 

 ed India. This disappointment preyed upon Clap- 

 perton's mind, and he died, April 13, 1827, at Chuii- 

 gary, a village four miles from Soccatoo, of a dysen- 

 tery. (See Journal of a second Expedition from Kano 

 to the sea-coast, partly by a more eastern Route, Lon- 

 don, 182s) ; Philadelphia, 1829 ; to which is added the 

 Journal of Richard Lander the servant of Clapper- 

 ton.) Clapperton was the first European who tra- 

 versed the whole of Central Africa, from the Bight 

 of Benin to the Mediterranean. We have thus a 

 continuous line from Tripoli to Badagry, which is of 

 great importance from the assistance which it will 

 afford to future researches. Clapperton was a man 

 without education, but intelligent and impartial ; of 

 a robust frame and a happy temperament. He was 

 capable of enduring great hardships. His know- 

 ledge of the habits and prejudices of the Central 

 Africans, his frank, bold, and cheerful manners, would 

 have rendered him 'peculiarly useful in promoting 

 the designs of the British government in that quar- 

 ter. 



CLARE, the most northern of the six counties into 

 which the province of Munster, Ireland, is divided, 

 is bounded on a part of the north by Galway Bay, on 

 the \vest by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south and east 

 by the river Shannon, and on the north-east by Gal- 

 way county. The surface generally consists of moun- 

 tain and bog ; the Sliebhboghta hills, the district of 

 Doolan, and all the southern part of the county ad- 

 joining the Shannon is a bog resting on sandstone 

 rock, and might be unproved by lime, the carriage of 

 which would be easy by the Shannon navigation. 

 The Burrin Mountains, which occupy the north-west, 

 rest on limestone, and turf is procured by the inha- 

 bitants from the opposite shores of Connemara. The 

 junction of the schistose and limestone districts con- 

 stitutes a broad belt of rich ground, as is the case at 

 Riverstone, Shally, Applevale, Lememagh, SEC., but 

 the most fertile and celebrated lands hi Clare are 

 those districts on the banks of the Shannon and the 

 Fergus rivers, called in this country carcasses. The 

 corcasses are of various breadths, and indent the land 

 in a great variety of shapes. The principal rivers are 

 the Shannon, the Fergus, the Ougarnee, the Ardsal- 

 les, Clareen, Boagh, and Inistymon. Like most 

 mountainous counties, Clare has numerous lakes, 

 Lough Terriog, situated upon the summit of Sliebh- 

 boghta ; Lough Grany, or the Lake of the Sun, and 

 Loughs Tedane, Inchiquin, and O'Grady are among 

 the most extensive. Agriculture is the only occupa- 

 tion of the inhabitants ; and the feeding of sheep upon 

 the extensive mountain pastures is a source of much 

 wealth. Coals have been found, but in beds of in- 

 sufficient thickness, and at great depths ; good flags, 

 slates of a superior quality, limestone, ironstone. 



