VIU PREFACE. 



There is a strange fascination in traversing 

 unknown regions, that ever lures the traveller 

 onward, and the trials, difficulties, and perils he 

 may encounter, en route, are to him only like so 

 many rough stepping-stones, which enable him to 

 pass over a turbulent stream. 



In the following pages, some of which have pre- 

 viously appeared in "Baily's Magazine," I have 

 endeavoured to record my impressions of some of 

 the grandest scenery on the earth, as well as the 

 dreary swamps of the West Coast of Equatorial 

 Africa. I have painted the Negro as I found him 

 in his natural state, and have shown the absurdity 

 of placing " the igiiorant savage " upon an equality 

 with " the civilised man'^ which appears to be the 

 object of a certain influential party in England, 

 whose philanthropic feelings have been worked 

 upon by false representations, and who, perhaps 

 unconsciously, are doing their country an injury 

 which they can never repair. Although I am 



