8 THE FAMILY LIBRARY. 



civilized world ; its history and character, therefore, become 

 an object of curiosity with every enlightened mind. Con- 

 sidered as part of the general annals of the world, uncon- 

 nected with religion, it furnishes most interesting records of 

 the human race ; but viewed as part of the chain of predicted 

 events, having a direct reference to the Christian Church, 

 it urges a stronger claim to our attention. The events of 

 Mahomet's life are to be found in works inaccessible from 

 their costliness, discouraging from their bulk, and sometimes 

 written in Eastern characters. This volume is a compilation 

 from the most authentic. 



JOURNAL 



OF AN EXPEDITION" TO EXPLOEE THE COURSE 

 AND TERMINATION OF THE NIGER. 



By RICHARD and JOHN LANDER. 



With Portraits, Engravings, and a Map, showing the course of 

 the Niger. 



With slight encouragement from the Colonial Office, these 

 young men set out on an enterprise which in all previous 

 instances had led to death ; and all who knew the nature of 

 the climate, and the hardships they must encounter, predicted 

 that the only news their countrymen would ever receive 

 concerning them, would be some obscure rumour of their 

 destruction. The narrative shows how often such predictions 

 were on the point of being verified. There is scarcely a 

 misery to be endured by human nature that these young men 

 have not encountered; they have been frequently on the 

 brink of death they have been imprisoned they have been 

 sold as slaves they have been plundered, and obliged to 

 swim for their lives, not sure, in the end, that they were not 

 swimming into greater danger and, to crown the whole, 

 they have been brutally treated and nearly sacrificed to the 

 cupidity and revenge of savages by one of their own coun- 

 trymen. In spite of all these obstacles, by means of patience 

 and perseverance, by enthusiasm and resignation, by courage 

 and long-suffering, they finally triumphed over every species 

 of resistance, and, what is more, completely gained their 

 object. 



The result of Captain Clapperton's discoveries was a very 

 shrewd guess that the Niger flowed westward, and into the 



