PEDDIE. 123 



but soon became so ill that he could scarcely be conveyed 

 to the vessel. On reaching it, a sad scene awaited the sur 

 vivors. Cranch, Tudor, and Galwey were no more ; they 

 had successively sunk under the weight ef disease. Mr. 

 Smith soon shared their fate ; and Captain Tuckey himself, 

 on the 4th October, added one more to the number of deaths, 

 without having suffered the usual attack of fever. He had 

 been exhausted by constant depression and mental anxiety 



From this unhappy expedition, however, some informa- 

 tion was obtainetl respecting a part of Africa which had not 

 been visited for several centuries. No trace, indeed, was 

 seen of the great kingdoms, or of the cities and armies de- 

 scribed by the Portuguese missionaries ; so that, though the 

 interior may very probably be more populous than the banks 

 of the river, there must, in these pious narratives, have been 

 much exaggeration. The largest towns, or rather villages, 

 did not contain above a hundred houses, with five or six 

 hundred inhabitants. They were governed by chenoos, or 

 hereditary chiefs, having a power nearly absohite, and by 

 mafooks under them, who were chiefly employed in the 

 collection of revenue. The people are merry, idle, good- 

 humoured, hospitable, and liberal, with rather an innocent 

 and agreeable expression of countenance. The greatest 

 blemish in their character appears in the treatment of the 

 female sex, on whom they devolve all the laborious -duties 

 of life, even more exclusively than is usual among negro 

 tribes ; holding their virtue also in such slender esteem, 

 that the greatest chiefs unblushingly made it an object of 

 traffic. Upon this head, however, they have evidently 

 learned much evil from their intercourse with Europeans. 

 — The character of the vegetation, and the general aspect 

 of nature, are pretty nearly the same on the Congo as on 

 the other African rivers. 



Meantime the other part of the expedition under Major 

 Peddie, whose destination it was to descend the Niger, ar- 

 rived at the mouth of the Senegal. Instead of the beaten 

 track along the banks of that river, or of the Gambia, he 

 pr-e-ferred the route through the country of the Foulahs, 

 which, though nearer, was more difficult and less explored. 

 On-fche i7th November, 1816, he sailed from the Senegal, 

 safid on i4th December, the party, consisting of 100 men 

 and 200 animals, landed at Kakundy, on the Rio Nun-ez ; 



