PREFACE. 



The following pages detail an attempt to 

 open a direct commercial intercourse with the 

 inhabitants of Central Africa. It is well known 

 that the attempt ended in a complete failure 

 to make that intercourse a profitable one, and 

 was attended with a melancholy loss of life. As 

 far as proving the navigability of the Niger, and 

 the ease and facility with which that mighty 

 stream may be used for the purposes of com- 

 merce, it was successful in no ordinary degree, 

 considering the novelty of the undertaking, the 

 complicated nature of a steam-vessel, and the 

 excessive mortality of the crews. 



I also hope that it has in some measure dis- 

 pelled the mystery which has so long enveloped 



