1855.] 



NEW EXPEDITION INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 



307 



happening to unite witliin 100 yard.s ov so, of tlie beach of Lake 

 Erie. The western one is small, shallow, and matshy towards 

 its mouth ; but the eastern or main one, which is peculiarly 

 calculated to form a commodious harbour, capable of containing 

 100 vessels, consists of a fine clear channel, from twelve to 

 sixteen feet deep, and about twenty rods wide, extending full 

 half a mile inland, besides being skirted to the ea.stward by a 

 marshy bay of less depth, about 100 yards wide, the mass of 

 vegetation on the surface of which being known to rise and fall 

 with the level of the water in the creek, might easily be broken 

 up, and floated down into the lake, and thereby add much to 

 the capacity of the harbour. The land on the east side of this 

 bay is low; but that on the west side of the east creek forming 

 the point between the two branches, and also the right bank of 

 the west branch is high and commanding, and well suited for 

 a village site, being from twelve to sixteen feet above the water 

 level, with steep banks on both sides, and covered with stately 

 hard-wood forest. The soil also is good, being a light colored 

 sandy loam, resting upon yellow clay ; and there is no indication 

 of rocks or stones in the neighbourhood. The Talbot road 

 crosses both creeks about one mile and a half inland, where the 

 banks of the east branch are about thirty yards apart, and ten feet 

 deep, with a stream in the middle about thirty feet wide, and two 

 deep. xVs already observed, from the point of land at the con- 

 fluence of the two creeks to the beach of the lake is about 100 

 yards, and the month is sometimes obstructed by a dry sand- 

 bank or bar, formed by the wash of the surf; as was the case 

 when visited by my informants in the month of May, at which 

 time it was about three feet above the level of the lake, and 

 about thirty yards across. The lake oif the creek deepens 

 rapidly, there being sixteen feet about fifty yards from the shore ; 

 but there is a small shoal about 100 yards further out. Beyond 

 that, however, there is uninterrupted deep water, from three 

 fathoms upwards." 



As a striking instance of the facility with which a channel 

 may be cut through the sand bank at the mouth of the creek, 

 it may be mentioned that on the occasion alluded to my two 

 friends happening to stop there in the evening with a loaded 

 boat, they amu.sod themselves with scooping out with their 

 hands a very small channel, so as to allow the water to flow off 

 towards the lake ; and that in the morning they were not a 

 little astonished to find an opening through which they were 

 not only able to take their boat, but of such bread'th and depth 

 as to have admitted a schooner of considerable burtlicn. 



To be contiaucd. 



very little above tbe level of the lake — tli.at vessels, after effecting 

 an entrance arc, in a gale, liable to drag tlieir anchors and run aground 

 on the mud. It will, therefore, perhaps, not be wondered, that after 

 an expenditure of from £2').(J00 to X''!0,000 of the public money in the 

 attempt to convert the Itumleau into a safe harbour, and laying out the 

 town of Shrewsbury on its north side as a port of entry, it was judged 

 expeilient to abandon the undertaking, and transfer the unfinished 

 works tci a private ('ompany, by wlioni they have been allowed to go 

 to decay, wliile so unproductive have the harbour dues and customs 

 proved that tliey have seldom defrayed the expense of collection. Add 

 to whicl), by late account.?, (18o3), the Iocati(]n of the town has proved 

 nearly a failure; and the light-house at tlie point not having then been 

 liglited for a year, .'several vessels had been stranded outside tlie liarbour. 

 Shouhl, liowover, the plank-road between Clialham and Slirewsbury 

 be completed, and a line of steamers be cstablislicd between the Ron- 

 deau and Cleveland, there may yet be great changes, as though the 

 neighbouring mar.shcs arc very extensive, their imnu-diate connection 

 with the lake produces a constant Hux and rctlux in their waters, which 

 in a great liegree counteracts any miasmatic influence. 



Remarks on the Flavouring of Confectionary. 



In the last number of the Journal, ina paper on Food and its 

 Adulterations, abridged frooi the London Quarttrlij, reference 

 w;;s made to the use of certain substances now extensively 

 employed in giving peculiar flavours to various kinds of con- 

 fectionery, and thus successfully imitating those of difierent 

 fruits. The author, in endeavouring to excite a prejudice 

 against their use, says: — "All these delicate essences are 

 made from a preparation of ajther and rancid cheese and butter." 

 The fact is certainly true, but it may be doubted whether 

 it is a fair line of argument to attempt to create disgust against 

 any particular substance by referring to the sources from 

 which it is obtained. The various chemical processes and 

 operations to which the original matters are subjected, should 

 be described at the same time, and it would then appear that 

 the result is of a perfectly pure character, and bears not 

 the faintest resemblance to the sources from which it has been 

 obtained. 



No one objects to eat vegetables, or fine hot-house grapes, 

 although common manure is not an enticing article, and 

 grape growers much delight in dead horses for their vine 

 borders. 



But a much more forcible argument against the validity of 

 this objection is to be found in the fact, that one of the most 

 curious discoveries of modern chemistry is the existence in 

 plants, flowers and fruits, of certain flavouring principles which 

 on examination are found to be of precisely the same nature as 

 the substances artificially prepared for the above mentioned 

 purpose. Several eases of this kind have been discovered, of 

 which we need only mention a few : — the sweet scent of the 

 Winter Green is owing to the presence of Salicylate of Methyle, 

 a compound possessing all the characters of an aether. The 

 flavour of the Quince is owing to Pelargonate of .il^Ithyle, 

 another perfect aether, which, like the former, can be readily 

 prepared in the laboratory. I am not aware that the essence 

 of the pine-apple has been separated in a pure state, but there 

 can be but little doubt that it is Butyric ^Ether, or at any rate 

 an asther of one of the analogous volatile fatty acids. Butyric 

 acid itself (derived from "rancid butter") is found in the 

 " St. John's bread," (the fruit of Ccratonia SiUgna,') so that 

 Dame Nature seems as liable to the same objection as the 

 confectioners. 



Several other instances might be adduced, but the above 

 will sufiice to show the probability of our artificial flavourings 

 being iu many cases absolutely the same as those existing in 

 the natural products. This certainly docs not hold good with 

 all, the artificial essence of Ratafia (Nitrobenzide) is purely a 

 product of manufacture and only resembles the oil of bitter 

 almonds in its smell, it remains to be proved, however, that it 

 is injurious in its eifccts, a priori one would judge it to be less 

 hurtful than the crude oil or its preparations. 



n. c. 



New Kxpcdltlou luto CciiCral AO-lca.* 



The limits of the great unexplored region of .Africa may be roughly 

 indicated by the parallels of lU" north and south from the equator, 

 and extending from .\damaus in the west to the Somanli country in 

 the east. This extensive region is just touched by the routes of .South- 

 African explorers, Livingston and Lacerda, — and by the .\byssinian 

 travellers, by liarth, Overweg, Vogel, and the Thaddn Expedition in 

 the north. The greatest inroad into this unknown region has been 

 made by travelling up the I5alir el Abaid, or White lliver, on which 

 and along which there has been a continuous tide of explorers since 

 1835, when the Egyptian Government despatched an Expedition up 



* AtheniTinm, 



