166 APPENDIX. 
be in no way hostile to the presence of a stranger among 
them. ‘This last element, in the problem, is however, the 
most doubtful. Considering moreover the great extent o 
the Equatorial line as it spans from sea to sea, being greater 
than any one route yet realized by a Kuropean on this con- 
tinent, we cannot tell how far indications at one end are re- 
sponsive to realities at the other, and heavy indeed therefore 
would the probabilities be against the attempt to cross it 
there, proving different in its result from the many disastrous 
enterprizes which already have exhibited to us—the angel of 
Death as the peculiar guardian of its secrets. 
It is remarkable that almost simultaneously, both here 
and in London, attention has been directed peculiarly to 
the region which our expedition proposes to explore. A 
pamphlet has been published by Mr. Cooley, recommending 
for that purpose an incursion from De la Goa Bay, and it is 
understood that a traveller, in some respect or other, under 
the sanction and patronage of the Royal Geographical So- 
ciety of London, has been dispatched to make the attempt. 
Now the pamphlet, though presenting a compact and cor- 
rect view generally of what is known in regard to the tribes 
and countries towards the interior, is tinged with considerable 
misapprehension of the condition of the place proposed as a 
starting point. The fluctuating circumstances of its popula- 
tion, and their consequent want of resources, combined with 
the deadly influence of its climate, the more favourable con- 
ception of which in Mr. Cooley’s pamphlet is founded on 
very insufficient grounds, cannot fail, as far as we can judge, 
to render such a scheme utterly abortive, or at the best, pro- 
ductive of a very fruitless waste of life, and of the resources 
of the highly talented and prospering association which sup- 
ports it. Let us remark, however, with regret, that whether 
it was that our proposals reached it in a time of great incon- 
