168 DISCOVERIES OF THE ENGLISH. 
was not intimidated by the intelligence of this 
terrible disaster. He formed an establishment up 
the river, and merely sent intelligence to his em- 
ployers at home of what had befallen him, and of 
the necessity of farther aid ; but assured them, 
that, with eight men, who still remained, he would 
use his utmost efforts to ascend the Gambia. The 
Company, without a moment's delay, fitted out a 
new vessel of 50 tons, with a suitable cargo. The 
very first accounts received of it, however, were of 
the most unfavourable nature. It had arrived at 
a most inauspicious season, without using any skill 
or attention to guard against its effects ; and the 
consequence was, that, in a very short time, nearly 
the whole crew fell victims to the climate. The 
letters of Thompson, however, still expressing the 
same confidence and determination as ever, the 
Company immediately fitted out a new expedition, 
on a larger scale. It consisted of two vessels, 
one of ^00, and another of 50 tons, which were 
placed under the command of Captain Richard 
JoBsoN, who proved himself to be a man of reso- 
lution and capacity. He set sail on the 5th Oc- 
tober 1620, a period which afforded the promise 
of his reaching Africa at a favourable period of 
the year. After touching at the Canaries, he ar- 
rived in February at the mouth of the Gambia. 
The first intelligence which there reached him, 
was the death of Thompson. A deep mystery 
