THE AFRICAN LION IN ITS NATIVE HAUNTS. 321 
of good omen, as lie said before leaving), for Lagos, accom- 
panied only by a photographic assistant ; and from that place it 
was his intention to proceed to Whidah (where the slaves are 
shipped), and thence through the possessions of the cannibal 
King of Dahomey to the river Niger. 
We hope to be able to communicate further details of his 
route in a future number ; meanwhile, we may mention under 
what circumstances he set out. 
His reputation for bravery preceded him from France, 
and gained for him the goodwill of every class of society. 
Sporting men, from noble dukes downwards, made him their 
companion and friend. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and 
of the Colonies, the merchants of Liverpool, the manufacturers 
of Manchester, and scientific men in every place that he visited, 
lent him their aid, “ material and moral •” and before his 
departure, the Royal Geographical Society presented him with 
a set of excellent instruments to enable him to take accurate 
observations on his geographical tour. 
But it is chiefly to the friendship of the Duke of Wellington 
that he owes his good fortune, and if it please Providence that 
another adventurous and high-minded man should penetrate 
into the gloomy regions of cannibalism and the slave-trade, 
and that he should do something to mitigate the horrors of 
these most fearful of human crimes, much of the result will 
be due to the prompt and generous support afforded by his 
Grace* to our author, nay, we may say our hero, at the most 
critical period of his projected undertaking. 
As M. Gerard is not here to read our eulogium (for that he 
is as modest as he is brave all will say who know him), we may 
state that he is in every respect peculiarly fitted for his mission. 
As far as a somewhat brief acquaintance has enabled us to 
judge, he combines with the courage and determination of a 
soldier a gentle disposition, (which was pained when he found 
he had deprived the lioness and her young of their protector), 
scrupulous honour, French politeness, and English friendship ; 
and if a good shot, an unbending will, and the winning ways of 
a man of the world be of any avail, M. Gerard will command 
as friendly a reception from his Majesty of Dahomey as he has 
experienced in civilized society in England. 
When he started, he spoke with great confidence of the estab- 
lishment of a colony and trading, station in some healthy 
portion of the interior of western equatorial Africa, and we 
trust that in the cause of civilization and progress, as well as 
for his own sake, his enterprise may be carried to a successful 
issue. 
* Also by Earl Kussell and the Duke of Newcastle. 
