A NARRATIVE 
OF THE 
EXPEDITION TO THE RIVER NIGER. 
CHAPTER I. 
Ancient Copts first acquainted with the interior of Africa— Herodotus, 
his account of the earliest African explorers — Ptolemy — Greeks and 
Romans—Imperfect knowledge of the interior of Africa— Arab tra- 
vellers— Ibn Batuta and Leo Africanus— First Association formed 
in England for promoting discovery in Africa— Messrs. Ledyard and 
Lucas— Major Houghton— Mungo Park, his discoverj- of the Niger 
— Horneman — Park's second expedition — Captain Tuckey's attempt 
to penetrate Africa by the Zaire— Ritchie and Lyon— Clapperton, 
Oudney andDenham’s overland route— Clapperton’s second attempt 
— Sultan Bellos’ idea of the Nile and Kowara, or Niger — Major 
Laing reaches Timbukthh — Richard and John Lander trace the 
Niger from Bussah to the coast— Commercial Expedition formed at 
Liverpool to ascend the Niger— Lieutenant W. Allen accompanies 
it— Mr. Macgregor Laird and Richard Lander take charge of the 
enterprise — Its failure as a commercial speculation — Mr. Becroft 
ascends the Niger. 
The vast regions of central Africa, for inscrutable 
purposes, have been, as it were, a sealed book which 
has excited and eluded the curiosity of civilized nations 
of all ages. Although many attempts have been made 
VOL. I. B 
