THE 
EDINBUKGH 
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 
Art. I. — Account of the Correspondence between Mr Park and 
Mr Maxwell^ respecting the Identity the Congo and the 
Niger. By the Rev. William Brown, D. D. Minister at 
Eskdalemuir. Communicated by the Author. (Continued 
from p. 114. No. V.) 
The information contained in a former article, with a tender 
of his Loango and Mayumba vocabulary, formed the substance 
of Mr Maxwell’s first letter to Mr Park. That Mr Park might 
enjoy the advantage of all the experience which Mr Maxwell 
derived from sixteen voyages to Africa, twelve of which were up 
the Congo, as master of a trading vessel, and conducted, as we 
have seen, with unusual intelligence and ability, Mr Maxwell 
wrote him a second letter three months afterwards, (1st January 
1805,) in which he communicated some additional information, 
of which the following is a literal abstract. 
Mr Maxwell’s ascent of the Congo, as formerly stated, would 
have been conducted under the pretence of trade, which would 
have enabled him to secure the fidelity of those natives whom he 
must necessarily have hired at Cabenda or Embomma. But, in 
the event of its being prosecuted entirely as a voyage of disco^ 
very^ the case would be somewhat altered ; for he did not know 
how far such a number of the natives could then be depended 
upon. As Banza Congo, however, is reckoned the Montpelier 
of Africa, we may reasonably conclude that the marsh effluvia, 
arising from the low grounds and stagnant water about the 
mouth of the river, are attracted and condensed by the mountains 
east of Embomma, rendering the country to the eastward of 
these mountains healthy like Banza Congo, (which is said 
to be at no great distance,) as his boats indeed found, when tra- 
VOL. III. NO. VI. OCTOBER 1820. 
p 
