THE SlvAVE QUESTION. 
403 
womded^'^: the Commander of the Expedition being the 
last M'ho abandoned the field. 
If this should not be considered sufficient to account 
for failure, other — secondary — causes may be traced to 
the anxious desire of the promoters of the Expedition 
that it should be wanting in nothing which might be 
conducive to the safety of the crews, or the furtherance 
of the great object in view. These solicitudes undoubt- 
edly occasioned a fatal delay; especially on account 
of the model farm, which, though on too small a scale 
to justify the sanguine expectations of its benevolent 
founders, was much too cumbersome to be imposed 
on an Expedition having a mission to fulfil of more 
immediate importance. 
We trust to be exonerated from any intention of 
imputing blame, especially when wo know that all 
was done from the most praiseworthy motives; but 
being a fait accompli, we deem it to be our duty to 
point out this mistake, as it is probable that, had the 
detention been only to land a few agriculturists with 
some simple tools at the Confluence, to make a com- 
mencement, the Expedition, with the same, or perhaps 
with a little less, amount of mortality and suffering, 
might have reached Rabbah on the Niger, and some 
important place far up on the Chadda. But with 
such a primary element of failure, who can say what 
* See Appendix; statement of the crews, and Vital Statistics of the 
Expedition at its close. 
2 D 2 
