AFRICAN EXPLORERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 53 
Tripoli. Hornemann, without giving the grounds of his 
calculation, informs us that the population amounts to 
75,000 inhabitants, all of whom profess Mohammedanism. 
Hornemann’s narrative gives a few more details of 
the manners and customs of the people. He ends his 
report to the African Society by saying that he proposes 
visiting Fezzan again in the hope of obtaining new 
facts. 
We learn, further, that Frendenburg, Hornemann’s 
faithful associate, died at Murzuk. Attacked by a 
violent fever, Hornemann was forced to remain much 
longer than he desired in that town. While still only 
partially recovered, he went to Tripoli for change and 
rest, hoping there to meet with Europeans. Upon the 
1st of December, 1799, he returned to Murzuk, and left 
it finally with a caravan upon the 7th of April, 1800. 
He was irresistibly attracted towards Bornu, and 
perished in that country, which was to claim so many 
victims. 
During the eighteenth century Africa was literally 
besieged by travellers. Explorers endeavoured to pene¬ 
trate into it from every side. More than one succeeded 
in reaching the interior, only to meet with repulse or 
death. The discovery of the secrets of this mysterious 
continent was reserved for our own age, when the un¬ 
expected wonders of its interior has astonished the 
civilised world. 
The facts relating to the coast of Senegal needed 
confirmation, but the French superiority was no longer 
undisputed. The English, with their earnest and enter¬ 
prising character, were convinced of its importance in 
the development of their commerce, and determined 
upon its exploration. But before proceeding to the nar¬ 
rative of the adventures of Major Houghton and Mungo 
Park, we will devote a small space to the record of the 
work done by the French naturalist, Michel Adanson. 
Devoted from early youth to the study of natural 
history, Adanson wished to become famous by the dis¬ 
covery of new species. It was hopeless to dream of 
obtaining them in Europe, and, in spite of opposition, 
