AFRICAN EXPLORERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 55 
the chief food of certain wild tribes ; of the white ants, 
and the dwellings they construct; and of a certain kind 
of oyster, which attach themselves to trees at the mouth 
of the Gambia. He says :— 
“ The natives have not the difficulty one might anti¬ 
cipate in catching them ; they simply cut off the bough 
to which they cling. They often cluster to the number 
of 200 on one branch, and if there are several branches, 
they form a bunch of oysters such as a man could 
scarcely carry.” 
In spite of the interest of these and similar dis¬ 
coveries, there are few new facts for the geographer to 
glean. A few words about the Yolofs and Mandingoes 
comprise all there is to learn. If we followed Adanson 
throughout his explorations, we should gain little fresh 
information. 
The same cannot be said of the expedition of which 
we are about to give some account. Major Houghton, 
captain in the 69th regiment, and English Governor of 
the. Fort of Goree, had been familiar from his youth— 
part of which was passed with the English embassy in 
Morocco—with the manners and customs of the Moors 
and the negroes of Senegambia. In 1790 he proposed 
to the African Society to explore the course of the 
Niger, penetrate as far as Timbuctoo and Houssa, and 
return by way of the Sahara. The carrying out of this 
bold plan met with but one obstacle, but that was almost 
sufficient to upset it. 
Houghton left England upon the 16th of October, 
1790, and anchored in Jillifree harbour, at the mouth of 
the Gambia, upon the 10th of November. Well received 
by the King of Barra, he followed the .course of the 
Gambia to a distance of 300 leagues, traversed the 
remainder of Senegambia, and reached Gonda Konda in 
Yanvi. 
Walknaer, in his ‘ History of Voyages,’ says “ He 
purchased a negro, a horse, and five asses, and prepared 
to proceed with the merchandise which was to pay his 
expenses to Mendana, the capital of the little kingdom 
of Woolli. Fortunately his slight knowledge of the 
