* 
Geographical Collections. 453 
Council of Cape Coast Castle, Mr. Murray, surgeon, and other officers sent by 
the African Company, but who were totally unconnected with the mission of the 
Messrs. Lander, and were to be left at the latter settlement. The travellers were 
to have been taken out in a king’s ship; but as they were anxious to reach the 
high countries before the rainy season, which will commence in March, they were 
unwilling to delay their journey beyond what was absolutely necessary, and there- 
fore took advantage of the Alert, which will carry them as far as Cape Coast 
Castle. They take with them instructions from the Secretary of State, addressed 
to the captain of the first king’s ship they may chance to meet, after leaving the 
Alert, and directing him to convey them to Badagry, where he or his officers are 
to introduce the travellers in the name of our sovereign to the king of that coun- 
try, Adolee by name. They will from thence proceed to Katunga, the capital of 
Yarlba, from thence to Boussa, (where Mungo Park was lost,) with a view to 
trace the river Niger to its termination. If the river should be found to flow into 
the Bight of Benin, the young men will return by that route; if, on the contra- 
ry, it should be found to fiow to the eastward, into the lake Tschadan Bornou, 
they will return over the Great Desert to Tripoli, by way of Fezzan. 
Captain Dillon.—Chevalier Captain Peter Dillon, the discoverer of the remains 
of the expedition of La Perouse, the French circumnavigator, has lately been ap- 
pointed French vice-consul at Valparaiso and the Southern Seas, and is to sail 
shortly with an expedition which is now preparing at Brest for Madagascar with 
missionaries, and to visit the different islands to see if there are not still some 
persons living of that fatal expedition. 
Liberation of M. Bonpiand.—Accounts have reached Europe of the liberation 
of this celebrated naturalist, the companion of Humboldt, whem the dictator, Dr. 
Francia, has so long detained a prisoner in Paraguay. We anticipate very inte- 
resting details respecting that country from his pen. The following is translated 
from El Universal, a journal published at Monte-Video, of the 13th of Novem- 
ber :— 
<¢ M. Bonpland has at length obtained permission to leave Paraguay, and was 
at the time of the last packet’s sailing from Buenos Ayres at Corrientes.” 
Corrientes, we may observe, is a town in the province of Entre Rios, upon the 
Parana, and the nearest town to Paraguay. 
This intelligence has been confirmed by two Portuguese passengers, who left 
Bonpland at Itaprea, on the eve of embarking to preceed by the Parana to Cor- 
rientes, and afterwards to Buenos Ayres. 
Lakes of the West of America.—From statements published in the New York 
Statesman, it appears that Lake Ontario is 80 miles long, 40 miles broad, and 
500 feet in depth; its surface is supposed to be elevated 213 feet above the level 
of the sea. Lake Erie is 270 miles broad, 200 feet deep, and at Albany 563 
feet above the level of the sea. Lake Huron is 250 miles long, 100 miles broad, 
900 feet deep, and about 595 feet above the level of the sea. Lake Michigan is 
about 260 miles long, 50 miles in breadth, and its depth unknown. Green Bay 
Lake is 105 miles long, and 20 miles broad. Lake Superior is 480 miles long, 
109 miles broad, 900 feet in depth, and its surface is 1048 feet above the level of 
the sea. This lake is the principal fountain of the imposing mass of water which 
feeds the rivers, spreads itself in lakes, and resounds over the cataracts of Niagara, 
St. Lawrence, &c. | After forming part of a sphere, 20 degrees to the south, and 
embellishing and fertilizing one of the most interesting parts of the globe, it emp- 
ties itself into the sea, 2000 miles from its springs. 
i ee ey 
