peal, and found no alternative but to make his way back by his former path. In all the places through which he passed, anxious inquiries were made about "his father," as the people called Clapperton; and when they heard of his death, they raised loud lamentations. He reached Badagry on the 21st November, 1827; but, being detained some time there and at Cape Coast Castle, did not reach England till the 30th April, 1828.

The British government were still indefatigable in their exertions to explore every region of Africa. At the same time that Clapperton proceeded on his second expedition, Major Laing, who had distinguished himself in the Ashantee war, and in the short excursion already mentioned towards the source of the Niger, undertook to penetrate to Timbuctoo, which, from the first era of modern discovery, has been regarded as the most prominent city of Central Africa. Tripoli was again chosen as the starting point, from which he directed his steps south-west across the Desert by way of Ghadamis. He set out under the protection of Sheik Babani, who had resided twenty-two years at Timbuctoo, and proved now to be governor of Ghadamis; but in the midst of the Desert, sixteen days after leaving Tuat, a band of ferocious Tuaricks surprised the cafila while Major Laing was in bed, and having inflicted twenty-four wounds, eight of them with a sabre, left him for dead. Through the care of his companions, however, he made a surprising recovery, numerous portions of bone having been extracted from his head and temples. After some farther delays he succeeded, on the 18th August, 1826, in reaching Timbuctoo, where he remained for up

wards of a month. Several letters were received from him dated at that celebrated city, respecting which, he stated, that, except in point of extent, which did not exceed the circuit of four miles, it had completely answered his expectation; that he had found its records copious and interesting; and had collected ample materials for correcting and improving the geography of this part of Africa. But his departure was hastened by the following circumstance: Labo, or Bello, Sultan of Masina, having obtained the supremacy over Timbuctoo, sent a letter to Osman, the governor, with instructions that the Christian, who, he understood, was expected there, should be forthwith expelled in such a manner as to leave him no hope of ever returning. Laing, thus obliged to accelerate his retreat, made an arrangement with Barbooshi, a Moorish merchant, to accompany and protect him in the route by Sego to the coast, which he had determined to follow. Three days after leaving Timbuctoo, when the caravan was in the heart of the Desert, this wretch, instigated by the basest avarice, murdered, in the night-time, the individual whom he had undertaken to guard, taking possession of all his effects. Yet Major Laing's papers, it appears, were carried to Timbuctoo; nay, the Quarterly Review has produced strong reasons for believing that they were actually conveyed back to Tripoli, and that it was owing to the vilest treachery, in a quarter where it ought least to have been apprehended, that they have not been forwarded to the British government. As, however, the light, which is still much wanted, may perhaps be hereafter thrown on this this

dark transaction, we wish not at present to allude to it in a more pointed manner.

Another journey was now announced, which, in the first instance, strongly excited the public expectation. The French savans proclaimed throughout Europe, that M. Caillié, their countryman, animated by the hope of a prize offered by the Society of Geography, had penetrated across Africa from Sierra Leone to Morocco, having passed through Jenne and Timbuctoo, those two great seats of commerce which modern travellers had sought so long to reach, and whence none had ever returned. Caillié, rewarded with a pension and the cross of the Legion of Honour, was immediately classed with the first of modern travellers. These somewhat extravagant pretensions, contrasted with the defects of the narrative itself when laid before the public, gave rise in high quarters to a doubt whether there were any reality whatever in this expedition, and whether M. Caillié were not another Damberger. On a careful examination of circumstances we are inclined to believe the accuracy of the narrative. There seems 'good authority for admitting his departure from Sierra Leone; for his having announced the intention to undertake this journey; and, lastly, for his arrival at Rabat in Morocco, in the condition of a distressed, way-worn traveller. His statement, too, with all its defects, bears an aspect of simplicity and good faith, and contains various minute details, including undesigned coincidences with facts ascertained from other quarters. His false reports of celestial phenomena might arise from his ignorance of such subjects; while his inaccuracies in regard to Ma

jor Laing might proceed from the defective hearsay information on which he depended. Perhaps these last form rather a presumption in his favour, since, in composing a forgery, he would probably have brought his statements into a studious agreement with those of the Quarterly Review, well known as the only authentic source in this country.

Though disposed to consider M. Caillie's expedition as genuine and authentic, we regard it nevertheless as having made only a limited addition to our knowledge of Interior Africa. English travellers had already explored the country all around Timbuctoo, had traced the Niger far beyond that city, and had ascertained its position in respect to the surrounding regions. The object now is, to obtain a description of Timbuctoo by an intelligent and learned traveller, which M. Caillié is not. He certainly deserves commendation for his enterprise; but fortune has denied him education, and nature has not

bestowed upon him any ample share of reflection or judgment. Nevertheless it was impossible to pass through such extensive and remarkable countries without gleaning some valuable information, of which we shall now endeavour to extract the most important particulars.

René Caillié was born in 1800, of poor parents, at Mauzé, in the department of the Deux Sèvres. The reading of voyages and travels, and especially of Robinson Crusoe, inspired him, he tells us, with such an unconquerable thirst for adventure as took away all relish for the sports and occupations of his age; and, after some opposition from his friends, he was permitted to follow his inclination. Having got a sight of some maps of Africa, the vast

spaces left vacant, or marked as unknown, excited in his mind a peculiar interest; hence, in 1816, he sailed from Rochefort for the Senegal. Some time after his arrival, having learned the departure of Major Gray's expedition for the interior, he resolved to join it, and actually set out on foot for that purpose; but the fatigue of walking over loose sand under a burning sun overpowered him, and he was happy to obtain a water-conveyance to Goree. He even left Africa, but returned in the end of 1818. Finding at St Louis a party setting out with supplies for Major Gray, he joined them, and arrived at Bondou, but only in time to witness and share the failure of that expedition.

M. Caillie's health having suffered severely from the fatigues of this journey, he returned and spent some years in France; but in 1824 he repaired again to the Senegal, and resumed his schemes of discovery. With the aid of M. Roger, the governor, he passed nearly a year among the tribe of Moors called Braknas, and conceived himself to have acquired such a knowledge of the manners and religion of that race as would fit him for travelling in the character of a converted Mohammedan on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Having returned to St Louis, he solicited from two successive governors the sum of 6000 francs, with which he undertook to reach Timbuctoo; but a deaf ear was turned to his application. He then repaired to Sierra Leone, and made the same request to General Turner and Sir Neil Campbell; but these officers could not be expected, without authority from home, to bestow such a sum on a foreigner possessing no very striking qualifications. They received him kindly, however, and gave him