to conduct a new mission to Sackatoo. These promises, it is extremely probable, were mere inferences drawn from the empty boasts of the sultan; he being master neither of Rakah nor Fundah, nor of any place within a great distance of the Gulf of Benin. Be this as it may, there seemed good ground to expect a welcome for the British envoys when they should reach his capital; and in that direction, it was conjectured, were to be found the termination of the Niger, and also the most direct channel of trade with regions already ascertained to be the finest in Africa.

These were views to which the enterprising statesmen who conducted the naval government at home were never insensible. They equipped afresh Mr. Clapperton, now promoted to the rank of captain, and sent him to the Gulf of Benin; naming as his associates, Captain Pearce, an excellent draftsman, and Mr. Morrison, a naval surgeon of some experience, whose skill, it was hoped, might be of great avail in preserving the health of the whole expedition.

The mission, in the end of 1825, reached its destination; but, as might perhaps have been anticipated, they could hear nothing of Rakah or of Fundah, of any messengers sent by Bello, nor of any town that was subject to him on this coast. They were not, however, discouraged; and having consulted Mr. Houtson, whom a long residence had made thoroughly acquainted with the country, they were advised not to attempt ascending the banks of the river,—a circuitous track, and covered with pestilential swamps,-but to take the route from Badagry as the most direct and commodious, and by which, in fact, almost all the caravans from Houssa come down to the coast.

On the 7th December, 1825, the mission set out from Badagry on this grand journey into Interior Africa. But at the very first they were guilty of a fatal imprudence. During the nights of the 7th and 9th they slept in the open air, and on the last occasion in the public market-place of Dagmoo, without even their beds, which had been sent away by mistake. The consequence was, that in a day or two Morrison and Pearce were attacked with a dangerous fever, and Clapperton with fits of ague. It does not appear why they did not stop in one of the towns, and endeavour by rest to recruit their strength; on the contrary, they pushed on till the 22d, when Captain Clapperton, seeing the illness of his

companions increase, urged them either to remain behind or return to Badagry. They insisted on proceeding; but next day Dr. Morrison could struggle no longer, and departed for the coast: he died before reaching it. Captain Pearce persevered to the last, and sunk on the road, breathing his last at nine in the evening of the 27th. Clapperton was thus left to pursue his long and adventurous journey in very painful and desolate circumstances. He had only a faithful servant, Richard Lander, who stood by him in all his fortunes, with Pascoe, a not very trusty African, whom he had hired at Badagry.

After a journey of sixty miles, the travellers entered the kingdom of Yarriba, called also from its capital Eyeo. This country had long been reported on the coast as the most populous, powerful, and flourishing of all Western Africa, holding even Dahomey in vassalage. It answered the most favourable descriptions given of it; the fields were extensively cleared, and covered with thriving plantations of Indian corn, millet, yams, and cotton. A loom nearly similar to that used in England was busily plied; the women were spinning and dyeing the cloths with their fine indigo. These African dames were also seen going from town to town bearing large burdens on their heads, an employment shared by the numerous wives of the king of Eyeo; their majesties having nothing to distinguish them from the humblest of their fellow-countrywomen. Amid these laudable occupations, they exercised their powers of speech with such incessant perseverance as to confirm the Captain in what appears to have been with him an old maxim, that no power on earth, not even African despotism, can silence a woman's tongue; yet, as this loquacity seems to have been always exerted in kindness, he need not, we think, have groaned quite so heavily under its stunning influence.

The English travellers were agreeably surprised by the reception which they experienced during this journey. In Houssa they had laboured under the most dire proscription as Caffres, enemies of the prophet, and foredoomed to hell; and, as black is there the standard of beauty, their colour was considered by the ladies a deep leprous deformity, detracting from every quality that might otherwise have been agreeable in their persons. With the negro and pagan Eyeos there was no religious enmity; and having under

stood, by reports from the coast, the superiority of Europeans in arts and wealth, this people viewed them almost as beings of a superior order, to see whom they felt an eager and friendly curiosity. A rumour had also spread that they came to do good, and to make peace wherever there was war. On entering any town they were soon encircled by thousands, all desirous to see white men, and testifying respect, the males by taking off their caps, the women by bending on their knees and one elbow. In some places. singing and dancing were kept up through the whole night in celebration of their arrival.

The mission had now to cross a range of hills about eighty miles broad, reported to reach the whole way from behind Ashantee to Benin. The highest pinnacle was not supposed to exceed 2500 feet, which is a good deal lower than Skiddaw; but its passes were peculiarly narrow and rugged, hemmed in by gigantic blocks of granite 600 or 700 feet high, sometimes fearfully overhanging the road. The valley varied in breadth from 100 yards to half a mile; but every level spot, extending along the foot of these mountains, or even suspended amid their cliffs, was covered with fine crops of yams, millet, and cotton. A large population thus filled these alpine recesses, all animated with the most friendly spirit. Parties met the travellers on the road, or were stationed on the rocks and heights above, which echoed with choral songs and sounds of welcome. After ascending hill over hill they came to Chaki, a large and populous town, situated on the very summit of the ridge. Here the caboceer had a house and a large stock of provisions ready for them: he put many questions, and earnestly pleaded for a stay of two or three days.

After descending to the plain, and passing through a number of other towns, the party came to Tshow, where a ca boceer arrived from the king of Yarriba, with a numerous train of attendants both on foot and horseback. This chief, having shaken hands with them, immediately rubbed his whole body, that the blessing of their touch might be spread all over him. His people kept up through the night a constant hubbub,-singing, drumming, dancing, and firing; and, claiming free quarters, they devoured such a quantity of provisions that the party fared worse than in any other place. Next morning they set out with a crowded escort

of bowmen on foot, and of horsemen ill mounted but active, dressed in the most grotesque manner, and covered with charms. On reaching the brow of a hill, the great capital of Eyeo opened to the view, on the opposite side of a vast plain bordered by a ridge of granite hills, and surrounded by a brilliant belt of verdure. On reaching the gate they entered the house of a caboceer, till notice was sent to the king, who immediately invited them to his palace. They had five miles to march through this spacious capital, during which the multitude collected was so immense, and raised such a cloud of dust, that they must have stopped short, had not their escort, by a gentle but steady application of the whip and the cane, opened a way, and finally cleared a space in front of the throne. The king was sitting under a veranda, dressed in two long cotton tobes, and ornamented with three strings of glass beads, and a pasteboard crown covered with blue cotton, which had been procured from the coast. The mission, instead of the usual prostration, merely took off their hats, bowed, and presented their hands, which the king lifted up three times, calling out "Ako! ako!" (How do you do?) His wives behind, drawn up in a dense body, which the travellers vainly attempted to number, raised loud cheers, and smiled in the most gracious manner. After an interview of half an hour, the chief eunuch showed the party to handsome and commodious lodgings, where a good dinner was prepared. In the evening they were surprised by a visit from his majesty in plain patriarchal style, with a long staff in his hand, saying that he could not sleep without again inquiring after them.

Eyeo, or Katunga, capital of the kingdom of Yarriba, is fifteen miles in circumference, and supplied by seven large markets; but there are many open fields and spaces in this wide circuit, and hence the number of inhabitants could not even be conjectured. The population of the country must be very great, the whole being under cultivation, and the towns large and numerous. The government, in theory, is most despotic. The greatest chiefs, when they approach the sovereign, throw themselves prostrate on the ground. lie flat on their faces, and heap sand or dust upon their heads; and the same degrading homage is paid to the nobles by their inferiors. Yet the administration seems mild and paternal; no instances of wanton cruelty were

observed; and the flourishing state of the people showed clearly the absence of all severe oppression. The horrid and bloody customs, which produce such dark scenes in Ashantee and Dahomey, were mentioned here with detestation. At the death of the king only, a few of his principal ministers and favourite wives take poison, presented to them in parrots' eggs, that they may accompany and serve him in the invisible world. The first question asked by every caboceer and great man was, How many wives the king of England had being prepared, it should seem, to measure his greatness by that standard; but when told that he had only one, they gave themselves up to a long and ungovernable fit of laughter, followed by expressions of pity and wonder how he could possibly exist in that destitute condition. The king of Yarriba's boast was, that his wives, linked hand in hand, would reach entirely across the kingdom. Queens, however, in Africa are applied to various uses, of which Europeans have little idea. They were seen forming a large band of body-guards; and their majesties were observed in every part of the kingdom acting as porters, and bearing on their heads enormous burdens; so that whether they should be called queens or slaves seems scarcely doubtful.

The Eyeos, like other nations purely negro, are wholly unacquainted with letters or any form of writing; these are known only to the Arabs or Fellatas, who penetrate thither in small numbers; yet they have a great deal of extemporary poetry. Every great man has bands of singers of both sexes, who constantly attend him, and loudly cele brate his achievements in poems of their own composition. The convivial meetings of the people, even their labours and journeys, are cheered by songs composed for the occasion, and sung often with considerable taste. Their houses are mere clay-built cottages, yet studiously adorned with carving; the door-posts and every piece of furniture are covered with well-executed representations of warlike proces sions, and of the movements of huge serpents seizing their prey. They have also public performances, which do not indeed deserve the name of dramatic, as they consist of mere mimicry and buffoonery. The first act of a piece witnessed by the strangers exhibited men dancing in sacks, who per formed their part to admiration. One of the bags opened, and there came forth the boa constrictor, fourteen feet long

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