merical descriptions of Timbuctoo, derived from the conflicting and exaggerated statements of native traders. But the travels of Clapperton and his coadjutors, and of the indefatigable Landers, have rendered Africa more than ever an object of interest. We have hitherto viewed the discoveries made in its interior merely as accessions to geographical science; but they now assume an aspect of much greater importance. An outlet has long been wanting for the superabundant manufactures of Great Britain. The industry of its inhabitants, assisted as it is by almost infinite powers of machinery, has far exceeded the demands of other nations; and to this in no inconsiderable degree may be referred that stagnation of trade of which, from time to time, we hear such universal complaints. The shores of the Niger and of its gigantic branches appear likely to supply the desideratum; and long indeed will it be, ere the immense tracts of thickly-inhabited land, watered by that river, are satiated with British manufactures. The facilities which it offers to trade have not escaped the attention of the merchants of Liverpool. With that enterprise and public spirit which characterise their flourishing town, they sent, immediately after the return of the Landers, a commercial expedition to the interior of Africa; and though, perhaps, its success has not equalled the wishes of its projectors, there can be little doubt of the advantage we shall ultimately derive from it. Under these circumstances, it has been thought that a concise and popular narrative of the earliest expeditions to this continent would not be uninteresting to the readers of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.

The north of Africa has been known to the European nations from the very earliest period of authentic history. The names of Egypt, of Lybia, and Carthage, are as familiar to the classical reader as those of Greece and Rome. To the south, however, there remained a vast expanse of land and ocean unexplored. The extent of this unknown region, the peculiar features of its animals

and scenery, and the uncertainty as to its form and termination, riveted upon it the attention of the ancient civilized world. All the expeditions of discovery on record, (except those of Nearchus and Pytheas,) had Africa for their object. Herodotus, whose interesting and faithful narrative, however he may have been accused of exaggeration and credulity, is still read with so much delight, spent a considerable time in Egypt, in order to collect information on Africa; and the enthusiastic historian seems to be enraptured with the wild accounts of those who had sailed up the Nile, and visited the mysterious homes of Ammon and the shepherd Kings. Extraordinary efforts appear to have been made at an early age to effect the circumnavigation of Africa. The first attempt is that recorded by Herodotus, as having been undertaken by order of Necho, King of Egypt. The narrative relates, that certain Phenician navigators, employed by that enterprising Monarch, set sail from the Red Sea into the Southern Ocean. They continued to navigate along the exterior coast of Africa until their provisions were exhausted. They then landed, sowed a crop, waited till the harvest was gathered in, and with this new supply, continued their journey. In this manner they spent two years, and a part of a third; at the end of which time they arrived at the Pillars of Hercules, and sailed up the Mediterranean to Egypt. They related that, in passing round Africa, they had the sun to the right, that is, to the north of their course; a report which Herodotus refuses to believe, but which, to us, who know that such must have been its position, affords the strongest presumption in their favour. This narrative has been the subject of much learned and curious discussion. Although several have endeavoured to prove that it is altogether beyond any means which navigation, at that infant period, could call into action, the learned arguments of Major Rennell throw upon the relation a very strong aspect of probability.

The next expedition worth narrating was undertaken by a single, un

aided, and even persecuted, individual. Eudoxus, a native of Cyzicus, being sent with the presents of his country to the Corinthian Games, touched, on his way, at Alexandria. Here his geographical science and unbounded zeal for discovery recommended him to the notice of Evergetes, who then reigned in Egypt. A plan seems at first to have been formed for exploring the Nile in the higher parts of its course. While this was under discussion, however, there was brought to Alexandria a native of India, who had been shipwrecked near the foot of the Arabian Gulf. This person undertook to become a guide in showing the naval route to India. Such an expedition entirely suited the genius and views of Eudoxus; and he was accordingly appointed to the chief command. He returned laden with wealth; of which he complains that he was deprived by the King. However, a new expedition was fitted out for the same destination. In this voyage the wind drove him upon the eastern coast of Africa, where he landed at several points, carried on some trade, and held considerable intercourse with the natives. A desire to perform the circuit of that continent seems here to have seized his mind, and to have become ever after its ruling passion. It so happened that he found here the remnant of a wreck, said to have come from the westward, and which consisted merely of the joint of a prow, on which a horse was carved. This prow being carried to Alexandria, and shown to some persons from Cadiz, was declared by them to resemble exceedingly those attached to a particular species of fishing vessels which frequently resorted to the coast of Mauritania; and they added, that some of these vessels had actually gone to the westward and had never returned. All doubt seemed now at an end; and Eudoxus thought only of effecting his grand expedition. Conceiving himself injured by Cleopatra, who had now succeeded Evergetes, he determined no longer to rely on the patronage of courts, but repaired to Cadiz, a great commercial city, where the

prospect of a new and unobstructed route to India could not fail to excite the highest interest. On his way from Alexandria he passed by Marseilles, and a number of other maritime states, where he loudly announced his intention, and invited all who were animated by any spirit of enterprise to take a share in its execution. He accordingly succeeded in fitting out an expedition on a very large scale, and equipped almost with regal pomp. He had one large and two small vessels, on board of which were embarked, not only provisions and merchandise, but medical men, persons skilled in various arts, and even a large band of musicians. A crew, composed chiefly of volunteers, full, doubtless, of extravagant hopes, were not likely to submit to regular discipline, or to endure cheerfully the hardships of such a voyage. They soon became fatigued with navigating in the open sea, and insisted that Eudoxus should draw near to the coast. Here the event happened which that navigator had foreseen. The ships struck upon a sand-bank, and could not be got off. The cargo, however, and even part of the timber belonging to them, were brought on shore; and from their materials a new vessel was constructed on a smaller scale, with which Eudoxus resumed his voyage. He soon after came to nations speaking, as he fancied, the same language with those whom he had seen on the eastern coast. The smallness of his vessel rendered it impossible to proceed further. On his return, he applied to Bocchus, King of Mauritania, and endeayoured to inspire that barbarian with his own zeal for maritime discovery. He appeared to have succeeded, and orders were given to equip an expedition; but Eudoxus was privately assured that the mind of the King had been poisoned against him, and that the mariners were secretly instructed to abandon him on an uninhabited island. This report, true or false, induced him to make his escape from Mauritania. His next recourse was to Iberia, where he actually succeeded in equipping an expedition as considerable as his

first, and better calculated for the voyage. It consisted of one vessel adapted for navigating the open sea, and another for reconnoitring the coast. They were provided also with seed and labouring utensils, with a view of raising a harvest on the voyage in the manner reported to have been done by the Phenicians. At this point, unfortunately, the narrative of Strabo stops short, and leaves us totally in the dark as to the result of this new expedition. Cornelius Nepos is said to have asserted that Eudoxus did make the circuit of Africa; but that writer having stated his departure as taking place at the Red Sea, could not have had in view the voyage in question. Mela has added some particulars about the nations he saw along the coast. One was dumb; another wholly without a tongue; while a third had the mouth entirely closed, and received food through an orifice in the nose. No such marvels occur in the account of Strabo, which may probably be regarded as authentic.

Other voyages, however, were undertaken, not with a view to the circumnavigation of Africa, but the exploration of a certain extent of its unknown coasts. The most ancient and most memorable is that performed along the western coast by Hanno, who was sent out at a very early period by a state which surpassed, in commerce and power, all others on the African coast. The Carthaginians fitted out this expedition with a view, partly to colonization, and partly to discovery. The armament consisted of sixty large vessels, on board of which were embarked, persons of both sexes to the number of thirty thousand. The narrative begins at the passage of the Straits, or the Pillars of Hercules. After two days' sail from thence, they founded, in the midst of an extensive plain, the city of Thymiaterium. In two days more they came to a cape, shaded with trees, called Solis, or the promontory of Lybia, on which they erected a temple to Neptune. They sailed round a bay, thickly bordered with plantations of reeds, where numerous elephants and other wild animals were

feeding.

Passing along for many days, they came to a gulf, in which were several large islands. Here a remarkable phenomenon arrested their attention. During the day profound silence reigned, and nothing appeared but a vast world of wood. But when night arrived, the whole shore blazed with fire, and echoed with tumultuous shouts, as well as with the sound of cymbals, trumpets, and musical instruments of every description. The Carthaginians, appalled, passed hastily along these shores, and came to another region, which struck them with no less surprise. Here the land appeared all on fire; torrents of flame rushed into the sea; and if they attempted to land, the soil was too hot for the foot to tread upon. One object particularly struck them, which, at night, appeared a greater fire mingling with the stars; but, in the day-time, proved to be a mountain of prodigious height, to which they gave the appellation of the "chariot of the gods." After sailing three days, they lost sight of these fiery torrents, and came to another bay, containing an island, which presented a new phenomenon. The inhabitants were of the human form; but, shagged and covered with hair, they suggested the idea of those grotesque deities by which superstition supposed the woods to be peopled. To these monsters they gave the name of gorilla. The males evaded all pursuit. They climbed precipices, and threw stones on their pursuers; but three females were caught, and their skins carried to Carthage. Here the narrative stops, by saying that the farther progress of the expedition was arrested by the want of provisions.

Such are the leading features of this celebrated voyage, than which none has afforded, in modern times, more ample room for the speculations of the learned. Many of the circumstances which wore at first a marvellous aspect, have been found to correspond with the observations of modern travellers. The fires and nocturnal symphonies represent the habits prevalent in all the negro states; repose during the day,-mu

sic and dancing prolonged through the night. The flames which seemed to sweep over an expanse of territory might be explained by the practice, equally general, of setting fire, at a certain season of the year, to the grass and shrubs; and the gorilla were evidently that remarkable species of ape, to which we give the name of oran-outang. Extreme difference of opinion, however, prevails as to the extent of coast traversed, and the objects to which the different respective parts of the description apply. Into these discussions it would be useless and unprofitable

to enter.

Several voyages were made for the united purposes of commerce and discovery on the eastern coast of Africa; but none of them are very remarkable or curious.

It remains to consider some of the attempts made to explore the interior of the African continent. This region, to the ancient world, inspired always emotions of wonder and curiosity, mingled with awe. It was the region of mystery, of poetry, and of superstitious terror. The wild and strange aspect of man and nature, the immense tracts abandoned to wild beasts, the still more immeasurable deserts of sand beyond, and the destruction which had overwhelmed most of those who had attempted to penetrate; -all these formed, as it were, a fearful and mysterious barrier, drawn round the narrow limits occupied by the civilized nations of this continent. Every object which appeared through the veil tended to heighten this impression; the human race, under an aspect and hue no where else seen on the globe; animals of strange magnitude and forms; and social habits

altogether uncouth and peculiar. Imagination, kept always on stretch, created wonders, even when nature ceased to present them. No part of the interior was searched with such precision, as to deprive the active faculty of full scope for exertion, and the whole region was in a manner given up to fable.

All the nations that inhabited within or beyond the desert were generally known by the name of

Ethiopians. The term thus becomes nearly synonymous with that of Negro, though it does not always imply complete blackness of complexion. Ptolemy and Pliny even distinguish a race by the name of White Ethiopians. The tract, however, peculiarly considered as the kingdom of Ethiopia, was that which lay "under Egypt," by which was meant Nubia, with part of Abyssinia. This kingdom, with its capital, Meroe, was chiefly known by the formidable irruptions made thence into Egypt, which repeatedly subjected that country to Ethiopian dynasties. It may be remarked, in passing, that this circumstance affords a triumphant refutation of those who impugn that part of Mr. Watson's celebrated sermon on behalf of the Negroes, which intimates that the Egyptians belonged to that proscribed race. The defenders of that petty philosophy, which still would degrade the Ethiopian to a level with the brute, assert that the race of Egyptians who erected the pyramids and temples was Asiatic; and that hence Egypt was as often reckoned by ancient geographers as part of Asia, as of Africa. Leaving the Mosaic account of the population of the world entirely out of the question, and supposing them Asiatic, it appears highly probable that their magnificent and eternal temples were erected by the passive and conquered Egyptians under the direction of their Ethiopian masters. Diodorus represents the Negroes as the most ancient of nations, and their country as the cradle of civilization; adding, that Egypt was indebted to them for its boasted science. And though, according to Herodotus, an earlier and a higher authority, all the civilization which Ethiopia ever possessed was introduced by colonists from Egypt, the unqualified assertion of Diodorus affords at least a strong presumption that not only no particular stupidity was attached to the Negroes of his time, but that they were considered capable of the highest cultivation. It has remained for modern philosophy to degrade the Negro; and then brand him with natural and unsurpassable inferiority.