rious economy for one inmate, and that is, the absorbing sense of their own single and concentrated anguish. And so in that bed of torment whereon the wounded animal lingers and expires, there is an unexplored depth and intensity of suffering which the poor dumb animal itself cannot tell, and against which it can offer no remonstrance-an untold and unknown amount of wretchedness of which no articulate voice

gives utterance. But there is an eloquence in its silence; and the very shroud which disguises it only serves to aggravate its horrors.

[Insignificance of this Earth.]

and probability. It may hurry our globe towards the sun, or drag it to the outer regions of the planetary system, or give it a new axis of revolution-and the effect, which I shall simply announce without explaining it, would be to change the place of the ocean, and bring another mighty flood upon our islands and continents.

These are changes which may happen in a single instant of time, and against which nothing known in the present system of things provides us with any security. They might not annihilate the earth, but they would unpeople it, and we, who tread its surface with such firm and assured footsteps, are at the mercy of devouring elements, which, if let loose upon us by the hand of the Almighty, would spread solitude, and silence, and death over the dominions of the world.

Though the earth were to be burned up, though the trumpet of its dissolution were sounded, though yon sky were to pass away as a scroll, and every visible Now, it is this littleness and this insecurity which glory which the finger of the Divinity has inscribed make the protection of the Almighty so dear to us, on it were extinguished for ever an event so awful and bring with such emphasis to every pious bosom to us, and to every world in our vicinity, by which so the holy lessons of humility and gratitude. The God many suns would be extinguished, and so many varied who sitteth above, and presides in high authority over scenes of life and population would rush into forget- all worlds, is mindful of man; and though at this fulness-what is it in the high scale of the Almighty's moment his energy is felt in the remotest provinces of workmanship? a mere shred, which, though scattered creation, we may feel the same security in his proviinto nothing, would leave the universe of God one en-dence as if we were the objects of his undivided care. tire scene of greatness and of majesty. Though the earth and the heavens were to disappear, there are other worlds which roll afar; the light of other suns shines upon them; and the sky which mantles them is garnished with other stars. Is it presumption to say that the moral world extends to these distant and unknown regions? that they are occupied with people? that the charities of home and of neighbourhood flourish there? that the praises of God are there lifted up, and his goodness rejoiced in? that there piety has its temples and its offerings? and the richness of the divine attributes is there felt and admired by intelli-and that, with an exercise of power which I can neither gent worshippers?

It is not for us to bring our minds up to this mysterious agency. But such is the incomprehensible fact, that the same Being, whose eye is abroad over the whole universe, gives vegetation to every blade of grass, and motion to every particle of blood which circulates through the veins of the minutest animal; that though his mind takes into his comprehensive grasp immensity and all its wonders, I am as much known to him as if I were the single object of his attention; that he marks all my thoughts; that he gives birth to every feeling and every movement within me; describe nor comprehend, the same God who sits in the highest heaven, and reigns over the glories of the firmament, is at my right hand to give me every breath which I draw, and every comfort which I enjoy.

TRAVELLERS.

And what is this world in the immensity which teems with them; and what are they who occupy it? The universe at large would suffer as little in its splendour and variety by the destruction of our planet, as the verdure and sublime magnitude of a forest would suffer by the fall of a single leaf. The leaf quivers on the branch which supports it. It lies at the mercy of the slightest accident. A breath of wind Recent years have witnessed an immense influx tears it from its stem, and it lights on the stream of of books of travels and voyages-journals and narwater which passes underneath. In a moment of time ratives of personal adventure-the result of that the life, which we know by the microscope it teems spirit of scientific discovery, religious zeal, and enwith, is extinguished; and an occurrence so insigni- lightened curiosity, which characterise the nineficant in the eye of man, and on the scale of his ob- teenth century. In physical geography large adservation, carries in it to the myriads which people vances have been made. The extension of commerce this little leaf an event as terrible and as decisive as and improvement of navigation have greatly facilithe destruction of a world. Now, on the grand scale tated foreign travelling; steamboats now traverse of the universe, we, the occupiers of this ball, which both the Atlantic and Mediterranean; and the performs its little round among the suns and the sys-overland route to India has introduced us to a more tems that astronomy has unfolded-we may feel the same littleness and the same insecurity. We differ from the leaf only in this circumstance, that it would require the operation of greater elements to destroy us. But these elements exist. The fire which rages within may lift its devouring energy to the surface of our planet, and transform it into one wide and wasting volcano. The sudden formation of elastic matter in the bowels of the earth-and it lies within the agency of known substances to accomplish this-may explode it into fragments. The exhalation of noxious air from below may impart a virulence to the air that is around us; it may affect the delicate proportion of its ingredients; and the whole of animated nature may wither and die under the malignity of a tainted atmosphere. A blazing comet may cross this fated planet in its orbit, and realise all the terrors which superstition has conceived of it. We cannot anticipate with precision the consequences of an event which every astronomer must know to lie within the limits of chance

intimate acquaintance with the countries, so fertile in interesting and romantic associations, which lie between India and Britain. Indeed, if we except some of the populous regions in the interior of Africa-still guarded by barbarous jealousy and bigotry-almost every corner of the earth has been penetrated by British enterprise; and those countries endeared to us from the associations of Holy Writ, the gorgeous and fascinating fictions of Eastern fable, or the wisdom and beauty of the classic philosophers and poets, have been rendered familiar to every class of British society. Even war has been instrumental in adding to our knowledge of foreign nations. The French invasion of Egypt led to the study of Egyptian antiquities-for Napoleon carried savans in his train—and our most valuable information regarding India has been derived from officers engaged in hostile missions and journeys caused by war. The embassies of Macartney and Amherst to China (the first of which was highly satisfactory)

TAIN TUCKEY, an experienced naval officer, and he was accompanied by Mr Smith, a botanist, Mr Cranch, a zoologist, and by Mr Galway, an intelligent friend. The expedition was unfortunate-all died but Captain Tuckey, and he was compelled to abandon the enterprise from fever and exhaustion. In the narrative of this expedition, there is an interesting account of the country of Congo, which appears to be an undefined tract of territory, hemmed in between Loango on the north and Angola on the south, and stretching far inland. The military part of this expedition, under Major Peddie, was equally unfortunate. He did not ascend the Gambia, but pursued the route by the Rio Nunez and the country of the Foulahs. Peddie died at Kacundy, at the head of the Rio Nunez, and Captain Campbell, on whom the command then devolved, also sunk under the pressure of disease and distress. In 1819 two other travellers, Mr to Fezzan, with the view of penetrating southward as far as Soudan. The climate soon extinguished all hopes from this expedition; Mr Ritchie sank beneath it, and Lieutenant Lyon was so reduced as to be able to extend his journey only to the southern frontiers of Fezzan.

Whichever way I turned, nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I saw myself in the midst of a vast wilderness, in the depth of the rainy season, naked and alone, surrounded by savage animals, and men still more savage. I was five hundred miles from the nearest European settlement. All these circumstances crowded at once on my recollection, and I confess that my spirits began to fail me. I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no alternative but to lie down and perish. The influence of religion, however, aided and supported me. I reflected that no human prudence or foresight could possibly have averted my present sufferings. I was indeed a stranger in a strange land, yet I was still under the protecting eye of that Providence who has condescended to call himself the stranger's friend. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification irresistibly caught my eye. I mention this to show from what trifling circumstances the mind will sometimes derive consola-Ritchie and Lieutenant Lyon, proceeded from Tripoli tion; for though the whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and capsula, without admiration. Can that Being, thought I, who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of creatures formed after his own image? Surely not. Reflections like these would not allow me to despair. I started up, and, disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, assured that relief was at hand; and I was not disappointed. In a short time I came to a small village, at the entrance of which I overtook the two shepherds who had come with me from Kooma. They were much surprised to see me; for they said they never doubted that the Foulahs, when they had robbed, had murdered me. Departing from this village, we travelled over several rocky ridges, and at sunset arrived at Sibidooloo, the frontier town of the kingdom of Manding.

Park had discovered the Niger (or Joliba, or Quorra) flowing to the east, and thus set at rest the doubts as to its direction in the interior of Africa. He was not satisfied, however, but longed to follow up his discovery by tracing it to its termination. For some years he was constrained to remain at home, and he followed his profession of a surgeon in the town of Peebles. He embraced a second offer from the African Association, and arrived at Goree on the 28th of March 1805. Before

he saw the Niger once more rolling its immense stream along the plain,' misfortunes had thickened around him. His expedition consisted originally of forty-four men; now only seven remained. He built a boat at Sansanding to prosecute his voyage down the river, and entered it on the 17th of November 1805, with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of the Niger, or to perish in the attempt. The party had sailed several days, when, on passing a rocky part of the river named Boussa, the natives attacked them, and Park and one of his companions (Lieutenant Martyn) were drowned while attempting to escape by swimming. The letters and journals of the traveller had been sent by him to Gambia previous to his embarking on the fatal voyage, and a narrative of the journey compiled from them was published in 1815.

DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.

In 1822 another important African expedition was planned by a different route, under the care of MAJOR DENHAM, CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON, and DR OUDNEY. They proceeded from Tripoli across the Great Desert to Bornou, and in February 1823 arrived at Kouka, the capital of Bornou. An immense lake, the Tshad, was seen to form the receptacle of the rivers of Bornou, and the country was highly populous. The travellers were hospitably entertained at Kouka. Oudney fell a victim to the climate, but Clapperton penetrated as far as Sockatoo, the residence of the Sultan Bello, and the capital of the Fellatalı empire. The sultan received him with much state, and admired all the presents that were brought to him. Everything,' he said, is wonderful, but you are the greatest curiosity of all.' The traveller's presence of mind is illustrated by the following anecdote :

'March 19, I was sent for,' says Clapperton, ‘by the sultan, and desired to bring with me the "looking-glass of the sun," the name they gave to my sextant. I first exhibited a planisphere of the heavenly bodies. The sultan knew all the signs of the zodiac, some of the constellations, and many of the stars, by their Arabic names. The looking-glass of the sun was then brought forward, and occasioned much surprise. I had to explain all its appendages. The inverting telescope was an object of immense astonishment; and I had to stand at some little distance to let the sultan look at me through it, for his people were all afraid of placing themselves within its magical influence. I had next to show him how to take an observation of the sun. The case of the artificial horizon, of which I had lost the key, was sometimes very difficult to open, as happened on this occasion: I asked one of the people near me for a knife to press up the lid. He handed me one quite too small, and I quite inadvertently asked for a dagger for the same purpose. The sultan was immePark had conjectured that the Niger and Congo diately thrown into a fright; he seized his sword, and were one river; and in 1816 a double expedition half-drawing it from the scabbard, placed it before was planned, one part of which was destined to him, trembling all the time like an aspen leaf. I ascend the Congo, and the other to descend the did not deem it prudent to take the least notice of Niger, hopes being entertained that a meeting would his alarm, although it was I who had in reality most take place at some point of the mighty stream. cause of fear; and on receiving the dagger, I calmly The command of this expedition was given to CAP-opened the case, and returned the weapon to its owner

with apparent unconcern. When the artificial horizon was arranged, the sultan and all his attendants had a peep at the sun, and my breach of etiquette seemed entirely forgotten.'

Sockatoo formed the utmost limit of the expedition. The result was published in 1826, under the title of Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Dr Oudney. Clapperton resumed his travels in 1825, and completed a journey across the continent of Africa from Tripoli to Benin, accompanied by Captain Pearce, a naval surgeon, a draughtsman, and Richard Lander, a young man who volunteered to accompany him as a confidential servant. They landed at Badagry, in the Bight of Benin; but death soon cut off all but Clapperton and Lander. They pursued their course, and visited Boussa, the scene of Mungo Park's death. They proceeded to Sockatoo after an interesting journey, with the view of soliciting permission from the sultan to visit Timbuctoo and Bornou. In this Clapperton was unsuccessful; and being seized with dysentery, he died in the arms of his faithful servant on the 13th of April 1827. Lander was allowed to return, and in 1830 he published an account of Captain Clapperton's last expedition. The unfortunate traveller was at the time of his death in his 39th year.

venturers on the river Niger, and Lander was wounded by a musket ball. He arrived at Fernando Po, but died from the effects of his wound on the 16th of February 1834, aged thirty-one. A narrative of this unfortunate expedition was published in 1837, in two volumes, by Mr Macgregor Laird and Mr Oldfield, surviving officers of the expedition.

BOWDICH, CAMPBELL, AND BURCHELL.

Of Western Africa, interesting accounts are given in the Mission to Ashantee, 1819, by MR BOWDICH; and of Southern Africa, in the Travels of MR CAMPBELL, a missionary, 1822; and in Travels in Southern Africa, 1822, by MR BURCHELL. Campbell was the first to penetrate beyond Lattakoo, the capital of the Boshuana tribe of the Matchapins. He made two missions to Africa, one in 1813, and a second in 1820, both being undertaken under the auspices of the Missionary Society. He founded a Christian establishment at Lattakoo, but the natives evinced little disposition to embrace the pure faith, so different from their sensual and superstitious rites. Until Mr. Bowdich's mission to Ashantee, that powerful kingdom and its capital, Coomassie (a city of 100,000 souls), although not nine days' journey from the English settlements on the coast, were known only by name, and very few persons in Clapperton made valuable additions to our know-England had ever formed the faintest idea of the ledge of the interior of Africa. The limit of Lieu- barbaric pomp and magnificence, or of the state, tenant Lyon's journey southward across the desert strength, and political condition of the Ashantee was in latitude 24 degrees, while Major Denham, in nation. his expedition to Mandara, reached latitude 9 degrees 15 minutes, thus adding 143 degrees, or 900 miles, to the extent explored by Europeans. Hornemann, it is true, had previously crossed the desert, and had proceeded as far southwards as Nyffe, in latitude 10 degrees; but no account was ever received of his journey. Park in his first expedition reached Silla, in longitude 1 degree 34 minutes west, a distance of 1100 miles from the mouth of the Gambia. Denham and Clapperton, on the other hand, from the east side of Lake Tshad in longitude 17 degrees, to Sockatoo in longitude 5 degrees, explored a distance of 700 miles from east to west in the heart of Africa; a line of only 400 miles remaining unknown between Silla and Sockatoo. But the second journey of Captain Clapperton added tenfold value to these discoveries. He had the good fortune to detect the shortest and most easy road to the populous countries of the interior; and he could boast of being the first who had completed an itinerary across the continent of Africa from Tripoli to Benin.'*

RICHARD LANDER.

The honour of discovering and finally determining the course of the Niger was left to RICHARD LANDER. Under the auspices of government, Lander and his brother left England in January 1830, and arrived at Badagry on the 19th of March. From Boussa they sailed down the Niger, and ultimately entered the Atlantic by the river Nun, one of the branches from the Niger. They returned from their triumphant expedition in June 1831, and published an account of their travels in three small volumes, for which Mr Murray, the eminent bookseller, is said to have given a thousand guineas! Richard Lander was induced to embark in another expedition to Africa-a commercial speculation fitted out by some Liverpool merchants, which proved an utter failure. A party of natives attacked the ad

*History of Maritime and Inland Discovery.

J. L. BURCKHARDT-J. B. BELZONI.

Among the numerous victims of African discovery are two eminent travellers—Burckhardt and Belzoni. JOHN LUDWIG BURCKHARDT (1785-1817) was a native of Switzerland, who visited England, and was engaged by the African Association. He proceeded to Aleppo in 1809, and resided two years in that city, personating the character of a Mussulman doctor of laws, and acquiring a perfect knowledge of the language and customs of the East. He visited Palmyra, Damascus, and Lebanon; stopped some time at Cairo, and made a pilgrimage to Mecca, crossing the Nubian desert by the route taken by Bruce. He returned to Cairo, and was preparing to depart thence in a caravan for Fezzan, in the north of Africa, when he was cut off by a fever. His journals, letters, and memoranda, were all preserved, and are very valuable. He was an accurate observer of men and manners, and his works throw much light on the geography and moral condition of the countries he visited. They were published at intervals from 1819 to 1830. JOHN BAPTIST BELZONI was a native of Padua, in Italy, who came to England in 1803. He was a man of immense stature and muscular strength, capable of enduring the greatest fatigue. From 1815 to 1819 he was engaged in exploring the antiquities of Egypt. Works on this subject had previously appearedThe Egyptiaca of Hamilton, 1809; Mr Legh's Narrative of a Journey in Egypt, 1816; Captain Light's Travels, 1818; and Memoirs relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, &c. by Mr R. Walpole, 1817. Mr Legh's account of the antiquities of Nubia-the region situated on the upper part of the Nile-had attracted much attention. While the temples of Egypt are edifices raised above ground, those of Nubia are excavated rocks, an some almost of mountain magnitude have been hewn into temples and chiseled into sculpture. Mr Legh was the first adventurer in this career. Belzoni acted as assistant to Mr Salt (the British consul at Egypt) in