With the assistance of one of the soldiers, I have changed a
large canoe into a tolerably good schooner; on board of which I this day
hoisted the British flag, and shall set sail to the east, with the fixed
resolution to discover the termination of the Niger, or perish in the
attempt. I have heard nothing that I can depend on respecting the remote
course of this mighty stream; but I am more and more inclined to think,
that it can end nowhere but in the sea.
"My dear friend Mr. Anderson, and likewise Mr. Scott are both dead. But
though all the Europeans who were with me should die, and though I were
myself half dead, I would still persevere; and if I could not succeed in
this object of my journey, I would at last die on the Niger.
"If I succeed in the object of my journey, I expect to be in England in
the month of May or June, by way of the West Indies.
"I request that your Lordship will have the goodness to permit my friend,
Sir Joseph Banks, to peruse the abridged account of my proceedings, and
that it may be preserved in case I should loose my papers. - I have the
honour to be," &c.
