On Lander Refusing To Cross The River Till It Had Become More Shallow, His Guards Left Him In Great Wrath,

Threatening to report his conduct to their master, and they did not return for a fortnight, during which time, Lander

Remained at a Bowchee village, an hour distant, very ill, having nothing to eat but boiled corn, not much relishing roasted dog. The inhabitants, who came by hundreds every day to visit him, were destitute of any clothing, but behaved in a modest and becoming manner. The men did not appear to have any occupation or employment whatever. The women were generally engaged, the greater part of the day, in manufacturing oil from a black seed and the Guinea nut.

Not deeming it safe, according to the advice of the sultan of Zeg Zeg, to pursue his homeward way by the route of Funda, he chose the Youriba road; and, after serious delays, he reached Badagry on the 21st November 1827; but here he was nearly losing his life, owing to the vindictive jealousy of the Portuguese slave-merchants, who denounced him to the king as a spy sent by the English government. The consequence was, that it was resolved by the chief men to subject him to the ordeal of drinking a fetish. "If you come to do bad," they said, "it will kill you; but if not, it cannot hurt you." There was no alternative or escape. Poor Lander swallowed the contents of the bowl, and then walked hastily out of the hut through the armed men who surrounded it, to his own lodgings, where he lost no time in getting rid of the fetish drink by a powerful emetic. He afterwards learned, that it almost always proved fatal. When the king and his chiefs found, after five days, that Lander survived, they changed their minds, and became extremely kind, concluding that he was under the special protection of God. The Portuguese, however, he had reason to believe, would have taken the first opportunity to assassinate him. His life at this place was in continual danger, until, fortunately, Captain Laing, of the brig Maria of London, of which Fullerton was the chief mate, and afterwards commander, hearing that there was a white man about sixty miles up the country, who was in a most deplorable condition, and suspecting that he might be one of the travellers sent out on the expedition to explore the interior of Africa, despatched a messenger with instructions to bring him away. The parties who held him were, however, not disposed to part with him without a ransom, the amount of which was fixed at nearly L70, which was paid by Captain Laing in broadcloths, gunpowder, and other articles, and which was subsequently refunded by the African Society. Lander arrived in England on the 30th April 1828, on which occasion we were introduced to him by the late Captain Fullerton, from whose papers the following history of Lander's second journey is compiled.

CHAPTER XXIX.

The journeys of Denham and Clapperton made a great accession to our knowledge of interior Africa, they having completed a diagonal section from Tripoli to the gulf of Benin; they explored numerous kingdoms, either altogether unknown, or indicated only by the most imperfect rumour. New mountains, lakes, and rivers had been discovered and delineated, yet the course of the Niger remained wrapt in mystery nearly as deep as ever. Its stream had been traced very little lower than Boussa, which Park had reached, and where his career was brought to so fatal a termination. The unhappy issue of Clapperton's last attempt chilled for a time the zeal for African discovery; but that high spirit of adventure which animates Britons was soon found acting powerfully in a quarter, where there was least reason to expect it. Partaking of the character which animated his master, Lander endeavoured, on his return towards the coast, to follow a direction, which, but for unforeseen circumstances, would have led to the solution of the great problem. After reaching England, he still cherished the same spirit; in our frequent conversations with him, he expressed it to be his decided opinion, that the termination of the Niger would be found between the fifth and tenth degree of north latitude, and his subsequent discoveries proved his opinion to be correct. Undeterred by the recollection of so much peril and hardship, he tendered his services to the government to make one effort more, in order to reach the mouth of this mysterious river; his offer was accepted, but on terms which make it abundantly evident that the enterprise was not undertaken from any mercenary impulse. The manner in which he had acquitted himself of his trust, amidst the difficulties with which he had to contend after the death of Clapperton, bespoke him as being worthy to be sent out on such a mission, when scientific observations were not expected, and the result has proved the justness of the opinion, that was entertained of him. Descended from Cornish parents, having been born at Truro, and not gifted with any extraordinary talent, it was not his fortune to boast either the honour of high birth, or even to possess the advantages of a common-place education. His leading quality was a determined spirit of perseverance, which no obstacles could intimidate or subdue. In society, particularly in the company of those distinguished for their talents or literary attainments, his reserve and bashfulness were insuperable, and it was not until a degree of intimacy was established by frequent association, that he could be brought to communicate the sentiments of his mind, or to impress a belief upon the company, that he was possessed of any superior qualifications.

His younger brother, John Lander, who, influenced by a laudable desire to assist in the solution of the geographical problem, was of a very different turn of mind. He was brought up to the profession of a printer, and, as a compositor, had frequent opportunities of enriching his mind with various branches of knowledge, and in time became himself the author of several essays in prose and verse, by no means discreditable to his talents.

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