With such ship of war, and to deliver to the officer commanding
her, the letter of which you are the bearer, and which is to require
him to convey yourself and your brother to Badagry, to present you to
the king, and to give you such assistance as may be required to
enable you to set out on your journey.
"You should incur as little delay as possible at Badagry, in order
that, by reaching the hilly country, you may be more secure from
those fevers, which are known to be prevalent on the low lands of the
sea-coast. You are to proceed by the same road as on a previous
occasion, as far as Katunga, unless you shall be able to find, on the
northern side of the mountains, a road which will lead to Funda, on
the Quorra or Niger; in which case, you are to proceed direct to
Funda. If, however, it should be necessary to go as far as Katunga,
you are to use your endeavours to prevail on the chief of that
country to assist you on your way to the Quorra, and with the means
of tracing down, either by land or water, the course of that river as
far as Funda.
"On your arrival at this place, you are to be very particular in your
observations, so as to enable you to give a correct statement.
"1st, Whether any, and what rivers fall into the Quorra at or near
that place; or whether the whole or any part of the Quorra turns to
the eastward.
"2nd, Whether there is at Funda, or in the neighbourhood, any lake or
collection of waters or large swamps; in which case, you are to go
round such lake or swamp, and be very particular in examining whether
any river flows into or out of it, and in what direction it takes
its course.
"3rd, If you should find that at Funda, the Quorra continues to flow
to the southward, you are to follow it to the sea, where, in this
case, it may be presumed to empty its waters; but if it should be
found to turn off to the eastward, in which case it will most
probably fall into the lake Tchad, you are to follow its course in
that direction, as far as you conceive you can venture to do, with
due regard to your personal safety, to Bornou; in which case it will
be for you to determine, whether it may not be advisable to return
home by the way of Fezzan and Tripoli: if, however, after proceeding
in an easterly course for some distance, the river should be found to
turn off towards the south, you are to follow it, as before, down to
the sea.
