The Exact
Place And Circumstances Of His Own Fate Are Not Known:
It is known,
however, from his own journal, which he transmitted to England, that he had
reached Sansandang, which
Is considerably short of Silla, which he had
reached in his first journey; and from other sources, it is known, that
from the former place he went to Yaour in Haoussa, where he is supposed to
have been killed by the natives.
The African Association were still indefatigable in their endeavours to
explore the interior of Africa; and they found little difficulty in meeting
with persons zealously disposed, as well as qualified, to second their
designs. Mr. Horneman, a German, who possessed considerable knowledge, such
as might be of service to him on such an enterprise, and who was besides
strong, active, vigorous, undaunted, endowed with passive courage, (a most
indispensable qualification,) temperate, and in perfect health, was next
selected. He prepared himself by learning such of the Oriental languages as
might be useful to him; and on the 10th of September, 1797, arrived at
Alexandria. Circumstances prevented him from pursuing his route for nearly
two years, when he left Cairo, along with a caravan for Fezzan. His
subsequent fate is unknown; but there is reason to believe that he died
soon after his departure from Fezzan.
It is not necessary to mention any of the subsequent expeditions which were
sent by the Association into the interior of Africa; since none of them
have added to our knowledge of this portion of the globe. There have,
indeed, been communications received from some of the merchants trading
from the north of Africa to the Niger, which confirm the accounts of large
and powerful kingdoms on its banks, and the inhabitants of these kingdoms
are comparatively far advanced in manufactures and commerce; but, besides
these particulars, little respecting the geography of the interior has been
ascertained. The course of the Niger is proved beyond a doubt to be, as
Herodotus described it, upwards of 2000 years ago, from west to east; but
the termination of this large river is utterly unknown. Some think it
unites with the Nile, and forms the great western branch of that river,
called the Bahr el Abiad, or White River; others think that it loses itself
in the lakes or swamps of Wangara, or Ghana, and is there wasted by
evaporation; while another opinion is, that its course takes a bend to the
west, and that it falls into the Atlantic, or that it discharges itself
into the Indian Ocean.
The British government, anxious to determine, if possible, this curious and
important question, sent out two expeditions, about seven years since, to
explore in every possible way the course and termination of the Niger. The
first, under the conduct of Captain Tuckey, proceeded up the Zaire; the
other ascended the Nunez in north Africa, in order, if possible, to reach
the navigable part of the Niger by a shorter course than that followed by
Park, and with the design of proceeding down the river till it reached its
termination. The issue of both these expeditions, particularly of the
former, was singularly melancholy and unfortunate: Captain Tuckey, and
fifteen persons out of the thirty who composed it, perished in consequence
of the excessive fatigue which they underwent after they had reached above
the cataracts of the river, the want of sufficient and proper food, and a
fever brought on, or aggravated, by these causes. Captain Tuckey was the
last who fell a victim, after having traced the Zaire, till it became from
four to five miles in breadth. The mountains were no longer seen, and the
course of the river inclined to the north; these circumstances, joined to
that of its becoming broader, render the opinion that it is the same with
the Niger more probable than it previously was: the accounts given to
Captain Tuckey were also to the same effect. The second expedition, under
the direction of Major Peddir, reached Kauendy on the Nunez, where he died:
his successor in the command, Captain Campbell, penetrated about 150 miles
beyond this place, but not being able to procure the means of proceeding,
he was obliged to return to it, where he also died.
Within 150 miles of the British settlement at Cape Coast Castle, there is a
powerful and rich nation, called the Aahantees: they seem first to have
been heard of by Europeans about the year 1700; but they were not seen near
the coast, nor had they any intercourse with our factories till the year
1807: they visited the coast again in 1811, and a third time in 1816. These
invasions produced great distress among the Fantees, and even were highly
prejudicial to our factory; in consequence of which, the governor resolved
to send a mission to them. Of this journey an account has been published by
Mr. Bowdich, one of those engaged in it. The travellers passed through the
Fantee and Assen territories. The first Ashantee village was Quesha; the
capital is Coomastee, which the mission reached on the 19th of May, 1817.
Mr. Bowdich paints the splendour, magnificence, and richness of the
sovereign of the Ashantees in the most gorgeous manner; and even his
manners as dignified and polished. But though his work is very full of what
almost seems romantic pictures and statements of the civilization and
richness of the Ashantees, and gives accurate accounts of their kingdom,
yet, in other respects, it is not interesting or important, in a
geographical point of view. There are, indeed, some notices which were
collected from the natives or the travelling Moors, regarding the countries
beyond Ashantee, and some of their opinions respecting the Niger. The most
important point which he ascertained was, that the route from the capital
to Tombuctoo is much travelled; and it is now supposed that this is the
shortest and best road for Europeans to take, who wish to reach the Niger
near that city. Indeed, we understand that merchants frequently come to the
British settlement at Sierra Leone, who represent the route into the
interior of Africa and the neighbourhood of the Niger from thence, as by no
means arduous or dangerous.
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