NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION

TO EXPLOKE '

THE RIVER ZAIRE,

USUALLY CALLED THE CONGO,

IN SOUTH AFRICA,
IN J8I6,

UNDER THE DIRECTIOJI OF

CAPTAIN J. K. TUCKEY, R.N.

TO WHICH )S ADDED,

THE JOURNAL OF PROFESSOR SMITH ;

SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE COUNTRY
AND ITS INHABITANTS;

AND AN APPENDIX:

CONTAINING

THE NATITR.\L HISTORY OF THAT P.\RT OF THE KINGDOM OF
CONGO THROUGH ^ATHICH THE ZAIRE FLOWS.

PUBLISHED BY PERMISSION OF

THE LORDS COJLVnSSIONERS OF THE ADMIR.ALTY.

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.

1818.

London : Printed by W. Bolmerand Co.
Cleveland Row, St. .lames's.

\

I'

CONTENTS.

Introduction - - - - page i

CHAPTER I.

Passage to, and Notices on, the Island of Saint Jago - - 5

CHAPTER II.
Passage from Porto Praya to the Mouth of the Zaire - - _ 37

CHAPTER III.

Passage up the River to the Place wiiere the Ship was moored, and from
whence the Party proceeded in the Double-boats - - - 67

CHAPTER IV.
Progress up the River as far as Yellalla, or the Cataract - - 127

CHAPTER V.
Progress from the Cataract, or Cooloo, by Land chiefly, to Inga - l67

CHAPTER VI.

Excursion from Inga, and from thence to the Termination of the Journey 189

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

SECTION I.

Notices from England to our departure from St. Jago - - 227

SECTION II.
From St. Jago to the Mouth of the River Zaire - - - 253

CONTENTS.

SECTION III.
Progress up the River as far as Cooloo, opposite the Cataract page 273

SECTION IV.

From Cooloo to the Extremity of the Journey - _ - . 321

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ; containing A CONCISE VIEW of the

Country along the Line of the Zaire, — its Natural History and Inhabitants,
— collected from the preceding Narratives, and from the Observations of the
Naturalists and Officers employed on the Expedition - - 33;

APPENDIX.

No. 1. A Vocabulary of the Malemba and Embomma Languages - 391

II. Observations on the Genus Ocythoe of Rafinesque, with a Description
of a New Species. By William Elford Leach, M. D. F. R. S. 400

III. The distinguishing Characters between the Ova of the Sepia, and those

of the Vermes Testacea, that live in Water explained. By Sir
Everard Home, Bart. V. P. R. S. - - - 402

IV. A General Notice of the Animals taken by Mr. John Cranch, during the

Expedition . . _ . 407

V. Observations, Systematical and Geographical, on Professor Christian
Smith's Collection of Plants from the Vicinity of the River Congo,
by Robert Brown, F. R. S. - - - 420

VI. Geological Remarks on the Specimens of Rocks presented to the Bri-
tish Museum. By Charles Konig, Esq. F. R. S. - 48G

VII. Hydrographical Remarks from the Island of St. Thomas to the Mouth
of the Zaire - _ . _ 489

DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES.

1 The Chart of the Zaire- - - - To front the Title Page.

2 The Fetiche Rock - - - - To face page 96

3 Market Village, near Embomma— - - 116

4 Fishermen of Lover's Leap — . _ _ . 130

5 ^No. 1. Alligator Pond _ - - - - 134

6 c 1 No. 2. Condo Sonioh — . _ - - 136

7 "i i No. 3. Slate Hills, near Noki - - - 138

8 ' No. 4. Ditto near Giddee . - - 144

•J Figures on Fetiche Rock - - - • - 380

10 Ditto Ditto ^ - _ - - 382

1 1 Ocythoe (Dr. Leach) — - - - - 401

12^ - - - - -

13 > Accompanying Sir Everard Home's Paper

14 1

ERRATA.

Page 31, for Birunda, read hirundo.

32, for Eltertus, read .Ettereits.

33, for ommon, read common.
40, for La Marc, read La March

for serrata, read lerralus.
65, for La Marc, read La March.
for sulcata, read patula.
121, for sephus, read cephus,
289, for Simio, read Si7nia.
302, for decompose, read decempoied.

INTRODUCTION.

1 HE reign of George III. will be referred to by future
historians as a period not less distinguished by the brilliant
exploits of our countrymen in arms, than by the steady
and progressive march of the sciences and the arts. Oc-
cupied, as a very considerable portion of that period has
been, by a war, longer in its duration, more ferocious in
its character, and more extensive in its ravages, than had
ever before afflicted Europe, at least in modern times,
the advancement of physical and geographical knowledge,
though necessarily retarded in its progress, suffered but
little interruption, if we except one memorable instance
where a French General brutally seized the person and
papers of a British naval officer, on his return from a voyage
of discovery, and with unparalleled meanness, injustice,
and inhumanity, detained the former nearly seven years
in captivity, and purloined a part of the latter. With this
exception, no Avar was waged against science ; the im-
pulse which had been given to geographical discovery
still maintained its direction, and was never lost sight of,
even by hostile fleets ; witness, among other instances,
the interesting and admirable survey of the coast of Asia
Minor by Captain Beaufort, while commanding a frigate
attached to the Mediterranean squadron, the account of
which has recently been laid before the pubhc. " Indeed,"
as Dr. Douglas has justly observed, " it would argue a most

b

ii INTRODUCTION.

culpable want of rational curiosity, if we did not use our
best endeavours to arrive at a full acquaintance with the
contents of our own planet." And if those endeavours,
which, during war, were so successfully pursued, should
be relaxed on the return of peace, we might then indeexi
have cause to think meanl}- of the times in which we
live, or, to use the words of this eminent writer, " if
we could suppose it possible that full justice will not be
done to the noble plan of discovery, so steadily and so
successfuU}^ carried on since the accession of His Majesty,
which cannot foil to be considered, in every succeeding
age, as a splendid period in the history of our country,
and to add to our national glory, by distinguishing Great
Britain as taking the lead in the most arduous undertakings
for the common benefits of the human race." — Introd.
to Cook's Third Voj'age.

By following up, therefore, the same system, and being
actuated by the same motives, of promoting the extension
of human knowledoe, the Prince Regent's oovernment
has evinced a correspondent feeling ; it has moreover
proved, b}'^ appropriating to the purposes of discover}-
and maritime geography as great a share as possible of
that part of the British navy which constitutes the peace
establishment, its laudable inclination to cultivate the
uselul arts of peace, not from any selfish views, but for the
general benefit of mankind. To what purpose indeed
could a portion of our naval force be, at any time, but more
especially in a time of profound peace, more honourably
or more usefully employed, than in completing those
minnt'ue and details of geographical and h^drographical
science, of which the grand outlines have been boldly and

INTRODUCTION. iii

broadly sketched by Cook, Vancouver, Flinders, and
others of our own countrymen ; by La Perouse, Den-
trecasteaux, Baudin, and other foreign navigators, French,
Spanish, and Russian : in ascertaining with greater pre-
cision the position of particular points in various parts
of the o'lobe — on the shores of Asia Minor — of northern
Africa, and of the numerous islands in the Mediterranean —
the coasts, harbours, and rivers of Newfoundland, Labra-
dore, Hudson's bay, and that reproach to the present
state of European navigation, the existence or non-existence
of Baffin's bay, and the north-west passage from the
Atlantic to the Eastern ocean — in exploring those parts
of the north-west coast of New Holland, which have not
hitherto been visited since the time of Dam pier — and in
obtaining more distinct and accurate information of those
great Archipelagos of islands, and those innumerable reefs
and islets, which are scattered over the northern and
southern Pacific oceans, and the Indian and Chinese seas,
many hundreds of which were but the other day discovered,
in one spot, by the Alceste, on her late voyage up the Yel-
low Sea, where not a single island had been even suspected
to exist — and, to come nearer home, in filling up and
correcting those imperfect and erroneous surveys of our
own coasts, and of the seas that surround them — and lastly,
in ascertaining with more precision, the extent, direction,
and velocity, in different parts and at different seasons of
the year, of that extraordinar}-^ current known by the
name of the Gulf Stream, by which all the currents of the
northern Adantic are more or less influenced. These are
olijects of general concern in which all Europe and Ame-
rica are equally interested.

iv INTRODUCTION.

By the present improved state of nautical science,
by means of His Majesty's ships of war employed on
surveys, of the surveying marine of the East India Com-
pany, and of the accidental discoveries of commercial
vessels, the hydrographical knowledge of every part of
the globe is daily extending itself. The line of the coasts
which form the boundaries of the continents and larger
islands, are traced with more or less accuracy ; the po-
sitions of most of the islands or groups of islands are
generally ascertained ; and the prevailing winds and cur-
rents of the ocean are so much better understood than
formerly, that the usual time of an eight or nine months
passage to or from China, is now reduced to four months,
and rarely exceeds five. It may be said indeed, ge-
nerally speaking, that, as far as regards maritime disco-
very, the edge of curiosity has been taken off. Enough
however still remains to be done. The deficiency in
the detail, and the want of that accuracy so essentially
necessary for the advantage and security of navigation,
still furnish ample scope for further investigation and
research.

But the object of the voyage, of which the narrative is
contained in the present volume, though fitted out in the
naval department, is nearly, if not altogether, unconnected
either with maritime discovery or nautical surveying.
It was planned and undertaken with the view and in
the hope of solving, or of being instrumental in solving, a
great geographical problem, in which all Europe had, for
some time past, manifested no common degree of interest ;
and, at any rate, in the almost certain means it would
afford of adding something to our present very confined

INTRODUCTION. v

knowledcre of the great continent of Africa — that ill-fated
country, whose unhappy natives, without laws to restrain
or governments to protect them, have too long been the
prey of a senseless domestic superstition, and the victims
of a foreign infamous and rapacious commerce. That
great division of the globe of which, while we know that
one part of it affords the most ancient and more stupen-
dous monuments of civilized society that exist on the face
of the earth, another, and by far the greater portion, ex-
hibits at this day, to the reproach of the state of geogra-
phical science in the nineteenth century, almost a blank
on our charts ; or what is still worse, large spaces filled
up with random sketches of rivers, lakes, and mountains,
which have no other existence than that which the fancy
of the map-maker has given to them on his paper. So
little indeed has our knowledge of this great continent
kept pace with the increased knowledge of other
parts of the world, that it may rather be said to have
retrograded. If we have acquired a more detailed and
precise acquaintance with the outline of its coast, (and
in this we are very deficient, as the present expedition
has proved,) and with the position of its headlands and
harbours, than the Egyptians, the Greeks, or the Romans
in their time possessed, it may be doubted whether the
extent and accuracy of their information respecting the
interior did not surpass ours ; for it cannot be denied that,
amidst the fabulous accounts, which fear or fancy is
supposed to have created, of regions within and beyond
the boundaries of the great desert, many important facts
are enveloped, which modern discoveries have brought to
light and proved to be correct.

For the greater part of what is still known of the

vi INTRODUCTION.

interior resions of northern Africa, we are indebted to the
Arabian writers of the middle ages, and to the information
of Arabian travellers of our own times. After them the
Portuguese were the first Europeans to penetrate beyond
the coast into the interior, where they no doubt collected
much information ; but, unfortunately for the world, it
was their plan to conceal what they discovered, till it has
been lost even to themselves. That this nation sent frequent
embassies to Tombuctoo, we have the authority of De
Barros, which can seldom be called in question, and never,
we believe, when he states mere matters of fact, which is
the case in the present instance ; but though he mentions
the names of the persons sent on these missions, he omits
all the circumstances and occurrences of the journey, and
fails even to describe this renowned cit3^ There are
however some circumstances which make it possible that
.the Tombuctoo of De Barros was no other than the Tam-
bacunda of Park and others, as in ail the maps of the
sixteenth century, taken from Portuguese authority, Tom-
buctoo is placed not more than from three to four hundred
miles from the coast, Avhich is about one-third part only
of its real distance. The Portuguese, however, followed
the Arabian geographers in describing the stream of the
Niger to flow from east to west, which Herodotus had
learned, nearly twenty centuries before, to flow in a con-
trary direction ; an opinion which Ptolemy afterwards
seems to have adopted, perhaps on information gained
from the same source; though it must be confessed, that
Ptolemy is unusually obscure in his geographical delin-
eation of the rise, direction, and termination of this cele-
brated river.
In the midst of these conflicting opinions respecting the

INTRODUCTION. vii

course of a great river, which was still left undecided in
our times, the authority of an English traveller, from per-
sonal inspection, set this question for ever at rest, by de-
terminino- the direction of the stream to be from west to east.
That part, therefore, of the problem Avhich relates to the
origin and the direction of the early course of this cele-
brated river, has been completely solved ; but another and
no less interesting part still continues to be wrapt up in
ra3'stery — where is its termination? As ancient authorities
had pointed out the li ue direction of the stream, it was but
fair to allow them credit for a knowledge of its termination.
In the examination of this part of the question, by the
first geographer of tlie age, either in this or any other
countrj^the authorities of the Arabian writers are w'cighed
and compared with the geography of Ptolemy ; and after
a close and accurate investioation of the various state-
ments of ancient and modern authorities, and a train of
reasoning clear and argumentative, the result of tlie en-
quiry appears to be, that the Niger loses itself in the ex-
tensive lakes or swamps of Wangara; an hypothesis which
was supposed to have the merit of falling in pretty nearly
with the termination of that river, as assigned to it by
Ptolemy in what he called the Libya pains, which lake,
however, Ptolemy only says, is formed by the Niger.
In addition to this coincidence, there were also negative
proofs of the disappearance of the Niger in the interior
regions of Africa. Jt could not, for instance, be a branch
of the Egyptian Nile, as the Arabs generally c<mtend, for
the two reasons adduced by Major i\ennell : first, because
of the difference of level ; the Nile, according to Bruce's
measurement by the barometer, passing over a country

viii INTRODUCTION.

whose surface is very considerably higher than the sink of
North Africa, through which the Niger is stated to tlow.
Secondh^ because the Nile of Egypt, in this case, must
necessarily be kept up at the highest pitch of its inunda-
tion for a lono- time after that of the Nisjer, which is well
known to be contrary to the fact. Neither was it probable,
that its' waters were discharocd into the sea on any part
of the eastern coast, there being no river of magnitude on
the whole extent of that coast from Cape Guadafui to Cape
Corientes. The hypothesis therefore, of the dispersion and
evaporation of the waters of the Niger, in lakes of an ex-
extended surface, was the most plausible, and perhaps the
more readily adopted, as it fell in with ancient opinion.

The stream of this mysterious river being now traced
with certainty from west to east as far as Tombuctoo, so
little suspicion seems to have been entertained of the pro-
bality of its making a circuitous course to the sea on the
western coast, near to which it has its source, that the ex-
amination of this side of Africa seems entirely to have
been left out of the question. But when Park was pre-
paring for his second expedition to explore the further
course of this river, it was suggested, that the Congo or
the Zaire, which flows into the southern Atlantic about the
sixth degree of south latitude, might be the outlet of the
Niger; and as this suggestion came from a person who,
in the capacity of an African trader, had not only become
well acquainted with the lower part of this river, but had
actually made a survey of it, the idea was warmly espoused
by Park, who, in a memoir addressed to Lord Camden,
previous to his departure from England, assigns his reasons
for becoming a convert to this hypothesis ; and he adds,

INTRODUCTION. ix

that if this should turn out to be the fact, " considered in
a commercial point of view, it is second only to the dis-
covery of the Cape of Good Hope ; and in a geographical
point of view, it is Cv^rtainly the greatest discovery that
remains to be made in this world."

Park's opinion, it may be said, is entitled to no greater
weight, on this point, than that of any other person who
had given his attention to the subject ; and so, it appears.
Major Rennell thougiit, who gave him no encouragement
to hope for the confirmalion of this new hypothesis. But
the impression which the facts stated by Mr. Maxwell, and
his reasoning on those facts, had made on Park's mind
previous to his leaving England, so far from being weak-
ened, appear to have gathered strength on his second
progress down the river ; and it can hardly be doubted,
that the unknowMi termination of the streau), and of his
own journey, was the unceasing object of his anxious
inquiries ; the result of which was, as we are told by his
able and accurate biographer, that " he adopted Mr.
Maxwell's sentiments relative to the termination of the
Niger in their utmost extent, and persevered in that opinion
to the end of his life;" — perhaps he ought rather to have
said, " to the day of his departure from Sansanding."
That no alteration of opinion in this respect had taken
place, is quite clear from several expressions in his letters
from the Niger, addressed to Lord Camden, to Sir Joseph
Banks, and to his wife, in all of which he talks confidently
of his reaching England by the way of the West Indies ;
not by a painful jtjurney back by land to the Senegal or
the Gambia, but by arriving at some other and more dis-
tant part of the western coast. This is rendered still more

c

X INTRODUCTION.

evident from the information he collected at Sansanding,
which confirmed the hypothesis of the southern direction
of the Niger. " I have hired a guide (he says) to go with
me to Kashna ; he is one of the greatest travellers in this
part of Africa : he says that the Niger, after it passes
Kashna, runs directly to the right hand, or to the south ; he
had never heard of any person who had seen its termination;
he was sure it did not end near Kashna or Bornou, having
resided for some time in both these kingdoms ;" and to
Lord Camden he says, " he was more and more incUned
to think that it can end no where but in the sea."

No wonder then that Park, having thus ascertained from
" one of the greatest travellers in that part of Africa,"
the southerl}' course of the Niger, should be sanguine of
proving the vahdity of Mr. Maxwell's hypothesis, and of
reaching the West Indies from the mouth of the Congo.
It was not, however, his fate to establish the truth or falsity
of this proposition ; the problem still remains undeter-
mined ; and the termination of the Niger and the source
of the Congo, are alike unknown. The probability of their
identity, however, appeared to gain ground, not merely
because one great river took a southerly direction, and had
no known termination, and another came from the north-
ward, nobody knew from whence; but the more the magni-
tude and character of the latter river was investigated, and
its circunjstances weighed and compared with those effects
which might be expected to happen from natural causes, the
greater colour was given to the supposition of their ideri-
tity. It is only surprising that a river of that magnitude
and description whicii belong to the Congo, should not,
long before now, have claimed a more particular attention.

INTRODUCTION. xi

It is true, the first notice of this river is but vaguely given.
Diego Cam, in proceeding down the coast, observed a
strong current setting from the land, the waters of which
were discoloured, and when tasted, found to be fresh. These
circumstances led him to conclude, that he was not far
from the mouth of some mighty river, which conclusion
was soon confirmed by a nearer approach. He named it
the Congo, as that was the name of the country through
which it flowed, but he afterwards found that the natives
called it the Zaire ; two names which, since that time,
have been used indiscriminately by Europeans. It now
appears that Zaire is the general appellative for any great
river, like the Nile in North Africa, and the Ganges in
Hindostan, and that the native name of the individual
river in question is Moienzi enzaddi, or the river which ab-
sorbs all other rivers.

All subsequent accounts agree in the magnitude and
velocity of this river. In the " Chronica da Companhia
de Jezus em Portugal," after noticing the Egyptian Nile,
and the common but erroneous notion of its proceeding
from the same lake with the Zaire, (namely Zembre, " the
mother of waters,") the latter is described as " so violent
and so powerful from the quantity of its water, and
the rapidity of its current, that it enters the sea on the
western side of Africa, forcing a broad and free passage (in
spite of the ocean) with so much violence, that for the space
of twenty leagues it preserves its fresh water unbroken by
the briny billows which encompass it on every side; as
if this noble river had determined to try its strength in
pitched battle with the ocean itself, and alone deny it the
tribute which all the other rivers in the world pay without

xii INTRODUCTION.

resistance." From the following description it is pretty
evident that Purchas must have been in possession of this
rare book from which the above account is taken ; though
he has not profited by the information it contains respect-
ino; the different sources of the Nile and the Zaire, " for
the Portuguese," says this chronicle, " and the fathers of
our society who traversed the whole empire of Upper
Ethiopia, (which we call Preste Joao) have clearly proved
that the Nile does not take its rise in this lake Zembre,
and that those authors are mistaken who give it that
source." Purchas, however, seems to have no scruples
about the truth of what amounts nearly to a physical im-
possibility,— the flowing of two rivers in opposite direc-
tions out of the same lake. " The Zaire," says this
quaint M^riter, " is of such force that no ship can get in
against the current but neer to the shore ; yea, it prevails
against the ocean's saltnesse threescore, and as some say,
fourscore miles within the sea before his proud waves
yeeld their full homage, and receive that salt temper in
token of subjection. Such is the haughty spirit of that
stream, overrunning the low countries as it passeth, and
swollen with conceit of daily conquests and daily supplies,
■which, in armies of showers are, by the clouds, sent to
his succour, runnes now in a furious rage, thinking even
to swallow the ocean, which before he never saw, with
lis mouth wide gaping eight and twentce miles, as Lopez
affirmeth, in the opening ; but meeting with a more giant-
like enemie which lies lurking under the cliftes to receive his
assault, is presently swallowed in that wider wombe, yet
so, as always being conquered, he never gives over, but
in an eternall quarrel, with deepe and indented frownes in

INTRODUCTION. xiii

his angry face, foaming with disdaine, and filling ihe aire
with noise, (with fresh helpe) supplies those forces which
the salt-sea hath consumed."

The strong current at the mouth of the river, and as far
up as ships have been able to proceed — the floating islands
carried down by the stream into the ocean — the perceptible
effects of the current to a very considerable distance from
the shore — have been corroborated by so many concurring
testimonies as not to admit of the smallest doubt. Two
English frigates, but two years previous to the present ex-
pedition, fully experienced these effects. The Honourable
Captain Irby, who commanded the Amelia, with difiiculty
succeeded in getting his ship 48 or 50 miles up the river,
the current running down in the middle of the stream at
the rate of six and seven knots an hour ; before entering the
river the ship was anchored at twelvemiles from the southern
point of its mouth in 15 fathoms, where the current was
running at the rate of four miles an hour, the water being
much agitated, of the colour of rain-water, and perfectly
fresh. In this situation they observed in the ocean large
floating islands, covered with trees and bushes, which had
been torn from the banks b}'^ the violence of the current.
In the journal of the Thais, commanded by Captain Sco-
bell, it is observed, '• In crossing this stream I met several
floating islands, or broken masses from the banks of that
noble river, which, with the trees still erect and the whole
wafting to the motion of the sea, rushed far into the ocean,
and formed a novel prospect even to persons accustomed
to the phenomena of the waters." In Maxwell's chart the
current is laid down near the mouth as running at the
rate of six miles and seven miles an hour, and the mid chan-

xiv INTRODUCTION.

nel 100 fathoms deep; at twenty-four or twenty-five miles
up the river, where the funnel or estuary is contracted to
the natural bed of the river, which is about two and a half
to three miles in width, the depth is still 100 fathoms. At
fifty miles, the stream is broken into a number of branches,
by islands and sand banks. Beyond ninety miles they are
again united into one channel, about a mile and a half in
Avidth, and the depth, in somG places fifty, in others thirty,
fathoms, continuing about the same width and depth to
the end of the survey, or about 130 miles from the moutli
of the river ; and it is stated, from information of the
native slave dealers at Embomma, that it is navigable be-
yond the termination of this survey from fifty to sixty miles,
where the navigation is interrupted by a great cataract,
which they call Gamba Enzaddi. He says, however, in
his letter to Mr. Keir, which was communicated to Park,
that, according to the accounts he had received from tra-
velling slave merchants, the river is as large at 600 miles
up the country as at Embomma, and that it is there called
Enzaddi.

All these accounts prove the Zaire to be a river of very
considerable magnitude ; and though not to be compared
Avith the Amazons, the Oronooko, the Missisippi, St. Lau-
rence, and other magnificent waters of the New AVorld,
it was unquestionably the largest river an the continent of
Africa. If the calculation be true, that the Zaire at its
lowest state discharges into the sea two million cubic feet
of water in a second of time, the Nile, the Indus, and
Ganges, are but rivulets compared with it, as the Ganges,
which is the largest of the three, discharges only about one
fifth of that (Quantity at its highest flood. In point qf

INTRODUCTION. xv

magnitude, therefore, no objection could be urged to its

identity with the Niger.

• Many other objections, however, were started against

this hypothesis, and in particular the three following,

namely,

1. The obstruction of the Kong mountains, which, uni-
ting with the Gibbel Komri, are supposed to extend in one
unbroken chain across the continent. 2. The great length of
its course, which would exceed 4000 miles ; whereas the
course of the Amazons, the greatest river in the v/orld, is
only about 3500 miles. 3. The absence of all traces of
the Mahommedan doctrines or institutions, and of the
Arabic language, on the coast where the Zaire empties
itself into the sea.

The first objection is wholly gratuitous, as the existence
of this chain of mountains has not been ascertained, nor
is it easy to conjecture on what grounds it has been ima-
gined. Park saw to the southward of his route, at no
great distance from the sea coast, the peak of the cluster
of mountains called the Kong, out of which the Niger, the
Senegal, and the Gambia, take their rise. The Mountains
of the ]\Ioon have been placed towards the central parts
of Africa; but if Bruce visited that branch of the Nile,
which is said to rise out of these mountains, (which is more
than doubtful,) they are actually not further removed from
the eastern, than those of the Kong are from the western
coast. But by what authority they are united, and
stretched completely across the continent, like a string of
beads, it Avould be difficult we believe for our modem ge-
graphers to point out. There is evidence however to the
contrary. All the Haoussa traders who have been ques-

XVI

INTRODUCTION.

tioned on the subject, and who come frequently to Lagos,
and other places on the Coast of Guinea, with slaves, deny
that they meet on their journey with any mountains, and
that the onl}' difficulties and obstructions arise from the
frequent rivers, lakes, and swamps which they have to
cross. But admitting that such a chain did exist, and
that it was one solid, unbroken range of primitive gra-
nite, it would be, even in that singular case, the only in-
stance, perhaps, of such an extended barrier resisting the
passage of an accumulated mass of waters. Even the Him-
malaya, the largest and probably the loftiest range in either
the New or Old World, has not been able to oppose an
effectual barrier to the southern streams of Tartary. The
main branch of the Ganges, it is true, does not, as was once
supposed, pervade it, but the Buramputra, the Sutlej and
the Indus, have forced their Avay through this immense
granite chain. The rocky mountains of America have
opened a gate for the passage of the Missouri ; and the
Delaware, the Susquehanna and the Potomac have forced
their way through the Alleghenny range. This objection,
tlien, may fairly be said to fall to the ground.

The objection to the length of its course is somewhat more
serious, but not so formidable as at first it ma}'^ appear.
The great difficulty, perhaps the only one that suggests
itself, arises from the vast height which the source of a
river must necessarily be above the level of the sea, in
order to admit of its waters being carried over a space
of 4000 miles ; and from the certainty that Park, (who,
it must be observed, however, measured nothing) passed
no mountains of extraoi'dinray height to get at the
Niger. A critic, in a popular journal, whose arguments

INTRODUCTION. xvii

ments in favour of the identity of the Niger and Zaire were
probably instrumental in bringing about the present expe-
dition, in answer to this objection, has assumed the mo-
derate height of 3000 feet for the source of the Niger
above the surface of the ocean. This height, he observes,
would give to the declivity or slope of the bed of the river,
an average descent of nine inches in each mile throughout
the course of 4000 miles. Condamine," he adds, " has
calculated the descent of the Amazons at six inches and
three quarters per mile, in a straight line, which, allowing
for its windings, would be reduced, according to Major
Rennel's estimate, to about four inches a mile for the
slope of its bed." And this descent is not very different
from that of the bed of the Ganoes; it havino- been as-
certained from a section, taken by order of Mr. Hast-
ings, of sixty miles in length, parallel to a branch of the
Ganges, to have nine inches of descent in each mile in
a straight line, which, by the windings of the river was
reduced to four inches a mile, the same as the bed of
the Amazons: and this small descent gave a rate of mo-
tion to that stream somewhat less than three miles an
hour in the dry, and from five to six an hour in the Avet
season, but seven or eight under particular situations
and under certain circumstances. If then, the Ganges
and the Amazons flow at the rate of three miles in their
lowest, and six miles in their highest slate, with an average
descent of no more than four inches a mile, while the
Niger, according to the hypothesis, would have an average
descent of nine inches a mile, the objection to the great
length of its course in supposing its identity with the Zaire,
would seem to vanish. It has been sufficiently provec^

d r

xviii INTRODUCTION.

j^owever, that the velocity of rivers depends not on the
(^hvity of their beds alone, but chiefly on the mass and
velocity of the water thrown into their channels at the
spring head, and the supplies they receive from tributary
branches as they proceed in their course. In the Amazons,
the Ganges, the Senegal, the Gambia, and in every river
whose course, in its approach to the ocean, lies through a
low country, it will be found, that the rise of a few feet in the
tide is sufficient to force back, up an inclined plane, by its
mass and velocity, the whole current of the river to the
distance of several hundred miles, and the farther in pro-
portion to the narrowness and depth of the channel beyond
its funnel shaped mouth. In estimating the probability,
therefore, of the identity of the Zaire and the Niger, as far
as the length of their course may be supposed to offer an
objection, we should inquire rather into the supply of
water than the declivity of the country through which it
would have to pass. In this respect, the Niger would be
placed under very peculiar circumstances ; its course,
lying on both sides of the Equator, and through a consi-
derable portion of both tropical regions, would necessarily
be placed, in one part or other, under the parallels of
perpetual rains, and consequently receive a perpetual sup-
ply of water. Now all the representations that have been
given of the lower part of the Zaire, describe it as being
nearly in a perpetual state of flood, the height in the dry
season being within nine feet of the height in the season of
heavy rains; whilst the difference in the height of the Nile
and the Ganges, at the two periods, exceeds thirty feet.
The flooding of the Zaire is therefore periodical, its highest
>|state being in March, and lowest about the end of August;

INTRODUCTION. xix

a proof that it is influenced by the tropical rains, and
that one branch of it, at least, must pass through some
portion of the northern hemisphere.

Another objection has been made to the identity of the
Niger and the Zaire, grounded on the circumstance of no
traces being discovered of the IVIahomedan doctrines or
institutions on the coast where the latter terminates. It
would be a sufficient answer to observe, that as far as our
present knowledge extends, the Niger, in Northern Africa,
formed the boundary of Mahomedan invasion. What the
difficulties may have been, whether moral or physical, or
both, " to impede the spirit of enterprise and proselytisra
which belongs to the Mahomedan character," it vrould be
idle to conjecture; but that they have been impeded, and
in a great measure limited to the parallel of the Niger while
on its eastern course, is pretty certain ; yet there appears to
be neither difficulty nor want of means in crossing this
river, though there may be both in descending it. Inde-
pendently of the lakes and swamps, the sand-banks
and rapids, that may occur, the Africans have not at
any time, or in any part of the country, been famous for
river navigation. But it is far from improbable, that
Arab priests or traders may have penetrated into south-
ern Africa ; on the eastern coasts they held, at one
time, powerful settlements, and Arabic Avords. occur in
all the languages of the negroes even on the western
coast.

Some vague objections have been stated to the identity
of the Niger and Zaire, from their difference of tempera-
ture, the precise meaning of which it is not easy to com-

XX INTRODUCTION.

prehend. In what way, it may be asked, can the tempera-
ture of a stream in 16° N. lat. affect the temperature of
the same stream in (f S. lal. ? There is no assignable ratio
in which it ought to encrease or decrease in its long course ;
it may change dail}-, and many times in the course of the
day according to the temperature of the surrounding at-
mosphere. Of the temperature of the Niger nothing is
known, for Park does not appear to have noticed it ; but
that of the Zaire was repeatedly ascertained, in the present
expedition, in different parts of its course, and was sel-
dom found to differ more than 2° of Fahrenheit either way,
from the temperature of the atmosphere ; remaining most
commonly about 76, and 77°, which was pretty nearly the
mean day temperature of the atmosphere.

The hypothesis of Mr. Reichard, a German geographer
of some eminence, which makes the Niger to pour its
waters into the gulf of Benin, is entitled to very little atten-
tion. The data on Avhich it is grounded are all of them
wholly gratuitous. He proceeds on a calculation of the
quantity of water, evaporated from the surface of the lakes
of AVangara, and the quantity thrown into them by the
Niger, without knowing whether the Niger flows into
them or not, or even where Wangara is situated, much
less the extent and magnitude of those lakes. 'J'he Rio
del Rey, the Formosa, and the numerous intermediate
branches that open into the gulf of Benin, are supposed to
join in one great stream beyond the flat alluviil laud which
they seem to have formed ; the supposition, however, has
never been verified by observation ; but as far as it is
known, the Rio del Rey proceeds from the northward, and

INTRODUCTION. xxi

tlie other branches have a tendency to the north-west.
Whether, therefore, they unite, or not, the probability cer-
tiinly is in favour of all the streams, from Guinea to Biafra,
having their sources in the southern face of the Kong
mountains. It can scarcely be supposed that the same
mountains, whose northern sides give rise to the three
large rivers, the Niger, the Senegal, and the Gambia,
should have their southern faces destitute of streams. If
however, we refer these numerous branches to some grreat
stream crossing the continent, from the north-east, the
Houssa merchants, in their journey to Lagos, must neces-
sarily psas it ; but by their own account, though nume-
rous streams, and lakes, and marshes occur, they neither
cross anv hig-h mountain, or verv large river

In this unsatisfactory state of doubt and conjecture, in
which a most important geographical problem was involved,
two expeditions were set on foot under the auspices of
Government; the one to follow up the discovery of Park
by descentling the stream of the Niger, the other to ex-
plore the Zaire upwards towards its source. Indepen-
dently of any relation which the lattei' might be supposed
to have to the former, the river itself, from all the descrip-
tions which had been given of it, from its first discovery
by Diego Cam down to the present time, was of sufficient
magnitude to entitle it to be better known. To accom-
plish this (-bject more of difficulty was apprehended in the
navigation, than of danger from the hostilit}^ of the
natives, or the unhealthiness of the climate, neither of
which had oj)posed any obstacle to the progress of the
Poituguese. It was well known both to them and the
slave dealers of Liverpool, who used to frequent this river.

xxii INTRODUCTION.

that its navigation was impeded by a cataract at no great
distance from its mouth ; but that was not considered as a
reason why it should not again become navigable beyond it.
Maxwell's information from the slave dealers stated it to be
so for six hundred miles above this cataract.

In exploring the course of an unknown river upwards,
there would obviously be less risk to the parties employed
than in following the stream downwards. In the first case
a retreat could always be secured when the navigation
became no longer practicable, or the state of the coun-
try rendered it unsafe to proceed ; in the second, every
moment might be pregnant with unforeseen dangers from
which there could be no retreat. The river might, for in-
stance, suddenly and imperceptibly become bristled with
rocks, and its rapid stream roll with such velocity as to
sweep the unfortunate navigator to certain destruction down
a cataract ; or it might spread out its waters into a wide
lake without an outlet, which, becoming in the dry season
a boundless swamp, would equally doom him to inevitable
destruction No one can tell what the fate of Park may
have been, but no one will believe that this enterprising
traveller finished his career in the manner related by
Isaaco, on the pretended authority of Amadou Fatima.
Some persons indeed are still sanguine enough to suppose
he may be living. It is just possible, and barely so, after
such a lapse of time, that this unfortunate traveller may
have been hurried down the stream of the Niger into the
heart of Africa, and placed in a situation from whence
he had neither the means of returning or of proceeding ;
but what these obstacles may have been, whether moral or
physical, or both, in the total absence of all information

' INTRODUCTION. xxiii

it would be idle to conjecture ; it may reasonably be
concluded however, that if this intelligent traveller had
still been living, he would long ere now have hit upon some
expedient to make his situation known.

It was hoped then, even should the immediate object of
the expedition up the Zaire not prove succesful, that some
more correct as well as more extensive information, re-
specting the regions through which it flows, would be the
result of it. Some doubt was entertained, in making pre-
parations for exploring the river, as to the kind of vessel
which might be found most suitable and convenient in all
respects to be employed on the occasion. Among other
qualifications, two were iudispensibly necessary ; first, that
she should draw but litle water ; and secondly, that she
should afford sufficient accommodations for the officers and
crew, for the Naturalists and their collections, besides an
ample supply of provisions and presents, without which there
is no getting on among the Africans. It was suggested by Sir
Joseph Banks, who, from the lively interest he invariably
takes, and the willing assistance he is ever ready to afford,
where the advancement of human knowledge is concerned,
was the first to be consulted on the present occasion, that
a steam engine might be found useful to impel the vessel
against the raj)id current of the river. Many reasons were
urged for and against the employment of a steam vessel.
If individuals both in Europe and America find it of ad-
vantage to avail themselves of the aid of this powerful
agent, it could not be less advantageous when employed
on the public service ; it would spare the men the labour
of rowing when the wind should be foul, or failed. Some
difficulties were started with regard to fuel, but these were

xxiv INTRODUCTION.

over- ruled by the ^vell known fact, that on the banks of the
lower parts of the river are whole forests of the mangrove,
the wood of which possesses the peculiar quality of burning
in its green state better than when dry ; but it was not
known to what extent these forests might reach, though
it was fair to presume, that, in an equinoctial climate,
where water was to be found, wood would not be wanting.
At the same time it could not escape notice that the labour
of felling and preparing fuel for the boiler of a steam
eno-ine to the amount of about three tons a day, in such a
climate, might be fully as fatiguing, and in all probability
more fatal to the crew, than the occasional operation of
rowing. If, however, it could have been certam that this
vast and rapid river was navigable beyond the cataracts,
and its banks well wooded, a steam engine might prove
a good auxihary ; and accordingly it was determined that
a vessel, capable of being navigated b}' steam should forth-
with be constructed.

But another difficulty presented itself The vessel was
not only to be constructed so as to be adapted to the flats
and shallows that might occur in the river, but so as to
ensure her a safe passage across the Atlantic ; this was
thought by many persons to be no easy task. The burden
of the vessel was not to exceed one hundred tons, her
draft of water four feet : of this tonnage it was calculated
that the engine of 24 horses power would alone occupy
one-third part, and, of her measurement, the whole breadth
of the vessel, and twenty feet in length. Such a vessel,
however, with so heavy a burden and so small a displace-
ment of water, Mr. Seppings, the surveyor of the navy,
undertook to construct, and at the same time to give her

INTRODUCTION. xxv

such strength and stabihty under sail as would enable
her to be navigated in safety to the southern Atlantic.
It had been proposed to send her out in frame, and to
set her uj) in the river, but against this plan there were
insuperable objections.

Messrs. Watt and Bolton were put in communication
with Mr. Seppings, in order that a proper steam engine
might be fitted for the vessel. Unfortunately however,
by some misconception, the engine with its boiler was
heavier, or the vessel drew more water, than had been
anticipated; the consequence of which was, that at the
highest pitch of the engine it Would not propel her
through the water at a greater speed than that of four
knots an hour ; and when lightened to the draught of
four feet three inches, her rate of going never exceeded
five knots and a half an hour. It was therefore so ob-
vious that this rale of going never could compensate for
the very great incumbrance of a machine that occupied
one-third part of the vessel, that it was at once deter-
mined to get rid of it altogether ; a measure which was
earnestly urged by Captain Tuckey, as he thereby
would procure a most important addition for the stowage
of provisions, and the accommodation of his crew. As
the trial of this steam vessel, which had been constructed
with the view of combining the opposite qualities of navi-
gating the ocean by the power of the wind, and stemming
the current of a river by that of steam, had attracted a very
considerable degree of curiosity, the failure brought for-
ward a shoal of projectors, every one ready Avith his in-
fallible remedy ; and jMessrs. Bolton and Watt were no
less anxious to try the result of another engine with some

e

xxvi INTRODUCTION.

difference in the application of its power ; but the season
for the departure of the expedition had arrived, the month
of Januar}^ had already expired, the othcers and men of
science were all engaged, the articles for presents pur-
chased, the instruments prepared, and it was most de-
sirable that the expedition should reach the coast of
Southern Africa not later than May, or June at farthest, in
order that the voyage up the river might commence with
the early part of the dr}^ season.

Mr. Seppings and Captain Tuckey Avere both of opinion
that, with a trifling alteration, the Congo (for so she had
been named,) might be converted into an excellent sea
vessel, and equally proper for ascending the river by the
ordinary means of navigation, namely, by sail and oar :
and as far as the river navigation was concerned, they were
confirmed in this opinion by information collected from
the master of a merchant vessel, who had been several
voyages up the Zaire to the distance of 140 miles from its
mouth, and who stated that he had never found the least
difliculty in ascending with a schooner to that distance by
the assistance of the sea-breeze, which sets in regularly
every da}^ ; the current of the river seldom, by his account,
exceeding five miles an hour in the dry season, and in
many parts not running more than three.

The engine was accordingly removed without delay
from the Congo, and sent, where it was much wanted, to
the new works at Chatham dock-yard ; the proposed alte-
ration was immediately made, and on trial of her qualities,
Captain Tuckey reported, that " he had no hesitation in
saying, that she was, in every respect, fit for the business.^"
The contrary opinion had been held by many sea officers,

INTRODUCTION. xxvii

who still persisted, that she would never cross the Atlantic ;
but her first essay from the Nore to the Downs fully jus-
tified Captain Tuckey's expectations. " I am much gra-
tified," he says, " in being able to inform you, that the
Congo justifies, as far as she has been tried, ray obstinacy,
in wishing to keep her in preference to any other. In run-
ning, yesterday, from the Nore to the North Foreland,
with a fair wind, she kept way with the transport (Dorothy) ;
and what is more extraordinary, in working from the
Foreland into the Downs, the wind at west, blowing so
fresh that the transport could scarcely carry double reefed
topsails, the Congo beat her completely, and indeed every
other vessel working down at the same time ; in short, she
has completely falsified the sinister predictions of her nu-
merous traducers, as far as sailing is concerned ; moreover,
she scarcely feels her sails, and is as dry as possible." It
may here be added, that during the voyage, she answered
every good purpose, was a dry commodious vessel, per-
fectly safe at sea, and is now employed on the surveying
service in the German Ocean, or North Sea, for which she
is admirably adapted. It is the more necessary that this
should be stated, as her form, which pretty nearly resembles
that of a horse trough, militates stronolv aoainst the ffe-
nerally received opinions of naval men, as to the most
eligible forms of bodies calculated for mcving best throu2;li
fluids by meeting with the least resistance. It is also
worthy of notice, that the principle on which the Congo
was built is ver^'^ similar to that for which the late Lord
Stanhope so strongly contended, as being the most proper
for ships of war, by uniting in one body, strength, stabihty,
stowage, accommodations for the people, and a light

xxviii INTRODUCTION.

draught of water ; but Lord Stanhope's ideas were rejected
by a committee of naval officers as crude and visionary,
with the exception, we believe, of one individual. The
Congo was schooner-rigged, and three parallel keels assisted
in enabling her to hold a good wind.

In the event of meeting with shallows, rapids, or cata-
racts, of the existence of which no doubt could be enter-
tained, though the accounts given of them were vague
and uncertain, it was necessary that some hghter kind of
vessel should be provided capable of being transported by
land ; Captain Tuckey proposed a double-boat built of
light materials, drawing very little water, and which, when
screwed together by means of a kind of connecting plat-
form, should be able to carry from twenty to thirty men,
Avith three months provisions ; each boat was 35 feet
long, and six feet broad, and when put together a canopjr
was fitted to keep off the sun and rain. A second double-
boat was afterwards provided, and several smaller ones ;
and as the size of the Congo was wholly inadequate to
the stowage of these boats, with the provisions, water, pre-
sents, &c. the Dorothy transport, of about 350 tons, was
appointed to accompany the expedition into the river
Zaire, when, after transhipping into the Congo all that
could be deemed necessary for the prosecution of the
great object of exploring the river, she was to return to
England.

The armament of the Congo, the quantities and the
different kinds of provisions and refreshments, were left
to the discretion of Captain Tuckey. Presents of the
usual kind, such as iron tools, knives, glass ware, beads,
bafts, umbrellas, &c. were put on board in such quantities

INTRODUCTION. xxix

of each as the Congo could conveniently stow ; mathema-
tical and philosophical instraments for surveying the river,
for astronomical, meteorological, and other scientific pur-
poses were also provided, in order that every kind of in-
formation might be brought back, in as complete a man-
ner as the present state of the sciences and other circum-
stances would allow.

The officers and men composing the crew of the Congo
consisted of the following persons, the greater part of
whom were left to the choice of the commander, and were
all of them volunteers :

Captain J. K. Tiickey, Commander.

Lieutenant John Hawkey.

Mr. Lewis Fitzmaurice, Master and Surveyor.

Mr. Robert Hodder, Master's Mate.

Mr. Robert Beecraft, Master's Mate.

Mr. John Eyre, Furser.

Mr. James Mc Kerrow, Assistant Surgeon.

8 Petty officers.

4 Carpenters.

2 Blacksmiths.

14 Able Seamen.

1 Sergeant, / „ , , .
, ^ , / of Mannes.

1 Corporal, i

12 Private Marines,
making in the whole 49 persons. To whom were added
on a supernumerary list,

Mr. Professor Smith, Botanist.

Mr. Cranch, Collector of Objects of Natural History.

Mr. Tudor, Cotnparative Anatomist.

Mr. Galwey, a Volunteer.

XXX INTRODUCTION.

Mr. Lockhart, from His Majesty's Garden at Kew,

Benjamin Benjamin, /^^ . ^^

^^ •' _,. "^ )- Natives of Congo.

Somme Simmons, i

of these 55 took their passage out on board the transport,
and 21 were on iDoard the Congo to navigate her to the
Zaire.

As so very httle was known of the course of the Zaire,
and nothing at all beyond the first cataracts, it was at first
intended to leave Captain Tuckey entirely to his own dis-
cretion, to act as circumstances might appear to require,
and to furnish him only with general directions to use his
best endeavours for the prosecution of the principal ob-
ject, and the promotion of general science ; but Captain
Tuckey pressed with such urgency for specific instructions,
that, as he observed, be might be satisfied in his own
mind when he had done all that was expected from him,
that his wishes in this respect were complied with ; and
the intructions, of which the following are copies, were
given for his guidance, a draft of them having first been
sent for his perusal, which met with his entire approbation.

5y the Commissioners ^r exemting the Office of Lord High Admiral of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, S^c,

VV HEREAS, we have thought fit to appoint you to the command of his Majes-
ty's ship Congo, destined for an expedition of discovery up the River Zaire,
into the interior of Africa, by command of His Royal Highness the Prince Re-
gent, signified to us by Earl Bathurst : you are hereby required and directed to
receive on board the said ship, the persons named on the other side hereof,* with

• Mr. Professor Smith, Botanist.
Mr. TuDOB, Comparative Anatomist.
Mr. C RANCH, Collector of Objects of Natural History.
— L ocKART, a Gardener.

INTRODUCTION. xxxi

their baggage, instruments, &c. (which persons you are to bear on a supernu-
merary list for victuals only) ; and having taken under your orders the trans-
port Dorothy, laden ^vith certain stores and p-o\ i^5ions, for the use of the expe-
dition, you are to put to sea without delay, and make the best of your way
into the river Zaire, commonly called the Cong-o, in southern Africa, and having
proceeded up that ri\er to some convenient place for transhipping the stores>
and provisions abovementioned, you are to direct the master of the transport to
return to Spithead, sending by him an account of your proceeding-s, for our
information.

On the departure of the transport, you will proceed up the Zaire, and use
your utmost endeavours to carry into execution the instructions contained in the
memorandum, which accompanies this order ; and on your return to the mouth
of the river, you are either to proceed to England, to the Isle of St. Thomas,
or to St. Helena, as you may judge most expedient for the safety of yourself,
and people entrusted to your charge, after a due consideration of the state of
the vessel and of your provisions ; reporting to our Secretary, for our informa-
tion, your arrival, and transmitting an account of your proceedings.

Given under our hands, the 7th of February, 181b'.

(Siffned) MELVILLE.

GEO. I. HOPE.

H. PAULET.

To James K. Tpckey, Esq. Commander of

Jiis Majesti/s Sloop Congo, (if Dcptford,

By Command of their Lordships,

{Signed) John Barrow.

Memorandum of an Instruction to Captain Tuckey.

Although the expedition, about to be undertaken for exploring the course of the
river Zaire, which flows through the kingdom of Congo, in southern Africa, was
originally grounded on a suggestion of its being identical with the Niger, it is
not to be understood, that the attempt to ascertain this point is by any means
the exclusive object of the expedition. That a river of such magnitude as the
Zaire, and offering so many pecuharities, should not be known with any degree
of certainty, bevond, if so far as, 200 miles from its mouth, is incompatible with
the present advanced state of geographical science, and little creditable to those
Europeans, who, for three centuries nearly, have occupied various parts of the
coast, near to which it empties itself into the sea, and have held commuuication

xxxii INTRODUCTION,

with the interior of the country through which it descends, by means of mission-
aries, and slave agents ; so confined indeed is our knowledge of the course of this
remarkable river, that the only chart of it, which can have any pretension to ac-
curacy, does not extend above 130 miles, and the correctness of this survey, as
it is called, is more than questionable.

There can be httle doubt however, that a river, which runs more rapidly, and
discharges more water, than either the Ganges or the NUe, and which has this
peculiar quality of being, almost at all seasons of the year, in a flooded state,
must not only traverse a vast extent of country, but must also be supplied by
large branches flo^ving from different, and probably opposite directions ; so that
some one or more of them must, at all times of the year, pass through a tract
of country where the rains prevail. To ascertain the sources of these great
branches then, will be one of the principal objects of the present expedition :
but in the absence of more correct information, the instructions regarding the
conduct to be observed, can be grounded only on probable conjecture.

The unusual phenomenon of the constant flooded state of the Zah-e, as men-
tioned by the old writers, and in part confirmed by more recent observations,
would seem to warrant the supposition, that one great branch, perhaps the
main trunk, descends from the tropical region to the northward of the Line ;
and if in your progress it should be found, that the general trending of its
course is from the north-east, it will strengthen the conjecture of that
branch and the Niger being one and the same river.

It will be advisable therefore, as long as the main stream of the Zaire shall
lie found to flow from the north-east, or between that point and the north,
to give the preference to that stream ; and, to endeavour to follow it to its
source : at the same time, not to be drawn off by every large branch of the
river, that may fall into the main stream from the northward, but to adhere to
the main trunk, as long as it shall continue to flow from any point of the com-
pass, between the north and east.

It is also probable that a very considerable branch of the Zaire will be found to
proceed from the east, or south-east ; as it has been ascertained, that all the
rivers of southern Africa, as far as this division of the continent has been tra •
A ersed from the Cape of Good Hope, northwards, flow from the elevated lands
on the eastern coast, across the continent, in a direction from west to north-
west: and it may perhaps be considered as a corroboration of the existence of
some easy water conveyance between the eastern and western coasts of south
Africa, that the language of Mosambique very nearly resembles the language
spoken on the banks of the Zaire.

INTRODUCTION. xxxiii

If this conjecture sliould turn out to be well founded, such an eastern stream,
being next in point of interest, will claim the second place in point of attention ;
and if it should appear to be navigable through the heart of southern Africa,
to the high lands on the eastern coast, it may probably hereafter be considered
as the first in point of importance ; by opening a convenient communication
through a fine country, from the southern Atlantic to the proximity of the In-
dian or eastern ocean ; and with the once opulent kingdoms of Melinda,
Zanzibar, Quiloa, &c.

With regard to a large branch proceeding from the southward, out of a lake
called Aquelundn, so many details, though loose and vague,have been given by
the early Spanish and Italian missionaries, than one can scarcely be permitted to
doubt of its existence. As this branch is likely to be, from the barren nature of
the country to the southward, and along the western coast, the least important
and least interesting, it will be adviseable to leave it unexplored until the re-
turn of the expedition from examining the others ; unless indeed, what would
be contrary to all expectation, and irreconcilable with the peculiar phenomena
of the river, this southern Iiranch should turn out to be the main trunk. But
though less interesting than the others, this branch will require a more accu-
rate examination than has hitherto been given to it, which however may be
left, untU the more important branches, whose existence we have supposed, may
have been explored.

If, after all, it should be found that unforeseen and invincible obstacles op-
pose themselves to your penetrating, by any of the branches of the Zaire, to a
considerable distance into the interior (obstacles which it is hoped may not oc-
cur,) you are, in that case, after collecting all the infoniiation in your power,
during your descent of the river, to proeeed without loss of time to the Bight of
Benin, where you will endeavour to ascertain whether the great Delta, suppo-
sed to be formed by a river, one branch of which usually known by the name
of Rio del Rey, flows into the Atlantic on the eastern, and the other the Rio
Formosa, on the western side of the said Delta, be actually so formed : or whe-
ther these branches be two separate and distinct rivers. The determining this
question is the more interesting, as, on the supposition of the union of these two
great streams, the continential geographers have raised an hypothesis that the
Niger, after reaching Wangara, takes, first, a du-ection towards the south, and
then bending to the south-west, discharges itself into the Gulf of Guinea. In
the eventual prosecution of this discovery, the same instructions wiU apply as
those for your guidance up the Zaire.

Keeping therefore the general principles above mentioned in view, the mode
of carrying the examination of either of the rivers into effect must be left, in a

f

xxxiv INTRODUCTION.

great degree, to your judgment and discretion, after a due consideration of all
the local circumstances that may present themselves, and the information you
may be ; ble to collect on the spot.

It may be observed, however, that the occurrence of rapids, or of a cataract,
impedino- the navigation of the river, is not to be considered as a sufficient obstacle
to the further prosecution of the attempt to discover its source. In the event of
meeting with an obstacle of this kind, it will be necessary, in the first place, to
look out for a safe and proper situation for mooring the Congo, and then to use
all possible means, by trucks and other apparatus with which you will be fur-
nished, to get the double boats, with one or both of the small ones, if necessary,
to the upper part of the rapids : and having accomplished this, to divide the
officers and crew between the Congo and the double boats, in such manner and
in such proportions as you shall deem to be most expedient for the protection
of the former, and the management of the latter in their further progress up
the river; taking care that, whenever it may be necessary to detach the
boats, the gentlemen to whom the scientific departments of the expedition have
been assigned, shall always accompany them ; in order that no opportu-
nity may be omitted of examining and collecting specimens of the natural
products of the country, through which the Zaire, or any of its larger branches,
may flow.

On your arrival in the river, you will endeavour to find out a suitable spot
for transhipping such stores and provisions from the transport to the Congo as
the latter may be able to take on board. The anchorage opposite the Tall Trees
is understood to be a safe and healthy spot ; but there are many reasons that
would make it adviseable not to stop at a place so near the slave-trade stations
of the Portuguese ; and yuu cannot be too much on your guaid against the
agents of this nation, concerned in carrying on that trade, whether they are
white men or blacks ; and as it is understood, that many vessels have been as
high up as Embomma, a place of considerable trade, you may, should you find
it practicable, carry up the transport to that place, or even to Benda, which is
still higher, before you dismiss her down the river; in doing which, you will
take care to provide her with such arms and ammunition as may be neces-
sary, for her defence against any attack that may be made upon her by the
canoes of the natives ; cautioning the master to have no communication with
them, but to make the best of his way down the river, and from thence to
Spithead ; and you will take this opportunity of sending home an account of
your proceedings to the date of her departure.

It is understood that, at Embomma, vou will be likely to meet with natives
who speak the English and Portuguese languages : and it is probable, that you

INTRODUCTION. xxxv

may find it useful to employ one or more of the respectable inliabitants to pro-
ceed with you as interpreters, and to explain to their countrymen, the real
motives and views of the expedition. You will, of course, avail yourself of the
assistance of such persons, and collect from tb.em every information they may
be able to give of those parts of the continent through whicli the river
descends ; and on your entering the country of any new tribe of people, your
first care should be to obtain interpreters, and to make it clearly understood to
tlie chiefs of every tribe, that you mean to make them suitable presents, or pay
them such transit duty as may be customary ; and you are to take especial care
that no cause of jealousy or quarrels with the natives be occasioned by any of
the officers or men under your orders.

It would be unnecessary to go into a minute detail of the various duties you
will have to perform on this voyage of discovery, the conduct of which has been
intrusted to your charge ; or of the probable objects that will present themselves
for your research ; but the mention of some of the more prominent points that
should claim your attention, may enable you to prepare yourself on your pas-
sage thither, by making arrange. nents for your future proceedings after the de-
parture of the transport for England

Among the more important points, tl^n, for observation, may be mentioned,
the depth of the river ; the strength of the current in general, and its velocity in
particular places; the quantity of it* rise and fall, from land floods and
droughts ; the quality of the water as to clearness or muddiness ; the direc-
tion of the several reaches; and the latitude and longitude of every spot
remarkable for any particular produce, towns, hamlets, neighbouring mountains,
L-c. and of the points of junction of branches falling into the main stream ; all
of which should be particularly attended to. The variation of the compass
should be taken and stated down, as frequently as opportunities may offer for
ascertaining it ; and a set of observations t)f the dip of the magnetic needle is
very desirable, to obtain which, their Lordships have directed a very excellent
dipping needle, by Blunt, to be supplied for your use.

You will also, V ith die assistance of the Surveyor, be careful to keep an ac-
count of each dav s run, to enable you to lay down with tolerable correctness
a chart of the river and the adjacent banks, and on such a scale, as will admit
of the main features of the country, and all remarkable objects, being marked
down upon it : airung other things, the ranges of wood alon^ the banks ; the
places where those ranges are interrupted, and to what extent ; the nature of
the prevailing trees, and dieir quality as fuel in a grce.i state, in order
that a competent judgment may be formed of the supply of fuel, should

xxxvi INTRODUCTION.

it, at any time hereafter, be thought expedient to navigate the Zaire by
steam boats

It is almost unnecessary to observe to you, how important it will be to keep a
journal of your pi-oceedings. In this journal all your observations and occur-
rences of every kind, with all their circumstances, however minute, and however
familiar they may have been rendered by custom, should be carefully noted
down ; and although the gentlemen employed in the several departments of
science, will each be instructed to keep their respective journals, it will not,
on that account, be the less desirable that you should be as circumstantial as
possible in describing, in your own, the general appearance of the country, its
surface, soil, animals, vegetables, and nunerals ; every thing that relates to the
population ; the peculiar manners, customs, language, government, and do-
mestic economy of the various tribes of people through which you will probably
have to pass.

The following, however, will be among the most important subjects on which
it will be more immediately your provmce, assisted by your oflicers, to endeavour
to obtain information.

The general nature of the climate as to heat, cold, moisture, winds, rains, and
periodical seasons. The temperature regularly registered from Fahrenheit's
thermometer, as observed at two or three periods of the day.

The direction of the mountains, their names, general appearance as to shape,
whether detached or continuous in ranges.

The main branches of rivers, their names, direction, velocity, breadth, and
depth.

The animals, whether birds, beasts, or fishes, insects, reptiles, &c. distin-
guishing those animals that are wild, from those that are domesticated.

The vegetables, and particularly those that are applicable to any useful
purposes, whether in medicine, dyeing, carpentry, &c. scented or orna-
mented woods adapted for cabinet work, and household furniture ; and more
particularly such woods as may appear to be useful in ship building ; hard
woods fit for treenails, block sheaves, &c. of all which it would be desirable to
procure small specimens labelled and numbered, so that an easy reference may
be made to their mention in the journal ; to ascertain the quantities in which
they are found, the facility, or otherwise, of floating them down to a convenient
place for shipment, &c.

Minerals, any of the precious metals or stones ; how used, and how valued,
b}' the natives.

The description and characteristic difference of the several tribes of people.

INTRODUCTION. xxxvii

The occupations and means of subsistence, whether chiefly, or to what ex-
t&at, by fishing, hunting, feeding sheep or other animals; by agriculture or by
commerce.

The principal objects of their several pursuits as mentioned in the preceding
paragraph.

A circumstantiul account of such articles, if any, as might be advantageously
imported into Great Britain, or her colonies, and those which would be required
by the natives in exchange- for them. ,

The state of the arts or manufactures, and their comparative perfection in
different ti-ibes.

A vocabulary of the language spoken by every tribe, through which you may
pass, using in the compilation of each, the same English words ; for this purpose
you will receive herewith some copies of printed vocabularies, to fill up, accom-
panied with the copy of a letter on this subject from Mr. Marsden, which is
well deserving your attention,

The condition of the people, as far as can be ascertained ; what protection
the chief, or the laws afford them ; what is the state of slavery amonw them :
whether wars are carried on for the purpose of making slaves : how their pri*
soners are treated; how disposed of ; and every possible information that can
be collected, as to the manner and extent to which the slave trade is conducted
\nth Europeans : who those Europeans are ; where residing : how their agents
are employed ; what the articles of barter are ; in what manner the slaves are
brought down to the coast, &c. The detailed questions furnished by the Afri-
can Institution, and which accompany this memorandum, will materially assist
your enquiries into this interesting subject, and other matters connected with
the state of society and the condition of the people.

The genius and disposition of the people, as to talent, mental and bodily
energy, habits of industry or idleness, love, hatred, hospitality, &c. The nature
of their amusements, their diseases, and remedies, &c.

Their rehgion, and objects of worship, their religious ceremonies ; and the in-
influence of rehgion on their moral character and conduct.

A description of the manners, appearance and condition of any Mahomedans,
that may be found in any of the tribes in southern Africa.

What written or traditionary records, may exist among the latter; any fac-
similes of their written character, or copies of any drawings or paintings, they
may have attempted, would be desirable.

The several objects hitherto mentioned, wliich it would be desirable to ac-
conophsh are such as relate more irmnediately to your province as commander

xxxviii INTRODUCTION.

of the expedition, and to the officers under your orders, in obtaining which,
however, their Lordships cannot doubt you -will meet with the willing assistance
and co-operation of those gentlemen who liave been engaged to accompany you.
for the purpose of scientific research. These are,

Mr Peofessoe Smith, Botanist and Geologist ;

Mr. Tudor, Comparative Anatomist ;

Mr. Crakch, Collector of Objects of Natural History ;
each of whom has specific instructions for his guidance, of which it may be
necessary to furnish you ■with a general outhne, in order that you may the bet-
ter be able to afford sucli opportunities, and such facilities to all and each of
them, as may tend to promote the several objects, which their Lordships have in
view.

Professor Smith, Botanist and Geologist, is directed by his instructions to
collect together as many specimens of plants, growing on the banks of the river,
as time and opportunities will enable him to do ; and these specimens, it can
hardly be doubted, will be very numerous, as the country has never yet been
explored by botanists, nor have the parallels of latitude, through which the
river passes, been yet investigated in any part of the world, with the exception
of south America, and these only partially explored. And in order to enable
him to execute his laborious duties, a Gardener, from His Majesty's Botanical
Garden at Kew, has been assigned to assist the Professor in drying and pre-
serving, as well as in collecting specimens, to afford him moi-e time to note
down the prominent characters of tlie most remarkable plants, which may fall
within his reach.

He is also directed to collect the seeds of all new plants, which may oflper them-
selves for the use of the Royal Gardens at Kew; and the supply of tliese has
])een Umited to two packages of each kind, sewed up, with a view to keep the
stock intire, without breaking into it on any consideration ; so that the whole
collection may be delivered, so sewed up, to the Director of the Royal Botanical
Gardens, as soon as possible after the return of the expedition to England.

The Professor is further directed to preserve the fructifications of the more
deUcate plants in spirits, sewed up in small bags of musUn. It has been thought
right to apprise you of the nature of these coUections, in order that, in the ar-
rangement and distribution of the stores, provisions, &c., on board the Congo,
a sufficient space may be alloted for their stowage.

He will also have occasion to examine into the geology and geognosy of the
country, tlu-ough which the river shall be found to pass, and to collect speci-
raens of such stones and minerals as may occur ; and ais he is diiected to l^eej^

INTRODUCTION. xxxix

a journal, in wliich will be recorded such remarks as he may think wortliy, on
the locahties, the particularities, and the distinguishing characters and uses to
^hich plants or minerals are applied, you will afford him such assistance with
regard to the latitude and longitude of particular places, as he may require, in
order that no information may be wanting, on points generally interesting to
science.

And as the parts of fructification of trees, in warm climates, are seldom ac-
cessible to botanists, on account of the labour of felling them, and consequently
the arborescent plants of these chmates ai-e least of all known, you will allow
one or two of the carpenters to accompany the Professor and Gardener, to ena-
ble them, by felling trees of a moderate size, to get at the flowers and fruits
of those species of which it may be deemed advisable to collect and preserve
specimens.

Though Mr. Smith modestly declines to take upon himself the office of Pro-
fessional Geologist, yet, having examined the Canary Islands, in company with
his friend the Baron Von Buch, who eminently excels in that interesting
science, there can be no doubt of his sufficient proficiency in that branch of
physical knowledge, to enable him to collect such specimens as may be useful to
elucidate the geology of those parts of southern Africa, through which you may
have to pass.

To enable you however, and any of the gentlemen who accompany you, to
form a competent knowledge of what may be desirable to bring home from the
mineral kingdom, a few general directions may be of use.

The objects of the most value, are the metallic ores, fossil bones, teeth,
shells, impressions of plants and fishes; those of least esteem, spar, crystal, py-
rites, pieces of loose stone or gravel, unless where the last is supposed to contain
metallic matter.

The most common substances, (such as flint, chalk, sandstone, coal, clay,
limestone, basalt, slate, granite) will be interesting, if labelled on the spot, and
kept clean, in separate papers, and not suffered to rub against each other ; the
label to express the name and situation of the rock or mountain, from which
the specimen was detached. The size of a common watch is sufficiently large
for each specimen ; shape is of little consequence ; that of a cube spUt in two is
perhaps the most convenient.

Specimens of rock are always desirable, with the native names for each,
where they can be obtained ; and the uses to which they are applied.

Fossil bones and shells, of whatever size, should be brought away entire ; if
an entire skeleton be found it should be brought away ; and it is essential to

xl INTRODUCTION.

note down whether such bones were found in loose soil, in solid rock, or in
caverns.

It will be interesting to ascertain what mines, quarries, or caverns exist,
where the different metals, coal, salt, slate, limestone, &c. are found, and if
worked, in what manner.

It will be desirable to note down the distance of the mountains or hills on
both sides of the Congo, their height, from conjecture, when no means offer for
their measurement, their form, which of the sides are steepest, how their strata
are disposed, how much they dip, and in what direction ; whether they disappear
by dipping under the soil, or by the intersection of valleys.

It wiU also be desirable to note down all the places where two rocks of a
different nature may be seen in contact, and to what extent each may be traced.

And for your further assistance in this interesting subject, a printed copy
of geological inquiries, published by the Geological Society, accompanies these
instructions.

Mr. Tudor, the Compai-ative Anatomist, is directed by his instructions, to ex-
amine the structure and habits of all new and uncommon animals, and it will
therefore be desirable that he should always accompany the collector of objects
of natural liistory, when detached, either on the river or on shore.

One portion of his collection, consisting of the Internal parts of animals, and
of the smaller animals in an entire state, will be required to be preserved
in spirits, but of these he is not to preserve more than triplicates of each
specimen.

The external parts of animals, as their skulls, skins, feet, &c. he is directed to
preserve in a dry state, and the specimens of each, as before, not to exceed three
in number.

Any preparations he may have made at the time of the departure of the
transport from the Zaire, you are to send home, along with a copy of his jour-
nal. In that transjwrt.

Mr. Cranch, Collector of objects of natural history, by his instructions, is
directed to commence his operations on the voyage outwards ; to fish up out of
the sea, by a dipping net from the chains, and by such other means as may be
most likely to succeed, whatever sea-weeds or animals may float alongside, par-
ticularly of the class of mollusca, which he is directed to preserve in spirit, and
to send home by the transport on her return from the Zaire.

On the progress of the expedition up the Zaire, he is instructed to collect all
unknown fishes, shells, and Crustacea, insects and reptiles, birds, beasts, am-
phibia, and in short, whatever may occur in the animal kingdom, which he is

INTRODUCTION. xH

to preserve with all possible care, by putting the tender animals into spirit, and
preserving the larger ones dry, such as the skins of animals, insects, shells,
fishes, and other bulky articles, which, when well dried, he is to pack in casks or
boxes, so as to secure them against the attack of ants or other insects, with the
greatest care. In framing such chests or boxes, as well for liis collection, as for
those of the comparative anatomist, the carpenters of the Congo will be re-
quired to give all possible assistance.

Of the number of specimens of each kind to be preserved, it has been thought
necessary to limit hhn generally to three, lest the stock should occupy more
room thfm could with propriety be allowed in the vessel. If however, it should
be found, on approaching the utmost Hmit of the voyage, or on the return,
that sufficient room still remains, he, as well as the others, may all be permitted
to extend the number of their specimens beyond that prescribed by their in-
structions.

The proper times of his going on shore for the purpose of collecting, will
of course be regulated by your orders, and be such as not to interfere with the
general convenience of the expedition.

But whenever you shall have occasion to stop for the purpose of cutting fuel,
purchasing provisions, or holding communications with the natives, or from any
other cause, you will afford the several gentlemen in the scientific department
the means of going on shore, where it can be done with safety, to give them the
( pportunity of enriching their collections ; and in general, whenever any thing
occurs to make a landing on any particular spot very derirable, you will, of
course, pay attention to any representation that may be made to you for that
purpose, by any of the above-mentioned gentlemen.

And as they are required by their instructions to keep, each of them, a regular
journal, in which every thing remarkable relating to the natural history of the
objects on which they are respectively engaged is to be entered, it is particularly
desirable that they should be able to mark down with precision that spot on
which any thing remarkable may be found ; you will therefore supply them, on
their application to you, with the latitude and longitude of the place where any
such rare object may have been discovei-ed.

And as all of them have been given to understand that their journals are. In
the first place, to be transmitted to the Admiralty, you are to call upon them,
whenever an opportunity may occur, to send, along with your own, a copy
or an abstract of these journals, according as you may deem the occasion that
offers for a conveyance to be a safe or a doubtful one : and to prevent as far as
possible, your and their labours from being lost to the world, it is strongly

xHi INTRODUCTION.

recommended, that triplicates at least be kept of all the journals, and that eacft.
person carry aboirt with him a brief abstract of his observations, in order that,^
in the event of any accident befalling his journals, he may still preserve the ab-
stract to refresh his memory.

Finally, in all your proceedings, you are to be particularly mindful of the
health ot' the officers and men placed under your orders ; to this end it will
be adviseable to avoid, as much as possible, passing the night in the neighbour-
hood of the mangrove swamps, which are said to abound on the banks of the
lower part of the river ; you will prevent, as far as may be practicable, their
exposure to the sun in the middle part of the day, as well as to heavy rains,
and never permit them to slec}) at night in the open air, but under an awning
to protect them from the dews, which are always destructive of health in a
tropical climate.

You are to spare the people as much as possible, from long and severe
exertion, and make use of the sails instead of sweeps or oars, whenever it can be
done ; considering a moderate rate of progress up the river with the former, as
preferable to a rapid one, at the expense of the health of the men by the latter ;
bearing in mind, that a moderate progress will afford better opportunities of
acquiring knowledge in all departments of physical science, than a rapid one.
But in the proper execution of all these matters, and the other important duties
committed to your superintendance, my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
rely on your judgment, discretion, and zeal; not doubting that you will use
your best endeavours to execute all and every part of this interesting and im-
portant mission, in such a manner as will afford full satisfaction to the public,
as well as to their Lordships.

By command of their Lordships.

(Signed) John Baekow.

It may not, perhaps, be too much to say, that there never
was, in this or in any other countr}', an expedition of dis-
covery sent out Aviih better prospects or more flatterino-
hopes of success, than the one in question ; whether it be
considered as to the talents and zeal of the persons se-
lected to carry the objects of the voyage into execution, or
the preparations that were made for rendering the means
of executing it efficient, and for the health and comfort

INTRODUCTION. xliii

of those who had embarked in it. Yet, by a fatality that
is ahnost inexplicable, never were the results of an an ex-
pedition more melancholy and disastrous. Captain Tuckey,
Lieutenant Hawkey, Mr. Eyre, and ten of tlie Congo's crew,
Professor Smith, Mr. Cranch, Mr. Tudor, and Mr. Galwey,
in all eighteen persons, died in the short space of less than
three months which they remained in the river, or within
a few days after leaving the river. Fourteen of the above-
mentioned were of the parly of thirty who set out on the
land journey beyond the cataracts ; the other four were
attacked on board the Congo ; two died in the passage
out, and the serjeant of marines at the hospital at Bahia,
making the total number of deaths amount to twenty -one.

This great mortality is the more extraordinary, as it
appears from Captain Tuckey 's journal that nothing could
be finer than the climate, the thermometer never descend-
ing lower than 60° of Fahrenheit during the night, and
seldom exceeding 76^ in the day time ; the atmosphere
remarkably dry ; scarcely a shower falling during the
Avhole of the journey ; and the sun sometimes for three or
four days not shewing himself sufficiently clear to enable
them to get an observation.

It appears indeed from the report of Mr. M'^ Kerrow,
the assistant surgeon of the Congo, that though the greater
number were carried off by a most violent fever of the
remittant type, some of them appeared to have no other
ailment than that which had been caused by extreme
fatigue, and actually to have died from exhaustion. The
greater number however of the whole crew caught the
fever, and some of them died of it who had been left on
board the Congo below the cataracts ; " but these,'" as

xliv INTRODUCTION.

he observes, " were permitted to go on shore on hberty,
where the day was passed in running about the coun-
try from one village to another, and during the night
lying in huts or the open air ; and though the dews were
scarcely sensible at this season, the fall of the ther-
mometer was very considerable, say 15° or 20° below that
of the day. Spirituous liquors were not to be obtained,
but excesses of another kind Avere freely indulged in, to
which they were at all times prompted by the native blacks,
who were always ready to give up their sisters, daughters,
or even their wives, for the hope only of getting in return
a small quantity of spirits.'' Perhaps too, the river water
may have had its baneful effects, mixed as it is with
foreign matter arising from the perpetual decomposition
of animal and vegetable substances, by the dead carcases
of alligators, hippopotami, lizards, &c. and by the decay-
ed mangroves which for fifty miles occupy tlie alluvial
banks of the river, antl which, after their disappearance, are
covered with the Cyperus pai)yrus of the height of twelve
feet. Beyond these the Congo was moored, where the river
was closed in by lofty hills, and over these woody shores the
sea breezes had to pass. Mr. M^-- Kerrow seems to think,
howcA'er, that fatigue and exposure to the sun, together with
considerable atmospherical vicissitudes, were the principal
excitino causes of the disease which attacked the marchiujo;
party, and probably those also left in the lower part of
the river. Yet Captain Tuckcy, so far from complaining
of the heat of the sun, observes, as before mentioned, that
they scarcely ever got a sight of it ; and in a private letter
dated from Yellala, the 20th August, after an excursion
of several days, he writes, " the climate is so good and the

INTRODUCTION. xlv

nights so pleasant, that we feel no inconvenience from our
bivouac in the open air." The fever appeared moreover
in some degree contagious, as all the attendants on the
sick were attacked, so that before they got out of the
river it had pervaded nearly the whole crew, and extended
to that of the transport ; Mr. M^ Kcrrow was himself
last of all attacked after leaving the coast, but he con-
sidered mental anxiety and disturbed rest as the sole
causes. From the general symptoms that shewed them-
selves in most of the cases, the fever would seem to be
closely allied to the yellow fever of the West Indies,
as indicated by " the violent affection of the head, the
suffused eye, oppressi'^n at the prsecordia, great prostra-
tion and anxious timidity at the commencement, the yel-
low suffusion and grumous vomiting, with tiie indifference
and apparent resignation, at the latter siage of the dis-
ease.'" The most prominent features of the disease are
thus described by Mr. M^ Kerrow.

" The fever, as I observed it in those who were attacked
on board, was generally ushered in by cold rigors, succeed-
ed by severe headache, chiefly confined to the temples and
across the forehead, in some cases, pain of the back and
lower extremities, great oppression at the pra^cordia, and
bilious vomiting, which in many cases proved extremely
distressing ; but in general, where the headache was very
severe, the gastric symptoms were milder, and vice versa,
though in some, both existed in a violent degree. Great
anxiety and prostration of strength, the eyes in general
watery, though in some the tunica conjunctiva was of a
pearly lustre ; the tongue at first white and smooth, having
a tremulous motion when put out, and shortly becoming

xlvi INTRODUCTION.

yeHowish or brown, and in the last stage covered with a
black crust ; in some cases the face was flushed, though
frequently pale, and the features rather shrunk. The skin
in some cases dry and pungent, with a hard and frequent
pulse ; in others the pulse below the natural standard, with
a clammy perspiration on the surfiice. In several a yellow
suffusion took place from the third to the sixth or seventh
day, in one case livid blotches appeared on the wrists and
ankles. The delirium was most commonly of the low
kind, with great aversion from medicine. Singultus, a
common and distressing symptom. The fatal termination
in some, happened as early as the third or fourth, but in
others, was protracted even to the twentieth day. With
regard to the treatment, 1 shall here only observe, that
bleeding was particularly unsuccessful. Cathartics were
of the greatest utility ; and calomel, so administered as
speedily to induce copious salivation, generally procured
a remission of all the violent symptoms ; when I found it
immediately necessary to give bark and wine."

From the accounts of the missions to Congo by Carli,
MeroUa, and others, it would appear, that bleeding copi-
ously is the common remedy practised by the negroes, in
the fevers of the country which are brought on by fatigue,
and exposure to the weather. Carli mentions his havino-
been bled no less than ninety seven-times, besides frequent
and copious discharges of blood from the nose ; and from
the loss of such enormous quantities, he suffers himself to
be persuaded, that all the water he drank was turned into
blood. Of the fourteen missionaries, who proceeded to
the court of Zingha, Queen of Matamba, every one was
seized with the fever, in consequence of the fatigue of

INTRODUCTION. xlvii

travelling, and the toil of baptizing the people, and the whole
were recovered in the course of four months, by having
almost all their blood drawn out of their bodies, and fre-
quent purgatives administered to them, similar, in their
violent effects, to those which in Europe are given to
horses ; however it is possible that the fever contracted by
these pious men may have been of a very different type
from that which attacked the expedition up the Zaire.

As a close to this melancholy recital, the editor hopes
he may stand excused in putting on record a few brief
sketches, which he has been able to collect, of the profes-
sional and literary history of those valuable men, who may
be said to have fallen the victims of a too ardent zeal in the
pursuit of science, which, how much soever we may lament,
leaves nothing for us to censure.

James Kingston Tuckey was the youngest son of Tho-
mas Tuckey, Esq. of Greenhill, near Mallow, in the county
of Cork, by Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. James Kings-
ton, rector of Donoughmore, and sister of the present vicar-
general of the diocese of Cloyne. I le was born in August
1776; and his parents dying during his infancy, he was
left under the care of his maternal grandmother, who
placed him in ihe first grammar school in Cork ; here he
soon distinguished himself by an ardent and inquisitive
mind, and was making considerable progress in his stu-
dies, when his inclination took a turn for the sea service,
from Avhich it could not be diverted. His thirst after know-
ledge was ardent, but his mind was romantic in the ex-
treme. With an eagerness natural to youth, he panted
after a life of adventure : and the course of his voluntary

xlviii INTRODUCTION.

reading being directed to the perusal of voyages of disco-
very, and nautical research, he quickly imbibed a predi-
lection for the naval profession ; a predilection whose
growth, fortunately for the British navy, when once it has
taken root, is not easily checked. The period when Mr.
Tuckey fixed his choice of a profession being that of pro-
found peace, and no opportunity being afforded for enter-
ing the navy, he was allowed by his friends to undertake
a voyage, on trial, to the West-Indies in 1791 ; after which
he ventured upon a second to the bay of Honduras, in
which he caught a fever, that had nearly deprived him
of life.

On the breaking out of the revolutionary war, soon after
his return, he was received on board the Suffolk, com-
manded by Captain Rainier, at the recommendation of
Captain, afterwards Sir Francis Hartwell, a relation by the
father's side. In that ship he proceeded to India, and
was soon rated master's mate ; he was present at the cap-
ture of Trincomallee from the Dutch, and received a
slight wound in his left arm, from the splinter of a shell,
while serving in the batteries ; he assisted at the surrender
of Amboyna, " famous," as he observes in a letter to his
friends," for Dutch cruelty, and EngUsh forbearance." On
this occasion, a fate more general, though less horrible in
its complexion, was about to be inflicted on the Dutch,
by the native chiefs, had not the English undertaken their
defence and protection. To assist in this humane pur-
pose, Mr. Tuckey was stationed in a brig to cruise off the
island ; and on firing a gun at a party in arms assembled
on the beach, it burst, and a piece stri4cing him on the
wrist, broke his right arm. Having no surgeon on board,

INTRODUCTION. xlix

(he writes) I was obliged to officiate for mj^self, and
set it ill a truly sailor like, fashion, so that in a Aveek
after it was again obliged to be broken, by the advice of
the surgeon/* Mr. Tuckey never completely recovered
the use of this arm.

From the intense heat and the sufFocatino- smell of an
active volcano, to which they were exposed in Amboyna
Roads for ten months, where they experienced the evils of
famine and sickness in addition to that of rebelhon, they
were glad to escape to Macao, where, in the month of
January, they found the weather so intolerably cold as
several times to have snow. From hence they proceeded
to Ceylon ; and when at Colombo, on the 15th January,
1798, a serious mutiny broke out on board the Suffolk,
then bearing the flag of Rear Admiral Rainier, in the
c|uelling of which Mr. Tuckey exerted himself with so
much success, that though wanting eighteen months for
the completion of his servitude to qualify him for a lieute-
nant's commission, the Rear Admiral appointed him, the
following day, acting lieutenant of that ship : from her he
was removed to the Fox frigate ; and when belonging to
that frigate, but being at Madras in a prize, intelligence
was there received that La Forte, a French frigate, was
cruising in the bay of Bengal. His Majesty's ship La Sy-
bille immediately prepared for sea, and Mr. Tuckey, with
a small party of seamen belonging to the Fox, volunteered
their services in her. In the night of the 28th February
they fell in with their opponent, and after a most brilliant
action of two hours, frequently within pistol shot of each
other, La Forte iiaving lost all her masts and bowsprit,
struck to the Sybille. In this action Lieutenant Tuckey

h

I INTRODUCTION.

tominandcd on the forecastle. Captain Cooke was mft*-
tally wounded, and Lieut. Hardyman, Avho succeeded to the
command, observes, *' the scene which presented itself on
La Forte's deck was shocking; the number she had killed
cannot be accurately ascertained, as many had been thrown
overboard during the action, but from every calculation I
have been able to make, the number killed must be from
150 to 160 men, and 70 wounded ; the first and second
captain, the first lieutenant, Avith several other oflScers, are
included among the number killed. The Sybille had only 3
men killed and 19 Avounded,two of whom afterwards died."
La Forte was the largest frigate in the French navy ; she
mounted 52 guns, 24 and 12 pounders, and had 420 men.
The Sybille mounted 44 guns, 18 and 12 pounders, and had
370 men. In an action with a ship of such superior force, in
which so dreadful a slaughter was sustained on the part of
the enemy, the vast disparity in the number of killed and
wounded affords a striking instance of the great advantage
which English coolness possesses over the momentary
ardour of French impetuosity, and, at the same time,
shews what may be effected by good seamanship and good
gunnery. After this action Mr. Tuckey returned to the
Suffolk, and received from the Admiral a new acting com-
mission for his meritorious conduct.

In August 1799, he was sent by the Admiral, in the Braave,
Avith dispatches for Admiral Blankett, then commanding
a squadron in the Red Sea. At the Seychelles islands
they captured a ship proceeding to Europe Avith an em-
bassy from Tippoo Sultaun to the French Director}'. The
ambassadors concealed themselves several days in the
Avoods, Avhere they Avere discovered by Mr. Tuckey, for

INTRODUCTfON. Ji

which he received a French general's sword as the only
share for this capture, he being only a passenger in the
Braave. On his arrival in the Red Sea, Admiral Blankett
had quitted it for India ; and he rejoined his old ship, the
Fox, which was left to guard the straits of Babehnandeb.
On the return of the Admiral in 1800, he intended to visit
Sir Sidney Smith at Cairo, on the supposition of the French
having evacuated Egypt, under sanction of a convention
with that officer ; and in that idea, sent Mr. Tuckey in the
Fox to Suez, to proceed over land from thence with letters
for Sir Sidney ; but on his arrival at Suez, he found it in
possession of the French, in consequence of Lord Keith's
refusal to permit their embarkation. He therefore returned
to Bombay. The excessive heat of the Red Sea seems to
have laid the foundation of a complaint which never left
him. He writes from Bombay, " it may surprise you to
hear me complain of heat, after six years broiling between
the tropics ; but the hottest day I ever felt, either in the Easrt
or the West Indies, was winter to the coolest one we had
in the Red Sea. The whole coast of ' Araby the Blest,'
from Babelmandeb to Suez, for forty miles inland, is an
arid sand, producing not a single blade of grass, nor af-
fording one drop of fresh water ; that which we drank for
nine months, on being analyzed, was found to contain a
very considerable portion of sea salt. In the Red Sea the
thermometer at midnight was never lower than 94>°, at
sunrise 104% and at noon 112°. In India the medium is
82% the highest 94°."

Towards the latter end of the same year he again
proceeded with the expedition to the Red Sea, contrary
kfi the advice of the faculty, and arrived at Juddah in

lii INTRODUCTION.

January 1801 ; but in the course of a month his complaint
of the Hver returned, and his health suffered so many severe
shocks that he was reduced to a skeleton, and obliged to
make his way back to India, Avhere the physician of the
fleet advised him to return home, as the only means of his
accomplishing his recovery ; and the Admiral entrusted
him with his dispatches.

His native climate had the desired effect ; and imme-
diately on the re-establishment of his health he applied to
the Admiralty for active employment; accordingly in 1802
he was appointed First Lieutenant of His Majesty's ship
Calcutta, in which situation he served during the whole of
her long and arduous vo3^age, the object of which was to
form a new establishment in New South Wales. Here Lieut.
Tuckey had an opportunity of rendering very essential
service, which was strongly acknowledged by the Lieu-
tenant Governor, Colonel Collins, who transmitted to the
First Lord of the Admiralty a most flattering testimon}' of
his merits; and in particular for a complete survey he had
made of the harbour of Port Phihp, and for his examination
of the adjacent coast and surrounding countr3^ He was also
furnished by the Lieutenant Governor with letters of recom-
mendation to Sir Joseph Banks. He reached England in
1804, and published an account of the voyage.

But the favourable testimonies he had received were
rendered abortive by the capture of the Calcutta in 1805,
on her homeward voyage from St. Helena (whither she had
been sent to bring home some ships under her convoy)
and by an imprisonment of nearly nine years in France.
For the preservation of a valuable convoy entrusted to his
charge, Captain Woodriff, with a conduct which, as truly

INTRODUCTION. Jiii

stated b}' the Members of the Court martial, was, " that
of an experienced, brave, and meritorious officer," de-
termined to sacrifice the Calcutta to the safety of his con-
voy, by first manoeuvering so as to draw the attention of
the eneni}' to one point ; and, with this view, he offered en-
gagement to the whole squadron of the enemy from Roche-
fort, one of which was a three-decker, and four others of
the line. After a sort of running fight with TArmide, the
Magnanime came up, and this ship of the hne he engaged
for fifty minutes, frecjuently within pistol shot. By this
time the Calcutta was unrigged and unmanageable, and
had six of her crew killed and six wounded; and the Thetis
frigate coming up close under her stern. Captain Wood-
riff was under the painful necessity of striking his colours;
but the whole of his valuable convoy effected their escape.
Captain Woodriff, after an imprisonment of eighteen
months, was exchanged for a French officer of equal
rank, but Lieutenant Tuckey was kept till the termina-
tion of the Avar. The Court martial held for the loss of
the ship " most honourably acquitted Captain Wood-
rifl, his officers and ship's company ;" and on this oc-
casion the Captain delivered a paper to the court, which
Avas as follows : " I cannot, Mr. President and Members
of this Honourable Court, omit to express to you, how
much I regret that the captivity of Lieutenant Tuckey,
late first of His Majesty's ship Calcutta, should be a bar
to the promotion he so highly merits ; his courage, cool
intrepidity, and superior abilities as a seaman and an
officer, entitle him to my warmest gratitude, and render
him most worthy of the attention of the Right Honourable
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty/'

liv INTRODUCTION.

Lieutenant Tuckey was one of about forty lieutenants of
the navy, who had cause to execrate the brutal inhuma-
nity of the man, who for so many years tyrannized over
France, and the greater part of the continent of Europe ;
those who had the misfortune of falling into his clutches,
felt themselves at once cut oflf from every hope of ad-
vancement in their profession, and many fell the victims
of despair. Not so, however, with Lieutenant Tuckey.
He still kept up his spirits, and encouraged hope, being,
as he expressed himself, on another occasion, " by no
means addicted to contemplate the dark side of events ;
but as cheerful and happy as the possession of health,
case, and a satisfied disposition can make me." He married
in 1806, a fellow prisoner. Miss Margaret Stuart, daughter
of the commander of a ship in the East India Company's
service, at Bengal. She also had been taken by the
Rochefort squadron, on her passage in a packet to join
her father in India.
Various applications were made at different times, for the
exchange of Mr. Tuckey ; but they proved fruitless, and
he was doomed to remain a prisoner during the war : sad
consequence of that implacable spirit of hatred which
actuated the ruler of France, and made him careless aUke
of the lives of his own, and of his enemy's prisoners ! How
many fair prospects were blighted and destroyed by the
unfeeling obstinacy of this disturber of Europe !

In 1810, after considerable difficulties, and repeated re-
fusals, Mr. Tuckey obtained permission for his wife to
visit England, for the purpose of looking after his private
affairs. Her object being accomplished, she obtained
passports from the French government to return to her

INTRODUCTION. Iv

husband, and was landed at Morlaix ; but counter-orders
had been received at this port, and she was detained ; and
after many unsuccessful memorials, praying to be allowed
to rejoin Mr. Tuckey at Verdun, and after a detention of
six weeks, she was sent back to England. We have here
another instance, in addition to the many on record, of the
capricious cruelty of Bonaparte, which was equally exer-
cised on either sex : and let it not be said by his advo-
cates— strange, that such a man should find advocates,
especially among Englishmen — that he knew nothing of
such counter-orders. So it was said, with equal truth, in
regard to the detention of Captain Flinders ; for it is well
known that, in all matters relating to the British prisoners,
his ministers stirred not a step without his special di-
rections.

On the advance of the allied armies into France, in 1814,
the Bri tish prisoners were ordered at a moment's warning into
the interior ; and Mr. Tuckey, with his two little boys, was
obliged to travel, in the most inclement weather he ever ex-
perienced, to Blois. His youngest son was taken ill on th^
journey, and fell a victim to fatigue and sickness. " I had, in-
deed," says the father, " a hard trial with my little boy, for af-
ter attending him day and night for three weeks, (he had no
mother, no servant, no friend, but me to watch over him,) I
received his last breath, and then had not only to direct his
interment, but also to follow him to the grave, and recom-
mend his innocent soul to his God; this was indeed a se-
vere trial, but it was a duty, and I did not shrink from it."
Another severe trial was reserved for him, on his return to
his family in England, on the final discomfiture of Bona-
parte; he had the misfortune to lose a fine child, a girl, of

Ivi INTRODUCTION.

seven years of age, in consequence of her clothes taking-
fire, after Ungering several days in excruciating agony.

During his long imprisoment in France, Mr. Tuckey
suffered considerably from tedious and harassing illness,
aggravated by the cruel reflection, that the prime of his
life was rapidly passing away, without the possibility of
any exertion of his talents being employed for the benefit
of himself, or his growing family. In the intervals of sick-
ness, besides the education of his children, which was to
him a source of pleasure and constant employment, his
chief amusements were reading and composition. Severe
as his fate was, he possessed a' mind of too vigorous and
active a turn to allow his spirits to sink under his unmerited
misfortunes ; the painful moments of his long imprisonment
found some relief, in the laborious compilation and com-
position of a professional work, " undertaken to pass away
the tedious hours of a hopeless captivity, alike destructive
of present happiness, and future prospects." This work
was published in England, shortly after his return, in four
octavo volumes, under the title of" Maritime Geography,
and Statistics." It takes a comprehensive view of the va-
rious phenomena of the ocean, the description of coasts
and islands, and of the seas that wash them ; the remark-
able headlands, harbours, and port towns ; the several
rivers that reach the sea, and the nature and extent of
their inland navigations that communicate with the coasts.
The information thus collected is drawn from the latest
and best authorities ; to which is added his own " local
and professional knowledge, acquired in the navigation of
the seas that wash the four quarters of the globe." A brief
view is also taken of the history and state of the foreign

INTRODUCTION. Ivii

and coastins: trade of the colonies ; the state of the home
and foreign fisheries ; of the national, and mercantile
marine ; and generally of all maritime establishments and
regulations. It is a work of useful reference, and one that
may safely be recommended for general information.

In August 1814, Mr. Tuckey was promoted by Lord
Melville to the rank of commander ; and in the following
vear, on hearino- of the intention of Government to send
an expedition to explore the river Zaire, he made an ap-
plication, with several other officers, to be appointed to
that service ; his claims and his abilities were unquestion-
able ; he had stored his mind with so much various know-
ledge and, for the last nine years, had given so much
attention to the subject of nautical discovery and river
navigation, that he was considered as most eligible for the
undertaking ; but his health appeared delicate : he was,
however, so confident that his constitution would improve
by the voj'age, and in a warm climate, and urged his
wishes so strongl}', that the Lords of the Admiralty con-
ferred on him the appointment. How far his zeal and quali-
fications were suited to the undertaking, his Journal Avill
furnish the best proof That document is now given to the
public, just as it came from the hands of its author. Not
a sentence has been added or suppressed, nor has the
least alteration been made therein, beyond the correction
perhaps of some trilling error in grammar or orthography.
The information it contains must have been procured under
very unfavourable circumstances. Had he been permitted
to penetrate further into the interior, or to return at leisure,
and in health, from the farthest point even to which he
ascended, his account of the country would have been so

i

Iviil INTRODUCTION.

much the more complete ; hut his zeal to accomplish the
object of the expedition had completely exhausted him,
and brouoht on the return of a disorder to which he had
lonof been subject ; still he held out to the last ; and there
is very little doubt, that if the accident which happened
to his baggage canoe had not put an end to every possi-
bility of his proceeding much farther up the river, that he
would have gone on till he had sunk under sickness and
fatigue, and left his remains in the interior of the country.
On the 17th September he reached the Congo sloop,
and the following day, for the sake of better accommo-
dation, was sent down to the Dorothy transport, at the
Tall Trees. He arrived in a state of extreme exhaustion,
brouglit on by fatigue, exposure to the weather, and
privations. He had no fever nor pain in any part of the
body ; the pulse was small and irritable ; the skin at times
dry, at others clammy, but never exceeding the tempera-
ture of health. On the 28th he thought himself better, and
wholly free from pain, but shewed great irritability, which
was kept up by his anxiety concerning the affairs of the
expedition. On the 30th the debility, irritability, and de-
pression of spirits became extreme, and he now expressed
his conviction, that all attempts to restore the energy of
his system would prove ineffectual. From this time to the
4th, when he expired, his strength gradually failed him,
but during the whole of his illness, he had neither pain
nor fever ; and he may be said to have died of com-
plete exhaustion, rather than of disease. He had deceived
himself, it seems, by the confidence which he felt in
the strength of his constitution. The surgeon states that,
since leaving England, he never enjoyed good health, the

INTRODUCTION. Vn

hepatic functions being generally in a deranged state ; yet
he was always unwilling to acknowledge himself an invalid,
and refused to take such medicines as were deemed at the
time to be essentially necessary. On his march into the
interior, the symptoms became much aggravated, and he
was prevailed on by Doctor Smith to take some calomel ;
afterwards opium was found necessary, and lastly, the bark.

The tew survivors of this ill-fated expedition will long
cherish the memory of Captain Tuckey, of Avhom Mr.
Fitzmaurice, the master, who succeeded to the command,
observes, in reporting his death, — " in him the navy has
lost an ornament, and its seamen a father." But his bene-
volence was not confined to the profession of which he
was so distinguished a member. A poor black of South
Africa, who, in his youth, had been kidnapped by a slave
dealer, Avas put on board the Congo, while in the Thames,
with the view of restoring him to his friends and country,
neither of which turned out to be in the neighbourhood of
the Zaire, and he was brought back to England. This
black was publicly baptized at Deptford church, by the
name of Benjamin Peters; having learned to read on the
passage out by Captain 'i'uckey's instructions, of whom he
speaks in the strongest terms of gratitude and affection.
He was generous to a fault. A near relation has observed,
" that a want of sufficient economy, and an incapability of
refusal to open his purse to the necessities of others, have
been the cause of many of the difficulties which clouded
the prospects of his after life ;" — that " he knew nothing of
the value of money, except as it enabled him to gratify the
feelings of a benevolent heart."

In his person Captain Tuckey was tall, and must once

Ix IxXTRODUCTION.

have been handsome ; but his long residence in India had
broken down his constitution, and, at the age of thirty, his
hair was gray, and his head nearly bald ; his countenance
was pleasing, but wore rather a pensive cast ; but he was
at all times gentle and kind in his manners, cheerful in
conversation, and indulgent to every one placed tmder his
command. In him it may fairly be said, the profession has
lost an ornament, his countr}'^ has been deprived of an able,
enterprising, and experienced officer, and his widow and
children have sustained an irreparable loss.

Lieutenant Hawkey was another of those officers,
whose prospect of rising in his profession was blasted by
the system of refusal to exchange prisoners of war; a most
inhuman sj^stem, wdiich doomed young officers to a hope-
less captivity, limited only by the duration of the war, or
rather, viewing the character of that war, limited by no
visible bounds ; with the additional cruelty of an indefi-
nite separation from their country and their friends. They
had, moreover, in this hopeless situation constantly be-
fore them the melancholy reflection, that, after having spent
the first and best years of their lives in the active service
of their country, and the middle part of them in a horrid
captivity, even when the time of their liberation should
arrive, they would have to begin the world again ; and,
without a chance of employment in their own profession, as
the war would then have ceased, painfully to seek out new
means for the support of themselves and their families.
Under this unfeeling system, Lieutenant Hawkey suffered
an imprisonment of eleven years. A few months after the
renewal of the war, in 1803, when serving as a midship-

INTRODUCTION. Ixi

man in La Minerve, under the command of Captain (now
Sir Jaheel) Brenlon, he was taken prisoner in the gallant
defence of that ship, when she was unfortunately, in a fog,
run by the pilot on the western point of tbc stone dyke
of Cherbourg. A commission however of Lieutenant
had been sent out for him, by mistake, to the West-Lidies ;
which being dated previous to his capture was not can-
celled, but forwarded to him in France ; and was thus the
means, in some degree, of alleviating the evils of captivity.
It was in France he became acquainted with his fellow
prisoner Captain Tuckey, who, on his appointment to the
command of the Congo, requested to have his companion
in misfortune to accompany him on a voyage, Avhich
held out a fliir prospect of gratifying and rewarding their
mutual talents.

Lieutenant Hawkey was an excellent draughtsman : lie
sketched in a bold and artist-like manner ; and to a ge-
neral knowledge of natural history, he united the talent- of
painting the minuter sea and land animals, with great
spirit and accuracy, and in an exquisite style of colouring.
A number of specimens of this kind were found in a small
pocket book, accompanied with some slight memoranda ;
but his papers, containing descriptions of those sketches
and drawings, and other remarks, in the progress up the
river, have unfortunately been lost. He proceeded with the
captain to the farthest point of the journey, and though
employed in the most active manner, and exposed to the
same weather, and the same hardships, as the rest of the
party, he had no complaint whatever when he returned to the
vessel, on the 17th September ; his case was therefore some-
what singular. He continued in good health, and without ^

xTTi INTRODUCTION.

any complaint till the 3d October, when the ship was at
sea ; he then expressed a sense of lassitude about his loins,
and irritability of stomach ; but there was no apparent fe-
brile action ; the pulse being about the natural standard,
which with him was only 65°, without the body undergo-
ing any encrease of temperature. The only symptoms
were irritability of stomach, with extreme langour and de-
bility ; the next day however, he was seized with vomiting ;
on the 6th, became insensible, the pulse scarcely percep-
tible at the wrist, and the extremities cold ; and he conti-
nued thus till 1 1 o'clock in the evening, when he expired
without a struggle.

Mr. Eyre, the Purser, was a young man of a corpulent
and bloated habit. He had no illness, while in the river ;
had not been on shore for three weeks, and had taken very
little exercise during the voyage. In the night of the 27th
September, when on the passage to Cabenda, he was at-
tacked with febrile rigors, severe pain in the head, back
and extremities, with general lassitude, prostration and de-
pression of spirits, and on the third day he breathed his
last. Before death a yellow suffusion had taken place,
Avith vomiting of matter, resembling coffee grounds ; this
symptom of extravasated blood into the stomach, which oc-
cured in many of the cases,M'ould seem to confirm the idea
of the disease being the same as that of the Bulam fever.

Mr. Fitzmaurice, the Master and Surveyor, and Mr.
HoDDER, Master's Mate and Midshipman, entirely es-
caped the fever, excepting a slight attack, experienced by
the former, in consequence of a fatiguing march across

INTRODUCTION. Ixiii

the mountains, on a hot sultry day, to view the cataract
of Yellala, which after a good night's rest, was entirely
removed. Lockhart the gardener was on his legs every
day, from morning till the evening, sometimes heavily
loaded with the plants he had collected ; yet he proceed-
ed to the farthest point, and returned to the ships, with-
out experiencing an hour's illness, and found the climate
the whole way remarkably pleasant. Being drenched
however with rain in the lower part of the river, he took
the fever, and was left in the hospital at Bahia, with the
Serjeant of marines, both of whom were so much reduced,
as to I ave little hope of the recovery of eitlier. Lockhart
however survived, and is now perfectly well in England;
but the sergeant died almost immediately after the sailing
of the Congo.

Mr. Chetiek Smith, the son of a respectable land-
holder, ne 'r the town of Drammen in Norway, was born
in October 178.5. He was educated at the school of
Kongsberg, and finished his studies at the university of
Copenhagen; where, under Professor Hornemann, he ac-
quirctl a taste for botany, and particularly for that branch
of the science, of which his native mountains afforded such
ample resources, — the mosses and lichens. Though at an early
period of life, he had distinguished himself in the study of
medicine, and had the care of the sick in the great hospital
at Copenhagen, he could not resist the temptation of
accompanying his friends, Hornemann and Wormskiold on
a bot aiiical tour into the mountains of Norway. Iij the early
part of this tour, the war, which broke out in 1807 be-
tween Sweden and Denmark, recalled his companions, and

Ixiv INTRODUCTION.

left Mr. Smith to pursue alone his researches, in the moun-
tains of Tellemarck, where he discovered a great number of
mosses, and other new plants, which gained him celebrity
among all the botanists of the North. In 1812 he made a se-
cond excursion across the mountains of Tellemarck and Hal-
lingdal, which were but little known, even to the natives of
Norway ; he ascertained their heights, examined their pro-
ductions,made a numberof curious meteorological observa-
tions, and, in short, traversed those solitary regions not only
as a botanist, but as a natural philosopher ; and the narra-
tive which he has given of his proceedings, to use the words
of his friend Von Buch, " will alwa3's be considered as one
of the most curious and instructive documents of physical
geography." He has therein exemplified and explained the
immense influence of the proximity of the sea, and the sur-
prising difference, resulting from it, between the tempera-
ture of the interior of the continent, and of the coast, and its
effects on the different products of the vegetable world ; the
limits of perpetual snow on the sides of different moun-
tains, and a great variety of interesting facts, connected
with the geography and physiology of plants.
. The Patriotic Society of Norway, struck Avith the zeal
and indefatigable industry of Mr. Smith, engaged him at
its own expense to undertake another scientific expedition
into the clusters of mountains, which, about the 62'"' pa-
rallel of latitude, separate the valleys of Walders, of Guld-
transdal, and of Romsdal, whose height and extent were
unknown, and many parts of them untrod even by the
hunters of the rein deer. B3' this excursion the Norwegian
Flora was greatly extended, and from it the geography of
plants acquired fresh facts at once exceedingly curious and

INTRODUCTION. Ixv

interesting. Nor was this all ; with a true spirit of philan-
thropy Mr. Smith assembled the scattered peasantry of
these high and secluded valleys, explained to them the
characters and the valuable properties of the lichens which
covered their mountains, instructed them how to convert
these mosses into bread that was pleasenl to the taste,
nourishing, and wholesome, and prevailed on them to
adopt this bread instead of that miserable resource of bark
bread, which aftbrds but little or no nourishment, and that
little at the expense of health.

The death of his father about this time put him in pos-
session of a little fortune, which he at once resolved to
employ in studying nature in foreign countries. His
nomination to the professorship of botany at the university
of Christiania did not divert him from his plan ; on the con-
trary, he thought he could not do a greater service to the
cause of science than to consecrate the fruits of his travels
to the new botanical garden of that place. He came to
London, met with a countryman who had been instructed
in the King's Gardens at Kew, and sent him to superin-
tend his favourite garden at Christiania, with abundance
of plants and seeds which he purchased at his own ex-
pense. He next proceeded to Edinburgh, from whence
he set out on a tour across the highest mountains of
Scotland to examine their productions. The mountains
of the northern counties of England and of Wales did not
escape his active researches. Erom Wales he crossed over
to Dublin, scoured all the mountains of Ireland, and re-
turned to London towards the end of the 3'ear ]814. It
is needless to add, that so zealous an advocate for the ex-
tension of human knowledge engaged at once the friendship

k

Ixvi INTRODUCTION.

and protection of Sir Joseph Banks. At the house of this
patron of science he met with the first naturahsts of the
ao-e, and among others with that distinguished geologist,
the Baron Von Buch, whose habits and feelings being con-
oenial with his own, they soon projected a voyage of scien-
titic inquiry to the island of Madeira, and to those of the
Canaries.

On the 21st April, 1815, they landed at Funchal, the
capital of Madeira. " From that moment," says M. Von
Buch, " transported with the sight of so many new ob-
jects, Smith knew no repose ; he laid hold of the several
species of Cactus which in the most whimsical forms cover
the rocks, to convince himself that they were real ; he
leaped over the walls to examine those forests of Donax
which the wind agitates above the vines to which they give
support ; he ran from flower to flower, as if in extacy, and
,it was with great difficulty he could be prevailed on to enter
the town. Here again his eye was delighted in traversing
the great square, and observing the avenue of large trees of
Justicia, of the Melia Azedarach, and of the gigantic Da-
tura, covered with their large and brilliant blossoms, Avhich
fill the air with their perfumes ; the immense leaves of the
Banana trees waving above the walls, and the superb palm
lifting its lofty head high above the houses ; the singular
form of the Dragon tree ; the fragrance of the flowers,
and the tufted foliage of the orange trees threw him into
raptures. The elegant coffee-shrub is found only in the
gardens ; but the pine-apple flourishes in the open fields ;
and the Mimosa, the Eucalyptus, the Melaleuca, the Mam-
mea, Clitorea, Erythrina, Eugenia, of which the dwarfish
fragments only are seen in the conservatories of Europe,

INTRODUCTION. Ixvii

here mount up to large and beautiful trees, and their flowers,
glowing with the most vivid colours, are viewed against the
most brilliant sky in the world.

His own feelings, on being thus suddenly transported
from the moss-grown mountains of his native country to a
more genial climate, are thus expressed in a letter to his
friend ; " how shall I be able to describe to you, how de-
clare to you what I have here felt, what I have here seen !
How shall I be able to give you an idea of the variety,
of the singularity of those forms, of that beauty and that
brilliancy of the colours, of all that magnificence of nature
which surrounds me ! We ascend the sloping ridges of
the mountains which embrace the splendid city of Fun-
chal; we rest ourselves on the margin of a brook, which
falls in numberless cascades across thickets of roseniar}-,
of laurels, and of myrtles ;— the city at our feet, with its
forts, its churches, its gardens, and its roadstead ; above
us, forests of the stone pine and of chesnuts, interspersed
with the flowers of the spartium and lavender. A whole
legion of Canary birds makes the air resound with their
sweet song; and nothing here, but the snow on the moun-
tain tops, which now and then pierce through the clouds,
would recal to my recollection my native country."

M. Von Buch observes, that neither the torrents of rain
which fell almost daily, nor the dense clouds which con-
stantly covered the mountains for more than half of their
height, nor the snow which enveloped their summits, could
restrain them from attempting to ascertain the distribution
of vegetation on this island, and the height of its moun-
tains. They found by the barometer, the altitude of
Nostra Senhora da Monte to be 1778 Enghsh feet above

Ixviii INTRODUCTION.

the level of the sea. At the height of 3200 feet they en-
countered a wood composed of the beautiful Laurus in-
dica, the Laurus nobilis, the Erica arborea or mediterranea,
and the Erica scoparia. Through thick fog, and continual
rain, thej persevered in the ascent ; and at the height of
4340 feet, they traversed the valley of Canada, where
Smith viewed with astonishment and delight, a whole forest
of myrtles (Vaccinium arctostaphyllos) of trees from 16 to
20 feet high and more. At 5390 feet they fell in with the
snow. The summit of Torringas was found to be 5857
feet.

The two naturalists left Madeira on the 2d May, and
landed on the 5th at Oratava, in Teneriffe, where they
were kindly and hospitably received by one of the most
amiable and respectable families in the island, to whom
Mr. Smith, by his natural gaiety and the suavity of his
manners, made himself particularly acceptable : but the
charms of agreeable society did not make him forget the
object of his visit to the Canaries. He was always on his
feet, and incessantly in pursuit ; he never returned from
his excursions till late in the evening, and always laden
with a rich harvest of plants, the examination and arrange-
ment of which, left him but little time for sleep. Some-
times, in his rambles, overtaken by night, he passed it in
caverns, without food, and harassed by fatigue ; but happy
in the discoveries he had made, he neither felt nor thought
of either. The melting of the snow, on the 19th May, al-
lowed him to ascend the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe,
from whence he made a tour round the southern part of
the island, in which he examined, and determined for the
first time, the pine of the Canary islands to be an unde-

INTRODUCTION. Ixix

scribed species, to which he gave the name of Pinus ca-
nariensis ; discovered a new species ofArdisia, and col-
lected many other new and interesting plants. Several
botanical travellers have noticed the singuhir appearance
of the roofs of the houses of Laguna, from their being co-
vered with a sort of house-leek, but none had described
it. JNIr. Smith, on examination, found it to be a new spe-
cies, and named it, from its situation, Sempervivum
urbium.

From Santa Cruz the travellers passed near to Palmas,
the capital of Grand Canaria. It was now^ the month of
August, and the summer heat had parched the earth and
dried up the plants, excepting some Euphorbias and
others of the succulent tribe. They, however, determined
by the barometer, for the first time, the height of Pico del
Pozo de los Nieves, the most elevated on the island, to
be 6224 English feet above the level of the sea.

On returning to Santa Cruz, Smith and his friend set
out on a journey to the Peak of Teneriffe, along the crest
of the mountain which crosses the island in its greatest
length. Near the summit of the peak the two naturalists
passed several days, traversing the immense stream of
Obsidian, which encircles its western side, examined the
volcano of Chahorra, remaining in the mountains till forced
down from want of food, water, and shoes, the latter of
which were fairly cut in pieces by the glassy lava. Em-
barking at Oratava, they proceeded to the Isle of Palmas ;
examined the immense and almost inaccessible crater,
which occupies the centre of the island ; ascended the Pico
de los Muchaclios, whose height was found to be 7707
Enghsh feet, and which commands a view of the whole

Ixx INTRODUCTION.

island. They next visited the port of Naos, on the isle of
Lancerota, where the vessel was to complete her cargo
with barilla, made from the Mesembrj'anthemum crystalli-
num. In the mean time, the two naturalists paid a visit to
the volcano, which, in 1750, almost entirely destroyed
twelve villages, and covered nearly the third part of the
island. Instead of one mouth the}'^ observed fifteen or
sixteen, extending in the same line about six English miles,
each havins formed a cone from three to four hundred feet
high. Across the middle of these mouths were large
fissures, exhaling aqueous vapours, which raised the ther-
mometer in a few moments to 180°. On the 27th October,
they re-embarked, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 8th
December.

It was the intention of Dr. Smith to arrange his Flora
for publication, in London, and then return to his native
country : but on Sir Joseph Banks proposing the appoint-
ment of botanist, to an expedition then preparing to ex-
plore the Zaire, he most readily and unconditionally
accepted the same, from a pure love of science, and in the
hope of being useful to the world. His Journal, which is
now published precisely in the state it was found, is
suflftcient to evince his great zeal, and quahfications
as a botanist. It is but just however to the memory of
the deceased to stale, that this Journal had evidently un-
dergone no revision, but is a transcript or rather a trans-
lation of his original minutes and observations, as they
appear to have been entered, from day to day, in a
small pocket memorandum book ; written in the Danish
language, and in so small and illformed a character as
in some places to be perfectly illegible. By the close

INTRODUCTION. Ixxi

attention, however, of Doctor Rydberg, to whom the edi-
tor is indebted for the translation, the greater part has
been pretty well made out. His notes are carried on to
the end of the journey upwards, but are not continued on
his return down the river. He was taken ill, before they
reached the vessels, and came down with the Captain in
the last canoe : and was sent with him to the Trans-
port, for the sake of greater convenience : by this time
however, he was dangerously ill, and refused to take any
thing, either in the shape of medicine, or nutriment. He
had tried bark, but his stomach constantly rejected it :
and under an idea that his illness proceeded only from
debility, he persisted in taking only cold water. On the
21st September he became delirious, and died on the fol-
lowing day.

Mr. Cranch was one of those extraordinary self-taught
characters, to whom particular branches of science are
sometimes more indebted, than to the labours of those
Avho have had the advantage of a regular education. He
was born at Exeter in the year 1785 of humble, but res-
pectable parents ; at eight years of age he had the misfor-
tune to lose his father ; and as the circumstances in which
his mother was left, did not enable her to provide for all
her children, John, the subject of the present memoir, was
taken charge of by an uncle living at Kingsbridge. The
main object in life, and which was nearest to the heart of
this relation, was the accumulation of wealth ; and his ex-
treme penury denied to his nephew almost the benefit of a
common education. The miserable guinea which pro-
cured for him a year's instruction in reading, writing, and

Ixxii INTRODUCTION.

arithmetic, was wrenched from him with so much grudg-
ing, and in a manner so unkind, as to be then severel}'^ felt,
and never afterwards forgotten.

At the age of fourteen, this provident relation first put
him out as an apprentice, to learn " the art and mystery
of shoemaking ;" a line of life which, from its peculiar
monotony of stillness, or in spite of it, seems by no means
unfriendly, as experience has shewn, to the progress of in-
tellectual acquirement. The strength of mind for which
young Cranch had been distinguished from his childhood
was now constantly' and obviously struggling with the ad-
verse circumstances of his situation ; but every moment,
which could be stolen from his daily labour, was devoted
to the few books Avhich he had found means to collect.
The study of natural history was that in which he mostly
delighted ; and, even at this early period of his life, he
was able to draw up correct and classical descriptions of
all the insects he could procure in the neighbourhood of
Kingsbridge. Without other assistance than books, he
had acquired a sufficient knowledge of Latin and French,
to enable him to understand thoroughly those languages,
when made use of by zoological writers, and to employ
them himself, in describing objects of natural history. He
had acquired also a general knowledge of astronomy.
But, while thus eagerly endeavouring to grasp at science,
every thing tended to depress, and nothing to encourage
him. However, he had the fortitude to persevere ; and
continued, in spite of every obstacle, silently and sedu-
lously, unnoticed and unknown, to nourish his ruhng pas-
sion, the love of knowledge.
At the expiration of his apprenticeship, he went up to

INTRODUCTION. Ixxiii

London, with the professed view of improvement in the
art of shoemaking: but in reahty with higher objects and
better hopes ; though he hardly ventured to own them to
himseh". The manners and morals of his fellow workmen
were ill suited to his feelings and pursuits ; and served
onl}' to encrease his dislike for the profession to which he
had been doomed. But it was some consolation to retiect
that he was in the great mart of human knowledge : and
thouo;h unfriended, and a stranoer, he found that informa-
tion flowed in upon him on every side. His mind was fil-
led, but not satisfied. Every museum, auction room, and
book stall, every object to which his attention was called,
he visited with a rapid and unsatiable curiosity ; gleaning
information wherever it was to be had, and treasuring it
up with systematic care. His account of what he obser-
ved in the capital is said to exhibit an obvious and striking
proof of an inquisitive, diligent, and discerning mind. A
person of this stamp could not long remain in London
without meeting with kindred spirits. One of these asso-
ciates, speaking of Cranch, observes, " our conversations
and philosophical rambles near London, have often cal-
led forth such observations and disquisitions from him on
the various qualities, attributes, combinations, provisions
and arrangements of nature, as marked vast comprehen-
sion, as well as the most delicate subtilties of discrimina-
tion in an intellect, which seemed indeed to be calculated
to grasp magnitude and minutia? with equal address, and
which could at once surprise, delight, and instruct."

After a residence of some time in London, he returned
to the haunts of his childhood ; but it was soon discovered
how little chance the " bootmaker from London" hagl of

1

Ixxiv INTRODUCTION.

eclipsing even his humble rivals, who had never lost sight
of the smoke of their native hamlet. But he had no al-
ternative ; he must eat to live ; and work at his trade to
be able to eat. His labour however produced him little
more than a bare subsistence ; and every moment that he
could venture to take from it, was dedicated to his favou-
rite pursuit.

Shortly, however, his domestic circumstances were fa-
vourably improved by marriage. His workshop Avas now
consigned Avholly to his journeymen, while he was sedu-
lously and successful!}' collecting objects of natural history.
No difficulties nor dangers impeded his researches He
climbed the most rugged precipices ; he Avas frequently
lowered down by the peasants from the summits of the
tallest cliffs ; he Avadcd through rapid streams ; he explored
the beds of the muddiest rivers ; he sought the deepest
recesses He frequently wandered for Avhole weeks from
home, and often ventured out to sea for sevv^ral days to-
gether, entirely alone, in the smallest skiffs of the fisher-
men. " No inclemency of weather; no vicissitudes of
" storms and sunshine," ever prevented his fatiguing pur-
suits; the discovery of a new insect amply repaid the most
painlul exertions. Several papers in the " Weekly Enter-
tainer," a little Avork Avhich accompanies one of the most
popular of the Avestern newspapers, were written by him;
and by these, and his collection of subjects in natural
history, he gradually became better known, and his talents
duly appreciated by the most able naturalists. Of this
the following extract of a letter to the editor, from Dr.
Leach, of the British Museum, bears ample and honour-
able testimony.

INTRODUCTION. Ixxv

' " In 1814, Mr. Montagu and myself, together Avith Mr.
C. Prideaux, visited Mr. Cranch, for the purpose of seeing
his museum. We were all astonished at the niasnitude
of his collection of shells, Crustacea, insects, birds. Sec.
collected entirely by himself, and still more so with the
accuracy of their classification, and with the remarks made
by this self-educated and zealous individual. He con-
versed on all subjects connected with natural history, with
modesty, but at the same time, with that confidence which
is the result of knowledge. Quite deliohted Avith havinor
made his acquaintance, I left him Avith a resolution to cul-
tivate a correspondence Avith him on the subject of our fa-
A'ourite pursuits. On the following morning, I received a
note from him, offering me any specimens that might be
Avanting, and that he could supply, to my collection.

" Soon after this meeting, I was appointed to the British
Museum, Avhen Mr. Cranch applied to me to endeavour
to obtain for him some situation in that institution, which
would enable him to cultivate the study of natural history
on a more extended scale ; but as no vacanc}^ existed, and
as I found his demands for employment come Avithin the
limits of my pocket, I proposed that he should undertake
to investigate the coasts of Devon and Cornw^all, for ma-
rine productions ; and eventually to make a tour of Great
Britain, Avith the same vicAv; at the same time, I promised
to recommend him to the first situation that misht occur,
to enable him to attain the object of his ambition.

" On receiving my letter he immediately discharged his
journeymen, and converted his manufactory of boots and
shoes into apartments for the reception and preservation
of such objects of natural history as his daily excursions

Uxvi INTRODUCTION.

might procure. He kept up a continual communication
with the fishermen of Plymouth, and constantly received
from them baskets filled with the rubbish they dredged
from the bottom of the sea ; and this he examined with
diligence and attention, preserving all the new objects that
he discovered, and making descriptions of them. He vi-
sited, occasionally, the Brixham, Plymouth, and Falmouth
fishermen, and made excursions with them. He very often
left Kingsbridge in an open boat, and remained absent for
a long time together, during which, he dredged when the
tide was full, and examined the shores when it was out.
At night he slept in his boat, which he drew on shore ; and
when the weather was too stormy for marine excursions,
he would leave his boat and proceed to examine the
country and woods for insects, birds, &c. The remarks
with which he accompanied the infinity of new objects
Avhich he discovered, are invaluable ; many of them have
been, and the rest shall be hereafter, made public."

In this way Avas Mr. Cranch employed for the collec-
tion of natural history in the British Museum, at the time
when the expedition to the Congo was planned : for such
an expedition, a person of this description was invaluable,
and Doctor Leach recommended him to Sir Joseph
Banks, as one in every Avay fitted for the undertaking.
On his part, an appointment so suited to his pursuits, and
so flattering to his hopes, was the height of his ambition,
and he at once accepted it, though not without some
painful struggles to -his feelings. It seems he had a sort of
presentiment that he should never return, and that the ex-
pectation of such an event became weaker and weaker,
as his country faded from his view. His conduct, however.

IN*rRODLCTION. kxvii

during the voyage out, does not appear to have beeft iii-
liuenced by this feeling ; nor was his exertions at all re-
laxed by an occasional lowness of spirits, which was, per-
haps, partly constitutional, and owing partly to the gloomy
view taken of Christianity by that sect denominated Me-
thodists, of which, it seems, he was a member. He is re-
presented, however, by his friends, as a sincere Christian,
an affectionate parent, and a kind friend.

Mr. Cranch was taken' ill on the 23d August, on the
march between the banza or town of Cooloo, and the
banza Inga, and was carried back on the shoulders of the
natives to Cooloo, and from thence in a hammock to the
place of embarkation below the rapids ; but it was the
tenth day before he reached the ship in a canoe. The
sj'raptoms, by the surgeon's report, were an extreme languor
and general exhaustion ; a restlessness and anxiety,
approaching at times to delirium, but he had no pain,
except an uneas}^ sensation throughout the abdomen ;
the countenance became of a dirty yellow colour, the
pulse was at 108°, and very small. The next day he was
much worse, and on the third day the whole body became
yellow ; the countenance assumed a deadly aspect, the
pulse at the wrist imperceptible, and in the evening he
expired, " after uttering," says Mr. Fitzmaurice, " a de-
vout prayer for the welfare of his family, and with the
name of his wife quivering on his lips. He was of that
order of dissenters," he adds, " who are called Methodists,
and if I may judge from external appearances, he was an
affectionate husband and father, a sincere friend, a pious,
honest, and good man." He died in the 31st year of his
age, and was buried at Embomma by permission of the

Ixxviii INTRODUCTION'.

king, in his own burial ground, where he was laid with
military honours by the side of his fellow-traveller Mr.
Tudor, who had been interred with the liice ceremony, a
few days before.

Mr. Tudor was a young surgeon recommended by
Mr. Brookes the anatomist, and examined and approved
by Sir Everard Home, as a person well qualified to act
in the capacity of comparative anatomist. The unfor-
tunate circumstances of the expedition afforded him but
few materials to work upon, and but litde opportunity
to exercise his talent on those few. He was the youngest
of the party, and the first who was attacked with fever on
shore, being seized on the 15th August, after a march of
three days. He was immediately sent back to the vessels,
and on the 22d he reached the Congo in one of the double-
boats. On his arrival he shewed great debility, anxiety,
and impatience. His case was very similar to that of
Mr. Cranch, and on the evening of the 29th he died
■without pain.

Mr. Edward Galwey was second son to the banker
of that name in Mallow. He was educated for the uni-
versity, with a view to qualify for one of the learned pro-
fessions ; but an eligible appointment offering, in the mean
time, to a situation in the East Indies, he was about to
proceed thither, when, by the advice of his friends, and a
necessity occurring for his assistance in his father's office,
he was prevailed on to take his seat at the desk. It was
soon however discovered, that the dull routine of such
employment was but little congenial with his inclinations,

INTRODUCTION. Ixxis

and he escaped from it whenever he could with propriety
do so, to indulge his zeal for scientific research, and to
cultivate his taste for music, of which he was passionately
fond, and in which he excelled. He availed himself of
all opportunities to acquire a practical knowledge of
botany, and was particularly conversant in all the new
discoveries in chemistry, which, with geology, were his
favourite studies. Pie was soon however drawn from his
retired and studious habits to seek for health in the south
of Europe, having suffered for several months by an op-
pression and pain in the chest, accompanied m ith a con-
stant short, dry cough, (juick pulse, and all the symptoms
of a confirmed consumption ; from all which however he
was completely cured before he landed in Lisbon, after a
tempestuous and protracted passage in the winter of 1813.
Finding himself so well, and conceiving that his uniform
of a yeomanry officer would afford him much facility in
travelling in the peninsula, he was induced to go into Spain;
and the leu months he spent in visiting various parts of
this country, and the delight experienced by a mind finely
stored like his with diversified knowledge, inspired him
with so enthusiastic a zeal for foreis'i travel, that althouo;h
on his return to Ireland, he re-assumed his station in' the
bank, it was evident that an opportunity only was want-
ing to set him out again on his travels. That opportunity
soon occurred by the ill-fated expedition to explore the
Zaire. On hearing that Captain Tuckey, who was one of
his early friends, had got the appointment, he immediately
wrote to entreat he might be allowed to accompany him as a
volunteer. It was in vain to represent how inconveniently he
must be accommodated ; and that he could not be allowed

Ixxx INTRODUCTION.

even to take a servant ; but he pleaded the example of Sir
Joseph Banks, as entirely obviating, in his own case, so
Iriflino- an objection ; his family remonstrated with him on
the score of his health being injured from the hardships
he would necessarily have to undergo, and from the effects
of climate : his argument was, that he had already tried
both, and his health had improved by the experiment. In
short, remonstrance and persuasion were resorted to in
vain : he persisted in his entreaties with the Admiralty
and Captain Tuckey; and on the latter expressing a wish
to take him, as one likely to be useful, in promoting the
objects of the expedition, he was permitted to join the
Congo as a volunteer.

Mr. Galwey proceeded Avith the Captain's party as far
up the river as the banza Inga, where he was taken ill,
about the 24th August, and sent off from thence to the
vessels : but he did not reach the Congo, in his canoe, till
the 7th September, being then in a state of great exhaus-
tion ; his countenance, by the surgeon's account, ghastly,
with extreme debility, and great anxiety ; a short cough,
with hurried respiration and heaving of the chest, the pulse
108, and very small, the body of a dirty yellow colour.
On the following day, all the bad symptoms were encreased,
but he was free from pain. On the 9th he became
insensible, and expired about the middle of the day.
His body Avas taken to the burial ground of the King
of Embomma, and interred with such honours as the
dispirited and much reduced party could bestow, by the
side of his unfortuate companions Cranch and Tudor.

Mr. Galwey had taken a very active part in collecting
specimens, and making remarks on the natural products

INTRODUCTION. Ixxxi

of the country, and more particularly on its geology ; but
both his journal and his collections have been lost. They
had met in their progress with a party of slave-dealers,
having in their possession a negro in fetters, from the
Mandingo country. From motives of humanity, and with
the view of returning this man to his friends and country,
as well as under the hope that he might become useful as
they proceeded, and give some account of the regions
through which he must have passed, as soon as he should
be able to speak a little EngUsh, Captain Tuckey pur-
chased this slave, and appointed him to attend Mr.Galwey ;
but he was utterly incapable, it seems, of feeling either
pleasure or gratitude at his release from captivity ; and
when Mr. Galwey was taken ill, he not only abandoned
him, but carried off the little property he had with him,
no part of which was ever recovered.

After this gloomy recital of the mortality which befel
the officers and naturalists of the expedition, it will be the
less necessary to bespeak the indulgence of the public in
passing judgment on the present volume. The Journals of
Captain Tuckey and Professor Smith, with the collections
which have reached England, afford ample testimony how
much more might have been expected in less unfortunate
circimistances. These Journals will not be deemed the less
valuable for being the mere records of facts and impres-
sions, written down without regard to arrangement, the
moment they occurred and were made. The few General
Observations collected from these Journals, and from de-
tached notes of Lieutenant Hawkey, Mr. Fitzmaurice and
Mr. Mc Kerrow, have been thrown together in order to

in

Ixxxii INTRODUCTION.

give a connected, though imperfect, view of thai particular
part of the country, and people visited by the expedition.
The papers, No. 2 and 3 in the Appendix, by Doctor
Leach, and Sir Everard Home, respecting the parasitic
Vermis which takes possession of the Argonaut shell, and
which clear up a long disputed point in natural history,
are reprinted from the Philosophical Transactions, by
permission of the venerable President, who is on all occa-
sions most ready to lend his cordial assistance to the dis-
semination of human knowledge.

The other papers in the Appendix, illustrative of those
subjects in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms
which occurred along the line of the Zaire, as far, at least,
as the materials sent home would admit, were obligingly
drawn up by Doctor Leach and Mr. Koenig of the British
Museum, and by Mr. Brown, Secretary to the Linna?an
Society, and Librarian to Sir Joseph Banks ; to each and
all of whom, but more especially to the last mentioned
gentleman, for his excellent observations on the plants
found in the vicinity of the Congo river, the Editor has
to express his grateful acknowledgments.

NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION

TO EXPLORE

THE RIVER ZAIRE

B

CHAPTER I.

Passage to, and Notices on, the Island of Saint Jago.

NARRATIVE, S^c.

CHAPTER I.

1 H E provisions and stores for the expedition having been
all shipped on board the Congo, and the Dorothy transport,
and the river being free from the ice, which had blocked it up
for many days, the tAvt) vessels quitted Deptford on the l6th
of February, and proceeded to the Nore, where the Congo's
crew received six months wages in advance ; and on the fol-
lowing morning (25th) we weighed and anchored the same
evening in the Downs, where we were detained until the
28th by strong westerly winds. On that day, the wind being
at N.N.W., we put to sea, but returning to S. W. when

6 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

abreast of Plymouth, we were obliged to run into the Sound,
where we lay for three days, perfectly sheltered by the
Breakwater from the violence of a S.W. gale. Here we
completed the Congo's complement, by receiving two ma-
rines, and entering two seamen, in lieu of as many who had
deserted at Sheerness the same evening on which they re-
ceived their advance.

On the 5th of March, the wind moderating, though still at
S.W., we put to sea in the hope of being able to beat down
the Channel ; but the return of strong gales forced us into
Falmouth on the 6th, from whence we again sailed on the
9th, Avith a fine breeze at N. N.E.; this, however, failed us
on reaching the length of Scilly, and was succeeded by a
heavy galefrom S.W. , with extremely thick and dirty weather,
such as, at this season, renders the navigation of the English
channel equally disagreeable and dangerous, and which
now, by preventing our getting a pilot for Scilly, obliged us to
run back to Falmouth. In standing in for Scilly, we passed
the Bishop and Clerk's rocks at the distance of a mile, the
sea breaking on them in a frightful manner; we also passed
close to the Wolf rock, on which the sea also broke furi-
ously, but without that roaring noise whicli gave it its name,
and which formerly warned seamen of their danger. On en-
quiring at Falmouth, I was assured that, some years since,

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 7

the fishermen of Cornwall employed all their boats a whole
summer in conveying stones to fill up the chasm or hole
that caused this roaring, which, they alleged, frightened the
fish to a great distance.

During a tedious detention of eight days at Falmouth, the
winds fluctuated every moment in hard squalls, from
W. S. W, to N. W., with heavy showers of rain, snow, and
hail ; effects ascribable probably to the local situation of this
harbour, which, being placed nearly at the narrowest part
of the peninsulaof Cornwall, and surrounded by high lands,
is exposed to the vapours from the Atlantic, and from the
English and Irish channels ; and these being intercepted and
condensed by the hills, produce those frequent squalls and
quick succeeding showers.

Falmouth is a neat, clean town, built entirely of stone
found on the spot ; its market, which is a commodious
building of Cornish granite, is exceedingly well supplied
with meat, poultry, butter, eggs, and vegetables. The
number of meeting-houses indicate the great majority of the
inhabitants to be dissenters. The stranger however is most
forcibly struck by the strong similarity of features in the
Falmouth females, which consists in plump rounded faces,
without much expression, but denoting cheerfulness and
placidity of disposition, while the bloom of their cheeks

8 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

sufficiently proves that the humidity of the cHmate is not

unhealthy.

The wind at length coming to the north, we weighed
once more, (19th) and at last cleared the Channel, passing
Scilly at the distance of 15 leagues. On opening the
Lizard, we suddenly, from a very smooth water, got into
a heavy swell from N.W., with a cross sea; the swell
doubtless proceeding from the late westerly gales, and
the cross sea from the meeting of the tides of the two
channels at the Land's-end, for as we en creased our distance
from the land, the waves subsided, and the sea became
more regular.

When abreast of Scilly the wind came to the east, and
we now found that the transport rolled so heavily going
before it, as to be most uncomfortable even to seamen,
while the Naturalists became most grievously sea-sick ; in
order to remedy this rolling, as far as was noAv possible,
all the lumber stowed in the boats on deck was got out of
them ; but this had little effect, the cause being either in
the ship herself, or in some vice in the stowage of the hold,
we were therefore obliged to submit to this discomfort, by
which we could neither take our meals, sleep, walk the
deck, or even sit down to write with any satisfaction.

The common gull (Larus canus) was the only bird that

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 9

accompanied us from the Channel, and it did not disap-
pear finally until the 23d, when Cape Finisterre, the nearest
land, was 200 miles distant. On the 25th we passed the
parallel of this cape, nearly at the same distance.

AVe now shaped a course for the west end of Madeira,
and a pleasant breeze from the N.E. impelling us forward
50 to 60 leagues aday, we made that island at day-light on
the Slst, our approach to it on the preceding days being
denoted by the wind veering to the west, with frequent
squalls and showers of rain, and by the numbers of logger-
head turtles (Testudo caretta) seen asleep on the surface of
the sea. One of these animals was taken up by the Congo
with many clusters of barnacles adhering to the shell ; they
consisted of two species, the Lepas anatifera, and Lepas mem-
hranacea. The first floating mollusca were also seen on ap-
proaching Madeira, and as the scientific gentlemen were
now pretty well recovered from their sea sickness, and the
weather was warm and fair, Fahrenheit's thermometer at
noon being CS", the tow-net was put overboard, and col-
lected some of these animals, all of the Vellela genus.

Passing Madeira to the west at ten leagues distance, we
steered for Palma, which, at day-hght on the 2d of April, was
in sight ; running along its west side at the distance of six
leagues, we observed the summit of the Caldera mountain

C

10 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

patched with snow. In the afternoon we passed along the
west side of Ferro, also at the distance of six leagues.

As far as the Canaries our route had been very barren of
any event of interest; we saw several vessels, but spoke none.
After losing our English gulls, two birds only were seen on the
day before making Madeira, the one a large bird resembling
a raven, the other an ash coloured gull. This almost total
absence of sea birds in the vicinity of Madeira and the
Canaries seems the more extraordinary, as it may be sup-
posed that the Dezertas, Salvages, and other rocks would
afford them undisturbed breeding places.

After passing Madeira the winds were generally from
N.N.E. and N.E., blowing moderately with fair weather ;
the days rather hazy, but the nights so bright that not a
star was hid in the heavens. Our route laying to the east-
ward of the islands of Cape Verde, the trade wind, as we
approached the coast of Africa, lost its steadiness, veering
from N.N.E. to N.W.

On the 5th, in latitude 22°, longitude 19° 9', the sea
being much discoloured, we tried for soundings, but did not
get bottom with 120 fathoms of line. Cape Cowoeira, the
nearest point of Africa, was at this time 32 leagues
distant. The atmosphere extremely hazy, and a large
flight of fishing-birds was seen ; both being indications of

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 11

the vicinity of soundings. Here I may observe, that should
this discolouration of the sea at such a distance from the
land be a constant circumstance, it may serve to guide
ships which have no means of correcting their reckonings,
and thereby prevent the shipwrecks that so often happen
on the coast of the Desart in the vicinity of cape Blanco,
by their not allowing for the easterly current that seems
invariably to set quite from the English Channel to the
Canaries, and the effect of which we found to be, in that
distance, equal to one degree and a half of longitude.

The towing-net was now become tolerably successful,
taking up from time to time various species of mollusca,
such as Portuguese men of war, (Holothuria physalis),
Vellela mutica, (La Marc) Thalis trilineata, (ib.) besides some
testacea, viz. the Helix ianthina, with the living animal ;
many dead shells of the Nautilus spiralis, &c. specimens of
all which were preserved by Mr. Cranch.

The holothuria made its first appearance on the 4th in-
stant in latitude 24° 13', longitude 18° 31', temperature of
the atmosphere at noon being 68°, of the surface of the sea
Q5°. These animals continued more or less abundant until
past the Cape Verde islands, when they entirely disappear-
ed. The greatest abundance of them was however on the

12 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

5th and 6th, when nearest to the coast of Africa, where the
sea was perfectly covered with them.

The Congo's decks and sides having become extremely
leaky, both from the shrinking of the planks with the heat
of the weather, and also apparently from imperfect caulking
in the severe weather while she was building, I determined
to anchor 24 hours in Porto Praya, to caulk her sides, which
could not be done at sea; and accordingly steered for Bo-
navista, with a fresh trade at N. E., and the atmosphere very
hazy during the day, as it usually is near the Cape Verde
islands. On the 8th we passed along the east side of Bo-
navista, at the distance of four leagues, and at daylight on
the 9th were at the same distance from the west side of
Mayo, when we steered for Porto Praya, and anchored in
the road in the forenoon.

With exception of the mollusca, &c. taken up by the
towing net, our Naturalists had no subjects to employ them-
selves on since entering the tropic; a single flying fish.
(Exocatus volitans), the first seen, was found dead on the
deck the morning of making Bonavista, but neither dolphin,
bonito, albicore, shark, or tropic bird was yet seen.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 13

PORTO PRAYA.

In the afternoon I went on shore, accompanied by several
of the gentlemen, to wait on the Captain- general of the
islands, who now resided at Porto Praya. On entering the
gateway of the town, for gate there was none, we were con-
ducted by a negro, to a white-washed house, of tolerably
decent external appearance, when contrasted with the
miserable hovels that surround it, and on being announced
by a ragged centinel, were ushered up a ladder into a large
apartment, the rafters, floor, and wainscot of which were as
rough as they came from the sawpit ; without paint, or other
decoration, save some daubed prints of the Virgin and
Saints. Here we found the General at dinner with a large
company, among whom were half a dozen greasy monks,
wrapped in frize (the thermometer at 84°), whose jolly
figures and cheerful countenances denoted any thing but
abstinence and penance. The General's lady, a comely
European Portuguese, drest. a I'inglaise, was the only
female at table, and sat on the right hand of her husband.
Not having had any arrivals from Portugal for four months,
the General was very inquisitive as to the political appear-
ances in Europe, and as he spoke tolerable French, I was
able to satisfy him.

14 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE

From hence we were conducted to the house of the Go-
vernor of the island, who we also found at dinner with his
wife, several monks, and officers. The lady was a half-cast,
and habited a la negresse, that is, with nothing but a shift and
petticoat, being the only female. The Governor, who can
make himself very well understood in English, immediately
requested to be employed in procuring the refreshments we
required ; at the same time taking great pains to convince
us, that he had no interested motives in offering his services;
to which, of course, we gave all due credit. Nevertheless,
in order to avoid the delay I knew he might cause, and
besides the triffing supplies we required being of little
moment, I gave him an order for four bullocks and some
pumpkins and oranges. This very disinterested officer, Avho
wears the uniform and has the rank of colonel, is however
one of the most sturdy beggars I ever met with, and com-
menced his attack on our liberality, by telling the purser,
that his wife desired him to ask if he could sell her some
butter; but adding, that he knew English officers never sold,
but only made compliment. This broad hint was followed up
by wishes for porter, cheese, and potatoes ; and the example
of the Governor was followed by his guests ; one of the of-
ficers modestly asking me to sell him a pair of old epaulets;
another wished he could get a cocked hat; a third, a pair of

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 15

English shoes; a fourth, a pair of gloves; at the same time
pulhng a pair out of his pocket which he assured us were
English ; but added, with a sigh, thai they were not his own,
having borrowed them from a brother officer for the day.
All these gentlemen expressed themselves in very broken
English, and indeed there is scarcely a person in the town
who does not speak enough of this language for the pur-
poses of bartei'ing or begging.

Having taken leave of the Governor, we walked over the
town, which is situated on a kind of platform or table land,
nearly perpendicular on all sides, and quite so towards the
ba3^ With the exception of half a dozen houses of the chief
officers, which are plaistered and white-washed, and of the
church, which is without a spire, and externally resembles
a barn, this capital of the Cape V^erde islands consists of
three rows of hovels, constructed of stones and mud, and
thatched with branches of the date tree, and chiefly inha-
bited by negroes.

The fortifications consist of what is here called a fort, but
which an engineer would be puzzled to describe; and a line,
facing the bay, of sixteen old iron guns, within a half demo-
Ushed parapet wall. In a sort of bastion of the fort, the
grave of Captain Eveleigh is distinguished by a patch of
pavement of round pebbles. This officer, commanding His

16 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Majesty's ship Acteon, was mortally wounded in a drawn
action with a French frigate. On the several high platform
points that surround the bay are also mounted some
guns, each of these posts being guarded by a single negro
family. From the imposing appearance of these batteries,
it is, doubtless, that the Governor-general expects that all
vessels will notify their intention of sailing; nor could I
refrain from a smile, when, after informing me that this was
a necessary ceremony, even for ships of war, he assured me
that on hoisting a flag, he would immediately make a signal
to the batteries to let us pass ! ; perfectly satisfied as I was,
that the vessels might be almost out of sight of the Island
before a gun could be fired.

The bay of Porto Praya, however, possesses the greatest
capability of being strongly fortified against shipping, and
the town might, by a simple wall in those places where the
sides of the platform are not perpendicular, be secured
from a coup de main. The town must however in this case
be supplied with water from the rain collected in cisterns.
There are here no regular European troops, a few officers ex-
cepted, and the militia ; one of whom may be seen standing
centinel every ten yards in the town, perfectly in character
with the fortifications, this corps being composed of the most
ragged, bare-legged, sans-culotte vagabond-lookingwretches

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 17

of all shades of col our, from the swarthy European Portuguese
to the Negro of Guinea; and, as if it was determined that
there should be no incongruity in any part of the military de-
partment, not one of their muskets in ten has a lock, and
many of the barrels are lashed to the stocks with rope yarns.
From the town we descended by a zig-zag path to the
valley on the left, named " Val de Trinidad,'' over which
are scattered some clusters of date trees (Thoeinx dactyUfera ) ,
some mimosas, and other spontaneous vegetation ; but the
only attempt at cultivation is near the two wells, which supplv
the town and shipping, where a negro hut is surrounded b}-
a miserable plantation of the cotton shrub (Gossipium herha-
cevm). There can, however, be no doubt but that the soil
of this vallc}' wants only Avatcrto render it fruitful; and it
seems equally certain, that water might be had in sufficient
quantity by digging Avells. The present possessors of the
island must however change their natures, before this
or any other improvement is effected. Though a species of
mimosa groAvs to a large size in the most burnt-up spots,
and affords a good shade, they seem never to have thought
of planting it in the town, where it Mould be not only orna-
mental, but highly useful in luoderating the excessive heat,
caused by the action of the sun on the ferruginous sand.
The wells we now found surrounded by negro washcrwo-

D

18 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

men, whose state of all hut nudity, and pendant flaccidity
of bosom, seemed to wake our untravelled companions
from the dreams they had indulged in of the sable Venuses
which they were to find on the banks of the Congo.

In the afternoon of the 10th we made a more extended
excursion; quitting the town, we followed the sides and
summits of the hills that bound the valley of Trinidad, for
about three miles, when we came to a mean delapidated
house, hanging over the precipitous brow of a platform,
which we learnt was one of the Governor General's country
residences. At the foot of the precipice is what here may
be called a garden, containing half a dozen cocoa-nut trees,
some manioc, sweet potatoes, cotton shrubs, &c. Near this
we measured a Boabab, (Adamonia digitata), whose trunk,
five feet from the ground, Avas 21 feet in circumference; it
Avas now without leaves, the branches much resembling those
of the chestnut tree.

A mile farther, at the head of a narrow glen, we found the
negro hamlet of San Felippe, composed of a dozen huts.
The bottom of the glen is covered with huge stones, evident-
ly tumbled from the hills that enclose it ; and from the foot
of a vast mass of rock issues a fine spring, which serves to
nourish a little plantation of fruits and vegetables. A very
large tamarind tree, growing out of the crevice of a naked

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 19

rock, and the profusion of fruit on the cocoa-nut, banana,
and papau trees, where there is not a foot of soil, prove
that, in this chmate, water is the grand principle of

vegetation.

The negroes who watched the plantation, and tended a
few cows and sheep, received us with much civility, and in
return we purchased from them a fine milch goat with her
kid, and all the eggs they had to dispose of. The hut of a
poor negro slave is not luxuriously furnished ; where there
are females, a partition of the branches of the date tree en-
closes a recess for their use ; the bedsteads are four up-
right sticks stuck in the clay floor, with transverse sticks for
the bottom, over which is spread a mat or blanket; a solid
wooden chest, serving also for table and couch, a wooden
mortar to pound their Indian corn, a pot to boil it, some
gourds for holding milk and water, and some wooden
spoons, form the sum total of furniture and domestic utensils ;
the drum made out of a log of wood hollowed, and the rude
guitar of three strmgs, which are seen in every hut, prove
however that providence every where " tempers the wind to
the shorn lamb," and that if it permits human slavery, it also
blunts the feelings of the slave, not only to the degree of en-
durance,but even to that of enjoying life under its most for-
bidding form. Inwitnessing the joyous songs and dances of

20 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

the negroes, we could scarcely believe that they are subject
to be momentarily dragged away to receive the lashes com-
manded by a brutal owner, were we not painfully convinced
by the indelible marks of the whip on their naked bodies.

The strictest precautions are taken against the evasion
of slaves on board foreign vessels that touch here, and par-
ticularl}^ by not allowing boats of any kind to the inhabi-
tants, the want of which gives to the port the appearance
of a deserted settlement.

The industrious pursuits of the islanders appear to be
limited by their absolute wants, being confmed to produc-
ing the stock and vegetables for their consumption, manu-
facturing a little sugar also for their own use, and weaving
the cotton of the island chietly into shawls for the women.

As there is scarely any thing exported from the island,
there is no other ingress of money, than what is paid by
ships for refreshments, or that which is sent from Portugal to
pay the expenses of the estabhshment ; and this cannot be
much if all are paid in the same proportion as the Governor,
Avho told us that his salary was but four dollars a day. Pos-
sessed by a more industrious people, and better governed,
this island might however be made highly productive of
colonial objects ; the sugar cane is equal to that of the West
Indies, the indigo plant succeeds perfectly, and the dye it

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 21

affords for their cottons is excellent ; coffee is also produced
for consumption, and ^Adth common industry the now burnt-
up vallies might be covered with the cotton-shrub. Two or
three pitiful shops, containing the most heterogenous assort-
ment of goods, convey the only appearance of domestic com-
merce; in them we observed various kinds of EnoHsh cotton
goods and earthen ware ; the other objects, as hats, shoes,
&c. being of Portuguese fabric.

Towards the sea shore, Avhere my own observations
■\vei;e confined, St. Jago presents the most forbidding ap-
pearance of sterility, the whole surfice denoting the efiect
of some mighty convulsion, which piled matter upon matter
in what nuu^ be termed a regular confusion. The two
prominent forms arc those of platforms or table lands ge-
nerally cut perpendicular as a wall on one side, and level
with the neighbouring land on the other ; and series of per-
fectly conical hillocks diminishing in sii^e by regular gra-
dation. Besides these, vast irregular masses are scattered
over the interior of the island, forming shapeless mountains,
and Ions; serrated outlines. The whole of the elevated
grounds, which I passed over, are covered with loose blocks
of stone, basalt, lava, and other volcanic products, and the
beds of the numerous torrents, which were now quite dry,
shewed a covering of black basaltic sand. "\Vit.h the excep-

22 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

tion of the spring at San Felippe, I did not meet a drop
of running water, and all the annual plants were so burnt
up as to be reducible to powder between the fingers. The
onlj trees seen here are a few jnelancholy dates, useful only
by their branches, as their fruit does not come to perfec-
tion ; and some thinly scattered mimosas, serving only to
render the general nakedness more apparent. The lesser
vegetation consists of about a dozen shrubs, on which, as
Avell as the mimosa, the goats browse, and some herbaceous
plants, particularly a convolvolus, which covers the most
sandy spots, a solanum, a lotus, an aloe, &c.

Professor Smith and Mr. Tudor, who employed the
whole of our short stay here in a botanizing excursion to
the mountains, describe the interior of the island as more
pleasing than the sea shores. The valleys, as they ascended
from the inferior region, being well watered by springs
forming little brooks, and covered with plantations of fruits
and vegetables ; the hills well clothed with grass, affording
pasture to numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep.
The result of Dr. Smith's botanical researches is thus stated
by him.* " The Cape de Verde islands, though situated

* It may be necessary to observe, that though Dr. Smith understands and
speaks the English language with great correctness, he, as may be expected in a
foreigner, does not write it with equal facility, hence I have been obliged to
put the wTitten observations he has furnished me with into a more correct form
as to 7nanner, the matter being eatirely his own.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 23

nearly in the middle of the northern equinoctial zone, and
separated only by a distance of 120 leagues from the
broadest part of Africa, in their climate and vegetation
approach nearer to the temperate regions than to the tro-
pical. In the opposite countries of Senegambia, the rains
and the hottest season arrive together, and continue during
the months of May, June, and July. In the Cape Verde
islands, on the contrary, the rains do not set in until the
middle of August, (when they are about to cease in Sene-
gambia,) and continue with intermissions until January or
February. On our arrival at Porto Praya, the dry season
had therefore commenced two months ; some of the in-
digenous trees and shrubs had just lost their leaves, and a
few had put forth new ones ; all the perrnnial plants were
in seed, and all the annual nearly dried up, the vegetation
being in the same state as in June and July in the Canary
islands.

" Even in the dry season the atmosphere of the Cape
Verdes is extremely humid, for the air being heated over
the broadest part of Africa, a great capacity for imbibing
moisture is thereby acquired, and in passing over the sea it
is saturated to the highest point, so that the least diminution
of temperature causes it to deposit abundant vapour Not
only the highest point of St. Jago, (Pico de San Antonio,)

24 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVK

^vhicli has about 4500 feet of elevation, but also the Avhole
central ridge of hills down to 1400 feet are usually enveloped
in clouds from 10 o'clock in the morning. This humidity
clothes the hills with thick pasture grass, giving to the
country a feature entirely unlooked for in so low a latitude
and of so small an elevation alcove the sea.

" It is also this moist atmosphere that causes the mean
temperature of the island to be so much less than that of
Senegambia. According to Humboldt's new scale of mean
temperatures, the curve will intersect the latitude of St.
Jago at 27° of the centigrade thermometer, (80° 7' of Faren-
heit,) which is probably the middle between the iso-ther-
mometer of the island and of Senegambia, the latter being
probably not less than 30° centig. {86° of Fahrenheit). On
the 10th of April the temperature of the well in the valley of
Trinidad was 25"" centig. (73° Fahrenheit), the well being
two or three fathoms deep, and the afflux of water con-
siderable, as it supplies the M'holc town. It is probable
that this is about the mean temperature of the well through-
out the year, and that Ave shall not be far wrong in con-
sidering it also as the iso-therm. of the lower parts of the
island.*

* On boad the sliip in the bay at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the thermometer
was 7C°, while in the ton n of Porto Prava it was at the same time 84°.

CAPTAIX TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 25

" The nature of the vegetation is here, as well as every
where else, the truest criterion of the climate. Few of the
iindoubtedl V indigenous plants can be called tropical ; on the
contrary, the flora of the island is poor in sonxe families which
occupy a large portion of tropical vegetation in general ;
such, for instance, as the Coinposita, while it is much richer
in others chiefly found in temperate climates, as the Lahiatce.
Few of the plants of the hotter regions of Africa are found
here; but a much greater number of species similar, or
allied to, those of the temperate extremities of this continent,
and of the Canary islands in particular. The number of
these encrease in ascending from the low grounds to the hills
of second magnitude, where they are succeeded partly by
European and partly by other Canarian plants to the height
of 3000 feet, which was the greatest elevation I reached."

" St. Jago, though enjoying the genial influence of a tro-
pical sun, seems to be poor in indigenous plants, as is
indeed usually the case with islands at any considerable dis-
tance from a continent. But thouoh nature is not here
spontaneously productive, she has adopted every plant,
which has been brought to the island either by accident or
design. Thus the most prevalent species are exotic, and
chiefly introduced from the other Portuguese colonies, par-
ticularly from the Brazils and the Malabar coast. The

E

26 CAPTAIN TUCKEY S NARRATIVE.

Jatropha curcas, probably first brought here for its seeds,
Avhich afford a good oil, forms thickets in the vallies and on
the sides of the hills ; the Anona tripetala is also common
in the same wild state, and in similar situations. The Justicia
makibarica covers all the fields and bottoms of the vallies.
Tlhe. Argemoi^e meaicana is dispersed in every direction; and
the Cassia occidentals is scatteretl amono-st the rocks round
Porto Praya. Three species of Sida, the canariensis being
most abundant (and even more so than in the Canaries)
and one species of Malva, also very prevalent, are probably
from America.

" The principal indigenous plants in the lower region, are
a species of Mimosa, Avhich I have named glandulosa; a Con-
volvolus, which is doubtful, and may also be American ;
a Zizyphus resembling the vulgaris. Spermacoce verticilata^
said to be common in the West Indies and Africa : Momor-
dica soiegalensis, and Cardiospcrniin/i hirsutum, both of Sene-
gal, and Lotus jacohans. In the hilly region some indige-
nous plants cover large tracts, resembling, by this character
of aggregation in one place, the vegetation of temperate
climates. A new species of Peimisetum covers all the hills,
having no other resemblance to tropical grasses, than its
height and ramified stems, xlmong the many Canarian
plants, I looked long for the family of Euphorbia, so preva-

CAPTAIN l UClvEY'S NARRATIVE. 2T

lent in the Canaries; but at the height of about 1600 feet
I at length found the sides of the hills and small vallies co-
vered with large bushes of a Thymalea, resembling the pisca-
toria, but the identity diflicult to be established. A Sider-
oxylon, I was told, formed thickets on the highest mountains,
but 1 saw only one sterile plant resembling the Marmulana
of Madeira.

" I have, in the following table,* divided the vegetation of
St. Jago into two regions only, and doubt if the plants of
the Pico de San Antonio difler suthciently to form a third.
I must however observe, that a two days excursion, in the
dry season, and in one of the least fertile parts of owe island
only, is by no means sufficient to estabhsh a phj'sical ar-
rangement of the Hora of the islands in general, where such
difference of localities exist as in the burning peak of Fogo,
and the wooded mountains of the island of San Antonio.
Indeed, from the little I had time to observe, I am convinced
that a botanist would have his labour well I'epaid should he
give a sufficient time to the examination of the vegetable
reign of these islands ; nor can I help being surprised that
no one has yet turned his attention towards them.''

With respect to the cultivated vegetables, Dr. Smith ob-
serves, " Cultivation is only seen in the glens or ravines,
* Inserted in Professor's Smith's Journal .

28 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

which are watered by rills from the mountains. In the

upper and wider part of the valley of Trinidad, we first met

widi plantations of Indian corn, cassava, sugar cane, Arum

esculentum, and pine apples. Cotton and indigo had also

been formerly planted in some spots of the valley, but being

neglected, a few plants run wild are now only to be seen.

On the sides of the brooks grow luxuriantly the fig, lemon,

orange, papaw, ( Anona triloba,) custard apple, ( Anona

ofricana,) the tamarind, guava, plaintain, and banana,

(Cassia fistula,) and prickly pear (Cactus npuntia). Near

one of country houses we saw some Ailanthus glandulosa

Xhnenia amcricana, and a few grape vines. Besides the date

palm, which grows in abundance in the sands near Porto

Pra3^a, some tall cocoa ])alms are scattered here and there,

and bear ripe fruit at the elevation of 800 feet above the sea.

A single palmyra ( Borassus flahelliforvm ) was seen.

On some spots of the elevated grassy hills, roots and
vegetables are cultivated with great success ; we saw no
traces of other Cerealia than Indian corn, but were told that
wheat succeeds perfectly when sown in the dry plains in the
rainy season, as does rice in the lowest and wettest grounds ;
but the islands being supplied with corn from America, in
return for their salt and mules, the indolent inhabitants do
not think of cultivating either. The inhabitants we coii-

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 29

versed with Avere entirely ignorant of any tree affording dra-
gon's blood, though the Draccena draco is said to be found
in these islands, as well as Madeira and the Canaries.

The deep valley of St. Domingo, on the east side of the
island, which we saw beneath us from the mountains, and
that of Ribeira on the south-west side, we were assured
are better watered, more fertile, and more extensively cul-
tivated than that of Trinidad."

Dr. Smith remarks of the geological features of the island,
that " the Cape Verdes, like all the African Atlantic islands,
are of sub-marine volcanic origin, and mostly of the ba-
saltic formation. Few of them seem to have had super-
marine eruptions, and perhaps the cone of Fogo, which
rises above 7000 feet, and still smokes, is the only one.
The forms of the four high north-western islands, and of
Brava, as represented in the charts, lead to the belief that
they do not differ essentially in structure from the basaltic
mountains of St. Jago, and it is probable that Mayo is
similar to the inferior region of the latter island.

" The south-east and south coasts of St. Jago are sur-
rounded by steep and often perpendicular rocky cliffs of a
few fathoms in height, from which the land rises towards
the mountains, in a generally Hat surface, with a few
hills covered by loose fragments and furrowed with ravines.

30 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

" The valley of Trinidad, the largest and deepest ravine
in the south side of the island, commences at the sandy
beach of Porto Praya, and runs S. S.W. and N.N.E., with
its upper extremity bent to the E.N.E. until it is lost
in sloping hills. It is generally covered Avith volcanic
fragments.

" The central ridge of hills follows nearly the largest
diameter of the island from S.E. to N.W., but nearest to
the eastern coast, with sloping sides to the west, and having
many steep basaltic rocks, and well Avatered vallies or
ravines to the east. The peak of St. Antonio rises above
the other mountains in an oblique, conical, sharp-pointed
form, to the height of about 4500 feet.

" The sea rocks round Porto Praya expose five strata to
view; 1st, or lowest, a conglomerat, passing into pumice tufa;
2d, jnimice ; 3d, a thin layer of porotts basalt ; 4th, columnar
basalt ; and 5th, or uppermost, a basalt-like substance,
which from its concentrical and globular forms, seems
to have been in a semifluid state. Farther inland, the
basaltic strata sometimes contain oliiin and augite, and more
rarely amphibole. About a league u[) the valley, on its
western border, are huge rocks, which cause a bending in
its direction, and which are composed of a deep red quartz,
with crystals of felt spur ; about two leagues up are found

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 31

loose masses of lava, the cells sometimes empty, sometimes
filled with crystals of mesotype. To the west, I observed at
some distance a discoloured appearance, not unhke a lava
stream, and not far distant from some conical hills, in the
direction of the Peak of Fogo ; but the stinted time did not
admit of examining if these were the vestiges of an eruption.
In two or three places 1 met beds of a compact felspar,
mostly decomposed into a white earth. I was also told of a
bed of shells among some hills, not far distant from the place
named Toara, but which the same reason prevented me from
verifying."

The island appears to be scantily supplied Avith l)irds,
either as to species or numbers ; those seen were three spe-
cies of falco ; the first a fishing eagle, common at Porto
Pray a ; the second ash-coloured, of a large size, seen only on
shore; and the third, which was shot on shore, nearly
resembled the sparrow-hawk. The small birds, of Avhich
specimens were shot, were a fine king fisher (Alcedo), very
common ; the common swift (Hinmda apiis ;) a sparrow
differing little from the European house sparrow ; a bird
resembling the lark ; and a very small warbler, the only
one that appeared to have any song. Some covies of
Guinea fowl were seen, but too shy to be shot at ; and
the common quail was also seen. The greater tropic bird,

32 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

(Phaeton etherus) breeds in the crevices of the elevated
rocks near the shores, but was not at this time numerous.

Fish are tolerably abundant in the bay, and the seine may
be hauled with good success, either in a sandy cove on the
west side of the east point of the bay, or on the beach west
of the town; the latter appearing preferable, the former
being subject to a sudden rise of surf, when the sea breeze
blows fresh. Of nine species of fish which we took, three
only were familiar to us, viz. a young white shark, (Squalus
carcharias) barracoota, or barracuda and grey mullet. The
others we were prevented from examining by a mistake of
the cabin steward, who (supposing they were selected and
put by for the purpose) caused these specimens to be drest
for dinner. Although the most rigid catholics, the inhabi-
tants seem to make fish a ^ery small portion of their ge-
neral food, a single boat alone going out to fish in deep
water ; and the few fish we observed on shore were taken
as we understood by hook and line from the rocks. The
Governor, however, on learning that we had hauled the
seine with success, let us know that it was customary to pay
him the compliment of a dish of fish, which through
ignorance we had omitted. Of crustaceous fish, we only
took a prawn four inches long, a few small crabs among the
rocks, and a species of land crab. The testaceous moUusca

CAPTAIN TUCKEYS NARRATIVE. 33

collected among the rocks were not numerous, consisting of
patella, buccina, turbo, trochii, and dead shells of cones. Two
species of sea egg (echinus) were also found on the rocks.
I The insects seen (besides the common ^y of a small size,
and neither numerous nor troublesome,) were several kinds
of grasshoppers (gnjlli ) , three or four species of coleopterous
insects, among which was a small beetle (Scarabceus), and
some moths and butterflies. The only reptile seen was the
ommon stone lizard.

Porto Praya has been so often visited by our navigators,
that it may be supposed they have left little room for new
nautical observations ; the directions for knowing the bay
are indeed so minute and various, as to confuse rather than
assist a stranger ; it seems however to have been forgotten,
that one marked and prominent feature is a better guide
than a number of trivial appearances, Avhich may change
with the position of the observer.

It seems to me to be quite sufficient to inform the naviga-
tor, that the S.E. point of the island is seen as a A-ery long
and very low point in coming from the north or south ; that
to the west of this point, three or four miles, is a bay with a
brown sandy beach, a building, and a grove of date (not
cocoa-nut)* trees ; that this first bay must not be mis-

* This mistake is made in all tiie directions for Porto Praya that I have seen ;
the trees are however sufficiently different in appearance, to render the cor-
rection proper.

F

34 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

taken for that of Porto Praja, as its east point is surrounded
by rocks that do not always break ; that after passing this
bay you may keep along shore towards Porto Praya within
1^ mile, or in 10 fathoms. This last bay is first distinguished
by a battery of earth or brown stones on its west point, otf
which the sea always breaks to some distance. In standing
on, round the east point of the bay, (which is safe, and
should be rounded in seven or eight fathoms, or within a
cable's length,) the brown sandy beach opens, on which is
first seen a house or shed, then a grove of date (not cocoa-
nut) trees, and shortly after the fort itself

With respect to anchorage, it may be proper to observe
that a large ship should lay well out, and near the east shore,
in order to ensure her weathering the west point of the
bay, should the wind be light, or far to the east, as is often
the case. The best birth I conceive to be with the flag-staff
of the fort N.W. by W., the east point of the bay E.S.E.
and the S.W. point W.S.W. in seven or eight fathoms.
The ground is coarse sand and gravel, that does not hold
well ; consequently it requires a good scope of cable to bring
the ship up in a fresh sea breeze. It is also advisable to
drop a kedge anchor to the west to steady the ship, and
keep the bower anchor clear, when at times in the forenoon
the wind is light from the west.

There is always some surf on the beach, so that it is

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 35

proper to have grapnels in the boats going on shore. When
the surf is high, there is a good landing place at a rock east
of the town, where a path-way is seen. It is also very
necessary to be cautious in carrying sail in boats, the puffs
of Avind from the high lands being very dangerous, as we
experienced by the oversetting of the gig, by which Lieu-
tenant Hawkey was nearl}^ drowned. Two other boats
Avere also nearly lost in the surf, b}"^ which unlucky ac-
cidents my own Avatch and four others Avere totally spoil-
ed, causing, in our situation, a very serious and irremedia-
ble evil.

Refreshments for a ship's crew are by no means to be
procured at Porto Praya on reasonable terms ; for lean
bullocks of 2501b. Aveight they at this time expected 40
dollars ; for long-haired African sheep, 4 dollars each ;
milch goats, 2 to 3 dollars ; pigs of 50lb. (a long-legged and
long-sided breed), 5 dollars; large turkies, I7 dollar each ;
small long-legged foAvls, 6 for a dollar. A fcAv Muscovy
ducks were seen in the country, but no geese. For bullocks
or sheep, bills or cash are alone taken ; but all other stock,
as well as fruit and vegetables, Avhich usually belong to ne-
groes, may be most advantageously procured in exchange
for any articles of wearing apparel, or for blankets. Monkeys
are offered for sale by every negro, and unless a prohibi-

36 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

tion is issued, the seamen will always fill a ship with these
mischievous animals. The only species here is the green
monkey (Cercopitliecus sabaus).

CHAPTER II.

Passage from Porto Praya to the Mouth of the Zaire.

[39]

CHAPTER II.

jHIaving completed the Congo's caulking in the evening
of the 10th, I should have quitted Porto Praya the following
morning, but it being Holy Thursday, consequently a great
festival with Catholics, all the free inhabitants, drest in their
best attire, were occupied the whole day in church ceremo-
nies, which not permitting them to attend to worldly
concerns, we could not get our business settled on shore,
and were therefore obliged to defer sailing until the next day,
in the afternoon of which we as-ain sot to sea.

In compliment to the religion of the place, we this morn-
ing, it being Good Friday, hoisted the colours half-mast, the
fort having done so, and the Portuguese vessels putting them-
selves in mourning by topping their yards up and down.

At sun set the Peak of Fogo was seen nineteen leagues
distant.

A moderate trade-wind between N. E. and E, N. E. conti-
nued until the 18th, when in latitude 7^°, longitude 18° W.,
welost it, ?nd got into the region of light variable breezes and
very sultrjMveather, the thermometer rising in the afternoon
to 82° and 84° ; the temperature of the sea being 80° and 81° ;

40 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

during the nights constant faint lightning without thunder.
Many porpoises (Ddpkinus phocena), flying fish, and
tropic birds were now seen, and a swallow rested on the
yards when 250 miles distant from the land. From
the 15th to the ipth the sea represented a continual succes-
sion or riplings, and on trying the current with a boat,
it was found to set to the S. E, at the rate of |^ of a mile an
hour, nearly agreeing with our chronometers.

The towing net, which was kept constantly overboard, gave
us for the first time on the 18th, great numbers of perfect-
ly diaphanous Crustacea, resembhng insects of glass ; they
were of four different species, and considered by Dr. Smith,
as belonging to the genus Sajllurus. (La Marc,* p. 156.) We
also took a small squalus, of a species new to us, and Avhich
from the form of its teeth may be named Squalus serrata.

On the 19th the first deluge of rain was experienced in a
heavy squall from N. E., and was the commencement of that
succession of squalls, calms, and rains, which would seem
to be entailed as an everlasting curse on this region of the
Atlantic ; in consequence of which, from this time till we
passed the meridian of Cape Pal mas, our progress was ex-
ceedingly slow, never exceeding 40 miles a day, and some-
times making no progress at all. The Avinds, when there

• Similar Crustacea were taken during the rest of the passage in greater or less
numbers until we made the continent of Africa.

CAPTAIX TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 41

Mere any, were between E. N. E. and S. W., but mostly
southerW. Our only amusement now was the taking of
sharks, all of the white species ( carcharias ) , except one of
the blue (glaucus), and the only one seen during the pas-
sage ; the largest of the former was a male, ten feet long,
the latter a female impregnated, seven feet long; she was
unattended either b}^ pilot-fish or sucking-fish, while the
white sharks had many of both accompanying or at-
tached to them. It was observed of the pilot-fish (Gasto-
rosteus ductor), that they took especial care to keep out
of the way of the shark's mouth, generally playing over
the hinder part of his head. The shark was also observed
to lift the head above water and seize objects floating, with-
out any change of position. One shark was seen to leap
out of the water and seize a small albicore while it was itself
in pursuit of a flying-fish.

The first bonitos (Scomber pe/amis) were seen on the 25th,
in latitude 5° 53., and many cavally or shipjack sported
after showers of rain, while flocks of tropic and other ocea-
nic birds hovered over the riplings they caused, in order to
seize the flying fish frightened from their element.

On the 26th, in latitude 6° l6', longitude 13° 45', the tem-
perature of the sea at the depth of 220 feet was 64°, that of
the surface being 80°, and of the air 81".

G

42 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Since the commencement of the rains eveiy additional
precaution was taken to guard against the effects of tlie
damp sultry weather on the people ; thej were never
exposed to the rain when it could be avoided, and when
unavoidably wetted, they were obliged to put on dry clothes
as soon as possible, occasionally receiving a small glass of
spirits when shifted. The humidity of the air between
decks was dried up by frequent fires, and the bedding often
aired. The large quantity of water I had shipped in
the river enabled me to afford a proportion for Avashing the
people's clothes twice a vvcek, until now, when tlie rain
water saved by the awnings was put by for the purpose.

From the very commencement of the voyage, I had much
difficulty in forcing the observance of general regulations for
cleanliness, and the consequent preservation of health on the
transport's crew ; for the master and mates, like the genera-
lity of merchant seamen, considering all such regulations as
useless, took no steps to enforce them, nor could I even get
the hammocks brought on deck after our arrival in the
warm latitudes, until I had recourse to coercion, and the
punishment at the gangway of one of the most refractory
of the crew, which effectually broke up the confederacy
that seemed to have been formed to resist all my orders on
this subject.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 43

The currents, from leaving Porto Praya until in latitude
6°, longitude 15°, set to the south andS.E. ; they then
changed to the N. E. and E. N. E., with various degrees of
velocity, from 8 to 40 miles a day, and retained this direc-
tion imtil we made Prince's Island.

The winds imtil the 5th of May, when we crossed the
meridian of Cape Palmas, at the distance of 15 leagues
from that Cape, were very light and variable, between south
and S. W, The greatest heat of the atmosphere was 85*' in
a clear calm at 3 P. M., and the least 74° after heavy rain ;
the rain water as it fell being at 75°. The various trials of
the temperature of the sea gave between 81° and 82" at the
surface, and 63°to 64° at the depth of 200 fathoms. A large
shoal of the bottle-nose porpoise or dolphin of naturalists,
(Delphimis delphis) was seen ; flocks of tropic birds, and a
few men-of-war birds (Pelicanus aquila) now also accompa-
nied our course. It was observed that the former bird
fishes in the manner of the gull, flying low, and seizing
its prey only at the surface, and often sitting on the water ;
while the man-of-war bird soars very high, hovers on the
wing like the kite, and darts perpendicularly on its prey,
<3iving after, and carrying away, the largest flying-fish into
ithe air.

After passing Cape Palmas, the light southerly air was

44 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

succeeded by moderate breezes from S.S.W. and S. W.
with which we stood close hauled across the Gulf of Guinea;
but the strong N. E. currents prevented our making any
southing. The weather, in crossing the Gulf, was always
extremely cloudy, widi frequent drops of rain, and much
less sultry, the thermometer varying between 80° and 78°.

May 6th. Until this time the Naturalists were obliged to
content themselves with the small animals the towing net
afforded them, but they were now gratified by the capture of
albicore and bonito, many of both being taken by the
grains and hook. The most apparent distinctive characters
of these two species of the Scomber are the following. The
albicore (Scomber thjnnus) has 14 rays in the first dorsal
fin, 8 small false fins on the back, and the same number on
the under side ; the dorsal, anal, and false fins are strongly
tinged with orange, the under part of the sides of the fish
marked with transverse whitish stripes, the palate studded
with boney points. The foremost dorsal fin of the bonito
(Sc. pelamis) has 16 rays, the false fins are eight on the
back, and only seven beneath. These fins have no orange
tinge ; the under sides are marked longitudinally with four
black stripes, and the palate is quite smooth.

If the esteemed tunny-fish of the ]\Iediterranean and the
albicore of the Atlantic be the same species, there seems to

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 45

be an enormous difference in their sizes. The tunny-
fish arriving at the weight of 8 to 12 cwt. while the largest
albicore I have ever seen taken in the Atlantic weighed but
1601 bs. and the most common weight was between 30 and
40lbs. and these latter Avere evidently full grown fish.

On the 11th we had full moon, and the same day and the
next, such heavy rains fell, that I feared the wet season had
already set in to the north of the line, we being on this day
in 2j° N. and 1 j° E. By a rain guage made on board, we
found that, on the morning of the 12th, between 1 and
4 o'clock, the water that fell from the heavens was equal to
3^ inches. On this day died Joseph Burgess, seaman, of
the Congo ; on opening him, his death was found to have
been occasioned by a disease of the heart caused by the
ancient rupture of a blood vessel.

Though the rains lasted but two days, seven of the trans-
port's crew Avere already attacked by fevers, more or less
serious, all of which were to be traced to their sleeping on
the wet decks, and to the neglect of chansinc; themselves
after being exposed to the rain during the day. The almost
inevitable bad consequences of carelessness in these res-
pects, may be estimated by the state of the thermometer at
night in various jiarts of the ship. In the space called
between deck, where the people slept, it was 88°, in my
cabin 79° or 80°. On deck 73° to 77°. The great evapo-

46 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

ration from the decks, &c. after rain, being found to lower
the thermometer a degree or more below the temperature
of the rain in falling. With respect to my own people, I
obliged them to wear flannel next their skin, in addition to
the other precautionary regulations ; and the good effect of
these precautions was fully evinced in the continued good
health of the crew, one or two only (and these were proved
to have neglected them) being slightly attaked with symp-
toms of fever, which gave Avay by immediate bleeding, and

gentle cathartics.

Ma}' 14. The bird named booby (Pelecaniis sula) now fre-
quently settled on the yards in the dusk of the evening, and
two of them were taken ; the external characters of these
birds seem by no means to authorise their being placed in
the genus of Pelican. Of the two individuals now taken, the
largest measured 18 inches from the point of the bill to the
extremity of the tail, and weighed seven ounces ; the
plumage a rusty brown, deepest and rather glossy on the
upper side of the wing quill feathers, the crown of the head
only being of a dove colour, lightest towards the forehead.
The upper sides of the wing quill feathers black, the imder
side a dirty white ; the bill conical, slightly curved ; the
nostrils very open, being two wide longitudinal sJits on the
sides of, and about the middle of the upper mandible ; the
eye a dark brown approaching to black, surrounded by a

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 47

circle of minute white feathers ; three toes full webbed, the
fourth toe behind very small, and quite free ; bill and legs
black. This specimen on examination proved to be a full
grown male.

The second specimen, which was found to be a young
female, was somewhat less than the first ; the dove colour
on the crown of the head was deeper, nearly mixing with
the general brown ; and the circle of minute feathers round
the eye Avas black ; it differed in no other respects from the
male. These birds were observed generally in pairs; they
fly close to the water with the neck stretched out and the
tail spread.

On the l6th, at day-light, Prince's island was in sight,
bearing S.E. 12 or 14 leagues ; our approach to it the pre-
ceding day having been denoted by great numbers of fish-
ing birds, apparently different species of gulls.

The swarms of albicore round the ship were now such
as almost to justify the hyperbole of their obstructing the
ship's way ; and twenty a day was the usual success of our
fishery with hook and line, the flying-fish found within them
serving as bait. The proportion of bonito appeared to be
small, not one being taken to 10 albicores. The flying fish,
in endeavouring to escape from their cruel enemies,
skimmed the surface hke flights of birds, and it was ob-

48 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

served, that when they rose in the direction of the wind,
they could reach a considerable distance, but when against
the Avind, they dropped again almost immediately ; when
the rise was in an oblique direction to the wind, they some-
times described a considerable curve, until they got before
the wind, and this without any assistance from the wings,
the only movement of these members being at the moment
of their quitting the water, Avhen they had for a few instants
a quick fluttering motion. Four different species of these

fish were taken.

After passing Cape Pahnas and entering the Gulf of
Guinea, the sea appeared of a whitish colour, growing more
so until making Prince's island, and its luminousity also
encreasing, so that at night the ship seemed to be saihng
in a sea of milk. In order to discover the cause of these
appearances, a bag of bunting, the mouth extended by
a hoop, was kept overboard, and in it were collected
vast numbers of animals of various kinds, particularly
pellucid Salpce, with innumerable little crustaceous animals
of the Scyllarus genus attached to them, to which I think
the whitish colour of the water may be principally ascribed.
Of Cancers, we reckoned 13 different species, eight having
the shape of crabs, and five that of shrimps, and none more
than a quarter of an inch in length ; among them the Cancer

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 49

fulgens was conspicuous. In another species (when put into
the microscope by candle hght), the luminous property
was observed to be in the brain, which, when the animal
was at rest, resembled a most brilliant amethyst about the
size of a large pin's head, and from which, when it moved,
darted tiashes of a brilliant silvery light. Beroes, beautiful
hololhurias, and various gelatinous animals were also taken
up in great numbers. Indeed the Gulf of Guinea appears
to be a most prolific region in these sort of animals ; and I
have no doubt but the marine entomologist would here be
able to add immensely to this branch of natural history.
As it was found impossible to preserve the far greater
number of these animals by reason of their delicate orga-
nization, the spirit of wine dissolving some, and extracting
ihe colours of others, and as most of them require the aid
of a microscope to describe them, a great portion of thena
were lost on us, from the want of a person either to describe
or draw them from that instrument.

Light baffling winds from south to S.W. kept us in sight
of Prince's island until the 18th, when a hard squall from
the S. E. brought to our view tliat of St. Thomas, which at
day-light on the 19th bore S. by W., distant 19 leagues. ^Ve
were again plagued with light winds for two days off thia
island, when another squall from the S. E. ran us clear of

H

50 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

il to the west ; but the wind soon returning to south, and
I)lowing fresh, we were unable to weather it, and I thought
it advisable to stand off to the W. S. W. in the hope of making
southino-! accordingly we crossed the line in this course
on the 23d, and in the meridian of 4^° E.

From the time of our making St. Thomas, we experienced
a current setting to the W. N. W., encreasing in velocity as
we went to the westward, until on the line it set 33 miles in
24 hours. Finding we made little southing, the wind still
hanging obstinately at south, we tacked on the 24th to the
eastward, and on ihe 27th passed to the south of St. Thomas,
within 5 leagues, our latitude being 0° 17' S., so that we had
gained but 45 miles southing in 6 days, owing to the strong
northerly currents, although in this track the latest chart of
the Atlantic marks a strong southerly current.

While in sio-ht of the two islands above mentioned, the
Aveather was so very cloudy that we could see little
more than their outlines. Towards the south end of
Prince's island are two whitish ravines : but whether this
colour is from the nature of the ground, or from the excre-
ment of birds (of which there are immense numbers round
the island) we could not ascertain. St. Thomas, which we
approached Avithin 7 or 8 miles, appears to be Avooded up
to the summit of Avhat is rather improperly called the Peak

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 51

of St. Anna, being little conical, but rather a round topped
mountain, of the probable elevation of 7 or 8000 feet, with
a gap in the summit. Olf the north end, the rock or islet
named Mono Cacada (significant I suppose of its being co-
vered M'ith the dung of birds), leaves a considerable open
space between it and the main island.

Our chronometers a;uve the longitude of the north end of
Prince's island 7° ; the variation, by the mean of many
observations, 2 1" 22' W. The same watch makes the N. W.
point of St. Thomas in 6° 31', and Rolle's island, at the
south end, in 6° 44'; the variation at this end of the island

22° 7'.

The winds now came more westerly, but were at the
same time so light, that our progress was most tiresomely
slow; I therefore determined to make the continent, in
the hope of finding land and sea breezes in shore ; and ac-
cordingly we first saw it on the morning of 3d of June,
and at noon were three leagues ofl" shore in l6" fathoms,
latitude observed 2° 10' S. ; the land very low and entirely
covered with wood.

The atmosphere for the two days before making the land,
had become so saturated with nsoisture, that the hygrome-
ter at noon marked 5', and the thermometer stood at 71°-
At 7 o'clock in the evening a dew, little less penetrating

52 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

than rain, began to fall, and continued the whole night,
with so sensible a degree of cold, that instead of melting
under an equinoctial sun in the lightest cloathing, as
our gentlemen expected, they were glad to resume their
woolens.

The albicores which had accompanied us in vast shoals to
the edge of soundings, and were taken in such numbers,
that besides being consumed fresh to satiety, the crews of
both vessels pickled and salted several barrels, now entirely
disappeared, and with them the sea birds ; the white colour
of the water changed to the oceanic blue before we struck
soundings, the marine animals much decreased, and the sea
lost a great portion of its luminosity.

From the 3d to the 8th we were plagued with light atrs,
veerino; towards midnio-ht to the west as far as S. W., and
having for an hour or two sufficient strength to send the
ship two or three miles an hour, then again dying away to
light airs, which in the morning veered to south and S.S.E. ;
these variations being the only signs of the mutual re-action
of the land and sea on the atmosphere ; and indeed we ex-
perienced similar variations morning and evening since
making Prince's island.

The nature of this part of the coast is doubtless the cause
of the want of more marked alteruale breezes from the laud

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE, 53

and sea : here the land is very lo'.v, and entirely overgrown
with Avood, which causes the atmosphere over it to preserve
nearly an equal temperature day and night; this temperature
by reason of the great evaporation from the wood (which,
as I before observed, saturates the atmosphere with moisture),
seems even for the greater part of the 24 hours somewhat less
than that of the sea; and hence thelight breezes that blow from
the land, or between south and S. E. for 18 hours of the 24, or
from six o'clock in the morning until midnight, when the
evaporation having ceased for some hours over the land, the
temperature becomes a little higher than that of the sea, and
produces a short and weak breeze from the latter.

The general range of the thermometer while in with the
land was at 6 A. M. 71°. ; at 2 P. M. 73°. ; at 9 P. M. 70°. ;
the temperature of the sea at 2 P. M. 72°. The hygrometer
varied during the day from 5° to 15°.

The dredge was put over board, and brought up two or
three species of echmi, some small cuncri, bits of coral, &c.
While in soundings no fish were seen, nor any birds except
an occasional solitary tropic bird or pair of boobies.

The longitude of the coast in the latitude of 2° 10' S. our
chronometers make 9° 40', and by o and D 9° 51'. The
bank of soundings stretches off about 10 leagues from the
land, deepening regularly as follows.

54 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Fathoms.

About 9 miles off shore, 16, oozy sand.
18 ditto, 30, brown sand.

24 ditto, 47, ditto and broken shells.

28 ditto, 67, ditto.

30 ditto, no bottom at 120.

Although we took every advantage of the variations
of the M'ind, to stand off and in shore, the lightness of
the breezes, and a daily current of fifteen miles to the
north and N. N. E. permitting us barely to hold our
ground, I determined again to stand off out of soundings,
in the hope of losing the current and getting fresher breezes.
In both respects I was, however, disappointed ; for though
the current became more Avesterly as we went off shore, its
velocity encreased at the same time to 30 and 40 miles a day.
The winds still remaining very light in the morning from
S.S. E.. and from S.S. W. in the evening, Avhile the trans-
port being extremely leewardly,and both she and the Congo
sailing very badly in light winds, our progress was slower
than ever. In this choice of difficulties I again stood in for
the land, hoping, that as we were now past the low land to
the north of Loango, we should meet more regular land and
sea breezes. We in consequence made the land on the 18th
in 3° 24' ; thus having gained but To miles southing in
15 days, by working out of soundings.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. B5

In this most tedious fortnight we found Uttle to amuse us ;
birds and fishes seemed to liave forsaken this region ;

o

a sino'le swallow or martin beina; the only one of the former
seen ; the towing net, however, again afforded us abundance
of marine animals, amongst which were many of the paper
nautilus ( Argoimuta sulcata), with the living animals, M'hich,
in contradiction to tiie opinion of the French naturalists,
proved to be perfect Octopi.^ When forty leagues from the
land, several floating patches of reeds and trees passed us,
proving, if our chronometers had not shewn it, the existence
of a strong western current. The day we made the land a
dead albatross (Diomedea cxulam), was picked up floating in
a putrid state ; which seems to shew that these birds wander
farther towards tlio ecjuator than is generally supposed. The
same day a whale (apparently a species of the Physeter, having
large humps behind the back fm), struck our rudder with his
tail in rising, and one of these fish rose directly under the
Congo ; and, according to the expression of those on board
her, lifted her almost out of the water. These animals
indeed were now extremely numerous.

This day a vessel was seen for the first time since leaving
Porto Praya; from her warlike appearance and superior

* L'anlmal qui forme cette coquillc ne pent etre un poulpe La Marc, Ani.
maux sans Vertebres, p. 99.

56 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

sailing, she \^'as at first supposed to be a ship of war ;
])ut on approaching us she hoisted Enghsh merchant colours,
and keeping half-gun shot to windward, we w^ere unable to
speak her ; nor did she seem to have any desire to com-
municate with us. This circumstance, together with
her apparent force and preparation for defence, having 18
guns run out of her between-deck ports, with the tompious
out, left litde doubt of her being employed in a forced and
illicit slave trade. Her anchor a-cock-bill, and her tacking
with the variations of the wind, proved her to be working
alono- shore to the south.

The land and sea breezes, though now more regular as to
time, (the former setting in about four in the morning
from N.E. to S.E., and the latter from two to four in the
evening from S. W.) were so faint and of so short duration,
that neither afforded us a run of more than ten miles, Avhile
the current setting one mile an hour to the north, we re-
mained in sight of Ma>'Umba bay until the 24th, anchoring
whenever we found we lost ground.

The land to the north of this baj' presents an undulating
line. Cape Mayumba being the highest point, and forming
a little hummock. Point Matooly, the south point of the
bay, also forming a hummock, descending gradually to the
south into a hue of low even land. Tlie bight of the bay

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 57

is also low land, with a saddle hillock in the centre of the ■.^■*-.
back ground. The whole of this land is coA'^ered with wood,
but is proved to be inhabited by the numerous fires seen
on the shore, and '.vhich were probably intended as signals
for us to land.

We now, while at anchor on a sandy botton), took a
good number of fish of the Sporiis genus, named by the
seamen sea-bream, and light-horsemen, the latter, from a
reddish protuberance on the back of the head (fancifully
thought to resemble a helmet) ; they Avere taken with the
hook close to the ground, and baited with fresh pork or their
own livers; the largest weighed 18lbs., and though rather
dry and insipid, were infinitely preferable to the albicore
and bonito Avith Avhich Ave had been surfeited in the gulf of
Guinea. Sea birds had also entirely disappeared, Avith the
exception of an occasional tropic bird, and a few of ilf o//«er
Cere?/ 's chickens (storm petterel). Numbers of insects of
the genus Tipula Avere taken from the surface of the sea.

The Aveather, though now much less damp than Avhen Ave
made the land to the north, Avas still very hazy, and the
cold even encreased, the thermometer in the day never
rising above 73°, and falling in the night to 67°. As the
moon approached the full, the current diminished, and on
the 24th a more favourable sea breeze than Ave had hitherto

I

58 CAPTAIN' TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

experienced, carried us along shore until the evening, when
we anchored in ten fathoms. The land south of Mayumba
to 3° 50', has an agreeable appearance, rising in a series
of three or four gentle elevations from the sea inland, the
farthest and highest not deserving the name of hill ; the
whole covered with wood, except in some spots vrhich
were bare of wood, and resembled spots of burnt-up grass.
A sandy beach margins the sea, which breaks in a surf
that must prevent the access of an European boat, unless
some of the many projecting points give slielter to coves
where a landing may be eftected. The soundings are here
very regular, altering about a fathom in a mile, and the depth
at six miles off shore ten fathoms. The bottom is extremely-
various, but sand predominates, brown, black, white, with
sometimes quartz pebbles, small lumps of yellow ochre, bits
of corals, and frag-ments of shells of the cockle and venus
genera.

Never did lover wait more anxiously for the hour of as-
signation with his mistress, than we now did for that of the
usual setting in of the sea breeze, on which alone we found
we must depend to finish this eternal passage, for the land
winds were so famt as not to render us the smallest service,
and the currents the day after new moon returned with en-
creased velocity.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 59

On the 2Sth wc had reached the latitude of 4° SO', and
found the land we passed from 3° 50', more picturesque than
to the north ; the variety of elevations being here greater, and
the clear spaces more numerous ; these we were however
now led to think the signs of barrenness rather than of fer-
tility, having, when viewed near, the appearance of tra(?ts of
naked reddish clay.

We were now opposite to Loango bay, the red hills on the
north side of which (formed by clay of the appearance above
mentioned) we anchored olf, in iG fathoms mud, at about 8
miles distance. The next afternoon, when the sea breeze set
HI, we weighed ; but it again dying away, we found ourselves
carried towards the land by the current, and again let
go the anchor in 12 fathoms ; but before the ship brought
up we Avere in 8 fathoms on a reef of rocks, over which the
cuirent ran to the N.N. E. two miles an hour. The south
point of the bay (Indian Point) bearing S. E. The sea
breeze freshening, we cut our cable, and leaving the stream
anchor behind us, made sail and deepened gradually over
the rocky bottom until in 12 fathoms, when it again became
soft and mud.

This reef is in about latitude 4° 30' (an observation
at noon possibk erring 2 or 3 miles, the horizon being bad),
and it lays seven miles off shore ; towards which latter

60 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

we sounded for three cables lengths, and found 7f fathoms,
nor is it probable that there is much less until near the shore,
between which and the ship many whales were seen sporting,
and the}^ doubtless would not go into very shoal water.

The position of Loango bay is most erroneously laid down
in the latest charts, the latitude of Indian Point being 4° 37'
(we were in 4" 39' at noon of the 2Pth, by good observation,
M'hen the pitch of the point bore E.^S. true bearing).
'J'he description of the land however in Laurie and AVhittle's
chart is sufficiently exact, and particularly so with re-
spect to Indian Point, which strongly resembles the Bill
of Portland, but of a greater length. The north side
of the bay is formed by reddish land of moderate eleva-
tion, with ravines or fissures resembling chalky cliffs dis-
coloured by the weather. These high lands descend gra-
dually to the low land at the bottom of the bay : Indian
Point also falls gradually towards the south into low land
entirely covered with wood. Here the water was first ob-
served to have a deep red tinge as if mixed with blood, but
on being examined in a glass was found perfectly colourless ;
the bottom however seems to account for this appearance,
being a soft mud composed of a reddish clay without
the smallest mixture of sand, and so smooth that it might be
laid on as paint. The only fish taken since we have been

CAPTAIN TUCKEYS NARRATIVE. 61

in muddy ground were two toad fish ( Diodon) and several
eels, one of which measured in length 4 feet 10 inches and
in circumference 7 inches.

On the 30th June we anchored in the evening oft' Ma-
lemba point, in 15 fathoms, and on the morning of the 1st,
were surprised by a visit from the Mafook or king's
merchant of Malemba, accompanied by several other negro
gentlemen, and a large cortege of attendants in an Euro-
pean built four-oared boat and two canoes, one of which
latter preceded the boat to announce the great man, and
the officer in her introduced himself by letting us know,
that " he was a gentleman, and his name was Tom Liver-
pool." The first question put by the Mafook on his
coming on board was " if we wanted slaves ;" nor could we
for a long time convince him in the negative, observing
that we were only merchant ships, and particularly from
our numerous boats. Having at last made him understand
the motives of the expedition, and informed him that no
nation but the Portuguese were now permitted to trade in
slaves ; he very liberally began to abuse the sovereigns of
Europe, telling us that he was over-run Avith captives, whom
he would sell at half their value, adding, that the only
vessel that had visited Malemba for five years was a French
ship about a year before this time ; and according to him,

62 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE,

the Portuguese government had prohibited their subjects
from trafficking in slaves to the north of Cabenda, where
there were now nine vessels bearing their colours, and one
Spaniard. The Mafook however acknowledged that they
sometimes sent their boats from Cabenda to Maleinba to
procure slaves, and indeed we saw an European boat
sailing between the two ports. From the description of
the vessel hoisting Spanish colours at Cabenda, there could
be no doubt of her being the ship we passed on the 18th.

The Mafook finding we did not want slaves, offered to
supply us with frcsli provisions : and as I knew we should,
as usual, be obliged to anchor in the evening not far from
our present station, I accepted his offer of sending his boats
on shore for that purpose, he himself desiring to remain on
board for the night with eight of his officers, doubtless in
the expcctaiion of having a glorious dose of brandy, which
in fact they swilled until they could no longer stand.

The dresses of these gentry were a singular medley of
European and native costume; the Mafook had on a red
superfine cloth waistcoat ; his secretary, an English ge-
neral's uniform coat on his otherwise naked body ;*a third
a red cloak edged with gold lace like a parish beadle's. Sec.
&.C. The native portion of the dress consisted of a piece of
checked or other cotton cloth folded round the waist, and

CAPTAIN TL'CKEY'S NARRATIVE. G:J

a little apron of the skin of some animal, which is a mark
of gentility, and as sucli is not permitted tt) be worn by
menial attendants. A striped worsted cap, or else one of
their own manufacture and of very curious workmanship,
on the head, completed the useful part of their dress. Their
ornaments consisted of rings of iron and copper on the
ancles and wrists, welded on so as not to be taken olf ;
and many of the copper ones having raised figures tolerably
executed. This metal we understood was abundant in
their country. Besides necklaces of beads, the general
neck ornament was circles or rings of the brisdes of the
elephant's tail, called by them morfil, and which seemed
to be multiplied in proportion to the puppyism of the
wearer, the graver or middle aged men having but one
or two, while some of the voimo- ones had so many, that
they could with dithculty move the head, and reminded
us of our Bond-street bloods with their chins hid in an
enormous cravat.

All were loaded with fetiches of the most heterogeneous
kinds; bits of shells, horns, stones, wood, rags, &c. &c.;
but the most prized seemed to be a monkey's bone, to
which they paid the same worship that a good catholic
would do to the os sacrum of his patron saint. The master
fetiche of the ]Mafook was a piece of most indecent sculp-

64 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

ture representing two men, surrounded by the tips of goat's
horns, shells, and other rubbish, and slung over the shoulder
with a belt of the skin of a snake. The features of these
sculptured figures, instead of being Negro, as might be
expected, were entirely Egyptian; the nose aquiUne and
the forehead high. The canoes are of a single tree ; each
had five men, who worked them with long paddles standing
up. At night our visitors were satisfied with a sail in the
'tween-decks, where they all huddled together, and from
which they started at daylight to light their pipes and
resume their devotions to the brandy bottle.

As I had expected, we were obliged to anchor, by the
failure of the sea breeze opposite to Cabenda, from whence,
in the forenoon, a boat came off with another cargo of gen-
tlejiien; but, as I had been quite suificiently plagued by my
Malemba guests, I excused myself from not being able to
receive them on board ; the sea breeze being about to set
in, and as there was no appearance of the Malemba boat
bringing off the stock, I, much against their inclination,
sent off" my visitors in this boat.

The information we picked up respecting the coast from
Loango Bay to the mouth of the Zaire, proved, as we
expected, that it is very erroneously laid down in the most
recent charts. The only river between Indian Point and

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 65

Cabenda is the Loango-Louise, and is that marked in the
charts by the name of Kacongo, being by our observations
when at anchor nearly opposite to it, 5° 17'- Its opening is
between two high lands, and appears to be wide and clear.
The country is divided into petty sovereignties, tributary
to the king of Loango ; the northernmost of these states,
after passing Laongo bay, is named Boal, to which suc-
ceeds Makongo, of which Malemba is the port ; then that
of N'Goy, whose port is Cabenda, and which extends
along the north side of the entrance of the river Congo.
The king of Makongo, or Malemba, resides inland at a town
named Chingele (evidently the Kinhele of the charts,) but
which is jiot situated on a river. From our visitors I pro-
cured a vocabulary of their language ; they all speaking
English to be perfecth' understood, and several of them
French still more correctly.

While at anchor this day, I sent two boats in shore to
look for the bank of Bele, said by Grand Pre to be situated
south-west of Malemba, and which, according to him,
shoals suddenly from seven fathoms. The boats, however,
could not find any bank, but on the contrary, the Avater
shoaled very regularly from where the ship was anchored
in 15 fathoms to 5 fathoms within about three miles of the
shore, all soft muddy bottom. One of the natives on board

K

66 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

assured us that he had been on the bank in question, with
Mr. Maxwell, and that it lies within a short distance of the
shore, and nearer to IVIalemba than Cabenda.

Havina: weighed with a tolerable sea breeze, we were
enabled to stand along shore until eight in the evening,
when being in 8 fathoms, the anchor was let go, and the
current was found running N.N.AV. 1| mile an hour ; an
officer being sent in shore to sound, reported that the
water shoaled very gradually to three fathoms within half
a mile of the shore, near to Avhich is a lengthened reef,
with the sea breaking violently, but which seems to shelter
the beach within it, and thereby affords landing to boats.

The coast from 4° 50' is moderately elevated, forming
reddish gray cliffs, similar to those near Loango bay ;
until past Cabenda, when the coast descends to low land
covered with wood, (apparently the mangrove) and our
view this day terminated on the Red Point of the charts,
(Chabaroca point of the natives) which the}^ informed us
was the entrance of a little river.

CHAPTER III.

Passage up tlie River to the place wliere the Congo was left, and from whence
they proceeded in the double-boats.

[69]

CHAPTER III.

As we were now approaching the scene of action, I
thought it right to issue to the Officers and Naturalists the
following memorandum of regulations for our conduct
while in the country.

" Although it is impossible to foresee all the circum-
stances which, in the progress of the expedition, ma}-^ call
for the exertion of the utmost prudence and presence of
mind in those who may have intercourse with the natives ;
nevertheless the following observations are offered, Avith
the certainty that an attention to them will be the means
of avoiding the ill effects, Avhich may as certainly be ex-
pected from a different line of conduct to that which they
recommend.

" Though we are not to expect to find in the natives of
Africa, even in the most remote region, that state of savage
nature which marks the people of other newly discovered
countries, with whom the impulse of the moment is the
only principle of action, it is nevertheless highly necessary

70 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

to be guarded in our intercourse with them; that, by
shewing we are prepared to resist aggression, we may leave
no hope of success, or no inducement to commit it.

" In doing this, it is, however, by no means necessary to
exhibit marked appearance of suspicion, which would
probably only serve to induce the hostility it seemed to
fear; it is, on the contrary, easy to combine the shew of
being guarded, with marks of the greatest confidence.

" In the event of the absolute necessit}^ of repelling
hostility for self-preservation, it will certainly be more
consonant to humanity, and perhaps more effectual in
striking terror, that the first guns fired be only loaded with
small shot.

" Although we may expect to find the idea of property
fully known to all the people we shall have intercourse
with, it is not to be the less expected that they will be
addicted to theft, the punishment of which in savages has
been one of the most frequent causes pf the unhappy ca-
tastrophes that have befallen navigators ; it is therefore
urgently advised, not to expose an}^ thing unnecessarily
to the view of the natives, or to leave any object in their
way that may tempt their avidity.

" In the distribution of such presents as may be entrusted
to those going on shore, great caution is requisite to

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 71

ascertain the rank of the persons, to whom they are given,
and to jDroportion the value accordingly, in order, as much
as possible, to prevent jealousies.

" A great cause of the disputes of navigators with un-
civilized people is in unauthorised freedoms with their
females ; and hence every species of curiosity or familiarity
with them, which may create jealousy in the men, is to be
strictly avoided ; taking it for granted, that, in a state of
society where the favours of the women are considered as a
saleable or transferable commodity by the men, the latter
will be the first to offer them.

" As one of the objects of the expedition is to view, and
describe manners, it will be highly improper to interrupt,
in any manner; the ceremonies of the natives, however they
may shock humanity or create disgust; and it is equally
necessary, in the pursuits of the different Naturalists, to
avoid offending tlie superstitions of the natives in any of
their venerated objects. Hence, in inhabited or enclosed
places appearing to be property, permission should be first
sought to cut down trees (particularly fruit-bearing ones,)
which, as well as animals, are often held sacred. When no
superstitious motive interferes, a few beads will, probably,
always purchase the required permission.

" As it is probable that the different pursuits of the

72 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

scientific gentlemen may be as well carried on in company
as if separated, it is therefore strongly recommended to
them to keep together as much as possible for their mutual
support and safety. Should they however think proper to
separate in their excursions, it is to be understood that the
two or three marines, who will always be appointed to ac-
company them, are to remain with the gentleman having
the direction on leaving the vessel; and, in order to avoid
the possibility of any dispute for precedence in this last
respect, the succession in which the Lords of the Admiralty
have given me the names of the scientific gentlemen, is to
be considered as the estabhshed rule, viz. Mr. Professor
Smith, Mr. Tudor, Mr. Cranch ; and when it shall be thought
necessary to send a midshipman or other petty officer to
command the escort which may accompany the naturalists,
he is strictly directed to comply with the wishes of the gen-
tleman having the direction of the excursion, as far as his
ideas of safety will authorise.

" The health of the persons accompanying the naturaUsts
in their excursions will of course be a particular object with
those gentlemen, by taking care not to expose them unne-
cessarily to the sun in the hottest hours of the day, or to the
rain, if shelter can be had, and by carrying them as little as
possible into swampy tracts.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 73

" It is most particularly enjoined to every person who
may be on shore to return on board, as soon as possible, on
seeing the signal for that purpose."

The scantiness and short duration of the sea breezes and
the current kept us nearly stationary, until the 5th, when in
the afternoon a fresh sea breeze sprung up at W. S. W. with
which we stood to the south, and soon shoaled our water
from 22 to 13 fathoms, which depth we carried without
alteration until 8 o'clock, when we deepened to 18 fathoms,
and the next cast had no ground with 150 fathoms of hne ;
whence it was evident we were in the deep channel of the
river Congo or Zaire, and thus had overshot my intention,
which was, in consequence of the expected velocity of the
stream, to anchor on the edge of the bank, and take the next
sea breeze to cross it. We had now however no alternative
but to stand on, and the breeze lasting for near an hour,
carried us across the fathomless channel, and we struck
soundings in 23 fathoms on this side, as suddenly as we had
lost them on the other ; the wind at the same time failing,
we anchored in that depth, and found no currelit whatever ;
indeed in the deep channel of the river it must have been
insignificant, in comparison with what we had been led to
expect, certainly cot above two miles an hour.

h

74 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

At daylight of the 6th we found Cape Padron bearing
S. b. E. ^E., and Shark Point S.E. ^S.; the latitude at
noon in the same situation being 6° 5'. At noon weighed
with a prett}^ fresh sea breeze, and ran in for the land
between the aliove points, until within half a mile of the
shore, when we had 20 fathoms water. We then bore up
towards Shark Point, and immediately lost soundings, nor
did we again get bottom with the hand lead until it sud-
denly strutk the ground in 5 fathoms ; the anchor Avith the
chain cable was immediately let go, but finding the ship did
not bring up, and was drifting from the buoy, I concluded
the chain had snapped, and directed another anchor to be
let go; but before this was done the ship was in 36 fathoms
and still drifting; both the chain and cable were now veered
away, and she at last brought up ; but fearing she would
again go adrift, the kedge anchor, backed by a smaller one,
Avas run out. The Congo sloop, which had let go her anchor
. in 4 fathoms, also drove, and fell along side of us, but without
any other ill consequence than the loss of her anchor and
cable, which, by some mismanagement, was suffered to run
out end for end. AVhenthe ship had brought up we found that
she tailed on a mud bank with but 7 fathoms, while imder
the chains was 14, and under the bows 36. Where we first
let go the anchor in 4i fathoms, there was no current what-

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 7/>

ever, but at the place to Avhich we had drifted it ran 24-
miles an hour to the N. N. W. ; but it was here also con-
siderably affected b}^ a twelve hours tide, being almost still
water at 5 o'clock in the evenino; and 6 the next morning.

On heaving up the chain we found that the anchor had
broken at the crown. In the forenoon, while waiting for
the sea breeze, the Mafook of Shark Point came on board
with half a dozen of his myrmidons, and though the most
ragged, dirty looking wretch that can be well conceived, he
expected as much respect as a prince; first complaining that
the side ropes were not proper for a person of his quality
(they were only covered with canvas) ; then insisting on a
chair and cushion on the quarter deck ; with the latter of
Avhich being unable to comply, he was satisfied with spread-
ina; an ensisn over the former. Seating himself at the taf-
farel, he certainly made a very grotesque appearance, having
a most tattered pelisse of red velvet, edged with gold lace,
on his naked carcase, a green silk umbrella spread over his
head, though the sun was completely obscured, and his
stick of office headed with silver in the other hand. It
being our breakfast hour, he notified his desire to be asked
into the cabin, to partake of our meal; but he smelt so
offensively, and was moreover so covered with a cutaneous
disorder, that my politeness gave way to my stomach, and

76 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

he was obliged, though with great sulkiness, to content
himself on deck. To bring him into good humour, I how-
ever saluted him with one swivel, and gave him a plentiful
allowance of brandy. He seemed indeed to have no other
object in coming on board than to get a few glasses of this
liquor, which he relished so well that he staid on board all
night and the five following days. From him Ave learnt that
there were three schooners and four pinnaces (all Portu-
guese) at Embomma, procuring slaves. He also affirmed
that the transport could not, at this season, ascend higher
than the tall trees, on account of the little water in the
channel.

At 2 P. M. of the 8th, a fresh sea breeze coming in, Ave
weighed, but the moment the ship came abreast of Shark
Point, she was taken by the current and swept right round ;
with difficulty her head was again got the right wa}', and
she rounded the point in 4j fathoms. We then stood on
S. S. E. by compass, carrying a regular depth of 7 and 8
fathoms for about 2 miles, when finding her go astern, blow-
ing a fresh breeze Avith all the studding sails set, let go the
anchor in 8 fathoms, and veered 30 fathoms of chain.
Shark Point bearing W. b. S. about 2 miles. At 8 o'clock,

4

found the ship driving, and that through the neglect of the
men attending the lead ; she Avas already in l6 fathoms, and

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 77

the sea breeze being still fresh, we loosed and set all the sails,
and let go another anchor, which brought her up. During
the night the wind remained light at S. W., and the ship Avas
steered as if under way, though riding taught with all sail
set. The Congo, without dithculty, went over the current,
and might have run up to the Tall trees, had her signal not
been made to come to, and she accordingly anchored op-
posite Sherwood's Creek,

At four o'clock this afternoon, a schooner appeared off
the point, hoisted Spanish colours, and fired a gun ; after
laying to for some time, she hoisted the royal colours of
Spain, fired a shot, which fell near the transport, and ran
in and anchored. A boat was immediately sent from her
to ask what we were, and on being informed, they made
some excuse for firing the shot, intended, as they said, to
assure the colours ; their vessel, by their account, was from
the Havannah for slaves; but it was perfectly evident, from
their answers to my questions, that she was illicitly em-
ployed in this trade, and prepared to carry it on by force,
being armed with 12 guns, and full of men : this was indeed
put out of doubt on the return of her boat on board, by her
getting under way and again running out of the river;
doubtless from apprehension of the sloop of war, which they
were told was gone up the river. This vessel was destined

78 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

to take off 320 slaves; her burthen being 180 Spanish
tons.

The sea breeze setting in fresh at 2 P. M. on the 9th, and
finding the ship under all sail go ahead of her anchor, we
weighed, but, though the current was running scarcely three
miles an hour, she at first barely stemmed it, and soon went
astern ; deepening the water so rapidlj^ that finding we should
be out of soundings before we could bring up, 1 had no al-
ternative but to run out again and try to anchor under Shark
Point ; but so little effect had the sails, even when going
with the current, that she drifted bodily on the Moena
Moesa bank, on which I was just about to let go the anchor
in 7 fathoms, Avhen the sea breeze becoming suddenly and
providentially very strong, we got her to stay, and again
just fetched Shark Point, Avhere the wind again failed, and
Ave Avere driven round bv the current, and ao-ain oblioed to
stand out. The wind hoAvever once more freshening at sun-
set, after making a short tack off, Ave stretched in, and were
fortunate enough at ? o'clock to get to an anchor under
Shark Point in 4j fathoms ; an attempt, Avhich I should
have considered highly imprudent had I not examined the
bank, and taken accurate marks ; nor indeed had I any other
alternative l)ut that of finding myself oft' Cabenda in the
morning had I kept to sea.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 79

The three succeeding days, there being either no sea
breeze, or only such as was too weak to attempt any thing
with our brute of a transport, we were obhged to remain at
anchor, rolhng gunnel in, from the ground swell on the
bank ; consoling ourselves however that, of the three evils
which threatened us, we had escaped the two worst, either
being; oblio-ed to anchor on the Mazea bank, or beinsj
driven by the current to the northward, God knows where.

Our Shark Point visitors were now succeeded by the
Mafook of Market Point and a gentleman from Embomma,
who told us he was sent by the Great Mafook of that place
to accompany us up the river, in order that no accident
should happen to us ; and though I would very gladly have
foregone the pleasure of their company, I could not refuse
receivinp- them on board. I however endeavoured to make
them clearly understand that they were not to expect the
same attentions on board a King's ship (I was sorry to be
obliged to disgrace the name by applying it to the detestable
transport,) which they had been used to receive from slave
traders ; and the uniforms of the officers, and the marines,
seemed to give them the proper feeling of our consequence.

Several of the Sonio men who came on board were Chris-
tians after the Portuguese fashion, having been converted
bv missionaries of that nation ; and one of them was

80 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

even qualified to lead his fellow negroes into the path of sal-
vation, as appeared from a diploma with which he was fur-
nished. This man and another of the Christians had been
taught to write their own names and that of Saint Antonio,
and could also read the Romish litany in Latin. All these
converts were loaded with crucifixes, and satchels containing
the pretended relics of saints, certainly of equal efficacy
with the monkey's bone of their pagan brethren ; of this we
had a convincing proof in each vociferating invocations to
their respective patrons, to send us a strong wind ; neither
the fetiche or Saint Antonio having condescended to hear
their prayers. The Christian priest was however somewhat
loose in his practical morality, having, as he assured us, one
wife and five concubines ; and added, that St. Peter, in con-
fining him to one wife, did not prohibit his solacing himself
with as many handmaids as he could manage. All our vi-
sitors, whether Christians or idolaters, had figures raised on
their skins, in cicatrices, and had also the two upper froijt
teeth filed away on the near sides, so as to form a large
opening, into which they stuck their pipes, and which is so
perfectly adapted to the purpose that I thought it expressly
formed for it ; until on enquiry I learned, that, as well as
the raised figures on the skin, it was merley ornamental,
and principally done with the idea of rendering themselves

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 81

agreeable to the women, who, it seems, estimate a man's
beauty by the wideness of this cavity, which in some measur-
ed near an inch, the whole of the teeth, and particularly tlie
two front ones, being enormously broad, and very white.

Our Sonio visitors were almost without exception sulky
looking vagabonds, dirty, swarming with lice, and scaled
over with the itch, all strong symptoms of their having been
civilized by the Portuguese, and in their appearance and
manners forming a striking contrast, not unimportant to the
study of national manners, to our Malemba guests, who
were chearful, clean, drest even to foppishness, and choqiiSd
their glasses with us ; in short, quite gentlemen d la Frcuicaise,
the nation with which they have had most intercourse.
Some canoes brought on board a few pigs, goats, fowls and
egojs, for sale, but the prices they asked were so exorbitant,
that for fear of spoiling the market up the river, by their re-
ports of our facility, I confined myself to the purchase of a
few fowls and eggs. The value they here set on our dift'er-
ent articles for barter was by no means in the proportion of
their respective English prices ; for an empty bottle,
a looking-glass, or knife, invoiced at 3d, we got a full grown
fowl, while for a bunch of beads that cost 2s. lOd. they
offered but two ; and for a small goat, they wanted four
fathoms of blue baft. We however purchased for a mere

M

82 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

trifle, a fresh Avater turtle weighing 40lb., which, when drest,
we found equal the green turtle.

The method of closing a bargain, and giving a receipt,
is by the buyer and seller breaking a blade of grass or a
leaf between them, and until this ceremony is performed,
no bargain is legally concluded, though the parties may have
possession of each other's goods ; this we only learned by
experience, for having bought, and, as we thought, paid for
a couple of fowls, they were immediately slaughtered for
dinner, but the owner taking advantage of the omission of
the ceremony, pretended that he had not concluded the
bargain, and insisted on another glass, which we were
obliged to give him, but profited by the lesson.

During our forced detention at Shark point, the Naturalists
made some excursions on shore, and were gratified in their
respective pursuits, particularly Dr. Smith, who procured
many interesting plants. Mr. Cranch shot some birds,
amongst which were an eagle, an anhinga, several varieties
of the king fisher, a toukan, and many small birds. Near
the shore, these gentlemen saw, close to a place where had
been a fire, human skulls and other human bones. Ob-
serving the natives take considerable numbers of fish with
nets, we sent two boats to haul the seine at day-light of
the 11th. On the outside of the point they were entirely

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 83

unsuccessful, not taking a single fish, but on the inside, in
one haul, thirty large fish were taken, some weighing 60lbs ;
these were all of one kind, of the Sparm genus, and named
Vela by the natives. They were found to be excellent in
taste and firmness, much resembling the cod. The only
other species taken Avere a single large cat fish (Lophius)
and a few small mullets.

July 12. I now determined to lose no more time in the at-
tempt to get the transport up the river, but to extricate my-
self from this exquisitely tantalizing situation by the imme-
diate transhipment of the provisions and stores to the
Congo ; for which purpose the double boats, and all the
ship's boats were hoisted out, on the evening of the 12th,
and the double boats being put together and rigged, the
whole were next morning loaded ; when therefore the sea
breeze set in at two o'clock in the afternoon, I took my leave
of the transport, with the Naturalists, leaving the master and
purser to see her discharged, or get her up the river if an
opportunity offered. I had now the satisfaction to find the
double boats answer my best expectations in their fitness
for this service ; for though the breeze was very fight, and
the current running round Shark point three miles an hour,
they without difliculty doubled this, to us more redoubtable
promontory than that of Good Hope to our earl}' navigators,

84 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

and in two hours and a half we reached the Congo sloopy
laying about ten miles from the point.

The berth she occupied I found was about half a mile

from the south shore, nearly opposite Sherwood's creek,

(Fuma of the natives). The current here at its maximum ran

3i miles an hour, but was subject to very great irregularities,

apparently from the combined effects of a regular tide, and

of eddies formed by the points of land or banks. These

effects were frequently so great as to entirely overcome the

stream, and create perfect slack water of various duration

from half an hour to five minutes. The rise and fall of

tide by the shore, as marked on the roots of the mangrove,

was 2^ feet. The water thus high is too brackish for use,

and though perfecdy colourless in a glass, has the same red

appearance as we remarked off Cabenda,

Hitherto the river has presented no appearance to inspire
the idea of magnitude equal to that of a river of the
first class ; unless we were indeed to consider tlie estuary
formed between the Sonio and Moena Mazea shore, as
the absolute embouchure of the river, than which certainly
nothing would be more erroneous ; the true mouth of the
river being at Fathomless Point, where it is not three miles in
breadth ; and allowing the mean depth to be 40 fathoms,
and the mean velocity of the stream 4j miles an hour, it

CAPTAIN TLXKEY'S NARRATIVE. &",

will be evident that the calculated volume of water carried
to the sea has been greatly exaggerated.

The peninsula of Cape Padron and Shark Point, which
forms the south side of the estuary, has been evidently
formed by the combined depositions of the sea and river,
the external or sea shore being composed of ([uartzy sand,
forming a steep beach ; the internal or river side, a deposit
of mud overgrown with the mangrove ; and both sides of
the river towards its mouth is of similar formation, inter-
sected by numerous creeks, (apparcndy forming islands)
in which the water is perfectly torpid. Tiiis mangrove or
alluvial tract appears to extend on both shores about
seven or eight miles inland, where the elevated and pri-
mitive soil then occurs, and the outline of which is frequently
caught from the river, through vistas formed b}^ setting fire
to the mangrove, or over the creeks. This mangrove tract
is entirely impenetrable, the trees growing in the water,
with the exception of a few spots of sandy beach. Small
islands have in many places been formed by the current,
and doubtless in the rainy season, when the stream is at its
maximum, these islands may be entirely separated from
the banks, and the entwined roots keeping the trees toge-
ther, they will float down the river, and merit the name
of floating islands. At this season however, they are

86 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

reduced to occasional patches of a few yards of brush
wood, or reeds, Avhich, ghding gently down the stream,
convey the idea of repose rather than the rush of a mighty
river.

Liutenant Hawkey proceeded up the creek opposite to
which the Congo was anchored, and describes it " as di-
viding into two branches, one having a direction E. by S.
and the other W. by N., the former of which he fol-
lowed, and found it extremely tortuous ; after passing
twenty reaches in directions almost opposite, he reached
the primitive land, composed here of sandy precipitous
cliffs ; the soil in some spots bare, in others covered with
wood, particularly with the Adansonia or boabab. Here
we met with the excrement of elephants, tygers, and other
animals both herbivorous and carnivorous ; the skeleton of
the head of a wild hog was picked up, and an antelope was
seen ; on the sandy beach close to a pond of stagnant fresh
water were many birds, where the river turtle had deposited
their eggs."

Many canoes visited the Congo, with pigs, goats, fowls,
and eggs for sale, but being almost as exorbitant in their
demands as at Shark Point, we did little business ; some
trading canoes with 10 to 20 men in each, going up and
down the river, also stopped along side to satisfy their

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 87

curiosity. Their general cargoes were salt, and palm nuts,
from the latter of which they extract oil. The salt is pro-
cured from the north shore, in the district of Boolambemba,
near Fathomless Point. In one of these canoes were also
an elephant's tooth and a boy for sale.

From the natives who were on board we learnt that the
King of Sonio resides at Banza Sonio, on a fresh water river,
the entrance of which is the creek marked in Maxwell's chart
" Raphael's creek," and that a boat would be twelve hours
ascending to the town, though the current is trifling. We
also now learnt how the human bones came in the place
where they were seen by tlie Naturalists nearShark Point,
and which, without an explanation, might have led to the
supposed cannibalism of tlie natives ; Ave Avere however
assured that they were the remains of criminals, who had
suffered for the crime of poisoning, this spot being the place
of execution of a certain district. When a conunon man is
convicted of this crime, his head is first severed, and his
body then burnt ; but the punishment of a culprit of su-
perior rank is much more barbarous, the members being
amputated one by one, so as to preserve life, and one of each
sent to the principal towns of the kingdom, to be there
burnt. The trial is always by a kind of ordeal.

This afternoon the transport weighed with the sea

m CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

breeze, })ut being as unmanageable as ever, she ran on
Shark Point, where she lay half an hour, Avhen the tide
flowing, she went off without the smallest damage, and by
the great exertion of the master of the Congo, was brought
to an anchor two miles within the point.

We had now visitors arriving hourly, all of whom pre-
tended that they were sent by the Mafook of Embomma,
to see the vessels safe up the river, and each of these gen-
tlemen assured us that all the others were impostors, and
only came on board to get brandy, so that I had a difficult
task to keep clear of offending them, and at the same time
avoid imposition. I however succeeded in getting rid of
them all, by telling them that they should remain on board
until A\e reached the town, when the Mafook would decide
who were and who were not impostors, and doubtless would
punish the latter. From them Ave learnt that an express had
been sent from Cabenda to notify our approach, and that
on this intelligence all the Portuguese vessels at Embomma,
htui precipitately left it, and quitted the river, passing us
no doubt in ih.e night. I had however expressly declared
to the ISIalcmba and Cabenda people who visited us, that
I should not in any manner interfere with the slave traders,
of M hatever nation they niight be.

'J'be transhipping the stores and provisions being fmislied

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 89

on the 18th 5 the double boats were loaded and every thing
ready to proceed up the river, but there being only a very
faint sea breeze this day, we were obliged to continue at
anchor. The Mafook Sina, or chief kino's merchant of
Embomma, came on board this morning, but as I had been
frequently deceived by gentlemen Mafooks, I received him
so cavalierly that he quitted the Congo, and went on board
the transport, where his quality being acknowledged by
several natives then on board, he sent back his interpreter
and head man to me, and on finding that he was really the
person he pretended to be, I desired the transport to
salute him with four guns, which made up for my first bad
reception, and he visited me in the afternoon, bringing with
him a retinue of twenty rascals, all of whom he expected
to be gorged with brandy ; and as I knew he had great in-
fluence at Embomma I endeavoured to gratify even his im-
moderate wish, and lent him the Congo's jolly boat to return
to Embomma, and my own boat cloak to keep him warm.
The 19th, there being no sea breeze, we continued at the
same anchorage, but the next day were more fortunate, and
succeeded in getting the Congo up abreast of Halcyon
island (Zoonga Campendi). The banks of the river, along
which we passed sometimes within a stone's throw, are en-
tirely cbvered with mangrove, intersected by creeks, the first

N

90 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

ofwhich of any consideration after passing Fuma, is Kanga-
vemba, (Alligator's pond of Maxwell), which seems to be a
large expanse of water, but according to the natives, goes but
a little way inland. The next considerable creek is that
whose entrance contains the three islands called by Maxwell,
Bonnet, Knox, and Halcyon ; the first having its name from
a clump of trees, and is called by the natives Zoonga,
Casaquoisa ; Knox^s island the natives describe as a penin-
sula. The eastern part of the entrance of this creek forn)s
an excellent little haven, where the Congo was now an-
chored, entirely out of the stream of the river in five fathoms.
This inlet, the natives say, goes up to the town of Loocansey,
the distance from the mouth being about three hours rowing
of a boat.

July 21. This morning we sent a party to haul the seine on
one of the banks which lie close to Knox's island, and took
great abundance of fish of four species ; one being a Spams
of a large size, a mullet a ( Surmuletus ) , and an old wife
(Ballistes). A brig under Spanish colours, Avith 12 guns and
50 men, cleared out from the Havannah, arrived this day in
the river for slaves : hernominal mate, butreal captain (named
Sherwood) and a number of their crew being English and
Irish, though pretended Americans, left no doubt of her
being either English or American property.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 91

-.^ The precariousness of the sea breezes by which alone we
could get the Congo up the river, and the necessit}- of my
losing no time in endeavouring to arrange matters at Em-
bomma, made me determine on proceeding thither in the
sloop's double-boat ; and I accordingly quitted the Congo
with the Naturalists (except Mr. Cranch, who preferred the
accommodations afforded by the Congo), at 4 o'clock in
the evening, keeping within boat's length of the shore ; we
found no current until reaching the point named Scotsman's
Head, where it ran S-j miles an hour; and the breeze being
very weak, we barely stemmed it. In the hope of meeting
a counter current on the opposite shore, I now crossed the
stream, and it being dark when we reached it, I anchored
on one of the banks in six feet, entirely out of the current.
This evening's sail along the banks was particularly agree-
able, the lofty mangroves overhanging the boat, and a
variety of palm trees vibrating in the breeze; immense
flocks of parrots alone broke the silence of the woods with
their chattering, towards sun-set ; and we learnt that those
birds make a daily journey across the river, quitting the
northern bank in the morning to feed in the Indian corn
plantations on the south side, and returning in the evening.
July 22. The shoals and low islands near which we an-
chored are composed of a border of sand and clay, with a

92 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

muddy swamp in the middle, the islands being covered with
reedy grass. By the natives they are named Monpanga,
or look-out. They Avere covered with fishing eagles, terns,
white herons, and other beach birds, of which several were
shot, and Dr. Smith collected no fewer than thirty new
species of plants. Our bearings at anchor were, Avest end
of Tall Tree island nearly shut in with the north shore, west,
and the entrance of Maxwell's river, N.E.

At noon we had a light breeze from W. S. W. ; weighed
and ran along the edge of the shoals in one and two fathoms;
at four, a fresh breeze; and being past the low reedy
islands and shoals, we ran along the bank of the mangrove
land, nearly touching the trees in 3 or 4 fathoms until 7
o'clock, when the darkness obliged us to anchor in 2 fathoms.

July 23. At daylight, we found that we had anchored
within 20 yards of a dry shoal; being also close to the
island named Draper's island by Maxwell, and Zoonga
Kampenzey or Monkey island by the natives ; bearings as
entered in yesterday's journal (by mistake). The land, for
about 3 miles west of the entrance of Maxwell's river, is
thickly covered with palms intermixed with the mangrove,
and other trees ; and here a great quantity of palm wine is
made for the Embomma market. Hordes of Negroes came
down to the bank as we passed, and learning that we had

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 93

one of their countrymen on board returning from slavery,
they greeted us with cheers, after their fashion, and clapping
of hands. A great quantity of shell fish, of the Mya genus,
are taken out of the mud round Kampenzey island by the
natives ; and tiie fish, stuck on wooden skewers, as the
French do frogs, and half dried, are an object of trafific ;
their state of half putrefaction being entirely to the taste of
the Negroes. In a raw state they are uneatable, having no
flavour of the oyster, though confounded with that fish by
the English who have visited the river.

At noon, Ave weighed with a light breeze at S. W., and ran
along the main bank until opposite the entrance of Max-
well's river, when, by the advice of a native on board, we
attempted to pass between tlie two easternmost of Draper's
islands, but found them joined by a bank with only 6 feet,
where deepest ; and keeping too close to the eastern island
we grounded in 2^ feet, but shoved the boat off w^ithout
difiiculty ; and by sending the gig ahead, passed round the
shoals through a very winding channel in 2, 3, and 4
fathoms; then ran along the south side of Monkey's
island of the chart (Zoonga Chinganga of the natives), and
the islands east of it, in 6, 7, 8, and 9 fathoms. Here we
lost the mangrove tract, and the soil became a stift^ clay, cut
into perpendicular low cliffs at the margin of the river,

94 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

covered with high reedy grass and scattered palm trees.
We passed two Negro villages, and at 7 anchored within a
few yards of the bank in 8 fathoms.

July 24. At daylight, having a hght breeze at S. W., we
weighed and ran along the edge of Stocking island, com-
posed (asj^esterday) of reedy grass and thinly scattered palms :
at 8, the breeze dying away, anchored in a little cove in 9
feet, close to the Negro villao'C of Peter Mesouo-v, where we
purchased a few fowls. Here, in searching for something in
the boats' cabin, I put my hand on a snake coiled up on a
bag of clothes ; on killing it with a cudass, it proved to be
a water snake, and apparently not venomous ; though the
natives asserted that its bite is mortal.

At noon, we weighed with a light westerly breeze, and
crossed the channel named " Mamballa river" (not dis-
tinguished by any other name than " Boat's channel" by
the natives) ; the middle of it is filled Avith dry shoals, the
channels between which are very winding, so that we kept
the gig constantly ahead, and had from 1 to 5 fathoms
water until we gained the shore of Farquhar's island,
where there is 7 and 10 fathoms close to the bank. Here
we saw the first plantation consisting of Indian corn
about 2 feet high, and tobacco. In crossing the channel,
a hippopotamus was seen, and, from the shoalncss of

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 95

the water, it must have been walking on the bottom,
the head only appearing above the surface. The na-
tives tell us that the irregularity of soundings which we
found is caused by these animals assembling in a spot and
making holes with their feet. Two women, an old and a
young one, came on board from one of the plantations ; by
their dress and ornaments they appeared to be of a superior
class ; I therefore gave them some beads and a glass of
rum, which they swallowed as greedily as the men ; and, in
return, the old lady offered, through our interpreter, to
leave the young one on board, pour m'amuser; a civility
which, under existing circumstances, I thought proper to
dechne; though the young lady seemed much chagrined at
such an insult to her charms. At 3 o'clock the sea breeze
set in fresh, and we again crossed the channel ; and at 7
anchored on the bank of the east end of Stocking island in;
2 fathoms.

July 2oth. At day-light we observed the Fetiche rock bear-
ing W. by S., and theBeacon rock N. E. I visited the Fetiche
rock, which is a collection of masses of the oldest granite,
mixed with quartz and mica, running into the river per-
pendicularly, and entirely isolated, the land behind it being
a plain with reedy grass and some corn plantations. It
completely commands the passage of the river, being about

96 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

If mile distant from the opposite bank. Some of the
natives on board could not be prevailed on to accompany
me in the boat, dreading the whirlpools off the rock, as
much as the ancients did Charjbdis ; a few very insignifi-
cant eddies, close to the rock, were however now the only
signs that some Avhirlpools may exist in the rainy season,
and the current, wliich here ran stronger than in any other
part of the river, did not exceed 27 miles an hour. The
prospect of the river from the summit of the rock is ex-
tensive, but in no other respect prepossessing, the hills
which bound the vicAV being naked, except a few Adansonia,
and apparently of the same formation as the Fetiche rock.
Just as we reached the rock, two hippopotami were ob-
served about 100 3ards from the shore, with their heads
above the water, snorting in the air ; a ball fired at them
sent them off.

M'Gonza Cheela hills, the middle hill N.E. 6 miles.

The three hills in the fore-ground are those named
Tunkloo in the chart of Maxwell, and a is his Fingal's shield ;
they have the same appearance on all bearings, and con-
sequently are nothing like the representation in the chart.
b Taddy Enzazzi (lightning stone).

e
>
^

K

5

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

97

Taddy d'ya MVangoo, or Fetiche rock. W. by S.

Fetiche rock south -j mile.

c

nrmnjiinii:l,iiillll[llllll

a « Plain, and corn plantations. Fetiche rock E. by S. Z» Breadth of the
river, about 1 1 mile, c Reedy island.

On the very summit of one of the M'Gonza cheela hills,
named Fingal's shield in the chart of Maxwell, is a very
singular pyramidal stone, which has all the appearance of
an artificial building, resembling a watch tower or a light-
house, but is a natural block of loose gianite with another
perched upon it. It is called by the natives Taddi enzazzi,
or the lightning stone, and is held as an object of great
veneration. It was sketched by Lieutenant Hawkey, and
appears to rise out of the circular summit of the hill, as under.

98 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

At 3, weighed with a fresh sea breeze, and at 6 anchored
opposite the village of Lombee, where the Fuka or king's
merchant resides, who was to accompany me to the Chenoo,
or kins; of Embomraa.

Simmons, a black man whom I had received at Deptford
from Sir H. Popham's flag-ship for a passage to his country,
here first met with some. of his family. His father and brother
came on board the sloop. The transport of joy at the meet-
ing was much more strongly expressed b3i the father than
by the son, whose European ideas, though acquired in the
school of slavery, did not seem to assimilate with those of
Negro society, and he persisted in wearing his European
jacket and trowsers ; he however went on shore with his
friends, and throughout the night the town resounded with
the sound of the drum and the songs of rejoicing. The
story of this man, which I had before never thought of en-
quiring into, and which was partly related by his father,
adds one blot more to the character of European slave-
traders. His father, who is called Mongova Seki, a prince of
the blood, and counsellor to the king of Embomma, entrusted
him, when eight or ten years old, to a Liverpool captain of

the name of , to be educated (or according to

his expression to learn to make book) in England ; but his
conscientious guardian found it less troublesome to have

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 99

him taught to make sugar at St. Kitts, where he accordingly
sold him ; and from whence he contrived to make his escape
and get on board an English ship of war, from which he
was paid off on the reduction of the fleet. During our
passage he performed, without any signs of impatience or
disgust, the menial office of cook's-mate.

July 26th. Lombee is a village of about a hundred huts,
and here is held the market of the banza or King's town, no
trading operation whatever being carried on at the latter ; all
trading vessels also anchor opposite Lombee. The reason
assigned for the market being held here is, that as a great con-
course of country people frequent the market, if any dispute
were to arise between them and the banza people, the banza
would run great risk of being burned, and the person of
the Chenoo himself would not be safe. Mr. Simmons this
forenoon paid us a visit, in so complete a metamorphosis
that we could with difficulty recognize our late cook's mate ;
his father having dressed him out in a silk coat embroidered
with silver, which seemed by its cut to have adorned the
person of a stage fop in the days of Sir Roger de Coverley ;
this piece of finery worn over his own dirty banyan and
trowsers ; on his head a black glazed hat with an enormous
grenadier feather, and a silk sash, which I had given him,
suspending a ship's cutlass, finished his costume. He was
brought to the boat by two slaves in a hammock, aa umbrella

100 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

held over his head, preceded by his father and other mem-
bers of his family, and followed by a rabble escort of 20
muskets. His father's present to me consisted of a male
goat, a bunch of plantains, and a duck. I had now no
small difficulty in keeping the sloop from being constantly
crammed with A'isitors, every Fuka, which appears to be a
common title of honour, having his linguister, (linguist) and
his two or three gentlemen, all equally voracious for brandy,
and without whom it is impossible he could move a step.

The market here we found miserably supplied, being only
able to procure a few fowls, a dozen eggs, and some plan-
tains, in exchange for beads, that made them come dearer
than in a London market. The staple article of trade here
seemed to be salt, in which there Avere both wholesale and
retail dealers, the former having 40 to 50 baskets, which he
sold to the latter by the basket, who retailed it to the con-
sumer by the handful, two handfuls for a money mat.

At four o'clock the sea breeze setting in, we ran up and
anchored before the creek of the banza, in 8 fathoms, close
to the shore, saluting with four swivels. Here I found
a hammock sent by the Chenoo, to convey me to his pre-
sence ; but it being too late, I sent his majesty an excuse
by the Fuka Sina, who appeared to be extremely angry,
because I could not visit the Chenoo in the dark.

July 27. At ten o'clock I quitted the sloop, with the Natu-

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 101

ralists and Mr. Galwey, and with an escort of four marines;
the hammock I found to have some resemblance to the
native palanquin of India, but in a miserable dirty plight,
so that I ordered it to follow ; and after the walk of an hour,
for the first mile over a plain, covered with reedy grass, ex-
cept in some spots where Indian corn and a kind of French
bean were planted, and Avhich is under water in the rainy
season, and then over a fatiguing hill, we reached the banza,
at the entrance of which I got into the hammock, and was
set down under a great tree, the ground having been swept
clean. Here the first objects that called our attention were
four human skulls, hung to the tree, which we were told were
those of enemy's chiefs taken in battle, whose heads it was
the custom to preserve as trophies ; these victims, however,
seemed to have received the coup de grace previous to the
separation of the head, all the skulls presenting compound
fractures. After wailing half an hour under the tree,
we were led to the Chenoo's habitation, where, in a court
formed by a fence of reed mats, and which was crowded
with the king's gentlemen, I found a seat prepared of three
or four old chests, covered with a red velvet pall, an
old English carpet with another velvet pall being spread on
the ground. Having seated myself, in about five minutes
the Chenoo made his appearance from behind a mat screen,
his costume conveying the idea of punch in a puppet-

102 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

show, being composed of a crimson plush jacket with enor-
mous gilt buttons, a lower garment in the native style of red
velvet, his legs muffled in pink sarsenet in guise of stock-
ings, and a pair of red Morocco half-boots ; on his head an
immense high-crowned hat embroidered with gold, and sur-
mounted by a kind of coronet of European artificial
flowers : round his neck hung a long string of ivory beads,
and a very large piece of unmanufactured coral. Having
seated himself on the right, a master of the ceremonies with
a long staff in his hand entpiired into the rank of the gen-
tlemen, and seated ihem accordingly. The doctors (Messrs.
Smith and Tudor) having the first places, and then jNIr. Gal-
wey, whom they stiled chief mate ; the serjeant of marines
the}"^ metamorphosed into a boatswain, taking all the titles
of officers from the trading vessels to which only they had
been accustomed.

All being seated (the crowd of king's gentlemen squatting
on bullocks hides,) I explained to the Chenoo, by Sim-
mons, the motives of my mission ; stating that " the king
of England, being equally good as he was powerful, and hav-
ing, as they already had heard, conquered all his enemies,
and made peace in all Europe, he now sent his ships to all
parts of the world, to do good to the people, and to see
what they wanted, and what they had to exchange ; that
for this purpose I was going up the river, and that, on my

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 103

return to England, English trading vessels would luring
them the objects necessar}- to them, and also teach them to
build houses, and make cloth," &c. &:c. These benevolent
intentions were however far beyond their comprehension ;
and as little could they be made to understand that curiosity
was also one of the motives of our visit; or that a ship could
come such a distance for any other purpose but to trade or
to fight ; and for two hours they rung the changes on the
questions " are you come to trade," and " are you come to
make war." At last, however, they appeared to be convinced,
that I came for neither purpose ; and on my assuring them
that though I did not trade myself, I should not meddle even
with the slave traders of any nation, they expressed their
satisfaction by the frequent performance of sakilla, one of
the chief men first starting up and making gestures with his
arms, like a fugle man at exercise, and all the company
striking their chests at the termination of every motion.
This ceremony they afterwards repeated whenever any
thing was said that pleased them; and with redoubled
energy when I shook hands with the Chenoo. The keg
of spliced rum which I had brought as a part of my present
to the Chenoo, was now produced, together with aji
En dish Avhite earthen-ware Avash-hand bason covered with
dirt ; into which some of the liquor was poured and dis-

104 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

tributed to the company ; the king saying he drank only
wine, and retiring, as he told me, to order dinner. The
moment he disappeared the company began to scramble
for a sup of the rum, and one fellow, dropping his dirty
cap in the bason, as if by accident, contrived to snatch
it out again well soaked, and sucked it with great satis-
faction.

While dinner was preparing we walked over the banza,
accompanied by some of the chief men. It is situated on
a small plain on a summit of a hill, and consists of about
30 dwelling places or tenements, each composed of two or
three huts, within a square enclosure of reeds matted ; the
huts are composed of the same materials, and consist of
two sides and two end pieces, which they call Avails, and
two other pieces for roofs ; so that a house, ready to put
together, may be purchased for the same price as four fowls,
and in five minutes may be made ready for occupation; the
entrance is by a square door in one of the sides, just large
enough to crawl in at, and opposite to it is a window; both
of which openings are closed at night with shutters of the
same fabric as the walls. The Chenoo's tenement differs
in no other respect from the common ones, than in contain-
ing one large apartment, a little better lighted and aired,
and in being surrounded by a double fence, forming a

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE 105

succession of outer and inner courts ; of which the sketch
underneath will give a sufficiently just idea.

■^iiiil-'l- (I j^liiiM'i-iiMii.-MiitMiHrililllUinniMimiijuiuMiiiu.miMMimHtiiiiu

= w. riLmtiiil K 'ST >*\ H-. '/t. -TN fTQ N- -T^ ^ 1^ ■'TT^ '+> /jO rfi 'Tf^ "^ '^' ZM

b

^LxumiiiuiuiuiuuiiiuiiiuiiuiUU

M.mn.i.iir.iiitriiHnrnlUMMIIIiiitHTitiiMmnnTMinUi j

'niiiniiiii t

jilnimilUllltlll

a

e e e e

e c c e

illnilluiniiluinllinmiLuiiiiiinijnniiiiiimumiiuiiimiii.imi

innTliinmHiTnmiinuniuminiimnrumniiiiiiirrrTnimniriirniriiiini

Ik

«. Tl>e grand entrance, being an opening in the outer fence about tliree feet

higb.
h. The audience seat.
ccc. The women's huts.
d. The grand apartments.
eee. Huts.

f. Heap of stones for Fetiche.
gg. Fences or screens.
hh. Young trees inside the outer fence.

Besides a large heap of common stones opposite the grand
entrance of the Chenoo's tenement, a fetiche was seen
in every hole and corner, consisting of sculptured figures
in wood and stone, one exactly resembling the figures we
see in England of Bacchus astride on a barrel, with the

106

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

addition of a long pipe in his mouth and a spear on his
shoulder. The two figures of men below, representing two
war fetiches, the one armed with a musket, and the other
witli a broad sword, will serve to shew in what a low state the
art of sculpture is among these people, which indeed could
hardly be otherwise where writing is utterly unknown. In
no one shape whatever do they seem to have profited by
the multitude of missionaries that flocked to Congo in the
l6th and 17th centuries.

Our repast was laid out in the grand apartment, where
some chests covered Avdth carpets served for seats and ta-
bles. A few plates and mugs of earthenware, and some
Venetian gilt glass were placed on the table, together with
a few silver spoons and forks, evidently of French work-
manship. The meats consisted of a soup of plantains and

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 107

goat's flesh, a fowl cut in pieces and broiled, and roasted
plantains in lieu of bread ; a large silver tankard filled with
sweet palm Avine, and a bottle of the rum I had brought,
Avere placed as our beverage.

While we were at table, I learnt that the Chenoo held a
palaver in another part of the tenement, where Simmons
was most strictly questioned with respect to the motives of
our visit, and obliged to swear in the most solemn manner
of the country, to the truth of his assertion. This palaver
being finished, the Chenoo sent to me, to say that he would
again speak to me ; and ^ve accordingly were all seated in
the audience court as before, with the addition of an
old man, who, we were told, was the Chenoo's uncle, and
who seemed to be a chief counsellor. After again tiring me
with questions as to my motives, the old man, starting
up, plucked a leaf from a tree, and holding it to me, said, if
you come to trade, swear by your God, and break the leaf;
on my refusing to do so, he then said, swear by your God
you don't come to make war, and break the leaf; on
my doing which, the whole company performed a grand sa-
hilla, and the assembly broke up ; the King retiring into an
inner hut, where the present I had brought Avas carried ;*
for on my first telling him that I had brought him a present

* It consisted of a piece of furniture cotton, some beads^ a plated tanliard and
goblet, and a silk umbrcli;i.

108 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

from the King of England, he begged il might not be pro-
duced until all his gentlemen were dismissed.

While we were seated in the audience court, the King's
women (of whom he has fifty), were peeping out of one of
the squares, and before retiring, the King very politely
offered me the choice of all his daughters, while his courtiers
as civilly proferred their Avives ; so that I began to fear
I should find myself in the same dilemma as Frere Jean (in
Compere Matthieu) ; fortunately, however, the gentlemen
who accompanied me were not so fastidious as the Frere's
companions. I however learnt that the ladies, though ap_
parently nothing loth to change husbands, resisted all soli-
citations to consummation during day-light, under the ap-
prehension that the fetiche would kill them. The language
of the men in offering their women was most disgusting
and obscene ; being composed of the vilest words picked up
from English, French, and Portuguese. The faces of many
of the women were by no means unprepossessing, and their
forms extremely symmetric. Among the men we saw one
marked with the small-pox, another with a short leg, and a
third with a Avithered arm. Great numbers of the boys had
a large knot at the navel. A cutaneous disorder seemed to
be very general, and, like the itch, chiefly on the wrists ;
and the hands of several of the men were perfectly bleached
as if from a scald.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 109

July 28. This morning the Chenoo returned my visit
on board the sloop, accompanied by half a dozen of his
sons and gentlemen ; his modesty was much greater than that
of any of our inferior visitors, expressing himself perfectly
satisfied with my present, and only hoping that, when
I came down the river, I would build hnn an English house,
leave him a boat, and give him a musquet; with the latter
request I complied immediately, to his great satisfaction.
I learnt from one of his sons, who spoke tolerable English,
that a palaver had been held all night, at which the Fuka
Sina and all the traders insisted that our intentions could
not be good, and that the King should order the sloop to
quit the banza, and not let me ascend the river. The King,
however, and the court party, would not listen to his
suggestions, saying, they were satisfied I came to do them
good, and that I might go where I pleased. Indeed
the King now repeated the same thing, adding, that
if I came to make the country (signifying to form a settle-
ment), as the Portuguese had done at Cabenda, he would
grant me all the land I required ; in short, we parted the
best of friends ; and on his landing I saluted him with four
swivels, the report of which (though they had been warned)
struck all the crowd on shore with such a panic, that they
ran off precipitately, tumbling over each other ; which

no CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

shewed us at least that we had little to fear from the warlike
disposition of this people.

This morning I dispatched a canoe to the Congo, >vith
instructions for bringing her up the river, and employed the
afternoon in sounding the river.

On the following morning (29th), I visited the Chenoo, at
his request, unceremoniously, taking only two marines. I
found him seated on a mat, in a court of his tenement, dis-
tributing palm wine to a family party consisting of about 40
men and boys, of all ages ; a seat being placed for me, he
sent for a small box full of papers, which he requested me to
read, and which I found to be all Portuguese, generally cer-
tificates of the Chenoo's good conduct ; and one letter from
the governor of St. Paul de Loando, complaining that the
Sonio men had killed some of the missionaries, and cut off
a Portuguese trading pinnace; its date 1813. After a
palaver of half an hour, in which I was obliged to repeat
my assurances of not coming to prevent the slave trade, or
to make war, the Chenoo led the way to a pen in which
were six fine cows, a young bull and a calf; and one of the
largest and fattest cows was selected as a present for me.
This animal, I found, had been introduced by the Portu-
guese, and was now considerably multiplied, though no care
whatever seems to be taken to encrease them, the cows in

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. Ill

calf being indiscriminately killed with the bulls ; nor do the
natives make any use of their milk. The Portuguese, we
also understood, had brought several horses, but none now
remained. Near the pen was an 18lb. carronade, with
which I had been saluted on first landing, and which I now
learnt had belonged to an English vessel, burnt at the Tall
Trees some years since by the slaves on board her, and that
the rest of her "guns (which had been fished up by the Sonio
men), were now in the possession of the Fuka Sina, who
offered to sell them.

July 30. Prince Machow Cand}^ known to English
traders as Fuka Candy, (he being Fuka of Market Point
when the English traded here), paid me a visit ; and, as he
is considered as having great influence, I gave him a piece
of chintz. He is a mulatto of- French extraction, and said
to have made a great fortune by trade, while he filled the
office of Fuka of the Point.

July 31. This day and AVednesday, I employed in taking
a sketch of the reach of the river.

August 1. This forenoon I was visited by Mr. Sherwood,
the ostensible mate of the brig under Spanish colours,
and who had been an old slave trader out of Liverpool
in this river. He was accompanied by four Portuguese
masters of trading vessels now at Cabenda, and part of those

112 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

that had quitted Embomma, on intelligence of an English
King's ship approaching. Their visit was for the purpose
of assurino- themselves if I meant to interfere with the slave
trade, and desired to show rae their papers. I declined
however looking at them, declaring explicitly that I should
not meddle Avith trade or traders in any manner, which
seemed to satisfy them, and they went off, as they said, to
brins their vessels back from Cabenda. The Fuka of the
Point and all the trading men seemed to be also rejoiced at
learning this= declaration, as they had still doubted, it seems,
my assurances made to themselves. There seems to be no
reason to doubt but that the chief slave trade to this river
is honajide Portuguese. Two persons of this nation visited
me, saying they were from Rio Janeiro ; I endeavoured to
learn en passant the amount of the trade, and by combining
their answers with the accounts of the natives, think it may
be averaged at 2000 slaves a year.

The price of a slave at this time, as stated by the natives,
is as follows

2 Muskets.

2 Casks of gunpowder

2 Guineas (1 fathom each).
12 Long Indians (10 fathoms each).

2 Nicaneas (6 fathoms each).

CAPTAIX TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 113

1 Romaul (8 fathoms).

1 Fathom woollen cloth.

i Cortee, or sash of cloth.

2 Jars of brandy.
5 Knives.

5 Strings of beads.

1 Razor.

1 Looking-glass,

iCap.

1 Iron bar.

1 Pair of scizzars.

1 Padlock.
I have no doubt however but that slaves are now sold
for one half this valuation.

The Congo this evening succeeded in getting up to an
Anchorage under Leyland island.

August 2d. I this morning shook hands with the Chenoo,
giving him, as a parting token of friendship, one fathom of
scarlet cloth, an amber necklace, two jars of spirits, and some
plates and dishes. We found a seat placed in the audience
court for us, and the Chenoo seated opposite on a mat with
fifty or sixty of his friends ranged on each side. On being
told that I came to take leave, he retired with me into the
grand apartment, where he endeavoured to persuade me to

Q

114 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

defer my departure, until he consulted his great men ; but
in fact I suppose he Avas sorry to lose his daily bottle of
spirits, for as he sent me every morning a bottle of palm
wine, I returned him one of rum. Finding I was deter-
mined, he ceased all solicitation, and gave me three of his
sons, and two pilots to accompany me to Binda ; I had also
engaged four boys as a boats crew, finding them extremely
useful, in saving my own people a great deal of trouble
by going backwards and forwards with the Naturalists.

In returning from this visit, we passed a hut in which
the corpse of a woman v/as lying, drest as when alive ; in-
side the hut, four Avomen were howling, and outside, two
men standing close to the hut, with their faces leaning
against it, kept them, company in a kind of cadence, pro-
ducing a concert not unlike the Irish funeral yell. These
marks of sorrow, we understood, were repeated for an hour
for four successive days after the death of the person. This
scene induced me to enquire for the burying ground, and
the natives at first seemed very unwilling to let us see it ;
after a little persuasion, however, two or three of them led
us towards it, and we found it not above 200 yards from
the banza, amongst a few rugged trees and bushes, and
over-run with withered grass. Two graves were now pre-
paring for gentlemen, their length being nine feet and their

CAPTAJN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. II5

breadth five. At this time they were nine feet deep, but
Ave were told they would be dug to the depth of the tallest
palnvtree, preserving the same length and breadth as at pre-
sent ; the soil, we observed, was a superficial layer of black
earth 18 inches deep, and all the rest a compact yellow
clay ; the graves are dug by the same hoes that are used to
till the ground, and the excavation is carried on in the
neatest manner. One of the old graves had a large ele-
phant's tooth at each end, and another, which we under-
stood to be a child, had a small tooth laying on it ; all had
broken jars, mugs, glass-bottles, and other vessels stuck on
them ; some shewed that there had been young trees planted
round them, but all Avere dead except one plant of the
Cactus quadrangularis. The graves seemed to be indis-
criminately dug to all parts of the compass, and no atten-
tion appeared to have been paid to them since their first
beino- filled in.

Simmons requested a piece of cloth to envelope his
aunt, A\4io had been dead seven years, and was to be buried
in two months, being now arrived at a size to make a genteel
funeral. The manner of preserving corpses, for so long a
time, is by enveloping them in cloth money of the country,
or in European cottons, the smell of putrefaction being only
kept in by the quantity of wrappers, which are successively

116 ' CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

multiplied as they can be procured by the relations of the
deceased, or according to the rank of the person ; in the
case of a rich and very great man, the bulk acquired being-
only limited by the power of conveyance to the grave ; so
that the first hut in which the body is deposited, becoming
too small, a second, a third, even to a sixth, encreasing in
dimensions, is placed over it.

August 3d. This morning at daylight, I rowed the sloop
round Booka Embomma island to the south entrance of the
creek, where I anchoretl to wait for the Congo coming up
with the sea breeze.

The reach of the river formed by the main land and the
island Booka Embomma on the north, and the islands Hekay
(Molyneux) and Booka (Leyland's) on the south, is a bason
surrounded by elevated hills composed of primitive granite,
or schistus ; in general the first formation is naked of trees,
and the second covered with brush M'ood, and large trees in
the crevices of the rock. The hills are all extremely rugged,
forming deep hollows, separated by natural causeways, and
much resembling, but on a greatly larger scale, the road
which passes the Devil's Punch Bowl between Portsmouth
and London ; the flattened summit on which the banza
stands is, as we observed in the groves, an under stratum of
compact clay covered with black mould, on which the ridges

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 117

marked that it had been cultivated; and there can be no
doubt but it would be capable of producing the finest wheat.
The plain, wiiich we passed over to reach the foot of the hills
in going to the banza, is equally proper for the production of
rice, and would probably afford two crops a year; one bv
tlie natural watering in the rainy season, and the other by a
very small degeee of labour, in introducing the river water
upon it in the dry season.

The Booka Embomma, which is separated from the main
land by the creek named Logan by Maxwell, is entirely of
schistus, except an exuberantly fertile lev^el that borders the
creek ; this latter is about 5 yards broad, and has 3 and 4
fathoms depth up to a ledge of rocks, which crosses it near
its south entrance, and through which there is an (opening
barely capable of admitting a canoe. The only part of
this reach, in which the current has any considerable force,
is at the east side of Zoonga Booka, where it runs in little
whirlpools over the rocky bottom about 3 miles an hour;
the stream in the mid-channel (where the depth is 15
fathoms) is from 1^ to 2 miles an hour, and in shore on
both sides it is often stagnant ; and sometimes a small coun-
ter current is experienced. The island Booka Embomma
would be the most eligible place thus far for a settlement.
The trees we had occasion to observe here are generally

118 CAPTMN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

of a soft spongy nature, unfit for fuel while green, and
useless as timber ; one species only affording a wood as
hard as lignum vitse, and proper for the same purpose ;
the larsrest size we found it arrive at, was that of a man's

body.

The miscellaneous information I was able to collect here,
I shall sive without attention to arrangement of the matter,
which my time at this moment does not permit.

This is the winter of the country, the thermometer in the
day seldom rising above 76, and at night, when there are
occasionally (not always) heavy dews, falling to 60. The
mornings, from sun-rise to 9 or 10 o'clock, are dark,
hazy, and sometimes foggy. The winds in the morning
are often lisht from south to S. W. The sea breezes set
in very irregularly fi-om noon till 4 o'clock, from west to
W. S. W.; they have seldom any considerable force more
than once a week, and are stronger after a hazy morning,
succeeded by a hot sun ; they die away from sunset to
10 o'clock. The natives feel the changes of temperature
very severely, shivering with cold when the sea breeze sets
in fresh.

Salt is the great object of trade at the Market point, and
is made near the river's mouth, and brought up by canoes
in baskets of the substance that covers the trunk of the

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 119

palm trees, of about 7lbs. each, one of which fetches
about two fathoms of blue baft. The other objects of
petty traffic are palm oil and palm nuts, from which
the oil is extracted. Indian corn, pepper (chiefly bird
pepper), and mat sails for canoes. The small money in
use is little mats of the leaf of the bamboo, about 18 in-
ches square, 20 of which will purchase a fowl. The name
of Zaire is entirely unknown to the people of Embomma,
who call the river " Moienzi enzaddi," the great river, or
literally the river that absorbs all the lesser ones ; this title
must however be derived from its receiving tributary
streams higher up, as we could not understand that there
is a stream of any consideration thus far ; and the only
springs we observed were two very insignificant ones issu-
ing from a rock near the banza ; there is also said to be
good rock water at the jMarket point, and at Tall Trees ;
and while at anchor at Sherwood's creek, the natives
brought us a cask of excellent water from a creek near
Kelly's point. The river water is at this season but little
muddy, and after being boiled and allowed to deposit its
sediment, is not found to atiect the people.

There are several varieties of the palm trees here, three
of which aftbrd palm wine ; the first, the sweet kind, is given
by that named Moba, and the second by the Mosombie ;

120 CAPTAIN TUCKETS NARRATIVE.

the liquor is extracted as in the West Indies. The sweet
wine is allowed to ferment, and produces an intoxicating
beverage : when quite fresh it is very pleasant and whole-
some, taken moderately, keeping the body open. The
Masongoi tree also affords a palm wine, considered of supe-
rior quality ; an inebriating liquor is also produced from
Indian corn, and named baaniboo.

The cultivation of the ground is entirely the business of
slaves and women, the King's daughters and princes' wives
being constantly thus employed, or in collecting the fallen
branches of trees for fuel. The only preparation the ground
undergoes is burnins: the grass, rakino: the soil into little
ridges with a hoe, and dropping the Indian corn grains
into holes. The other objects of cultivation that we saw
near the banza, were tobacco and beans of two sorts. Fruits
are very scarce at this time, the onl}- ones being long-
plantains, small bitter oranges, limes and pumpkins. There
are no cocoa nut trees, nor, according to the natives, is this
tree found in the country. The only root we saw is the
sweet cassava, w hich the natives eat raw and roasted. Sugar
cane of two kinds was seen.

The only vegetable production of any consequence in
commerce is cottcm, which grows wild most luxuriantly;
•but the natives have ceased to gather it, since the English

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 121

left off trading to the river, the Liverpool ships formerly
taking off a small quantity.

The domestic animals are sheep spotted black and white,
with pensile ears and no horns, goats, hogs of a small breed,
a few dogs resembUng the shepherd's dog, and cats. The
black cattle brought by the Portuguese cannot be consi-
dered as fully estabhshed, no care being taken of them,
though, from their very fine appearance and their excellent
meat, no part of the world seems more proper for their
multiplication. Common fowls of a small breed, and
Muscovy ducks are the only domestic poultry

The wild animals of whose existence we have any cer-
tainty, are elephants in small numbers, this hilly country
being unfavourable to them. Buffaloes, which are said to
be abundant. Antelopes, of which a few have been seen ;
wild hogs, the skeleton of the head of one being found.
Tigers and tiger cats, the skins being seen with the natives.
Monkeys in abundance, (Simia sephus). The hippopo-
tamus and alligator appear to be numerous. The only
species of fish we have seen to be peculiar to the river is
a kind of cat-fish, and some small ones resembling the
bleak.

Among the birds are the grey and other parrots, the
toucan, the common royston crow, a great variety of king-

R

122 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

fishers, and many of the falcon tribe. A species of water-
hen is also ver}'^ numerous.

Insects (with the exception of ants,) are not numerous,
there being no common flies, and very few musquitoes;
some moths, and beetles.

The natives speak of a large species of snake, and some
of the early catholic missionaries make mention of them
from twenty to thirty feet in length, but we have seen no
other reptile than the water snake which I killed in the boat,
and small lizards.

The natives are, Avith very few exceptions, drest in Euro-
pean cloathing, their only manufacture being a kind of
caps of grass, and shawls of the same materials ; both are
made by the men, as are their houses and canoes, the latter
of a high tree, which grows up the river, and appears to
be a species of the ficus, resembling that of the ficus reli-
giosa. These vary in their size, but they appear to be
generally from twenty to twenty-four feet long by eighteen
to twenty, and even twenty-four inches wide. Their drink-
ing vessels are pumpkins or gourds, and their only cooking
utensil earthen pots of their own making, in which they boil
or stew their meats, but more generally boil them. They
take no wild animals for food, a few birds excepted, but
they arc very inexpert in the use of the musquet ; and their

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 123

natural indolence seems to suppress any fondness for the
chace. Their musical instruments consist of a large drum
and a kind of guitar, or rather perhaps a lyre, of which the
following is a representation.

Some pains have been taken, and no small degree of
labour bestowed, in collecting the materials for this instru-
ment. The body is of Avood much lighter than deal ; the
bridge and the eleven bars which it supports are of iron ;
they are confined by a strip of bamboo fixed to the body
or frame by strings of leather ; and they rest also on a piece
of skin. The circular ornament is part of the brass frame
of a print or looking-glass ; and the circles are French
brass buttons with the head of Louis XVI. on them. The
tones are soft, and by no means unpleasing.

Both men and women shave the head in ornamental figures,
according to fancy, and the brides are always close shaven
before they are presented to their husbands ; this operation

124 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

being performed on them by an old woman. The women
seem to consider pendent breasts as ornamental, the young
girls, as soon as they begin to form, pressing them close to
the bod}' and downwards withal with bandages. They also
sometimes file the two front teeth away, and raise cicatrices
on the skin as well as the men.

The common ceremony of closing a bargain, of giving a
receipt or an assurance, is by breaking a leaf, which is
considered as then irrevocable ; and this ceremony we found
necessary to perform with the seller of every fowl.

Excepting one knife, which was stolen by a boy, we met
with no instances of theft; and on one of the great men
being informed of the loss in this case, the whole of the per-
sons present were called under the great tree, and asked
individually if they had taken it; when a boy confessed
and produced it.

There being now a general peace in the country all the
men go entirely unarmed, except when they go down the river
in canoes, when there is usually a musquet in each canoe.

Among the number of their superstitions is that of refrain-
ing from different kinds of food at certain times and occa-
sions ; thus the men will not eat the flesh of a fowl until a
woman has tasted of it, to take off the fetiche, as ihey
express it. Pumpkins and eggs are objects of similar
superstitions ; and when we killed the cow, the king sent

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 125

one of his men to take the fetiche piece, as we learnt, for
the Ganga or priest; and they seemed to know the best
piece, carrying off one of the liind quarters.

The two prominent features, in their moral character and
social state, seem to be the indolence of the men and the
degradation of the women ; the latter being considered as
perfect slaves, whose bodies are at the entire disposal of
their fathers or husbands, and may be transferred by either
of them, how and when they ma\" please. The intriguing
with a man's wife without his knowledge is however punished
by a fine of two slaves ; and if the adulterer cannot pay,
the husband seems to be authorised to murder him.

Both men and women rise at daylight, and after washing
their skins, those who pretend to gentility rub their
shoulders and bodies to the waist with palm oil, which,
though it keeps their skins smooth, gives even to the women,
who otherwise have not the same natural effluvia as the
men, a most disagreeable smell.

There are much fewer mulattoes among them than might
be expected from their intercourse with Europeans, two
only having yet been seen by us.

The mode of salutation is by gently clapping the hands,
and an inferior at the same time goes on his knees and
kisses the bracelet on the superior's ancle.

126 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Thej have no other manner of reckoning or keeping an
account of time than by moons ; so that beyond half a
dozen moons not one of them can tell the lapse of time
since any event may have happened. The day they divide
into morning or breakfast, noon or grand time, and evening
or supper. The sea breeze was insufficient to bring the
Congo up either this day or the 4lh.

August 4. This forenoon I landed on the main land
opposite Booka Embomma, and found it composed of
very rugged hills, chiefly granite, with very little wood. An
Adansonia here measured 42 feet in girth at the ground^
and carried nearly the same circumference to the height of
30 feet. Where the boat anchored we found a regular tide,
the rise and fall being 13 inches, and the current little or
nothino- during the rise.

August 5. Got the Congo up to a good anchorage on
the south shore, opposite Chesalla island, where, finding we
should be much retarded by persevering in the attempt to-
get higher, from the precariousness of the sea breezes, I
ordered her to be moored, and directed Mr. Ej^e, the
purser, to remain in charge of her ; together with the sm-
geon, a master's mate, and 15 men.

CHAPTER IV.

Progress up the River as far as Yellalla, or the Catarac.

[ 129 ]

CHAPTER IV.

About the middle of the day we proceeded up the river in
the double boats, the transport's long boat, two gigs, and one
of the punts, having with me the lieutenant, master, one mas-
ter's mate, the four scientific gentlemen, and Mr. Galwej.

We found the river running between two high ridges of
barren rocky hills, chiefly mica slate, with masses of quartz
rising above the surface ; the slate running out in points,
and the rocks under water forming strong ripplings and
little eddies. In some spots, where the current has been
turned aside by the rocky points, the river has deposited
its mud, and formed little strips of soil covered with reedy
grass, and some few little spots of Indian corn. Off these
places anchorage is always found on a good clay bottom in
from four to eight fathoms, a boat's length from the grass ;
besides these narrow strips we this day counted several
little vallies between the hills, forming the mouths of the
ravines, the largest of which is named Vinda le Zally, and
extends two miles along shore. In those vallies were some
corn and manioc plantations, and many palm trees. The

S

130 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

two rocks named by the natives Sandy, or Zonda, are of
slate ; that named Oscar, by Maxwell, has a very large tree
uj)on it, the other only brush wood ; they are separated
by a space of about 50 yards. On the north shore, nearly
opposite these rocks, is a hanging precipice, to which may
be given the name of Lover's Leap, though in a sense dif-
ferent from that of Leucadia, this being the place of
. execution of the adulterous wives of the king of Bomnia,
and their paramours, who are precipitated from the summit
into the river.

The rocks to which Maxwell has given the little appro-
priate name of Scylla, lie close to the north shore, and form
two masses of slate above water ; about 20 yards beyond
them the rippling denotes another mass under water, but
on which there is six fathoms depth.

At seven o'clock the breeze failing, Ave anchored on the
east entrance of the creek oft" the Gombac islands, close to
the grass, in six fathoms.

Aug. 7- In the morning, it being calm, I went in the gig
through the creek of Gombac, and found, though extreme-
ly narrow, that it had a depth of five to ten fathoms. There
are but two islands, the separation marked by Maxwell be-
tween the two western ones being only a cove; they are
mere rocks of slate with a good many trees. From them I

6

M

Q

^

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 131

landed on the main, and ascended the hills that form
the Fidler's Elbow of Maxwell, which are also composed
entirely of slate, with vast masses of quartz on the surface,
and with only thinly scattered bushes of a shrubby tree, of
which the natives make their spoons. These spoons are
made with great neatness, and not inferior in any respect to
the same utensil in many parts of Europe. Their knives,
too, are not to be despised, but the blades are not always
made by themselves ; though they always prefer their own
hafts and sheaths. These articles are here represented.

The ant hills were here extremely numerous, but now un-
occupied, it appearing that these insects shift their habita-
tions to the trees in this season ; those on the ground have

132

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

exactly the shape of a mushroom, consisting of a round co-
lumn 18 inches high, surmounted by a domed head two feet
in diameter.

We this morning observed a curious optical illusion,
caused doubtless by the state of the atmosphere and the
shadows of the high hills, the boats appearing to be placed
on the pinnacle of an elevated mass of water, from which
the descent was rapid on every side, so that in looking up
the river the current seemed to be running up hill. By
moonlight the reach Ave anchored in much resembled Loch
Tay in Scotland. The rise of water in the wet season was
here observed on the rocks, having worn two grooves,
the first 8 feet above the present level, and the second and
f\untest 9j feet. The nature of the hills, as well as their ap-
pearance, prove that they do not absorb any of the water that

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 133

falls in the rainy season, the Avhole of which is carried direct
to the river by gullies and ravines, with which the hills are
all over furrowed, and in which the only luxuriant vegeta-
tion is found.

We got a few very small shrimps from a fisherman, Avhich
he had just taken in a cotton scoop net, very well made.

At 1 1 o'clock we weighed with a light breeze at west, and
crossed over to the south side of the river, to near the banza
Sooka Congo; the Alafook of which sent his interpreter
and gentlemen to ask for a bottle of brandy, which, not
intending to stop near him, I did not think necessary
to supply. We continued our course along shore until
we reached the Diamond Rock of Maxwell, near to which,
and to the south shore, we found the current too strong to be
overcome with the sails and oars, and Ave anchored a little
to the west of it. In the afternoon, however, the breezes'
freshened, we got through the channel, and at 7 anchored
about 4 miles west of Condo Sono.

The rock called Boola Beca in Maxwell's plan, is by the
natives named Blemba (the husband), and the rock named
the Tinker, to the east of it, is an islet. The largest and
westernmost of the three rocks named Weird Sisters, the na-
tives call N'Casan (the wife) ; they lay nearest to the north
shore, which, according to the natives, is all foul. The

13 i CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Diamond Rock they name Salan Koonquotty, or the strong
feather, alluding probably to the strength of the current,
uhich is doubtless much encreased in the rains, it being now
about 3^ miles an hour, running directly on the rocks, and
forming a strong upward eddy on its west side, where
ihe ground is verj'^ foul and shoal, so that no vessel should
attempt this channel without a breeze sufficient to ensure her
goino; over the current.

On the summit of one of the hills which we passed close
under, were upwards of twenty monkeys, which, had we
not seen their tails, we should, from their great size and
black faces, have taken for negroes.

Aug. 8. The hills which surround our last night's station
are more barren than lower down, the strips of reedy grass
and vallies less numerous, the palm trees are no longer seen,
nor is there any cultivation whatever on the banks. Seve-
ral persons came on board this morning from banza Noki,
and from them we received the first coherent information
respecting the obstruction in the river, higher up, by what
they state to be a great cataract named Yellala, only one
day's march from Noki.

At 10 weighed with a light breeze, and with the aid of
the oars reached the spot named Condo Sono, where the
European slave traders formerly transacted their business,

t^

■J\

CAPTAIN TUCKEV'S NARRATIVE. 13.5

but where there is now not a single hut. I immediately
sent Simmons to the Chenoo of Noki, to request he would
send me a person acquainted with the river higher up ; but
on his return in the evening, I found that nothing could be
done without my own presence, and the usual dash of a
present of brand3\

August 9. I went this morning up the river in the gig,
and found the difficulties encrease every mile, from the
velocity of the current, and the ledges of rocks ; the
barrenness of the hills also became greater, and the only
trace of inhabitants was discovered in a few miserable fish-
ermen, who take some small fish in scoop nets off the rocks
and dry them.

August 10. There being every prospect that we should
not be able to proceed much further in the boats, and find-
ing that there were many Mandonzo men at Noki, whose
country is situated very far up the river, and whose manners
and language were described to me as totally differing from
those of Congo, I this day paid a visit to the Chenoo of
Noki, to endeavour to ascertain these facts, and to procure
guides. AVe were led a two hour's most fatiguing march
before we reached the banza; sometimes scrambling up the
sides of almost perpendicular hills, and over great masses
of quartz and schistus, sometimes getting on pretty smoothly

1:3G CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

along their summits of hard clay, thinly scattered with
brush wood, and sometimes descending into vallies covered
with a rich soil and exuberant vegetation, the high and now
withered grass choaking up the little plantations. In two
of those vallies we found banzas, differing in nothing from
that of Bomma, except that the roofs of the huts formed the
segment of a circle instead of a triangle ; close to them are
two runs of water in ravines. At length we reached the
banza, which is situated on the level summit of the
highest hills amidst palm-trees, and plantations of vegetables,
amongst which we were gratified with the sight of young
cabbages in great perfection. In a few minutes I was
ushered into the presence of the Chenoo, whom we found
seated with two other Chenoos, in much more savage mag-
nificence, but less of European manner, than the king of
Bomma, the seats and ground being here covered with lions
and leopard skins, the treading on which, by a subject of the
highest rank, is a crime punished with slavery; and the care
with which they stepped clear of them in passing to and fro,
e\"inced that they never lost sight of the penalty. The Che-
noo, besides his red cloak laced, had on his head an enormous
high cap of the white feathers of the heron. One of the other
kings was covered with an old hat, and the third was wrapped
in a velvet mantle, and on his head a coronet, with a large

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CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 137

button of coloured glass, which had evidently been procured
from a theatre. The assembly was composed of about fifty
persons squatted in the sand. Simmons having explained
my wishes and the motives of the expedition, the Chenoo,
with less deliberation or questioning than 1 had been plagued
with at Bomma, granted two guides to go as far as the cata-
ract, beyond which the country was to them a terra incog-
nita, not a single person of the banza having ever been
beyond it. The palaver being over, the keg of brandy I
had brought was opened, and a greater scramble than
even at Bomma took place for a sup of the precious licpior ;
and, towards the conclusion, one having been unable to
catch a share, his neighbour, who had been more fortunate,
and who had kept it, as long as he could hold in his breath,
(as they always do), very generously spat a portion of this
mouthful into the other's mouth ! The Chenoo apologized
for having nothing; drest to offer us to eat, but directed a
small pig to be carried to the boat, which on killing we
found to be measly and unfit to eat.

We saw no women during this audience, but a con-
siderable portion of the assembly was composed of boys of
all ages down to four or five, and those young urchins were
observed to pay the utmost attention to the discourse of the
men, and to express tjieir approbation by clapping their
hands.

].38 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

On our return we were conducted by a slave merchant
of Simmons' acquaintance, by a road at first much more
pleasant than that Ave had come, being along the summits
of hills which are highly fertile, and in great part cultivated,
but in the most careless manner. The veo-etables we saw
were manioc, Indian corn, a species of shrubby holcus,
French beans, cabbages or greens, ground nuts in great
quantity, and bird pepper. The fruit consisted of limes,
papavvs, and plantains, all at present immature.

Our conductor led us to his town (for every man of pro-
perty calls his residence his town), where Ave were agree-
ably surprised to find a repast prepared, consisting of a
steAved foAvl, a dish of stcAved beans, and cassava bread
named Coanga. The stews were hoAvever so highly pep-
pered that our gentlemen, not accustomed to such Avarmth
of seasoning, could scarcely sAvallow them ; a bottle of
spirits, in Avhich some aniseed had been infused, Avas also
set before us. The remains of our repast Avas served to the
marines. The water brought to us issued from a rock, its
temperature 73° ; the barometer at the banza fell two inches
loAver than at the river side, Avhich, according to Leslie's
scale, gives the elevation about 1300 feet.

While at our repast, the back ground of the court in
which we were, Avas filled Avith Avomen and girls, separated

' \\

vi---

•f-x

lA

E

bP

'^'

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 139

by a space from the men and boys. Though not one of them
had ever seen a white man, they did not seem to feel any
timidity, but on the contrary we had abundant opportunity
of discovering that, as far as depended on themsehes, they
were perfect Otaheitans in their manners. One woman we
saw spinning cotton for a fishing net exactly in the manner
the French women do while tending their sheep.

The latter part of our journe}^ as we again approached
the river, was even worse than our road going, being
obliged to ascend and descend a succession of hills, of
smooth rocks, so nearlj^ perpendicular, that it required
almost the legs of flies to crawl over them, and here
the natives had greatly the advantage of us, the soles of
their naked feet seizing hold of the rock, while our shoes
slipped over them and threatened us every moment with a
fall that would not have been without danger ; at length we
jreached the boats at 4 o'clock extremely fatigued, though
the distance of the banza is not more than three miles in a
direct line from the river, but by the circuitous route we
took, could not be less than seven or eight.

The most striking features of the country we passed
over are the extreme barrenness of the hills near the river,
the whole being still composed of slate with masses of
quartz, and sienite, the latter becoming the main for-

140 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

mation, as we advanced to the S.E. with perpendicular
fissures from three inches to ^ inch in breadth, filled with
quartz. The summits of the hills and the vallies are of stiff
clay and vegetable mould extremely fertile. We did not
see the smallest trace of any thing calcareous, nor the signs
of any other metal than iron.

August 11 . We had no visitors until near noon, when four
women came to the river's side, opposite the boats, to make
market, having a single fowl, halfa dozen eggs, and a
small basket of beans to sell ; we were soon told that the
oldest was a princess of the blood in her own right, and
that consequently she enjoyed the privilege of choosing
her husband and changing him as often as she liked, while
he was confined to her alone, under penalty, if a private
person, of being sold as a slave. This lady, after getting
for her fowl and other articles twice their value, offered
herself and her three companions (who, we Avere assured,
were the Chenoo's daughters) for hire, to whoever would
take them on board the boats, and seemed to be much dis-
appointed at the apathy of white men, Avhen they found
their advances treated with neglect.

In the afternoon a couple of small sheep, a goat, and
a few fowls were brought for sale ; but for one of the former
the owner had the conscience to ask a full piece of blue bafS.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 141

and two caps, which cost 30 shilHngs in England, making the
meat considerably above a shilHng a pound ; so that we were
obhged to confine ourselves to the purchase of a goat for
four fathoms of printed cotton. Indeed, from the very little
spare provisions the natives seem to have at this season, I do
not. think it would be possible to procure daily subsistence
for fift}^ men in passing through the country. Towards
evening two men were sent from the Chenoo as guides for
Yellala, but one of them having evidently never been there,
I sent him back. A Mandingo slave man was brought to
me, bound neck and heels with small cords. His answers
to the questions put to him Avere, " that he was three moons
coming from his country, sometimes on rivers, sometimes
by land ; that his own country was named M'intolo, on the
banks of a river as broad as the Zaire, Avhere we were
at anchor, but so filled with rocks, that even canoes could
not be used on it ; and that he had been taken when walking
a short distance from his father's house, by a slave catcher,
who had shot him in the neck with a ball, the cicatrice of
the wound still remaining ; and that he had been about two
years from his country." Although his reckoning of the
lapse of time could not be depended on, he evidently had not
been long caught, for he spoke the Congo language but very
imperfectly ; nevertheless, as he undejrstood enough of it

142 CAPTAIX TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

to make himself intelligible, I thought he might be of use
and purchased him, giving an order for his value to be paid
on board the Congo, and taking care to explain to the
natives my motives for bujang him, as well as that I gave him
his liberty on the instant, and only considered him as a ser-
vant; and finally, that if we arrived at his country, I would
restore him to his friends. When this was explained to him
he expressed not the least mark of satisfaction, and permit-
ted the people to take off the cords which had served to
bind him with apparent apathy ; indeed our people seemed
to have more satisfaction in performing, than he felt in un-
dergoing, this operation. In concluding this bargain, I had
a specimen of the tedious manner of doing business amongst
the native traders, the intervention of the Mafook, Mam-
bouk, and a broker, being necessary between me and the
seller ; and each of these fellows expected two fathoms
of baft, and as much brandy as they could drink. This
roundabout way of trading, and the indecision of the sellers,
must, I should suppose, have been a great draw back on the
profits of the slave trade, by the time it kept them on
the coast; for I am assured, that though fifty slaves may be
brought to market in a day, not three are usually sold.
The same huckstering is indeed visible in every branch of
their trading with Europeans ; the possessor of a single fowl.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 143

or a root of the manioc, examining the articles offered him
fifty times, giving them back, taking them again, exchanging
them for something else, and after p\itting patience to the
test for an hour, often taking up his goods and marching off",
because he could not get t\vice or thrice what he first asked.
Aug. 12. At nine this morning we weighed, and with th^
aid of the oars, and a track rope at times, got the boats up
along the south shore, until we came to a large sand bank ex-
tending two-thirds across the river ; here we crossed over to
the other side, and ran along it as far as a little island named

_ _ . Here we found the current so rapid, that with

a strong breeze and the oars we could not pass it ; besides,
having observed when up here in the gig, that the north shore
above this island was extremely foul, I crossed over, and
after considerable difficulty succeeded in getting to an anchor
in a fine little cove named Nomaza, entirely out of the cur-
rent. In crossing the river we passed several whirlpools,
which swept the sloop round and round in spite of her oars
and sails, and not without some danger to so low and deep
laden a boat. These vortices are formed in an instant, last
but a few moments with considerable noise, and subside as
quickly. The punt got into one of them and entirely disap-
peared in the hollows, so that the depression of the vortex
must have been three or four feet. The schooner could not

144 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

succeed in passing ZoongaTooley CalaAangoo, and anchored
on the opposite shore ; but a very strong sea breeze spring-
ing up in the evening she joined me.

In the afternoon I went on shore and ascended the highest
bills under which we were anchored, and whose elevation
might be 500 feet. From hence our upward vicAv of the
river was confined to a single short reach, the appearance
of which, however, was sufficient to convince us, that there
^was little prospect of being able to get the double boats up
much fardier, and none at all of being able to transport
them by land. Both sides of the river appeared to be lined
by rocks above water, and the middle obstructed by whirl-
pools, whose noise we heard in a constant roar, just where
our view terminated by the closing in of the points. High
breakers seemed to cross the river ; and this place we learnt
was called Casan Yellala, or Yellala's wife, and were told
that no canoe ever attempted to pass it. The most distant
hill, whose summit appeared above the rest at the distance
of perhaps 7 or 8 leagues, we found was that of Yellala.
The appearance of the river here Avas compared by
Dr. Smith to the torrent rivers of Norway, and particularly
the Glommen, the hills on each side being high, precipitous
towards the river, totally barren, and separated by such deep
ravines as to preclude the idea of conveying even a canoe

%^

"4

^

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 145

over them, without immense labour. Two tufts of trees on
the summits of the northern hills, Ave understood from a fish-
erman, were the plantations round the banzas. The only
other information we could get from him was, that Yellala
was the residence of the evil spirit, and that whoever saw
it once would never see it a second time.

This has been the only tolerable clear day since our en-
tering the river ; the sun being visible both at rising and
setting, and the thermometer at two o'clock at 80°. This heat
produced a breeze in the evening stronger than any we be-
fore experienced, and which continued all night. On a
little sand beach, off which the boats were anchored, there
is a regular rise and fall of water of eight inches ; during
the rise, the current is considerably slackened.

Aug. 13. This morning at daylight I went up the river
with the master in the gigs, to ascertain the utility of carry-
ing the boats any farther. By crossing over from shore to
shore as the current was found slackest, we found no diffi-
, culty in getting up to Casan Yellala, which is about three
miles above Avhere the boats lay. We found it to be a ledge
of rocks stretchino; across the north shore about two-thirds
the breadth of the river (which here does not exceed half a
mile), the current breaking furiously on it, but leaving a
smooth channel near the south shore,where the velocity of

U

146 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

the current seems the only obstacle to the ascent of boats,
and that I should consider as none to my progress with the
boats, did there appear to be the smallest utility in getting
them above it. But as the shore on either side presents the
most stupendous overhanging rocks, to whose crags alone
the boats could be secured, while an impetuous current
flows beneath ; and as every information makes Yellala a
cataract, of great perpendicular fall, to which the approach
is far easiest from the place near which the boats are now
anchored in perfect safety, I determined to visit this cataract
by land, in order to determine on my future operations.

Accordingly at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 14th
I landed on the north shore, in a cove with a fine sandy
beach, covered with the dung of the hippopotamus, exactly
resembling that of the horse. My party consisted of INIessrs.
Smith, Tudor, Galwey, and Hodder, and 13 men, besides
two Embomma interpreters (the Chenoo's sons), and a guide
from Noki, with four days provisions. Our route lay
by narrow foot paths, at first over most difficult hills, and
then along a level plateau of fertile land ; in short, over
a country resembling that between the river and Noki.
Our course lay between E. N. E. and N. E. At noon
we reached Banza Cooloo, from whence we understood Ave
should see Yellala. Anxious to get a sight of it, I declined

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 147

the Chenoo's invitation to visit him, until my return. Oa
the farthest end of the banza we unexpectedly saw the fall
almost under our feet, and were not less surprised than dis-
appointed at finding', instead of a second Niagara, which the
description of the natives, and their horror of it had given us
reason to expect, a comparative brook bubbling over its
stony bed. Halting the people, who complained of fatigue,
I went with the genUemen to examine it more closely, and
found that what the road wanted in distance, which was not
a mile from the banza, it abundantly made up in difficulty,
having one enormous hill to descend and a lesser one to
climb, to reach the precipice which overhangs the river.

The south sideof tne river is here a vast hill of bare rock
(sienite), and the north a lower but more precipitous hill
of the same substance, between which two the river has
forced its course ; but in the middle an island of slate still
defies its power, and breaks the current into two narrow
channels ; that near the south side gives vent to the great
mass of the river, but is obstructed by rocks above and
under water, over which the torrent rushes with great fury
and noise, as may easily be conceived. The channel on
the north side is now nearly dry, -and is composed of great
masses of slate, with perpendicular fissures. The highest part
of the island is 15 feet above the present level, but from the

148 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

marks on it, the water in the rainy season must rise 12 feet,
consequently covers the whole of the breadth of the chan-
nel, with the exception of the summit of the island ; and
with the encreased velocity, must then produce a fall some-
what more consonant to the description of the natives. In
ascendina: two hills we observed the river both above and
below the fall to be obstructed by rocks as far as we could
see, which might be a distance of about four miles. Highly
disappointed in our expectations of seeing a grand cataract,
and equally vexed at finding that the progress of the boats
would be stopped, we climbed back to our people, whom
we reached at four o'clock totally exhausted.

The principal idea that the fall creates is, that the quan-
tity of water which flows over it, is by no means equal to the
volume of the river below it; and yet, as we know there is not
at this season a single tributary stream sufficient to turn a
mill, below the fall, we can hardly account for this volume,
unless we suppose, as Dr. Smith suggests, the existence of
subterranean communications, or caverns filled with water.

After having refreshed and rested ourselves, I waited on
the Chenoo with a little brandy, and found less pomp and
noise, but much more civility and hospitality, than from the
richer kings I had visited. This old man seemed perfectly
satisfied with our account of the motives of our visit, not

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 149

asking a single question, treating us with a little palm wine,
and sending me a present of six fowls without asking for any
thing in return. In one of the courts of his tenement we
had the disagreeable sight of two men slaves prepared for
sale, one having a long fork stick fastened to his neck, and
the other with European-made irons on his legs ; on enquiry
I found that there were 14 slaves in the banza for sale, who
were going to Embomma.

The night was cool, the thermometer at one o'clock being
at 60^ ; in the early part the stars shone brightly, but to-
wards morning it became very cloudy ; and at daylight we
might easily have fancied ourselves amidst the blue misty
hills of Morven.

August 15th. In the morning we were surrounded by all
the women of the banza with fowls and eggs to exchange
lor beads. In the eggs we were however taken in, more
than half we purchased having been taken from under the
hens half hatched. Although the largest banza we have
seen, we could not procure either a sheep, goat, or pig
for the people.

Having engaged a guide to lead us above the falls (the
hills close to the river being absolutely impassable by any
thing but goats), we quitted the banza at seven o'clock, and
after four hours most fatiguing march we again got sight of

150 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

the river ; but to my great vexation, instead of being 12 or
13 miles, as I expected, I found we were not above four
miles from Yellala, our guide having persuaded me out of
my own judgment, that the river wound round in a way that
made the crescent we took necessary. Here we found the
river still obstructed Avith rocks and islets sometimes quite
across, but at one place leaving a clear space, which seems
to be used as a ferry, as we found here a canoe with four
^en ; no inducement we could offer them had however any
effect in prevailing on them to attempt going up the stream ,
which I wished to do to examine the state of the river more
exactly.

In this day's journey we crossed three deep ravines, the
beds of torrents in the rainy season, but now quite dry, and
but once found water at a very small spring. One antelope's
skin was seen with the natives, and the dung of these animals
occurred in many spots ; several porcupines' quills were also
picked up. On quitting the river 1 determined to cross the
hills in a direction that I expected would again bring me
to it considerably higher up, but the setting sun obliged
us to halt on the side of a steep hill, at whose foot we for-
tunately found a fine spring, forming the only brook we had
yet seen ; and here we passed the night, which was much
warmer than the preceding one, the thermometer not falling

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 151

below 70°, the sky cloudy, but not Jie least dew. The con-
stant dryness of the atmosphere is evinced in the quick dry-
ing of all objects exposed to it ; meat hung up a few hours
loses all its juices, and resembles the jerked meat of South
America; the plants collected by Dr. Smith were fit for
packing in a day, while, towards the mouth of the river, he
could scarcely get them sufficiently dry in a week. The
oxidation of iron also entirely ceases here. The hygro-
meter at sun-rise usually marks 50°, at two o^clock in the
afternoon in the shade 70^.

August l6. Finding Mr. Tudor and several of the people
were unable to proceed farther, I sent them back to Banza
Cooloo in the morning, and with the remainder proceeded
onwards. Passing the brook and ascending the hill on the
opposite side, we found ourselves on a level plateau at the
banza Menzy Macooloo, where we again got a guide to
lead us to the river. At noon we had a view of it between
the openings of the hills, about two miles distant. Here the
people, being extremely fatigued, were halted, while the
natives went to the river for water, and I ascended the
highest of the hills, which descends perpendicularly to the
river : from its summit I had a view about five miles down
the river, which presented the same appearance as yester-
day, being filled with rocks in the middle over which the
current foamed violently ; the shore on each side was also

152 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

scattered with rocky barren islets. The river is here, judg-
ing by the eye, not more than i mile broad, and I estimate
the distance from Yellala at 12 or 14 miles. Upwards my
view was stopped by the sudden turn of the river from
north to S. E. ; the concavity of the angle forming a large
.bay, apparently freer from obstructions than below. I
descended a most precipitous path to the river side, where
I found four women fishing with a scoop net ; they had no
canoe, and I learnt that persons Avanting to cross the river
are obliged to go from hence to the ferry above Yellala.
Just where the river shuts in, in turning to the S. E., on a
high plateau of the north shore, is the banza Inga, which
we understood was two days march from Cooloo (though its
direct distance is not above 20 miles,) and that it is out of
the dominions of Congo. The only other information I could
get here was, that the river, after a short reach to the S. E.,
turned again to the north ; and the appearance of the hills
seemed to corroborate this information ; but as to the state
of its navigation, or the possibility of getting canoes, I could
not acquire the slightest notion.

On the return of the people with water from the river we
dined where the men halted, and set out on our return for
the boats ; at eight o^clock we reached Cooloo (having this
day walked ten hours), where we found Mr. Tudor in a
violent fever.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

153

It was by great persuasion we could get our guide to go
on after sunset, through his fears of wild beasts, and his
superstitious terrors of the night combined ; and every five
minutes he sounded, a whistle, which it seems had been
fetkhed by the Gangam kissey ; and consequently both
spirits and beasts fled at the sound. The only traces of
animals we saw this day were the foot prints of buffaloes,
who had been to the brook we crossed in the morning to
drink ; and we were surprised how so bulky an animal
could ascend the hills; indeed the marks shewed that in
descending they had sliden considerable distances on their
hind legs. A wild hog also crossed us, making from thicket
to thicket ; but our men were not fortunate enough to hit
him, though four of them fired.

Having crossed in a direct line from one of the fertile
plateaus to the river, Ave had a good opportunity of seeing
the formation and structure of the country near its banks ;
of which I have attempted to give an idea below.

Feet.
1000

Hills of steep ascent
and rocky sides; their
summits, plateaus ot
fertile soil.

500

Hills of yellow clay
with vast masses of
sienite.

300-
HiKs of ferruginous
clay and small iron
stones jmassesof quartz

iW

Hills of quartz pebbles

Slate cliffs.

Kiver.

<^^^St&!t^^^^-^

154 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

The margin of the river and the rocks in it are of mi-
caceous slate ; next to which small hills of loose round
pebbles of quartii ; then more elevated hills of ferruginous
clay with masses of quartz ; next hills of 3'ellow clay with
masses of sienite ; and lastly, steep hills with rocky sides,
(sienite), but with long levels at the summit, covered with a
fertile vegetable soil, and on which most of the banzas are
situated. The hills of quartz pebbles have every appearance
of once having been the bed of the river, the pebbles having
evidently been rounded, and the hills received their forms,
by the long and violent action of water. If we assume, what
seems highly probable, that the present obstruction at Yel-
lala was once a real cataract of equal elevation with the op-
posite shores, this surmise of the riv^er having formed these
hills of pebbles will acquire a certainty ; for in that case, the
water kept up by the cross ridge or cataract would have
covered these hills. A great quantity of quartz sand is
thrown up on the sides of the river among the rocks.

At night the hills appear to be in a continued blaze of fire,
from the hunters in the day setting fire to the long dry grass
to drive out the animals. The fire running to windward,
as is always the case, the hunters keep to leeward of the spot
fired, and the game, it would appear, being also aware of
the direction which the fire will take, endeavour to avoid it,
by also running to leeward, and consequently throw them-

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 155

selves wfthin the hunter's reach. The guns we have seen
among them are of Portuguese or French manufacture, and
of a great length ; each has usually several fetiches fastened
to it, to prevent it from doing the owner any injury.

Aug. 17. In the morning we prepared for our return to the
boats, when Mr. Tudor, being too ill to move, was obliged
to be carried in a litter made of one of the black men's
blankets ; the other invalids, exceeding half the party, were
sent forward with him under charge of Mr. Hodder, while
I went to take leave of the Chenoo. Having performed this
ceremony, and given him two fathoms of bafts, I quitted
Cooloo, came up with the invalids in a short time, and
reached the boats at noon, when a tent Avas immediately
pitched on shore for Mr. Tudor, who was now in a most vio-
lent fever. The complaints of the other men were confined
to fatigue and blistered feet.

During this excursion we seldom met with water to fill
our canteens (that of the river excepted), more than once a
day, and the springs were generally very small. The only
provisions we could procure were a few fowls and eggs,
some cassada root, green plantains, and beans ; but all in
quantities totally insufficient to supply the daily expendi-
ture of 20 men. We did not see a single sheep or goat, and
not above two or three pigs. Palm wine, which we found

156 CAPTAm TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

infinitely more refreshing and grateful to the stomach, when
heated and fatigued, than either wine or spirits and water,
is at this season extremely scarce, owing to the long drought;
so that, though every banza and gentleman's town is sur-
rounded by these trees (from 20 to 200 at each), we often
could not procure it even in exchange for brandy. It
appears that the rainy season, for these last two years, has
been very moderate, and the lighter rains, that usually
happen in June, have been entirely wanting this year, which
accounts for the burnt -up appearance of the country, and
the very little water. It is however expected by the natives,
that the ensuing rainy season Avill be proportionally violent ;
and they are now preparing for it, by fresh covering and
repairing their huts. They say that every third or fourth
year the river rises considerably higher than in the inter-
mediate ones ; and this accounts for the different elevation
of the marks on the rocks.

Thus far the banks of the river do not afford a single
timber tree capable of making a beam or timber for a sloop
of war. The only trees that grow to a large size are the
Adansonia and the Bombax, (or wild cotton), and the
wood of both is spongy and useless; several varieties of
evergreens, highly ornamental in their growth and foliage,
are however met Avith in the vallies.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 157

The only appearance of metals is in the ferruginous clay
and stones near the river, which the natives grind, and
of these form their pots for boihng (their only cooking uten-
sil); these small stones rounded to the size of a pea,
serve them for small shot. Small particles of copper were
observed by Dr. Smith in some of the specimens of mine-
rals he collected.

During my absence the seine was hauled, but not a single
fish was taken. The only implements of fishing seen with
the natives were the scoop-net, already spoken of, and
a kind of fish pot of reeds. The fish we could procure from
them are all very small, Avith the exception of one which I
bought, and whose skin Mr. Cranch preserved. It appears
to be of the genus Miirena. Testaceous fish are extremely
few; a single shell (Helix) found on the summit of one
of the hills near a fishing hut, and an oyster taken up by
the dredge, are all we have been able to procure.

On the banks we have found snares for taking beach
birds, nearly resembling those used in Ireland to catch
snipes, being an elastic twig with a bit of line and noose,
which catches the bird's neck.

The higher we proceed the fewer European articles the
natives possess ; the country grass-cloth generally forms
the sole clothing of the mass of the people, and gourds are

158 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

substitutes for glass bottles, or earthen mugs. The women
too approach nearer to a state of nudity ; their sole clothing
being a narrow apron (the breadth of the hand and 18
inches long) before and behind, so that the hips on each
side are uncovered. From every town near to which we passed
they flocked out to look at the white men, (moudele) and
without an}' marks of timidity came and shook hands with
us. To the best looking and the best drest I distributed some
beads. The price paid here, by a native, for a wife of the
first class, the Chenoo's daughter for instance, is four pieces
of baft, one piece of guinea, and a certain quantity of palm
wine. We in no instance since we left Embomma found
the men allant en avant in their offer of their women ; but
this our Bomma men told us was from their little intercourse
with Europeans, for that any of them would think himself
honoured by surrendering his wife or daughter to a white
man.

The population seems to be extremely thin, and (leaving
out the insignificant number of fishermen who remain on the
rocks at the river side) is collected into banzas and gentle-
mens' towns ; the largest of the former (Cooloo) does not
contain above 300 souls, of whom two-thirds are women and
children. The extent of fertile land is, however, capable,
with very moderate industry, of supporting a great increase

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. isa

of population, not the one-hundredth part of that we have
passed over being made any use of whatever. The plateaus
appear to be M^ell adapted for wheat, and certainly all the
garden vegetables of Europe might be produced here
in perfection, as well as potatoes.

According to our informers, the dominions of Congo ex-
tend from below Malemba, cutting the coast and river to
Banza N'Inga ; but how far they extend to the south of the
river's mouth, or up it on the south side, we could not learn,
but it seems to be considerably higher up the river than
Inga. The paramount sovereign is named Lindy, or Blin-
dy N'Congo, and resides at Banza Congo, six days journey
in the interior from Tall Trees (on the south side of the
river) ; it has no water communication with the Zaire.
Here the Portuguese appear to have a fixed settlement, the
natives speaking of their having soldiers and white women.

The opposite sides of the river form two vice royalties,
that on the north being governed by the N'Sandy N'Congo,
and the south by N'Cucula Congo, both of whom reside at
banzas in the interior.

The Chenooships, improperly named kingdoms by Euro-
peans, are hereditary fiefs, passing in the female hue ; that
is, on the decease of the Chenoo the succession, instead of
passing to his son, goes to his brother, or uterine uncle

160 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

or cousin. On every demise a fresh investiture takes place
by the viceroy's sending a cap (here the mark of all dignity)
to the appointed successor ; but though it is necessary that
the succession should be continued in the family, the vice-
roy is not restricted to nearness of kin or primogeniture,
but as favour, corruption or intrigue operates strongest, the
investiture is given. The Chenoo, in his turn, appoints seve-
ral inferior officers by sending them caps, particularly the
Mafook, or custom master, who interferes in all trading
transactions. The Mombella, Macaya and Mambom, are
officers whose respective powers I have not yet been able to
ascertain with any certainty. Slavery is here of two kinds,
which may be denominated household or domestic, and
trading. When a young man is of age to begin the world,
his father or guardian gives him the means of purchasing a
number of slaves of each sex, in proportion to his quality,
from whom he breeds his domestic slaves, and these (though
it does not appear that he is bound by any particular law)
he never sells or transfers, unless in cases of misbehaviour,
when he holds a palaver, atwhich they are tried and sentenced.
These domestic slaves are, however, sometimes pawned for
debt, but are always redeemed as soon as possible. The
only restraint on the conduct of the owners, towards their
domestic slaves, seems to be the fear of their desertion;

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 161

for if one is badly treated, he runs ofl', and goes over to the
territory of another Chenoo, where he is received by some
proprietor of land, which inevitably produces a feud
between the people of the two districts. The trading or
marketable slaves are those purchased from the itinerant
black slave merchants, and are either taken in war, kidnap-
ped, or condemned for crimes ; the first two of these classes,
however, evidently form the great mass of the exjjorted
slaves ; and it Avould seem that the kidnapped ones (or as the
slave merchants who speak English call it " catching in the
bush"), are by far the most numerous. This practice how-
ever is certainly unknown at present on the banks of this
river as far as we have yet proceeded.

The property which a man dies possessed of devolves
to his brothers or uterine uncles, but prescriptively, as
it would appear, for the use of the family of the deceased ;
for they are bound by custom (which is here tantamount to
our written laws) to provide in a proper manner for the
wives and children of the deceased ; and the wives they may
make their own, as in the Mosaic dispensation.

Crimes are punished capitallj^ by decapitation, by gra-
dual amputation of the limbs, by burning and by drowning.
The only capital crimes, however, seem to be poisoning,
and adultery with the wives of the great men. This latter

Y

162 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE;

crime, it would appear, being punished in proportion to the
rank of the husband. Thus a private man accepts two
slaves from the aggressor ; but the son of a Chenoo cannot
thus compromise his dishonour, but is held bound to kill the
aggressor ; and if he escapes his pursuit, he may take the
life of the first relation of the adulterer he meets ; and
the relatives of this latter, by a natural re-action, revenging
this injustice on the other party, or one of his relations, is
one of the grand causes of the constant animosities of
the neighbouring villages. If a man poisons an equal, he is
simply decapitated ; but if an inferior commits this crime
(the only kind of secret murder) on a superior, the whole of
his male relations are put to death, even to the infants at the
breast.

When a theft is discovered, the gangam kissey or priest,
is applied to, and the whole of the persons suspected are
brought before him. After throwing himself into violent
contortions, which the spectators consider as the inspirations
of the kissey or fetiche, he fixes on one of the party as
the thief, and the latter is led away immediately to be sen-
tenced by a palaver. Of course the judgment of the priest
is guided either by chance, or by individual enmity :
and^ though (as our informer assured us) the judgment
was often found to be false, it derogates nothing from

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 163

the credit of the gangam, who throws the whole blame on
the kissey.

The frequency of the crime of putting poison in victuals,
has established the custom of the master invariably making
the person, who presents him with meat or drink, taste it
first ; and in ofl'ering either to a visitor, the host performs
this ceremony himself; this the natives, who speak English,
call " taking off the fetiche."

Both sexes paint themselves with red ochre ; and, before
a bride is conveyed to her husband, she is smeared with this
substance from head to foot. The men also make marks on
their foreheads and arms with both red and white clays ; but
the only answer Ave could get to our enquiries respecting
these practices was, that they Avere done by order of
the gangam kissey.

Besides a prevalent cutaneous disorder or itch, seve-
ral cases of elephantiasis were oljserved, and two patients
with gonorrhoea applied to our doctor ; this, however, they
told us was a present from the Portuguese.

The only game ^ve have seen them play at Avas a kind of
drafts named looela, the implements of Avhich are a flat stone
IS inches square Avith 16" cavities grooved in it, and a small
stone in each cavity, as in the annexed figure.

164 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

The impossibility of procuring information to be at
all depended on from the natives, respecting the course
of the river or the nature of the country, proceeds equally
from their want of curiosity, extreme indolence, and
constant state of war with each other. Hence, I have never
been able to procure a guide farther than from banza to
banza, or at the utmost a day's journey ; for at every banza
we were assured that, after passing the next, we should get
into the Bushmen's country, where they would be in danger
of being shot or kidnapped. Thus at Cooloo, it was only

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 165

by the promise of handsome pa}-, and still more through the
assurance of safety offered by our muskets, that I could pre-
vail on a guide to promise to accompany me to banza Inga.

All my endeavours to find a slave trader who knew some-
thing of the river have been fruitless. One man at Cooloo
presented himself, and said he had been a month's journey
from that place, but always travelled by land, except in the
passage of several rivers by canoes and fords ; the direction
of his course appeared to be to the N. E. and the country,
according to him, more mountainous than where we are.
Indeed it appears that the people of Congo never go them-
selves for slaves, but that they are always brought to them
b}^ those they call bushmcn, who, they say, have no towns
nor acknowledge any government. All however agree
in asserting that the country on the south is still more diffi-
cult than that on the north, which, together with there ap-
pearing to be no traces of the Portuguese missions on the
lattei^,* as Avell as the river again taking a direction to
the north, induces me to prefer this side for my farther
progress.

Aug. 19. In pursuance of my intention to endeavour to

* At Noki the crucifixes left by the missionaries were strangely mixed with the
native fetiches, and the people seemed by no means improved by this melange
of Christian and Pagan idolatry.

166 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

get as far as possible by the north bank of the river, I sent
this morning Lieut. Hawkey with eight men, to form a de-
pot of provisions at Cooloo.

Aug. 20. Sent Mr. Fitzmaurice with eight men, with
a second proportion of provisions, to proceed to Cooloo,
where I learnt Mr. Hawkey arrived late last night; I shall
to morrow proceed with 14 men for the same place, from
thence for banza Inga, sending the boats down to rejoin
the Congo.

CHAPTER V.

Progress from the Cataract, or Cooloo, by Land chiefly, to the Termination

of the Journey.

[ m ]

CHAPTER V.

riAvixG arranged matters at the double-boats, I quitted
the river with the remainder of my party at 1 1 o'clock, and
reached Cooloo myself at two ; but for want of hands was
obliged to leave part of the burthens behind, until the people
could be sent back for them. Visited the Chenoo, who gave
me a fine sheep, and promised me a guide, and some men
to assist in conveying our things to Inga.

Aug. 21. ^^ itii the usual delay, I waited this whole
day for the guide and bearers, without either making their
appearance ; and in the afternoon I received a visit from
the Chenoo, when I found that the delay proceeded from
my not having given presents to the Mambom, IMacaya,
and half a dozen other gentlemen. As the giving way
to such pretensions would very soon exhaust my stock, I
positively refused all their solicitations for the moment, pro-
mising, however, that when I returned I would treat them as
their conduct to white men should have deserved. After a
long palaver, in which the disappointed party was extremely
violent, the more moderate remained masters of the field,

Z

170 CAPTALN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

and it was determined that the Chenoo's son should accom-
pany me as a guide the next mor;nng.

The night scene at this place requires the pencil to deli-
neate it. In the foreground an immense Adansonia, under
which our tents are pitched, with the fires of our people
throwng a doubtful light over thera ; before us the lofty and
perpendicular hills that form the south side of Yellala, with
its ravines (in which only vegetation is found) on fire, pre-
senting the appearance of the most brilliantly illuminated
ampitheatre ; and finally, the hoarse noise of the fall,
contrasted with the perfect stillness of the night, except when
broken by the cry of our centinels " all's well," continued
to create a sensation to which even our sailors were not
indifferent.

The conclusion of the night I however found not so
pleasant ; awaking extremely unwell, I directly swallowed
five grains of calomel, and moved myself until I produced
a strong perspiration.

Aug. 22. Though still very unwell, I had every thing pre-
pared to be off" at day-light with half the party for Inga,
intending to leave the remainder at Cooloo, until I had tried
the practicability of advancing. It was however ten o'clock
before I could get the guide, and six men or bearers,
to each of whom I was obliged to give two fathoms of baft

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 171

and three strings of beads. I now found that Prince Schi
(ahas Simmons) had deserted, and taken with him four of
the best men I had brought from Embomma, as porters; and
just as I was setting off, the Chenoo and all his posse came
to me, to let me know that my interpreter had violated
their customs, and his own word, havino; bargained with
two of the head gentlemen for their wives (one, the first time
I was at Cooloo, and the other the night preceding), for
two fathoms a night, which having no means of paying, he
had concealed himself, or ran oft' to Embomma. Though
sufficiently irritated, I could not forbear smiling at their
manner of relating the circumstance, as well as at their
expectations, that I would either pay to the husbands the
stipulated price, or permit them to seize Simmons, and sell
him as a slave. In order to avoid either of these alternatives,
I promised that, on my return, I would arrange the affair
amicably ; with which, after a long palaver, which cost me
some brandy, they were obliged to be satisfied.

Having thus lost my interpreter, I Avas obliged to
offer very high terms to the only person with me, who could
supply his place ; a man whom we had picked up at
Embomma, and employed as one of the boats crew,
but who, having been in England five years, spoke the lau-
guage as well as Simmons, and his own much better; I
therefore at once promised him the value of a slave and other

172 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

etceteras on my return, if he would accompany me ; to which
he at last acceded, all his countrymen attempting to deter
him, by the idea of being killed and eaten by the bushmen.

We reached banza Manzy (about nine miles north
of Cooloo), at noon, the whole road being along a plateau.
Here I was obliged to give four fathoms of baft for a pig of
151b. weight; and after he was paid for, the people pretend-
ing they could not catch him, I was obliged to direct him
to be shot. At four came to a very deep ravine (Sooloo en-
vonzi), the bed of a vast torrent, covered with rocks, slate
and quartz, in the hollows of which a considerable quantity
of excellent water still remained, apparently since the rains.
The sides of the ravine were thinly cloathed with wood,
among which were trees perfectly straight from 80 to 100
feet high, and 18 inches diameter, the wood of which was
nearly the density, and had much the appearance, of oak ;
they were the only trees we had yet seen of any utility.

In this ravine we halted for the night, on learning that we
could not reach Inga, and that there was no water between
where we were and tliat })lace. The country we passed
over this day would appear to be from 8 to 12 miles from
the river, and is more hilly and barren than any we have
yet gone over ; but the same structure, on a larger scale,
appears to prevail, as that of which I have given a repre-
sentation.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 173

Our night scene here, though entirely dissimilar from the
preceding one, was perfectly theatrical ; the trees completely
shading the ravine, and the reflection of the fires on the tent,
and on the foliage, and on the rocks, with the mixture of
black and white men, each cooking his supper, might have
exercised the pen of Salvator Rosa, and would give no bad
idea of the rendezvous of a horde of banditti.

In the morning we found we had pitched our tent over a
nest of pismires ; but although we were covered with them,
not a person was bitten, any more than by the musquetoes,
who, from its shade and humidity, had cliosen this as their
head quarters. At day-light we were roused by the discor-
dant concert of a legion of monkeys and parrots chattering,
joined with that of a bird named by the natives booidoso, (a
crested Toucan) having a scream between the bray of an
ass and the bleat of a lamb ; another, with a note resembling
the cuckoo, but much hoarser; and another crying " whip
poor will" (a species of goatsucker). We also found that
several buffaloes had been to drink at one of the holes in the
rocks, about 200 yards from one of our tents.

Aug. 23. At seven o'clock (having given the people their
usual breakfast of cocoa), we set out, and crossed a most
difficult tract of hills and ravines until 11, Avheii we found
-ourselves just at the angle of the river, formed by its

174 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

returning to the S. E. ; this last reach not appearing to be
more than three or four miles, but entirely filled with rocks,
and absolutely, as far as we could judge with our glasses,
without the smallest passage or carrying place for a canoe.
At noon we reached banza Inga, having turned off to the
west considerably from the river, and found it situated on one
of the usual plateaus. The Chenoo, we learned, was blind,
and that the government was in a kind of commission, com-
posed of the Macaya, Mam bom, &c. which portended me
no good ; a palaver being immediately assembled to know
what white men came here for. I now found it would be
necessary to deviate from my former assertions of having
nothing to do with trade, if I meant to get forward ; and
according!}' I gave these gentlemen to understand, that I
was only the fore-runner of other white men, who would
bring them every thing they required, provided I should
make a favourable report of their conduct on my return to
my own country. At length I was promised a guide to
conduct me to the place where the river again became
navigable for canoes, but on the express condition that I
should pay a jar of brandy, and dress four gentlemen with
two fathoms of baft each. These terms I complied with,
stipulating on my part that the guide should be furnished
immediately, (as this part of the river was said to be not

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 175

above half a day'sjourneyfromlnga), and he was accordingly
brought forward. Depending on these assurances, I pro-
posed, as soon as the people should have dined, to set off,
but was now informed that I could not have a guide till the
morning. Exasperatedby this intolerable tergiversation, being
unable to buy a single fowl, and having but three day's pro-
visions, I remonstrated in the strongest manner, and deviated
a little from my hitherto patient and conciliating manners,
by telling them, that if they did not furnish a guide, I should
proceed in spite of them, ordering at the same time the ten
men with me to fall in under arms ; at the sight of which the
palaver broke up, and it was sauve quipeut. The women and
children, who had flocked to see while men for the first time,
disappeared, and the banza became a desert ; on enquiring
for the men Avho had come with me from Cooloo, I also
found that they had vanished with their masters ; in short,
I was left sole occupier of the banza. Finding that
this would not at all facilitate my progress, I sent my inter-
preter with a concihating message to the Macaya, whose
tenement was outside the banza, and which shortly produ-
ced the re-appearance of some men, but skulking behind
the huts with their musquets. After an hours delay, the re-
cency again appeared, attended by about fifty men, of whom
fourteen had musquets. The Mambom, or war minister

176 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

first got up, and made a long speech, appealing every now
and then to the other (common) people who were seated,
and who all answered by a kind of howl. During this
speech he held in his hand the war kissey, composed
of buffalo's hair, and dirty rags ; and which (as we after-
Avards understood) he occasionally invoked to break the
locks, and wet the powder of our muskets. As I had
no intention of carrying the affair to any extremity, I went
from the place where I was seated, opposite to the palaver,
and familiarly seating myself along side the Macaya, shook
him by the hand, and explained, that though he might see
I had the power to do him a great deal of harm, 1 had little
to fear from his rusty mus(piets ; and that though I had great
reason to be displeased with their conduct and breach
of promise, I would pass it over, provided I was assured of
having a guide at day-light ; which was promised, on condi-
tion that the gentlemen should receive eight fathoms of
cloth.

The people here had never before seen a white man, and
the European commodities we saw were reduced to a little
stone jug and some rags of cloathing. The language is a
dialect of that of Embomma, but considerably differing.
The Chenoo receives his cap from the Benzy N'Congo, who
resides ten days journey to the N. W. and not on the river.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 177

We purchased half a dozen fowls, but were obhged to pay
for watei, at the rate of three beads for a canteen. There
is here a good deal of lignum vitfc, the largest seen about
four inches in diameter.

Aug. 24. Though the guide was promised at day-light, I
found that the people of the banza wished to throw every
obstacle in the way of our proceeding, assuring us, that the
people further on would shoot us from the bushes, &c. <Scc.
which produced the effect of making the men that had
brought our things from Cooloo refuse to proceed any
further. At length I was under the necessity of secretly pro-
mising one of the gentlemen a piece of baft for his good
offices ; when he immediately offered himself as a guide, and
five of his boys to carry our provisions. Leaving therefore
every thing but these and our water, under the care of the
Cooloo men, we at last set off, at dev'en o'clock. At the
end of the banza Ave passed a blacksmith at Avork, fitting a
lioe into a handle ; his bellows was composed of two skin
bags, and his anvil a large stone. The progress seemed
very slow, the iron never being brought to a red heat. Our
route lay chiefly along the winding bottom of a valley
between two ridges of hills ; the valley generally very fertile,
but now without Avater, though furrowed by extremely deep
beds of torrents. In the valley Ave found tAvo tOAvns, sur-

A a

178 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

rounded by plantations of manioc growing almost to the
size of trees, A flock of 20 to 30 goats was a novel sight ;
but the master being absent, we could not purchase one.
The women sold us some manioc, and gave us ajar of water.
At the upper end of the valley we found a complete banza
of ant hills, placed with more regularity than the native ban-
zas ; they were very large, and had the shape of a mushroom,
but sometimes with double and treble domes, the latter evi-
dently intended to carry off the water in the rains. At four
o'clock we reached the river at Mavoonda Boaya, Avhere we
found it still lined with rocks and vast heaps of sand, but
free from all obstruction in the middle, from two to three
hundred yards wide ; the current gentle (not above two
miles an hour), and a strong counter current running up
on the north shore ; its direction N. W.

The Macaya of Mavoonda being told of our arrival, visit-
ed us in a few hours, and was very civil, and seemingly re-
joiced to see white men ; in return for his civility and his
palm wine, I gave him a cotton umbrella. The information
received here, of the upward course of the river, was more
distinct than any we have yet had ; all the persons we spoke
to agreeing that, after ten days in a canoe, we should come to
a large sandy island, which makes two channels, one to the
N.W. and the other to the N.E.; that in the latter there is a

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 179

fall, but that canoes are easily got above it ; that twenty
days above the island, the river issues by many small
streams from a great marsh or lake of mud.

Having thus ascertained that the river again becomes
navigable at the distance of about 20 to 24 miles above Yel-
Jala, I endeavoured to ascertain if I could procure canoes,
and was assured I might purchase them at banza Mavoonda.
During the night we had two smart showers of rain, which,
as Ave were bivouacked in the open air, Avetted us through.
In the morning we returned to Inga, whence I have sent
Lieut. Hawkey back to Cooloo, Avith 14 men of this place,
to bring up the provisions and presents ; intending immedi-
ately to procure tAvo canoes and proceed up the river.
Mr. Cranch being ill, takes this occasion of returning to the .
Congo.

The country declines considerably in proceeding to the
north.

Aug. 25. All the European articles procured from Em-
bomma, which is the emporium of the Congo empire, and
might once be considered as the university for teaching the
English language, and breeding up factors for the slave trade,
are noAv brought thither by the Portuguese, and consist
chiefly of the coarsest of English cottons, aqua ardente of
Brazil, and iron bars. Beads are only taken in exchange

180 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

for fowls, eggs, manioc and fruits, which seem all to belong
to the women, the men never disposing of them without first
consulting their wives, to whom the beads are given. The
fashion varies from day to da}^ but the mock coral, and
black and white, seem to be most constantly in request.

Each village has a grand kissey or presiding divinity
named Mevonga. It is the figure of a man, the body stuck
with bits of iron, feathers, old rags,&c. and I'esembles nothing
so much as one of our scare-crows. Each house has its dii
penates, male and female, who are invoked on all occasions.

A slave from Ben's country, (Soondy) was this day
brought for sale ; it appeared that he had been pledged for
debt, and not being redeemed, was accordingly to be sold.
His information respecting his country, which appears to be
that of Ben, and a large district, is, that it is a long way up
the river; that he came down to Inga, sometimes by water,
sometimes by land, and Avas in the whole 25 days on his
journey ; but as he passed through the hands of a great
many traders, and their days journey are very short, it is
probable that it might be done in ten days. As Ben how-
ever had forgotten the name of his town, he could gain no
information ; and indeed his knowledge of the language is
so imperfect that he has never been of the smallest use as
an interpreter. '

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 181

Before marriage, the fathers or brothers of a girl prosti-
tute her to every man that will pay two fathoms of cloth ;
nor does this derogate in any way from her character, or
prev<5nt her being afterwards married. The wives are how-
ever never trafficked in this manner except to white men of
consideration.

The boys are taken from the mothers as soon as they can
walk, and the father sits the whole day with them on a mat.
The girls are entirely neglected b}' the father.

Whenever any thing brings a number of people together,
the men immediately light a fire and squat themselves round
it in the smoke ; the men and boys together, the women re-
maining behind separate.

The Jicus reUgiosa is planted in all the market places, and
is considered here, as it is in the East, a sacred tree; for our
people having piled their muskets against one, and some of
the points of the bayonets sticking into the bark, a great
clamour was raised until they were removed.

The hoe is their only instrument of husbandry, and is
made out of a piece of flat bar iron beat out and stuck into
a handle from one to two feet in length, as in the following
fiijures

]82

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

At Kincaya, in the valley of Bemba Macongo, we met
Avith an Embomma slave merchant aoino; into the interior
for slaves. No information was to be got from him re-
specting the river, pretending that he had never been up it.
It is evident these merchants do not wish Europeans to
penetrate into the country, lest they should interfere Avith
their business. Here the cicatrices or ornamental marks
on the bodies of both men and women were mvich more
raised than in the lower parts of the River. The women
in particular had their chests and belly below the navel
embossed in a manner that must have cost them infinite
pain, the Avay of effecting it being to seize the skin between
the fore finger and thumb, and scarify it longitudinally with
a sharp knife ; and when this is done so deep as to draw

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NAR!?ATIVE. 183

the blood, the juice of a plant is applied as a styptic, and
the deeper the cut is, the more raised is the cicatrice.

When the natives first saw the new moon, they hailed it as
the precursor of the showisrs of rain which they expect soon
after its close (that is to say, when the sun is on the equa-
tor) : they then begin to sovv their Indian corn and ground
nuts. The heavy rains do not set in for six weeks later.
The river begins to rise a month before the rains, that is im-
mediately after the season of showers has set in. I find it
useless to attempt talking about business until the palaver
is finished ; that is to say, until the palm wine they have
brought, and the brandy they expect to receive, are all
expended, by which time they are usually half drunk, and
their inclination to palaver, to lie, to chicane, seems to
encrease in proportion to the quantity they may have,
swallowed.

This mornins; I received a visit from a Foomoo with a
large calabash of palm wine, who, after sharing it out
among his own people, expected I would, in return of the
compliment, give him a jar of brandy ; but as his sole
business seemed to be curiosity, and I had little brandy
left, I did not choose to comply ; and in order to prevent
further solicitation, I told him Ihad none, with which, though
much discontented, he was obhged to be satisfied. At
noon I returned to Inga.

1^ CAI*1\4IN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Ausjust 26. AVhile Lieutenant Hawkey wns gone to
Cooloo to bring up the luggage, I visited the river from
Inga, being about a mile distant. The reach here runs
east and west for three or four miles, and in that dis-
tance had three successive falls, the highest Songa Yellala.
On my return I found a present of four chickens from the
blind Chenoo, with a request that I would give him four
fathoms of baft in return ; but as I deemed half that quan-
tity to be four times the value of his present. I sent him two
fathoms, which Avere soon after brought back to me, Avith
a violent complaint thati had given four fathoms each to the
Mambok and JMacanga, and that the king expected the
same ; as the former was however an exaction before I could
procure guides, I did not think it necessary to comply Avith
the Chenoo's demand, but taking back the two fathoms
sent him nothing, and in a very short time another mes-
sage came from him requesting he might have the tAvo
fathoms, Avhich I again delivered to be given to him.

A gangam kissey passed through the banza attended
by his clerk or drum-beater, Avith all the instruments of his
profession, viz. a big drum, a parcel of calabashes filled
A*ith small stones, a piece of tree, and a dozen stinking
fetiches. We found that he had been sent for to a neigh-
bouring village to discover the cause of a man's death.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 185

I this day visited the valley of Kincaya, where I was
told a man had canoes to sell ; but he Avas sone into the
country. The structure of the valley we found to consist
of a vast mass of slate, the strata dipping 45° to the S.W.
The hills on each side were also composed of slate, with
masses of quartz. Here I purchased some smoked fish.
Here also I again met the Embomma slave trader. The
manner of conducting the traffic in slaves, we found to be
thus : The slave merchant quits Embomma Avith three
men, each carrying a jar of brandy, and a piece of cloth ;
on a bargain for a slave being concluded, a jar of brandy
is then drunk, and a proportion of the cloth is given to the
Chenoo and other great men as presents ; the seller then
sends one of his own men back Avith the trader to receive
the price of the slave at Embomma, or at any intermediate
place that the feuds or other impediments to tranquillity
may render expedient.

August 27. This morning the gangam kissey returned,
and Ave learnt that he had denounced three men of another
village as the poisoners of the man that died, and that the
accused Avere immediately to undergo the ordeal of chcAving
poisonous bark, Avhich, if they Avere guilty, they would re-
tain in the stomach, and thus it Avould occasion their
death ; but if innocent, they Avould vomit it up again

B b

186 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

immediately. On enquiry if the gangam did not sometimes
undergo the revenge of the persons thus falsely denounced,
I was told that such a thing was unknown, for that the ac-
cused considered the kissey to be only to blame ; and that
moreover the gangam could not be hurt, the kissey always
forewarning him of danger. Even my interpreter, who
had been baptised and lived five years in England, ex-
pressed his firm belief in these notions ; which, by the way,
are not more ridiculous than the augury of the Romans, or
the inspirations and beatific visions of certain christians.
The gangams do not appear to be numerous, the one
abovementioned having come from a considerable distance.
Each gangam has usually a novice with him, whom he
initiates into the mysteries of the profession, to which he
succeeds on his death. The manner of initiation is kept,
as may be supposed, a profound secret from the people.
Their pay consists of the country money, of which this
fellow had received a large bundle.

The impediments to communication from the nature of
the country, and the want of rivers, appear to be the great
obstacles to the civilization of Africa. The abolition of
the slave trade, though it will produce little or no effect
on the state of domestic slavery, (which is not incompa-
tible with a high degree of civilization,) must in the end

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 187

tend greatly to improve Africa, by rendering the com-
munication between different parts of the country i\ee from
the danger of being kidnapped, which now represses all
curiosity, or all desire of the people of one banzato go be-
yond the neighbouring one. Every man I have conversed
Avith indeed acknowledges, that if white men did not come
for slaves, the practice of kidnapping would no longer
exist, and the wars, which nine times out of ten result from
the European slave trade, would be proportionally less
frequent. The people at large most assuredly desire the
cessation of a trade, in which, on the contrary, all the great
men deriving a large portion of their revenue from the
presents it produces, as well as the slave merchants, who
however are not numerous, are interested in the con-
tinuance. It is not however to be expected that the effects
of the abolition will be immediately perceptible; on the
contrary, it will probably rec[uire more than one generation
to become apparent : for effects, which have been the
consequence of a practice of three centuries, will certainly
continue long after the cause is removed ; and in fact, if we
mean to accelerate the progress of civilization, it can only
be done by colonization, and certainly there could not be a
better point to commence at than the banks of the Zaire.

CHAPTER VI.

Excursion from Inga, and from thence to the Termination of the Journey.

[ 191 ]

CHAPTER VL

Lieutenant Hawkey having returned with a part of
the presents for the chiefs, and provisions for the journey,
I this morning (28th) determined to set out for Mavoonda
to bargain for some canoes; and was just on the point of
departure, when the ]\Iacayo paid me a visit, and in-
formed me, that if I purchased any canoes, I would find
myself taken in, for that at a day's journey above Mavoonda
the river was again obstructed by a fall named Sangalla,
over which I should not be able to get the canoes : this
information at once throwing ine again into as great un-
certainty as ever, I determined, instead of going to pur-
chase canoes, to visit this Sangalla without delay. It was
however some time before I could procure a guide, Avhen the
old gentleman, who had led me to Mavoonda, again olfered
himself for half a piece, Avhom I was forced to accept. As
he assured me we should be back at night, I took only Mr.
Galwey and four men, with a very short day's provisions,
not wishing to open a fresh case of preserved meat (which
is now our sole resource for the people). After passing

192 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

through tlie valley of Bemba, we ascended the hills that
line the river, and which are more fatiguing than any we
had yet met with, being very steep, and totally composed
of broken pieces of quartz, resembling a newly made
limestone road. At four o'clock we came in sight of the
river, between the hills ; and instead of getting back at
night, I found it would be nearly dark before we could
reach Sangalla, and, as I expected, we only reached it at
sunset. Including the windings of the river, I suppose it
about ten miles above Mavoonda ; the intermediate reach
running due north, studded with several islands, but the
stream not very strong. At Sangalla the river is crossed by
a great ledge of slate rocks, leaving only a passage close to
the foot of the hill on the left bank about fifty yards wide,
through which the stream runs at least eight miles an hour,
forming Avhirlpools in the middle, whose vortices occupy at
least half the breadth of the channel, and must be fatal to
any canoe that should get into them. About two miles lower
down the river the stream breaks quite across over a sunken
ledge of rocks. Above, the river forms a Avide expanse
east and west, but filled with rocky islets; the great breadth
however reduces the velocity of the stream, so that canoes
easily pass. About two miles above the commencement
of the narrrow channel there is a ferry.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 193

Having examined every thing here, and being told by
our guide that there was a banza not much higher up,
where we might get some victuals, I proceeded towards
it, scrambling over the rocks with infinite fatigue for an
hour, and then penetrating through a close wood (the first
we have seen) near it, until it became quite dark. This
seemed to be the haunt of buffaloes, whose dung fresh
dropped, still smoked. At length about eight o'clock we
reached the landing place ; and by the light of the moon
proceeded over new hills towards the spot where our guide
supposed the banza to be situated. I soon however dis-
covered that he had lost his way ; and seeing a fire on the
side of a hill, and hearing human voices, I desired him to
enquire; but the people were afraid to come to us, and
we could not find any path to get to them. After some
time spent in halloing, we understood from them that the
banza was deserted.

As Ave had neither victuals nor water, and nearly
choaked with thirst, it was necessary we should endeavour
if possible to procure the latter ; and after an hour's walk
one of the men came down from the hill, and conducted
us through thick underwood, where we were almost obliged
to crawl, and through grass twice our own height, to a spot
clear of Avood on the side of the hill ; and finding it useless

Co

194 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

to go any further, we made a fire to dry our cloaks, which
were literally soaked with perspiration. A little water
brought us by the wives of these bushmen, for they had no
hut, was our supper, and the broken granite stones our
bed. The water was a strong chalybeate. The night was
however fine, though cold, so that our bivouac, for want of
our coats, which, on the expectation of being back the same
evening, we had not brought, was not over comfortable ;
and at five o'clock in the morning of the 29th I quitted it to
take a view of the river. One of the bushmen informed vis,
that after a short reacli to the eastward it again ran to the
south, and then turned back to the north, pointing out the
hills and a banza, named Yonga, round which it turned ;
and according to his account, after two days journey in a
canoe higher up, another Sangalla occurred, worse than the
first. We also learnt that the banza, which we intended
to have gone to the evening before, had been deserted
for some time ; the people, it seems, had robbed some
slave merchants returning from Embomma with their
goods, and fearing the consequences, had all taken to the
bush. After a small portion of roasted manioc and a
draught of water for breakfast, we proceeded on our return
to Inga ; and, having climbed a tremendous hill Avhich
hangs over the river, we came to three or four huts, where

CAPTAIN TUCKEY S NARRATIVE. 195

a woman had the conscience to ask us a fathom of cloth
for a small fowl. We had however the good fortune to
procure a calabash of palm wine, a little further on,
^yithout which we should scarcely have been able to con-
tinue on our march ; the sun, after nine o'clock, becoming
extremely powerful ; even with this, it was with the utmost
difficulty I could prevail on the people to push on, the
road being absolutely impracticable for a man with any bur-
den ; and it was four o'clock before we reached Kincaya.
Here I found the greatest difficulty in getting any thing to
eat ; at last, however, we procured an old hen and some
manioc, which, stewed up together, gave us a scanty re-
past; and after an hour's rest we set off for Inga, which
we reached at seven o'clock, equally to our own satisfaction
and that of our companions, who, expecting us back the
first evening, had feared lest some accident had befallen us.
On both days we saw great numbers of deer of two dif-
enl species, one evidently an antelope ; the other a large
animal of the deer kind, of which was a herd consisting of
thirty or forty. They seemed not to be very shy, but were
too far off for our shots to take effect. In two ravines which
we passed, Ave observed rather more rapid streams. The
country to the eastward was low.
This excursion convinced us of the total impractibility of

196 GAFTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

penetrating with an}- number of men by land, along the
sides of the river, both from the nature of the country, and
impossibility of procuring provisions.

On the 30th, I sent Lieutenant Hawkey to Voonda to
endeavour to hire canoes, to enable us to go up to the first
Sangalla, being determined to make an attempt by water,
though with little hopes of success.

Wliere there are neither written annals, legends, nor an-
cient national songs, nor chronology beyond a month, the
history of a nation must be very vague and confined. The
only idea I have been able to obtain of the Congoese his-
tory, is, that Congo once formed a mighty empire, the chief
of which had three sons, between whom he divided his
dominions at his death, giving to one the upper part of the
river on both sides as far as Sangalla; to a second, the left
bank of the river (the Blandy N'Congo), and to the third,
the right bank, Banzey N'Yonga.

The Congoese are evidently a mixed nation, having no
national physiognomy, and man}' of them perfectly south
European in their features. This, one would naturally
conjecture, arises from the Portuguese having mixed with
them ; and yet there are very few Mulattoes among them.

The creeping plants serve for cordage; some of which
are not less then six inches in diameter. Fleas and bugs

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 197

swarm in all the huts. A great scarcity of wood fit for
building prevails in this country. The stony hills about
this part are thinly clad with scrubby trees, which are fit
only for fuel ; in many places they resemble an old apple
orchard .

The mornings are calm. The breeze sets in from the
westward at noon, and is proportionably strong to the heat
of the day, and when the sun has been very hot, continues
strong during the night ; the days and nights however are
both very cloudy, so that it is impossible to get any obser-
A'^ation even in three or four days.

The hoop by which they ascend the palm trees is formed
of a moist supple twig.

The idea of civilizing Africa by the sending out a few
Negroes educated in England, appears to be utterly use-
less ; the little knowledge acquired by such persons having
the same effect on the universal ignorance and barbarism
of their countrymen, that a drop of fresh water would have
in the ocean.

The scarcity of food at this time is extreme. The sole
subsistence of the people being manioc, either raw, roasted,
or made into coongo, and of this they have by no means an
abundance ; and a very i'ew green plantains. A bitter root,
Avhich requires four days boiling to deprive it of its per-
nicious quality, is also much eaten.

198

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

The indolence of the men is so great, that it" a man gets
a few beads of different colours, he stops at home (while
his wife is in the field picking up wood, &c.), to string
them, placing the different colours in every kind of way
till they suit his fancy.

They have songs on various subjects, love, war, palm
wine, &c.

They have no other arms except knives and a few mus-
quets ; no shot, but small rounded stones : a piece of quartz
makes a good flint. They take fish by poisoning them
with a species of narcotic herb. They make good lines with
grass.

They amuse themselves with a game which is played on a
piece of board, having twenty-eight circular hollows on its
surface ; but I could not learn the principles of the game.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

199

The palm wine is obtained by making an orifice a little
above the insertion of the lowest branch or leaf, into which
a tube is inserted for conducting the liquor into a calabash.
These calabashes are extremely useful for all manner of
household purposes, and are of all sizes ; the small ones are
used for holding their snuff, or dust of dried tobacco leaves,
and are generally ornamented with figures, sometimes cut in
high and sometimes in low relief, as under.

The canoes are made far up in the country ; and it is said
to occupy one man three months, in the making of one ;
they are not however very dear.

Aug. 31. Lieut. Hawkey returned, having been unable to

200 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

procure a single canoe ; indeed it did not appear that there
is more than one or two, for crossing the river at Voonda.
I sent some natives to Cooloo to bring uptheremainder of the
provisions, and with an order to Mr. Fitzmaurice to return
to the Congo sloop with fifteen of the men, being unable to
feed them at Cooloo. With the party thus reduced I am
about to proceed to Bamba Yanzy, three days journey,
where, according to all accounts, the river ceases to be ob-
structed with rocks or cataracts.

[^From this time the Journal consists ojxly of short notices; but the
dates and progress are regularly inserted, and aecompanied
nilh a Sketch of the River, the direction, length, and width of
its several reaches, and strength of its current, as far as the
extreme point to which iliey proceeded.~\

Sept. 1. Great astonishment of the people at seeing the
pocket compass and the watch ; especially tlie pocket com-
pass always pointing to the same spot of the river.

Their houses Avould be convenient if a little larger, and
if raised from the ground on posts to keep out the fleas
and bugs.

It appears that the bark used in the ordeal is from a spe-
cies of cassia; and the bitter root used as food is a kind of
yam. Some Guinea fowls were killed, and some partridges
ofa very large kind. Plenty of bees in the rainy season,

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATITE. 201

when the numerous flowers are in l)lossom. The natives
eat wild honey Avhenever they find it, but are never at the
trouble of searching for it ; nor do they know the vahie of
wax. Sweet-scented flowers smeUing like the jasmine and
jonquils.

The end of the rainy season is unquestionably the best
time for a botanist.

This day for the first time observed that the river had
begun to rise.

The names of the seasons are as under. Tiie dry season,
or winter, is called Gondij assivoo ; it is from April to Sep-
tember inclusive.

The first rains are called IMallola mantitij; they fall in light
showers once or twice in 24 hours ; commence the latter end
of September, and conliiiue to the middle of October. At
this time the women prepare the ground with the hoe
for planting Indian corn, beans, manioc, &c.

The second rains are called Voolaza mansanzy; commence
in November and end in January ; they are represented as
being very heavy, attended with great heat, but with few-
tornados. They now plant Indian corn, &c. which ripens
in three months.

The third rains are named Voolaza cliintoynha, and continue
during the mouths of Februarv and March. The rain still

Dd

202 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

very heavy, with violent tornados, and storms of thunder,
hghtning, fiery weteors, and wind.

The species of dolichos, named voando, is ripe enough for
gathering in the month of October. The bozea or saphoo
also ripens in October. The chichila (papaw) plantain.

Macaya and Mambouk bought six fathoms of chintz and
a bottle of brandy.

Sept. 2. Mr. Galwey was to day very ill ; sent Mr.
Fitzmaurice orders to wait for him at Cooloo.

At eight o'clock, with much difficulty, got nine bearers for
three fathoms each and three strings of beads. Set oflf with
eight white men, Dr. Smith, Mr. Galwey, and three black
men. No other road, it seems, but the horrible one we went
before. At one P.M. reached a stream, the only one seen
that was large enough to turn a mill ; there we dined.
Pratt was knocked up, and obliged to be assisted forward
by four men.

I had some dilemma with the bearers, from the impatience
of our people : the only way to manage them seems to be
that of threatening to stop their pay ; no use in personal in-
timidation, as they know they can run off; nor in promises,
for, like children, they are only afraid of being deprived
of what they have in actual possession, or think themselves
sure of.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 203

At five P. M. passed a second brook, but the bearers tel-
ling us there was another further on, we continued our march
till six. Pitched the tent, and sent the bearers for water ;
but they returned with empty vessels, saying the brook was
dried up ; and most provokingly seated themselves with the
utmost indifference round the fire ; and tho' we had not
a drop of water, they would not move until I put the above
ftiethod in practice, when six of them went back to the brook
we had left.

Some showers of rain now fell. In the middle of the night
we found ourselves attacked by a swarm of ants, which fairly
beat us out of the tent, as we preferred the wet grass to the
torment they occasioned.

Sep. 3. Pratt iDcing unable to proceed from his fever, I
sent him back to Inga with two of the bearers ; and at eight
A. M. set off with the rest ; the most horrible road, throiigh
narrow gullies not 18 inches wide and six feet deep, which
had been formed by the rains excavating the rocks.

On the summit of one of the hills Ave met a caravan
of slave traders going to Embomma, consisting of 30 men
(eight with muskets), the rest loaded with cassava and ground
nuts, some of which they kindly gave us. One man and
four boy slaves were from the Soonda country : all said they
were taken in the bushes. One of the boys made the most

204 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

violent screams on seeino; ns : even the children of seven or
eight years old held fast by the hand of their owners, while
we were jDresent.

AVe dined at a brook, named Sooloo Loo Anzaza ; and at
three P. INI. arrived on the bank of the river, a little to the
eastward of the upper Sangalla, which is formed by a ledge
of rocks running quite across the river, part of it near the
, right bank being now dry, ^d the stream close to the other
side, forming another and a larger Yellala, or cataract.
The direction of the river is here N. E. ; and at the distance
of about a mile above this Sangalla it greatly expands,
forming an elbow, and running into a creek called Condo
Yonga, and then it turns S.E. ; the current about three miles
an hour, with a strong eddy on one side. Some rocks are
still seen in the river, but the appearance is much less rug-
ged than below, the land on each side being lower, tho' still
hilly and very barren, with no trees whatever. The forma-
tion also changes at this spot ; the pebblj- quartz hills having
almost entirely given way to clay and ferruginous earth ; and
the rocks Avhich line the river are now a perfect clay slate.

The constant setting lire to the grass must prevent the
growth of trees, and render them scrubby by destroying
their leaves.

Many hippopotami were visible close to our tents at

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 205

Condo Yanga, where we were obliged to halt, and to wait
some time for a canoe to pass. No nse firing at these ani-
mals in the water ; the only way is to wait till they come on
shore to feed at night. During the night, they kept a con-
tinual grunting like so many hogs, but none of the mcame
on shore, though we had a constant watch on the beach.

This point of the river is the place of all others to set out
from on an expedition to explore the course of the river ;
the creek oft'ering a very fine place for boats, and the strand
being an excellent spot for an ecampment.

Sept. 4. After much difficulty we obtained two canoes to
ferry us over the creek, for which service I paid four
fathoms and six strings of beads. As soon as they Avere
loaded, the Inga men desired to go back, on pretence of
being afraid to proceed ; but as they had engaged to go to
Bamba Yonga, the fear of loosing their wages at last indu-
ced them to pass over it. They had not however walked
above a mile on the other side of the creek before they laid
doAvn their loads, and again refused to go on ; and in this
manner they plagued me until noon, putting doAvn their
loads every ten minutes, Avalking back fifty or sixty yards
as if to return, taking them up again, and so on, with a pa-
laver of half an hour between each stoppage. Finding
I could get no good of them, I finally halted on the eminence

206 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

that, bounds the river, about eight miles above our last night's
station, where I hope to procure a couple of canoes to pro-
ceed up the river, as far as my means will permit.

The river here expands to three miles in width; the banks
have in some places low strips of soil and sand, with cliffs of
clay slate, large masses of which are also scattered in the
river, but do not in the least impede its navigation. In other
parts low hills of gentle descent come down to the margin of
the river ; their summits clay, entirely bare of trees. Here
we also found considerable masses of fine blue li'mestone ;
and a quantity of chalk was brought to us by one of the na-
tives, Avhich we were told was procured from hills on the
opposite side of the river.

The population is here more considerable than what we
have seen lower down. The gentlemen's towns forming
a continued chain of buildings from the spot where we
landed. Provisions seem to be also more plentiful. Several
goats, pigs and fowls, with manioc, ground-nuts, and peas,
having been brought to us for sale, as were also mats.

Amongst the croud that surrounded our tent, two or three
of the foomoos or gentlemen only had any European clothes.
The women were here the most horribly dirty looking
wretches that can be conceived ; equalling the New Hollan-
.:<lers in filth, and nothing superior to them except in the

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 207

mere article of covering their nakedness. The huts were
still of the same formation as below. The palm trees were
more abundant. Fish very plentiful, and of several species
unknown, excepting that one was a small bream ; the}' take
them with pots, having neither nets, hooks, uor lines.

The great encrease in the number of Paria dogs de-
notes an encreased stock of provisions ; though it would
appear, from their being half starved, like those of an Indian
bazar, that they were not well fed : they never bark, but
howl like a jackal; they have pricked ears.

Sept. 5. I discovered to-day that the Inga men were de-
termined to stay here for my return, being, as they asserted,
afraid to oo back themselves.

Finding it impossible to get canoes without the inter-
ference of the Chenoo of Yonga, I sent forwards one of the
black men (the guide of Inga,) with a piece of chmtz, as a
present to be divided among his great men. Having given to
the interpreter and to my other Embomma man a dress of
chintz each, they amused us by performing Songa, Avhich is
a kind of war dance, and a hunting dance, a pantomime,
and a love dance. In the war dance, the performer, with
a sword, looks about from side to side as if expecting the
enemy; at last he sees them, flourishes his sword half a
dozen times towards the quarter in which they are sup-

208 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

posed to appear : advances ; his eyes glowing fire ; returns
triumphant ; while the spectators are clapping their hands
and striking their breasts in turns ; he then squatted down.

The only presents made by Europeans concerned in the
slave trade, Avere brandy, musquets, and powder, all pro-
moters of civilization and encouragers of population.

A foomoo waited on me with a present of a goat, for
"which I gave two fathoms of chintz and a necklace, and
he promised to procure me two canoes at day-light the
followino- mornining.

Dr. Smith made an excursion along the bank of the
river to the northward, limestone and clay slate alternating.

The women braid their hair, and in this state it looks
well ; but when the braiding is undone, horridly frightful,
like a black mop.

iVlligators are so plentiful hereabouts, and so frequently
carry off the women, Avho at daylight go down to the river
for Avaler, that while they are filling their calabashes, one
of the party is usually employed in throwing large stones
into the river outside of them. Here I learn that they
have two crops of Indian corn a year.

Several instances have occurred which shew the minute
divisions of property : three or four people have usually a
share in a goat ; and even a fowl is seldom without two

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 209

owners. The division of the price usually creates a dis-
pute, if there should happen to be an odd bead.

Sept. 6th. After a constant batde with the natives from
daylight, and after using every possible means, by threats,
persuasions, and promises, I at last, about two o'clock,
got the canoes, which I was to have had at daylight, under
Ava3', having first paid eight fathoms, and given a present of
two fathoms of chintz each to four different gentlemen.

As the canoes, though promised to carry twenty men
each, would barely hold eight, I was obliged to walk along
shore with a part of the people. About three miles from
the place of departure we passed two small rapids, but the
other side of the river was clear.

We came to a bay in which were ten hippopotami ; as
the canoes could not venture to come on until these huge
creatures were dispersed, we Avere obliged to fire vollies at
them from the shore, and although many shot evidently
told, not one of the beasts seemed in the least to be af-
fected by them. The noise however, together with the
exorcism of our old guide, drove them away.

The river now, tor the first time, bore a majestic appear-
ance, having the land on each side moderately elevated,
with little hills of lime-stone further back, but still almost

without wood.

Ee

210 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

At six P. M., after having rounded a rocky peninsula^
we anchored in a fine bay named Covinda, formed by this
and another rocky peninsula a little higher up. The night
presented a beautiful picture of repose ; fine scenery, the
moon, the stillness of the water. AlHgators most abundant.
Sept. 7th. The morn.ing set in with light rain. Here
we observed the river to have risen three inches in the
night, the total or highest rise by the rocks sixteen inches.

Some women brought us a large quantity of lime. Bought
a goat for two and a half fathoms of chintz. The people
very civil. Set off at eight A.M., rounded the marble
peninsula, and opened out beautiful scenery, equal to any
thing on the banks of the Thames ; the bare stone rock in
many places resembled ruined castles over-hanging the
river ; several fine grassy coves. Purchased a large bunch
of plaintains for 1^ fathoms.

The teeth of both men and Avomen were notched thus,
1*JWW . Saw a large flock of ducks, the precursors
of rain.

Many marble promontories now jutted out on this side,
round some of which the current sets three miles and half
an hour. As it is necessary to take a long circuit round the
bays by land, I hired another canoe where we stopped to
dine at one o'clock, for four fathoms, to carry the rest of

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 211

the people. We were however tired of this mode of con-
veyance, the inconvenience of sitting being hostile, besides
the tedious rate, the paddles giving three strokes, and then
waiting until the canoe had lost her way, so that they did
not go two miles an hour, nor had our persuasions any
effect in making them get on a bit faster.

During our dinner a boxing match took place between
two of the canoe men about a little salt, at Avhich they
both handled their fists with much science; and after
drubbing each other heartily, the others interfered, and the
business being made up, both the combatants performed
Songa.

At four, reached one of the rocky promontories, round
which the current set so strong, that the canoe men refused
to attempt passing it, neither Avould they cross the river to
get out of the current, pretending they were at war with the
people on the other side. I was therefore under the necesr
sity of attempting to haul the canoes up the stream by the
rbcks with our own people; and had succeeded in getting
one of them past the obstruction into still water, when, by
the neglect of one of the men, the stern of the second canoe
stuck fast in the rocks, and the current taking her on the
broadside, broke her right in two, and several of the ar-
ticles that were in her sunk, and others were swept away,

212 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

among which were two swivels, my sword, a bundle of
umbrellas, and all our cooking utensils, &c.

All wa« now confusion among the canoe men, who first
ran off, and then, after a long dela^^ came back again, but
nothing could induce theui to go forward. I was therefore
by this unlucky accident obliged to bring back the canoe
which I had got up past the rocks ; and to hire another to
enable us to cross the water; which I effected without any
assistance from the canoe men, who could not be prevailed
upon to touch a paddle ; though, when I landed on the
opposite side, I found they were perfect friends with the
people of this shore ; consequently the story of enemies
was nothing more than a pretence of the canoe rascals to go
no further. Here I paid them their wages, and we en-
camped in a beautiful grassy cove, from which both ends of
the reach being shut in by land, presented the appearance
of a mountain lake. During the night hippopotami were
heard in great abundance.

Sept. 8th. In the morning the Zanzy canoe man would
neither go up himself with his canoes, nor would he let the
people of this side of the river hire me their canoes, until
he was paid for the one that was broken, threatening them
with war if they afforded me any assistance ; and as I had
but little merchandize left, I wished to pay him on our

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 213

return at Inga. I was however at length, after three liours
palavering, obhged to give him a piece and two fathoms,
with which he set off ; but the canoe men of this side liad
now gone oif, and after three hours more palavering I at
last procured six men to carry our baggage by land this
day, and until to-morrow night, for which I paid them a
piece of check and a bunch of beads. At length we set oft'
at eleven o'clock, and at noon reached Masoondy, where
the bearers lived, and where they laid down their loads, and
set off" to get their dinners; nor could I assemble tliem again
for two hours. We now passed over a very liilly country,
with some fertile spots both on the summits, on the sides,
and in the vallies, but the general feature is still that of
extreme barenness, and a total want of trees, except in the
ravines and round the great towns, which are here very
numerous. The barren hills are composed of clay slate,
lime-stone in different states, widi some little quartz; red
ochrey hills. Half past three, we reached the river about
ten miles from our last night's halting place ; the reach
running S. S. E. and forming a fine expanse or sheet of
water from four to five miles in bieadth, free from all
rocks, and having a counter-current on this side. The
north shore rises gently from the river till it terminates in
bare hills ; it is hned by a fine sandy beach, behind which.

214 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

and at the foot of the rise, is a Hne of trees. The southern
shore is steep and rocky.

Horrible face ^yith the leprosy.

Natives extremely abstemious, a little raw manioc and
water and their pipe, for a day : devour all the meat you
will give them.

The wind always from the westward, inclining up the
reaches, so that there is always either a free or leading
wind ; and 3^et the natives have not the least notion of
applying sails to their canoes : indeed the wars of neigh-
bouring tribes render the water intercourse as limited as
that by land.

Size of their canoes.

Their distribution of time consists of a week of four days,
or a sona ; the first day of which is named Sona, and on this
day they refrain from working in the plantations, under the
superstitious notion that the crop would fail ; they however
perform any other kind of work. The second day is named
Candoo, the third Ocoonga, and the fourth Cainga. The
month, or Gonda, is thirty days ; the year, M'Voo, consists
of the rainy and dr}^ season, that is to say several Gondas.

They believe in a good and evil principle, the former
they call - -. - ~ - and the latter Codian Penba, both
supposed to reside in the sky ; the former, they say, sends

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 215

them rain, and the latter Avithdraws it; however, they invoke
their favour in the dry season, but it does not seem that
they consider them as in any other manner influencing
human atfairs ; nor do they offer them any kind of worship.
Their ideas of a future state seem not to admit of any
retribution for their conduct in this world ; good and bad
going equally after death to the sky, where they enjoy a sort
of Mahommedan paradise.

Sept. 9th. In the morning some rain. Set off at eight,
A.M. through a country more fertile, and having more land
prepared for cultivation. The manner of preparing it is
first by cutting down the long reedy grass, and placing it
in small heaps, which are then covered with a layer of
mold, and then set fire to ; in the little spots of ashes thus
formed, the Indian corn and peas are planted, and the
manioc in the unmanured places between them ; these
ashes are the only kind of manure made use of. They
never burn down the long reedy grass until it has shed
its seed, so that the next rains bring a stronger crop
than before. ------ very soon blossomed, as well

as the long reed grass twelve feet high, and the thorny
sensitive plant.

Passed some fine lime-stone springs, the first we had
seen.

216 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

At ten, reached the gentleman's town of V^ooky filou,
where our bearers had a long palaver for palm wine, which
I was obliged to purchase at a high rate before they would
stir a step further. Unfortunately 1 ha{)pened to spill
some of it at the foot of our gentleman guide, on which he
set off in the most violent rage, taking all his men along
with him ; and I now learned that, next to pointing a
musquet, the spilling of palm wine was the grossest insult
that could be offered to a genlleman. It was full two
hours, and after making an ample aj)ology for my acci-
dental impoliteness, and a present of three bunches of
beads, that he deigned to shake hands with me, and call
his men back.

The houses here are larger than below.
Two gentlemen with heavy iron chains and rings on
their legs and necks.

At two P.M. we reached the head of a deep reach
named Soondy N'Sanga, running W. by N. and E. by S.;
here we stopped to dine. After dinner I wished to pro-
ceed, but our bearers refused, asserting that they had al-
ready walked two days.

Finding all persuasions useless, I was obliged to pitch
the tent at this place, and with Dr. Smith and Lieutenant
Hawkey walked to the summit of a hill, where we perceived

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 217

the river winding again to the S. E. but our view did not
extend above three miles of the reach : the water clear of
rocks, and, according to the information of all the people,
there is no impediment whatever, as far as they know, above
this place.

And here we were under the necessity of turning our
back on the river, Avhich we did with great regret, but with
the consciousness of having done all that we possibly could.

On my return to the tent, I found that the bearers said
they Avould not carry back the luggage unless they got
auother piece ; and I was at last obliged to give to each
of the two head men two fathoms of chintz and beads.

Plenty of bees : the natives eat the wild honey when it
comes in their way.

The rise of the river was marked at StV inches.

The natives appear to be less civilized as we go on,
totally ignorant of the relative value of European goods ;
exorbitant in their demands.

Employed Peter to buy palm wine and fowls with the
beads which I gave him.

Sept. 10th. At eight A.M. set out on our return; our
stock, two pieces of baft, two pieces of chintz, a few beads ;
no brandy, no sugar, nor any thing else.

Dawson taken ill, and reaching the top of the first hill,

Ef

218 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

was obliged to be carried ; got a canoe for him for four
fathoms; and put all the baggage into her, though so
small ; another palaver about sharing the fathoms ; at last,
after three hours waiting in a burning heat on the beach,
(therm. 86°) we got the canoe off with one man besides

Dawson. Set off ourselves to return by land to .

Went a different road from that we came, through the
ravines of barren hills ; lost three hours over the only fine
place we have seen for an European town, being a plateau
of ten miles in extent, descending graduall}' into a plain of
double that size, all fertile. Pine apple plants growing
close to the path ; which descends gently tlirough a small

grove to the river side, at — , which wc reached at

- -, and found the canoe but just arrived, having

been nearly swamped by her smallness. Here we were
therefore obliged to chano;e her for a laro-er. The oentle-
man guide was in a great passion at Hawkey for touching
his kissey, and also at our people for carrying the fowls
with their heads downwards. Gave one umbrella for six
fowls, and another for a small goat.

Inhospitality of the fellow with palm wine : obliged to
give my handkerchief, baft, beads, &c. Tantalizing state
with the palm wine, and not allowed to touch it for half an
hour.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 219

Sept. 11th In the morning got two canoes for six fa-
thoms to go down to Yanza, where we had left the Ino-a
men. Half way down we found one of the hippopotami
dead, lying on a bank, in a putrid state. The people of
this part of the river having been fetished from eating it.

At Embomma a good hippopotamus is worth a ; its

flesh is sold in the markets.

Here our boatmen wanted to stop, pretending they were
unacquainted with the river below. I punished them by
carrying them six miles lower down.

The rapids we had before been obliged to haul the canoes
over were now smooth, the river rising about six inches
a day. The velocity must be greatly increased in the rainy
season, but still the canoes are said to work on it. Total
rise as marked by the rocks eleven feet. The clouds
charged, and the barometer falling; temperature of the
river decreasing ; at Condo Y'^ango it was 77°, and now but
74°; the lime stone springs 73°

At one, stopped to procure men to carry our things to
Inga, the Inga men having returned thither without waiting
for us.

Sept. 12th With great difficult}^ got a foomoo and four
of his boys to go down for two fathoms each, paid before
hand, and a canoe to ferry us across the creek to Condo

220 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Yano-o. A long palaver about a pig detained us till nine
o'clock. Discovered that the barometer was stolen. Pur-
chased ten fowls for empty bottles. Found the river so
o-readv risen that the creeks we had crossed in our way
upwards, were now filled, and we were obliged to go high
up and cross them on fallen trees.

At noon we dined at the brook Sooloo Looanzaza, and at
three encnmped at Cainga to Avait for Dawson, who Avas
obliged to be supported by two men. I now found that
besides the barometer we had lost our silver spoons, great
coat, remnant of cloth, &c. In the night we were driven
out of the tent by ants.

Sept. 13th. This morning we found that our bearers
had gone off during the night, and left us in the lurch.
Got a foomoo and four men of Cainga to go on, for two
fathoms each ; ascended the Mango Enzooma hill, the
highest yet passed, covered Avith fern ; and the transition
from it betAveen the mica and clay slate.

At eleven reached the brook Looloo : at three got to
Keilinga, Avhere Ave could procure nothing by purchase.
Here Ave found the Mafook of Inga, Avho informed us that
a goat Avhich we Avere carrying Avas fetiched at Inga, and
that we must not carry it there on any account, dead or
alive, or even a bit of its skin ; Ave therefore exchanged it

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 221

it for two fowls, which Ave left for Dawson's use, and
pushed on.

At five we arrived at Inga, Avhere the Inga men had re-
ported that one half of us had been drowned in canoes, and
the rest killed by black bushmen. Greeted with Izacalla
moudela by the people, but greatly shocked on learning the
deaths and sickness on board the Congo.

Sep. 14. Sent off Mr. Hawkey with ten men and as many
loads of baggage: though ill myself, I intended to proceed;
but Dr. Smith and two of our people are too ill to be moved;
remained therefore this day, and passed it most miserably.

After dark, the corporal of marines arrived with intelli-
gence of Galwey's death. I passed a miserable and sleep-
less night, and at day-light mustered the boys with the
intention of proceeding ; but after paying them two fathoms
each, the usual price, they refused to go without receiving
three. Gave them three; being very weak myself and wish-
ing to get on before the sun became too hot, I set off with
Dr. Smith, leaving Mr. Hawkey behind to bring on the peo-
ple ; at noon he joined me, and from him I learnt that he had
a terrible business to get the people off.

Four of the bearers of the sick men ran away and carried
off a canteen of brandy and a case of preserved meat : a
squabble for salt. Could not gel a single fowl for eight

222 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

bunches of beads. Terrible march ; worse to us than the
retreat from Moscow.

Arrived at Cooloo at five P. M. Hospitahty of these peo-
ple. Got a goat from the Chenoo, fowls and eggs ; all ran
cheerfully to assist us ; brought us grass for cur beds ; water ;
wood for our fire.

At dark Dawson arrived ; Inga men left him on the re-
turn of the people. Butler did not come in. Passed a good
night ; it rained hard, but the tent kept it out.

Sept. 15. At day-light sent two men to wait for Butler.
Dr. Smith very ill ; Dawson better.

Having arranged every thing for the men, I set off at eight,
A.M. leaving Mr. Hawkey to bring up the sick. Reached
the river at eleven. Thank God for his great mercies in
bringing me on thus far !

Found no canoes; waited till two o'clock, Avhen I learnt
that the Chenoo of Bibbi, in whose district the landing place
is, had forbidden his people to furnish any more canoes ;
according to some, on account of the commanding otficer
on board the Congo having ill treated one of the canoe men,
who went down with the sick ; while others said it was be-
cause he was not paid iiis customs for using his landing place;
and I was told I must send my interpreter to him with a
present before any canoes Avould be given. As I knew this

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 223

would occupy the whole of the next day in palavering, and
as Dr. Smith, Dawson, and Butler, were so very ill, that an
hours delay in reaching the ship might prove fatal, I seized
all the canoes, and a foomoo.

Sept. 16". Unable at day-light to procure any canoe men, I
set off with our own people, and at 3 P.M. reached the Congo.

Terrible report of the state on board : coffins. - — - -

Sept. 17- At day -light sent ofFall the sick in double boats, as
^ve\\ as the people who had been up with me, to the transport;
hired fifteen black men to assist in takins; the Consro down
the river below Fetish rocks. The river bordered by a level
plain, four miles deep, to hills of little elevation. Good
place for a settlement

Mangroves commence at the east end of Tall Trees island.

Muddiness of water and red colour begins at the

land, which latter is a bar of sand covered with clay, and
under water when the river is at its heio-hlh.

Extraordinary quiet rise of the river shews it, I think, to
issue chiefly from some lake, which had received almost the
whole of its water from the north of the line.

Conmiencement of its rise was first observed above Yel-
lala, on the 1st of September; on the 17th of September, at
Tall Trees it had risen seven feet, but the velocity was not
at all encreased.

£24 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE.

Hypothesis confirmed. The water .

Mistaken idea of anchoring ships out of the current for
any length of time ; the current always creating a cur-
rent of air.

Palm wine in the dry season only. Palm trees, when two
years old, begin to give out wine.

Sept. 18 Reached the transport; found her people all in
health; her decks crowded with goats, fowls, pigeons, pump-
kins„ plantains, flaskets of palm wine ; in short, the greatest
appearance of abundance.

The difference of atmosphere perceptible between this
place and Embomma. Fresh sea breezes.
Mangrove trees fit for ?

No fish but cat-fish. Few hippopotami below Yellala.
Quartz sand in vast quantities on the banks of the river ;
must come from a great distance,

Maucaya child, child-birth.

Different foods fetished. Children fetished for eating the
food which their fathers had been forbidden to eat.
Women fetished for eating meat the same day that it is kil-
led— with the men. When a man apjilies to a Gangam for a
domestic fetish, he is at the same time instructed from what
foods he must abstain ; some from fowls, others from
plantains.

CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 225

Lindy N'Congo resides at banza Congo, far inland to
the south.

In war the Chenoo of Embomma musters 1000 muskets ;
fire into the enemies houses at night. Cut off the heads of
the prisoners and burn the bodies. All the women sent
away before a war is begun. Some Foomoo makes up the
business, and each party keeps the trophies, and puts up
with the losses. All the men of a Chenooship obliged to
go to war. Commanded by the Macaya, next brother to
the Chenoo, and civil magistrate ; Mambouk, relative of the
Chenoo, war minister.

Chenoo of Inga dead, blind man substituted.

Dress. Old men, long thin aprons ; young men, cat-
skins ; tyger cat most valuable ; each costs a piece ; com-
mon cat skins at Embomma for six fathoms

Canoes made of camhafuma (bombax)

Spoons, and mouth pieces of pipes made of lemanzao,
and pacahanda.

Flocks of flamingos going to the south denote the
approach of the rains.

THE END.

Gg

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

/

[ 229 ]

SECTION L

Notices frotn England to our departure from St. Jago.

On the 22d of February, I set out from Charing-cross for
Sheerness, to which port the vessels belonging to the ex-
pedition had proceeded some days ago. Paul Hafgaard,
with several others, accompanied me till I got into the
coach. People who were nearly strangers to me, here
bade me farewell with tears in their eyes, and looks that
expressed their doubt of seeing me any more. Von Buch
accompanied me as far as Sheerness. It was for the first
time I saw this part of the Thames. Its beautiful wind-
ings, and the varying scenery on and around its Avaters,
afforded us great pleasure. The view from Shooter's hill
is of an immense extent. At Rochester, the Medway dis-
plays its greatest beauty. During our whole journey,
those hills of Kent, which terminate in the chalk hills of
Dover, were seen by us. On the other side of Rochester
the country becomes more level, barren, and uniform.
Orchards of cherry trees, for which this county is cele-
brated, were seen on all sides in great number. The rich
but distant treasures I was going to enjoy occupied my
thoughts.

230 PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL.

On the 23d, in the morning, I took leave of Von Buch,^
and went on board. I had Vjeen expected for some days.
Captain Tucke\' came on board a few hours afterwards ;
on the 25th Ave weighed anchor. An unsteady wind
carried us to tlie Downs, where we anchored, and re-
mained there the 26th and 27th. On the 28th we passed
through the Downs, and round Beach v Head. On the
29th we were cruising with variable winds. The S.W.
wind at last prevailing, we were obliged, on the 2d of
March, to anchor in the harbour of Plymouth, on the
identical spot where Napoleon Bonaparte had been in the
Northumberland. Here Ave remained to the 6th. On the
3d, Galwey, Tudor, and myself went on shore to see the
beautiful country-seat of Lord ]\lount Edgecombe. The
prospect from the highest hill has greater variety, and is
more beautiful, than any I had seen in England. The
great number of Hmestone-clifts projecting in groups into
the sea; the numerous bays; the two rivers that empty them-
selves into the harbour ; the three different towns of Ply-
mouth, Stonehouse, and Dock; the great number of ships
of commerce and of Avar; the hills of Mount Edgecombe
covered Avith Avood, — and all tliis, comprehended in one
A'iew, forms a most sti'iking, lively, and picturesque land-
scape. The immense Break-Avater, Avhich is constructing
across the harbour, is now nearly finished.

On the 5th, Lieutenant HaAvkey accompanied us again
on shore to see the men of Avar in the harbour. We Avent
on board the three-decker St. Vincent, Avhich had lately
left the dock-yaxd, and is considered as the most perfect

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. 231

vessel that ever was built. She carries 128 suns. Such
an immense machine, for the first time seen floating on the
water, makes a striking impression. The cabins are as
large as ball-rooms, with galleries as spacious as balconies.
The construction of the pump-AVorks (qu. chain-pump ?),
and of the powder-room is remarkable. I was refused
entrance into the dock-yards as being a foreigner, though
in the English service. In the house of Lieutenant Taylor
I waited patiently for the return of the other gentlemen,
and amused myself in the mean time with reading the
travels of Bruce. AVe passed through Stonehouse town,
where they are breaking down a rock of limestone in order
to level the ground for the convenience of the increasing
towns in the vicinity of Plymouth. We visited the
castle, &c. On returning, we dined in Stonehouse. I was
somewhat tempted to remain on shore during the night,
but gave it up, and returned on board late in the evening.
On the 5th we put to sea again, and the wind proving
contrary, Ave anchored in the evening of the 6th in
the harbour of Falmouth. The 7th, all Avent on shore.
Tudor and myself liired horses Avilh the intention to
travel about in the country, to see mines, &c. Pass-
ing through Penryn Ave arrived in Truro, Avhich is one
of the minino; tOAvns in CornAvall. On the Avay Ave saAV
a furnace for melting tin, the construction of Avhich Avas
very simple Avithout belloAvs. I dined in com-
pany Avith two Dutch ordnance officers, Avho had made
all the campaigns of Napoleon, and having been at last
taken prisoners at Beresina, had been sent to Archangel,

232 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

where they were detained a year and a half. They were
now ordered out to Batavia in a rotten frigate, which is
here repairing.

From Truro we proceeded to the mines in its neighbour-
hood, by the way of Slierwater. I descended one of the
copper-mines to the depth of about 56 fathoms. The
shafts, as also the adits are very narrow. Only a few
men were at work in each of them, making constantly
use of the pick-axe. The steam engines are in high per-
fection, and indispensable on account of the vast quan-
tity of water in the mine. These engines have therefore
been constructed in several places. The appearance of
the country is that of a vast heath. The formation seems
to be principally mica and clay-slate, with large veins of
quartz, in which the ores of tin and copper occur between
and at the side of each other. Long ranges of stones
heaped upon one another are to be seen. The friends of
Tudor in Truro detained us till late in the evening.

On the 8th, in the evening, we made an excursion
to St. Maws, situated in the neighbourhood. It is an in-
considerable fishing-town ; but it is probable, that, before
the growing importance of Falmouth, it was a considerable
borough, because it has the right of sending two members
to Parliament, who hoAvever at present may be said to be
chosen by the Marquis of Buckingham, The manners of
the inhabitants seemed to indicate that the spot is not
much frequented.

March 9th. The wind veering towards N.W, we weighed
anchor with hopes that the S.W. wind has now left us.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 238

March 10th. ^Yc are off" Scilly. The wind changed
again to S.W. We made the signal in vain for pilots,
they having already returned to Falmouth. In the morn-
ing of the ]2th we anchored, for the second time, between
Pendennis and St. Maws.

March 19th. All this time we have been detained in
the harbour of Falmouth, partly from the stormy weather,
and partljr in order to take in water and provisions, and
to fit the Congo with new rigging. We weighed anchor
in the morning. I have written twice to Von Buch and
to Hafgaard, to Avhom I have given a commission to send
all my letters to St. Helena. A strong gale from N.E.
has to-day (the 30th) carried us to the 49° 17' latitude, and
60° longitude. The weather is now almost calm. The
Congo sails almost as well as the transport.

March 25th. For the first five days we have been favour-
ed by a steady N.E. wind, which has carried us to the
latitude of Cape Finisterre.

April 1st. 'I'hc wind having been very favourable,
brought us yesterday within sight of Madeira, which ^ve
passed on its eastern side ; and to-day I expect to see
once more my old friends Palma, and the Peak of Tene-
rifFe. The weather, as is usual in the vicinity of these
islands, has continued for some days very squally. Un-
fortunately we are to pass, as it would seem, the Canaries,
without stopping before we arrive at St, Jago. Being
again so near to a place, where the last year I enjoyed so
many delightful hours, which I never must forget, they
were now as forcibly recalled to my memory as when
present, but with a feeling of regret that they never more

II h

234 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

can be renewed. I had reckoned for certain on being
able to fill up several deficiences in the observations that
have been made on these islands. For the last few days
we have seen but little that could be considered as re-
markable on the ocean. A number of porpoises tumbling
about the vessel ; two large birds, the species of which,
at the distance we observed them yesterday, could not be
determined ; some Medusae, probably Medusa peUucida,
but of which we have not been able to catch any, were
all of the animal creation we got sight of. On board the
Congo I saw a small whale, also a small turtle covered
with two or three species of Lepas, which we dissected,
and a small species of Cancer, probably the Cancer fiilgens
of Sir Joseph Banks.

On the 3d, at day-break, the majestic ridge of rock
that skirts the shores of Palma was discovered. We passed
its western side, at a distance of from two to three leagues
from Punte-de-fuen-zabiente. The two highest summits,
particularly that of Roche de la Mustachos, were covered
with snow, and irradiated by the reflected beams of the sun
a glittering light from the upper region of the air. In the
course of the afternoon we came in sight of Tino, though
it was inveloped in a dense foggy air. I considered its
greatest height to be a little more than 4000 feet. We had
not the pleasure of seeing the Peak of Teneriffe again.
The weather is now very agreeable ; the temperature
between 15° and 20° of Reaumur. We have a favourable
wind, which, however, has not yet changed to the tro-
pical or trade Avind, but is more inclined to the N.E.
The night was star-light. Galwey and myself amused

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 233

ourselves by studying the constellations, of which the
northern ones will soon leave us. The sea begins to ex-
hibit a greater abundance of animals. Cranch is at length
preparing to fish up whatever he can catch. In the last
few days we have constantly seen and caught a great
number of Portuguese men-of-war ( Holothuria physalis) ;
also a small eatable Velllla (which I sketched) ; a Salpa!
which emits light, and a Medusa, with four tentacula. On
board the Congo I saw a Loligo vulgaris, and a fragment
of a small Nautilus, covered by a species of Lepas.

The Congo has for some days been sailing at a slow
rate, and is now again taken in tow. Cranch, I fear, by
his absurd conduct, will diminish the liberality of the
Captain towards us. He is like a pointed arrow to the
company.

April 5th. To-day the deep azure colour of the water
lias suddenly chantjed into a dark sea-green colour. Last
night we crossed the Tropic of Cancer. The latitude
to-day at noon is 22°.

April 7th. The water of the sea has again resumed its
usual colour. The anomalous temperatare of the sea, its
green colour, and the great number of Mollusca that were
seen, seemed to indicate that we were in soundings, but a
line of one hundred fathoms was tried Avithout success.

April 8th. We got in sight of the island of Bonavista, and
passed its S. E. side at the distance of ... . leagues. Its
appearance resembled that of the eastern Canaries. Its
height can scarcely be greater than theirs, but none of its
higher hills had a volcanic form.

236 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

April 9. In the morning we w-ere under the island of
Mayo, which appeared to be lower than Bonavista ; and
soon after we got sight of St. Jago. It is only a few days
since the Captain informed us that we were to touch at Porto
Praya, though we had reason to suppose this to be the
plan long ago. All eyes M^ere therefore with double
eagerness bent towards the island as we approached it.
After having for so long time seen nothing but the heaven
and the ocean, even the barren rocks, which Mere the first
objects that met our scrutinizing eyes, conveyed an
agreeable impression : though, in looking through the
telescope, it was with difficulty I could discover the least
vegetation, and scarcely expected on these rocks a richer
harvest than in the deserts of Lonzocolo last year. This
island appeared much higher than either of the two we had
ju*t passed. In itsgeneral formation it resembles the Ca-
naries. It is surrounded by a perpendicular wall of rock
Avithout any strand, and it rises gradually up to the summit
of the hills. The highest mountain is about the middle of
the island. Its shape is that of an oblique cone, the top of
which rears its head above the clouds, appearing at a dis-
tance like a black spot. The harbour soon opened out
between the rocks, in the form of an half circle. On both
sides batteries have been erected, but merely for the sake
of appearance. Guns without carriages, negro- soldiers
having muskets without locks, and the barrels tied to the
stocks with twine, constitute the defence of the harbour.
At the bottom of this circular inlet is situated the principal
sea-port town of the island, which is nearly in the same

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 237

condition as the batteries. It is built on aflat rock, with
the third and principal battery in front of it, surrounded
by a continuation of the valley la Trinidad, wliich on each
side of tJie town forms a level plain, overgrown with groups
of the date-pahn ; and terminating in a sandy beach. A
rock situated towards the Avestern battery, forms the Avest
side of the entrance. In the harbour Avere two vessels,
one of Avhich having English colours, made us hope for a
conveyance of letters to England ; but Ave Avere afterwards
informed that this vessel Avas to be very much delayed in
its passage, being previously destined to touch at Lisbon.
At 1 2 o'clock the anchor Avas dropt, and Ave AA'ere immedi-
ately ready to go on shore. It had been signified to us,
that the expedition Avould have to remain here two days
only ; Ave Avere therefore anxious to make the best use Ave
could of our limited time. Jilost of the officers, Tudor,
the gardener and myself, Avent on shore. Our plan Avas to
ramble about in the neighbourhood the Avhole of the after-
noon, afterAvards to join Fitzmaurice, Galwey and Cranch,
Avho had set out on a fishing-party in a small bay situated
to the eastAvard ; then to return Avith them on board ; and,
before day-break the next morning, to make an excursion
to the higher mountains of the island, and not to return till
the last moment of our allotted time. Unfortunately, in
consequence of this plan, aa^c had not provided ourseh'es
Avith more apparatus than Avould be necessary for an ex-
cursion of a fcAv hours only. Captain Tuckey and the rest
waited upon the Governor. Lockhart and myself soon
found of course objects enough to attract our attention ;

238 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

and we began to form a more favourable idea of the vege-
tation of the island, than its first appearance from the
vessel seemed to promise. The shore was covered with
Convolvolus soldonellu, resembling Ipoincea ; and half a
dozen unknown plants, which were successively found
growing among the palms, made us soon regret, in our joy,
that we had so short a time to stay here. We took a view
of the structure of the rocks, which on this side the town
form a perpendicular precij)ice, and every where along the
coast consist of five or six strata in the following order.
1st. Conglomerate. 2d. Tufa of pumice-stone. 3d. Pu-
miCe-stone. 4th. A stratum consisting of an uniform and
somewhat blistered substance. 5th. Basalt. 6th. The
uppermost stratum, which is similar to the 4th, and by its
concentric formation, globules &c. made it evident that it
had been in a fluid state. It resembled the same corres-
ponding stratum in the Canaries. \A e went into the town,
which consists of a few rows of miserable huts, situated on
a flat rock, about an English mile in circumference, and
surrounded by the lower part of the valley of Trinidad.
Most of the inhabitants here, as indeed on the whole island,
are negroes. Although we discovered nothing but naked
rocks and withered fields, wherever we turned our eyes,
yet many different sorts of fruit, poultry, &c. were offered
to our view, which proves, that the interior of the country
must have a different appearance. We descended and
crossed the other valley of palms, travelling over level and
scorched plains, in order to Join our comrades of the fish-
ing party. The night was fast approaching. We made

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 2=39

signals in vain for a boat from the east battery, under
which the ships were lying at anchor. We ran back to the
town and down to the other place of landing, hoping to
find them there, but were now informed, to our great as-
tonishment, that the boat, which had brought us on shore,
had been upset in the surf when going out again, with all
the officers. Captain Tuckey succeeded in reaching the
shore by swimming, and escaped with the loss of his sword.
Lieut. Hawkey's foot was entangled in a rope, and he was
with much difficulty and almost lifeless brought on shore
by Captain Tuckey and a negro. The fat purser wisely
saved himself on the bottom of the boat. Thus tlie}' all
got pretty well off, but their fright had made them forget
us entirely. We were therefore once more obUged to
return to the town, and take up our lodgings at a kind of
public-house, kept by a fat negro woman, to whom we
left the care of providing for our dinner, of washing our
linen, &c. We were better acconuuodated than we ex-
pected. Before day break we were upon the alert, look-
ing out for the landing of the gentlemen from the ship,
with instruments, books, &c. for our excursion to the inte-
rior of the island. AVe waited impatiently till ten o'clock,
but were disappointed. In the mean while we took a walk
round the town, and descended into the plain to the east
side. Here are several wells, one of which in particular
supplies the town with water. It is about three fathoms deep,
and its water was the temperature of 76° of Fahrenheit.

A great number of half-naked negro men and women
flocked down to fetch vraterfrom this well. Tudor, in his

240 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

journal, speaking of the latter, observes, that their whole
figure, their hanging breasts, and other personal accomplish-
ments, made our young gentlemen of the party dream of the
Venuses we should have to admire in the kingdom of Congo.
No boat was yet to be seen. We had hired a negro cor-
poral for our guide, and that we might not loose more time
we determined to set out on our inland journey, though
v.ithout instruments, and though our boxes, which were not
calculated for a long tour, were already filled with plants.
Our plan was, if possible, to proceed this evening to the
foot of Pico xVntonio (the highest mountain in the island),
and having reposed ourselves in some hut during the night,
to ascend the summit the following morning ; then to cross
the mountain in a S. W. direction, down the valley Pubhco
Grande and Cividad ; and lastly, to return by the road
leading to El Matheo. That part of the island, through
which we had to pass, is unfortunately the most level.
From the cliffs near the sea, rising perpendicularly some
scores of feet, large tracts of land, scorched by the sun, ex-
tend themselves upwards. They are intersected by level
barrancoes, of which the valley la Trinidad is the largest,
running from two and three leagues from the harbour up
to the mountains in a W. N.W. direction. Through this
valley, as being the most fertile, we took our way. Its
lower end is horizontal, and at first sandy and naked.
Some solitary trees of a Mimosa were the first pleasing ob-
jects that occurred ; and soon afterwards we observed, for
the first time, a huge Adansonia, divided into three large
trunks, thick in proportion to their height, with bended

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 241

branches, and the fruit (Calbufera?) hangino- on long
stalks. Though destitute of leaves, the sight of such a tree
made an agreeable impression, and the fruit 1 found to be
refreshing. In the upper part of the valley luxuriant
thickets of Jatropha ciircas, and thorny Zizijphi, covered
with ripe and somewhat acid fruit, \'ere found orouins!'.
After these followed lol't}^ fig trees, Annome, with ripe fruit,
&c. Our first stay was at a hut on the border of the v.dley,
where we refreshed ourselves with delicious goat's milk.
The scenery became more and more delightful. Shadowy
niimosae, oranges and fig-trees increase in number. A mul-
titude of small FriugUUc, an Alceclo with tropical plumage,
and many other birds tluttered about us. The valley con-
tinued to expand itself. New plants occurred in quick
succession, and different kinds of cultivated trees became
more and more frequent. For the first time w^e discovered
a whole thicket of Co.ss/o fistula with ripe fruit, and for the
first time had Tudor the striking sight of Bahanas, Cactus
opuntui, &c. Of all the plants I have hitherto seen, none
appeared more interesting to me than Asclepias procera,
which here grows half wild like the shrubs in a thicket.

All at once we were called from out of the valley by
Tudor. It seemed that our guide, John Corea, had no
great inclination of venturing too far, without partaking
of some refreshment, and that he had discovered a conve-
nient spot for us to eat our dinner. A fowl, with the root
of cassava and some eggs, supplied us with a very good
meal. While it was preparing, we took a ramble up the
rising ground to the westward; afterwards, having finished

li

242 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

our meal, we proceeded on our journey in the valley,
which, from the eminences, was seen most to its advantage.
A part of it, Avhich was wider than usual, was planted with
indigo, cassaA^a, and sugar-canes of light green colour, and
interspersed with groups of Pisang, oranges, Annome, &c.
mixed with solitary tall cocoa-palms. Farther on, the
valley winded up the mountains, and lost itself on their
eminences. We had soon descended and pursued our
way between the gardens along a rivulet, that ran from
the upper end of the valley, and after having watered and
fertilized this beautiful spot, here lost itself We found
the inhabitants very hospitable and good-natured. A rich
farmer invited us into his house to drink tamarind lemon-
ade ; on arriving at it, we soon observed that it indicated
a wealthy owner. He was governor, it seemed, of this dis-
trict, and possessed a great part of the valley and the
above-mentioned plantations. Here we saw the only
vineyard which had yet occurred, and a large Ailanthus
in flower.

The barranco now became narrower. We proceeded
along its eastern bank across its lower part, and upwards
on a gently rising and naked ground. It grew dark be-
fore we had advanced further than three leagues. The
numerous objects in our way, and the tardiness of my fel-
low travellers, had much delayed us. We came to ano-
ther barranco well watered and fertile, and soon arrived at
a group of houses, where we Avere well received, enter-
tained as usual with goal's milk and cheese, and had mats
for our sleeping upon. The name of this place is Faaru.

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. 243

Close to the houses was a steep rock, upon which I found
several interesting plants, and among them a beautiful new
Lavenduki, and several others met with in tlie Canaries.
Below was a clear spring, overshadowed by Pisangs and
cocoa-trees. Its temperature was one degree higher than,
the well at Porto, though we had ascended to the height of
about 1000 feet.

At day-break we heard a shot from the harbour, which
made us doubtful whether we should proceed on our jour-
ney, but not perceiving, on looking through the telescope,
any blue flag hoisted, we continued leizurely to walk up-
wards. We had not advanced far when the appearance of
the country became entirely changed. After having for
some time seen nothing, on the other side of the cultivated
ground, but tracts of land scorched by the sun, and in
some places overgrown with Spennacoce verticillata and a
few Sid(E, it Avas an vmexpected sight to perceive the hills
covered Avith grass, from one to two feet high, being a
species of Panisetum whose tropical nature was discovered
by its ramifications. Innumerable herds of goats, sheep,
and cattle were feeding all around. It had struck me
that of the whole family of tl>e Eiiphorbiacece, which are
peculiar to a great part of the African countries, from the
Canaries to the Cape of Good Hope, the Jatropha only
is here to be met with, and this too is a foreign importa-
tion. In the small level valleys on the sides of the grassy
mountains, I perceived groups of a shrub, which had
something new in its appearance, and on approaching it,
I found at last an Euphorbia, that bore so near a resem-

244 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

blance to piscatoria, as scarcely to be distinguished from it.
I met successively with several old acquaintances on the
hills, as for instance, a Bupthalmum sericeuin; most of them
however, in the Canaries, are growing in the lowest region.

Another beautiful view opened to the east. The valley
of St. Domingo lay under our feet, between perpendicular
rocks. South American and tropical fruit trees, planta-
tions of sugar and other vegetables, in various places, and
at the bottom a rivulet, formed by several streams spring-
ing from the steep rocks around, afforded a most delight-
ful view of contrasting objects. We had now reached the
ridge of the mountains, and tbllowed it for some time over
vallej^s and hills partly covered with high grass, and inter-r
spersedE uphorbia, Jatropha curcas, and some solitary Mi inosce.

The day was already far advanced, and on seeing the
Peak aoain before us, we found the ascendino; it would
take the remaining part of our time, and that the way we
had followed, though it was the most commodious, was
at the same time the longest. We resolved, therefore,
to limit our farther journey to the ascent of one of the
conical hills that surrounded us, in order to take as ex-
tensive a view of the island as possible, and then to re-
turn. Corea was dispatched to the nearest shepherd's
hut to procure us some milk. We gave up our first plan
with less regret, by considering that we had brought no
barometer wit.h us ; but in return we missed many in-
teresting plants, the number of which continued increasing
as we walked on. We had soon reached the summit of
the nearest hill to the left ; and to the south-west, the

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 245

level land through which we had travelled, comprehend-
ing the whole barranco of Trinidad down to Puerto, was
spreading itself under our feet. Farther on to the west
some hills were seen, between which another barranco was
winding its course down to Publico grancle. The ridge
of mountains runs in the direction of the lon2;est diameter
of the island from S.E. to N. W., but it runs nearer the
sea and with steeper declivities at the N.E. than at the
opposite side. The valley of St. Domingo is one of the
deep barrancos to this side, and there are probably mo^e
of them farther on. Their steep side towards the ridge
of the mountains, as also the Pico Antonio itself have a
complete basaltic appearance. No trace of real vol-
canoes were to be seen. The hills to the W. S.W. have a
more volcanic form, and it is in this direction that the
high peak of the island of Fogo is situated, but this we
unfortunately could not discover through the clouds.
Pico Antonio is very sfeep at its western side. At the
opposite side it would be easy to ascend it, the highest
summit perhaps, only excepted. Its perpendicular height
is scarcely more than oOOO feet, and from the place
where we stood, about 3000 feet. Pico occupies about
the middle of the ridge of the mountains, which is con-
tinued to the N. and N.W. by mountains more round-
ed, but not much lower. Its geological features, to con-
clude from the structure of the mountains, do not in any
essential point deviate from those of the grand Canaria.
All the specimens of minerals which I collected, are prin-
cipally the same as those found in the latter island.

246 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

According lo the notices which are to be found on some
maps, there can be no doubt that the four islands to the
N.W.N, are of the same submarine volcanic nature.
Mayo and Bonavista may be compared with the lower
part of St. Jago, and Togo is in all likelihood the only
volcanic one. The climate of the island is delightful,
and considering its situation within the tropics, it is re-
markably temperate. Of this the nature of the vegetation
gave evident proofs. There were found very few tropical
plants in proportion to the number of those which are
common in temperate countries. The temperature which
has been given for its wells probably does not much differ
from the mean temperature (isothermosj of the island
It was with difficulty I could draw the information from
the inhabitants that it is now about a month or six weeks
since the rainy season commenced. The Adamonia^
Jatropha, and Ziziphiis were alread}' stripped of their
leaves, and the Mimosa was producing new ones. Almost
all annual plants were decayed by drought. The rainy
season was said to last from five to six months, and to
continue to the end of September. The atmosphere, after
being heated in traversing the continent of Africa, is after-
wards fully saturated in passing over the sea, and arrives
at this island in a humid state, so that the fog comes down
at the slightest degree of cooling. The mountains, even
those of less height, are almost constantly covered with
clouds. At the height of 1400 to loOO feet, the ap-
pearance of the country is completely changed. The
hills are covered with grass of a tropical form and magni-

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 247

tude. A number of small streams spring up in the bar-
rancos and water the valleys. The cultivation is extended
with success to the tops of the hills. This sudden trans-
ition was, as usual, very striking in the plants, which in-
duced me to represent in a table their physical and geo-
graphical distribution.* Whether the still higher parts of
Pico Antonio might possess a third physical diversity we
could not determine, but this is hardly probable. The
whole number of the different plants collected did not
exceed eighty, among which about a dozen are new
species, and perhaps one new genus. We did not see any
of the green monkeys that inhabit the steep hills in great
number, but many of them were brought on board by the
inhabitants. It was near noon. We waited a Ions; while
for Corea, and sent Lockart to fetch him. Corea return-
ed by another road, and we waited again a long while for
Lockhart, but resolved at last to leave a direction for him
to follow, and to hasten back on our return. At Faaru
we hired two jack-asses in order to save time, and gallop-
ed off by a shorter Avay across the plain. But I almost
swore never more to make use of tliese animals, because
by being obliged to beat them continually, our arras were
as much fatigued as our feet would have been by running.
Lockhart arrived nearly as soon as ourselves. The officers
and the marines were on shore; and on being informed that
the \^essels were not to put to sea until the wind was fair,
we walked quietly back again to the town, to remain there
during the night. It was on the eve of ]\Iaunday Thursdaj.

* See Table at the end of the Section.

248 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

A procession with wretched music moved round the mar-
ket-place. We understood from the officers, that several
curious circumstances had taken place. The governor had
been washing the feet of some of the poor inhabitants,
Judas Iscariot was hanged in effigy, and had received
some hard thumps by way of chastisement, and so forth.
The governor had invited Eyres and Galwey to dinner, an
hospitality which proved to be rather interested, he himself
and the noble lady, his consort, begging as presents for
every thing they saw or could imagine to be on board the
ship. All the provisions that are brought to market, pass
in a manner through the hands of the governor, and their
price is enhanced by the duty, which is applied to the de-
fraying the expenses for maintaining the garrison and the
civil government. The colony probably does not afford any
revenue to the government, nof charge it with any ex-
penses ; for which reason the communication Avith the
mother-country is very little, or none at all. Almost all
the inhabitants of the lower classes are black people. Eyres
came the following morning ashore, in order to fetch the
remainder of the provisions, consisting of goats, sheep,
fruits, &c. to which we added a quantity of oranges,
peaches, &c. Captain Tuckey, Hawkey, and Galwey
had been at the end of La Trinidad, and in another small
harranco which is the country-seat of the governor.
Cranch had been rambling about the plain, and shot a
number of birds. Fitzmaurice and Galwey, on the first
morning, had been very successful in fishing in the bay,
but the boat was upset, by which they lost the fishes.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 249

The last of these misfortunes happened to Fitzmaurice
and Gahvey in the morning of the day of our departure.
As they were going on shore with a view of making tri-
gonometrical obsesvations, the boat was again upset.
The instruments nearly escaped being lost, and the gentle-
men saved themselves at the expense of some bruises only.

DispOsiTio Geographic A pkmtarum quas legi in insula
Sti. Jacobi die x'°° et .rf"" Calend. Aprilis ; circa portum
Trayce. in conval/e Trinidad et montibus Pico St. Antonio
conjinibus ad altitudinem circiter 3000 pedum.

A. Re^io inferior : arida, loOO ped. circiter alta.
1. FlantcB ti'opicce.

a. Propria.

Mimosa glandulosa. - - - MS.

Convolvolus jacobneus. - - do.

affinis eriospermo. - - do.

Boerhavia suberosa. sp. nov, - - do^

depressa. ditto - - do.

Glycina punctata. . _ - do.

Smilacina anomala genus forte novum. do.

b. Senegalenses.

Adansonia digitata.

Achyranthes tomentosa. - - MS.

Spermacoce verticillata ; etiam in Jamaica.

Momordica Senegalensis.

Cardiospermum hirsutum.

Souchus goreensis

Kk

250 PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL.

v. Introductce Amcrkaiue Jiian quasi indigence
propartes tropicas.
Jatropha curcas.
Anona tripetala.
Tribulus cistoides.
Argemone mexicana.

Solanum furiosum?

Datura metel.

'

Cassia occidentalis.

Ipomea pilosa.

Eclipta erecta b.

Malva ciliata ? - - -

MS.

Sida polycarpa ? - -

do.

repens ? - - -

do.

micans ? -

do.

d. IntroductcB AsiaticcE num. quasi indigena.

Justicia malabarica.

Calotropis procera.

Abrus precatorius.

Plumbago.

. Plantce Zones temper atce.

a. Proprice.

Herniaria illicebroides. sp. nov.

MS.

Zygophyllum stellulatum, sp. nov.

do

•

Lotus jacobaeus.

Zyzyphus insularis. _ - -

MS.

Antirhinum molle. _ _ -

do

Borago gruina. - -

do.

Lavandula apiifolia, sp. nov.

do.

Polycarpia glauca, do.

do.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 251

b. Canarienses.

Sideritis punctata?

Heliotropium plebeiuin. Banks. Herh.

Lotus glaucus.

Erantliemum salsoloides.

Sacharum Tenerifae.

Phjsalis somnifera.

Polygonum salicifolium.

Sida Canariensis ?

c. Boreali— Africans, qua simul Canarienses.

Cucumis colocynlhis.
Aloe perfoliata.

Tamarix gallica, var. canariensis.
Phoenix dactylifera.
Cenchrus ciliatus.
Celsia betonicsefolia.
Comelina africana.
Achyranthus argentea.
Corchorus triloculaiis.

d. Capenses.

Sarcostemma nudum.
Forskohlea Candida.

B. Remo superior : humida graminosa ; inter allis 150Q
3003 ped. et forsan ad summa cacumina usque,
a. Proprice.

Euphorbia arboresc^ns, sp. nov. - MS.

Pennisetum ramosum. - do-

Campanula jacoba^a sp. nov. - MS,

Poly gala?

Lotus lanatus sp. nov. - - ^^^'

252 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

Sperntiacoce? divers, geims. videter. MS.

Eestuca ?

b. Canarienses.

Bupthalmum sericeuni.
Thymus therebinthinaceiis.
Sideroxylon marmulana ? (Madeira)
Festuca gracilis.

c. Meridionali-EuropecB, qiice etiam in Canmien.

Silene gallica.
Oxalis corniculata.
Sisymbrium nasturtium .
Centaureum autumnale.
Anagallis cerulea.
Radiola milligrana.
Gnaphalium ?

d. Capenses.

Crotalaria procumbens?
Hedyotis capensis.

e. AmericancB introductce ?

Evolvolus lanatus.

Tagetes elongata,

Indeterminahiles absque Jiorc etfructu,

Compositae anmiae, (duo)

Liliacea.

Convolvolus.

Trutex. No. 90. - - MS.

Cenchrus.

Crypsis.

Bilabiata.

[253 ]

SECTION U.

From St. J ago to the Mouth of the River Zaire.

We weighed anchor about noon of the 12th, the wind
blowing fresh from off the island. At 5 o'clock, the fog at
the horizon having disappeared, we got sight of the peak
of Fogo, which reared itself above the skies. Though at a
distance of 14 leagues, the sun, Avhich was setting behind
the island, afforded us a distinct and beautiful view of its
form. The height of the peak probably is not less than
7000 feet, which is considerable for a spot of so small a
circumference. The following days we proceeded at a
moderate rate towards S.E. till the 19th, when the Avind
dying away, veered somewhat to the south. We had
calm weather and squalls alternately. Thus we found
ourselves in that miserable region which has been so much
spoken of as exposed to an everlasting calm and violent
rains. The wind that accompanied them generally blew
from the south, which obliged us to turn the ship's [head
towards the coast of Africa. The horizon was constantly
foggy. In the evening dark clouds arose from the east,
and flashes of lightning gleamed all the night. The west
was generally clear, sometimes with scattered dark clouds,
which at the setting of the sun, being tinged with an in-

254 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

finite variet}^ of colours, presented an interesting appear-
ance never witnessed in the northeiTi hemisphere without
the tropic. The other parts of the canopy of heaven were
mostly bright, except when they were overcast with a
squall. The wind that preceded and followed the latter
was seldom strong, but the rain fell in such torrents and
in such large drops, as to keep the surface of the water
smooth. We had not any opportunity of making ob-
servations on the depth of the sea. The polar-star was
sinking low towards the horizon, and it was with ditRculty
w^e could discover it for the fog, in order to bid it iarewell,
for God knows how long a time. New constellations
were making their appearance towards the south. The
brio-ht-olinimerino; stars of the Cross and the beautiful
form of tiie Scorpion, were seen in the course of the night.
The heat during the day was intense, but I did not feel
greater inconvenience from it, than I had experienced
upon former occasions. The evenings were cool and
agreeable. During the last fourteen days I was oc( upied
Avith examining the plants I had collected in St. Jago,
and this en)ployment being now finished, I am about to
make some sketches of the physical objects of that island.
On the evening of the 'SSth, Fitzmaurice and myself set
out in a boat to make obsen-alions on the current. The
sea was quite smooth, but a gentle swelling from the west,
and an uncommonly dark cloud trom that c|uarter, indica-
ted an approaching change in ihe state of the weather. In
tlie night I was awakened by the motion of the vessel, and
£»ii arising, I saw the Congo again taken in tow, and the

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. 2.:

•JO

vessels proceeding with a brisk and cool westerly wind.
We are now at the distance of 14 to lo k'agues only iioni
the coast of Africa. Should the wind continue as it is, we
shall soon reach the latitude of Cape Palnms, and probably
then be out of this hot and tedious pacific ocean, and ap-
proach the line, when, I suppose we shall have to go
through the usual ceremony of being shaved by Neptune.
Our whole party continues to be cheerful and agreeable.
Poor Cranchjs almost too much the object of jest. Galwey
is the principal banterer.

April 30. To day we had the most violent squall we
yet liad witnessed, and the Captain himself owned that he
had never seen a horizon so dark as that, towards which
we were now sailing this afternoon. At the horizon flashes
of lightning crossed each other in the deep darkness,
which soon surrounded us. The rain, falling in torrents,
and accompanied by flashes of lightning in rapid succes-
sion, approached us. We could no longer gaze at this
dreadful pha^nomenon, but were obliged to retreat into the
cabin. After somewhat more than the half of the squall
had passed us, we ventured up again, and enjo3^ed the
most sublime scene of the whole heaven beautifully illumi-
nated bv flashes of liohtnino-. It o-enerallv darted forth
from two points, now rising like spouts of water, now run-
ning in zigzag, and spreading itself into innumerable
branching shapes. No lightning I had seen in Europe
bore any resemblance to this.

From the third to the tenth of May we had a southerly
wind, that carried us far into the Bay of Guinea. Innu-

256 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

merable shoals offish of different kinds, but chiefly Albicore
and Bonitos, were swimming in all directions. Every day
some of them were cauo-ht. Flocks of birds belonaiins to
the tropical regions and now and then some men-of-war
birds were seen. From the 10th, the weather has been
frequently calm, but the squalls have somewhat abated.
To day a man died on board, who had been sick a long-
time. On opening him, a quantity of coagulated and ex-
travasated blood was found in the pericardium. It was
not without some emotion that I witnessed for the first time
a burial at sea. Tuckey read the prayers, and two sailors
in white shirts lowered him over the side. The common
story that the sick recover, when the ship comes in sound-
ings, was not in his case verified.

]4th. In the afternoon we had the very amusing sight
of a great multitude of fishes, flying over the surface of
the water and chased by albicores, which hurried after them
with the swiftness of an arrow. The chase took place close
to the vessel.

15th A number of brown indicated that we were

not far from land ; and on the l6"th in the morning, Ave
came in sight of Prince's island, at the distance of about
ten leagues. This island had a singular appearance. Steep
rocks of a cubical and conical form arose towards N. E.
and E., some of which, on the side we passed, were per-
pendicular, and white as chalk. It is difficult to assign a
reason for this Avhite colour. Their forms prove that they
are basaltic rocks, but no white substance, as far as I knoAV,
occurs in such large masses in this formation. Some of the

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 257

gentlemen supposed this colour to be owing to the multi-
tudes of water-fowls which frequent these rocks ; but the
number is scarcely conceivable that would be requisite to
supply matter for covering rocks of the height of 2000 to
3000 feet, and of such a substance as to make it appear at
so great a distance. The next two or three days we endea-
voured to get to the westward, in order to pass St. Thomas
on the west side, that we might not make the coast of
Africa before we had passed the latitude of Cape Lopez.
May 18. This da}^ we got sight of the island ; and on
the 21st we passed its north-west side, at the distance of
two or three leaoues, and were now arrived at the lowest
degree of the northern hemisphere. The island is uncom-
monly high, its ridge of mountains rising in a peak (St.
Anna), which cannot be of less height than 8000 feet : yet,
on looking through the telescope, we discovered the moun-
tains covered with trees up to their ver}- summits. What
an inviting sight! how many new and interesting objects
the natural historian has passed for centuries, without be-
stowino- a moment's notice on them ! We know little or
nothing of these islands, though they are .situated as it were
in the midst of a track which has been for ages one of the
most frequented by vessels of all nations, while immense
collections of plants and animals have been brought toge-
ther from Australia, China, the East Indies, and South-
America. For the last eight daj^s we made a cruise, which
was perhaps unnecessary, in order to pass to the westward
of St. Thomas. How I could have wished to have spent

these days on the island !

LI

258 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

May 23. In the course of this morning we crossed the
line. All the sons of Neptune were now busy in their
preparations for a visit from his Tritons ; who soon made
their appearance with their hair dressed with hempen tails,
their backs striped with tar, their heads covered with large
caps, and gave notice to the Captain of the arrival of the
God of the Sea, which was instantly announced by the
sound of fifes and drums.

[Here foUoivs a long detailed account of the ridicidous ceremonies
performed on those who for the first time cross the Equator,
which, new and amusing as they were to Dr. Smith, do not
deserve insertion here^

We continued to steer towards the west till the 26th, but
the wind veering more and more to the eastward, it was
resolved to try the other course along the coast. The sea
is here uncommonly abundant in fish. The w hole surface
is often put in motion by the fl3'ing-fishe8, when chased by
others. Their number is immense. Shoals of them con-
stantly surrounded the vessel, and at night they give out a
white light, resembling that of the moon, when reflected by
the sea. It was also chiefly at night that we were enabled
to catch, with the net, the greatest number of mollusca and
Crustacea. Many diiferent substances contribute to make
the surface of the sea light. Some parts of the bodies of
most of the Crustacea have certain glittering points, and
two or three species of crabs were perceived to give out the
most brilliant light. The points, which are to be seen on
the mollusca are larger, but less bright. But that luminous

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 259

appearance which diifuses itself over the whole surface of
the sea, arises from a dissolved slimy matter, which spreads
its light like that proceeding from phosphorus. The most
minute glittering particles, when highly magnified, had the
appearance of small and solid spherical bodies.

May 28. We saw for the first time this day one of those
floating islands, often mentioned, and which probably
come out of one of the rivers of Africa. The Captain per-
mitted us to put out a boat, in order to examine it. It
was about 120 feet in length, and consisted of reeds, re-
sembling the Donax, and a species of Agroatis / among
which were still growing some branches of Justicia ; and in
the midst of these were seen a number of animals (Sepice) ?
For many days past the sea-water has been uncommonly
cold. We were probably in soundings, though we could
not reach the bottom Avith a line of 120 fathoms. I am
often up at night fishing ibr marine animals, of some of
which I make sketches-

June 2d. We this day got sight of the continent of
Africa for the first time. The land was very low, but
we did not approach it sufficiently near to be able to
describe its appearance. The 3d and 4th we continued
under the land with a southerly Avind. The Captain re-
solved to stand out again to the westward, which course
we followed, cruising till the 14th, but found that the wind
was veering more and more against us, and becoming
the steady tropical Avesterly (? easterly) wind. We stood
in a second time for the coast, and got in sight of it on
the 18th. In the mornins; we descried a large vessel. All

2G0 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

on board believed it to be one of His Majesty's ships, whicli
were known to be stationed here for the preventing of
the slave trade. All were immediately busy with writing
letters. On coming up, however, we felt no small disap-
pointment on being informed that it was an East India-
man going to St. Helena. I had indulged a hope of sooth-
ing my poor mother's anxiety on my account. We were
now at a distance of two or three leagues from the coast,
of which we had a distinct view. The shore consists of
black perpendicular rocks, with yellov/ish streaks running
in the same direction, and mixed with larger spots of the
same colour ; and lower down resembling beds of pumice-
stone. Behind these rocks a broad ridge arises covered
with trees, some of which scattered here and there greatly
over-topped the rest. In some places we observed plains
of considerable extent, and of a yellowish colour, pro-
bably owing to the dry grass ; we observed also clouds of
smoke, proving that the custom of setting dry grass on fire
is even here })revalent. Several leaves and pieces of wood
floated past on the water. About the parallel of Cape
Yamba, and at some distance from the shore, is a conical
hill, the height of which, though it is the highest part of
an extensive ridge, did not appear to exceed 1000 feet.
The longitude of this coast is very erroneously marked
on the charts, so that according to the most recent, and
we may suppose the best, it appeared from several good
lunar observations, we should have been sailing inland to
a considerable distance.

June 14th. A dead albatros (a bird rarely to be met

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 26" 1

with so far to the north,) was fished up. On the 20th, a
wliale was swimming close to the vessel. For the last
eight or ten days the weather has been humid and foggy.
The Captain now communicated to us his instructions re-
lative to our conduct in our future excursions. They are
such as to afford a satisfactory proof of his liberal conduct
towards us. We have two Congo negroes on board, both
of whom speak English. One of them, named Ben, acts
as my servant ; but as Ben left his native country when
twelve years of age, and as the other is but very little ac-
quainted with the English language, wc have not profited
much by their information.

We have for some days past been proceeding at a re-
gular but slow rate along the coast. The sea-breeze ge-
nerally sets in at noon from S.W.,and carries us somewhat
forwards to the south. AVe now anchor in shallow water
at the distance of two or three leagues from the shore.
The country here is very low, ami thickly covered with
wood. The coast has a sandy beach, on which we can
distinctly see the breakers, and hear them roar at night.

June 23. We anchored at a distance of three leagues
from the shore, and had a beautiful view of it. The thick
forests, w'hich rise in two, and sometimes three successive
ranges behind one another, varied by plains covered with
grass of a light green colour, though they present an in-
teresting appearance, nearly resembling that of the woody
shores of the Danish islands, indicate at the same time, as far
as may be judged at a distance, a great uniformity of the
country itself, and of its natural productions. By looking

262 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

throueh the telescope I did not discover any difference in
the form or colour of the trees. Some of them scattered
about towards the beach appeared higher than the rest,
and were probably palms of the cocoa tribe. The pieces
of wood which we have fished up, do not present any
variety in their appearance. Ben asserts that the banks
of the river Congo are perfectly similar to this shore.
Whales (probably Pht/seter . . . . ) are seen daily swimm-
ing near the vessel. We catch every day a number of
Sparus resembling Pagrus. Its flesh, though dry, has a
very good taste. On the 28th we had passed that vast
tract of land, the appearance of which has been here de-
scribed, extending from Cape Mayambo through Malambo
and Guilango down to the bay of Loango. In the two last
days the aspect of the country has changed. The trees
do not form themselves into forests, but are scattered in
groups only, or stand singly, having uncommonly large
tops. These groups might be discovered from a great
distance, even when the whole country presented itself
only as a blue line, bordered by a gently rising ground
apparently naked, with banks of a greyish white colour,
which probably are banks of clay that have fallen down.

To-day we made several attempts before we could weigh
the anchor. The current Avas very strong, and the bottom,
which before consisted of a sandy clay, was here uncom-
monly uneven, with banks of coral rocks and mud alter-
nately. Although the sea-breeze blew fresh, the vessel
made not the least progress. On Aveighiug the anchor for
the fourth time, we found it now to be so diflicult, that

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. 263

we were obliged at last to cut the cable. To-day, the
29th, in the afternoon, Ave are again under sail. We have
ascertained that we already must have passed the southern
point of the bay of Loango, although this point on all our
charts is placed much farther to the southward. The
weather is clearing up and the heat is again encreasing.
The nights are resembling those we had in the bay of
Guinea, the atmosphere being clear, except at the horizon,
where it is foggy. The sea-breeze enables us to get to
the southwards, and we shall soon see a new hemisphere,
with new constellations appearing at night. The sea-
breeze generally continues until midnight, but is not fol-
lowed by any land-breeze at all, the weather continuing
calm until the sea-breeze sets in again at noon, or some-
what later. This may be partly explained by supposing,
that b}' the returning current of the air in the higher regions
of the atmosphere, the eqilibrium is restored ; a supposition
which is the more probable from the fact, that the fog,
which had been driven together towards the shore, as
soon as the calm comes on, again covers the heavens, Avhich
before were clear ; but the principal reason of the want of
the land-breeze may probably be this, that the great cur-
rent of air setting from the two coasts of this narrow part
of Africa towards the interior, is deflected towards the
north, where the continent is greatly extended, and where
the heat is much more intense.

Some days ago the sea had a colour as of blood. Some
of us supposed it to be owing to the whales, which at this
time approach the coasts in order to bring forth their

264 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

youno-. It is however a phenomenon which is generally
known, has often been described, and is owing to myriads
of infused animalculse. I examined some of them taken
in this blood-coloured water : Avhen highly magnified, they
do not appear larger than the head of a small pin. They
were at first in a rapid motion, which however soon
ceased, and at the same instant the whole animal separated
into a number of small spherical particles. The sea has
again assumed a reddish appearance ; but this is probably
owing to mud, that has been dissolved. We have of late
not had any sick on board. When we were in the bay of
Guinea, several symptoms of a putrid fever were dis-
covered ; but this disorder, as also a peripneumonia that
frequently occurred, and sometimes was very violent,
were easily cured,

July 1st. This morning we found ourselves near the
coast at the large mouth of the river Loango Luisa, on
the south side of it. This river is called Caconga in the
chart; and in the place where Loango Luisa is marked,
no river exists. The coast before us had perpendicular
cliffs towards the sea. Its banks consist of a reddish
substance, which, as far as may be judged from a piece of
about one foot in length, which was taken up with the anchor,
is a hardened chalky clav or marl. Their upper part,
which is flat, is over-grown with scattered groups of palms
and other solitary trees. The bay of IMalambo is situated
lower down within the banks. The harbour of Malambo,
as also that of Cabenda, which is next to it, were formerly
the principal trading-places of the French on this coast.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 2&3

At noon we went all upon deck on hearing the Captain
haihng some canoes that were in sight. They soon came
along-side. This circumstance, more than the aspect of
the country, reminded us of the place in which we were.
On looking at the hollow trunks of which their canoes
were made, each pushed forwards by two or three naked
negroes, who stood upright in them, the figures resembling
those I had seen in South-sea voyages were brought to
my mind. The canoes were from twelve to fourteen feet
in length, and from one to one foot and a third in breadth,
and about as much in depth ; the upper part of the sides
were somewhat bent outwards, the bottom was flat, and
both ends pointed. The oars were made of a rounded
flat piece of wood, fastened to a staff. A half-dressed
negro addressed us in English, and appeared very much
pleased by being answered in the same language, and in-
vited on board. He called himself Tom Liverpool, and
said he was the interpreter of the Mafook, whose visit he
came to announce ; but he appeared to be greatly astonish-
ed on being told that we were not come for the sake of
trade. The Mafook came soon after in an European
boat, bearing a small white flag, and he had an umbrella
over his head. He welcomed us in the Eno-lish lansruaffe.
They were all invited into the cabin, and the conversation
became general, partly in broken English, and partly in
somewhat better French. They were very much alarmed
on hearing from us, that hereafter no other nation except
the Portuguese, could carry on the slave-trade with them ;
and one of them, considering the King of England as the

Mm

266 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL

cause of it, broke out into a violent passion, abusing and
callino- him " the devil." The inhabitants of Malambo,
who \vere formerly Avealthy, since the abolition of the slave
trade, have become very poor, because their town was
little more than the general market-place for the disposal
of slaves, having no other source of profit, than what those
slaves from the interior and the trade of the harbour affor-
ded them.

After having refreshed themselves with a glass of brandy,
and with great appetite partaken of our biscuit, filling their
pockets with it at the same time, it was resolved that the
Mafook, with some of his gentlemen, should remain on
board during the night, and that in the mean time the boat
should be sent on shore, and return with refreshments the
next morning. They now put on their court-dresses, which
they had brought with them. One appeared in the coat
of an American officer, another in a red waistcoat, a third
in a sailor's red jacket, the Mafook himself in a red cloak.
All of them had a piece of coloured stuff wrapped round
their loins, and a skin worn as an apron. Their legs were
naked. Those, who called themselves gentlemen, wore
caps of several sorts, mostly red caps with tops, but the
Mafook and two others wore round caps, that were made
in the country itself, and neatly embroidered. They were
presents from the king, who gives them on appointing
any one to the office of Mafook. The Mafook (Tamme
GommaJ had worn his cap six months only, but his prede-
cessor, who was with him and retained the title, had worn
his cap for ten years. On showing them the plate in the

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 267

voyage of Grand pr6, it was found that Tatu Derponts, at
that time Mafook of Malanibo, who is represented on this
plate, was the uncle of Tanime Gomma. But the luxuri-
ous and polite manner with which Grandpre was

received by the ibrmer, Avas very much contrasted with the
poverty of the latter. Tamme Gomma was a man of the
middle age, tall and well formed, with an interesting and
noble countenance, which resembled more that of an Arab,
than of a Negro. This was the case with several of his re-
tinue. He wore over his shoulders a riband with a fetishe
of some inches in length and breadth, representing two
figures in a sitting posture, each of them holding a globe
in their arms : they were tolerably well executed. Grandpre
observes of these figures that they have European features,
and the resemblance struck us immediately. They had high
bare foreheads, aqualine noses, painted Avhite, and bore
some resemblance to the Egyptian, and in some parts to
the Etruscan figures. Those of the better sort of people
wore skins of a kind of tiger, but the rest wore simply
skins of calf. All of them wore round their necks pieces
of cord twisted from the hair of elephants' tails, and above
the wrist a thick ring of iron or copper, with figures, the
execution of which proved that they have some skill in
working these metals. Most of them however wore rings
of iron. They told us, that both these metals were abund-
ant in the interior, but that the country produced no gold
dust. We showed them samples of beads and small
looking-glasses, &c. in order to be informed of what value
they considered them to be, which, as merchants, they un-

268 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

derstood perfectly well. A row of beads or a looking-glass,
worth sixpence or thereabouts, they thought might be ex-
chanoed for a fowl, and twelve cowries they considered to
be worth as much. This price is considerably higher than
what would be offered for these commodities on the coast
of Guinea, or in the East Indies, where forty cowries are
not worth more than a penny. They were now called to
dinner, and behaved themselves perfectly after the manner
of the French. The Mafook carved tlie meat. They
drank to the health of every one of us. When the night
came on, they all complained of cold, and were very
much pleased to get our great coats to protect them.
Tom Liverpool, having got my Norway cloak on, walked
about with great gravity. They had several times been
half drunk, and went now to sleep between deck. In the
night we were boarded by a boat from Cabenda, which
was not received. The next morning, having waited in
vain for the Mafook's boat, and the breeze coming on, we
made sail towards Cabenda. The people of Malambo
probably thought it too far off to follow us thither. In the
course of the day two boats boarded the Congo, and by
them the Captain took the opportunity of having our
guests sent ashore, though they seemed not to be very
good friends with the people of the boats. These at first
refused to take them at all, till the Captain threatened to
sink them if they persisted in their refusal. The person
who had the command put on a red embroidered coat,
being otherwise naked, and came on board, where he
stayed a few minutes only. He confirmed what the others

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 269

had told us, that there were nine Portuguese vessels in Ca-
benda. As this is the most northern trading-place that
has ever been in the possession of the Portuguese, and
which has been a matter of dispute with the French, it
will also probably for the future, be declared to be the
highest place to the northward at which they will be
allowed to trade. It is not improbable, that the large
vessel we met Avith some time ago, is also in this part.

With the assistance of Simons (the Congo negro) we cal-
lected a great many words of the language of the people of
Malambo. Man^- of them had been high up the river
Congo, and told us that it is navigable for boats to a very
considerable distance. Yamba Enzadi is, according to
the explanation they gave of the word, a whirl or violent
current, which may be passed by one side of it. We felt
disappointed in not getting refreshments here, as we pro-
bably, for some time, shall have no opportunity of pro-
curing an}' . The Mafook, among other things, had ordered
a goat and a pig as a present to the Captain, besides
fowls, fruits, &c. We should have abundance of all this,
they told us, if we would go on shore. They had been
taught by Europeans, among other things to be offered,
never to forget women, and were highly pleased when Ave
were joking with them on that head. After all, Ave Avere
very glad to get rid of them, because they made a terrible
noise, particularly Avhen their boats boarded us. They Avere
all immediately quite as home, and ran to assist the sailors
Avith the utmost Avillino-ness to Aveish the anchor. Some
of them danced Avith the lascivious gesticulations usual

2T0 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

with them, while the pretended gentlemen encouraged
them.

Fitzmaurice, accompanied by Tom Liverpool, had made
an excursion in the morning, in order to examine a sand-
bank to the southward of Cabenda, mentioned by
Grandpre ; but it was found to be so near the shore, that
it was not thought to be of any consequence to us. About
noon, we could discover some of the vessels at anchor
under the high banks ; and, on a projecting low point to
the south-ward of the harbour, some huts were observed to
be scattered among the trees. After our guests had left us
Fitzmaurice was again sent out; Galwey and myself ac-
companied him, and Hawkey soon joined us. Though it
was ali;eady growing dark, the thought of approaching for
the first time so near the soil of Africa, afforded us great
joy. From our anchorage, which was four miles distant
from the shore, the depth M^as gradually diminishing. No
breakers were observed until we came close under the land,
the breakers running parallel with it to a great distance.
We proceeded along the banks. The breakers were here
so inconsiderable that a landino- mio-ht have been effected
without any difficulty ; but as the officers did not partici-
pate in the eagerness I felt to visit the shore, we did not
approach it nearer than at a distance of some hundred
yards. It was a level tract of land, covered with wood,
and in some places having small open plains, on which
stood larger trees; from this plain we were separated by a
white strand. A bright m(»on-light aiding the awakened
e;nthusiasm of my mind, made me fancy that I beheld

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 271

charming landscapes, which appeared to me to be en-
hvened by the loud chirping of the grass-hoppers. No
birds or other animals were seen. On hearing the signal-
gun we returned.

July 3. The Congo was ordered this day to proceed
along the coast down to Red Point, which we had in
sight, and Avhich is the last point before entering the river ;
but the current carrying her away, she was obliged to
anchor, and to day she was brought up by the boats.
These two last days we have had a gentle sea-breeze from
S.S.E. (? land-breeze,) which sets in in the morning, and
commonly carries with it some butterflies. Yesterday it
was squally, to-day it is foggy and dark. With the drag
we have fished up several kinds of shells and Crustacea,
An uncunmonly large eel of a very good taste was caught
on board the Congo. The temperature of the sea-water
did not present any difference. To-day it is colder than
Ave had yet found it in the southern hemisphere. We feel
already the strong current of the river.

July 4. We remained all the day at anchor with an
indistinct view of the land.

July 5. We went into a boat to sound the nature of the
bottom, which was found to be rocky and uneven. Nothing
was taken up but branches of an Antipatlies. In the after-
noon, after the calm and warm morning, a strong sea-
breeze set in. We weighed anchor and sailed on briskly
through the rapid current. In the evening we found
ourselves all at once out of soundings. The wind was
dying away, and we thought we should be under the

272 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

necessity of driving back with the current ; but at mid-
night we were again in soundings with a depth of 20
fathoms, and the anchor was dropt. We had unexpectedly
passed to the other side of the channel, but we have got
in sight of the long-wished for Cape Padron, and Fitz-
maurice is gone to try the depth.

[ 273 J

SECTION III.

Our Progress up the River as far as Cooloo, opposite the

Cataract.

Wf. weighed anchor on the morning of the 6th, in the
expectation of soon welcoming the land of promise, but
were obliged to anchor again at seven o'clock under Shark
Point, at a distance of a hundred yards from the shore.
It is low, Avith a sandy strand terminating in a very steep
bank. Along the beach and close to it is a thicket of
shrubs ; above this another of palms extends along the
whole shore (probably Corypha,), and higher up is a lofty
wood. The vegetation has the appearance of being de-
cayed by drought. To the right hand is Hippopotamus
Cliff, with a low shore, running southward in a long
straight line. The anchor broke at the heanng, and we
were for a moment in a dangerous and critical situation,
the Congo having run foul of us. For the first time in
four months we now saw the sails taken in. A number
of naked negroes immediately assembled on the shore.
The land to the north (Mona Mazea,) is perfectly similar
to Maxwell's representation of it. The mouth of the river
is very large, perhaps fifteen miles wide. The naked hills
of the interior consist probably of sand. Fathomless

Nn

274 PROFESSOR SxMlTH'S JOURNAL.

Point is just before us. At this point, towards the bank
that runs down perpendicularly 100 fathoms, the wood
appears as if it were cut off. It is at this point that the
river first commences its proper breadth. Shark Point
is a narrow and unsafe anchorage. The bottom is steep
and very uneven, as we have a depth of 17 fathoms on one
side the vessel, and a depth of SO fathoms on the other ;
and a few fathoms father off is the whirl of the rapid cur-
rent. The Congo had also her anchor broken by careless-
ness. We expect to be very busy tomorrow morning, but
there is scarcely any hope of getting on shore. This is a
tedious tantalizing busines. At ten o'clock this evening
we have a brio-ht moon-light. The dark forest and the
white foaming surf below, present an interesting appear-
ance. The negroes have made several fires on the Point.
About the twilight the cries of parrots were heard from
the vessel, and large eagles hovered over the forest. It is
rather cold (69°), and the dew falls in large drops. The
current runs at the anchorage about three knots an hour.

July 7. Early this morning the Mafook or governor
came on board in two canoes, with his retinue. At first
his pretensions were very lofty. He insisted upon being
saluted with a discharge of cannon, and on observing us
going to breakfast, declared that he expected to be placed
at the same table with the Captain, and endeavoured to
make his words sufficiently impressive by haughty gesti-
culations. Sitting on the quarter-deck in a chair covered
with a flag, his dress consisting of a laced velvet cloak,
a red cap, a piece of stuff round his waist, otherwise naked.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 275

%Vith an umbrella over his head, though the weather was cold
and cloudy, he represented the very best caricature I ever
saw. He soon became more moderate on being informed
that these vessels were not belonging to slave-merchants
(who generally for the sake of their own profit grant these
gentlemen every possible indulgence), but to the king of
England, and that our object was not trade. In order
however to give him a proof of our good will towards him,
a gun was discharged, and a merchant flag hoisted. At
table they ate and drank immoderately ; and in return
promised to procure refreshments if we would send a boat
on shore. In the meantime they were to remain on board.
Fitzmaurice was accordingly ordered to go on shore in
the boat. The Captain observing my extreme impatience
to accompany him, said that if an excursion of a few
minutes could be of any use to me he would readily give
his permission, but that there w^as no place for more of
us. I was not long in jumping into the boat. With a
fair wind and with the assistance of oars we v/ere scarcely
able to double the point on account of the current. At
last with great difficulty we reached the shore. Ah, our
pilot, flung a rope to the negroes, who flocked down, and
they drew us for some time through the surf along the
coast. The A^egetation was magnificent and extremely
beautiful. Shrubs of a rich verdure, large gramineous
plants, and thick groups of palms met the eye alternatel3\
The country displayed the most beautiful forms, the most
charming scenery. I found myself as in a new world,
which was before known to me in imagination only, or by

276 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

dra^vings. We had still to double several points before
we could arrive at the village, but our orders did not per-
mit us to go farther. We leaped therefore on shore Avith
one of the sailors, each of us carrying a rifle barrelled gun.
I ran a few paces to the left, where the thick and dark
forest came down close to the strand ; but my progress
being obstructed by shrubs and grass so as to make it
impossible to proceed, I turned to the opposite side. The
ground was sandy. The strand was in a few places some
feet broad, but in general the vegetation left no inter-
mediate space. I met Fitzmaurice surrounded by negroes,
and bargaining for a turtle of immense size and a singular
form, being no doubt a new species. On going farther
I was so much obstructed by thickets of shrubs, that I
was obliged to step into the water up to the middle, which
I found to be the only way of getting at the plants, and
of taking a view of the outside of the trees. The most
common shrub was a Chrysohalanus, bearing a strong re-
semblance to icaco. It was mingled with another, which,
though without flowers and therefore hardly determinable,
is probably a Ximenia, and the same I found at St. Jago,
(whither I believed it to have been carried,) with a fruit

resembling much a yellow , which had a fragrant

smell, and an acid but not disagreeable taste. The in-
habitants higher up the river called it Gangi. The Por-
tuguese missionaries tell long stories about its use in putrid
fevers. Chrysobalanus has also a fruit called Mofva, that
is blhicL I saw also two large species of Arunclo, three of
Cyperus, one of which was the papyrus. It rather sur-

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. 277

prised me to find diis last growing in low and inundated
places. Various shrubs of Hibiscus with flowers in bunches,
and growing near the water ; a Papilionaceous plant with
ripe pods, and thick groups of Mangrove were successively
met with. The palms are probably the Hyphcene, with large
frondes. A creeping Jasmine (the same I found at St.
Jago,) was also discovered. The forest consists of a tree
resembling Ccesalpinia, but I could not approach near
enough to be able to examine it. Most of the plants here
mentioned are commonly called South American, but
they have probably been carried thither from Africa along
with the negroes. The Hifphcene and Ci/perus papyrus are
the same as those of Egypt. I found those parts of the
ground the most accessible, which had been set on fire by
negroes. Near the Point a great quantity offish was hang-
ing exposed to the air to be dried, but no huts were any
where to be seen, nor did any women appear, which shows
that their habitations must be situated at some distance
in the forest.

The current carried us back in a few moments. The
large turtle was exchanged for a pair of knives, worth about
one shilling. Almost all the negroes who came on board
our ship are Christians. One of them is even a Catholic
priest, ordained by the Capuchin monks at Loando.
Thej^ Avere baptized by these monks two years ago at St.
Antonio, situated seven days journey from hence. The
monks have given to the priest a diploma. This bare-
footed black apostle, however, had no fewer than five
wives, the nundjer of whom is always in proportion to

278 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

their means and inclination, and which they never forget
to make known. If the early missionaries had used a little
more indulgence on this point, their doctrine would cer-
tainly have met with a better reception. A few crosses on
the necks of the negroes, some Portuguese prayers, and a
few lessons taught by heart, are the only fruits that remain
of the labours of three hundred years. If the exertions of
the missionaries had been deliberately directed towards
civilizing the natives, what good might not have been
effected in the course of so long a period !

July 8. We had this morning a visit of another Mafook
from the point of Tall Trees, situated higher up the river.
His countenance wore the mark of great good-nature.
He brought with him as a present a beautiful little goat.
They tell us that there are eight small Portuguese vessels
at Embomma, which seems to be the general market-place
of all the surrounding nations. Simons, who is an impor-
tant personage in his capacity of interpreter, has already
got some intelhgence of his relations, after an absence of
eleven years, and Ben is in hopes of meeting with some of
his countrymen. They all agree in considering it impos-
sible for the Dorothy to proceed as far as Embomma.
The rapidly advancing season will not allow us to stop un-
til we have proceeded far up the river. The current under
the point runs from 1 to 3^ knots, and in the channel of
the river from five and six to eleven and twelve knots.

On the setting in of the sea-breeze, in the afternoon, we
weighed anchor, and were nearl}^ boarded a second time by
the Congo sloop. We had no sooner doubled the Cape, than

PROFESSOR SiMITH S JOURNAL. 279

the A'essel was whirled round by the force of the current.
The wind however blowing fresh, enabled us to advance
about a mile before we were again compelled to anchor.
The Congo went on briskly, following Fitzmaurice, who
Avas sounding ahead. She ancliored at Sherwood's creek,
near the shore, her people having thereby the satisfaction
of having sailed before us up the river, though she had
been towed all the day. As we anchored we saw a schooner
steerino- towards Kakatoo Point. While we were at table
this vessel discharged a gun, and hoisted the Swedish flag,
which by mistake was reported to be Spanish. On seeing
the British flag displayed, she fired another gun, which
was said to have been loaded witti shot, and that the ball
passed very near our vessel. Every thing was now in a
bustle, and all in arms ; the guns were loaded, and every
thing in readiness to answer such an unexpected salute.
We were all courage, though aware of our mferiority in
point of strength. The schooner anchored at a short
distance, and sent a boat with a few men on board with
the Captain's compliments, and an offer of his services.
Captain Tuckey began to suspect that it was an American
slave-vessel under Spanish colours. He returned for an-
swer, that he would send a n}essage on board their ves-
sel, with thanks for the Captain's civility (the real object
was to reconnoitre) ; adding, that he commanded an expe-
dition, of which the principle vessel, a corvette, had pro-
ceeded before us. The siglit of regimentals, and of
marines, and the return of Fitzmaurice in a boat from the
upper part of the river, confirmed the Captain's statement.

280 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

The schooner immediately turned back and put to sea,
though her Captain had just before mentioned his intention
to sail the next day for Embonmia.

On leaving the point we had an interesting view before
us. The sea-coast with its sandy beach and foaming surf
were gradually disappearing ; before us was the Cape of
Kakatoo, of which the lower part is covered with shrubs
and palms to a distance of about half a mile from the shore,
and farther up is a dark lofty wood. On the other side of
the point the shore is covered with grass and shrubs, and
one point after another is seen projecting into the great
bay. Making allowance for the ti'opical form of the ve-
getation, the scene bears some resemblance to the Danish
lakes. In the forest of palms, some larger trees were to
be seen ; they were destitute of leaves, and Maba is the
name given to them by the natives. I have no doubt but
that Adansonia even here is to be found.

9th. We are still in the middle of the great bay. On
one side is Cape Kakatoo, where a number of canoes
are seen fishing. Farther (m before us lies the Congo
(schooner) under the land, at the mouth of a rapid river,
the banks of which her people are exploring. The natives
are still on board. The Mafook of Kakatoo cannot for-
get that he has been seated at table with the Captain of a
King's ship.

10th. We have been driving back durino- the ni^ht to a
considerable distance. To day we weighed anchor, and
endeavoured again to sail up the river, but on perceiving
that we were driving back in the mid-stream, we were

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 281

obliged to steer out of it. Tlie vessel was very difficult to
manage in the current. We had soon passed the mid-
channel, which is scarcely more than 1^ mile broad, and
reached the Mona Mazea bank, where the depth was only
seven fathoms. The vessel was for a moment in danger,
but by the exertion of all on board, she was brought to
anchor again under Kakatoo, a litde farther back, and in
shallower water than the first time.

We remained here all the day waiting for the sea breeze.
The Captain began to entertain doubts whether he should
be able to bring our clums\' bark up to the Congo. To
the joy of all of us it was resolved that a fishing-party
should go ashore to morrow. Every one is permitted to
be of the party, who may be inclined, provided he will re-
turn with Fitzmaurice at breakfast time. I thought this
time too limited, and procured permission to remain on
shore till dinner time, on condition that I would risk to be
cut off from the ship, in case the re-embarking at that time
should prove impossible ; which condition I eagerly accep-
ted of, hoping that if such an event should happen, I
might be able to get a canoe to convey me on board.

11th. We were all up before day-break and went into
the boat. INIost of us were completely wet, though the
swell of the sea Avas not very high. After having dried our
clothes at the fire made by the negroes, and waited until
the first draught was made with the seine, Avhen not a
single fish was caught, the company, consisting of Cranch,
Tudor, Lockhart, a marine, and myself, proceeded along
the shore. This being the only opportunity we should

Oo

2«2 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

probably have during the whole voyage, of examining the
coast, I preferred to take this course, though less interest-
ins than a walk into tlie thick forests. A great many
strand-plants were growing in the gravel ; some of them
presented forms similar to those at the Cape of Good Hope,
and detained us a great while. At last we thought it ne-
cessary to turn back and enter the forest. Thickets of
thorny shrubs made every step difficult, but in return every
step Avas repaid by the discovery of some new plants.
Among them were the following ; a Jasmine with large fra-
grant flowers; pyramids of Flagellaria of a light green
colour, covering the trees up to their tops ; a l\/ia»niiis
covered with flowers ; and several shrubs, almost all with
fruit, and for this reason undeterminable. We tried to
follow a path leading into the wood, and soon met with
Mancrove trees, which sometimes rise to a considerable
height. Here we sunk to our knees in a morass. The
first tropical Feliv was seen here. I w^as now obliged to
return. The whole peninsula seems to of the same struc-
ture. The surf, opposing the current of the river, has
thrown up a high sand-bank along the shore ; above this
bank is a vast morass, covered with mangroves. The land
at the river side is level and sandy, parti}- overgrown with
lofty groups of Hypluvne. The ground is covered with an
Ariaulo, and an Andropogon Avith broad leaves. The}'
were each of them about twelve feet high, but had been
set on fire in many places. Our way led through these
Fli/pha^ne palms, the iruit of which was hanging down
in branched clusters. ^Ve met with some negroes, who

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 283

informed us that our comrades were in the neighbourhood,
near a pool of water hke a fishing-pond, whei'e Cranch had
just shot an Anhinga. We went down to the river side,
and to our great joy found here the whole company, who
had just had an immense draught of large fishes of a spe-
cies of Spams. It was near dinner-time, and we thought
it best to accompany them onboard. We returned accord-
ingly with a full cai'go, more like wood-cutlers than bota-
nists. Cranch had not been very fortunate. We observed
but few insects, and the birds were very shy. I saw a
number of parrots, small parroquets, a black-bird on the
wing, and two small MoticUUe, but did not fire a single
shot. Galwey brought to me a beautiful violet-coloured
Robinia, which I had not seen before. We had collected
plants, the examination of wliich would recpiire weeks,
though our excursion had been so very short, not more
than four hours. Lockhart and myself were occupied the
whole afternoon and evening in laying in. specimens of
plants. I considered that the best way would be to pre-
serve them immediately, and put a specimen of each in
water. We found ourselves quite exhausted. The heat
was from 6° to 8' of Fahrenheit greater inland, than on
the sea-shore.

July 12. We examined plants all this day. The two
double-boats had already been put into the water last
niglit. Both are fitted up to-day, and to-morrow we shall
leave the ship. A boat from Embonima is with us. The
natives tell us that all the vessels which were at that place
had betaken themselves to flight before we entered the

284 PROFESSOR SxMlTH'S JOURNAL.

river, having got over land from Cabenda intelligence of
our approach, which makes it probable that they were
Americans under Portuguese colours. Every thing yet
seems to indicate that the descriptions of the great breadth
of the river, of the length of its course, &c. have been
exaggerated, and that the whole expedition will sooner
terminate than any body suspected. The channel is very
narrow, and the current never more than three knots,
though six are marked on the chart. The oentlemen from
the Congo came on board the transport in the afiernoon,
bringing with them specimens of several interesting plants
collected during their excursions. Yesterday they had
penetrated into Sherwood's Creek to a distance of about
five miles, till they came nearly close under the high in-
land country, which is more open, and accessil)]e. They
had seen traces of elephants and of numbers of antelopes,
but the negroes inform us that these animals, as also the
hippopotamus, are first to be met with in great numbers
higher up the river.

July 13. All our baggage is sent on board the double-
boats, and the Dorothy is now like a deserted village. In
the afternoon all were on their appointed posts on board
the small vessels, which make a kind of flottilla. Our
two double-boats formed the van, and were soon found
to be excellent sailing vessels. The double-boat and
skiff of the Dorothy followed, and Captain Tuckey in his
gig was in the rear. Galwey and myself were with him.
Favoured by the sea-breeze we soon passed the bay, and
in the evening found ourselves under the southern bank of

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 285

the river. The weather, as usual, was clear and pleasant.
Small floating islands, sometimes overgroAvn with waving
shrubs of Cyperus papijrus passed by us. The river-side
was thickly covered with a variety of plants of interesting
forms. We heard the cries of parrots and the warbling
of some small singing birds. The scene was solemn and
beautiful. The night was approaching when we arrived
on board the Congo, where we found our room very close, as
we indeed had expected ; but our agreeable prospects made
us forget this and every other inconvenience. These
prospects were only clouded by the gloom which some of
us could not avoid betraying, when speaking of the ex-
aggerated accounts of the river, and the forebodings they
were apt to entertain of the voyage being speedily ter-
minated.

July 14. In the morning all wished to go on shore,
which Avas at the distance of about two gun-shots only ;
permission for this purpose was given after breakfast.
The landing-place was in a small bay just opposite the
ship, with an island covered with plants, and a Rhizophora
with bended branches. At the bottom of the bay was a
sandy beach, with a small plain, in the middle of which
a large Adansonia was growing, and higher np a thick
lofty forest was discovered. To the right and along the
shore the country was more cjpen. A number of slirubs
and trees, from their form and novelty, excited admiration
and surprise. Farther on the surface had been set on
fire, which is the only method of making a way through
the impenetrable thickets. After having Avalked about

286 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

in all directions as far as the thickets and mangroves per-
mitted, hunting for birds, insects, and plants, we sat down
near the river to rest ourselves. The strand, being now
broader and more accessible in consequence of the ebb,
we had an opportunity of discovering many new and in-
teresting objects. The evening was approaching when
we gave the signal for our returning on board.

July 15. I was fully occupied all the day in laying
plants in paper, having ver>' litde time for examination.
I have already got three or four new genera, and two-
thirds, I conceive, of all the plants that have been col-
lected will probably turn out to be new species. The
collection of birds and insects is small. .Some of the
gentlemen are again on shore for a short time.

July 16. We went into the boats on another excursion.
Having passed along the shore up to Sherwood's Creek and
entered several of the innumerable small inlets, we pro-
ceeded nearly to Alligator's Creek, and then returned
with the current. The river-side promises us a large
collection of plants, the vegetation being so luxuriant,
that there are only a few places where a landing may be
effected, either where the negroes coming down the river
in their canoes encamp during the night, or where there
lately has been fire in consequence of their encampment.
The high thickets growing near the water consist chiefly of
Fterocarpiis, Convolvulus, a new species of Hibiscus, related
to tiliaceus, with scattered red and yellow flowers, Fanda-
nus candelabrum (a little farther up) an Eugenia, coA-ered
with flowers, and a vast number of shrubs and trees round

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. 287

which are twisted a great variety of climbing plants, and
among which are Qu/sqiiolis ehracteatus, and a plant re-
sembling Schonsbcea, with brilHant purple coloured flowers
in bunches. Farther on, in the bay, we met with more uni-
formity. Rhizophora covers the lower part of it, having
bended and branched roots, on which some of the otficers
observed marks, that in their opinion determined the height
of the flood tide to be about 2^ feet, but they are rather
to be considered as indicating the rising of the river in a
former season. A species of Acrostichon is the only plant
growing among this Rhizophora.-

A complete calm and the deep shade of the forest give
to the contiguous places a dark and solemn appearance.
We saw traces of buffaloes on the sand of the shore. Of
birds, we saw two species of the eagle, an Ardea alba, and
Flatus anhinga, three Certhia^, two Alcedines, two Fringilla,
a large grey parrot and a parroquet. — The negroes come
daily on hoard in great numbers, bringing refreshments,
consistino- chiefly of goats. As yet we have not met with
any remarkable fruit, except that of Rhaphia, which I
have seen but once. A journey to Sognio is daily spoken
of, but the distance is about ten leagues, and all on board
being very busy, it is consequently put off. The Dorothy
has at last advanced a little higher up, but will scarcely
reach Embomma. W'e have a great many Negroes on
board, who come under various pretexts, being by their
own account all Mafooks, all good pilots, &c. The prin-
cipal enticements, however, are our provisions and our
brandy.

288 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

July 17th. I remained again on board all the day.
Lockhart and Tudor went on shore. Lockart had col-
lected several new plants, w^hich were all found within the
limits of our small bay.

July 18lh. Lockhart and myself went on shore in the
bay, in order to discover what still might have been over-
looked. We found a remarkable tree at the river-side
(Di(h/n. dritpac. fol. 5-nath.) We heard a shot from the
Dorothy. The Mafook Senu, from Embomma, having
been dismissed from the Congo, was received on board
the Doroth}^ with a salute. The Mafook with his retinue
have been constant visitors on board for a long time. His
pretensions were not much attended to. He was, however,
presented with a small boat, in which he might return,
because the Negroes, it was said, would laugh at him, if he
returned without some present. The Captain resolved to
proceed to Embomma in the double-boat before the
Congo, having there affairs to settle with the Mafook
Senu, which will take several days.

July 19th. We prepared ourselves to accompau}' the
Captain, but the weather continuing calm we were obliged
to remain here all the day.

July 20th. We left Sherwood's Creek and the beautiful
bay Avhere the Congo had been at anchor, proceeding
along the bank of the river, which presented the most
charming and varying scenery, and, after having passed
Knox's island, we anchored between several low sandy
creeks and small islands.

July 21st. Early in the morning we were under Knox's

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. ' 289

island. While the other gentlemen were filling the boats
■with fishes in a few draughts, we were walking about in the
thickets. Our acquisitions this da^^ were ; a palm with two
sorts of leaves ; a Rhamnus, which being too weak at the
root to stand upright, was supported by high shoots ; an
Amomum ; a plant of the Liliaceous tribe ; Rhaphia, and
many other plants. A large monkey was seen on the shore
from the Congo. The Simio cephus was frequently brought
to us by the inhabitants.

July 22d. We made a short excursion on the shore
nearest to our anchorage, where it wore a more varying
aspect. A Rhaphia with brilliant flowers was seen here.
In the evening the double-boat was ordered to make sail.
We bade farewell to the Congo with three cheers. Our
accommodations were in this boat much better in every re-
spect. Tudor, Galwey, myself, and the Captain, were on
board. We sailed on briskly along the shore, though the
water was shallow. ^Ve frequently came in contact witli
the shrubs that were spreading their various branches over
the water. The wine-palm waved its leaves above them. Tiie
parrots, flocking together like crows, leave this side of the
river, where they have been seeking their food in the day,
and retire to the northern shore, were they remain during
the night. The wind was dying away, and we were
obliged to cross over to the opposite side of the river.
We anchored under the first isl.md, which is one of the
many banks formed in the middle of the river. The
Captain olfered me his boat for an excursion on shore the
next morning.

290 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL

July 23d. being awaked early in the morning by the
cries of the parrots, we went on shore on a low island
(Mampenga.) I had not expected to find here any great
variety in the vegetation, A number of new objects, how-
ever, presented themselves every moment as I walked on.
The island is the point of an extensive sand bank formed
in the river, and at the north side is almost joined to the
main land. In the middle were low morasses, in which a
number of different plants were growing, and among them
two species of Nymphcea, a Menyanthes indica, and several
others. They were almost all herbaceous. Tudor chased
several water-fowl, but with little success. Traces of Hippo-
potami were seen every where in the sand. A singular
species of Sterna and an Alcedo were shot. The river here
abounds with canoes, which come to this side to fish.
About thirty new plants collected here, will fully occupy
my time until we shall weigh anchor in the evening. We
proceed along the islands, several of which are overgrown
with whole forests of the Cyperus papyrus. We are again
near the main-land, which has a most beautiful appear-
ance

. . . A great many wine-palms growing among the
thickets, seem to indicate a populous country. A num-
ber of negroes walking about among the shrubs, call
out to us as we go along. Behind the thicket is a village,
but there is scarcely any penetrable landing-place on the
shore. We continued our course along the north side, and
anchored under Sangam Compenzi (Monkey's Island),
and we are again preparing ourselves for another excur-

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 291

sion on shore to morrow at an early hour, and to renew,
as it were, the exquisite pleasures of this day.

July 24th. We landed on the second range of the low
sandy islands in the river, or Monkey's Islands (which
name the inhabitants give to these islands, not to those of
Maxwell). At low ebb they formed two ranges of banks,
of which those parts which are above the water at high
flood were thickly overgrown with a tall grass, and with
scattered thickets of shrubby plants. One of these shrubs
was a nezi^ genus, and another a new species of Limodoriim.
These plants and some Ci/peroidece were the principal
acquisitions of this day. 1 was running for a long time
after several strand birds, but shot only a few of them.
Galwey and Tudor were in another quarter. I waded to
the island farthest to the south, and returned in a canoe.
These islands are probably only inhabited periodically,
and nmst be j)arlly inundated in the rainy season. The
fishing for oysters seems to be the main object of the
negroes who live here. Large heaps of the shells of a
Mya lay spread all over the shore, and a great quantity of
dried and half-roasted oysters were hanging under the
straw huts. We have not yet seen any regular built hut,
but only thatched roofs, supported by four poles. A few
women only were to be seen. We were proceeding to the
northern woody side of the river, when mc observed the
fore-top sail hoisted on the boat. Innumerable canoes are
continually passing upwards and downwards. The object
of some, that of fishing ; of others, that of drawing palm-
A(vine from the trees.

292 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

The breze sets in to day somewhat early, or about eleven
o'clock, but, as usual, is scanty. It generally begins first
to blow fresh after it is dark, when we are obliged of course
to remain at anchor, We proceeded at a slow rate along
the coast. Our black pilot steered between the two islands
to the northward (where the boats touched the very bottom)
and into the great channel along Monkey Island. The
picturesque and varied scenes occasioned by the thickets
and forests have now disappeared. We have now passed
the mangrove country, and see only thickets of Hibiscus
near the water, Avith some solitary trees. To the right the
low land is thickly overgrown with high grass like a corn-
field. No forests are now visible, unless that name should
be given to vast ranges of the Ci/perus popi/rus, which with
their lofty and waving tops present a singular appearance.
Farther up some scattered Hijphcene palms are still visible.
The appearance which these two plants give to the whole
country strongly reminds me of the drawings of Egyptian
landscapes. The palms as Ave proceed increase in number,
forming groups, and higher up even whole forests. Great
numbers of the natives make their appearance on the shore,
walking about in the grass between the thickets. We are
just by the village of Maliba, whose name is derived from
its palms. When it greAv dark we anchored a little higher
up, a few fathoms from the shore. A black cloud for the
first time made its appearance in the northern horizon.
The negroes told us that it Avas the prognostic of the ap-
proaching rainy season. While I am writing this at our
anchorage I hear the evening music of the grasshoppers.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 203

July 25th. A gentle breeze carried us about two miles
higher up, where we anchored near the shore in a small
ba3\ The natives welcomed us. A water-snake about four
feet in length Avas caught in the cabin of the Captain. He
must have swam on board durins; the nisiht. For the first
time we saw here the bank of the river rising perpendicu-
larly about four feet, and consisting of indurated clay
The surface was thickly overgrown with grass ; but as the
soil consisted of a hardened clay, it was not so high as
usual. Groves and forests of Ihjphcene, mingled with
some Adamonhr, were the only kinds of trees that occur-
red. The village Condo Tjongo was at a short distance.
It consisted of huts covered with neat mats, made of grass
or straw, and supported by poles. We walked about an
hour in the high grass and between the trees, on which
calabashes were hanging to receive the juice which consti-
tutes the palm-wine. 1 shot a large species of Corviis and
some small pigeons, of which a great number were cooing
in the trees. We saw numerous traces of buffaloes, and
-were told by the natives that tliey had seen a whole herd
■ of these animals early in the morning. Tiie vegetation
here is without variety. A gentle breeze carried us some-
what higher up the river. A\'e crossed the channel, and
passed to the shore on the right, near Farquhar's island.

J bad now the opportunity of going on shore for a few
minutes. Here at lengtli, for the first time, some traces of
cultivation were seen. A considerable extent of land -was
planted with maize, and some tobacco, both of Avhich Avere
now ahjout one foot high. I collected tv>o new plants, and

294 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

some specimens of a singular tree with large leaves. We
proceeded along the island, which seemed to be well cul-
tivated and very populous. At a distance an hippopota-
mus was seen with his head above the water. The land on
both sides of the river is again quite level and sandy, over-
grown with high grass, and in some places with Cyperus
papyrus. An old woman, a relation of Simons, came on
board, accompanied by her grand-daughter, a little black
V^enus, the sight of whom kindled an amorous flame in the
breasts of several of our gentlemen. Some tempting otfers
were made to her before hand, and Embomma appointed
as the place of meeting. A canoe, in Avhich was the son of
Mafook Senu was upset. He gave a specimen of his skill
in swimming by diving from under it. We passed Rough
Point, and came within sight of the high country on both
sides the river. To the left Avere some rounded hills, and
behind them a ridge of mountains, Avith a pointed pillar
on the highest summit, Avhich is called Taddi Enzazzi, or the
rock of lightning. These hills are almost naked and do
not therefore promise much in the way of botany, in com-
parison with the lower parts of the river side. To the
right we observed a large projecting point terminated by
a rock (Fetishe rock) resembling a mass of ruins, but not
high. We crossed the channel and anchored near the
shore to the right. On the north side and at a short dis-
tance is Coyman's Point, where three channels of the river
meet together. We shall probably reach Embomma to-
morrow. The whole appearance of the river, its numerous
sand-banks, low shore, inconsiderable current, narrow

PROFESSOR SMITHS JOURNAL. 296

channel, seem but little to justify its extravagant fame.
Its sources cannot be farther inland than those of Senesal
and Gambia.

Though we were at the distance of four or five miles
from Fetishe rock, the Captain was desirous of sailing
down to it. Our pilots entertained some fears of passing
through the whirlpools, which, however, we found to be
nothing more than the main stream of the river running
with a strong current. We had no sooner landed on the
rock than we observed two hippopotami, at which un-
luckily we were not prepared for firing. Tudor however
fired a random shot near the head of one of them. The
rock is steep, and difficult of ascent. Its lower part was
overgrown with trees of various kinds. Its conical shape
gave us an opportunity of discovering its structure. It
consists of a coarse-grained granite. Large pieces of
feld-spar occur in several places, and at the extremity of
a low flat point some of them are not less than from one to
two hundred feet in circumference. The towering clifFs of
Fetishe rock, the new and varied vegetation on its sides,
and the extensive view of the river which it commands,
presented a magnificent scene. This rock is the ter-
minating point of the high mountainous land which is seen
to extend into the interior in undulating ranges of blue
mountains, two or three ridges one behind the other.
Beyond the great sandy and grassy islands in the river,
scattered palms are seen in the horizon, appearing as if
they were growing in the water. The high land rising
fi-om the banks of the river would form interesting land-

296 PROFESSOR SMITH S JOURNAL.

scapes, if it was not quite naked. Some scattered Adun-
sonice, stripped of tiieir leaves, were almost the only trees
that were visible. A few minutes only were allowed to
me for examining the rich vegetation of the Fetishe rocks.
The steep cliffs and the impenetrable thickets of shrubs,
climbers, and lofty trees, limited my acquisitions to a most
superb climber fPoli/an. monog.), a Limodorum, and a
Liliaceous plant, the thick fibrous stalks of which (vvithoul
leaves) are used by the natives for making ropes. The
sea-breeze set in late as usual. We passed several villages.

We are now under the rounded mountains, of which
Taddi Enza^izi is the highest ; perhaps it may be from a
thousand to fifteen hundred feet. They seem to be naked,
with the exception of some solitary trees and dry grass.
Groups of the Maha palm are seen in small valleys be-
tween the hills, and shrubs of a Mimosa are common at
the river side. We arrived soon at the market-place of
Embomma, where a number of negroes bad assembled.
The Captain's intention was to go to the banza this evening,
but when the iSIafook came on board and promised to
accompan}^ him to the King's residence the following
morning, the journey Avas put off.

July 27. The negroes intruded themselves upon us be-
fore we had left our beds. I went into a boat in order
to visit Molineaux's island, which at the river-side consists
of a steep rounded rock. A patch which had been set
on fire opened a way down to the more level parls. Here
I found several new and brilliant plants, and lofty trees
M'itli u})right leaves, which I had not seen before.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 29T

Impenctralile thickets obstructed our farther progress. We
made some attempts from the boat to ascend the steep hill.
The climbers and creepers hanging down its sides resembled
worked tapestry. The ground was covered with Ipomcea,
one with white and another with violet flowers. The
rock consists of blocks of quartz. I Avas called back on
board just when I was taking a view of the surrounding
scener}'. In the evening we arrived at the banza, and
dropped anchor near the shore, which was level, and
covered with grass. The residence of the king is on the
other side of the hill. The river is already narrow, and

is perhaps not larger than the bay of St The

land to the left rises gently, and forms a long ridge, better
covered with wood than the lower parts, and behind it is
seen a range of undulating mountains. A salute was fired
and soon after a palanquin made its appearance, having
been sent by the king to the Captain, who however de-
clined going on shore till the following morning.

July 28. This day was fixed upon for the ceremonious
procession to the royal residence. Early in the morning we
were already teazed with visits from Mafooks and Princes
by dozens. The Captain preferred to walk the greatest
part of the way. Some marines followed us as a guard
and we ourselves, dressed in borrowed coats, formed the
van. Our w^y led over a grassy plain, varied by culti-
vated patches of maize, different kinds of pulse, and cas-
sava, resembling asparagus as to Single trees

were scattered around. The grass was almost dry. A
path leads over the rising ground (which consists of clay)

Qq

298 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

up to a hill, which commands an excellent view of the
river, winding behind a high island, and re-appearing be-
yond it. The Captain having got into the palanquin,
which was constructed after the ancient Portuguese fashion,
and the party disposing itself into a sort of processional
order, and being puf in motion, which, contrary to European
custom, is here a full gallop, we soon arrived in the royal
city, which did not appear to us a very large one. With
its situation however, and neatness, we were more satisfied.
On an eminence among palms and Bombax, Adansonia,
and Ficus, and several other trees ; the straw huts were
scattered about, all of them surrounded by fences, near
which young trees had been carefully planted. We halted
by a large old tree, under whose sacred branches the
meetings of the elders are held, and all public business
transacted. After some time had elapsed, we were in-
vited to proceed to the residence of his Majesty, which is
composed of several huts ranged within a small enclosure.
The Captain was seated on an elevated place Avith a large
umbrella over his head, and we took our seats around hini.
The King, dressed out as if going to "a masquerade, in
drawers and a cloak of silk, and boots of marroquin,
with a large cap on his head, resembling that of a gre-
nadier, adorned with flowers, made his appearance, and
took his seat near the Captain. Next behind us were his
counsellors, surrounded by a great assemblage of people.
Mr, Simons, in an ancient court-dress, with a sailor's
hat on his head, had here the weighty charge of being the
interpreter, and had told us the preceding evening that

PROFESSOR SiMlTHS JOURNAL. 209

great doubts were entertained as to the real object of our
visit, and that, since we did not profess to trade, it could
be attributed to nothing else than a hostile intention. The
Captain ordered him briefly to explain the object of the
expedition : but this they could not at all comprehend.
When any thing occurred in the conversation that struck
them, one of the nobles rose, and with attitudes resembling
those of a fugle-man, gave the signal for the sacala ; on
which all smote themselves on their breasts with an expres-
sion of )03\

As a first present a cask of brandy was brought forward.
This they comprehended well enough ; and having poured
it into a large Avashing bowl, they fought among themselves
for the nectar. The king and his ministers soon after went
away, and we were shortly invited into a spacious straw-
hut, which, like all the rest, could not be said to be encum-
bered with too much furniture. We observed in it, how-
ever, a number of small fetishes. Here we were entertained
with a dish of boiled fowl and with palm Avine in mugs of
English manufacture. The sailors dined after us. We
took a walk in the town and were allowed to enter into
every enclosure. Tudor and Galwey found here the
daughter of the Macage of Loomba, which is a market-
place, where they had been the day before, and made some
bargains in favour of their other friends. The women are
considered in the lidit of merchandise; and a husband
generally takes care to make an European pay dear for
his bargain. If any of his countrymen, however, should
violate his wife without his knowledge, he is permitted to

800 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

put him to death ; but every one most readily w ill lend his
wife to his neighbour for a very trifling consideration.
Some of our gentlemen had thoughts of hiring a house ; but
the distance from the vessel was considered to be too great,
and the Captain did not by any means approve of it.

A long deliberation had taken place among the King's
advisers; after which we again assembled. The Captain
repeated what he had said before. One of the sons of the
King was the person who showed most uneasiness, distrust,
and coldness during the whole deliberation. At length,
an old man, uncle of the King, who commonly communi-
cates the resolutions of the assembly, and who had voted
with Simons in our favour (Simons had been called upon
by them to take the oath), broke leaf, Avhich is the symbol
pf peace and amity, with the Captain ; implying, that they
believed that he had come on friendly purposes, &c. The
most interesting personage was the father of Simons. He
had given his son in charge to a trading slave captain, of
Liverpool, in order to be educated in England ; but instead
of this, the boy had been sold by this captain in the West
Indies, where he had suffered many hardships : from
which he escaped by getting on board a King's ship, from
which he was by mere accident sent on board the Congo.
The father, after waitin^>- for his return eleven years, during
which time he had made many inquiries for him in vain,
had now unexpectedly got intelligence of his being with
us, and came on board the first evening of our arrival near
liOomba. His excessive joy, the ardour with which he
hugged his son in his arms, proved that even among this

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 301

people nature is awake to tender emotions. As a token of
gratitude he offered to the Captain a present of nine slaves.
Simons was here an important personage, Avas called
Mafook, carried in palanquin, Sec.

In the midst of this business I could only give a hasty
glance at the treasures which surrounded me ; among
which, however, I observed a Clerodendrum, with flowers
of a scarlet colour; but I hope that none of them will
elude my researches, as soon as I shall be at liberty to
dispose of my time. The evening was again noisy, as a
number of black gentlemen had come on board. They
have already nearly exhausted our store of spirits. To-
morrow our pilots, whose names are Gun, Brown, and Tati
MaxzceU, are to bring the Congo up to this place.

July 29th. In the morning I set out for the small creek,
accompanied by four boys and a servant : here I shot
several water-birds. The shore was overgrown with a
thick sod covered with a species o^ J uss'iemi, Q.i\d higher up
with a thick grass, chiefly consisting of Iscluemuni. I made
an excursion on the shore to the right, which is a penin-
sula almost surrounded by water, being connected Avith
the main land only by a small chain of rocks in the middle.
Cultivated patches are seen here and there, with free access
to a considerable distance. Lofty Hi/p/uene, a Bombax
pentandr. tn/nco spinoso, and a great many new shrubs and
other plants, are scattered about. ^Ve penetrated through
the thickets up to the mountain which occupies the middle
of the peninsula. Near the summit we saw a superb tree
with eatable fruit resembling dry The

302 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

inhabitants seemed to have no knowledge of its being an
esculent fruit, but after I had given the example, they
partook of it readily. A tree of Pandamis caught my
attention.

The prospect from the summit was grand, comprehend-
ing the Avindings of the river, its islands, the points of its
shores up to Taddi Moenga and Bamba, the eastern Boka
de Embomma, the western Boka de Embomma which is
overgrown Avilh wood, Kaeti, which is the third island above
Loomba, with a rounded mountain in its middle. Boka
Embomma consists of a half decompassed gneiss, which
occurs in large projecting blocks.

The Captain had pitched his tent to day. Frank Clark
came to inform him that his Majesty had sent one of his
daughters to Clark's wife, and that he might send for her.
I took a walk to the town, chiefly with an intention of
seeing Galwey and Tudor in their habitations. On enter-
ing the enclosure of the King's residence we found him
sitting amidst a number of children, and distributing food
among them. They were all boys. Having stayed there
a while, during which I was considered as the Embassador
of the Captain, a young girl, naked, as all the others were,
presented herself kneeling at the entrance. I took her
hand, when unexpectedly N'Kenge, the Prince of Em-
bomma, offered her in a very polite manner as a present to
the Captain. She was very much alarmed ; and on being
brought into the Captain's tent, which was lighted by
lamps, she ran under the bedstead. The Captain seemed
not much pleased with this obtruded civiHty.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 303

July 30th. Early in the morning I went out with Hod-
der, and proceeded towards the upper end of the creek ;
and here I shot a number of birds. After having been on
shore on the island Boka, I pursued my course up the
creek to a bank in the middle, and passing the villages
Thimanga and Vinda, I followed the shore until I arrived
at Tinyanga, a village belonging to the brother of the
King. He was sitting on a mat, surrounded by his gran-
dees and armed young men. The rock above the village
is steep, with two or three springs, and covered with an
interesting vegetation. We went to the village of Frank
Clark, who accompanied us, and invited me into his house.
One of the Captain's people had been sent to fetch a cow,
which was promised him by the King. In assisting to
catch this half-wild beast, my foot was entangled in the
rope which was fastened to her, and with which she was
running away. I was thus placed all at once in an awkward
situation ; it might have been still worse if the rope had not
broken. I was brought to the King's house almost sense-
less, except to exquisite pain. From thence I was removed
on board in a kind of litter. I was confined to the cabin
till the afternoon of the following day, when, with the as-
sistance of another person, I was enabled to limp on shore,
and to collect such plants as I might have overlooked on
my former excursions.

Guji brought us the agreeable news that the Congo had
already passed Taddi Moenga. The Dorothy is at Tall
Trees. They say they have killed an alligator. Frank,
according to a promise given long ago, brought on board

304 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

a weeping girl last night, who was soon followed hj
another. To day Tudor and Galwej have renaoved their
light huts to the tent of the Captain, which is already called
the Captain's village by the inhabitants. A village means
with them a pater-familias and his private dependants.
The village of the King (Banza Embon)ma) is the only
village where several families have sulhcient land capable
of cultivation in the neighbourhood, and to enable them to
live together. The land is cultivated in patches only, and
the labour is performed by the women, whom we saw fre-
quently in the fields, carrying with them their children and
baskets of provisions, the daughters of the King as well as
others. The only plants we observed to be cultivated were
cassava in small quantity, and maize, planted chiefly along
the river-side, probably because the air there is more
humid. The cotton shrub was growing wild in the plains.
Pisaiigswere frequently brought from the marketof Loom-
ba, though none were seen in this neighbourhood. They
were said to grow plentifully higher up the river on the
opposite side, as also oranges and other fruits. The order
of precedency is : Tjenu, or the King, the princes Malibere,
Mambous, ]\lacaya, Mafook. The inhabitants are ad-
dicted to some superstitions with respect to food ; as, for
instance, to abstain from eating eggs and milk. A Fetish-
man is not allowed nmsic at his meals, except when hehas
not partaken of Leimba ?

July 31. My foot being much better, I Avas enabled to
take a short walk on the plain. I caused a pit to be dug
in order to ascertain the temperature of the earth, but ths

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 305

clay which here ever}^ where is predominant, and hard as
stone, did not permit a deeper pit to be dug than three
feet, M'hich proved insufficient. The temperature however
appeared to be 80°. The weather, which continues cloudy
and unsettled, does not allow of any remarks on the
dew, and in general makes all observations on the climate
in this season less intreresting. The temperature to-day,
before the setting in of the sea-breeze, is about 77°» and in
the tent of the Captain, 88°. The grand-father of Simons
is on board. Hodder is sent with orders for the Congo.

August 1. In company with Galwey and Tudor I visit-
ed our creek again in the morning. We passed through
floating Jussietice and Ipomcea. We shot a number of birds

of a species of , which is here very common. We

proceeded upwards to the sand-bank, Avhich Galwey and
Tudor 3'esterday had found to be passable in a flat-bot-
tomed boat. It was overgrown with floating grass, through
which we could not pass but with great difficulty and la-
bour ; but in return, the most beautiful scenes presented
themselves on the other side

The river runs between roimded mountains, the higher
parts of which are naked, but the lower parts along the
river side are partly covered with a luxuriant vegetation.
The mountains incline towards the north, with their precipi-
ces facing the south, which is indeed evident by the differ-
ent appearance of both sides of the river. The declivity is in
some places vertical. The Congo with the two. double-boats
arrived in the evening and anchored near the opposite shore.
To-raorrow we shall take leave of the Tjenu.

Rr

306 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

Auo;ust 2. We went to the banza with the officers to take
our leave. In the meantime Lockhart made an excursion
to the left between the plain and the hills, and I took the
opposite side, where I again met with the superb Brownea.
The visit was imceremonious, and not very hospitable.
His Majesty did not so much as ofFer the Captain a mug
of palm-wine. His dress was that usually worn by the
natives. He was seated near his house, opposite the
bench of the officers, surrounded by about, fifty negroes.
I visited their burying-place, where a very deep grave
had been dug for a woman who had just died, and I pass-
ed by her house, where half a dozen women were howling
terribly. They are said to repeat this mode of shewing their
grief for several days, keeping up the same kind of con-
cert for about an hour each day. I returned in company
wilh my friend Frank Clark (who is the best of all the
members of the Royal family), to the precipices, by the
way of Tihenyanga. The rocks consist of a completely
decomposed quartz, and granular red masses. In some
places water is continually pouring forth as from springs.
The temperature under the shade of the thickets is down
to 70°, probably in consequence of the evaporation. I
found several new plants, among which was a shrub bear-
ing berries, of which I am uncertain whether it be culti-
vated, but I saw it growing wild all around. I met
Lockhart, Avho had collected several beautiful plants. Haw-
key and Mr. Kerrow returned to the village on a visit to
the ladies. Tjenu offered another daughter to the Captain
in addition to the first-mentioned, who was better looking

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 307

than the former. I was occupied with laying in plants
till late in the evening.

Augusl 3. Yesterday the village of the Captain was re-
moved in al>out the same space of time as that which had
been requisite for its erection. To-day, at day-break, the
schooner proceeded, with the assistance of oars, along Boka
de Enibomma, and anchored nearly opposite to the middle
of it, where the rock was overgrown with thickets of
shrubby plants. An alligator was seen swimming near
the shore. Lofty trees over-shadow the steep sides of the
rock, which rises to the height of four or five hundred
feet. Its upper parts are almost naked. I was ordered
on board the Congo, in consequence of some misunder-
standing between Tudor and Cranch, relating to the am-
munition belonging to the latter, and of some irregularity
which had taken place with respect to the boats.

August 4. Accompanied the Captain to the rock Taddi
Mansoni on the opposite side. Plains and deep vallies
vary with hills, Avhich sometimes terminate in peaks and
grotes(|ue cliffs. Groups of the Mimosa spinosa and some
cultivated patches were scattered about. We saw in our
way the skeleton of a hippopotamus. We n)easured a large
Adansonia, which at two or three feet above the root was
found to be forty-two feet in circumference. The river is
now no longer divided into several channels, but continues
to be free from islands to a considerable distance. Its
breadth here I calculated to be about the same as that of
Drammen (in Norway) at the bridge. I raoimted ihe hill,
%vhose base consists of a yellow mica-slate, which con-

308 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL,

continually decreases in approaching the summit, where
the formation is almost entirely quartz. Among the trees
we found lying on the giound several pieces of wood,
which was called lignum vitcE by our carpenters. It is
extremely hard, but I could not ascertain what it is. A
Maba palm was cut down, which I examined. We found
several curious insects. Our situation, as we are walking
here under groups of trees of various . kinds, would be
envied by many of our friends. We saw monkeys running
to and fro on ihe branches of the trees (Simia cephus), and
several birds, among which was a spotted Alcedo. Divine
service was performed on deck, where we had an agree-
able temperature. We observed on a small bank of mud,
situated a tew fathoms only from our anchorage, that the
flood tide rose about ten inches.

August 5. In our tiat-bottomed boats we arrived at
Tchinsala, and run deep in the mud. We observed the
Congo proceeding upwards. The Captain was just gone
on board the Congo, and brought her up to the height of
Tchinsala on the opposite side of the river, where she
anchored near the end of the island Kinyangala. The
Captain fmding that she only retarded our progress, re-
solved to leave her in this place. Tlie evening was spent
in arranging for our furthei progress in the double-boats.
Fitzmamice and Hawkey went on board the schooner..
Cranch was at first resolved, after lor)g deliberation, to re-
main with the Congo, but changed his mind on hearing
that the third part of the apparatus should be dehvered up
to us. All left collections to be conveyed to the Dorothy.
I left all my dry plants and a box full of seeds.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 309

August 6. I had landed for a moment on Tchinsala,
but a shot called me immediately back again. Our flo-
tilla was already under sail at one o'clock. The Umg-
boat of the ship is to go as far as Benda. We crossed
the river several times according to the streno;th of the
current. The mountains come down to the river, and in
many places contract its channel to scarcely half a mile;
They are rounded, and commonly sloping hills with narrow
and short vallies between them. They are overgrown
with dry grass, but otherwise entirely naked. The south-
side had at first more level ground, with rising blocks of
slate dispersed over its surface. At Vinda, a small plain,
the mountain ah ng the northern bank is very steep, the
declivity about forty-five degrees, and sometimes almost
vertical, out of which were projected several rocky points.
It is only near the high grass on the banks of the river and
in the vallies that trees of luxuriant growth are to be seen.
On the small plains at the heads of creeks we observed some
villages amidst palms of Hyphane, which were also seen
scattered about higher up the sides of the mountains.
The banks, with their precipitous cliffs of slate, overgrown
with a hanging green tapestry of climbers, and surmounted
with j)lants and trees of various kinds, among which is a
high and always naked Ada7isunin, present indeed a
picturesque view, but nothing yet inspires the notion of
an extraordinary grand river. We anchored above three
islands (Tanyanda), on the northern bank, near where it
is studded with high rocks. One of these v/as said to be
used for the same purposes as the Tarpeian rock of old,

310 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL

from which criminals, as for instance, seducers of the wives
of the King, &c. are sometimes precipitated.

August 7th. In the morning we found ourselves between
Gamba islands. We saAv several birds. The mountains con-
sist every where of mica-slate. These picturesque islands
are very much visited by hippopotami. At noon a gentle
breeze carried us a little higher up. The river at Fidler's
Elbow is again somewhat more expanded. In its middle
are some rocks, with scattered trees. The river turns north-
ward, and is contracted by the mountains. These are here
somewhat higher up intersected b\' narrow valleys. They
are all of the same mica-slate formation, inclining in all
directions, but commonly towards the west. The inclina-
tion is at half an angle (qu. do''). We observed half-a-dozen
monkeys, from three to four feet in length, on a hill near
the southern bank. The breeze seems to die away as we
pass between the mountains. We anchored on the southern
bank. The natives of Benda begin already to talk of the
fall of Yallalla, of which, they tell us, we may hear the
roar. At one time we could only approach this cataract
by a journey by land, or by double-boats composed of
canoes, &c. The river is here broad, resembhng the
Scotch lakes.

August 18th. I went on shore up a narrow A'alley,
opposite to us, which, as is usual, forms at its lower end a
small plain, covered with grass, and higher up a narrow,
deep ravine, the sides of which are covered with trees.
Galwey and myself ascended the hill just before us. It
consists of mica-slate.

PROFESSOR SMITH S JOURNAL. 311

We had only a confined view of the river, the prospect
being obstructed by the mountains, which appeared some-
what liiojher to the east. The river runs in a Avindino-
course between them. They form cokmms rounded at the
top witli fragments of quartz, which sometimes form veins
and beds in the slate. We found here some scattered
shrubs of Eugenia, and two or three species of grass. We
rowed up opposite Congo Binda, which is situated at some
distance inland, and high upon the platform of a mountain.
We went on shore and followed a rugged ravine, whose

sides consist of a compact mica-slate We

observed the traces and excrements of several kinds of
animals; chiefly, however, antelopes; but Ave did not get
a sight of any of them. I Avalked over some flatly-rounded
rus!;o;ed hills, on Avhich only a few shrubs Avere groAvino;. I
attempted in vain to get a view of the Avindings of the river
as far up as the cataract. The mountains are of the same
form, and are seen to a great distance, undulating Avith
sloping declivities, and frequently intersected by deep
ravines. The level parts are luxuriant, but the sides and
tops of the mountains are naked. I descended the ravine
through climbers and shrubby plants, almost all of Avhich
left me in uncertainty as to their genus, and regretting, as
usual, our coming here so late in the year. I foUoAved
another ravine, intersected Avith numerous narroAv but deep
holes, Avhich generally makes the ravines very difiicult to
walk in. I met Lockhart amidst a thicket, in Avhich Avere
several lofty trees, but almost all of them Avere in fruit. We
discovered an Arum foliis 3-nat. dichotomis ; the root of

312 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

which we afterwards boiled, and found to be eatable. We
returned in the dark quite loaded.

During our whole excursion we did not meet with any
animal, a few pigeons and small birds excepted, but we saw
a great many traces of hippopotami on the shore. Simons
was sent to the Tjenu of Benda, in order to procure some
men who were acquainted with the country higher up.
His account of Benda would seem to prove that the inha-
bitants have some intercourse with the Portuguese. He
was ceremoniously received.

August 9th. We sailed somewhat higher up. I passed
over to the north side of the river. The vegetation is with-
out variety, and the steep hills overgrown with grass, in
which Avas only found growing an Euphorbia. I fired
three shots at an allio;ator. In the evening it was resolved
that we should go to Banza Nokki, the residence of a Tjenu,
by the way of Condo Sonjo. The north side is generally
called Benda.

August 10th. Simons was dispatched to announce the
intended visit of the Captain. Early in the morning Ave
set out on our journey, and proceeded over the hills and
across the small plain, where we had been two days before.
The slate formation here ceases. The rounded mountains
on the other side rise to a greater height, with projecting
cliffs of a more cubical form. The transition is formed by
a compact mica-slate with a large proportion of feldspar.

The .... of the mica mountains

perhaps sienite. It is granular as granite, and composed of
quartz, feldspar and a third metallic substance. Blocks of

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 313

rock, which we have often met with before, were scattered
about, but they occurred now in greater number, and in
masses of a cubical form. We passed two or three small
villages, situated between the mountains. A spot planted
with Pisangs was seen from amidst the palms. A few
moments afterwards we arrived at a rivulet. Springs,
they tell us, are here ver}' common. This circumstance
also proves a new formation of the mountains. These
small villages and cultivated patches, surrounded by
mountains of more grotesque form than those hitherto
seen, and the luxuriant vegetation, afford us a new and
beautifid view. The straw-huts have here rounded roofs.
At eleven o'clock, after a inarch of six or seven hours, we
reached the summit of those mountains, Avhich appeared
to be the highest within our view. On a small plain the
ground had been cleared and planted with Ficus rcligiosa.

Here is the market-place of the inhabitants of the banza,
and close by is the village of the Tjenu. In passing between
the huts we observed poppies, cabbages and other vege-
tables. Having observed the height of the mercury in
the barometer, we found, according to the calculations of
Leslie, that the elevation was about 1450 feet, which, gene-
rally speaking, may be considered as the greatest elevation
of the highest ridges of mountains in these parts.

The maimer in which we were received b}^ the Tjenu
had more of stateliness, but also more of savage manners,
than that in which we were received at Embomma. A
silken hanging served to cover one side of the hut, in
which the Tjenu was discovered ; he was dressed in a red

Ss

314 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

cloak, with a cap on his head resembling that of a grena-
dier, and adorned with feathers. His two ministers were
on each side of him, and seemed to be eunuchs. A little
palm-wine was the only refreshment he offered to us. The
conversation was short. The Captain only Avished to have
some guides. A smile was the only answer. The ministers
ran several times to the fence and back aeain, crving out
some words expressive of the king's understanding us. Tatti,
a good-looking njan, the father of Simons, invited and
entertained us. The temperature of a spring down in a
small plain we found to be 73°. Following a rugged path I
walked down the valley and passed over another rivulet.

August 11. The interesting scenes that now surround us
demanding a more close examination, I proceeded, in
company with Tudor and Lockhart, to the lower end of the
A'alley, over patches planted with cassava, following the
course of the rivulet. In our way we met with thickets com-
posed of shrubs and trees, of which many were entirely new
to us. The women screamed out on seeing us, but the taste
of our brandy had soon made them less shy. Yesterday
we were constantly followed by a number of people, chiefly
boys. They said they had never seen white men before.
We ascended some of the high rocks, but were unable to
climb up the highest of them, Avhich is of a conical form.
They are all of the same formation. We rested ourselves
at the source of the rivulet. Its temperature was 71°. Its
coldness is probably to be attributed to the evaporation.
I missed Lockhart, who came doAvn a long while after me.

August 12. The forenoon was spent in laying in plants.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 315

The Captain bought a slave of the Mandingo tribe, that
is said to hve high up inland. Their language is some-
what different from that of the Cono;o lan^uao-e. In the
afternoon I followed the Captain up the hills towards the
point, in order to observe the winding course of the river,
which is now contracted within a narrower channel, by
projecting points. The conical mountain of Yallalla was
just before us. A projecting bank of rocks is seen on both
sides the river, which is not passable even by canoes. The
country appears equally barren higher up, and not hkely
to enable us to procure sufficient provisions on a journey by
land, which must now be resolved upon, nor are any here
to be bought. The population is scanty, only a iew scat-
tered small villages, situated on the hills, are discovered
amidst some groups of trees. The natives are not willing
to part with their commodities, except at extravagant pri-
ces. They crowd daily around the vessels Avith commodi-
ties for sale, but all we have been able to get are only a
few fowls, some eggs, and a single sheep. Their know-
ledge of the country is very limited. They are pretty uni-
form in asserting that the cataract of Yallalla is a consider,
able one, and that above it the river is divided.

August 13. ^Ve remained in order to make some obser-
vations with the barometer, the oscillations of which nearly
correspond with those observed at the Canaries. Last night
an uncommonly strong breeze set in. In the morning we
made a short excursion on shore. The Captain went in a
boat towards the conical hill of Yallalla, but he found the
river here to be impassable. A journey by land of four days

1!

316 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

to Yallalla was therefore resolved upon, in order that, after
having examined this cataract, we might take such further
measures as should appear to be advisable.

August 14. We set out to the number of about thirty,
and passed across the river to a small sandy beach, termi-
nated by sand hills, on which the hippopotami commonly
dwell when on shore. A steep ascent led to a village.
Having gained the platform, we found the declivity on the
other side precipitous, but no trace of mica slate in the
formation. -------- The mountains here

consist of compact feldspar, and resemble those atNokki.
On reaching the high land, the country assumed its usual
appearance, which resembles very much that of old or-
chards, composed of stunted A nnonas, and three other sorts
of trees. Having soon after reached the hill on which the
banza stands, and passed through tiie lofty palms and
Adansoniae in which the village is buried, a view of the river
opened all at once upon us, and we discovered the cele-
brated fall of Yallalla, at a distance of about a mile and a
half. But how much were we disappointed in our expec-
tations on seeing a pond of water only, with a small fall
of a few hundred yards ! We descended the steep barren
hill, and arrived at the fall. The rocks on both sides of
the river were precipitous. The mica slate is slightly un-
dulating, and abounds with veins of quartz and compact
feldspar. This formation of the rocks may possibly have
very much weakened the force of the waters of the river.
The inclination is half an angle (qu. 45°) in the same direc-
tion as the course of the water and the declivities are oppo-

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 317

site to it. I descended some of these declivities to the depth
where they are washed by the water of the the river in the
rain}'- season, and found a great number of rounded exca-
vations. In the middle of the fall is an islet at the distance
of about a short stone-throw from the shore. The river
above Yallalla winds between two projecting points in a
northerly direction. On both sides the river, rocky hills,
intersected by ravines, are visible to the distance of two
miles. They are all lower than the high platform of the
hills on both sides ; that on the west continues quite Hat as
far as the horizon. Yallalla may in fact be considered as
placed in the line of the greatest elevation of the mountains.
Towards the east the country is more broken, and in some
places may be called mountainous, but the mountains are
scarcely any where so high as at Nokki. The summit con-
sists throughout of a hardened clay.

In the evening we made a visit to the Tjenu, who is a
plain good-natured man, who expressed his satisfaction on
seeing a few gallons of brandy, for which in return he pre-
sented us with some fowls. Scarcely any information can
be drawn from the natives of the state of the country higher
up the river. A slave merchant affirmed that he made a
journe}' of a month on the eastern bank, and found the
river, as he proceeded, expanding as wide as it is at Shark^s
Point. The eastern side of it, he told us, was more popu-
lous and civilized, than the western side, which they pre-
tend they do not venture to visit, for fear of the savage
disposition of the bush-men on that side. Some even as-
serted that the people on that side are canibals. Our tent

318 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

was pitched in the evening at the end of the village, from
which we have a view of Yallalla. Below is a valley covered
with wood, in which runs a small stream of water, supply-
ing the inhabitants with that article. We made a circuitous
route over the elevated plain, in order to come upon the
river higher up. We passed Gongola, which is the residence
of another TJenu ; but both are subject to the Suxum
Congo, the province to the northward on the north-west
side of the river. The south-side is called Kukulu Congo.
Gongola (Concobella of the charts ?) is said to be the last
regularvillageinthedominionsof Congo. After a long march
on the summit we directed our course towards the river,
following the common path down to its banks, where two
small canoes, which are the only ones close above Yallalla,
are used as a ferry for crossing the river. Notwithstanding
the repeated remonstrances the Captain made to the guides
that they should conduct us straight forwards up the river,
we found that we had advanced a few miles only above
the fall of Yallalla. At noon we halted. AVe made an ex-
cursion on the hills near the river, the banks of which now
consisted of a white sand. The river above the cataract
is full of rocks. We returned toAvards a village, where, out
of humour Avith our guides, we took a more direct way
through the grass. In the evening we were obliged to halt
on a hill covered with grass. A small valley, with a rivu-
let winding its course through it, was seen below. The
rivulet is said to be visited every morning by buffaloes and
antelopes, of which some had been seen at noon. When
near the villages we were constantly followed by a crowd

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 319

of negroes, particular!}^ women, who came out to enjoy the
sight of white men, which was perfectly new to them.
Though more shy, they appeared to us to be more good-
natured than those we had seen before.

August 16. We went across the valley and the hills on
the other side, (which were last night illuminated by fires,)
and arrived at the village Monzi. Having here procured
guides Avho were better acquainted with the country, we
proceeded on our journey over the hills. Between them
are small plains with a luxuriant vegetation of trees. To-
wards the north, the country (which is already called
Mayamba country), is more level and more woody. Ele-
phants are reported to be plentiful here. A wild boar
rushed forth in a valley, and though it broke through the
whole line, the sailors, from their hurry and want of skill,
all fired amiss. Unfortunately I happened to be some-
what behind, aud consequently had not the pleasure of
seeing it. We continued our route over the steep hills,
following the course of the river, which is here bent into
the form of the arc of a segment of a circle. At a short
distance above the bend, and on this side of the river is
situated the village Jonga (Inga), which is the first village
inhabited by bush-men. From the hills we had a distinct
view of the river running again northwards to a considerable
distance. I went down to the steep banks of the river.
Thickets of shrubs and rocks of slate that are scattered
about in the water, give to the line of the river a beauti-
ful appearance. A young alligator was basking himself
in the sun. 1 fired at him with small shot without success.

320 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

The river here is full of rapids and rocks. It is however
navigable, though not without great difficulty, and no
canoes are to be had ; and as it would take too much time
to carry canoes over land by the way of Kullu, the plan
of the Captain to make double-boats of them must there-
fore be given up. A journey by land over Jonga was
resolved upon. We may reach it, we are informed, in a
day, by proceeding from Kullu over the high plain. We
returned in the evening by the shortest way to Kullu,
where we did not arrive until late. Mr. Tudor and several
men, who were already quite exhausted b}^ fatigue, were
sent back. Next morning Tudor was attacked by a violent
fever. Unfortunately the greatest number appear to be
men quite unfit for a long march. The few marines we have
are of the veteran battahon.*

August 17. The sick were sent before our departure
early in the morning. We made a visit to the Tjenu, who
promised to send at noon twenty men to carry their
baggage back again by the shortest way down the river.

* There is no such battalion ; the oldest marine was not -10, and all were
stout healthy volunteers. Ed.

[ 321 ]

SECTION IV.

From Cooloo to the Extremity of the Journey.

August 20. The boat uhich had been stationed at
Nokki went down to the Congo sloop. We accompanied
the Captain. Two days before he had dispatched Hawkey
and Tudor, with most of the people and part of the baggage
carried by black men, who now met us on their return
in order to fetch the remainder. Our whole number was
about thirty, but of whom there were but few fit for a
long journey. After having reached the summits of the
hills along the river side, and passed by a village, Tudor,
in company with Lockhart, turned somewhat to the left
through a small beautiful vallev, where I found at last a
Myrianthus in flower, and a new dried fruit. Passing by
Areba, and descending a steep hill, we reached KuUoo
at four o'clock. In the evening we paid a visit to the
Chenoo. Here we received some farther information about
the country ; but the men who are to carry our baggage
are so expensive, that they will soon have exhausted our
Avhole stock. A depot is to be left here in Kulloo. The
views of the country are very hmited.

August 21. In the mornins; I went to the other end of
Yallala. The rocks here present a new structure, being

Tt

322 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

mixed with quartz, and bearing some resemblance to
sienite. A shrub with black fruit, which I had seen a
long time before, was found to belong to FeiUandria tri-
gi/fiia ; and a tree, the fruit of which was sweetish and of a
blackish colour, T discovered to be of Hexandria mono-
gynia. Observations on the barometer were made during
the day. In the evening I v/ent down into a small valley
on the other side, where I found a lofty tree of an uncertain

genus, which I had seen before in the swamps. A

was seen at the village, with brilliant flowers and an Apocy-
num f Nkennycwu/nhaJ .

On the 20th, the thermometer in the morning at nine
o'clock was at 75° ; at two o'clock it had risen to 83°, and at
five P. M. it Avas 73°. On the 21st at nine A. M. it was 71°,
at two P. M. 81°, and at five P.M. 78°. A young Adan-
sonia thirty feet high, and half a foot thick, was found by its
annual circles, as well as by its branches, to be thirteen years
of age ; which would seem to prove the opinion, grounded
on its very great size, of its long life, to be erroneous ;
and indeed this might already have been inferred from its
spongy and succulent texture.

August 22d. After having, with much difficulty got some
men to carry the baggage, we set out for Inga, leaving
Fitzmaurice and Hawkey behind, and proceeded almost
by the same way as on our former journey over Gongala
to Mansi, across a valley covered with wood and well
watered.

Sangala woo is a kind of reed (perhaps an Amomiim)
which is always kept fresh in the house. In time of war
it is rolled between the hands in invokino- the war fetish.

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 323

They chew it and spit it out on their enemies. Mazenga
are fetishes used for the discovery of robberies. They are

covered with We proceeded over

rugged hills and small ravines thickly covered with wood
in a direction somewhat more to the north than on our
former journey. We had been told that we would not find
anv water until we reached Inra. We found ourselves all
at once in a deep ravine about 1'20 feet in breadth, the
bottom of which was level with holes ; and consisted of
sand and mica-slate. We found plenty of water. A dark
thicket of trees, Avhich, as usual in ravines, grow upright to
an extraordinary height, gave to this spot a picturesque
appearance. As the day Avas declining the Captain was
prevailed on to pitch his tent there. A number of plants
were foimd, among Avhich a Hillea hexandra, tuho coroll.
longiss. deflexo, and three species of ferns. The monkeys
were seen coming down the hills, and we heard the noise
of buffaloes, mingled with some singular cries of birds
issuino; from among the dark thickets.

August 2 '3d. We continued our route, passing over high
and more woody hills and ravines, round the bend of the
river, Mdiere it again winded its course towards the east.
We had a view of a fall that was nearly opposite to Inga,
and appeared to be higher than that of Yallalla. We made
our entry into the banza of Inga about noon. It is situated
on a high plain, and, as usual, surrounded with palms and
Adansoniic. It was with dithcully we could procure a
cuide, b}'^ alternately using menaces and entreaties. The
Chenoo had given his permission, but the Macages seemed

824 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

to interfere, and appeared to be jealous of our intercourse
with the neighbouring nations, whom they were anxious to
describe to us as being exceedingly evil disposed. We were
obliged to remain here all day, and meanwhile made a tour
round the village. The tree Safu* grew here in abundance,
3-cal.3-petaL 6-andr. c. gland, d-altern.-monogyn. The fruit,
which was not yet ripe, is valued very highly.

August 24th. A stranger had undertaken to serve as
puide. The greatest part of the baggage was left behind.
We proceeded eastwards parallel with the river, and into
a long valley called Vimba Macongo, which we found
tolerably even in traversing. We then passed by the
conical mountain Sansa Madungu Mongo, which had long
been within our view. Though the composition of the rock
is very mixed, it is, however, probably nothing else but
mica-slate. We arrived at the villages of Condoalla and
Kincaya. The horns of a large antelope were seen. I
fired at a small species of this genus. We proceeded
further through a valley covered with ant-hills, bearing a
resemblance to a fungus. After a march of eight or ten
miles we were again in the vicinity of the river, whose waters
here moved gently along. We observed on the opposite

side a large canoe at no sjreat distance

We encamped on an agreeable spot near die river, sur-
rounded by green banks and trees. Several new plants
occvured.

A Chenoo, who appeared nmch more polite than the

* In a detached note in pencil : Safu. fruct. edul. nigre tingens. (Kullu-
M'galo Galo )

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. '325

people of Inga, paid us a visit, and was presented by the
Captain with an umbrella and some other articles. Several
others came afterwards, particularly on the following morn-
ing ; but our want of the all-powerful malava (presents)
gave great dissatisfaction. They promised, however, to
assist the Captain in purchasing canoes.

August 25th. The great number of traces observed all
along the river induced me to go very early on an excur-
sion to a sandy beach of the river, situated somewhat
higher up at the end of a level ravine. Recent traces of
butl'aloes, antelopes, and turtles were seen, but no living
animals, except two large wild ducks. AVe were much in-
commoded b}' numbers of people from the opposite shore
and from Kullu. Some of them, however, informed us that
the river higher up forms a great sandy island, and that it
divides into several branches across low swampy lands.
From this place set out on our journey back again over
Kincaya and Condoallo to Inga, where we arrived in the
afternoon. In the mean time I visited a ravine, and got
a magnificent view of no less than four rapids, of Avhich
Sanga Jalala (Sangalla), situated above the others, and not
far from our last encampiuent, appeared to be the most
considerable of the whole of the falls, the number of which
probably amounts to six.

August 26th. Hawkey was dispatched with fourteen
negroes and some of our men to Kullu to fetch the bag-
gage. We accompanied the Captain through the valley
of Dimba to Kincaya with a view of buying canoes, but
did not find the owners at home. The inhabitants appeared

326 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

to be of a benevolent disposition. At noon we arrived
at Condoalla, majestically situated in a lofty wood, and

surrounded by plantations of Pisang. The tree

foliis terminal, pennat. grew here in abundance. Its fruit
was not yet ripe. I observed flower-buds of the shrub
Echinophoro, which we saw in the district of Kullu. In
returning, I ascended the top of the high Madungo ^longo.
The rock in the valley consists chiefly of mica-slate,
stretchino- as usual towards N. E. and inclining under an
angle of fortj^-five degrees towards N. W. Undermost in the
valley, the slate is thickly mixed vvith a granular feldspar
and hornblende. The top part consists of a very loose
mica. The mountain here inclined gently in a long-ex-
tended slope. Its opposite side was covered with wood,
which was now on fire. I had a full view of the whole
valley, which from my station appeared very flat. The
river was seen behind in its whole course, forming several
larger islands in the line of Inga and my station. The
country behind rises into a platform of uniform elevaticm
with the plain on Avhich Inga is situated. The summits of
the hills are somewhat higher in the back-ground. Farther
still, at the extremity of the view, the river runs round an
eminence, but afterwards probably turns somewhat more
to the northward, where the country is considerably
lower. No eminence appeared more elevated than the
summits of the hills bounded by the horizon. The general
direction of the valleys and the plains is nearly N. and S.
I climbed up a lofty tree bearing fruit, some of which I
had previously brought down with my musket. I shot

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 327

some pigeons; and being induced to pursue a flock of large
crested toucans, I did not reach Inga till it was quite
dark, where they had been in some uneasiness about me.

Last night, wlien encamping in the open air near the
river, we had the first shower of rain since our arrival in
Africa. The negroes on seeing the new moon expressed
great joy, because during the next moon there would be
abundant showers of rain, and the time would then be ar-
rived for planting their grain. The river would then also
begin to swell, and in two months the rainy season, proper-
ly so called, Avould be set in. Lockhart had made a tour
to the river, where "he had found another Epidendron, and
an Euphorbia ten feet high. Caudice 3-a7ig. spmis mai'gina-
lib. binis, ovalibiis crassis, petalis oblongo-peltutis.

August 27- Hawkey returned from his journey already
before noon, having proceeded beyond Mansaea, where he
had found the fruit of a singular water-plant, calcare longo.
Accompanied by Galwey I descended into a deep ravine,
situated N. E. from the village. The plants grew here
thicker than we had observed in any place before, but the
greater numberofthem bore only leaves. We now ascended
a hill, which afforded us a view of four of the falls. That
part of the river, Avhere they occur, is contracted between
rocky hills, forming nearly a continued line of rapids.
Sanga Jalalais the uppermost fall but one, and the highest.
The lowest is under the village of Inga, a little before the
river turns towards the south, and the fall of Yellala begins
at the last turning of the river towards the general direc-
tion, or south-east. The length of the rapids is perhaps

328 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

twenty miles. In the evening I went in company with
Lockhart to the ravine situated northward, where I found
the superb tree Musanga in flower.

August 28. Captain Tuckey and Galwey proceeded
through the valley to Sangala, the uppermost rapid, in
order to ascertain whether canoes might pass over it. Ac-
companied by Lockhart, I descended the hill, in order to
cut down the Musanga-tree, round the top of which seve-
ral climbers, Dioscorea, and a singular species of Aggregata
were twisted. The flowers were withered. A man died in
the village. Gangam Kissy was busy all day in order to
discover the cause of his death, and found out at last that
he had been poisoned by three men, among whom was the

Macaya

Macasso is a nut chewed by great people only. It is
rather bitter, and perhaps is the Cola nut. Casa is a
purgative legumen. Jandu, a Dioscorea growing wild.
Its root is used for food, but it has a bitter taste, even after
having been boiled a whole day.

August 29. Captain Tuckey returned in the evening
after a long and fatio-uino- tour. Above Sangala occurs
another fall, but beyond this the river is said to run quietly,
and that canoes with two pair of double oars are to be
found there. A number of antelopes had made their ap-
pearance. A village had been deserted from fear of ven-
geance for a crime committed in a neighbouring territory.

August 30. Hawkey was ordered to go to Walla to hire
canoes, by means of which it was intended to endeavour
to convey the baggage up Sangala. I accompanied him on

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 329

this journey. We followed the usual way through the valley
of Dimba and its villages. From the eminence over-look-
ing the valley we observed a herd of antelopes. On our
arrival at Wallu we were informed that there was but one
single canoe at the ferry, and that it was used chiefly on
market days.

August 31. Before day-break Hawkey and I set out for
the small sandy creek. Here we again fired at some of the
large wild ducks, and observed recent traces of hippo-
potami. On ascending some hills we saw several flocks of
Guinea-fowls, of which we shot one, and when engaged in
the pursuit of these birds, we came in sight of four ante-
lopes, tw(^ of which were of a blackish colour on the back,
the rest of the body brown, with large spiral horns. We
met with but few new plants.

Sept. 1st. Lockhart this day discovered the female tree
of Musanga. Another tree which h<id been seen with fruit
a Ions time before was now found with flowers. The bark
and leaves of the Casa tree, which the Gangam Kissey
made use of as an ordeal, were brought to us. 'I'hey are
said to be poisonous. Of some climbers I got only im-
perfect specimens.

Sept. 2d. We set out for our final tour in company with
the Captain and Hawkey ; Fitzmaurice was ordered to go
back to the ships ; Hodder was sent up to Inga, and Gal-
wey was carried back again sick. Accompanied by twelve
men, and the negroes carrying our baggage, we proceeded
by way of Wallu and along the valley under the foot of the
hills. Some antelopes were seen. We halted at a rivulet

Uu

330 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

called LuUu, where I found a single specimen of an Angi-
osperma and an Euphorbiacea. Our way went over rug-
ged hills till we approached the high land towards the
evening ; we then crossed some rivulets, near the last of
Avhich was a luxuriant growth of trees and thick grass. A
Clerodendrum was found here, but I lost the flowers.

Sept. 3. We passed over the high mountain at Man-
soama Gomma, where I found a Limodoriim. At noon
near a rivulet Avas found a Labiata herbacea, a parasite plant
like Loranthus ; and in the rivulet of Lullu, a frutescent

Oxalis, Antidisma, and Poh/podium pteroides, in

small ravines.

The slate inclined this day more towards the west,
and the hills were better covered with wood, and distin-
guished by many new villages. The higher parts Avere
covered with a red clay. From Mangoama Gomma a view
opened over the upper part of the river, which is expanding
itself over the surface of a country of less elevation. Near
the upper Sangala is a narroAV passage through the moun-
tain, down which the river precipitates itself within a very
contracted channel. For the first time I observed in the
ravine here the transition to clay-slate, of whic the hills
are formed. Its inclination is uncertain, but generally
towards the north. When on on the height of the banza
Bomba Yanga, we were met by a party of slave-merchants.
From thence we directed our way more towards the river,
and proceeded over some smaller hills till we reached
Condo Janga in the evening. The view above being un-
interrupted over an open and flat country. The river had

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 331

now tlie appearance of one of our northern lakes; its
banks Avere covered with wood, and in some parts of it
were rocks rising out of the surface in the form of a horse-
shoe. Canoes again made their appearance, and renewed
our hopes. We were at the beginning of a country evidently
capable of an extensive cultivation, Avith a fine navigable
river, Avilh abundance of provisions for sale, and with an
encreased population. The evening was spent in hunting
after the hippopotami, which snorted close by us at the
point of the bay ; and they were so numerous, that we
could not say it was their fault if the chase was unsuccessful.

Sept. 4. Our tour to-day was more agreeable than
any we had made for a long time. After having crossed
the bay in canoes, we walked along the level banks of the
river. A dela}' however was occasioned by a quarrel with
the carriers. In passing through two or three villages we
Avere followed by a number of people attracted by curiosity.
We proceeded over the bend of the riAcr, which, higher
up, again runs in a northerly direction. In ihe formation
of the rocks clay-slate is still predominating. The river
side was in some places covered with less slat}^ clay of
a reddish colour, which higher up alternated Avith a com-
pact blue, sometimes horny limestone. We pitched our
tent at noon.

Our party begins again to be somcAvhat dispirited, and
it is whispered that Ave shall return in about two days
more, at a time Avhen every thing seems to inspire fresh
hopes. ]\Iany new plants Avere collected here, and two
singular species of unknown fishes. We saw also a great
many striped skins of a small species of antelope.

:332 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

Sept. 5. I made an excursion along the rugged banks
of the river, which now form small sandy beaches between
projecting rocks of clav-slate, Avith three or four alternating
beds of the above-mentioned blue compact lime- stone. I
made my way over two ravines thickly covered with wood,
and shot some pigeons, which flocked all around in great
numbers. I saw also some partridges, a species of the
strandpiper, a vulture, which I fired at, and a corvus. Of
plants I saw SiFeni ; a Frutex dioicus, stylo S-partito plumoso ;
a Frutex sphwsus debilis, syngenesia pohjgamia necessaria,Jlor.
capitat ; a Malamba with young fruit, seminibits in pidpa
nidulantihns.

We proceeded across the plain up to the foot of a
fine hill, that limits it towards the west. An excellent
view of the course of the river here presented itself, com-
prehending its long course eastward from Condo Inga,
which we had partly passed, with its ... . small rocks,
and the whole plain covered with scattered groups of palms.
Higher up the river was seen turning northward round a
point, above which the village Kabinda is situated at the
foot of the eminences. The northerly very expanded
reaches of the river soon ceases, and the river turns again
in a southerly direction, winding between small points,
and disappearing behind the hills to the S. E., in which
direction it seems to continue.

The country towards the north and north-east is some-
what precipitous, with hills of unequal height, but on the
south side and south-east side it is more level. No very
considerable mountain has as yet been discovered in the
back ground. It is only along the river that trees, are

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 333

growing. The width of its expanded smooth surface is ge-
nerally about one* English mile. It is here extremely beau-
tiful, and if the hills were covered with wood, it would be
another Ransfiord.-f- A number of spectators came down
from the village. I descended quickly, but found no bar-
gain made. The inhabitants had danced a Sanga. A gen-
tleman promised us a canoe next morning. The dark
long sky, which about a month ago at the horizon was
shown to us as a sign of the approach of the rainy season,
appeared in the evening at the north side of the river. The
night was moonlioht.

Sept. 6th. Having at last succeeded in hiring two canoes,
the baggage was carried by them along the shore, while we
proceeded by land through two villages over the plain and
down to the river at the upper end of the rocks, Avhich are
disposed like a horse shoe. At this latter place the canoes
were dragged over two rapids. Four hippopotami were
seen here, at which I fired several shots, and hit one of
them in the head, when he started up and disappeared.
We proceeded round the point into the bay of Bobomga,
and behind the first long rock, which was found to consist
of crystallized lime-stone, of which perhaps the narrow
tongue of land is also composed.

At the bottom of the bay is a small lake, into which the
water tlowed through a creek, which perhaps indicated the

* Dr. Smith is very loose and vague in all his descriptions and statements, that
fall not witliin the sphere of Botany. Captain Tuckey roakes the width of the
River here from three to four English miles. Ed.
•j- A firth in Norway, or a large bay.

334 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

rising of the river. Its shores were all around covered with
panicum. Aw alligator was swimming in the lake, and
another before the mouth. Traces of hippopotami were
seen everywhere. Shoals of fisii abounded in the small
creeks. A Hcematopus and several other birds were seen.
All this gave to that spot a romantic appearance. Having
crossed the projecting tongue of land situated under Ka-
vinda, we pitched our tent under the hills in the sandy cove
opposite the longest point ; and here it was evident from
the strand plants which projected into the water, that the;
river had risen from six to eight inches. The temperature
was as low as 73^° ; observations were made morning and
evening. An alligator was swimming about all night near
the shore, and contrived to carry oft' the only goat we had
left remaining. I found here again the beautiful Tetran-
dria, corolla tubuloso, foli/s imiltifidis, which I had seen
at Mampaya.

Sept. 7th. A third canoe was hired to day, and all em-
barked. Projecting into the bay are picturesque rocks,
consisting of subverted alternating beds of clay and lime-
stone.

Near some rocky islands, a number of small Charadrii
were seen. Behind these rocks, a little higher up, the river
is again somewhat contracted, and Ave were told that our
people would not be able to pass in canoes. One of them
was in fact upset, and broken by carelessness, which ac-
cident occasioned a long delay. At last we got over to
the other side of the river, and landed in a beautiful sandy
cove, at the opening of a creek, behind a long projecting

PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL. 335

point. It is called Sandi-Sundi. An immense number of
hippopotami were seen here. In the evening a number ot"
alligators were also seen.

Sept. 8. Our hunting excursions last night and this
morning were ecjually unsuccessful. I fired at some hip-
popotami. A young Mustela was brought to us by the
negroes. Some porters or coolies were again hired to
carry the baggage over land. AVe proceeded up the hills
till we reached the high land, which is here rather level,
the soil consisting of clay. The clay-slate formation still
continues. This side seems to be more populous than the
other. After passing through three or four villages we
again approached the river, which is here more than half
a Danish mile in breadth. The shore is flat and sandy,
with several varieties of lime-stone. We had now arrived
at the end of the southern reach of the river, which again
took a north-easterly direction, in consequence of a chain
of undulating mouutaii.s being situated in that direction.
The country on the north or east-side appears now flatly
inclining. Towards the north-east are coves terminated
by large sand-banks. We renewed our chase after the
hippopotami.

Sept. 9th. We proceeded round the creek, into which
at the upper end a large rivulet emptied itself, and over
the first hills, when we found two villages. From the sum-
mit we had a view of the Avindings of the river, which,
turniug round the hills, takes a large sweep to the eastward,
after which, according to the account given by the inhabi-
tants, it runs to the southward. The ridge of hills consists

336 PROFESSOR SMITH'S JOURNAL.

of clay-slate. The highest that were seen running east and
west --------T--------

lAt this place they turned their backs on the River, to the great
annoyance, as the Gardener states, of Dr. Smith, tvho had become
so much enraptured with the improved appearance of the Coun-
try, and the magnificence of the River, that it was with the utmost
difficulty he was prevailed on to return ; four days after th is he was
attacked with fever J]

[ 337 ]

A CONCISE VIEW of the Country along the Line of the

Zaire, — its Natural History and Inhabitants, — collected

from the preceding Narratives, and from the Observations

of the Naturalists and Officers employed on the Expedition.

THE RIVER. — If, from the lamentable and almost
unaccountable mortality which brougiit to an untimely
termination this ill-fated expedition, the grand problem re-
specting the identity of the Niger and the Zaire still remains
to be solved ; we have at least, by means of it, acquired
a more certain and distinct knowledge of the direction and
magnitude of the latter river, in its passage through the
kingdom of Congo, as well as a more extended and correct
notion of the nature of the country, of its inhabitants and
productions, than had hitherto been supplied in the ac-
counts (and they are the only ones) of the early Catholic
missionaries.

It now appears, that although this great river, which has
been named promiscuously the Congo, the Zaire, and the
Barbela (but which ought, as Captain Tuckey learned, to be
called Moienzi Enzaddi, " the Great River," or " the river
which absorbs all other rivers,") falls short, in some
respects, of the magnificent character given to the lower
part of its course ; yet in others, it has been much under-
rated. Its great velocity, for instance, its perpetual stale
of being flooded, and its effectual resistance of the tide,
are exaggerations ; but in regard to its depth at the point

Xx

338 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

of junction with the sea, it was found to exceed the
hio-hest estimate which had been oriven to it. In Max-
Avell's chart, which is the onl}^ one published deserving
of notice, the soundings near to the mouth, and for a
considerable distance upwards, are marked down at 100
fathoms; and the rate of the current at five, six, and even
seven knots an hour. Captain Tuckej^ when in the trans-
port, says that they could get no bottom with 150 fathoms
of line out ; and Mr. Fitzmaurice was equally unsuccess-
ful in the Congo sloop with a line of l60 fathoms. These
attempts however are no proofs of the river being actually
that depth, as the loose line floats away with the current ;
but Massey's sounding machine, which is so contrived by
being thrown overboard, and unconnected entirelv with
the drift of the ship, as not to be influenced by it,
indicated by its index, when hauled up, a descent to the
depth of 113 fathoms ; at Avhich depth, the lead attached
to it had not touched the ground ; and it was observed,
that although the current made a rippling noise, somewhat
resembling that of a mill-sluice, yet, on trial, it was sel-
dom found to exceed four and a half, or five knots an
hour, and in many places not more than two and a half.
It was however sufficiently strong in many parts of the
channel to prevent the transport from entering the river
for five days ; and it was not until the sixth that, by taking
the advantage of a strong sea breeze, which sets in re-
gularly with more or less strength every afternoon, she
was enabled, by creeping close to the shore, to stem the
current, which is there less strong than in the middle

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 339

where the water is deepest. The current however in the
mid-stream must have been greater than it is generally
staled ; as it is admitted by the surveyor, that, with every
desire to complete the survey of the river in all its parts,
he found it impossible, even with the aid of Massey's
machine, to get the soundings in the mid-channel,
though the river was, at that time, in its lowest state.
Maxwell's chart was found to be incorrect in many re-
spects, especially as to distances, which are generally
too great. With regard to the flat islands formed by
alluvial earth, and overgrown with the mangrove and the
papyrus, constant changes are taking place, some gra-
dually forming and encreasing in size, while others are
wholly or partially swept by the current into the ocean.

The mistaken notion, Avhich seems to have originated
with the Portuguese, that the tide could make no impres-
sion on the current of the Zaire, is but partially true ;
this mistake is now corrected by frequent observations of
the tide forcing the reflux of the stream very perceptibly
as high up as the commencement of the narrows at Son-
die, where the rise and fall amounted from twelve to sixteen
inches ; but though it caused the water to be dammed up,
and a counter-current on one or both sides, yet, strictly
speaking, the current in the middle of the river was never
overcome by the tide.

The distance at which the narrows commence is about 140
English miles from the mouth of the river at Point Padron,
and they continue as far as Inga, or forty miles nearly ; the
width of the river being generally not more than from

340 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

three to five hundred yards, throughout that extent, and
in most parts bristled Avith rocks. The banks, between
which the water is thus hemmed in, are, for the whole of
this distance, every where precipitous, and composed en-
tirely of masses of slate; which, in several places, run in
ledges across from one bank to the other, forming rapids
or cataracts, which the natives distinguish by the name of
Yellala. The lowest and the most formidable of these
barriers was found to be a descending bed of mica slate,
'.vhose fall was about thirty feet perpendicular in a slope
of 300 yards. Though in this low state of the river it was
scarcely deserving the name of a cataract, it was stated
by the natives to make a tremendous noise in the rainy
season, and to throw into the air large volumes of Avhite
foam. Even now the foam and spray at the bottom are
said to have mounted eighteen or twenty feet into the air.
On visiting this Vellala, Capt. Tuckey, Professor Smith,
and Mr. Fitzmaurice were not a little surprised to observe,
how small a quantity of water passed over this contracted
part of the river, compared with the immense volume
which rolled into the ocean through the deep funnel-
shaped mouth ; the more so, as they had previously as-
certained, in their progress upwards, that not a single tri-
butary stream of water, sufficient to turn a mill, fell into
the river on either side, between the mouth and the ca-
taract; and they concluded, that the only satisfactory
explanation of this remarkable dift'erence in the quantity,
was the supposition that a very considerable mass of water
must fmd its way through subterraneous passages, under

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 341

the slate rocks; disappearing probably where the river
first enters these schistose mountains, and forms the nar-
rows, and rising again a little below their termination, at
Point Sondie, where the channel begins to Aviden, and from
whence to Lendjoo Point, a succession of tornados and
Avhirlpools were observed to disturb the regular current of
the river. These whirlpools are described, both by Cap-
tain Tuckey and Mr. Fitzmaurice, to be so violent and
dangerous, that no vessel could attempt to approach them.
Even the eddies occasioned by them were so turbulent as
frequently to resist both sails, oars, and towing, twisting
the boats round in every direction; and it was with the
utmost difficulty, that they were extricated without being
swamped. The instances of rivers losing themselves for a
lime under ground are so common, in all countries, that
there seems to be no particular objection to the hypothesis
of the Zaire losing a great portion of its waters in its
passage through the narrows, under its schistose bed.
At the same time, the eye might be deceived in estimating
the quantity of -water forced into a narrow channel, and
running with the rapidity of a mill-sluice till it falls over a
cataract, by a comparison with that which flows in a deep
and expanded bed, in one uniform and tranquil motion;
having besides an eddy, or counter-current, on one or both
sides, which carries a considerable portion of water in a
retroo-rade direction.

Be this as it may, the Zaire, beyond the mountainous
regions, was again found to expand to the Avidth of two,
three, and even more than four miles, and to flow with a

342 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

current of two to three miles an hour ; and near the
place where Captain Tuckey was compelled to abandon
the further prosecution of the journey, which was about
100 miles beyond Inga, or 280 miles from Cape Padron,
it is stated that the river put on a majestic appearance,
that the scenery was beautiful, and not inferior to any on
the banks of the Thames ; and the natives of this part all
agreed in stating, that they knew of no impediment to the
continued navigation of the river; that the only obstruc-
tion in the north-eastern branch, was a single ledge of
rocks, forming a kind of rapid, over which however canoes
were able to pass.

The opinion that the Zaire is in a constant state of flood,
or, in other words, that it continues to be swelled more or
less by freshes through the whole year, has been com-
pletely refuted by the present expedition. But the ar-
gument, which was grounded on this supposition, of its
origin being in northern Africa, so far from being weak-
ened, has acquired additional strength from the cor-
rection of the error. Like all other tropical rivers, the
Zaire has its periodical floods ; but the quantity of its
rise and fall is less perhaps than that of any other river of
equal magnitude. From the lowest ebb, at which the
party saw it, to the highest marks of its rise on the rocks,
the ditFerence no where appeared to exceed eleven feel,
and in many places was not more than eight or nine. The
commencement of the rise was first observed above Yel-
lala, on the 1st of September, to be three inches; and on
the 17th of that month it had acquired, at the Tall Trees,

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 343

near the mouth of the river, the height of seven feet; with-
out the velocity having much, if at all encreased ; and
without a single shower having fallen that deserves to be
noticed. The little difference between the rise of seven
feet, which then took place in the dry season, while the
sun was still to the nortjiward of the line, and that of eleven
feet in the wet season, during which the sun is twice verti-
cal, affords a solid argument for its northern origin ; and,
when coupled with the particular moment at which it was
first observed to rise, would seem to establish the fact,
ahnost beyond a doubt, that one branch of the river, as
was stated by tlie natives, must descend from some part
of Africa to the northward of the Equator.

We find in Captain Tuckey's notes, after having ob-
served the progressive rise of the river, the insertion of two
words as a memorandum, " hypothesis confirmed." This
hypothesis had previously been stated among the last notes
of his Journal, which he did not live to reduce into a regu-
lar narrative, under these words; " extraordinary quiet
rise of the river shows it to issue from some lake, which
had received almost the whole of its water from the north
of the line." But in a private letter written from Yellala,
and brought home in the Congo, he dwells more particular-
ly on this hypothesis; " combining" he says " my observa-
tions with the information I have been able to collect from
the natives, vague and trifling as it is, 1 cannot help think-
ing that the Zaire will be found to issue from some larae
lake, or chain of lakes, considerably to the northward of
the line ;" and he contends that, so far from the low state

344 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

of the river in July and August militating against such an
hypothesis, it has the contrary tendency of giving additional
weight to it, " provided" he goes on to saj^ " die river should
begin to swell in the early part of September, an event I
am taught to expect, and for which lam anxiously looking
out." The river did begin to swell at the precise period
he had anticipated ; and that circumstance corroborating
the previous conclusion he had draAvn, induces him to note
down in his journal, that " the hypothesis is confirmed."

It is evident that Captain Tuckey, on the latter part of
his journey, could only put down a few brief notes to re-
fresh his memory, wiiich, from his exhausted state, on his
return to the vessels, he Avas wholly unable to enlarge or
explain ; and thus the reasoning on which he had built his
hypotiiesis is lost to the world : he lamented, it seems, when
on his death-bed, that he could not be permitted to live
to put in order the remarks he had collected in tracing
upwards this extraordinary river. Unfortunately none
of the party has escaped to supply this deficiency ; the
solidity, however, of Captain Tuckey's conclusion is not
shaken, but rather corrobated, by what is known of physi-
cal facts and the geographical probabilities, as connected
Avith northern Africa. These may be briefly stated.

In the tropical regions, the rains generally follow the
sun's course, and are not at their height till he approaches
the tropics ; hence arises the exhausted state of the lakes of
Wangara in the months of May, June, and July, and their
overflowing in the middle and latter end of August, ac-
cording to the observations of the Arabian geographers ;

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 846

and this late floodino- of the lakes is obviously owins; to the
long easterhj course of the Niger, collecting into its channel
all the waters from the northward and the southward as it
proceeds along. If, then, the ebb and flood of the Wangara
lakes depend on the state of the Niger, it will follow, on the
supposition of the identity of that river and the Zaire, that
the flood and ebb of the latter, to the southward of the line,
must correspond with the ebb and flood of the lakes of
Wangara. The existence of those lakes has never been
called in question, though their position has not been ex-
actly ascertained ; but .supposing them to be situated some-
where between the twelfth and the fifteenth degrees of nor-
thern latitude, the position usually assigned to them in the
charts, and that the southern outlet is under or near the
12th parallel, the direct distance between that and the spot
where Captain Tuckey first observed the Zaire to rise, may
be taken at about 1200 miles, which, by allowing for the
windings of the river, and some little difference of meri-
dians, cannot be calculated at less than 1600 miles.

Admitting, then, that the lakes of Wangara should over-
flow in the first week of August, and the current in the chan-
nel of outlet move at the rate of 2^ miles an hour, which
is the average rate at which the Zaire was found to flow
above the narrows, the flooded stream would reach that
spot in the first week of September, and swell that river
exactly in the way, and at the time and place, as observed
by Captain Tucke\'. No other suj)position, in fact, than
that of its northern origin, will explain the rise of the Zaire
in the diy season ; and if its identity with the Niger, or,

346 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

which amounts to the same thing, its communication with
Wangara, should be disputed, Captain Tuckey's hypothe-
sis of its issuing from some other great lake, to the north-
ward of the line, will still retain its probability. The idea
of a lake seems to have arisen from the " extraordinary
quiet rise" of the river, which was from three to six inches
in twenty four hours. If the rise of the Zaire had pro-
ceeded from rains to the southward of the line, swelling
the tributary streams, and pouring, in mountain torrents, the
waters into the main channel, the rise would have been
sudden and impetuous ; but coming on as it did in a quiet
and regular manner, it could proceed only from the gradual
overflowing of a lake.

There is, however, another circumstance in favour of a
river issuing from Wangara, or the lakes and swamps de-
signated under that name, and of that river being the Zaire.
There is not a lake, perhaps, of any magnitude in the
known world, mitliout an outlet, whose waters are not
saline — the Caspian, the Aral and the neghbouring lakes,
the Asphaltites or Dead Sea, and all those of Asia, which
have no outlet, are salt.* If therefore the lakes of Wangara
had no outlet, but all the waters received into them spread
themselves over an extended surface during the rains, and
were evaporated in the dry season, there would necessarily
be deposited on the earth, so left dr}', an incrustation of salt,
and the remaining water would be strongly impregnated with

* TJie freshness of the Z\ix€ or Zurrali, the Aria Palus, in Seistan, rests on no
authority — but if so, its waters are not evaporated, but pass off by filtration
through the sand.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 347

salt ; and both the one and the other would be encreased
by every succeeding inundation. None of the African rivers
are free from saline impregnations ; but the Niger, in its
long easterly course, collecting the waters from the sandy
and saline soil of the desert, where every plant almost is
saturated with salt, must be particularly charged with it.
No mention, however, is made by any of the Arabian writers
of that indispensable article, salt, being procured in the
mud or soil abandoned by the waters of Wangara ; on the
contrary, it is well known that one great branch of the
trade of Tombuctoo is that of obtainin 2; salt from the north-
em desert, for the supply of the countries to the southward
of the Niger. But if Wangara had no outlet, this could not
be necessary, as both it and all the large inland lakes, so
circumstanced, would afford more or less of salt ; and if so,
the trade of the caravans proceeding with rock salt from
Tegazza to Tombuctoo would not have existed ; as it is
well known it has done, and still does, especially from the
latter place to Melli and other countries south of the
Niger," to a great water," as Cadamosta says, " Avhich the
traders could not tell whether it was salt or fresh ; by
reason of which (he says) I could not discover whether it
was a river or the sea ; but," he continues, " I hold it to be
a river, because if it was the sea, there would be no need
of salt."

Edrisi, however, distinctly states them to be fresh water
lakes, and says that the two cities of Ghana are situated on
the two opposite shores of Avhat the Arabs call a fresh
water sea. This fresh water sea, therefore, must necessarily
have an outlet ; or, like the Caspian, it would be no longer
fresh ; and the conclusion is that, if the Niger runs into

348 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

these lakes of Ghana and Wangara, it does not there ter-
minate, but that, in the season of the rains, it also flows out
of them. In fact, Edrisi does not make the Niger to ter-
minate in the swamps of Wangara or Vancara ; he merely
describes them as being an island three hundred miles in
length, and one hundred and fifty in breadth, surrounded
by the Niger all the year, but that, in the month of August,
the greater part is covered with water as long as the inun-
dations of the Niger continue ; and that when the river has.
subsided into its proper channel, the negroes return to their
habitations, and dig the earth for gold, " everyone finding
more or less, as it pleases God." But not a Avord is men-
tioned of their finding salt, which indeed is the great inter-
changeable commodity for gold.

On the assumption, then, of Wangara discharging its
overflowing waters, the most probable direction of the
channel is to the southward ; and as the evidence of the
northern origin of the Zaire amounts almost to the establish-
ment of the fact, the approximation of the two streams is
in favour of their identity. If the account of Sidi Hamet's
visit to Wassenah, as related by Riley, could be depended
on, a very fev/ degrees only are wanting to bring the two
streams together ; but with all the strong testimonies in
favour of Riley's veracity, every page of his book betrays
a looseness and inaccuracy, that very much diminish the
value of this Arab^s narrative as it is given by him. The
name of 2;^a</?', given by this Arab merchant to die Niger at
Wassenah ; that of Zad, which Horneman learned to be its
name to the eastward of Tombuctoo^ " where it turned off to
the southward ;" the Enzaddi, which Maxwell says is the
name given to the cataracts of the Zaire ; and the Moienzi

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 349

enzaddi, which Captain Tuckey understood to be the name
of the river at Embonnma, are so many concurring cir-
cumstances which give a favourable though a faint colour
to the hypothesis of the identity of the two rivei"s.

If any further exploration of the Zaire, upwards, should
be undertaken, Captain Tuckey has sufficiently established
the fact, that no naval equipment at home can avail in the
prosecution of this object. All that appears to be neces-
sary, is that of providing at the Cape de Verde islands a
dozen or twenty asses and mules, and carrying them in a
common transport up the river as far as Embomma ; from
thence to make the best of the way over land direct for
Condo Yanga, the place which has been assigned by
Captain Tuckey, as possessing the greatest advantages
for the necessary preparations for embarking on the river ;
and these preparations would consist merely in purchasing
or hiring half a dozen canoes, with the help Of two or three
ship carpenters, converting them into three double-boats,
or twin-canoes, by a few planks, which would form a con-
venient platform for the accommodation of the party, the
animals, and the baggage. In this way they would pro-
ceed where the river -was navigable, and by land, with the
assistance of the asses and mules, where interruptions oc-
curred : and thus they would avoid that degree of fatigue,
w^iich was untpiestionabl}' the principal cause of the death
of those who fell on the late expedition. On the part of
the natives, it is now pretty well ascertained, there would
be no obstruction, unless they are of a very different dis-
position higher up in the interior, than what Captain
Tuckey experienced them to be, which is not, as far a.s

350 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

he could collect, very likely : the character of the negro
having hitherto been every where stamped with mildness,
simplicity, and benignity of disposition.

Face OF the Country — Soil, Climate, and Pro-
ductions. The country named Congo, of which we find
so much written in collections of Voyages and Travels, ap-
pears to be an undefined tract of territory, hemmed in be-
tween Loango on the north, and Angola on the south ; but
to what extent it stretches inland, it would be difficult to
determine ; and depends most probably on the state of war
or peace with the contiguous tribes. All that seems to be
known at present is, that the country is partitioned out into
a multitude of petty states or Chenooships, held as a kind
of fiefs under some real or imaginary personage living
in the interior, nobody knows exactly where. Captain
Tuckey could only learn that the paramount sovereign was
named Blindy N'Congo, and resided at a banza named
Congo, which was six days journey in the interior from the
Tall Trees, where, by the account of the negroes, the Por-
tuguese had an eslabhshment, and where there were soldiers
and white women. This place is no doubt the St. Salva-
dor of the Portuguese. These chiefs have improperly been
called kings : their territories, it would seem, are small in
extent, the present expedition having passed at least six of
them in the line of the river; the last is that of Inga, be-
yond which are what they call bush-men, or those dreadful
cannibals whom Andrew Battel, Lopez, Merolla, and
others, have denominated Jiigas, or Giagas, " who con-
sider human flesh as the most delicious food, and cob-

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 351

lets of warm blood as the most exquisite beverage ;" a ca-
lumny, which there is every reason to believe has not the
smallest foundation in fact. From the character and
disposition of the native African, it may fairly be doubted
whether, throughout the whole of this great continent, a
negro cannibal has any existence.

That portion of the Congo territory, through which the
Zaire flows into the southern Atlantic, is not verv inte-
resting, either in the general appearance of its surface, its
natural products, or the state of society, and the condition
of its native inhabitants. The first is unalterable; the
second and third are capable of great extension and
improvement, b}' artificial and moral cultivation ; but
with the exception of the river itself, there are probably
few points between the motith of the Senegal and Cape
Negro, on that coast, which do not put on a more interest-
ing appearance, in a physical point of view, than the
banks of the Zaire. The cluster of moimtains, though in
general not high (the most elev'ated probably not ex-
ceeding two thousand feet), are denuded of all vegeta-
tion, with the exception of a few coarse rank grasses ; and
the lower ranges of hills, having; no o;rand forests, as mio-ht
be expected in such a climate, but a few large trees only,
scattered along their sides and upon their summits, the
most numerous of which are, the Adansonia, Mimosa,
Bombax, Ficus, and palms of two or three species.

Between the feet of these hills, however, and the mar-
gins of the river, the level alluvial banks, which extend
from the mouth nearly to Embomma, are clothed with a

362 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

most exuberant vegetation, presenting to the eye one con-
tinued forest of tall and majestic trees, clothed with foliage
of never-fading verdure. Numerous islands are also seen
to rise above the surface of the river, some mantled with the
thick mangrove, mingled with the tall and elegant palm,
and others covered with the Egyptian papyrus, resembhng
at a distance extensive fields of waving corn. Perhaps it
may be said, that the great characteristic feature of the
banks and islands of the lower part of the Zaire is the man-
grove, the palm, the adansonia and the bombax, with in-
termediate patches of papyrus ; and after the alluvial flats
have ceased, naked and precipitous mountains, resting on
micaceous slate, which, through an extent of at least fifty
nnles, forms the two banks of the river; the only inter-
ruption to this extended shore of slate being a few narrow
ravines in which the villages of tlie natives are situated,
amidst clumps of the wine-palm, and small patches of cul-
tivated ground. On the summits of the hills, also, which
Captain Tuckey distinguishes by the name of plateaus,
there is a sufficiency of soil for the cultivation of the ordi-
nary articles of food ; and here too numerous small villages
occur amidst the bombax, the mimosa, the adansonia and
the palm ; but the soil on the tops and sides is of a hard
clayey nature, incapable of being worked in the dry season,
but sufficiently productive when mellowed by the heavy
rains, and with the aid of a heated atmosphere.

The country however becomes greatly improved in every
respect, beyond the narrows of the river. Hitherto the
general characteristic features of the geology of the coun-

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 353

trj were mica-slate, quartz, and sienite ; but here the rock

■

formation, though not entirely, was considerably changed ;
the granite mountains and hills of pebbly quartz having
given way to clay and ferruginous earth, and the mica-slate
to lime-stone. The banks of the Zaire are now no longer
lined with continued masses of mica-slate, but man}' rocky
promontories of marble jut into the river, with fertile vales
between them ; and the reaches of the river itself stretching
out into broad expanded sheets of water, resembling so
many mountain lakes. The greater part of the surface
was noAV fit for cultivation, and towns or villages followed
each other in constant succession, far beyond the limits of
the Congo territory. Vegetation was more generally dif-
fused, as well as more varied ; and rills of clear water
trickled down the sides of the hills, and joined the great
river. It was just at the commencement of this improved
appearance of the country, where, from the sickly stale of
the party, and the loss of their baggage, Captain Tuckey
was reluctantly compelled to abandon the further prosecu-
tion of the objects of the expedition ; and in some respects
it was fortunate he did, as had he proceeded two or three
days longer, the whole party must unquestionably have
perished in the interior of Africa, and might perhaps never
more have been heard of.

The account which the missionaries have given of the
climate, corresponds exactly with that which was expe-
rienced by Captain Tuckey. " The winter," says Carli,
** of the kingdom of Congo, is the mild spring or autumn

Zz

354 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

of Italy; it is not subject to rains, but every morning
there falls a dew which fertilizes the earth." None of the
party make any complaint of the climate; they speak,
on the contrary, in their notes and memoranda, of the cool,
dry, and refreshing atmosphere, especially after the western
breezes set in, which they usually do an hour or two after
the sun has passed the meridian, and continue till mindight ;
and when calm in the early part of the day, the sun is said so
seldom to shine out, thai for four or five days together, they
were unable to get a correct altitude to ascertain the latitude.
So much, however, depends on locality, that at the place
where the Congo was moored, the range of the thermometer
diifered very materially from that on board the transport
lower down, and also from that observed in the upper parts
of the river. The former vessel was moored in a reach
surrounded by hills, and what little of the sea breeze
reached her, had to pass over a low swampy island. Here,
Mr. M'Kerrow noticed the range of the thermometer to
be from 70° to 90° in the shade ; sometimes, though but
seldom, as low as 67° in the night, and as high; as 98° at
noon ; and one day on shore it rose to 103° under the
shade of trees ; at the same time, above Inga, the tempe-
rature seldom exceeded 76" in the day, and was sometimes
down to 60° at night. He seems to think, that partly
owing to a better position of the transport, which remained
at anchor lower down the river, nearly opposite to the
Tall Trees, where she had the benefit of the sea breeze with-
out interruption, and partly by preventing her crew from

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

355

going on shore, this vessel continued healthy until she
received on board the unfortunate people belonging to the
Congo.

The foUowino; table exhibits the state of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, at three periods of the day, for one month,
from 20th July to 20th August, in ditferent parts of the
river, from the entrance to the Cataract, and of the water
of the river at noon.

Air.

Air.

Air.

Water.

Air.

Air.

Air.

Water

Date.

8 A. M.

Noon.

8 P. M.

Noon.

Date.

8 A.M.

Noon.

0

8 P.M.

Noon.

o

o

0

0

o

0

0

July 20

72

74

73

75

Aug. 5

71

78

78

77

21

71

76

74

76

6

72

80

78

76

22

72

75

74

76

7

72

77

77

78

23

72

75

75

76

8

71

77

76

76

24

72

74

73

77

9

69

78

78

78

25

71

76

76

77

10

69

76

76

78

26

72

78

80

76

11

70

76

75

77

27

73

78

77

77

12

68

77

78

76

28

(>9

80

76

76

13

70

76

77

76

29

70

78

74

75

14

73

78

76

77

30

70

76

76

76

15

72

78

76

77

31

71

76

74

76

l6

72

77

75

76

Aug. 1

<)9

73

75

76

17

70

76

76

76

2

71

73

76

76

18

71

76

77

78

3

71

74

76

76

19

71

78

77

77

4

69

7 b

76

76

20

69

78

75

76

It is remarked in a meteorological journal, imperfectly
kept by Captain Tuckey, in proceeding up the river, that
from the mouth to Embomma, the temperature of the river
was almost invariably at 76°.

The alimentary plants are very various, and for the most
valuable of them, the natives are indebted to the Portu-
guese. The staple products of the vegetable world consist

356 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

of manioc or cassava, j^aius, and maize or Indian corn ;
to whicli may be added sweet potatoes, pumpkins, millet
of two or three species, and calavanses : they have besides
cabbages, spinach, pepper, capsicum, the sugar-cane,
and tobacco. Of fruits they have the plaintain or banana,
papaw, oranges, limes, and pine-apples. 'J'he latter fruit
Avas met with b}^ Captain Tuckey growing on the open
plains near the extreme point of his journey, and far be-
yond where any Europeans had advanced. This fruit,
therefore, as well as the bananas, the one being from the
West, the other from the East Indies, (or both perhaps from
the West), must have been carried up into the interior by the
natives. The only beverage used by the inhabitants, except
Avhen they can get European spirits, is the juice of the palm
tree, of which there are three distinct species. It is usually
known by the name of palm Avine, and was considered by
the whole party as a very pleasant and wholesome liquor,
having a taste, when fresh from the tree, not unlike that of
sweetish cyder; is very excellent for quenching tlie thirst,
and for keeping the body gently open. When tapped near
the top, the juice runs copiously out during the night, but
very little is said to exude in the day time. One of the spe-
cies yields a juice sweeter than the rest, and this being suf-
fered to ferment, is said to produce a liquor of a very intoxi-
cating quality. The trees are remarkably tall, and are
ascended by means of a flexible hoop which encloses, at the
same time, the body of the person intending to mount and
the stem of the tree, against the latter of which the feet are
pressed, while the back rests against the hoop. At each

GENERAL OBSERVATIOXS. 357

step the hoop is moved upward with the hand, and in this
way they ascend and descend the highest trees with great
expedition : should the hoop give way, the consequence
must be fatal.

They have no want of domestic animals to serve them
a^ food, though very litde care appears to be bestowed on
them. They consist chiefly of goats, hogs, fowls, the com-
mon and Muscovy duck, and pigeons; a few sheep, gene-
rally black and white, Avith hair instead of wool. The
Chenoo of Embomma had obtained from the Portuguese
a few horned cattle, but no pains whatever were taken to
increase the breed. They have no beasts of burden of
any description. Of wild animals the country produces
great variety, but the natives are too indolent and inex-
pert to convert them to any useful purpose. They have
elephant's, leopards, lions, buffaloes, large monkeys with
black faces, and numerous species of antelopes, with which
Africa every where abounds; wild hogs, porcupines, hares,
and a great variet}^ of other ({uadrupeds, from which an
active people would derive important advantages. Guinea
fowl and red legged partridges are also abundant, large,
and fine ; and wild pigeons, of three or four species, very
plentiful.

The country appears to be remarkably free from teazing
and noxious insects, excepting bugs and fleas in the huts,
and the black ants, which erect those singular mushroom-
shaped habitations, some of which have two or three domes,
and sometimes occur in whole villages. The party suffered
no annoyance from scorpions, scolopeudras, musquitoes,

358 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

which are almost universally swarming in warm climates.
From the abundance of bees, and the hills being well
clothed with grass, Congo might be made a land " flowing
with milk and honey."

The lower part of the river abounds with excellent fish,
which would appearto be an important article of subsistence
to those who inhabit the woody banks occupied by the
mangrove. Bream, mullet and cat-fish are the most abun-
dant. A species of Sparus, of excellent flavour, was caught
by the party in large quantities, each of them Aveighing
generally from thirty to forty pounds, and some of them
even sixty. Mr. Fitijmaurice observes that, near Draper's
islands, he fell in with three or four hundred canoes, in
which the people were busily employed in dragging up a
species of shell-fish, which he compares to what is usually
in England called the clam, and Avhich is stated by Captain
Tucke}' to be a species of Mya. Most of these fishermen,
it was thought, had no other abode than the shelter which
the woods afforded them ; that they form a kind of hut by
bending and entwining the living branches, in the same
manner as is sometimes practised by the roving Caffres
bordering on the colony of the Cape of Good Hope ; others
make the caverns in the rocks the abodes of themselves and
families during the fishing season ; for it would seem that
these huts and retreats were but temporary, as the shells
of these fish were opened, the animal taken out, and dried
in the sun. In the upper parts of the river, women Avere
frequently seen fishing with scoop nets, made Irom the fi-
bres of some creeping plants ; and in one village, a Avoman

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 359

was obsei'ved spinning cotton for nets ; the herbaceous cot-
ton plant growing every where wild. In some places the
fish were caught in pots ; in others they took them by means
of a poisonous plant.

A fish resembling the Silurus electricus was brought on
board the Congo from Embomma, which, by the account
of the natives, when alive and touched, communicates a
severe shock to the hand and arm, or to use their own ex-
pression '• it shoot through all the arm." It is thus descri-
bed by Mr. M'Kerrow: length tliree-feet six inches ; head
large, broad and compressed ; mouth furnished with six
long cirrhi, four on the under and two on the upper jaw;
mandibles dentated ; tongue short, and eyes small ; body
without scales ; pectoral fins near the branchial openings,
the ventrals near the anus ; dorsal fin soft, and placed near
the tail ; upper parts of the body thickly spotted black,
and the under of a yellowish white ; skin exceedingly thick.

The Zaire swarms with those huge monsters the hippo-
potamus and the alligator, or rather crocodile, (for it appears
to be of the same species as the animal of the Nile,) and
particularly abov^e the narrows. Both these animals seem to
be gregarious, the former being generally met with in groups
of ten or twelve together ; the latter in two or three, sometimes
five or six. The flesh of the hippopotamus is excellent food,
not unlike pork ; but it does not appear that the negroes are
particularly fond of it, as the only one killed by the present
party was suffered to putrify on the margin of the river ;
though it is stated that the flesh is sometimes sold in the
market. One crocodile only was killed, whose length was

360 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

nine feet three inches, and girt across the shoulders three-
feet seven inches.

Food, Lodging, Utensils and Clothing. — Tiie sta-
ple articles of subsistence, at least in the dry season, appear
to be manioc, ground-nuts, and palm wine ; lo Avhich may
probably be added Indian corn and yams, the latter of
which are stated to be remarkably fine ; and of Indian corn
they have regularly two crops in the year. Animal food is
not in general use, though sold in the daily market held at
Embomma, Avhich is at a village distinct from the banza,
or residence of the Chenoo, and at which from a hundred
to three hundred persons ai'e said to assemble ; in this
market, the party observed a supply of goats, fowls, eggs,
besides vegetables, fish, and salt. It must be recollected,
however, that this place is the grand mart for conducting
the slave trade of the Zaire, and these supplies may be
chiefly intended for the crews of the European ships.

The negroes of Congo are exceedingly foul feeders^
and particularly filthy in their preparation and their eating
of animal food ; they broil fowls with the feathers on, and
pieces of goat Avithout being at the trouble of removing the
skin, or even the hair ; and the}'' devour them when scarcely
warmed, tearing the flesh in pieces with their teeth in the
most disgusting manner. Mr. Fitzmaurice relates that one
da}' , as their butcher had taken off the skin of a sheep, the
Mandingo slave purchased by Captain Tuckey, had slily
conveyed away the skin, Avhich, with the wool (or rather
the hair) he had thrown over a smokey fire, and when

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 361

discovered, he had nearly eaten the whole skin in a state
scarcely warm. There do not appear, however, to bathe
slightest grounds for supposing that they ever eat human
flesh, not even that of their enemies, but that all the accu-
sations of this nature are totally false.

None of the banzas or villages seen by tlie party were of
great extent ; the largest probably not exceeding one hun-
dred huts. Embomma, Cooloo, and Inga, are each the
residence of a Chenoo ; the first was supposed to consist of
about sixty huts, exclusive of the Chenoo's inclosure, and
about five hundred inhabitants; the second, one hundred
huts, and from five to six hundred inhabitants ; and the
third, being the last in the line of the river within the
kingdom of Congo, of seventy huts, and three hundred in-
habitants. The party stationed at this banza understood,
that the Chenoo could command about two hundred fiojht-
ingmen, one hundred of whom he can arm with musquets;
and with this force he conceives hiuiself to be the dread
and terror of his enemies. These banzas are usually placed
amidst groves of palms and adansonias.

The huts in general consist of six pieces, closely woven
or matted together, from a reedy grass, or the fibres of
some plant ; the two sides exactly corresponding, the two
ends the same, excepting that in one is the door way, an
opening just large enough to creep in at, and the two slop-
ing sides of the roof also correspond. The sides and ends
are made fast to upright posts stuck in the ground ; and
the two pieces of the roof are bound to the sides, and also

3 A

362 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

to each oilier ; and as each piece is very hght, a house can,
at any time, be removed from one situation to another with
great ease; sometimes the roofs are semi-circular. The
value of one of these moveable houses is stated to be not
more than the price of five or six fowls, and in five minutes
may be put together. Permanent houses, however, such
as those of the Chenoo, are made of the palm leaves with
considerable skill, having several posts along the sides and
ends, and covered externally with the blades or back rib
of the palm leaf, bound together with a creeping plant in
regular zig-zag figures. They are also generally inclosed
within a fence of reeds matted together.

Their household utensils are very few, and as simple as
the houses themselves. Baskets made of the fibres of the
palm tree ; bowls and bottles of gourds or calabashes, or of
the shell of the monkey bread-fruit (Adansonia) to hold
their provisions and water, earthen vessels of their own mak-
ing to boil their victuals, and wooden spoons to eat them ; a
mat of grass thrown on a raised platform of palm-leaves,
their only bedding. The articles of dress are equally
sparing and simple, the common people being satisfied with
a small apron tied round their loins, of a piece of baft,
if they can get it, or of native grass-matting, made by the
men ; of the same grass they make caps, whose surface is
raised and figured in a very beautiful manner, and the tex-
ture so close that they will hold water. Rings of brass or
iron are welded on the arms and ankles, and sometimes
bracelets of lion's teeth ; and the women generally contrive

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 363

to have strings of beads round their necks and arms and
legs, and in default of these, strings of the cowrie shell, or
of the round seeds of various plants.

Their canoes are generally hollowed out of the trunk of
the bombax or cotton tree, or of a species of ficus, the
common size being about twenty-four feet in length, and
from eighteen to twenty inches in Avidth ; and they are all
pushed forwards with long paddles, the men standing up-
right; they use neither sails, nor any substitute for them.

A rude hoe of iron, stuck into a wooden handle, is the
implement used for agricultural purposes ; but the climate
is so fine, that, by merely scratching the surface of the
ground, they succeed in raising good crops. The great
scarcity of provisions, experienced by the party who pro-
ceeded up the river, was occasioned entirely by the long
drought, and that want of precaution in laying up a stock
against such a contingency, which, it would seem, is here
rather the effect of indolence and thoughtlessness, than
any distrust in the right and security of property ; which
indeed is so well understood, that almost all the disputes
among the natives arise from their tenacity in the division
of property, whether in land or stock. This participation is
frequently so minute, that, as Captain Tuckey observes, a
fowl or a pig may sometimes have three or four proprietors.

POPULATJOX AND CONDITION OF THE PeOPLE.

Though the population evidently increased, the farther
the party proceeded into the interior, the banks of
the river were but thinly inhabited in the very best and

364 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

most productive parts ; and nothing appeared that could
give the least colour to those exaggerated statements of the
Catholic missionaries, who speak of such masses of men
collected together as are not to be met with in the most
populous parts of Europe. Carli, for instance, states the
" Grand Duke's" army to amount to 160,000 men ; and
he accounts for the vast population of Congo from the
indulgence of every man being allowed to take as many
wives as he pleases, and the absence of all those religious
institutions and societies which, in Europe, consign their
members to a state of celibacy. Nay, we are told, that the
king, Don Antonio, could muster an army of 900,000
men, and that he actually brought 80,000 against the
Portuguese, who with 400 Europeans and 2000 negroes,
with the help of the Virgin Mary, easily put to route this
great force, dethroned the king, and set up a new one of
their own. Whether such a population ever existed, or if
so, what became of it; whether wars, pestilence, or famine,
swept those vast multitudes away, or whether their pro-
geny were sent off to other lands, the Portuguese, who
best could tell, have been silent on the subject ; it is quite
clear, however, that no such population exists at the pre-
sent day.

Leaving out the paramount sovereign of Congo, whose
existence seems to be rather doubtful, the component parts
of a tribe or society, would appear to consist of — 1. the
Chenoo ; 2. the members of his family ; 3. the Mafooks;
4. Foomos; 5. fishermen, coolies and labouring people;
6. domestic slaves.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 365

The title and authority of the Chenoo are hereditary,
through the female line, as a precaution to make certain of
the blood royal in the succession ; for although the number
of the Chenoo's wives is unlimited, none but the offspring
of her who is descended from royal blood, can inherit ; and
in default of issue from any such, the offspring of any other
princess married to a private person, lays claim to the chief-
ship, and the consequences are such as might be expect-
ed; feuds and civil broils arise, which terminate only in
the destruction of the weaker party. A Chenoo's daughter
has the privilege of chusingher own husband, and the per-
son she fixes upon is not at liberty to refuse ; but it is a
perilous distinction which is thus conferred upon him, as
she has also the privilege of disposing of him into slavery,
in the event of his not answering her expectations. Aware
of his ticklish situation, he is sometimes induced to get the
start of her, and by the help of some poisonous mixture,
with the efficacy of which the people of Congo are well
acquainted, rids himself of his wife and his fears at the
same time.

When a Chenoo appears abroad, one of his great officers
carries before him his scepter or staff of authority, which
is a small baton of black wood about a foot in length, in-
laid with lead or copper, like the worm of a screw, and
crossed with a second screw, so as to form the figures of
rhomboids. What their native dresses may be beyond the
sphere of communication with European slave-dealers, is
not exactly known, but little more probably than an apron
of some skin-cloth, or grass-matting ; the lion's skin to sit

366 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

upon, was said to be sacred to the Chenoo, the touching^
of which by the foot of a common person is death or sla-
very. From the cataract downwards, the ridiculous cast-
oflf dresses of French and Portuguese generals, form no
part of the native costume of Congo, which, with the ex-
ception of an apron, anklets, bracelets, and necklaces,
may be presumed to be neither more nor less than sheer
nakedness.

The members of the Chenoo's family are his councillors,
by whose advice he acts in all matters of importance ; and
it is remarkable, that their consultations are generally held
under the boughs of the Jiciis religiosa. In case of war,
the elders remain behind to take care of the village, while
the brothers, sons, or nearest relations of the Chenoo are
usually selected to conduct, under him, their warlike
expeditions.

The Mafooks are the collectors of the revenues, which
are chiefly derived from trade; towards the lower part of
the river, they begin by acting as linguists or interpreters
between the slave dealers of the interior, and the EiUropean
purchasers; buthaving made a fortune, which was frequently
the case in this once lucrative employment, they purchase
the rank of Mafook, and from that moment are said to be
dumb, and utterly unable any longer to interpret.

The Foomos are composed of that class of the society
who have houses and lands of their own, two or three wives,
and perhaps a slave or two to work for them ; they are in
fact the yeomanry of the country.

The fishermen, coolies and labouring people appear to.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 3G7

consist of those who have no fixed property of their own,
but act as the labourers and peasantry of the country, and
are very much at the disposal of the Chenoo or chief,
though not slaves.

Domestic slaves do not appear to be numerous, and are
not considered as common transferable property, and only
sold for some great offence, and by order of the council,
when proved guilty. Saleable slaves are those unhappy
victims who have been taken prisoners in war, or kidnap-
ped in the interior by the slave catchers, for the sake of
making a profit of them; or such as have had a sentence of
death commuted into that of foreign slavery.

The Slave Trade. — The banks of the Zaire are not
the part of Africa where the slave trade, at present, is car-
ried on with the greatest activity, though there were three
Portuguese schooners and four pinnaces at Embomma, ou
the arrival of the expedition. The two great vents are the
Gulf of Guinea to the northward, and Loango and Ben-
guela to the southward of this river. The chiefs and their
Mafooks were, however, all prepared to trade on the ap-
pearance of the ships, and much disappointed on learning
that the object of the expedition was of a very different
nature. They had heard at Embomma, overland from the
coast, some vague rumours concerning the nature of the
expedition, which they did not well comprehend ; and when
the ]\lafook of the Chenoo first came on board, he was
very inquisitive to know, Avhether the ships came to make
trade, or make war ; and when he was distinctly told that

368 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

the object was neither the one nor the other, he asked,
" what then come for; only to take walk and make
book 1"

As it would appear, that the state of slavery is a condi-
tion inherent in the principles on which the society of every
negro tribe is founded, the gradation from domestic to
foreign slavery is so easy, that as long as a single door re-
mains open for disposing of human beings, it is to be feared,
that very little progress has actually been made towards the
abolition of this disgraceful and inhuman traffic. It is of
little use to dam up the mouths of the Senegal and the Gam-
bia, and turn the current into the channels of Lagos, For-
mosa, Calabar and Camaroons ; or to stop up these vents,
while the Zaire, the Coanza, and the Guberoro remain
open. The prolonged march of the kafilas over land may
somewhat increase the prices to the purchaser, and prolong
the misery of the slave, but the trade itself will not be much
diminished on that account ; while there is but too much
reason to fear, that the passage across the Atlantic will be
attended Avith circumstances of aggravated cruelty and in-
humanity. Indeed nothing short of a total and unqualified
prohibition of the traffic by every power in Europe and
America, can afford the least hope for a total abolition of
the foreign trade ; and even then, there is but too much
reason to believe, that the Mahomedan powers of Egypt
and northern Africa will extend their traffic to the cen-
tral regions of Soudan, which in fact, since the nominal
abolition, has very considerably encreased in those
quarters.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 369

State of Society. — The state of society among the
negro nations seems to be pretty nearly the same, and their
moral character not very different ; the people of Congo
Would appear, however, to be among the lowest of the ne-
gro tribes. The African black is by nature of a kindly, cheer-
ful, and humane disposition, entirely free from that quick,
vengeful and ferocious temper which distinguishes the sava-
ges of the Pacific and South Sea islands, particularly those
of New Guinea, which most resemble the negroes in ex-
ternal appearance. Contented with very humble fare, his
happiness seems to consist in a total relaxation from all bo-
dily exertion ; excepting when animated by the sound of
his rude native music calling him to the dance, in which he
is alwaj^s ready to join Avith the greatest alacrity. But in-
dolence is the negroe's bane ; and until some strong motive
for shaking it off shall take possession of his mind, and
convince him of the utility of industrious pursuits, by bet-
tering his condition, little hope can be entertained of the
civilization of Africa, even should a total and radical aboli-
tion of the slave trade be effected. The vast shoals of Catho-
lic missionaries poured into Congo and the neighbouring
parts of Southern Africa, from Italy, Spain, and Portugal, in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, appear not to have
advanced the natives one single step in civilization ; and the
rude mixture of Catholic with Pagan superstitions, which
were found among the Sognio people on the left bank of the
Zaire, close to the sea coast, was all that could be discovered
of any trace of Christianity, after the labours of these pious
men for three hundred years. Some of these people came

3B

370 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

off to the vessels, and they are represented as being the
very Avorst in every respect of all the tribes that were met
with on the banks of the river, being dirty, filthy, and
over-run with vermin. One of them was a priest, who had
been ordained by the Capuchin monks of Loando, and
carried with him his diploma, or letters of ordination ;
he could just write his name, and that of St. Antonio,
and read the Romish litany ; but so little was he of a
Catholic, that his losary, his relics, and his crosses were
mixed with his domestic fetiches ; and so indifferent a
Christian, that this " bare -footed black apostle," as Dr.
Smith calls hin), boasted of his having no fewer than five
wives.

Captain Tuckey seems to think that the plan of sending
a few negroes to be educated in Europe, for the purpose of
returning to instruct their countrymen, is as little likely to
succeed, as that of sending missionaries among them; and
that colonization holds out the only prospect of mehorating
their civil and moral condition. How far this might suc-
ceed with the negroes, remains to be tried; in all other
countries, inhabited by a savage or half-civilized people,
extirpation has followed close on the heels of colonization.
The unconquerable avidity for spirituous liquors on the
part of the savages, and the same propensity for their
possessions on that of the colonists, have produced conten-
tions, encroachments and spoliation, which terminate inva-
riably to the detriment of the natives, and too frequently
to their utter extermination. It might at the same time be
well worth the experiment, of prevailing on a few of the

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 371

Moravian missionaries to settle themselves in a negro village,
to instruct the natives in the useful arts of aoriculture, ma-
nufactures and trade ; to make them feel the comforts and
advantages of acquiring a surplus property ; to instil into
their minds sound moral precepts : and to divert their at-
tention from their gross and senseless superstitions to the
mild and rational principles and precepts of the Christian
religion.

The worst feature in the negro character, which is a very
common one among all savage tribes, is the little estimation
in which the female sex is held ; or, rather their esteeming
them in no other way than as contributing to their plea-
sures, and to their sloth. Yet, if this was the extent to which
female degradation was subject, some palliation might
perhaps be found in the pecuUar circumstances of the
state of the society- ; but the open and barefaced manner in
which both wives and daughters were offered f(n" hire, from
the Chenoo or chief, to the private gentleman, to any and all
of the persons belonging to the expedition, was too disgust-
ing to admit of any excuse. Some of the Chenoos had no
less than fifty wives or women, and the Matboks from ten to
twenty, any of which they seemed ready to dispose of, for
the time, to their white visitors ; and the women most com-
monly, as may well be supposed, were equally I'eady to
offer themselves, and greatly offended when their offer was
not accepted. It would seem, however, that whether they
are lent out by their tyrants, or on their own accord, the
object is solely that of obtaining the wages of prostitution ;
the heart and the passions had no share in the transac-
tion. It is just possible, that this facility in transferring

372 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Avomen to the embraces of strangers, is confined to those
parts of the country where they have had communication
with Europeans, Avho have encouraged such connections;
though it must be admitted that, on the present occasion,
very httle difference, in this respect, appears to have been
observed on the part of the women, in places beyond where
slave dealers are in the habit of visiting. Captain Tuckey,
however, says, that in no one instance, beyond Embomma,
did they find the men allant en avant in their offer of the
women ; but the Embomma men said, falsely it is to be
hoped, that it Avas only their ignorance, and the little in-
tercourse they had with white men, that prevented it ; and
that any of them would think themselves honoured by
giving up his wife or daughter to a white maTi.

No such licentious conduct it would seem is sanctioned
among themselves ; where natives are the only parties
concerned, an intrigue with another man's wife entails
slavery on both the offenders ; and if the Avife of a
Chenoo should go astray, he inflicts what punishment he
may think fit on the lady, but the paramour must suffer
death. IVIr. Fitzmaurice states, that an instance of this
kind occurred while he was stationed at Embomma. The
man was first carried to Sherwood, the mate of a slave
ship then trading in the river, and offered to him for sale ;
but on being rejected, those who had charge of him
bound his hands and feet, and, without further ceremony,
threw him into the river.

Moral and Physical Character. — It is a stranoe
inconsistency of human feeling that, in all uncultivated

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 373

societies, the weaker sex should be doomed to perform the
most laborious drudgery. In Congo, the cultivation of the
land, and the search after food in the woods and on the
plains, frequently the catching of fish, devolve wholly on
the women ; while the men either saunter about, or idle
away the time in laying at full length on the ground, or in
stringing beads, or sleeping in their huts: if employed at
all, it is in weaving their little mats or caps, a kind of light
work more appropriate to the other sex, or in strumming
on some musical instrument.

Their indolent disposition, however, does not prevent
them from indulging an immoderate fondness for dancing,
more especially on moon-light nights. No feats of activity
are displayed in this species of amusement, which consists
chiefl}^ in various motions of the arms and gesticulations of
the body, not altogether the most decent. The pleasure it
affords is announced b}^ hearty peals of laughter. They
are also fond of singing, but it is only a monotonous drawl-
ing of the voice, not very well calculated to dehght the ears
of the auditors. Their musical instruments are, a sort of
guitar or lyre of the rudest kind, horns, shells and drums ;
and sometimes calabashes filled with small stones to make
a rattling noise. They have songs on love, war, hunting,
palm wine, and a variety of subjects, some of which have
been attempted to be written down and translated by Cap-
tain Tuckey, but in so imperfect a manner and so much
defaced, as not to admit of being made out.

In all the memoranda of the gentlemen employed on the
expedition, the natives of Congo are represented as a live-
ly and good-humoured race of men, extremely hospitable

374 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

to strangers, and always ready to share their pittance,
sometimes scanty enough, with the passing visitor. In one
of the notes only, they are characterized as shrewd, cunning,
and thievish. Men living in a state of society like theirs, have
occasion for all their shrewdness and cunning ; but with re-
spect to their thievish propensity, though common to almost
all savage and half-civihzed tribes, the testimony of Captain
Tuckey is rather in favour of their honesty. It is true, that
when returning down the river in a sickly and helpless condi-
tion, and in great haste and anxiet3^to reach the vessels, some
trilling advantage was taken to pilfer part of their baggage ;
but it is in favour of these people that, considering all the
circumstances of the distressed situation of the party, the}^
were able to bring away with them any part of their scat-
tered property.

The stature of the men of Congo is that of the middle size,
and their features, though nearest to those of the negro
tribe, are neither so strongly marked, nor so black as the
Africans are in general. They are not anly represented as
being more pleasing, but also as wearing the appearance
of great simplicity and innocence. Captain Tuckej- could
not discover among the people any national physiognomy;
but few mulatloes ; and many had the features of south-
ern Europeans. The discovery, by the party, of burnt
bones, and of human sculls hanging from trees, might
have led to the injurious idea of their being addicted
to the eating of human flesh, had no further enquiries
been made concernino- them : accounts of cannibahsm have
been inferred by travellers on appearances no better
founded than these : and it is probable, that the many idle

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 375

stones repeated by the Capuchin and other missionaries to
Congo, of the Giagas and Anzicas, their immediate neighs
hours, dehghting in human flesh, may have had no other
foundation than their fears worked upon by the stories of
the neighbouring tribes, who always take care to repre-
sent one another in a bad hght, and usually fix upon
cannibalism as the worst.

SuPEUSTiTioxs. — Ignorance has always been accoun-
ted the prolific mother of superstition. Those of the
negroes of Congo would be mere subjects of ridicule, if
they were harmless to society ; Avhich however is not the
case. Every man has his fetiche, and some at least a
dozen, being so many tutelary deities, against Q\eYy ima-
ginable evil that may befal them. The word is Portu-
guese, _/e/i/co, and signifies a charm, witchcraft, magic,
&c.; and what is remarkable enough, it is in universal use
among all the negro tribes of the Western Coast.

There is nothing so vile in nature, that does not serve for
a negro's fetiche ; the horn, the hoof, the hair, the teeth,
and the bones of all manner of quadrupeds ; the feathers,
beaks, claws, skulls and bones of birds ; the heads and
skins of snakes; the shells and fins of fishes; pieces of old
iron, copper, wood, seeds of plants, and sometimes a mix-
ture of all, or most of them, strung together. In the choice
of a fetiche, they consult certain persons Avhom they call
I'etiche-men, who may be considered to form a kind of
priesthood, the members of which preside at the altar of
superstition. As a specimen of these senseless appendages

376

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

ges to the dress, and the dwelling of every negro, the fol-
lowing represents one which the wearer considered as an in-
fallible charm against poison ; the materials are, an Euro-
pean padlock, in the iron of which they have contrived to
bury a cowrie shell and various other matters, the bill of
a bird, and the head of a snake ; these are suspended
from a rosary consisting of the beans of a species of do-
lichosy strung alternately with the seeds of some other plant.

Others, with some little variation, are considered as protec-
tions against the effects of thunder and lightning, against
the attacks of the alligator, the hippopotamus, snakes, hons,
tigers, &c. &c. And if it should so happen, as it some-
times does, that in spite of his guardian genius, the wearer
should perish by the very means against which he had
adopted it as a precaution, no blame is ascribed to any
negligence or want of virtue on the part of the fetiche, but
to some otJence given to it, by the possessor, for which it

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 377

has permitted the punishment. On this account, when a
man is about to commit a crime, or do that which his
conscience tells him he ought not to do, he lajs aside his
fetiche, and covers up his deity, that he may not be privy
to the deed. Some of the persons of the expedition shewed
to one of the chief men a magnet, which he said was very
bad fetiche for black man ; he was too lively and had too
much savey.

This would be all well enough, if an opinion of their
virtues in warding off evil affected only themselves ; and
they might even be useful when considered as a guard upon
their actions ; but their influence does not stop here ; they
are considered in one sense as a kind of deity, to whom
praj'ers are addressed for their assistance, and if afforded,
thanksgivings are returned ; for the honour of the fetiche
also, abstinence is performed, and penalties inflicted ; but
if unsuccessful in any enterprize on Avhich the fetiche has
been consulted, the owner immediately parts Avith him,
and purchases another from the priest. These cunning
men have gone a step further, and have succeeded in per-
suading the silly people, that by their means, any part of
a man's property may be fetiched or made sacred, in the
same manner, or nearly so, as the iabhoo, which is so uni-
versally practised in all the Pacific and South Sea islands ;
and their mode of detecting a thief, bears a very remark-
able resemblance to that which Campbell describes to be
used among the people of the Sandwich islands.

But the evil does not end here. Mr. Fitzmaurice,
while he stopped at Banza Cooloo, was witness to a trans-

3C

378 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

action, which will best explain the ill effects of these sense-
less superstitions. A woman had been robbed of some
manioc and ground nuts ; she applied to a gangam or
priest for a fetiche, which would compel the robber to
restore the property ; and the manner of doing it is as fol-
lows. The fetiche being exposed in some public place,
the people of the village dance round it, and with the most
hideous howhngs invoke it to produce the thief, or to
direct that within a certain time, and at a certain place,
he shall deposit the stolen goods, in failure of which, that
this newly created divinity will be pleased to destroy both
him and his relations. If at the expiration of the time,
which is usually two days, the property is not restored,
the fetiche is removed, and the first person of the village
who dies, is considered to be the thief. It usually happens,
that the goods are restored, but this was not the case in
the present instance. The morning after the removal of
the fetiche, the most dismal howlings were heard in the
village, and, on sending the interpreter to enquire into the
cause, he returned and reported, that the fetiche had killed
the thief, and that the noise proceeded from the relations
mourning over the body. " The deceased," says Mr.
Fitzmaurice, " had been one of my coolies, and was a fine
strong young man, apparently about twenty-four years of
age. I had seen him the preceding evening walking
about in good health, which, together with the circum-
stance of his having died in convulsions, leads me to sus-
pect that, rather than suffer the efficacy of the fetiche to
be questioned, the priest had selected this poor fellow as

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 379

the victim to his imposture, and had contrived to send
him out of the world by poison ; an opinion in which I am
the more confirmed, from the relations of the deceased
having found it necessary to present the priest with a larger
quantity of manioc and nuts than what had been stolen,
a necessary precaution, as my interpreter assures me, to
preserve their own lives."

The following circumstance, which passed between Mr.
Fitzmaurice and his friend the Chenoo of the village, is a
curious trait of simplicity or cunning in the manners of
these people. This Chenoo had boasted of a war fetiche,
which if any one attempted to shoot at, the flint would fall
out, and the person so attempting would fall down dead.
On Mr. Fitzmaurice and Mr. Hodder expressing a wish to
have a shot at this redoubtable deity, he observed, that
he loved them too much to let them try ; on telling him
however that if, on firing, they missed it, or if they sus-
tained any harm, they wou^d give him a whole piece of
baft and two bottles of brandy, his fears for their safety
immediately vanished before the prospect of gain, and he
consented ; six yards was the distance measured off. The
fetiche was the figure of a man rudely carved in wood and
covered with rags, about two feet high, and one foot broad,
and the time appointed was the following morning. In
the course of the evening, the interpreter, who had a great
regard for the strangers, appeared extremely sad and pen-
sive, and being asked the cause, replied, that he very much
feared his good masters were going to die, and intreated in
the most urgent manner, that they would give the baft and

380 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

brandy, and let the fetiche alone. Being absent for some
time, he said, on his return, that he had been at the vil-
lage ; that the King and his nobles were holding a pala-
ver, whether the}' should venture the fetiche or not, and
that they had asked him, whether he thought white men
would dare fire at it, and on hisanswering in the affirmative,
they exclaimed, " mindeele zaambie ra'poonga," white
men are gods." The Chenoo made his appearance the fol-
lowing morning, but without the fetiche, and was very de-
sirous to see the fowling piece fired, in which he was gra-
tified, and on perceiving the ball strike the mark fired at,
he seemed very much astonished, and went away without
saying a w^ord. In the evening he returned, with nearly
the whole of the inhabitants ; begged they would not
think of firing at his fetiche, for if they should hit it, and
this was known to the neighbouring Chenoos, they would
all make war upon him immediately ; an intreaty which
was uttered with so much real axiety in his countenance
as to leave no doubt of his being in earnest.

Besides the individual fetiches which are selected by a
priest, or by the caprice of the wearer, various striking
objects of nature are held in general estimation. The
Taddi Enzazzi, or lightning stone, and the fetisch rock,
are objects of this kind. The latter is considered as the
peculiar residence of Seembi, the spirit which presides
over the river.. On the side of some rocks inhabited by
fishermen, round the point of Soonda, are a number of
raised figures, formed apparently with sand and ashes and
laid on wet, which, when indurated, appear like stone sculp-^

2f

From a. sketcl) "t^ Lien' Hawkey.

r

eAlPTAHW TTTUClSIElf'S V®1rA©Tl IM AIFmE©A.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

881

tured in low relief. The annexed plates are fac-similes of
those figures copied by Lieutenant Hawkey, respecting
which, lie observes, that he could not learn, from any in-
quiries he was able to make, whether they had any con-
nection with the religious notions of the people, though
they went by the name of fetiches. They were said to be
the work of a learned priest of Nokki, who taught the art
to all those who chose to pay him. The names of the ob-
jects, corresponding with the numbers on the plates, are
mentioned by Lieutenant Hawkey, as under.

20. A gentleman in his
hammock.

21. A snake.

22. Unknown.

23. A man shooting a bird.

24. An old man and a
young one killing an
alligator.

25. Unknown.
2t»- A hunter and hippota-

mus.

27. An elephant.

28. Unknown.
29- A hunter, a deer, and

an alligator.

30. Tattooing figures.

31. A man and snake.

32. A gentleman in his
hammock,

33. A ship.

1. A gentleman in his ham-

mock and guard,

2. A gentleman borne by

his slave.

3.1

4. I Unknown.

5. J

6". A lizard.
7. An alligator.

■ I Unknown.

10. A hippopotamus.

11. Unknown.
A buffalo.
A chasseur.
A buffalo.
A bird.

16. Unknown.

17. An alligator.

18. A hunter killing a deer.

19. A bird.

12
13
14
15

382 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

In several other places, figures of a similar kind were met
with, cut into the face of the slat}^ rock, or into wood, or on
the surface of the gourds or pumpkins, most of which had
something of the fetiche or sacred character attached to
them. They have some vague notion of a future paradise,
in which they shall all be happ^^ ; they also entertain some
idea of a good and an evil principle ; the former is distin-
guished by the name of Zamba M'Poonga ; the latter by
that of Cad dee MTeemba ; but they seem to pa}' more
veneration to, and to feel a greater dread of, their sub-
s'tantial fetiches, than these imaginary personages.

The most inoffensive part of their superstitions is the re-
spect which they show to the dead ; and absurd as it may
appear, a veneration for deceased friends and relations is
always a favourable trait in the character of a people.
Those who can aflFord, and they omit no endeavours to
obtain it, cover the dead bodies of their relations with many
folds of clothing, and keep them above ground, till, from the
quantity of wrappers added from time to time, they have
arrived at an immense bulk ; in this state they are then
deposited in a hut ; they mourn their loss at stated times
of the day with bowlings and lamentations ; and at length
they bury them in graves of vast depth, with the view pro-
bably of preventing the possibility of their being scratched
up by beasts of prey ; they plant trees and shrubs round
the graves, and like the Welsh and the Chinese, decorate
them with flowers or place fetiches upon them. An ele-
phant's tusk placed at the head and another at the foot,
mark the grave as belonging to a person of some distinction.

Ectch "by l-ie'j.* Hay.^ey-

jl ''jlffliwiir^
(JjllllllW

C^^

TuiUjhed hy John Murra-y^ldemarU Str&et lotuionj\/ov

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 388

Crimes ajjd Punishments. — Tlie only capital crimes
are stated to be those of poisoning and adultery, the latter of
which is singular enough, considering in what little estima-
tion women are held. Murder and theft are punished by re-
taliation and restitution, or selling the criminal into slavery.
The Gangam and his Kissey are the grand jury who find
the bill, but the accused undergoes a trial by ordeal before
the elders of the community. He is made to chew a cer-
tain poisonous bark ; if guilty, he keeps it in his stomach
and it occasions his death ; if innocent, he throws it up
again and he is acquitted of the charge ; and thus the
guilt or innocence of a man is made to depend on the
strength of his stomach. The practice of poisoning is so
common, that the master of a slave always makes him
taste his cooked victuals before he ventures to eat of them
himself.

Diseases and Remedies. — The natives in general ap-
peared to be healthy ; the diseases under which they mostly
laboured, were of the cutaneous kind, few being free from
the itch, and scrofula ; leprosy, and elephantiasis were ob-
served, and some few cases of fever and duxes occurred.
They appeared to be subject also to indolent tumors, and
most of them were observed to have large navels. Among
the people of the neighbouring towns who came down to
Inoa to see the Avhite men that were stationed there, a
Mafook brought with him his daughter, a girl of about
twelve 3'ears of age, whose skin was perfectly white, but
of a pale sickly colour, though the father said she was

884 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

quite stout and healthy ; she had curly hair and negro
features.

The only medicines used by them, and those but spar-
ingly, are infusions and decoctions of native plants ; and
among others the root of a species of dioscorea, of a very
strong bitter taste, is very much chewed by them as a pre-
ventive of fluxes ; but the Gangam Kissey and various
fetiches are mosily resorted to for the cure of diseases ; and
when the Gangam, who acts in the threefold capacity of
priest, public accuser, and physician, sees the case to be
desperate, he gives the patient over to Zamba M'Poonga.

It is not easy to conceive for what purpose the shoals of
missionaries were sent among the Congo negroes, nor in
what manner they passed their time in the country. Their
accounts are filled with the multitudes they baptized, and
they baptized all who offered themselves ; but it is a very
extraordinary fact that they should not have instructed
some of them to read and write. No trace of any such in-
struction appeared along the banks of tiie Zaire, except in
the instance before mentioned ; nor did it appear that they
had any mode of registering time or events, except by
the moon, and in this way only for a very few years.

Language The language of the Congo and the neigh-
bouring states, differs very materially from all the known
languages of the negroes oC northern Africa ; but from the
copious vocabiilaries obtained by Captain Tuckey, there
would seem to be a radical afhnily between all the lan-
guages on the western coast of Southern Africa, and that

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, 38o

these languages have pervaded the greater part of that
portion of the Continent, and extended even to the eastern
coast.

'J'he letter of Mr. Marsden, referred to in Captain
Tuckey's instructions, contains some curious information
on this subject ; as well as some remarks on the language
in general, which may be useful to future travellers ; the
following is an extract from it.

" Knowing so little, as we do, of the countries on the
" banks of the Zaire (which I observe is also called by
" D'Anville, the Barbela river), few particular instructions
" can be given, regarding the language spoken in that
" quarter; and it will depend upon Captain Tuckey to avail
" himself of the information that circumstances may place
" within his reach. In most cases the opportunity will be
" little more than that of collecting a few of the most com-
" mon words, which may, however, be sufficient to shew
" whether the people speaking them, have or have not an
" original connection with others geographically and poli-
" tically separated from them ; and comparisons of this
" kind M'ill be much facilitated by having uniform lists
" which not only suggest the proper words at the momen
" of enquiry, but place them mechanically beside each
" other. Where a longer residence admits of freer inter-
" course, and the means of acquiring a more perfect know-
" ledge of the language, it will be desirable, besides at-
" tempting to lill up the larger vocabulary,* that pains
" should be taken to examine its grammatical structure,
* A printed selection of English words.

3D

886 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

*' and to ascertain, for instance, how the nominative and
" subjunctive words in a sentence are placed with respect
" to the verb ; how the adjective with regard to the sub-
" stantive ; how plurals and degrees of comparison are
" formed ; whetlier there is any kind of inflexion or varia-
" tion of syllables of the same Avord according to its posi-
" tion in the sentence and connection with other words ;
" whether the pronouns personal vary according to the
" rank or sex of the person addressing or person addressed ;
" and whether they are incorporated with the verb ; and to
" observe any other peculiarities of idiom, that the lan-
" guage may present ; noting the degree of softness, harsh-
" ness, indistinctness, intonation, guttural sounds, and the
" prevalence or deficiency of any particular letters of the
" alphabet, as we should term them, such as R and F.
" The extent of country, over which a language is under-
" stood to prevail, should also be a subject of investigation ;
" and, by what others it is bounded at every side. Also,
" whether there may not be a correct language of com-
" munication between nations, whose proper languages are
" distinct.

" I observe that the name o^ Congo belongs to the coun-
" tr}'^ on the southern side of the Zaire; and that Loango,
" Kokongo, N'Goio, Tomba, and N'Teka, are the names
" of kingdoms or districts on the northern side. The spe-
" cimens I have of the language of Loango (apparently the
" most considerable of these) shews it to be radically the
" same with that of Congo, although, as dialects, they vary
" a great deal. It will probably be found, that this is the

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

387

*' case with regard to the others also ; and I am the more
" inchned to beheve the language very general in that
" part of Africa from the foUoAving circumstance : I had
" formerly a negro servant from Mosambique, who came
" by the way of Bombay to Bencoolen, and having taken
" down from his mouth the words of his native tongue, I
" was afterwards much surprized to find them correspond,
" in many instances, not only with the language of the
" Cafters, as given by Sparrman, but more especially with
" that of Congo, as will be seen on comparing a few of the
" words of the latter, as given by Benjamin (the Congo
" black) with those taken from my servant.

Ka^er.

Sanu.

English.

Congo.

Mosambique.

Three. .

Tatoo.

Atatoo.

Ten.

Coomy.

Kumir.

Four.

Me-sana.

Man.

Momtoo.

Mimtu.

Woman.

Makaintu.

Muke.

Foot.

Cooloo.

Mo'guru

Day.

Booboo.

Riubu.

Dead.

Cufoy.

Kufoa.

Water.

Maza.

Madje.

Ma

azi.

" But it was not my intention to have gone into this de-
" tail; the fact, however, is very curious, the distance being
" so considerable."

It is sufficiently remarkable, however, that while this agree-
ment is found between the languages of tribes so very distant
from each other, so great a difference should prevail in diffe-
rent parts of the same district, and at so short a distance, as

388 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

appears by the Vocabulary (Appendix, No. I.) collected
and filled up by Captain Tuckey ; the first column of which
are the words of the Malemba languaf^e, on the coast and
near the mouth of the river, the second those of Embom-
ma ; and it is stated that the language beyond Inga differed
very considerably from that of Embomma.

Mr. Marsden, who obligingly furnished the list of Eng-
lish words in a printed form, and Avhose extensive know-
ledge of languages? stamps a value on any opinion he
may give on that subject, has communicated the following
observations on Captain Tuckey 's vocabulary.

" The very copious and apparently accurate vocabulary
" of the Congo language, collected by Captain Tuckey,
" has furnished the means of comparison with the other
" languages and dialects prevailing in the southern por-
" tion of Africa, and has thereby served to establish the
" fact of an intimate connexion between the races of peo-
" pie inhabiting the western and the eastern coasts of the
" peninsula ; although in that parallel, its breadth is little
" less than thirty degrees of longitude.

" Upon selecting some of the most familiar terms, and
" comparing them with the specimens we possess, it will
" be seen, in the first place, that the words as written down
" by Captain Tuckey, from the mouths of the natives
" of Co»^o, agree generally with those given by Brusciotto,
" Oldendorp, and Hervas; allowance being made for the
" differences of European orthography. They also cor-
" respond with those of the neighbouring countries of
" Loango and Angola, with some variety of labial pro-

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

389

a
a
a

nunciation ; and less perfectly with the languages of the
Mandongo (not to be confounded with the Mandinga of
Northern Africa) and the Camha people ; both of the
same western coast. It is highly probable, that all
these mutually understand each other in conversation.
Between the Congo language and that of the tribes on
the eastern side, the affinity, although radical is much
less striking, and the people themselves must consider
them as quite distinct ; but the following instances of
resemblance, in words expressing the simplest ideas,
may be thought sufficient to warrant the belief, that the
nations by whom they are employed, must, at a remote
period, have been more intimately connected."

is

is.

d

4.1

C u

o «

ca

a,
6 5

C =

o «
O

Z3

.a >

Si

Three

Tatoo

Tattu

Sitaltu

Ba-tatu

A-talu

Four

M'na

Ya

Sija

Me-sana

Moonaw

Saiiu

Five

Tanoo

Tanu

Sit-tan

—

Tlianou

—

Ten

Coomy

Icumi

Si-kunii

Kumi

Kouniaw

Sumi

Eye

Mieso

—

—

Meso

Tfosho

—

Tooih

Mcno

^"^

—

Me no

Me 11 ho

—

Dead

Foi

Affua

Ku -foa

Ufile

Water

Maza

Mase

Rlasa

Madji

Matee

.Mae>i

Hog

Gorolooboo

—

Engulo

Guru ay

Giilloway

—

Sun

I'aiigua

N'Tazi

Tangu

—

—

Langga

Moon

Mooezy

—

—

Moyse

Moomo

—

Salt

Moonqua

—

—

—

-Mun-you

— i

There does not seem to be the least truth in the com-
plicated mechanism of the Congo language, which some
fanciful author thought he had discovered, and which has
been repeated by succeeding writers ; none of" those idioms

390 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

of which the syntax and grammatical forms, ingeniously
combined with art, indicate, in the opinion of Malte-Brun,
•' a meditative genius, foreign to the habitual condition of
these people."

These few observations contain a summary of the know-
ledge of the moral circumstances and condition of the
people, and their means of subistence, as obtained by the
expedition to the point of the ri\^er where its researches
terminated. The physical information acquired is, on
account of its scientific form, kept separate, and follows
in the Appendix

[391]

v^

APPENDIX, No. I.

A Vocabulary of the Malemba and Embomma Languages.

English.

Malemba.

Embomma.

English.

Malemba.

Embomma

Above,

Tanda

Teleema,

Aunt,

Cacandee

Menkaze

Absent,

leli

leli-kouka

Avoid,

Souama

Accuse,

N'Doke

Awake,

Catoumauca

cotouka

Admire,

Equaila

Axe,

M'Peebe

tawly

Advice,

Wenapee

Adultery,

Wavuca, Ng-

Sougam casan-

Back,

Nema

booza

Cazganie

gana

Back again,

Vantauca

Afraid,

Wonga

Boema

Bad,

Mabee, Moontoa

mambee

Afront, I'.

-N'Sone

nganzey

N'zambico, bad

After,

Quonema

man

Afternoon,

Masseca

maseaka

Bag.

Ecouba

Kouba

Again,

Quaudee

Bake,

Zampaimbe, Bolo

Agree,

loca Chivueede

Zampaimbe,

Air,

E'Zoola

zeelo

bake bread

Alike,

Deddy Deddy

Bald,

V'andou

vandou

Alive,

N'Chenia

monio

Bargain,

Saomba

soomba

All,

ionsou. M'Venu-

Yo

Bark (rind)

Taunda

babosy

lonsou, I give

Barren

Seeta

all

Barter, v.

Taubeengana-

Vinja

Alone,

Caca ; Meno caca.

quetau

I am alone

Basket,

M'Bangou

Always,

Loumbau E'on-

Tangibana

Bathe,

N'Younga

Sookoola

sou, all times

Battle,

Nouana

N'ousna

Amuse,

Queenibela

Bawl, V.

Beconoa

Anchor,

Boam-pouiou

boam-poutou

Bay,

Londo

N'zeela

And,

Isha

Beads,

M'Sanga, or

p'sanga

Angry

N'Zalla, Lengula,

Sanga

sulky

Beard,

N'Deva

Devoe

Another

Lequa, Lequa
chanca, ano-

Beat, V.

Yalta, beco-yaita,
don't strike

Bolo

ther thing.

Bed,

M'Foulou

Cheea

Answer, v.

Tamboudede

bouleno-beembo

Before,

Ovetide quande

Any,

lequa, ehouso-le-

Beg,

M'panou

M'cootoO

qua, any thing

Begin,

Davove

Tona

Approach, r.

Queaniena or

Isa

Behind,

Oquinema

quanima

\^^esadea

Believe,

Eande

Arm,

Coco

Belly,

^'oumou

Voomoo

Army,

Cacomunta

Below,

Quonsee

quoonsee

Arrive,

N'Chemosouca

Bend,

Voumbama

beenza

Ashamed,

N'Sone

sony-zakaleka

Betray,

Moueve

Ashore,

V'anase, vanasse

\ananze

Between,

Fouloumose

Ask,

Couvaula

uvroola

Beyond,

Valla

Asleep,

Leca

Icle

Big.

Ounene

tolo

Assist,

Cousadesa

Bind,

Cangama

At

M'pou

Bird,

Noone

Noonee

3D2

APPENDIX. No. I.

English.

Malemba.

Emboroma.

English.

Malemba.

Embomma,

Bite, V.

La vat a

tibila

Cold,

Chazee

cheosey

Bitter,

Cazau

nooly

Comb, V.

Sanoo

Sanoo

Black,

M'fiote

M'fiot

Come,

AAVesa

ouise

Blind,

Mesouinafoa

mafoi

Conquer,

cheena waate

boogazy

Blood,

Menga

Menga

Cook, V.

Lambe

lamba

Blue,

Chandonibe

Chinoinba

Copper,

Sango

Songo

Boat

N'Zaza

N'zaza

Corner,

Fouma

Body,

Solango

Avia

Country,

Seame

N'zee

Boil, 0.

Lamba (meno

laamb

Cow,

Gombe

pacheza

lainba, 1 boil)

Cry, I..

Dela

leela

Bold,

Oumolo, or qu-

Cure, I'.

Sambouca

belola

angolo

Curse, V.

Lakelaca

lokala

Bone,

Vissee, or Vese

vezze

Cut,

Veengoana

Yango

Bottom,

Coonansee

Coonansee

Box, n.

Lookata

Dance, v.

Keena

keena

Boy,

N'Tanude

leeze, toadi

Dark,

Tombe ; Night

M'boi

Brave,

Quangolo or Ou-

pande

time

molo

Dausrhter,

Chincoomba

Coomba

Bread,

Bolo

Bolo

Day,"

Laumbau

Moinee

Break, v.

Baudede

bourica

Dead,

Fauede

foi

Breast?,

N'Toulou

Maeiiii maboi

Deaf,

Matoo, Mafou

(the same)

Bridge,

Saaoka

Subooka

(ear blind)

Bring,

Twala

Deceive,

Maueve

M'poonizea

Broad,

Tamamasc

Deep,

M'peenda

Vinda

Brother,

Pangame

Depart,

Wenda quakoo

Yenda quakoo

Build,

Taunganza

Devil,

CaddeM'l'emba

Coolani pambo

Burn, V.

E. Veede

Monovia

Dew,

Desa or Deza

Lizee

Busy,

Salansalanga

Die, r.

IM'foa

foca foi

Buy.

Soumbaquacou

Soomba

Dig.

Sema. Seraa au-
loo, dig grave

sicuni

Cable,

Seenga

Seenga

Diligent,

kebba-bene

Call, V.

BokeJa

Lundoo

Discourse,

yako. Palaver

zoco

Calm,

Bacanam-pemba-

bauano pemo

Dispute,

JS'ganzy

ganzy

quano, no wind

Divide,

chakeky

chakeky

Careful,

Kbea

bongo leeko

Dog,

M'Boa

M'boi

Carry,

Nata

Nata

Door,

Kaveloo, door-

Vitoo

Cat,

Boude

boode

place, E'Vltoo.

Catch, V.

Bacca

Seemba

Down, ad.

Coonasse. Wenda

Charge,

A'eenga. veenqua

aviengeza

conasse.go down

lequa (change

Dream, v.

N'Uazee,dosentou

lota

something)

Drink, v.

Noa

noi

Cheeks,

Matamnia

Matamma

Drop, V.

Bauede

soonoquezy

Chew,

Dade

Casu

Drown,

Seendede

fomo

Chief, n. s.

Menta

Drunk,

Calelau, or Coloa

Coloi

Child,

Mauana

moana

Malavou, drunk

Chin,

Bevau

bevo

from wine

Choose,

Zona

Circle,

Zounga(Zoonga)

zegoomaneena

Ear,

Cooto-Matoo

Matoo

City,

Banza

M'banza

Earth (soil)

N'tato

toto

Clean,

Soucoula, (means

Neaveze

Earth (globe)

sionso

sionso

also wash)

East,

akoo

Cloth,

chindele

blele

Eat,

Dea

lia

Cloud,

E'Sanche

tooty

Edge,

Maino

tova

Coarse,

Catyauwataco

voonga

Egg.

Makee

makee masoosoo

APPENDIX, No. I.

395

Malemba.

Embomma.

English.

E'Nana

N'ana

Fond,

Nana longcanima

lonvois

champabala

bacana leevco

Seena

Seena

Food,

Giahelady

Fool,

Fouaing

Foiny

Foot,

Cota

Forbid,

cheena

teena

Forget,

cabely

liezo

Forgive,

Mesau

Fork,

N'daou

davu

Forty,
Four,

loosi

loozie

Fourteen,

Eouede

booide

Fowl,

Voona or Ovoo-

boisey

Free,

nene

cunda

Fresh,

N'Seke

tanzy

Friend,

cadedeco, sto-

Fruit,

mach empty

Full,

Tola

tolezy

tata

taut a

Wonga (cheeuico

cheonico

do not run

Fur,

away.)

Girl,

dela quooniosee

mocu becza

Give,

N'Salla

caia niuza

Glad,'
Go, V.
Goat,

Seembede

seembele

Kentoo

chemta

Twala

voola

God,

Yaila, sick

Ecaume tanoo

macooma tanoo

Gold,

Macaumatanoo

Sambanoo

Good,

Nooana

noana

rirpnt

Zonga. Zonga

Ouazia

\T1 Cdl,

Green,

Maza, fill water

Grow

Tomba

tomba

Guard, v.

M. blembo

loozala

Bazao

bazoo

Hair,

Bishe or Bizhy

M'foo

Half,

Tanoo

toanoo

Hand,

Vavawoote

bassa

Handsoine,

Gojnbai

M'psoonia

Hang,

E'folo. E'folode

Happy,

Ma'; a, float on

Hard,

the water

Head,

Mazely. Maza

Hear,

niazely. water

flood.

Foundee

foondia

Heart,

Lavooka

catooka

Heaven,

Seeda-quonenaa,

londa

Heavy,

I follow you.

Hen,

Malemba.

Embomma.

N'Zona. N'Zons

I n'zoolozy

Kentou, fonc

of woman

belia

Laoo

booba

Tambee

tambee

Zoueneco

seembeedi

Zeembakeene

zimbancoonie

Mangene

vanica

Soma

soma

Macoomaya

macoomana

Yaea Quea or kea

m'na

Ecoameaeya

coom m'na

Soosoo

soo soo

Foomoo, free man

foomongana

Enasoodeca (no

stink)

Dequame

Coondiamy

Cooia

Ezaily (Glossa

zala

Ezaily Maza,

glass full of

water)

Meca

meeka

caintoo

vana

vama

Tondele

tondiza

VVenda

ouenda

combo

Zanibe M' Poun-

yarabee

goo

Ola

voola

Maboote

tibooty mavoote

Foonioo-a- Moote

keenani

Chambeo

kankoososo

E'lMenene

coola

lunglula

N'Sooke

M'sootchy

Cachanseea

teeny

Candase

coco

Maraoote

quenevezey

Keteca,

zuDgalaquoi

oobooeli

Golozeenge

bala

N'Too

M'too

Weloo(Oweloowe

oneloo

do you hear

that)

N'Cheema

nionio

Ezooloo

coozolo

Zeeta

zeeta

Soosoo N 'kentoo

woman fowl

3E

396

APPENDIX, No. I.

English.

Malemba.

Embomma.

English.

Malemba

Embomma.

Herb,

Foundee

teel,

Lake,

Eanga

Cooly

Here,

Wesa-ba (come

Lame,

Tolooca

toloca

here)

Land,

Zela

n'se

Hide, V.

Soo-aimy

souka

Last,

Quenema

lequampe dee:

y

High,

M'Saiky

nankoo

Laugh, V.

Saiba

seva

Hill,

M'Zanza

veniongo

Law,

Yoco, and Palavei

m'cusa

Hire, ».

Salla Eeofeeta,

Lead, n.

chooinboo

choomboo

work and I'll

Learn, v.

Longua or Cou-

longua

pay you, Ooeza

camba

poota, come

Leg,

Veende,

maloo

and I'll pay you

Lie (down) v.

Daile.

bleka

Hit, r.

Oungetele

Lie (falsity)

Vouna

m'voonoo

Hog,

N'Gooloo

gooloobo

Lift,

Nata

naogoova

Hold, V.

Seeuiba

seemba

Light (not heavy)

Bacana Zitaco

zelaco

Hole,

Nooa

cooloo

Light (not dark)

Mouene

mooini

Hollow, n. a.

Lequa champa-

voovooloo

Lightning,

N'Zaza

lu^iemo

bala, empty

Lips,

Bevau

bleelee

Home,

Coonipootoo

Little,

Chakai

chepehow

Honest,

Mooutoo N'Zam-
be

moonta

Live, V.

Ena-\^'a-wautee,
I live

Horn,

M'Poca and
iM'Poonge

m'poka

Long,
Look, V.

Chella
Talla

chicolezy

Horse,

Ca^alo

cavallo (Portug.)

Love, V.

Laou

zolozy

Hot,

Alooene

bazoo

Low,

Vousee

toola

House,

MZo

in"zo

*

Hundred,

changcamma

m'cama

Mad,

E'Laou or Ai-

laooka

Hungry,

N'Zalla

zala

leooa

Hurt", V.

N'Gansey

coontanty

Make, v.

Saneca

vanga

Husband,

Etoco

nooniani

Male,

Man (homo)

Moontou,
Moontau

boocala

I,

Meno

meenoo

Many,

Enjecaca

benga

Idle,

Casasalaco

Market,

E'Zandou,

zando

Jealous,

Fontavouke cas-

chimpala

Mat,

Teba

teva

same

Meet, V.

Baulasenna

boolanjana

If,

Onso-Onso Zo-

vo

Melt, V.

Manze

quabooka

nene.if you like

Mend,

Londa

londo

Industrious,

Salla woete

Middle,

Counzee

cawty

Innocent,

raandico

Milk,

Chimvooraa

chialy

Interpret,

N'Camba

sencamba

Mine, -pr.

Wamee or

chamy

.Toin,

Ecca or Yeca

E'Chanie

Journey,

Diata

tanzey

Money,

Bango

bongo

Iron,
Island,

Loocaneba
Zoonga

saangua
zoonga

Month,
Moon,

N'Gondai
N'Gondai

\ gonde

Jump, V.

Zotooka

More,

Lequa

boola

Justice,

coticounda

Morning,
Mother,

Kensouca
Mamma

menamena
mama

Keep,

Loonda

saonou

Mountain,

M'Zanza

m'zanza

Kick, V.

^Vaita

tockensy

Mouth,

Noua

m'no i

Kill,

M'foa, or M'foua

bonda

Much,

Panega

ye.izy

King,

Nemboma or

m'cheeno

Mud,

Folo

ra'teachy

fooma, theeno

Musick,

Sambe

yeoola

Knife.

IM'Baily

belee

Knot,

Acolo or E'colo

coIo

Nails, (ongles)

Sonso

n'yula

Know,

Ounzoi

N'zabizy

Name,

Zena

zena

APPENDIX, No. I.

397

Malemlia.

Embomma.

English.

Malemba.

Emborama.

Voucoufe

cheechow

Price,

E'faunda

bongoqua

Calavou

chevolagaya

Priest.

VVecheche

gonga

E'Laca

m'singoo

Private,

Sauama

Voumosetweena

boleamba

Profit,

Keta

Mounguanza

jula

Promise, v.

Sompeea

getu coovana

N'Zalo

condy

Proud,

^'enda wawoote

Bacana Vanaco

ooenoquako

Pull,

(anoar) Vouela.

Chacheva

cliamona

voula bene,

Masseca

fookoo

pull well voulla

E'Vaua

nana

Eoumose, puU

Louvoua Long-

lunaua

toget her

camma

Quarrel,

N'Dokee

zouza

Nana

bucanaco

Quarter part.

N'Dambouka

Bouba

yoko-beke yoke,

Queen,

Camma-Foumou

foo moonchainto

don't make

Question,

Balnunge dede

noise

Quick,

Sampouea

yong'nana

Gonguame

chunuvalaututo

Quiet,

Molo Molo

velo

Rain,

Voula

vola

Mazaumau

yoono

Rat,

N'Coumbe

pooloo

Waau

booboo

Raw,

Yangtounzau

yancoonzo

Read,

Soneca

chimboiky

Manze

mazey

Ready,

Panga

seemba

Rebel, n.

N'Couta

Base

mosey

Receive,

Tamboude

(Lequa chemasi,

Red,

Yampaimbe

no more than

Rejoice,

Veca Monacoo

one)

Return, v.n.

Avotoquede

voo taloo

Zibaula

zaboquely

Reward, n.

Ounzetou

Lava

btissykissey

Rich.

Sena

vovama

boncooa

Ride,

Sambela

cundama

Ring, n.

Loangai^

longa

Malau taiita

yela

Ripe,

soowondoo

Cousandeemba

vela

Rise, V.

Katomaca

talama

Papalla

papela (Port.)

River.

Moela

moela

Feta

fitezy

Road,

Mozeila

enzala

Ele-Nauana

noinidecau

Roast,

Coka or Coca

roka

Peendouame

bantoo

Rob.

Mowee

lovenda yeba

(Zeka Aulou

Rope,

Seenga

singa

make Hole)

Rotten,

Chawola

kabowle

Acoutanta

jougana

Rough,

Meca

Voulelamene or

Round.

Chenzaongolo

soolaina

Vouyanzala

Row, V.

Zongoloca

vooila

Choboubo

sacoona

Run,

Zoucooloca

zuola

Tondela

tooendacoit

lugee

yengabeeni

Safe

Chinavona

Daukee

goolioongo

Sail, n.

Voola

Toola

Maclianzambe

beezycunda

Salt.

Mongua

moongua

Doundedcca

Sand,

Yengasee

neengy

Sea

cheenzo

Savage

Ganze

Acuemeta

mavoomocavo

Say.

Vova

Ta

vana

Sea,

Embou or M'Bou

boo

N'Sallaco

Seat,

Voanda

chansoo

Ounseembede

Secure,

Yeco-baca

398

APPENDIX, No. I.

Bngliih.

Malemba.

Einbomma.

English.

Malemba.

Bmbomma.

See,

Tala

mona

Strong,

Golo

golo

Seek,

Tomba

tomba

Sun,

Mouene

tangua

Sell,

Zeca

loombeeca

Swear,

Gozee

deffy

Send,

Toraa

tooma

Sweet,

Chinzsilla

Servant,

Toudeamme

nioonaleze

Swim,

Yonga

coivela

Seven,

Sarabouady

Sambody

Sword",

Tan zee

soma

Seventy,

Lousambouady

loosambody

Shade,

Pozee

Tail,

M'Kela

keela

Shake,

Necona

nicocka

Take.

Bonga

Shame,

Somee

sonee

Tear, v.

Masanga

baka

Share, n.

Auncoeya

cayana

Tell,

Camba

Sharp,

Looca

etooide

Ten,

Ecau-me

coomy

Shell,

Chimpenga

encaissoi

There,

Chinna

ouvana

Short,

Cofee

cooffey

They,
Thief,

Ana

doo

Shut,

Zeca

zeca

Moevee

moivy

Sick.

Yela ; yela yela.

Thigh,

Ebooboo

boodou d'acoulou

very sick

1

Thin,

Enka

lovilo

Side,

Louvate

mona !

Thirsty,

Po-ailla

pooina

Silent,

Beca yoca, be si-

canganikoota

Thirteen,

Coomee e tato u

macoomatatoo

lent

Thirty,

Macoum a tatou

macoomasambe«

Silver,

Plata

parata (Port.)

noo

Sing,

Wimbela

quimbela

This,

eki

Sink.

Cheseendede

seendissa

Throat,

Gongolo

elaka

Sister,

Panga M'Kentau

pangankainto

Throw,

Looza

lasa

Sit,

Voenda

ovanda

Thunder,

Mandazee

moindozy

Six,

Sambanou

sambanoo

Three,

Tatau

latoo

Sixty,

Macouma Sam-

Tie,

Kanga

cavaga

banou

To

Oula

o

Sky,
Sleep, V.
Slow,

E'Zooloo
Laika or Laica
Conka

zooloo

leeka

neke

To-mon'o\v,

Tongue,

Tooth,

Baze mene
Loodeemee
INIanoo

Bazimeney

loodimee

menoo

Smell, n.

Noucouna

soody

Touch, V.

Vepatacanna

touta

Smoke,

Moiscee

moisy

Town,

Banza

Banza

Smooth,

Lelamma

vendoomona

Tree,

N'Chee

chee

Soft,
Son,

Labella
Moene

bootaboota
moonayakala

True,
Turn,

Chillica
Votola

kelica
viloka

Soon,

Kainga

oo

bezy

keady

Twelve,

Ecoume Eole

coomy emioly

Sore,
Sorry,

Tanta
Cardee

Twenty,
Two,

Macoumolee
Cole

macoouioly

meoly

voota

Sour,

Gangomona

■gongoomona

Village,
Viririn,

Deemba

Sow, (grain)

Coona

zeka moonge

Toubola

Speak,

Ovova (short)

vova

• i» ^i»».

Spit, V. n.
Split,
Square,
Stab,

Chaca

taoulamete

Tongona
Shanana

babo
conzoia

Under,
Understand,

Cama
Ocuvauga

cooianda
outooway

Chonda

coonzoka

Unhappy,

■ Eango

MLmamby oboo

Stand, V.

Talama

telema

edico

Stir,

Beta

botele

Unjust,

Zemba Canee

Steal,

Qucya

moocey

Stink, V. n.

Soode

soody

Voice,

Deenga

Stone,

Tadee

etudy

Storm,

Voolazambe

teemboi

Up,

Twoinda

Stranger,

Zen zee

zainza

Upon,

Tandoo

Strike,

Boola

ynndi weeta

APPENDIX, No. I.

399

English.

Malernba.

Erobomraa.

English.

Malemba,

Enibomma

Wake, i;.

Catomoko

Catoomoka

Wind, n.

M'Paibe or

pemo

Walk,

Diata

deuta

M'Paima

War,

Veta

zingoo

Wing.

Evee

eveve

Warm,

Quamoiia

cafoota

Wise,

Lookee

quandooka

Wash, V.

Soucoula

Yonga

Woman.

Kentou

quinto

Watcii, V.

Wingala

lanjedilla

Wood, (lignum)

Bala

coony

Water,

Maza

maza

Wood, (sylva)

Lebala

chencootoo

Weak.

Goloco

Wool,

Meza

maka

Weary,

Deembalou

nectoo coongely

Word,

Dinga

diambo

Weep,

Yenza

beela

Work. V.

Salla

salo

Well, n. a.

Sambocadee

quamy

1 Wrong,

Zimbacainna

diambo deady

When,

Chalombo

oongatoo

Year.

m'oo

White,

Pamba

pembei

Yes,

Enga

eenga

Who,

Nanee

ounanie

Yesterday,

E. Zono

zono biokelly

Wicked,

Mabe (bad)

uutoonga

You,

Gaia (plural.

gaiyay

Wife.

Cazammee

casamy

Yeno)

WUd,

Sittau

booloo

This Vocabulary I do not consider to be free from mistakes, which I cannot now find time to discover :
all the objects of the senses are, however, correct. — J. TUCKEY.''

[ 400 ]

APPENDIX, No. II.

Observations on the Genus Ocythoe of Rafinesque, with a Descrip-
tion of a new Species. 5j/ William Elford Leach, M. D.
F. R. S.

From the Philosophical Transactions.

Flint, Aldrovandus, Lister, Rumphius, d'Argenville,
Bruguiere, Bosc, Cuvier, and Shaw, have described a spe-
cies of this genus, that is often found in the Argonauta argo
(common paper-nautilus), and which they have regarded as its
animal, since no other inhabitant has been observed in it.

Sir Joseph Banks, and some other naturalists, have always
entertained a contrary opinion, believing it to be no more than
a parasitical inhabitant of the argonaut's shell, and Rafi-
nesque, (whose situation on the shores of the Mediterranean,
has afforded him ample opportunities of studying this animal,
and of observing its habits) has regarded it as a peculiar ge-
nus, allied to the Polypus* of Aristotle, residing parasitically in
the above mentioned shell.

Dr. Blainville, ten months since, when speaking of the
Argonauta, said, " animal unknown," and he has lately informed
me, that he has written a long dissertation to prove, that the
Ocythoe of Rafinesque, does not belong to the shell in which
it is found.

The observations made by the late Mr. John Cranch, zoo-
logist to the unfortunate Congo expedition, have cleared from
my mind any doubts on the subject. In the gulf of Guinea,

* Sepia octopodia Linne'.

Fifiti "/' iytififfsottia htyxiearne

Fnmf or' PM'llosonu? la^'eomt^

PhnUo^ofnn eonunam.

F/u/llij.s' ( •nm tUti i u-oi 'tiA

^Ifi/na fiVfi/ihfi .

C/ ^ V ,

>-

Zoe/i r/e/i lifti .

APPENDIX, No. II. 401

and afterwards on the voyage, he took by means of a small
net, (which was always suspended over the side of the vessel)
several specimens of a new species of Ocythot, which were
swimming in a small argonauta, on the surface of the sea.

On the 13th of June he placed two living specimens in a
vessel of sea water; the animals very soon protrufled their
arms and swam on and below the surface, having all the actions
of the common polypus of our seas ; by means of their suckers,
they adhered firmly to any substance with whicli they came in
contact, and when sticking to the sides of the basin, the shell
might easily be withdrawn from the animals. They had the
power of completely withdrawing within the shell, and of leaving
it entirely. One individual quitted its shell, and lived several
hours, swimming about, and showing no inclination to return
into it; and others left the shells, as he was taking them up in
the net. They changed colour, like other animals of the class
cephalopoda : when at rest the colour was pale flesh-couloured,
more or less speckled with purplish; the under parts of the
arms were bluish grey; the suckers whitish.

The Ocytho'e differs generically from tlie polypus, in having
shorter arms, with pedunculated instead of simple suckers ; the
superior arms too are dilated into, or furnished with, a wing-
like process on their interior extremities.

All the internal organs are essentially the same as in the poly-
pus, although they are somewhat modified in their proportion ;
but as these diflTerences may be the result of the contraction
caused by the spirits, in which they are preserved, it may be
more prudent not to dwell on them. Two characters, however,
Avhich I could not discover in the polypus, may be mentioned,
namely, four oblong s])ots on the inside of the tube, resembling
surfaces for the secretion of mucus ; two inferior and lateral,
and two superior, larger, and meeting anteriorly. On the rim

402 APPENDIX, No. II.

of the sac, iiamediately above the branchiae, on each side, is a
small, short, fleshy tubercle, which fits into an excavation on
the opposite side of the sac. This character, which, with
slight modifications, is common to this genus, to loligo and sepia,
does not exist in the, polypus*

Although the superior arms are stated to perform such diife-
rent functions from those of the polypus, yet they are supplied
in the same manner, and from the same source with nerves.
The muscles of these parts were in too contracted a state^ to
enable me to ascertain if they were in any degree different
from those in the same parts of its kindred genus.

The general form of the body of this species of ocythoe is the
same as that of the common polypus, and it is covered by the
same integuments, without any surface adapted either to adhere
to, or to secrete, the shell in which it is found. The sexes dif-
fer as in the polypus.

OCYTHOF. CraNCHII.

O. corpore purpureo-punctato, brachiis subtus cerulescente-
griseis ; superioribus membranA spongeosa pallida maculata.

The superior arms are generally attached to the side of the
membranes (fig. 5. PI. XII.); but in one specimen the mem-
branes adhere only by their base, below the apex of the arm, fig^
6. The membrane is subject to great variation in size and form,
and is often different on the arms of the same individual.

One male only M^as sent home, all the others were females,
which had placed their eggs in the spiral part of the shell.

One female, that had deposited all her eggs, withdrew com-
pletely within the shell, as in fig. 3; her body on one side had

• The rudiment of the bone, which occurs in the pohjpus, (as has been observed by
Cpvier) is not to be found in the Ocythoe.

APPENDIX. No. II. 401

all the impressions of the shell, and the suckers on all the arms
were diminished in size, as if from pressure.

Explanation of Plate XII.

Fig. 1. Ocythoe Cranchii sitting within the shell.
Fiff. 2. The animal without the shell.
Fig. 3. One completely retracted within the shell.
Fig. 4. Ditto taken out of the shell showing the impressions
of the shell on the body.

Fig. 5. Left superior arm (common appearance) magnified.
Fig. 6. Right superior arm (variety) magnified.

3 F

[ 402 ]

APPENDIX. No. III.

The dlstmguishing characters between the Ova of the Sepia, and
those of the Vermes Testa cea, that live in water explained. By
Sir EvERAUD Home, Bart. V. P. R. S.

[From the Philosophical Transaclionstl

Linnaeus was led into an error respecting the animal that forms
the shell argonauta, by the circumstance of a species of sepia
having been often found in this shell. This erroneous opinion
has been adopted by many naturalists upon the Continent, even
those conversant in comparative anatomy.

Whether the argonauta is really an internal shell, which I
have asserted it to be, may possibly never be determined by di-
rect proofs, as the animal belonging to it has not been met with.
The present observations are confined to the question of the
probability of its being formed by the species of sepia frequent-
ly found in it; and the materials of the present Paper, which
are furnished from the specimens of natural history collected
in the late expedition to the Congo, enable me to prove, in con-
tradiction to such an opinion, that the ova of this particular
species of sepia are not those of an animal of the order vermes
testacea, that live in water.

The young of all oviparous animals, while contained in the
ovum, must have their blood aerated through its coats, but in
the vermes testacea, if the shell were formed in the ovum, the
process of aerating the blood must be very materially interfe-
red with ; for this reason, the covering or shell of the egg first
drops off, and the young is ha^. led before the shell of the ani-
mal is formed ; this I have seen taken place in the eggs of the

na^s. /nMj.MDcccwn./'/.in./*. t^e.

^A^.-. o.

L

J'fO . --1

J-f(/ . O.

J':'d,K.,W

m

APPENDIX. No. III. 403

garden snail, but in the testacea that live in water, the young
requires some defence in the period, between the egg being
hatched, and the young acquiring its shell, which is not neces-
sary in thuse that live on land ; for this purpose, the ova are
enclosed in chambers of a particular kind.

This camerated nidus in the larger animals of this tribe, must
be familiar to all naturalists, since specimens in a dried state,
containing the young shells completely formed, are to be met
with in collections of natural history; but I am not aware that
all the purposes for which such a nidus is supplied by nature,
have ever been explained.

I have been informed by a friend, who while in the East In-
dies saw the chank (a shell belonging to the same genus with
the valuta pj/riim of Linnasus,) shed its eggs, that the animal
discharged a mass of mucus, adapted to the form of the lip of
the shell, and several inches in length ; this rope of eggs, en-
closed in mucus, at the end which is last disengaged, was of so
adhesive a nature, that it became attached to the rock, or stone
on which the animal deposited it. As soon as the mucus came
in contact with the salt water, it coagulated into a firm mem-
branous structure, so that the eggs became enclosed in mem-
branous chambers, and the nidus having one end fixed and the
the other loose, was moved by the waves, and the young in the
eggs, had their blood aerated ; when the young were hatched,
they remained defended from the violence of the waves, till
their shells had acquired strength.

What passes under the sea, few naturalists can be so fortunate
as to have an opportunity of observing, and although what I
have stated was communicated to me by an eye witness, it re-
quired confirmation, as well as an opportunity of examining
the nidus, before I could give it my assent. Since that time, I

404 APPENDIX. No. III.

have procured from my friend Mr. Lee, the Botanist, of Ham-
mersmith, a portion of a camerated nidus brought from South
Carohna, containing shells of an univalve not very different
from the chanks of the East Indies. This nidus is represented
in the annexed drawing. (Plate XIII. fig. J.)

I have also, which is still more satisfactory, seen the camera-
ted nidus of the helix janthina. This animal not living at the
bottom of the sea, like the vermes testacea in general, depo-
sits its ova upon its own shell, if nothing else comes in its way;
one of the specimens of the shell of the janthina caught in the
voyage to the Congo, fortunately has the ova so deposited, as
will be seen in the annexed drawings, made by Mr. Bauer, who
was so pleased with the appearance the parts put on in the field
of the microscope, that he was desirous of making a representa-
tation of them. (PI. XIII. fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.)

In this instance, the ova are single, but in other tribes, seve-
ral ova are contained in one chamber. In the land snail, the
eggs have no such nidus. The following observations respect-
ing them were made in the year 1773, the first year that I was
initiated in comparative anatomy, under Mr. Hunter. He
kept snails to ascertain their mode of breeding, and the notes
that were made at the time in my own hand writing, I now
copy.

August 5, 1773. A snail laid its eggs, and covered them
over with earth ; Mr. Hunter took one out and examined it;
the egg was round, its covering strong, and of a white colour,
with a degree of transparency ; it had no yelk ; a small speck
was observable with a magnifying glass in the transparent
contents.

On the 9th no apparent change had taken place. On the
1 1th the speck had enlarged, but was too transparent to admit

Fhihs.7hifur. MDCCCXVH ««« rSSLpsoo.

V

I

0\

^-

Ky^.^\

/wi^..^7^c^^ <2^<:'.

./?r#«;,

APPENDIX. No. III. 405

of its form being distinguished ; upon moving the speck it fell
out of its place.

On the iSth the embryo was indistinctly seen.

On the 1,5th the embryo filled ^ part of the egg, but the dif-
ferent parts were still indistinct.

On the 18th the body of the embryo had become larger, and
the covering thicker.

On the 19th, the coverings or shells of all the eggs were more
or less dissolved, so much so that Mr. Hunter thought all the
eggs were rotting, and the whole brood of young would be lost.

On the 20th, the young were hatched, and the shells com-
pletely formed.

On the 23d, when the young snails were put in water, their
bodies came out of the shell as in full grown snails.

On the 24th, they all deserted their nests.

The specimens of the sepia found in the argonaut shell, which,
was caught by Mr. Cranch, in this expedition to the Congo,
had deposited some of its eggs in the involuted part of the
shell, and the animal being fortunately caught in the shell iden-
tified the eggs to belong to it; (PI. XIV.) they are united to-
gether by pedicles, like the eggs of the sepia octopus, and in
all other respects resemble them ; they differ from those of
the helix janthina and the other vermes testacea, that live in
water, in having no camerated nidus, and in having a very
large yelk to supply the young with nourishment, after they
are hatched.

Upon these grounds, this animal must be resolved into a spe-
cies of sepia, an animal which has no external shell, and only
uses the shell of the argonaut, when it occasionally gets pos-
session of one.

Some naturalists, unacquainted with comparative anatomy,
have asserted that in these eggs they saw the argonaut shell

406 APPENDIX. No. III.

partly formed ; they must have mistaken the yelk, M'hich will
be seen in the drawing to be unusually large, for the new
shell.

ExPLANATIOX OF THE PlATES.

PLATE XIII.

Fig. 1. The shell of the helix janthina, with the ova in its
camerated nidus, attached to it; magnified twice in diameter.

Fig. 2. A portion of the nidus magnified 12 times in dia-
meter.

Fig. A string of the same nidus magnified 25 times in dia-
meter.

Fig. 4. Two of the same ova and one empty chamber, magni-
fied 50 times in diameter.

Fig. 5. One of the same ova, and

Fig. 6. The same slightly bruised, both magnified 50 times
in diameter.

Fig. 7. A portion of the camerated nidus, in a dried state,

belonging to the ova of a univalve from south Carolina, of the

natural size.

Plate XIV.

Fig. 1. The shell of the argonauta, with the ova of the octo-
pus deposited in it, magnified twice in diameter.

Fig. 2. A cluster of the same ova, as they are seen when im-
mersed in water, magnified 12 times in diameter.

Fig. 3. One of the same ova with its pellicle, magnified 25
times in diameter.

Fig. 4. The yelk of the egg.

Fig. 5. A transversal section of the same.

Fig. 6. A longitudinal section of the same. The three pre-
ceding figures are magnified 50 times in diameter.

Fig. 7. A collapsed egg, as seen when taken out of the v/a-
ter, magnified 25 times in diameter.

r/d7fisJransl/iDO3:SmJ'i:n^.p.30o.

i^ttfii..^a»€i (/(-/.

J::y3.uHi< .n

[407]

APPENDIX. No. IV.

A fftfieral Notice of the Animals taJccn by Mr. John Ckanch, dur'mg the
Expedition to explore the Source of the River Zaire.

Mammalia.

Calitrix sabcea (Audebert, iv. it. f. 4.) one of the various species of moriki£3
that are generally denominated green, was found in great plenty at Tall Trees.

Three very young lions (probably of the Senegal sort) were brought to Mr.
Granch by the natives, who called tliem boulaces. They were kept alive three
days and fed on soaked brgad, which doubtless caused their death.

Birds.

Aquilcc melancetos,* (Savigni/s Oiseaux d^Egypt. pi. ii.J^. 2.)

lerax musicus. Singing hawk, (Le Vail. Ois. d'A/'r. i. pi. 27. J

Circus , (L'Acoli, Le Vail.)

Elanus melanopterus, (Sav. Ois. d!Eg. pi. ii.f. 2.) In great plenty.

Milvus cetotius, {Sav. Ois. dEg. pi. iv.f. I.)

Polophilus , {Sav. Ois. dEg. pi. iv.f. 1.)

Corvus scapularis, {Le Vail. Ois. dAf. ii. pi. 53.)

Coracias a/ra, African roller.

Passer, {Savig. Ois. dEg.pl. v.f. 7.)

Hirundo Savignii, {Sav. Ois. d'Eg. pi. iv.f. 4.)

Hirundo Smithii. (New species.) Black colour glossed with steel-blue, whitish
beneath the tail, and wing-quills black ; the former with a white band, the
upper part of the head chestnut, the outermost tail feathers very long. A
single specimen was killed off Chisalla island.

Alauda, {Le Vail. Ois. d' Afr.pl. 196.)

Sylvia, {Savig. Ois. dEg.pl. v.f. 3.)

Sylvia, {Le Vail. Ois. dAfr. 121.)

Certhia cincta, {Ois. Bur. ii.pl. 10.)

• Plin. lib. X. cap. 3. sec. 3. el seq.

408 APPENDIX. No. IV.

Certhia chalyhca, (Ois. Dor. ii. pi. 13 et 14.)

Merops erythropterus, (PI- enl.318.)

Upupa Epops, Common Hoopoe, not varying in the slightest degree from that

of Europe.
Alcedo maxima var.? With the breast ferruginous, the belly varied with black

and white, the throat white. Tn other respects it agrees exactly with tl»e

common varieties from Senegal.
Alcedo Senegalensis, (PI, enl. .594.)

' .Alcedo , {PI. enl. 556) probably a variety oi Senegalensis, or the other sex.

Alcedo rudis, (PI. enl. 62.)

Buceros , (Le Vail. Ois. d'Afr. pi. 233.)

Perdix Cranchii, (new species.) Cinereous-brown beneath, whitish, freckled

with dark-brown ; the spots on the belly elongate and indining to ferru-
ginous ; throat naked.

Columha , (Savig. Ois. dEg.pl. 5.f. 9) common.

Vanellus , (Savig. Ois d'Eg. pi. &-f- 3.)

Scopus umbrctta. Tufted Umber ; not uncommon.

Ardea , (Savig. Ois. d'Eg. pi. S,J'. 1.)

Ardea Senegalensis, (PI. enl. 315.)

Parra Africana, (Lath. Syn. tab. 87.)

Recurvirostra Very much destroyed, but from the parts remaining,

not to be distinguished from our European species, R. Avosetta, the common

Avoset.

Phalacrocorax , (Savig. Ois. d'Eg. pi. 8. J". 2.)

Plotus Congensis, (new species.) Black ; head and neck brownish chestnut;

back and wing coverts streaked with white. One only was killed.

Anas , (Savig. Ois. d'Eg. pi. lO.yi 1.)

Sterna senex, (new species.) Cinereous-black, top of the head gray, belly with

a very faint and obsolete teint of chestnut.
Rhynchops ntger, (PI. enl. 357.)

Reptiles.

Trionyx Egyptiacus, (Geoff. St. Hill. Rept. d'Eg. pi. I .) The head only of

this extraordinary animal was sent home, in spirits.
Coluber Palmarum, (new species.) Reddish ; beneath whitish, the scales of the

APPENDIX. No. IV. 409

sides and back very long-ovate and carinated. Found in palna trees at
Embomma.
Coluber Smythii, (new species.) Brown-gray beneath whitish, the sides, espe-
cially anteriorly, with triangular whitish spots, bordered \vith sooty-black ;
the scales of the sides and back hexagonal, ratlier narrower at their extremi-
ties. This species was found in great plenty near Embomma on the
ground. The back is very faintly marked ^vith some transverse narrow
whitish bands, spotted with black.

Fishes.

About eighty species of this class were taken during the voyage; but as I
have not yet studied the marine fishes, I can say but little about them. Two
species of a genus (which appears to be new) allied to Leptocephalus were taken
off the Afi-ican ooast. Their head is smaller and more pointed than that of
Leptocephalus ; their bodies are even more compressed, but are marked m
the same manner by transverse zigzag lines, and their teeth are similar.
Rudiments only of the dorsal and anal fins exist towards the extremity of their
bodies, and no pectoral fins can be discovered.

In the river itself three new species were discovered, namely :
Sp. I. Silurus Congensis. With the upper nostrils the angles of the mouth
and each side of the chin furnished with a filament, the first ray of the dorsal
and pectoral fins serrated towards the point, which is unconnected with the
second ray ; the second ray very much elongated and attenuated, the
lacinia; of the tale acute.

Obs. The first ray of the dorsal fin is only serrated towards its point, the
unconnected apex itself being destitute of teeth. The first ray of the
pectoral fins, is serrated above the unattached pai-t, and the teeth are con-
tinued downwards to near its middle. It is akin to Silurus mystus {Geoff.
Poiss. de Nile.) but may very easily be distinguished from it by the
characters of the pectoral fins, and by the presence of the filaments on
the chin. The filaments of the chin and nostrils ai-e nearly of equal
length ; those of the angles of the mouth are very long.
Sp. 2. Pimelodus Cranchii. Chin on each side nostrils and angles of the mouth
furnished with a filament, pectoral fins with the first ray shorter than the
second, very strong and sulcated ; behind very strongly serrated, anterior

3G

410 APPENDIX. No. IV.

dorsal fin, with the first ray thick striated without teeth, caudal fin witli

lanceolate laciniae.

Obs. The front of the head is obtuse and rounded ; the upper part is
irregularly sulcated, and the vertex is striated : the stria; being disposed
in rays; the mouth is large; the filaments of the nostrils are very
short, and those of the angles of the mouth are a third longer than
those of the chin. The hinder dorsal fin is short and not very
fleshy.
Sp. 3. Onyrhynchus deliciosus. The scales concentrically sculptured, the dorsal

ones rounded ; those of the sides and belly very broad, the teeth hnear

acuminated behind and before.

Obs. This animal is doubtless referable to the genus Oxyrhynclius of
Athenaeus.* It differs from its congener Momyrus anguilloidcs (Geoff.
Poiss. de Nil. pi. vii.) in the form of its scales, (wliich in that species
are of tlie same size and form on all parts of the body) and in the shape
of the dorsal fin, which in O. deliciosus is more acute in its hinder
upper edge. This fish is very common in the river, and its flesh is of
a most exquisite flavour.

CEPHALOPODA.-f-

Of this class one new genus, and six new species were discovered ; four of
wliich are figured in the annexed plate.

Genus I. Octthoe. Sp. 1. Ocythoe Cranchii, of which a description is given
in Appendix, No. III.

Genus II. Cranchia.+ Body oval, sack-shaped: fins approximating, their
extremities free : neck with a frenum behind, connecting it with the sack, and
with two other frena connecting it with the sack before.
sp. I . Cranclda scdbra. Sack rough, with hard rough tubercles.
Sp. 2. Cranchia maculata. Sack smooth, beautifully mottled with distant ovate
spots.

• Drfpnos, lib. iii. 116; viii. 356; vii. 312.

+ For a synopsis of the genera of this class see Zoological Miscellany, vol. iii.

t The localities of the two species sent home were unfortunately lost.

APPENDIX. No. IV. 411

Genus III. Loligo. The characters presented by three new species, are very
different from those observed in the LoUgines of the European seas. The
distal Suckers of the larger or supplementary arms, are produced into hooked
processes, and in two of them all the suckers of the shorter arms are formed in
the same manner.*

Sp. 1. Loligo Banksii. Shorter ai-ms with globose simple suckers, the fins
forming, by their union, a rhomboidal figure.

Obs. The colour of this, when alive, is pale flesh. The body is ycUowish
behind, sprinkled irregularly with blackish spots teinted with purple.
The external aspect of the arms is freckled witli purplish. The under
parts of the fins without spots. One specimen was taken in the Gulph
of Guinea.
Sp- 2. Loligo Icptura. Shorter arms with hooks on their suckers, longer arms
with free hooks on the distal suckers, tail abrupt and slender.

Obs. Tlic body and external aspects of the arms are smooth, with a few

tubercles arranged into longitudinal lines. Two were taken in 1, 8, 0

N. lat. 7, 26, 30 E. long.

Sp. 3. Loligo Smithii- Shorter arras with hooks on their suckers, larger arms

^vith the hooks of the distal suckers furnished anteriorly wiili a membrane,

tail gradually attenuated.

Obs. Body and arms externally tuberculated ; the tubercles purple with
white Ups, and arranged into longitudinal lines.

PXEROPODA.f

Of this division of the molluscous tribe of animals, two species of Peron's
genus Cleodora were taken in south lat. 2, 14, 0 E. long. 9, 55, 15, and S.

* Id the museum of the College of Surgeons is preserved part of the arm of a large
and unknown animal of this class, in which the suckers are all furnished with distinct
strong and free hooks.

+ Of the genns Firola (whose sitnation has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained,
hut which, with Cuvier, I ara disposed to consider as more nearly allied to the Gastk-
ROPOOA, than to any other class) a new species was found iu S. lat. 3, 15, 0, £. long.
9, 38, 0, viz. Firola arcuata. Dorsal fin simple, vermiform appendage none, tail arched
above, without any vermiform appendage. Two other species were sketched by Lieut.
Hawkey, but were not received.

412 APPENDIX. No. IV.

kt. 2, 41, 0, E. long. 9, 16, 0, both having a spinous process on each side of
their shell, near its opening. One species is beautifully sulcated transversely,
and the other but sUghtly so.

Hyalcea tridentata (vulgarly called the chariot Anoraia) was also taken in
abundance in the Gulph of Guinea.

Gasteeopoda.

Jantlmiajragilis was the only species of this class that was brought home ;
all the rest, as well as the collection of the species of the following class,

ACEPHALA,

were lost.

ClEElPEDES.

Nine new species of Barnacles were discovered, all of which are very inte-
resting; since they augment especially the genus Cineras, of which but two
species only were known, and also two divisions of Hill's genus Pentalasmis,
of which hkevvise very few have been described.

Sp. 1. Cineras ChelonopMlus. Body lanceolate, peduncle abrupt, upper scales
small and acuminated behind, the hinder scale straight and linear.

Obs. The pm-plish stiipes of this species are very faint, and the scales

beneath the legs ai-e covered by a thin membrane, which renders them

very opaque. The space between the superior and posterior scales is

very great. A large quantity occurred adhering to the legs, neck, and

shell of some turtles that were taken in 36, 15, 0 N. lat. 16, 32,0 W.

long. See page 'J.

Sp. 2. Cineras Cranchii. Body obUquely truncated above; the peduncle rather

abrupt, upper scales hnear with obtuse extremities, hinder scale with a

subgibbose apex.

Obs. The vittae are three on each side, very strong ; the two anterior
ones are often interrupted.
Sp. 3. Cineras Oljersn. Body above acuminated, upper scales with both extre-
mities (especially the hinder one) acuminated, hinder scale at its middle
subgenictdated. Found on Fucus natans (Linn.)

APPENDIX. No. IV. 413

Pentalasmis.*

Divisions of the genus.
* Hhider scale simply arcuated. Lateral scales smooth.
** Hinder scale simply arcuated. Lateral scales costated.
*** Hinder scale abruptly bent below the middle.
Sp. 1 . Pentalasmis (*) Chclonia. Superior scales broad, rounded at their points,

hinder scale convex. Found on turtles in N. lat. 36, 15, 0 W. long.

16, .S2, 0. Page 9.
Sp. 2. Pentalasmis (*) Hillii. Superior scales narrow, anteriorly obliquely-trun-
cated ; (hence as if produced behind), hinder scale carinated below.
Sp. 3. Pentalasmis (**) Spirula\ Ratln^r convex, upper scales Tvith their points

anteriorly produced.
/3 Witli the ribs spined. Fo\ind in great abundance adhering to the floating

shells of Spirul.e. (to which in several specimens part of the animal still

adhered) 2, 0, (» N. lat. 10, 17, 0 W. long.
Sp. 4. Pentalasmis (**) dilatata. Larger scales anteriorly dilated, hinder scale

with granulated striae (often behind with two or four teeth.) 0, 14, 0, N.

lat. 6, 18, r>.', E. long, adhering to Janthina J'ragilis.
Sp. 5. Pentalasmis (***) Donovani. Hinder scale, with a longitudinal elevated

little line ; angle rectangular ; bend obtuse with a transverse elevated little

line. Taken in 0, <8, 0 S. lat. 7, .50, 0 E. long
Sp. 6. Pentalasmis (•**) Spirulicola. Hinder scale naiTOw carinated from the

apex to the angle ; angle rectangular, geniculated, prominent. Found on

shells of Spirula, 22, 0, 0 N. lat. 1 !», 17, 0 W. long.

Crustacea.

Portunus, (a new species,) without spines on the front aspect of its arms, was

taken in the Gulph of Guinea.
Lupa ; of this genus three new species were discovered, aU of which belong to

that section in which the hinder lateral spine of the shell is very much

elongated.
Machcerus ; a new genus allied to Gonoplax, but differing in having short

* The peduncle of those of the first division is very long, or moderately so ; of the
two other divisions extremely short.

414 APPENDIX. No. IV.

peduncles to its eyes, which are inserted into the same part of the shell as
in that genus.

Ptlumnus, (a new species.) Gulph of Guinea.

Grapsus minidus, and a new i5pecies. Gulph of Guinea.

Dorippe. Species not determined.

Sp. 1. Megalopa* Cranchii (new species) with a broad, entire, porrected
rostrum, having its point terminating in one spine, and each side armed
with a tooth, hinder coxae armed with a straight spine. Gulph of Guinea.
This species belongs to the same division of the genus vnth those of our seas.

Sp. 2. Megalopa maculata. (new species) Shell smooth, and spotted with black,
rostrum narrow and abrubtly deflexed.

Sp. 3. Megalopa sculpta. (new species) Shell sculptured (like that of Cancer
floridus Herbst) and very hairy, rostrum narrow and abruptly deflexed.
Obs. These two species were hkewise taken in the Gulph of Guinea;
they form a new division of the genus characterised by the deflexed
rostra.

Scyllarus. Of this genus, a common species was taken during the voyage, and
having been pi-eserved in spirits, allowed me to ascertain by dissection, that
its nervous system is in all respects similar to that of the other macrourous
Crustacea. Its lamelliform broad antennas send their nerves to the same
gangUon. The optic ners'es are more curved in their course.

Of the large group of macrura comprehending the shrimps and prawns there
are eleven new species, and seven new genera.

A new genus allied to Nebalia.

Zoea. The type of this genus was discovered in the Atlantic by Bosc, who
believed it to hold an intermediate situation between the Crustacea with pedun-
culated, and those mth sessile eyes. By Latreille it was referred to the
Entomastraca. In N. lat. 1, 36, 0 E. long. 8, 46, 37, Mr. Cranch took a
new species of this interesting genus, by which I have been enabled to verify
the opinion published in the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica,
(vol. i. p. 423) where I have referred it to the Crustacea with pedunculated
eyes.

* The last segment of the abdomen on each side is furnished with two moveable
plates, which I formerly overlooked.

APPENDIX. No. IV. 415

Zoea clavata. The eyes of this species, like that of its congener, are large,
Mrith very short peduncles. The sheU is somewhat triangular ; the front
being terminated by a long spiniform rostrum.* The middle of the back
and the sides are armed with a long clavate spine.

Obs. It differs from Bosc's Zoea pelagica in having clubbed instead of
acute spines. Its situation is certainly in the same group with Nehalia.
Two new genera of the same natural family with Squilla, have esta-
blished the situation of that genus. They have in common with it
sixteen locomotive legs : the anterior pair is elongate and slender ; the
second pair much elongated and raptorious ; the three foDowing pairs
are short, with their last joint compressed, and terminated by a move-
able claw ; the three hinder pairs are short, and remote from the rest,
the last joint but one being furnished with a moveable appendice at
its base.f Mouth with two mandibles and four maxillae. Upper
antennae with three articulated set*. Under antennae with an elongate
lamella at tlieir base. Abdomen with two moveable fohaceous ap-
pendages arising from a common peduncle, attached to each side of the
belly : the peduncle of those of the iiist joint is produced into a spine;
tlie exterior lamella composed of two joints. The second pair of legs
of tlie following new genera, Smerdis and Alitna, have none of those
denticulations w-hich afford so striking a character in those of Squilla.
Gen. I. Smerdis. Sides of tlie shell apjiroximate beneath. Mouth anterior.
Sp. 1. Smerdis vulgaris. Shell with a very short spine on the hinder part of
its bac1< .

This animal was found in great plenty every day from the latter end of
April to the beginning of June.
.S^. 2. Smerdis armata. Shell with a very long spine on the liinder part of its
back. A few specimens of this species were taken between the latter end of

* Which is broken ia the only tolerable specimen that was sent home.

+ All the legs of these genera, as well as of Sqiil'/a, have each a foliaceous appendage
at their base, which are certainly the organs of respiration. In Squilla, the outer
foliaceous appendages beneath the abdomen, have filamentous processes, which the
French naturalists have considered to he the respiratory organs. The two new genera
want these filaments, but have those appendages (common to all the malacostraca with
pedunculated eyes) at the bases of their legs.

416 APPENDIX. No. IV.

April and twentietli of May, and were not seen afterwards, although
the preceeding sort were still abundant.

Gen. II. Alimax Thorax elongate vnXh the sides not approximating. Mouth
placed towards the hinder part of the thorax.

Sp. 1 . AUma hyalina. Occurred abundantly at Porto Praya, and in 7j 37, 0 N.
lat. 17, 34, 15 W. long.
PnyLLOSoMA,* the most curious genus of Crustacea that has yet been dis-
covered, and of which there are at least four very distinct species, occurred
in the greatest profusion from the 10th AprU to the 30th May. The shell
of this genus is membranaceous and as thin as a leaf; the part containing
the mouth, and from whence the legs arise, is drawn backwards and pro-
jects beyond the hinder part of the shell. The front of the shell bears the
eyes and antennas : the eyes have the first joint of their peduncles very much
elongated ; the second joint is short, and the eyes themselves are abruptly
larger than their peduncles. The superior aiitemia; are (as in all the other
inalacostraca with pedunculated eyes) bifid. The infenor antennfp are vari-
able in their projection, and form, affording chai'acters which, for the present,
I shall only venture to use for the purpose of specific distinctions. The
abdomen has the usual appendages beneath, and those of the last joint are
converted into swimming or rather steering lamellfe. The mouth, when first
viewed, appears to be trilobate ; this arises from a clypeus similar to that
covering the mouth of Squ'dla, and the prominence of the exterior sides of
the mandibles, which are much curved and dilated towards their middle ;
their points are bifid, and one lacinia is unidentate within. Two pairs of
maxiUae are very distinctly to be seen ; the outer ones are terminated by
three spines. I have not had time to ascertain the modification of the
interior ones, nor to ascertain the existence and insertion of the palpi. The
front pair of legs is extremely short and dilated at its base, with all the
joints (the first excepted .') confluent. The second pair is short ; the third
joint at its base has a flagrum which is articulated towards its point ; the
last joint is terminated by long spines and a claw ynih unequal spines. Ihe
five foUomng pairs of legs are very long, and the hinder ones gradually

* The third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventli pairs of legs, in the numerous speci-
mens sent home, were for the most part broken off at their third joint, the fiagrum only
remaining. See the plate.

APPENDIX. No. IV. 417

encrease in length : at the base of the second joint, each is furnished with a
bipartite flagriim, the second division of which is articulated and ciliated :
tlie third pair is terminated by a simple ciliated joint ; the three next pair
by claws, which in some of the species are ciliated with spines, and meet
little spines on the Interior side of the apex of the joints to which they are
attached : the last pair is abruptly shorter than the preceding legs, and
varies in the number of its joints, from two to five. The organs, termed ears
hy the French naturalists, are very large and prominent. I have not
examined the nervous system.

1. Phyllosoma brevicome. Inferior antenna^ shorter than the superior ones,
with the second division slightly dilated externally ; the two last divisions
setaceous ; hinder pair of legs two-jointed ; the second joint simple.

2. Phyllosoma laticorne. Inferior antennae a little longer than the superior ones,
the second joint very mucli dilated externally, and produced at its external
apex, the last division lanceolate, hinder pair of legs five-jointed, the last
joint with a simple slightly curved claw.

Two specimens only were taken, and their locality was not set do\vn.

.S. Phyllosoma commune. Inferior antennas filiform rather more than twice the

length of the superior ones, hinder pair of legs four-jointed ; the last joint

terminated by a straight simple claw.

Taken at Porto Praya and during the voyage until 2, 58, 0 S. lat.

P, 21, 22 E. long, in the greatest profusion.

4. Phyllosoma davicorne. Inferior antennas filiform, half as long again as the

thorax, with the extremity of the last division clavate, hinder pair of legs

foui--jointed ; the last joint terminated by a simple and very slightly curved

claw. Occasionally taken with the preceding species.

From the above very general obser\ations, it will be very evident to

entomologists, that Phyllosoma constitutes a family of crustacea ma-

croura, to which no other discovered genus can lie referred.

Amongst the sessile-eyed crustacea, with compressed bodies, there are four

new species which constitute the types of as many genera, and of those

with depressed bodies, there are ; of

6ph.«koma, a new species.

Cymothoa, a new species.

And a new species of an unnamed genus, intermediate betwixt the genera

JEga and Eurydke.

3 H

418 APPENDIX. No. IV.

Entomostkaca.
Two new species of the genus Caligus of Miiller were found on fishes.

Myeiapoda.

luLUS, two species, one of which is new.
ScoLOPEXDRA, one nondescript species.

Ixsecta.

Thirty-six species only reached England in a tolerable state, the rest wera
entirely destroyed by insects and damp. Amongst them is a new genus of
the family Scardbccidea, and probably there are five or six new species, wliich
I liave not yet found time to examine.

Anneleides.

A new species o( Nereis was taken in a bit of floating wood 0, 21, 0 N. lat.
5, 49, 37 E. long, together with a genus not known to me.

Entozoa.

One species of this parasitical class, was taken out of tlie intestinal canal of an
albicore.

ACALEPH^;

PonpiTA. Disc cartilaginous, round, composed of rays. Stomach central and
round. Mouth shghtly prominent and capable of very great distention.
Whole imderside covered by tentacula, those of the middle terminated by
suckers, tliose next the margin larger (and simjile or at least terminated by
indistinct suckers.*)

Of this genus, to which the above characters are now given, a new
species, was found in S, 12, 0 N. lat. 18, \i, f W. long, viz,
Porpita gTanulata. The rays of the upper part of the disc granulated by pairs.
The stomach of one specimen was filled ^nth the debris of a fish.

* In specimens of very soft animals preserved in spirits of wine, where the organs are
much contracted, it is generally impossible to ascertain all the characters of each part.
Naturalists should therefore lake every opportunity to describe them whilst alive, since
all arc not gifted with the extraordinary powers of a Savigny.

APPENDIX. No. IV. 419

Velella. To this genus likewise some additional characters may be added.
The disc is oval and cartUaginous, having an oblique crest on its upper
side. The disc itself is composed of t\ro tliin oval plates joined together by
sevei'al concentric septa. The whole of tlie cartilaginous part is covered by
a dense membrane, and its inferior surface is covered by ten taenia, which
surround its stomach ; those towards the centre are terminated by suckers,
those towards tlie margin are longest, and appear to be simple. The
stomach is oblong, and the mouth very prominent. The membrane in
passing from the upper part of the disc, to the lower, is produced beyond its
margin, and the produced pai-t is consequently composed of two membranes,
which are united towards the marjrin of the disc*

1. Veleila scaphidea. Crest set on the disc from left to right ; its apex abruptly
produced.

Veleila scaphidea Peron et Le Seuer. Atlas, pi. xxx.

2. Yeldla pyramiial'is. Crest set on the disc from right to left; its apex
gradually produced, pyramidal.

Taken in plenty in 26, 34, 0 N. lat. IS, 28, 0 W. long.

From the MS. observations made by Mr. Cranch, it is evident that a box
containing specimens of marine animals, preserved in spirits, and a very large
portion of the birds, have been lost. I have before remarked, that of the
birds received, those enumerated, were the only specimens in a state fit for
examination ; the greater part being totally desU-oyed by insects.

* This produced membrane is to be observed in all the species, and therefore cannot
be taken as a specific character, as has been done by Lamarck, for our European species.

[420 ]

APPENDIX. No. V.

Observations, Systematical and Geographical, on Professor Christian
Smith's Collection of Plants from the Vicinity of the River Congo, by
Robert Brown, F. R. S.

The Herbarium formed by the late Professor Smith and his assistant Mr.
David Loci<hart, on tlie banks of the Congo, was, on its arrival in England,
placed at the disposal of Sir Joseph Banks ; under whose inspection it has
been arranged ; the more remarkable species have been determined ; and the
whole collection has been so far examined as the very limited time which could
be devoted to this object allowed.

In the following pages will be found the more general results only of this
examination ; descriptions of the new genera and species being reserved for a
future publication.

In communicating these results I shall follow nearly the same plan as that
adopted in the Botanical Appendix to Captain Flinders's Voyage to Terra
Aiistralis :

1st. Stating what relates to the three Primary Divisions of Plants.
2dly. Proceeding to notice whatever appears most remarkable in the several
Natural Orders of which the collection consists; and,

3dly. Concluding with a general comparison of the vegetation on the line of
tlie river Congo, with that of other equinoctial countries.

I. The number of species in the herbarium somewhat exceeds 600; the
specimens of several of which are, indeed, imperfect ; but they are all referable
with certainty to the primary divisions, and, with very few exceptions, to the
natural orders to which they belong.

Of the Primary Divisions, the Dicotyledonous plants amount to 460
The Monocotyledonous to - - - - 113

And of the Acotyledonous, in which Ferns are included, there are

only - - - - - 33 species.

It is a necessary preliminary, with reference especially to the first part of my

subject, to determine whether this herbarium, wliich was collected in a period

not exceeding two months, and in a season somewliat unfavourable, can warrant

APPENDIX. No. V. 421

any conclusions concerning the propDrtional numbers of the three primary
'iivisions, or of the principal natural orders in the country in which it
was tormed.

Its value in this respect must depend on the relation it may be supposed
to have to the whole vegetation of the tract examined, and on the probability
of the circumstances under which it was formed, not materially affecting the
proportions in question.

Its probable relation to the complete Flora of the country examined, can at
present be judged of only by comparing it with collections from different
parts of the same coast of equinoctial Africa.

1 he first cfm^iderable herbarium from this coast, of which we have any
account, is that formed by Adanson, on the banks of the Senegal, during a
residence of nearly four years. Adanson himself has not given the extent of
his collection, but as he has stated the new species contained in it to be 300,*
it may I think, be inferred, that altogether it did not exceed 600, which is
hardly equal to that from Congo. Limited as this supposed extent of Adanson's
herbarium may appear, it is estimated on the most moderate calculation of
the proportion that new species were likely to bear to the whole vegetation
of that part of equinoctial Africa, whiili lie was the first botanist to examine;
allowance being at the same time made for the disposition, manifested in the
accoiuit of his travels, to reduce the plants which he observed to the nearly
related species of other countries.

From the herbarium, and manuscripts in the library of Sir Joseph Banks, it
appears, that the species of plants collected by Mr. Smeatlunan at Sierra
Leone, during a residence of more than two years, amounted to 450.

On the same authority I find that the herbarium formed in the neighbour-
hood of Cape Coast by Mr, \\' illiam Brass, an intelligent collector, consisted
of only v!.")() species.

And I have some reason to believe, that the most' extensive and valuable
collection e\ er brought from the west coast of equinoctial Africa, namely, that
formed by Professor Afzelius, during his residence of several years at Sierra
Leone, does not exceed li?00 species: although tliat eminent naturalist, in
the course of his researches, must have examined a much greater extent of
eountry than was seen in the expedition to Congo.

From these, which are the only facts I have been able to meet with respecting

* Fam. des Plant. I. p. exvi.

422 APPENDIX. No. V.

the number of species collected on different parts of this line of coast, I
am inclined to regaixl the herbarium from Congo as containing so consi-
derable a part of the whole vegetation, that it may be employed, though
certainly not with complete confidence, in determining the proportional num-
bers both of the primary divisions and principal natural orders of the tract
examined; especially as I find a remarkable coincidence between these pro-
portions in this herbarium and in that of Smeathman from Sierra Leone.

I may remark here, that from the very limited extent of the collections of
plants above enumerated, as well as from what we know of the north coast of
New Holland, and I believe I may add of the Flora of India, it would seem
that the comparative number of species in equal areas within the tropics and
in the lower latitudes beyond tliem, has not been correctly estimated : and that
the great superiority of the intratropical latio given by Baron Humboldt,
deduced probably from his own observations in America, can hardly be extended
to other equinoctial countries. In Africa and New Holland, at least, the
greatest number of species in a given extent of surface does not appear to exist
within the tropics, but nearly in the parallel of the Cape of Good Hope.

In the sketch which I have given of the botany of New Holland, I first
suggested the enquiry respecting the proportions of the primary divisions of
plants, as connected with climate; and I then ventured to state that " from tlie
equator to 30° lat. in the northern hemisphere at least, tile species of Dicoty-
ledonous plants are to the Monocotyledonous as about 5 to 1, in some cases
considerably exceeding and in a very few, falling somewhat short of this pro-
portion, and that in the higlier latitudes a gradual diminution of dicotykdones
takes place until in about 6'0° N., and 55° S. lat. they scarcely equal half
their intratropical proportion." *

Snce the publication of the Essay from which this quotation is taken, the
illustrious traveller Baron Humboldt, to whom every part of botany, and espe*
cially botanical geography, is so greatly indebted, has ptosecuted this subject
further, by extending the enquiry to the natural orders of plants: and in the
valuable dissertation prefixed to his great botanical wt)rk,-f- has adopted the
same equinoctial proportion of Monocotyledones to Dicotyledones as that given

* Flinders^ Voyage to Terra AustraUs,2. p. 538.

+ Nova Genera et Species Plantariim, quas in perigrinatione orbis novi collegerunt,
&c. Jmat. Boniiland et Alex, de Ilumboldt. ex sched. autogr. in rfr'd. dig. C. S. Kunlh.lSlb,
Parisiis.

APPENDIX. No. \'. 123

in the Paper above quoted; a ratio which seems to be confirmed by his own
extensive herbarium.

I had remarked, however, in the Essay referred to, that the relative numbers
of these two primary divisions in the equinoctial parts of New Holland appeared
to differ considerably from those which I had regarded as general within the
tropics; dicotyledones being to monocotyledones only as 4 to 1. But this
proportion of New Holland \ery nearly agrees with that of the Congo and
Sierra Leone collections. And from an examination of the materials com-
posing Dr. Roxburgh's unpublished Flora Indica, which I had formerly
judged of merely by the index of genera and species, I am inclined to think
that nearly the same proportion exists on the shores of India.

Though this may be the general proportion of the coasts, and in tracts
of but little varied surface within the tropics, it seems at the same time pro-
bable from Baron Humboldt's extensive collections, and from what we know
of the vegetation of the West India islands, that in equinoctial America, in
tracts including a considerable portion of high land, the ratio of dicotyledones
to monocotyledones is at least that of 11 to 2, or perhaps nearly 6 to ] .
Whether this or a somewhat diminishetl proportion of dicotyledones exists
also in similar regions of other equinoctial countries, we have not yet sufficient
materials for determining.

Upon the whole, however, it would seem from the facts of which we are
already in possession, that the proportions of the two primary divisions of
phsenogamous plants, vary considerably even within the tropics, from cir-
cumstances connected certainly in some degree with temperature. But there
are facts also which render it probable, that these proportions are not solely
dependent on climate. Thus the proportion of the Congo collection, which is
also that of the equinoctial part of New Holland, is found to exist both in North
and South Africa, as well as in Van Diemen's Island, anil in the south of Europe.

It is true indeed that from about 45° as for as to 60', or perhaps even to
G5° N. lat. there appears to be a gi-adual diminution in the relative number
of dicotyledones ; but it by no means follows, that in still higher latitudes a
further reduction of this primai-y division takes place. On the contrary-, it
seems probable from Chevalier Giesecke's list of the plants of the west coast of
Greenland,* on different parts of which, from lat. 60° to 72°, he resided several
* Article Greenland, in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopedia.

424 APPENDIX. No. V.

years, that the relative numbers of the two primary divisions of phse-
nogaiiious plants arc inverted on the more northern parts of that coast ;*
dicotvledones being to monocotyledones, in the list referred to, as about
4 to 1 , or nearly as on the shores of equinoctial countries. And analogous
to this inversion it appears, that at corresponding Alpine heights, both in
the temperate and frigid zones, the proportion of dicotyledones is still further
increased.

The ACOTYLEDONOUS or cryptogamous plants of the herbarium from Congo,
ai'e to the phasnogamous as about 1 to 18. Some allowance is here to be
made for the season, peculiarly unfavoui'able, no doubt, for the investiga-
tion of this class of plants. But it is not likely that Professor Smith, who had
particularly studied most of the cryptogamous tribes, should have neglected
them in this expedition; and the circumstance of the very few imperfect spe-
cimens of Mosses in the collection being carefully preserved and separately
enveloped in paper, seems to prove the attention paid to, and consequently the
great rarity of, this order at least ; which, however, is not more striking than
what I have formerly noticed with i-espect to some parts of the north coast of
New Holland.f

I have in the same place considered the Acotyledones of equinoctial New
Holland, as probably forming but one-thirteenth of the whole nimiber of
plants, while the general equinoctial proportion was conjectured to be one-
sixth. This general ratio, however, is certainly over-rated, though it is pro-
bably an approximation to that of countries containing a considerable portion
of high land. Within the tropics therefore, it would seem that the ratio of
acotyledonous to ph^nogamous plants, varies from that of 1:15 to 1:5 ; the
former being considered as an approximation to the proportion of the
shores, the latter to that of mountainous countries.

" That some change of this kind takes place on Ihat coast might perhaps have been
conjectured from a passage ia Hans Egede's Description of Greenland, where it ic
stated, thai although from lat. 60'> to 65° there is a considerable proportion of good
meadow land, yet in the more northern parts, " the inhabitants cannot gather grass
" enough to put in their shoes, to keep their feet warm, but are obliged to buy it fron*
" the southern parts." (English Translation, p. 44, and 47.)

t Flinders' fot/age, 8. p. 539.

APPENDIX. No. V. 425

II. The NATURAL ORDERS of which die hcrbaiium Irom Conn-o
consists, are 87 in number; besides a very few genera not referable to any
families yet established. IVIore than half the species, however, belong to nine
orders, namely, to Filkes, Graminecv, Cyperaceae, Convolvulacea;, Rubiacecv,
Composltw, Malvacecc, Leguminosac, and Euphorbiacccc ; all of which have
their greatest number of species in the lower latitudes, and several within the
tropics.

I now proceed to make some observations on the orders above enumerated,
and on such of the other families, included in tlie collection, as present any
thing remarkable, either in their geographical distribution, or in their struc-
ture ; more especially where the latter establishes or suggests new affinities ;
and I shall take them neai'lv in the same order, as tiiat followed in the
botanical appendix to Captain Flinders's Voyage.

ANONACE./E. Only three species of this family are contained in the col-
lection. One of these is Anona senegalensis, of which the genus has been
considered doubtful even by M. Dunal in his late valuable Monograph of the
order.* That it really belongs to Anona, however, appears from the specimen
with ripe fruit preserved in the collection. It is remarkable therefore as the
only species of this genus yet known which is not a native of equinoctial
America : for Anona asiatica, of which Liimanis had no specimen in his her-
barium, when he first proposed it under this name, according to the original
S)Tionyms, is nothing more than Anona muricata: and A. obtusiflora, supposed
by M. Tussac-j- to have been introduced into the American Islands from Asia,
does not appear to differ from A. mucosa of Jacquin, which is known to be a
native of Martinica.

The second plant of this order in the collection is very nearly related to
Piper JEtliiopicum of the shops, the Unona aethiopica, and perhaps also
Unona aromatica of Dunal ■.\ these with several other plants already published,
form a genus, which, like Anona, is common to America and Africa, but of
which no species has yet been observed in Asia.

Of MALPIGHIACEJ5, an order chiefly belonging to equinoctial
America, there are also three species from Congo.

* Monogr. delafamitle des ^nonacies, p. 76.

t Flore des Jnlilles, i.p. 193. * Jnimac. p. l\3 el 112.

3 I

42G APPENDIX. No. V.

One of tliese is Banisteria Leona, first described, from Smeathman's speci-
mens, by Cavanilles,* who has added the fruit of a very different plant to his
fi<nire, and quotes the lierbarium of M. de Jussieu as authority for this species
being hkewise a native of America, which is, I heheve, equally a mistake.

The two remaining plants of Malpighiacese, in the collection, with some
additional species from different parts of the coast, form a new genus, having
the fruit of Banisteria, but with sufficient distinguishing characters in the
parts of the flower, and remarkable in having alteraate leaves. From this
disposition of leaves, in which the genus here noticed differs from all others
decidedly belonging to the order, an additional argument is afforded, for
referring Vifmannia to Malpighiacea?, as proposed by M. du Petit Thouars ;t
and the approxuuation, though perhaps not the absolute union of Erythroxylon
to the same family is confirmed.

It may not be improper here to notice a very remarkable deviation from the
usual structure of leaves in Malpighiacese, which is supposed to occur in a
plant of equinoctial Africa, namely FlabeUaria pinnata of Cavanilles (the
Hirmaptnnata of Willdenow.) It is certain, however, that the figure given by
Cavanilles of this species is made up from two very different genera ; the pin-
nated leaf belonging to an unpublished Pterocarpus ; the fructification to a
species of Hirasa, having simple opposite leaves. The evidence respecting
this blunder, which was detected by Mr. Dryander, is to be found in the
herbarium of Sir Joseph Banks.

In Malpighiaceae tlie insertion of the ovulum is towiu-ds its apex, or consi-
derably above its middle ; and the radicle of the embryo is uniformly superior.
In these points Banisteria presents no exception to the general structure,
though Gaertner has described its radicle as inferior, and M. de Jussieu does
not appear to have satisfied himself respecting the fact.; It appeai-s, how-
ever, that M. Richard is aware of the constancy in tlie direction of the embryo
in this order.§

HIPPOCRATICE.-E. M. de Jussieu has lately proposed this as a distinct
family, 1 1 of which there are two plants in the collection. The first is a species
of Hippocratea ; the second is referable to Salacia.

* DUserl. 424, t. 247. + In Nov. gefi. Madagase. n. 46, (Biporcia.)

$ Annul, du Mus. d'Ifisf. Nat. 18, p. 480. ^ Mem. du Mus. d'Hisl. Nat. 2, p. 400.
U Annal. du Mus. d'Hisl. Nat 18, p. 183.

APPENDIX. No. V. 427

In Hippocraticese, the insertion of the ovula is either towards the base, or is
central ; the direction of the radicle is always inferior. In these points of
structure, which are .left undeteiinined by M. de Jussieu, they diiFer from
Malpigliiacese, but agree with Celastrinje, to which, notwithstaiidhig the dif-
ference in insertion and number of stamina, and in the want of albumen, they
appear to me to have a considerable degree of affinity ; especially to Elaeoden-
drum, where the albumen is hardly visible, and to Ptelidium, as suggested by
M. du Petit Thouars,* in which it is reduced to a thin membrane.

SAPINDACEjE. Only four plants of this natm-al family, which is
almost entirely equinoctial, occur in the herbarium. Two of these are new
species of Sapindus. The lliii-d is probably not spccificdly different from Car-
diospermum grandlflorum of the West India Islands. And the fourth is
so nearly related to Paulllnla pinnata, of the opposite coast of America,
as to be with difficulty distinguished from it. M. de Jussieu,-f- who probably
intends die same plant, when he states P. pinnata to be a native of equinoctial
Africa, has also described a second species from Senegal.^ No other species
of tliis genus has hitherto been found, except in equinoctial America ; for
PauUinia japonlca of Thunberg, probably belongs even to a different natural
order. The species from Congo, however, seems to be a very general plant
on this line of coast ; having been found by Brass near Cape Coast, and by
Park on the banks of the Gambia.

In Sapindaceae there is not the same constancy in the insertion of the
ovulum and consequent direction of embrj'o, as in the two preceding orders.
For although, in the far greater part of this family, the ovulum is erect and
the radicle of the embryo inferior, yet it includes more than one genus in which
botii the seeds and the embryo are inverted. With this fact it would seem
M. de Jussieu is unacquainted; § and he is surelj' not aware that in his late
Memoir on Melicocca* he has referred plants to that genus differing from each
otlier in this important point of stiiicture.

TILIACE^E. It is remarkable that of only nine species belonging to this

* Hist, des I cgtl. des Isles de V Afrique, p. 34.

t In Annal. du Mas. dllhl .Vat. i,p. 34T. + loc. cit. p. 348.

^ Annal. du Mus. d'Hist. Sal. 18, p. 476. J Mim. du Mus. d'Hist. Nut. 3, p. 119.

428 APPENDIX. No. V.

family in Professor Smith's herbarium, three should form genera hitherto
unnoticed.

Tlie first of these new genera is a shrub, in several of its characters related
to Spaimannia, like which, it has the greater part of its outer stamina destitute
of anthera? : i;i the structure of its fruit, however, it approaches more nearly
to Corchorus.

The second genus also agrees with Corchorus in its fruit ; but differs from
it sufficiently in the form and dehiscence of the antherae ; as well as in the short
pedicellus, like tliat of Grewia, elevating its stamina and pistiilum.

Tlie third, of which the specimens are in fruit only, fortunately, however,
accompanied by the persistent flower, is remarkable in having a calyx of tlu"ee
lobes, while its corolla consists of five petals ; the stamina are in indefinite
number ; and the fruit is composed of five single-seeded capsules, connected
only at tlie base. In the want of symmetry or proportion between the divisions
of its calyx and corolla, it resembles the ChlenacecE of M. du Petit Thouai-s,*
as well as Oncoba of Forskael and Ventenatia of M. de Beauvois.f The exist-
ence of this new genus decidedly belonging to Tiliacese, and having a consi-
derable resemblance to Ventenatia, whose place in the system is, indeed, not
yet determined, but of which the habit is nearly that of Rhodolaena, seems in
some degi-ee to confirm M. du Petit Thouars's opinion of the near relation of
Chlenacca; to Tiliaceae ; though M. de Jussieu, in placing it between Ebenaceas
and Rhodoracea?,! appears to take a very different view of its affinities.

MALVACEjE. Of this family 18 species were observed on the banks of
the Congo. It forms, therefore, about one thirty-fourth part of the Phasno-
gamous plants of the collection ; which is somewhat greater than the equinoc-
tial proportion of the order, as stated in Baron Himiboldt''s dissertation,^ but
nearly agrees with that of India, according to Dr. Roxburgh's unpubhshed
Flora Indica.

The greater part of the Malvaceae of the collection, belong to Sida and
Hihiscns ; and certain species of both these genera are common to India and
America. Urena aviericana and Malachra radiateu, hitherto supposed to be

* Hist des ri-gel. dcs Jsles de I'Jfriqiie, p. 46. t Flore d'Oware, \,p. 29, t. IT.

% Mirbel Elem. de Physiol, f'eg. et de Bot. 2, p. 855.

^ Prolesomena, p. xviii. De Dislrib. Geogr. Plant, p. 43.

APPENDIX. No. V. 429

natives of America only, are also cofttained in the collection ; and tlie loftiest
tree seen on the banks of the Congo, is a species of Bombax, ^vhich, as
lar as can be determined from tlie very imperfect specimens preserved in
the herbarium, does not differ from Bombax pentandnim of Amerita and
India. I have formerly remariced* that IMalvacefe, TiliacejE, Heiinanniaceae,
Butneriaceae, and Sterculiacese, constitute one natural class ; of which the orders
appear to me as nearly related as the different sections of Rosaceae are to
each other. In both these, as well as in sevei-al other cases that might be
mentioned, there seems to be a necessity for the establishment of natural classed,
to which proper names, derived from tiie orders best known, and differing
perhaps in termination, might be given.

It is remarkable that the most general chai'acter connecting the different orders
of the class now proposed, and v hich may be named from its principal order
Malvaceae, should be tliat of the valvular aestivation of the Calyx : for several,
at least, of the genera at present referred to Tiliaceas, in which this character
is not found, ought probably, for other reasons likewise, to be excluded from
that order : and hence perhaps also the Chlenaceae, though nearly related, are
not strictly referable to the class INIalvacea?, from all of whose orders, it must
be admitted, they differ considerably in habit.

LEGUMINOS.E. According to Bai-on Humbolt,f this family, or class, as
I am rather disposed to consider it, constitutes one-twelfth of the Phsenogamoiis
plants wlhin the tropics. Its proportion, however, is much greater in Pro-
fessor Smith's herbarium, in which there are \)G species belonging to it, or
nearly one-sixth of the whole collection. And, ample allowance being made
for the lateness of the season when the collection was formed, which might be
supposed to reduce the number of this family less than many of the others,
Leguminosae may be stated as forming one-eighth of the Phaenogamous plants
on the banks of the Congo. In India, it probably forms about one-ninth,
which is also nearly the proportion it bears to Phaenogamous plants in the
equinoctial part of New Holland.

I have formerly proposed to subdivide Leguminosae into three orders.|

Of the first of these orders, MIMOSE^-E, there are only eight species from
• Flmders't Joy, ^, p. 540. + op. dial. + Flinders' s f 01/ . 2,;/. 551.

430 APPENDIX. No. V.

Congo, seven of whicli belong to Acacia, as it is at present constituted : the
eifhth is a sensitive aculeaterl Mimosa very nearly allied to ]\I. aspera of the
West Indies, as well as to JM. canescens of Wdldenow, found by Isert in
Guinea ; and perhaps is not different from the species mentioned by Adanson
as being common on the banks of the Senegal.

Of the second order, C.ESALPINEiE, the collection contains I!) species,
among -which there are four unpublished genera. One of these is Erythro-
phkum of Afzelius, the Red Water Tree of Sierra Leone ; another species of
which genus is the ordeal plant, or Cassa of the natives of Congo. GuUandina
Bonduc and Cassia occidentalis, are also in the herbarium ; the former, I
beUeve, is unquestionably common to India and ^America; whether Cassia
occidentalis be really a native of India and equinoctial Africa, in both of which
it is now at least naturalized, is perhaps doubtful.

Among PAPILIONACE-^D, wliich constitute the principal part of Legu-
minosEB in the collection, there is only one jilant with stamina entirely distinct.
This decandrous plant forms a genus very different from any yet established,
but to which Podalyria hractcata of Roxburgh * belongs.

The genera composing Papilionaceas on the banks of the Congo have, upon
the whole, a much nearer relation to those of India than of equinoctial
America. To tliis, however, there is cne remarkable exception. For of the
only two species of Ptcrocarpus in the collection, one is hardly to be dis-
tinguished from P. Ecastopliyllum, unless by the want of the short acumen
existing in the plant of Jamaica- The second agrees entirely with Linneus's
original specimen of P. lunatus from Surinam, and seems to be not uncommon
on the west coast of equinoctial Africa; having been observed by Professor
Afzelius at Sierra Leone, and probably by Isert in Guinea :-f- while no species
of Pterocai'pus related to either of these has hitherto been observed in India.
On the other hand Abnis precatorlus and Hedysarvm trijlorum, both of
which occur in the collection, are common to equinoctial Asia and America.

TEREBINTACE.E, as ^ven by M. de Jussieu, appears to be made up of
several orders nearly related to each other, and of certain genera having but
little affinity to any of them. Of this, indeed, the illustrious author of the

* Coromand. Plants, 3 lab. + Heise iiaek Guinea, p. 116.

APPENDIX. No. V. 431

Genera plantarum seems to have been aware. He probably, however, had not
the means of ascertaining all their distinguishing characters, and therefore pre-
ferred leaving the order nearly as it was originally proposed by Bernard de
Jussieu in 1759.

One of the orders included in Terebintaceae, and which is proposed by M.
de Jussieu himself, under the name of Cassuvi.e, consists of Anacardium,
Semecarpus, Mangifera, Rhus and Buchanania, with some other unpubhshed
genera.

The perigynous insertion of stamina in Cassuvicc (or Anacardea) may be
admitted in doubtful cases from analogy, there being an unpublished genus
belonging to it even vith ovarium inferxun. And the ovarium, though in all cases
of one cell, \vith a single ovulum, may, at least in those genera in which the
style is divided, be supposed to unite in its substance the imperfect ovaria
indicated by the branches of the style, and which in Buchanania are actually
distinct from the complete organ. The only plant belonging to this order in
the herbarium, is a species of Rhus, with simple verticillate leaves, and very
nearly approaching in habit to two unpublished species of the genus from the
Cape of Good Hope.

AMYRIDEv^, another family included in Terebintaceae, and to which the
greater part of Jussieu's second section belongs, may, hke the former order, be
considered as having in all cases perigynous insertion of stamina ; this structure
being manifest in some of its genera. Of Amyridea*, there are two plants in
the collection. The first of these is a male plant, probably of a species of
Sorindeia:* the second, which is the Sufu of the natives, by whom it is cul-
tivated on account of its fruit, cannot be determined from the imperfect state
of the specimens ; it is, however, probably related to Poupartia or Bursera.

CONN.^RACEjE, is a third family which I propose to separate from
Terebintaceas : it consists of Connarus Linn. Cnestis Juss. and Rourea of
Aublet or Robergia of Schreber. The insertion of stamina, in this family, is
ambiguous ; but as in a species of Cnestis from Congo, they originate from,
or at least firmly cohere with, (he pediceUus of the ovaria ; they may be con-

* Auberl du Petit ITiouars nov. gen. madagas. n. 80.

432 APPENDIX. No. V.

adered perhaps in aU the genera rather as hypogynous than perigyncusf. The
most important distinguishing chai-acters of Connaraceae, consist in the insertion
of the two collateral ovula of each of its pistilla being near the base ; while the
radicle of the embryo is situated at the upper or opposite extremity of the seed,
which is always sohtary. In Cennarus there is but one ovarium, and the seed
(figured by Gaertner under the name of Omphalobium,) is destitute of albumen.
Rourea or Robergia, has always five ovaria, though in general one only comes
to maturitj'. Its seed, like that of Connanis, is without albumen, and tlie
jEstivation of the calyx is imbi-icate.

Of Cnestis, there are several new species in Professor Smith's herbaiium.
This genus has also five ovaria, all of which frequently ripen ; the albumen
fonns a considerable part of the mass of die seed ; and the agstivation of the
calyx is valvular. The genera of this group therefore differ from each otlier,
in having one or more ovaria, in the existence or absence of albumen ; and in
the imbricate or valvular aestivation of calyx. Any one of these characters
singly, is frequently of more than generic importance, though here even when
all are taken together, they appear insufficient to separate Cnestis from
Connarus.

In considering the place of the Connaraceae in the system, they appear
evidently connected on the one liand with Leguminosae, from which Connarus
can only be distinguished by the relation the parts of its embryo have to the
umbilicus of the seed. On the other hand, Cnestis seems to me to approach
to Averrhoa, which agi-ees vnth it in habit, and in many respects in tlie
structure of its flower and seed ; differing from it, however, in its five ovaria
being united, in tlie greater number of ovula in each cell, in the very different
texture of its fruit, and in some degree in the situation of the umbihcus of tlie
seed.

But Averrhoa agrees with Oralis in every important point of structure of
its flower, and in most respects in that of its seed.

Oxal'is indeed differs from Averrhoa in the texture of its fruits, in some
respects in the structure of its seed ; and very widely in habit, in the greater
part of its species. The difference in habit, however, is not so great in some
species of Oxalis ; as for example, in those with pinnated and even ternate
leaves from equinoctial America ; and in that natural division of the genus
including O. sensUiva, of which there are two species in the Congo herbariuni.

APPENDIX. No. V. 433

This latter section of Oxalis* agrees also with Averrhoa Carambolaf in the
foHola when initated, being reflected or dependent, which is likewise theii-
position in the state of collapsion or sleep, in all the species of both genera.

To the natural order formed by Oxalis and Averrhoa, the name of Oxa-
LiDEE may be given, in preference to that of Sensitivce, under which, however,
Batsch:J: was the first to propose the association of these two genera, and to
point out their agreement in sensible quahties and irritability of leaves.

M. de Jussieu, in a memoir recently published,§ has proposed to remove
Oxalis from Geraniaceae, to which he had formerly annexed it, and to imite it
with Diosnieas.

It appears to me to have a much nearer affinity to Zj/gophi/llea;]] though
it is surely less intimately connected with that order than with Averrhoa.

I am aware that M. Correa de Serra, one of the most profound and philo-
sophical botanists of the present age, has considered Averrhoa as nearly related
to Rhamneae ^\ or rather to Cclastrina? ; from which, however, it differs in the
number and insertion of stamina and especially in the direction of the embryo,
■with respect to the pericarpium.

In all these characters Averrhoa agrees with Oxalis ; its relation (o which is
further confirmed on considering the appendage of the seed or ariUus, whose mo^
difications in these two genera seem to correspond with those of their pericarpia.

CHRYSOBALANEjE. The genera forming this order are Chrysobalanua,
Moquilea, Grangeria, Coupea, Acioa, Licania, Hirtella, Thelira, and Parina-
rium, all of which are at present referred by M. de Jussieu to Rosaceae, and
the greater part to his seventh section of that family, namely, Amygdalese. If
Rosaceae be considered as an order merely, these genera will form a separate
section, connecting it with Leguminosae. But if, as I have formerly proposed,
both these extensive families are to be regarded as natural classes, then they
will form an order sufficiently distinct from Amygdaleie, both in fructification
and habit, as wqII as in geographical distribution.

The principal distinguishing characters in the fructification of Chrysobalanece,
are the style proceeding from the base of the ovarium ; and the ovula (which,

* Herba seutieos, Rumph. Amboin.b, p. 301 . + Bruce in Philos. Transact. 75, p. 356.

+ Tab. affin. p. 23. S ''*^^"'- ''" -''^'"- '''^'*'- -^o'- 3, P- 448,

5 Flhiders's f'oy.. 2, p. 545. 5 Aiinal. du ilui. d'llif. Sat. 8, p. ??.

3K

434 APPENDIX, No. V.

as in Amygdaleoj, are two in number,) as well as the embryo being erect. The
greater part of Chrysobalaneae have their flowers more or less irregular ; the
irregularity consisting in the cohesion of the foot-stalk of the ovarium with one
side of the tube of the calyx, and a greater number, or greater perfection of
stamina on the same side of the flower.

Professor Smith's herbarium contains only two genera of this order, namely,
Chrysohalanus and Parinarium.* One species of the former is hardly dis-
tinguisliable from Chrysol>alanus Icaco of America, and is probably a very
common plant on the west coast of Africa : Icaco being mentioned by Isert •}-
as a native of Guinea, and by Adanson:j: in his account of Senegal.

Of Parinarium, there is only one species from Congo, which agrees, in the
number and disposition of stamina, with the character given of the genus.
In these respects M. de Jussieu § has observed a difference in the two species
found by Adanson at Senegal, and has moreover remarked that their ovarium
coheres with the tube of the calyx. In that species most common at Sierra
Leone, and which is probably one of those examined by M. de Jussieu, the
ovarium itself is certainly free, its pedicellus, however, as in the greater part
of the genera of this order and sevei-al of CaesalpineEe, fiiTnly cohering with the
calyx, may account for the statement referred to. I am not, indeed, acquainted
with any instance among Dicotyledonous plants of cohesion between a simple
ovarium, which I consider that of CiirysobalancEC to be, and the tube of the
calyx.

The complete septum between the two ovula of Parinarium, existing before
fecundation, is a peculiar structure in a simple ovarium; though in some
degree analogous to the moveable dessepiment of Banksia and Dryandra, and
to the complete, but less regular, division of the cavity that takes place after
fecundation in some species of Persoonia.|l

MELASTOMACE.E. Four plants only of this order occur in the
collection.

Tile first is a species of Trisfemma, very nearly related to T. hirtum of M.
de Beauvois.^

* Juss. Gen. 342. Parinari, Jublet Guian. 514. Petrocarya, Schreb. Gen. 629.

+ Rehc Tiarh Guinea, p. 54. + f^oyage an Senegal, 175. ^ Gen. Plant. 342.

U Linn. Soc. Transact. 10, p. 35. H Flore d'Oware, },p. 94, /. 57.

APPENDIX. No. V. 435

The second is perhaps not distinct from Melastoma decumbens, of tlie same
author.*

The third and fourtli are new species referable to Rhexia, as characterised
by Ventenatjf though not to that genus as estabhshed by Linneus ; and in
some respects differing from the species tliat have been since added to it, all
of which are natives of America.

In the original species of Tristeinma\ there are, in the upper part of the tube
of the calyx, two circular ciliated membranous processes, from which the
name of the genus is derived ; the limb of the calyx itself being considered as
constituting the third circle. The two circular membranes are also represented
as complete in T. hirtum.

But in the species from Congo, which may be named T. incompletum, only
one circular membrane exists, with the unilateral rudiment of the second.

The rudiment of the inferior membrane in this species, points out the rela-
tion between the apparently anomalous appendage of the calyx in Tristemma,
and the cUiated scales irregularly scatteretl over its whole surface in Osbeckia ;
the analogy being estabhshed by the intermediate structure of an unpublished
plant of this order from Sierra Ltxjne, in Sir Joseph Banks's herbaiium, in
wliich the neai'ly similar squam£e, though distinct, are disposed in a single
complete circle ; and by Melastoma octandra of Linneus, in wliich they are
only four in number, and alternate with the proper divisions of the calyx.

The two species here referred, though improperly, to Rhexia, agree with a
considerable part of the species published in the monograph of that genus by
"M. Bonpland, and with some other genera of the order, in the jjeculiar manner
in which the ovarium is connected with the tube of the calyx. This cohesion,
instead of extending uniformly over the whole surface, is Umited to ten longi-
tudinal equidistant lines or membranous processes, apparently originating from
ihe surface of the ovarium ; the interstices, which are tubular, and gradually
i:arrowing towards the base, being entirely free.

The function of these tubular interstices is as remarkable as their existence.

In Melastomaceae, before the expansion of the coroEa, the tops of the fila-
ments are inflected, and the antherae are pendulous and parallel to the lower
or erect portion of the filament ; their tips reaching, either to the line of com-
plete cohesion between the calyx and ovarium, where that exists ; or, where

* Op. cilat. l,p.69,l.49. ^ Mem. <fe I'lnstitut. sc. ph^s. ISOl, prem. semest. p. \l.

+ Tristemma virusaaa, lent, Choix de Plantes 35.

436 APPEXDIX. Xo. V.

this cohesion is partial, and such as I have now described, being lodged in the
tubular interstices ; their points extending to the base of the ovarium. From
these sheaths, to which they are exactly adapted, the antherae seem to be dis-
engaged in consequence of the unequal growth of the different parts of the
filament ; the inflected portion ceasing to increase in length at an early period,
while that below the curvature continues to elongate considerably until the
extrication is complete, when expansion takes place.

It is singular that this mode of cohesion between the ovarium and calyx in
certain genera of Melastomaceae, and the equally remarkable aestivation of
antherae accompanying it, should have been universally overlooked, especially in
the late monograph of IM. Bonpland ; as both the structure and economy cer-
tainly exist in some, and probably in the greater part, of the plants which that
author has figured and described as beloneina; to Rhexia.

On the limits, structure, and generic division of Melastomaceae, I may
remark,

1st. That Memecylon, as M. du Petit Thouars has already suggested,* and
Petalonia of Swartz-(- both belong to this order, and connect it with Myriacece,
from which tliey are to be distinguished only by the absence of the pellucid
glands of the leaves and of other parts, existing in all the genera really
belonging to that extensive family.

2dly. Tliere are very few Melastomaceae in which the ovarium does not in
some degree coliere with the tube of the calyx ; Meriana, properlv so called,
being, perhaps, the only exception.

And in the greater number of instances where, though the ovarium is
coherent, the fruit is distinct, it becomes so from the laceration of the connect-
ing processes already described.

3dly. That the generic divisions of the whole order remain to be established.
On examination, I believe, it ^nll be found that the original species of the
Linnean genera, Melastoma and Rhexia, possess generic characters sufliciently
distinguishing them from the greater part of the plants that have been since
added to them by various authors. In consequence of these additions, how-
ever, their botanical history has been so far neglected, that probablv no aenuine
species of Melastoma, and certainly none of Rliexia, has yet been published in
M. Bonpland's splendid and valuable monographs of these two genera.

* MHanges de Botanique ; Ol/serv. address, a M. Lamarck, p. 57,
+ JFior. Ind. Occid. 2, p. 831 , tub. 14.

APPENDIX. No.V. 437

Of RHIZOPHORE.E,* as I have formerly proposed to limit it, namely,
to Rliizophora, Bruguiera, and Carallia, the collection contains only one plant,
which is a species of Rhizophora, the Mangrove of the lower part of the river,
and probably of the whole line of coast, but very different both from that of
America, and from those either of India or of other equinoctical countries that
have been described. There is, however, a plant in the collection which,
though not strictly belonging to this order, suggests a few remarks on its
affinities.

I referred CaralUaf to Rhizophorea;, from its agreement with them in
habit, and in the structure of its flower. It is still uncertain whether its reni-
form seed is destitute of albumen ; the absence of which, howevei-, does not
seem necessary to establish its affinity with the other genera of tliis order : for
plants having the same remarkable economy in the germination of the embryo
as that of Rhizophora, may belong to families which either have or are
destitute of albumen.

The plant referred to from Congo, may be considered as a new species of
Leffnotis, having its petals less divided than those of the original species of
that genus, and each cell of its ovarium containing only two pendulous ovula.
The genus Legnotis agrees with Carallia in habit, especially in having oppo-
site leaves with intermediate stipules ; in the valvular aestivation of its calyx,
and in several other points of structure of its flower. It differs in its divided
petals ; in its greater number of stamina, disposed, however, in a simple
series ; and in its ovai'ium not cohering with the calyx. It is therefore still
more nearly related to Rlchcela of M. du Petit Thouars,:|: from which perhaps
it may not be generically distinct. The propriety of associating Carallia§ with
Rhizophoreae is not perhaps likely to be disputed ; and its affinity to Legnotis,
especiallv to the species from Congo, appears very probable. It would
seem therefore that we have already a series of structures connecting Rhizo-
phora on the one hand with certain genera of Salicarice, particulai-ly with
Antheryl'ium, though that genus wants the intermediate stipules ; and on the
other with CunoniacecE,\\ especially with the simple leaved species of Cerato-

* Flinders s foj/. g, p. 549. + Roxburgh. Coromand. 3, p. 8, <. 21 1.

+ Sov. Gen. Madagasc, n. 8-i.

^ Or Barraldeia, Du Petit Thouars, Sov. Gen. Madagasc, n. 82.

3 Flinders'! Foy. 8, p. 548.

438 APPENDIX. No. V.

peialum. While Loranthus and Viscum associated with Rhizephora, by M.
de Jussieu, appear to form a very distinct family, and which, as it seems to me,
should even occupy a distant place in the system.

HOMALINiE. In the collection from Congo a plant occurs evidently
allied, and perhaps referable, to Homalium, from which it differs only in the
oreater number of glands alternating with the stamina, whose fasciculi are in
consequence decomposed ; the inner stamen of each fasciculus being sepai-ated
from the two outer by one of the additional glands. This plant was first
found on the banks of the Gambia, by ]\Tr. Park, from whose specimens I have
ascertained that the embryo is inclosed in a fleshy albumen.

The same structui-e of seed may be supposed, from very obvious affinity,
to exist in Astranthus of Loureu'o, to which Blackwellia of Commerson ought
]»rhaps to be referred ; in Napimoga of Aublet, probably not different from
Homalium ; and in Nisa,* a genus admitting of subdivision, and which M-
du Petit Thouars has referred to Rhamnea^. All these genera appear to me
sufficiently different Irom Rosacese, where M. de Jussieu has placed them, and
from every other family of plants at present established.

Their distinguishing characters as a separate order, are, the segments of the

perianthium disposed in a double series, or an equal number of segments

nearly in the same series ; the want of petals ; the stamina being definite and

opposite to the inner series of the perianthium, or to the alternate segments

where they are disposed apparently in a simple series ; the unilocular ovarium

(generally in some degree coherent with the calyx) having three parietal

placenta;, with one, two, or even an indefinite number of ovula ; and the seeds

having albumen, as inferred from its existence in the genus from Congo.

The cohesion of the ovarium with the tube of the perianthium, tbough existing

in various degrees in all the genera above enumerated, is probably a character

of only secondary importance in Homalinae. For an unpublished genus found

by Commerson in Madagascar, which in every other respect agrees with this

family, has ovarium superum. This genus at the same time seems to establish

a considerably affinity between Homalinae and certain genera, either absolutely

belonging to Passiflorew, especially Paropsia of M. du Petit Thouars,-f- or

* Nov. Gen. Madagase. n. 81.

+ niH. des Viget. des Jiles de I'Jfrique, 59.

APPENDIX. No. V. 439

nearly related to them as Erythrospermum, well described and figured by the
same excellent botanist.*

The increased number of stamina in Homalium, and particularly in the
genus from Congo, instead of presenting an objection to this affinity, appears
to me to confirm it. It may be observed also that there are two genera
referable to Passiflorese, though they -svill form a separate section of the
order, which have a much greater, and even an indefinite, number of perfect
stamina, namely, Smeathmania, an unpublished genus of equinoctial Africa,
agreeing in habit, in perianthium, and in fruit, with Paropsia ; and Ryanra
of Vahl,-f- whicli appears to me to belong to the same family.

In Passifloreas the stamina, when their number is definite, which is the case in
all the genera hitJierto considered as belonging to them, are opposite to the outer
series of the perianthium ; a character, which, though of general importance,
and here of practical utility in distinguishing them from Homalinae, is not
expressed in any of the numerous figiu-cs or descriptions that have been pub-
Ushed of the plants of this order.

Passifloreae and Cucurbitaceae, though now admitted as distinct families, are
still placed together by M. de Jussieu ; and be considers the floral envelope
in both orders as a perianthium or calyx, whose segments are disposed in a
double series.}

These views of affinity and structure are in some degree confirmed by
IlomaUnae, in which both ovarium inferum and superum occur ; and in one
genus of which, namely, BlacJcicelUa, the segments of the perianthium, though
the complete number, in relation to the other genera of the order, be present,
are all of similar textvu-e and form, and are disposed nearly in a simple series.
If the approximation of these three families be admitted, they may be consi-
dered as forming a class intermediate between Polypetalae and Apetalse, whose
principal characters would consist in the segments of the calyx being disposed
in a double series, and in the absence of petals ; the different orders nearly
agreelno- with each other in the structure of their seeds, and to a considerable
deoree in that of the ovarium.

Tlie formation of this class, however, connected on the one hand with

* Op. (Hal. 65. + Eclog. 1, p. 51, t. 0.

+ /tnnal. dtt Miis. iTHisl. Nat. 6, p. 108.

440 APPENDIX. No. V.

Apetalse by Samydeae,* and on the other, though as it seems to me less
intimately, with Polypetalas by Violese, would not accord with any arrange-
ment of natural orders that has yet been given. While the admission of the
floral envelope being entii-ely calyx ; and of the affinity of the class with Violese,
would certainly be unfavourable to M. de CandoUe's ingenious hypothesis of
petals in all cases being modified stamina.

VIOLEjE.f Tliis order does not appear to me so nearly related to Passi-
floreje as M. du Petit Thouars is disposed to consider it : for it not only has
a genuine polj-petalous corolla, which is hj'pogynous, but its antheras differ
materially in structure, and its simple calyx is divided to the base. The
irregularity both of petals and stamina in the original genera of the order,
namely, Viola, Pombaha,|:J; and Hybanthus, though characters of considerable
importance, are not in all cases connected witli such a difference in habit as to
prevent their union -nith certain regular flowered genera, which it has lately
been proposed to associate with them.

The collection from Congo contains two plants belonging to the section of
Violeffi with regulai- flowers. One of these evidently belongs to Pussalia, an
unpublished genus in Sir Joseph Banks's herbarium, and described in the manu-
scripts of Solander from a plant found by Smeathman at Sierra Leone, which is
perhaps not specifically distinct from that of Congo, or from Ceranthera dentata
of the Flore d'Oware. But Ceranthera,% wliich ]\I. de Beauvois, being unac-
quainted with its fruit, has placed in the order Mehaceae, is not difierent from
Akodeia, a genus published somewhat earlier, and from more perfect materials,
by M. du Petit Thouars,H who refers it to Violeae. 'llie latter generic name
ought of course to be adopted, and with a change in the termination (Alsodince)
it may also denote the section of this order with regidar flowers.

Physiphora of Sir Joseph Banks's herbarium, discovered by himself in
Brazil, differs from Alsodeia only in its filaments being very slightly connected
at base, and in the form and texture of its capsule, which is membranaceous,
and, as the name imports, inflated.

* f'enlenat in Mem. de Vlnslit. Sc. Phi/s. 1807, 2 scm. p. 142.

+ Juss. Gen PI. 295. f'cnlenal Malmais. 27.

+ Fnndelli Fasc PI. p. 1,1. 1. lonidiiim, f'entea. Malmais. 27.

^ Ffore d'OKure, 2, //. 10. \\ Hist, des ffgel. des Isles de fJfrique bh.

APPENDIX. No. V. 441

Five species belonging to this section of Violeae occur in Aublet's History
of the Plants of Guiana, where each of them is considered as forming a sepa-
rate genus. Of three of these genera, namely, Conohoria, Rinorea, and
Riana, the flowers alone are described ; the two others, Passura and Piparea,
were seen in fruit only.

From the examination of flowers of Aublet's original specimens of the
three former genera, in Sir Joseph Banks's herbarium, and of the fruit of
Conolioria, which entirely agrees with that of Passura, and essentially with
that of Piparea, I have hardly a doubt of these five plants, notwithstanding
some differences in the disposition of their leaves, actually belonging to one
and the same genus : and as they agree with Physiphora in every respect,
except in the texture and form of the capsule, and \vith the Passalia of Sierra
Leone and Congo, except in having their stamina nearly or entirely distinct,
it appears that all these genera may be referred to Alsodeia.

I have also examined, in Sir Joseph Banks's herbai-ium, a specimen of Pen-
taloba sessilis of the Flora Cochinchinensis, which was sent so named, by
Loureiro himself, and have found it to agree in every important point with
Alsodeia, even as to the number of parietal placentfe. Loureiro, however,
describes the fruit of Pentaloba as a five-lobed, five-seeded berry, and if
this account be correct, the genus ought to be considered as distinct ; but if,
which is not very improbable, the fruit be really capsular, it is evidently
referable to Alsodeia ; with the species of which, from Madagascar and the
west coast of equinoctial Africa, it agrees in the manifest union of its filaments.

It appears therefore that the ten genera now enumerated, and perhaps also
Lauradia of Vandelli, may very properly be reduced to one ; and they all at
least manifestly belong to the same section of Violeae, though at present they
are to be found in various, and some rather distant, natural orders.

M. de Jussieu, in adopting Aublet's erroneous description of the stamina of
Rinorea and Conohoria, has referred both these genera to Berberides,* to which

*■ The genera belonging to Berberides are Berberis (to which Ilex Japonica of
Thunberg belongs); Leontice (including Caulophyllum, respecting which see Linn. Soe.
Transac. 12, p. 145) Epimedium : and Diphyllcia of Michaux. Jeffersonin may perhaps
differ in the internal structure of its seeds, as its does in their arillus, from true Berberi-
des, but it agrees with them in tlie three principal characters of llieir flower, namely, in
their stamina being etiual in number and opposite to the petals; in the remarkable
dehiscence of autherae; and in the structure of the o¥ariara. Pod-ophyllum agrees with

3 L

442 APPENDIX. No. Y.

he has also annexed Riana, adding a tiuery wliether Passura may not belong
to the same genus. With M. de Beauvois, he refers Ceranthera to Meliaceae;
and Pentaloba of Loureiro he reduces also to the same order.* Piparea is,
together with Viola, annexed to Cistinaj in liis Genera Plantarum, and is
therefore the most correctly placed, though its structure is the least known, of
all these supposed genera.

An unpublished genus of New Holland, which I have named Hymenanthera,
in Sir Joseph l^anks's herbarium, agrees with Alsodeia in its calyx, in the in-
sertion, expansion, and obliquely imbricate aestivation of its petals, and especially
in the structure of its antherae, which approach more nearly to those of Violeae
properly so called. It differs, however, from this order in having five squamae
alternating with the petals ; and especially in its fruit, which is a bilocidar
berry, having in each cell a single pendulous seed, whose internal structure
resembles that both of Violeae and Polygaleae, between which I am inchned to
think tliis genus should be placed.

CHAILLETE.E. The genus Chailleiia was established by M. de Can-
dolle-)- from a plant found by Martin in French Guiana, and which, as appears
by specimens in Sir Joseph Banks's herbarium, had been many years before
named Patrisia by Von Rohr, who discovered it in the same country. At a
still earlier period, Solander, in liis manuscripts, preserved in the library of Sir
Joseph Banks, described this genus under the name of Mestotes, from several
species found by Smeathman at Sierra Leone. Both D'lclutpetalum and
Leiicosia of M. du Petit Thouars j appear to me, from the examination of
authentic specimens, to belong to the same genus : and in Professor Smith's
herbai-ium there is at least one additional species of Cbailletia different from
those of Sierra Leone.

Diphylleia in habit, and in the fasciculi of vessels of the stem being irregularly scattered ;
essentially in the floral envelope, and in the structure of the ovarium ; its stamina, also,
though numerous, are not altogether indefinite, but appear to have a certain relation
both in number and insertion to the petals: in the dehiscence of antherJE, and perhaps
also in the structure of seeds, it differs from this order, to which, however, it may be
appended. Sandina ought to be included in Berberidea", differing only in its more
numerous and densely imbricate braclea',from which to the calyx and even to the petals,
the transition is nearly imperceptible; and in the dehiscence of its antheca?.

* Mem. du Mus. dHist. jVat. 3, p. 140. + Annul, du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. 11 , p. 153.

* .\ov Gen. Madasasc. n. 78 et 79.

APPENDIX. No. V. 443

Of the two generic names given by M. du Petit Thouai-s, and published
somewhat earlier than M. de Candolle's Memoir, Leucosia will probably be
considered inadmissable, having been pre\dously applied bv Fabricius to a
genus of Crustacea; and Dichapetaliun is perhaps objectionable, as derived
from a character not existing in the whole genus, even allowing it to be really
polypetalous. It seems expedient therefore to adopt the name proposed by
M. de Candolle, who has well illustrated the genus in the memoir- refen-ed to.
It appears to me that Chailletia, a genus nearly related to it from India with
capsular fruit, and Tapura of Aublet (which is Rohr'ta of Schreber,) form a
natural order, very different from any yet estabhshed. The principal characters
of this order may be gathered from M. de Candolle's figure and description of
Chailletia, to which, however, must be added that the cells of the ovju-ium,
either two or three in number, constantly contain two collateral pendulous
ovida ; and that in the regular flowered genera there exist witliin, and opposite
to, the petal Uke bodies an equal number of glands, which are described by
M. du Petit Thouars in Dichapetalum, but are unnoticed by him in Leucosia,
where, however, they are equally present.

It may seem paradoxical to associate ^vith these genera Tapura, whose flower
is irregular, trianckous, and apparently monopetalous. But it wiU somewhat
lessen then- apparent differences of structure to consider the petal-like bodies,
which, in all the genera of this order, are inserted nearly or absolutely in the
same series with the filaments, as being ban-en stamina ; a view which M. dc
Candolle has taken of those of Chailletia, and which M. Richard had long
before pubhshcd respecting Tapura.* It is probable also that M. de Candolle
at least will admit the association here proposed, as his Chailletia sessiliflora
seems to be merely an unperfect specimen of Tapura guianensis.

The genera to which Chailletese most nearly approach appear to me to be
Aquilaria of Lamarck -f- and Gyrinops of Gsertner. But these two genera
themselves, which are not referable to any order j'et established, may either be
regarded as a distinct family, or perhaps, to avoid the too great multiplication
of famihes, as a section of that at present under consideration, and to which I

* Diet. Elan, de Bolanique par Bulliard, revii par L. C. Richard, ed. 1802, /(. 3-*.
+ Or Ophiospermum of tlie Flora Cochincbinensis, as I have proved by comparison
with a specimen from Loureiro himself.

444 APPENDIX. No. V.

should then propose to apply the name of Aquilabin* in preference to
Chailletea?.

The genus Aquilaria itself has been referred by Ventenat to Saviydece.
From tills order, however, it is sufficiently distinct, not only in the structure of
its ovarium and seeds, but in its leaves being altogether destitute of glands,
which are not only numerous in Samydeae, but consisting of a mixture of round
and linear pellucid dots, distinguish them from all the other families* with
which there is any probability of their being confounded.

Sir James Smith -f has lately suggested the near affinity of Aquilaria to
Euphorbiaceae. But I confess it appears to me at least as distinct from that
order as from Samydeae : and I am inclined to think, paradoxical as it may
seem, that it would be less difficult to prove its affinity to Thymeleae than to
either of them ; a point however which, requiring considerable details, I do
not mean to attempt in the present essay.

Of EUPHORBIACEiE there are twenty species in the collection, or one
twenty-eighth part of its Phaenogamous plants. This is somewhat greater tlian
the intratropical proportion of the order as stated by Baron Humboldt, but
rather smaller than that of India or of the northern parts of New Holland.

The most remarkable plants of Euphorbiaceae in the Congo herbarium are ;
a new species of the American genus Alchor7iea ; a plant differing from
JEgoprkon, a genus also belonging to America, chiefly in its capsular fruit ;
two new species of Br'idel'm, which has hitherto been observed only in India ;
and an unpubhshed genus that I have formerly alluded to,| as in some degree
explaining the real structure of Euphorbia, and from the consideration of
which also it seems probable that what was formerly described as the herma-
phrodite flower of that genus, is in reality a compound fasciculus of flowers.§
From the same species of this unpublished genus a substance resembling
Caoutchouc is said to be obtained at Sierra Leone.

According to IMr. Lockhart a frutescent species of Euphorbia, about eight

* Tlie only other genus in which I have observed an analogous variety of form in the
glands of the leaves, is Myroxylon, (to which both Mt/rospermum and Toluifera belong,)
in all of whose species this character is very reraarkabie, the pellucid lines being much
longer than in Samydeas. + Linn. Soc. Transact. \\,p. 230.

t FUHdersi V03. 9, p. 557. \ Linn, Sac. Transact. 12, p. 99.

APPENDIX. No. V. 445

feet in height, with cylindrical stem and branches, was observed, planted on
the graves of the natives near several of the villages; but of this, which may
be what Captain Tiickey has called Cactus quadrangularis in his Narrative
(p. 115) there is no specimen in the herbai'ium.

COMPOSITiE. It is unnecessary here to enter into the question whether
this family of plants, of which upwards of 3001) species are already known,
ought to l:e considered as a class or as an order merely ; the expediency of
subdividing it, and affixing proper names to the divisions, being generally
admitted. The divisions or tribes proposed by M. Cassini, in his valuable
dissertations on this family ap{)ear, to be the most natural, though as yet they
have not been very sati-facti.rily defined.

The number of Composita; in the collection is only twenty-four, more than
half of which are referable to HeliantltecB and Venioniacew of M. Cassini.
The greater part of these are unpublished species, and among them are five
new genera. The published species belong to other divisions, and are chiefly
Indian : but one of them, Ageratum coiiyzoldes, is common to America
and India ; the Sinichium (or Sparganophorus) of the collection does not
appear to me different from that of the West Indies; and Mikan'ia chenopo-
difolia, a plant very general on this line of coast, though perhaps confined to
it, belongs to a genus of which all the other species are found only in America.

Baron Humboldt has stated* that Compo^itte form one sixth of the Phasno-
gamous plants within the tropics, and that their proportion gradually decreases
in the higher latitudes until in the frigid zones it is reduced to one thirteenth.
But in the herbarium from Congo Compositaj form only one twenty-third,
and bolh in Smeathman's collection from Sierra Leone and in Dr. Roxburgh's
Flora Indica, a still smaller part, of the Phaenoganious plants. In the northern
part of New Holland they form about one sixteenth ; and in a manuscinpt
catalogue of plants of equinoctial America, in the library of Sir Joseph Banks,
they are nearly in the same proportion.

In estimating the comparative value of these different materials, I may, in
the first place, obsi. rve that though the herbarium from Congo was collected in
the dry season of the country, there is no reason to suppose on that account that
the proportion of this family of plants, in particular, is materially or even in

* In op, diet.

446 APPENDIX. No. V.

any degree diminished, nor can this objection be stated to the SieiTa Leone
collection, in which its relative number is still smaller.

To the Compositae in Dr. Roxburgh's Flora Indica, however, a considerable
addition ought, no doubt, to be made ; partly on the ground of his having
apparently paid less attention to them himself, and still more because his
correspondents, whose contributions form a considerable part of the Flora,
have evidently in a great measure neglected them. This addition being made,
the proportion of Compositai in India woidd not differ very materially from
that of the north coast of New Holland, according to my own collection, which
I consider as having been formed in more favourable circumstances, and as
probably giving an approximation of the true proportions in the country exa-
mined. Baron Humboldt's herbarium, though absolutely greater tlian any of
the others referred to on this subject, is yet, with relation to the vast regions
whose vegetation it represents, less extensive than either that of the north coast
of New Holland, or even of the line of the Congo. And as it is in fact as
much the Flora of the Andes as of the coasts of intratropical America, con-
taining families nearly or wholly unknown on the shores of equinoctial
countries, it may be supposed to have several of those families which are com-
mon to all such countries, and among them Composite, in very different pro-
portion. At the same time it is not improbable that the relative number of
this family in equinoctial America, may be gi-eater than in the similar regions of
other intratropical countries; while there seems some reason to suppose it
considerably smaller on the west coast of Africa. This diminished proportion,
however, in equinoctial Africa would be the more remarkable, as thei-e is
probably no part of the world in which Compositae form so great a portion of
the vegetation as at the Cape of Good Hope.

RUBIACE^. Of this family there are forty three species in the collec-
tion, or about one fourteenth of its Phaenogamous plants. I have no reason to
suppose that this proportion is greater than that existing in other parts of
equinoctial Africa ; on the contrary, it is exactly that of Smeathman's collection
from Sierra Leone.

Baron Humboldt, however, states the equinoctial proportion of Rubiacete to'
Phaenogamous plants to be one to twenty-nine, and that the order gradually
diminishes in relative number towards tiie poles.

APPENDIX. No. Y. 447

But it is to be observed that this family is composed of two divisions, having
very diflFerent relations to climate ; the first, with opposite, or more rarely
verticillate leaves and intermediate stipules, to which, though constituting the
great mass of the order, the name RubiaceiE cannot be applied, being chiefly
equinoctial ; while the second, or Stellatw, having verticillate or very rarely
opposite leaves, but in no case intermediate stipules, has its maximum in the
temperate zones, and is hardly found within the tropics, unless at great heights.

Hence perhaps we are to look for the minimum in number of species oi" the
whole order, not in the frigid zone, but, at least in certain situations, a few
degrees only beyond the tropics.

In conformity to this statement, M. Delile's valuable catalogue of the plants
of Egypt * includes no incUgenous species of the equinoctial division of the
order, and only five of Stellatce, or hardly the one hundred and sixtieth part of
die Phasnogamous plants. In M. Desfontaines' Flora Atlantica^ Rubiacea?, con-
sisting of fifteen Stellatas and only one species of the equinoctial division, form
less than one ninetieth part of the Phasnogamous plants, a proportion somewhat
inferior to that existing in Lapland.

In Professor Thunberg's Flora of the Cape of Good Hope, where Rubiacese
are to Phasnogamous plants, as about one to one hundred and fifty, the order is
differently constituted; the equinoctial division, by the addition of Jntho-
spefmum, a genus peculiar to southern Africa, somewhat exceeding Steiratae
in number. And in New Holland, in the same parallel of latitude, the relative
number of SteOatae is still smaller, from the existence of OperculaTia, a genus
found only in that part of the world, and by the addition of which the proportion
of the whole order to the Phanogamous plants is there considerably increased.

More than hidf the Rubiacea; from Congo belong to well known genera,
chiefly to Grardenia, Psychotria, Morinda, Hedyolis, and Spermacoce.

Of the remaining part of the order, several form new genera.

T\ie first of these is nearly related to Gardenia, which itself seems to require
subdivision.

The second is intermediate between Rondeletia and Danais, and probably
includes Rondeletia febrifuga of Afzelius.-f-

* Flor. Egypt. Illuslr. in Descript. de VEgyple, Hist. Nat. v. 2. p. 49.

+ In Herb. Banks. This is the " New sort of Peruvian Bark " mentioned in his Report,
p. 174: which is probably not diffefent from the Bellenda or African Bark of Winter-
bottom's Account of Sierra Leone, vol. 2, p. 243.

448 APPENDIX. No. V.

The third has the inflorescence and flowers of Naucka, but its ovaria and
pericarpia are confluent, the whole head forming a compound spherical fleshy
fruit, which is, I suppose, the country-fig of Sierra Leone, mentioned by
Professor Afzelius.*

The Jburth is a second species of Neurocarpcea, a genus which I have
named, but not described, in the catalogue of Abyssinian plants appended to
Mr. Salt's Travels.f

• The Jifth genus is intermediate between Rubiaceae and Apocineae- With
the former it agrees in habit, especially in its interpetiolary stipules ; and in
the insertion and structure of its seeds, which are erect, and have the embryo
lodged in a horny albumen forming the mass of the nucleus ; while it resembles
Apocineae in having its ovarium entirely distinct from the calyx : its capsule
in appearance and dehiscence is exactly like that of Bursaria.

The existence of this genus tends to confirm what I have formerly asserted
respecting the want of satisfactory distinguishing characters between these two .
orders, and to prove that they belong to one natural class: the ovarium
superum approximating it to Apocineae ; the interpetiolary stipules and struc-
ture of seeds connecting it, as it appears to me, still more intimately with
Rubiaceas.

The arguments adduced by M. de Jussieuj for excluding listeria from
Rubiaceae and referring it to Apocinese, are, its having ovarium superum, an
irregular corolla, fleshy albumen, and only one stamen ; there being no example
of any reduction in the number of stamina in Rubiaceae, (in which Opercularia
and Pomax are not included by M. de Jussieu,) while one occurs in t}ie male
flowers of Ophioxylum, a genus belonging to Apocineas. From analogous
reasoning he at the same time decides in referring Gccrtnera of Lamarck § to
Rubiaceae, though he admits it to have ovarium superum ; its flowers being
regular, its albumen more copious and horny, and its embryo erect. But aU
these chai-acters exist in the new genus from Congo. These two genera
therefore, together with Pagamea of Aublet, Usteria, Geniostoma of Forster
(which is Anasser of Jussieu) and Logania,'^ might, from their mere agree-
ment in the situation of ovaiium, form a tribe intermediate between Rubiaceae

* Sierra Levne Report for 1194, p. \1\,n. 32.

+ Voj/age to Abyasiniu, append, p. Ixvi. % Annul, du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. 10, p. 383,

% Illustr. Gen. tab. 167. H Prodr. Ftor. Nov. BoU. \,p. 455.

APPENDIX. No, V. 449

and Apocineae. This tribe, however, would not be strictly natural, and from
analogy with the primary divisions admitted in Rubiaceae, as well as from
habit, would require subdivision into at least four sections : but hence it may
be concluded that the only combining character of these sections, namely, ovarium
superum, is here of not more than generic value : and it must be admitted also
that the existence or absence of stipules is in Logania * of still less importance.

APOCINE^. There are only six plants in the collection belonging to
this order :

The first of these, together with some other species from Sierra Leone,
constitutes an unpublished genus, the fruit of which externally resembles that
of Cerbera, but essentially differs from it in its internal structure, being
polyspermous. The Cream fruit of Sierra Leone mentioned by Professor
Afzelius,t probably belongs to this genus, of which an idea may be formed by
stating its flower to resemble that of Vahea, figured, but not described by M.
Lamarck,! and its fruit, that of ^'oacanga§ of M. du Petit Thouars, from
which bird lime is obtained in Madagascar, or of Urceola|| of Dr. Roxburgh,
the genus that produces the caoutchouc of Sumatra.

The second belongs to a genus discovered at Sierra Leone by Professor
Afzelius, who has not yet described it, but has named it Anthocleista. This
genus, however, differs from Potalia of Aublet (the Nicandra of Schreber)
solely in having a four celled berry ; that of Potalia being described both by
Aublet and Schreber as trilocular, though according to my own obsenations
it is bilocular. M. de Jussieu has appended Potalia to his Gentianeae,
partly determined, perhaps, from its being described as herbaceous. The
species of Anthocleista from Congo, however, according to the account given
me by Mr. Lockhart, the gardener of the expedition, is a tree of considerable
size, and its place in the natural method is evidently near Fagrcea.

Whether these genera should be united with Apocinese, or only placed near
them, forming a fifth section of the intermediate tribe already proposed, is
somewhat doubtful.

In the perfect hermaphrodite flowers of Apocineae, no exception occurs either

* Prodr. Flor. Nov. Holl. 1, p. 455. t Sierra Leone Report, 1794, p. 173, n. it-

* Illuslr. Gen. tab. 169. ^ Nov. Gen. Madagasc. n. 32.
Ij Asiat. Resear, 5, p. 169.

3 M

450 APPENDIX. No. V.

to the quinary division of the floral envelopes and corresponding number of
stamina, or to the bilocular or double ovarium : and in Asclepiadew, which
are generally referred by authors to the same order, something like a necessary
connection may be perceived between these relative numbers of stamina and
pistilla, and the singula!' mode of fecundation in this tribe. But in Potalia
and Anthocleista there is a remarkable increase in the number of stamina and
segments of the corolla, and at the same time a reduction in the divisions of the
calyx. The pistiUum in Potalia, however, if my account of it be correct,
agrees in division with that of i^pocinese : and the deviation from tliis division
in Anthocleista is only apparent ; the ovarium, according to the view I have
elsewhere given of this organ,* being composed of two united ovaria, again
indeed subdivided by processes of the placenta, but each of the sub-divisions
or partial cells containing only one half of an ordinary placenta, and that not
originating from its inner angle, as would be the case were the ovarium
composed of four confluent organs.

Of ASCLEPIADE^E there ai-e very few species in the collection, and
none of very remarkable structure. The Periploca of equinoctial Africa
alluded to in my essay on this family ,-f- was one of the first plants observed
by Professor Smith at the mouth of the river ; and a species of Oxystelma,
hardly different from O. esculcntum of India, J was found, apparently indigenous,
on several parts of its banks.

The ACANTHACEjE of the collection, consisting of sixteen species, the
fai- greater part of which are new, have a much nearer relation to those of
India than to the American portion of the order. Among tliese there are
several species oi Nelsonia^ and Hypoestes ;\\ a new species of JEtheilema,^
a genus from which perhaps Phaylopsis of Willdenow is not chfferent, though
its fruit is described by Wendland** as a legumen, and by Willdenow, with
' almost equal impropriety, as a sUiqua ; a plant belonging to a genus I have
formerly alluded to as consisting oiRuellia uliginosa and R. halsamea ,"f~f- and

* LitiH. Soc. Transact. 12, p. 89. t JVernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. Tram. \,p. 40.

* Periploca esculeola, Roxb. Coromand. \,p. 13, /. 11.

^ Prodr. Flor. Nov. Holl. I, p. 480. |1 Op. lilat. \,p. 474.

1i Prodr. Flor. Nov. Holl. I, p. 478. •» Micranthus, /fVwrf. Bolan. Beobacht. 38.

++ Loc. dial.

APPENDIX. No. V. 451

a new species o{ Blepharis. All these geno-a exist in India, and none of them
have yet been found in America.

CONVOLVULACE-'E. The herbarium of Professor Smith contains
twenty-two species of this order, among which however there is no p]ant that
presents any thing remarkable in its structure ; the far greater part belonging
to Ipora^a, the rest to Convolvulus.

In the herbarium there is a single species of Hydrolra, nearly related to
Sagonea palustris of Aublet, which would also be referred to this order by
M. de Jussieu. But Hydrolea * appears, to me, to constitute, together with
Nama, a distinct family {Hydrolece) more nearly approaching to Polemoniaceae
than to Convolvulacese.

SCROPHULARINiE. The collection contains only ten plants of this
family, of which two form new genera, whose characters depend chiefly on the
structure of antherae and form of coroUa.

The LABIAT.^ of the herbarium consist of seven species, three of which
belong to Ocymum, a genus common to ecjuinoctial Asia and Africa, but not
extending to America ; an equal lunnber to Hypth, which is chiefly American,
and has not been observed in India : the seventh is a species of Hoslundia, a
genus hitherto found only on the west coast of Africa, and which in its
inflorescence and in the verticillate leaves of one of its species, approaches to
the following order.

'o

VERBENACEvE, together with Labiatae form one natural class,t for the
two orders of which it has already become difficult to find distinguishing
characters.

In the Congo herbarium there are seven Verbenaceae, consisting of three
beautiful species of Clerodendron ; two new species of Vitex ; Stachytarplieta
indica of Vahl ; and a new species of Lippia, which, from its habit and
structure, confirms the union of Zapania with that genus, suggested 'by
M. Richard.j This species from the Congo has its leaves in threes, and has
nearly the same fragrance as Verbena triphylla, whose affinity to Lippia,

* J id. op. citat. p. 488. + Flinders' Voy. 2, p. 565.

X In Mic^. Flmr. Bor.-Amer. 9„ p. 15.

452 APPENDIX. No. V.

notwitlistandiag the difference in calyx and inflorescence, is further confirmed
by a pecuharity in the aestivation of its corolla, wliich extends only to Lippia
and Lantana.

OLACINiE. The herbarium contains a species of Olax differing from all
the plants at present referred to that genus, in its calyx not being enlarged
after fecundation, but in its original annular form suiTounding the base only
of the ripe fruit. The existence of this species, which agrees with those of
New Holland, and with Fissilia of Commerson, in having only five petals, and
in its barren stamina being imdivided, while in habit it appi-oaches rather more
nearly to the original species O. Zeylunica and to O. scandens of Roxburgh,
both of which I have examined, seems to confirm the union I have formerly
proposed,* of all these plants into one genus. When I first referred Fissilia
to this genus, I only presumed from the many other points of agreement that
it had also the same structure of ovarium, on which, not only the generic
character of Olax, but its affinities, seemed to me in a great measure to depend.
M. Mirbel, however, has described the ovarium of Fissilia as trilocular.-|* I can
only reconcile this statement with my own observations, by supposing him to
have formed his opinion from a view of its transverse section ; for on examining
one of Commerson's specimens of Fissilia dispai-iUs, communicated by M. de
Jussieu, I have found its ovarium, like that of all the species of Olax, to be
really unilocular ; the central columnar placenta, at the top of wliich the three
pendulous ovula are inserted, having no connection whatever with the sides of
the cavity.

It was chiefly the agreement of Olax and Santalaceae in this remai-kable, and
I beheve, peculiar structure of ovarium, that induced me to propose, not their
absolute union into one family, but their approximation in the natural series.
I at the same time,j however, pointed out all the objections that ]\I. de
Jussieu has since stated to this affinity §

Of these objections the two principal are the double floral envelope, and
ovarium superum of Olax, opposed to the simple perianlhium and ovarium
inferum in Santalaceas.

The first objection loses much of its importance, both on considering that

• I'rodr. Flor. Nov. noil. I, p. 357. + Aouv. Bul/el. 3, p. 378.

+ I'rodr. Flor. Aov. Hull. \,p. 351. Flinders' Foy. 2, p. blO.
S Mtm du Mm. ttnisl. Nat, 2. p. 439.

APPENDIX. No. V. 453

QuincJuwiaUum, a genus in every otlicr respect resembling Thesium, lias an
outer floral envelope surrounding its ovarium, and having more the usual
appearance of calyx than that of Olax; and also in adverting to the generally
admitted association of Loranthus and Viscum, of which the former is pro-
vided with both calyx and corolla, the latter, in its male flowers at least, with
only a single envelope, and that analogous to the corolla of Loranthus.*

The second objection seems to be equally weakened by the obvious affinity
of Santalacese to Exocarpus, which has not only ovarium superum, but the
fleshy receptacle of whose fruit, similar to that of Taxus, perfectly resembles,
and may be supposed in some degree analogous to, the enlarged calyx of
certain species of Olax.

To these objections M. de Jussieu has added a third, which, were it well
founded, would be more formidable than either of them, namely, that the
ovarium of Santalaceae is monospermous ; t a statement, however, which I
conclude must have proceeded from mere inadvertency.

UIITICE^E. In the collection the plants of this family, taking it in the
most extensive sense, and considering it as a class rather than an order, belong
chiefly to Ficii.s, of which there are seven species. One of these is very nearly
related to Ficus religiosa ; and like tliat species in India, is regarded as a
sacred tree on the banks of tlie Congo.

A remarkable tree, called by the natives Musanga, under which name it is
repeatedly mentioned in Professor Smith''s Journal, forms a genus intermediate
between Coussapoa of i\ ublet and Cecropia ; agreeing with tlie latter in habit,
and differing from it chiefly in the structure and disposition of its monandrous
male flowers, and in the form of its female amenta

In the inHorescence, and even in the structure of its male flowers, Mtisanga
approaches very nearly to Myrianthus of M. de Beauvois,^ whicli it also
resembles in liabii. But the fruit of Myrianthus, as given in the Flore
d'Oware, is totally different, and, with relation to its male flowers, so remark-
able, that a knowledge of the female flowers is wanting to fix our ideas botli
of the structure and affinities of the genus. This desideratum the expedition
lo Congo has \v<i suiplied, the male plant only of ISIyrianth us having been
observed by Professor Smith.

* Prodr. Flor. Nov. Holl. I, p. 352. + Mhn. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. 2, p. 439.

+ Flore d'Oware, \,p. \6,tabb. 11 el 1'?.

454 APPENDIX. No. V.

In Artocarpeoc, to which Mtisanga belongs, and in Urticece strictly so called,
the ovulum, which is always solitaiy, is erect, while the embryo is inverted or
pendulous. By these characters, as well as by the separation of sexes, they
are readily distinguished from those genera of Cltenopodew and of monosper-
mous niecebrew,* in which the albumen is either entirely wanting or bears
but a small proportion to the mass of the seed. And hence al.so Celtis and
Mertensia,f in both of which the ovulum is pendulous, are to be excluded
from Urticeas, where they have been lately referred by M. Kunth. The same
characters, of the erect ovulum and inverted embryo, characterise Polygoneae,^:
as I have long since remarked, and exist in Piperacew and even in Conifera,
if my notions of that remarkable family be correct. But from all those orders
Urticeae are easily distinguished by other obvious and important difPerences in
structure.

PHYTOLACEiE. In describing Chenopode*, in the Prodromus Florae
Novae Hollandiae, I had it particularly in view to exclude Phytolacca, Rivina,
Microtea, and Petiveria, which I even then considered as forming the separate
family now for the first time proposed.

In Chenopodece the stamina never exceed in number the divisions of the
perianthium, to which they are opposite. In Phytolacew they are either in-
definite, or when equal in number to the divisions of the perianthium, alternate
with them. This disposition of stamina in Phytolaceae, however, uniting
genera with fruits so different as those of Phytolacca and Petiveria, it would
be satisfactory to find in the same order a structure intermediate between the
multilocular ovarium of the former and the monospermous ovarium, with
lateral stigma, of the latter.

Two plants in the herbarium from Congo assist in estabhshihg this con-
nection.

The Jirst is a species of Phytolacca, related to P. abyssinica, whose quin-
quelocular fruit is so deeply divided, that its lobes cohere merely by their
inner angles, and I believe ultimately separate.

The second is a species of Giseckia, a genus in which the five ovaria are

* Prodr. Flor, Sov. Holl. 1, pp. 405, 413, et p. 416. Paronychiearum sect. ii. Jussieu
in Mini, du Mm. d'Hist. Nat. 8, p. 388.

t Nov. Gen. et Sp. PI Orb. Nov. 2,p. 30. + Prodr. Flor. Nov. Holl. I, j». 419.

APPENDIX. No. V. 455

entirely distinct. This genus is placed by M. de Jussieu in Portulacaceae ;
but the alternation of its stamina with the segments of the perianthium, a part
of its structure never before adverted to, as well as their insertion, seem to
prove its nearer affinity to Phytolacca.*

Still, however, the lateral stigma, the spiral cotyledons, and want of albumen
in Petiveria, remove it to some distance from the other genera of Phytolaceas,
and at the same time connect it ^vith Segukria, with which also it agrees in
the alhaceous odour of the whole plant.

The affinity of Segnieria has hitherto remained undetermined, and is here
proposed from the examination of three species lately discovered In Brazil, one
of whicli has exactly the habit of Rivina octandra, and all of which agree with
that plant, as well as with several others belonging to the order, in the very
miiuite pellucid dots of their leaves.

Petiveria and Seguieria may therefore form a sub-division of Phytolaceas:
And another section of this order exists in New Holland, of which the two
genera differ from each other in number of stamina as remarkably as Petiveria
and Seguieria.

Of the Monocotyledonous orders, the first on which I have any remarks to
oflFer, is that of

PALM^E. The collection, however, contains no satisfactory specimens of
any jJant of this family except of Elce'is guincensis, the Maba of the natives,
or Oil Palm, wliich appears to be common along the whole of tills line of coast.
In Professor Smith's journal it is stated that a single plant of the Maba Palm■^
was cut down, from which Mr. Lockhart informs me that both the male and
female spadices preserved in the collection were obtained. This fact seems to
decide tliat Elfeis is monoecious, which, indeed, Jacquin, by whom the genus

♦ Jncistrocarpus of M. Kunth (Nov. Gen. et Sp. PI. Orb. Nov. 2, p. 186) belongs to
Pbytolaceie, though its stamina are described to be opposite to the segments of the
ealjx: and it is not improbable thzt Mi/tus of Loureiro (Flor. Cochin, p. »02) whose
babit, according to the description, is that of Giseckia, from which it differs nearly as
Ancistrocarpus does from Microtea, or Rivina octandra from the other species of its
genus, may also belong to this order.

+ Maba is, perhaps, rather applied to the fruit than to the tree: Emba being, ac-
cording to Merolla, the name of the single nut, and Cachie th^i of the entire cluster;
for the Palm itself, he has no name. Fide Piccardo Retaz. p. 122.

456 APPENDIX. No. V.

was established, concluded it to be, though from less satisfactory evidence.*
It was first described as dioecious by Gaertner, whose account has been adopted,
probably without examination, by Schreber, Willdenow, and Persoon.

In Sir Josepli Banks's collection, however, from which Gaertner received the
fruits he has described and figured, and where he may be supposed to have
hkewise obtained all the original information he had on the subject, there is no
proof of the male and female spadices of Elasis guineenses belonging to different
individuals.

Gaertner has fallen into a still more important mistake respecting tiie
structure of the fruit of Elaeis, the foramina of whose putamen, which are
analogous to those of the Cocoa nut, being, according to his description, at the
base, as in that genus, whereas they are actually at the apex. It is probable
that Alfonzta ole'ifera of Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, belongs to Elaeis,
and possibly it may not even differ from the African species.

It is a remarkable fact respecting the geographical distribution of PalmjE,
that Eloeis gu'ineensis, which is universally, and I believe justly, considered as
having been imported into the West India colonies from the west coast of
Africa, and Cocos indica, which there is no reason to doubt is indigenous to the
shores of equinoctial Asia and its islands, should be the only two species of an
extensive and very natural section of the order, that are not confined to America.

To this section, whose principal character consists in the originally trilocular
putamen having its cells when fertile perforated opposite to the seat of the
embryo, and when abortive indicated by foramina caeca, as in the cocoa nut,
the name Cocoina» may be given ; though it has been applied by M. Kunthf
to a more extensive and less natural group, which includes all palms having
trilocular ovaria, and the siu'face of whose fruit is not covered with imbricate
scales. I may also remai'k that from the fruits of Cocoince only, as I have
here proposed to limit the section, the oil afforded by plants of this family, is
obtained.

Professor Smith in his journal frequently mentions a species of Hyphccne, by
which he evidently intended the Palm first seen abundantly at the mouth of the
river, and afterwards occasionally in the greater part of its coui-se, especially
near the Banzas, where it is probably planted for the sake of the wine obtained
from it.

According to the gardener's information, this is a Palm of moderate height
* Ilisl. Stirp. Amer. p. 281. t Nova Gen. et ^p. Orb. JVov. 1, p. 24J.

APPENDIX. No. V. 457

with fan-shaped fronds and an undivided caudex. It therefore more probably
belongs to Corj^lia than to Gaertner's Hyphsene, one species of which is the
Cucifera of Delile, the Doom of Upper Egypt ; the second, Hyphcene coriacea,
is a native of Melinda, and probably of Madagascar, and both are remarkable
in having the caudex dichotomous, or repeatedly divided.

As the Palm on the banks of the Congo was seen in fruit only, it is not
difficult to account for Professor Smith's refemng it rather to Hyphsene than
to Corypha ; Ga?rtner having described the embryo of the latter as at the base
of the fruit, probably, however, from having inverted it, as he appears to have
done In Elasis. It is at least certain that in Corypha, Taliera • of the continent
of India, which is very nearly alhed to C. umbraculifera, the embryo is
situated at the apex as in Hyphsene.

The journal also notices a species of Raphia, which is probably Raphia
vinifera of M. de Beauvois,-|- the Sag-us Pahna-pinus of Gasrtner.

The collection contains fronds similar to those of Calamus secundtflorus of
M. de Beauvois,J which was also foimd at Sierra Leone by Professor Afzelius ;
and a male spadix very nearly resembling that of Elate sylvcstris of India.

The Cocoa Nut was not observed in any part of the course of the river.

Only five species of Palms appear therefore to have been seen on the banks
of the Congo. On the whole continent of Africa thirteen species, including
those from Congo, have been found; which belong to genera either confined to
this continent and its islands, or existing also in India, but none of wliich have
yet been observed in America, unless perhaps Elaeis, if Alfonsia oleifera of
Humboldt should prove to be a distinct species of that genus.

CYPERACE^E. In the collection there are thirty-two species belonging
to this order, which forms therefore about one eighteenth of the Phajnogamous
plants. This is very different from what has been considered its equinoctial
proportion, but is intermediate to that of the northern part of New Holland,
where, from my own materials, it seems to be as 1:14; and of India, in which
according to Dr. Roxburgh's Flora it is about 1:25.

In other intratropical countries the proportion may be still smaller ; but I

* Roxb. Coromand. 3, tafjb. 255 el 256. + F/ore d'Oware l,p. To, tabb. H, ib, el 46.
+ Op. citat. 1 , p. 15, labb. 9 e/ 10.

3N

458 APPENDIX. No. V.

can neither adopt the general equinoctial ratio given by Bai-on Humboldt;
namely, that of 1 :60, nor suppose with him that the minimum of the order is
mtliin the tropics. For Cyperaceae, like Rubiaceae, and indeed several other
families, is composed of tribes or extensive genera, having very different rela-
tions to climate. The mass of its equinoctial portion being formed of Cyperus
and FimbristyUs, genera very sparinglj- found beyond the torrid zone ; while
that of the fi-igid and part of the temperate zones consists of the still more
extensive genus Carex, which hardly exists within the tropics, unless at great
heights. Hence a few degrees beyond the northern tropic, on the old continent
at least, the proportion of Cyperaceae is evidently diminished, as in Egypt,
according to M. Delile's valuable catalogue ;* and the minimum will, I believe,
be found in the Flora Atlantica of M. Desfontaines and in Dr. Russel's
catalogue of the plants of Aleppo.-f- It is not certain, however, that the
smallest American proportion of the order exists in the same latitude. And
it appears that in the corresponding parallel of the southern hemisphere, at
the Cape of Good Hope and Port Jackson, tlie proportion is considerably
increased by the addition of genera either entirely different from, or there
more extensive than those of other countries.

Among the Cyperacea of the Congo herbarium there are fifteen species of
Cyperus, of which C. Papyrus, appears to be one. The abundance of this
remarkable species, especially near tlie mouth of the river, is repeatedly noticed
in Professor Smith's journal, but from the single specimen with fructification
in the collection, its identity with the plant of Egypt and Sicily, though very
probable, cannot be absolutely determined. I perceive a very slight difference
in the sheaths of the radii of the common umbel, which in the plant from
Congo ai-e less angular and less exactly truncated, than in that of Egypt ; in
other respects the two plants seem to agree. I have not seen C. laxiflorus,
a species discovered in Madagascar by M. du Petit Thouars, and said to
resemble C. PapjTus except in the vaginae of the partial umbels.:|:

Among the species of Cyperaceae in the collection, having the most extensive
range, are Cyperus articulatus, which is common to America, India, and

* Flor. jEgypt. Jllustr. in Descrlp. de I'Egypie, Hist. JVat. 2, p. 49.
t Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, 2rf. f rf. iwl. 2, p. 242.
X Encyc. Method. Botan. vol. 1, p. 270.

APPENDIX. No. V. 459

Egypt ; Fuirena umbellata and Eleocharis capitafa,* both of which have been
found in America, India, and New Holland ; and Cypcrus ligularis indigenous
to other parts of Africa and to America.

Hypalyphbm argenteum, a species established by Vahl from specimens of
India and Senegal, and since observed in equinoctial America by Baron
Humboldt, is also in the collection.

The name Hypcclyptum, under which I have formerly described the genus
that includes H. argenteum,f was adopted from Vahl, without enquiry into its
origin. It is probably, however, a corruption of Hyptrlyfriim,* by which
M. Richard, as he himself assures me, chiefly intended another genus, with
apparently similar characters, though a very different liabit, and one of whose
species is described by Vahl in Hypaslj^tum; his character being so con-
structed as to include both genera. M. Kunth has lately published H. argen-
teum under the name of Hypaelvtrum ;§ but in adopting the generic character
given in the Prodromus Flora; Novae Hollandiae, he has in fact excluded the
plants that M. Richard more particularly meant to refer to that genus. It is
therefore necessary, in order to avoid further confusion, to give a new name to
Hypaelyptum as I have proposed to limit it, which may be Lipocarpha,
derived from the whole of its squamas being deciduous.

In describing Lipocarphn (undei the name of Hypaelyptum) in the work
referred to, I have endeavoured to estabhsh the analogy of its structure to that
of Kyllinga ,• the inner or vipper squamae being in both genera opposite to
the inferior squama, or anterior and posterior, with relation to the axis of the
spikelet: while the squamae of Richard's Hypaelytrum being lateral, or right
and left with respect to the axis of the spikelet,|l were compared to those of
the female flowers of Diplacrum, to the utriculus or nectarium of Carex, and
to the lateral bracteas of Lepeyrodia, a genus belonging to the nearly related
order Rcstiaceae.^ But as in Hypcelytrum, according to M. Richard's descrip-
tion, and I beheve also in his Diplasia,** there are sometimes more than two
inner squamae, which are then imbricate, they may in both these genera be
considered as a spikelet reduced to a single flower, as in several other genera

• Prodr Flor. Nev. HoU. I, p. 225. Scirpus capitatus fVilld. up. pi. 1, p. J94, exclus.
nyn. Groiiovii.

+ Prodr. Ftor Aov. Boll. \,p. 219. + Persoon St/n. Plant. 1, p. 70.

^ Kcv. Gen. et Sp. Plant. \,p, «18. J Prodr. Flor. Nov. Holl. I, p. 219.

1 Flinders's Voy. 2, p. 579. ** Penoon Syn. Pi, 1, p. 70.

460 APPENDIX. No. V.

of CjT5erace£e, and in Lipocarpha itself, from which, however, they are still
sufficiently different in their relation to the including squamae and to the axis
of the spike.

This view of the structure of Hypaelytrum, of which there is one species in
the Congo herbarium, appears to me in some degree confirmed by a comparison
with that of Cliondrachne and Clvorizandra ;* for in both of these genera the
lower squamse of the ultimate spikelet are not barren, but monandrous, the
central or terminating flower only being hermaphrodite.

GRAMINEiE. Of this extensive family there are forty-five species from
the Congo, or one twelfth of the Phfpnogamous plants of the collection. This
is very nearly the equinoctial proportion of the order as given by Baron
Humboldt, namely, one to fifteen, with which that of India seems to agree.
On the north coast of New Holland, the proportion is still greater than that
of Congo.

The two principal tribes which form the far greater part of Gramineae,
namely, Poacece and Panicew have, as I have formerly stated,-f- very different
relations to climate, the maximum both in the absolute and relative number of
species of Paniceae being evidently within the tropics, that of Poaceae beyond
them.

I have hitherto found this superiority of Paniceaj to Poaceas, at or near the
level of the sea within the tropics, so constant, that I am inclined to consult
the relative numbers of these two tribes, in determining whether the greater
part of any intratropical Flora belongs to level tracts, or to regions of such
elevation as would materially affect the proportions of the principal natural
famiUes : and in applying this test to Baron Humboldt's collection, it is found
to partake somewhat of an extratropical chai"acter, Poaceae being rather more
numerous than Paniceae. While in conformity to the usual equinoctial propor-
tion, considerably more than half the Grasses in the Congo herbarium consist
of Paniceae.

Among the Paniceae of the collection, there are two unpubhshed genera.
The ^rst is intermediate, in character, to Andropogon and Saccharum, but
with a habit very different from both. The second, which is common to other
* Prodr. Flor. Nov. Hott. l,p. 220.
t Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl, I, p. 169. Obs. I J. Flinders' s Voy. 2, p. 583.

APPENDIX. No. V. 461

parts of the coast and to India, appears to connect in some respects Saccharum
with Panicum.

The remarks I have to make qn the Acotyledonou^ Plants from Congo, relate
entirely to

FILICES, of which there are twenty-two species in the collection. The
far greater part of these are new, but all of them are referable to well esta-
bUshed genera, particularly to Nephrodium, Asplenium, Pteris, and Polypo-
diura. There are also among them two new species of Adiantum, a genus of
■which no species had been before obsened on this line of coast. Trichomants
and Hymcnophylliim axe wanting in the collection, and these genera, which
seem to require constant shade and humidity, are very rare in equinoctial
Africa. Of Osmundacece, the herbarium contains only one plant, which is a
new species of Lygodium, and the first of that genus that has been noticed
from the continent of Africa.

Among the few species common to other countries, the most remarkable is
Gleichenia Hermann!,* which I have compared and found to agree with
specimens from the continent of India, from Ceylon, New Holland, and even
from the Island of St. Vincent.

Acrostichitvi stemai-'ia of M. de Beauvois,-|- which hardly differs from A. alci-
corneof New Holland, and of several of the islands of the Malayan Archipelago,
was also observed ; and Acrostichum aureum, which agrees with specimens
from equintjctial America, was found growing in plenty among the mangroves
near the mouth of the river.

I have formerly observed that tlie number of FUices, unlike that of the
other Cryptogamous orders, (Lycopodineas excepted,) is greatest in the lower
latitudes ; and, as I then supposed, near or somewhat beyond the tropics.
The latter part of this statement, however, is not altogether correct ; the
maximum of the order, both in absolute and relative number of species, being
more probably within the tropics, though at considerable heights.

The degree of latitude alone being given, no judgment can be formed
respecting tlie proportion of Fihces: for besides a temperature somewhat

* Prodr. Flor. JVov. BoU. \,p. IGl. Merlensia dichotoma fVilld. Sp. PI. 5, p. 7K
I Flore d'Ouare \,p. 2, t. 2.

462 APPENDIX. No. V.

inferior, perhaps, to that of equinoctial countpies of moderate elevation, a humid
atmosphere and protection from the direct rays of the sun, seem to be requisite
for their most abundant production.

When all these conditions co-exist, their equinoctial proportion to Phjeno-
(Tamous plants is probably about one to twenty, even on continents where the
tracts most favourable to theii- production form only a small part, their number
beinff increased according as such tracts constitute a more considerable portion
of the surface.

Hence their maximum appears to exist in the high, and especially the well
wooded, intratropical islands. Thus in Jamaica, where nearly two hundred
species of Ferns have been found, their pi-oportion to Pha?nogamous plants is
probably about one to ten. In the Isles of France and Bourbon, from the
facts stated by M. du Petit Thouars,* they appear to be al)out one to eight.

In Otaheite, according to Sir Joseph Banks s observations, they are as one
to four. And in St. Helena, from Dr. Roxburgh's Catalogue,f they exceed
one to two.

This high proportion extends to the islands considerably beyond the southern
tropic. Thus in the collection formed by Sir Joseph Banks in New Zealand,
they are about one to six : in Norfolk Island, from my friend Mr. I'erdinand
Bauer's observations, they exceed one to three : and in Tristan Da Cunha,
both from the Catalogue published by M. du Petit Thouars,^ and the still
more complete Flora of that Island, for which I am indebted to Captain
Dugald Carmichael, they are to the Phaenogamous plants as two to three.

The equinoctial proportion of Ferns in level and open tracts, is extremely dif-
ferent from those already given ; and it is not improbable that as the maximum
of this order is equinoctial, so its minimum will also be Ibund either within or a
few degrees beyond the tropics Thus in several of the low Islands in the
Gulf of Carpentaria, having a Flora of upwards of two hundred Phasnogamous
plants, not more than three species of Ferns were found, and those very
sparingly. In Egypt it appears, both by Forskal's catalogue and the more
extensive Flora of M. Delile, that only one Fern § has been observed.

* Melanges de Bol. Observ. add. a M. de Lamarck, p. 6, el 38.

+ Beahon's Tracts relative to Si. Helena, p. 295. J MUanges de Botanique.

*) Named Adiantum capiUus veneris by both these authors; but possibly a nearly

related species that has often been confounded with it. Of the species I allude to,

APPENDIX. No. Y. 463

In Russel's catalogue of the plants of Aleppo two only are noticed : and
even in I\I. Desfontaines' Flora Atlantica not more than eighteen species
occur, or with relation to the Phaenogamous plants, about one to one hundred.

The Ferns in the herbarium from Congo, are to the Phaenogamous plants as
about one to twenty-six, which agrees nearly with their proportion in Forskal's
catalogue of the plants of Arabia, with that of the north coast of New Holland,
according to my own observations, and which is probably not very different
from their proportion in India.

In concluding here the subject of the proportional mmibers of the Natural
Orders of plants ccmtained in the herbarium from Congo, I may observe, that
the ratios I have stated, do not always agree with those given in Baron
Humboldt's learned dissertation, so often referred to. I have ventured,,
however, to differ frnin that pmincnl naturaUst with the less hesitation, as he
has expressed himself dissatisfied with the materials from which his equinoctial
proportions are deduced. Whatever may be tlie comparative value of the
i'acts on which my own conclusions depend, I certainly do not look upon them
as completely satisfactory in anv case. And it appears to me evident, that
with respect to several of the more extensive natural orders, other circum-
stances besides merely the degrees of latitude and even the mean temperature
must be taken into account in determining their relative numbers. To ariive at
satisfactory conclusions in such cases, it is necessary to begin by ascertaining
the geographical distribution of genera, a subject, the careful investigation of
which may likewise often lead to important improvements in the estabhshment
or sub-divisions of these groups themselves, and assist in deciding from what
regions certain species, now generally diffused, may have originally proceeded.

To the foregoing obsenations on the principal Natural Orders of Plants
from the banks of the Congo, a few remarks may be added on such families
as are general in equinoctial countries, but which are not contained in the
collection.

which may be called Adiantum africanum, 1 have collected specimens in Madeira, and-
have seen others from Tcneriffe, St. Ja^o, Mauritius or Isle de Bourbon, and Abyssinia.
Adiantum africanum has also been confounded with A. tenerum of Jamaica, and other
West India Islands, and the latter with A. capillm venerit, which has in consequence been ■
supposed common to both hemispheres, to the old and new continent, and to the torrid
and temperate zones.

464 APPENDIX. No. V.

These are Cycadeae, Piperaceae, Begoniaceae, Laurinse (Cassytha excepted,)
Passifloreae, Myrsineag, MagnoliacesE, Guttiferae, Hesperideae, Cedreleas, and
Meliaceae.

CycadecE, although not found in equinoctial Africa, exist at the Cape of
Good Hope and in Madagascai*.

Piperacece, as has been already remarked by Baron Humboldt,* are very
rare in equinoctial Africa ; and indeed only two species have hitherto been
published as belonging to the west coast : the first, supposed to be Piper Cubeba,
and certainly very nearly related to it, is noticed by Clusius;*!- the second is
imperfectly described by Adanson in his account of Senegal. A third species,
of Piper, however, occurs in Sir Joseph Banks's herbarium, from SieiTa
Leone : and we know that at least one species of this genus and several of
Peperomia, exist at the Cape of Good Hope.

The extensive genus Begonia, which it is perhaps expedient to divide, may
be considered as forming a natural order, whose place, however, among the
Dicotyledonous families, is not satisfactorily determined. Of BegoniacecjE,X
no species has yet been observed on the continent of Africa, though several
have been found in INIadagascar and the Isles of France and Bourbon, and one
in the Island of Johanna.

■ No genus of Laurinw, is known to exist in any part of the continent of
Africa, except the pai'adoxical Cassytha, of which the only species in the
Congo collection can hardly be distinguished from that of the West Indies, or
from C. pubescens of New Holland. The absence of Laurinae on the continent
of Africa is more remarkable, as several species of Laurus have been found
both in Tenerift'e and Madeira, and certain other genera belonging to this
family exist in Madagascar and in the Isles of France and Bourbon.

PassiJ/orcce. A few remarkable plants of this order have been observed
on the different parts of the west coast of Africa, especially Modecca of the
Hortus Malabaricus and Smeathmania, an unpublished genus already men-
tioned in treating of Homalinae.

Myrsinecc. No species of any division of this order, has been met
ivitli in equinoctial Africa, though several of tlie first section, or Myrsineae,

* Nov. Gen. el Sp. PI Orb. Nov. 1, p. 60.

t Piper ex Guinea, Clus. exot.p. 1S4, who considers it as not different from the Piper
caudatuni, figured on the same page, and which is no doubt Piper Cubeba of the Malayan
Archipelago. + Bonpland Malmais. 151.

APPENDIX. No. V. 465

properly so called, ejust both at the Cape of Good Hope and in the Canary
Islands.*

MagnoUacece and Cedrelece, which are common to America and India, have
not been found on the continent of Africa, nor on any of the adjoininff Islands.

GuttifercB and Hesper'ideoe exist, though sparingly, on other parts of the
coast.

A few plants really belonging to MeUacece have been found on other parts
of western equinoctial Africa, and a species of Leca (or Jquilicki, for these
are only different names for the same genus) which was formerly refeiTed to
this order, occurs in the herbarium from Congo.

M. de Jussieu, who has lately had occasion to treat of the affinity of Aqui-
licia,-f- does not venture to fix its place in the system. Its resemblance to
Viniferae in the singular structure of seeds, in the valvular aestivation of the
corolla, in the division of its leaves, the presence of stipules, and even in
inflorescence, appears to me to determine, if not its absolute union, at least its
near affinity to that order. Of Viniferce, Vitis is at present the only
certain genus; for Cissus and Ampelopsis having, as Richard has already
observed, exactly the same structure of ovaiium, namely, two cells with two
erect collateral ovula in each, should surely be referred to it ; nor is there any
part of the character or description of Botria of Loureiro, which prevents its
being also included in the same genus.

Lasianthera o( M. de Beauvois,j referred by ns author to Apocineas, but

* To the first section belong Myrsine, Ardisia, and Bladhai. The second, including
Embelia,zw\ perhaps also Olhera of Tluuiherg, differs from the first merely in its corolla
being polypetalous. Mgiceras may be considered as forming a third section, from the
remarkable evolution of its embryo and consequent want of albumen. In the xstivation
of calyx and corolla it agrees with Jacquinia, which together with Theophrasta, (or
Clavija of the Flora Peruviana,) forms the fourth section ; characterised by the squaras,
more or less distinct, of the faux of the corolla, and by generally ripening more than
one seed. The fifth, includes only Bteobolrys of Forster (the Mmsa of Forskal) which,
having ovarium inferum and five barren filaments alternating with the segments of the
corolla, bears the same relation to the other geueraof this order, that Samolus does to
Primulacei. On the near affinity, and slight differences in fructification, between this
family and Myrsines, I have, formerly made a few remarks in the Prodr. Flor. Nov.
Holl. l,p. 533.

t Mim. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. 3, p. 437 et 441. + Flore d'Oware, I, p. So.

30

466 APPENDIX. No. V.

which M. de Jussieu has lately suggested may belong to Viniferas,* is too
imperfectly known to admit of its place being determined.

III. In the third part of my subject I am to compare the vegetation of the
line of the river Congo with that of other equinoctial counti'ies, and with the
various parts of the continent of Africa and its adjoining Islands.

The first comparison to be made, is obviously with the other parts of the
West coast of equinoctial Africa.

The most important materials from this coast to which I have had access
are contained in the herbarium of Sir Joseph Banks, and consist chiefly of the
collections of Smeathnian from Sierra Leone, of Brass from Cape Coast (Cabo
Corso), and the greater part of the much more numerous discoveries of Pro-
fessor Afzelius already referred to. Besides these, there are a few less extensive
collections in the same herbai'ium, especially one from the banks of the
Gambia, made by Mr. Park in returning from his first journey into the
interior; and a few remarkable species brought from Suconda and other
points in the vicinity of Cape Coast, by Mr. Hove. The pubhshed plants
from the west coast of Africa are to be found in the splendid and interesting
Flore d'Oware et Benin of the Baron de Beauvois ; in the earlier volumes of
the Botanical Dictionaiy of the Encyclopedie Methodique by M. Lamarck,
chiefly from Sierra Leone and Senegal ; in the different volumes of Willde-
now's Species Plantarum from Iscrt ; in Vahl's Enumeratio Plantarum from
Thonning ; a few from Senegal in the Genera Plantarum of M. de Jussieu ;
and from Sierra Leone in a memoir on certain genera of llubiaccffi by M. de
Candolle, in the Annales du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle. Many remarkable
plants are also mentioned in Adanson's Account of Senegal, and in Isert's
Travels in Guinea.

On comparing Professor Smith's herbarium with these materials, it appears
that from the river Senegal in about 16° N. lat. to the Congo which is in
upwards of (>^ S. lat. there is a remarkable uniformity in the vegetation, not only
as to the principal natural orders and genera, but even to a considerable extent
in the species of which it consists. Upwards of one third part of the plants in
the collection from Congo had been previously observed on other parts of the
coast, though of these the greater part are yet unpublished.

* Loc- cit.

APPENDIX. No. V. 467

Many of the Trees, tlie Palms, and several other remarkable plants, whicli
cliaracterise the landscape, as Adamonia, Bombax pentandrum, Anthoclelsta,
Musanga of the natives (the genus related to Cecropia,) Elceis guineensis,
Raphia vinifera, and Pandanus Candelabrum, appear to be very general
along the whole extent of coast.

Sterculia acuminata* the seed of whicli is the Cola, mentioned in the
earliest accounts of Congo, exists, and is equally valued, in Guinea and Sierra
Leone, and what is remarkable, has the same name in every part of the west
coast.

The Ordeal Tree noticed in Professor Smith's journal under the name of
Cassa; and in Captain Tuckey's narrative erroneously called a species of
Cassia, if not absolutely the same plant as the Red Water Tree of Sierra
Leone,f and as it is said also of the Gold Coast, belongs at least to the same
genus.

A species of the Cream Fruit, mentioned by Professor Afzelius,| remarkable
in affording a wholesome and pleasant saccharine fluid, used by the natives of
Sierra Leone even to quench their tliirst, though the plant belongs to Apoci-
neae, a family so generally deleterious, was also met with.

The Sarcocephalus of the same author,§ which is probably what he has
noticed under the name of the country-fig of Sierra Leone,|| was found, and
seems to be not uncommon, on the banks of the Congo.

Anona Senegalensis, whose fruit, though smaller than that of the cultivated
species of the genus, has, according to Mr. Lockhart, a flavom- superior to any
of them, was every where observed, especially above Embomma, and appears
to be a very general plant along the whole extent of coast :

And Chrysobalanus Icaco, or a species very nearly related to it, which is
equally common from Senegal to Congo, was found abundantly near the
mouth of the river.

The remarks I have to make on Esculent Plants, my knowledge of which
is chiefly derived from" the journals of Captain Tuckey and Professor Smith,

* De Beauvois. Flore d'Oware 1, p. 41, /. 24.

+ Winterbotlom's Sierra Leone I, p. 129.

+ Sierra Leone Report for \19i, p. 173, n. 4T.

^ In Herb. Banks. \ Op. ell. p. 171, n. 32.

468 APPENDIX. No. V.

and the communications of Mr. Lockhart, may be here introduced; the
cultivated as well as the indigenous species being very similar along the whole
of the west coast.

On the banks of the Congo, as far as the expedition proceeded, the principal
articles of vegetable food were found to be Indian Corn or Maize (Zra
Mays) Cassava, both sweet and bitter, {latropJia ManiJiot L.) ; two kinds of
Pulse, extensively cultivated, one of which is Cytisus Cajan of Linneus, the
other not determined, but beheved to be a species of Phaseolus ; and Ground
Nuts (Arachis hypogcsa L.)

The most valuable fruits seen were Plantains (Musa sapientum;) the
Papaw {Carica papaya) Pumpkins (Cuciirbitu Pepo ;) Limes and Oranges
(Citrus med'ica et aurantium ;) Pine Apples {Bromelia Ananas ,-) the common
Tamarind {Tamarindus indica ;) and Safu, a fruit the size of a small plum,
which was not seen ripe.

One of the most important plants not only of Congo, but of the whole
extent of coast, is Elms guineensis or the Oil Palm, from wliich also the best
kind of Palm Wine is procured. AVine is likewise obtained from two other
species of Palms, which are probably Raphia vm'ifera, and the supposed
Corypha, considered as an Hyphsene by Professor Smith.

Among the other Alimentary Plants which are either of less importance or
imperfectly known, may be mentioned the " Shrubby Holcus,^ noticed by
Captain Tuckey (p. 138) ; tlie common Yam, which Mr. Lockhart informs me
he saw only near Cooloo ; and another species of Dioscorea found wild only,
and very inferior to the Yam, requiring, according to the narrative, " four days
lx)iling to free it from its pernicious qualities." On the same authority,
" Sugar Canes of two kinds " were seen at Embomma, and Cabbages at Banza
Noki : a kind of Capsicum or Bird Pepper, and Tobacco, were both observed
to be generally cultivated: and I find in the herbarium, a specimen of the
Malaguetta Pepper, or one of the species of Araomum, confounded under the
name of A. Granum Paradisi.

Mr. Lockhart believes there was also a second kind of Ground Nut or Pea,
which may be that mentioned by Merolla, under the name of Incumba,* and
the second sort perhaps noticed in Proyart's account of Loango,-(- which is

* Piccardo Rclaz. del f'iag. net Reg. di Congo, p. 119. + P. 18.

APPENDIX. No. V. 469

probably Glycine subterranea of Linneus, the Voandzeia oC IVI. du Petit
Thouars,* or Voandzou of Madagascar, where it is generally cultivated.f

Of the indigenous fruits, Anona senegalensis, Sarcocephalus, a species of
Cream fruit, and Chrysobalaniis Icaco, have been already mentioned, as trees
common to the whole line of coast.

A species of Ximenia was also found by Professor Smith, wlio was inchned
to consider it as not different from X. amerkana : its fruit, which, according
to his account, is yellow, the size of a plum and of an acid, but not disagree-
able taste, is in the higher parts of the river called Gangi, it may therefore
probably be the Ogheghe of Lopez,| by whom it is compared to a yellow
plum, and the tree producing it said to be very generally planted.

An Antidesma, probably like that mentioned by Afzelius, as having a fruit
in size and taste resembling the currant, is also in tlie herbarium.

It is particularly deserving of attention, that the greater part of the plants
now envuuerated, as cultivated on the banks of the Congo, and among them
nearly the whole of the most important species, have probably been introduced
from other parts of the world, and do not originally belong even to the continent
of Africa. Thus it may be stated with confidence that the Maize, the Manioc
or Cassava, and the Pine Apple, have been brought from America, and proba-
bly the Papaw, the Capsicum, and Tobacco; while the Banana or Plantain, the
Lime, the Orange, the Tamarind, and the Sugar Cane, may be considered as
of Asiatic origin.

In a former part of this essay, I have suggested that a careful investigation
of the geographical distribution of genera might in some cases lead to the
determination of the native country of plants at present generally dispersed.
The value of the assistance to be derived from the source referred to, would
amount to this ; that in doubtful cases, where other arguments were equal, it
would appear more probable that the plant in question should belong to that
country in which all the other species of the same genus were founcl decidedly
indigenous, than to that where it was the only species of the genus known to
exist. It seems to me that this reasoning may be applied with advantage

• J^'ov. Gen. Madagasc. n. 7T. + Flaccurt Madagasc. pp. lU el 118.

+ Pignfelta, Bartweirs Translal. p. l\5.

470 APPENDIX. No. V.

towai-ds determining the original country of several of the plants here enum&-
rated, especially of the Banana, the Papaw, tlie Capsicum, and Tobacco.

The Banana is generally considered to be of Indian origin : Baron Hum-
boldt, however, has lately suggested * that several species of Musa may pos-
sibly be confounded under the names of Plantain and Banana ; and that part
of these species may be supposed to be indigenous to America. Hovr far the
general tradition said to obtain both in Mexico, and Terra Firma, as well as the
assertion of GarcUasso de la Vega respecting Peru, may establish the fact of the
Musa having been cultivated in the new continent before the arrival of the
Spaniards, t I do not mean at present to enquire. But in opposition to the
conjecture referred to, it may be advanced that there is no circumstance in the
structure of any of the states of the Banana or Plantain cultivated in India,
or the islands of equinoctial Asia, to prevent their being all considered as
merely varieties of one and the same species, namely Musa sapientum ; that
their reduction to a single species is even confinned by the multitude of varieties
that exist ;| by nearly the whole of these varieties being destitute of seeds;
and by the existence of a plant indigenous to the continent of India,§ pro-
ducing perfect seeds; from wliicb, therefore, all of them may be supposed to
have sprung.

To these objections to the hypothesis of the plurality of species of the Banana,
may be added the argument referred to as contributing to establish its Asiatic
origin ; for we are already acquamtcd with at least five distinct species of
Musa in equinoctial Asia, while no other species has been found in America ;
nor does it appear that the varieties of Banana, cultivated in that continent,
may not equally be reduced to Musa sapientum as those of India : and lastly,
it is not even asserted that the types of any of those supposed species of
American Banana, gi-owing without cultivation, and producing perfect seeds,
have any where been found. ||

* Nouv. Espag. vol. 2, p. 360.

+ Op. cit. p. 361. It may be observed, however, that this is not the opinion in every
part of the continent of South America, for with respect to Brazil, Marcgraf and Piso
assert that both the Banana and Plantain are considered as introduced plants, and the
latter apparently from Congo. {Marcg. p. 137, el Piso Hist. Nat. Bras. p. 154.)

\ Musa sapientum, Rox. Coram, lab. 275.

§ M. Desvaux, in a dissertation on the genus Musa [in Journ. de Bolanique appl. vol. 4,

APPENDIX. Xo. V. 471

That the Bananas now cuhivated in equinoctial Africa, come originally
from India, appears to me equally probable, though it may be allowed that
the Ensete of Bruce * is perhaps a distinct species of this genus, and indige-
nous only to Africa.

The Papaxv (Carica papaya), from analogous reasoning, may be regarded
as of American origin ; there being several other decidedly distinct species
natives of that continent, while no species except the cultivated Papaw, nor
any plant nearly related to this singular genus, is known to exist either in Asia
or Africa But in tiie present case, the assistance derived from the argument
adduced, may perhaps be considered as unnecessary ; for the circumstance of
there being no Sanscrit name for so remarkable a plant as the Papaw,t is
nearly decisive of its not being Indigenous to India. And in the Malay
Islands, the opinion of the inhabitants, according to Rumphius, | is that it
was there introduced by the Portuguese.

The same argument may be extended to Capsicum, of which all the known
species probably belong to the new continent ; for the only important exception
stated to this genus being wholly of American origin, namely C.Jrutescens,

p. 1), has corae to the same conclusion respecting the original country of the cultivated
Banana, and also that its numerous varieties are reducible to one species. In this disser-
tation he takes a view of the floral envelope of Musa peculiar to himself. The periau-
thium in this geuus is generally described as consisting of two unequal divisions or lips.
Of these, one is divided at top into live, or more rarely into three segments, and
envelopes the other, ivhich is entire, of a different form and more petal-like texture.
The enveloping division M. Desvaux regards as the calyx, the inner as the corolla. It
seems very evident to me, however, that the deviation in Musa from the regular form
of a Monocotyledonous flower, consists in the confluence of the three divisions of the
outer series of the perianthiura, and in the cohesion, more or less intiniate, with these of
the two lateral divisions of the inner series; the third division of this series, analogous
to the labellum in the Orchidea;, being the inner lip of the flower. This view seems to
be established by the several modifications observable in the different species of Musa
itself, especially in M. suiierba of Roxburgh, {Plants of Coromand. 3, tab. 223) and in the
flower of Musa figured by Plumier, {Nov. gen. t. 34.), but still more by the irregularity
confined to the inner series in Strelitzia, and by the near approach to regularity, even in
this series, in Ravenala (or Urania), both of x^hich belong to the same natural order.

* Travels, vol. 5, p. 36.

+ Fleming in Asial. Reseer. ii. />. 161. t Herb. Amboin. i. p. 117.

472 APPENDIX. No. V.

seems to be set aside merely by the appellations of Tchilli and Ladu TchilU,
as o-iven to it in the Malay Islands ; Chilli, either simply, or in composition,
beino- the Mexican name for all the species and varieties of this genus.*

All the species of Nicotiana appear to be American, except N. AuMrala-
siw (the N. undulata of Ventenat and Prod. Flor. Nov. Holl. but not of Flora
Peruviana,) which is certainly a native of New Holland. The exception
here, however, does not materially invalidate the reasoning, A'^. Australasia;
differing so much from the other species as to form a separate section of the

genus.

The same argument might perhaps be applied to other plants of doubtful
oriffin, as to Canna indica, which it would derive from America.

It is certainly not meant, however, to employ this reasoning in every case,
and in opposition to all other evidence ; and instances may be found, even
among the alimentary plants, where it is very far from being satisfactory.
Thus the Cocoa Nut, though it will probably be considered as indigenous to
the shores and islands of equinoctial Asia, is yet the only species of its genus
tJiat does not belong exclusively to America.

Cytisus Cqjan, may be supposed to have been introduced from India.
This plant, which is very generally cultivated in the vicinity of the Congo, I
conclude is the Voando, mentioned by Captain Tuckey as being ripe in
October ; and as Mr. Lockhart understood from the natives, that Cytisus
Cajan continues to bear for three yeai-s, it is probably Merolla's Owando, of
which he gives a similar account.-f-

Whether Jrachis liypogasa be indigenous^or introduced, cannot now perhaps
be satisfactorily determined. This remarkable plant, whose singular structure
and economy were first correctly described by M. Poiteau,:j: and which was
e\ery where seen in abundance, as far as the river was examined, appears to
form an important article of cultivation along the whole of the west coast of
Africa, and probably also on the east coast, on several parts of which it was
found by Loureiro.§

According to the same author, it is also universally cultivated in China and
Cochinchina.

* Hernandez, Rer. Medic. Nov. Hispan. Thesaur. p. 134, et Nieremb. Hist. Nat. p. 363.
T Piccardo Relaz. p. 120. ^ Mint, de rlnstil. Sc. Phj/s. Sav. Etrang. I, p. 455.

^ Flor. Cochin. 430.

APPENDIX. No. y. 473

From China it has probably been introduced into the continent of India,
Ceylon, and the Malayan Archipelago, where, though now generally cultivated,
there is reason to believe, particularly from the names given to it, that it is not
indigenous. I think it not very improbable that it may have been carried from
'Africa to various parts of equinoctial America, though it is noticed in some of
the early accounts of that continent, especially of Peru and Brazil.

According to Professor Sprengel,* it is mentioned by Theophrastus as
cultivated in Egypt : but it is by no means evident that Arachis is the plant
intended in the passage of Theophrastus refeiTed to ; and it is probable that
had it been formerly cultivated in Egypt, it would still be found in that
country ; it is not, however, included either in Forskars Catalogue, or in the
more extensive Flora Egyptiaca of M. Delile.

There is nothing very improbable in the supposition of Arachis hypogaea
being indigenous to Asia, Africa, and even America ; but if it be considered
as originally belonging to one of those continents only, it is more likely to have
been brought from China through India to Africa, than to have been carried
in the opposite direction.

Glycine subterranea, however, which is extensively cultivated in Africa,
Madagascar, and several parts of equinoctial America, is proljably of African
origin ; it is stated, at least both by Marcgrai^and Piso, to have been introduced
into Brazil fi-om Angola or Congo.t

The Holcus noticed by Captain Tuckey, of which the specimens in the
herbarium do not enable me to determine whether it be a distinct species, or a
variety only of H. sorghum or saccharatus, may be considered as indigenous,
or at least as belonging to Africa. According to Mr. Locldiart, it is very
generally found wild, and it is only once mentioned as cultivated : it may,
however, have been formerl}- cultivated, along with other species of Millet, to
a much greater extent; its place being now supphed by the Maize, which
oives probably both a more productive and a more certain crop.

The Dioscorea or bitter Yam, which was observed only in a wild state, may
be presumed to be a native species ; and if ever it has been cultivated, it may

* Hisl. Rei Herb. \,p. 9S.

+ Mandubi d'Angola Marrg. Hist. Nat. Brasll. 4S. Mandobi, Piso, Hist. Kal. Brasil.
p. £56.

3P

474 APPENDIX. No. V.

in like manner be supposed to have been superseded by the Manioc or
Cassava.

The Sqfu,* which Mr. Lockhart understood from the natives was one of
their most esteemed fruits, he observed to be very generally planted round the
villages, especially from Euibomma upwards, and to be carefully preserved
from birds : its importance is perhaps increased from its ripening in October, a
season when the general supply of vegetable food may be supposed to be scanty.

There seems no reason to doubt that this tree, whose probable place in the
system I have "stated in my remarks on Amyrideae, belongs originally to the
west coast of Africa,

Elms guineensis, of which the oil is distinctly described in the beginning of
the sixteenth century hy Da Ca da Mosto, in his account of Senegal,-f- is wltlwiit
doubt indigenous to the whole extent of this coast ; as is Raphia vinifera,
of which the remarkable fruit also very early attracted attention ;| and the
supposed species of Corypha.

Of Alimentary Plants, whether cultivated or indigenous, that are known or
supposed to belong to the west coast of equinoctial Africa, but which were not
seen on the banks of the Congo, a few of the more important may be mentioned.

Among these are the Cocoa Nut and Rice, the former, according to the
natives, not being found in the osuntry. The absence of these two valuable
plants is the more remarkable, as the Cocoa Nut is said to exist in the neigh-
bouring kingdom of Loango ; and according to Captain Tuckey, a certain por-
tion of land was seen on the banks of the river well adapted to the production
of Rice, which is mentioned as cultivated in some of the earlier accounts of
Congo.

The Sweet Potatoc {Convolvulus Batatas), also noticed by the Portuguese
Missionai'ies, was not met with.

The Butter and Tallow Tree of Afzelius, which forms a new genus
belonging to Guttifera; ; the Velvet-Tamarind of Sierra Leone (Codarium
acutifolium ;§) and the Monkey Pepper, or Piper ^thiopicum of the shops
(Uncna cethiopica of Dunal), which is common on manj' parts of the coast,
were not observed-

• Probably the Zaffo of some of the earlier accounts of Congo, vide Malle-Brun Prens
de laGeogr. 5, p. 9.

+ Ramusio \,p. 104. Cryn. Sor. Orb. 28. + Palma-Pinu«, Label, advert, p. 450.

\ Afzel.Gen Plant. Guineen. par. prim. p. iS. Codariura nitidum /'aA/.enK;n, I,p. 302.

APPENDIX. Xo. V. 475

Two remarkable plants, the Akee* and the Jamaica or American Nutmeg,-\-
now cultivated in the West India colonies; and the former undoubtedly,
the latter probably, introduced from Africa by the Negroes, were neither met
vnxh on the banks of the Congo, nor have they been yet traced to any part of
the west coast.

The relation which the vegetation of the Eastern shores of equinoctial
Africa has to that of the west coast, we have at present no means of determin-
ing; for the few plants, chiefly from the neighbourhood of Mozambique, included
in Loureiro's Flora Cochinchinensis, and a very small number collected by
Mr. Salt on the same part of tiie coast, do not afford materials for comparison

The character of the collections of Abyssinian Plants made by Mr. Salt in
his two journeys, forming part of Sir Joseph Banks's herbarium, and
amounting to about 260 species, is somewhat extratropical, and has but little
affinity to that of the vegetation of the west coast of Africa.

To the Flora of Egypt, that of Congo has still less relation, either in the
number or proportions of its natural famlHes : the herbarium, however,

* Blighia sapida, Konig in Annuls of Bot. 2, p.blX. Hart. Kew. ed. Srfa. vof. 2, p. 350.

Al the iiKiment that this sheet was about to have been sent to the press, Sir Joseph
Banks received a small colleclion of specimeus and figures of plants, observed in the
late Mission to Cummazee, the capital of Ashantee ; and among thcra a drawing of the
fruit and leaf of a plant, there called AHueuh or Alluah, which is no doubt the Akee,
whose native country is therefore now ascertained.

+ Monodora myristica, Dunal Annonac. p. 80. Decand. Syst. Nat. Reg. Figet. 1,
p. in. Anona myristica, Gcert. Sem. 2, p. \9i, t- 125, p. I. Lunan Hort. Jamaic. 2,
p. 10. This remarkable plant is very properly separated from Anona, and considered as a
distinct genus by M. Dunal in his monograph of Anonaces. The character given of this
new genus, however, is not allogelher satisfactory, M- de Candolle's description, from
which it is derived, having probably been taken from specimens which he had it not in
his power to examine completely. Both these authors have added to this genus Annona
raicrocarpa of Jacquin (Fragm. Bot. p. 40. 1. 44,/. 7), established by that author from
the fruit of my Cargil/ia auslralis(Prodr. Flor. Nor. Holl. 1, p. SST) which belongs to the
very different family of Ebenaces.

Long, in his History of Jamaica (vol. 3, p. 135.) has given the earliest account of
Monodora Myristica, under the name of the American Nutmeg, and considers it to have
been probably introduced from South America: according to other accounts, it comes
from the Mosquito shore ; but there is more reason to suppose that it has been brought
by the Negroes from some part of the west coast of Africa.

476 APPENDIX. No. V.

includes several species which also belong to Egypt, as Nymphaea Lotiii^,
Cyperus Papyrus and articulatus, Splienoclea zeylanica, Glinus lotoides,
Ethulia conyzoides, and Graiigea maderaspatana.

Of the piwny remarkable genera and orders characterising the vegetation of
South Africa, no traces are to be found in the herbarium from Congo. This
fact is the more worthy of notice, because even in Abyssinia a few remains, if
I may so speak, of these chai-acteristic tribes, have been met with ; as the
Protea abyssinka,* observed by Bruce, and Pelargonium abyssinicum and
Geisorrhiza abyss'mica t found by Mr. Salt.

Between tlie plants collected by Professor Smith in the island oi St. Jago
and those of the Congo herbarium, there is very little affinity ; great part of
the ordM-s and genera being different, and not more than three species, of
which Cassia occidentalis is one, being common to both. To judge from this
collection of St. Jago, it would seem that the vegetation of the Cape Verd
Islands is of a character intermediate between that of tlie adjoining continent
and of the Canai'y Islands, of which the Flora has, of course, still less connection
witli that of Congo.

It might perhaps have been expected that the examination of the vicinity of
the Congo would have thrown some light on the origin, if I may so ex^jress
myself, of the Flora of St. Helena. This, however, has not proved to be the
case ; for neither has a single indigenous species, nor have any of the principal
genera, characterising the vegetation of that Island, been found either on the
banks of the Congo, or on any other part of this coast of Africa.

There appears to be some affinity between the vegetation of tiie banks of
the Congo and that of Madagascar and the Ides of France and Bourbon.
This affinity, however, consists more in a certain degree of resemblance in
several natural families and extensive or remarkable genera, than in identity
of species, of which there seems to be very few in common.

The Flora of Congo may be compared with those of equinoctial countries
still more remote.

With that of India, it agrees not only in the proportions of many of its
principal families, or in what may be termed tlie equinoctial relation, but also,
to a certain degree, in the more extensive genera of which several of these

* Gaguedi Brucc's Travels 5, p. 52.

f Salt's Travels in Abyssinia, append, p. Ixiii. and Ixv.

APPENDIX. No. V. 477

families consist: and there aie even about forty species common to these
distant regions.

To the vegetation of Equinoctial America it has certainly much less affinity.
Several genera, however, which have not yet been observed in India or New
Holland, are common to this part of Africa and America:* and there are
upwards of thirty species in the Congo herbarium, which are also natives of
the opposite coasts of Brazil and Guiana,

As the identity of species, especially of the Dicotyledonous division,
common to equinoctial America and other intratropical countries, has often
been questioned, I have subjoined two hsts of plants included in the Congo
herbarium, of which the first consists of such species as are common to Ame-
rica and India : and the second, of such as are found in America only.

I have given also a thii'd list, of species common to Congo and India, or its
Islands, but which liave not been observed in America :

And a fourth is added, consisting of doubtful plants, to which I have, in the
mean time, apphed the names of those species they most nearly resemble, and
to which they may really belong, without, however, considering their identity
as determined

I. List of Plants common to Equinoctial Africa, America, and Asia.

Gleichenia Hennanni Prodr. Flor. i Boevhaaviamutabilis Prorfr. Flor.Nov.
Nov. Holl \ Holl.

Mertensia dichotoma Wtlld. J Ipomcea pes caprae Nob.
Agrostis Virginica L. Convolvoulus pes caprae L. t .
'^ ,'perus articulatus L. ■) t ■■>■ • -r (
... ,, , , \ead.sp.
niloticus Vanl, J

Cyperus articulatus L. t brasiliensis L. i

Ipomoea pentaphylla Jacqu

Ijpocarpha argentea Nob. t Scoparia dulcis L.

Hyp^lyptum argenteum Valil. J Heliotropium indicum L.
Eleocharis capitata Prod-Fl.Nov.Holl. Sphenoclea zeylanica Gcert.
Fuirena umbellata L.Jil. Ageratum conyzoides L.

Pistia Stratiotes L.

* Namely, EIeeis Jacqu. Rivina Z. Telanlhera Nob. (Alternanthera; pentandrse.)
Alchornea Sw. Blechum Prrnir. Flor. Aov. Holl. (Blechi sp. Juss.) Schwenckia L.
Hyplis Jacqu. Vandellia L. Annona L. Banisteria JVob. (BanisteriiE sp. L.) Paullini.i
Juss. (Paullinias sp. L.) Visraia Ruiz, el Puv, Conocarpus L. Legnotis Sw. (Caseipourea
Attbl.) Chailletia Dtcand.

478

APPENDIX. No. V

AValtheria indica L.

americana L.

Hibiscus tiliaceus L.
Sida periplocifolia L.
Cassia occidentalis L.

;

ead. sp.

Guilandina Bonduc L. -j

Bonducella L. 3 ' "'

Abrus precatorius L.
Hedysaium triflorum L.

II. Plants common to Equinoctial Africa and America : but not found in

India.

Octoblepharum albidum Hedu.
Acrostichum aureum L .
Eragrostis ciliaris. -j

Poa ciliaris L. S

Cj'perus ligularis L.
Schwenckia americana L.
Hj-ptis obtusifolia Nob.

Sida juncea Banks, ct Soland. Mss.

Brasil.

Urena americana L. -i

. \ead. sp.
reticulata Cavan. J

Malachra radiata L.

Jussiaea erecta L.

Crotalaria axillaris Hart. Kew. ^- Willd

Struchium (americanum) Br. jam. .S12.Pterocarpus lunatus L.

III. Plants common to Equinoctial Africa and India: but not Jinrnd in

America.

Roccella fuciformis Achar. Lichenog.

440.
Perotis latifolia Soland. in Hort. Kew.
Centotheca lappacea Beauv.
Eleusine indica Gcert.
Flagellaria indica L.
Gloriosa superba li.
Celosia argentea L. "j

— margaritacea L. igad. sp.

— albida ? Willd J
Dcsmochaeta lappacea Decand.

Grangea (raaderaspatana) Adans.
Lavenia erecta Sw.
Oxystelma esculentum Nob.
Periploca esculenta Roxb
Nymphaea Lotus L.

pubescens Willd.

Hibiscus surattensis L.
Leea sambucina L.
Hedysarum pictum L.
Indigofera lateritia Willd.
Glinus lotoides L.

}

[ ead. sp.

IV. List of Species which have not been satisfactorily ascertained.
Acrostichum alcicorne Sw. 1 Panicum crus-galli L.

stemaria Beauv. J Typha angustitblia L.

Imperata cylindrica Prodr. Flor. Nov. Giseckia pharnaceoides L.

Hall.

APPENDIX. No. V. 479

Cassytha pubescens Prodr. Flor. Nov. Hydrocotyle asiatica L.

Holl. Hedysarum adscendens Sw.

Celtis orientalis L. . Hedysarum vaginale L.

Cardiospennum grandiflorum Su: Pterocarpus Ecastopliyllum L.
Paullinia pinnata L.

On these lists it is necessary to make some observations.

1st. The number of species in the three first hsts taken together is equal to
at least one-twelfth of the whole collection. The proportion, indeed, which
these species bear to the entire mass of vegetation on the banks of the Conoi)
is probably considerably smaller, for there is no reason to believe that any of
tliem are very abundant except Cyperus Papyrus and Bombax pentandrum,
and most of them appear to have been seen only on the lower part of the river.

2nd. The relative numbers of the species belonging to the primary divisions
in the lists, is analogous to, and not very materiall)' different from, those of the
whole herbarium ; Dicotyledones being to Monocotyledones nearly as 3 to 1 ;
and Acotyledones being to both these divisions united as hardly 1 to 16":
hence the Phfenogamous plants of the lists alone form about one-thirteenth of
the entire collection.

The proportions now stated are very different from those existing in the cata-
logue I have given of plants common to New Holland and Europe;* in which
the Acotyledones form one-twentieth, and the Phaenogamous plants only one-
sixtieth part of the extra-tropical portion of the Flora ; while the Monoco-
tyledones are to the Dicotyledones as 2 to 1.

The great proportion of Dicotyledonous plants in the lists now given, and
especially in the two first, which are altogether composed of American species,
is singularly at variance with an opinion very generally received, that no well
estabhshed instance can be produced of a Dicotyledonous plant, common to
the equinoctial regions of the old and new continent.

3d. The far greater part of the species in the hsts are strictly equinoctial;
a few, however, have also been observed in the temperate zones, namely
Agi'ostis virginica, belonging, as its name imphes, to Virginia, and found also
on the shores of Van Diemen's Island, in a still higher latitude ; Cyperus
Papyrus, and articulatus, Nymphaea Lotus, and Pistia Stratiotes, which arc

* Flinders' toy. 2. p. 593.

480 APPENDIX. No. V.

natives of Egj-pt ; Glinus lotoides of Egypt and Barbary ; and Flagellai-ia in-
dica, existing on the east coast of New Holland, in as high a latitude as 32°. S.

4th. It may perhaps be suggested with respect to tliese lists, that they contain
or even chiefly consist of plants that during the constant intercourse which has
now subsisted for upwards of three centuries between Africa, America, and
India, may have, either from design or accidentally, been carried from one of
these regions to another, and therefore are to be regarded as truly natives of
tliat continent only from which they originally proceeded.

It appeai-s to me, however, that there is no plant included in any of the lists
which can well be supposed to have been purposely carried from one continent to
another, unless perhaps Chrysobalanus Icaco, and Cassia occidentalis ; both of
which may possibly have been introduced into America by the Negroes, from
the west coast of Africa ; the former as an eatable fruit, the latter a<i an article
of medicine. It seems at least more likely that they should have travelled
in this than in the opposite direction. But I confess the mode of introduction
now stated, does not appear to me very probable, even with respect to these
two plants ; both of them being very general in Africa, as well as in America ;
though Chrysobalanus Icaco is considered of but little value as a fruit in either
continent ; and for Cassia occidentalis, which exists also in India, another
mode of conveyance must likewise be sought.

Several species in the lists, however, may be supposed to have been arci-
dcntnUy carried, from adliering to, or being mixed with, articles of food or
commerce ; either from the nature of the surface of their pericarpial covering,
as Desmochfeta lappacea, Lavenia erecta, Ageratum conyzoides, Grangea ma-
deraspatana, Boerhaavia mutabilis, and Hyptis obtusifoha ; or from the minute-
ness of their seeds, as Schwenckia americana, Scoparia dulcis, Jussisea erecta,
and Sphenoclea zeylanica. That the plants here enumerated have actually been
carried in the manner now stated is, however, entirely conjectural, and the
supposition is by no means necessary : several of them, as Lavenia erecta,
Scoparia dulcis, and Boerhaavia mutabilis, being also natives of tlie intratro-
pical part of New Holland ; their transportation to or from which cannot be
supposed to have been effected in any of the wavs suggested.

The probability, however, of these modes of transportation, with respect to
the plants referred to, and others of similar structure, being even admitted,
the greater part of the lists would still remain ; and to account for the di.sper-

APPENDIX. Xo. V. 481

sion of these, recourse must be liad to natural causes, or such as are uncon-
nected with human agencj-. But the necessity of callirjg in the operation of
these causes inipUes the adoption of that theory according to which each
species of plants is originally produced in one spot only, from which it is gra-
dually propagated. Whether this be the only, or the most probable opinion
that can be held, it is not my intention to enquire : it may however be stated
as not unfavourable to it, tliat, of the Dicotyledonous plants of die Usts, a con-
siderable number have the embryo of the seed highly de\ eloped, and at the
same time well protected by tlie texture of its integuments.

This is the case in Malvaceae, Convolvulaceae, and particularly in Legumi-
nosae, which is also the most numerous family in the lists, and in several of
whose species, as Guilaudlna Bonduc, and Abnis precatorius, the two conditions
of developement and protection of the embryo coexist in so remai-kable a de-
gree, that I have no doubt the seeds of tliesc plants would retain their vitality
for a great length of time, either in the currents of the ocean,* or in the di-
gestive organs of birds and other animals ; the only means apparently by
which tlieir transportation from one continent to another can be efiected : and
it is deserving of notice that these seem to be the two most general plants
on the shores of all equinoctial countries.

The Dicotyledonous plants in the lists wliich belong to other famihes have
die embryo of the seed apparently less advanced, but yet in a state of consider-
able developement, indicated either by the entire want or scanty remains of
albumen: the only exception to this being Leea, in which tlie embryo is
many times exceeded in size by the albumen.

In the Monocotyledonous plants, on the other hand, consisting of Gramlneae,
Cyperaceas, Gloriosa, Flagellaria and Pistia, the embryo bears a very small
proportion to the mass of the seed, which is formed of albumen, generally
farinaceous. But it may here be observed diat the existence of a copious
albumen in Monocotyledones does not equally imply an inferior degree of

* Sir Joseph Bnnks informs me, that he received some years ago the drawing of a
jilant, which his correspondent assured him was raised i'rora a seed found on the west
toast of Ireland, and that tile plant was indispulMy Guilandina Bonduc. Linnsusalso
kcems to have been acquainted with other instances of germination having taken plac;
in seeds thrown on shore on tlie coast of Norway, /'irfd Coloniee Plantarum, p. 3, in
Amcen. Acad. vol. 8.

3Q

482 APPENDIX. No. V.

Titality in tlie embryo, but may be considered as the natural structure of
that primary di^^sion ; seeds without albumen occurring only in certain genera
of the paradoxical Aroideas, and in some other Monocotyledonous orders
which are chiefly aquatic.

5. Doubts may be entertained of the identity' of particular species. On thris-
subject I may observe, that for whatever errors may be detected in these lists,
I must be considered as solely responsible ; the insertion of every plant con-
tained in them being founded on a comparison of specimens from the various
regions of which their existence in the particular lists imphes them to be
natives. The only exception to this being Lipocarpha argentea, of which I
have not seen American specimens ; as a native of that continent therefore it
rests on the very sufficient authority of Baron Humboldt and j\I. Kunth.

In my remarks on the natural orders, I have already suggested doubts
with respect to certain species included in the lists, and shall here add a few
observations on such of the others as seem to require it.

Acrostichum Aurexim L. was compared, and judged to agree, Avith Ame-
rican specimens; and I have therefore placed it in the 2d list, without,
however, meaning to decide whether those plants originally combined v.-lth
A. aureum, and now separated from it, should be regarded as species or
vaneties.

Fuirena iimbellala L. fd. from Congo has its umbels somewhat less divided
than either the American plant or that from the continent of India ; but from
specimens collected in the Nicobar Islands, this would apjiear to be a variable
circumstance.

Glor'iosa superha L. which seems to be very general along the whole of the
west coast of Africa, is cons'dered as a variety of the Indian plant by M.
Lamarck. 1'his African variety has no doubt given rise to the establishment
of the second species of the genus, namely G. simplex, wliich Linnaeus adopted
from Miller ;* and which IMiUer founded on the account sent to him by M.
Richard, of the Trianon Garden, along with the seeds of what he called a new
Gloriosa, brought from Senegal by Adanson, and having blue flowers.
Miller had no opportunity of determining the correctness of this account ; for
tiiough the seeds vegetated, the plant died without flowering ; but he added a
character not luilikcly to belong to the seedling' plants of G. 3uperba, namely

* Gloriosa -ZyMill. Did. cd. 7.

APPENDIX. No. V. 48:^

the waiit of tendrils. Adanson himself, indeed, notices what he considers a
new species of Gloriosa in Senegal,* but he says nothing of the colour of it";
flowers, which he would hnrdly have omitted, had they been blue : that his
plant, however, was not without tendrils, may be inferred from their entering
into the character he afterwards gave of tlie genus,-f as well as from M. La-
niarck''s account of liis variety /3 of G. snperba,j which he seems to have
described from Adanson's specimens. And as no one has since pretended to
have seen a species of this genus, either with blue flowers, or leaves witli-
out tendrils, G. nhnplcx, which has long been considered as doubtful, may
be safely left out of all future editions of the Species Plantarum. As the sup-
posed G. superba of this coast, however, seems to differ from the Indian plant
in the gi-eater length and more equal diameter of its capsule, it may possibly be
a distinct species, though at present I am inclined to consider it as onl}' a variety.
Splienodea zeylan'ica Gaert. I have compared this plant from Congo with
specimens from India, Java, China, Cochincliina,§ Gambia, Demerary, and
the island of Trinidad.

I was at one tinie inclined to believe, that Sphenoclea might be considered
as an attendant on Rice, whicli it very generally accompanies, and with which
I supposed it to have been originally imported froni India into the various
countries where it is found. This hypothesis may still account for its existence
ill the rice fields of Egypt ;|| but as it now appears have to been observed
in countries where there is no reason to believe that rice has ever been cul-
tivated, the conjecture must be abandoned.

Hibiscus tiliaceus L. agrees with the plant of India, except in a very shght
difference in the acumen of the leaf; but the specimens from America have
their outer calyx proportionally longer.

S'lAa periplodfoUa L. corresponds with American specimens ; those in Her-
mann's herbarium, from which the species was estabhshed, have a longer
acumen to the leaf: in other respects I perceive no difference.

* Xouvelle espoce de Methonica, Hist. Nat. du Senegal, p. 137.
+ Mendoni, Fam. dcs Plant. 2. p. 48.
+ Enrt/c. Method. Botan. 4. p. 134.

\ Rapinia herbacea of the Flora Cochinchinensis (p. 127) is certainly Sphenocles
zot/lan:ca, as appears by a specimen sent to Sir Joseph Banks by Loureiro himself.

II Delile Flor. Egypt, illust. in op. cit.

484 APPENDIX. No. V.

Waltherla i?idica L. I consider IF. americana to be a variety of this sportive
species, -which seems to be common to all equinoctial countries.

UreJia americana L. and U. reticulata Cavan. appear to me not to differ
specifiealljf ; and the plant from Congo agrees « ith West India specimens.

Jussicea erecta L . from Congo, agrees with West India specimens in having
linear leaves ; a specimen, however, from Miller's herbaiium, which has been
compared, and is said to correspond, mth that in the Linnean collection, has
elliptical leaves.

Chrysobalanus Icaco L. has its leaves more deeply retuse than any American
specimens I have seen, but in tills respect it agrees -nith Catesbv's figure.

Gmlandina Bonduc L. from which G. Bonducella does not appear to diifer in
any respect, is one of the most general plants on the shores of equinoctial
countries.

Pterocarpus lunatus L. I have compared the plant from Congo with an
authentic specimen from the Linnean herbarium, the examination of which
proves that the appeaiance of ferruginous pubescence in the panicle, noticed in
Linne's description, is the consequence of his specimen ha%'ing been immersed
ill spirits.

Several of the plailts included in the fourth list, I am inclined to consider
varieties only of tlie species to wliich they are referred ; but I have placed them
ajnong the more doubtful plants of this list, as their differences seem to be
jiermanent, and are such as admit of being expressed. One of these is

Cardiospermmn grandrflorum Sw. of which the specimens from Congo differ
somewhat in inflorescence from the West India plant.

Pmdlinia pinnata L. is distinguished rather remarkably from the American
plant by the figure of the leaflets, which approach to cuneiform, or widen
upwards, but I can perceive no other difference.

Pterocarpus Ecastophyllum L. differs merely in the want of the very short
acumen or narrow apex of the leaf, which I have constantly found in all the
W^est India specimens I have examined.

Giseckia pharnaccoides L. from Congo, has nearly linear leaves; but I
have seen specimens from Kccnig with leaves of an intermediate form.

I shall conclude this essay, already extended considerably beyond my
original plan, with a general statement of the proportion of new genera and
species contained in Professor's Smith's herbarium.

APPENDIX. No. V. 485

The whole number of species in tlie collection is about 620 ; but as spe-
cimens of about thirty of these are so imperfect as not tu be referable to
their proper genera, and some of them not even to natural orders, its amount
may be stated at .590 species.

Of these about 250 are absolutely new : nearly an equal number exist also
ill different parts of the west coast of equinoctial Africa, and not in other
countries ; of which, however, the greater part are yet unpublished : and
about 70 are common to other intratropical regions.

Of im published genera there are 32 in the collection ; twelve of which are
absolutely new, and three, though observed in other parts of this coast of
equinoctial Africa, had not been found before in a state sufficiently perfect,
to ascertain their structure ; ten belong to different parts of the same line of
coast ; and seven are common to other countries.

No natural order, absolutely new, exists in the herbai'ium ; nor has any
family been found peculiar to equinoctial Afiica.

The extent of Professor Smith's herbarium proves not only the zeal and
activity of my lamented friend, but also his great acquirements in that branch
of science, which was his more particular province, and to his excessive exer-
tions in the investigation of which he fell a victim, in the ill-fated expedition to
Congo.

Had he returned to Europe, he would assuredly have given a far more
complete and generally interesting account of his discoveries than what is
here attempted: and the numerous facts which he could no doubt have com-
municated respecting the habit, the structure, and the uses of the more impor-
tant and remarkable plants, woidd probably have determined him to have
followed a very different plan from that adopted in tlie present essay.

It remains only that I should notice the exemplary diligence of the Botanic
Gardener, Mr. David Lockhart, the only survivor, I believe, of the party by
whom the river above the falls was examined, in that disastrous journey which
proved fatal to the expedition.

From Mr. Lockhart I have received valuable information concerning many
of the specimens contained in the herbarium, and also respecting the escident
plants observed on the banks of the Congo.

r 4Sf; 1

APPENDIX. No. VI.

My Dear Sir, British Museum, Nov^StJi, 1817

In compliance with your desire, I have examined the specimens of
rocks that were collected in the late expedition to Congo, and presented bv
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to the British Museum. These
specimens arc all from the banks of the narrows of the Zaire, and are few in
number ; but they suffice to prove that the rock formation which prevails on
the banks and islands of the lower parts of the river is primitive, and greatly
resembles that beyond the ocean to tlie west : a circumstance which adds to
the probability that the mountains of Pernambuco, Rio, and other adjacent
parts of South America, were primevally connected with the opposite chains
that traverse the plains of Congo and Loango. As vou have already given, in
your " General Observations,^' a satisfactory view of the broad geological
features of the country along those banks, as far as they could be collected
from the narratives of Captain Tuckey, and Dr. Smith, I shall confine myself
to a few desultory remarks which offer themselves upon compai-ing the obser-
vations of these gentlemen with such of the specimens as have their respective
localities affixed to them.

The specimens from the Fetish rocks exhibit a series of granitic compounds,
in which the feldspar predominates : and most of them, especially the fine-
grained varieties, contain disseminated a great quantity of minute noble
garnets, some of them pellucid, others opaque, and of a reddish brown colour ;
and all belonging to the trapezoidal or leucite modification. Similar garnets
also abound in the mica slate of Gombae. A few specimens of a siliceous rock,
nearly compact, being composed of confluent particles of quai'tz, intermixed
with minute scales of mica, are likewise ticketed as obtained from the Fetishes.
This insulated group of rocks seems to represent a miniature of the stupendous
granitic bulwark, which arises from the plain on the north side of the river
Coanzo, near Cabazzo (the capital of Matamba), and of which an account,
together with a good representation, has been given by Father Cavazzo. Wo

APPENDIX. No. VI. 487

are told by this author, tliat the name given to it by the Portuguese, is ii
Presidio (the fortress), and that tlie natives cdll it " Afaoponffu,'" — a word
which, making but httle allowance for national difference of expressing the
same sound in writing, is pretty like that of " ATwangooi" synonymously
added to the sketch given of the Fetish rock by Captain Tuckey.

Boka M'Bomnia, according to tiie same gentleman's account, consists en-
tirely of sliistus; but his own specimens from the S., S.E., N.E., and S. W
parts of that island, are stratified granite or gneiss, in which the feldspar exists
in very small proportion, and which, on the S.W. side, passes into a beauti-
fully resplendent silvery variety, stained, towards the surface of the blocks or
separated pieces, by brown iron ochre. It is in the variety of this gneiss from
the last-mentioned part of the island, that laminar particles of a dark brown
colour are seen, some of them exhibiting traces of the regular octohedral form,
and which appear to be an iron oxydule. Tiiere is also, among the specimens
from Boka Embonuna, a friigment of primitive green-stone witli embedded
garnets.

The specimens from tlic creek of Banza IM'bomma exhibit a mixture of fine
granular liornblcnde and quartz ; some of them are real hornblende-rock, and
contain disseminated garnets. These specimens, among which there are also
some varieties of reddish massive quartz, not unlike milk-quartz, were col-
lected by Mr. Tudor.

Besides these primitive rocks, and those from Chesalla, near the Banza,
which latter affords two varieties of gneiss with black and with yellow mica,
we have, from the same neighbourhood, and particularly from tlie Chimoenga
cliffs, a few specimens of sandstone : it is coarse-grained and ferruginous ; its
colour is grayish, and yellowish, with here and there some purplish specks ; and
it appears to belong to the oldest formation of this reck. The plain on which
the banza is situated, is covered by a bed of clay, which, according to a label
accompanying the specimens, is two feet thick. It is of an a^h-gray colour,
and perfectly plastic.

The quartz mentioned by Captain Tuckey and Professor Smith, as being
Ibund in large masses, on the summit of Fidler's Elbow, belongs to the variety
called fat-quartz : the fragments have mica adhering to them, and are here and
there stained of a blood-red colour. Some specimens of brown-ironstone,
massive and friable, have likewise been found on this hill. A ticket written by

488 APPENDIX. No. VI.

Capt. Tucke}', and affixed to one of them from the highest summit, informs
us that a globule of some metal, either gold or copper, has been seen adhering
to one of the cavities, by Dr. Smith ; but no such observation has been com-
municated in this Gentleman's jom-nal : the lump, however, bears evident
marks of having been exposed to the action of fire. There is scarcely any
appearance of metals in the rocks near the lower parts of the Zaire ; if, there-
fore, the accounts which the missionaries have ^ven of the great abundtmce
of every description of ores in Congo, extend to the banks of that river, it
must be higher up ; where, according to Dr. Smith's account, the rock-for-
mation appears to adopt a different character. The specimens from Condo-
Sono, Banza Nokki, and Benda consist of sienite, with gi-een hornblende, and
a rock composed of feldspar and quartz, with thickly-disseminated particles of
magnetic iron stone, instead of mica or hornblende. It Is probable that the
primitive trapp occurs here in beds subordinate to the gneiss and mica-slate,
of which a few specimens are sent, together with some others from the same
parts, which appear to be flint-slate.

A rolled piece of sienite from the falls of Yellala, covered by a thin,
shining, black crust, proves, that the action of the y.ater of the Zau-e Is similar
in Its effects to that of the Oronoko. Thei-e are boulders of sienite In our
collection, found by Baron Humboldt, at the cataracts of Alures, which are
covered with exactly the same crust, and bear, externally, the most striking
resemblance to meteoric stones. This black crust, both in the stones from the
Zaire, and from the Oronoko, Mr. Children, to whom I communicated some
jiartlcles, found to be a mixture of oxides of iron and manganese.

There are no specimens sent from above the Falls, except two varieties of
compact hmestone, one of them magnesiaft ; but the places from which they
came are not distinctly marked.

This is all I have to say on the scanty materials before me ; and I leave It
to you to make any use of it you please. BeUeve me, my dear Sir,

Your most obedient humble Servant,

^ , , CHARLES KONIG.

To John Barrow, Esq. Sec. to

the Admiralty, &c. &c. &c.

[ 489 ]

APPENDIX. No. VII.

HijdrograpMcal Remarlcfifrom the Island of St. Thomas, to the Mouth of the

Zaire.

1816. 16th May. At noon the land was reported to be seen from the mast-
head, and immediately after from the deck : it was Prince's Island ; and
bore S E b. S, 12 or 14 leagues distant. By our observations the centre of it
lies in lat. 1»35'N, long. 7°17' 45 E ; variation about 21° W. We continued
endeavouring to get to the southward, with light airs from S to S W, and a
strong current setting to tlie northward ; and on the I Uxh, at daylight, saw the
Island of St. Thomas, bearing S b. W 12 or 11 leagues. We remained two
days in sight of it, making scarcely any way to the southward, which induced us
to stand to the westward, hoping to get the wind more westerly, and less cur-
i"ent ; in both of which expectations we were disappointed : nor did we succeed
in getting to the southward of this island until the 27th, having been obliged to
stand so far to the westward as 4° E, and then passed only about 4 leagues to the
southward of it. The little island of Rolle, at the south end of St Thomas,
lies on the equinoctial line, and in long, about 6° 14' 37" E. We continued work-
ing to the southward, taking every advantage of the wind, and frequently tryino-
for soundings without obtaining them, untU the 3d of June, when, at noon, we
had 1 7r fathoms greenish ouse, and immediately saw the coast of Africa. Lat.
observed 2° lO'S, long. 9° 29' E. The land was about 1 leagues to the east-
ward, which would make the longitude of the coast in the above latitude in 9°
41' E. The land appeared low, but owing to the weather being hazy, and our
standing off from it, we were not able to make any remarks. The bank of
oundings here does not probably run farther off shore than ten leagues, deep-
ening as follows : at 10 or 12 miles off shore 18 fathoms, greenish ouze. We
then ran S W-|W 5 miles, and had 30 fathoms, coarse sand ; then S W 3 miles
further, 4/ fathoms, sand and broken shells: then S W b. W 4 miles, 67 fa-
thoms, same bottom, and S W b. Wi W 4 miles, no bottom with 130 fathoms,
(these courses are from the true meridian). From this day (the 5th), we conti-

3R

490 APPENDIX. No. Vlf.

nued working out of soundings, making very litde way to the southward, until
the 17th, when we were by obseiwation, 3" 12' S, long. 9" 59' 30' E, from wliich
time to 3 P. M. we ran Ej S (true) 1 2 miles, and sounded in 66 fathoms, coarse
brown sand with red specks. On the same course to G P. M. ran 1 0 miles, and
had 56 fathoms, fine oazy gray sand. By a lunar observadon taken this day,
the longitude reduced to noon was S miles to the eastward of that given by the
chronometer from the midnight above, to 2 A. M. on the ISth. We now ran
S E b. E. S miles, and had 3/ fathoms, fine gray sand. From 2 to 1 on the same
course, S miles; had 33 fathoms, fine white sand. From -1 to / the same
course, 1 2 miles ; had 25 fathoms, same bottom as last. We then observed in
lat 3°24' S. long. 10° 44' SO"E. about 6 leagues offshore; found by the chrono-
meter we had experienced since the preceding noon a current running N. 56
W. 34 miles. From noon to 4 P. M. we ran E S Ei S. IS miles, and sounded
in 17 fathoms ; from 4 to 6, E S E f E, 6 miles, 16 fathoms ; then 3 miles far-
ther on the same course, and tacked at 7 : from which time to 10, we ran W
b. S 4 S 9 miles, and had 25 fathoms ; then tacked again, and stood in east about
2 miles, wlien it failing nearly calm, came to with the stream anchor in 25 fa-
thoms, red clay. Found a current rimning due north by compass 1 1 mile an
hour.

May 19. At 4 A. M., a light breeze came off the land with drizzUntr rain,
■when we weighed, standing to the southward till 1 1, when it fell calm, and we
came to with the kedge in 38 fathoms, slate-coloured sandy clay. Found a
current running N W b. N. (compass) j mile an hour : weighed again and made
sail on the western tack with the \vind at south. We were this day disappointed
in our liopes of the sea breeze ; and about 10..30 P. M. it fell calm, when we
came to with the stream in 37 fathoms, current setting N W b. N (compass) li
knot an hour.

May 21st. During this forenoon it was either calm or the vnad so very light
from the southward that had we weighed we should have lost ground considera-
bly ; but at 3. .30 it became pretty brisk from south, which we immediately
took advantage of, standing to the eastward ; just before weighing, we saw the
landplainly, from N E |E to E b. N ; at 5. .30 thewindcame round to the SS W
and at 6 sounded in 25 fathoms, ousy ground ; we had run since weighing
S E b. E (compass) 8 miles ; at 7 had 23 fathoms, having run S E 2 miles
again at 8 had 23 fathoms, all the same bottom ; having run 2 miles S E b. E ;

APPENDIX. No. VII. 491

at 0..30 it fell calm. We came to with the stream in 22 fathoms, ouse ; very
little current to the N W; we were now about 8 or 9 miles off shore

May 22d. At daylight calm and hazy ; at 7 saw the land from N E |^ N to
E b. N. might have seen much farther to the southward but for the haze ; a
very light drain of current to the N W. At 8 weighed with a light breeze from
the southward, hauled on the western tack. At noon still very hazy ; had 25
fathoms, ouse, land about Cape May umba N E to E N E f N. At 4 we were about
the same place as at noon, with same soundings ; at G had 23 fathoms, fine gray
sand with red and black specks. Cape May umba N. 'lO E. (compass) about 7
or 8 miles : at 8 we heard the roaring of the surf on the beach very loud ; at 9
it fell calm, when we came to with the stream in 22 fathoms, greenish sand and
shells.

May 2.Sd. At daylight calm and hazy. This morning while at anchor caught
several fish of the bream species of a reddish colour. At 9 a light breeze
springing up from the S E, weighed and hauled on the western tack, and soon
after saw Cape Mayumba, and the land on each side of it to some extent; at
noon observed in lat. 3° 42' S. Cape Mayumba N E j E. S or 9 miles had 25 fa-
thoms fine white sand with red and black specks, this day and yesterday had
no sights for chronometers, at 4 got a fresh breeze at S S ^V, which lasted
about half an hour, and then became very light ; about 9 it fell calm; came to
mth the stream in IS fathoms, greenish sand ; a very light drain of current to
the N W.

Remark. During the nights we find a most perfect calm prevail throughout,
and a very light drain of current going to the N W-ward, both by night and
day ; from sun set to its falling calm a moderate dew falls, which ceases directly
the clouds collect over the land, which take place immediately the wind dies
away.

May 2'Ith. At 2 A. M. a light breeze sprung up at E S E. We weighed
and made sail to the southwai-d ; at about 4 it fell calm, and we anchored again
in 20 fathoms. At daylight, very hazy ; saw the land from N N E to E b. S.
This day many of the fish spoken of yesterday were caught on board both ves-
sels. During the whole of the night we heard the surf roaring extremely loud on
the beach, and we were at least G or 7 miles off shore. At 8 got a light breeze
irom the S E, weighed, and stood to the S W. At noon lat. observed 3. .43. S,
Jong. 11° 13' E, Cape Mayumba N. 29 E> (compass) 8 or 9 mUes; had 2i

492 APPENDIX. No VII.

fatlioms coarse brown sand ; we nowstood in shore, the wind having drawn round
to the S S W. a pretty brisk sea bi-eeze ; at 4 we had 17 fathoms^ fine gray sand.
Cape Mayiimba N b. E 9 or ten miles. At (>, having run S E b. S (compass)
.5 miles since 4 o'clock, we had 1 3 fathoms, small gravel and shells ; tlie land
from N N E to S S E ; at S calm, came to in 1 0 fathoms, dark soft sandy ouse,
and no current.

Remark. We have hitherto i-emarked that as soon as it becomes calm in
the evening, a very thick haze arises, and the dew falls much less than be-'
tween this and sun set ; the surf, though not heard by day, then becomes very
noisy. The calm generally takes place between 8 and 10 P. M.

The latitude and longitude of Cape Mayumba from this day's observation is
S''34' S, 11° 13' 36" E, by chronometer. With respect to the longitude, there
appears so great a difference between that given by our chronometers and those
assitrned in the ibllowino; charts, that it must remain for future navigators to
decide. Laurie and Whittle's chart places it in 10.. 16". E, and Arrowsmith in
U)°23'E.

]May 2.")th. At daylight calm and hazy, a heavy surf rolling on the shore,
from which we were about 3 miles distant. At 9 a light air from the south-
ward ; weighed and made sail on the western tack : at noon observed in lat. 3*
ID'S. lono-. 11°5'E. had If) fathoms, fine brown sand with black specks, ex-
tremes of the land from S 34° E to N S W; at 2 P. M. had 1 7 fathoms ; at 4 the
same depth about 7 or S miles off shore ; at fi had 1 1 fathoms, then tacked,
standing off W b. N 4 miles till half past 7, when we had 13 fathoms, stiff black
mud, and anchored. Variation (azimuth) 25° 30' W.

May 26th. At 2 a light breeze sprung up at E N E : weighed and made
sail to the southward ; soon after the wind chopped round N W, and conti-
nued gradually drawing round to S W, where it continued till 9, when some
small rain fell ; it was very cloudy, and the wind suddenly veered round to SE.
After weighing we ran on a S W b. S course 4 miles, and had 20 fathoms ; 8
miles further 29 fathoms ; then S | E. 4 miles, 35 fathoms ; all black mud and
broken shells. At noon observed in lat. 4° S' S, long. 11° 15' 22' E, and had
48 fathoms, same bottom ; we also found that a current had set us since weigh-
ing 10 miles north. About 2 the wind drew round to S S W, wore to die S E,
at 4 running on a S E course 3 knots an hour, we had 49 fathoms, at 5, 48.,
at 6, 47 fathoms, all muddy bottom, at 8, 40 fathoms, coarse sand, at 9, 35, and

APPENDIX. No. VII. 493

dt 10, S3 fathoms, same bottom ; at 10.. 30 it fell calm. Came to ii> 33 fathoms,
black mud. Found per log a current running N N W, | knot an hour. Va-
riation of the compass by amp. 25° 33' W, by azimuth 25° 30'-

M-iy 2rtli. At ;), a light breeze sprung up at S S W; weighed, and stood S
E 3 miles, and had 28 fathoms, S E b. E, 2 miles 24 fathoms, and S E 1 mile
21 fathoms, all black mud and shells ; here we observed in lat. 4° 9 S. Ion. 1 !•
38' 37" E. Banda point E b. N 8 or 9 miles, extremes of the land from E b.
SfS. to Nb.W.- About 6" P. M. the wind drew round toWb.S, a fresh breeze;
from noon wc i-an on a S E b. S course, shoaling gradually, with scarcely any
variation in the bottom (chiefly ouse.) In running along shore the land is beau-
tiful, appearing as if laid out in parks and pleasure grounds ; it is noted in tlie
charts as being high ; which is certainly an error, as there has not been any part
of it yet seen by us liigher than the Lizard on our own coast. The latitude
of Banda point by tliis day's observation is about 4° 4' S, Ion. 1 1° 4(>' 2" E.
Arrowsmith in liis chart of this part of the coast, places it in lat. 4. .3 S. Ion.
10..52..0, and Laurie and Whittle in 3° 53' S. and 10° 30' E.

May 2Sth. The breeze of last night continued at W S W till about 6 this
morning, when it fell calm, and we came to in 15 fathoms, ouse ; found the
current per log N b. W 1^: mile an hour. At 8 a light breeze from the S E,
with which we weighed, but falling calm almost immediately, came to again in
14 fathoms, ouse ; just before noon weighed again with a light breeze, but
finding we lost ground came to du-cctly in 12 fathoms, ouse, where we observed,
in lat. 4° 2-1' S, Ion. 12° 1 1' E, extremes of the land from S S E to N b. E cur-
rent N b. W 1 1 mile an hour. About 2 P. M. the sea breeze came in mode-
rate at W S W; weighed and made sail, but the ship in a most unaccountable
manner, w ith all sail set and a good breeze on tlie quarter, refused to come
higher than E S E, and lay like a log on the water, while the Congo, whose tow-
rope we had cast off, was lying up south about 3 knots ; at 2..30 finding we
were driftin<i- bodily in shore with the current, and had decreased our dejith of
water from I 2 fathoms ouse, to 9| rocky bottom, let go the stream anchor ;
and before we could bring up got into yi rocky bottom. We were about 6'
miles from the nearest shore, no point or known headland to set, but right
abreast of us were some reddish cliffs ; and a little to the southward of them
two holes in the land, apparently of the same quahty as the cliffs ; these holes
both in size and shape, are much like the large chalk pit on Portsdomi hi!V

494 APPENDIX. No. VII.

To the southward of these pits, there is a deep bay, the southern point of
which is low at the extremity Ijut rises gradually to inoderatelv high land.

The above reef is certainly very alarming, the water shoaling very rapidlv
and the current setting right over it due north 24 miles an hour ; the rocks of
which it is composed are soft, the lead always bringing up pieces sticking to it :
it is probable this may be what is called in the charts Kilongo reef; if so, it is
laid down much to the northward of its real situation.

At about half past S the breeze freshening we made all sail, hove in as much of
the slack cable at we could, but having run over the anchor, and the cable becom-
ing taught, cut it, leaving the anchor and about | of the stream cable behind.

The bay before mentioned agrees precisely with the description of Loango
Bay, as given by Grandpre, a French navigator ; and also in one of Laurie and
Whittle's charts ; but the latitude differs so widely, as to make us doubt the re-
ality of its being that bay. At 6 P. M. we had the point bearing E S E, con-
sequently nearly on its parallel, at which time our latitude could not be more
than 4° 33' S, and Indian point, the south point of Loango Bay in Arrow-
smith's chart, lies in latitude 4" .53' and in Laurie and Whittle's 4"^ 45' S, so that
the latitudes assigned to it in the above charts must be extremely erroneous.
At about 8 P. M. the sea breeze backed round to west, and at half past 1 1
it fell calm, when we came to with the kedge anchor in 22 fathoms, soft muddy
bottom. Found the current per log. to run N N W 1 j knot an hour.

May 29th. At daylight saw the land to a great extent. Observed the point
spoken of yesterday to bear a great resemblance to the Bill of Portland length-
ened, which by Laurie and Whittle's chart appears to be the case with the south
point of Loango Bay, or Indian Point. At 10 a light breeze sprang up at S E,
which, on our weighing died away, we therefore anchored again, and at noon
observed in lat. 4''41' S. Ion. 12° 14' E, Indian point N 68 E, 10 miles, which
would make its lat. 4° 37' S, extremes of the land from N b E. to S E | E, cur-
rent running N b. W 1 1 mile an hour.

By the mean of yesterday and this day's observation Indian point lies in 4. .35 S.
At half past one P. M. the sea breeze set in at W b. S. Made all sail ; found
the ship slacked the cable. Up anchor, and steering a south course !i knots, we
gradually deepened our water to 2>< fathoms, and thenshoaled again to2,i fathoms,
ouse, when we anchored athalf jast i>, being quite calm. During these last 24
hours the water has had a deep tinge, like blood and water mixed.

APPENDIX. No. VII. 495

Kemark. For some days past we have invariably had a hght breeze from S
S W to S S E, which springs up about 5 o'clock in the moming, and generally
ends about 10, though sometimes so late as 11 ; it is tlien calm till one or two
in the afternoon, when the sea breeze sets in at S W, or S W b. W, light, and
about an hour after it has commenced it generally carries us 3 or 3i knots,
gradually gathering strength and drawingroundtoW,and sometimes to WNW ;
again hauling round to W S W an hour or more before it falls calm. The
time ol' its falling calm appears to depend on the time of the sea breeze setting
this breeze generally lasts about !) or 10 hours, but in one or two instances
we had it 12 or 14.

May 30th. At daylight calm, dark, and cloudy ; saw the land, but could
not distinguish any particular or known point: current running N N E li knot
an hour. At noon still calm ; observed in lat. 5" 2' S. Ion. 12' 15' E extremes
•of the land from S EfE to N E | N, about 11 or 12 miles, current the same as
at day hght.

There can be no doubt of the point before described being Indian point, as
we are this day to the southward of its situation in every chart ; and have not
seen the least appearance of such a bay as that of Loango, between the land we
are now abreast of and tiic above point. Horsburgh, in his chart, places Indian
point in lat. 5" 0' S, which makes it 2'> miles, Arrowsmith 1 8, and Laurie and
Whittle 10 miles all too far to the southward, supposing 4° 35' to be the lati-
tude, which I am certain is very near the truth.

At 3 P. M. the sea breeze came in at W b. S, with which we weighed and
made sail, at half past 10 falling httle wind, came to in 11 fathoms, muddy bot-
tom, scarcely any current.

June 1st. At daylight observed we were abreast of a river with a very fine
entrance ; a light breeze springing up, we shifted a little off sliore, but fallmg
calm, anchored again at !) ; about 1 0, two canoes came along side with S natives
in them, one of whom spoke tolerably good English, and said he came to in-
form us the Mafouk or governor of Malemba was coming on board ; from the
information of these people it appears this river is called Louango Louiza, and
not Louiza Louango as in the charts; and on enquiring after the river Ka-
congo, they knew nothing of it, declaring there is no other river between Lo-
ango Bay and Malemba, than Louango Louiza : when we enquired what river
the town of Kinghele was situated on, they called it Chimbele, and said it stood

694 APPENDIX. No YII.

on the bank of a little river called Bele, whidi is situated to the southward of
Cabenda. If their account is correct, which there is no reason to doubt, a river is
laid down in the charts that does not exist, a corroborative proof of which is,
that in our run between Loango bay and where we now are, not the least ap-
pearance of one was seen : and tlie natives assure us there is not another till
you come to the southward of Cabenda.

At noon observed in 5° 17' S. Ion. 12»]0' 15" E, south point of the river
Louango Loiiiza E b. N f N, 7 or 8 miles, which makes this point in 5" 1 2' S,
12" 15' 33 "E, current running N b. Wj mile an hour. About 2 the sea breeze
set in at W b. S, witii which we weighed, and at 1 0. 30 falUng little wind, came
to in 1 1 fathoms, current running N N W| mile an hour : in running along
shore the natives pointed out to us the point of Malemba ; it is a bluff cliff not
easily distinguislied, being considerably lower than the land at the back of it,
which is but moderately high, and may be easily kno^vn, by its being fuU of
red cliffs, like chalk pits.

June 2nd. At daylight, light airs from the southward wth light rain and
haze ; at 8, went in-sliore with two boats tofindout a bank, which Grandpre states
to lie between Malemba and Cabenda, close on the north side of Cabenda bay ;
two of the natives, wlio said they knew the bank, ^^•ent with me ; one of whom
said he was on board Maxwell's ship when she grounded on it ; I went into 5^-
fathoms, which was about 24 or 3 miles from Cabenda point, which depth was
sufficient to disprove Grandpre's assertion that " After you liave 7 fathoms,
you will be on shore before you get another cast." I found the water to shoal
gradually, and 7 fathoms was at least one mile outside of me. After weighing
we stood Wb. N 2 miles, then S b. E 3 miles, when we had 14 fathoms, from
this we ranSb. W 3 miles, and had 13 fathoms, 3 miles further on the same
course 12 fathoms, 2^ miles further 10 fathoms, and 2 miles farther 7 fathoms,
where, at 5. .40, we anchored, with Red point south !» or 10 miles, Cabenda
hook N E b. E i E, about 3 miles off shore current running N b. W 1 1 mile
an hour. I now went in the gig to sound, and found the water to shoal gra-
dually all the way to the shore, at about i mile distant from wliich had 3 fa-
thoms: by the time I got in shore, had no other light than that af}i)rded by the
moon (which had just completed the first quarter), which enabled me to see
some heavy breakers to the southward, I accordingly rowed towards them, and
found a dangerous reef running off shore to the westward, about | of a mile

APPENDIX. No. VII. 497

\nth 5 fathoms, close to the western edge ; it lies about half way between Cabenda
hook and Red point ; about 8, I returned to the ship : the soundings regular
as before.

June 3d. At noon observed in lat, 5° 37' S, the high land of Cabenda, E b.
N, and Red point S S E|E. For the last two days we have not been able to get
sights for longitude. At 2wore ship, and stood to the southward with a moderate
sea breeze at W b. S ; we continued sounding every hour, and had constantly
23 fathoms, until 1 1 o'clock, when it fell little wind, which obhged us to anchor
in the above depth, sandy clay of a greenish hue.

June 4th. At daylight saw the land about Cabenda 5 or 6 leagues distant :
during the whole of this day, the breezes were extremely light, and the weather
dark and hazy, had no observation, current running N b.W, 1| mile an
hour.

June 5lh. The whole of this day was calm, dark, and cloudy ; and we re-
mained at anchor, current N N W, 1 1 mile an hour.

June Gth. The whole of this forenoon was calm, dark, and cloudy ; at noon
obsei-ved in 5° 40' S, at 2.. 30, the sea breeze came in at W b. S, when we
weighed and made all possible sail to the southward : at 4 the haze cleared off a
a httle, saw the land, the southern extreme of which bore S S E, sounded in 15
fathoms; from this time to 6 o'clock, we ran on a Sb.W course, gradually shoal-
ing to 13 fathoms ; from 6 we kapt on a S and S b.W. course going 3| knots an
hour till !), keeping all the time the same depth of water : and then gradually
deepening to 1 7 fathoms ; shortly after getting this latter depth, we had no bot-
tom with" 160, fathoms ; in about an hour after the wind headed us, and we ob-
served an extremely great ripple all round the ship, making a noise hke a mill
sluice (apparently a very rapid current) ; we soon got out of this, and on trying
for soundings without the hope of getting anv, had 24 fathoms, muddy bottom ;
w-e immediately anchored at about half an hour after midnight, and found scarce-
ly any current, what little there was ran to the southward ; had it not been for
this circumstance, should have concluded we had been drifted back again to the
northward, which was Captain Tuckey's opinion ; but considering we had always
found a strong northerly current, when to the northward of the deep water
channel, that now we must have crossed it, on finding it run to the southward,
which proved to be the case.

From the above it will appear that the deep water is much narrower than is

498 APPENDIX. No. VII.

generally supposed, it is probably not more tban 3 miles across ; we sounded
every hour, and at 10, we had 16j fathoms, at II, no bottom, at 11. .3^0 the
Avind headed, and we fell off to S E, going only 2 knots, and at half past mid-
nio-ht we had 24 fathoms.

June 7th. At daylight saw the land from S SE to N E, the Zaire appa-
rently open abreast of us ; I went in-shore to examine the coast and ascertain
wliether the opening we saw was really it ; about 1 1 o'clock I obsen'cd the
sliips were under way, by which time I was sufficiently near to be satisfied of
our being at the entrance of the river, and accordingly after taking a ^^ew of the
coast returned on board to inform Captain Tuckey, which together with the
observation they had taken on board, being 6° 5' S, proved it beyond a doubt,
we accordingly bore up and made sail ; and at lialf past 3, came to under Shark's
point in 4 J fathoms, the point bearing E S E about i mile from the nearest
shore.

London : Printed by W. Bulmer and Co.
Clereland Row, St. James's.

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