that the country is thinly peopled: but from its extent and natural fertility, a less number than 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 can scarcely be assigned to its population.

Political importance and relations.]-Abyssinia cannot be said to possess any political importance; nor can any thing that can be denominated political relation be ascribed to this sequestered kingdom. Having no longer any thing to apprehend from the declining power of the Turks, the Abyssinian government has no other concern than the prevention or suppression of domestic rebellion, and the defence of its dominions against the barbarous tribes of the African interior.

Language.-The language, although little known to the literati of Europe, is, with great probability, supposed to be an offspring of the ancient Arabic. It is divided into various dialects, and is probably allied with the Cophtic; both Abyssinia and Egypt having without doubt been originally peopled from Arabia.

Literature, &c.]-In developing the ancient and present state of this country, enough has already been said to shew, that literature, science, and the arts, do not constitute a feature in its moral picture.

Persons, manners and national character.]—The Abyssinians are of a good size, well proportioned, and of a dark olive complexion. Their dress is a light robe girt with a sash, and they cover the head with a sort of turban, or cap. Their whole history shews that the government has paid little at tention to the progress of industry and civilization; and fifteen centuries of Christianity have had little influence on their morals and manners. Among these Christians polygamy is Frequently practised; and their princes have often several wives and concubines. One of their most singular customs is the punishment of the wife if her husband proves false. Like some other barbarous nations, they appear to have a predilection for raw flesh; and if we may credit Bruce, it is cut from the live oxen at an Abyssinian banquet; which generally terminates in the most riotous debauchery.

From this general view of their manners, and particularly of their punishments, the national character of the Abyssi

nians, like that of their African neighbours, appears to be strongly marked with profligacy, and the most unfeeling cruelty.*

CENTRAL AFRICA.

THE vast central regions of Africa have recently excited a considerable degree of public curiosity. The African Society has laudably promoted a spirit of inquiry; and its liberal patronage has encouraged and enabled intelligent and enterprising travellers to make bold attempts towards exploring this widely extended scene of geographical obscurity. This celebrated association, which deserves to be commemorated in the history of science, was composed of several learned and illustrious individuals. Its object was to promote discoveries in the interior of the African continent; and persons every way qualified for the important and arduous undertaking were selected and employed. The first of these geographical missionaries was Mr. Ledyard, who undertook, at his own request, the difficult and dangerous task of traversing from east to west, in the latitude assigned to the Niger, the broadest part of the continent of Africa. On this bold adventure he set out from London on the 30th July, 1788, and on the 19th August reached Cairo. From that place he transmitted accounts to his employers; and informed them that his next communica. tions would be from Sennaar; but death soon after put an end to his discoveries, and disappointed the hopes that had been founded on his enterprising genius.

The second bold adventurer in this unexplored track of dis covery, was Mr. Lucas, who embarked on the 18th October of the same year for Tripoli. His plan was to proceed over the Zaara, or great desert, to Fezzan; and after having col lected among the people of that country, and the traders who resorted thither from various parts of Africa, as much infor mation as possible concerning the interior, to return by the river Gambia, or some part of the coast of Guinea. Unfavour

The reader need scarcely be informed, that in this account of Abys sinia, I have taken Bruce for my guide, as there does not appear to be any better, or indeed scarcely any other authority.

able circumstances, however, prevented his progress any further than Masuratá; and he found himself obliged to return without visiting Fezzan. Being thus disappointed, Mr. Lucas could communicate only such intelligence as he collected from the traders accustomed to traverse the deserts. He obtained indeed from one of the shereefs an ample description of the kingdoms or districts of Fezzan, Bornou, and Cashna; but the intelligence communicated by the Arabian chief seems too much tinctured with exaggeration and fiction to be deemed satisfactory.

Under the patronage of the same illustrious society Mr. Mungo Park undertook to penetrate by a new route into the interior of Africa. His great object was by traversing the country nearly in the direction of the Niger, to proceed to the great central city of Tombut, or Tombuctoo, which is well known to exist, although never yet seen by any European traveller. In the month of December, 1795, Mr. Park set out from the British factory of Pisania, on the banks of the Gambia, and taking his route through the kingdoms of Woolli, Bondou, Kayaaga, Kasson, Kaarta, and Ludamar, penetrated as far as that of Bambara, where the town of Silla, in longi. tude 1o 30' east, was the boundary of his progress. He describes several of the countries through which he passed as beautifully diversified with gently swelling eminences, forests, and valleys, displaying, in some parts, a beautiful and picturesque scenery, an abundant fertility, and a state of cultivation far superior to what might be expected in the interior of Afri. ca. From the summit of a high hill in the kingdom of Kasson, Mr. Park had an extensive and enchanting prospect of the country, where the number of the towns and villages, and the excellent cultivation, surpassed every thing he had yet seen in Africa. In most of those countries cotton, tobacco, and various kinds of grain, are produced in tolerable plenty. But the most singular of the African productions described by this enterprising and intelligent traveller; and indeed one of the greatest curiosities in the whole vegetable kingdom of nature, is the shea-tree, which is an important object of cultivation in Bambara and the neighbouring countries, and furnishes a considerable article of inland commerce. This tree resembles an

Américan oak, and bears a fruit like a Spanish olive, the kernel of which being first dried in the sun, and afterwards boiled, produces butter. Mr. Park says that this butter is whiter, firmer, and, to his taste, of a richer and finer flavour than the best that is made from milk. It may also be kept good the whole year without salt. The chief geographical objects that occurred in the route of this adventurous traveller, are the river Joliba, or Niger, and the city of Sego, the capital of the negro kingdom of Bambara. After encountering innumerable difficulties and dangers, and suffering extreme hardships, Mr. Park thus beautifully describes his sensations on discovering the Niger. "I saw," says he, "with infinite pleasure the great object of my mission, the long sought for majestic Niger, glittering to the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward. I hastened to the brink, and having drunk of the water, offered up my fervent thanks to the great Ruier of all things, for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success," His description of Sego, the capital of Bambara, is likewise so animated, as well as so clear and concise, that the reader will not be displeased to peruse it in the author's words. "Sego," says Mr. Park, "properly speaking, consists of four distinct towns, two on the northern bank of the Niger, and two on the southern. They are all surrounded with high mud walls: the houses are built of clay, of a square form, with flat roofs: some of them have two stories, and many of them are white-washed. Besides these buildings, Moorish mosques are seen in every quarter; and the streets, though narrow, are broad enough for every useful purpose, in a country where wheel carriages are entirely unknown. From the best inquiries I could make, I have reason to believe that Sego contains, altogether, about 30,000 inhabitants. The view of this extensive city, the numerous canoes upon the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding country, formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence which I little expected to find in the bosom of Africa.t Sego is situe ated, as nearly as can be ascertained in north latitude 14° 10′,

* Park's Trav. p. 202 and 203.

1

Ibid. p. 195, 196.

west longitude 2° 26'.

Tombuctoo is, according to the best information, near 300 miles farther to the north-east, being about a day's journey to the north of the Niger."*

In Ludamar Mr. Park met with a shereef, who resided at Walet, the capital of the Moorish kingdom of Beerou, situated to the north of Bambara; and who had visited Houssa, and lived some years at Tombuctoo. From this man he learned that Walet is larger than Tombuctoo, but being remote from the Niger, and its trade consisting chiefly of salt, it is not much frequented by strangers. The shereef also said that Houssa was the largest city he had ever seen; and that many Jews resided at Tombuctoo. Mr. Park exhibits in the following words, a summary of the information which he collected at Silla, and in other places during the course of his journey, relative to those celebrated cities of central Africa. "To the north-east of Masina, a kingdom on the northern bank of the Niger, and at a short distance from Silla, is situated the kingdom of Tombuctoo, the great object of European research, the capital of this kingdom being one of the principal marts for that extensive commerce which the Moors carry on with the negroes. The hopes of acquiring wealth in this pursuit, and zeal for propagating their religion, have filled this exten sive city with Moors and Mahomedan converts: the king himself, and all the chief officers of state are Moors; and they are said to be more severe and intolerant in their principles than any of the Moorish tribes in this part of Africa. I was informed by a venerable old negro, that when he first visited Tombuctoo, he took up his lodging at a sort of public inn, the landlord of which, when he had conducted him into his hut, spread a mat on the floor, and laid a rope upon it, saying, If you are a Mussulman you are my friend, sit down; but if you are an infidel you are my slave, and with this rope I will lead you to market.' The present king of Tombuctoo is

From a comparative view of the different accounts, Major Rennell places Tombuctoo in 16 degrees 30 minutes north, longitude 1 degree 33 minutes east. Map of Africa.

Park's Travels in Africa, p. 140, 141.

See also Jackson on the Commerce of the Mediterranean, p. 81, before quoted.