The British

knowledge of natural history. Government was induced to send out this new expedition in consequence of the favourable relations in which it stood with the bashaw of Tripoli, who, it was found, was not unwilling to bestow his protection on any mission which the English Government might appoint; and as his influence and the terror of his name extend far into the interior of Africa, it was hoped by his means to penetrate into that part of the world, and to set at rest many of the questions with regard to the geography of Africa which had long agitated the public mind, as well as to open up new channels for the commerce and manufactures of England.

"The expedition arrived in Tripoli on the 18th of November, 1821. They were introduced to the bashaw, and found him sitting crosslegged on a carpet attended by armed negroes. After having treated them to sherbet and coffee, he invited them to a hawking party, where he appeared mounted on a milk-white Arabian,

superbly caparisoned, with a saddle of crimson velvet richly studded with gold nails, massive gold stirrups, and trappings of embroidered cloth, hanging down to the ground on each side. He was accompanied by about three hundred attendants, including several of his most distinguished officers, who were dressed in a similar style of magnificence.

"After spending some time in Tripoli, the expedition set out for Mourzuk in the beginning of March, and encountered the usual inconveniences to which travellers are exposed in crossing the sandy deserts of Africa; sometimes for several days toiling along without a supply of water, and when they reached the wells, finding such as they yielded either muddy, bitter, or brackish.

"As they crossed the desert they were exposed to a sand-storm, which, though in this case it was not very severe, sometimes overpowers and destroys whole caravans, or kafilas, as the parties are called who unite to

traverse these almost trackless wilds. The wind raises the fine sand with which the surface of the ground is covered, and so completely fills the atmosphere, that it is impossible to see beyond a few yards the sun and sky are entirely obscured; and at times the camels are invisible, though only a few yards in advance. The horses hang their tongues out of their mouths, and refuse to face the torrents of sand, which keep pouring on sometimes for hours together; the whole party, in the meantime, suffering all the inconveniences of a suffocating thirst.

"When the expedition arrived at Mourzuk, they were received by the sultan of Fezzan with great affability; but, notwithstanding the letter from the bashaw, which our travellers presented, he gave himself little trouble about forwarding the expedition, and even hinted that it might be necessary for it to remain at Mourzuk till his return from Tripoli, to which he was about

to set out.

"To submit to this arrangement, and to

K

remain inactive in a place so unhealthy as Mourzuk, was to defeat the objects of the expedition. Major Denham, therefore, at once returned to Tripoli, and remonstrated with the bashaw on account of the delay; and as he did not receive immediate satisfaction, he determined on taking the decisive step of returning to England to lay his complaint before the British Government. Such energetic proceedings alarmed the bashaw. He immediately

sent three vessels to different ports after Major Denham, to say that a merchant named Bhoo Khaloom had been appointed, with a retinue of about two hundred Arabs, to conduct the expedition to Bornou, and to beg his immediate return. One of the bashaw's messengers overtook the major at Marseilles, and accordingly, on his return to Tripoli, he found Bhoo Khaloom already on the borders of the desert, waiting his arrival to proceed.

"On the 29th of November they left Mourzuk, and soon entered on a desert plain, where

they frequently travelled whole days without seeing a living thing that did not belong to their kafila-not even a bird or an insect was discernible. During the day the sun shone down upon them with intense power, and his rays, reflected by the sand on which they trod, were almost unbearable; but the stillness and beauty of the night in a great measure compensated for these inconveniences. The burning heat of the day is there succeeded by cool and refreshing breezes, and the sky is ever illumined by large and brilliant stars or an unclouded moon. By removing the loose and pearl-like sand to the depth of a few inches, the effects of the sunbeams of the day are not perceptible, and a soft and refreshing couch is easily formed. The ripple of the driving sand resembles that of a slow and murmuring stream; and after escaping from the myriads of flies which had tormented our travellers day and night in Mourzuk, the luxury of an evening like this was an indescribable relief.