Brutal comme un Provençal, is a proverb even in your own country; I would not wish to have such a confirmation of the truth of it. But there are my keys; in case another gale should come, choose out of my trunks the one that, according to your idea and theirs, is likeliest to have a dead man in it, and then take another; and the first one you find, throw them all overboard.' I forced him to open two of the chests; and lucky it was, as I believe; for off the island of Malta we had another violent gale, but which did us no damage. At last, after a passage of about three weeks, we landed happily at Marseilles. took us the night after. I ap- | violence. After all, though we exalt fortune into a divinity, the true good luck is prudence: Nullum numen abest si sit prudentia; sed te, Nos facimus, Fortuna, deam, cœloque locaJUVENAL. mus, LIFE AND TRAVELS OF MUNGO PARK. TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA. CHAPTER L this intelligence, instead of de terring me from my purpose. animated me to persist in the offer of my services with the greater solicitude. I had a passionate desire to examine SOON after my return from the East Indies in 1793, having learned that the noblemen and gentlemen associated for the purpose of prosecuting dis-into the productions of a country coveries in the interior of so little known, and to become Africa were desirous of engag- experimentally acquainted with ing a person to explore that the modes of life and character continent, by the way of the of the natives. Gambia river, I took occasion, through means of the President of the Royal Society, to whom I had the honour to be known, of offering myself for that service. I had been informed that a gentleman of the name of Houghton, a captain in the army, and formerly fort-major at Goree, had already sailed to the Gambia, under the direcof the Association, and re was reason to apprehad fallen a sacrifice to te, or perished in some with the natives. But I knew that I was able to bear fatigue, and Ire lied on my youth and the strength of my constitution to preserve me from the effects of the climate. The salary which the committee allowed was suffciently large, and I made no stipulation for future reward If I should perish in my journey, I was willing that my hopes and expectations should perish with me; and if I should succeed in rendering the geography of Africa more familiar to my countrymen, and in opening to their ambition and We sailed from Portsmouth on the 22d day of May 1795. On the 4th of June we saw the mountains over Mogadore, on the coast of Africa; and on the 21st of the same month, after a pleasant voyage of thirty days, we anchored at Jillifrey, a town on the northern bank of the river Gambia, opposite to James's Island, where the English had formerly a small fort. industry new sources of wealth | Captain Richard Wyatt—and I and new channels of commerce, became impatient for my deI knew that I was in the hands parture. of men of honour, who would not fail to bestow that remuneration which my successful services should appear to them to merit. The committee of the Association having made such inquiries as they thought necessary, declared themselves satisfied with the qualifications that I possessed, and accepted me for the service; and, with that liberality which on all occasions distinguishes their conduct, gave me every encouragement which it was in their power to grant, or which I could with propriety ask. It was at first proposed that I should accompany Mr. James Willis, who was then recently appointed consul at Senegambia, and whose countenance in that capacity, it was thought, might have served and protected me; but Government afterwards rescinded his appointment, and I lost that advantage. The kindness of the committee, however, supplied all that was necessary. Being favoured by the secretary of the Association, the late Henry Beaufoy, Esq., with a recommendation to Dr. John Laidley (a gentleman who had resided many years at an English factory on the banks of the Gambia), and furnished with a letter of credit on him for £200, I took my passage in the brig Endeavour a small vessel trading to the Gambia for bees' wax and ivory, commanded by The kingdom of Barra, in which the town of Jillifrey is situated, produces great plenty of the necessaries of life; but the chief trade of the inhabitants is in salt-which commodity they carry up the river in canoes as high as Barraconda, and bring down in return Indian corn, cotton cloths, elephants' teeth, small quantities of gold dust, etc. The number of canoes and people constantly employed in this trade makes the king of Barra more formidable to Europeans than any other chieftain on the river; and this circumstance probably encouraged him to establish those exorbitant duties which traders of all nations are obliged to pay at entry, amounting to nearly £20 on every vessel, great and small. These duties or customs are generally collected in person by the Alkaid, or governor of Jillifrey, and he is attended on these occasions by a numerous train of dependants, among whom are found many who, by their frequent | the European, receives a certain part only of the payment, which he gives to his employer as the whole; the remainder (which is very truly called the cheating intercourse with the English, have acquired a smattering of our language: but they are commonly very noisy and very troublesome-begging for every-money) he receives when the thing they fancy with such earnestness and importunity, that traders, in order to get quit of them, are frequently obliged to grant their requests. On the 23d we departed from Jillifrey, and proceeded to Vintain, a town situated about two miles up a creek on the southern side of the river. This place is much resorted to by Europeans on account of the great quantities of bees' wax which are brought hither for sale; the wax is collected in the woods by the Feloops, a wild and unsociable race of people. Their country, which is of considerable extent, abounds in rice; and the natives supply the traders, both on the Gambia and Cassamansa rivers, with that article, and also with goats and poultry, on very reasonable terms. The honey which they collect is chiefly used by themselves in making a strong intoxicating liquor, much the same as the mead which is produced from honey in Great Britain. In their traffic with Europeans, the Feloops generally employ a factor or agent of the Mandingo nation, who speaks a little English, and is acquaintwith the trade of the river. broker makes the bargain; ith the connivance of One, Enory. Two, Sickaba, or Cookaba. On the 26th we left Vintain, and continued our course up the river, anchoring whenever the tide failed us, and frequently towing the vessel with the boat. The river is deep and muddy; the banks are covered with impenetrable thickets of mangrove; and the whole of the adjacent country appears to be flat and swampy. The Gambia abounds with fish, some species of which are excellent food; but none of them that I recollect are known in Europe. At the entrance from the sea, sharks are found in great abundance, and, higher up, alligators and the hippopotamus (or river-horse) are very numerous. | sisted only of Dr. Laidley, and two gentlemen who were brothers, of the name of Ainsley; but their domestics were numerous. They enjoyed perfect security under the king's protection, and being highly esteemed and respected by the natives at large, wanted no accommodation or comfort which the country could supply, and the greatest part of the trade in slaves, ivory, and gold was in their hands. Being now settled for some time at my ease, my first ob In six days after leaving Vintain we reached Jonkakonda, a place of considerable trade, where our vessel was to take in part of her lading. The next morning the several European traders came from their different factories to receive their letters, and learn the nature and amount of the cargo; and the captain despatched a mes-ject was to learn the Mandingo senger to Dr. Laidley to inform him of my arrival. He came to Jonkakonda the morning following, when I delivered him Mr. Beaufoy's letter, and he❘ gave me a kind invitation to spend my time at his house until an opportunity should offer of prosecuting my journey. This invitation was too acceptable to be refused, and being furnished by the Doctor with a horse and guide, I set out from Jonkakonda at daybreak on the 5th of July, and at eleven o'clock arrived at Pisania, where I was accommodated with a room and other conveniences in the Doctor's house. tongue, being the language in almost general use throughout this part of Africa, and without which I was fully convinced that I never could acquire an extensive knowledge of the country or its inhabitants. In this pursuit I was greatly assisted by Dr. Laidley. In researches of this kind, and in observing the manners and customs of the natives, in a country so little known to the nations of Europe, and furnished with so many striking and uncommon objects of nature, my time passed not unpleasantly, and I began to flatter myself that I had escaped the fever, or seasoning, to which Europeans, on their first arrival in hot climates, are generally subject. But on the 31st of July I imprudently exposed myself to the night-dew in observing an eclipse of the moon, with a Pisania is a small village in the king of Yany's dominions, established by British subjects as a factory for trade, and inhabited solely by them and their black servants. It is situated on the banks of the Gambia, sixteen miles above Jonkakon-view to determine the longitude da. The white residents, at the of the place; the next day I time of my arrival there, con- found myself attacked with a |