es may
not turn out to be of great immediate utility, it is always worth while
that future explorers should know, that on the borders of Lake Tchad
there is a power which professes to be united with England in formal
ties of friendship, and that the Sultan of Bornou has never shown any
disposition to break his promises or secede from his engagements. As to
the question, whether legitimate commerce can advantageously be carried
on across the Sahara, and substituted for the frightful traffic in human
beings, I do not consider that it is as yet decided; but Mr.
Richardson's researches will throw great light on this interesting
subject.

I do not intend here to attempt an account of the services rendered by
Mr. Richardson to the sciences of geography and ethnography during his
useful career. At some future period, no doubt, this task will be
performed; and it will not fail to be added, that he was always impelled
by a higher motive than the mere satisfaction of curiosity or ambition.
A profound conviction that something might be done towards ameliorating
the condition of the African nations, if we were only better acquainted
with them, seems to have early possessed him. This it was that sustained
and guided his footsteps; and all who knew him unite in testifying that
he concealed beneath a pleasant, cheerful exterior, the character of a
Christian gentleman, and an ardent crusader against the worst form of
oppression which has ever been put in practice. The hope that the public
will unite in this opinion must certainly assist in consoling his widow
for the loss which she has sustained. Mrs. Richardson is alluded to in
the narrative throughout. It is necessary, therefore, to say, that that
lady remained in Tripoli until the news of her bereavement reached her,
and that she then returned to England to promote the erection of this
best monument to her husband's memory.

I have now only to add an account written by Dr. Barth (dated April 3,
1851) of the death of Mr. Richardson, in a letter addressed to Mr.
Crowe, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Tripoli. The German
traveller, as will be seen in the second volume of this work, had
separated from his English companions on the plains of Damerghou, and
proceeded to prosecute other researches, the results of which will be
looked for with great interest:--

"It was on the 25th of March," he says, "that I heard
accidentally from a Shereef, whom I met on the road,