ll that
he could scarcely be conveyed to the vessel. On reaching it, a sad
scene awaited the survivors; Crouch, Tudor and Galwey, were no more;
they had successively sunk under the weight of disease. Mr. Smith
soon shared their fate, and Captain Tuckey himself, on the 4th
October, added one more to the number of deaths, without having
suffered the usual attack of fever. He had been exhausted by constant
depression and mental anxiety.

From this unfortunate expedition, however, some information was
obtained respecting a part of Africa, not visited for several
centuries. No trace indeed was seen of the great kingdoms, or of the
cities and armies described by the Portuguese missionaries, so that
though the interior may very probably be more populous than the banks
of the river, there must in these pious narratives be much
exaggeration; indeed it is not unworthy of remark, that all the
accounts of the early missionaries, into whatever part of the world
they undertook to intrude themselves, can only be looked upon as a
tissue of falsehood, and hyperbolical misrepresentation.

The largest towns, or rather villages, did not contain above one
hundred houses, with five hundred or six hundred inhabitants. They
were governed by chenoos, with a power nearly absolute, and having
mafooks under them, who were chiefly employed in the collection of
revenue. The people were merry, idle, good-humoured, hospitable, and
liberal, with rather an innocent and agreeable expression of
countenance. The greatest blemish in their character appeared in the
treatment of the female sex, on whom they devolved all the laborious
duties of life, even more exclusively than is usual among negro
tribes, holding their virtues also in such slender esteem, that the
greatest chiefs unblushingly made it an object of traffic. Upon this
head, however, they have evidently learned much evil from their
intercourse with Europeans. The character of the vegetation, and the
general aspect of nature, are pretty nearly the same on the Congo, as
on the other African rivers.

Meantime the other part of the expedition, under Major Peddie, whose
destination it was to descend the Niger, arrived at the mouth of the
Senegal. Instead of the beaten track along the banks of that river or
of the Gambia, he preferred the route through the country of the
Foulahs, which, though nearer, was more difficult and less explored.
On the 17th November 1816, he sailed from the Senegal, and on