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No. XI.

MR. RICHARD LANDER.

Or all the geographical problems which remained to be solved in our times, that which (with the exception, perhaps, of the North-west Passage) attracted more attention and interest than any other, was the course and termination of the Niger. At length the discovery was achieved by an humble, but a very intelligent and a very meritorious, individual; who, not having any theory to support, or prepossession to gratify, set about the task in a straightforward manner, and accomplished, although not without considerable difficulty and danger, an undertaking in which all former travellers had failed; thus affording a new proof of how much may be effected by determination and perseverance. In a subsequent expedition, he unhappily perished; and, as has been justly observed by his surviving and affectionate brother (his companion in his former but not in his latter enterprise), "it is a sorrowful reflection, that after all his painful toil and mental and bodily sufferings in the cause of African exploration, after having escaped, in a manner truly surprising, the treacherous and destructive influence of the climate, — he should have met his death on the eve of returning to enjoy the fruits of his noble labours in the bosom of domestic tranquillity, by the hands of heartless savages, amongst whom he was in the very act of endeavouring to introduce the blessings of civilisation and the arts of peace!"

The early part of the history of this enterprising man we shall derive from an auto-biographical sketch, which he prefixed, in 1830, to his "Records of Captain Clapperton's last Expedition to Africa."

After premising that he had little to be proud of in the

way of pedigree, he remarks, that his family was, however, of pure Cornish extraction, "my mother's maiden name being Pen-rose, and my father's name Lan-der; and I have the solitary satisfaction of boasting of, at least, one celebrated character, in the humble records of my pedigree, - my grandfather by my mother's side, who was a noted wrestler in his day, and lived some fifty years since near the Land's End.

"I am the fourth of six children, and was born at Truro in 1804*, on the very day on which Colonel Lemon was elected member of parliament for the borough. Owing to this striking circumstance, my father, who was fond of sounding appellations, at the simple suggestion of the doctor who attended, added Lemon to my baptismal name of Richard. * *

"My rambling inclinations began to display themselves in early youth. I was never easy a great while together in one place, and used to be delighted to play truant and stroll from town to town, and from village to village, whenever I could steal an opportunity; as well as to mix in the society of boys possessing restless habits and inclinations similar to my own. I used also to listen with unmixed attention to old women's tales about the ceremonies and manners of the natives of distant regions of the earth, and never felt greater pleasure than when, dandling me on their knees, or stroking down my face with their aged hands, they used to say, 'You will be sure - to see two kingdoms, Richard, for you have two crowns upon your head!' Their marvellous descriptions of monsters existing, as they affirmed, in remote lands, likewise conspired to raise in me a longing to be a traveller; for the venerable matrons of my native county, moving in the humbler walks of life, are fond of the wonderful. These tales, however incredible, made a deep and permanent impression on my thoughts; and, though so very young, I formed a resolution, or rather felt a strong and violent inclination, to become a wanderer, in order that the story of my adventures might one day rival in interest those to which I had listened with

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* The 8th of February.

years

so devout an attention; and I was no more than nine of age, as nearly as my memory will allow me to guess, when, owing to a series of domestic misfortunes, I left the paternal roof, and have ever since been almost a stranger in the place of my nativity.

"At the early age of eleven I accompanied a mercantile gentleman to the West Indies, and whilst in St. Domingo was attacked with the fever of the country, suffering so severely under its influence that my life was despaired of; but, owing chiefly to the kindness and attention I experienced from some benevolent and sympathising negro females, joined to my youth and a naturally vigorous constitution, I recovered my wonted health, and after an absence of three years returned to my native country in 1818. From that period until the attainment of my 19th year, I lived in the service of several noblemen and gentlemen, one of whom I accompanied to France and other countries on the Continent; when, hearing on my return that Major Colebrook, one of his Majesty's Commissioners of Enquiry into the State of the British Colonies, was in want of an individual to proceed with him in the capacity of servant, I quitted the office I then held, and procured the vacant situation with little difficulty."

Lander then proceeds to relate some particulars of his voyage with this gentleman, with whom he sailed in the spring of 1823, and after accompanying him from one extremity to the other of the colony at the Cape, returned to England in 1824.

"I had not," he observes, "been many weeks in the metropolis, before I accepted of a situation in the establishment of a kinsman of the Duke of Northumberland, where my time passed away pleasantly and thoughtlessly enough; till the return of Captain Clapperton and Major Denham from the interior of Africa, in the following year, again roused my rambling propensities, and I could not help reproaching myself for having remained so long a time in a state of comparative indolence. I determined from that hour to embrace

the first favourable chance of once more quitting my native shores; and an opportunity soon offered itself that promised to gratify my fondest and warmest inclinations.

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Having heard that it was the intention of the British government to send out another expedition for the purpose of exploring the yet undiscovered parts of Central Africa, I waited upon Captain Clapperton, and expressed to that brave and spirited officer, the great eagerness I felt to become a party, however humble, to that novel and hazardous undertaking. The Captain listened to me with attention, and after I had answered a few interrogations, willingly engaged me to be his confidential servant. * *

"There was a charm in the very sound of Africa that always made my heart flutter on hearing it mentioned. In vain my London acquaintance urged upon me the risk I should incur of finding a grave; and equally vain were the kind representations of a medical gentleman, who painted to me in lively colours the imminent dangers to which my life would be exposed, by reason of my youth, inexperience, and habit of body. My relations in Cornwall sent me numbers of letters, couched in the simple and affectionate language of nature, endeavouring to dissuade me from proceeding; and George Croker Fox, Esq., a highly respectable gentleman residing near Falmouth, with a spirit of amiable benevolence, exerted himself with the same object; promising that, if my determination to leave England was fixed, he would, that I should not expose myself to African dangers, procure me a lucrative situation in one of the South American republics. But no inducement could make me swerve, even in thought, from the line of duty I had laid down for myself; or cool the ardour that warmed me to attempt, at least, the accomplishment of the great object towards which my earliest thoughts had been directed. Indeed, I had already gone too far to recede; and leaving the metropolis with Captain Clapperton, I arrived at Portsmouth, in order to embark in the Brazen sloop-of-war, Captain Willis, on the 24th of August, 1825, being then in the 21st year of my age."

Thus concludes the auto-biography prefixed to the "Records." It is well known that, from the mortality of the climate, Captain Clapperton was shortly deprived in Africa of every European companion but Lander, and that from that time the quality of their relationship naturally changed in a very material degree. "Captain Clapperton," Lander' remarks in his introduction to the same publication, "for various reasons thought proper to style me his son, and the natives ever after regarded that gallant officer as my father. Surrounded as we were by strange faces and strange scenes, cut off from all communication with civilised society, and wandering, far from our native country, in barbarous regions, and oftentimes through long dismal woods and awful solitudes, we became linked to each other by the strongest of all ties. Ours, if I may so express myself, were kindred spirits; we entered into each other's views, shared with each other's gladness and melancholy, hope and despair, and participated in each other's feelings and amusements. The difference in our respective conditions was willingly levelled. To Captain Clapperton I owe the existence I enjoy at the present moment, and for him I would have sacrificed, and, perhaps, did sacrifice, on particular occasions, every consideration of personal comfort or convenience. To 'smooth down his lonely pillow,' to mingle my hopes, and fears, and distresses, with his, and to render the transition from life to eternity as easy as possible, were my employments when the unfortunate Captain was stretched upon his death-bed in a solitary hut in Socatoo. The affectionate grasp of the hand - the trembling eyethe look of approbation and thankfulness-expressed more eloquently and feelingly than words could have done, the gratitude of my heroic master."

The death of Clapperton occurred on the 10th of April, 1827, and Lander from that time sought every means to convey himself home. This, however, he did not accomplish in less than a twelvemonth; having to make his way, defenceless and alone, from Socatoo, in Hàussa, to Badágry on the western coast of Africá-a long, difficult, and dangerous journey,