1.  Africa.  This country has always presented most formidable obstacles to the progress of discovery:  its immense and trackless deserts, its burning and fatal climate, its barbarous and treacherous inhabitants, have united to keep a very large portion of it from the intercourse, and even the approach of European travellers.  Even its northern parts, which are most accessible to Europe, and which for 2000 years have been occasionally visited by Europeans, are guarded by the cruel jealousy of its inhabitants; or, if that is overcome, advances to any very great distance from the coast are effectively impeded by natives still more savage, or by waterless and foodless deserts.

The west coast of Africa, ever since it was ascertained that slaves, ivory, gold dust, gums, &c. could be obtained there, has been eagerly colonized by Europeans; and though these colonies have now existed for upwards of three hundred years, and though the same love of gain which founded them must have directed a powerful wish on those interior countries from which these precious articles of traffic were brought, yet such have been the difficulties, and dangers, and dread, that the most enthusiastic traveller, and the most determined lover of gain, have scarcely penetrated beyond the very frontier of the coast.  If we turn to the east coast, still less has been done to explore the interior from that side; the nature, bearings, &c. of the coast itself are not accurately known; and accessions to our knowledge respecting it have been the result rather of accident than of a settled plan, or of any expedition with that view.  The Cape of Good Hope has now been an European settlement nearly two hundred years:  the inhabitants in that part of Africa, though of course barbarians, are neither so formidable for their craft and cruelty, and strength, nor so implacable in their hatred of strangers, as the inhabitants of the north and of the interior of Africa; and yet to what a short distance from the Cape has even a solitary European traveller ever reached!

But though a very great deal remains to be accomplished before Africa will cease to present an immense void in its interior, in our maps, and still more remains to be accomplished before we can become acquainted with the manners, &c. of its inhabitants, and its produce and manufactures, yet the last century, and what has passed of the present, have witnessed many bold and successful enterprizes to extend our geographical knowledge of this quarter of the globe.

As the sovereigns of the northern shores of Africa were, from various causes and circumstances, always in implacable hostility with one another, and as, besides this obstacle to advances into Africa from this side, it was well known that the Great Desert spread itself an almost impassable barrier to any very great progress by the north into the interior, it was not to be expected that any attempts to penetrate this quarter of the globe by this route would be made.  On the other hand, the Europeans had various settlements on the western coast:  on this coast there were many large rivers, which apparently ran far into the interior; these rivers, therefore, naturally seemed the most expeditious, safe, and easy routes, by which the interior might, at least to a short distance from the shore, be penetrated.