been ascertained.  The course of the Niger is proved beyond a doubt to be, as Herodotus described it, upwards of 2000 years ago, from west to east; but the termination of this large river is utterly unknown.  Some think it unites with the Nile, and forms the great western branch of that river, called the Bahr el Abiad, or White River; others think that it loses itself in the lakes or swamps of Wangara, or Ghana, and is there wasted by evaporation; while another opinion is, that its course takes a bend to the west, and that it falls into the Atlantic, or that it discharges itself into the Indian Ocean.

The British government, anxious to determine, if possible, this curious and important question, sent out two expeditions, about seven years since, to explore in every possible way the course and termination of the Niger.  The first, under the conduct of Captain Tuckey, proceeded up the Zaire; the other ascended the Nunez in north Africa, in order, if possible, to reach the navigable part of the Niger by a shorter course than that followed by Park, and with the design of proceeding down the river till it reached its termination.  The issue of both these expeditions, particularly of the former, was singularly melancholy and unfortunate:  Captain Tuckey, and fifteen persons out of the thirty who composed it, perished in consequence of the excessive fatigue which they underwent after they had reached above the cataracts of the river, the want of sufficient and proper food, and a fever brought on, or aggravated, by these causes.  Captain Tuckey was the last who fell a victim, after having traced the Zaire, till it became from four to five miles in breadth.  The mountains were no longer seen, and the course of the river inclined to the north; these circumstances, joined to that of its becoming broader, render the opinion that it is the same with the Niger more probable than it previously was:  the accounts given to Captain Tuckey were also to the same effect.  The second expedition, under the direction of Major Peddir, reached Kauendy on the Nunez, where he died:  his successor in the command, Captain Campbell, penetrated about 150 miles beyond this place, but not being able to procure the means of proceeding, he was obliged to return to it, where he also died.

Within 150 miles of the British settlement at Cape Coast Castle, there is a powerful and rich nation, called the Aahantees:  they seem first to have been heard of by Europeans about the year 1700; but they were not seen near the coast, nor had they any intercourse with our factories till the year 1807:  they visited the coast again in 1811, and a third time in 1816.  These invasions produced great distress among the Fantees, and even were highly prejudicial to our factory; in consequence of which, the governor resolved to send a mission to them.  Of this journey an account has been published by Mr. Bowdich, one of those engaged in it.  The travellers passed through the Fantee and Assen territories.  The