Art. XII. The Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa 
in the Year 1805, In/ Mungo Park: Together nmth other 
DocumentSy Official and. I:*rivatey relative to the same Expedi- 
tion : To whic/i is prefixed, an Account of the Life of Mr 
Park. 4to. pp.320. London, Murray. 1815. 

"IT^E have more than once had occasion to mention this pub- 
^^ lication, so long promised by the African Institution, in 
our notices of the proceedings of that Body. We naturally, 
therefore, take the earliest opportunity of introducing it to the 
attention of our readers j and we can venture to assure them, 
that no reasonable expectations which they may have formed of 
it will be disappointed. 

The reader is aware, that Park's first and greatest journey in 
Africa was j:)erformed under the direction and patronage of the 
African Association — a small but most praiseworthy Society, 
formed for promoting discoveries in that unexplored quarter of 
the globe. He returned at the end of the year 1797, and, for 
some time, devoted himself to domestic pursuits, and to the 
publication of his travels. In 1804- he was invited by the Go- 
vernment to undertake a new journey upon a different plan, and 
with the view of opening channels of commercial intercourse, as 
well as extending our knowledge of the interior of Africa. His 
journal of this expedition, from his leaving Kayee on the Gam- 
bia, to his embarkation upon the Niger at Sansanding, forms 
the principal part of the volume before us. It was drawn up 
under every conceivable disadvantage, and intended to furnish 
memoranda of occurrences and scenes, which, after his return, 
he could more fully describe. In the mean while, it was trans- 
mitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonia,. department^. 



473 Vqx\s^s Last Journey and Life, Feb. 

under whose authority the journey was prosecuted ; and from 
that department it was communicated to the African Institution, 
with permission to publish it for the benefit of Mr Park's fa- 
iniJy. 

The traveller had been accompanied the greater part of his 
■way by Isaaco, a native African of respectable character, who 
returned with his papers and letters before he embarked on the 
Niger : And when rumours reached Senegal of his death, un- 
contradicted by any tidings of a more favourable kind, Gover- 
nor Maxwell determined to despatch some one iii search of him, 
and was lucky enough to find Isaaco ready for the service. He 
was absent about twenty months, and returned in September 
1811, with a confirmation of the fatal intelligence. He kept a 
journal of his proceedings, to which we have in former articles 
adverted ; and a translation of this singular piece, from the ori- 
ginal Arabic, is subjoined to Park*s Journal. 

When the African Institution undertook the publication of 
these papers, they were favoured with a copy of Park's memo^ 
rial to the Colonial Department, upon the objects of the expe^^ 
dition, and the means of accomplishing them, and of his letters 
addressed officially to that department. Sir Joseph Banks, al- 
50, Park's first and most valuable patron, communicated the 
Jetters addressed to him, and accompanied them with every 6- 
ther information relative to the expedition. The memorial and 
correspondence are incorporated in the biographical part of thiy 
volume. : ' 

- The task of preparing these documents for the press, and of 
writing the life of the traveller, as well as furnishing such geo- 
graphical - and other elucidations as were necessary for the full 
understanding of the subject, was confided by the Institution to 
one of its Directors ; and it appears, from the manner in which 
the office has been performed, that it could not have been en-^ 
trusted to better hands, whether for diligence, accuracy, or abi- 
lity. Indeed, a more interesting piece of biography has not, 
for many years, been given to the publick : notwithstanding that 
the principal events in Park's hfe were well known, and that any 
thing beyond his travels could not be expected to excite parti- 
cular attention. By a judicious combination of the materials 
furnished by the family and friends of Park, and the corres- 
pondence above noticed, with a clear and not inelegant abstract 
of his travels in both expeditions, and an introduction of some 
collateral disquisitions upon subjects connected with his history, 
and the affiiirs of Africa, the editor has certainly produced a 
Tract, at once instructive and entertaining in no common de- 
gree. IF he has left us any thing to regret, it is a certain fasti- 
diousness, rather thaji caution, which may be frequently tracctfj 



I 



1815. Park'*- Last Journey and Life, 4Ti 

and to which we may ascribe an unnecessary abstinence or 
self-restraint in handling some topics, and a subdued tone gene- 
rally prevalent through the composition. Tiiis kind of regret, 
however, we express doubtingly ; well aware of the dangers to 
which the opposite extreme of rashness and eloquence exposes 
historical researches, and therefore not unwillingly reconciled to 
the error, if such it must be deemed, which lies on the safer 
side. 

In presenting us with a sketch of 'Park's life, the learne<l and 
Judicious editor has had recourse to the best bources for infor- 
mation ; and he has been successful in his pursuit of it. Mr 
Archibald Buchanan of Glasgow, a brolher-in-law of Park, had 
made some progress in a similar work; and immediately on hear- 
ing of the present design, he transmitted all his materials to our 
author. Two brothers of Park, or e of whom, Adam, is sliil 
living at Gravesend, and Mr James Dickson of Covent Garden, 
well known in the botanical world, one of Park's earliest and 
steadiest friends, furnished much important information. The 
stores of geographical learning possessed by Major Rennell, and 
the copious details respecting the trade of Africa furnished by 
Mr Macaulay, are not the only contributions of those gentlemen 
to the completion of this work: The editor owes to them aho 
several interesting particulars respecting the biographical branch 
of it ; — and, as may easily be conceived by all who know the ha- 
bitual liberality, in such matters, which distinguishes Sir Joseph 
]Banks, and makes his assistance scarcely be deemed a favour, 
the editor had easy access to whatever that justly distinguished 
personage could supply in aid of his plan. 

It is by no means our design to anticipate the gratiiicatioa 
which a perusal of the Tract itself must furnish to our readers ; 
still less to provide a substitute for it. We shall not, therefore, 
follow the course of the biography, but only notice a few pas- 
sages by way of specimens, and for the sake of exciting, rathet 
than satisfying, curiosity. In fairness to the author, it should be 
remarked, that the merits of a work Hke this, lie not so much ia 
single passage?:, which can be detached from the rest, but consist 
rather in the assemblage and arrangement of the whole materials, 
and their disposition m the form of a continuous and flowing 
narration. 

The latter part of Park's first journey, and his return home, 
afford a narrative of peculiar interest, from two incidents, of a 
nature suffix iently dramaiic, one of them indeed almost emulat- 
ing the combmatiorts of romance. 

* Having encountered all the horrors of the rainy season, and be- 
ing worn down by fatigue, his health had, at different times, been 
fericusly affected. But, soon after his arrival at Kamalia, h^ fell 



474 V^rk* s Last Journey dud Life^ Feb* 

hito a severe and dangerous fit of sickness, by which he was closely 
confined for upwards of a month. His life was preserved by the 
hospitality and benevolence of Karfa Taura, a negro, who received 
him into his house, and whose family attended him with the kindest 
solicitude. The same excellent person, at the time of Park's last 
mission into Africa, hearing that a white man was travelling through 
tlie country, whom he imagined to be Park, took a journey of six 
days to meet him ; and joining the caravan at Bambakoo, was high- 
ly gratified by the sight of his friend. 

* There being still a space of five hundred miles to he traversed 
(the greater part of it through a desert) before Park could reach 
any friendly country on the Gambia, he had no other resource but 
to wait with patience for the first caravan of slaves that might travel 
the same track. No such opportunity occurred till the latter end of 
April, 1797 ; when a coffle, or caravan, set out from Kamalia un- 
der the direction of Karfa Taura, in whose house he had continued 
during his long residence of more than seven months at that place. 

* The coffle began its progress westwards on the 17th of April, and 
on the 4th of June reached the banks of the Gambia, after a journey 
of great labour and difficulty, which afforded Park the most painful 
opportunities of witnessing the miseries endured by a caravan of 
slaves in their transportation from the interior to the coast. On the 
10th of the same month. Park arrived at Pisania, from whence he had 
set out eighteen months before ; and was received by Dr Laidley 
(to use his own expression) as one risen from the grave. On the 
15th of June he embarked in a slave ship bound to America, which 
was driven by stress of weather to the West Indies ; and got with 
great difficulty, and under circumstances of considerable danger, in- 
to the Island of Antigua. He sailed from thence on the 24?th of 
November, and after a short, but tempestuous passage, arrived at 
Falmouth on the 22d of the following month, having been absent 
from England two years and seven months. 

* Immediately on his landing he hastened to London, anxious in 
the greatest degree about his family and friends, of whom he had 
heard nothing for two years. He arrived in London before day-light 
on the morning of Christmas day, 1797 ; and it being too early an 
hour to go to his brother-in-law Mr Dickson, he wandered for some 
time about the streets in that quarter of the town wliere his house 
"was. Finding one of the entrances into the gardens of the British 
Musuem accidentally open, be went in and walked about there for 
some time, it happened that Mr Dickson, who had the care of 
those gardens, went there early that morning upon some trifling bu- 
siness. What must have been his emotions on beholding, at that 
extraordinary time and place, the vision, as it must at first have ap- 
peared, of his long-lost friend, the object of so many anxious reflec- 
tions, and whom he had long numbered with the dead ! p. xrii.-xv. 

An interesting account is given of the manner in which Park's 
snind was made up to undertake his second journey. He bskd 



1815. Park'5 Lmt Journey and Life, 47 5,. 

settled in a provincial town of his native country, married, and 
had a family. He was practising surgery in tlie neighbourhood, 
with such success as may be attained in that confined sphere. 
He was greatly esteemed by his fellow-citizens, and distinguish- 
ed by some of the most eminent literary characters of Scotland, 
among whom, our author mentions, with an appropriate tribute 
of respect, the venerable Dr Ferguson, the last survivor of 
that illustrious school which will shine through all ages, in the 
Hames of Hume, Smith, Robertson and Black. But his sta- 
tion, though thus comfortable and creditable to himself, and 
rendered still more honourable by the charities which he ex- 
ercised towards the poor in the course of his profession, was 
nevertheless ill suited to the adventurous turn of mind which 
bis past habits had formed. * His journies to visit distant pa* 

* tients — his long and solitary rides over " cold and lonely 

* headis " and *' gloomy hills assailed by the wintry tempest, " 

* seem to have produced in him feelings of disgust and impa- 
*■ tience, which he liad perhaps rarely experienced in the de- 
*• serts of Africa. His strong sense of the irksomeness of this 

* way of life broke out from him upon many occasions ; espe- 

* cially when, previously to his undertaking his second African 

* mission, one of his nearest relations expostulated with him on 

* the imprudence of again exposing himself to dangers which 

* he had so very narrowly escaped, and perhaps even to nevv 

* and still greater ones ; he calmly replied, that a few inglorious 

* winters of country practice at Peebles, was a risk as great, and 

* would tend as eiFcctually to shorten life, as the journey which 

* he was about to undertake. * p. xxxiii. xxxiv. 

In this frame of mind he received a summons to attend the 
Secretary for Colonial Affairs, who made him the proposal of 
conducting the expedition then under consideration. He de- 
sired a short time to consult his friends ; but here, as in such 
cases almost uniformly happens, his mind was already pretty well 
resolved ; and the consultation was a matter of courtesy or form, 

* From the time of his interview with Lord Hobart, his de- 

* termination was in fact taken. His imaginaUon had bpen in- 

* dulging itself for some years past upon the visions of discove- 

* ries which he was destined to make in the Interior of Africa; 

* and the object of his ambition was now within his grasp. He 
' hastily announced to Lord Hobart his acce})tance of the pro- 

* posal ; employed a \\iw days in settling his affairs and taking 

* leave of his friends; and left Scotland in December i80:^, with 

* the confident expectation of embarking in a very short time 

* for the coast of Africa. ' 

The delays and mismanagement incident to official proceed^ 
iii^s in matters not immediately connected with war, and there-' 



476 Park'5 Last Journey and Life* Feb, 

fore below a great Statesman's notice, now enter into the nar- 
rative. The principal details of the expedition had beert ar^ 
ranged before the application to Park. A month or two had 
dap«ed since the proposition was made. Upon his arrival in 
town after he accepted, a postponement of two months took 
place without any apparent cause -, and the sailing was then fix- 
ed for the end of February. But at that critical moment, Mr 
Addington and his friends were occupied with concerns nearer 
and dearer to them than the geography of Africa. We allude 
not merely to the war then waging against France, though they 
had that also upon their hands ; but the more interesting con- 
flict with Mr Pitt, who had grown as weary of opposition as 
Mr Park was of provincial suigery 5 and, by means of motions 
respecting the navy and th^ army, and other * vital interests of 
the empire, * was occupied in turning out the above characters, 
from the places in which he had put them. Every thing was 
rej^dy, and the embarkation in great part completed, when the 
expedition was suddenly countermanded ; the Earl Camden 
having happily succeeded to the Lord Hobart's place as his por- 
tion of the change; and it being, of course, necessary that the 
j^atare and object? of the undertaking should be expounded to 
that noble person, and his pleasure ascertained upon the practi- 
<ia] que5^>tion. Whether a scheme of scientific and commercial dis- 
covery ought to be pui-sued, notwithstanding that it had been de- 
vised by his immediate predecessors ? When these circumstan- 
ces are considered, it will not be detmed too great an allowance 
of time, if we add, that the sailing was put off from February 
to September. But this interval was spent very profitably by 
the traveller, who, at the judicious suggestion of some person in 
authority, made himself a tolerable master of Arabic, and ac- 
quired some expertness in taking observations. He also drew 
up the memorial already referred to, upon the objects of the ex- 
pedition, and the means of accomplishing them, accompanying 
his remarks with the reasons of the opinion very confidently enter- 
tained by him, that the Niger, after pursuing an easterly course 
turns to the southward, and falls into the Atlantic on the coast 
of Guinea, in the vast stream known by the name of the Congo, 
In order to acquire the Arabic language, he had retired to 
his native place with an Arab, who came over in the suite of 
Elfi Bey. Upon his return to town, he found the plan was'ap- 
proved of; but, before it was finally determined on, he * was 

* desired by Lord Camden, to consult Major Rennell, and ob- 
<■ tain his opinion both with regard to the scheme and objects 
^ of the expedition, and Park's own sentiments relative to the 

* Niger, as stated in his Memoir. For this purpose he went 
^ to Brighthelmston, where Major Rennell then was, and re- 



1 51 5. Park's Last Journey and Life, 477 

* mained with him several days ; during which time, the sub- 

* jects proposed by Lord Camden were repeatedly discussed 

* between them. With respect to the suoposition relative to 

* the termination of the Ni^cr, Major Rennell was unconvinc- 

* ed by Park's reasonings, and declared his adherence to ther 

* opinion he had formerly expressed with regasrd to the course 

* of that river. As to the plan of the intended expedition, he 

* was so much struck with the difficulties and dangers likely to 

* attend its execution, that he earr.esdy dissuaded Park from 

* engaging in so hazardous an cnte»'prize. His ari^uments, 

* urged with all the warmth and sincerity of friendship, ap^ 
: * pear to have made a great impression upon Park ; and he 

* took leave of Major Rennell with an apparent determination 

* to relinquisli the undertaking. But this conviction was iittlfi 
. • more than momentary, and ceased almost as soon as the in- 
.* fluence and authority from which it proceeded, were with- 

* drawn. On Park's return to London, his enthusiasm reviv- 

* ed ; and all doubts and difficulties were at an end. ' p. 1. li. 
The objections here alluded to, and in which many of Park's 

intelligent friends joined, were of a general and somewhat 
.vague description, according to the judicious remark of his bio- 
grapher, and applicable to any undertaking of a similar kind. 
He opposes to them the opinion of Sir Joseph Banks, on every 
account entitled to the greatest deference upon such a subject ; 
but more especially, because it proceeded from one who iiad en- 
countered the most imminent risks in the prosecution of scien- 
tific discovery. Without in the least extenuating the dangers 
of the untried expedition, which he regarded as one of the most 
hazardous ever undertaken, he still thought that they were not 
greater than might reasonably be encountered for the sake of very 
important objects ; — justly observing, says our author, that it 
was only from similar risks of human life, that great geographi- 
cal discoveries were in general to be expected. 

Every thing being now fixed, and the season already far ad- 
vanced. Park was extremely anxious to hasten his departure, 
as the whole success of the expedition depended on its being 
undertaken a sufficient time betbre the rains. He was neverthe- 
less detained two months for his official instructions, — a delay 
somewhat preposterous, when we consider that those instruc- 
tions could only be the echo of his own memorial, in an abridg- 
ed and general form ; and one month more elapsed, before he 
could set sail. As every thing was ready er.rly in October, it is 
deeply to be lamented, that any accident should have prevented 
him from i^ailing in the course of that month. The delay, in- 
i2eed, proved fatal to the enterpri-^^-^, which in all probability 



478 Park*5 Last Journey and Life» Feb. 

would have had a different result, had it been undertaken at an 
adequate distance of time from the rainy season. 

The plan being to send Park with a detachment of soldiers, 
an adequate store of merchandize, and a few seamen and car- 
penters to construct vessels for the navigation of the Niger — 
t^ie main object of the expedition, and the means by which its 
ulterior ends of discovery were to be accomplished — he received 
the local rank of captain in the King's service; and under him 
were commissioned, his brother-in-law Mr x\nderson a sur- 
geon, and Mr George Scott a draughtsman. They were to 
choose their soldiers from the garrison at Goree. Having sail- 
ed on the 30th January 1805, they arrived, after a somewhat 
tedious passage, on the 8th of March, at Jago, one of the Cape 
de Verd Islands, where they purchased the asses requisite for 
their caravan ; and on the 28ih, they reached Goree in safety. 
His prospects at this time seem to have been at the brightest ; 
and we shall extract a {qw passages of his letters — rendered the 
more touching, from the contrast between their tenderness and 
the inflexible steadiness of his nature — if indeed we can, with 
any propriety, speak of contrasting qualities so much in har- 
mony as real boldness and the kindly affections of the heart. 
The first passage is from a letter to his wife. 

* I have hopes, almost to certainty, that Provideuce will so dis- 
pose the tempers and passions of the inhabitants of this quarter of 
the world, that we shall be enabled to slide through much more 
smoothly than you expect. 

* I need not tell you how often I think about you ; your own feel- 
ings will enable you to judge of that. The hopes of spending the 
remainder of my life with my wife and children, will make every 
thing seem easy ; and you may be sure I will not rashly risk my life, 
when I know, that your happiness, and the welfare of my young 
ones, depend so much upon it. I hope my mother does not torment 
herself with unnecessary fears about me. I sometimes fancy how you 
and she will be meeting misfortune half-way, and placing me in ma- 
ny distressing situations. I have as yet experienced nothing but suc- 
cess ; and I hope that six months more will end the whole as I 
wish. ' p. Iviii. 

The next which we shall select is from a letter to Mr Dick- 
son, dated the 26th of April, the day before he left the Gam- 
bia. 

" Every thing, at present, looks as favourable as I could wish ; 
and if all things go well, this day six weeks I expect to drink all 
your healths in the water of the Niger. The soldiers are in good 
health and spirits. They are the most dashing men I ever saw ; and 
if they preserve their health, we may keep ourselves perfectly secure 
from any hostile attempt on the part of the natives. I have little 
dcub: but that 1 shall be able, with presents and fair words, to pass 



1815. Park*5 ImsI Journey and Life* 47^ 

through the country to the Niger ; and if once we are fairly afloat, 
the day is won. — Give my kind regards to Sir Joseph and Mr Gre- 
ville ; and if they should think that I have paid too little attention 
to natural ohjects, you may mention that I had forty men and for- 
ty-two asses tp look after, besides the constant trouble of packing 
and weighing bundles, palavering with the Negroes, and laying 
plans for our future success. I never was so busy in my life. " — 
p. Ixiii. Ixiv. 

He had selected the thirty- five soldiers and a lieutenant who 
were to attend him, from the garrison of Goree, the whole hav- 
ing volunteered. Nevertheless, it appears that their habits oi' 
constitutions were not peculiarly well adapted to the service, 
and the rains destroyed them with a fatal rapidity. He found 
himself at the wished-for point, ready to embark on the Niger; 
but after losing his whole companions, except Lieutenant Martyn 
and three soldiers, of whom one was in a state of mental derange- 
ment, the death of his friend and brother-in-law Mr Ander- 
son appears to have affected him most deeply. * No event, * 
says he, ' ever threw the smallest gloom over my mind till I laid 

* Mr Anderson in the grave : I then felt myself as if left a se- 

* cond time lonely and friendless amidst the wilds of Africa.' 
{Jowjialf p. 163.) In his perilous situation, indeed, he might 
well have been excused for shutting his heart against every senti- 
ment nt)t immediately connected with self-preservation. ' He 
' was * (says his biographer) * about to embark on a vast and 

* unknown river, which might possibly terminate in some great 

* lake or inland sea, at an immense distance from the coast; 
' but which he hoped and believed would conduct him to the 

* shores of the Atlantic, after a course of considerably more 

* than three thousand miles, through the midst of savage na- 

* tions, and probably also after a long succession of rapids, 

* lakes, and cataracts. This voyage, one of the most formid- 

* able ever attempted, was to be undertaken in a crazy and ill- 

* appointed vessel, manned by a few ISIegroes and four Euro- 

* peans ! ' p. Ixxvii. 

At this interesting, but most trying moment, his habitual con- 
stancy did not forsake him ; nay, strange to tell, and incredible, 
were it not known that great men perform things next to impossi- 
ble by dint of a certain self-deception which never leaves in their 
minds any doubt of success, and which they always extend even to 
desperate circumstances where all chance of succeeding is gone; 
in the situation just now described, we find this extraordinary 
person not only cheerful, but almost sanguine. Before embark- 
ing in the crazy vessel, which, principally by his own labour, he 
had constructed of two old patched and worn out canoes, he 
completed his journal up to that date, such as it is here given; 



4s6 Eark'i Last Journey and Lift', Feb. 

and occupied a f^vf hours in writing letters to Sir Joseph Banks, 
the Colonial department, and his wife. For inserting the two 
last of these sinpjular pieces, we shall offer no apology to tlie 
reader. He will perceive a material difference in the colouring 
given to his situation, where he is speaking to his wife. From 
the letter to Lord Camden, it is plain, that he was well aware 
of its extreme difficulties and perils; but that he, who had been 
full of confidence, where others would have despaired, was very 
far from despairing, where success appeared beyond all calculation. 

" To the Earl Camden^ one of his Majesty* s Principal Secretaries of 
State^ S)X. Sfc. 8fc. 

" On board of H. M. Schooner Joliba, at anchor off Sansanding, 
November 17th, f805. 

" My Lord, 

" I have herewith sent you an account of each day's 
proceedings since we left Kayee. Many of the incidents related are 
in themselves extremely trifling ; but are intended to recal to my 
recollection (if it pleases God to restore me again to my dear native 
land) other particulars illustrative of the manners and customs of the 
natives, which would have swelled this bulky communication to a 
most unreasonable size. 

** Your Lordship will recollect, that I alvrays spoke of the rainy- 
season with horror, as being extremely fatal to Europeans ; and our 
journey from the Gambia to the Niger will furnish a melancholy 
proof of it. 

" We had no contest whatever with the natives, nor was any 
one of us killed by wild animals, or any other accidents ; and yet I 
am sorry to say, titat of forty-four Europeans who left the Gambia 
in perfect healtii, five only are at present alive, viz. three soldiers 
(one dt-ranged in his mind). Lieutenant Martyn, and myself. 

" From this account I am afraid that your Lordship will be apt 
io consider matters as in a very hopeless state ; but I assure you I 
am far from desponding. With the assistance of one of the soldiers, 
1 have changed a large canoe into a tolerably good schooner, on 
board of which I this day hoisted the British flag, and shall set sail 
to the east, with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of 
the Niger, or perish in the attempt. I have heard nothing that I 
can depend on respecting the remote course of this mighty stream ; 
but I am more and more inclined to think, that it can end no wher6 
but in the sea. 

'* My dear friend Mr Anderson, and likewise Mr Scott, are both 
dead; but though all the Europeans who are with me should die, 
and though I were myself half dead, I would still persevere ; and if 
I could not succeed in the object of my journey, I would at last die 
lon the Niger. 

*' If I succeed in the object of my journey, I expect to be in 
England in tiie month of May or June, by way of the West Indies. 
-" *• r rec^uest that your Lordship will have the goodness to pgrmit 



18f5. V'drk's Last Journei^ and Life. 481 

tny friend Sir Joseph Banks to peruse the abridged account of ni\' 
proceedings, and that it may be preserved, in case I should lose my 
papers. I have the honour to be, " &c. 

«« To Mrs Park. 

** Sansaiiding, 19th Novenibet, 1805. 

*' It gtieves me to the heart to write any thing that may give you 
uneasiness; but such is the will of him who doetk all things xvell / 
Your brother Alexander, my dear friend, is no more ! He died of 
the fever at Sansanding, on the morning of the 28th of October ; 
for particulars t must refer you to your father. 

" I am afraid that, impressed with a woman's fears and the an- 
xieties of a wife, you may be led to consider my situation as a great 
deal worse than it really is. It is true, my dear friends Mr Ander- 
son and George Scott, have both bid adieii to the things of this 
world ; and the greater part of the soldiers have died on the march 
during the rainy season ; but you may believe me, I am in g ;od 
health. The rains are completely over, and the healthy season has 
commenced, so that there is no danger of sickness ; and I have still 
a sufficient force to protect me from any insult in sailing down the 
river, to the sea. 

*' We have already embarked all our things^ and shall sail the 
moment I have finished this letter* I do not intend to stop or land 
any where, till we reach the coast : which I suppose will be some 
rime in the end of January. We shall dien embark in the first ves- 
sel for England. If we have to go round by the West Indies, the 
voyage will occupy three months longer ; so that we expect to be 
in England on the first of May. The reason of our delay since we 
left the coast was the rainy season, which came on us during the 
journey ; and almost all the soldiers became affected with the fever. 

" 1 think it not unlikely but I shall be in England before you re- 
ceive this. — You may be sure that I feel happy at turning my face? 
towards home. We this morning have done with all intercoujse 
with the natives ; and the sails are now hoisting for oiir depiafture" 
for the coast* '* p. Ixxixi-lxxxii. 

It is probable th^t he set sail immediately after writing these let- 
ters ; and every thing that has since been learnt of him rests upon 
evidence of an imperfect and indirect kind ; sufficient, we fear^ 
to justify the inference, that he has perished ; but extremely un- 
satisfactory with respect to the details. It is justly remarked by 
his learned biographer, that the mere circumstance of almost ten 
years having elapsed without any tidings of him, furnishes the 
strongest presumption that he is no more; while the miserable 
state of his equipment, and the nature of the expedition he em- 
brarked upon, renders his destruction, within no long time of his 
departure from Sansanding, very probable. Nevertheless, we 
shall state freely the points in the direct evidence, which seem 
weak, and shall not hesitate to notice an omission or two of lh« 

VOi. XXIV. NQ. 48. Hh 



4&2 Park's Last Journey and Life. iPeby 

editor in dealing with these. Isaaco's Journal is given at length ; 
and at one pjaee it breaks off, and we have apparently another 
Journal inserted, termed * Amadi FaUmma's JournaL * Amadi, 
or Amadou Fatouma, was the guide who accompanied Park 
from Sansanding on his voyage ; and it was from him that 
Isjxaco received the only account of what befel the traveller after 
his embarkation. But whether this was communicated in writ- 
ing, or was only taken down by Isaaco from oral eonfference, we 
are not distinctly informed. There are some things which point 
each way. Thus the Editor (p. Ixxxiii. and p. Ixxxiv. note);, 
commences the narrative of Park's death, in terms which lead 
us to concei'Ve that narrative to be written by Fsaaco, and to be 
part of his Journal ; yet it comes under the head of Amadi 
Fatouma's JournaL On the other handy the expression in the 
text, p» Ixxxiii., of Isaaco ha-ving * received a Journal from 
Amadiy* would lead us to believe that the latter had kept it, 
Isaaco himself unfortiwately uses equally ambiguous expres- 
sions. He introduces Amadi's Journal, after stating, that he 
desired him to meet him, for the purpose of giving him * a 
faithful account of what had happened ; * that he came at the 
appointed time, when Isaaco * tlesired he would let him knovr 
what passed, to his knowledge, concerning Mr Park, ' (p. 207), 
He afterwards (p. 218), says, that * what Amadi related was 
upon his oath,* — and that * he is certain of the truth of what 
Amadi had said ; ' exjjressions somewhat equivocal certainly, 
but rather indicative of Amadi having spoken, and Isaaco writ- 
tien down the substance. Yet, in the same passage, he speaks 
of the relations of other travellers * agreeing with Amadi's 
Journal. * The probability of Amadi keeping a written Jour- 
nal at the time of the voyage, is not very great ; but we are left 
in the dark as to this matter, from our ignorance of who of 
what he was, except that he had travelled a great deal in the in- 
terior of Africa, which is mentioned in Park's last letter to Sir 
Joseph Banks, (p. Ixxviii.) * 

The importance of the point now in question, will immedi- 
ately appear from the consideration that Park's death is men- 
tioned in Amadi's journal only, and that this journal is in many 
respects exceedingly minute and detailed. There is a constant 
mention of sums and numbers^ and sometimes of numbers of 
days, and once of the day of the week. Now this being delivered 
to Isaaco, five years after the occurrences happened, it is quite 
clear that if not written, it is much too minute to be at all en- 
titled to credit. Of the supposition that it was written at or 



* We presume the guide here spoken of is Amadi, though Park 
doss not name hini« 



1815. Park*5 Last Journey and Life^ 48^ 

soon after the time, we are not at all disposed to think favour- 
ably ; because there appears no adequate reason why an African 
guide, hired to accompany Park from one pai't of the interior 
to another, and there be dismissed, should keep a minute jour- 
nal, admitting that he had the opportunities of doing so, which 
his own account of the difficulties and constant dangers of the 
voyage renders very unlikely— and it is at least equally impro- 
bable that he should, after his return to Sansanding, begin to 
commit his adventures to paper, especially as much less is said 
about himself than about Park, and nothing at all about his 
own proceedings except in their connexion with Park. It is in- 
deed such an account as Isaaco might reasonably be expected to 
get from Amadi, by questioning him upon the subject of his own 
mission, and the particulars of Park's fate — except as to the de* 
tails abovementioned ; but not at all such a journal as the man 
was likely to keep for himself, and of his own proceedings. 

Upon the whole, we rather incline to the supposition that Ama- 
di told it to Isaaco — in which case, its particularity seems highly 
injurious to its credit. There seems moreover a suspicious anxie- 
ty to account for his leaving Park. He first (p. 2 12) makes Park 
voluntarily remind him, on entering the kingdom of Haoussa, 
that he had completed his contract, and might return. Soori 
after, he introduces a speech of his own to Park, reminding him 
that he had fulfilled his bargain, and had a right to return (p. 
213). Now, it is not a little remarkable, that Park's own letter 
to Sir Joseph Banks (p. Ixxviii.) states his having hired his guide 
ija carry him, not to" Haoussa, but as far as Kashna, — a much, 
more likely bargain for him to make, if we reflect on tae diffi- 
culty of finding a succession of trustworthy guides 5 * and a 
bargain not sit all unlikely for Amadi to concur in, if we con- 
sider that he had formerly been as far as Bornou, and resided 
some time both there and at Kashna, according to Park's ac- 
count (p. Ixxviii). Amadi's account of the matter, however, is, 
that the contract expired the moment they entei-ed Haoussa ; and 
what is also to be noted, that he had no sooner left the party, 
than the fatal termination of the expedition arrived. His narrative 
is in many other points open to observation. He only receives 
the account of Park's death from one of the slaves who alone 
Survived, and this at the distance of three months after the event- 
He himself was, it seems, imprisoned the day before the force was 
despatched after Park, and was only released three months after- 
wards. The imprisonment is carefully recorded, to account, 

* Amadi's story makes Park go on, after leaving hiiii, without any 
guide. 

Hh2 



^^■1 '1^ Ark' s LaU Jounicij and Life, Y*^^ 

as it should seem, for his being out of the way and lendin^j nor 
£[s:sistance by warning, or otherwise, to the traveller. He asked" 
t])e surviving slave if nothing had been fonnd in the boat, 
and was told, only a sword-belt. He asked what had become 
of it, and was informed the king had made a girth for his horse' 
"with it. — Isaaco very judiciously made search for it^ and pro- 
cured it — but whether he brought it with him to Senegal, or 
what became of it, or how it was identified, we are not in- 
formed, although it would have corrobi>rated the statement. It 
seems, also, rather strange that Amadr, whose narrative is full' 
of less interesting mattci^s, shoukl say nothing of two of the five 
whites, and tlyat the slave should explain how each of the crew 
was disposed of, except these two. It is just possible that he 
may mean to describe Lieutenant Martyn as jumping overboard 
with one j — and the learned editor a^ypears to adopt this as the 
onlii construction ; — we apprel:ien'd erroneously. But still there 
vrould be one soldier to account for ; and Amadi nowhere men- 
tions any of tlie crew having died. The circumstance of one of 
the soldiers having been in a state of derangement, is also whol- 
ly passed over by Amadi, akhough hkely to have been perceiv- 
a1^le in the details in the voyage. — Upon the whole, the accJount 
is liable to many remarks unfavourable to its accuracy, and leaves 
us very litile better informed as to Park's fate, than we might be 
from the mere knowledge of his forlorn situation, the dangers 
of Iiis enterprize, and the time that has elapsed since l>e was last 
heard of These considerations render it almost certain that he 
has perished ; and highly probable that he ended his life on the 
Niger, within a few months after leaving Sansanding. The 
evidence of the slave and of Amadi Fatouma, may perhaps con- 
firm this inference, and be credited so far as to make us believe 
that he perished soon after he had entered the kingdom of 
Haoussa. The minute details appear to rest upon too insecure 
a foundation to merit implicit belief. 

Having stated thus much respecting the evidence upon which 
the account rests, we shall extract it, such as we have it in I- 
saaco's or Amadi's Journal. 

* Next day (Saturday) Mr Park departed, and I ( Amadi) slept in 
the village ( Yaour). Next morning, I went to the King to pay my 
respects to him. On entering the house 1 found twa men who came on 
horseback ; they were sent by the Chief of Yaour. They said to the 
King, *' we are sent by the Chief of Yaour to let you know that the 
white men went away, without giving you or him (the Chief} any 
thing ; they have a great many things with them, and we have receiv- 
ed nothing'from them ; and this Amadou Fatouma now before you is 
a bad man, and h^s likewise made a fool of you both. *' The king 
immediately ordered me to be put in irons ; which was accordingly 
Snuffy aad "every thing I had taken from me -, some v.'er& for killing 



Jf8i5. V^rk^s Last Journey and Life^ |8| 

me, and some for preserving my life. The next morning early, the 
King sent an army to a village called Boussa near the river side. — 
There is before thi.s village a rock across the whole breadth of \]\q 
iiver. One pv*nt of tlie rock is very high ; there is a large opening 
ill that rock in the form of a door, which is the onl}' passage for the 
water to pass tliroiigh; tTie tide current is here very strong. This 
army went and took possession of the top of this opening. Mr Park 
came there after tlie army had posted itself; he nevertheless attempt- 
ed to pass. The people began to attack him, throw^ing lances, pikes, 
arrows and stones. Mr Park defended himself for a long time : two 
of his slaves at the stern of the canoe were "killed ; they threw cverv 
thing they had in the cande into the river, and kept firing ; but being 
overpowered by numbers and Fatigue, and unable to keep up the ca- 
noe ae:ainst the current, and no probability of escaping, Mr Park 
took hold of one of the white men, and jumped into the water; 
Martyn did the same, and they were drowned in the stream in at- 
tempting to escape. The only slave remaining in the boat, seeing 
the natives .persist in throwing weapons at the canoe without ceasing, 
stood up and said to them, *' Stop throwing now ; you see nothing in 
the canoe, and nobody but myself; therefore cease. Take me and 
the canoe, but don't kill me. " They took possession of the canoe 
and the man, and carried them to the King. 

* I was kept in irons three months ; the King released me and 
gave me a slave (woman). I immediately went to the slave taken 
in the canoe, who told me in what manner Mr Park and all of them 
had died, and what I have related above.- I asked him if he was 
sure nothing had been found in the canoe after its capture ; he said 
that nothing remained in the canoe but himself and a sword-belt. I 
sskcd him where tlie sword-belt was ; he said the King took it, and 
had made a girth for his horse with it. * p. 213 — 21.5. 

We are unwilling to enter upon any analysis of the Journal 
itself, because, having introduced the subject to the reader, we 
should be averse to any proceeding which might prevent even a 
single person from becoming possessed of the work, pub}ish(5d 
as it is for the pious purpose of contributing to the comforts of 
Park's family, and by a bookseller who is understood to have 
gone as far as wa« possible in the liberality of his terms. We 
j^hall accordingly do little more than notice the route pursued 
by the traveller, compared with the track o^ his former jour- 
ney. 

in 1795, he took his departure fro^n Pi^ania, on the GAmbia, 
»nd proceeded in a north-westerly direction, crossing the Fa- 
leme and Senegal rivers, and going as high gs between 16° and 
17° north latitude. He then inclined to the southward, until 
lie reached the Joliba or Niger, almost opposite to Sego ; and 
pursued the course of the river as far as Silla, where he stopt, 
f.nd began his return journey up the river, the course of whicli 
4i^ ibJIowed as ^'ar as Latimakoo, vyhere he (|uittcd it, and crews-. 



Wf Park*5 Last Journey and Life, Fet. 

ed the Jallouka desert, and again passed the Faleme, but much 
higher than in his outward journey. He then moved in a di- 
rection parallel to the Gambia, and again reached Pisania, from 
whence he had set forth. 

His present journal onlj' goes as far as Sansanding, which is 
considerably short of Silla ; but the route is materially different, 
iand much shorter, coinciding for a considerable way with the 
homeward journey of 1796, and crossing the Fooladoo country 
to the northward of the Jallouka desert, and of his former re- 
turn route. How far that route and the new journey coincide, 
and how far they differ, may be roughly estimated, by stating 
that the homeward route of 1796, passing through about fifteen 
degrees of longitude from Silla to Pisania, the new journey, as 
far as we have its authentic details, that is, from Pisania to 
Sansanding, passes through about fourteen degrees, for above 
nine of which it coincides exactly with the foraier return route, 
^-that is, from Pisania to near Toombo in the Ronkodoo coun^ 
try, and from Koomikoomi to the Niger, and so along to San- 
sanding. ' 

There are in this journal several new and interesting subjects 
handled. The information respecting Sansanding and its com- 
merce is well worthy of attention : But un question ably, the most 
important result .of the journey, is the proof it has afforded, 
of the practicability of conducting a caravan of Europeans a- 
cross that difficult country, which lies between the Gambia 
and the Niger, provided the proper season be chosen ; and the 
utter impossibility of succeeding in such an attempt during the 
rains. Every thing in the narrative bears witness to the fa- 
tal effects of the wet season, and equally proves the possibility 
o.f leading to the Niger a force apparently inconsiderable, but 
large enough to prevent insult from small bodies of the natives, 
and to protect a trading caravan against all ordinary risks. 

There is no reasonable ground to doubt, that if the same ex- 
pedition had set out at the right time, and with perhaps a some- 
what better selection of soldiers in respect of bodily constitution, 
(for no trace appears of any improper demeanour among them). 
Park would have arrived at the Niger with a very trifling loss 
from climate, and with scarcely any diminution of his numbers 
from other causes. The voyage down that river would then 
have been begun without more chances of failure than every sucl| 
undertaking is necessarily exposed ioi and whatever might hiave 
been its ultimate issucj (for that must have depended upon the 
course of the river, at present unknown), at all events there 
inust have been Several importantdiscoveries made, (and probably 
transmitted to Europe), with respect to the parts of Africa 
vMqIi lie nearest to Sego and Sansanding, including Tombue^ 



1815. Park's Last Joifrney and Life, l^t 

too and Haoussa. To v/hom the blame is imputable of setting 
out at the wrong season, — whether to the Government at home, 
for the delays which detained the traveller so long, — or to him- 
self, for Rot deferring his departure from the coast until the 
grains were over, it is needless to inquire now. The fatal experi- 
,ence of this failure must at least prevent a similar mistake in 
future. 

The volume concludes with an Appendix in six par^s; the 
jWhole of which are written with tlie same judgment and concise- 
ness which distinguish the biographical memoir. The first re- 
lates to tlie admirable effects of our system of universal educar 
iion in Scotland 4 which are illustrated, not only by some excel- 
Jent remarks, but by two very striking examples. Out of two 
thousand common beggars taken indiscriminately in London in 
1803, it appeared that near 700 were Irish, and only Q5 Scotch; 
and when it was found necessary to ransom the British prisoners, 
.who had fallen into the hands of the Turks in Egypt, a double 
and triple ransom was almost uniformly demanded tor the Scotch, 
whose intelligence and habits of industry, had thus rendered 
them so mucli more valuable to their barbarous owners. 

The second appendix relates to Tombuctoo, and consists 
chiefly of a reference to D'Anville*s notice of this city in 1754?, 
and to a project for reaching it, formed^ and partly executed by 
two Englishmen in 1794-, — The third is occupied with settling 
the extent of Bryan Edwards's assistance in the preparation of 
Mr Park's former volume of travels. The fourth, and the most 
important, contains a summary of the different theories or o- 
pinions as to the true termiuation of the Niger — drawn up 
with great sagacity and distinctness. The most antient opi- 
nion, and that which has been recently adopted by Major llennel, 
is, that it has no exit into the ocean-— but diffuses itself in an inland 
Jake, from which it is evaporated. — The objection to this is, that 
the existence of such a lake, or inland sea, is not alleged or even 
reported by any of the natives, and is, on all accounts, extreme- 
ly unlikely. — The second hypothesis is, that it falls into the Nile, 
and constitutes the Western or White branch of that river. This, 
however, is considered by the present writer, and with reason, 
as the most improbable of all the conjectures —since the fact, if 
it were so, could scarcely be unknown to the caravans which go 
from Tombuctoo to Cairo — and since the level at which the 
Western branch fails into the Nile, which is far above the Cata- 
racts, is infinitely higher than the Niger can be supposed to re- 
tain after a course of near ^2500 miles. The third supposition 
is, that which was finally adopted by Park him^^elf— rthat it take§ 
a direction to the soutli, and ultimately ter»riinates in the great 
^iver Congo, which, from the account that is here ^iven of it^ 



4S8 Park's Last Journey and UJt, Feb* 

must be regarded as one of the most magnificent streams in the 
world — running with a rapidity of five or six miles an hour, and 
a width of nearly an English mile, for many hundred miles above 
its mouth, and a depth of not less than 50 fathoms. — The great* 
ncss of the stream, it is contended, indicates a very long and 
circuitous course : And, it is stated by Park himself, on the in- 
formation of his friend Mr IVIaxwell, tint its season of flood- 
ing corresponds exactly with that of the Niger, upon a fair cal- 
culation of the distance and velocity. The objections to this 
hypothesis are chiefly the enormous length of course which it 
would thus be necessary to ascribe to the Niger — being upwards 
of 4000 miles, and exceeding considerably the known extent of 
any river in the world ; and the difficulty of understanding how it 
should be able to penetrate across the vast chain of the Kong 
mountains, which are almost ascertained to extend over that 
whole parallel of latitude which must on this suppoi-ition be 
traversed by the head waters of the Congo. These difficulties 
we do not think by any means insuperable; and there are facts 
unquestionably in geography, by the fair analogy of which they 
may be easily accounted for. Upon the whole, therefore, we 
ore rather inclined to adopt this hypothesis ; and, at all events, 
we trust that the notoriety to which this vast river of Congo is 
now in a manner for the first time introduced by the publication 
before us, will induce either enterprising individuals, or some of 
those meritorious associations whom it more immediately con- 
cerns, to explore the great avenue into interior Africa, which it 
seems to lay open. From the statements of Mr Maxwell, the in- 
telligent correspondent of Mr Park, it appears that this river is 
commonly used to bring down commodities to the coast, from a 
distance of upwards of six hundred miles — for the whole of which 
tract it affords a safe and commodious navigation, and in all pro- 
bability much farther ; — while it would rather seem that no Eu- 
ropean has yet ascended above one hundred miles from its mouih. 
If this be the same river with the Niger, the co-operation of an 
ascending or descending party would evidently offer great faci- 
lities and advantages ; while, if it should turn out to be a differ- 
ent stream altogether, the access to the interior would thus be 
doubled. 

The last hypothesis with regard to the mysterious Niger, is, 
that it turns to the south-west at an earlier part of its course 
than is implied in the preceding theory, and, dividing into va- 
rious branches, falls into the Atlantic at the northern point of 
the Bay of Guinea, in that succession of streams which wat^r 
the alluvial tract, from the Rio ^^\ Rey on the East, to tlie Be- 
jiin River on the West. This hypothesis also possesses consi- 
flerabltJ probability ; and indeed may be considered ab a \\\<>^\^. 



1815. Pcirk'i I,ast Journrj and Life. 4rS9^. 

fication of that vvhicli identifies the Ni^rer with the Congo. It 
labours, indeed, under the additional ditficulty of assuming thit 
the various streams by which it is here supposed to discharge it- 
self, are actually ramilications of one main river : and the objec- 
tion arising from the obstacle of the Kong mountains, is efjualiy 
applicable to both — as is also another of no niean weight, — ^viz. 
that there are no traces of Mahomeranism, either among the na- 
tions on the Congo, or those i»i the nortlicrn part of Guinea, al- 
tiiough the part of the Niger which has been explored is frequent- 
rd by crowds of priests and devotees of that persuasion, whose 
zeal f(^r the propagation of their faith could scarcely have fail- 
ed of having led some of them, by so easy a communication, to 
the populous regions on its lower course. 

The fifth appendix is very brief, and relates to some of the 
natural productions of the tract included in the Journal. The 
last is short also, and contains a summary account of the great 
increase of trade which has taken place with the African na- 
tions since the abolition of the slave trade. The whole annual 
importation of African commodities, before the abolition, did 
not much exceed 70,000/. In 180», the first year of the abo- 
lition, it rose to 374,306/. ; and in 18 lO, to 535,577/., exclu- 
fflve, in both years, of gold dust, which pays no duty at the 
Custom-house. The increase in the exports to Africa is still 
more astonishing. During the subsistence of the Slave Trade, 
these do not appear to have exceeded 50,000/. ; whereas, iii 
1808, they were 8t^0,l94/. ; and in 18 lO, 693,911/. Other 
statements are added, to show the prodigious increase of pro- 
duction, and consequently of wealth and industry, in those 
parts of the coast, especially, that were formerly desolated by 
that inhuman trafhc i — and the subject is closed with the follow- 
ing judicious observations — 

* The facts here stated relative to the extent of our innocent and 
legitimate commerce with the western coast of Africa, nriui.t be coa- 
siJered as highly interesting and important ; both as showing how 
extremely small that commerce was prior to th^' Abolition -of the 
Slave Trade, and how much it has increased during the very few 
years which have since elapsed. This increase has certainly been 
much more considerable than there was any good reason for expect: 
ing, under the actual clrcurnstance>i of the case. 

* If we were told of a country, whose staple article of fjxport 
trade consisted of its own inhabitants, its men, women and children, 
whr) were procured (as roust necessarily happen in the case of larg« 
and continued exports) by treachery and violence — where the whole 
population was either living in continual apprehension of captivity 
and eternal banishment from their native soil, or employed in con- 
triving the means of inflicting those evils upon others — we should at 
wee conclude t!>at th« very insecurity of person and property, which 



409 ' i^ark'5 Last Journey and Life, Felj. 

such a state of society implied, would of itself extinguish all the 
motives to regular industr}', and limit the culture of the soil very 
nearly to what was required for supplying the immediate wants of 
nature. * p. cxciii, cxciv. 

* But even under much more favourable circumstances than we 
have reason at present to expect, it would by no means follow, that 
the mere removal of that great obstacle to regular industry and com- 
merce, would in any very short space of time produce considerable 
or extensive improvements. The ignorance, the profligacy, the im- 
providence, and the various other moral evils which necessarily ac- 
company the Slave Trade, will, jt is to be feared, long survive the 
extinction of that traffic which produced and fostered them. The 
whole history of mankind shows that the progress of civilization ig 
alwaj'S extremely slow during its earliest stages ; and that the first 
steps in the career of improvement are constantly the most painfi^l 
and difficult. Hence, wc may be justified in drawing the most fa- 
vourable conclusions from the comparatively great increase which 
has already taken place in the commerce of Africa during a very 
short period, in consequence o^ a jiartial renioval of those evils whicJ^ 
previously had almost excluded the very possibility of improve- 
Kient. ' p. cxcvi. 

We now lay aside this interesting volume ; and bid a mourn- 
ful farewell to that amiable and illustrious man, whose last sufr 
ferings and exploits it is destined to record ; — sufferings, borne 
•with an unaffected cheerfulness of magnanimity, which must 
both exalt and endear him to all who are capable of being 
toudied with what is generous and noble in character,- — and 
exploits performed with a mildness, and modesty, and kindliness 
of nature, not less admirable than the heroic firmness and ar- 
dour with which they were conjoined. In Mungo Park, we are 
not atraid to say, that the world has lost a great man, — and one 
who was as well qualified, as he was undoubtedly inclined, to 
Jiave been one of its greatest benefactors. The account which 
is here given of him, is in the highest degree interesting, — not 
merely to those who care about Africa, of the great schemes to 
his zeal for which he fell a martyr, but to all who take delight 
in the spectacle of unbounded courage and heroic ardour, un- 
alloyed with any taint of ferocity, selfishness, or bigotry ; — And 
the picture which his excellent biographer has here exhibited| 
will not be the less touching or impressive, to those who are quali- 
fied to relish such subjects, that the modesty of the touche^b, and 
the subdued tone of the colouring, indicate in the artist some 
of the same qualities, which gave grace and effect to the virtt|e§ 
of the original.