his servant Richard says he never saw him smile afterwards; but he found it in vain to remonstrate. He told the gadado that the conduct of Bello was not like that of a prince of the Faithful; that he had broken his faith, and done him all the injury in his power. The gadado now assured him that not only the sheik, but the two hadjis of Tripoli, had writen letters to Bello, denouncing him as a spy, and observing that the English wanted to take Africa as they had done India. I told the gadado they were acting like robbers towards me, in defiance of all good faith.' In short, their jealousy proceeded so far as to seize every thing that could be supposed to be any part of the present intended for the sheik of Bornou.

Not long after this, intelligence was received at Soccatoo, of the total defeat of the Bornou army, which put the sultan in such good spirits, that he began to resume his former kind conduct towards Clapperton, discussing with him which would be the best and safest way for his return to England; but it was now too late. Clapperton's health had never been restored since the first night's fatal sleeping on the reedy banks of a stagnant ditch; and his spirits were now completely broken down by disappointment and ungenerous treatment. His journal about this time, the 12th March, terminates abruptly in the midst of a conversation as to the best route to be taken homewards. The rest is supplied by his faithful servant, Lander.

On the same day it appears he was attacked with dysentery, which he told Lander had been brought on by a cold, caught by lying down on the ground which was soft and

wet, when heated and fatigued with walking. Twenty days,' says Lander, 'my poor master remained in a low and distressed state. His body, from being robust and vigorous, became weak and emaciated, and indeed was little better than a skeleton.' Lander himself was in a fever, and almost unable to stir; but he was assisted in taking care of his master by Pascoe and an old black slave. Towards the beginning of April, Clapperton became alarmingly ill.

At length, calling Lander to his bed-side, Clapperton said

"Richard, I shall shortly be no more; I feel myself dying." Almost choked with grief, I replied, "God forbid, my dear master: you will live many years yet.”

"Don't be so much affected, my dear boy, I entreat you," said he : "it is the will of the Almighty; it cannot be helped. Take care of my journal and papers after my death; and when you arrive in London, go immediately to my agents, send for my uncle, who will accompany you to the Colonial Office, and let him see you deposit them safely into the hands of the secretary. After I am buried, apply to Bello, and borrow money to purchase camels and provisions for your journey over the desert, and go in the train of the Arab merchants to Fezzan. On your arrival there, should your money be exhausted, send a messenger to Mr. Warrington, our consul at Tripoli, and wait till he returns with a remittance. On reaching Tripoli, that gentleman will advance what money you may require, and send you to England the first opportunity. Do not lumber yourself with my books; leave them behind, as well as the barometer, boxes, and sticks, and indeed every

heavy article you can conveniently part with; give them to Malam Mudey, who will take care of them. The wages I agreed to give you my agents will pay, as well as the sum government allowed me for a servant; you will of course receive it, as Columbus has never served me. Remark what towns or villages you pass through; pay attention to whatever the chiefs may say to you, and put it on paper. The little money I have, and all my clothes, I leave you sell the latter, and put what you may receive for them into your pocket; and if, on your journey, you should be obliged to expend it, government will repay you on your return." I said, as well as my agitation would permit me, "If it be the will of God to take you, you may rely on my faithfully performing, as far as I am able, all that you have desired; but I trust the Almighty will spare you, and you will yet live to see your country." "I thought I should at one time, Richard," continued he; "but all is now over; I shall not be long for this world: but God's will be done." He then took my hand betwixt his, and looking me full in the face, while a tear stood glistening in his eye, said, in a low but deeply affecting tone, "My dear Richard, if you had not been with me, I should have died long ago; I can only thank you, with my latest breath, for your kindness and attachment to me; and if I could have lived to return with you, you should have been placed beyond the reach of want; but God will reward you." This conversation occupied nearly two hours, in the course of which my master fainted several times, and was distressed beyond measure. The same evening he fell into a

slumber, from which he awoke in much perturbation, and said he had heard distinctly the tolling of an English funeral bell. I entreated him to be composed, and observed, that sick people frequently fancy they hear and see things that cannot possibly have any existence. He made no reply.'

A few days after this he breathed his last. Lander immediately sent to ask permission of the sultan to bury the corpse, and that he would point out the place where his remains might be deposited. Bello immediately ordered four slaves to dig a grave at the village of Jungavie, about five miles to the south-east of Soccatoo, whither the body was conveyed. When all was ready, I opened a prayerbook,' says this faithful servant, and, amid showers of tears, read the funeral service over the remains of my valued master. This being done, the union jack was taken off the body slowly lowered into the earth, and I wept bitterly as I gazed for the last time upon all that remained of my generous and intrepid master.' He then agreed to give some of the natives two thousand cowries to build a house four feet high over the spot, which they promised to do.

'I then returned,' says Lander, 'disconsolate and oppressed, to my solitary habitation; and, leaning my head on my hand, could not help being deeply affected with my lonesome and dangerous situation-a hundred and fifteen days' journey from the sea-coast, surrounded by a selfish and cruel race of strangers, my only friend and protector mouldering in his grave, and myself suffering dreadfully from fever. I felt, indeed, as if I stood alone in the world, and earnestly wished I

had been laid by the side of my dear master all the trying evils I had endured never affected me half so much as the bitter reflections of that distressing period. After a sleepless night, I went alone to the grave, and found that nothing had been done; nor did there seem the least inclination, on the part of the inhabitants of the village, to perform their agreement. Knowing it would be useless to remonstrate with them, I hired two slaves at Soccatoo the next day, who went immediately to work, and the house over the grave was finished on the 15th.'

Ten days after this, Lander still

being in a state of fever, the gadado and two others came with a commission from the sultan to search his boxes, as he had been informed they were filled with gold and silver; but they were surprised on finding that there was not money enough to bear his expenses to the coast. They took from him however, two guns, some powder and shot, and some other articles, for the payment of which they gave him an order on Kano for a certain number of cowries. After this, the sultan, with some hesitation, allowed him to leave Soc

catoo.

Captain Stirling, when commanding the Success frigate, was sent to New South Wales on a particular service, which the state of the monsoon prevented him from carrying into immediate execution. He determined, therefore, on the recommendation of general Darling, the governor, to explore, in the meantime, this western part of Australia, which was omitted to be surveyed by captain King, on the ground that it had been visited by the French in the expedition of captain Baudin: the result of that visit, how ever, is so unsatisfactory, and so very inaccurate, that we are rather surprised captain King should have passed over so interesting a portion, geographically considered, as the south-western angle of this great country. Captain Stirling arrived at Cape Leuwin on the 2nd March, 1827, stood along the coast, and

anchored in Gage's Roads, opposite Swan River, which he afterwards ascended to its source in boats, and sent out exploring parties to ascertain the nature of the surrounding territory.

We found,' he says, 'the country in general rich and romantic, gained the summit of the first range of mountains, and had a bird's-eye view of an immense plain, which extended as far as the eye could reach to the northward, southward, and westward. After ten days' absence, we returned to the ship; we encountered no difficulty that was not easily removable; we were furnished with abundance of fresh provisions by our guns, and met with no obstruction from the natives."

Captain Stirling describes the weather as very different from that which the French experienced ; but the latter were on the coast at

the commencement of the winter season. They were apparently so alarmed at the gales of wind, the rocks, and the reefs, and the banks, that they hastened to leave behind them this part of the coast unexamined, with all convenient speed. The strong westerly winds that prevail throughout the year in the southern ocean to the southward of the tropic, appear to assume a northern direction near this part of the coast of Australia. These winds were here found to be cool and pleasant, and were generally accompanied by clear and serene weather. The summer winds from the N.W. are not infrequent; and, coming charged with moisture from a warm region into a colder one, they are invariably accompanied by rain; but, in the immediate vicinity of the shore, land and sea breezes are constant and regular. The climate appears to be delightful. While the Success was on the coast-that is, in the autumn,the average height of the thermometer was 720, the extremes being 84° and 59°, the first occurring before the sea-breeze set in, the latter at midnight. The French found the temperature when at anchor, in June, from 14° to 17° of Reaumur, or 63° to 70° of Fahrenheit. On the mountains, captain Stirling says, the temperature appeared to be about 15o below that of the plain. The alternate land and sea breezes create a moisture in the atmosphere which renders the climate cool and agreeable; the mornings and evenings are particularly so; and the nights are almost invariably brilliant and clear. Such a climate, it is almost unnecessary to say, must be highly favourable to vegetation, which was accordingly observed to be most luxuriant. The verdant ap

pearance,' says captain Stirling, and almost innumerable variety of grasses, herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees, show that there is no deficiency in the three great sources of their sustenance, soil, heat, and moisture.'

The general structure and aspect of the country may be thus described. From Cape Leuwin to Cape Naturaliste (the southern head of Baie Géographe), which is not quite a degree of latitude, the coast is formed of a range of hills, of uniform and moderate elevation, whose bases are a finegrained granite, shooting up pinnacles into the superincumbent strata, composed of gneiss or schist. Above this lies a bed of sandstone and toadstone; and over these, defined by an accurately drawn horizontal line, is a bed of compact limestone: the latter, in some places, two hundred feet deep. The veins of quartz, mica, and feldspar, which traverse the schistose strata, are in many places highly metalliferous. The disintegration of the toadstone, mouldering away under the influence of the atmosphere, has left under the limestone cliffs a number of magnificent caverns, many of them remarkable for their extent and form, and some for the beautiful stalactites and incrustations which they contain.

From Geographer's Bay to the northward of Swan River, the whole coast line is a limestone ridge, varying in height from twenty to six hundred feet, and extending inward to the distance of from one to five miles. In those parts of the coast, not protected by exterior islands or banks, the sea-breeze has blown up the sand, and covered the sides of these limestone hills a circumstance

that appears to have given rise to the erroneous idea, that the western coast of Australia consists mostly of barren sandhills. Behind this ridge (whose occasional naked and barren appearance captain Stirling also thinks may have caused the early and continued prejudice against the fertility of this western coast) commences a great plain, which occupies a space, from south to north, of undetermined length, (reaching, perhaps, to King George's Sound,) and varying, in breadth, from twenty to fifty miles. The eastern boundary of this plain skirts the base of an almost continuous and abrupt chain of mountains, to which captain Stirling gave the name of 'General Darling's Range. One of the points, the highest seen and measured by him, was about three thousand feet high. The average height is stated to be from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet. The base is granite; the sides, in many parts, naked; and the soil supports but little vegetation, except the stringy-bark and some hardy plants. The plain, for about a mile from the base of the mountains, is strewed with fragments of rocks and sand, and pieces of chalcedony, which then give place to a red loamy soil. Thus we have, first, the limestone ridge, of an average breadth of three miles, on the sea-shore; then a plain, or undulating surface, of the average breadth of thirty miles; and, lastly, the mountain range, rising abruptly from the plain, to the height of fifteen hundred feet, and extending, north and south, in a line nearly parallel with the coast, and apparently co-extensive with it; terminating, probably, in the plain at or near King George's Sound, to the eastward of Cape Leuwin,

where, as we have said, a British settlement has already been formed.

Captain Stirling observes, that coal was not found, because it was not particularly sought for; but he is of opinion that the general character of the country is such as to warrant the belief that it might be found; for,' he observes, all the concomitant strata or members of the coal formation are exposed on different parts of the surface, below which I had no opportunity to explore. Indeed, the carboniferous order of rocks is that which is most frequently exhibited throughout this territory; and I have no doubt important results would arise from a proper examination into its mineralogical resources.'

With reference to a supply of fresh water, so indispensably necessary in every settled country, the researches made by captain Stirling and Mr. Fraser (a botanist who accompanied him) were attended with the most satisfactory results. The former observes, that the clouds which are impelled against the western side of the range of mountains are condensed into rain, the water of which is conducted across the plain to the sea, in numerous streams, but chiefly by three principal rivers, terminating in estuaries, or saltwater lakes. These are the Swan River opposite the Island Rottenest, the Rivière Vasse, and Port Leschenault, in Geographer's Bay. We found,' says captain Stirling, a great number of creeks, or rivulets, falling into Swan River, more particularly on the eastern side; and I am inclined to think, that the country generally is much divided by such water-courses. Its supply of fresh water, from springs and lagoons, is abundant; for we