that it might be indefinitely increased under the fostering and protective care of the British government. The grounds on which this supposition rests are the number and situation of its navigable rivers; its rich alluvial deltas, and extensive and fertile plains; its immense forests; its wide range of natural productions; its swarming, active, and enterprising population; its contiguity to Europe, and the demand of its people for the manufactures of this country.

In speculating on African commerce, it should be borne in mind that we have to deal with nations who are not only ignorant and uncivilised, but corrupted and deteriorated by the Slave Trade, and by intercourse with the worst class of Europeans. There will, therefore, be difficulties and obstructions to overcome before a clear field for honest commerce can be obtained. In the present state of the people we can hardly look to obtain from them articles. which depend on an extensive cultivation of the soil, so as to compete with the productions of civilised nations. It is probable that in commencing an extensive intercourse with Africa, there will be at first a considerable outlay of money without an immediate return; but from whatever source this may be obtained, it should be considered as a gift to Africa It will ultimately be repaid a thousand-fold.

The articles desired by the Africans in return for the produce of their country are too many to enumeLists of them are given by almost every traveller. It may, therefore, suffice to observe, that

rate.

many of them are the produce or manufactures of our island, or of our colonies; and it is an important consideration, that we may obtain the treasures of this unexplored continent, by direct barter of our own commodities, and that, while we cheapen luxuries at home, we also increase the means of obtaining them, by giving increased employment to our productive classes.

The extension of a legitimate commerce, and with it the blessings of civilisation and Christianity, is worthy the most strenuous exertions of the philanthropist, whilst to the mercantile and general interests of the civilised world it is of the highest importance. Africa presents an almost boundless tract of country, teeming with inhabitants who admire, and are desirous of possessing our manufactures. There is no limit to the demand, except their want of articles to give us in return. They must be brought to avail themselves of their own resources.

Attempts, as we have seen, have already been made to form cotton plantations, and the article produced is found to be of a very useful and valuable description. Perseverance in these efforts is alone required to accomplish the object in view, and, when once accomplished, the importance to this country will be incalculable. The trade in palm-oil is capable of immense extension, and the article is every year becoming more important and in more extensive use. In exchange for these, and many other valuable articles, British manufactures would be taken, and

British ships find a profitable employment in the conveyance of them.

It so happens that a considerable proportion of the goods which best suit the taste of the natives of Africa, consists of fabrics to which power-looms cannot be applied with any advantage. Any extension, then, of the trade to Africa, will have this most important additional advantage, that it will cause a corresponding increase in the demand for the labour of a class of individuals who have lately been truly represented as suffering greater privations than any other set of workmen connected with the cotton trade.

But the first object of our intercourse with Africa should be, not so much to obtain a remunerating trade, as to repair in some measure the evil that the civilised world has inflicted on her, by conveying Christianity, instruction, and the useful arts to her children. The two objects will eventually, if carried on in a right manner, be found perfectly compatible; for it is reasonable to seek in legitimate commerce a direct antidote to the nefarious traffic which has so long desolated and degraded her. We have shown the vast variety and importance of the productions which Africa is capable of yielding: we have already proved that, notwithstanding the bounty of nature, the commerce of Africa is most insignificant. Truly may we say with Burke, "To deal and traffic-not in the labour of men, but in men themselves-is to devour the root, instead of enjoying the fruit of human diligence."

CHAPTER III.

FACILITIES FOR COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE.

I HAVE thus stated what I conceive to be the gist of the whole question, viz., that the deliverance of Africa must spring, under the blessing of God, from herself, and I have also shown, I trust to the satisfaction of every reader, that she possesses abundant capabilities for the purpose. The next question that arises, is, ́ how are these capabilities to be made available? how are we to obtain access to them? Great, no doubt, are the difficulties; yet, such are the discoveries of the last ten years, that we may now lay aside the impressions of an impenetrable continent, and of interminable wastes of sand, which have accompanied us from our childhood. We now know that a mighty river, which discharges itself into the Bight of Benin, by upwards of twenty mouths, is navigable, with little interruption, from thence nearly to its source, a distance of more than 2,600 miles. We also learn from the travellers who have navigated the Niger, that there are many tributary streams, some of which, especially the Tschadda, or Shaderbah, are equally navigable, and afford every facility for intercourse with the numerous nations and tribes who inhabit the countries in their vicinity.

Mungo Park, in his last journey (1805), embarked on the Niger at Bammakoo, about 500 miles from its source. In his narrative he says, "Having gained the summit of the ridge which separates the Niger from the remote branches of the Senegal, I went on a little before, and coming to the brow of the hill, I once more saw the Niger rolling its immense stream along the plain." And he tells us, it is larger "even here, than either the Senegal or the Gambia, and full an English mile over." When preparing for his subsequent embarkation on the Niger, he says, "the best wood for boat-building is near Kaukary, on a large navigable branch of the Niger." Park descended the river to Boussa, where most unhappily he was killed.

In 1830, Lander, who had accompanied the enterprising Clapperton in his last journey to Houssa, was sent out by the British Government to explore the Niger. He succeeded in reaching Boussa by a land route: there he embarked on the river, and after a voyage of about 560 miles, reached the Bight of Benin, and thus solved the interesting problem which had so long exercised the talents and ingenuity of modern geographers.

Messrs. Laird and Oldfield, by the aid of steamvessels, went up the Niger from the Bight of Benin, in 1832; and their journals contain much valuable information as to that river, and its tributary, the Tschadda. The latter, at the point of confluence, is represented to be one mile and a half broad; and the