but the deep and sonorous voices of the men, the soft and modulated notes of the women, as each alternately sang the dirge, or mourned the wanderings of the departed * spirit.

Arriving at the spot where the shelving of the mountain had been partially levelled, we observed a circle of stones, enclosing a space about four and a half feet in diameter, which it was evident had been the site of former piles; close to this was a deep hole, in which lay loosely thrown three or four rude stones. The relics were now laid within the circle, and the officiators taking brands from the fire just mentioned, waved them round the mantle three several times, then placing them at each end of it, fresh billets were added, and a little camphor being sprinkled over them, the whole quickly became ignited.

The pile was now closely encircled with little baskets, bamboo cups, and variously shaped gourds, some bound with silver, others ornamented with thread and tape of divers colours, and the whole filled with grain, the produce of the hills. The bow and three arrows were then placed on it, after these the rod or wand, and then the axe and wood-craft of the deceased; last of all his standard+ staff. Fresh billets being added, the whole was shortly in one general blaze, and when the morning dawned all within the circle was reduced to a heap of charcoal and smouldering ashes.

'During the whole of this period, the lament was continued by the relatives and friends, accompanied by every indication of sincere grief. It was an impressive spectacle. The universal moan,—the addresses to the departed spirit, the sudden ebullitions of grief,-and the pile occasionally throwing up a flame that illumined the whole group, shewing the strong athletic forms of the men, the slender figures and loose flowing tresses of the women, as each joined tear to tear, and seemed to seek relief in unity

of sorrow.

The charcoal and ashes were then minutely examined, and after selecting from the heap the iron or such pieces of metal as had passed through the fire, the remainder was swept into the hole before mentioned. The loose stones, which had previously been removed, were now replaced, and the whole throng passing over them in succession, bowed their heads to the ground, exclaiming, "Health be to us," and took each his way to his own home, leaving us to wonder and exclaim," WHO CAN THEY BE?"-pp. 169–171.

The publication before us forms but part of a larger work, which the author had projected. We think he was well advised in printing only this volume for the present, as we have lately had manysome of them exceedingly heavy-treatises upon the manners and religions of India. In this fragment Captain Harkness has described, in very animated and interesting colours, the most pastoral, and perhaps the most original, tribe of human beings now in

existence.

The expressions were literally, oh! Kenbali, whither art thou gone? Alas! alas! our father, Kenbali!'

+ The head of each family has a staff of this description. It is a pole between twenty and thirty feet long, at the end of which, instead of a flag, is tied a bunch of small shells.'

15

ART. II. Journal of an Expedition to explore the Course and Termination of the Niger; with a Narrative of a Voyage down that River to its Termination. By Richard and John Lander. In three Vols., 12mo, illustrated with Engravings and Maps. Being Nos. 28, 29, and 30, of "The Family Library." London: Murray. 1832. THE publication of this work, in the first instance, in the "Family Library," is a proof of Mr. Murray's good sense, and a decided token of the revolution which has taken place in the trading department of literature in this country. In other times, and under different circumstances, the matter contained in these three duodecimo volumes, which are sold for fifteen shillings, and which contain the account of one of the most interesting geographical discoveries that have been made for many years, would have been spread in large type over two quarto tomes, illustrated with maps and engravings, and would have cost at the least the sum of four guineas. Had this plan been pursued in the present instance, very few copies of the work would have been bought-perhaps not two hundred and fifty, notwithstanding the very interesting intelligence which it discloses. The "Diffusion of Knowledge" Society have shown by their numerous publications the extent to which the art of cheap bookselling may be brought. Their example has been followed by the publishers of Constable's Miscellany, Lardner's Cyclopædia, the Family Library, the Standard Novels, and that very beautiful edition of Lord Byron's Life and Productions now in progress. Miss Edgeworth's Tales are about to be given to the world upon a similar plan of elegance, combined with economy; and we have now upon our table four numbers of The Ladies' Cabinet, a little periodical, which we have already more than once mentioned, and which is really quite a curiosity for its cheapness. In each number we find about seventy closely-printed pages of matter, at once entertaining and instructive, diversified by poetry, tales, sketches, and reviews, the style of which may not flinch from a comparison with that which characterises any other publication of the day. This matter is of an order which pre-supposes the ladies of this country generally, to whom it is principally addressed, to be possessed of highly cultivated minds, and that supposition we believe to be substantially well founded. Besides the letter-press, each number of the Cabinet contains a steel engraving, quite as well executed as many that are to be found in the Annuals; a wood-cut illustrative of some scene mentioned in some of the articles, four well-engraved and beautifully-coloured plates of the fashions for the month. To all these attractions we have still to add six or seven pages of the music of a song expressly composed for the work, which is, moreover, got up with uncommon neatness. Nobody would have ventured on selling such a publication as this, a few years ago, under half a crown at the lowest, and yet the price

of the "Ladies Cabinet" is no more than sixpence!! It is evident that such a surprisingly cheap periodical as this could not go on for three months without entailing a severe loss upon its projector, unless it had already commanded a very extensive circulation. Such a circulation, we are indeed informed, it has actually attained, and here is the secret, upon the discovery of which Mr. Murray has at length resolved to act, a discovery of much more value to him than that of the course of the Niger. He has found out that, from whatever cause, the aristocratical classes, who were formerly the great patrons of literature, have very generally experienced the great pressure of the times, and that they cannot or will not buy expensive books. He has also observed, that the middling and the lower classes, including the artizans, almost universally, are well educated, and have become great readers of works worth their attention. But they know that they need not, if they could, pay high prices for those works, since they have, in the publications already enumerated, quite sufficient to sate their appetite for literary novelties. All new publications, therefore, to be profitable, must be at least as cheap in their respective lines as those we have mentioned. Mr. Murray knows this well, and, to the credit of his prudence and tact, has acted upon it.

Thus the question which has been for some time in the balance, has been, we hope, decided in favour of cheap literature. It may be, we apprehend, confidently calculated, that small profits on large numbers will fully compensate for the enormous gains which were formerly made upon a more limited sale. It is not possible to contend against the example which is given by the establishment of the "Penny Magazine," the "Omnibus," the "Entertaining Press," and several other periodical publications, which, decorated with wood cuts, and well stored with interesting matter, are sold for a penny each number. We have little doubt that they will go still lower, until they reach the smallest coin we possess, and that a "Farthing Journal" might, in the present appetite of the public for reading, be undertaken with success.

Some persons have been clamorous for the enactment of laws against the latter cheap publications. They are, however, either interested in the matter, or they are timid and half-informed observers of the signs of the times. Instead of repressing or discouraging such periodicals, we wish, on the contrary, that the legislature would give them every facility, and after laying on a small stamp duty, allow them to be transmitted, as the newspapers are, through the post-office. Such a rapid circulation of knowledge would tend essentially to the general benefit. There are those who fear that if such a facility as this were afforded to the cheap periodicals, they might be productive of consequences injurious to morality. We venture to say that no cheap publication of an immoral kind, will ever have in this country a circulation sufficient to meet its expences; and we must in justice add, that we have not

yet observed, in such of these papers as have fallen under our notice, any thing of an improper character.

The discovery of the termination of the Niger is thus fortunately connected with a new state of things in the intellectual history of this country, from which the happiest consequences, as we hope and believe, may be expected. The many disappointments and difficulties, which had previously baffled the attempts that were made for that purpose, are well known. Various conjectures, some of them ludicrously wide of the mark, others strongly illustrative of that right aiming sagacity to which science sometimes gives rise, were made upon the subject, without producing any useful result. One of the mouths of the river had been well known for many years to the Liverpool traders in palm oil, but they called it the river Benin. The Landers have discovered that the Benin is in fact an outlet of the Niger, and the only wonder now is a wonder generally expressed at discoveries so simple in their nature-that the matter had remained for so many centuries an inexplicable mystery.

We need not detain the reader with any thing like a detailed account of the early part of their journey. They sailed from Portsmouth on the 9th of January, 1830, in a merchant vessel, arrived on the 22nd of the following month, after a quick but boisterous passage, at Cape Coast Castle, where they were fortunate enough to engage several natives who had been employed in the former expedition, and were somewhat acquainted with the English language and manners. Thence they obtained a passage in his Majesty's brig Clinker, to Badagry, a town to the north of the gulph of Guinea, generally first visited by the late missions-where they landed. They were dressed in a most grotesque style-a straw hat larger than an umbrella, a Mahomedan tunic or rather belt, boots and full Turkish trowsers. The men stared at them and laughed out; the women tittered. After a delay of about a week at this place, they were permitted to proceed on their course. Embarking on the river, which took them as far as Wow, in a northeasterly direction, about thirty miles from Badagry, they then continued their route by land, through a wild, romantic, and picturesque country, though in some places deep and marshy, passing through the large and populous town of Bidjie, where Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison fell sick on one of the expeditions. At Bidjie also they first crossed Clapperton's route. Having here procured a horse, which the brothers agreed to ride in turn, they traversed, still pursuing a north-easterly direction, the kingdom of Yarriba, until they reached Boossà, where it may be recollected Mungo Park and his associates were murdered, and his boat destroyed. By some misapprehension, Clapperton supposed Boossà to be an island. Our travellers found it to be on the main land. Here they met the notorious widow Zuma, quarrelling as usual with the king, and rebelling against all lawful authority. The Niger flows by Boossa, where it is no more than a stone's throw across at its widest VOL. II. (1832) No. I.

C

part. In order to guard against the jealousy of the king, the most powerful chief in Western Africa, they told him their object was to go to Bornou by way of Yàoorie, which lies to the north of Boossà, and they requested a safe conveyance, which he very kindly promised. To his other avocations, his majesty, it seems, occasionally adds that of a tailor, in which capacity he begged a present of a thimble, and some needles. The Landers, though on the best terms with him and his people, could gain no intelligence as to the papers and other effects belonging to Park. All traces of the white man had been lost, they said, with the late king, who died shortly after. that melancholy event. A good deal was said about a book, which, after much solicitation, was at length produced. It was expected to be the long lost journal, but on being opened, it proved to be a nautical publication of the last century, of a thick royal quarto size. Between the leaves were found a few loose papers of no consequence. One of them was a tailor's bill, and the other a note of invitation to dinner, addressed in the name of Mr. and Mrs. Watson, to Mr. Mungo Park, dated "Strand, 9th November, 1804." Thus all hope of finding the journal, or any other paper belonging to Mr. Park, vanished.

Proceeding up the Niger, in a due northerly direction from Boossa, the Landers found it flowing through a rich and charming country, which seemed to improve the farther they advanced. The river widened gradually to a mile, and afterwards to two miles in breadth. Beautiful, spreading, and spiry trees adorned the country on each side of the river, like a park; corn, nearly ripe, waved over the water's edge; large, open villages appeared every half hour; and herds of spotted cattle were observed grazing and enjoying the cool of the shade. The appearance of the river for several miles was no less enchanting than its borders; it was as smooth as a lake; canoes, laden with sheep and goats, were paddled by women down its almost imperceptible current; swallows, and a variety of aquatic birds, were sporting over its glossy surface, which was ornamented by a number of pretty little islands.' Where the Niger widened to two miles, it had all the appearance of an artificial canal, the banks being so even and regular, that they looked like a dwarf wall. In most places it was extremely shallow, but in others it was deep enough to float a frigate. The banks were for a considerable distance covered with hamlets and villages, and umbrageous trees, but as they ascended the river, they observed a decided change; the banks became rocky, and there were so many small islands scattered in the river, that they entirely destroyed its appearance. The navigation amongst these islands was extremely difficult. They were frequently obliged to get out of the canoe, in order to render it sufficiently light to pass over the shallows; and sometimes they had to lift it over ledges of rocks, to arrive at deeper water. They were told, however, that above Yàoorie the river is not impeded either by rocks or sand banks. They did not,