pressure of the crowd became so great, that ple present, and the joy of the junior classes | riod, when every feeling heart is so tle or no risk in wintering in the fair play! This kind of milling appeal, We must conchide abruptly. Our review, northern parts of Baffin's Bay; and inthough his Lordship is by no means connect- though long, is very imperfect; but our deed, that such is the most expedient ed with the Fancy, had the desired effect. readers will not readily be satisfied with any course to be pursued in the prosecution The crowd made a centrifugal motion, leav- thing short of the work itself, which, to the of any voyage of discovery. He, how- adventurous, romantic, hu- ever, seems to rely more certainly on We then proceeded with the necessary ce- mourous, adds the unusual concomitants of journeys by land for the accomplishremony, which was finished in a few minutes, real character, truth, and authenticity, ment of the object in contemplation. and seconded by spontaneous and unanimous Men there are, (he alledges) who, being acclamation. Every part of the old Castle An Account of the Arctic Regions, with a long used to travel upon snow in the service ruins, on which it was possible to perch, or History and Description of the Northern of the Hudson's Bay Company, would reacling to, was literally alive with spectators, whose cheers must have been heard at a Whale Fishery. By W. Scoresby, Jun. dily undertake the journey from the interior considerable distance. The noble Lord F. R. S. E. Illustrated by Twenty- lakes of North Americă, to the Frozen having intimated his intention to speak to the four Engravings. Edinburgh, 1820. Ocean, or, in case of a continuity of land people, silence was again obtained, and he 8vo. 2 vols. being found, to the very pole itself; of whose success, we should certainly have a then addressed them with the animation na- | This work is so copious, that we feel reasonable ground of hope. The practicabiturally excited by such a scene. He came the impossibility, with our limits, of lity of this mode of making discoveries, bas not there, he said, to deprive any man of his offering more than a very partial ac- been fully proved by the journeys of Macproperty, but merely to seek the recovery count of it to the public. The author, kenzie and Hearne. of that, which he was advised, and which he believed, was his hereditary right. The pre an enlightened and practical observer, The author describes the mode of sent ceremony was nothing more than a mere who, during seventeen voyages on the travelling over the snow, the state of form of law, for the execution of which, he Greenland or Spitzbergen Whale-fish- the tribes who inhabit these frozen re. was aware, le left himself open to an action ery, has alded personal experience to gions, &c.; but in conclusion, leads us of tresspass, but it was a necessary step on the information derived from reading the to anticipate that ice and not land is to his part in order to anticipate certain statâtes, best authors, gives us a complete view be found for a considerable extent, within the operation of which the lapse of of his subject"; and leaves nothing to round the pole. Over this ice, he contime had nearly brought him. That the be desired either respecting the progress tends, it would be qube possible to tra , he stood, his, he not presume to say, but he believed it to be of discovery in the Arctic regions, and vel from Spitzbergen ; and he treats the his lawful inheritance, and as such made the natural history of Spitzbergen and idea of there being an open sea there, entry on it. If he should prove suceessfal in the Greenland Sea, to which his first as quite chimerical. So far from being the further prosecution of his rights, he volume is devoted; or respecting the approachable by ships, he thinks that begged them to believe his intentions and whale fisheries in all their details, to no vessel has ever yet penetrated befeelings towards them, as friends and te- which he has appropriated his second. yond eighty-one and half degrees; and nantry, would be suitable to so interesting a connexion, and such as a well disposed land On the great problem which involves the following is the only modification lord might cherish and avow. His prede- the geography of the north, we remark of his hypothesis cessors, he said, whose remains lay in yonder that Mr. Scoresby ranges himself on the Should there be land near the Pole, portions of cemetery, (pointing to the contiguous chapel side of those who think that a north- open water, or perhaps even considerable seas, of St. Helen's, where many of the Earls are west passage exists; but he does not sweeping away the ice from one side of it almost might be produced by the action of the current buried,) had been their lords for centuries go the length of the most sanguine, in as fast as it could be formed ; and vacancies in past, and had always carried with them to their graves the prayers and regrets of their supposing that it can ever be of much such a case might also be produced on the leepeople. It would be his highest ambition advantage in a commercial point of con- ward side of the land during any powerful and to initate their example. His maxim would sideration. On the contrary, he is of continued winds ; but the existence of land only, I imagine, can encourage an expectation of any be, ‘Live and let live;' for nothing should opinion, that if there really be a com- of the sea northward of Spitzbergen being annugive a landlord greater gratification than to munication, near the parallel of 70°, be-ally free from ice. see a happy and flourishing tenantry around twcen the southern part of Baffin's Bay, Having, in his first chapter, discusshim. As for the boys here, if it please God or the northern part of Hudson's Bayed this celebrated question, of the seathat I recover these possessions, I promise and Behring's Strait, it would only be communication between the Atlantic to keep a pack of the best dogs in the country open at intervals of years, and then for and Pacific, by the north, and comfor their amusement; and as for the girls, they shall all have husbands, without hunt: no more than eight or ten weeks in a pressed the accounts of discoveries in ing for them. Now, my friends, I entreat season. Hence, as affording a naviga- the northern regions, Mr. Scoresby you to return to your several homes, and tion to the Pacific Ocean, the discovery proceeds to lay before us a description take with you my warmest thanks for this of the passage could be of no service of some of the polar countries, from his early manifestation of your good disposition With regard to the vessels to be em- own observations. Of these, Spitzbertowards me, and my best wishes for your ployed in pursuing the exploration of gen, Jan Mayen Island, and Moffen, prosperity and happiness! God bless you the Polar Seas, Mr. Scoresby coincides Low, Hope, and Cherie Islands, are all! His Lordship concluded under evident with what we stated twelve months ago, the chief. We quote a few passages, emotions of sympathy honourable to his heart, and amidst the applause and blessings that ships of from one to two hundred He mentions, a little to the northward of the multitude. Tears of delight ran down tons are best adapted for that purpose ; of Horn Sound, Spitzbergen, the largthe furrowed cheeks of many of the old peo- and it is a pleasant matter, at this pe- est iceberg which he ever saw. It occupies eleven miles in length, of, hundred and fifty feet high, began to leave necessity of swimming for their preservation, the sea-coast. The highest part of the pre- the parent ice at the top, and leaning but all of them succeeded in scrambling cipitous front, adjoining the sea, is, by mea- majestically forward with an accelerated upon the ice, and were taken on board of surement, 402 feet, and it extends back-velocity, fell with an awful crash into the the ship in a few minutes afterwards. ward toward the summit of the mountain, sea. The water into which it plunged was I may here observe, that it is an uncomto about four times that elevation. Its sur- converted into an appearance of vapour or mon circumstance for a fish to require more face forms a beautiful inclined plane of smoke, like that from a furious cannonading. than two boats' lines in such a situation;' smooth snow; the edge is uneven and per- The noise was equal to that of thunder, none of our harpooners, therefore, had any pendicular. At the distance of fifteen miles, which it nearly resembled. The column scruple in leaving the fast-boat, never susthe front-edge, subtended an angle of ten which fell was nearly square, and in magni-pecting, after it had received the assistance ninutes of a degree. Near the South Cape tude resembled a church. It broke into of one boat with six lines or upward, that it lies another iceberg, nearly as extensive as thousands of pieces. would need any more. this. It occupies the space between two lateral ridges of hills, and reaches the very summit of the mountain, in the back-ground,lication, of which this may be received as an announcement, we shall for the present break away from its science, and turning to the more popular subject of the whale, only add to our extracts a few anecdotes of these mighty creatures, illustrative of the fishery. on which it rests. the sea. As we shall have occasion in a week Several ships being about us, there was a or two to return to this excellent pub-possibility that some person might attack and make a prize of the whale, when it had It is not easy to form an adequate concep so far escaped us, that we no longer retained tion of these truly wonderful productions of any hold of it; as such, we set all the sail the ship could safely sustain, and workednature. Their magnitude, their beauty, and through several narrow and intricate chanthe contrast they form with the gloomy nels in the ice, in the direction I observed rocks around, produce sensations of lively the fish had retreated. After a little time, interest. Their upper surfaces are generally it was descried by the people in the boats, concave; the higher parts are always coverSurprising vigour of a Whale.-On the at a considerable distance to the eastward ed with snow, and have a beautiful appear-25th of June 1812, one of the harpooners a general chase immediately commenced, ance; but the lower parts, in the latter end belonging to the Resolution of Whitby, under and within the space of an hour three harof every summer, present a bare surface of my command, struck a whale by the edge of poons were struck. We now imagined the ice. The front of each, which varies in a small floe of ice. Assistance being promptly fish was secure, but our expectations were preheight from the level of the ocean, to 400 afforded, a second boat's lines were attached mature. The whale resolutely pushed beneath or 500 feet above it, lies parallel with the to those of the fast-boat, in a few minutes a large floe that had been recently broken shore, and is generally washed by the sea. after the harpoon was discharged. The to pieces, by the swell, and soon drew all the This part, resting on the strand, is under- remainder of the boats proceeded at some lines out of the second fast-boot; the officer mined to such an extent by the sea, when distance, in the direction the fish seemed to of which, not being able to get any assistance, in any way turbulent, that immense masses, have taken. In about a quarter of an hour tied the end of his line to a hummock of ice loosened by the freezing of water lodged in the fast-boat, to my surprise, again made and broke it. Soon afterwards, the other the recesses in winter, or by the effect of a signal for lines. As the ship was then two boats, still fast, were dragged against streams of water running over its surface and within five minutes sail, we instantly steered the broken floe, when one of the harpoons through its chasms in summer, break asun- towards the boat, with the view of affording drew out. The lines of only one boat, thereder, and with a thundering noise fall into assistance, by means of a spare boat we still fore, remained fast to the fish, and this with But as the water is in most places retained on board. Before we reached the six or eight lines out, was dragged forward shallow in front of these icebergs, the masses place, however, we observed four oars dis-into the shattered floe with astonishing force. which are dislodged are commonly reduced played in signal order, which, by their nun- Pieces of ice, each of which was sufficiently into fragments before they can be floated ber, indicated a most urgent necessity for large to have answered the purpose of a away into the main sea. This fact seems to assistance. Two or three men were at mooring for a ship, were wheeled about by account for the rarity of icebergs in the the same time seen seated close by the the strength of the whale; and such was the Spitzbergen sea. stern, which was considerably elevated, for tension and elasticity of the line, that whenThe front surface of icebergs is glistening the purpose of keeping it down, while the ever it slipped clear of any mass of ice, after and uneven. Wherever a part has recently bow of the boat, by the force of the line, turning it round, into the space between any broken off, the colour of the fresh fracture was drawn down to the level of the sea,-and two adjoining pieces, the boat and its crew is a beautiful greenish-blue, approaching to the harpooner, by the friction of the line flew forward through the crack, with the emerald-green, but such parts as have long round the bollard, was enveloped in smoky velocity of an arrow, and never failed to been exposed to the air, are of a greenish- obscurity. At length, when the ship was launch several feet upon the first mass of ice grey colour, and at a distance soinetunes scarcely 100 yards distant, we perceived exhibit the appearance of cliffs of whitish preparations for quitting the boat. The marble. In all cases, the effect of the ice-sailors' pea-jackets were cast upon the ad- ken floe with the ship, and while the ice was berg is to form a pleasing variety in prospect, joining ice,-the oars were thrown down, attempted in vain by the boats, the whale with the magnificence of the encompassing the crew leaped overboard, the bow of continued to press forward in an easterly disnow-clad mountains, which, as they re- the boat was buried in the water, the stern rection towards the sea. At length, when cede from the eye, seem to "rise crag above rose perpendicular, and then majestically 14 lines (about 1680 fathoms) were drawn crag," in endless perspective. disappeared. The harpooner having caused from the fourth fast-boat, a slight entangleOn an excursion to one of the Seven Ice-the end of the line to be fastened to the iron-ment of the line, broke it at the stem. bergs, in July 1818, I was particularly for-ring at the boat's stern, was the means of fish then again made its escape, taking along tunate in witnessing one of the grandest ef- its loss; and a tongue of the ice, on which with it a boat and 28 lines. The united fects which these polar glaciers ever present. was a depth of several feet of water, kept length of the lines was. 6720 yards, or upA strong north-westerly swell having for the boat, by the pressure of the line against wards of 34 English miles; value, with the some hours been beating on the shore, had it, at such a considerable distance as prevent-boat, above 1507. sterling. loosened a number of fragments attached to ed the crew from leaping upon the floe. The obstruction of the sunken boat, to the iceberg, and various heaps of broken ice Some of them were, therefore, put to the the progress of the fish, must have been imdenoted recent shoots of the seaward edge. As we rowed towards it with a view of pro- sacrifice of a boat is termed, is a scheme not derable; the weight of lines alone, being 35 "Giving a whale the boat," as the voluntary mense; and that of the lines likewise consiunfrequently practised by the fisher when in hundred weight. want of line. By submitting to this risk, he expects to gain the fish, and still has the chance of recovering his boat and its materials. It is l'only practised in open ice or at fields. ceeding close to its base, I observed a few little pieces fall from the top, and while my eye was fixed upon the place, an immense column, probably fifty feet square, and one that it encountered. While we scoured the sea around the bro The So long as the fourth fast-boat, through the medium of its lines, retained its hold of the fish, we searched the adjoining sea with the open sea. was the only person acquainted with the art of swimming, were drowned before assistance could arrive. The four men on the boat being rescued and conveyed to the ship, the attack on the whale was continued, and two more harpoons struck. But the whale irritated, instead of being enervated by its wounds, recommenced its furious conduct. The sea, was in a foam. Its tail and fins were in awful play; and in a short time, harpoon after harpoon drew out, the fish was loosened from its entanglements, and escaped. ship in vain; but, in a short time after the milar way, and completely drenched the line was divided, we got sight of the object part of the crew remaining in the boat, with of pursuit, at the distance of near two miles the sprays. One of the men regained the to the eastward of the ice and boats, in the boat, but as the fish immediately sunk, and One boat only with lines, and drew the boat away from the place, his two two empty boats, were reserved by the ship. companions in misfortune were soon left far Having, however, fortunately fine weather, beyond the reach of assistance. The and a fresh breeze of wind, we immediately harpooner, though a practised swimmer, gaye chase under all sails; though, it must felt himself so bruised and enervated by a be confessed, with the insignificant force by blow he had received on the chest, that he us, the distance of the fish, and the rapidity was totally incapacitated from giving the of its flight considered, we had but very least support to his fellow sufferer. The small hopes of success. At length, after ship being happily near, a boat which had pursuing it five or six miles, being at least been lowered on the first alarm, arrived to In the fishery of 1812, the Henrietta of nine miles from the place where it was struck, their succour, at the moment when the line- Whitby suffered a similar loss. A fish which we came up with it, and it seemed inclined manager, who was unacquainted with the was struck very near the ship, by a blow of to rest after its extraordinary exertions. The art of swimming, was on the point of sink- its tail, stove a small hole in the boat's bow. two dismantled or empty boats having been ing, to rise no more. Both the line-manager Every individual shrinking from the side on furnished with two lines each, (a very inad- and harpooner were preserved; and the fish, which the blow was impressed, aided the equate supply,) they, together with the one after a few hours close pursuit, was subdued. influence of the stroke, and upset the boat. in a good state of equipment, now made an A large whale, harpooned from a boat They all clung to it while it was bottom up; attack upon the whale. One of the harpoon- belonging to the same ship, became the but the line having got entangled among the ers made a blunder; the fish saw the boat, subject of a general chase on the 23d of thwarts, suddenly drew the boat under water, took the alarm, and again fled. I now sup- June 1809. Being myself in the first boat and with it part of the crew. Excessive posed it would be seen no more; neverthe-which approached the fish, I struck my har- anxiety among the people in the ship, occaless, we chased nearly a mile in the direction poon at arin's length, by which we fortu- sioned delay in sending assistance; so that I imagined it had taken, and placed the nately evaded a blow that appeared to be when the first boat arrived at the spot, two boats, to the best of my judgment, in the aimed at the boat. Another boat then ad-survivors only out of six men were found most advantageous situations. In this case vanced, and another harpoon was struck, During a fresh gale of wind in the season we were extremely fortunate. The fish rose but not with the same result; for the stroke of 1809, one of the Resolution's harpooners near one of the boats, and was immediately was immediately returned by a tremendous struck a sucking whale. Its mother being harpooned. In a few minutes two more har-blow from the fish's tail. The boat was near, all the other boats were disposed around, poons entered its back, and lances were sunk by the shock; and, at the same time, with the hope of entangling it. The old plied against it with vigour and success. whirled round with such velocity, that the whale pursued a circular route round its cub, Exhausted by its amazing exertions to escape, boat-steerer was precipitated into the water, and was followed by the boats; but its veloit yielded itself at length to its fate, received on the side next to the fish, and was acci- city was so considerable, that they were the piercing wounds of the lances without dentally carried down to a considerable unable to keep pace with it. Being in the resistance, and finally died without a strug-depth by its tail. After a minute or so, he capacity of harpooner on this occasion mygle. Thus terminated with success, an at- arose to the surface of the water and was self, I proceeded to the chase, after having tack upon a whale, which exhibited the taken up, along with his companions, into carefully marked the proceedings of the fish. most uncommon determination to escape my boat. A similar attack was made on I selected a situation, in which I conceived from its pursuers, seconded by the most the next boat which came up; but the har- the whale would make its appearance, and amazing_strength of any individual whose pooner being warned of the prior conduct of was in the act of directing my crew to cease capture I ever witnessed. After all, it may the fish, used such precautions, that the rowing, when a terrible blow was struck on seem surprising, that it was not a particularly blow, though equal in strength, took effect the boat The whale I never saw, but the large individual; the largest lamina of whale- only in an inferior degree. The boat was effect of the blow was too important to be bone only measuring 9 feet 6 inches, while slightly stove. The activity and skill of the overlooked. About 15 square feet of the those affording 12 feet bone are not uncom- lancers soon overcame this designing whale, bottom of the boat were driven in; it filled, mon +. The quantity of line withdrawn accomplished its capture, and added its pro- sunk, and upset in a moment, Assistance from the different boats engaged in the cap-duce to the cargo of the ship. Such inten- was providentially at hand, so that we were ture, was singularly great. It amounted, all taken up without injury, after being but altogether, to 10,440 yards, or nearly six a few minutes in the water. The whale esEnglish miles. Of these, 13 new lines were caped; the boat's lines fell out and were lost, together with the sunken boat; the harlost, but the boat was recovered. poon connecting them to the fish having dropt out before the whale was killed. Fishers thrown overboard, by the jerking or sudden heeling of the Boats, in consequence of blows from Whales. On the 3d of June 1811, a boat from the ship Resolution, commanded at the time by myself, put off in pursuit of a whale, and was rowed upon its back. At the moment that it was harpooned, it struck the side of the boat a violent blow with its tail, the shock of which threw the boat-steerer to some distance into the water. A repetition of the blow projected the harpooner and line-manager in a si It has been frequently observed, that whales of this size are the most active of the species; and that those of very large growth are, in genesal, captured with less trouble. tional mischief on the part of a whale, it Boats sunk, stove, or upset, by blows from Whales.-The Aimwell of Whitby, A remarkable instance of the power which while cruising the Greenland seas, in the the whale possesses in its tail, was exhibited year 1810, had boats in chase of whales on within my own observation, in the year 1807. the 26th of May. One of them was har- On the 29th of May, a whale was harpooned pooned. But instead of sinking immediately by an officer belonging to the Resolution. on receiving the wound, as is the most usual It descended a considerable depth; and, on manner of the whale, this individual only its re-appearance, evinced an uncommon dived for a moment, and then rose again degree of irritation. It made such a display beneath the boat, struck it in the most vi- of its fins and tail, that few of the crew were cious manner with its fins and tail, stove it, hardy enough to approach it. The captain, upset it, and then disappeared. The crew, (iny Father,) observing their timidity, called seven in number, got on the bottom of the a boat, and himself struck a second harpoon. boat; but the unequal action of the lines, Another boat immediately followed, and which for some time remained entangled unfortunately advanced too far. The tail with the boat, rolled it occasionally over, was again reared into the air, in a terrific and thus plunged the crew repeatedly into the attitude,-the impending blow was evident, water. Four of them, after each immer--the harpooner, who was directly undersion, recovered themselves and clung to the neath, leaped overboard, and the next moboat; but the other three, one of whom ment the threatened stroke was impressed on the centre of the boat, which buried it | by which he held, at length disengaged itself range. The following is his account, in the water. Happily no one was injured. from the body of the whale. Vienkes being on arriving at the summit of one of The harpooner who leaped overboard, esca- then liberated, did not fail to take advantage these heights. ped certain death by the act,-the tail having of this circumstance; he cast himself into struck the very spot on which he stood. The the sea, and, by swimming, endeavoured to effects of the blow were astonishing. The regain the boats which continued the pursuit discover below us, two thickets, the one keel was broken, the gunwales, and every of the whale. When his shipmates perceiv- concealing from view the sources of the Gamplank, excepting two, were cut through, ed him struggling with the waves, they re- bia, (in Poula, Diman,) the other those of It was entirely bare, so that we could and it was evident that the boat would have doubled their exertions. They reached him the Rio Grande, in Poula, Comba). The been completely divided, had not the tail just as his strength was exhausted, and had joy I felt at this sight could not be disturbed struck directly upon a coil of lines. The the happiness of rescuing this adventurous by the reflection of Ali, (his guide,) who the boat was rendered useless. fishery, I observed a circumstance which ex-learn that thou art going to the sources; harpooner from his perilous situation 1. cited my highest astonishment. One of our nevertheless, since thou wilt have it so, we In one of my earliest voyages to the whale-me: "I fear they will murder thec, if they moment we perceived the two rivers said to harpooners had struck a whale, it dived, and will proceed towards them as if we were all the assisting boats had collected round hunting, and Boukari on his side shall go to the fast-boat, before it arose to the surface. the neighbouring village." The Poulas of The first boat which approached it advanced Fouta Jallon call this village, the Sources. incautiously upon it. It rose with unex--Continuing in a western direction, we pected violence beneath the boat, and pro- rapidly descended the ferruginous mounjected it and all its crew, to the height of tain, the summit of which we had been some yards in the air. It fell on its side, traversing since sun-rise, and arrived in a upset, and cast all the men into the water. beautiful valley. On the right and left apand appeared to be dangerously injured; but vered with high and thick dry grass, not soon after his arrival on board of the ship, a stone was to be seen on it; two thickOne man received a severe blow in his fall, peared small villages; the ground was cohe recovered from the effects of the accident. ets, which shaded the sources, the objects The rest of the boat's crew escaped without of my research, rose in the midst of this the source of the Rio Grande, I was seized any hurt. with a feeling of awe, as if I was approachverdure. When I entered that which covers plain, which drought had despoiled of its ing one of the sacred springs where Paganism placed the residence of its divinities. Trees, coeval with the river, render it invisible to the eyes of those who do not penetrate into this wood; its source gushes from the bosom of the earth, and runs north, north-east, passing over rocks. At the mo ment when I saw the Rio Grande, it slowly rolled along its turbid waters; at about three hundred paces from the source they were clearer, and fit to drink. Ali informed me, that in the rainy season two ravines hollowed in the neighbouring hill, but then dry, and which terminate at the source, conduct thither two torrents which increase its current; at some leagues distance from the place after-where it springs from the ground, and beyond the valley, the Rio Grande changes the direction of its course, and runs to the west. Boats, together with their crews and apparatus, projected into the air. The Dutch ship Gort-Moolen, commanded by Cornelius Gerard Ouwekaas, with a cargo of seven fish, was anchored in Greenland in the year 1660. The captain, perceiving a whale a-head of his ship, beckoned his attendants, and threw himself into a boat. He was the first to approach the whale and was fortunate enough to harpoon it before the arrival of the second boat, which was on the advance. Jacques Vienkes, who had the direction of it, joined his captain immediately afterwards, and prepared to make a second attack on the fish, when it should remount again to the surface. At the moment of its ascension, the boat of Vienkes happening unfortunately to be perpendicularly above it, was so suddenly and forcibly lifted up by a stroke of the head of the whale, that it was dashed to pieces before the harpooner could discharge his weapon. Vienkes flew along with the pieces of the boat, and fell upon the back of the animal. This intrepid seaman, who still retained his weapon in his grasp, harpooned the whale on which he stood; and, by means of the harpoon and the line, which he never abandoned, he steadied himself firmly upon the fish, notwithstanding his hazardous situation, and regardless of a considerable wound that he received in his leg, in his fall along Travels to the Sources of the Senegal and with the fragments of the boat. All the ef forts of the other boats to approach the whale, and deliver the harpooner, were futile. The captain, not seeing any other method of saving his unfortunate companion, who was in some way entangled with the line, called to him to cut it with his knife, and betake himself to swimming. Vienkes, embarrassed and disconcerted as he was, tried in vain to follow this counsel. His knife was in the pocket of his drawers; and, being unable to support himself with one hand, he could not get it out, The whale, mean while, continued advancing along the surface of the water with great rapidity, but fortunately never attempted to dive. While his comrades despaired of his life, the harpoon ground, and the earth echoed in a frightful JOURNAL OF THE BELLES LETTRES. 185 paces farther, it is only three fęet broad. from our view. Boukari and I stole along journey from Timbo, a mountainous counAfter ascertaining so important a point as the mountain, reached this thick wood, into try inhabited by Djaloukés ; in the woods the relative position of the sources of the which the rays of the sun liad never penetra- which separate Firia from Fouta Diallon, is Gambia and Rio Grande, at so short a dis-ted, and crossed the Senegal, which could the source of the Caba, supposed to be the tance from each other, I hastened to rejoin not be so much as four feet broad. Ascend- river of Sierra Leone. Boukari, who awaited us with an impatience ing the stream I perceived two basins, one Soliman, a mountainous country inhabited mingled with uneasiness ; we rejoiced toge- above the other, from which the water by Djalonkés, is ten days' journey from ther at not having met with any unpleasant gushed forth, and still higher a third, which Timbo. adventure; in fact, we had only seen a num- was only humid, as well as the channel that Kouranko, eight days' journey from Timber of oxen roving without herdsmen, in the led to the basin immediately below it. The bo, is a mountainous country inhabited by meadows contiguous to the sources of these. Negroes consider the upper basin as the Tomakés and Kourankos. The source of two rivers. principal source of the river. These three the Niger or Dialiba is situated in the The valley in which they are situated, springs were situated about the middle of woods which separate Soliman from Kouforms a kind of funnel, having no other out-. the side of the mountain. In the rainy ranko, eleven days' journey to the southlets than the two defiles by which the rivers season two ponds, at equal distances above east of the source of the Senegal. run off; man has never dared to use the axe the upper source, supply it with water by Liban is eight days' journey to the south in the woods which overshadow these two two deep channels. On the opposite side of of Timbo; it is a mountainous country, insprings, because the natives believe them to the mountain is a village called Tonkan. habited by Libankés; the rainy season there be inhabited by spirits; their respect for The Senegal, called Baleo (black river) in lasts but three months ; the corn harvest is these places is carried to such a pitch, that the Poula language, Bafing in Mandingo, in June. The king of this country has had they are careful not to enter them, and if which has the same signification, or Foura, a very narrow door constructed in front of any one had seen me penetrate within them, which means, simply the river, runs at first the fort which he occupies, and has placed a I should infallibly have been put to death. from north to south, then passes at a little very large stone behind it; such of his subFrom the situation of these two sources, in a distance to the south of Timbo, and after-jects, as in passing, touch the door-way or hasin, between high mountains, covered with wards pursues a western direction. On one tread on the stone, become slaves. When a ferruginous stones and cinders, and almost of the trees near its sources, I engraved the merchant goes to the king of Liban, this entirely destitute of verdure, I am led to date of the year in which I made this dis- prince takes all his merchandize, sends for conjecture that they occupy the crater of an covery. his subjects, and those who have touched extinct volcano. The ground which resounded under my feet, probably covers one of the tion picked up by the author is very Respecting the Niger, the informa- the door-way or the stone, are delivered to the merchant. abysses whence the fiery eruptions issued. A month's march to the cast of Fouta DiThe sources of the Falemé, called sured by a Marabout who had perform- Tokoro; the way to it passes through Balia, scanty. At a Poula village he is as- allon lies Maniana, the capital of which is Thené by the Poulas, is in the same ed a pilgrimage to Mecca, range, and was visited by the author Kankan, Toro, and Fabana. The Negroes on the 17th. That on this side of the river and beyond of Maniana are cannibals, according to the Tombuctoo, there are countries entirely statement of Mungo Park. When an inhabitant of this country is ill, bia and Rio Grande, in a basin surrounded charges itself into the Nile, and that its wa- they kill him and sell his flesh for gold, by mountains. The Falemé rises at the foot ters, after mingling with those of the river which is said to be abundant ; they also eat of a hillock situated to the west in an open of Egypt, pursue their course to the sea : the old men ; traders, nevertheless, visit spot; it runs to the south, and at a very these parts, bat in numerous caravans. And-in Fouta Jallon, among the geo- When a stranger dies they purchase his short distance enters an extremely thick wood; nine hundred paces loiver it receives graphical reports which he collected, corpse for the purpose of eating it. The the river Boié, then making a curve it turns and which we copy, it is mentioned, people of Maniani also cat spiders, and beenorthward and enters Dentilia. At the dis- To the north-east are situated ;-Dentilia, tles; they are tall, well proportioned, and tance of two gun-shots from the source to a country traversed by the Falemé, and inha- have good features ; they are said to worship the west, we saw the village of Kebali, and bited by Mandingos, who are Pagans. fire. The difficulty of keeping up any comtłrat of Tiambouria to the south-west. The Diallon, Sangala, Kooronia, mountainous munication with so barbarous a nation, renmountains which encircle the funnel whence countries inhabited by Djalonkés. ders European merchandize exorbitantly it issues contain iron-mines, and the neigh To the east lie :-Balia, eight days' jour dear there, they pay a hundred slaves for a bouring villages carry on a great trade in ney from Timbo, a flat country inhabited by gun. When the king wishes to purchase an that metal. Some of these mountains, like Djalonkés. expensive article, he goes to the villages, and those in the neighbourhood of the Gambia, Kankan, fifteen days' journey from Tim-orders the slaves who form his guard to put are bare and composed of ferruginous rocks; bo, a flat country inhabited by Mahomme- the man or woman whom he points out, in ashes of the same kind appear in the cavities tan Mandingos. On the frontiers of this irons ; and in this manner he frequently of their summits, and clumps of trecs are empire we find the village of Bourré, which carries away all the inhabitants of a village. seen at intervals. posseses, more gold than all Bondou and A negro from Sego, whom I saw at Geba, After residing some days at Timbo, Bambouk together. The Negroes dig deep assured me, that his king had entirely des to find the Mr. Mollien explored the head of the terraneous galleries. Senegal, of which he gives the annexed A great number of Serracolets are met Mr. Mollien erroneously places the description with in Kankan, a country, as rich in its kingdom of Massina to the East, instead Agreeabły to the instructions we had own productions as by the commerce that of the West of Timbuctoo ; and his received from the inhabitants of Dalaba, we it carries on with Sego and Tombuctoo, statement respecting our unfortunate proceeded to the north ; after traversing a which derive from it the wealth they are countryman Mungo Park, shows that fertilé plain watered by the Senegal, we cross- known to possess. ed this river, the shallow current of which Tangarari, ten days' journey from Timbo, which a Traveller in Africa ought to he was ill informed on a subject with flowed over a bed of sand and flints; we then a flat country inhabited by Pagan Poulas. began to climb a very steep mountain. We The English have there placed the sources have been well acquainted. were still far from the summit when Ali sud- of the Niger or Dialliba." This river, how- Two Poulas (he says) who had been to denly stopping shewed us on our left ata ever, is two gun-shots wide in the place this last city, gave me an account of the little distance from our track, a thicket of where they assert that it rises. route they had followed. On quitting Foutufted trees, which concealed the sources To the south-cast-are :--Firia, ten days' ta Diallon, they first entered Balia, where |