the effects of his former journey, was yet only in a state of convalescence, was appointed to undertake a second embassy for the purpose of procuring Sannassee's release from captivity. On arriving at the camp of the Soolima army, he was informed that the unfortunate Sannassee had been set at liberty after his town had been burnt, and that his life had been spared only from the fear of offending the British governor.

While upon the second mission, he had observed that many men who accompanied the Soolima army possessed considerable quantities of gold; and having learned that ivory abounded in Soolima, he suggested to the governor the advantages to the colony of opening an intercourse with these people, remarking, that such an attempt would not be attended with much hazard or expense, and that a great object would be attained by the knowledge of many countries to the eastward of the colony, which, like that of the Soolimas, was known only by name. This suggestion was submitted to the council, who approved the undertaking, and left it to the judgment of the traveller to pursue his own route. He was now as much a volunteer traveller as before he had been a volunteer officer; nay, more so, being in fact allowed to prosecute his own enterprise in his This third mission, upon which he set out from Sierra Leone on the 16th of April, 1822, led him to penetrate through a far more extensive tract of country than before, much of it previously unexplored, but which is particularly described, together with the inhabitants, their manners, customs, &c. in his highly-interesting journal, published only three years

own way.

since; its publication having been retarded, first, by his being called into active service during the unfortunate Ashantee war, and subsequently by his being hurried off on his last great enterprise, when he was compelled to leave the superintendence of its publication to his friend captain Sabine.

While at Falaba, upon his third embassy, he received intelligence of his promotion to the rank of captain, and immediately on his return to Sierra Leone, in the autumn of 1822, he was ordered to join his regiment on the Gold Coast, where he was employed in the command of a considerable native force on the frontier of the Ashantee country, and was frequently engaged with detachments of the Ashantee army.

Upon the death of sir Charles M'Carthy, in 1824, captain Laing was sent to England to acquaint the government with the state of the command in Africa. At this period, he obtained a short leave of absence to revisit Scotland, and returned to London in October, 1824.

An opportunity now presented itself, which he had long anxiously desired, of proceeding, under the auspices of government, on an expedition to discover the course and termination of the Niger. He was promoted to the rank of major, and departed from London on that enterprise early in February, 1825, with the intention of leaving Tripoli for Timbuctoo in the course of the summer of that year. In the progress of the intercourse which he necessarily had with the family of Mr. Warrington, the British consul at Tripoli, an attachment arose between the major and the consul's accomplished daughter. The parties, it will be recollected, were utter strangers to each other

but a few weeks before: there was no time for protracted courtship; and on the 14th of July, 1825, major Laing was married to Miss Emma Maria Warrington. But the eve of their marriage was also the eve of his departure upon that mission from which he was doomed never to return. The second day after the nuptials he set out.

From the time of his leaving Tripoli until he reached Tuat, which he was forced to do by a circuitous route, letters were frequently received from him. At length, on the 18th of August, 1826, he reached Timbuctoo; and on the 21st of September, he addressed the following letter, the last that was ever received from him, to his father-in-law, Mr. Warrington:

"My dear Consul;-A very short epistle must serve to apprise you, as well as my dearest Emma, of my arrival at, and departure from, the great capital of central Africa; the former of which events took place on the 18th ult.-the latter will take place, please God, at an early hour to-morrow morning. I have abandoned all thoughts of retracing my steps to Tripoli, and came here with an intention of proceeding to Jenne by water; but this intention has been entirely upset, and my situation in Timbuctoo rendered exceedingly unsafe, by the unfriendly disposition of the Foulahs of Massina, who have this year upset the dominion of the Tuaric, and made themselves patrons of Timbuctoo, and whose sultan, Bello, has expressed his hostility towards me in no equivocal terms, in a letter which Al Saidi Boubokar, the sheik of this town, received from him a few days after my arrival. He has now got intelligence of Vol. LXXI.

my being in Timbuctoo; and as a party of Foulahs are hourly expected, Al Saidi Boubokar, who is an excellent good man, and who trembles for my safety, has strongly urged my immediate departure; and I am sorry to say that the notice has been so short, and I have so much to do previous to going away, that this is the only communication I shall, for the present, be able to make. My destination is Sego, whither I hope to arrive in fifteen days; but I regret to say the road is a vile one, and my perils are not yet at an end; but my trust is in God, who has hitherto borne me up amidst the severest trials, and protected me amidst the numerous dangers to which I have been exposed.

I have no time to give you any account of Timbuctoo, but shall briefly state, that, in every respect, except in size (which does not exceed four miles in circumference), it has completely met my expectations. Kabra is only five miles distant, and is a neat town, situated on the very margin of the river. I have been busily employed during my stay, searching the records in the town, which are abundant, and in acquiring information of every kind; nor is it with any common degree of satisfaction that I say my perseverance has been amply rewarded. I am now convinced that my hypothesis, concerning the termination of the Niger is correct.

May God bless you all! I shall write you fully from Sego, as also my lord Bathurst; and I rather apprehend that both letters will reach you at one time, as none of the Ghadamis merchants leave Timbuctoo for two months to come. Again, may God bless you all! My dear Emma must excuse my

2 M

This letter was left behind at Timbuctoo, and appears to have been brought by the nephew of Babani, together with an important document in Arabic, of which the following is the substance:-

"About a month after their safe arrival at Timbuctoo (Laing and young Moktah,) the prince of the faithful, Sultan Ahmad, Ben Mohammed Labo, the lord and sovereign of all those countries, wrote a letter to his lieutenant-governor Osman, containing as follows:

"I have heard that a Christian intends coming to you; but whether he has already arrived or not I do not know. You must prevent him from arriving, if he has not reached you; and if he has, you must expel him the country in such a manner as to leave him no hope of returning to our countries, because I have received a letter from the tribe of Foulah, containing a caution against allowing Christians to come into the Mussulman countries in Soudan; which letter was written in the East, and contained an account of the mischiefs and impieties by which they have corrupted Spain and other countries."

"When governor Osman received this letter he could not but obey it. He therefore engaged a sheik of the Arabs of the desert, named Ahmad, son of Obeid-allah, son of Rehal, of Soliman Barbooshi, to go out with the Christian, and protect him as far as the town of Arwan. Barbooshi accordingly went with him from Timbuctoo; but on arriving at his own residence,

and took possession of all his property. This is within our knowledge, who know the affair, and have seen the letter of the prince of the faithful, sultan Ahmad Labo."

This document is attested in Timbuctoo by fifteen signatures. The following examination, by the British consul, of Bungola, who represents himself as the servant of the late major Laing, professes to give the catastrophe of this melancholy story :

"What is your name?-Bungola. "Were you major Laing's servant? Yes (and he produced the following paper) :

"Azoad, 2nd July, 1826. "I promise to pay the bearer, Bungola, the sum of six dollars per month, from the 15th of Dec. 1825, till my return to Ghadamis; or on the failure of that event, till the 15th of Dec. 1826: previously deducting fifty dollars, which I paid for his freedom.

"A. GORDON LAING.' "Were you with major Laing at the first attack? Yes, and wounded. (Showing his head.)

"Did you remain with him at Mooktars?—Yes.

"Did you accompany him from thence to Timbuctoo?—Yes.

"How was he received at Timbuctoo?-Well.

"How long did he remain at Timbuctoo?-About two months. "Did you leave Timbuctoo with major Laing?—Yes.

Who went with you? - A koffle of Arabs.

"In what direction did you go? The sun was on my right cheek. "Did you know where you were going-To Sansanding.

"Did you see any water, and were you molested ?We saw no.

water, nor were we molested till the night of the third day, when the Arabs of the country attacked and killed my master.

"Was any one killed besides your master?-I was wounded, but cannot say if any were killed. "Were you sleeping near your master? Yes.

"How many wounds had your master? I cannot say; they were all with swords; and in the morning I saw the head had been cut off. "Did the person who had charge of your master commit the murder? -Sheik Burbasch, who accompanied the Rels, killed him, being assisted by his black servants with swords, when asleep.

"What did the sheik then do? -He went on to his country. An Arab took me back to Timbuctoo.

"What property had your master when he was killed?-Two camels: one carried the provisions; the other carried my master and his bags.

"Where were your master's papers?In his bag.

"Did you endeavour to preserve them?-I was so stunned with the wound, I never thought of the

By the following statement, however, from the "Semaphore," of Marseilles, it appears that the above-named Hassouna D'Ghies is strongly suspected of having been an accessary to major Laing's assassination, and of having obtained the unfortunate traveller's papers, and subsequently disposed of them to the French consul.

"It was about three years ago, that major Laing, son-in-law of colonel Warrington, consul-general of England in Tripoli quitted that city, where he left his young wife, and penetrated into the interior of Africa. After having crossed the chain of Mount Atlas, the country of Fezzan, the desert of Lempta, the Sahara, and the kingdom of Ahades, he arrived at the city of Timbuctoo, where he fixed his abode for some time, and had composed the journal of his travels. He was preparing to return to Tripoli, when he was attacked by Africans, who were watching for him in the desert. Laing, who had but a weak escort, defended himself with courage: but in this engagement he lost his right hand, which was struck off by the blow of a yatagan. Not long afterwards, some people of Ghadamis, who had formed part of the major's escort, arrived at Tripoli, and informed colonel Warrington that his relation had been assassinated in the desert. An uncertain report was soon spread that the papers of major Laing had been brought to Tripoli by people of Ghadamis; and that a Turk, named Hassouna D'Ghies, had mysteriously received them. Colonel Warrington was long engaged in persevering researches, and at length succeeded in finding a clue to this horrible mystery. The Pacha, at his request, ordered the people who 2 M 2

had made part of the major's escort to be brought from Ghadamis. The truth was at length on the point of being known; but this truth was too formidable to Hassouna D'Ghies for him to dare to await it, and he therefore took refuge in the abode of Mr. Coxe, the consul of the United States. The Pacha sent word to Mr. Coxe, that he recognised the inviolability of the asylum granted to Hassouna; but that the evidence of the latter being necessary in the prosecution of the proceedings relative to the assassination of major Laing, he begged him not to favour his flight. Colonel Warrington wrote to his colleague to the same effect. How ever, Hassouna D'Ghies left Tripoli on the 9th of August, in the night, in the disguise, it is said, of an American officer, and took refuge on board the United States corvette Fairfield, captain Parker, which was then in the roads of Tripoli, and weighed anchor on the 10th of August, in the morning.

"The Pacha, enraged at the escape of Hassouna, summoned to his palace Mohamed D'Ghies, brother of the fugitive, and there, in the presence of his principal officers, commanded him to declare the truth. Mohamed fell at his master's feet, and declared upon oath, and in writing, that his brother Hassouna had had major Laing's papers in his possession; but that he had delivered them up to Baron Rousseau, for a deduction of forty per cent on the debts which he had contracted in France, and the recovery of which this person was endeavouring to obtain by legal proceedings.

"The declaration of Mohamed

extends to three pages, containing details respecting the delivery of the papers of the unfortunate major, and all the circumstances of this strange transaction.

The shape and the size of the major's papers are indicated with the most minute exactness; it is stated that these papers were taken from him near Timbuctoo, and subsequently delivered to the person above mentioned entire, and without breaking the seals of red wax.

"Mohamed, however, after he had left the palace, fearing that the Pacha, in his anger, would make him answerable for his brother's crime, hastened to seek refuge in the house of Baron Rousseau, and to implore his protection. Soon afterwards the consul-general of the Netherlands, accompanied by his colleagues the consuls-general of Sweden, Denmark, and Sardinia, proceeded to the residence of the person pointed out as the receiver, and in the name of colonel Warrington, and by virtue of the declaration of Mohamed, called upon him instantly to restore major Laing's papers. He answered haughtily, that this declaration was only a tissue of calumnies ; and Mohamed, on his side, retracted his declaration, and even went so far as to deny his own hand-writing.

"The Pacha, in a transport of rage, sent to Mohamed his own son, Sidi Ali. Mohamed, threatened with being seized by the chiaoux, retracted his retractation; and, in a new declaration, in the presence of all the consuls, confirmed that which he had made in the morning before the Pacha and his officers,'