departure--arrives at Jillifree, on the Gambia River--proceeds to
Vintain,--Some account of the Feloops.--Proceeds up the river for
Jonkakonda--arrives at Dr. Laidley's.--Some account of Pisania, and the
British factory established at that place.--The Author's employment
during his stay at Pisania--his sickness and recovery--the country
described--prepares to set out for the interior._


Soon after my return from the East Indies, in 1793, having learned that
the noblemen and gentlemen, associated for the purpose of prosecuting
Discoveries in the Interior of Africa, were desirous of engaging a person
to explore that continent by the way of the Gambia River, I took
occasion, through means of the President of the Royal Society, to whom I
had the honour to be known, of offering myself for that service; I had
been informed, that a gentleman of the name of Houghton, a captain in the
army, and formerly fort-major at Goree, had already sailed to the Gambia,
under the direction of the association, and that there was reason to
apprehend he had fallen a sacrifice to the climate, or perished in some
contest with the natives; but this intelligence, instead of deterring me
from my purpose, animated me to persist in the offer of my services with
the greater solicitude. I had a passionate desire to examine into the
productions of a country so little known, and to become experimentally
acquainted with the modes of life and character of the natives. I knew
that I was able to bear fatigue, and I relied on my youth, and the
strength of my constitution, to preserve me from the effects of the
climate. The salary which the committee allowed was sufficiently large,
and I made no stipulation for future reward. If I should perish in my
journey, I was willing that my hopes and expectations should perish with
me; and if I should succeed in rendering the geography of Africa more
familiar to my countrymen, and in opening to their ambition and industry