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lower parts of the Zaire, extensive forests of mangrove existed, and that this wood possessed the peculiar quality of burning in a green state better than when dry; but it was not known to what extent upwards these forests might reach; though it was reasonable to conclude, that, in an equinoxial climate, where water was to be found, wood was not likely to be wanting. At the same time,' observes the editor, it could not escape notice that the labour of felling and preparing fuel for the boiler of a steam-engine, to the amount of about three tons a day, in such a climate, might be fully as fatiguing, and in all probability more fatal, to the crew, than the occasional operation of rowing.' As an auxiliary, however, there could be no objection; but a difficulty seems to have arisen as to the particular construction of a vessel that should, at one and the same time, be adapted to the flats and shallows of a river navigation, and to proceed across the Atlantic. Many naval men were of opinion, that a vessel of this description could not with safety be navigated across the Bay of Biscay, and, both before and after she was built, sinister bodings were conceived and uttered.* Mr. Sep

pings,

* When it is recollected that Captain Bligh, with seventeen persons besides himself, navigated in his launch twelve hundred leagues-and Captain Inglefield, with eleven others in a leaky pinnace, having one of the gunwales staved, two hundred and fifty leagues in the middle of the Western Ocean, without compass, quadrant, or sail, safety may be said to depend less on the vehicle than on good management. Of all the feats of navigation on record, however, that of Diogo Botelho Perreira, in the early period of 1536-7, stands pre-eminent; it is extracted from the voluminous Decades of Diogo de Couto, whose work, though abounding with much curious matter, like those of most of the old Portugueze writers, has not been fortunate enough to obtain an English translation. We are indebted to a friend for pointing it out to us, and we conceive it will be read with interest.

In the time of the vice-royalty of Don Francisco de Almeyda there was a young gentleman in India of the name of Diogo Botelho Perreira, son of the commander of Cochin, who educated him with great care, so that he soon became skilled in the art of navigation, and an adept in the construction of marine charts. As he grew up, he felt anxious to visit Portugal, where, on his arrival, he was well received at court, and the king took pleasure in conversing with him on those subjects which had been the particular objects of his studies. Confident of his own talents, and presuming on the favour with which the king always treated him, he ventured one day to request his majesty to appoint him commander of the fortress of Chaul. The king smiled at his request, and replied, that "the command of fortresses was not for pilots." Botelho was piqued at this answer, and, on returning into the anti-chamber, was met by Don Antonio Noronha, second son of the Marquis of Villa Real, who asked him if his suit had been granted: he answered, "Sir, I will apply where my suit will not be neglected." When this answer came to the ears of the king, he immediately ordered Botelho to be confined in the castle of Lisbon, lest he should follow the example of Megalhaens, and go over to Spain. There he remained a prisoner until the admiral viceroy, Don Vasco da Gama, solicited his release, and was permitted to take him to India; but on the express condition that he should not return to Portugal, except by special permission. Under these unpleasant circumstances this gentleman proceeded to India, anxious for an opportunity of distinguishing himself, that he might be permitted again to visit Portugal.

It happened about this time that the Sultan Badur, sovereign of Cambaya, gave the governor, Nuno da Cunha, permission to erect a fortress on the island of Diu, an ob

ject

pings, however, undertook to build such a vessel; but owing to some misconception, as to the weight of the engine, and draught of water,

ject long and anxiously wished for, as being of the greatest importance to the security of the Portugueze possessions in India. Botelho was aware how acceptable this information would be to the king, and therefore deemed this a favourable opportunity of regaining his favour, by conveying such important intelligence; and he resolved to perform the voyage in a vessel so small, and so unlike what had ever appeared in Portugal, that it should not fail to excite astonishment, how any man could undertake so long and perilous a navigation, in such a frail and diminutive bottom.

Without communicating his scheme to any person, he procured a fusta, put a deck on it from head to stern, furnished it with spare sails and spars, and every other necessary, and constructed two small tanks for water.

As soon as the monsoon served, he embarked with some men in his service, giving out that he was going to Melinde; and, to give colour to this story, he proceeded to Baticala, where he purchased come cloths and beads for that market, and laid in provisions; some native merchants also embarked with a few articles on board for the Me-linde market, to which he did not choose to object, lest it should alarm his sailors.

He set sail with the eastern monsoon, in the beginning of October, and arrived safely at Melinde, where he landed the native merchants, took in wood, water, and refreshments, and again put to sea, informing his crew that he was going to Quiloa. When he had got to a distance from the land, it would appear that some of his crew had mutinied; but this he had foreseen and provided for; putting some of them in irons, and promising at the same time amply to reward the services of the rest, and giving them to understand that he was going to Sofala on account of the trade in gold. Thus he proceeded, touching at various places for refreshments, which he met with in great plenty and very cheap.

From Sofala he proceeded along the coast till he had passed the Cabo dos Correntes, and from thence along the shore, without ever venturing to a distance from the land, and touching at the different rivers, until he passed the Cape of Good Hope, which he did in January 1537.

From thence he stretched into the ocean with gentle breezes, steering for St. Helena; where, on arriving, he drew his little vessel ashore, to clean her bottom and repair her, and also to give a few days' rest to his crew, of whom some had perished of cold, notwithstanding his having provided warm clothing for them.

'Departing from St. Helena, he boldly steered his little bark across the wide ocean, directing his career to St. Thomè, where he took in provisions, wood, and water; and from thence proceeded to the bar of Lisbon, where he arrived in May, when the king was at Almeyrin.-He entered the river with his oars, his little vessel being dressed with flags and pendants, and anchored at Point Leira, opposite to Salvaterra, not being able to get farther up the river. This novelty produced such a sensation in Lisbon that the Tagus was covered with boats to see the fusta. Diogo Botelho Perreira landed in a boat, and proceeded to Almeyrin, to give the king an account of his voyage, and solicit a gratification for the good news which he brought, of his majesty now being possessed of a fortress on the island of Diu.

The king was highly pleased with this intelligence, but, as Botelho brought no letters from the governor, he did not give him the kind of reception which he had expected.On the contrary, the king treated him with coldness and distance; his majesty, however, embarked to see the fusta, on board of which he examined every thing with much attention, and was gratified in viewing a vessel of such a peculiar form, and ordered money and clothes to be given to the sailors-nor could he help considering Diogo Botelho as a man of extraordinary enterprise and courage, on whose firmness implicit reliance might be placed.

The little vessel was ordered to be drawn ashore at Sacabem, where it remained many years, (until it fell to pieces,) and was visited by people from all parts of Europe, who beheld it with astonishment. The king subsequently received letters from the governor of Nuno da Cunha, confirming the news brought by Botelho; the bearer of these letters, a Jew, was immediately rewarded with a pension of a hundred and forty

milreas

water, the utmost speed at which the vessel could be propelled on the Thames, when complete, was little more than five miles an hour; and as this rate of proceeding could not be considered to compensate in any way for the great incumbrance of a machine, which occupied one third part of the whole vessel, it was very properly determined to get rid of it altogether.

A circumstance connected with the plan on which the vessel was constructed is deserving of particular notice, as it tends to shew how very little progress has yet been made in determining the shape of bodies which, in all cases, shall be calculated to move in fluids with least resistance. That of the Congo (for so she was named) is stated to have resembled pretty nearly the form of a horse-trough; and yet Captain Tuckey says that, in sailing from the Nore to the Downs, she beat every vessel which sailed with her; that she scarcely felt her sails, was perfectly safe at sea, and in the worst weather always dry and comfortable. It is worthy of notice,' adds the editor, that the principle on which the Congo was built is very similar to that for which the late Lord Stanhope so strongly contended, as being the most proper for ships of war, uniting, in one body, strength, stability, stowage, accommodation for the ple, and a light draught of water: but Lord Stanhope's ideas were rejected by a committee of naval officers, as crude and visionary, with the exception of one individual.'

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The Dorothea transport, now employed, with happier auspices, we trust, on the Polar expedition, was appointed to accompany the Congo into the river Zaire, with the boats, presents, provisions, and such other articles as were deemed necessary for the prosecution of the enterprize. Mathematical and philosophical instruments of various descriptions were provided; and in addition to the naval officers, consisting of Captain Tuckey, the commander; Mr. Hawkey, lieutenant; and Mr. Fitzmaurice, master and surveyor; two master's mates, an assistant-surgeon and purser; the following men of science were embarked:-Mr. Professor Smith, botanist; Mr. Cranch, collector of objects of natural history; Mr. Tudor, comparative anatomist, and Mr. Lockhart, a gardener from the King's botanical garden at Kew; besides two natives of Congo.

milreas; but Botelho was neglected for many years, and at last appointed commander of St. Thome, and finally made captain of Cananor in India, that he might be at a distance from Portugal.'

The vessel named fusta is a long, shallow, Indian-built row-boat, which uses latine sails in fine weather. These boats are usually open, but Botelho covered his with a deck its dimensions, according to Lavanha, in his edition of De Barros' unfinished Decade, is as follows:-length, 22 palmos, or 16 feet 6 inches. Breadth, 12 palmos, or 9 feet. Depth, 6 palmos, or 4 feet 6 inches. Bligh's boat was 23 feet long-6 feet 9 inches broad, and 2 feet 9 inches deep. From the circumstance mentioned of some of his crew having perished with cold, it is probable that they were natives of India, whom the Portugueze were in the habit of bringing home as part of their crew. The

VOL. XVIII. NO. XXXVI.

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The crew consisted of eight petty officers, six artificers, fourteen able seamen, a serjeant, a corporal, and twelve privates of marines, making in all fifty-six persons, of whom twenty-one were doomed never to return. 'Never,' says the editor, 'Never,' says the editor, was an expedition of discovery sent out with more flattering hopes of success;' yet, by a fatality almost inexplicable, never were the results of an expedition more melancholy and disastrous.' Captain Tuckey, Lieutenant Hawkey, Mr. Eyre (purser), and ten (eleven) of the Congo's crew,Professor Smith, Mr. Cranch, Mr. Tudor, and Mr. Galwey, (a volunteer,) in all eighteen persons, died in the short space of three months! Two had died in the passage outwards, and the serjeant of marines survived only till the vessels reached Bahia.

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This great mortality is the more extraordinary, as it appears from Captain Tuckey's journal that nothing could be finer than the climate, the thermometer never descending lower than 60° of Fahrenheit during the night, and seldom exceeding 76° in the day-time; the atmosphere remarkably dry; scarcely a shower falling during the whole of the journey; and the sun sometimes for three or four days not shewing himself sufficiently clear to enable them to get an observation.'-p. xliii.

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So little indeed were they incommoded by heat, or rain or a moist atmosphere, that Captain Tuckey, writing from the Cataracts in the middle of August, after an excursion of several days, observes, 'the climate is so good, and the nights so pleasant, that we feel no inconvenience from our bivouac in the open air.' Mr. McKerrow, the surgeon, reports that although the greater number were carried off by a most violent fever of the remittent type, some of them appeared to have no other ailment than that which had been caused by extreme fatigue; and actually died of exhaustion. This was probably the case with Captain Tuckey; but those who remained in the lower part of the river, with the ship, caught the fever, as it would seem, through their own imprudence. They were permitted to go on shore; where the day was passed in running about the country from one village to another, and the night commonly in the open air; and though the dews were scarcely sensible at this season, the fall of the thermometer was very considerable, 15° or 20° below that of the day.'-'Spirituous liquors,' it is added, 'were not to be obtained; but excesses of another kind were freely indulged, to which they were prompted by the native blacks, who were always ready to give up their sisters, daughters, or even their wives, for the hope only of getting in return a small quantity of spirits.' From the general symptoms, the Congo fever would appear to be nearly allied to the yellow fever of the West Indies. Its most prominent features are thus described by the surgeon.

"The fever, as I observed it in those who were attacked on board, was generally ushered in by cold rigors, succeeded by severe headache, chiefly confined to the temples and across the forehead; in some cases,

pain of the back and lower extremities, great oppression at the præcordia, and bilious vomiting, which in many cases proved extremely distressing; but in general, where the headache was very severe, the gastric symptoms were milder, and vice versa, though in some, both existed in a violent degree. Great anxiety and prostration of strength, the eyes in general watery, though in some the tunica conjunctiva was of a pearly lustre; the tongue at first white and smooth, having a tremulous motion when put out, and shortly becoming yellowish or brown, and in the last stage covered with a black crust; in some cases the face was flushed, though frequently pale, and the features rather shrunk. The skin in some cases dry and pungent, with a hard and frequent pulse; in others the pulse below the natural standard, with a clammy perspiration on the surface. In several a yellow suffusion took place from the third to the sixth or seventh day; in one case livid blotches appeared on the wrists and ankles. The delirium was most commonly of the low kind, with great aversion from medicine. Singultus, a common and distressing symptom. The fatal termination in some happened as early as the third or fourth, but in others was protracted even to the twentieth day. With regard to the treatment, I shall here only observe, that bleeding was particularly unsuccessful. Cathartics were of the greatest utility; and calomel, so administered as speedily to induce copious salivation, generally procured a remission of all the violent symptoms; when I found it immediately necessary to give bark and wine."-p. xlv. xlvi.

The body of the work consists of the Journals of Captain Tuckey and Professor Smith,-that of the former being given, as we are told, 'just as it came from the hands of its author, not a sentence having been added or suppressed, nor the least alteration made therein, beyond the correction of some trifling error in grammar or orthography;' that of the latter is a translation, by Dr. Rydberg, of 'the original minutes and observations of the Professor, as they appear to have been entered, from day to day, in a small pocket memorandum book, written in the Danish language, and in so small and ill-formed a character as in some places to be perfectly illegible,'circumstances which cannot fail to insure that indulgence which the editor is desirous of bespeaking for the ill-fated writer. To these journals are added some general observations resulting from the information contained in them, and in the detached notes of the other officers and naturalists employed in this expedition. They comprehend a concise and condensed view of the nature of the Zaire, and of the country through which it flows; of the question as to its northern origin and identity with the Niger, as far as may be deduced from the information acquired, and the observations made, on the present expedition; and of the inhabitants and the natural history of the district along the line of the river. An Appendix follows, containing-1. A vocabulary of the Malemba and Embomma languages. 2. Observations on the genus Ocythoë of Rafinesque,

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