of the once important city. "At length," he says, "we arrived
safely at Timbuktu, just as the sun was touching the horizon. I now
saw this capital of the Sudan, to reach which had so long been the
object of my wishes. To God alone did I confide my joy. I looked around
and found that the sight before me did not answer my expectations.
I had formed a totally different idea of the grandeur and wealth of
it. The city presented nothing but a mass of ill-looking houses, built
of earth. Nothing was to be seen in all directions but immense plains
of quicksand of a yellowish white colour. The sky was a pale red as
far as the horizon, all nature wore a dreary aspect, and the most
profound silence prevailed: not even the warbling of a bird was to
be heard. The heat was oppressive; not a breath of air freshened the
atmosphere. This mysterious city, which has been the object of
curiosity for many ages, and of whose civilisation, population, and
trade with the Sudan such exaggerated notions have prevailed, is
situated in an immense plain of white sand, having no vegetation but
stunted trees and shrubs, and has no other resources save its trade
in salt."

[Illustration: THE FIRST EUROPEAN PICTURE OF TIMBUKTU. From a drawing
in Caille's _Tomboctou_, 1829.]

It is curious to note what a burst of interest was aroused in England
at this time with regard to Timbuktu. Thackeray wrote in 1829--

"In Africa (a quarter of the world)
Men's skins are black, their hair is crisp and curl'd;
And somewhere there, unknown to public view,
A mighty city lies, called Timbuktu."

while the same year Tennyson's poem on Timbuktu won for him the prize
at Cambridge University for the best poem of the year.

CHAPTER LVI

RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER DISCOVER THE MOUTH OF THE NIGER

Lander, the "faithful attendant of the late Captain Clapperton," as
he is called in his instructions, was burning to be off again to explore
further the mysterious Niger. No pecuniary reward was to be his; he
was a poor man, and just for the love of exploring the unknown he started
off. He had inspired his brother with a desire to solve the great
mystery; so on 22nd February 1830 the two brothers arrived at Cape
Coast Castle and made their way to Bussa, which place they entered
on 18th June. Sitting on a rock overlooking the spot where Mungo Park
had perished, the brothers resolved to "set at rest for ever the great
question of the course and termination