f the thigh. He died on the 2nd February. His
clothes and papers were all lost.

"Various conjectures have been urged as to the probable cause of this
cold-blooded and heartless attack on Lander and his party. Some
persons imagine that the natives had been stimulated to the
perpetration of this disgraceful deed by the Portuguese and South
American slave dealers, who have considerable influence in the
country, and whose interests would unquestionably decline by the
introduction into the interior of British subjects and British
manufactures. It is, however, generally supposed that the hostility
of the natives may be in some degree traced to the shameful and
scandalous conduct of some of the Liverpool merchants, who had used
their private influence to poison the minds of the natives by
attributing particular motives to the travellers, which were at
variance with the interests of the country, and subversive of the
authority of the chiefs. Nor is this scarcely a matter of doubt,
when we peruse the following extract from a letter addressed by John
Lander to the editor of the Literary Gazette.

"I cannot close this letter, without apprising you of a fact, which
will appear incredible to you. Can you believe me when I assert, on
the most unquestionable authority, that there are merchants here (the
letter was dated from Liverpool) so heartless and inhuman as to
instruct the masters of their vessels who trade to the African coast
_to refuse any assistance to the expedition of which it may stand in
need; to reject all letters that may be sent from the parties
connected with it, and, in fine, to hold no communication whatever
with the steamers or the brig_, does it not startle you, that
jealousy and selfishness can go so far? Believe me, I blush at the
reflection of a crime so hideous and un-English like as this?" In a
postscript, John Lander says, "The fact of the merchants'
instructions to the masters of their vessels may be safely depended
on. Nothing can be more true. They have gone even farther than I have
ventured to hint. _They have taken measures to prejudice the minds of
the natives against the expedition_."

Thus is human life, thus are the interests of science sacrificed on
the shrine of a sordid love of gain and pelf. It is true that the
merit of the fitting out of the expedition belongs to the
enterprising spirit and the liberality of a few Liverpool merchants,
but greatly indeed is that merit eclipsed, in a genera