the
14th December, the party, consisting of one hundred men, and two
hundred animals, landed at Kakundy, on the Rio Nunez; but before they
could begin their march, Major Peddie was attacked with fever, and
died. Captain Campbell, on whom the command devolved, proceeded on
the line proposed till he arrived at a small river, called the
Ponietta, on the frontier of the Foulah territory. By this time many
of the beasts of burden had sunk, and great difficulty was found in
obtaining a sufficient supply of provisions. The king of the Foulahs,
on being asked permission to pass through his territory, seemed
alarmed at hearing of so large a body of foreigners about to enter
his country. He contrived, under various pretexts, to detain them on
the frontier four months, during which their stock of food and
clothing gradually diminished, while they were suffering all the
evils that arise from a sickly climate and a scanty supply of
necessaries. At length, their situation became such as to place them
under the absolute necessity of returning. All their animals being
dead, it was necessary to hire the natives to carry their baggage, an
expedient which gave occasion to frequent pillage. They reached
Kakundy with the loss only of Mr. Kum-Doer, the naturalist; but
Captain Campbell, overcome by sickness and exertion, died two days
after, on the 13th of June 1817. The command was then transferred to
Lieutenant Stokoe, a spirited young naval officer, who had joined the
expedition as a volunteer. He had formed a new scheme for proceeding
into the interior; but unhappily he also sunk under the climate and
the fatigues of the, journey.

A sentence of death seemed pronounced against all, who should attempt
to penetrate the African continent, and yet were still some, daring
spirits, who did not shrink from the undertaking. Captain Gray, of
the Royal African corps, who had accompanied the last-mentioned
expedition, under Major Peddie and Captain Campbell, undertook, in
1818, to perform a journey by Park's old route along the Gambia. He
reached, without any obstacle, Boolibani, the capital of Bondou,
where he remained from the 20th June 1818 to the 22nd May 1819; but,
owing to the jealousy of the monarch, he was not permitted to proceed
any further. With some difficulty he reached Gallam, where he met
Staff-surgeon Dockard, who had gone forward to Sego, to ask
permission to proceed through Bambarra, a request which had also been
evaded. The who