ng information in every direction, Mr. Clarkson boarded a number of
vessels engaged in the African trade, and obtained specimens of the
natural productions of the country. The beauty of the cloth made from
African cotton, &c. enhanced his estimate of the skill and ingenuity of
the people, and gave a fresh stimulus to his exertions on their behalf.
He next visited a slave-ship; the rooms below, the gratings above, and
the barricade across the deck, with the explanation of their uses,
though the sight of them filled him with sadness and horror, gave new
energy to all his movements. In his indefatigable endeavours to collect
evidence and facts, he visited most of the sea-ports in the kingdom,
pursuing his great object with invincible ardour, although sometimes at
the peril of his life. The following circumstance, among others, evinces
the eminent degree in which he possessed that untiring perseverance, on
which the success of a great enterprise often depends.

"Clarkson and his friends had reason to fear that slaves brought from
the interior of Africa by certain rivers, had been kidnapped; and it was
deemed of great importance to ascertain the fact. A friend one day
mentioned to Mr. Clarkson, that he had, above twelve months before, seen
a sailor who had been up these rivers. The name of the sailor was
unknown, and all the friend could say was, that he was going to, or
belonged to, some man-of-war in ordinary. The evidence of this
individual was important, and, aided by his friend Sir Charles
Middleton, who gave him permission to board all the ships of war in
ordinary, Mr. Clarkson commenced his search:--beginning at Deptford, he
visited successfully Woolwich, Chatham, Sheerness, and Portsmouth;
examining in his progress the different persons on board upwards of two
hundred and sixty vessels, without discovering the object of his search.
The feelings under which the search was continued, and the success with
which it was crowned, he has himself thus described:--

"'Matters now began to look rather disheartening,--I mean as far as my
grand object was concerned. There was but one other port left, and this
was between two and three hundred miles distant. I determined, however,
to go to Plymouth. I had already been more successful in this tour, with
respect to obtaining general evidence, than in any other of the same
length; and the probability was, that as I should continue to move among
the same kind of people, my success wo