The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

sent every year, the expense would not be
alarming. When the way was once prepared,
and the native chiefs were made sensible of
the advantages of intercourse with us, trade
would speedily support itself.
It appears that a sum of one hundred pounds
was devoted to the purchase of articles suit
able as presents for the native chiefs. The
amount in our opinion was too small. We
strongly advise that whenever presents are
made they be of real intrinsic worth, and
good of their kind. The Africans will soon
learn the true value of their presents, and it
will be sound policy to give them such things
only as they will prize, and as will lead them
to ardently desire further intercourse with us.
The experience of some years past is so
highly favorable to the establishment and
spread of civilisation in Africa, as to well
deserve national encouragement. The natives
are evidently capable of very considerable
progress in industrial arts ; and in so unex
plored a country as Africa, what sources of
unimagined wealth may not be opened by in-
telligent enterprise? The benefits to be con•
ferred, not only on Africa itself, but on the
whole world, by developing the natural re-
sources of that mighty continent, are to bo
but faintly apprehended even in imagination
at the present time. A :commencement has
been made; and the saying of Lucian is true,
—" To begin is half the battle."
Of the two narratives, we think the pre-
ference is due to that of Mr. Hutchinson, as
being the most modest and lucid. But from
Dr. Baikie's volume we extract a paragraph
containing a fair summary of the results of
the expedition :

We have discovered a navigable river, an available high-
way, conducting us into the very heart of a large continent,
and by means of its branches and ramifications we are
brought into immediate contact with many thousand miles
of country. We have found these regions to be highly
favored by nature, teeming with animal life, and with
fertile soils abounding in valuable vegetable products, and
adapted by diversity of position, of elevation, and of cha-
meter for all the varied purposes of tropical agriculture.
We have met on friendly terms with numerous tribes, all
endowed by nature with what I may term the " commercial
faculty," ready and anxious to trade with us, and to supply
us from their inexhaustible stores with immense quanti-
ties of highly-prized articles, most valuable for various
economical appliances. We can likewise indicate a most
important outlet for home manufactures, as the unclad
millions of Central Africa must absorb thousands of car•
goes of soft goods, eagerly bartering their raw cotton, their
vegetable oils, and their ivory, for our calicoes and cloths.
Thus we can confidently point out for those who follow a
fresh field for energy and activity, an unbroken ground,
where both honour and riches may be reaped.
Both books would-have been the better for
a little more of that literary cultivation which
teaches that the first aim of such narratives is
to describe in the simplest manner the objects
witnessed. There are attempts at tine or
" gentish" writing in both books, which some
what detract from their intrinsic value.