The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-04-02 00:00:00

ANTIQUITIES.

A few months ago, as some workmen were digging the
foundations of a malt-kiln about to be erected at Grimsby,
by Lord Yarborough, for Mr. Win. Gooseman, they found
in a good state of preservation an ivory figure of St. James,
amongst a considerable quantity of squared stones, which
appeared to have been the foundation of some ancient
building. - And last week, near the same place, amongst
some similar old foundations, was found another piece of
antiquity, representing a half figure of our Saviour, as he
hung dead upon the cress, the lower part having been evi-
dently broken Off. The ribs of hes naked body are perfect,
and the upper surface of the bead has been perforated all
round, to Imitate, it shookl seem, the punctures occasioned
by the crown of thorns.—From the antiquarian investi-
gation recently made by the Reverend George Oliver, at
Grimsby, we learn that on this spot in ancient times stood
the mansion of John Empringham, Esq. who purchased it
in the year 1408 of the Prioress of St. Leonard's nunnery.
This gentleman was a very opulent resident at Grimsby,
and being charitably disposed, contributed liberally to toe
churches and religious houses in that place. In conjunc-
tion with John Kingston, Esq. he erected the present
tower of St. James's Church; on the highest turret of
which the following inspription still remains
Prie for ye. sautle of Jhop Hen.peryoga'.
It is uncertain at what precise period this noble mansion
was entirely desolated. In the reign of King Henry the
Eighth, the property of the two above-named families be-
came united by the marriage of John Kingston, Esq.
with the only daughter and heiress of the Empringham
family. and it is probable that the house was then left un-
occupied. At the visit of that monarch to Grimsby in
1341, the building was in ruins, and a precept was issued
' by the command of Henry for its re-edification. The de-
sign, however, was never accomplished, for in the time of
Gervarc Holler, the Grimsby antiquary, (in whom the pro-
perty was vested as the son and heir-at-law of Sir Fretch-
ville Rolle; who married the only daughter of John King-
ston, Esq.) it had been taken down, and the materials ap-
plied to other purposes. It may be therefore concluded
with much probabi•ity that this antique building fill to de-
cay immediately subsequent to the dissolution of the mo-
nasteries, and that these curious relics of papistical super-
stition have been hidden beneath the surface of the earth
during the period of 300 years.

Yesterday being Good Friday, the Princess Augusta
attended Divine Service at the Chapel Royal, St. James's.
Yesterday the Duchess of Gloucester and the Princess
Sophia visited the l'rincess Augusta.
The Earl of Craven is seriously indisposed at his house
in Charles-street.

It was the Honourable Mr. Spencer that arrived a few
days since at the Foreign Office, Downing-street, from the
British Embassy at the Court of Vienna.
The Duke of Northumberland's state liveries, prepared
expressly for his numerous servants, who are to attend his
Grace at the coronation of the King of France, are finished,
sod ate very splendid indeed. The dress intended to be
worn by the Nbble Duke on this occasion is so costly and
superb, that it is said to eclipse the celebrated ancient
Hungarian jacket worn by the elder Prince Esterhazy at
the coronation of his present Majesty.
The Marquis of Anglesey has presented the Reverend
Charles Bowle to the Vicarage of Alilhorne Port, vacant
by the resignation of the Bishop of Hereford.
The Hon. General Stephen Mahon has signified his in-
tention to contest the county of Roscommon at the next
election, as long as there is a freeholder to be brought for-
Ward.

Visa Foote set of for Liverpool en Thursday, to sing on
Monday end Tuesday next, at Wilson's Concert Rooms,
which are then to be opened for the first time. She was
accompanied by her mother.
The 'f riennial Meeting of the three Choir!, of Hereford,
Worcester, and Qloncester, being appointed to take place
at Hereford this year, the following were appointed Stew-
ard.. for the Meeting in September next :—The Honour-
able R. A. Clive, M.P. Oakley Park ; T. H. Symons, Esq.
Wynde Part ; John Bansehy, Fsg. Brockhampton ' • the
Lord Bishop of Chichester, Dean of Hereford ; the Rev.
H. Huntingford, Prebendary of Hereford; and the Rev.
H. Wetherell, Rector of Thruxton.

EARLY RISING CLVL—A society has been formed at
Montreal under this title, whose professed object is the
preservation of health. Members indulging in bed beyond
a certain hour, not being able to assign good cause for so
doing, arc subjected to severe tines sud forfeitures.

THE BRITISH PRESS.

PROGRESS OF DISCOVFRY IN THE AFRICAN

CO NIIENT.

(From the Asiatic Journal.]

It is the intention of Government that another attempt
shall be made to explore the termination of the Niger ; and
Major Laing, who has already travelled in the interior of
Africa, is selected for that purpose. He sets out for
Tripoli, attended only by his black servant, whence it is
understood he will accompany a caravan to Timbuctoo. A
statement of what remains to tie discovered of this vast
portion of the globe will probably be acceptable at this
juncture: this statement is furnished in a paper by NI.
Jomard, read at a general meeting of the Geographical
Society of Paris, 26th November last:—
The whole of the southern border, if we except the an-
cient Cyreniac. is aufEciently described and known for
geography to direct its researches to another quarter. At.
a short distance from this border is the known line which
leads from Egypt to Syouah, into the country of A.llllllOll.
Browne and llornemann have the reputation of being the'
first visitors of Syouah. Our countryman Calliaud and the'
Chevalier Drovetti subsequently visited it, and others have
succeeded them ; but Hornemann is the only one who has
prolonged this line to Fezzan, and into those remote parts
where lie met his death. But his fate has not been
unserviceable to the cause of discovery. Niourzotik,
better known by means of his account, has been the
great object of travellers, as the true gate of Central
Africa. Young Ritchie pressed thither with that ardour
of which we have all been witnesses, and which coat hint
his life. Hia more fortunate fellow-traveller, Capt. Lyon,
went still further, and prepared the war for the English
expedition. Hnrnemann made Nlouttouk known ; Ritchie
and Lyon found out the shertent bray to reach It; the
three English travellers arrived there without obstacle; and
al:hough far inland, it was for them only a station for set-
ting off upon a more distant journey. It. is thus that dis-
coveries reciprocally aid each other ; and it is therefore that
the smallest conquests are valuable to science. Happy
those to whom we are indebted for them, since, for their
whole reward, they are not paid by the ingratitude which,
if we believe our divine labulist,4 is the attribute of our
species. Let us then eagerly transfer to Frederic
llornemann, a portion of that glory which sheds a lustre
at the present day upon the names of Dr. Oudney and his
fellow-travellers.

It is well known that these persons quitted Feszan
towards the end of 1822, and cut across the great desert to
the north of the Soudan. About the 14th parallel north.
they reached the confines of the empire of Bornou, and soon
after the capital itself, placed by geographers, till then, 600
miles+ more to the north-east, than it should have been ;
which, by the way, is a standard of the credit due to the
accounts of the negroes in geographical matters. One of them
(Major Denham), with a courage .which borders upon
temerity, continued his route 300 miles further, and en-
gaged in an adventurous expedition, in hunting the black
mountaineers. To extend the area of discovery, he fought
in a cause which was not his own; havock reigned around
him ; the whole army was destroyed. He escaped, how-
ever, and more lucky than wise, rejoined his companions
in Bornou, to whom he revealed the existence of a vast
transversal chain, between 9th and loth northern parallel,
situated precisely as that of Kong, and from whence flows,
towards the north, a river of immense breadth : at the ex-
tremity of its course, it was not more than 430 miles from
the bottom of the Atlantic.

Our discoveries, therefore, to the northward of the
Equator, have been extended to the 10th degree of latitude
upon three different points ; to the east, between the two
Niles, by M. Cailliaud ; to the west, towards the sources
of the Senegal and the Niger, by M. Mollien and Major
Laing; and in the centre of Africa by Major Denham;
and everywhere they have been stopped by steep impas-
sable mountains, occupied by savage tribes, who have
never submitted to the Mussulman yoke ; mountains which
offer, at the present day, a barrier to the progress of Eu-
ropean civilization, as formerly against Mussulman law.
We are aware what a scene presentedlitself to the obser-
vation of the English travellers city of a completely
warlike aspect, situated upon the (Fonder of the country ;
a anunerous cavalry, man and horsain asairasses ; a profu-
sion of gold and iron, worked in a manner not known ;
flourishing and populous towns built a few miles apart
from each other; an immense traffic, of which our idea is
extremely faint; periodical markets, where hundreds of
thousands of individuals assembled weekly ! What a har-
vest for geography ! What a recompense for the toils and
dangers encountered by the three travellers! They beheld
the vast central lake, of which almost all the native accounts
speak, but winch the world could not believe ; and they con-
vinced themselves that it receives the streams which come
from the north ; the Niger, or at least a river which descends
from the quarter of Timbuctoo and Houssa, runs into
it, in the month of July, as a moderate stream. This lake
is known to be WO miles long, but its breadth is not ascer-
tained : neither is it determined whether it has an issue;
whether evaporation, as in the case of the Caspian, balances
the quantity of water which flows into it ; and lastly, whe •
they, when it swells, its effiux is towards the basin of the
Nile: a question perpetually agitated, and still involved in
doubt, in spite of all these great discoveries. Hence with
what impatience do we wait for further news of this expe li
-
dition ! Can a more fortunate opportunity offer of resolving
the problems which Central Africa furnishes in abun-
danco, where all was, till lately, absolutely unknown : the
nature of the soil ; the curves and courses of the streams ;
the height and direction of the mountains; vegetable pro-
ductions, animals, temperature ; in short its whole phy-
sical geography? The same degree of ignorance prevailed
as to the manners, language, faces, customs, population, and
degree of civilization of the Mediterranean countries. But at
the very moment when the scientific world in Europe expects
new fruits of the English expedition, we learn that our
hopes are half demolished by an irreparable loss. Doctor
Oudney fell a sacrifice, in a few days, to the fatal climate.
Young Toole, who left Tripoli later, joined the expedi-
tion and perished upon his arrival. All our hopes now
rest upon the intrepid Denham, Lieutenant Clipperton, and
Mr. Tyrrhwitt. The rare devotion of Dr. Ouilney, and
the milooked-for circumstances attending his tragical end,
deserve that we should devote to them a brief considers-
tint): it will enable us to appreciate the whole extent of
the loss we have sustained in him. Leaving Bornou in
December 1823 (one year after his journey across the
great desert), he directed his course to the west, towards
Kano, accompanied by Mr. Clapperton, and he arrived at
the confines of that kingdom. There, suddenly and unex-
pectedly, cold of extreme rigour seised the caravan. The
water froze on all sides of the travellers; the bladders on
the camels were frozen ; and the Doctor became seriously
ill. He continued, nevertheless, during seventeen days
journey, to fulfil his laborious career. On the 12th
January, he still essayed, as usual, to begin navelling at
day-break. The camels were already loaded ; but his
strength forsook him, and, in a few moments after, he ex-
pired in the arms of his companion, regretting less to die,
than not to have done more for his country.
It has been supposed that beneath the 12th northern
parallel, where the English travellers were, water could
only freeze on mountains elevated four or five thousand
metres above the ocean. This conjecture is strangely ex-
aggerated. Those who have formed it appear to be igno-
rant that it freezes sometimes in the deserts of Libya,
some hundred metres only above the sea ; a few degrees
more to the north, it is true; but still very near the torrid
zone*. Particular circumstances here may have con-
siderably reduced the temperature; and it is better
wait, previous to fixing our opinion, till the elevation of
the place be published: knowledge very dearly bought,
since it has cost the life of the most learned individual of
the expedition. In other respects, if the mountains 100
leagues west of Bornou are really very elevated (which we
do not dispute) as on another side, the source of the Niger
is only five hundred metres high, according to Major Laing,
the sagacious conjecture of M. IValekenser will be com-
pletely confirmed ; namely, the progressively increasing
height of the transversal chain, in the direction from west
• La Fontaine, liv. x. fab. 1.
t And not 300 miles, as at first said, according to a false longitude
of Moor-souk.

The mare is equal to 39; English inches, nearly.
M. CMHisitil found ice in the desert of Syouah ; and the Com.
mission of Egypt observed the thermometer at zero in Lower
Egypt. in January, 1798. The conditions of the temperature in
the great deserts of Africa must necessarily differ from those ob-
i reed in other tropical regitnu. it would require too much time to I
deduce the causes.

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