Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-03-30
An UnkmOwM Land.


The English have recently made settiemen'
at Alden, near the Red Sea. Having S'u'e W
tanned foothold they, English IKE; oegeh 10 push
about them, and one OF their nls' uiscofeties was
river where none was marked upon any chaft'
and upon this thew steamed 500 miles without a
nv obstruction Having now passed round this
continent let us look into the interior. For halt
a century the English government have been ex-
pending their lives and treasures in partial ex-
ploration They have found that this whole tract
of country is one of amazing fertility and beauty,
Astounding in gold and all sorts of tropical vegeta-
ton. There are hundreds of woods, invaluable
for dyeiug and architectural purposes, not found
in other portions of the world.
Through it, for thousands OF miles sweeps
river, from three to six miles broad, with clear
water aud unsurpassed depth, flowing on at the
rate of two or three miles an hour, without rock,
shoal or snsp to interrupt It's navigation Other
rivers pour into this their tributary waters of such
volumes as must have required hundreds of miles
to be collected, yet they seem scarcely to enlarge
it. This river pours into the Atlantic through
one of the most magnificent Detas in the world,
consisting perhaps of an hundred mouths, extend
ing probably, FIVE hundred miles along the coast
and mostly broad, deep and pavigabO for steam
boats. Upon this river are scattered cities, some
ofwhich are estimated to contain million of In
habitants, and the whole country teens with
dense population.
Far in the interior, in the very heart Of the
continent. is nation in an advanced state OF CIV
ilization The grandeur and beauty Of portions
Of the country through which the Niger makes
its sweeping circuit are indiscrlbable. In many
places its banks rise boldly thousand feet, ant
are thickly covered with the richest vegetation o
tropical climes But all this vast aud sublime
country, this scope of rich fertility and romantic
beauty, is apparently shut our forever from tn
world. 1t is the Negroes sole possession. III
need not fear the incursons OF the white maj
there; for over this whole lovely country moves
one dread malaria, aud to the white man 1t IS I'M
''yalley of the shadow of DEATH In expedition
after expedition sent out from the English port
on the Island OF Ascension. not one in ten hav
returned alive-all have fallen victims to thi
seemingly beautiful country.
1t seems impossible for an Euglshman to breath
that air. So dreadful as it $50 small tn
.chance of life, that criminals have been offeret
pardon on condition volunteering in this service
more terrible than that of gathering the poison
from the tabled Upas This country tempting a
it is, can only be penetrated at the risk OF life
and it is melancholy to think, that those VIII
have given us the meagre information that w
have, do it at the expense of their lives.
The only tolerable account which we have Q
this country, is published by Swiss officer i
the service of the Egyptian government, who wa
a member of an expedition fitted out by Meheme
Ali. lie could give but very little account of tn
country, however, only that they saw races of tn
most degraded negroes, and some fine specimen
of humanity in other races. One tribe averaged
both men and women seven feet in stature.