The Solima camp.-Solima song.

nished by Lieut. Laing, of the British Navy, who, under instructions from the Governor of Sierra Leone, went on a mission far into the interior. It relates to his visit to the Chief of the Solimas, King Yaradee..

'After visiting different chiefs by whom he was well received, Lieut. Laing came to a place called Koukundi, a village of farms belonging to the people of Melicouri. Here he remained during the night, and early in the morning entered the town itself, which was walled round, with port holes for musquetry, and was impregnable. The country in the neighbourhood was abundantly productive, and in a high state of cultivation; corn, barley, rice, cassada, and cotton growing in great profusion. Lt. L. says he passed several hundred acres of such cultivation.

"The next day, he proceeded to the camp which was about eight miles distant, north, and about three hours S. of Fouricaria. Immediately on his approach, the drums and other warlike instruments were in motion, and soon about 12,000 people were assembled in a large square, in the centre of the savannah on which an immense army was encamped, and Lt. L. communicated the object of his visit, which was to explain the footing on which the Colony of Sierra Leone wished to stand with the neighbouring nations.

'King Yaradee, who is one of the most warlike of the African monarchs, he found surrounded by his brave chiefs, under an ample tent, seated upon the skin of a lion. The king kindly invited Lt. L. to take a seat by his side. The following song, in their own language, was then sung by a minstrel :

SONG.

"A stranger has come to Yaradee's camp
Whose bosom is soft and is fair;

He sits by the valiant Yaradee's side,
And none but the valiant sit there.

Solima Song.

Like the furious lion Yaradee comes

And hurls the terrors of war;

His enemies see him, and, panic-struck, flee
To the woods and the deserts afar.

By the side of this hero, so valiant and brave,
Sits the stranger whose skin is so fair;
He lives on the sea, where he wanders at will,
And he knows neither sorrow nor care.

Then look at the stranger before he departs;
Brave Yaradee, touch his soft hair;

The last note of my harp swells to Yaradee's praise,
While I gaze on the stranger so fair."

The Solimas are great singers.

The great deeds of the Solima chiefs, as well as the history of their wars, are handed down to posterity by means of Jelle or singing-men, in songs composed much after the manner of Ossian.'

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'Those lines are very sweet,' said Henry, and the scene must have been very imposing.'

The Africans are sweet singers,' said Caroline; but I acknowledge the time has been when I thought them capable of sound only-not of sentiment.'

Scripture testimony to African learning.

CONVERSATION VI.

"From Guinea's coast pursue the lessening sail,
And catch the sounds that sadden every gale.
Tell, if thou canst, the sum of sorrows there;
Mark the fix'd gaze, the wild and phrenzied glare,
The racks of thought, and freezings of despair!
But pause not there-beyond the western wave,
Go, see the captive bartered as a slave!
Crush'd till his high, heroic spirit bleeds,

And from his nerveless frame indignantly recedes."-Rogers.

I HAVE been thinking, Pa,' said Caroline, that it is a fact somewhat remarkable, that perhaps the first intimation which we find in ancient history of great learning among any people, is that which in Mosaic history points us to Africa. Moses, you know, it is said, was skilled in all the wisdom of the Egyptians !'

'You have, indeed, referred to a striking and decisive evidence of the greatness of African attainments at a very early period. We have conclusive and irresistible proof of their quondam greatness also in their works of art, many of which, such as pyramids, obelisks, and mausolea, still stand, as if in mockery of the very credulity of man, a memorial of their spirit and skill.

Many will say, however, that the ancient Egyptians were a very "different race of beings from those tribes which

African manuscripts.-Tribes discovered.

Admit that they

have supplied the world with slaves." were in some respects different, the reference to them is sufficient to invalidate the sweeping declarations of many in regard to Africans universally; there are, however, proofs of former greatness and of present susceptibility of great improvement, and of high advances in genius and learning. among other portions of the African race.

'Mr. Thompson, late Governor of Sierra Leone, in a letter to a distinguished gentleman of Massachusetts, published some time since, says, that he brought from Africa manuscripts sufficient to convince him that the interior of that great continent is even now in a vastly higher state of civilization and improvement than the residents on the coast have any idea of.'

'Has it not been said that a tribe has lately been discovered in the interior of Africa who are Christians?'

:

'Yes missionaries of the London Church Missionary Society for Egypt and Abyssinia, found, a few years since, a tribe never before visited by Europeans, who appeared to have much in their faith that is scriptural, and whose practice was generally commendable; but, if I recollect, they are represented as having no knowledge of the Saviour. They believe in ONE GOD; and they teach that every person receives reward or punishment according to his life, in a future state. They have also a notion of the existence of an evil spirit, or devil. The history of the deluge is preserved in their traditions. Good angels they consider the guardians of good people. They are strict in the moral instruction of their children. But after all, they can hardly be entitled to be called Christians, so far as I have been able to form an opinion.'

Large cities. Black has sometimes been regarded as the colour of beauty.

'You have spoken, Sir, of some large cities visited by Lt. Laing, or other travellers: do you suppose that such settlements are common in the interior?'

'All who have travelled at all in central Africa, have found there very populous and highly cultivated countries, in which were large cities, of 30,000 some, and 50,000 some, or more inhabitants. To these marts resort all the people in the neighbourhood, as in our own country to our larger cities and towns, and caravans as well as single merchants from the most remote regions.'

'I suppose, Pa, that the people in Africa have no idea that their colour is regarded by other nations as a blemish, and that they are therefore perfectly satisfied with themselves in that respect?'

'Indeed, they are well satisfied. Whiteness, when first beheld, is shocking to them; they attribute it to disease. A charitable old Negro woman who afforded Park a meal and a lodging, on the banks of the Niger, could not refrain, even in the midst of her kindness, from exclaiming, "God preserve us from the DEVIL!" as she looked upon him. And it is said to have been a common subject of regret among the girls at Bornon, that Denham and Clapperton were white.'

'Oh! Pa, you are jesting, I know.'

Indeed, Caroline, I am not.'

'It

may be that it has been said as you represent, but'—

Henry here remarked that Heroditus has said that "the Ethiopians excel all other nations in personal beauty." If black be a mark of beauty, Caroline,' he mischievously remarked, you would stand but little chance of making

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