the country, which, it is presumed may be found and opened, should the advancing civilization of Africa admit of that free intercourse which would give an opportunity to European mineralogists of exploring this source of wealth. Ivory has hitherto formed, next to slaves, the largest branch of African commerce, and its quantity will of course not be lessened by the new circumstances in which Africa is placed. Bees wax may be obtained in every part of Africa, and in some places, particularly the rivers Gambia and Gaboon, it forms a considerable part of the present exports. It might of course be greatly increased by encouraging the rearing of bees. Dye woods of various kinds including Cam-wood, Bar-wood and Fustick are now exported, the two first in considerable quantities from Africa. Requiring no previous cultivation, but only to be cut down in order to be brought to market, and thus affording a present temptation to exertion, the commerce in articles of this description has not been equally affected by the slave trade as the commerce in those articles which require previous culture, and the profits of which are remotely prospective. Without doubt, however, when the intercourse of Africa shall become more open and secure, not only may the trade in the dye woods already specified be increased, but other valuable dye woods will probably be discovered. Many kinds of timber are likewise produced in Africa, which are supposed to be well adapted for the use of cabinet makers, inlayers, and even of shipwrights. Medicinal herbs and drugs of an infinity of species likewise abound. Castor oil, musk, Indian arrow root, tapioca and sago, are produced in considerable quantities. Gum senega and gum copal are imported from Africa into England in a quantity nearly equal to the demand, and might be more extensively procured. Besides these there are many other gums in Africa, which, if properly examined, might prove useful, both to our manufacturers and chymists. Gums, as was observed in the case of dye woods, require no cultivation, and hardly any labour to prepare them for market. Palm oil, which is useful in the manufacture of soap, may be obtained in considerable quantities. Indigo grows wild in almost every part of the African coast, and might therefore easily be brought into cultivation. Almost all the indigo which is now consumed in Europe, is imported from the East Indies under the disadvantages of a voyage more than thrice as long as that from Africa. Besides the indigo, there is another plant which the natives use as a blue dye, which appears to impart a more indelible colour, and which, should it stand the test of experiment, might be cultivated. Rice forms the principal food of the Africans, and might doubtless become an article of export for the supply of the West Indies, as provided for in the former part of this essay. Colonel Maxwell, commandant at Sierra Leone, has erected, among other things, a saw-mill to go by water; and a mill for cleaning rice. Both of these, and particularly the latter, are calculated to be highly beneficial to the settlement. Colonel Maxwell states, that all the natives in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone were busily employed in cultivating rice, which, he says, might be grown in almost any quantity; and, as the white rice of Africa is of the best quality, he thinks that, if cleaning mills were erected at Sierra Leone, African rice might soon become an article of considerable export. Several varieties of the coffee, one of a kind not inferior, it is supposed, to the Mocha, are found growing wild in the mountains of Sierra Leone. The cultivation of this article has been begun at that colony, and promises to succeed. It may thence be extended to every part of the continent. Sugar cane of an excellent quality grows with hardly any culture, in many parts of Africa. Its existence and luxuriant growth seem to show the fertility of the country. Malaguetta epper, an article in considerable demand, grows wild in great abundance on the windward coast. A variety of other species, including the cayenne, ginger, cubebs, cardamums, species of nutmeg, and cinnamon, are found in Africa, and might be cultivated with advantage. Tobacco is cultivated on a small scale, in various parts of Africa, and might, if it were desirable, be cultivated still more extensively. A few hides are now imported from the river Gambia: the number will doubtless increase, as cattle can be more securely reared. Sponge may also be procured thence. But besides the articles above enumerated, as already existing in Africa, there are others of a very valuable kind, such as opium, which might easily be transported thither. The cochineal and the silk worm might also be reared there. In short, it may be said, that there are no articles produced between the tropics which may not be naturalized in that part of Western Africa which has hitherto been the theatre of the slave trade. It is hardly necessary to add that all the different fruits, esculent roots, and grains, which grow in other tropical countries are raised there; such as cocoa nuts, limes, lemons, oranges, plantains, bananas, papaws, guavas, melons, pine apples, cashew nuts, tamarinds, pumpkins, yams, cassada, eddoes, Indian corn, millet, &c. No part of the fruits which have been mentioned, however, could be made to form any part of the return cargo, on account of the length of the voyage, except in the shape of pickles or preserves. Salt is manufactured on the sea coast (for the purpose of supplying the interior where it is in high demand,) and the quantity might be much enlarged. Boom is a place never equalled in Africa for fertility. Sugar cane grows wild in Bagroo equal to any in the West Indies. And as for the interior country behind the Sherbro, it must be rich, on account of the quantity of rice and cotton cloth they bring down. The Satees or travelling merchants carry the fruit of the cola tree, famed for its tonic qualities, from the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, to every part of the continent, even to Egypt and Abyssinia. In an account of the native Africans in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone; to which is added, an account of the present state of medicine among them," (sold by Hatchard, Piccadilly,) is contained much important information on the subject of the medicinal plants which are found growing in Africa. The Arabic language has been extended by means of the Mahommedans, over a large part of the western coast of Africa. The knowledge of this language by persons resident on the coast, would greatly tend to facilitate our intercourse with the interior, while it would afford a ready means of spreading useful knowledge throughout Africa. The Susoo language too, generally spoken in many of the provinces, is remarkably simple and easy of acquisition; a circumstance that should encourage perseverance in acquiring it. For a more detailed account of the productions of Africa, particular reference should be had to the labours of the Sierra Leone Company, of the African Institution, and of the African Association to promote discoveries in the interior of the continent of Africa. In the works of those writers before enumerated, will be found matter of the highest interest to every friend of this important and interesting cause; but there are impediments to the success of any plan of melioration still existing, which have long prevailed, and call upon all good men to aid in the removal. So long as the traffic in slaves to Cuba and Brazil shall continue without remission, the abolition of other countries will, as to Africa, the great object of our solicitude, be ineffectual to produce the relief she needs. Desolation continues to mark the ravages of the existing trade, and not until its final extinction by a general adoption of the system of hired labourers, practised and recommended, can any hope be formed of civilizing Africa. Tillage and all the arts of industry are discouraged by the insecurity of persons and of property. "Why should I labour?" inquires the negro; "why amass wealth?" "I must still be a slave, my profits may still be seized and myself sold to the white men." Similar reasoning was heard by Chenier in Morocco, by Volney in Syria, by Bernier in Mogulstan; the precarious state of man, the uncertainty of possession checked the industry of individuals in those countries. -What then avail their fatal treasures, hid The godlike wisdom of the temper'd breast, Command the world! the Light that leads to Heaven, These are not theirs.' THOMSON. To impart these blessings, so feelingly described by the poet, to suffering Africa, will be one of the happy consequences of an extension of British rule, and the administration of British laws in the interior of that vast continent. The day may yet appear, when, rivalling Asia in fertility and cultivation:-surpassing her in the advantages of proximity to Europe, a new empire shall arise, the special object of care and protection, dispensing order, civilization and happiness, and securing to its subjects the privileges of their being. The man who shall take the lead in this great work, regenerating, under Providence, a depressed and unhappy land, will deserve the lasting gratitude of enslaved millions, and the choicest honours of his approving country. Letter from Governor Elliot, to the Earl of Liverpool, Secretary of State; dated Antigua, Nov. 21, 1810. The governments of the smaller islands were formed in times when many of the proprietors lived upon their estates, and the white population was, in some instances, perhaps ten times as numerous as it now is. Of the few white inhabitants who remain, managers, overseers, self-created lawyers, self-educated physicians, and adventurous merchants, with little real capital and scanty credit, compose the greatest part. The acquirements of education among many of this description of persons, are very unequal to the task of taking a share in the governments. The prevalence of principle, either moral or religious, is also, I fear, not to be fairly calculated from the repetition of the hacknied expressions, of which an ostentatious use is frequently made in addresses, and on all occasions meant to meet the public eye at home. To collect from such a state of society, men fit to be legislators, judges or jurymen, is perfectly impracticable. Individual interest-personal influence animosity of party feuds, weigh down the scale of justice, and divert the course of legislative authority into acts of arbitrary and unjustifiable power, cloaked under the semblance, and dignified with the name, of constitutional acts. Run-away Slaves. During the progress of the war, a considerable number of slaves, the property of citizens of the United States, escaped to * Golberry, like Mungo Park, shows that the negro chiefs enslave, in the inte rior, millions yearly: while the traders take off only 30 or 40,000. VOL. XI. 9 the British forces, induced to do so by proclamation, issued by British officers, promising them, in the name of His Majesty, protection and freedom. At the conclusion of the war, seven hundred and two slaves, it is stated, were carried away, in British ships, from Cumberland Island and its vicinity, in the state of Georgia, and a number perhaps still greater from Tangier, in the state of Virginia. ART. IX.-Painting of "The Entrance of Christ into the City of frusalem."-By H. SARGENT, Esq. of Boston. OUR present number is embellished with an engraving of this justly admired production, from a copy taken by Mr. Penniman. We are indebted to the politeness of Col. Sargent for this privilege, as well as for permission to copy his great work," The Landing of our Forefathers on the Rock at Plymouth," than which there can scarcely be any subject for a picture more interesting to our countrymen. We must content ourselves at present with inserting the key or explanation, as a necessary accompaniment to the engraving, and propose hereafter, when we are enabled to give "The Landing of our Forefathers" to enter into an examination of both these subjects. The names of West, Stewart, Trumbull, Vanderlyn, Sully, and the amateur artist whose labours form the subject of our present notice, do honour to our native talent, and our legislature, in conformity to the example of every enlightened government, have wisely resolved to encourage a propensity to works of taste, by affording public employment for the development of a rising genius for the Fine Arts. The occupation of Trumbull on a series of historical subjects, illustrative of the principal events in the ever memorable era of the revolution, by order of congress, affords a pleasing evidence of attention prevailing in favour of this department of excellence, which we hope to see extended to the association of some of those artists just mentioned. The sentiments lately expressed by an honourable member in the house of representatives display an unison of feeling with the desire of, we believe, all who wish well to the progress of national taste. "Permit me," said Mr. Newton (of Virginia)" to congratulate my country on her rising fame. The genius and skill displayed by our celebrated masters, secure to each an imperishable fame, and to their country true renown. A new epoch has commenced. Its progress is auspicious. The Grecian, Italian, Flemish, French, and Briti schools will be rivalled and equalled in time by our own. I congratulate those who are endowed with genius, but whose means are too limited to enable them to seek, in distant regions, the acquirements necessary to form and fix their judgments, and to give to their taste the characters of delicacy and correctness, on the prospect they have of pursuing their studies in heir native land, under political institutions that give its genius scope, and the enjoyment of its creations, and that leave to |