At length he entered
Tangiers, and on the 28th of September sailed for Toulon.
In nineteen months, notwithstanding one hundred and
eighty days' sickness, he had traversed Africa from west
to north. Ah! had Callie been born in England, he
would have been honored as the most intrepid traveller
of modern times, as was the case with Mungo Park. But
in France he was not appreciated according to his worth."
"He was a sturdy fellow!" said Kennedy, "but what
became of him?"
"He died at the age of thirty-nine, from the consequences
of his long fatigues. They thought they had done enough
in decreeing him the prize of the Geographical Society
in 1828; the highest honors would have been paid to him
in England.
"While he was accomplishing this remarkable journey,
an Englishman had conceived a similar enterprise and
was trying to push it through with equal courage, if not
with equal good fortune. This was Captain Clapperton,
the companion of Denham. In 1829 he reentered Africa
by the western coast of the Gulf of Benin; he then followed
in the track of Mungo Park and of Laing, recovered
at Boussa the documents relative to the death of the former,
and arrived on the 20th of August at Sackatoo, where
he was seized and held as a prisoner, until he expired in the
arms of his faithful attendant Richard Lander.
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