He made inquiries of all who could give him any information about the fate of Park. They all asked him whether he intended to take up the vessel, which they said still remained at the bottom. The governor's head man told him that the boat stuck fast between two rocks; that the people in it laid down four anchors ahead, when, the water rushing down fiercely from the rocks as the white men attempted to get on shore, they were drowned; that crowds of people went to see them, but that the white men did not shoot at them, nor did the natives at the people in the boat, as they were too much frightened either to shoot at or assist them. They said, further, that a great many things were in the boat-- books and riches--which the Sultan of Boussa had possession of; that there was an abundance of beef, cut in slices and salted, and that the people of Boussa who had eaten of it had died because it was human flesh, which it was well-known white men eat. Another man, however, asserted that the natives did shoot arrows because the people in the boat had fired at them. They all treated the affair with much seriousness, looking on the place where the boat was wrecked with awe, and telling some most marvellous stories about her and her ill-fated crew. Boussa, Clapperton says in his journal, is a large town with extensive walls, situated on an island in the Quorra, and that to reach it he had to cross in a canoe, while his horse swam over. After Clapperton had offered the sultan the presents he had brought for him, he inquired about the white men who had been lost in the river. He seemed _very_ uneasy at the question, and replied that he was a little boy at the time, and had nothing belonging to them; indeed, Clapperton found that any books and papers which had been saved were in the possession of the Sultan of Youri. Shortly afterwards a messenger arrived from that chief, inviting him to his town, and offering to send canoes to convey him up the river; but Clapperton, anxious to proceed on his journey, unfortunately declined the offer. He was here treated in the kindest way possible, and everyone was ready to give him information on all points, with the exception of that connected with Park's death. The place, however, where the boat struck and the unfortunate crew perished was pointed out to him. It was in the eastern of three channels into which the river is here divided. A low flat island of about a quarter of a mile in breadth lies between the town of Boussa and the fatal spot. The banks are not more than ten feet above the level of the water, which here breaks over a grey slaty rock, extending across to the eastern shore. The sultan made him a present of a fine young horse, and his brother, with many of the principal people, accompanied him as he set out on his journey.