A project is on foot in London and a prospectus has been issued for a new Expedition of Discovery to penetrate the interior of Africa from the eastern side. Many advantages are presented by beginning the work of exploration here; among them, the populousness and civilization of Eastern Africa, which is in general superior to that of the western coast. The languages of the former bear a close affinity to each other, and extend over a very large space, which is not the case with the latter. "The absence of foreign influence, (particularly of the Portuguese, by whom the slave trade is carried on), and the readiness of the Sultan of Muscat to listen to British counsels," are strong inducements to carry out the scheme proposed.[30] Lieutenant Ruxton of the Royal Navy, who has lately made an interesting journey into Africa from the southwestern coast, near the island of Ichaboe, is about to undertake a second journey with the intention of crossing the continent from this point to the eastern coast, under the sanction of the British Government. Some valuable contributions have been made to our knowledge of the geography of Southern Africa by Mr. Cooley[31] and Mr. McQueen,[32] which tend to elucidate portions of this continent hitherto enveloped in much obscurity. Mr. Cooley's investigations relate to the country extending from Loango and Congo, the Portuguese settlements in Western Africa, to the eastern coast between Zanzibar and Sofala, in lat. 20° South. He commences by examining the statements of the Portuguese geographers of the 16th century, Lopez, Joao Dos Santos, Do Couto, and Pigafetta. "The information collected by Lopez, was elaborated by Pigafetta into a system harmonizing with the prevalent opinions of the age, and in this form was published in 1591. Yet in the midst of this editor's theories, we can at times detect the simple truth." Much confusion seems to have arisen by misapplying the names of lakes, rivers and people, as this information was in a great degree derived from natives, and not properly understood by the persons who received it from them. Mr. Cooley, by a rigid examination of these various statements, together with the accounts derived from later writers and from native traders, has been enabled to rectify the errors which had crept in, and clear up much that had been considered fabulous. The great lake called N'Yassi, and the natives occupying the country around it, are among the most interesting subjects of our author's enquiries. This lake, or sea, as it is called by the natives, is some five or six hundred miles from the eastern coast. Its breadth in some places is about fifteen miles, while in others, the opposite shores cannot be seen. Its length is unknown, neither extremity having been traced. It probably exceeds five hundred miles, according to the best authority. Numerous islands filled with a large population, are scattered among its waters. It is navigated by