The narrative of Robert Adams : an American sailor who was wrecked on the western coast of Africa, in the year 1810, was detained three years in slavery by the Arabs of the Great Desert, and resided several months in the City of Tombuctoo

tHF'.--

THE NARRATIVE

OP

ROBERT I ADAMS.

AN AMERICAN SAILOR.

WHO WAS WRECKED ON THE

WESTERN CO*ST OF AFRICA.

IN THE YEAR 1810;

WAS DETAINED THREE FEARS IN SLAVERY BY

THE ARABS OF THE GREAT DESERT,

AND RESIDED SEVERAL MONTHS IN THE CITY OF

TOMBUCTOO.

WITH A MAP, NOTES, AND AN APPENDIX

BOSTON :

PCBLISHED BY WELLS AND LILLY SOLD BY M. CAREY AND SON.

PHILADELPHIA.
»♦«♦♦»

i8ir.

T)T35G

TO THE

COMMITTEE OF THE COMPANY OF MERCHANTS
TRADING TO AFRICA.

Gentlemen,

I beg leave to present to you the Nar-
rative of the Sailor, Robert Adams, in the
form which 1 conceive will be most interest-
ing to you and to the publick, and most use-
ful to the poor man himself, for whose benefit
it has been committed to the press.

I have the honour to be,
Gentlemen,

your faithful and obedient Servant,

S. COCK.

African Office, April 30th, 1816,

t

CONTENTS.

Introductory Details respecting Adams. ...Discovered in London....
examined by the African Committee respecting his travels in Africa
....his answers satisfactory. ...Notes of his story laid before the
African Committee... Their belief in its truth ...Mode of interrogat-
ing Adams His method of reckoning bearings, distances, and

rate of travelling, through the Desert. ...Examined by several Mem-
bers of the Government.... Receives a Gratuity from the Lords
of the Treasury.. ..Sir Willoughby Gordon's opinion of his state-
ments page ix— xvi

Reasons for publishing the following Narrative. ...Departure of Adams

for America Arrival in England of Mr. Dupuis, British Vice

Consul at Mogadore His confirmation of the whole of Adams's

story in a Letter to the Editor, with other interesting parti-
culars relating to him on his arrival and during his stay at Moga-
dore p. xvi — xxii

Advertisement to the Map.. ..Explanations respecting the data on
which the Map is constructed Information on the route, and na-
ture of the country, between Haoussa and Lagos on the Coast of
the Bight of Benin. ...Probability of Europeans being able to pene-
trate from Lagos in the direction of the Niger p. xxiv — xxviii

NARRATIVE.

CHAPTER I.

Departure from New York on board the "Charles" Names of the

Crew.. ..Arrival at Gibraltar.. ..Voyage to the Isle of Mayo.. ..Igno-
rance of the Captain.. ..The ship is wrecked on the4 Western coast of
Africa.. ..The Crew saved, but are enslaved by the Moors. ...El Gazie...
Description of the Moors, and their proceed n«;s... .French Renegade
...Sufferings of the Crew.. ..Death of Captain Horton.... Separation

CONTENTS.

of the Crew, and departure of the Moors from El Gazie.... Adams iv
conveyed eastward into the Desert.... Mode of travelling.. ..Arrival at
the encampment of the Moors. ...Employment there.. ..Expedition to
steal Negro Slaves at Soudenny. ...Sufferings in traversing the De-
sert....Arrival near Soudenny.... The Moors seize a Woman and two
Children ; are themselves surprized by the Negroes, taken prison-
ers, and confined in the town. ...Soudenny, and its inhabitants.. ..The
prisoners are conveyed by a party of armed Negroes to Tombuctoo
... Journey thither ; during which fourteen of the Moors are put
to death. ...Arrival at Tombuctoo p. 29

CHAPTER II.

Imprisonment of the Moors at Tombuctoo. ..Adams an object of cu-
riosity, and kindly treated. ...King and Queen; Woollo and Fatima
....Their Dress, Ceremonies, Residence, and Attendants.. ..Muskets
....Curiosity of the Natives to see Adams. ...Tombuctoo. ...La Mar
Zarah Canoes. ...Fish Fruits. ...Vegetables Grain. ...Food pre-
pared from the Guinea corn. ...Animals. ...Heirie. ...Elephant hunt....
Birds: Ostriches. ...Sulphur.. ..Poisonous preparation of the Negroes
for their Arrows. ...Persons and Habits of the Negroes. ...Incisions in
their Faces Dress Ornaments, and Customs Musical Instru-
ments....Dancing. ...Military Excursions against Bambarra. ...Slaves
....Criminal Punishments. ...Articles of Trade. ...Jealous precautions
of the Negroes against the Moors ; their kindness to Adams....
Rain.. ..Names of Countries... .Words in the Language of Tombuc-
too p. 40

CHAPTER III.

Ransom of the imprisoned Moors and of Adams. ...Departure from
Tombuctoo. ...Journey eastward along the River ; then northward
to Taudeny.... Traders in salt. ...Taudeny... .Mixed Population of
Moors and Negroes.. ..Beds of Rock Salt. ...Preparations and De-
parture to cross the Sandy Desert.... Sufferings in the Desert....
Arrival at Woled D'leim.... Employment, and long detention there....
Refusal of Adams to attend to his tasks.... He is punished for it ;
but perseveres.. ..Seizes an opportunity of escaping. ...Is pursued ; but
reaches El Kabla ...He is purchased by the Chief.... Employed to
tend the flocks #f his Master's Wives.... Negotiates with Aisba, the
younger wife, on the subject of Wages.... Their bargain, and its
consequences. ...Adams flies and conceals himself.. ..Is purchased by a

CONTENTS.

Trader; and conveyed to Woled Aboussebab....Woled Adrialla....
Aiata Mouessa Ali....He attempts to escape. ...Is retaken ; and con-
veyed to Wed-Noon p. 58

CHAPTER IV.

Description of Wed-Noon ; where Adams finds three of the crew of
the "Charles". ...He is purchased by Bel-Cossim-Abdallah... .French
Renegade.... Wreck of the Montezuma.... Gunpowder Manufacture
....Curious Relation of a Negro Slave from Kanno... .Severe labours
and cruel treatment of the Christian Slaves at Wed-Noon. ...Adams
is required to plough on the Sabbath day ; refuses ; is cruel iy beat-
en, and put in irons. ...His firmness.. ..Inhuman treatment and death
of Dolbie.... Williams and Davison, worn out by their sufferings, re-
nounce their Keligiou.... Adams perseveres... .Letter from the Bri-
tish Vice-Consul at Mogadore, addressed to the Christian Slaves....

Ransom of Adams. ...Departure from Wed-Noon Akkad;a....Bled

Cidi Heshem.-.Marketof Cidi Hamet a >loussa....Agadeer, or Santa
Cruz.... Mogadore ...Adams is sent to the Moorish En)peiour...Fez....
Mequinez.... Tangier... .Cadiz.. .Gibraltar.. ..Loudon p. 72

Concluding Remarks p. 140 — 165

Notes and Illustrations. El Gazie.. ..Shipwrecks. ...French Rene-
gade....Agadeer Doma....Soudenny....Woollo and Fatima.... Dress of
the inhabitants of Tombuctoo, Houses, &c....La Mar Zarah. ...Ca-
noes. ...Fruits.. ..Quadrupeds. ...Heiries... .Elephant huniiug....Alliga-
tors....Courcoo Wild Beasts. ...Birds. ...Poisons. ...Polygamy. ...Re-
ligion Physicians Sorcery ....Dancing Bambarra Slaves....

Punishments.. ..Shops and Trade at Tombuctoo Cowries Moors

Negroes ....Crossing the Desert. ...Joliba river.. ..Negro Language

....Taudeny... .Woled D'leim....El Kabla.... Aisha....Wooled Abous-
sebah....Kanno... .Christian Slaves. ...Reckonings of Time and Dis-
tance p. 85—139

Appendix, No. I. Information obtained in the year 1764, respecting
Tombuctoo, and the course and navigation of the Niger.... Park....

Major Rennell. ...Sources of the Senegal and Gambia Remarks

on the Rivers passed by Park. ...Kong mountains.... Expediency of
exploring the furthest western navigation of the Niger.. .p. 167 — 180

Appendix, No. II. Sketch of the Population of Western Bar-
bary Berrebbers Arabs Moors Distinguishing occupa-
tions p. 181—193

Index.... ; , p. 194

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS

RESPECTING

ROBERT ADAMS.

In the month of October, 1815, the Editor of the
following pages was informed by a friend, that a
Gentleman of his acquaintance, recently arrived from
Cadiz, had accidentally recognised an American
seaman, in the streets of London, whom he had
seen, only a few months before, in the service of an
English merchant in Cadiz, where his extraordinary
history had excited considerable interest ; the man
having been a long time in slavery in the interiour of
Africa, and having resided several months at Tombuc-
too.

Such a report was too curious not to have attract-
ed the peculiar attention of the Editor at all times ;
but the interest of the story was much heightened at
that particular moment, by the circumstance of the
recent embarkation of Major Peddie and his compa-
nions, to explore those very parts of Africa which this
person was said to have visited : and the Editor en-
treated' his friend to assist him, by all the means in
his power, to find the seaman in question, in order to
ascertain, whether he really had been where it was
reported, and in the hope that, either by his infor-
mation or his personal services, the man might be
2

I

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS.

rendered useful to the views of Government in the
exploratory expedition then on its way to Africa.

Through the intervention of the Gentleman who
had originally recognised the seaman, he was again
found, and immediately brought to the office of the
African Committee. The poor man, whose name was
Robert Adams, was in very ill plight, both from hun-
ger and nakedness. Scarcely recovered from a fit
of sickness, he had, in that condition, begged his way
from Holyhead to London, for the purpose of ob-
taining, through the American Consul, a passage to
his native country ; and he had already passed seve-
ral nights in the open streets amongst many other
distressed seamen, with whom the metropolis was
at that period unfortunately crowded.

No time was lost in questioning him respecting the
length of his residence in Africa, the circumstances
which led him thither, the places he had visited, and
the means by which he had escaped. His answers
disclosed so extraordinary a series of adventures and
sufferings, as at first to excite a suspicion that his
story was an invention ; and the gentlemen, by whom
he was accompanied to the office, and who were pre-
sent at his first examination, were decidedly of that
opinion, when they considered how widely his ac-
count of Tombuctoo differed from the notions gene-
rally entertained of the magnificence of that city,
and of the civilization of its inhabitants. The Edi-
tor, however, received from this short examination,
and from the plain and unpretending answers which
the man returned to every question, a strong impres-
sion in favour of his veracity. He accordingly took
notes of the leading facts of his statement, particu-
larly of the places he had visited, the distances ac-
cording to his computations, and the direction in
which his several journeys lay ; and having relieved
his immediate necessities, and furnished him with a

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. XI

trifle for his future subsistence, he desired the man
to attend him again in the course of a few days.

It was nearly a week before Adams again made his
appearance : but upon his return, being immediately
interrogated upon all the leading points of his story,
the Editor had the gratification to find, upon com-
paring his answers with the account which he had
given on his first examination, that they were in sub-
stance the same, and repeated almost in the same
terms. Thus strengthened in his previous opinion that
the man's veracity was to be depended upon, the
Editor resolved to take down in writing (the man
himself being unable either to write or read) a full
account of his travels and adventures, from the pe-
riod of his departure from America in the ship
" Charles," in which he was wrecked on the coast of
Africa, until that of his return to Cadiz, from whence
he had just arrived.

With this intention, the Editor took measures to
render Adams's situation more comfortable, by equip-
ping him with decent clothes, of which he stood
peculiarly in need. He was also supplied with a trifle
in money, as an earnest of the future recompense
which was promised to him, provided he would attend
regularly every day until the whole of his story
should be taken down. It was not, however, with-
out considerable difficulty that the man could be
persuaded to remain during the period thus requir-
ed. He was anxious to return to his friends, after
so long and perilous an absence, and had been re-
commended, by the Consul of the United States, to
join a transport of American seamen which was then
on the point of sailing. His desire to be gone was
increased by some rumours then in circulation, of a
probable renewal of hostilities between Great Bri-
tain and the United States. But his objections were
at length overcome on receiving an engagement,

XU INTRODUCTORY DETAILS.

that even if war should break out, and he, by any
accident, be impressed, his discharge, either by pur-
chase or substitute, should be immediately effected.
Upon this understanding, he consented to remain as
long as his presence should be required.

The Editor has been induced to enter into this de-
tail, for the satisfaction of those who might be dispos-
ed to believe that Adams had obtruded his story
upon his hearers, for the purpose either of exciting
their compassion, or of profiting by their credulity.
To obviate such a suspicion, it is sufficient to shew,
with what difficulty he was induced to remain in the
country to tell his story ; and to state, that he was
never known to solicit relief from any of the nume-
rous gentlemen by whom he was seen and examined.

Previous, however, to Adams's agreement to stay,
a Committee of the African Company having met,
the Editor laid before them the notes he had taken
of the heads of his story, expressing at the same
time his firm belief that the man had really been at
Tombuctoo; and he had the satisfaction to find that
the Members of the Committee concurred in his
opinion of the credibility of the man's statements;
in which belief they were afterwards confirmed by
their personal examination of him. They strongly
encouraged the Editor to proceed in the course
which he had begun; and recommended him to omit
no practicable means of securing the residence of
Adams in this country, until all the information he
could possibly give, had been obtained from him, —
whether for the purpose of increasing our general
knowledge of the interiour of Africa, or of obtain-
ing information on particular points which might be
useful to the expedition actually on foot.

After this arrangement was completed, Adams at-
tended the Editor for a few hours daily during the
following fortnight or three weeks, for the purpose

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. Xlll

of answering his inquiries. During these examina-
tions upwards of fifty gentlemen saw and interrogat-
ed him at different times ; among whom there was
not one who was not struck with the artlessness and
good sense of Adams's replies, or who did not feel
persuaded that he was relating simply the facts which
he had seen, to the best of his recollection and be-
lief.

The Narrative now presented to the publick, is the
fruit of these interrogatories.

It is proper to mention in this place, that all the
information contained in the Narrative was drawn
from Adams, not as a continuous and straight-forward
story, but in answer to the. detached, and often un-
connected, questions of the Editor, or of any gentle-
men who happened to be present at his examina-
tions ; for he related scarcely any thing without his
attention being directed to the subject by a special
inquiry. This explanation will be necessary, to ac-
count for the very large portion of his Narrative
devoted to the description of Tombuctoo; for it
might otherwise appear extraordinary to some of
Adams's readers, that his details respecting a place
which occurs so early in his adventures, and of
which his recollection might be presumed to be
less vivid, should be so much more minute than
those respecting any other place which he has visit-
ed : but the fact is, that Tombuctoo being the point
to which the curiosity and inquiries of all his examin-
ers were mainly directed, his answers on that subject
were thus swelled to the prominence which they pos-
sess in the Narrative.

It has already been stated, that the first inquiries
of the Editor related to the places which Adams had
visited, and the courses and distances of the journeys
between them. Having obtained these particulars,
he communicated them to a friend, who was desirous

XIV INTRODUCTORY DETAILS.

of examining their pretensions to accuracy by tracing
them upon a map of Africa, from the point where
Adams appears to have been wrecked. The result
of this test, as may be seen in the Map prefixed to
the Narrative, at the same time that it afforded a
most convincing corroboration of the truth of his
story, proved that the man possessed an accuracy of
observation and memory that was quite astonishing.

Being questioned how he came to have so minute
a recollection of the exact number of days occupied
in his long journeys from place to place, he answer-
ed, that being obliged to travel almost naked under a
burning sun, he always inquired, before setting out
on a journey, how long it was expected to last. In
the progress of it he kept an exact account ; and
when it was finished, he never failed to notice whe-
ther it had occupied a greater or lesser number of
days than he had been taught to expect, or whether
it had been completed exactly in the stated time.

On asking him how he could venture to speak with
confidence of the precise number of miles which he
travelled on each day ; he replied, that he could
easily recollect whether the camels on any particular
journey, travelled well or ill ; and knowing that when
they are heavily laden and badly supplied with pro-
visions, they will not go more than from ten to fif-
teen miles a day; but that, on the other hand, when
they are fresh and lightly laden, they will travel from
eighteen to twenty-five miles a day, he had reckoned
the length of his journeys accordingly.

When asked how he came to observe so minutely
the directions in which he travelled ; he replied, that
he always noticed in a morning whether the sun rose
in his face, or not : and that his thoughts being for-
ever turned to the consideration of how he should
escape, he never omitted to remark, and as much as
possible to impress on his recollection, the course he

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. XV

was travelling, and had travelled, and to make in-
quiries on the subject. Being a sailor, he observed,
he had the habit of noticing the course he was steer-
ing at sea; and therefore found no difficulty in doing
so, when traversing the Deserts of Africa, which
looked like the sea in a calm.

Enough, it is hoped, has been said to satisfy the
Reader that the Narrative is genuine. But the Edi-
tor, aware that it might be difficult to obtain credit
for so extraordinary a story, was anxious, that Adams,
before he left the country, should be seen and examin-
ed by every gentleman who might wrish it, or whose
opinions would be most conclusive with the publick.
Fortunately this wish was fully accomplished : for
the story having come to the knowledge of Earl Ba-
thurst, the Right Honourable the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Major General Sir Willoughby Gordon,
the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, John Barrow,
Esq.* George Harrison, Esq. Henry Goulburn, Esq.
M. P. and other members of the Government who
interest themselves in African affairs, and they hav-
ing expressed a desire to see Adams, he waited upon
them in person, and the Narrative was at the same
time transmitted to them for their perusal. It is un-
necessary to give stronger evidence of the general
impression derived from this investigation than is af-
forded by the fact, that the Lords of the Treasury
were pleased to order to the poor man a handsome
gratuity for his equipment and passage home : and
Sir Willoughby Gordon, in a Letter which the Edi-

* In mentioning the names of Sir Joseph Banks and Mr. Barrow,
the Editor ought not to conceal that Adams had the misfortune, at his
first interviews with these gentlemen, and previous to the conclusive
corroborations which his story has since received, to excite some
doubts in their minds by his account of Tombuctoo, and by his mis-
takes on some subjects of natural history, (see Notes 15, 18, and 20,)
but of the general truth of his Narrative they did not, even at thnr
early period, entertain any doubts,

XVI INTRODUCTORY DETAILS.

tor had subsequently the honour to receive from him,
expressed his opinion in the following words : " the
perusal of his Statement, and the personal examina-
tion of Adams, have entirely satisfied me of the truth
of his deposition. If he should be proved an impos-
tor, he will fee second only to Psalmanazar."

Although the information thus obtained fromAdamg
did not, in strictness, answer the specifick object
for which it was sought, that of assisting Major Ped-
die; yet as his extraordinary adventures, and his de-
tails of Tombuctoo, were too curious to be suppress-
ed, it was resolved, with a view to the gratification
of the publick, and in some respects, in justice to
Adams, that the Narrative should be printed for
his sole benefit. It was accordingly about to be
sent to the press in December last, unsupported by
any external evidence beyond the considerations and
opinions, contained in the preceding part of this
Preface, which was written at that time. And as no
sufficient reason then existed for any longer opposing
Adams's wish to revisit his home, he embarked on
board a vessel bound to New York; leaving until
his return, (which he promised should take place in
the Spring,) a large balance of the bounty of the
Lords of the Treasury, and the expected profits of
his Book ; but before his departure he communicated
to the Editor such particulars of his family as might
lead to the verification of his, and their, identity, if his
return to this country should be prevented by his
death.

At this conjuncture an opportunity unexpectedly
presented itself, of putting Adams's veracity to a
decisive test on many important details of his Narra-
tive; and the intended publication was consequently

jH$'

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. XVU

suspended until the result of this investigation should
be ascertained.

The circumstance which produced this fortunate
delay, was notice of the arrival in England of Mr.
Dupuis, the British Vice-Consul at Mogadore ; to
whose interference Adams had ascribed his ransom ;
and to whom, consequently, the truth or falsehood
of many of his statements must of necessity be known.
No time was lost in obtaining an interview with this
gentleman : and the satisfactory answers returned
by him to the Editor's first inquiries, led to further
trespasses on his kindness and his leisure ; which ter-
minated in his consenting, at the earnest solicitation
of the Editor, to undertake the perusal of the entire
Narrative, and to communicate in writing whatever
observations, whether confirmatory or otherwise,
might occur to him in the course of its examination.

The general result of this scrutiny, so satisfacto-
ry to the previous believers of Adams, is contained
in the following Letter from Mr. Dupuis, which is
too interesting and important to admit of any
abridgment.

* " London, 31sl January, 1816.

" In compliance with your request, I have great
pleasure in communicating to you all the particulars
with which I am acquainted, respecting the Ameri-
can seaman who is supposed to have been at Tim-
buctoo ; of whom I have a distinct recollection.

"In the latter end of the year 1810, 1 was informed,
at Mogadore, that the ship Charles, of New York,
to which that seaman belonged, was wrecked on
the Western Coast of Africa, near the latitude of
Cape Blanco : and about three months after her
loss, I was fortunate enough to ransom three of her
crew; who informed me that their Captain was dead,

3

XV111 INTRODUCTORY DETAILS.

that the rest of the crew were in slavery, and that
two of them, in particular, had been carried away
by the Arabs in an easterly direction across the De-
sert, and would probably never be heard of again.
Some time after this, I heard that the mate and one
seaman were at Wed-Noon ; and I accordingly tried
to effect their liberation; but after a considerable
time spent in this endeavour, I could neither suc-
ceed in that object, nor in obtaining any information
respecting the rest of the crew. At length, nearly
two years after the wreck of the Charles, I acciden-
tally heard that a Christian was at El Kabla, a re-
mote Douar in the Desert, in a south-east direction
from Mogadore; and subsequently I heard of the
arrival of the same individual at Wed-Noon ; from
whence, after a tedious negociation, I ultimately ob-
tained his release about a year afterwards.

" The appearance, features and dress of this man
upon his arrival at Mogadore, so perfectly resembled
those of an Arab, or rather of a Shilluh, his head
being shaved, and his beard scanty and black, that I
had difficulty at first in believing him to be a Chris-
tian. When I spoke to him in English he answered
me in a mixture of Arabick and broken English, and
sometimes in Arabick only. At this early period I
could not help remarking, that his pronunciation of
Arabick resembled that of a Negro, but concluded
that it was occasioned by his intercourse with Ne-
gro slaves.

" Like most other Christians after a long captivity
and severe treatment among the Arabs, he appeared
upon his first arrival exceedingly stupid and insensi-
ble ; and he scarcely spoke to any one : but he soon
began to show great thankfulness for his ransom, and
willingly assisted in arranging and cultivating a small
garden, and in other employments, which I gave him
with a view of diverting his thoughts. About ten or

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. XIX

twelve days afterwards his faculties seemed pretty-
well restored, and his reserve had in a great mea-
sure worn off; and about this period, having been
informed by a person with whom he conversed,
that he had visited the Negro country, I began to
inquire of him the extent of his travels in the De-
sert ; suppressing every appearance of peculiar cu-
riosity, or of expecting any thing extraordinary from
his answers. He then related to me, with the
greatest simplicity, the manner in which he had been
wrecked, and afterwards carried away to the east-
ward, to Timbuctoo ; the misfortunes and sufferings
of the party which he accompanied, his return across
the Desert, and his ultimate arrival at Wed-Noon.
What he dwelt upon with most force and earnest-
ness during this recital, were the particulars of the
brutal treatment which he experienced from the
Arabs at El Kabla and Wed-Noon. He did not ap-
pear to attach any importance to the fact of his
having been at Timbuctoo: and the only strong
feeling which he expressed respecting it, was that of
dread, with which some of the Negroes had inspired
him, who, he said, were sorcerers, and possessed the
power of destroying their enemies by witchcraft.

" The probability of the events, the manner of
his relating them, and the correspondence of his
description of places with what information 1 pos-
sessed respecting them, led me to attach a conside-
rable degree of credit to his Narrative. After re-
peated examinations, in which I found him uniformly
clear and consistent in his accounts, I sent for seve-
ral respectable traders who had been at Timbuc-
too ; and these persons, after examining him respect-
ing the situation of that city and of other places,
and respecting the objects which he had seen there,
assured me that they had no doubt of his having
been where he described. So strongly was my be-

XX INTRODUCTORY DETAILS.

lief in the truth and accuracy of his recital now con-
firmed, that I wrote a detail of the circumstances to
Mr. Simpson, Consul-General of the United States
at Tangier : I made a chart, on which I traced his
course ; and observed, that it extended eastward
nearly to the supposed situation of Timbuctoo : I
also took down in writing an account of his travels,
which I regret that I left amongst my papers at Mo-
gadore ; and although in doing this I had occasion
to make him repeat his story several times, I never
found that he differed in any important particular
from the tale he told at first.

44 The Narrative which you have transmitted to
me appears, after a minute examination, and to the
best of my recollection, to be the same, in substance,
as that which I received from him at Mogadore.
The chain of events is uniformly the same ; but I
think he entered more into detail on many points, in
the relation which he gave to me. I do not enlarge
upon this subject here, having pointed out in the
Notes which I have made on the Narrative, the few
passages, in which I found it differ materially from
what! recollect of his statements at Mogadore. I
have also mentioned such circumstances as corro-
borated any part of his statements ; and I have ad-
ded, according to your desire, such illustrations or in-
cidental information, as occurred to me in perusing
the Narrative.

" Being quite satisfied from your description of
the person of the American seaman, and from the
internal evidence of the Narrative, that 4 Robert
Adams* is the identical individual who was with me
at Mogadore, I must not, however, omit to inform
you, that the name by which he went in Africa was
Benjamin Rose ; by which name also he was known
to those of the crew of the Charles who were ran-
somed.

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. XXI

"I cannot say that I am much surprised at this
circumstance, because I recollect that he once hint-
ed, during his residence at Mogadore, that ; Benja-
min Rose' was not his real name : and from the
Ereat apprehensions which he always discovered,
;st he should fall in with, or be impressed by a
British Man of War, as well as from the anxiety
which he shewed on being sent to Tangier, so near
to Gibraltar, I could not help suspecting that he
might have some reasons of his own, connected with
the British Naval service, for going under a feigned
name. This conjecture was in some degree con-
firmed by an acknowledgment which he made, that
he had once been on board a British Man of War,
either on service, or detained as a prisoner.

" There is another circumstance which he men-
tioned to me at Mogadore, which may possibly have
led to this change of name. He told me that he had
quitted America to avoid a prosecution with which
he was threatened for the consequences of an amour,
which he was unwilling to make good by marriage.
But on the whole, I am disposed to think that the
former was the real cause; since he never express-
ed any reluctance to go to America, but always
seemed to dread the idea of visiting Europe. I
never doubted at Mogadore that he was an Ameri-
can, as he stated ; and on one occasion, he discover-
ed an involuntary exultation at the sight of the
American flag, which seemed quite convincing. He
told me that he was born up the river of New York,
where his father lived when he quitted America ;
and I learnt, either from himself or from some other
of the Charles's crew, that his mother was a Mulat-
to, which circumstance his features and complex-
ion seemed to confirm.

" On the whole, as I consider it not improbable
that Adams may be his real name, and being at all

XXII INTRODUCTORY DETAILS.

events quite satisfied, that he is the person whom I
knew at Mogadore, I have, (to avoid confusion)
adopted the name which he bears in the Narrative,
when I speak of him in my Notes.

" I shall be very happy if this explanation, and
the details into which I have entered in the Notes,
prove of any interest: if you think them of sufficient
importance, I can have no possible ground for ob-
jecting to their being made pubhck.

« JOSEPH DUPUIS."

Fortified by this important testimony, the Narra*
tive is now presented to the publick, with a guaran-
tee for its substantial veracity, which happily su-
persedes, though it does not render the less interest-
ing, the presumptive and internal evidence to which
the Reader's attention has already been directed.

The Editor reserves for another place, a brief
review of the extent to which Mr. Dupuis' com-
munications thus confirm the Narrative ; together
with an examination of those parts of it which still
rest on the unsupported authority of the Narrator.
But he cannot omit this, the earliest, opportunity,
of publicly acknowledging his great personal obli-
gations to that gentleman, not merely for his ex-
amination of the Narrative, and for the confirma-
tion which his Letter and Notes have lent to it,
but peculiarly for the ready kindness with which
he has yielded to the Editor's request, in extend-
ing his interesting remarks on some particular oc-
casions, further than the mere confirmation of
Adams's Narrative in strictness seemed to require.

To this additional encroachment on the leisure of
Mr. Dupuis, the Editor was impelled by information,
that few persons were better qualified to give origi-
nal and accurate details respecting the natives of
Barbary and the Desert;— a residence of eight years

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. XX11I

in the dominions of the Emperour of Morocco, —
(more than half of which period in an official charac-
ter,)— and an eminent proficiency in the Arabick
language, and in its very difficult pronunciation,
having* afforded to him facilities of accurate com-
munication with the natives, to which very few of
our countrymen have ever attained.

The Editor's particular acknowledgments are
also due to two gentlemen, members of the African
Committee (whom he should have been glad to have
had permission to name,) whose contributions will
be found in this publication : to the one, for a
Dissertation of great practical importance on the Up-
per Regions of the Niger, inserted in the Appendix,
No. I ; — and to the other, for the Map already
alluded to, and for various Notes and Remarks with
which, during the Editor's temporary absence, from
ill health, he has had the kindness to illustrate the
Narrative.

In conclusion, the Editor has only to add the as-
surance (which however he trusts is hardly neces-
sary,) that the Narrative itself is precisely in the same
state now, as when it was read at the offices of
the Colonial Secretary of State, and of the Quarter-
Master-General ; — not a single liberty either of ad-
dition or suppression having been taken with the
plain statements of Adams : even the imperfect or-
thography of the names of places, as they were first
written to imitate Adams's pronunciation, remains
uncorrected; in order that the Reader may judge
for himself of Adams's approach to accuracy, in this
respect, by comparing his recollections of the names
of places and persons, with those accurately furnish-
ed by Mr. Dupuis.

April 30th, 1816.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE MAP.

In conformity with the reported computation of the
master of the " Charles," the scene of the shipwreck
has been placed in the map four hundred miles north
of the Senegal, or about the 22d. degree of north
latitude.

The ruled line drawn from this point represents
Adams's recollected courses to Tombuctoo and
Wed-Noon, extracted from the narrative at his high-
est estimates of distance.* The dotted line from the
same point is given as the assumed real track of these
journeys : being an adaptation of the former line to
the positions assigned by the best authorities to the
cities of Tombuctoo and Wed-Noon; and the differ-
ence between thsee two lines will shew the extent of
allowance for errours in reckoning, which Adams's
statements appear to require.

It is evident, however, that the accuracy of the
first part of these journeys (from the coast to
Tombuctoo) must depend altogether upon the cor-
rectness of the assumed point of departure from
which it is traced ; and it will probably be remarked,
that as the fact of the shipwreck proves the master
to have been mistaken in his estimate of longitude,
we may fairly presume that he was at least equally
mistaken in his latitude ; since the known direction
of the currents which prevail on this part of the
African coast (by which he was probably misled)

* See the Table in Note 60.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE MAP. XXV

would doubtless carry the ship at least as far to the
southward of her reckoning, as the fact of the wreck
proves that she was carried to the eastward.

Admitting the force of this consideration, we may
observe, that in the degree in which it tends to in-
validate the accuracy of the master's estimate, it cor-
roborates the precision of Adams's recollections —
his line of journey (as now traced from the master's
position of the shipwreck,) lying actually a little
further to the north than is requisite to bring him to
the supposed situation of Tombuctoo.

There is not, however, any sufficient ground for
believing, that Captain Horton's estimates, after the
loss of his ship, did notinclude, all the allowances for
the effect of the currents, which we are now contem-
plating, and which that misfortune was calculated to
suggest; and we are, consequently, not at liberty to
deviate from his opinion merely to fit the circum-
stances to Adams's story. Nevertheless, this opi-
nion (which may be erroneous) must be taken, in
conjunction with Adams's description of the place
where they were cast away ; and the only certain
conclusion thusdeducible from the narrative appears
to be, — that the " Charles" was wrecked on a ledge
of low rocks, projecting from a level sandy coast, not
far from the latitude of Cape Blanco.

With respect to other positions in the map, we
have only to explain, — that the latitude of Park's
lines of journey from the Gambia to Silla is adjusted
from the data afforded by his last mission ; but that
Major Rennell's situation of Tombuctoo has been
retained.

A conjectural junction has been suggested be-
tween Adams's river La Mar Zarah and the Niger:
and a suppositious course has also been assigned to
the latter river, above the point to which Park's per-

4

XXVI ADVERTISEMENT TO THE MAP.

sonal observation extended, in order to illustrate the
question discussed in the Appendix, No. I.

In a publication professedly intended to promote,
in however trifling a degree, our acquaintance with
the interiour of Africa, it has not appeared improper
to advert to the question of the termination of the
Niger; and the outline of the map has accordingly
been extended to the Zaire and the Nile, in order to
afford a glance at the great points of this much agi-
tated question. It is not, however, our intention to
mix further in this discussion. The problem which
has excited so strong an interest, is now, we trust,
in a fair way of being satisfactorily solved, by the
joint labours of the double expedition which is actu-
ally on foot; and it has been, in the mean time, so
ably illustrated in all its parts, by Major Rennell in
his Geographical Illustrations of Park's first Travels,
— by the Editor of Park's Second Mission, — and
by the most respectable of our periodical publica-
tions, that it would appear a little presumptuous in
us to expect that we could throw any new interest
into the discussion. But desirous of contributing
our mite of information to the facts upon which the
discussion itself is founded, we shall offer no apology
for inserting, in this place, the substance of a com-
munication with which we have been favoured by a
gentleman upon whose statements we can rely, and
who has resided, at different intervals, a considera-
ble time at the settlement of Lagos, and at other sta-
tions on the coast of the Bight of Benin.

We learn from our informant that the Haoussa*
traders who, previous to the abolition of the slave
trade, were continually to be met with at Lagos, still
come down to that mart, though in smaller bodies.
The result of his frequent communications with them

* Pronounced by the Negroes as ifit were written A-Houssa.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE MAP. XXVll

respecting the journey to their own country and the
Negro nations through which it lay, has strongly
persuaded him of the practicability of a body of
Europeans penetrating in that direction to the Ni-
ger, with proper precautions, under the protection
of the Haoussa merchants : and of insuring their
safe return by certain arrangements to be made be-
tween the adventurers themselves, (countenanced
by the authority of the Governours of the neigh-
bouring forts,) — their Haoussa conductors, and the
settled native traders on the coast. The principal
Negro nation on the journey are the Joos,* a pow-
erful and not ill disposed people ; and, nearer the
coast, (avoiding the Dahomey territories,) the
Anagoos, and the Mahees ; the latter of whom are
stated to be an industrious people and good plant-
ers. Cowries alone would be necessary, for suste-
nance or presents, during the whole of the journey.
But it is principally with reference to the nature
of the country which lies between the coast and
Haoussa that we notice this communication. The
traders describe their journey to the coast as occu-
pying between three and four months, which is as
much time as they require for the journey from
Haoussa to the Gambia; the difficulties and delays
incidental to the former journey counterbalancing its
shorter distance. These difficulties are invariably
described as resulting from the numerous rivers, mo-
rasses, and large lakes which intersect the countries
between Haoussa and the coast. Some of these
lakes are crossed by the traders on rafts of a large
size, capable of transporting many passengers and
much merchandise at one passage j and here the
travellers are often detained a considerable time
until a sufficiently large freight of passengers and

* Yos, or Jyos, in D'Anville's maps.

XXVU1 ADVERTISEMENT TO THE MAP.

goods happens to be collected. On no occasion
does our informant recollect that the Haoussa
traders have spoken of a range of mountains, which
they had to cross in coming down from their own
country, and he has no idea that any such range ex-
ists in that direction, as the traders spoke only of
morasses and other impediments from water.

We hardly need to observe, that these statements
appear to remove some of the difficulties which have
been objected to the prolongation of the course of
the Niger to the southward, either to the kingdom of
Congo or to the Gulf of Guinea, in consequence of
the supposed barrier of the Jibbel Kumri, or moun-
tains of the moon; but the details are of course too
vague to supply any argument in favour of either of
the particular systems here alluded to respecting the
termination of the Niger, — either of the conjectural
theory of Reichard, or of the more reasoned system
which Park adopted, and which is so ably illustrated
and enforced in one of the publications* to which
we have already alluded.

* See the Quarterly Review for April 1815, Art. VI.

NARRATIVE, $c.

CHAPTER I.

Departure from New York on board the "Charles. "....Names of the
Crew.. ..Arrival at Gibraltar.... Voyage to the Isle of Mayo. ...Igno-
rance of the Captain.. ..The ship is wrecked on the Western coast of
Africa.. ..The Crew saved,but are enslaved by the Moors. ...El Gazie...
Description of the Moors, and their proceedings... .French Renegade
....Sufferings of the Crew. ...Death of Captain Horton.... Separation
of the Crew, and departure of the Moors from El Gazie.. ..Adams is
conveyed eastward into the Desert. ...Mode of travelling.. ..Arrival at
the encampment of the Moors. ...Employment there... .Expedition to
steal Negro Slaves at Soudenny.... Sufferings in traversing the De-
sert....Arrival near Soudenny.... The Moors seize a Woman and two
Children.... Are themselves surprized by the Negroes, taken prison-
ers, and confined in the town.. ..Soudenny, and its inhabitants.. ..The
prisoners are conveyed by a party of armed Negroes to Tombuctoo
....Journey thither ; during which fourteen of the Moors are put
to death. ...Arrival at Tombuctoo.

Robert Adams, aged 25, born at Hudson, about one
hundred miles up the North River, from New
York, where his father was a sail maker, was brought
up to the seafaring line, and made several voyages to
Lisbon, Cadiz, Seville, and Liverpool.

On the 17th of June, 1810, he sailed from New
York in the ship Charles, John Horton master, of
280 tons, Charles Still well owner; laden with flour,
rice, and salted provisions? bound to Gibraltar.

30 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

The crew consisted of the following persons : —

Stephen Dolbie, mate,

Thomas Williams,

Martin Clarke,

Unis Newsham,

Nichofas (a Swede,)

John Stephens,
: I * I John Matthews,
, James Davison,
.*• • :t..?, ■■ .Robert Adams,
shipped at New York.

The vessel arrived in twenty-six days at Gibraltar,
where the cargo was discharged. Here she was
joined by Unis Nelson, another sailor : she lay at
Gibraltar about a month, and after taking in sand
ballast, 68 pipes of wine, some blue nankeens, and
old iron, proceeded on her voyage, the Captain stat-
ing that he was bound to the Isle of May, for salt,
but afterwards it appeared that he was going on a
trading voyage down the coast. (*) When they had
been at sea about three weeks, Adams heard two of
the crew, Newsham and Matthews, who were old
sailors, and had been on the coast before, speaking
to the mate, stating their opinion that the Captain
did not know where he was steering : the ship's
course was then south south-west : they said he
ought to have steered to the northward of west*
They had to beat against contrary winds for eight or
nine days afterwards ; and on the 11th of October,
about 3 o'clock in the morning, they heard breakers ;
when Matthews, the man at the helm, told the mate,
who was keeping watch, that he was sure they were
near the shore ; to which the mate replied, that "he
had better mind the helm, or his wages would be

* These courses, whether from the fanlt of Adams's memory, or of
the judgment of the "old sailors," hardly seem to warrant the conse-
quences here ascribed to them.

ROBERT ADAMS S NARRATIVE. 31

stopped." An hour afterwards the vessel struck,
but there was so much fog that the shore could not
be seen. The boat was immediately hoisted out,
and the mate and three seamen got into it, but it
instantly swamped. The four persons who were in
it, swam, or were cast ashore by the surf; soon after
a sea washed off four or five more of the crew, in-
cluding Adams ; but as all of the ship's company could
swim, except Nicholas and the mate, they reached
the shore without much difficulty ; the latter two
were nearly exhausted, but no lives were lost. When
morning came, it appeared that the ship had struck
on a reef of rocks that extended about three quar-
ters of a mile into the sea, and were more than
twelve feet above the surface at low water. The
place, according to the Captain's reckoning, was
about four hundred miles to the northward of Sene-
gal.

Soon after break of day they were surrounded by-
thirty or forty Moors, who were engaged in fishing
on that coast, by whom Captain Horton and the ship's
company were made prisoners. The vessel bilged :
the cargo was almost entirely lost ; and what re-
mained of the wreck was burnt by the Moors, for the
copper bolts and sheathing ; but as they had no tools
wherewith to take off the copper, they saved little
more than the bolls. The place which was called
El Gazie, (2) was a low sandy beach, having no trees
in sight, nor any verdure. There was no appear-
ance of mountain or hill ; nor (excepting only the
rock on which the ship was wrecked) any thing but
sand as far as the eve could reach.

The Moors were straight haired, but quite black;
their dress consisted of little more than a rug or a
skin round their waist, their upper parts and from
their knees downwards, being wholly naked. The
men had neither shoes nor hats, but wore their hair

32 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

very long : the women had a little dirty rag round their
heads by way of turban. They were living in tents
made of stutFlike a coarse blanket, of goat's hair,
and sheep's wool interwoven; but some of them were
without tents, until they were enabled to make them
of the sails of the ship ; out of which they also made
themselves clothes. The men were circumcised.
They appeared to be provided with no cooking uten-
sil whatever. Their mode of dressing fish was by
drying it in the sun, cutting it into thin pieces, and
letting it broil on the hot sand ; but they were better
off after the wreck, as they secured several pots,
saucepans, &c. So extremely indigent were these
people, that when unable to catch fish, they were in
danger of starving ; and in the course of fourteen
days, or thereabouts, that they remained at El Gazie,
they were three or four days without fish, owing to
the want of proper tackle. Among the articles in a
chest that floated ashore, was fishing tackle, which
the crew of the Charles offered to shew the Moors
how to use, and to assist them in fishing ; but they
refused to be instructed, or to receive any assistance.
At length, having accumulated enough to load a ca-
mel, they raised their tents and departed, taking
with them their prisoners.

Besides the Moors, there was a young man in ap-
pearance a Frenchman, but dressed like a Moor.
As captain Horton spoke French, he conversed with
this man, who told him that about a year before he
had made his escape from Santa Cruz, in the Canary
Islands, in a small vessel, ,with some other French-
men ; and that having appoached the shore to pro-
cure goats, they had found it impossible to get the
vessel off again, on account of the surf, and were ta-
ken prisoners ; his companions had been sent up the
country. As he associated, and ate and slept with

ROBERT ADAMS ?S NARRATIVE. 33

the Moors, Adams was of opinion that he had turned
Mohammedan, although he assured Captain Horton
that he had not done so. (3)

On the landing of the Captain and crew, the
Moors stripped all of them naked, and hid the clothes
under ground, as well as the articles which they
had collected from the ship, or which had floated
ashore. Being thus exposed to a scorching sun,
their skins became dreadfully blistered, and at night
they were obliged to dig holes in the sand to sleep
in, for the sake of coolness.

This was not the only evil they had to encounter,
for as the Moors swarmed with lice, Adams and his
companions soon became covered with them.

About a week after landing, the Captain became
extremely ill, and having expressed himself violently
on the occasion of his being stripped, and frequently
afterwards using loud and coarse language, and me-
nacing gestures, he was at length seized by jhe
Moors and put to death. The instrument they used
on the occasion was a sword, which they found in
the cabin : the Captain used no resistance ; he was
in fact so reduced by sickness, and was in such a
state of despondency, that he frequently declared he
wished for death. It was the manner of the Cap-
tain that gave offence, as the Moors could not un-
derstand what he said, any more than he could un-
derstand them. One thing in particular, about
which Adams understood the Moors to quarrel with
him was, that as he was extremely dirty, and (like
all the party) covered with vermin, they wished him
to go down to the sea to wash, and made signs for
him to do so. But partly from an obstinacy of dis-

Eosition, and partly from the lassitude brought on
y sickness and despair, he refused to do as de-
sired; and whenever pressed to do so, used the
most threatening looks, actions, and words. (4)

04 ROBERT ADAMSES NARRATIVE.

When the vessel struck, the Captain gave orders
that the heads of the wine casks should be knocked
in, in the hope of thereby making her float ; and
when he found that did not succeed, he ordered that
the guns, flour, anchors, &c. should be thrown over-
board, and the water started. In the confusion and
alarm, the muskets and powder were also thrown
overboard ; otherwise the party might have had the
means of defending themselves against the Moors
who appeared on their first landing, the number
of whom did not exceed forty or fifty people ; but
though the Captain was a man of courage, he ap-
peared to be utterly deprived of reflection after the
vessel had struck. He was also an excellent navi-
gator, but relied too much upon the Mate.

After they had remained about ten or twelve
days, until the ship and materials had quite disap-
peared, the Moors made preparation to depart, and
divided the prisoners among them, carefully hiding
in the sand every thing they had saved from the
wreck. Adams, the Mate, and Newsham were left
in the possession of about twenty Moors, (men,
women, and children,) who quitted the sea coast,
having four camels, three of which they loaded with
water, and the other with fish and baggage. They
travelled very irregularly, sometimes going only ten
or twelve miles a day, but often considerably more,
making upon an average about fifteen miles a day ;
occasionally going two or three days without stop-
ping, except at night, at others resting a day or
two ; on which occasions they pitched the tents to
recruit the camels.

Except one woman, who had an infant, which she
carried on her back, the whole of the party went on
foot. The route was to the eastward, but inclining
rather to the south than to the north of east, across
a desert sandy plain, with occasional low hills ajnd

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 35

stones. At the end of about thirty days, during
which they did not see any human being, they ar-
rived at a place, the name of which Adams did not
hear, where they found about thirty or forty tents,
and a pool of water, surrounded by a few shrubs,
which was the only water they had met with since
quitting the coast.

In the first week after their arrival, Adams and
his companions being greatly fatigued, were not re-
quired to do any work, but at the end of that time
they were put to tend some goats and sheep, which
were the first they had seen. About this time John
Stevens arrived, under charge of a Moor, and was
sent to work in company with Adams. Stephens
was a Portuguese, about eighteen years of age.
At this place they remained about a month.

The Mate offered the Moors one hundred dollars
to take the party to Senegal, which was called by
the Moors Agadeer Bomba,* which they refused;
but, as Adams understood, they were willing to take
them to a place called Suerra. (5) Not being ac-
quainted with this place, they objected to go thith-
er ; but when the}* began to learn the language,
they found that what was called Suerra, meant
Mogadore, The Mate and Newsham remained only
a few days at the place at which they were stop-
ping, when they went away with some of the Moors
in a northerly direction. It was very much the de-
sire of Adams and Stevens to continue in company
with the Mate and the others, but they were not
permitted, i6)

Some days after, it was proposed by the Moors to
Adams and Stevens to accompany them in an expe-
dition to Soudenny to procure slaves. It was with
S^reat difficulty they could understand this proposal,

* " Agadeer Doma." D,

3a ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

but the Moors made themselves intelligible by point*
ing to some Negro boys who were employed in
taking care of sheep and goats ; and §s they fre-
quently mentioned the word " Suerra," Adams at
last made out, that if he and Stevens would join
in the expedition, they should be taken to that place.
Being in the power of the Moors, they had no
option, and having therefore signified their consent,
the party, consisting of about eighteen Moors and
the two whites, set off for Soudenny, taking with
them nine camels, laden with water and barly flour,
procured at a place at which they had stopped.
After proceeding two days, they were joined by
twelve other Moors, and three more camels, and
then the whole party set off to cross the Desert,*
proceeding south southeast; travelling at first at
the rate of from Mteen to twenty miles a day. It
was the expectation of the Moors, that by travel-
ling at that rate for ten days, they should come to
a place where water was to be procured ; but the
weather having been exceedingly hot, and the sea-
son dry, when they arrived at the spot (which they
did in ten days) where the water was expected,
which seemed to be a well about eight or nine feet
deep, it was found quite dry. By this time their
water running short, they resorted to the expedient
of mixing the remainder of their stock with the cam-
els' urine, and then set out again on their journey
to Soudenny, pursuing a course rather more south-
erly, in the neighbourhood of which they arrived in
about four days more. About two days journey
from this place they appeared to have left the De-
sert, the country began to be hilly, and they met with
some small trees.

* Adams calls " the Desert" only those parts of the great Sahara,
which consist of loose sand, without any traces of vegetation.

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 37

Soudenny is a small Negro village, having grass
and shrubs growing about it, and a small brook of
water. The houses are built of clay, the roofs be-
ing composed of sticks laid flat, with clay on the
top. For a week or thereabouts, after arriving in
the neighbourhood of this place, the party conceal-
ed themselves amongst the hills and bushes, lying
in wait for the inhabitants ; when they seized upon
a woman with a child in her arms, and two children
(boys,) whom they found walking in the evening
near the town. (T)

During the next four or five days the party re-
mained concealed, when one evening, as they were
ail lying on the ground, a large party of Negroes,
(consisting of forty or fidy men,) made their ap-
pearance, armed with daggers and bows and ar-
rows, who surrounded and took them all prisoners,
without the least resistance being attempted, and
carried them into the town ; tying the hands of some,
and driving the whole party before them. During
the night, above one hundred Negroes kept watch
over them. The next day they were taken before
the Governour, or chief person, named Mahamoud,
a remarkably ugly Negro, who ordered that they
should all be imprisoned. The place of confinement
was a mere mud wall, about six feet high, from
whence they might readily have escaped (though
strongly guarded,) if the Moors had been enterpris-
ing ; but they were a cowardly set. Here they were
kept three or four days, for the purpose, as it after-
wards appeared, of being sent forward to Tombuctoo,
which Adams concluded to be the residence of the
king of the country.

The better order of natives at Soudenny wear
blue nankeen, in the manner of a frock; but are en-
tirely without shoes, hats, or turbans, except the
Chief, who at times wears a blue turban. The dis-

38 ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE.

tinguishing ornament of the Chief is some gold work-
ed on the shoulder of his frock, in the manner of an
epaulette ; some of the officers about him were or-
namented in a similar manner, but with smaller
epaulettes. Their arms were bows and arrows; the
former about four feet long, with strings made of the
skin of some animal ; the arrows were about a foot
and a half long, not feathered. The Negroes frequent-
ly practised shooting at small marks of clay, which
they scarcely ever missed at fifteen or twenty yards
distance.

The houses have only a ground floor ; and are
without furniture or utensils, except wooden bowls,
and mats made of grass. They never make fires
in their houses. The lower order of people wear
blankets, which they buy from the Moors. After
remaining about four days at Soudenny, the pri-
soners were sent to Tombuctoo, under an escort of
about sixty armed men, having about eighteen cam-
els and dromedaries.

During the first ten days, they proceeded east-
ward at the rate of about fifteen to twenty miles a
day, the prisoners and most of the Negroes walk-
ing, the officers riding, two upon each camel or
dromedary. As the prisoners were all impressed
with the belief that they were going to execution,
several of the Moors attempted to escape } and in
consequence, after a short consultation, fourteen
were put to death, by being beheaded at a small
village at which they then arrived ; and as a ter-
rour to the rest, the head of one of them was
hung round the neck of a camel for three days until
it became so putrid that they were obliged to re-
move it. At this village the natives wore gold rings
in their ears, sometimes two rings in each ear.
They had a hole through the cartilage of the nose,
wide enough to admit a thick quill, in which Adams

ROBERT

ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 39

saw some of the natives wear a large ring of an
oval shape, that hung down to the mouth.

They waited only one day at this place, and then
proceeded towards Tombuctoo, shaping their course
to the northward of east : and quickening their pace
to the rate of twenty miles a day, they completed
their journey in fifteen days.

I 40 j

CHAPTER II.

Imprisonment of the Moors at Toinbuctoo.... Adams an object of cu*-
riosity, and kindly treated. ...King and Queen; Woollo and Fatima
....Their Dress, Ceremonies, Residence, and Attendants... .Muskets
....Curiosity of the Natives to see Adams. ...Tombuctoo.. ..La Mar
Zarah Canoes... .Fish Fruits.. ..Vegetables Grain. ...Food pre-
pared from the Guinea-corn. ...Animals. ...Heirie.... Elephant-hunt....
Birds : Ostriches. ...Sulphur.. ..Poisonous preparation of the Negroes
for their Arrows.. ..Persons and Habits of the Negroes.... Incisions in
their Faces Dress Ornaments, and Customs Musical Instru-
ments....Dancing. ...Military Excursions against Bambarra.... Slaves
....Criminal Punishments. ...Articles of Trade.... Jealous precautions
of the Negroes against the Moors ; their kindness to Adams. ...Rain
....Names of Countries.. ..Words in the Language of Tombuctoo.

Upon their arrival at Tombuctoo, the whole party
was immediately taken before the King, who order-
ed the Moors into prison, but treated Adams and
the Portuguese boy as curiosities ; taking them to
his house, where they remained during their resi-
dence at Tombuctoo.

For some time after their arrival, the Queen and
her female attendants used to sit and look at Adams
and his companion for hours together. She treated
them with great kindness, and at the first interview
offered them some bread baked under ashes.

The King and Queen, the former of whom was
named Woollo, the latter Fatima, (8) were very old
gray-headed people. The Queen was extremely
fat. Her dress was of blue nankeen, edged with
gold lace round the bosom and on the shoulder,
and having a belt or a stripe of the same material
halfway down the dress, which came only a few

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 41

inches below the knees. The dress of the other
females of Tombuctoo, though less ornamented than
that of the Queen, was in the same short fashion ;
so that as they wore no close under garments, they
might, when sitting on the ground, as far as decen-
cy was concerned, as well have had no covering at
all. The Queen's head-dress consisted of a blue
nankeen turban ; but this was worn only upon occa-
sions of ceremony, or when she walked out. Be-
sides the turban, she had her hair stuck full of bone
ornaments of a square shape, about the size of dice,
extremely white ; she had large g6ld hoop ear-
rings, and many necklaces, some of them of gold,
the others made of beads of various colours. She
wore no shoes ; and, in consequence, her feet ap-
peared to be as hard and dry " as the hoofs of an
ass."*

Besides the blue nankeen dress just described,
the Queen sometimes wore an under-dress of white
muslin ; at other times a red one. This colour was
produced by the juice of a red root which grows in
the neighbourhood, about a foot and a half long.
Adams never saw any silks worn by the Queen or
any other inhabitant of Tombuctoo ; for, although
they have some silks brought by the Moors, they
appeared to be used entirely for purposes of ex-
ternal trade.

The dress of the King was a blue nankeen frock
decorated with gold, having gold epaulettes, and
a broad wristband of the same metal. He sometimes
wore a turban; but often went bare-headed. (9)
When he walked through the town, he was generally
a little in advance of his party. His subjects saluted
him by inclinations of the head and body ; or by
touching his head with their hands, and then kissing

* Adams's expression.
6

42

their hands. When he received his subjects in his
palace, it was his custom to sit on the ground, and
their mode of saluting him on such occasions was by
kissing his head.

The King's house, or palace, which is built of clay
and grass, (not white-washed) consists of eight or
ten small rooms on the ground floor ; and is surround-
ed by a wall of the same materials, against part of
which the house is built. The space within the
wall is about half an acre. Whenever a trader ar-
rives, he is required to bring his merchandise into
this space for the inspection of the King, for the
purpose, Adams thinks, (but is not certain,) of duties
being charged upon it. (10j The King's attendants,
who are with him all the day, generally consist of
about thirty persons, several of whom are armed
with daggers and bows and arrows. Adams does
not know if he had any family.

In a store-room of the King's house Adams ob-
served about twenty muskets, apparently of French
manufacture, one of them double-barrelled; but he
never saw them made use of. (n)

For a considerable time after the arrival of Adams
and his companion, the people used to come in
crowds to stare at them; and he afterwards under-
stood that many persons came several days' journey
on purpose. The Moors remained closely confined
in prison ; but Adams and the Portuguese boy had
permission to visit them. At the end of about six
months, there arrived a company of trading Moors
with tobacco, who after some weeks ransomed
the whole party. Adams does not know the pre-
cise quantity of tobacco which was paid for them,
but it consisted ot the lading of five camels, with
the exception of about fifty pounds weight reserved
by the Moors. These Moors seemed to be well
known at Tombuctoo, which place, he understood,

4

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 43

they were accustomed to visit every year during the
rainy season.

Tombuctoo is situated on a level plain, having a
river about two hundred yards from the town, on
the south-east side, named LaMar Zarah* The town
appeared to Adams to cover as much ground as Lisbon.
He is unable to give any idea of the number of its in-
habitants; but as the houses are not built in streets,
or with any regularity, its population, compared
with that of the European towns, is by no means in
proportion to its size. It has no walls, nor any
thing resembling fortification. The houses are
square, built of sticks, clay, and grass, with flat
roofs of the same materials. The rooms are all on
the ground floor, and are without any article of fur-
niture, except earthen jars, wooden bowls, and mats
made of grass, upon which the people sleep. He
did not observe any houses, or any other buildings,
constructed of stone. (12)

The river La Mar Zarah is about three quarters
of a mile wide at Tombuctoo, and appears to have,
in this place, but little current, flowing to the south-
west. About two miles from the town to the south-
ward it runs between two high mountains, appa-
rently as high as the mountains which Adams saw in
Barbary : here it is about half a mile wide. The
water of La Mar Zarah is rather brackish, but is
commonly drunk by the natives ; there not being,
as Adams believes, any wells at Tombuctoo. (13)
The vessels used by the natives are small canoes
for fishing, the largest of which is about ten feet

* Or La Mar Zahr. It was not easy to fix the probable orthography
of African names, from Adams's indistinct pronunciation.

¥

44 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

long, capable of carrying three men : they are built
of fig-trees hollowed out, and caulked with grass,
and are worked with paddles about six feet long. (14)
The river is well stored with fish, chiefly of a sort
which Adams took for the red mullet: there is also
a large red fish, in shape somewhat like a salmon,
and having teeth ; he thinks it is the same fish which
is known in New York by the name of " sheep's-
head." The common mode of cooking the fish is
by boiling; but they never take out the entrails.

The principal fruits at Tombuctoo are cocoa-nuts,
dates, figs, pine-apples, and a sweet fruit about as
large as an apple, with a stone about the size of a

Elum stone. This latter was greatly esteemed ; and
eing scarce, was preserved with care for the Roy-
al Family. The leaves of this fruit resembled those
of a peach. (,f)

The vegetables are carrots, turnips, sweet pota-
toes, negro-beans, and cabbages; but the latter are
eaten very small, and never grow to a solid head.

The grain is principally rice and Guinea-corn.
The cultivation of the soil at Tombuctoo requires
very little labour, and is chiefly performed with a
kind of hoe which the natives procure from the
Moors, and which appears to be their only implement
of husbandry. Adams never observed any cattle
used in agriculture.

The Guinea-corn grows five or six feet high, with
a bushy head as large as a pint bottle, the grain
being about the size of a mustard seed, of which
each head contains about a double handful. This
they beat upon a stone until they extract all the
seed, and then they put it between two flat stones
and grind it. These operations are performed by
one person. The meal, when ground, is sifted
through a small sieve made of grass. The coarse
stuff is boiled for some time, after which the flour

NARRATIVE. 45

is mixed with it, and when well boiled together, it
makes a thick mess like burgoo. This is put into
a wooden dish, and a hole being made in the middle
of the mess, some goats' milk is poured into it. The
natives then sit on the ground, men, women and
children, indiscriminately round the mess thus pre-
pared, and eat it with their fingers. Even the King
and Queen do the same, having neither spoons,
knives, nor forks. In the preparation of this food
for the King and Queen, they sometimes use butter,
which is produced from goats' milk; and though
soft and mixed with hair, it appeared to be consider-
ed a great dainty. Some of the bowls out of which
the natives eat are made of cocoa-nut shells; but
most of them are of the trunk of the fig-tree hollow-
ed out with chisels.

The animals are elephants, cows, goats, (no
horses,) (w) asses, camels, dromedaries, dogs, rab-
bits, antelopes, and an animal called heirie, of the
shape of a camel, but much smaller. These latter
are only used by the Negroes for riding, as they are
stubborn, and unfit to carry other burdens : they are
excessively fleet, and will travel for days together at
the rate of fifty miles a day. The Moors were very
desirous of purchasing these animals, but the Ne-
groes refused to sell them. (1T)

The elephants are taken by shooting with ar-
rows pointed with a metal like steel, about a foot
long, and exceedingly sharp. These arrows are steep-
ed in a liquid of a black colour ; and when the ani-
mal is wounded they let him go, but keep him in
sight for three or four days, at the end of which he
expires from the effects of the wound. Adams never
saw more than one killed, which was at the distance
of about two miles from the town. He was one
evening speaking to a Negro, when they heard a
whistling noise at a distance: as soon* as it was

46

heard, the Negro said it was an elephant, and next
morning at day-light he set off with his bow and ar-
rows in pursuit of him. Adams, and the Portuguese
boy, and many of the town's people accompanied
him, until they came within about three quarters of
a mile of the elephant, but were afraid to go any
nearer on account of his prodigious size. The Ne-
gro being mounted on a heirie, went close to him,
riding at speed past his head : as he passed him he
discharged an arrow, which struck the elephant near
the shoulder, which instantly started, and went in
pursuit of the man, striking his trunk against the
ground with violence, and making a most tremendous
roaring, which " might have been heard three miles
off." Owing to thefleetness of the heirie, which ran
the faster from fear, the elephant was soon left at
a distance; and three days afterwards was found
lying on the ground in a dying state, about a mile
from the spot where it was shot. According to the
best of Adams's recollection, it was at least twenty
feet high ; and though of such an immense size, the
natives said it was a young one. The legs were as
thick as Adams's body (18j The first operation of the
Negroes was to take out the four tusks, the two
largest of which were about fi\e feet long. They
then cut off the legs, and pieces of lean from the
hinder parts of the body, and carried them home ;
where they skinned the flesh, and then exposed it to
dry in the sun for two days. It was afterwards
boiled, but proved to Adams's taste coarse food,
the grain of the meat being as thick as a straw, and
of a very strong flavour. The only thing eaten with
it was salt, which is procured from a place called
Tudenny Wells, which will be spoken of hereafter*
Upon the occasion of the elephant being killed, the
Negroes were greatly delighted ; and Adams fre-
quently laughed with them, at the recollection of

NARRATIVE. 47

their appearance as they stood round the dead car-
cass, all laughing and shewing their white teeth at
once, which formed a ridiculous contrast with their
black faces.

The other wild animals which Adams saw were
foxes, porcupines, baboons, wolves, and a large
species of rat which frequents the river. He does
not appear to have seen either hippopotami or aliga-
tors. (19)

Besides these, there is in the vicinity of Tombuc-
too a most extraordinary animal named courcoo, some-
what resembling a very large dog, but having an
opening or hollow on its back like a pocket, in which
it carries its prey. (^°) It has short pointed ears
and a short tail. Its skin is of an uniform reddish-
brown on its back, like a fox, but its belly is of a
light-gray colour. It will ascend trees with great
agility and gather cocoa-nuts, which Adams suppos-
es to be a part of its food. But it also devours goats
and even young children, and the Negroes were
greatly afraid of it. Its cry is like that of an owl.

The wolves are destructive to asses as well as
goats. The foxes frequently carry off young goats
and Guinea-fowls, particularly the former. Although
he never saw either lions, tigers, or wild cats; yet
the roaring of animals of these descriptions was
heard every night in the neighbouring mountains. (21)

The domestick birds are Guinea-fowls. The wild
birds are ostriches, eagles, crows, owls, green par-
rots, a large brown bird that lives upon fish, and
several smaller birds. He does not recollect to have
seen any swallows. (22)

The ostriches are about double the size of a tur-
key, quite wild, and go in "flocks. When any are ob-
served in the day time, the place where they resort
is marked, and they are caught at night by men
mounted on heiries, who strike them with sticks*

■

4& ROBERT ADAMSES

NARRATIVE.

When they are first caught their feathers are very
beautiful. The flesh of the ostrich is cooked with-
out being previously dried in the sun, and is good
eating, as well as the eggs, which are boiled: in
fact, almost every thing which the Negroes of Tom-
buctoo eat is boiled.

The principal animal food eaten by the Negroes
is goats' flesh. Adams did not see more than one
cow killed during his stay; and then, he thinks,, it
was on account of the animal's being in a declining
state. The cows are very small, and but few in num-
ber: some of them are milk-white; but the colour of
the greater part is red.

There are two sorts of ants at Tombuctoo ; the
largest black, the smallest red ; which appear at
times in prodigious numbers. He has also seen bees
there ; but he has no recollection of having seen any
honey.

Having occasionally at night seen a light like fire
on the mountains to the southward of the town,
Adams had the curiosity to visit them, and found
a considerable quantity of sulphur, which the na-
tives collected. The only use to which he has seen
them apply this mineral, was to mix it with a sub-
stance in black lumps which looked like opium, (23)
for the purpose of making a liquid into which they
dipped the heads of their arrows. It was with an ar-
row so prepared that the elephant, before spoken of,
was killed.

The natives of Tombuctoo are a stout, healthy
race, and are seldom sick, although they expose
themselves by lying out in the sun at mid-day,
when the heat is almost insupportable to a white
man. It is the universal practice of both sexes to
grease themselves all over with butter produced
from goats' milk, which makes the skin smooth, and
gives it a shining appearance. This is usually re-

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 49

newed every day ; when neglected, the skin becomes
rough, grayish, and extremely ugly. They usually
sleep under cover at night ; but sometimes, in the
hottest weather, they will lie exposed to the night
air with little or no covering, notwithstanding that
the fog which rises from the river descends like
dew, and in fact, at that season, supplies the want of
rain.

All the males of Tombuctoo have an incision on
their faces from the top of the forehead down to the
nose, from which proceed other lateral incisions over
the eyebrows, into all of which is inserted a blue
dye, produced from a kind of ore which is found in
the neighbouring mountains. The women have al-
so incisions on their faces, but in a different fashion ;
the lines being from two to five in number, cut on
each cheek bone, from the temple straight down-
wards : they are also stained with blue. These in-
cisions being made on the faces of both sexes when
they are about twelve months old, the dying mate-
rial which is inserted in them becomes' scarcely
visible as they grow up. (25)

Except the King and Queen and their companions,
who had a change of dress about once a week, the
people were in general very dirty, sometimes not
washing themselves for twelve or fourteen days to-
gether. Besides the Queen, who, as has been al-
ready stated, wore a profusion of ivory and bone
ornaments in her hair, some of a square shape, and
others about as thick as a shilling, but rather small-
er, (strings of which she also wore about her wrists
and ancles) many of the women were decorated in a
similar manner; and they seemed to consider hardly
any favour too great to be conferred on the person
who would make them a present of these precious
ornaments. Gold ear-rings were much worn. Some
of the women had also rings on their fingers ; but

7

50 ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVEr

these appeared to Adams to be of brass ; and as
many of the latter had letters upon them (but whe-
ther in the Roman or Arabick characters Adams can?-
not tell) he concluded both from this circumstance,
and from their workmanship, that they were not
made by the Negroes, but obtained from the Moor-
ish traders.

The ceremony of marriage amongst the upper
ranks at Tombuctoo, is for the bride -to go in the day
time to the King's house, and to remain there until
after sunset, when the man who is to be her husband
goes to fetch her away. This is usually followed
by a feast the same night, and a dance. Adams
did not observe what ceremonies were used in the
marriages of the lower classes.

As it is common to have several concubines, be-
sides a wife, the women are continually quarrelling
and fighting. But there is a marked difference in
the degree of respect with which they are each treat-
ed by the husband ; the wife always having a decid-
ed preeminence. (26) The Negroes, however, ap-
peared to Adams to be jealous and severe with all
their women, frequently beating them for apparently
very little cause.

The women appear to suffer very little from child-
birth, and they will be seen walking about as usual
the day after such an event. It is their practice to
grease a child all over soon after its birth, and to ex-
pose it for about an hour to the sun : the infants
are at first of a reddish colour, but become black in
three or four days.

Illicit intercourse appeared to be but little regard-
ed amongst the lower orders ; and chastity amongst
the women in general seemed to be preserved only so
far as their situations or circumstances rendered it
necessary for their personal safety or convenience.
In the higher ranks, if a woman prove with child, the

ROBERT ADAMSES NARRATIVE. 5i

man is punished with slavery, unless he will take the
woman for his wife and maintain her. Adams knew
an instance of a young man, who, having refused to
marry a woman by whom he had a child, was on
that account condemned to slavery. He afterwards
repented ; but was not then permitted to retract his
refusal, and was sent away to be sold.

The practice of procuring abortion is very com-
mon. Adams -was informed that in cases of preg-
nancy from illicit- intercourse, where the woman
would not submit to this alternative, it was no un-
usual thing for the father secretly to poison her.

The Negroes of Tombuctoo are very vehement
in their quarrels. When they strike with their fists
they use the under part of the hand, as if knocking
with a hammer ; but their principal mode of offence
is by biting. On the whole, however, they are a
good natured people ; and always treated Adams
with the greatest kindness.

It does not appear that they have any publick re-
ligion, as they have no house of worship, no priest,
and as far as Adams could discover, never meet to-
gether to pray. He has seen some of the Negroes
who were circumcised ; but he concluded, that they
had been in the possession of the Moors, or had been
resident at Tudenny. (27)

The only ceremony that appeared like the act of
prayer was on the occasion of the death of any of
the inhabitants, when their relatives assembled and
sat round the corpse. The burial is unattended with
any ceremony. The deceased are buried in the
clothes in which they die, at a small distance to -the
southwest of the town.

Adams does not believe that any of the Negroes
could write, as he never saw any of them attempt it;
their accounts appeared to be kept by notching
sticks. Almost all the Moors, on the contrary, are
able to write.

52 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

Their only physicians are old women, who cure
diseases and wounds by the application of simples.
Adams had a wen on the back of his right hand, the
size of a large egg ; which one of the women cured
in about a month by rubbing it and applying a plas-
ter of herbs. (38) They cure the tooth-ache by the
application of a liquid prepared from roots ; which
frequently causes not only the defective tooth to fall
out, but one or two others.

He never saw any of the Negroes blind but such
as were very old ; of these, judging from their ap-
pearance, he thinks he has seen some upwards of
one hundred years of age. Children are obliged to
support their parents in their old age; but when old
people are childless, there is a house for their re-
ception, in which they live, four or five in a room, at
the cost of the King.

The only tools which the Negroes appeared to
possess (besides the hoes and chisels previously
mentioned) were knives and small hatchets, with
which they cut their timber, and a few other rough
instruments of iron, which they procured from the
Moors. Adams does not remember ever to have
seen a saw.

Their musical instruments are, 1st, a sort of fife
made of reeds ; 2d, a kind of tambourine covered
with goat skin, within which are ostrich quills laid
across in such a manner, that when the skin is struck
with the hand, the quills jar against it; 3d, an instru-
ment which they call bandera, made of several cocoa-
nut shells tied together with thongs of goat skin,
and covered with the same material ; a hole at the
top of the instrument is covered with strings of leath-
er or tendons, drawn tightly across it, on which the
performer plays with the fingers in the manner of a
guitar.

ROBERT ADAMSES NARRATIVE. 53

Their principal and favourite amusement is danc-
ing, which takes place about once a week in the
town, when a hundred dancers or more assemble,
men, women and children, but the greater number
men. Whilst they are engaged in the dance they
sing extremely loud to the musick of the tambourine,
fife, and bandera ; so that the noise they make may
be heard all over the town. They dance in a circle,
and (when this amusement continues till the night)
generally round a fire. Their usual time of begin-
ning is about two hours before sunset, and the dance
not unfrequently lasts all night. The men have
the most of the exercise in these sports whilst day-
light lasts, the women continuing nearly in one spot,
and the men dancing to and from them. (29) During
this time the dance is conducted with some decency;
but when night approaches, and the women take a
more active part in the amusement, their thin and
short dresses, and the agility of their actions, are lit-
tle calculated to admit of the preservation of any de-
corum.

It has been already stated, that Adams can form
no idea of the population of Tombuctoo; but he
thinks that once he saw as many as two thousand
persons assembled at one place. This was on the oc-
casion of a party of five hundred men going out to
make war in Bambarra. (30) The day after their
departure they were followed by a great number of
camels, dromedaries, and heiries, laden with provi-
sions. Such of these people as afterwards returned,
came back in parties of forty or •fifty; many of them
did not return at all whilst Adams remained at Tom-
buctoo ; but he never heard that any of them had
been killed.

About once a month a party of a hundred or more
armed men marched out in a similar manner to pro-
cure slaves. These armed partias were all on foot

M ROBERT ADAMSES NARRATIVE.

except the officers ; they were usually absent from
one week to a month, and at times brought in con-
siderable numbers. The slaves were generally a
different race of people from those of Tombuctoo,
and differently clothed, their dress being for the
most part of coarse white linen or cotton. He once
saw amongst them a woman who had her teeth filed
round, he supposes by way of ornament ; and as
they were very long they resembled crow-quills.
The greatest number of slaves that he recollects to
have seen brought in at one time, were about twenty,
and these he was informed were from the place call-
ed Bambarra, lying to the southward and westward
of Tombuctoo; which he understood to be the coun-
try whither the aforesaid parties generally went out
in quest of them.

The slaves thus brought in were chiefly women
and children, who, after being detained a day or two
at the King's house, were sent away to other parts
for sale. (31) The returns for them consisted of
blue nankeens, blankets, barley, tobacco, and some-
times gunpowder. This latter article appeared to
be more valuable than gold, of which double
the weight was given in barter for gunpowder.
Their manner of preserving it was in skins. It was,
however, never used at Tombuctoo, except as an
article of trade.

Although the King was despotick, and could com-
pel his subjects to take up arms when he required
it, yet it did not appear that they were slaves whom
he might sell, or employ as such generally ; the
only actual slaves being such as were brought from
other countries, or condemned criminals. Of the
latter class only twelve persons were condemned to
slavery during the six months of Adams's residence
at Tombuctoo. The offences of which they had
been guilty were poisoning, theft, and refusing to join

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 65

a party sent out to procure slaves from foreign coun-
tries.

Adams never saw any individual put to death at
Tombuctoo, (32) the punishment for heavy offences
being, as has just been stated, slavery ; for slighter
misdemeanours the offenders are punished with
beating with a stick; but in no case is this punish-
ment very severe, seldom exceeding two dozen
blows, with a stick of the thickness of a small walk-
ing cane.

Adams did not observe any shops at Tombuc-
too. (33) The goods brought for sale, which consisted
chiefly of tobacco, 4ar, gunpowder, blue nankeens,
blankets, earthen jars, and some silks, are obtained
from the Moors, and remain in the King's house, un-
til they are disposed of. The only other objects of
trade appeared to be slaves.

The principal articles given in exchange in trade
by the people of Tombuctoo, are gold dust, ivory,
gum, cowries, ostrich feathers, and goat skins ;
which latter they stain red and yellow. Adams has
seen a full-grown slave bought for forty or fifty
cowries. (34) He never saw the Negroes find any
gold, but he understood that it was procured out of
the mountains, and on the banks of the rivers, to the
southward of Tombuctoo.

The Negroes consume the tobacco both in snuff
and for smoking ; for the latter purpose they use
pipes, the tubes of which are made of the leg bones
of ostriches.

The chief use to which they apply the tar brought
by the Moors, is to protect the camels and other
animals from the attacks of large green flies, which
are very numerous, and greatly distress them.
Adams has sometimes seen tar water mixed with the
food of the natives as medicine, which made it so
nauseous to his taste that he could not eat it. The

56

Negroes, however, did not appear to have the same
dislike to it; from which he infers, that the use of
tar-water in their food, was frequent, though he only
saw it four or five times. None of the persons whom
he saw using it were in bad health at the time.

During the whole of Adams's residence at Tom-
buctoo, he never saw any other Moors than those
whom he accompanied thither, and the ten by whom
they were ransomed ; and he understood from the
Moors themselves, that they were not allowed to go
in large bodies to Tombuctoo. (35) He did not see
any mosque or large place of worship there ; and he
does not think that they had any.

Neither Adams nor the Portuguese boy were ever
subjected to any restraint whilst they remained at
Tombuctoo. They were allowed as much food, and
as often as they pleased ; and were never required
to work. In short, they never experienced any act
of incivility or unkindness from any of the Negroes,
except when they were taken prisoners in company
with the Moors engaged in stealing them. (S6)
Adams could not hear that any white man but them-
selves had ever been seen in the place ; and he
believes, as well from what he was told by the
Moors, as from the uncommon curiosity which he
excited (though himself a very dark man, with short
curly black hair,) that they never had seen one be-
fore. (37)

There was no fall of rain during his residence at
Tombuctoo, except a few drops just before his de-
parture; and he understood from the Negroes, that
they had usually little or none, except during the
three months of winter, which is the only season
when the desert can be crossed, on account of the
heat. (38) In some years, Adams was informed,
when the season had been unusually dry, there was
great distress at Tombuctoo for want of provisions :
but no such want was felt whilst he was there*

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 57

He never proceeded to the southward of Tom-
buctoo, further than about two miles from the town,
to the mountains before spoken of; and he never saw
the river Joliba: but he had heard it mentioned;
and was told at Tudenny, that it lay between that
place and Bambarra. (39)

Being asked the names of any other places which
he had heard mentioned, he recollected that the
people of Tombuctoo spoke of Mutnougo^ and of a
very considerable place to the eastward called Tua-
rick, to which they traded. He had also often heard
them mention Mandingo, and Bondou ; but he
cannot recollect what was said respecting these
places.*

The following is a list of some of the words
which Adams recollects in the language of Tom-
buctoo. (40)

Man, - Jungo.

Woman, ------ Jumpsa.

Camel, ----- - So.

Dog, ------- Killab.

Cow, - - - * - - - FaUee.

Goat, - - - - - - - Luganam.

Sheep, ------ JYaidsh.

Elephant, Elfeel

House, ------- Dah.

Water, ------- Boca.

Mountain, - Kaddear.

Tree, ------- Carna.

Date Tree, ------ Carna Tomar.

Fig Tree, ------ Carna Carmoos.

Gold, ------- Or.

A Moor, ------ Seckar.

* Adams mentioned Jinnie to me, amongst the towns wbich he had
heard named by the Negroes of Tombuctoo. D.

8

[ 58]

CHAPTER III.

Hansom of the imprisoned Moors and of Adams. ...Departure from
Tombuctoo... Journey eastward along the River ; then northward
to Tudenny.... Traders in salt. ...Tudenny... .Mixed Population of
Moors and Negroes.... Beds of Rock Salt. ...Preparations and De-
parture to cross the Sandy Desert.. ..Sufferings in the Desert....
Arrival at Woled Dleim.... Employment, and long detention there....
Refusal of Adams to attend to his tasks.... He is punished for it ;
but perseveres. ...Seizes an opportunity of escaping. ...Is pursued ; but
reaches El Kabla ...He is purchased by the Chief.. ..Employed to
tend the flocks of his Master's Wives.... Negotiates with Aisha, the
younger wife, on the subject of Wages. ...Their bargain, and its
consequences. ...Adams flies and conceals himself.. ..Is purchased by a
Trader; and conveyed to Woled Aboussebah ...Woled Adrialla....
Aiata Mouessa Ali...He attempts to escape. ...Is retaken ; and con-
veyed to Wed-Noon.

The ten Moors who had arrived with the five ca-
mels laden with tobacco, had been three weeks at
Tombuctoo before Adams learnt that the ransom of
himself, the boy, and the Moors his former com-
panions, had been agreed upon. At the end of the-
first week he was given to understand, that himself
and the boy would be released, but that the Moors
would be condemned to die; it appeared, however,
afterwards, that in consideration of all the tobacco
being given for the Moors, except about fifty pounds
weight, which was expended for a man slave, the
King had agreed to release all the prisoners.

Two days after their release, the whole party,
consisting of the

10 Moorish traders

14 Moorish prisoners

ROBERT ADAMS's NARRATIVE. 59

2 white men, and
1 slave,

quitted Tombuctoo, having only the five camels
which belonged to the traders ; those which were
seized when Adams and his party were made priso-
ners not having been restored. As they had no
means left of purchasing any other article, the only
food they took with them was a little Guinea corn
flour.

On quitting the town they proceeded in an east-
early course, inclining to the north, going along the
border of the river, of which they sometimes lost
sight for two days together. They did not meet
with any high trees; but on the banks of the river,
which were covered with high grass, were a few
low trees, and some shrubs of no great variety. Oc-
casionally they came to a Negro hut. Except the
two mountains before spoken of, to the southward,
between which the river runs, there are none in the
immediate neighbourhood of Tombuctoo ; but at a
little distance there are some small ones.

They had travelled eastward about ten days, at
the rate of about fifteen to eighteen miles a day,
when they saw the river for the last time ; it then
appeared rather narrower than at Tombuctoo. They
then loaded the camels with water, and striking off
in a northerly direction, travelled twelve or thirteen
days, at about the same pace. In the course of this
journey they saw a great number of antelopes, rab-
bits, foxes, and wolves, and a bird somewhat larger
than a fowl, which the Moors called Jize ;# it ap-
peared to Adams to be the same kind of bird known
in America by the name of cuckoo.

The soil was generally covered with shrubs, and
a low kind of grass like moss. Trees were seldom

* Djes, is the Arabick name for the common domestick fowl. D.

BO ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE.

seen, and those not large. From the time of quit*
ting the river, the only persons whom they saw were
Negro travellers carrying salt to Tombuctoo, of
whom they met parties of about ten or twelve almost
every day with dromedaries, camels, and asses.

At the end of the thirteen days they arrived at a
place called Tudenny* a large village inhabited by
Moors and Negroes, in which there are four wells of
very excellent water. At this place there are large
ponds or beds of salt, which both the Moors and
Negroes come in great numbers to purchase, and
date and fig trees of a large size: in the neighbour-
hood the ground is cultivated in the same manner as
at Tombuctoo. From the number of Moors, many
if not all of whom were residents, it appeared that
the restriction respecting them, existing at Tombuc-
too, did not extend to Tudenny. (41)

The salt beds which Adams saw were about five
or six feet deep, and from twenty to thirty yards in
circumference. The salt comes up in hard lumps
mixed with earth, and part of it is red.

The Moors here are perfectly black; the only
personal distinction between them and the Negroes
being, that the Moors had long black hair, and had
po scars on their faces. The Negroes are in gene-
ral marked in the same manner as those of Tombuc-
too. Here the party staid fourteen days, to give the
ransomed Moors, whose long confinement had made
them weak, time to recruit their strength ; and hav-
ing sold one of the camels for two sacks of dates and
a small ass, and loaded the four remaining camels
with water, the dates, and the flour, (in the propor-
tion of eight goat skins of water, or six skins of
water and two bags of dates or flour, to each

* Taudeny. D>

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 61

camel) they set out to cross the Desert,* taking a
northwest direction.

They commenced their journey from Tudenny
about four o'clock in the morning, and having travel-
led the first day about twenty miles, they unloaded
the camels, and lay down by the side of them to
sleep.

The next day they entered the Desert ; over which
they continued to travel in the same direction, nine
and twenty days, without meeting a single human
being. The whole way was a sandy plain, like a
sea, without either tree, shrub or grass. After tra-
velling in this manner about fourteen days at the rate
of sixteen or eighteen miles a day, the people began
to grow very weak; their stock of water began to
run short ; and their provisions were nearly exhaust-
ed. The ass died of fatigue ; and its carcass was
immediately cut up and laden on the camel, where it
dried in the sun, and served for food ; and had it not
been for this supply, some of the party must have
died of hunger. Being asked if asses' flesh was
good eating, Adams replied ; " It was as good to my
taste then, as a goose would be now."

In six days afterwards, during which their pace
was slackened to not more than twelve miles a day,
they arrived at a place where it was expected water
would be found ; but to their great disappointment,
owing to the dryness of the season, the hollow place,
of about thirty yards in circumference, was found
quite dry.

All their stock of water at this time consisted of
four goat skins, and those not full, holding from one
to two gallons each ; and it was known to the Moors
that they had then ten days further to travel before
they could obtain a supply.

* See Note, p. 36.

62

NARRATIVE.

In this distressing dilemma, it was resolved to mix
the remaining water with camels' urine. The allow-
ance of this mixture to each camel was only about a
quart for the whole ten days : each man was allow-
ed not more than about half a pint a day.

The Moors who had been in confinement at Tom-
buctoo becoming every day weaker, three of them in
the four following days lay down, unable to proceed.
They were then placed upon the camels : but con-
tinual exposure to the excessive heat of the sun, and
the uneasy motion of the camels, soon rendered them
unable to support themselves, and towards the end
of the second day they made another attempt to
pursue their journey on foot, but could not. The
next morning at day break they were found dead on
the sand, in the place where they had lain down at
night, and were left behind without being buried.
The next day another of them lay down ; and, like
his late unfortunate companions, was left to perish :
but on the following day one of the Moors determin-
ed to remain behind, in the hope that he who had
dropped the day before might still come up, and be
able to follow the party : some provisions were left
with him. At this time it was expected, what prov-
ed to be the fact, that they were within a day's march
of their town : but neither of the men ever after-
wards made his appearance ; and Adams has no
doubt that they perished.

Vied Duleim* (the place at which they now ar-
rived) was a village of tents inhabited entirely by
Moors, who, from their dress, manners, and general
appearance, seemed to be of the same tribe as those
of the encampment to which Adams was conveyed
from El Gazie.(42) They had numerous flocks of
sheep and goats, and two watering places, near one of

* Woled DHeim. D.

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 63

which their tents were pitched; but the other lay
nearly fixe miles off.

The first fortnight after the arrival of the party,
was devoted to their recovery from the fatigues of
the journey ; but as soon as their strength was re-es-
tablished, Adams and his companion were employed
in taking care of goats and sheep. Having now be-
gun to acquire a knowledge of the Moorish tongue,
they frequently urged their masters to take them to
Suerra ; which the latter promised they would do,
provided they continued attentive to their duty.

Things, however, remained in this state for ten or
eleven months, during which time they were continu-
ally occupied in tending the flocks of the Moors.
They suffered severely from exposure to the scorch-
ing sun, in a state of almost utter nakedness ; and the
miseries of their situation were aggravated by de-
spair of ever being released from slavery.

The only food allowed to them was barley flour,
and camels' and goats' milk ; but of the latter they
had abundance. Sometimes they were treated with
a few dates, which were a great rarity ; there being
neither date trees nor trees of any other kind in the
whole country round. But as the flock of goats and
sheep consisted of a great number (from one hun-
dred and fifty to two hundred,) and as they were at a
distance from the town, Adams and his companion
sometimes ventured to kill a kid for their own eating;
and to prevent discovery of the fire used in cooking
it, they dug a cave, in which the fire was made, cov-
ering the ashes with grass and sand.

At length Adams, after much reflection on the mise-
rable state in which he had been so long kept, and
was likely to pass the remainder of his life, deter-
mined to remonstrate upon the subject. His master,
whose name was Harriet Laubed, frankly replied to
him, that as he had not been, successful in procuring

64 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

slaves, it was now his intention to keep him, and not*
as he had before led him to expect, to take him to
Suerra or Mogadore. Upon hearing this, Adams
resolved not to attend any longer to the duty of
watching the goats and sheep ; and in consequence,
the next day, several of the young goats were found
to have been killed by the foxes.

This led to an inquiry, whether Adams or the boy
was in fault; when it appearing that the missing
goats were a part of Adams's dock, his master pro-
ceeded to beat him with a thick stick ; which he re-
sisted, and took away the stick ; upon which a dozen
Moors, principally women, attacked him, and gave
him a severe beating.

As, notwithstanding what had occurred, Adams
persisted in his determination not to resume his task
of tendings the goats and sheep, his master was ad-
vised to put him to death ,-(43) but this he was not in-
clined to do, observing to his advisers, that he should
thereby sustain a loss, and that if Adams would not
work, it would be better to sell him. In the mean
time he remained idle in the tent for about three
days ; when he was asked by his master's wife, if he
would go to the distant well to fetch a couple of
skins of water, that being of a better quality ; to
which he signified his consent, and went off the next
morning on a camel with two skins to fetch the
water.

On his arrival at the other well, instead of procur-
ing water, he determined to make his escape ; and
understanding the course to a place called Wadi-
noon, lay in a direction to the northward of west,*

* This account of the relative bearings of Woled D'leim and Wed
Noon is rather at variance with the details of Adams's recollected
course between those two places ; but it accords very nearly with
what is assumed in the map, on other grounds, to have been his real
route.

ROBERT ADAMSES NARRATIVE. 65

he passed the well, and pushing on in a northerly
course, travelled the whole of that day ; when the
camel, which had been used to rest at night, and had
not been well broke in, would not proceed any fur-
ther; and in spite of all the efforts Adams could
make, it lay down with fatigue, having gone upwards
of twenty miles without stopping. Finding there
was no remedy, Adams took off the rope with which
his clothes were fastened round his body, and as
the camel lay with his fore-knee bent, he tied the
rope round it in a way to prevent its rising, and then
lay down by the side of it. This, rope, which Adams
had brought from Tombuctoo,* was made of grass,
collected on the banks of the river. The saddles of
camels are made of the same material, interwoven
between a frame of sticks placed together in the
form of a St. Andrew's cross, so as to fit the back of
the animal.

The next morning at day light he mounted again,
and pushed on till about nine o'clock, when he perceiv-
ed a smoke a-head, which he approached. There was
a small hillock between him and this place, ascending
which, he discovered about forty or fifty tents pitched,
and on looking back he saw two camels coming to-
wards him, with a rider on each. Not knowing wheth-
er these were pursuers, or strangers going to the
place in view, but being greatly alarmed, he made
the best of his way forwards. On drawing near to
the town, a number of women came out, and he ob-
served about a hundred Moors standing in a row in
the act of prayer, having their faces towards the east,
and at times kneeling down, and leaning their heads
to the ground. On the women discovering Adams,
they expressed great surprise at seeing a white man.
He inquired of them the name of the place, and they
told him it was Hilla Gibla. Soon afterwards the
two camels, before spoken of, arriving, the rider of

9

66 ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE.

one of them proved to be the owner of the camel on
which Adams had escaped, and the other his master.
At this time Adams was sitting under a tent speak-
ing to the Governour, whose name was Mahomet,
telling him his story ; they were soon joined by his
two pursuers, accompanied by a crowd of people.

Upon his master claiming him, Adams protested
that he would not go back ; that his master had fre-
quently promised, to take him to Suerra, but had
broken his promises; ahd that he had made up his
mind either to obtain his liberty or die. Upon hear-
ing both sides, the Governour determined in favour
of Adams ; and gave* his master to understand, that
if he was willing to exchange him for a bushel of
dates and a camel, he should have them; but if not,
he should have nothing. As Adams's master did not
approve of these conditions, a violent altercation
arose; but at length finding the Governour deter^
mined, and that better terms were not to be had, he
accepted the first offer, and Adams became the slave
of Ma hornet. (44)

The natives of Hilla Gibla* appeared to be better
clothed, and a less savage race, than those of Vied
Duleim, between whom there appeared to be great
enmity ; the Governour therefore readily interfered
in favour of Adams, and at one time threatened to
take away the camel and to put Mahomet Laubed
himself to death. Another consideration by which
the Governour was probably influenced, was, a
knowledge of the value of a Christian slave, as an
object of ransom, of which Mahomet Laubed seem-
ed to be wholly ignorant.

On entering the service of his new master, Adams
was sent to tend camels, and had been so employed
about a fortnight, when this duty was exchanged for
that of taking care of goats. Mahomet had two

* El Kdbla. jD,

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 67

wives who dwelt in separate tents, one of them an old
woman, the other young : the goats which Adams
was set to take care of, were the property of the
elder one.

Some days after he had been so employed, the
younger wife, whose name was Isha^\ proposed to
him, that he should also take charge of her goats, for
which she would pay him ; and as there was no
more trouble in tending two flocks than one, he
readily consented. Having had charge of the two
flocks for several days, without receiving the promis-
ed additional reward, he at length remonstrated ;
and after some negotiation on the subject of his claim,
the matter was compromised, by the young woman's
desiring him, when he returned from tending the
goats at night, to go to rest in her tent. It was the
custom of Mahomet to sleep two nights with the elder
woman, and one with the other, and this was one of
the nights devoted to the former. Adams according-
ly kept the appointment ; and about nine o'clock
Isha came and gave him supper, and he remained in
her tent all night. This was an arrangement which
was afterwards continued on those nights which she
did not pass with her husband.

Things continued in this state about six months,
and as his work was light, and he experienced noth-
ing but kind treatment, his time passed pleasantly
enough. One night his master's son coming into the
tent, discovered Adams with his mother-in-law, and
informed his father, when a great disturbance took
place: but upon the husband charging his wife with
her misconduct, she protested that Adams had laid
down in her tent without her knowledge or consent;
and as she cried bitterly, the old man appeared to be
convinced that she was not to blame.

* Aisha. D.

68 ROBERT ADAMS's NARRATIVE. .

The old lady, however, declared her belief that
the young one was guilty, and expressed her convic-
tion that she should be able to detect her at some
future time.

For some days after, Adams kept away from the
lady ; but at the end of that time, the former affair
appearing to be forgotten, he resumed his visits.
One night the old woman lifted up the corner of the
tent and discovered Adams with Isha ; and having
reported it to her husband, he came with a thick
stick, threatening to put him to death : Adams be-
ing alarmed, made his escape; and the affair having
made a great deal of noise, an acquaintance proposed
to Adams to conceal him in his tent, and to endea-
vour to buy him of the Governour. Some laughed at
the adventure ; others, and they by far the greater
part, treated the matter as an offence of the most
atrocious nature, Adams being "a Christian, who
never prayed."(45)

As his acquaintance promised, in the event of be-
coming his purchaser, to take him to Wadinoon,
Adams adopted his advice and concealed himself in
his tent. For several days the old Governour re-
jected every overture; but at last he agreed to part
with Adams for fifty dollars' worth of goods, con-
sisting of blankets and dates ; and thus he became
the property of Boerick, a trader, whose usual resi-
dence was at Hilla Gii.la.

The girl (Isha) ran away to her mother.

The next day, Boerick set out with a party of six
men and four camels for a place called Villa de
Bousbach,*(4s) which they reached after travelling
nine days at the rate of about eighteen miles a day;
their course was northeast. On the rout they saw
neither houses nor trees, but the ground was cover-

* Woled Aboussebeih. D.

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 69

ed with grass and shrubs. At this place they found
about forty or fifty tents inhabited by Moors, and re-
mained five or six days ; when there arrived a Moor
from a place called Hieta Mouessa Ali, named Abdal-
lah Houssa, a friend of Boerick, who informed him
that it was usual for the British Consul at Mogadore
to send to Wadinoon (where this man resided,) to
purchase the Christians who were prisoners in that
country ; and, that as he was about to proceed
thither, he was willing to take charge of Acams, to
sell him for account of Boerick ; at the same time he
informed Adams that there were other Christians at
Wadinoon. This being agreed to by Boerick, his
fjiend set out in a few days after, for Hieta Mouessa
Ali, taking Adams with him. Instead, however, of
going to that place, which lay due north,* they pro-
ceeded north-northwest, and as they had a camel
each, and travelled very fast, the path being good,
they went at the rate of twenty-five miles a day, and
in six days reached a place called Villa Adrialla^
where there were about twenty tents. This place
appeared to be inhabited entirely by traders, who
had at least five hundred camels, a great number of
goats and sheep, and a few horses. The cattle were
tended by Negro slaves. Here they remained about
three weeks, until Abdallah had finished his busi-
ness; and then set out for Hieta Mouessa Ali, where
they arrived in three days. Adams believes that the
reason of their travelling so fast during the last stage
was, that Abdallah was afraid of being robbed, of
which he seemed to have no apprehension after he
had arrived at Villa Adrialla, and therefore they tra-

* This bearing is not reconcileable with Adams's1" subsequent
course.

f This should probably be Wokd Adrialla ; but I have no know-
ledge of the place. D.

70

veiled from that place to Hieta Mouessa AH at the
rate of only about sixteen or eighteen miles a day ;
their course being due northwest.

Hieta Mouessa Ali* was the largest place Adams
had seen in which there were no houses, there being
not less than a hundred tents. Here was a small
brook issuing from a mountain, being the only one
he had seen except that at Soudenny ; but the vege-
tation was not more abundant than at other places.
They remained here about a month; during which
Adams was as usual employed in tending camels.
As the time hung very heavy on his hands, and
he saw no preparation for their departure for
Wadinoon, and his anxiety to reach that place
had been very much excited by the intelligence
that there were other Christians there, he took
every opportunity of making inquiry respecting
the course and distance ; and being at length of
opinion that he might find his way thither, he
one evening determined to desert ; and accord-
ingly he set out on foot alone, with a small sup-
ply of dried goats' flesh, relying upon getting a
further supply at the villages, which he under-
stood were on the road. He had travelled the
whole of that night, and until about noon the
next day without stopping; when he was overtak-
en by a party of three or four men on camels,
who had been sent in pursuit of him, It seems
they expected that Adams had been persuaded
to leave Hieta Mouessa Ali, by some persons
who wished to take him to Wadinoon for sale ;
and they were therefore greatly pleased to find
him on foot, and alone. Instead of ill treating him,
as he apprehended they would do, they merely
conducted him back to Hieta Mouessa Ali ; from

* Aiata Mouessa AIL D.

ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 7 1

whence, in three or four days afterwards, Ab-
dallah and a small party departed, taking him
with them. They travelled five days in a north-
west direction at about sixteen miles a day, and
at the end of the fifth day, reached Wadinoon ;
having seen no habitations on their route, except
a few scattered tents within a day's journey of the
town.

-

[ 72 j

CHAPTER IV.

Description of Wed-Noon ; where Adams finds three of the crew of
the "Charles". ...He is purchased by Bel-Cossim-Abdallah... .French
Renegade.... Wreck of the Montezuma.... Gunpowder Manufacture
....Curious Relation of a Negro Slave from Kanno... .Severe labours
and cruel treatment of the Christian Slaves at Wed-Noon.. ..Adams
is required to plough on the Sabbath day ; refuses ; is cruelly beat-
en, and put in irons. ...His firmness.. ..Inhuman treatment and death
of Dolbie....Williams and Davison, worn out by their sufferings, re-
nounce their Religion.. ..Adams perseveres. ...Letter from the Bri-
tish Vice-Consul at Mogadore, addressed to the Christian Slaves....

Ransom of Adams. ...Departure from Wed-Noon Akkadia.-.Bled

Cidi Heshein.... Market of Cidi Haraet at Moussa....Agadeer, or feanta
Cruz. ...Mogadore.. ..Adams is sent to the Moorish Emperour... Fez....
Mequinez... .Tangier.. ..Cadiz.. .Gibraltar.. ..London.

Wadinoon* was the first place at which Adams had
seen houses after he quitted Tudenny. It is a small
town, consisting of about forty houses, and some
tents. The former are built chiefly of clay, inter-
mixed with stone in some parts; and several of them
have a story above the ground floor. The soil in
the neighbourhood of the town was better cultivat-
ed than any he had yet seen in Africa, and appear-
ed to produce plenty of corn and tobacco. There
were also date and fig trees in the vicinity, as well
as a few grapes, apples, pears, and pomegranates.
Prickly pears flourished in great abundance.

The Christians whom Adams had heard of, whilst
residing at Bieta Mouessa Ali, and whom he found
at Wadinoon, proved to be, to his great satisfaction,

* Wed-Noon. D,

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 73

his old companions Stephen Dolbie, the mate, and
James Davison and Thomas Williams, two of the
seamen of the Charles. They informed him that
they had been in that town upwards of twelve
months, and that they were the property of the sons
of the Governour. (4Y)

Soon after Adams's arrival at Wadinoon, Abdal-
lah offered him for sale to the Governour, or Shieck,
called Amedallah Salem, who consented to take him
upon trial ; but after remaining about a week at the
Governour's house, Adams was returned to his old
master, as the parties could not agree about the price.
He was at length, however, sold to Belcassam Ab-
dallah,* for seventy dollars in trade, payable in blan-
kets, gunpowder and dates. (48)

The only other white resident at Wadinoon was
a Frenchman, who informed Adams that he had
been wrecked about twelve years before, on the
neighbouring coast, and that the whole of the crew,
except himself, had been redeemed. He further
stated, that a vessel called (as Adams understood
him) the Agezuma'f from Liverpool, commanded by
Captain Harrison, had been wrecked about four
years before, and that the Captain and nearly the
whole of the crew had been murdered. (49) This
man had turned Mohammedan, and was named Ab-
salom ; he had a wife and child and three slaves, and
gained a good living by the manufacture of gunpow-
der. Adams has often seen him employed in making
it, by pounding brimstone in a wooden mortar, and
grinding charcoal by hand between two stones, in
the manner of grinding grain. The final process
of mixing he performed in a room by himself, not
being willing to let any person see how it was done.
He lived in the same house as the person who had

* Bel-Cossim-AbdaJIah. D, + Montezuma.

10

74 ROBERT ADAMS's NARRATIVE.

been his master, who, upon his renouncing his reli-
gion, gave him his liberty. (50)

Among the Negro slaves at Waclinoon was a
woman who said she came from a place called Kan-
no, a long way across the Desert, and that she had
seen in her own country, white men, as white as
" bather," meaning the wall, and in a large boat
with two high sticks in it, with cloth upon them, and
that they rowed this boat in a manner different from
the custom of the Negroes, who use paddles : in
stating this, she made the motion of rowing with
oars, so as to leave no doubt that she had seen a
vessel in the European fashion, manned by white
people. (51)

The work in which Adams was employed at Wa-
dinoon, was building walls, cutting down shrubs to
make fences, and working in the corn lands or in
the plantations of tobacco, of which great quanti-
ties are grown in the neighbourhood. It was in the
month of August that he arrived there, as he was
told by the Frenchman before spoken of; the grain
had been gathered ; but the tobacco was then get-
ting in, at which he was required to assist. His la-
bour at this place was extremely severe. On the
Moorish sabbath, which was also their market-day,
the Christian slaves were not required to labour, un-
less on extraordinary occasions, when there was any
f>articular work to do which could not be delayed.
n these intervals of repose, they had opportunities
of meeting and conversing together; and Adams
had the melancholy consolation of finding, that the
lot of his companions had been even more severe
than his own. It appeared that on their arrival, the
Frenchman before mentioned, from some unexplain-
ed motive, had advised them to refuse to work ; and
the consequence was, that they had been cruelly
beaten and punished, and had been made to work

hard

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 75

and live hard, their only scanty food being bar-
ley flour, and Indian corn flour. However, on ex-
traordinary occasions, and as a great indulgence,
they sometimes obtained a few dates.

In this wretched manner Adams and his fellow
captives lived until the June following; when a cir-
cumstance occurred which had nearly cost the former
his life. His master's son, Hameda Bel Cossim, having,
one Sabbath day, ordered Adams to take the horse
and go to plough, the latter refused to obey him,
urging that it was not the custom of any slaves to
work on the sabbath day, and that he was intitled
to the same indulgence as the rest. Upon which
Hameda went into the house and fetched a cutlass,
and then demanded of Adams, whether he would go
to plough or not. Upon his reply that he would
not, Hameda, struck him on the forehead with the
cutlass, and gave him a severe wound over the right
eye, and immediately Adams knocked him down
writh his fist. This was no sooner done than Adams
wras set upon by a number of Moors, who beat him
with sticks in so violent a manner that the blood came
out of his mouth, two of his double teeth were
knocked out, and he was almost killed ; and he
thinks they would have entirely killed him had it
not been for the interference of Boadick, the Shieck's
son, who reproached them for their cruelty,
declaring that they had no right to compel Adams
to work on a market-day. The next morning Ha-
meda's mother, named Moghtari^ came to him, and
asked how he dared to lift his hand against a Moor?
to which Adams, being driven to desperation by the
ill treatment he had received, replied, that he would
even take his life if it were in his power. Moghta-
ri then said, that unless he would kiss Hameda's
hands and feet, he should be put in irons; which he
peremptorily refused to do. Soon after Hameda's

76 ROBERT ADAMS's NARRATIVE.

father came to Adams and told him, unless he
did kiss his son's feet and hands, he must be put in
irons. Adams then stated to him, that he could not
submit to do so ; that it was " contrary to his re-
ligion"* to kiss the hands and feet of any person ;
that in his own country he had never been required
to do it; and that whatever might be the consequence,
he would not do it. Finding he would not submit,
the old man ordered that he should be put in
irons, and accordingly they fastened his feet togeth-
er with iron chains, and did the same by his hands.
After he had remained in this state about ten days,
Moghtari came to him again, urging him to do as
required, and declaring that if he did not, he should
never see the Christian country again : Adams, how-
ever, persevered in turning a deaf ear to her entrea-
ties and threats. Some time afterwards, finding that
close confinement was destructive of his health,
Hameda came to him, and took the irons from his
hands. The following three weeks he remained
with the irons on his legs, during which time, re-
peated and pressing entreaties, and the most dread-
ful threats, were used to induce him to submit; but
all to no purpose. He was also frequently advised
by the Mate and the other Christians (who used to
be sent to him for the purpose of persuading him,)
to submit, as he must otherwise inevitably loose his
life. At length, finding that neither threats nor en-
treaties would avail, and Adams having remained
in irons from June till the beginning of August, and
his sufferings having reduced him almost to a skele-
ton, his master was advised to sell him, as if longer
confined, he would certainly die, and thus prove a
total loss. Influenced by this consideration, his
master at last determined to release him from his con-

* Adams's expression.

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 77

finement; but though very weak, the moment he
was liberated he was set to gathering in the corn. (52)

About a week afterwards, Dolbic, the mate, fell
sick. Adams had called to see him, when Dolbie's
master (named Brahim, a son of the Shieck) order-
ed him to get up and go to work; and upon Dolbie
declaring that he was unable, Brahim beat him with
a stick to compel him to go; but as he still did not
obey, Brahim threatened that he would kill him ; and
upon Dolbie's replying that he had better do so at
once than kill him by inches, Brahim stabbed him in
the side with a dagger, and he died in a few minutes.
As soon as he was dead, he was taken by some slaves
a short distance from the town, where a hole was
dug, into which he was thrown without ceremony. As
the grave was not deep, and as it frequently happen-
ed that corpses after burial were dug out of the
ground by the foxes, Adams and his two surviving
companions went the next day and covered the grave
with stones. (53)

As the Moors were constantly urging them to be-
come Mohammedans, and they were unceasingly
treated with the greatest brutality, the fortitude of
Williams and Davison being exhausted, they at last
unhappily consented to renounce their religion, and
were circumcised ; and thus obtained their liberty ;
after which they were presented with a horse, a
musket, and a blanket each, and permitted to mar-
ry ; no Christian being allowed at any of the places
inhabited by Moors, to take a wife, or to cohabit
with a Moorish woman.

As Adams was the only remaining Christian at
Wadinoon, he became in a more especial manner an
object of the derision and persecution of the Moors,
who were constantly upbraiding and reviling him,
and telling him that his soul would be lost unless he
became a Mohammedan, insomuch, that his life was

78 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

becoming intolerable ; (54) when, only three days
after Williams and Davison had renounced their re-
ligion, a letter was received from Mr. Joseph Du-
puis, British Consul at Mogadore, addressed to the
Christian prisoners at Wadinoon, under cover to the
Governour; in which the Consul, after exhorting
them most earnestly not to give up their religion,
whatever might befall them, assured them that
within a month, he should be able to procure their
liberty. Davison heard the letter read apparently
without emotion, but WiUiams became so agitated,
that he let it drop out of his hands, and burst into
a flood of tears. (55)

From this time Adams experienced no particular
ill treatment ; but he was required to work as
usual. About a month more elapsed, when a man
who brought the letter, who was a servant of the
British Consul, disguised as a trader, made known
to Adams that he had succeeded in procuring his re-
lease; and the next day they set out together for
Mogadore.

On quitting Wadinoon, (where Adams is confi-
dent he stayed more than twelve months ; the se-
cond year's crop of tobacco having been completely
got in before his departure) they proceeded in a
northerly direction, travelling on mules at the rate
of thirty miles a day, and in fifteen days* arrived at
Mogadore. The first night they stopped at a vil-
lage called Akkadia, situated at the foot of a high
mountain. Here, for the first time, Adams saw olive
trees, and palm trees from the nuts of which oil is
extracted. The place consisted of about twenty
houses ; some of them two stories high. Having
slept there, they set out the next morning at four

* The detail of Adams's course from Wed-Noon to Mogadore, makes
only thirteen days.

ROBERT ADAMs's NARRATIVE. 79

o'clock, and the following day about sunset reached
another village, the name of which he does not re-
member. Here were only a few houses, but a great
many tents, and in the neighbourhood large fields of
wheat, Indian corn, and barley. Adams thinks this
place was all the property of one man.

The place at which they next stopped, having
travelled that day in a northeast direction, was the
residence of a great warrior named Cidi Heshem,
who had with him upwards of six hundred black
men and Moors, most of them armed with muskets,
which they kept in excellent order. Adams was in-
formed that he admitted into his service any runa-
way Negroes or Moors; to whom he gave liberty
on condition of their entering into his service. He
appeared to be very rich : having numerous camels,
goats, sheep, and horned cattle, and abundance of
piece goods of various kinds, as also shoes and other
manufactures which were exposed for sale in shops
kept by Jews. The place was called after its owner,
Bled de Cidi Heshem, in the district of Suz, and to
the best of Adams's recollection, contained from
twenty to thirty houses. Here he saw a great
quantity of silver money, principally dollars. Cidi
Heshem was at war with the Emperour of Mo-
rocco. (56)

After staying one night and part of the next day,
Adams and his companion proceeded on their jour-
ney ; and the following night slept at a place where
there were only two huts. The next day they ar-
rived at a place of a similar description, and then set
out, expecting to arrive at a large town, situate on a
high hill by the sea side named in English Santa
Cruz, (where he was told, formerly a British Con-
sul resided,) but called by the Moors Agadeer. They
did not, however, get so far ; but reached a place

80 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

called Cidi Mahomeda Moussa,* situate in a wide
sandy plain, where the harvest being just got in, the
inhabitants were holding a market, at which there
appeared to be assembled not less than four thou-
sand persons from all quarters, who had goods of all
descriptions for sale. This market, he was told, is
held once a year, and lasts for five days. Here
Adams's companion was met by several persons of
his acquaintance, who seemed greatly delighted at
his success in effecting his (Adams) liberation : some
of them spoke English.

After remaining there one day, they set out again
on their journey, and by one o'clock reached Aga-
deer. As soon as they arrived, the Governour sent
for Adams, and said to him in the Moorish lan-
guage, " now, my lad, you may consider yourself
safe." He afterwards made particular inquiry as
to the treatment Adams had met with; and on being
told with what inhumanity he had been used at
Wadinoon, the Governour said he well knew their
manner of treating Christians ; but that they were
savages, and not subjects of the Emperour: he ad-
ded, that having the good fortune now to be in the
dominions of the Emperour, Adams might rest satis-
fied that he was perfectly safe, and would meet with
nothing but good treatment ; an assurance that af-
forded him the greatest satisfaction, although ever
since his departure from Wadinoon he had felt a
confident belief that his complete deliverance was at
hand. The next day they resumed their journey,
and from this time travelled northerly for five days,
without meeting with any other habitation than oc-
casional huts. About twelve o'clock on the Mth

* There is a sanctuary near Santa Cruz, called Cidi Mohammed
Monsoul, but Adams appears to have confounded it, (probably from
the similarity of the names) with Cidi Hamet a Moussa. See Note
56. D.

ROBERT ADAMS S NARRATIVE. 81

day, ascending a hill, they discovered the town of
Mogadore beneath them, and square rigged vessels
lying in the harbour: the sight of which, says
Adams, " I can no otherwise describe than by say-
" ing, I felt as if a new life had been given to me."
In about half an hour afterwards they entered the
town, and immediately went to the house of the
Governour, who sent Adams to Mr. Dupuis, the
British Consul ; by whom he was received into his
house, and treated with the utmost kindness. "Ne-
" ver," says Adams, " shall I forget the kindness of
" this good gentleman, who seemed to study how to
" make me comfortable and happy."

On the arrival of Adams at Mogadore, it appear-
ed to be the wish of the Governour to send him to
the Emperour; but to this Mr. Dupuis objected,
and Adams remained with him the following eight
months; in the course of which time, Mr. Dupuis
frequently interrogated him upon the subject of the
several places at which he had been in Africa, and
sent for travellers for the purpose of comparing their
statements with those given by him ; (57) after which
he expressed a strong desire that Adams should come
to England for the purpose of giving an account of
his travels, as he said many gentlemen would be
glad to receive it. But as England and America
were then at war, Adams was apprehensive lest he
might be made a prisQner, and therefore declined
the pressing offers and solicitations of the Consul
that he should take his passage in an English vessel,
bound to London. Finding Adams thus averse
from going to England, and the only vessels which
were lying at Mogadore being bound thither, Mr.
Dupuis wrote to the Emperour of Morocco, and
also to Mr. Simpson the British* Consul at Tan-

* Mr . Simpson was American Consul. D.
11

82 ROBERT ADAMS'S NARRATIVE,

gier with the view of procuring permission for
Adams to go to Tangier, from whence he hoped he
might get a passage by some Spanish vessel to
Cadiz. This being at length agreed to, Adams
took leave of Mr. Dupuis in the month of April,
1814, who sent him under the protection of two
Moorish soldiers, to Fez, the residence of the Em-
perour. (*8)

They travelled on mules ; but as they stopped
two days at VArrache,* and travelled but slowly,
it was eighteen days before they arrived at Fez.
On their arrival the Emperour was absent at Mequi-
nez, and they accordingly proceeded thither the
next day, and went to the house of Doctor Manu-
el, a Portuguese physician, who informed the Em-
perour of Adams's arrival. Adams was then order-
ed into the presence of the Emperour, who first
asked him of what country he was ; he replied,
" an Englishman." He then inquired into the treat-
ment he had met with, and whether he liked the
Moors as well as the Europeans, to which Adams
answered, "No." The Emperour then ordered
that Adams should be taken to the Governour ; who,
the next day, sent him in the charge of two soldiers
to Tangier, where, travelling on mules, they arrived
in three days.

Immediately upon his arrival at Tangier, Adams
was presented to the Governpur, and then conveyed
to the Consul, Mr. Simpson ; who, two days after-
wards, procured him a passage on board a Spanish
schooner bound to Cadiz, (59) where he arrived the
next day, being the 27th of May, 1814, making three

* Adams has evidently forgotten the situation of El Araische. He
could not have touched there on his journey from Mogadore to Fez ;
though he might very probably pass through it on his way from Me-
quinez to Tangier. The place he alludes to must be either Rhabatt
or Sallee. D.

ROBERT ADAMS's NARRATIVE. 83

njears and seven months, (60) since he was wrecked in
the Charles ; during which period, except from the
effect of the severe beating he received at Wadi-
noon, and the weakness produced by his long con-
finement at that place in irons, he never was sick a
single day.

After remaining about fourteen months at Cadiz
as a servant or groom, in the service of Mr. Hall,
an English merchant there ; peace having in the
mean time been restored ; Adams was informed by
the American Consul that he had nowan opportuni-
ty of returning to his native country with a cartel,
or transport, of American seamen, which was on the
point of sailing from Gibraltar. He accordingly
proceeded thither ; but arrived two days after the
vessel had sailed. Soon afterwards he engaged
himself on board a Welsh brig lying at Gibraltar, in
which he sailed to Bilboa, from whence the brig
took a cargo of wool to Bristol ; and, after discharg-
ing it there, was proceeding in ballast to Liverpool ;
but having been driven into Holyhead by contrary
winds, Adams there fell sick, and was put on shore.
From this place he begged his way up to London,
where he arrived about the middle of October,
completely destitute ; and had slept two or three
nights in the open streets, before he was accidentally
met by a gentleman, who had seen him in Mr. Hall's
service at Cadiz, and was acquainted with his his-
tory ; by whom he was directed to the office of the
African Committee.

:nd of the narrative.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Note 1, p. 30.

I do not recollect to have heard any suspicion
stated, either by Adams or others of the crew of the
" Charles," that the Captain was really bound to any
other place than the Isle of May, or some other of
the Cape de Verd Islands ; but the ship's name, the
owners, Captain, crew and cargo, agree precisely
with the statements which were made to me at Mo-
gadore. D.

•

Note 2, p. 31.

El Gazie (the g strongly guttural) has been de-
scribed to me by Arabs who have occasionally visited
that part of the coast, chiefly for the purpose of
sharing or purchasing the plunder of such vessels as
may be cast on shore : — which misfortune but too
frequently happens to those who do not use the
precaution of keeping a good offing ; for most parts
of this desert coast are so low, and the weather is
here in general so hazy, as to preclude a distant
view of the shore.

The Douar (by which word I mean a village of
tents, and which I shall accordingly so use hereaf-
ter, in speaking of the encamped residences of the
Arabs) is here scarcely deserving of the name ; con-
sisting, as I have been told, only of a few scattered

86 El Gazie. — Shipwrecks.

tents, inhabited by a small community of poor and
miserable Arabs, whose manner of living, dress and
appearance, are doubtless such as Adams here de-
scribes; and who, residing chiefly, if not entirely, on
the seacoast, become the first possessors of the
valuables and surviving crews of such vessels as here
suffer shipwreck.

As soon as such an event is known in the Desert,
their Douar becomes a mart, to which Arabs from
all parts of the interiour resort for trade ; and it even
not unfrequently happens, that when the news of
such a catastrophe reaches the southern provinces
of Barbary, the native traders of Santa Cruz, Moga-
dore, and their districts, make long journeys for the
same purpose, and frequently bring back valuable
articles saved from the wreck, which they purchase
from the ignorant natives as things of no value. In
this manner, I have been informed of superfine cloths
being bought at half a dollar the cubit measure.
Occasionally also I have seen Bank of England
notes, which I was assured cost a mere trifle ; the
purchaser only knowing their value. Watches,
trinkets, wearing apparel, muslins, silks, linens, &c.
are gladly disposed of for dates, horses, camels, their
favourite blue linens (baftas) or any of the few arti-
cles which are felt by these poor people to be imme-
diately serviceable in their wretched way of living.
They are, however, more tenacious of the firearms,
cutlasses, pikes, cordage, bits of old iron, spike nails,
and copper, upon which they set great value, and
therefore seldom part with them.

This is the common mode of transacting the trade
of a wreck. However, it not unfrequently happens,
that when the crew and cargo fall into the posses-
sion of any tribe of insignificant note, the latter are
invaded by one of their more powerful neighbours,
who either strip them by force of all their collected

French Renegade, — Death of the Captain, 87

plunder, or compel them, through fear, to barter it
at rates far beneath its estimated value. In either
case, whether obtained by purchase or by force, the
Arabs load their camels with the spoil, and return to
their homes in the Desert, driving the unfortunate
Christians before them. The latter, according to
the interest of their new masters, are sold again or
bartered to others ; often to Arabs of a different
tribe, and are thus conveyed in various directions
across the Desert, suffering every degree of hard-
ship and severity, which the cruelty, caprice or self-
interest of their purchasers may dictate. D.

Note 3, p. 33.

At the very time that Adams was making this
statement relative to the Frenchman who had es-
caped from the Canary Islands, Mr. John Barry, a
merchant of Teneriffe, accidentally entered the
room : and upon being asked whether he had ever
heard of such a circumstance, he stated, that between
four and five years ago, some French prisoners did
make their escape from Santa Cruz in a boat belong-
ing to Canary, and that it was afterwards reported
they had run their vessel on shore on the Coast of
Africa, and had been seized and carried into captivi-
ty by the Moors.

It can hardly be doubted that the man of whom
Adams speaks, was one of them.

Note 4, p. 33.

I perfectly recollect, that the fact of the Cap-
tain's death, was mentioned to me by others of the
Charles's crew who were ransomed at Mogadore.
as well as by Adams ; but I do not think that I

88 Jlgadeer Doma. — Ransom of three Sailors.

was told he was murdered ; only that he died
from disease, want of nourishment and severe treat-
ment. D.

Note 5, p. 35.

Adams, should have said Jlgadeer Doma. This
proposition made by the Mate to the Arabs, to con-
vey the Christians to Senegal, was related to me, as
we«. by Adams, as by others of the crew who were
ransomed. The Arabs, I was told, had frequent
consultations together; apparently to determine how
they should dispose of their prisoners : after which,
as if to raise the spirits of the sailors, they would
point with their fingers to the north, or north-north-
east; saying many words, which they (the sailors)
did not understand, and frequently repeating the
words Siterra and Sultan. D.

Note 6, p. 35.

In the spring of 1811, at which time, and until
the breaking out of the war between Great Britain
and the United States, I held the commission of
Agent for the American Consulate at Mogadore,
(under James Simpson, Esq. Consul General of the
United States at Tangier,) three of the Charles's
crew, named Nicholas^ Newsham and Nelson were
brought to me at Mogadore by an Arab of the tribe
of Woled Moussebah, for the purpose of bargaining
for their ransom ; which, after some difficulties de-
scribed in a subsequent Note, I effected. These men
related to me the circumstances of their shipwreck,
almost precisely in the same terms in which they
were afterwards described to me by Adams, and as
they are described in the Narrative. They also
informed me that Adams, (or Rose) and another of

Soudenny. 89

the crew had been purchased from the Arabs, who
first made them prisoners, bj a party who came from
the eastward, and who had carried him into the
Desert in that direction. JQ.

Note 7, p. 37.

Soudenny has been described to me as a Negro
town or village bordering on the Desert : and 1 am
credibly informed by traders, that it is a practice of
the neighbouring Arabs to resort to the habi prions
of the Negroes on the confines of the Desert, ior the
purpose of stealing and carrying them away into
slavery. This, however, is not the common method
of procuring slaves ; for it is attended with great
personal risk, as Adams here relates. During my
residence in south Barbary, I have frequently in-
quired of different Negro slaves the manner of their
falling into the hands of the Arabs ; and many have
assured me that they were stolen by them from their
own country, and not regularly purchased at the
slave marts. D.

According to Adams's statement of his route,
Soudenny may be supposed to lie about the 6th de-
gree of west longitude and the 16th of north lati-
tude. This situation will fall very near the northern
confines of Bambarra, where they approach, (if they
do not actually touch) the Desert, on the eastern
borders of Ludamar. It also approaches close to
the line of Park's route in his first journey, when
endeavouring to escape from the Moors of Benown :
and we are consequently enabled to derive from
Park's descriptions, materials for estimating, in some
degree, the probability of what Adams says respect-
ing Soudenny.

12

90 Soudenny. — Woollo and Fatima.

Referring therefore to Park's account of this part
of Africa, we find him drawing a melancholy pic-
ture of the sufferings of its Negro inhabitants from
the plundering incursions of Moorish Banditti ; on
which excursions he says, (4to. ed. p. 159,) " they
" will seize upon the Negroes' cattle, and even on
" the inhabitants themselves." On arriving at Sam-
paka, in Ludamar, he says, p. 119, " the towns' peo-
" pie informed us that a party of Moors had at-
" tempted to steal some cattle from the town in the
** morning, but had been repulsed." He describes
the Foulahs of Wassiboo, who are extensive culti-
vators of corn, as "obliged for fear of the Moors
" to carry their arms with them to the fields." See
page 187. And in the next page he says, on ap-
proaching Satile, " the people, who were employed
" in the corn fields, took us for Moors, and ran
" screaming away from us. When we arrived at
" the town, we found the gates shut, and the peo-
" pie all under arms."

The places here mentioned are in the immediate
vicinity of each other; and occur in that part of the
line of Park's travels, which lies nearest to the pre-
sumed situation of Soudenny. The details, there-
fore, afford the nearest evidence which can at pre-
sent be obtained, by which to estimate the probabi-
lity of this part of Adams's story ; and it is presum-
ed that stronger circumstantial corroboration of it,
will hardly be thought necessary.

Note 8, p. 40.

Woollo, which is a Negro, and not a Moorish ap-
pellative, occurs in a Note on Isaaco's Journal (4to.
p. 203) as the name of a former King of Bambar-
ra, the father of Mansong : but the probability of
Adams's statement in this passage is more immedi-

Woollo and Fatima. — Dress. 91

ately corroborated by Mr. Jackson ; who assures
his readers, that there was a King Woollo, actually
reigning at Tombuctoo in the year 1800. Mr.
Jackson further states, that this same King of Tom-
buctoo was also sovereign of Bambarra ; in which
respect, however, (as in many other instances where
he relies on African authority) it is apparent that
he was misinformed; for the name of the sovereign
of Bambarra from the year 1795 to 1805 inclusive,
(the dates of Park's journeys) was certainly Man-
song. Nevertheless it is very possible that Woollo,
of whom Mr. Jackson heard in 1800, and whom
Adams saw in 1811, as King of Tombuctoo, was
one of the numerous tributaries of the sovereign of
Bambarra ; and that this connexion between the
two states may have led to the report that they had
jointly, but one King.

The name of Fatima affords, in itself, no proof that
its possessor was a Moorish or even a Mohamme-
dan woman : for Park, in speaking of another Ne-
gro sovereign, (the King of Bondou,) says " this
"monarch was called Almami, a Moorish name ; al-
" though I was told that he was not a Mahome-
" dan, but a Kafir or Pagan." 1st Journey, 4to.
p. 53.

Note 9, p.<ll.

I have always understood the articles of dress at
Timbuctoo* to be much the same as Adams here de-
scribes. I have also been told, that the inhabitants
occasionally wear the alhaik of Barbary (with which
they are supplied by the Moorish and Arab traders,)
after the fashion of the inhabitants of the Barbary

* This city was invariably called Timbuctoo, by all the traders and
slaves with whom I have conversed respecting it. D.

92 Dress. — King's House, &e.

states ; but thai this mode of dress is not very preva-
lent. I have been assured, that the cotton tree grows
spontaneously in many parts of Soudan, and that
the clothes of the natives generally, are of that ma-
terial, manufactured by themselves. Judging from
the specimens of their cottons which I have seen,
they must be good spinners and weavers. Their
shirts, which are of a fine texture, are imported by
the caravans into the Barbary states, and are much
valued by the Arabs and Moors on account of the
regularity and strength of the thread. Many of
them are interwoven in particular parts with silk.
These shirts, which I have frequently seen, are much
in the shape of a waggoner's frock, supposing it to
be longer, fuller, and without sleeves : they are
either white, or simply blue, or blue and white in va-
rious shades.

This I have always understood to be the princi-
al dress of what may termed the middle class of
egroes; possibly of the Chiefs also: but the poor
are represented to be clothed simply round the
waist with a cotton wrapper, more or less coarse^
according to the means of the wearer, which either
hangs down loose, or is twisted between their legs
and girt round their loins. D.

Note 10, p. 42.

With respect to the enclosure of the King's pa-
lace, into which Adams says the foreign merchan-
dise is carried, for the payment (as he thinks) of
duties, what I have heard from Moorish traders with
reference to such a place, is briefly this ; that the
palace of the King of Timbuctoo is situated in
what they call the kusba, or citadel, in the centre of
the town ; which being a place of security, the tra-
ders naturally deposit their effects therein, and even

R

King's House, tfe, — Muskets. 9:i

inhabit a part of it ; and that duties, (the nature
and rate of which I do not recollect) are exacted
by the King on all merchandise brought by stran-
gers.

With respect to the King's palace, and the houses
generally, I have been informed that they are only
one story high. It has also been stated to me that there
are shops in the city, which the Negroes frequent
for the purchase of foreign and domestick commo-
dities ; and that natives of all parts of Soudan may
be seen there, many of them entirely naked.

The country, without the gates of the enclosure
or citadel noticed above, is represented to be thick-
ly covered with the hovels or huts of the natives as
far as the eye can reach ; especially in the direc-
tion of the river, to the banks of which these
habitations extend, deserving, in fact, the name of a
town. D.

From Park's description (1st Journey, 4 to. p. 22)
the palace of the King of Bondou appears to be a
structure very much resembling that described by
Adams at Tombuctoo.

" All the houses," he says, " belonging to the
" King and his family, are surrounded by a lofty
" mud wall, which converts the whole into a kind of
" citadel. The interiour is subdivided into different

" courts."

Note 11, p. 42.

I perfectly recollect that Adams told me at Mo-
gadore of these muskets which he had seen in the
King's house at Timbuctoo ; and at the same time
that fire arms were not used by the inhabitants;
which agrees with what I have heard from other
quarters.

84 Muskets. — Houses.

In the northern regions of the Desert, I have al-
ways understood that double-barrelled guns are in
common use ; and Park mentions them even on the
south and southwestern confines of the Desert :
but the arms of the Arabs, bordering on the Ne-
groes of Timbuctoo, have been described to me by
the traders, to consist of javelins, swords and dag-
gers. D.

Note 12, p. 43.

As far as I can recollect, the description, which I
received from Adams in Barbary, of the houses of
Timbuctoo, was more detailed than that in the Nar-
rative. There were, he said, two distinct sorts of
habitations; the houses of the Chiefs and wealthier
Negroes, and the huts of the poor. The former
(as well as the palace of the King,) he described as
having walls of clay, or clay and sand, rammed into
a wooden case or frame, and placed in layers one
above another until they attained the height requir-
ed ; the roof being composed of poles or rafters
laid horizontally, and covered with a cement or
plaster of clay and sand. The huts of the poorer
people are constructed merely of the branches of
trees stuck into the ground in circles, bent, and
lashed together at the top. This frame is then cov-
ered with a sort of matting made of a vegetable
substance which he called grass, but which, from
his description appeared to be the palmeta (called
dome by the Arabs,) and the hut, I think he told me,
was afterwards covered with clay.

This description corresponds in all respects with
those which I have received from the Arab and
Moorish traders. D.

La Mar Zarah. 95

Note 13, p. 43.

I do not ^tt all recollect either by what name
Adams spoke^of the river of Timbuctoo, when he
mentioned it to me at Mogadore, or that I have ever
heard it called La Mar Zarah, by any of the traders
with whom I have conversed. If I were to hazard a
conjecture on so uncertain a subject, I might suppose
that Adams had made a slight mistake in repeating this
name ; and that he should have said, El Bohar Sa-
hara, which in Arabick would mean the Desert Sea, or
the River of the Desert. His pronunciation of Ara-
bick was at all times indistinct, and often quite incor-
rect ; and I remember other words in which he in-
terchanged the sound of different consonants in the
manner that I have here supposed. However, La
Mar Zarah may very possibly be the name of the
river in the language of the Negroes.

Another question here suggests itself, whether the
river mentioned by Adams is really the great river
Niger ; or whether it is only a branch of it flowing
from the southeast parts of the Desert, and falling
into the principal stream not far from Timbuctoo ?

The river of Timbuctoo (which I have always sup-
posed to be the Niger itself) is called by the traders
of Barbary, indiscriminately by the several names of
Wed-Nile, Bahar-Nile, or Bahar-Abide. The same
people have described it to me in a situation corres-
ponding with that in the Narrative ; at a very short
distance from the town, and as pursuing its course
through fertile countries on the east and southeast
borders of the Desert ; after which it is generally
supposed in Barbary to fall into the Nile of Egypt.

According to these statements of the Moorish tra-
ders, Adams would seem to have mistaken the course
of the stream at Timbuctoo. In fact, I do not recol-
lect that he told me at Mogadore, that it flowed in a

96 La Mar Zarah. — Canoes.

westerly direction : but 1 think I am correct in say-
ing, lhat he discovered some uncertainty in speaking
upon this subject, (and almost upon this subject
alone,) observing, in answer to my injuries, that he
had not taken very particular notice, and that the
river was steady, without any appearance of a strong
current.

The mountains near Timbuctoo, between which,
Adams describes the river to flow, have also
been mentioned to me by the traders from Bar-
bary. Z).

It is certain that Adams spoke with apparently
less confidence of the direction of the stream of the
La Mar Zarah. than of any other point o( his Nar-
rative. Nevertheless, although he was repeatedly
questioned upon the subject, and might easily per-
ceive that the fact of a stream flowing in that direc-
tion, in that place, was considered extremely impro-
bable, he invariably stated his preponderating belief
that it did flow to the southwest.

We shall reserve for our concluding Note, a few
further remarks on this point of the Narrative; and
shall only add in this place (to Mr. Dupuis' very
probable conjecture on the subject) that the Span-
ish geographer Marmol, who describes himself to
have spent twenty years of warfare and slavery in
Africa, about the middle of the 1 6th century, men-
tions the river Lahamar as a branch of the Niger ;
having muddy and unpalatable waters. By the same
authority the Niger itself is called Yea or Issa at
Tombuctoo ; a name which D'Anvillc has adopted
in his maps of Africa.

Note 14, p. 44

The description which Adams gives of the vessels
or canoes at Timbuctoo, is, as far as it goes, consist-

Canoes. — Fruits. 97

ent with what I recollect of his statement to me at

Mogadore. But I think he described them to me as
being more numerous : adding, that he had seen them
navigate the river in fleets of from ten to twenty canoes
together: that he had been informed that thev were
absent occasionally a month or more, and that fre-
quently they returned to Timbuctoo, laden with
slaves and merchandise. He also mentioned Jimae
to me, as a place to which, as he understood, the
inhabitants of Timbuctoo resorted for trade; and
that the communication between the two cities was
by water.

I ought to observe, moreover, that these particu-
lars correspond in substance with the information
which 1 have obtained from Arab and Moorish tra-
ders respecting Timbuctoo, and the JS'ile-Jlbide.
The same persons have told me that Jinnie lay
fifteen days' journey to the southwest of Tim-
buctoo. D.

Note 15, p. 44.

I do not recollect to have heard dates orpine apples
mentioned by any of the natives of Barbary who
have visited Timbuctoo; but I have heard that both
figs and cocoa nuts grow there. The other vegeta-
bles enumerated by Adams in the Narrative, and
which he also mentioned to me, are described by
traders as being produced, generally speaking,
throughout Soudan. D.

With respect to dates, Park in his first Journey,
mentions two occasions on which he met with them
in Soudan; first at Gang-adi near the Seuegal above
Galam, where "he observed a number of date trees,"
4to. p. 71 : and, secondly, dates were part of the

13

98 Canoes. — Fruits.

food set before him by the Foulah shepherd on the
northern confines of Barnbarra, mentioned in p. 182,

Speaking generally of the vegetable productions
of Soudan, Park says, p. 250 : " Although many
" species of the edible roots which grow in the West
" India Islands are found in Africa, yet I never saw,
" in any part of my journey, either the sugar cane,
" the coffee, or the cacao tree ; nor could I learn on
" inquiry, that they were known to the natives. The
" pine apple, and the thousand other delicious fruits
" which the industry of civilized man has brought
" to so great perfection in the tropical climates of
" America, are here equally unknown."

The pine apple, however, is well known upon the
Gold Coast, and in the Bight of Benin ; and there
appears to be no sufficient reason for doubting that
it grows at Tombuctoo. We have not heard that
Africa produces the cacao tree ; but the sugar cane
and the coffee plant are both amongst its products.
Both are found upon the coasts just mentioned ; and
coffee has long been known to grow in abundance in
Abyssinia.

With respect to the cocoa nut tree, (not the cacao)
which Adams names amongst the vegetable produc-
tions of Tombuctoo, some doubts of his accuracy in
this respect have arisen ; first, in consequence of the
opinion that this tree flourishes only near the shores
of the sea ; and, secondly, because Adams was una-
ble to describe its appearance. But as we are not
disposed, on the one hand, to attach much value to
the botanical recollections of a common sailor, nei-
ther do we think, on the other, that much stress
ought to be laid either upon the fact of his having
forgotten, or upon his inability to describe the ap-
pearance of any plants, which he may have seen. It
would be by the fruit which it bore, that we should
expect such a person to recollect any particular tree ;
and before we reject his assertion respecting the

m

Fruits. — Quadrupeds. — Heiries. 99

latter, we ought to consider that he mentions the
former, incidentally, not less than three times in the
course of his Narrative.

Although these circumstances entitle Adams's
statement to considerable attention, yet we shall not
be much surprised if he should be found to have
mistaken the shell of the calabash (which is known
to be much in use amongst the Mandingoes to the
westward) for that of the cocoa nut, when he speaks
of the latter as a common domestick utensil at
Tombuctoo, and as employed by the natives in
the composition of one of their musical instruments.

Note 16,;?. 45.

In speaking of the quadrupeds at Timbuctoo,
\dams says there are no horses. I do not recollect
that he told me this at Mogadore, but I am disposed
to give credit to the statement, from the correspond-
ing accounts which I have received from traders.
The same opinion prevails among the resident Moors
of Barbary, who, in deriding and reviling their Ne-
gro slaves, frequently use a proverbial expression,
implying, that " God, who had blessed the Moors with
" horses, had cursed the Negroes with asses." The
other animals which Adams here mentions are, in
general, the same as are described by the Arab and
Moorish traders. D.

Note 17, p. 45.

The Heiries, of which Adams speaks, are doubt-
less the species of camel which is known by that
name in the Desert. What I can learn with certain-
ty respecting this extraordinary animal (one of which
I have seen at Morocco, brought by the Arabs of
Aboussebah as a present to the Emperour) is, that

100 Heiries. — Elephant Hunting.

though there is scarcely any visible difference be*
tween it and the common camel, its speed, pa-
tience, and abstinence, are much greater; and, that
it is, on these accounts, highly prized by the
Arabs. D.

There can be no doubt that Adams's heirie is the
animal described by Leo Africanus in the follow-
ing passage, which we quote from the Latin trans-
lation before us; " Tertium genus (camelorum)
" patria lingua ragnahil dictum, gracilibus exiguaeque
" staturae camelis, constat; qui sarcinis gerendisinfe-
" riores, reliquos tanta sui pernicitate superant, ut
" diei unius spatio centum passuum millia confici-
" ant, iter modico viatico ad dies octo vel decern
" perpetuantes." And Pennant's description of the
animal accords still more minutely with the details
given by Adams. (See Pennant's Zool. 4to. vol. i.
p. 131.) "There are varieties among the camels;
" what is called the dromedary, Maihary, and ra-
" guahl is very swift. The latter has a less hunch,
" is much inferiour in size, never carries burdens,
" but is used to ride on."

Note 18, p. 46.

I have been frequently informed that elephant hunt-
ing is common at Timbuctoo as well as in most
parts of Soudan : and it is certain that great num-
bers of their teeth are brought by the caravans into
Barbary. The manner in which Adams describes
the hunting, in the Narrative, corresponds exactly
with what he related to me at Mogadore ; as well
as with the accounts which I had previously heard
from traders, of the mode of hunting practised by
the Negroes of Timbuctoo.

Elephant Hunting, 101

I do not recollect the exact dimensions of the
elephant which Adams described to me ; and 1 am
confident that no such phenomenon as the ^ four
" tusks" was mentioned to me at Mogadore. In fact,
I do not think that I asked him any question what-
ever on the subject of the teeth, or that they were
mentioned by him at all. D.

It must be admitted that Adams has attributed
dimensions to his elephant, which .. considerably, am-
pass the limits of any previous authorities respecting
this most bulky of animals : but without attempting
to maintain the possibility of his accuracy, by quot-
ing the authorities of Buffon and others, who have
represented the breed of elephants in the interiour
and eastern parts of Africa, as greatly exceeding in
size those of the western coast, and even as being
larger than the elephants of the East Indies ; all
that we shall here contend for is, the probability, that
Adams, in this instance relates no more than he
honestly believes he saw. He did not approach the
animal nearer than three quarters of a mile whilst it
was alive ; and it is not surprising that the sight for
the first time of so huge a body, when lying dead on
the ground, should impress him with an exaggerated
idea of its dimensions.

However, we will not deny that the strange novel-
ty of this stupendous creature seems to have dis-
turbed Adams's usual accuracy of observation : we
allude to his subsequent mistake about the animal's
" four tusks."

It would be dealing rather unreasonably with a
rude sailor, cast upon the wilds of Africa, to expect
that he should in that situation, whilst every thing
was strange and new around him, minutely observe,
— or could at a long interval afterwards, . correctly

102 Elephant Hunting. — Alligators. — Courcoo.

describe, — the details of the plants* or animals which
he had there an opportunity of seeing; and it would
be unjust, indeed, to make his accuracy on these
points the standard of his veracity.

The same objects which would be full of interest
to a tutored eye, and would be scanned in all their
parts with eager and systematick curiosity, might
^ass almost/unobserved before the vague and indif-
ferent, glance .of *an uncultivated individual like
Adams-; and his recollection of them, if he recollect-
ed them at all, would only extend to a rude and
indistinct idea of their general appearance. The
details in the text leave no room to doubt that it was
an elephant which Adams saw ; and, with respect to
the teeth, it must not be forgotten, that he was ques-
tioned about them, apparently for the first time, more
than four years after he saw the animal. If his ob-
servation of it might be expected to be vague and
indistinct, even at first, it would not be very extraor-
dinary that his recollection of it, after so long an in-
terval, should be far from accurate ; and we cannot
feel much surprise that, though he remembered that
the animal had teeth, he should not be very well
able to recollect whether it had tivo or four.

Note 19, p. 47.

Alligators I have been informed are met with in
the river near Timbuctoo ; but I never heard the
hippopotamus mentioned. D.

Note 20, p. 47.

I never before heard of this extraordinary animal,
either from Adams or any one else. D.

* See Note U.

Courcoo. — Wild Beasts. — Birds. — Poison. 103

It would be unfair to Adams not to explain, that
when questioned as to his personal knowledge of the
"courcoo," it appeared that he had never seen the
animal nearer than at thirty or forty yards distance.
It was from the Negroes he learnt that it had on its
back " a hollow place like a pouch, which they call-
" ed ' coo,'' " in which it pocketed its prey ; and
having once seen the creature carrying a branch of
cocoa nut with its fruit, " which, as the courcoo ran
" swiftly away, seemed to lie on its back,'' Adams
concluded of course that the pocket must be there ;
and further, that the animal fed on cocoa nuts, as
well as goats and children.

In many respects Adams's description of the ani-
mal, (about which the Narrative shews that he was
closely questioned,) answers to the lynx.

JSote 21, p. 47.

Lions , tigers, wolves, hyaenas, foxes, and wild cats,
have been described to me as natives of most parts
of Soudan ; and are hunted by the Negroes on ac-
count of the ravages which they frequently make
amongst their flocks and domestick animals. D.

Note 22, p. 47.

The birds, both wild and tame, are, to the best
of my recollection, the same as he previously de-
scribed to me. The ostriches he told me were hunt-
ed both for their flesh and feathers, the latter not
being used by the Negroes, except in trade with
the Moors : who occasionally bring them to Bar-
bary. D.

Jtyte 23, p, 48.

The poisonous liquid prepared from " black lumps
"like opium," into which the Negroes of Tombuc-

104 Poison. — Anointing. — Maries of the Negroes.

too dip their arrows, appears to be the same as that
which Park describes the Mandingoes to use, for a
similar purpose.

" The poison, which is very deadly, is prepared
" from a shrub called kooma, (a species of echites ;)
" the leaves of which, when boiled in a small quantity
" of water, yield a thick, black juice." 1st Journey,
4to. p. 281.

Note 24, p. 49.

Park observed a similar custom of anointing their
persons among the Negroes of Bondou. See 1st
Journey, 4to. p. 62. " The cream of cows' milk
" is converted into butter by stirring it violently in
" a large calabash. This butter forms a part of
u most of their dishes ; it serves likewise to anoint
" their heads ; and is bestowed very liberally on
" their faces and arms."

Note 25, p. 49.

This account of the marks on the faces of the in-
habitants of Timbuctoo, agrees with that which
Adams gave at Mogadore.

I have occasionally seen Negroes with similar in-
cisions on their faces, but I cannot state with any
confidence that they came from Timbuctoo. How-
ever, I have certainly heard from some of the tra-
ders that these marks are a prevalent, if not uni-
versal, ornament of the male Negroes of that coun-
try.

Many of the Negro slaves brought up to Barba-
ry by the Arabs, have the cartilage of the nose bor-
ed through, in which it is said, they wear in their
own countries, a large gold rin§, in the manner de-
scribed by Adams of the Negroes between Sou-

Marks of the Negroes. — Polygamy. — Religion. 105

denny and Timbuctoo. I have frequently seen female
slaves with perforations in the lobes of their ears,
which had the appearance of having been distended
by wearing heavy ornaments. D.

Note 26, p. 50.

Here again Adams, in his assertion of the exist-
ence of polygamy amongst the Negroes, and in
his shrewd observation of the feuds which it excit-
ed amongst the ladies, may be illustrated and corro-
borated by a parallel passage from Park.

" As the Kafirs (Pagan Negroes) are not restrict-
" ed in the number of their wives, every one mar-
" ries as many as he can conveniently maintain ; and
" as it frequently happens that the ladies disagree
" amongst themselves, family quarrels sometimes
" rise to such a height that the authority of the hus-
" band can no longer preserve peace in his house-
" hold." 1st Journey, 4to. pp. 39, 40.

' Note 27, p. 51.

I cannot speak with any confidence of the reli-
gion of the Negroes of Timbuctoo.

However, I have certainly heard, and entertain
little doubt, that many of the inhabitants are Mo-
hammedans: it is also generally believed in Barbary,
that there are mosques at Timbuctoo. But on the
other hand, I am pretty confident that the King is
neither an Arab nor a Moor ; especially as the tra-
ders from whom I have collected these accounts
have been either the one, or the other; and I might
consequently presume, that if they did give me er-
roneous information on any points, it would at least
not be to the prejudice both of their national self-

14

106 Religio7i.

conceit, and of the credit and honour of their reli-
gion.

I think Adams told me that circumcision is not un-
frequent there; and I have been informed by
traders that it is common, though not universal,
throughout Soudan; but without necessarily imply-
ing Mohammedanism in those who undergo the
practice. Z).

Park has stated circumcision to be common
amongst the Negroes nearer the coast ; and Barrow
and other travellers describe the custom to be preva-
lent amongst the natives of some of the countries of
southern Africa; but it does not appear in either of
these cases to be practised exclusively as a Mo-
hammedan rite.

With respect to the religious ceremonies in ge-
neral, of the Pagan natives of Soudan, Park says,
that on the first appearance of the new moon they
say a short prayer, which is pronounced in a whis-
per, the party holding up his hands before his face ;
and that this " seems to be the only'visible adora-
" tion which the Kafirs offer up to the Supreme
"Being." (1st Journey, 4to. p. 272.) Thus far
Adams's observation appears to have been perfectly
accurate, that they have " no publick religion, no
" house of worship, no priest, and never meet to-
" gether to pray." But it is difficult to suppose that
there are not Mohammedan converts amongst the
Negroes of Tombuctoo, who publicly exercise the
ceremonies of their religion : and wTe apprehend
that Adams will be suspected of careless observa-
tion on that subject, notwithstanding the confidence
with which he speaks of it. Indeed we should have-
said, that he had himself born testimony to some
of the externals of Islamism, when he mentions the
turbans which the Chiefs of Soudenny and Toinbuc-

Religion. — Physicians. — Sorcery. 1 07

too occasionally wore, did we not learn from Park,
that the Kafirs are in the habit of adopting the cus-
toms, names, and even in some instances, the
prayers* of the Mohammedans, without adopting
their religious ceremonies or creed.

Note 28, p. 52.

Adams gave me a particular description of the
wen or swelling on the back of his hand, and of its
cure at Timbuctoo, in the manner here related.

I may take this opportunity of observing, that he
recounted at Mogadore, (what I do not find in the
Narrative,) several miraculous stories of the super-
natural powers, or charms possessed by some of the
Negroes, and which they practised both defensively
to protect their own persons from harm, and offen-
sively against their enemies. Of these details I do
not distinctly remember more than the following
circumstance, which I think he told me happened in
his presence :

A Negro slave, the property of a Desert Arab,
having been threatened by his master with severe
punishment for some offence, defied his power to
hurt him, in consequence of a charm by which he
was protected. Upon this the Arab seized a gun,
which he loaded with ball, and fired at only a few
paces distance from the Negro's breast: but the
Negro, instead of being injured by the shot, stoop-
ed to the ground, and picked up the ball which had
fallen inoffensive at his feet !

It seems strange that Adams should have omitted
these extraordinary stories (and almost these alone)
in his Narrative ; for he frequently expressed to me
a firm belief, that the Negroes were capable of in-

* See Park's 1st Journey, 4to. p. 37.

108 Sorcery. — Dancing.

juring their enemies by witchcraft; and he once
pointed out to me a slave at Mogadore, of whom, on
that account he stood peculiarly in awe. He doubt-
less imbibed this belief, and learnt the other absurd
stories which he related, from the Arabs; some of
whom profess to be acquainted with the art them-
selves, and all of whom, I believe, are firmly per-
suaded of its existence, and of the peculiar profi-
ciency of the Negroes in it. D.

Is it unreasonable to suppose, that having found
his miraculous stories, and his belief in witchcraft,
discredited and laughed at, both at Mogadore and
Cadiz, Adams should at length have grown ashamed
of repeating them, or even have outlived his super-
stitious credulity ? This solitary instance of sup-
pression (the particular stories suppressed being of
so absurd a nature,) may rather be considered as a
proof of his good sense, and as the exercise of a
very allowable discretion, than as evidence of an
artfulness, of which not a trace has been detected in
any other part of his conduct.

Note 29, p. 53.

The dancing of the people of Timbuctoo has
been frequently described to me by Adams ; and on
one occasion particularly, when some Negro slaves
were enjoying this their favourite amusement, at
Mogadore, he brought me to the spot, telling me
that their dance was similar to those in Soudan which
he had described to me. The following was the
nature of the dance: — six or seven men, joining
hands, surrounded one in the centre of the ring, who
was dressed in a ludicrous manner, wearing a large
black wig stuck full of cowries. This man at intervals
repeated verses which, from the astonishment and

>

Dancing. 109

'O

admiration expressed at them by those in the ring,
appeared to be extempore. Two performers were
playing on the outside of the ring; one on a large
drum, the other on a sort of guitar. They did not
interrupt the singer in the ring during his recitations ;
but at the end of every verse, the instruments struck
up, and the whole party joined in loud chorus, danc-
ing round the man in the circle, stooping to the
ground and throwing up their legs alternately. To-
wards the end of the dance, the man in the middle
of the ring was released from his enclosure, and danc-
ed alone, occasionally reciting verses ; whilst the
other dancers begged money from the by-standers.

1 do not recollect to have seen any of the female
slaves join in these dances ; but I have observed them
very much interested whilst attending the diversion:
sometimes appearing extravagantly delighted, and at
others exhibiting signs of mourning and sorrow.

These dances were prohibited soon after the ac-
cession of the present Emperour ; but they have been
occasionally permitted of late years. Whether the
prohibition arose from some connexion, either real
or supposed, which the dances had with any of the
religious ceremonies of the Negroes, offensive to the
Mohammedans, I was never able to ascertain. D.

The dancing of the Negroes at Joag in Kajaaga,
as described by Mr. Park, corresponds very remarka-
bly with Adams's description of the same amusement
at Tombuctoo.

" 1. found," he says, 1st Journey 4to. p. 68, " a
" great crowd surrounding a party who were danc-
" ing by the light of some large fires, to the musick
" of four drums, which were beaten with great
" exactness and uniformity. The dances, however,
" consisted more in wanton gestures than in muscu-
" lar exertion or graceful attitudes. The ladies vied

110 Bambarra. — Slaves.

" with each other in displaying the most voluptuous
M movements imaginable. They continued to dance
" until midnight."

Note 30, p. 53.

This statement, which is in opposition to the usual
opinion that Tombuctoo is a dependency of Bambar-
ra, receives some corroboration from a passage in
Isaaco's Journal, (4to. p. 205) where a " Prince of
" Tombuctoo" is accused by the King of Sego, of hav-
ing, either personally or by his people, plundered
two Bambarra caravans, and taken both merchandise
and slaves. This was in September 1810, some
months previous to the date of the expeditions men-
tioned in the Narrative.

Note 31, p. 54.

The Negro slaves brought to Barbary from Tim-
buctoo appear to be of various nations; many of
them distinguishable by the make of their persons
and features, as well as by their language. I have
seen slaves, who were described as coming from the
remote country of Wamgara ; but the greater part
of them aro brought from Bambarra ; the Negroes of
that nation being most sought after, and fetching the
highest prices in Barbary.

1 recollect an unusually tall, stout Negress at
Mogadore, whose master assured me that she belong-
ed to a populous nation of cannibals'. I do not'know
whether the fact was sufficiently authenticated; but
it is certain that the woman herself declared it, ad-
ding some revolting^ accounts of her own feasts on
human flesh.

Being in the habit of inquiring from Negroes at
Mogadore the manner of their falling into slavery, I

►

Slaves, 111

received, on one such occasion, from a Bambarreen
Negro, a long account of his capture, (on a plunder-
ing expedition) his sale, escape, and recapture,
amongst different Negro nations before he was final-
ly sold, at Timbuctoo, to the Arabs. His account
was chiefly curious from Jiis description of a nation
which he called Gollo or Quallo, which conveyed to
me an idea of a people more advanced in the arts,
and wealthier than any that J. had previously heard
of. The King's palace and the houses in general
were described as superiour structures to those of
the Moors: and he even spoke of domesticated
elephants trained to war, of which the King had a
large force.

To this nation he was conveyed by a party of its
natives, a stout race of people ; who, happening to
be in a town on the Weil-Nile, in which he and half
of the plundering party to which he belonged, had
been made prisoners, bought him from his captors,
and carried hirfr«away to their own country. They
arrived at Gollo after nearly a month's journey inland
from the river; during which they crossed a large
chain of mountains ; and as far as I could judge from
his account, the country lay southeast of Bambarra.
Within three days' journey of the capital was a large
lake or river which communicated with the Wed-
Nile, by which he eventually escaped.

Notwithstanding the reserve with which the sto-
ries of Negroes must be received, there was a cir-
cumstantiality in this man's account, which seemed
very like the truth ; and he bore about him ocular
evidence in corroboration of one part of his story;
namely, that the right ears of himself and his plun-
dering companions were cut off, as a punishment,
by the people who sold him to the Negroes of
Gollo. D.

112 Punishments. — Shops and Trade.

Note 32, p. 55.

It was already evident from Park's accounts, and
the fact receives a more extended confirmation from
Adams, that the Negroes in the interiour of Soudan
are in general harmless and compassionate in their per-
sonal characters, and humane in their laws; in which
respects they are remarkably distinguished from
many of their neighbours to the south, who, besides
the ordinary implacability of savages towards their
external and publick enemies, are not sparing of the
blood of their own countrymen, in their quarrels,
punishments, or superstitious sacrifices.

Adams's account of the punishment assigned by
the laws of Tombuctoo to the principal criminal
offences, is substantially the same as that given by
Park, in speaking of the laws of the Mandingoes;
amongst whom, he informs us, that murder, adultery,
and whitchcraft (which, in other words, is the admin-
istering of poison) are punished with slavery. It
appears, however, that in cases of murder, the rela-
tions of the deceased have, in the first instance, pow-
er over the life of the offender.

The infrequency of the punishment of death, in a
community which counts human life amongst its
most valuable objects of trade, is not, however, very
surprising; and considerable influence must be con-
ceded to the operation of self-interest, as well as to
the feelings of humanity, in accounting for this mer-
ciful feature (if it be indeed merciful) in the criminal
code of the Negroes of Soudan.

Note 33, p. 55.

I do not at present recollect whether Adams told
me, that there were, or that there were not, shops
at Timbuctoo ; but, as I have stated in Note 10, I

Shops and Trade. — Cowries. 113

have been informed by some of the traders, and am
disposed to believe, that there arc shops, in which
foreign merchandise, and the domestick commodities
of the inhabitants, are exposed for sale. Others, how-
ever, have contradicted this account.

The articles of trade which Adams enumerates in
the succeeding lines, appear to me to correspond with
tolerable accuracy with those which the caravans
from the Barbary states carry to Soudan, and bring
from thence.

This trade from the states of Morocco, which ap-
pears to have been carried on to a considerable and
uniform extent since the reign of Mulai Ismael (at
whose death the dominion previously exercised by
the Moors over the natives of Timbuctoo is reported
to have been shaken off by the latter,) has begun to
decline of late years, in consequence of the es-
tablishment of the market of Hamet a JWousa in the
territory of the Cid Heshem, described in a subse-
quent note : and I do not suppose that more than a
hundred of the Emperour's subjects now annually
cross the Desert.

With respect to the caravans themselves, their man-
ner of assembling and travelling, the dangers which
they incur in the Desert from the Shume wind, from
want of water, and from the marauding disposition
of the Desert Arabs, have been so fully described in
other places, that any further detail here would be
unnecessary. D.

Note 34, p. 55.

In quoting the price in cowries of a full grown
slave, Adams must certainly have committed a great
mistake. I remember he told me that the Arabs
gave a considerable value in tobacco or other raer-

15

114 Cowries. — Moots at Tombuctoo.

chandise for a slave ; and that he thought them
cheaper in the Desert than at Timbuctoo. D.

At Sansanding Park gives forty thousand cowries,
as the current price of a male slave : it is not possible
that the value either of cowries or slaves can be so
utterly disproportionate in two countries so near to
each other. Adams must have been quite in the
dark with respect to the real terms of the bargain.

Note 35, p. 56.

That the people of Timbuctoo should feel some
jealousy of the tribes of Arabs immediately in their
neighbourhood, is extremely probable, considering
the general marauding characters of the latter ; but
I do not know what particular measures of exclusion
are enforced against them. With respect to the
traders from Barbary, I have always been told that
they are permitted to reside at Timbuctoo as long as
they think proper. On the other hand, I believe,
that camel drivers, Arab guides, and those attached
to the caravans, who are either not able, or not will-
ing, to make the King a present, are excluded. D.

Adams's assertion, that he saw no Moors during
his stay at Tombuctoo, except the aforesaid two
parties, is not so improbable as it may at first sight
appear.

Tombuctoo, although it is become, in consequence
of its frontier situation, the port, as it were, of the
caravans from the north (which could not return
across the Desert the same season if they were to
penetrate deeper into Soudan) is yet, with respect
to the trade itself, probably only the point from
whence it diverges to Haoussa, Tuarick, &c. on the
east, and to Walet, Jinnie, and Sego, in the west
and south, and not the mart where the merchandise
of the caravans is sold in detail. Park was inform-

Moors at Tombuctoo. — Negroes. 115

ed, that Haoussa and Walet were, both of them, lar-
ger cities than Tombuctoo. Such Moors therefore
as did not return to Barbarj with the returning cara-
van, but remained in Soudan until the following sea-
son, might be expected to follow their trade to the
larger marts of the interiour, and to return to Tom-
buctoo, only to meet the next winter's caravans.
Adams, arriving at Tombuctoo in February, and
departing in June, might therefore miss both the
caravans themselves and the traders who remained
behind in Soudan : and, in like manner, Park might
find Moors carrying on an active trade in the summer,
at Sansanding, and yet there might not be one at
Tombuctoo.

With respect to the trade actually carried on at
Tombuctoo (which makes but an insignificant figure
in Adams's account,) we can only regret that a per-
son placed in his extraordinary situation, was not
better qualified to collect or communicate more satis-
factory information on this and many other interest-
ing subjects. However, his lists of the articles of
trade show that he was not wholly unobservant in
this respect; and we cannot but think it probable
that the " armed parties of a hundred men or more,"
which he describes at page 53, as going out once a
month for slaves, and returning sometimes in a week,
and sometimes after a longer absence, were in reali-
ty traders.

Note 36, p. 56.

I was frequently told by Adams, who appeared to
take pleasure in speaking of the circumstance, that
the Negroes behaved to him on all occasions with
great humanity, never insulting or illtreating him on
account of his religion, as the Arabs did. He was
never confined at Timbuctoo, but could go where he
pleased. Upon these grounds I entertain little doubt

116 Negro Curiosity, — Crossing the Desert,

(and I was conrfimed in my opinion by Timbuctoo
traders with whom I conversed on the subject) that
had Adams explained his story to the Negroes, and
expressed any unwillingness to accompany the Arabs
on their return, he would have been rescued out of
their hands, and left at liberty. I do not recollect
whether he told me, that the idea had ever occurred
to him; but, if it did, it is probable that when he
came to consider his hopeless prospect of reaching
the seacoast, if left to himself, and that the Arabs had
promised to take him to Suerra after their expedi-
tion to Soudenny ; he would prefer the chance of ulti-
mate liberation afforded him by accompanying the
Arabs, of whose severe treatment he had then had
but a short experience. D.

Note 37, p. 56.

I do not imagine that the curiosity of the Negroes
can have been excited so much on account of Adams's
colour, as because he was a Christian, and a Chris-
tian slave, which would naturally be to them a
source of great astonishment. The Negroes must
have seen, in the caravans from the Barbary states
which annually visit the countries of Soudan, and
Timbuctoo in particular, many Moors, especially
those from Fez, of a complexion quite as light as
that of Adams. D.

• Note 38, p. 56.

September and October are the months in which
the caravans from Barbary to Timbuctoo assemble
on the northern confines of the Desert. They com-
mence their journey as soon as the first rains have
cooled the ground, and arrive again from the De-
sert about the month of March. Z).

Crossing the Desert. — Joliba. 117

7?

Whilst Adams states in the text, on the one hand,
that the Desert can be crossed only in winter during
the rainy season, it appears, on the other, that he
himself must have crossed it in July. (See Note 60.)
Yet, upon examination, the circumstances of the Nar-
rative will be found not only to reconcile this appa-
rent contradiction, but even to add to the internal
evidence of the truth of Adams's story. The winter
is, admittedly, the only proper time for crossing the
Desert, and (as Mr Dupuis states in the preceding
part of this Note,) the trading caravans from Barba-
ry never attempt the journey at any other season.
But the solitary troop of Arabs from the Woled
D'leim do not appear to have come to Tombuctoo for
the ordinary purposes of trade. Their only object
seems to have been to ransom their imprisoned com-
rades : and having this alone in view, they would
naturally come as soon as they had ascertained the
captivity of the latter and prepared the means of
redeeming them ; without regarding the inconve-
niences of travelling at an unusual season. Their ex-
traordinary sufferings, and loss of lives, from heat
and thirst in returning across the Desert, may be
hence accounted for.

This explanation moreover confirms, and is cor-
roborated, by Adams's subsequent remark, in page
62, that the Arabs of Woled D'leim (which was the
home of his ransomers) to be of the same tribe as
those of the douar whither he was first conveyed
from the coast, and consequently, as those who were
taken prisoners with him at Soudenny.

Note 39, p. 57.

This apparently unimportant passage affords, on
examination, a strong presumption in favour of

1 1 8 Joliba. — Negro Language.

the truth and simplicity of this part of Adams's Nar-
rative.

In the course of his examinations, almost every
new inquirer eagerly questioned him respecting the
Joliba; and he could not fail to observe, that, be-
cause he had been at Tombuctoo, he was expected,
as a matter of course, either to have seen, or at least
frequently to have heard of, this celebrated river.
Adams, however, fairly admits that he knows no-
thing about it : and, notwithstanding the surprise of
many of his examiners, he cannot be brought to ac-
knowledge that he had heard the name even once
mentioned at Tombuctoo. All that he does recol-
lect is, that a river Joliba had been spoken of at
Tudenny, where it was described as lying in the
direction of Bambarra.

Those who recollect Major Rennell's remarks re-
specting the Niger, in his "Geographical Illustrations,"
will not be much surprised that Adams should
not hear of the " Joliba" from the natives of Tom-
buctoo. At that point of its course, the river is
doubtless known by another name : and if the Joliba
were spoken of at all, it would probably be accom-
panied (as Adams states in the text) with some men-
tion of Bambarra, which may be presumed to be the
last country eastward in which the Niger retains its
Mandingo name.

Note 40, p. 57.

Some of the words mentioned in this short speci-
men of the Negro language are Arabick ; for in-
stance,— killed, a dog ; feel, an elephant ; dar, a
house : also the names which he has given for "date"
and " fig" ; but the word carna, which he has prefix-
ed to the latter, signifying " tree," is not Arabick.
Whether Adams, in consequence of the short oppor-

Taudeny. — Wolcd D^leim. 119

tunity which he had of hearing the language of the
Negroes, and his subsequent long residence amongst
the Arabs, has confounded the two languages in the
above instances; or whether there may not really
be some mixture of the languages at Timbuctoo (as
not unfrequently happens in the frontier places of
adjoining countries,) I cannot pretend to determine.

It is at least certain, that Adams did know some-
thing of the Negro language, for I have frequently
heard him hold conversations with the slaves at Mo-
gadore ; especially with a young Negro who used
to visit my house on purpose to see Adams, and (as
he has himself told me) to converse with him about
his own country, where, he has often assured me,
Adams had been. D.

Note 41, p. 60.
Taudeny has been frequently described to me by
traders in a manner which corresponds with Adams's
account ; it being reported to have four wells of
good water, and a number of date and fig trees : the
inhabitants are represented as quite black, but
without the Negro features. The salt pits consist
of large beds of rock salt, in the manner that Adams
describes, and of very considerable extent. Their
produce is in much request at Timbuctoo, and in all
Soudan, whither it is sent in large quantities ; the
people of Taudeny receiving in return slaves and
merchandise, which they again exchange with the
Arabs of Woled D'leim, and Woled Aboussebah, for
camels, horses, or tobacco ; so that I should imagine
Taudeny to be a place of importance, and highly in-
teresting. D.

Note 42, p. 62.
Woled DHeim is the douar of a tribe of Arabs-
inhabiting the eastern parts of the Desert from the

ir

120 Woled DHeim.—El Kabku

latitude of about twenty degrees north to the tropick.
I have been informed by travellers who have visited
these parts, that they are a tribe of great extent and
power; that they inhabit detached fertile spots of
land where they find water, and pasturage for their
flocks, but do not at all practise agriculture. I have
occasionally seen Arabs of this tribe during my resi-
dence at Mogadore. They appear to be an extreme-
ly fine race of men. Their complexion is very dark,
almost as black as that of the Negroes ; but they
have straight hair, which they wear in large quan-
tities, aquiline noses, and large eyes. Their beha-
viour was haughty and insolent: they spoke with
fluency and energy, appeared to have great powers
of rhetorick ; and I was told that many of them pos-
sessed the talent of making extempore compositions
in verse, on any object that attracted their notice.
Their arms were javelins and swords. D.

Note 43, p. 64.

The circumstances of Adams's neglect of his em-
ployment, and of the punishment which he received in
consequence, appear to have made a strong impres-
sion on him ; for he frequently mentioned them to
me ; always adding, that he had firmly determined
to persevere in his resistance, though it had cost him
his life. £>.

Note 44,;?. 66.

Adams described the circumstances of his escape
from the Woled DHeim to El Kabla^ precisely as they
are here related : but he observed to me that, with
respect to masters, he had scarcely bettered his con-
dition ; and at all times he shewed an inveterate ani-

El Kabla.—Aisha. 121

mosity against any of the Arabs of the Desert whom
he saw at Mogadore.

El Kabla means the eastern Arabs, so distinguished
from those of west Barbary and the coast. In the
pronunciation of a Desert Arab, the name might
sound very like El Gibla, or Hilla Gibla.

These people inhabit large tracts of the Desert on
the northern limits of the Woled D'leim. They are
looked upon as a tribe of considerable importance,
and are frequently employed by the traders in cross-
ing the Desert, serving as guides or escorts as far
as Taudeny. They have been represented to me
as a haughty and ferocious race, yet scrupulously
observant of the rites of hospitality. In persons they
are said to resemble their Woled D'leim neighbours,
being extremely dark, straight haired, and of the
true Arabian feature. They are reported to be de-
scendants from the race of Woled Aboussebah; from
whom they probably separated themselves, in conse-
quence of some of the disputes which frequently in-
volve the Desert tribes in domestick wars. Their
large flocks of sheep and goats supply them with
outer raiment as well as food ; but the blue shirts of
Soudan, are almost universally worn by them as un-
der garments. ZX

Note 45', p. 68.

These details of Adams's amour with Aisha&re the
same as he gave to me at Mogadore. Of the fact
itself 1 can entertain no doubt, from the following
circumstances :

After the loss of the " Charles" it had been my
constant practice, when traders went to the Desert, to
commission them to make inquiries respecting the re-
mainder of the crew, who were in the possession of the
Arabs ; and, in particular, respecting those who had

16

1 22 Aisha. — Woled Aboussebah.

been reported to me to be carried eastward. On the
return of one of these men from El Kabla, he told me
that there was a Christian slave at that place, in pos-
session of an Arab, who would doubtless be very glad
to dispose of him, in consequence of the slave having
been detected in an affair with his wife. He then
briefly related to me the same story, in substance, as
I afterwards heard from Adams.

I also heard of it from a trader from Wed-Noon,
who told me of Adams being there some time before I
effected his ransom : I was informed at the same time,
that this trait of his character and history was much
talked of at Wed-Noon. D.

Note 46, p. 68.

Villa de Bousbach should be Woled Aboussebah ;
Woled signifying sons or children, and being common-
ly applied to all the tribes of Arabs.

The Woled Aboussebah is a considerable tribe of
Arabs distinct from the Woled D'leirn, inhabiting
large tracts of the northern and western parts of the
Desert. They report themselves to be descendants
from the line of sheriffes, or race of the Prophet.
Their country is described as a Desert interspersed
with spots of fertile land, where they fix their douars,
and pasture their flocks of goats, sheep, and camels.
Their diet is occasionally the flesh of their flocks,
but chiefly the milk of the niag, or female camel.
They trade with their northern neighbours for dates
and tobacco; being, immoderately fond of the latter
for their own consumption in snuff and smoking, and
employing it also in their trade with Soudan for
slaves and blue cottons.

As this tribe is reported to reach quite down
to the seacoast, and to be spread over a very ex-
tensive tract of country, there are various branches

Woled Aboussebah. 123

of it, who consider themselves wholly independent
of each other, jet all calling themselves the " Woled
" Aboussebah." Those who inhabit the seacoast
are supplied with double barrelled guns, and various
implements of iron, by trading vessels from the Ca-
nary Islands, for which they give cattle in exchange.
They are represented to be very expert in the
management of their horses, and in the use of fire-
arms, being excellent marksmen at the full speed of
the horse, or of the Desert Camel (heirie.) They
have frequent wars with their southern and eastern
neighbours, though without any important results;
the sterility of the soil, throughout the whole^of this
region of sand, affording little temptation to its in-
habitants to dispossess each other of their territorial
possessions.

The inhabitants of Wed-Noon are descended from
this tribe, and owe their independence to its sup-
port : for the Arabs of Aboussebah being most nu-
merous on the northern confines of the Desert, pre-
sent a barrier to the extension of the Emperour of
Morocco's dominion in that direction.

During the discords and civil wars which raged
in Barbary previous to the present Emperour's tran-
quil occupation of the throne of Morocco, a horde of
these Arabs, amounting to about seven thousand
armed men, seizing that opportunity of exchanging
their barren Deserts for more fertile regions, over-
ran the southern parts of the Empire. Mounted on
horses and camels, and bearing their tents and fami-
lies with them, they pursued their course, with little
or no opposition, until they reached the provinces of
Abda and Shiedma^ which lie between Saffy and
Mogadore, where they were opposed by the Arabs
of those provinces, united with a powerful tribe call-
ed Woled-el-Haje, who inhabit a fertile country north
of the river Tensift. The Woled Aboussebah were,

1 24 Woled Abomsebah. — Seamen at Wed-Noon.

however, victorious, and a dreadful slaughter of their
enemies ensued ; who, after oeing driven down to
the sea, were cut to pieces without mercy, neither
women nor children escaping the massacre. The
victors then took possession of the country, where
they settled, and maintained themselves against all
opposition; and they now form a part of the sub-
jects of the Emperour of Morocco. D.

Note 47, p. I'd.

The mate and the seamen of the " Charles," whom
Adams ^escribed to have found at Wed-Noon, were,
to my knowledge, in that town a considerable time
previous to his arrival.

Some explanation may no* be out of place here, of
the reasons why these men did not reach the Era-
perour's dominions, at the period when the three of
the Charles'S crew, whom I have before named,
were ransomed.

Upon the arrival of the Arab of Aboussebah
(whom I have mentioned in Note 6) at Santa Cruz
on his way to Mogadore, with Nicholas, Newsham,
and Nelson, the Governour of that city and district
wished to take possession of the Christians in order
to send them to the Emperour: but the Arab re-
fused to part with them, not considering himself a
subject of the Emperour, or under the control of
any of the rulers of Barbary ; and he accordingly
escaped out of the city with his property by night ;
but before he reached Mogadore he was overtaken
by two soldiers whom the Governour had dispatch-
ed after him, and who accompanied him and the
Christians to me.

The Arab then declared to me, that it never was
his intention to take his slaves to the Emperour,
that he had bought them in the Desert in the hopes

Seamen at Wed-Noon. — BeLCossim-Mdallah. 125

of making some profit by their ransom, and that, if
he succeeded in this object, he would return, and en-
deavour to bring the others up to Mogadore. Upon
this, I bargained with him for the purchase of them ;
but refusing to accept the highest sum which it was
in my power to offer him, he left me, pretending
that he had resolved to take his slaves to Fez,
where the Emperour then was. Fearful of trusting
the men again in his power, I objected to his taking
them from under my protection, unless thoy were
entrusted to the care of a Moorish soldier ; but
the Governour of Mogadore refused to grant him
a soldier for that purpose. Thus circumstanced,
he was at length compelled to accept the proffered
ransom.

The dissatisfaction which the Arab felt at the
result of his journey, and at the interference of the
Governours of Santa Cruz and Mogadore, was, I
fear, the cause why the rest of the Charles's crew
were not subsequently brought up to be ransomed ;
but it could not be helped. D.

Note 48, p. 73.

The sale of Adams at Wed-Noon to Bel-Cossim-
Abdallah was mentioned to me by him at Moga-
dore ; Adams observing that he had been bought
by Bel-Cossim very cheap, the latter having paid
no more for him than the value of seventy dollars
in barter.

This part of the Narrative was further confirmed
by Bel-Cossim himself; who having arrived at
Mogadore some time after Adams had been ransom-
ed, called upon me, and requested permission to see
him. Bel-Cossim then shewed a great regard for
him, and told me that he had been unwilling to part
with him, when he was ransomed. D.

126 Montezuma.'— 'French Renegade. — Kanno.

Note 49, p. 73.

The following is ark extract of a letter from P. W.
Brancker, Esq. of Liverpool, in reply to an inquiry
into the truth of this part of Adams's story.

" Liverpool, Nov. 28, 1815.

" The American seaman is correct as to the loss
" of a vessel from this port, but makes a small mis-
" take in the name ; for it appears that the ship
" Montezuma, belonging to Messrs. Theodore Kos-
44 ter and Co., and bound from hence to the Brazils,
"was wrecked on the 2d November, 1810, between
" the Capes de Noon and Bajedore on the coast of
" Barbary ; that the master and crew were made
" prisoners by a party of Arabs, and that he (the
" master) was taken off without the knowledge of the
" persons in whose service he then was, and might
" therefore be supposed to be murdered ; for being
" left in charge of a drove of camels, he was found
" by a party of the Emperour's cavalry and carried
" off to Morocco, from whence he was sent to Gib-
" r altar.

" It is also said that the crew have obtained their
" liberty, except one boy."

Note 50, p. 74.

I have often heard of this French renegade, and of
his "manufacture of gunpowder ; he is said to have
died about two years ago. D.

Note 51, p. 74.

It has already been stated (see Note 31) that
many of tjie slaves purchased at Tombuctoo, and
brought by the Arabs across the Desert, came

Kanno. 127

from countries even as far east of that city as Wan-
gara ; it is therefore not unreasonable to suppose,
that Kanno, mentioned in the text, may be the king-
dom of Ghana, or Cano, which D'Anville places on
the Niger, between the tenth and fifteenth degrees of
eastern longitude. Assuming this to be the fact, the
curious relation of the Negro slave at Wed-Noon
might afford ground to conjecture, that Park had
made further progress down the Niger than Amadi
Fatouma's story seems to carry him ; further, we
mean, than the frontier of Haoussa.

In fact, the time which intervened between Park's
departure from Sansanding, and his asserted death,
would abundantly admit of his having reached a
much more distant country even than Ghana: for ac-
cording to Isaaco and Amadi Fatouma (see Park's
Second Mission, 4to. p. 218,) he had been four months
on his voyage down the Niger before he lost his life ;
having never been on shore during all that time.
This long period is evidently quite unnecessary for
the completion of an uninterrupted voyage from San-
sanding to the frontiers of Haoussa : for Park was
informed by Amadi Fatouma himself, that the voyage
even to Kashna (probably more than twice the dis-
tance, according to Major Rennell's positions of
these places,) did not require a longer period than
two months for its performance.*

* In quoting Major Rennell's authority for the distance between
Haoussa and Kask?ia, the writer referred to the Map accompanying the
first edition of the Geographical Illustrations of Park's First Mission.
In a later edition of the Map the estimated distance between the two
countries has been shortened. This, however, only furnishes an addi*
tional instance of the varying statements of African authorities, with-
out affecting the general scope of the observations in Note 51 ; since,
whatever be the precise distance between the frontiers of Haoussa and
those of Kashna, the general result of all the statements on the subject
leaves no reason to doubt, that the latter lie considerably further to the
eastward tfan the former, and consequently, in the same degree, more,
remote from Sansanding.

128 Kanno.

The mention of Kashna reminds us of another
remarkable circumstance in Amadi Fatouma's state-
ments. In the instance just quoted, he appears to
be inconsistent with himself; but in the passages to
which we allude, we find him at issue with Park.

In his last letter to Sir Joseph Banks, announcing
the completion of his preparations, and written ap-
parently only three days before he commenced his
voyage from Sansanding, Park, speaking of Amadi
Fatouma, says, u I have hired a guide to go with me
"to Kashna ;" and again, in the same letter, " I mean
"to write from Kashna by my guide." But Amadi
Fatouma, in accounting for his separation from Park
before the fatal catastrophe, tells quite another story.
He asserts, that he was only engaged to go to Ha-
oussa : and an apparently forced prominence is given
to this assertion by his manner of making it. His
words are these (p. 212 :) " Entered the country of
" Haoussa, and came to an anchor. Mr. Park said to
" me, ;Now, Amadi, you are at the end of your jour-
" ; ney. / engaged you to conduct me here ; you are
"'going to leave me.'" Almost the same words
are repeated a few lines afterwards; with this differ-
ence, however, that Amadi Fatouma now quotes the
remark as his own. "1 said 1o him (Mr. Park) 1
" have agreed to carry you to Haoussa ; we are now in
" Haoussa. I have fulfilled my engagements with you ;
" I am therefore going to leave you, and return."

The reader will not need to be informed, that
Amadi Fatouma's account goes on to state, that
Park and his party lost their lives the day but one
after he (Amadi) had thus parted from them ; and
that they had previously thrown into the river " every
" thing they had in the canoe ;" a proceeding for
which no sufficient reason is afforded by the details
in the Journal.

>'\

Adams'* $ ill treatment. — Death of the Mate. 129

We are quite disposed to make all due allowances
for the evidence of an African, conveyed to us
through an uncertain translation ; hut, we really
think, that the discordances which we have quoted,
(joined to other improbabilities in the Narrative)
warrant a suspicion that, either with respect to the
circumstances of Park's death, or to the appropria-
tion of his effects, Amadi Fatouma had something to
conceal. We are not, however, very confident that
the further prosecution of this inquiry could lead to
any satisfactory conclusion ; for whatever suspicion
it might tend to throw on Amadi Fatouma's state-
ment of the time, place, and circumstances of Park's
lamented death, it could not, we fear, justify a rea-
sonable doubt, at this distant period, of the actual oc-
currence, in some mode or other, of the melancholy
event itself.

Note 52, p. 77.

I heard from several other persons of the ill
treatment which Adams received from Hameda-Bel-
Cossim, his master's son; and the Moors who visited
Wed-Noon corroborated the account of his unshaken
resolution, and of the punishment which he suffered
in consequence of it, having been put in irons and
in prison. D.

Note 53, p. 77.

I have no reason to doubt the truth of the circum-
stances here related by Adams respecting Stephen
Dolbie, except as to the fact of his dying in conse-
quence of a wound given by Brahim. Other accounts
stated that he died at Wed-Noon of a fever only, the
effects of a cold contracted by gathering in the harvest
during heavy rain : and this, as far as I can recol-
17

**

130 Christian Slaves.

Ject, was the account which Adams gave me at Mo-
gadore. I remember that he told me he had assisted
at Dolbie's interment, and that he had afterwards
covered the grave with stones. D.

Mte 54, p. 78.

I can easily believe Adams's statement of the bru-
tal treatment he experienced at Wed-JVoon. It is
consistent with the accounts I have always heard of
the people of that country, who I believe to be more
bigoted and cruel than even the remoter inhabitants
of the Desert. The three men of the Charles's crew
already mentioned, complained vehemently of the
miseries they had suffered, though they had been but
a comparatively short time in slavery ; and one of them
shewed me a scar upon his breast, which he told me
was the mark of a wound given him by one of the
Arabs.

In the frequent instances which have come under
my observation, the general effect of the treatment of
the Arabs on the minds of the Christian captives, has
been most deplorable. On the first arrival of these
unfortunate men at Mogadore, if they have been
any considerable time in slavery, they appear lost
to reason and feeling, their spirits broken, and
their faculties sunk in a species of stupor which 1
am unable adequately to describe. Habited like
the meanest Arabs of the Desert, they appear de-
graded even below the Negro slave. The succes-
sion of hardships which they endure from the caprice
and tyranny of their purchasers, without any protect-
ing law to which they can appeal for alleviation or
redress, seems to destroy every spring of exertion
or hope in their minds ; they appear indifferent to
every thing around them, — abject, servile, and bruti-
fied.

Christian Slaves, 131

Adams alone was, in some respects, an exception
from this description. I do not recollect any ran-
somed Christian slave who discovered a greater
elasticity of spirit, or who sooner recovered from
the indifference and stupor here described.

it is to be remarked, that the Christian captives
are invariably worse treated than the idolatrous or
Pagan slaves whom the Arabs, either by theft or
purchase, brinagj^rom the interiour of Africa; and
that religious Ij^Bry is the chief cause of this dis-
tinction. The zealous disciples of Mohammed con-
sider the Negroes merely as ignorant unconverted
beings, upon whom, *by the act of enslaving them,
they are conferring a benefit, by placing them with-
in reach of instruction in the " true beliet ;" and
the Negroes having no hopes of ransom, and being
often enslaved when childien, are in general, soon
converted to the Mohammedan faith. The Chris-
tians, on the contrary, are looked upon as hardened
infidels, and as deliberate despisers of the Prophet's
call ; and as they in general stedfastly reject the
Mohammedan creed, and at least never embrace it
whilst they have hopes of ransom, the Mooslim,
consistently with the spirit of many passages in the
Koran, views them with the bitterest hatred, and
treats them with every insult and cruelty which a
merciless bigotry can suggest.

It is not to be understood, however, that the
Christian slaves, though generally ill treated and in-
humanly worked by their Arab owners, are persecut-
ed by them ostensibly on account of their religion.
They, on the contrary, often encourage the Chris-
tians to resist the importunities of those who wish
to convert them : for, by embracing Jslamism the
Christian slave obtains his freedom ; and however ar-
dent may be the zeal of the Arab to make proselytes,

#*

132 Christian Slaves,

it seldom blinds him to the calculations of self in-
terest.

A curious instance of the struggle thus excited
between Mohammedan zeal and worldly interest,
was related to me to have occurred at Wed-Noon,
in the case of a boy belonging to an English ves-
sel, which had been wrecked on the neighbouring
coast a short time previous to the " Charles."

This boy had been persuaded to embrace the Mo-
hammedan faith; but after a littte while, repenting
of what he had done, he publicly declared that he
had renounced the doctrines of the Koran, and was
again a Christian. To punish so atrocious an out-
rage, the Arabs of Wed-Noon resolved to burn him;
and they would no doubt have punctually performed
the ceremony, but for the interference of the man
from whose service the boy had emancipated him-
self by his first conversion. This man contended,
that by abjuring the Mohammedan faith, the boy
had returned into his former condition of slavery,
and was again his property; and in spite of the
most opprobrious epithets which were heaped upon
him (including even the term u infidel," the horrour
and abomination of all true Mooselmin) the man
insisted that if they would burn the boy, they should
first reimburse him for the value of a slave. Re-
luctant to lose their sacrifice, the Arabs now at-
tempted to raise money by subscription to purchase
the boy ; and contributions were begged about the
town to burn the Christian. But in the end, as they
made slow progress towards obtaining by these
means a sufficient sum to purchase the boy, they re-
linquished their project; the owner, however was
shortly afterwards obliged to remove his slave to
another part of the country, to secure him from pri-
vate assassination. D.

Davison and Williams escape from Wed-Noon. 133

Note 56, p. 78.

Adams describes correctly the tenour of my Let-
ter addressed to the survivors of the crew of the
"Charles" at .Wed-Noon. His account, also of the
behaviour of Williams, is confirmed by the testimo-
ny of the man whom I employed to purchase Adams,
who was a Moor, — and not, as Adams supposes, an
European in disguise. He informed me, that he
found that Adams's two companions had embraced
the Mohammedan faith; but that the younger, in
particular, interested him s» deeply by his tears, and
by his earnest supplications that he would take him
to Mogadore, that he could not himself refrain from
tears ; and was half inclined to steal him away let
the consequence be what it would. He also assur-
ed me that he gave him some money at parting, and
a few rags for clothing.

Just previous to my quitting Mogadore in Octo-
ber, 1814, these two men contrived to make their
escape, as Mohammedans, from Wed-Noon, and
reaching Mogadore in safety, they staid there only
a few hours and then departed for Tangier. I
learnt shortly afterwards that upon their arrival at
the latter city, they claimed the protection of their
respective Consuls there, (one of the men being an
Englishman and the other an American) disclaim-
ing the Mohammedan faith ; but it was not without
much difficulty and negotiation, during which time
the men were placed in confinement, that they
were ultimately liberated and restored to the Chris-
tian world. D.

Note 56, p. 79.

I was informed by the man who brought Adams
to Mogadore, that he had passed through the coun-
try called Bled-Cidi'Heshem* on his return ; having

1 34 Bled-Cidi-Heshem.

gone for the purpose of purchasing another of the
Charles's crew, {Martin Clark, a black man,) who
was in slavery there, in which he could not then suc-
ceed.

The country is just on the southern confines of
the Emperour's dominions. It is a small independ-
ent state of Shilluh, and (as described by Adams)
lies in lower Suse. The Chief here mentioned,
the Cid Heshem, who has successfully resisted the
endeavours of his neighbours to subvert his go-
vernment, is the descenctant of Cidi Harriet a Mous-
5«, a reputed modern Saint, who during his life was
highly venerated for his justice and piety, and whose
tomb, since his death, has been resorted to by
religious Mooselmin from many parts of South
Barbary and the Desert. This chief has lately open-
ed an extensive trade with Soudan, for gums, cot-
tons, and ostrich feathers, ivory, gold dust, and
slaves, which are sold by his agents at the great
annual market of Harriet a Moussa, The traders
from Southern Barbary resort to this market in
great numbers ; and I have heard it asserted, that
they can there purchase, for money, the produce
of Soudan, to more advantage than they can them-
selves import it, without taking into account the
risks and fatigues of the journey ; insomuch, that
but for the important object of disposing of their
own commodities in barter, in the douars of the
Desert and the markets of Soudan, I apprehend
that very few of the native traders of Barbary
would continue to cross the Desert.

It appears by the account which Adams subse-
quently gives of this market, that he must have
been there; and the time of his journey corres-
ponds with the season when it is held : but I think
he must have committed an errour, in placing it more
than a day's journey from the residence of the Cid

m

Confirmation of Adams's Statement. 1 35

Heshem ; as the sanctuary and market of Cidi Ha-
met a Moussa are within the small territory of this
Chief, who himself presides during the market days,
to preserve order and tranquillity.

The inhabitants of this district, as I have stated
before, are Shilluh ; who are a distinct race from the
Arabs, and ha\e different dress, customs, and lan-
guage. They live in houses built of stone, which
are generally situated on eminences and fortified,
for security in their domestick wars. They are
possessed of a fertile country, producing abundance
of barley and some wheat. The fruits and vege-
tables common in South Barbary are also grown
here. Their sheep and goats are of the finest
breed, and are frequently brought to Mogadore
as presents: and their camels are much esteemed
for their patience and great power of enduring fa-
tigue.* D.

Note 57, p. 81.

I did frequently interrogate Adams, when at Moga-
dore, respecting his travels in Africa ; and frequent-
ly sent for persons ivho had been at the places he
described, in order to confront their accounts with
his, and especially to ascertain the probability of his
having been at Timbuctoo. Amongst these indi-
viduals was a Shieck of Wed-Noon, a man of great
consideration in that country, who had been seve-
ral times at Timbuctoo in company with trading
parties; and who, after questioning Adams very
closely respecting that city and its neighbourhood,
assured me that he had no doubt that he had been
there Another Moorish trader who was in the
habit of frequenting Timbuctoo gave me the same ac-

* For a more detailed description of the ShiUuh, see the Appendix,
No. II.

1 36 Fez. — Tangier. — Reckonings.

count. In short, it was their universal opinion that
he must have been at the places he described, and
that his account could not be a fabrication. D.

Note 58, p. 82.

I did, about the time stated by Adams, send him to
Fez to the Emperour, under the protection of one sol-
dier and a muleteer. D.

Note 59, p. 82.

Having visited Tangier myself a few months af-
terwards, I there learnt from Mr. Simpson, that he
had sent Adams to Cadiz a few days after his
arrival. D.

Note 60, p. 83.

Upon a minute examination of Adams's Narrative,
a considerable difference will be found to exist be-
tween his collective estimates of the time he remain-
ed in Africa, and the actual interval between the
dates of his shipwreck and return; the aggregate of
the former amounting to about four years and three
months, whilst the real time doe* not appear to have
exceeded three years and seven months. It is not dif-
ficult to conceive, that the tedium of so long a period
of slavery and wretchedness would easily betray
Adams into an errour of this nature ; especially in a
situation where he possessed no means of keeping a
minute account of the lapse of time ; and it is reason-
able to presume, that when he speaks of having re-
sided six mouths at one place, eight at another, and
ten at a third, he has, in each of these estimates,
somewhat overrated the real duration of these te-
dious and wretched portions of his existence.

When this discrepancy in his statements was point-
ed out to him, and he was led to reconsider in what
part of his Narrative the errour lay, it did not ap-

Reckonings of Time and Distance. 137

pear to change his persuasion of the accuracy of any-
detached portion of his estimates. He did however
express his peculiar conviction that he was at least
accurate in the number of days occupied in his jour-
neys from place to place. On this occasion, as on
many others in the course of his numerous examina-
tions, it was impossible not to derive from the indis-
position which he evinced to conform to the opinion
of others, upon points on which he had once given an
opposite deliberate opinion of his own, a strong im-
pression of his general veracity and sincerity.

It was at Wed-Noon that the first opportunity oc-
curred to him after his shipwreck, of correcting his
reckoning of time ; his arrival at which place, (as he
was informed by the French renegade whom he
found there) having occurred about the middle of
August, 1812, or about eight months earlier than his
own computation would have made it. Assuming
therefore the Frenchman's account to have been
correct, and deducting Adams's excess of time in
relative proportions from his stationary periods at
Tombuctoo, Woled D'leim, and other places, the
following will be the probable dates of the several
stages of his travels : —

1810, October 1 1. — Shipwrecked at El Gazie.
December 13. — Set out on the expedition

to Soudenny.

1811, February 5. — Arrived at Tombuctoo.
June 9. — Departed from Ditto.*
August 11. — Arrived at Woled D'leim.

1812, March 7. — Departed from Ditto.

June 20. — Departed from El Kabla.
August 23. — Arrived at Wed-Noon.

* He says they had a few drops af rain before his departure, which
in some degree confirms the accuracy of this date ; since the tropical
rains in the latitude of Tombuctoo, may be supposed to commence
early in June.

18

138 Reckonings of Time and Distance.

1813, September 23. — Departed from Wed-Noon.
October 6. — Arrived at Mogadore.

1814, April 22.— Departed from Ditto.
May 17. — Arrived at Cadiz.

To this statement with respect to time, we may add
the following summary of the distances of his respective
journeys, collected from the Narrative at his highest
estimates.

JOURNEYS.

From El Gasie to the Douar
in the Desert ■»■• 0 - - -
On the Journey to Soudenny
Ditto Ditto - - - -
To the Village where the
Moors were put to death -
To Tombuctoo

Distance in British Miles from
the Coast to Tombuctoo -

To the point of departure from
La Mar Zarah - - - -

— Taudeny ------

— the border of the Sandy
Desert -------

In the Sandy Desert - - -

Ditto

From the edge of the Sandy

Desert to Woled D'leim -

To El Kabla

— Woled Abousseb&h - - -

— Woled Adrialla - - - -

— Aiata Mouessa Alt - - -

— Wed-Noon - - - - -

— Akkadia ------

— Bled Cidi Heshem - - -

— Agadeer or Santa Cruz -

— Suerra or Mogadore - <

Distance in British Miles from
Tombuctoo to Mogadore

Days.

30

13

4

10
15

10
13

1
14
15

1

2
9
6
3

5

1
2
4
4

1

Course.

6. S. E.

S. S. E. \ S

E.

E. by N.

E. N. E.

N.

N. W.

N. by W.

N. E.

N. N. W.

N. W.

N.

N. E.

N. by W.

N.

Rate in
Miles

15
20
20

20
20

18
18

20
18
12

12

18
25
18
16
30
30

20
10

Distance

450

260

80

200
300

1290

180
234

20
252
180

12
30
162
150
54
80
30
60
90
80
10

1624

Reckonings of Time and Distance. 139

These distances, as well as the courses of his jour-
neys, will be found accurately represented by the
ruled line in the Map: and it is impossible to observe
how nearly they approach to what may be presum-
ed to be the truth, without being astonished at
Adams's memory, and at the precision with which he
estimated his course with no other compass than the
rising and setting of a vertical sun.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

We shall close our remarks on Adams's Narrative
with a brief review, of the extent to which it has
hitherto been confirmed, and of the credibility of
those parts of it which still rest on his own unsupport-
ed testimony. The first part of this examination
may be disposed of in a very few words.

The preceding notes will be found to contain an
uninterrupted chain of evidence by which his course
may be traced backwards from London, through
Cadiz, Tangier, Mequinez, Fez, Mogadore, and
Wed-Noon, to the Douar of El Kabla in the depths
of the Desert His adventure with Aisha at El Ka-
bla— the fame of which preceded him to Mogadore,
and adhered to him during his residence at Wed-
Noon — sufficiently establishes the identity of the in-
dividual whom Mr. Dupuis received from the Desert.
From Mogadore, he is delivered into the hands of
the American Consul at Tangier, who, in his turn,
transmits him to Cadiz, where he is traced into the
service of Mr. Hall. The Cadiz gentleman who
first discovered him in the streets of London, sup-
plies the last link to this chain of identity ; and com-
pletes the proof (strengthened by other circumstan-
ces) that the gallant of Aisha at El Kabla, and the
Tombuctoo traveller in London, whether known by
the name of Adams, or Rose, is one and the same
individual.

Passing now to the earlier part of his adventures,
we find the time and circumstances of his shipwreck,

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 141

and his conveyance eastward into the Desert, con-
firmed by three of the Charles's crew who were
first ransomed ; whilst, on the other hand, the fact of
the individual in question being actually one of the
seamen of the Charles, is fully established by the
testimony of Davison and Williams, his comrades at
Wed-Noon, who may be said to have delivered him,
as such, into the hands of Mr. Dupuis' agent, — and
who confirmed the fact upon their subsequent arri-
val at Mogadore.*

Thus far Adams's story is supported and confirm-
ed by direct external evidence. We have seen it
accompany him far into the Desert; and there find
him again, at a greater distance from the coast than
any other Christian, we believe, has ever been trac-
ed in these inhospitable regions. But between these
two points of his advance and return, a wide inter-

* It ought to be mentioned in this place, because it affords an ad-
ditional proof of Adams's accuracy on such points as he ought to be
well acquainted with, that ten of the eleven individuals composing the
crew of the Charles at the time of her wreck, were either ransomed by
Mr. Dupuis, or accounted for to him through other channels than
Adams, by the same names, (his own excepted) which the latter has
given in the first page of this Narrative. The following is Mr. Dupuis'
memorandum on the subject : —

Horton, Capt , died immediately after the wreck.

Nicholas, seaman.

Newsham, ditto, ) Ransomec| three months after the wreck.

Nelson, ditto, $

Dolbie, mate, died at Wed-Noon in 1813.

Rose, (alias Adams) ransomed ditto,

Clark, black seaman, ditto, - 1814.

Davison, seaman, l R ades at Wed-Noon, but liberated in 1814.

W llhams, boy, $ °

Matthews, an old man, reported to have died in the Desert.

Recapitulation, 7 liberated,
3 dead,
1 unaccounted for.

11 Total number stated by Adams : of whom Stephens
alone, (whom he says he left at Woled D'leim,) was never heard of by
Mr. Dupuis.

142 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

val occurs, during which we entirely lose sight of
him : and we must therefore be content to receive
this part of his story on his own credit alone, illus-
trated by such indirect corroborations as we may be
enabled to glean from other sources.

This unsupported part of Adams's story extends,
it will be seen, from the Douar to which he was first
conveyed from the coast, until his arrival at El Ka-
bla ; occupying a period of fifteen or sixteen months,
— a period which the Narrative fills up with the ex-
pedition to Soudenny, — the journey to, and residence
at, Tombuctoo, — and the return through Taudeny
across the Desert to Woled D'leim and El Kabla.
We do not deem in necessary to extend our examina-
tion to the whole of these journeys, because if we
shall be fortunate enough to satisfy the reader that
Adams is entitled to credit as far as Tombuctoo, we
conceive that no doubt can be raised respecting his
journey from thence to El Kabla.

We have already entered so fully into the question
of the probability of the expedition to Soudenny, in
Note 7, p. 89, that the reader would hardly excuse
us for repeating in this place the arguments which
were there adduced in support of it. We shall
therefore confine our remarks to the journey from
thence to Tombuctoo.

But before we enter upon this examination, we are
anxious to caution our readers against suspecting us
of setting up any pretensions to minute accuracy,
either in the situation which we have assigned to
Soudenny in the Note in question, or in any positions
of places in the map adjusted from data necessarily
so vague as those afforded by Adams : neither must
it be forgotten on the other hand, that the precise
situations of the places which we have used as the
standards of his accuracy, are rather assumed than
proved. There may be errours in both cases : and

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 143

in the latter, it is at least as probable that such errours
may contribute to increase the apparent inaccuracy
of Adams's positions, as that they lend to those posi-
tions any undue degree of probability. Without,
therefore, pretending to determine whether the Ne-
gro dominion does actually reach to the 16th degree
of north latitude under the assumed meridian of Sou-
denny, (that the Negro population extends so far we
presume no one will doubt) or whether Adams's
real course lay further to the south than his Narrative
warrants us in placing it, we must at least contend
that the approximation of Adams's evidence on this
part of his journey, to the best standards by which it
can be tried, is astonishingly near ; — so near, indeed,
that if we had not been assured, upon the undoubted
authority of Mr. Dupuis, that the first account of his
courses and distances which he gave them fresh from
the Desert, afforded, with respect to Tombuctoo, the
same results as those which we are now remarking, we
should have been rather tempted to suspect that this
degree of coincidence was the result of contrivance,
than to have derived from the degree of his discord-
ance with other authorities any doubts of the reality
of his journeys. Those who are most conversant
with questions of this nature will best appreciate the
extreme difficulty w7hich an unscientifick individual
must find in even approaching to the truth in his
computations of the direction and extent of a long
succession of journeys : even the evidence of so prac-
tised an observer as Park was not sufficiently precise,
to secure the eminent compiler of the Map of hiv
first Journey from very considerable inaccuracies.
which Park on his second mission, by the aid
of his instruments of observation, was enabled to
correct.

On the whole, since the circumstances stated by
Mr. Dupuis entirely preclude all suspicion of con-

144 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

trivance in Adams's account of his route in Africa*
(a contrivance which he was too ignorant to invent
himself and in which, when he arrived from the
Desert, he had had no opportunity of being instruct-
ed by others) we do not conceive how it is possible
to resist the circumstantial corroboration of his story
which the application of his route to the Map affords ;
unless, indeed, by resorting to the preposterous
supposition that so uniform an approach to the truth,
throughout a journey of nearly three thousand miles,
could be purely accidental. But to return to the
particular question before us.

In addition to the grounds already adduced for
placing Soudenny within the Bambarran territories,
Adams may fairly claim the advantage of another
circumstance mentioned by Park; we mean the fluc-
tuating state of the line of boundary itself Considera-
ble changes in that respect had occurred within a
few months of the period when Park crossed the
frontier in question : — -the seeds of further changes
were perceptible, both in the restless and marauding
disposition of the Moors, and in the preponderating
strength of the King of Bambarra : and it would by
no means follow (if the question were really of im-
portance to Adams's story) that the northern fron-
tiers of the state must, in 181 1, be the same as they
were supposed to be in 1796.*

Placing Soudenny, therefore, wifhin the frontiers
of Bambarra, in the sixteenth or possibly the fif-
teenth degree of north latitude, and about the fifth
or sixth of west longitude, we shall find Adams's

* In one direction at least, (to the west) the King of Bambarra's
frontiers appear to have been much extended in 1810; for, according
to isaaco's Journal, 4to. p. 11)4, they cannot be placed more than three
or four short days' journey from Giocha [Joko) ; although according to
Park's first map, the distance from Joko to the nearest frontiers of
Bambarra is at least ten days' journey. There had been a war in
1801, in these parts ; being the second war in six years.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 145

account of his course and distance from thence to
Tombuctoo, approach with extraordinary accuracy
to the line of journey required. We possess too lit-
tle knowledge of the countries through which this
route would lie, to pronounce with any confidence
upon the probability of the circumstances of his jour-
ney. What we can at present know upon the sub-
ject must be learnt from Park ; — who informs us, that
to the eastward of Bambarra, between that kingdom
and Tombuctoo, lies the Foulah kingdom of Masina.
It is not known to what latitude the north frontiers
of the latter kingdom extend ; but we are told that
it is bounded on that side by the Moorish kingdom of
Beeroo ; and there is great reason to suppose, with
Major Rennell,* that the Moorish population which
to the westward touches the Senegal, does from that
point incline in an oblique line to the northward of
east, as it advances from the west along the limits of
Soudan. Admitting this retrocession of the Moors
towards the Desert, the Negroes of Soudenny would
find a secure route, through Negro countries, along
the extreme frontierst of Bambarra and Masina to
the borders of Tombuctoo, generally in the direction
described by Adams.

Why the Negroes, if they were actually Bambar-
rans, should convey their prisoners to Tombuctoo
rather than to Sego, may not perhaps be quite so
apparent as some of Adams's readers may require :
but it would be pushing the caution of incredulity to
an unreasonable extreme to disbelieve the asserted

* See Park's First Mission, Appendix, 4to. p. Ixxxix.

f Adams states his rout to have lain through barren and uninhabit-
ed districts ; and Park, speaking of Soudan generally, says, first Mission,
4to. p. 261, "the borders of the different kingdoms were either very
thinly peopled, or entirely deserted." See also his Account of the
country, east of Benown, near the frontiers of Bambarra, p. 116, — •« a
sandy country" — p. 121, » a hot sandy country covered with small
stunted shrubs."

19

146 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

fact on that account alone. Desirous as we may bef
supposed to be, to obviate the doubts of the most
skeptical, we can hardly venture to suggest any mo-
tives for this journey which are not supplied by the
Narrative itself, or by some collateral testimony. Yet,
we will hazard this brief remark, that if it were the
object of the Negroes to place their prisoners in a
situation where they would be at once secure from
rescue, yet accessible to the interference of their fel-
lows for the purpose of ransom, (for it must be re-
membered that the imprisoned Arabs did not belong
to a neighbouring state, but were a troop of maraud-
ers from a distant tribe of the Desert) we can hard-
ly conceive a more probable course than that of con-
veying them to Tombuctoo.

We are aware that it may be objected to these re-
marks that they take for granted, that Tombuctoo
is a Negro state, and at least in amity with, if not a
dependency of, the King of Bambarra ; and we shall
probably be told that Tombuctoo is under the do-
minion of the Moors, and that Adams's account of it
must consequently be untrue.

In reply to such an objection we would by no
means deny that Adams's entire liberation of Tombuc-
too from the tyranny of the Moors or Arabs, does
present a difficulty, — especially with reference to
Park's information on the same subject. But let us
fairly examine how the question stands with respect
to Adams's testimony on the one hand, and the evi-
dence to which it is opposed on the other.

In Adams we find an individual relating travels
and adventures, which are indeed singular and ex-
traordinary, but are told with the utmost simplicity
and bear strong internal marks of truth. Placed in
a wide and untravelled region, where a mere narra-
tor of fables might easily persuade himself that no
one would trace or detect him, we find Adams re-

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 147

sis ting the temptation (no slight one for an ignorant
sailor) of exciting the wonder of the credulous, or
the sympathy of the compassionate, by filling his
story with miraculous adventures, or overcharg-
ed pictures of suffering. In speaking of himself he
assumes no undue degree of importance. He is
rather subordinate to the circumstances of the story,
than himself the prominent feature of it; and almost
every part of his Narrative is strictly in nature, and
unpretending.

Unexpectedly to this individual, and in his ab-
sence, an opportunity occurs of putting his veracity
and his memory to the test, on many of the impor-
tant points of his story : and the result of the ex-
periment is, that all the facts, to which the test will
reach, are, in substance, confirmed, — that none are
disproved. Again, we are enabled by the same op-
portunity to try his consistency with himself at .dif-
ferent periods : and we find him, after an interval of
more than two years, adhering in every material
point to the story which he told on arriving from the
Desert.

But a difficulty arises in the course of his Narra-
tive : he states a fact which his hearers did not ex-
pect, and respecting which they had previously re-
ceived evidence of a contrary tendency. Neverthe-
less this unexpected fact contains nothing marvellous
id itself, nothing even extraordinary ; nothing which
can be conceived to afford the slightest temptation to
such an individual to invent it : but it occurs simply,
and in some measure even indirectly, in the chain of
his evidence.

If this is admitted to be a fair statement of the cir-
cumstances under which Adams informs us that
Tombuctoo is a Negro state : and if there is nothing
suspicious in the internal character of this part of his
evidence, we are not at liberty lightly to disbelieve

148 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

it, because we think it improbable, "or because it
happens to want those collateral proofs by which
other parts of his story have accidentally been con-
firmed : but, a manifest preponderance of unexcep-
tionable evidence to the contrary can alone justify
us in rejecting it.

For this evidence we must again have recourse to
Park's first Travels (for the Journal of his Second
Mission contains only one incidental notice on the
subject) and we shall therein find a general descrip-
tion of Tombuctoo as a Moorish state, which he pre-
faces in these words (p. 213.)

" Having thus brought my mind, after much doubt
" and perplexity, to a determination to return west-
" ward, I thought it incumbent on me, before I left
" Silla^ to collect from the Moorish and Negro tra-
" ders, all the information I could, concerning the
" further course of the Niger eastward, and the situ-
ation and extent of the kingdoms in its vicinage;"
— and the following account of Tombuctoo is part
of the information which he says he thus collected
at Silla (p. 215.)

" To the northeast of Masina is situated the king-
" dom of Tombuctoo, the great object of European
" research ; the capital of this kingdom being one
" of the principal marts for that extensive commerce
" which the Moors carry on with the Negroes.
"The hopes of acquiring wealth in this pursuit, and
" zeal for propagating their religion, have filled this
" extensive city with Moors and Mahomedan con-
" verts ; and they are said to be more severe and
" intolerant in their principles than any other of the
" Moorish tribes in this part of Africa. I was in-
" formed by a venerable old Negro, that when he
" first visited Tombuctoo, he took up his lodging at a
" sort of publick inn, the landlord of which, when he
ss conducted him into his hut, spread a mat upon the

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 119

" floor, and laid a rope upon it, saying, ; if you are a
" 'Mussulman you are my friend, — sit down; but if
" ' you are a Kafir you are my slave ; and with this
u « rope I will lead you to market.' The present
"King of Tombuctoo is named Abu Abrahima ; he
" is reported to possess immense riches. His wives
"and concubines are said to be clothed in silk, and
" the chief officers of state live in considerable splen-
" dour. The whole expense of his government is
" defrayed, as I was told, by a tax upon merchan-
" dise, which is collected at the gates of the city."

To this account Major Rennell adds (doubtless
on the verbal authority of Park,) that the greatest
proportion of the inhabitants were, nevertheless, Ne-
groes. (Appendix, p. xc.)

We are now to examine under what circumstances
the information contained in this description was
procured. Of his arrival and residence at Silla,
Park gives us very minute details. His journey
thither from Sego had been hurried, and his situa-
tion extremely distressing during its whole course :
until, on the 29th July, at four o'clock in the after-
noon, he arrived at Moorzan, a fishing town on the
northern bank of the Niger, " from whence," he says,
" I was conveyed across the river to Silla, a large
" town, where I remained until it was quite dark
" under a tree surrounded by hundreds of people.
" Their language was very different from [that of]
" the other parts of Bambarra. With a great deal
" of entreaty the Dooty allowed me to come into his
" balloon to avoid the rain ; but the place was very
" damp, and I had a smart paroxysm of fever during
" the night. Worn down by sickness and exhausted
" with hunger and fatigue, I was convinced, by pain-
" ful experience, that the obstacles to my further
H progress were insurmountable." Happily for him-
self, and for that science whose limits his return was

150 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

so widely to extend, — this determination was no
sooner adopted than executed ; and at eight o'clock
the next morning he stepped into a canoe, and com-
menced his painful return to the westward ; having
only spent at Siila one wretched night in sickness
and despondency.

It is impossible for any of our readers to view the
unquenchable zeal and intrepidity of Park with
higher admiration than we do ; and merely to express
our belief that before he thus resolved to return he
" had made," as he states, " every effort to proceed
" which prudence could justify," would be to render,
in our opinion, very imperfect justice to his unparal-
leled ardour of enterprise and enduring preseverance.
Joining to these higher qualifications, admirable pru-
dence in his intercourse with the natives, and a tem-
per not to be ruffled by the most trying provocations,
he exhibited on his first journey an union of qualities
often thought incompatible ; an union which in our
days we fear we cannot expect to see again, direct-
ed to the same pursuits. We will further add, that
to our feelings scarcely an individual of the age can
be named, who has sunk under circumstances of
deeper interest than this lamented traveller: wheth-
er we consider the loss which geographical science
has suffered in his death, or whether we confine our
views to the blasted hopes of the individual, snatch-
ed away from his hard-earned, but unfinished,
triumph ; and leaving to others that splendid con-
summation which he so ardently sought to achieve.
True it is, that the future discoverer of the termina-
tion of the Niger must erect the structure of his
fame on the wide foundation with which his great
predecessor has already occupied the ground : but
though the edifice will owe its very existence to the
labours of Park, yet another name than his will be
recorded on the finished pile :

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 151

*;* Hos ego — feci, tulit alter honores."

Feeling, as we do, this unaffected interest in the
fate and fame of Park, it is hardly necessary to pre-
face our further remarks with the declaration, that
there is not a tittle of the evidence given upon the
authority of his own observation, which we should
not feel it a species of sacrilege to dispute. But
the case is different with respect to those details
which he gives on hearsay evidence only, — which
we may fairly, and which we ought, to try by the
circumstances by which Park himself enables us to
estimate their pretensions to accuracy.

Availing ourselves of this undeniable, and as we
hope, not invidious, privilege, we shall find that a
situation can hardly be imagined less favourable to
the acquisition of authentick information, than that
which Park describes during the single melancholy
night which he passed at Silla. He had before told us
(p. 181,) that he was not well acquainted with the
Foulah language spoken in Bambarra ; and he in-
forms us that he found the language of Silla " very
" different" even from that of the more western
parts of the kingdom : but the extent of his diffi-
culty in that respect may be gathered from what
he relates of his arrival even at Sansanding, where
he found the people " speaking a variety of different
•; dialects, all equally unintelligible" to him, and
where he was obliged to have recourse to the in-
terpretation of his Sego guide ; who, however, did
not accompany him in his further progress to Silla.

Obtaining therefore, his information from Negroes
at more than two hundred miles distance from Tom-
buctoo, and probably through the medium of Ne-
gro interpreters, we cannot be surprised either that
it should not be accurate in itself, or that, such as
it was, it should not be very accurately understood.

152 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

We believe there is no person, who can speak from
his own experience on the subject, who will not
bear testimony to the extreme uncertainty, not to
say general inaccuracy, of the information to be ob-
tained from the natives of Africa, whether Moham-
medans or Pagans. Jealousy and suspicion of the
objects of such inquiries on the one hand, and un-
observing ignorance on the other, render both Ne-
gro and Moor alike unwilling, or unable, to disclose
the secrets of the interiour to any European. The
whole of Park's communications leave not the small-
est doubt respecting the temper of the trading
Moors towards him. He also remarks, page 214,
how little information is to be expected from a Ne-
gro trader of the countries through which he pass-
es in search of gain, — of which he affords us the
following striking instance in the commencement of
his Journey. " I was referred," he says, p. 8, " to
" certain traders called Slatees. These were free
" black merchants of great consideration in those
" parts of Africa, who come down from the interi-
" our countries. But I soon discovered that very
" little dependence could be placed on the accounts
u which they gave : for they contradicted each other in
"the most important particulars." To what degree
the natives of Silla would have contradicted each
other in their accounts of Tombuctoo, Park's short
stay there could not have allowed him time to ascer-
tain ; even if his knowledge of their language had
enabled him to understand their accounts as well as
he did those of the Slatees on the Gambia.

This appears to be the state of the evidence
which places the government of Tombuctoo in the
hands of the Moors : and it really does appear
to us, that it is at least neutralized by other evi-
dence which may fairly be opposed to it ; we mean,
the uniform testimony of the natives of Barbary,
who have traded to Tombuctoo. The reader will

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 153

not have forgotten that all the accounts which
Mr. Dupuis collected from such individuals, some of
them men of high authority and credit amongst their
countrymen, spoke of Tombuctoo as being now in
all respects a Negro state. The hearsay evidence
of Mr. Jackson goes decidedly to the same point ;
and although that gentleman may have given an in-
judicious importance to such testimony in his book,
it ought not on that account alone to be entirely dis-
regarded. The fact then being undeniable, that the
most creditable of the Barbary traders who cross
the Desert do not assign the dominion of Tombuc-
too to the Moors ; and their testimony being ap-
parently free from suspicion, because, in opposition
to that which would most gratify their vanity, we can-
not but think that it is at least as likely to be accu-
rate as the reports of the Negroes whom Park con-
sulted at Silla ; taking, as we ought, into account,
the disadvantages both of language and situation
under which he consulted them, and not forgettingthe
reserve with which he himself teaches us to receive
their testimony .#

Having, as we trust, said sufficient to satisfy the
reader, that there is nothing in the character of
Adams's general evidence which can warrant the
arbitrary rejection of his authority on points which
are merely improbable; and having shewn that the evi-
dencof otherson the particular pointatissue, is at least

* Several instances of the contradictory testimony of the Negroes
occur in Park's Travels. Jinnie, for instance, is stated in his first
Mission to be situated on the Niger; but on his second Journey he
renounces that opinion on the apparently good authority of an old So-
monie (canoe-man) " who had been seven times at Tombuctoo." This
informant places it on the Ba Nimma in the sketch which is copied
into Park's Journal ; and the latter accordingly says, p. 166, " we
*' shall not see Jinnie in going to Tombuctoo.'* But Amadi Fatouma
confirms the first account which Park received, and says, in describing
their voyage down the Niger from Silla, " we went in two days to
Jinnie.'*

20

154 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

of doubtful preponderance, we will just say one word
on the probability that the story of the " old Negro,"
at Silla, may be strictly true, with reference to the
early period of which he may be supposed to speak,
and yet that Adams's account may be equally true,
of a very different state of things now.

It is well known that the vernacular histories,
both traditionary and written, of the wars of the
Moorish empire, agree in stating, that from the mid-
dle of the seventeenth century, Tombuctoo was
occupied by the troops of the Ernperours of Mo-
rocco; in whose name a considerable annual tribute
was levied upon the inhabitants: but that the Ne-
groes, in the early part of the last century, taking
advantage of one of those periods of civil dissen-
sion and bloodshed which generally follow the de-
mise of any of the Rulers of Barbary, did at length
shake off the yoke of their northern masters, — to
which the latter were never afterwards able again to
reduce them. Nevertheless, although the Ernpe-
rours of Morocco (whose power even to the north
of the Desert has been long on the decline) might
be unable, at the immense distance which separates
them from Soudan, to resume an authority which
had once escaped from their hands; it is reasonable
to suppose, that the nearer tribes of Arabs would
not neglect the opportunity thus afforded to them,
of returning to their old habits of spoliation, and of
exercising their arrogated superiority over their
Negro neighbours ;# and that this frontier state
would thus become the theatre of continual contests
terminating alternately in the temporary occupation,

* Mr. Jackson was informed, (See his " Account of Morocco," 4to,
p. 250) that previous to the Moorish occupation of Timbuctoo (no-
ticed in the text) the inhabitants had been subject to continual depre-
dations from the Arabs of the adjacent countries.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 155

of Tombuctoo by the Arabs, and in their reexpul-
sion by the Negroes.*

We have seen this state of things existing in Lu-
damar to the west of Tombuctoo, where a Negro
population is subjected to the tyranny of the Arab
chieftain Mi; between whom and his southern neigh-
bours of Bambarra and Kaarta we find a continual
struggle of aggression and self-defence : and the well
known character of the Arabs would lead us to
expect a similar state of things along the whole
frontier of the Negro population. In the pauses of
such a warfare we should expect to find no inter-
mission of the animosity or precautions of the an-
tagonist parties. The Arab, victorious, would be
ferocious and intolerant even beyond his usual vio-
lence ; and the Koran or the halter, as described by
the old Negro of Silla, would probably be the al-
ternatives which he would offer to his Negro guest :
whilst the milder nature of the Negro would be
content with such measures of precaution and self-
defence as might appear sufficient to secure him
from the return of the enemy whom he had expel-
led,— without excluding the peaceful trader; and
under the reestablished power of the latter, we
might expect to find at Tombuctoo, precisely the
same state of things as Adams describes to have ex-
isted in 181 l.t

* To elucidate the state of things which we have here supposed,
we need not go further than to the history of Europe in our own days.
How often, during the successful ravages of the great Arab chieftain
of Christendom, might we not have drawn from the experience of
Madrid, or Berlin, or Vienna, or Moscow, the aptest illustration of
these conjectures respecting Tombuctoo? And an African traveller
(if so improbable a personage may be imagined) who should have vis-
ited Europe in these conjunctures, might very naturally have reported
to his countrymen at home, that Russia, Germany, and Spain were but
provinces of France ; and that the common sovereign of all these coun-
tries resided sometimes in the Escurial and sometimes in the Kremlin !

f In the second volume of the Proceedings of the African Associa-
tion, it is stated on the authority of VHagi Mohammed Sheriffe, that

156 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

The reserve with which we have seen grounds for
receiving the testimony of the natives of Africa, may
reasonably accompany us in our further comparative
examination of their accounts, and those of Adams,
respecting the population and external appearance of
the city of Tombuctoo. Notwithstanding, therefore,
the alleged splendour of its court, polish of its in-
habitants, and other symptoms of refinement which
some modern accounts (or speculations,) founded on
native reports, have taught us to look for, we are
disposed to receive the humbler descriptions of
Adams as approaching with much greater probabiln
ty to the truth. Let us not, however be understood,
as rating too highly the value of a Sailor's reports.
They must of necessity be defective in a variety of
ways. Many of the subjects upon which Adams was
questioned are evidently beyond the competency of
such an individual fully to comprehend or satisfactorily
to describe ; and we must be content to reserve our
final estimates of the morals, religion, civil polity,
and learning (if they now have any) of the Negroes
of Tombuctoo, until we obtain more conclusive in-
formation than we can possibly derive from our pre-
sent informant. Sufficient, however, may be gather-
ed from his story, to prepare us for a disappoint-
ment of many of the extravagant expectations which
have been indulged respecting this boasted city.

And here, we may remark, that the relative rank
of Tombuctoo amongst the cities of central Africa,
and its present importance with reference to Euro-
pean objects, appear to us to be considerably overrate
ed. The descriptions of Leo in the sixteenth century,

the King of Bambarra, at the head of a numerous array actually did
take the government of Tombuctoo out of the hands of " the Moors,'*
in the year 1800. There is, however, a disagreement between this
Sheriflfe and Park, respecting the name of the said King of Bambarra,
whom the former calls Woollo. See Note 8, p. 90, respecting Woolla
and Mansonjr.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 157

may indeed lend a colour to the brilliant anticipa-
tions in which some sanguine minds have indulged
on the same subjects in the nineteenth ; but with re-
ference to the commercial pursuits of Europeans, it
seems to have been forgotten, that the very circum-
stance which has been the foundation of the impor-
tance of Tombuctoo to the traders of Bai bary, and,
consequently, of much of its fame amongst us, — its
frontier situation on the verge of the Desert, at the
extreme northern limits of the Negro population, —
will of necessity have a contrary operation now;
since a shorter and securer channel for European en-
terprise into the central regions of Africa, has been
opened by the intrepidity and perseverance of Park,
from the southwestern shores of the Atlantick.

Independently of this consideration, there is great
reason to believe, that Tombuctoo has in reality de-
clined of late, from the wealth and consequence
which it appears formerly to have enjoyed. The ex-
istence of such a state of things as we have described
in the preceding pages, the oppressions of the Moors,
the resistance of the Negroes, the frequent change
of masters, and the insecurity of property consequent
upon these intestine struggles, would all lead di-
rectly and inevitably to this result. That they have
led to it, may be collected from other sources than
Adams. Even Park, to whom so brilliant a descrip-
tion of the city was given by some of his informants,
was told by others, that it was surpassed in opu-
lence and size, by Haoussa Walet, and probably by
Jinnie. Several instances also occur in both his Mis-
sions, which prove that a considerable trade from
Barbary is carried on direct from the Desert, to Sego
and the neighbouring countries, without ever touch-
ing at Tombuctoo ; and this most powerful of (he
states of Africa in the sixteenth century, according
to Leo, is now, in the nineteenth, to all appearance.

15$ CONCLUDING REMARKS.

a mere tributary dependency of a kingdom, which
does not appear to have been known to Leo, even by
name.

Such a decline of the power and commercial im-
portance of Tombuctoo, would naturally be accom-
panied by a corresponding decay of the city itself;
and we cannot suppose that Adams's description of
its external appearance will be rejected on account
of its improbability, by those who recollect that Leo
describes the habitations of the natives in his time,
almost in the very words of the Narrative now ;#

* One of the numerous discordances between the different transla-
tions of Leo occurs in the passage here alluded to. The meaning of
the Italian version is simply this, — that *» the dwellings of the people
*' of Tombuctoo are cabins or huts constructed with stakes covered
" with chalk (or clay) and thatched with straw." — " le cui case sono
"capanne fatte di pali coperte di creta coi cortivi di paglia." But
the expression in the Latin translation, (which is closely followed by
the old English translator, Pory,) implies a state of previous splendour
and decay, — "cujus doraus omnes in tuguriola cretacea, stramineis
"tectis, sunt mutatce."

As we shall have occasion hereafter to point out another disagree-
ment between the different versions of Leo, it may be expedient to in-
form some of our readers, that the Italian translation here quoted, is
described to have been made by Leo himself, from the original Arabick
in which he composed his work ; and he appears, by the following
extract from the Preface of his Italian Editor, to have learnt that
language, late in life, for this especial purpose. See the first volume
of Ramusio's Raccolto delle Navigatione e Viaggi. Venetia, 1588.

" Cosi habito poi in Roma il rimanente della vita sua, dove imparl
" la lingua Italiana e leggere e scrivere, e tradusse questo suo libro
*' meglio eh' egli seppe di Arabo : il qual libro scritto da lui medesimo,
M dopo rnolti accidente pervenne nelle nostre mani ; e noi con quella
" maggior diligenza che habbiamo potuto, ci siamo ingegnati con ogni
44 fedelta di farlo venir in luce nel modo cbe hora si legge." — " Thus
'* he dwelt in Rome the remainder of his life, where he learnt to read
" and write the Italian language, and translated his Book from the
44 Arabick in the best manner that he was able," &c. &c. Suppos-
ing the Latin version to be a translation direct from the Arabick,
that circumstance, and the preceding explanation, may afford a
clue to the discordances to which we have alluded ; but a reference
to the Arabick original (which we believe is not to be found in any of
our publick libraries) could alone enable us to ascertain, whether the
fault lay solely in the Latin translator's ignorance of Arabick, or in
Leo's probable imperfect acquaintance with the Italian. We will only
add, that in the passages which we have compared, the Italian and
French, and the Latin and English translations, respectively agree with
each other.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 159

and that the flourishing cities of Sego and Sansand-
ing appear, from Park's accounts, to be built of mud,
precisely in the same manner as Adams describes the
houses of Tombuctoo.

But whatever may be the degree of Adams's coin-
cidence with other authorities, in his descriptions of
the population and local circumstances of Tombuc-
too, there is at least one asserted fact in this part of
his Narrative, which appears to be peculiarly his
own ; the existence, we mean, of a considerable navi-
gable river close to the city. To the truth of this fact
Adams's credit is completely pledged. On many
other subjects, it is possible that his Narrative might
be considerably at variance with the truth, by a
mere defect of memory or observation, and without
justifying any imputations on his veracity; but it is
evident that no such latitude can be allowed to him on
the present occasion ; and that his statement respect-
ing the La Mar Zarah, if not in substance true, must
be knowingly and wilfully false.

Those of our readers who have attended to the
progress of African discovery, will recollect that
Tombuctoo, although it is placed, by the concurring
testimony of several authorities, in the immediate vi-
cinity of the Niger, is nevertheless represented to
lie at a certain distance from the river, not greater
than a day's journey according to the highest state-
ment, nor less according to the lowest, than twelve
miles. To these statements, which may be presum-
ed to approach very nearly to the truth, may be ad-
ded, on pretty much the same authorities, that the
town of Kabra on the Niger is the shipping port of
Tombuctoo, lying at the aforesaid distance of twelve
miles, or of a day's journey, from the city. And
neither Park, nor any other written authority (in-
cluding the English translation of Leo, of which we
shall say more hereafter) make any express mention

160 CONCLUDING REMARKS,

of a communication by water with the city of Tom-
buctoo itself.

Adams, however, as has been already observed,
cannot have been mistaken in so important a tact as
that which he has here stated. He never discover-
ed the least hesitation in his repeated assertions of
the proximity of the river to the town, or of his subse-
quent journey, for ten days, along its banks ; and
we cannot entertain the smallest doubt that the
river exists precisely as he has described it. We
shall presently shew to what extent the probability
of this fact is countenanced by other considerations:
and in the mean time, the two following alternatives
present themselves, respecting the probable course
of the river beyond the southwestern point to which
Adams's observation of it extended ; — either, that it
turns immediately, at a considerable angle, to the
southward, and falls into the Niger in the neigh-
bourhood of Kabra ; — or, that continuing its south-
westerly course from Tombuctoo, it empties itself
into the lake Dibble^ possibly at the northern inlet
which Park's informants described to him as one
of the two channels* by which that lake discharges
the waters of the Joliba. Neither of these suppo-
sitions are inconsistent with the existence, or the
importance to Tombuctoo, of the port of Kabra :
for if, on the one hand, the communication of
Adams's river with the Niger lies through the lake
Dibbie, it will be seen by a glance at the Map, what
a circuitous water conveyance would be cut off by

* The fact of a large lake like the Dibbie discharging its waters by
two streams flowing from the distant parts of the lake, and re-uniting
after a separate course of a hundred miles in length, has always ap-
peared to us extremely apocryphal : at least we believe, that the geo-
graphy of the world does not afford a parallel case. The separation of
rivers into various branches, in alluvial tracts on the sea coast, is
a well known geological fact; but the case is essentially different with
reference to a lake at so great a distance inland.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 161

transporting from Tombuctoo across to Kabra, and
shipping there such merchandise as should be des-
tined for the eastward ; and even if Kabra should be
situated at the confluence of the La Mar Zara and
the Niger, its importance as the rendezvous, or
point of contact with Tombuctoo, for all the ca-
noes coming either up or down the stream, — from
the west or from the east, — needs no explanation.

We will now endeavour to show what degree of
countenance or corroboration other authorities afford
to the general fact, that there is a water communica-
tion between the Niger, at some point of its course,
and the city of Tombuctoo.

In the first place, notwithstanding the distinct no-
tice of Kabra, both by Leo and Park, as the great
resort of the trade of the Niger, and as the port of
Tombuctoo, both these writers, especially Park in
his last journey, speak indirectly on several occa-
sions of sailing to and from Tombuctoo, in such a
manner as fairly to imply that they or their infor-
mants meant, not the distant port of Kabra, but
the city of Tombuctoo itself. The Barbary tra-
ders, also, whose reports are quoted by Mr. Dupuis,
mention a river (which they, however, consider to be
the Niger) as running close past the city; and we
are inclined to pay the greater attention to these re-
ports, because we have always considered it ex-
tremely improbable, that the greatest trading de-
pot in the interiour of Africa (and such undoubtedly
has been the city of Tombuctoo) lying so near to all
the advantages of an extensive water communica-
tion like the Niger, should yet have no point of im-
mediate contact with the river itself, or with any of
its tributary branches.

But there is, in the second place, strong reason
to believe that Leo Africanus, the only writer who
professes to describe Tombuctoo from personal ob-

2i

162 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

servation, will really be found to have noticed sucn
a river as Adams has made us acquainted with. A
comparison of the original Arabick in which Leo
wrote, with the translations, could alone enable us to
speak with perfect confidence on this subject; but
we trust that we shall be able, by a brief examina-
tion of the latter, to show that our opinion is not a
gratuitous speculation.

There are two passages in which Leo speaks of
the relative situations of Tombuctoo and the Niger ;
the one in his chapter on Tombuctoo, and the other
in that on Kabra ; and our opinion of his meaning,
on a joint consideration of both these passages, and
of the ambiguity or contradiction of his translators,
is this ; that Tombuctoo is situated upon a branch or
arm of the JYiger twelve miles distant from the princi-
pal stream. We are aware that this construction is
not warranted by the English translation,* which
(following the Latin) states, that " it is situate within
"twelve miles of a certain branch of Niger;'' but
there is a peculiarity in the expression of the Latin
translation, an ambiguity in that of the Italian ver-
sion, and an inconsistency in both, between the
passage in question and the context, which are
open to much observation. The Italian translation
(subject, always, to the explanation given in the Pre-
facef ) must be considered as the best authority ;
its words are these : " vicina a un ramo del Niger
" circa a dodici miglia ;" the ambiguity of which
has been faithfully preserved by the French trans-
lator, who with a total disregard of idiom, and appa-
rently little solicitude about meaning, thus copies it,

* " A Geographical Historie of Africa," written in Arabicke and
" Italian by John Leo, a More. Translated and collected by John IV
«' ry, lately of Gonville and Caius College." London, 1600.

f See Note, pp. 182-3.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 163

word for word :# " prochain d'un bras du Niger en-
" viron douze mile." The Latin Editor, however,
takes more pains to explain his conception of the
passage, which he conveys in the following words :
" in duodecimo miliario a qiwdam fluviolo situm fuit
" quod e Nigro flumine effluebat."

Conjointly with this passage, thus translated, we
must take into our consideration the other passage
in the chapter on Kabra, to which we before allud-
ed ; wherein Leo states (without any variation be-
tween his translators) that Tombuctoo is distant
twelve miles from the Niger.

Now, supposing, on the one hand, that the
literal meaning of the translations of the former
passage implies, that Tombuctoo is situated twelve
miles from a smaller river communicating with the
Niger ; and being certain, on the other, that the
latter passage really means that Tombuctoo lies ex-
actly the same distance from the Niger itself; ad-
mitting, we say, that there may be two distinct
streams, each precisely twelve miles distant from
the city ; is it probable that Leo, wishing to desig-
nate to his readers, in the former passage, the ex-
act position of Tombuctoo, by its distance from
some given point, should select for that purpose,
not the far famed Niger itself, but an equally re-
mote, a smaller, and a nameless stream ? Surely not.
There can hardly be a doubt, that it is to the Niger,
and to the same point of the Niger, that he refers
in both passages; that the translators, by a very
trifling mistake in the Arabick idiom, or by a want of
precision in their own, have given a different colour
to his meaning; and that the smaller stream, the
" ramo del Niger," and the " fluviolum," is really
the La Mar Zarah seen by Adams.

* Lyons Ed. folio, 1556.

164 CONCLUDING REMARKS.

We have been led into a more detailed examina-
tion of this part of the Narrative than we had at first
anticipated ; but the question is of considerable in-
terest, not merely with reference to the verification of
Adams's story, but as containing in itself a probable
solution of the mistakes and doubts by which the
real course of the Niger (from west to east) was
for so many ages obscured. If the La Mar Zarah
really communicates with the Niger, either at Kabra,
or through the Lake Dibbie, by a southwesterly
course from Tombuctoo, wre have at once a probable
explanation of the origin of Leo's mistake, (so ably
exposed and corrected by Major Rennell) in plac-
ing Ginea (Gana) to the westward of Tombuctoo.
That Leo was never on the Niger itself is sufficient-
ly evident, for he states it to flow from east to west ;
but knowing that the traders who embarked at Tom-
buctoo for Ginea# proceeded, in the beginning of their
course, to the west or southwest with the stream,
(wjiich would be the case on Adams's river) he was
probably thus misled into a belief that the whole of the
course, as well as the general sfer earn of the Niger,
lay in that direction.

We shall here close these imperfect remarks ; in
which we have endeavoured to bring before the
reader such illustrations as are to be collected from
collateral sources, of the most original, or most ob-
jectionable, of those points of Adams's stofyv which are

* Leo says, that the merchants of Tombuctoo sailed to. Ginea dur-
ing the inundations of the Niger in the months of July, August, and Sep-
tember; which seems to, imply, that at other seasons there was not a
continuous passage by water. He also says In another place, that when
the Niger rises, the waters flow through certain canals to the ci,ty (Tom-
buctoo). As these passages when considered together, seeni to infer
that the navigation of the river of Tombuctoo (the La Mar Zqrah) is
bstructed by shallows during the dry season, they afford grounds for
g that Adams, when he saw that river (which was in the dry
y. have had good reasons for doubting which way the strain

tOXCLUDING REMARKS.

16a

unsupported by direct external evidence. We might
have greatly multiplied our examples of the indirect
coincidences between Adams's statements, and other
authorities, respecting the habits, customs, and cir-
cumstances of the inhabitants of central Africa; which
would have added to the other incontestable evidences
of the genuineness and accuracy of his relations. But
the detail will have been already anticipated by most
of Adams's readers, and would, we hope, be super-
fluous to all. We shall therefore conclude, by no-
ticing only two important circumstances, respective-
ly propitious and adverse to the progress of disco-
very and civilization, which the present Narrative de-
cidedly confirms; viz. the mild and tractable natures of
the Pagan JVegroes of Soudan, and their friendly de-
portment towards strangers, on the one hand, — and,
on the other, the extended and baneful range of that
great original feature of African society — Slavery.

APPENDIX. No. I

At a time when the civilization and improvement of
Africa, and the extension of our intercourse with the
natives of that long neglected country, seem to be
among the leading objects of the British government
and nation, — and when, with these views, great ex-
ertions are making to procure information respecting
theinteriour of that vast and unknown continent; the
following account of Tombuctoo, and the trade and
navigation of the Niger, may perhaps prove not alto-
gether uninteresting. It was procured on a journey
to Galam in about the year 1764, for a gentleman
who was then Governour of Senegal, by a person
who acted as his Arabick interpreter.

# c; Apres bien des difficultes, j'ai enfin trouve un
hornme qui est revenu de Tombuctoo depuis peu, qui

* It may seem superfluous in the present enlightened age, to give a
translation of a French paper; but there may still be some of our rea-
ders to whom the following, if not necessary, may be convenient.

" After many difficulties, I have at length found a man lately return-
ed from Tombuctoo, from whom I have obtained better information of
the country than from any other person. I have spoken to several
merchants, who have reported some things to me, but I confide most in
this last, who is lately returned, who has assured me that the vessels
which navigate in the river of Tombuctoo do not come from the sea ;
that they are vessels constructed at Tombuctoo, which are sewed either
with cordage or with the bark of the cocoa tree, he does not exactly
know which ; that these vessels only go by tracking and by oars (or
paddles).

M He says, that the inhabitants of the city of Tombuctoo are Arabs,
that it is a large city, and that the houses have three or four stories.
He says, that the caravans which come to Tombuctoo, come from the side
of Medina, and bring stuffs, white linens, and all sorts of merchandise.
That these caravans are composed only of camels, that they stop at

168 APPENDIX. NO. I.

m'a mieux instruit du pays que personne. J'ai parle
aplusieurs marchands, qui m'en ont compte quelque
chose, mais je m'en rapporte mieux au dernier, qui
en vient depuis peu ; qui m'a assure que les batimens,
qui naviguent dans la riviere de Tombuctoo, ne
viennent point de la grande mer ; que ce sont des
batimens construits a Tombuctoo, qui sont cousus soit
avec du cordage, soit avec de 1'ecorce de coco, il ne le
sait pas au juste; que ces batimens ne vont qu'au
traite et a l'aviron.

" II dit que ce sont des Arabes qui habitent la
ville de Tombuctoo, que c'est une grande ville, que
les maisons ont trois ou quatre etages. II dit, que
les caravanes qui viennent a Tombuctoo, viennent
du cote de Medine,* et apportent toutes sortes de
marchandises, des etoffes, et des toiles blanches;
que ces caravanes ne sont composees que de cha-
meaux; qu'elles s'arretent a une demi lieue de Tom-

the distance of half a league from Tombuctoo, and that the people
of Tombuctoo go there to buy the goods, and take them into the
city ; afterwards that they equip their vessels to send them to
Gentle, which is another city under the dominion of Tombuctoo, and
that the inhabitants of Tombuctoo have correspendents there.
The people of Genne in their turn equip their vessels, and put into
them the merchandise which they have received from the people of
Tombuctoo, with which they ascend the river. It is to be remarked,
that the separation of the two rivers is at half a league from Genne, and
Genne is sitaated between the two rivers like an island. One of these
rivers runs into Bambarra and the other goes to Betoo, which is a
country inhabited by a people of a reddish colour, who are always at
war with the Bambarras. When they go out to war against the Bam-
barras, they are always five months absent. After the barks of Genne
hare gone a great distance up the river, they arrive at the fall of Soo-
tasoo, where they stop and can proceed no further. There they un-
load their salt and other merchandise, and carry them upon the backs
of asses, and uponjheir heads to the other side of the fall, were they
find the large boats of the Negroes, which they freight ; and ascend the
river to she country of the Mandingoes who are called Malins, and who
are near to the rock Gouvina.

* It appears from Mr. Ledyard's and Mr. Lucas's communications
to the African Association, that the caravans from Mecca, Medina, and
all Egypt, arrive at Tombuctoo, by the same rout as those from Me-
surata, going round by Mourzouk. Proceedings of the African Associa-
tion, 4to. 1790, pp. 33, 87.

APPENDIX. NO. I. 169

buctoo, et que tie la, les gens de Tombuctoo vont
acheter les marchandises, et les apportent dans la
ville ; ensuite, qu'ils arment leurs batimens pour les
envoyer a Genne, qui est une autre ville sous la do-
mination de Tombuctoo, et que les habitans de
Tombuctoo y ont des corresponclans. Ceux de Gen-
ne arment a leur tour leurs batimens, et y mettent
les marchandises qu'ils ont re$us des batimens de
Tombuctoo, et font monter leurs batimens a leur
tour, et leur font monter la riviere. II est a remar-
quer, que la separation des deux rivieres est a une
demi lieue de Genne, et Genne se trouve entre les
deux rivieres, comme une isle. Une de ces rivieres
court dans la Bambarra, et l'autre va a Bctoo, qui
est un pays habite par un peuple rougeatre, qui fait
sans cesse la guerre aux Bambarras. Lorsqu'ils
vont a la guerre contre les Bambarras, ils sont
toujours cinq mois dehors. Apres que les barques
de Genne ont monte la riviere bien avant, ils trou-
vent la chute de Sootasoo ; ou ils s'arretent, et ne
peuvent plus passer. La ils dechargent leur sel et
leurs marchandises, et les portent a l'autre cote de
la chute a dos d' anes, et sur leurs tetes. La ils
trouvent les grandes pirogues des Negres, qu'ils
frakent, et content la riviere avec ces pirogues
jusqu'a chez les JMarulings, qui s'appellent Matins,
,qui sont proche du roche Gouvina."

The gentleman, for whom these particulars were
collected, states, that he has always had the greatest
confidence in their correctness ; not only on account
of the character and talents .of the person employ-
ed, but also from the means which he had, during a
residence of three or four years at Senegal, to verify
all the most material points in them, upon the in-
formation of others ; which he lost no opportunity of
obtaining. In his account of the position of Genne?
the junction of the two rivers near to it, the course

22

170 APPENDIX. NO. I.

of one of these rivers from Betoo or Badoo, and the
course of the Niger itself at that time (17 64) generally
supposed to be from east to west ; the Arabick inter-
preter has been proved, by the information obtained
through Mr. Park, to be correct; and his represen-
tation of the trade upon the Niger is accurately con-
firmed by Mr. Park, in hjs conversation with the
ambassadors of the King of Bambarra;* except
that he carries it beyond Mr. Park's report.

If the interpreter's report be correct, it would
seem that the Niger is navigable to a much greater
distance westward, than it is represented to be in
any of the existing maps of that part of Africa ; nor
does there appear to be any authority to oppose to
this theory, except the information which Major
Rennell states Mr. Park to have received, when at
Kamalia, on his return from his first journey ; that
the source of the Niger was at a bearing of south, a
very little west, seven journeys distant, for which
Mr. Park calculated one hundred and eight geogra-
phical miles.f The name of the place was said to be
Sankari, which the Major supposes to correspond
with the Song of D'Anville. But this account is too
vague to be implicitly relied upon, in a country,
where men travel, as Mr. Park observes,f only for
the acquirement of wealth ; and pay but little at-
tention to the course of rivers, or the geography of
countries. In other respects, the idea that the
Niger is navigable to a considerable distance above
Bammakoo, instead of being contradicted, is much
supported by all the information which is to be col-

* " We sell them (the articles brought by the Moors) to the Moors ;
"the Moors bring them to Tombuctoo, where they sell them at a
" higher rate. The people of Tombuctoo sell them to the people of
" Jinnie at a still higher price ; and the people of Jinnie sell them to
"you." Park's Last Mission, 4to. p. 268.

f Appendix, First Journey, page xliv. { Idem, page 214.

APPENDIX. NO. I. 171

lected from Mr. Park's Journeys, and particularly
his Last Mission ; though to a person looking only
at the Map attached to his Notes, the fact would ap-
pear to be otherwise.

Tne Arabick interpreter speaks of a trade and
extensive navigation above the falls of Sootasoo,
which must be to the westward ; as he states it to
extend into the country of a Mandingo nation called
Malms,* whose territories approach near to the
rock Gouvina. His account is supported by the
fact, that Bammakoo is at the commencement of the
Mandingo Nations ; but the representation of the
river above it, according to our maps, gives no idea
of the further voyage which he speaks of. Mr.
Park does not notice the existence of the falls of Soo-
tasoo, but from his description of the rapids at Bam-
makoo, there is every reason to believe that they
are the same.t He tells us, that at that} season
(21st August) the river was navigable over the
rapids. We are consequently to understand, that
at other seasons it is not navigable over them even
downwards ; and that although he avoided the prin-
cipal falls, where, as he says, the water breaks with
considerable noise in the middle of the river,

* We have no account of the people here spoken of under the name
of Matins, and have ascertained hy Mr. Park's discoveries, that the
river does not actually approach the rock Gouvina; but it should be
observed that the rock was the only point in that part of Africa to
which the interpreter could refer as known to the person to whom
his communication was addressed. The Mandingo nations commence
to the eastward at about Bammakoo, and extend some distance to the
northwest, and to the west almost to the seacoast. From this cir-
cumstance therefore, as well as from the mention of the rock Gou-
vina, it is evident that the country spoken of must be to the west of
Bammakoo.

f The country in which Bammakoo is situated, and a very extensive
tract to the westward, is stated by D'Anville to be inhabited by a
people called Soosos.

| Last Mission, page 257

172 APPENDIX. NO. I.

and paddled down one of the branches near the
shore ; still the velocity was such, as to make hiua
sigh.*

Major Rennell, who appears to have obtained
from Mr. Park information upon geographical mat-
ters, far beyond that which is to be collected by the
mere perusal of his first Journey, states, thatf the
Niger first becomes navigable at Bammakoo, or per-
haps, that it is only navigable upwards to that point
in a continuous course from Tombuctoo. His lat-
ter supposition is most probably correct, as it does
not militate against the existence of a navigation,
not continuous, beyond Bammakoo, nor against the
fact proved by Mr. Park in his second mission, that
at particular seasons the rapids may be passed
downwards. It is also clear from Park, that there
is, at least to a certain distance, above Bammakoo,
a populous and trading country : as it was at Kan*
caba (called in the maps Kaniaba)f that Karfa Tau-
ra bought his slaves before proceeding to the coast.
It is called a large town on the banks of the Niger,
and a great slave market ; and is placed by Major
Rennell, (doubtless on the authority of Park) above
Bammakoo. § Most of the slaves, Mr. Park says,
who are sold at Kancaba, come from Bambarra : for
Mansong, to avoid the expense and danger of keep-
ing all his prisoners at Sego, commonly sends them
in small parties to be sold at the different trading
towns; and as Kancaba is much resorted to by
merchants, it is always well supplied with slaves,
which are sent thither up the Niger in canoes. It
cannot be supposed that this resort of merchants,
is from places down the river ; that they leave the

* Idem, page 258.
f First Journey, Appendix, xliv. f Idem, p. 275,

6 Idem, Major Rennell's Maps.

APPENDIX. NO. I. 173

great markets of Sego and Sansanding, to labour
over the rapids to Kancaba; or that the slaves
would be sent there to be bought by merchants who
could receive them at places so much nearer. It
must be for a trade down the river from populous
countries situated above Kancaba, that they are sent
there. Nor is it easy to believe, that a river, which
Mr. Park states to be at Bammakoo, a mile across,
and to be interrupted in its navigation only by a lo-
cal cause, should not be navigable above that cause :
or that a stream, which he states to be larger even
there (at Bammakoo) than either the Gambia or the
Senegal, should be distant from its source only 108
geographical miles, and draw its supplies from a
country, which, by the map attached to Park's last
mission, appears to be only 40 or 50 G. miles in
breadth ; when the Senegal has a course of not
less than 600 G. miles, measured by the same map,
across to the rock Gouvina, and from that to its
mouth, without making any further allowance for
its windings; and drains for its support, a country
extending, according to the same authority, in
breadth, not less than 300 G. miles. It will of
course occur to any person, looking at the maps at-
tached to Park's Journeys, that the places marked
out as the sources of the Senegal and Gambia, pre-
clude the possibility of the Niger's extending far-
ther to the westward than is there represented ; but
upon a careful perusal of Park's Last Mission,
there seems strong ground to believe, that the fra-
mers of his map, proceeding upon the old idea that
the Seqegal and Gambia take their rise in the Kong
mountains, have here fallen into an errour. It
would appear that there are two distinct ranges of
mountains, commencing at the Foota J alia hills.
The Kong mountains running to the east, but in a

174 APPENDIX. NO. I.

line curved considerably to the south, and supposed
to be the greatest mountains in Africa ; the other
proceeding in a more direct line and increasing in its
elevation, as it extends towards the east, seems to
approach nearly to its full height at the Konkodoo
mountains, and bending or returning to the north and
N. W. beyond Toniba, where Mr. Park crossed it,
to give birth to all the streams, which, united, form
the Senegal.

Of the sources of the Gambia, we have no particu-
lar account, but it seems probable that these two
ranges of mountains are united at their western ex-
tremity, and that the Gambia does not extend beyond
this union ; an idea in which there is ground to
believe that Mr. Park would have concurred from
expressions in two of his first letters to Sir Joseph
Banks, the first dated from Kayee, River Gambia,
26 April, 1805.* " The course of the Gambia is
" certainly not so long as is laid down in the charts."
The second letter is dated Badoo, near Tambacun-
da, May 28th, 1805.f " The course of the Gambia
" is laid down on my chart too much to the south ; I
" have ascertained nearly its whole course." The
removal of the river more to the north by leaving a
larger space for its course from the mountains, ren-
ders it more probable that it should be terminated at
the point herein supposed; and if its sources were as
they are represented to be in our maps, it is difficult
to imagine that Mr. Park could, as he states, have
ascertained nearly its whole course.

The position of the northern range of hills is de-
scribed by Mr. Park with considerable accuracy
at Dindikoo.J where he speaks of the inhabitants
looking from their tremendous precipices over that
wild and woody plain which extends from the Fale-

* The Last Mission, p. 62. f Idem, p. 69. J Last Mission, p. 176.

APPENDIX. NO. I. 175

me to the Black River. This plain, he says, is, in
extent from north to south, about forty miJes; the
range of hills to the south seems to run in the same
direction as those of Konkodoo, viz. from east to
west. The framers of his map have made them run
north and south, because they could not otherwise
carry the sources of the rivers beyond them. Dindi-
koo was on the northern range of hills, and suppos-
ing the southern range to be, as he states, distant
about forty miles, it will be found sufficient to ac-
count for the size assigned to all the rivers passed
by Mr. Park in his route from the Gambia.

The first of these is the Faleme river, which he
had already crossed at Madina.# No particular ac-
count is given of the size of this river, or of the man-
ner of passing it; but in his former journey, when he
crossed it about the same place, he sayst that it was
easily forded, being only about two feet deep. In his
last mission,^ he says, its course is from the south-
east, the distance to its source six ordinary days'
travel. Assigning to it this course, its source will
not be beyond the hills ; but the compilers of the map
attached to his Journal have given it a course much
more nearly south, and have placed its source, even
in this direction, far beyond six days' journey by their
own scale, and without making any allowance for
the time, and the distance in an horizontal line, lost
in travelling over a mountainous country. The next
river is the Ba Lee, too insignificant to be noticed.
The next the Ba Fing, the greatest of the rivers
which form the Senegal. This was passed at Kon-
kromo by canoes. He gives us no account of the
course of this river or the distance to its sources, but
merely says,|| M it is here a large river, quite navi-

* Idem, page 167. f First Journey, page 34G.

t Last Mission, page 167. || Last Mission, pages 1«3, lfl4, 195,

176 APPENDIX. NO. I.

" gable ; it is swelled at this time about two feet,
" and flows at the rate of three knots per hour."
When fully flooded, its course must be much more
rapid, as in his first journey,* he crossed it by a
bridge, formed of two trees, tied together by the
tops; and adds, that this bridge is carried away
every year by the swelling of the river. Running,
as we collect, from both Mr. Park's journeys, but
particularly the first, as this river does, at the foot
of a high ridge of mountains,t and through a coun-
try, which he calls every where " hilly, and rugged,
u and grand beyond any thing he had seen ;"f and
allowing for its necessary sinuosity in such a coun-
try, and its receipt of numerous smaller streams in
passing through it, there can be no difficulty in ac-
counting for it such as described by Mr. Park at
Konkromo, by placing its sources in the hills already
described ; for neither his descriptions of a river,which
being flooded two feet is quite navigable, nor of one,
which could be crossed by so simple a bridge, im-
press us with the idea of a mighty stream, or of one
far distant from its source. It is also fair to presume,
that this and the other rivers, forming the Senegal,
have a part of their course at, or parallel with, the
foot of these hills, collecting the waters which de-
scend from them. The next river is crossed near to
Madina, and is represented in the map as formed by
the confluence of the Furkomah and Boki rivers, and
not very greatly inferiour either in magnitude or in
the length of its course even to the Ba Fing. All
that Mr. Park says of this great river, is, " at eleven
" o'clock, crossed a stream, like a mill-stream, run-
ning north" !|| The last river we come to, is the
Ba Woolima, with its various streams, the Wonda,

* First Journey, page 338. f First Journey, page 340.

| Second Mission, page 192, and First Journey, page 337, et passim
|| Second Mission, page 197.

APPENDIX. NO. I. 177

Ba Lee, Kokoro, &c. ; which, after what has been
said of the Ba Fing, scarcely require to be noticed ;
except, that by their windings and the numerous
streams crossed in each day's journey, they serve
to shew the small distance, in which a considerable
river may be formed in such a country. They are
all clearly bounded by the chain of mountains herein
described, which, a little further eastward, bends or
returns (as already observed) to the north and
northwest to the kingdom of Kasson,* and forms
the eastern angle of the triangle, described by Major
Rennell, in his Appendix to Park's first Journey ; a
description corresponding very accurately with that
here supposed; though the Major, in his Map, still
carries the sources of the Senegal (the Ba Fing, &c.)
across to the Kong mountains, and represents the
mountains in that part of the country as running
north and south, and extending southward to the
same chain of mountains ; and it is in this point only,
that there appears to be reason for doubting his cor-
rectness. In Konkodoo, we have this northern range
clearly described as running east and west at a dis-
tance of about forty miles. By the necessity for
avoiding the difficulties of the Jalonka wilderness,
we there lose sight of them for a time ; but when
we find them again at Toniba, they are there also
running east and west, for Mr. Park crossed them in
a course nearly from north to south,! and we have
endeavoured to shew, that the magnitude of the
rivers passed in the intermediate space, is not such
as necessarily to induce a belief, that the mountains
do not there preserve the same direction ; especially
as the course of the greatest of these rivers is not
given, whether from the south, or rather from the

* First Journey, Appendix, page xix.
f Second Mission, pages 253, 254, 255.
23

178 APPENDIX. NO. I.

eastward of south, which seems the most probable ;
as the Major represents (and we believe with correct-
ness), that the eastern level of the country is here
the highest.

It is in the plain, left between the Kong mountains
and this ridge, which, according to Park, separates
the Niger from the remote branches of the Senegal ;#
that the Niger has its course, " rolling its immense
u stream along the plain,"t and washing the southern
base of these mountains.^ The extent of this plain
to the west, and the distance to which the Niger is
navigable through it, are points not yet known, and
which, although of the very utmost importance to
the prosecution of our discoveries or the extension
of our trade in the interiour. it does not appear that
any attempt has yet been made to ascertain. From
its situation between two such ranges of mountains,
it may be presumed, that the plain is of great eleva-
tion ; and from the report of the Arabick interpre-
ter, supported by Mr. Park's account of Kaniaba or
Kancaba, there is reason to believe that the Niger is
navigable through it, to a considerable distance
westward. The information received by Mr. Park
at Kamalia may still have been correct: one of the
principal streams, forming the Niger, may have its
source at the place described to him; another may
flow down this plain from the westward, collecting
in its course all the streams that run from the south
side of the mountains which give birth to tl e Sene-
gal, and from the northern declivity of the Kong
mountains. In this way we have no difficulty in ac-
counting for the magnitude of the Niger at Bamma-
koo; which we have already observed that it is im-
possible to do, by the course hitherto assigned to it ;
especially when it is considered that that course is

* Idem, page 256. f Idem, page 256. J Idem, page 231 .

APPENDIX. NO. I. 179

nearly at a right angle with the Kong mountains, and
consequently a great part of it through the plain,
where it is not likely to receive much additional
supply.

If these conjectures be well founded, it would seem
that our pursuit should be, instead of endeavouring
to perform the difficult, dangerous, and expensive
operation of transporting a caravan to the remote
station of Bamraakoo ; to search for the nearest point
to the westward, at which the Niger is navigable;
that we may commence our discoveries and trade
by navigation as near as possible to the Western
Ocean. With this view, the Gambia should be im-
mediately occupied by this country ; and indeed this,
under any circumstances, would seem to be a wise
measure, that we may not, at the moment that our
discoveries begin to lead to results of value, find,
that the right of navigating that river is disputed
with us by the prior establishment of some rival and
more active European nation.

An establishment should then be formed as high
up that river as its navigation, and the state of the
country, will permit ; and from this point, there could
be no great difficulty or expense in sending a mission
into the interiour, to the southeast, to seek for
the sources of the Niger, and the extent of its naviga-
tion to the westward. Nor can there be any ques-
tion upon the possibility of establishing a settlement
high up in the Gambia, from whence to commence
our discoveries, after the example of the French Fort
of St. Joseph at Galam on the Senegal. Galam is
150 leagues in a direct line from the mouth of the
Senegal, or by the course of the river 350 leagues.*

* These distances are given according to a most beautiful and cor-
rect Chart of the River Senegal, drawn from an actual survey, which
was in the possession of the gentleman here alluded to as having
been in the government of Senegal, and was taken from him by the
French, by whom he was captured on a voyage to England.

180 APPENDIX. NO. I.

The fort was many years in the possession of the
French ; and at the time its garrison was removed
after the capture of Senegal by this country in the
year 1763, the officer in charge of it had been station-
ed there twenty-four years, the next in command six-
teen, and others very long periods. The natives were
so far from shewing any hostile disposition to the
French trade upon the river, that they gave to it
every possible protection and encouragement ; as
they were fully sensible that it was for their interest
to support it: the navigation of the river was secure,
and the officers at the fort upon the most friendly
footing with the inland powers.

By commencing our operations from the Gambia
in the manner proposed, wa should have the impor-
tant advantage of experiencing the least possible
opposition from our rivals and inveterate enemies,
the Moors; whose influence naturally diminishes in
proportion as we recede from the Desert : and if we
were once established on the Niger, our superiour
advantages in trade would render nugatory any
attempts, which they might make to resist our further
progress.

P. S. The writer of this Memoir thinks it right to
disclaim all pretensions to any superiour or exclu-
sive knowledge of African geography. There ap-
peared to him to be something inconsistent in the
magnitude of the Niger as represented by Mr. Park
at Bammakoo, and its sources according to our maps ;
and being in possession of a paper which seemed
to throw some little light upon the subject, he has
ventured to give it to the publick, accompanied with
a few remarks ; and will feel highly gratified, if they
should have the effect of engaging the attention of
some person capable of doing justice to an inquiry
which is certainly interesting and important.

APPENDIX. No. II*

The whole of the population of Western Barbary
may be divided into three great classes (exclusive of
the Jews) viz. Berrebbers, Arabs, and Moons. 1 he
two former of these are in every respect distinct ra-
ces of people, and are each again subdivided into
various tribes or communities ; the third are chiefly
compiled of the other two classes, or of their de-
scendants, occasionally mixed with the European or
Negro races.

In the class of Berrebbers, of which I shall first
treat, I include all those who appear to be descend-
ants of the original inhabitants of the country before
the Arabian conquest ; and who speak several lan-
guages, or dialects of the same language, totally dif-
ferent from the Arabick. The subdivisions of this
class are — 1st, the Errifi, who inhabit the extensive
mountainous province of that name on the shores of
the Mediterranean ; 2dly, the Berrebbers of the lnte-
riour, who commence on the southern confines of
Errif, and extend to the vicinity of Fez and Me-

* This original and interesting Sketch of the Popvlation of Western
Barbary grew out of some observations made by the Editor to Mr.
Dupuis, upon the frequent indiscriminate use of the names of Arab and
Moor, in speaking apparently of the same people : and the explanation
of these terms (as well as of the term Shillvh. see p. 133, Note 56) hav-
ing led Mr. Dupuis into a longer detail thanrould be conveniently com-
prised in a Note on the Narrative, he kindly consented, at the Editor's
request, to extend his Remarks to all the classes of the inhabitants of
the Empire of Morocco; and the Editor is happy to have permission
to present these Remarks, in their present entire form, to the reader.

182 APPENDIX. NO. II.

quinez, occupying all the mountains and high lands
in the neighbourhood of those cities; .^dly, the Ber-
rebbers of Middle jitlas ; and, 4thly, the Shi Huh
of Suse and Haha, who extend from Mogadore
southward to the extreme boundaries of the domi-
nions of the Cid Heshem, and from the seacoast to
the eastern limits of the mountains of Atlas.

Trie Erriji are a strong and athletick race of peo-
ple, hardy and enterprising; their features are gene-
rally good, and might in many cases be considered
handsome, were it not for the malignant and fero-
cious expression which marks them in common with
the Berrebber tribes in general, but which is pecu-
liarly striking in the eye of an Errif. They also pos-
sess that marked feature of the Berrebber tribes, a
scantiness of beard ; many of the race, particularly
in the south, having only a few straggling hairs on
the upper lip, and a small tuft on the chin. They
are incessantly bent, on robbing and plundering ; in
which they employ either open violence or cunning
and treachery, as the occasion requires ; and they
are restrained by no checks either of religion, morals
or humanity. However, to impute to them in particu-
lar, as distinct from other inhabitants of Barbary, the
crimes of theft, treachery, and murder, would cer-
tainly be doing them great injustice ; but I believe I
may truly describe them as more ferocious and faith-
less than any other tribe of Berrebbers.

The Berrebbers of the districts of Fez, Mequinez,
and the mountains of Middle Atlas, strongly resem-
ble the Errifi in person, but are said to be not quite
so savage in disposition. They are a warlike peo-
ple, extremely tenacious of the independence which
their mountainous country gives them opportunities
of asserting, omit no occasion of shaking off the con-
trol of government, and are frequently engaged in
open hostilities with their neighbours the Arabs, or

APPENDIX. NO. II. 183

the Emperour's black troops. They are, as I am
informed, the only tribes in Barbary who use the
bayonet. The districts which they inhabit are
peculiarly interesting and romantick ; being a succes-
sion of hills and vallies well watered and wooded,
and producing abundance of grain and pasturage.

The Shilluhi or Berrebbers of the south of Bar-
bary, differ in several respects from their brethren
in the north. They are rather diminutive in person;
and besides the want of beard already noticed, have
in general an effeminate tone of voice. They aie,
however, active and enterprising. They possess ra-
thermore of the social qualities than the other tribes,
appear to be susceptible of strong attachments and
friendships, and are given to hospitality. They are
remarkable for their attachment to their petty chief-
tains; and the engagements or friendships of the lat-
ter are held so sacred, that 1 never heard of an in-
stance of depredation being committed on travellers
furnished with their protection, (which it is usual to
purchase with a present) or on any of the valuable
caravans which are continually passing to and fro
through their territory, between Barbary and Sou-
dan. However, the predominant feature of their
character is self-interest; and although in their deal-
ings amongst strangers, or in the towns, they assume
a great appearance of fairness and sincerity, yet they
are not scrupulous when they have the power in their
own hands: and like the other Berrebbers, they are
occasionally guilty of the most atrocious acts of
treachery and murder, not merely against Christians
(for that is almost a matter of course with all the
people of their nation) but even against Mohamme-
dan travellers, w7ho have the imprudence to pass
through their country without having previously se-
cured the protection of one of their chiefs.

184 APPENDIX. NO. II.

As the Shilluh have been said to be sincere and
faithful in their friendships, so are they on the other
hand, perfectly implacable in their enmities and in-
satiable in their revenge.* Their country produces
grain in abundance, cattle, wax, almonds, and vari-
ous valuable articles of trade.

I have already said, that the languages of all the
Berrebber tribes are totally different from the Ara-
bick ; but vvhetner they are corrupted dialects of
the ancient Punick, Numidian, or Mauritanian, I
must leave to others to determine. That of the

* The following anecdote, to the catastrophe of which I was an eye
witness, will exemplify in some degree these traits of their character.
A Shilluh having murdered one of his countrymen in a quarrel, fled
to the Arabs from the vengeance of the relations of his antagonist ;
but not thinking himself secure even there, he joined a party of pil-
grims and went to Mecca. From this expiatory journey he returned
at the end of eight or nine years to Barbary ; and proceeded to his
native district, he there sought (under the sanctified name of El Haje,
the Pilgrim, — a title of reverence amongst the Mohammedans) to
effect a reconciliation with the friends of the deceased. They, how-
ever, upon hearing of his return, attempted to seize him ; but owing
to the fleetnessof lis horse he escaped and fled to Mogadore, having
been severely wounded by a musket ball in his flight. His pursuers
followed him thither; but the Governour of Mogadore hearing the
circumstances of the case, strongly interested himself in behalf of the
fugitive, and endeavoured, but in vain, to effect a reconciliation. The
man was imprisoned ; and his persecutors then hastened to Morocco
to seek justice of the Emperour. That prince, it is said, endeavoured
to save the prisoner; and to add weight to his recommendation, of-
fered a pecuniary compensation in lieu of the offender's life; which
the parties, although persons of mean condition, rejected. They re-
turned triumphant to Mogadore, with the Emperour's order for the de-
livery of the prisoner into their hands : and having taken him out of
prison, they immediately conveyed him without the walls of the town,
where one of the party, loading his musket before the face of their
victim, placed the muzzle to his breast and shot him through the body ;
but as the man did not immediately fall, he drew his dagger and by
repeated stabbing put an end to his existence. The calm intrepidity,
with which this unfortunate Shilluh stood to meet his fate, could not
be witnessed without the highest admiration ; and, however much we
must detest the blood-thirs'iness of his executioners, we must still
acknowledge, that there is something closely allied to nobleness of senti-
ment, in the inflexible perseverance with which they pursued the mur-
derer of their friend to punishment, without being diverted from theiv
purpose by the strong inducements of self-interest.

APPENDIX. NO. II. 185

Errifi, I am told, is peculiar to themselves. It has
also been asserted that the language of the Berreb-
bers of the interiour, and of the Shilluh, are total-
ly distinct from each other; but I have been assur-
ed by those who are conversant with them, that al-
though differing in many respects, they are really
dialects of the same tongue.

Like the Arabs, the Berrebbers are divided into
numerous petty tribes or clans, each tribe or family
distinguishing itself by the name of its patriarch or
founder. The authority of the chiefs is usually
founded upon their descent from some sanctified an-
cestor, or upon a peculiar eminence of the individual
himself in Mohammedan zeal or some other reli-
gious qualification.

With the exception already noticed, (that the
Berrebbers of the North are of a more robust and
stouter make than the Shilluh) a strong family like-
ness runs through all their tribes. Their customs,
dispositions, and national character are nearly the
same ; they are all equally tenacious of the inde-
pendence which their local positions enable them to
assume ; and all are animated with the same invete-
rate and hereditary hatred against their common
enemy, the Arab. They invariably reside in houses,
or hovels, built of stone and timber, which are gene-
rally situated on some commanding eminence, and
are fortified and loop-holed for self-defence. Their
usual mode of warfare is to surprise their enemy,
rather than overcome him by an open attack ; they
are reckoned the best marksmen, and possess the
best firearms in Barbary, which renders them a very
destructive enemy wherever the country affords
shelter and concealment ; but although they are al-
ways an over match for the Arabs when attacked
in their own rugged territory, they are obliged, on
the other hand, to relinquish the plains to the Arab

24

186 APPENDIX. NO. II.

cavalry, against which the Berrebbers are unable
to stand on open ground.

The Arabs of Barbary are the direct descendants
of the invaders of the country, who about the year
100 of the Hegira, according to their own histories,
completed the conquest of the whole of the North
of Africa, dispersing or exterminating the nations
which either attempted to oppose their progress,
or refused the Mohammedan creed. During the
dreadful ravages of this invasion, the surviving in-
habitants, unable to resist their ferocious enemy,
(whose cavalry doubtless contributed to give them
their decided superiority) fled to the mountains;
where they have since continued to live under the
names of Berrebber, Shilluh, &c. a distinct people,
retaining their hereditary animosity against their in-
vaders.

The Arabs, who now form so considerable a por-
tion of the population of Barbary, and whose race
(in the SherifFe line) has given Emperours to Mo-
rocco ever since the conquest, occupy all the level
country of the Empire ; and many of the tribes,
penetrating into the Desert, have extended them-
selves even to the confines of Soudan. In person
they are generally tall and robust, with fine fea-
tures and intelligent countenances. Their hair is
black and straight, their eyes large, black and pierc-
ing, their noses gently arched, their beards full
and bushy, and they have invariably good teeth.
The colour of those who reside in Barbary is a
deep but bright brunette, essentially unlike the sal-
low tinge of the Mulatto. The Arabs of the De-
sert are more or less swarthy according tofctheir prox-
imity to the Negro states ; until, in some tribes,
they are found entirely black, but without the wool-

APPENDIX. NO. II. 187

ly hair, wide nostril, and thick lip which peculiarly
belong to the African Negro.

The Arabs are universally cultivators of the earth
or breeders of cattle, depending on agricultural
pursuits alone for subsistence. To use a common
proverb of their own, " the earth is the Arab's por-
tion." They are divided into small tribes or fami-
lies, as I have already stated with respect to the
Berrebbers;— each separate tribe having a particu-
lar Patriarch or Head by whose name they distin-
guish themselves, and each occupying its own sepa-
rate portion of territory. They are scarcely ever
engaged in external commerce ; dislike the restraints
and despise the security of residence in towns; and
dwell invariably in tents made of a stuff woven from
goats' hair and the fibrous root of the palmeta. In
some of the provinces their residences form large
circular encampments, consisting of from twenty to a
hundred tents, where they are governed by a shieck
or magistrate of their own body. This officer is
again subordinate to a bashaw or governour ap-
pointed by the Emperour, who resides in some
neighbouring town. In these encampments there
is always a tent set apart for religious worship, and
appropriated to the use of the weary and benighted
traveller, who is supplied with food and refreshment
at the expense of the community.

Something has already been said in the preceding
Notes of the character of the Arab. In a general
view, it is decidedly more noble and magnanimous
than that of the Berrebber. His vices are of a
more daring, and (if I may use the expression) of a
more generous cast. He accomplishes his designs
rather by open violence than by treachery ; he has
less duplicity and concealment than the Berrebber ;
and to the people of his own nation or religion
he is much more hospitable and benevolent. Be-

188 APPENDIX. NO. II.

yond this, I fear it is impossible to say any thing in
his favour. But it is in those periods of civil dis-
cord which have been so frequent in Barbary, that
the Arab character completely developes itself. —
On these occasions they will be seen linked togeth-
er in small tribes, the firm friends of each other,
but the sworn enemies of all the world besides.
Their ravages are not confined merely to the Ber-
rebber and Bukharie tribes to whom they are at
all times hostile, and whom they take all opportuni-
ties of attacking, but every individual is their ene-
my who is richer than themselves. Whilst these
dreadful tempests last, the Arabs carry devasta-
tion and destruction wherever they go, sparing
neither age nor sex, and even ripping open the dead
bodies of their victims, to discover whether they
have not swallowed their riches for the purpose of
concealment.

Their barbarity towards Christians ought not to
be tried by the same rules as the rest of their con-
duct; for although it has no bounds but those which
self-interest may prescribe, it must almost be con-
sidered as a part of their religion ; so deep is the
detestation which they are taught to feel for the
" unclean and idolatrous infidel." A Christian,
therefore, who falls into the hands of the Arabs,
has no reason to expect any mercy. If it is his lot
to be possessed by the Arabs of the Desert, his
value as a slave will probably save his life ; but if
he happens to be wrecked on the coast of the Em-
perour's dominions, where Europeans are not allow-
ed to be retained in slavery, his fate would in most
cases be immediate death, before the Government
could have time to interfere for his protection.

The next great division of the people of Western
Barbary, are the inhabitants of the cities and towns,
who may be collectively classed under the general

APPENDIX. NO. II. 189

denomination of Moors ; although this name is only
known to them through the language of Europeans.
They depend chiefly on trade and manufactures for
subsistence, and confine their pursuits in general to
occupations in the towns. Occasionally, however,
but very rarely, they may be found to join in agri-
cultural operations with the Arabs.

The Moors may be subdivided into the four fol-
lowing classes — 1st, the tribes descended from Arab
families ; 2d, those of Berrebber descent; 3d, the
Bukharie ; 4 th, the Andalusie,

The Arab families are the brethren of the conquer-
ors of the country; and they form the largest por-
tion of the population of the southern towns, especial-
ly of those which border on Arab districts.

The Berrebber families are in like manner more or
less numerous in towns, according to the proximity of
the latter to the Berrebber districts.

The Bukharie, or black tribe, are the descendants
of the Negroes brought by the Emperour Mulai Is-
mael from Soudan. They have been endowed with
gifts of land, and otherwise encouraged by the sub-
sequent Emperours ; and the tribe, although inconsi-
derable in point of numbers, has been raised to im-
portance in the state, by the circumstance of its form-
ing the standing army of the Emperour, and of its
being employed invariably as the instruments of

fovernment. Their chief residence is in the city of
Iequinez, about the Emperour's person. They are
also found, but in smaller numbers, in the different
towns of the Empire.

The Andalusie, who form the fourth class of Moors,
are the reputed descendants of the Arab conquerors
of Spain ; the remnant of whom, on being expelled
from that kingdom, appear to have retained the
name of its nearest province. These people form a
large class of the population of the towns in the north

190 APPENDIX. NO. II.

of Barbary, particularly of Tetuan, Mequinez, Fez,
and Rhabatt or Saliee. They are scarcely, if at
all, found residing to the south of the river Aza-
moor; being confined chiefly to that province of
Barbary known by the name of El Gharb.

The two last named classes of Bukharie, and
Andalusie, are entire in themselves, and are not divi-
sible into smaller communities like the Moors de-
scended from the Arab and Berrebber tribes, the
latter imitating in that respect their brethren in-
the country, and retaining the names of the petty
tribes from which their ancestors originally sprung ;
for instance, the Antrie, Rehamni, &c. which are
Arab tribes, and the Edoutanan, the Ait Amoor,
&c. amongst the Berrebbers. All these smaller
tribes are very solicitous to maintain a close fami-
ly alliance with their brethren, who still pursue
their agricultural employment in the country, which
they find of great advantage in the event of in-
testine commotions.

The length of time since the settlement of these
tribes in the towns cannot be accurately ascertain-
ed; but the manner in which they were first separat-
ed from their kindred in the country, may probably
be exemplified by the following modern occurrence.
When the father of the present Emperour had built
the town of Mogadore, he caused a certain number
of individuals to be selected, or drafted, from Arab
and Berrebber (or Shilluh) tribes, and also from
some of the towns; whom he compelled to set-
tle in the new town. The young colony was after-
wards encouraged and enriched by the removal of
the foreign trade of the empire from Santa Cruz to
Mogadore, which led to the settlement of other ad-
venturers there. The probability that other towns
were peopled by a similar compulsory proceeding,
is confirmed by the known repugnance of the Arabs

APPENDIX. NO. II. 191

to quit their tents for houses, and by the aversion and
even contempt which they feel for the restraints of a
fixed residence in towns.

These are the component parts of that mixed po-
pulation which now inhabits the towns of Barbary,
and which is known to Europeans by the name of
Moors, In feature and appearance the greater part
of them may be traced to the Arab or Berrebber
tribes from which they are respectively derived ; for
marriages between individuals of different tribes are
generally considered discreditable. Such marriages
however do occasionally take place, either in conse-
quence of domestick troubles, or irregularity gf con-
duct in the parties ; and they are of course attended
with a corresponding mixture of feature. Intermar-
riages of the other tribes with the Bukharie are al-
most universally reprobated, and are attributed, when
they occur, to interested motives on the part of the
tribe which sanctions them, or to the overbearing in-
fluence and power possessed by the Bukharie. These
matches entail on their offspring the Negro feature
and a mulatto-like complexion, but darker. In all
cases of intermarriage between different tribes or
classes, the woman is considered to pass over to the
tribe of her husband.

Besides the Moors, the population of the towns
is considerably increased by the Negro slaves, who
are in general prolifick, and whose numbers are
continually increasing by fresh arrivals from the
countries of Soudan.

In conclusion, the following may be stated as a
brief leading distinction between the habits and cir-
cumstances of the three great classes of the inhabi-
tants of Western Barbary.

The Berrebbers, (including the Shilluh) are cul-
tivators of the soil and breeders of cattle ; they oc-

192 APPENDIX. NO. If.

cupy the mountainous districts, and reside in houses
or hovels built of stone and timber.

The Arabs, occupying the plains, follow the
same pursuits as the Berrebbers, and live in tents.

The Moors are traders, and reside in the towns.

It will, perhaps, be observed, that this distinction
will not apply to the tribe described by Mr. Park
on the southern confines of the Desert, whom he
calls Moors, and distinguishes by that name from
the Arabs of the Desert. It is evidently quite im-
practicable to assign precise denominations to the
many possible mixtures of races which in process of
time naturally occur: but a roving people, living in
tents, as these are described to be, certainly cannot
be entitled to the appellation of Moors. Neither
can the people in question, whom Park describes to
have short bushy hair, be a pure Arab tribe ; though
their leader, Ali, appears to have been an Arab. But
by whatever name they ought to be distinguished, it
seems very probable that they are descended from
the ancient invaders of Soudan, who having been
left to garrison the conquered places, remained on
the southern borders of the Desert, after the authori-
ty which originally brought them there became ex-
tinct ; and who by occasional intermarriages with the
Negroes have gradually lost many of the distinguish-
ing features of their Arab ancestors.

Viewing the term Moor as a translation or cor-
ruption of the Latin word Mauri, by which the
Romans designated a particular nation, it is evident,
that it cannot with strict propriety be used even in
the limited sense which I have here confined it;
for, the people who now occupy the towns of Wes-
tern Barbary, (with the exception, perhaps, of that
small portion of them allied to the Berrebber tribes)
are certainly not descendants of the ancient Mauri-
tanians. The name, as I have said before, is not

APPENDIX. NO. II. 193

used amongst the people themselves, as the names of
Arab, Berrebber, &c. are : but the class is quite dis-
tinguished from the other inhabitants of Barbary
by the modes of life and pursuits of those who com-
pose it. And as Europeans in their loose accepta-
tion of the name Moor, have successively designat-
ed by it all the different races who have from time
to time, occupied this part of Africa ; applying it
even to the Arab invaders of Spain, who proceeded
from hence; they may very naturally appropriate it
to those stationary residents of the Empire of Mo-
rocco with whom, almost exclusively, they carry on
any intercourse. The only distinguishing term
which the Arabs occasionly give to the Moors is
that of Medainien, towns' people ; which is a depre-
ciating appellation in the estimation of an Arab. If
you ask a Moor; what he calls himself? he will
naturally answer you that he is a Mooslim, or be-
liever ; — his country ? Bled Mooselmin, the land of
believers. If you press him for further particulars,
he will then perhaps tell you the tribe to which he
belongs, or the district or city in which he was born.
Neither have they a general name for their country ;
in other Mohammedan states it is distinguished by
the name of El Ghdrb, the West ; but the natives
themselves only apply this name to a province in
the northern part of the Empire beyond the River
Azamoor.

The term Moor, therefore, seems to stand, with
respect to the people to whom we apply it, exactly
in the same predicament as their term Romi with re-
spect to us ; which, having survived the times when
the extended power of the Romans rendered it not
an improper appellation for all the inhabitants of
Europe, known to the Mauritanians, continues, in the
dialects of Barbary, to be the general name for Eu-
ropeans of every nation at this day. D.

25

Adams, Robert, Introductory Details respecting — accidentally
met with in London, ix — brought to the office of the African
Company, and questioned respecting his adventures in Afri-
ca; his answers satisfactory, x-xi — his method of comput-
ing bearings, distances, and rates of travelling through the de-
serts, xiv — examined by several members of government,
and others, xv — receives a gratuity from the Lords of the
Treasury, and departs for America, xv — his statements cor-
roborated by Mr. Dupuis, British Vice Consul at Mogadore,
xvii — curious particulars relating to his conduct and appear-
ance when liberated from slavery, xviii — -known at Mogadore
by the name of Rose — reasons for his changing his name to
Adams, xx-xxi.
Adams, Robert, his Narrative — wrecked on the western coast
of Africa, 31 — carried from the coast by a party of Moors to a
Douar in the Desert, 34 — accompanies a party of Moors in an
expedition to Soudenny, 36 — made prisoner, with them, by the
Negroes, and carried to Tombuctoo, 37-39 — ransomed, with
the Moors, and carried to Tudenny, and thence to the Douar
of Woled D'leim, 58-62 — employment and treatment there,
63-64 — escapes with a camel to Hilla Gibla (or El Kabla)
64-5 — becomes the slave of the Governour, has an intrigue
With one of the Governour's wives, and is sold, in consequence
to a trading Moor, 66-8 — carried thence to different Douars
in the Desert, and finally to Wadinoon, 68-71 — his employ-
ment and inhuman treatment at that place — but at length
ransomed and carried to Mogadore, 74-81 — sent thence by
]VIr. Dupuis to Fez and Tangier, 82 — thence to Cadiz by the
American Consul ; his stay there, 82-3— arrives in London in
the utmost distress, 83 — his reckoning of time and distances
corrected, 137-8.
African Company, Committee of the, examine Adams, and re*

commend the Editor to compile his Narrative, xii.
Agadter Doma, the Moorish name of Senegal, 88.
Andalusie tribe of Moors, origin and description of it, 189-190,

INDEX. 195

Arabs of El Gagie described, 85-6— make prisoners the crew
of the " Charles," and plunder the wreck, 31 — quit the
coast with their prisoners; their mode of travelling, 34 — pre-
datory expedition to Soudenny ; made prisoners by the Ne-
groes, and sent to Tombuctoo, 37-9.

Arabs of Barbary, and the Desert, description and character of,
186, etscqq. — their distinguishing occupations, 192.

Arrows, poisoned, used by the Negroes, 48, 103-104.

Ba Fing river, notices respecting it, 1 75*

Ba Lee river, notices respecting it, 175.

Ba Woolima river, notices respecting it, 176-177.

Bammakoo, too remote a point on the Niger for the destination

of European expeditions, 178.
Banks, Sir Joseph, examines Adams, xv.
Barbary, West, description of its classes of inhabitants, 181, et

seqq,
Barrow, John, Esq. examines Adams, xv.
Bathurst, Earl, examines Adams, xv.
Barry, Mr. of Teneriffe, confirms a circumstance in Adams's

story, 87.
Berrebbers, one of the three great classes of inhabitants of West

Barbary, description and character of them, 181-185.
Betoo, or Badoo, country of, noticed, 168-g.
Bold river, noticed, 176.
Bukharie trine of Moors, origin and description of it, 189.

Caravans, seasons of travelling of those of Barbary which trade
to Tombuctoo, and other parts of the Interiour, 116.

Cannibals, 110.

Canoes, description of those which navigate the La Mar Zarah,
43, 96.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, examines Adams, xv.

" Charles," the, American ship, names of her owner and crew,
50 — wrecked on the western coast of Africa, 31 — statement of
the fate of the crew, 141.

Christian captives, their inhuman treatment, 74, 75, 130 — their
deplorable condition, when rescued from the Arabs, 130 —
treated more cruelly than any other slaves, 131.

Cidi Mohammed Mousoul, sanctuary of, noticed, 80.

Cidi Mahomeda Moussa, great market held there annually, 80,
134

Courcoo, a singular animal described by Adams, 47 — his descrip-
tion apparently erroneous, 104.

D'Anville, cited, 96, 171.

196 INDEX.

Davison, one of the crew of the " Charles" renounces his
religion, 77 — escapes from Wed-Noon, and finally restored to
Christianity, 133.

Details, introductory, respecting Adams, ix.

Dibbie, Lake, the descriptions of it improbable, 160.

Dolbie, the mate of the " Charles," falls sick at Wed-Noon, and
put to death by his master, 77, 129.

Douar, its meaning, 85.

Dupuis, Mr., British Vice Consul at Mogadore, letter from him to
the Editor, corroborating Adams's statements, and containing
some curious particulars relating to his ransom, and appear-
ance and conduct on his arrival at Mogadore, vii-xxii —
his notes and observations on Adams's Narrative, 85, et seqq.
— his account of the different classes of the inhabitants of
"West Barbary, 181, et seqq.

El Gazie, Moors of, make prisoners the crew of the " Charles,"
31 — description of that Douar, 85.

El Kabla (see Hilla Gibla.)

Elephants, mode of hunting them by the people of Tombuctoo,
45-6 — great numbers of their teeth brought into Barbary, 100 —
observations on Adams's account of the elephant, 101-2.

Erriji, a tribe of Berrebbers, described, 182.

Faleme river, notices respecting it, 1 75.

Fatima, queen of Tombuctoo, her dress, 40-41 — her name no
proof of her being a Moorish, or Mohammedan woman, 91.

French renegade at El Gazie, his story, 32 — manufactures gun-
powder at Wed-Noon, 73.

Furkomah river, noticed, 176.

Gambia river, its course not so long nor so far south, as laid
down on the Maps, 1 74.

Genne (or Jinnie) its trade with Tombuctoo, 167.

Gollo (or Quallo,) account of a Negro nation of that name, 111.

Gordon, Major-General Sir Willoughby, examines Adams, hi*
opinion of his story, xv-xvi.

Goulburn, Henry, Esq. examines Adams, xv.

Gonvina, rock of, the Niger navigable westward nearly to that
point, 171.

Guns, double-barrelled, in common use among the Arabs of the
Desert, 94.

Gunpowder, manufactured at Wed-Noon by a French rene-
gade, 73.

Haoussa, merchants from that country frequent Lagos, in the
Bight of Benin ; information obtained from them respecting

INDEX. 197

the nature of the country through which they travel, xxvi-

xxvii.
Heirie, a species of camel, of great swiftness, 45 — the same

animal as that described by Leo Africanus under the name

ragnahil; and by Pennant under that of raguahl, 99.
Hieta Mouessa Alt (Aiata Mouessa Ali,) a large Douar in the
Desert, visited by Adams, 70.
Harrison, George, Esq. examines Adams, xv.
Hilla Gibla, (or El Kabla,) a Douar in the Desert, described, 66.
— some account of the Arab tribe of that place, 121.
Horses, none at Tombuctoo, 99.
Horton, John, master of the " Charles," his death among the

Moors, 33, 87.

Jinnie, its distance and bearing from Tombuctoo, 97. (See

Gennt.)
Joos, (Yos or Yadoos (Ayos) of D'Anville's Maps,) a powerful

Negro nation, xxvii.
Isha, the wife of the Governour of Hilla Gibla, intrigues with
Adams, 67-8.

Kancaba (Kaniaba of Rennell's Maps,) an extensive slave mar-
ket on the Niger, 172.

Kanno, curious relation made to Adams by a female slave from
that place, 74.

Kashna, notice respecting the distance between that place and
Houssa, in Major Rennell's Maps, 127.

Kong mountains, their general direction, 1 78.

Lahatnar river, mentioned by Marmol, as a branch of the Niger,
96.

La Mar Zarah, name of the river on which Tombuctoo stands ;
its size, navigation, and course, 43 — conjectures respecting
it, 95-6 — probably a branch of the Niger, 164.

Lagos, in the Bight of Benin, probability of Europeans being
able to proceed thence in the direction of the Niger, xxyi.

Lake Dibbie, (See Dibbie.)

Lakes of considerable extent intersect the countries between
Haoussa and the coast of the Bight of Benin, xxvi.

Leo Africanus, his account of Tombuctoo noticed, 156 — re-
marks on the discordances in the different versions of his
book, 158-9; 162-3.

Lords of the Treasury, order Adams a handsome gratuity, xv.

Matins, a Mandingo nation, noticed, 169.

Map, explanations respecting the construction of that which ac-
companies the Narrative, xxiv-v — errours noticed in the

198 INDEX.

construction of that prefixed to the account of Park's Last
Mission, 175-6 7.

Marmol, cited, 96.

Mauri of the Romans, the origin of the term Moors, 192.

Mcdainien, the Arab term for Moors, 193.

Mogadore, how first peopled, 190. •

" Montezuma," the, from Liverpool, wrecked on the coast of
Wadinoon; fate of her crew, 73, 126.

Moors, their predatory incursions in the Negro countries fre-
quent, 89. (See Arabs.)

Moors, classes of, their origin and character, 189, et seqq. —
their distinguishing occupations, 191 — origin of the term,
192.

Negro slave, curious history of one, 110-111.

Negro slaves, a great source of population in the towns of Bar-
bary, 191.

Negroes, description of those of Soudenny and Tombuctoo, 37-
38; 48, 52; 106, 109 — theii accounts of the interiourof Afri-
ca to be received with caution, 153 — characteristicks of those
of Soudan, 165.

Niger river, remarks respecting it, 162-164 — account of its
trade and navigation in 1 764, 1 67, et seqq. — its falls at Sootasoo,
168 — supposed to be navigable much further westward than
represented in the maps, 167 — its magnitude at Bammakoo
not reconcileable with the distance of that place from its
source, as given in the Maps, 173 — conjectures respecting
its sources, 178-9 — expediency and practicability of exploring
its remotest western navigation, 179.

Park, Mr., observations on some parts of his account of his se-
cond mission, 127 — remarks on some passages in his account
of his first mission, 148-153 ; 172-179.

Peddie, Major, the examination of Adams undertaken in the
hope of its result proving of use to that officer in his expedi-
tion to Africa, xx.

Poisonous preparation of the Negroes in which they dip their ar-
rows, 48, 103.

Quarterly Review cited, xxviii.

Rapids in the Niger at Bammakoo, conjectures respecting them,
172.

Remarks on Adams's Narrative, 167, et seqq.— on various passa-
gesinMr. Park's Travels, 128, 148-153; 172-179.

Reuegade, French, at El Gazie and Wed-Noon, 32, 87.

Rennell, Major, notice respecting his estimate of distance be-
tween Kashna and Houssa, 127 — his correction of an erroiu

INDEX. 199

in Leo Africanus, 164 — appears to have obtained more
extensive geographical details from Mr. Park, than what
are given in his Travels, 172 — probable errour in his Maps,
respecting the sources of the Senegal, 176.

Rivers, notices respecting those mentioned by Mr. Park in his
Travels, 175-7.

Romi, the term in Barbary for Europeans in general, 1 93.

Rose, Benjamin, xxi. (See Adams.)

Senegal, information obtained by the Governour of that settle-
ment, in 1764, respecting Tombuctoo, and the navigation of
the Niger, 1 67, et seqq.

Senegal river, probable errour respecting its sources, 1 73-7.

Shilluh, tribe of, 134 — described, 183 — singular instance of their
implacable hatred, and revengeful spirit, 184. (See Berrebbers.)

Shipwrecks, why frequent on the western Coast of Africa, 85
— proceedings of the Moors when they happen there, 86 —
usual fate of the crews of the ships, 87.

Simpson, Mr., Consul General of the United States at Tangier,
Adams's history communicated to him by Mr. Dupuis, xx.

Soosos of D'Anville, noticed, 171.

Sootasoo, falls of, on the Niger, 168— probably the rapids mention-
ed by Mr. Park, in his " Second Mission," 171.

Soudenny, route thither across the Desert, 36 — description of its
inhabitants, 37 — rout thence to Tombuctoo, 38 — probable
situation, 89-90.

Stevens, a Portuguese ; accompanies Adams in an expedition with
the Moors, 35-6.

Sucrra, the Moorish name of Mogadore 35.

Tavdeny, (or Tudenny) a Moorish and Negro village, on the
borders of the Desert, 60 — account of the salt pits there, 60
— its trade in that article, 1 19

Tombuctoo, or Timbuctoo, its situation and extent, 43 — ani-
mal, vegetable, and mineral productions of the surrounding
country, 43-6 — observations on Adams's description of these,
96-7 — dress, manners and customs of the natives, 48-52;
106,109 — musical instruments, 52 — population of Tombuctoo,
53 — slaves, 54 — articles of commerce, 55, 112 — climate, 56
— list of native words, 57 — information respecting Tombuc-
too, by Mr. Dupuis, 91-4, et seqq. — its trade with Barbary de-
clined of late years, 112-13; 158 — occupied at an early period
by the troops of the Emperours of Morocco, 154 — conjec-
tures respecting the stream on which Adams describes it to
stand, 161, 164— information respecting its trade in 1764, 167,

200 INDEX.

Wadinoon (or Wed-Noori) described, 72 — cruel treatment of the
Christian slaves at that place, 74-5 ; 130 — singular instance
of bigotry and self-interest in regard to an English captive
there, 132.

Wed-Noon. (See Wadinoon.)

White men, curious relation respecting some seen at a place
called Kamio, 74.

Williams, one of the crew of the " Charles," renounces his re-
ligion, 77 — escapes from Wed-Noon and finally restored to
Christianity, 133.

WoollO) King of Tombuctoo, treats Adams kindly, 40 — his
dress, 40 — conjectures respecting him, 91.

Vied Diileim, (or Woled DHcim) a Douar in the Desert, account of
it, 62 — description of the Arabs of that place, 119.

Villa de Bousbach, (or Woled Aboussebah) a Douar of that name
in the Desert, 68 — account of this tribe of Arabs, 122-3.

Villa Adrialla, (Woled Adrialla) another Douar, 69.

Yea, (or Issa) the name given to the Niger by Marmol, and
adopted by D'Anville, 96.

Zaire river, xxviii.

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Price in boards, 75 cents. Stitched in blue paper, 62 1-2 cents.

SERMONS on the CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, as received
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I. Of the Christian Doctrine, as held by all Christians.
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any philosophy hath been able to devise or deliver. Dr. Barrow.

A DICTIONARY OF THE HOLY BIBLE. Containing,
I An Historical account of the Persons ; a Geographical and Historical account of
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DISCOURSES TO YOUNG PERSONS, by the late Rev.
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A GENERAL VIEW of the DOCTRINES of CHRIS,
TIANITY.

" A general View of the Doctrines of Christianity."— Compiled principally from that celebrat-
ed work of Robert Fellows, of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford, entitled " Religion without Cunt," of
which this is a judicious abridgment, improved also by large additions from various other authors.
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and scriptural notions of the doctrines of Christianity as cannot fail to gratify and instruct every
serious inquirer after the truth. Price 62 1-2 cents in boards, neatly bound 75 cents.
Extract from the Preface.

" CJpoa these subjects, (the Doctrines of Christianity) notions, dark and confused, are often en-
tertained ; and men frequently receive and speak of them, without appearing themselves prec sely
to comprehend their import.— The object of this little volume, it is trusted, is to exhibit such
scriptural, evangelical, and at the same time clear and rational ideas of them, that they may distinctly
Understand what they fully believe. It has been compiled with a sincere desire to promote the
cause of true Christianity, faith and knowledge, piety and comfort, and nothing but what it is con-
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son and conscience of men, is offered. Wishing religion to appear as it really is, man's reasonable
service, and not to teach for doctrines the commandments of men, we take the word of God only
for our gaide."

As this work is designed more particularly for the use and edification of families, it is recommend-
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The subjects treated of in the above volume are general observations upon the nature of religion,
and the mistakes that occur on that subject ; free agency and accountability of men ; the fail of
Adam ; original sin, &c. ; doctrines of faith in general, and religious faith in particular ; of work*
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vations on the second commandment, and on the Sin against the Holy Ghost.

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FITSOSBORNE'S LETTERS, on several subjects. By
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ELEMENTS of the PHILOSOPHY of the HUMAN MINI).
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The only uniform, elegant, and accurate edition of this celebrated Work, which has been printed
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The fear of God begins with the Heart, and purifies and rectifies it : and from the Heart, thus
rectified, grows a conformity in the Life, the Words and the Actions.

Sir Matthew Hale's Contemplations.

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LETTERS CONCERNING THE DISEASES OF THE
URETHRA. By CHARLES BELL. Price $1 50 boards.

^ Verisimile est autem, id a quoque praetsrmissum quod ipse non cognoverat : a nullo id quod noa
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JUVENILE TRIALS for Robbing Orchards, Telling Fibs,
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Children, like tender Oziers take the Bow,
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MEMOTRS of the WAR of the FRENCH TN SPAIN. By
M. DE ROCCA, an Officer of Hussars, and Knight of the Order of the Legion of
Honour. Translated from the French, by MARIA GRAHAM, Author of " Jour-
nal of a Residence in India," &c. From the second London edition. Price $1
boards.

Extract from the Edinburgh Review, No. XXV, for June— Oct. 1815.

"For the purpose oi bringing under the consiuerai ton of our reaciei> an interesting portion of
recent history, we have selected the present performance, which contains an account of the inya-
lioti of Spain by the French armies, and a general view of the causes, which, notwithstanding
a continued series of reverses, still gave energy to the Spanish cause. The author, M. de Rncca,
had a command in a regiment of French hussars, and a place in the Legion of Honour. He enter-
ed Spain in the year 1803, along with the troops sent to reinforce the French armies, which wero
at that:time encamped on the Kbro, under the command of Joseph ; and, except during a short
interval in the year 1809, when he was sent against tiie English at Walcheren, he continued in
Spain until the summer of 1810, when he was severely wounded in an encounter with a party of
Spanish guerrillas. He relates chiefly what tame under his own personal notice, and, as he seems
to be an acute and discriminating observer, his remarks, which are always lively, are frequently
judicious and striking. In his account of the campaign, he certainly maintains a tone of great
impartiality praising or blaming indifferently the plans and movements of the contending armies,
while his narrative of military events is enlivened with some interesting sketches of Spanish man-
ners, and with an amusing account of his own personal adventures.

"The work concludes with a very brief and perspicuous account of the campaign in Portugal,
which took place after our author had quitted Spain, and which he justly terms the chef
d'oeuvre of a defence at once national and military "

From the Monthly Review.

" "We have made large extracts from tins puolieation, under a persuasion of the accuracy and
fidelity of the writer."

POETICAL CHRONOLOGY of ANCIENT and ENGLISH
HISTORY, with Historical and Explanatory Notes. By ROBERT VAL-
PY, D.D. F.A.S. With additions and improvements.

Non in notiti3 vel rerum, vel temporum, satis opera? insumitur... tacit, dial, de orato. xxxix.
To which is added, AMERICAN CHRONOLOGY, from the discovery
by Columbus to the establishment of the Federal Constitution. Price
62 1-2 cents bound.

PREFACE.

The necessity of an early acquaintance with History has been always acknowledged. It is
generally confessed, that without a proportionate knowledge of Geography and Chronology, Histo-
ry cannot make a lasting impression on the memory. The satisfaction of beholding the face of the
earth, of tracing the march of an army, the progress of an empire, or even the tour of a traveller,
insensibly leads the inquisitive minds of youth to a competent knowledge of Geography. Less
attractive is the study of Chronology. A list of dates is far from leaving that agreeable impression
on the memory, which is the result of the attractive survey of a map or chart. What is indis-
tinctly remembered, ceases to engage delight j and what is no longer interesting, is soon totally
forgotten.

Those who rank History among the principal branches of a classical education, have long been
sensible of this difficulty. Various plaus have been proposed, and systems adopted, io order to,
clear the path of Chronology of its intricacies and impediments. — Of these plans, the most successful,
was that of Dr. Valpy, who has done much to smooth xhe difficulties in the attainment of classi-
cal learning. He conceived, that if the knowledge of dates, which is happily connected with that of
facts, could be reduced to a poetical form, in a series of English verses, which might be easily learnt
on account of their simplicity, and remembered without disgust, a benefit of some importance
would be conferred on the rising age. He found his path fortunately traced, and his labour con-
siderably diminished, by a work of the celebrated Lowth, Bishop of Loudon. Upon this ground-
work he proceeded, and gave the publick a small volume, which passed through seven editions in a
short time

The present is an attempt to enlarge and extend the usefulness of Dr. Valpy's Chronology. Seve
ral additional articles are given in the reign of George III, including th^ most important events to
the year 1815:— and an entire series is added, of American Chronology, from the discovery of
Columbus, to the establishment of the Federal Constitution.

It is obvious, that great and leading events only could be noticed in a work of this nature, whose
object is to assist, and not to overload the memory.

The editors hope that the additional stanzas wttl be found not inferiour to those of the original
in comprehensiveness or harmony of diction and will be gratified if they can furnish to our school*.
and academies a cheap book, on a neglected branch of education, in any degree calculated to open the;
understanding of the young, and enlarge the stock of useful knowledge.

6

FEMALE SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS ; exemplifying
FEMALE VIRTUES. By the Author of the " Beneficial effects of the Christian
Temper on Doraestick Happiness." From the third London Edition. Price $ I
12 1-2 cents.

This book contains the Lives of Eve.. ..Sarah. ...Rebekah.... Thermusis, Pharaoh's Daughter...'

Ruth ....Hannah Queen of Sheba.... Jezebel. ...Esther.. ..Judith Susannah.. ..The Mother, and

her seven Sons.. ..The Virgin Mary.. ..Elizabeth and Anne.. ..Martha and Mary.. ..Dorcas.

JANE OF FRANCE, an Historical Novel. By MADAME
I)E GENLIS. Translated from the French. In two Volumes. Price $1 boards.

" This tale is, perhaps, one of the most beautiful and instructive of the kind that
has ever been written.*1 — Lit. Reg.

Extract from the Preface.

This Historical Romance presents a picture, which has never before been offered to the publick
eye. In pourtraying a heroine disgraced by nature, and describing the afflictions attendant on
a legitimate but hopeless attachment, a passion which even virtue itself could not overpower
— it has been my object to oppose moral and physical beauty.

There is something ideal in physical beauty, because it cannot be quite perfect without an
assemblage of a host of circumstances, which it is impossible to find united in one object. The most
lovely creature will always have some little defect, either in countenance or person. But there is
nothing ideal in moral beauty. It is not necessary that a thousand things should combine to com-
plete it, for truly enlightened piety alone has often produced it. What imagination will ever be
able, in the best work of fiction, to create characters more perfect than those of Saint Louis and
Vincent de Paule p How can actions be invented, more heroically affecting than those which
have immortalized their memory ?

The heroes of this work are not saints. I have not disguised the weakness of Louis, but have
presented him, as well as Jane, in the light that History displays them. I have, however, at
tempted to describe the goodness of heart, the greatness of soul, and the perfection of senti-
ment, which characterized the latter.

1 trust that the reader, who possesses generous feelings, will like the subject of this romance,
which at least resembles no other. It has already obtained the approbation of several persons
who have perused it in manuscript, and whose good opinion I most highly value. 1 produce
it, therefore, under happy auspices, for even before its appearance, it has procured me a degree
of satisfaction, which is a thousand times preferable to any that the vanity of an author can desire.

ESSAYS IN RHYME, ON MORALS AND MANNERS.
By JANE TAYLOR, Author of • Display ; a Tale.' And one of the Authors of
* Original Poems for Infant Minds,' « Hymns for Infant Minds,' &c. Price 75
cents, half bound.

INFLUENCE OF LITERATURE upon SOCIETY. Trans-
lated from the French of MADAME DE STAEL-HOLSTEIN. To which is pre-
fixed, a Memoir of the Life and writings of the Author. In two vols. From the
second London edition. Price $2 boards,

THE PARENT'S ASSISTANT ; or STORIES FOR
CHILDREN. In three volumes. By MARIA EDGEWORTH, Author of Prac-
tical Education, and Letters for Literary Ladies. Price $3 00, bound.

AN APPEAL to the Serious and Candid PROFESSORS of

CHRISTIANITY, on the following subjects, viz.

I. The Use of Reason in Matters of Religion.

II. The Power of Man to do the Will of God.

III. Original Sin.

IV. Election and Reprobation.

V. The Divinity of Christ. And,

VI. Atonement for Sin by the Death of Christ.

By JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, L.L.D. F.R.S. &c. To which are added, a concise
History of the Rise of those Doctrines ; and an account of the Trial of Mr, El-
wall, for Heresy and Blasphemy, at Strafford Assizes. Price 20 cents.
To us there is one God, the father ,* and one Mediator, the man christ jesus.

1 Cor. viii. 6.—1 Tim. ii. 5.

7

A LETTER OF ADVICE TO HIS GRANDCHILDREN,

Matthew, Gabriel, Anne, Mary, and Frances Hale. By SIR MAT-
THEW HALE, Lord Chief Justice in the reign of Charles II. Price
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CONTENTS.

Introduction. — Chapters : 1 Danger of the Times in relation to Religion — 2
Dangers incident to your Age — 3 Dangers that arise to you from your Condition
and Relations — 4 Dangers that may arise from your Constitution and Complexion
— 5 Religion in general — 6 The Christian Religion — 7 Directions concerning
Prayer — 8 Reading of the Scriptures, &c. — 9 Observation of the Lord's Day — 16
Ordinary religious Conversation- — 11 On the Sacrament — 12 Moral and civil Con-
versations and Actions — 13 Moderation of the Passions — 14 Idleness and Employ-
ment— 15 Ordinary Employments — 16 Employment of young gentlewomen — 17
Company, and the Choice of it — 18 Recreations — 19 Eating, Drinking, and Sleep-
ing— 20 Apparel and Habit — 21 Carriage to your Inferiours, Superiours, and Equals
— 22 SingleiLife and Marriage.

WAVERLY, OR, 'TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE In 2 vols.
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RHODA. A Novel, in 2 vols. By the Author of « Things
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" We have seldom," observe the critical reviewers, " had an opportunity of noticing a novel
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possessions, from being the allies of vanity, irresolution, and frivolity."

DISCIPLINE. By the Author of " Self Controul." In 2 vols.
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The use and end cf this Work I do not so much design for curiosity, or satisfaction of those that
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TALES OF FANCY. By S. H. BURNEY. Author of

* Clarentine,' ' Geraldine Fauconberg,' and * Traits of Nature.' — Containing
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ST. VALENTINE'S EVE. A Novel. By Mrs. OPIE. In

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ANSTER FAIR, a Poem in six Cantos, with other Poems.
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THE POET'S PILGRIMAGE TO WATERLOO, by RO-
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CHRIST ABEL.— KublaKhan, a vision.— The Pains of Sleep.
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THE STORY OF RIMINI, A POEM, By LEIGH HUNT.
LARA, a Tale. JAQUELINE, a Tale. Price 40 cents.

li

8

PARTS REVISITED in 1815, by way of Brussels : including; a
walk over the Field of Battle at Waterloo. By JOHN SCOTT, Author of a
visit to Paris in 1814; and Editor of the Champion, a London weekly Journal.

Price $1 boards.

Extract from the Work.

" The political institutions of society are, at least, as far from having reached perfection, as
the arts and sciences ; and if change and experiment are not so practicable in the former as ia
the latter, yet, in proportion as it is mischievous to tamper with them hut when the occasion is
clear, the'opportunity striking, and the call urgent, it is dangerous and guilty to withstand those
great" invitations which at intervals summon mankind to improve their coudition. It would be
stupidly base to set down all those disturbances that have of late years agitated Europe, to a wilful
and unfounded temper of popular insubordination; the convulsion can only fairly be considered
as a natural working, accompanied with painful arid diseased symptoms, but occasioned by the
growth of men's minds beyond the institutions that had their origin in a very inferiour state of
information. Nor should England consider herself out of the need of advancing herself further, .
because she is already advanced beyond her neighbours ; on the contrary, her sti ;ngth and wis-
dom lies in maintaining her wouted prerogative of being the first to move forward 1 a safe road,
of first catching the briglu prospect of further attainments, and securing for herse '. in the inde-
pendence and fortitude of her judgment, what others tardily copy from her prac* e. The vigo-
rous habits of action and thought which her rulers have found so valuable in the e struggle lor,
national fame and pre-eminence, are only to be preserved, as they were engeudeied,— namely,—
by admitting popular opinion to busy itself with the internal affairs of the country, to exercise
itself freely on the character of its political establishments, to grapple on even ground with
professional and official prejudices and pre-possessions, and finally, to knock every thing down
that does not stand firm in its own moral strength. This is England's duty to herself j and, to
the world at large, she owes an equally sacred one ; viz. so to regulate the application of ner
influence and power, that it shall oppose no tendency to good ; that it shall never be available
io evil and bigoted designs masking themselves under canting professions j but ju tify those loud I
and confident calls which she has every where addressed to generous hearts and fin ; spirits."

READINGS ON POETRY. By Richard Lovjll Edge-
worth and Maria Edgeworth. Price 75 cts. half bound.

Vol. Ill of COVYPER'S POEMS, containing his Posthumous
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Rector of Yaxham with Wei bourne, in Norfolk. Price $1.

His virtues forni'd the inagick of his song.— Co7vperys Epitaph.

JUST PUBLISHED,
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SANCIIO, OR THE PROVERBIALIST. Bv J. W. CUN-
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THE NABRATIVEOF ROBERT ADAMS, AN AMERI-
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resided several months in the city of TOMBUCTOO. With a M IP, Notes, and
an Appendix.

IN PRESS,
A GENERAL VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF MET A-

PHYSICAL, ETHICAL, AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, ince the revival
of Letters in Europe. By DUGALD STEWART, Esq p. r. ss. Lond. & F.din.
Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg ;
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ciety held at Philadelphia ; formerly professor of Moral Philosophy in the Univer-
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A VOLUME OF POEMS. By HANNAH MORE.

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