DOCUMENTS AND MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS.
We shall place at the close of our remarks several papers which
the reader will perhaps be well pleased to peruse. In 1824,
the Geographical Society published a _programme_ of a premium to
be decreed to the first French, or foreign, traveller who should
arrive at Timbuctoo by the way of Senegambia. It is known that this
_programme_ was distributed throughout Europe and in Africa, and
that it powerfully influenced the efforts or the projects of many
travellers, and especially the resolution adopted by M. Caillié. We
shall give this _programme_ as published; and afterwards, the report
made to the same Society by the committee which it appointed four
years afterwards to judge of the merit of the discoveries made by
the French traveller. These two papers will be followed by extracts
from the correspondence relative to his return to Europe.
SOCIETY OF GEOGRAPHY 1824.
_Premium for a Journey to Timbuctoo and the Interior of Africa._
The fortunate attempt of the English travellers who penetrated into
Central Africa in 1823 has lately attracted the attention of Europe
towards the interior of that continent, which now divides public
curiosity equally with the polar regions, the centre of Asia, and
the new countries of Australia. It was natural that the Society
of Geography should direct its attention to this quarter also,
pointing out as preferable the route already attempted by Mungo Park,
and which touches upon the French establishments in the Senegal;
with it therefore originated the idea of a subscription for the
encouragement of travels to Timbuctoo. It proposes to offer a premium
to any traveller who shall be fortunate enough to surmount all the
perils incident to this enterprise, and who shall at the same time
obtain some certain information and positive results respecting the
geography, the productions, and the commerce of that country and
the regions lying to the east of it. France was the first country
of Europe which formed permanent establishments on the Senegal,
and her honour is interested in assisting those travellers who seek
to penetrate into the interior of Africa, by the route approaching
nearest to her settlements. Such an enterprise, if successful would
not be without profit to our commercial industry; and, considering
it with respect to the sciences, what an inexhaustible source of
discovery would it not open to natural history, natural philosophy,
climatology, physical geography, and mathematics! What an immense
field for a knowledge of the races of mankind, for the history of
the civilization of nations, for that of their language, of their
manners, and of their religious opinions!
The intention of the donors is not precisely to propose a prize for
competition; the lure of a sum of money could not be offered for
an attempt which might be attended with the loss of life: but they
hold in reserve a just and honourable indemnity for him who shall
happily overcome all the obstacles, to which so many others have,
up to the present time, succumbed.
As the judge and dispenser of this recompense, the Society of
Geography will duly appreciate the merit, the courage, and the
devotedness, of travellers, as well as the real services they
may have rendered to science. It does not expect from a single
individual all the results which would require the concurrence of
several observers and many years peaceable residence in the country;
but it demands precise information, such as may be expected from
a man provided with instruments, and who is no stranger either to
natural or mathematical science. At the present moment several
travellers, both French and English, are proceeding towards the
banks of the Dhioliba, and the Society has reason to hope that the
encouragements held out by it will not prove unprofitable.
At the meeting of the Central Committee of the 3rd of December 1824,
an anonymous donor, a member of the Society, presented a thousand
francs, to be offered as a reward to the first traveller who shall
have penetrated as far as Timbuctoo by the way of the Senegal,
and fulfilled the following conditions pointed out in the minutes
of the said meeting: “To furnish 1st., some positive and exact
observations upon the situation of this city, the course of the
rivers which run in the neighbourhood, and the commerce of which it
is the centre; 2ndly, the most satisfactory and precise information
respecting the country comprised between Timbuctoo and the lake
Tsad, as well as concerning the direction and the height of the
mountains which form the bason of the Soudan.” Immediately upon
being made acquainted with this offer, Count Orloff, Senator of
Russia, consented that the donation of a thousand francs, which he
had made of the sum at the general meeting of the 26th of November
1824, for the encouragement of geographical discoveries, should be
applied to the same purpose.
On being informed of the object of these donations, his Excellency
the Count Chabrol de Crousol subscribed, on the 15th of December
following, the sum of two thousand francs, in the name of the
Ministry of the Marine, for the same undertaking; by his letter,
dated the 22nd of January last, his Excellency the Baron de Damas
subscribed also, in the name of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
the sum of two thousand francs; and by another letter dated the
19th of March his Excellency the Count de. Corbière subscribed,
in the name of the Ministry of the interior the sum of one thousand
francs. Many other subscriptions have been received or announced
for the same object.
The Society of Geography, charged by the donors to decree the
reward, and wishing to take a direct part in the encouragement of
so important a discovery, has resolved moreover to offer a gold
medal of the value of _two thousand francs_ to the traveller who,
independently of the conditions already declared, shall have
satisfied, as far as possible those which are explained below.
The Society demands a manuscript narrative, with a geographical map,
founded upon celestial observations. The author shall endeavour to
study the country with reference to the principal points of its
physical geography. He shall observe the nature of the soil, the
depth of the wells, their temperature and that of their sources, the
width and the rapidity of the rivers, the colour and the clearness
of their waters, and the productions of the countries which they
irrigate. He shall make remarks upon the climate, and determine
in various places, if possible, the declination and inclination
of the magnetic needle. He shall strive to observe the different
breeds of animals, and to make some collections in natural history,
such as fossils, shells, and plants.
When he shall have arrived at Timbuctoo, if he cannot go further,
he shall acquaint himself with the routes leading to Kachnah,
Haoussa, Bournou, and lake Tsaad, to Walet, Tischit, and even the
coast of Guinea. He shall collect the most accurate itineraries he
can procure, and consult the best informed inhabitants upon that
part of the course of the Dhioliba which he cannot see for himself.
In observing the people, he shall take care to examine their manners,
ceremonies, customs, weapons, laws, religion, food, diseases,
the colour of their skin, the form of their face, the nature of
their hair, and also the different articles of their commerce. It
is desirable that he should form vocabularies of their idioms,
compared with the French language; finally, that he should make
drawings of the details of their habitations, and take plans of
the towns wherever it is possible to do so.
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE
M. CAILLIÉ’S TRAVELS TO TIMBUCTOO AND IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA.
GENTLEMEN,
You have appointed a committee, consisting of Messrs. Eyriés,
Cadet de Metz, Amédée Jaubert, Larenaudière, Baron Roger, and
myself, to ascertain the facts resulting from the travels of M.
Auguste Caillié in the interior of Africa. This committee has
assembled, and I am charged by it to make you the following report.
Our first care was to satisfy ourselves on the points of the
traveller’s departure, the routes which he had followed, and the
countries and places which he had visited. Interrogated on these
various questions, and on all the circumstances of his travels, he
replied in the clearest and most satisfactory manner. The committee
is struck with the tone of simplicity and sincerity which reigns
throughout his narrative, and which will not admit a doubt of the
reality and authenticity of his different excursions; namely the
crossing of the Dhioliba, his route to the east of the districts
of Soulimana and Kissi, his navigation on the great river, his
residence at Timbuctoo, and his journey across the great desert
to the empire of Morocco. Baron Roger had positive information of
his departure from St. Louis, and of his arrival the following
year at Kakondy, whence he sent intelligence to the Senegal of
his departure for the interior. Thus the point of his departure
is proved: it is the same with the point of his arrival, since he
was received, almost immediately on issuing from the desert, by our
colleague M. Delaporte, vice-consul-general at Tangier. With regard
to Timbuctoo, besides the very circumstantial details related by
our traveller, and the sketches which he took during his stay, we
have a guarantee of another kind in his account of the catastrophe
of the unfortunate Major Laing, who had reached this city in 1826.
Notwithstanding the variety of rumours relative to this melancholy
event, M. Caillié’s story agrees with that of a Moor who arrived
at Saint-Louis in March last, coming from Timbuctoo, and who saw
amongst the Touariks the books which had belonged to the Major.
Moreover, our countryman resided in a neighbouring house to that
which had been occupied by the English traveller, and there obtained
exact information, the source of which seems to be incontestable.
The committee is enabled to add further reasons for confidence to
the preceding. During the earlier part of his travels, that is,
while advancing eastward across the mountains of Fouta-Dhialon, he
passed between the towns of Timbo and Labey, and consequently must
have intersected the route followed in 1818 by our colleague M.
Mollien. Now, such is his description of the mountains, the
villages, the aspect of the country, and all the localities, that
M. Mollien perfectly recognised them in the picture drawn of them by
M. Caillié. These two travellers then mutually confirm each other;
and the result, by the way, is not unimportant to geography.
Our countryman has with so much attention and perseverance recorded
his routes, their direction, and the hours of march, that one
of our associates has found it easy to form, from his journal, a
continued and complete itinerary from Kakondy to the port of Rabat,
in the states of Morocco, in which the nature and various accidents
of the soil are indicated, such as the mountains, plains, ravines,
and forests, the villages and all inhabited places, the rivulets,
lakes, and morasses, the torrents, cataracts, fords, wells, and every
thing relating both to the running and stagnant waters. Such minute
details complete our confidence in the genuineness of this narrative.
We will add that, having interrogated him as to the manner in
which he made himself understood by the inhabitants, he told
us it was principally through the medium of the Moorish-Arabic,
spoken in Senegal, and which he had enjoyed the opportunity of
learning in that country ever since 1816. And he replied in fact
in this dialect to the questions proposed to him by the committee;
he moreover pronounced several words in Mandingo, in a manner
conformable to the existing vocabularies.
We were sensible, gentlemen, that it was our duty to lay before you
all these consideration, and to insist upon them. It now remains
for us to make known some of the results obtained, in order that
the Society may appreciate the acquisitions that have accrued to
science. We are not at liberty here to enter into minute detail;
that would be anticipating the publication. A general retrospect
is all that the committee consider themselves called upon to offer
at present to the public curiosity.
The travels of M. Caillié are connected, in a manner the most
useful for perfecting and confirming our geographical knowledge,
with those of Watt and Winterbottom to Timbo, in 1794; of Major
Laing in the countries of Kouranko and Soulimana, in 1822; of M.
Mollien in Fouta-Dhialon, in 1818; of Mungo Park to the Dhioliba,
in 1795 and 1805, of Dochard to Yamina and Bamakou, in 1819;
and lastly with the itineraries of the caravans, travelling from
Timbuctoo to Tafilet.
No doubts can now remain of the very elevated sources of the Bafing,
the principal tributary of the Senegal. Setting out on the 19th of
April 1827 from Kakondy, the tomb of Majors Peddie and Campbell,
M. Caillié crossed this river at Bafila; he crossed also the
main stream of the Dhioliba at a point which very naturally
connects itself with the situation assigned by Major Laing to
its source. Thence he proceeded to Kankan, a large town in the
district so named, enriched by the gold mines of Bourré, and after
some residence there, he continued his journey two hundred miles
farther east, beyond Soulimana, to the village of Timé, where
he arrived on the 3rd of August. He had till then accompanied a
caravan of Mandingo merchants, travelling on foot. In this village,
he was detained by sickness for five whole months, and attacked by
a scorbutic affection, which for a long time endangered his life,
and which was induced by the intemperance of the climate and by the
violent fatigue he had undergone in traversing the steep mountains
of Fouta-Dhialon. This great chain appears to be composed of several
stages, and full of torrents and precipices. In this interesting
portion of his route, he carefully collected intelligence of the
situation of Bamakou, and of its intercourse with the Senegambia,
which, it is hoped, will not prove unprofitable.
At Timé commenced another journey northwards; this is the second
part of the travels. M. Caillié wished to return to the Dhioliba;
he set out on the 9th of January, 1829, and after having seen or
passed through more than a hundred villages, and acquainted himself
pretty accurately with the situation of Sego, he again saw the river
on the 10th of March, at Galia, flowing from the west, and crossed
an arm of it to repair to Djenné. All this part is entirely new,
as well as the route from the environs of Timbo to Timé.
The third part of the travels is on the great river; M. Caillié
embarked on it on the 23rd of March, after a residence of thirteen
days at Jenné. He ascended it in a large boat, forming part of a
flotilla of merchant vessels.
It was the season of low water: in some places the river is a mile
in width, and in others much narrower; its depth and rapidity are
variable. He noted and described, as he went along, the branches
and islands, and especially lake Debo (the same which is known and
designed upon the maps under the name of Dibbie, but misplaced),
and he furnishes particulars, as certain as they are new, concerning
the whole course of the stream.
At length he arrived at Cabra, the port of Timbuctoo, on the
19th of April, and the next day entered the town. After he had
taken sketches of the dwellings and other edifices of this city,
remarked every thing worthy of observation, and acquainted himself
with the course of the neighbouring waters, he joined a caravan
setting out for Morocco. On the 4th of May he commenced his journey,
with eight hundred camels, loaded with all sorts of merchandise
from the interior, and in six days arrived at el-Araouan: there the
caravan was increased by six hundred camels, and in eight days more
it reached the wells of Télig. All the wells, whether of sweet
or brackish water, and all the stations, are carefully noted by
M. Caillié, in this journey across the great desert. The season
of the burning east winds aggravated the toils and privations
of this painful journey. On the 19th of May he left el-Araouan,
and it was not till the 29th of June that he reached el-Harib,
where the caravan split into several divisions, and on the 23rd
of July he entered Tafilet. He rested at length, on the 12th
of August, in the very spot where, in the fourteenth century,
Ben-Batouta cast away the pilgrim’s staff, in the city of Fez;
he afterwards continued his route with a guide, reached the sea,
and on the 17th of the same month, September, arrived at Tangier,
where the Consul of France received him, provided for his safety,
and succeeded in preserving him from the dangers which he would
have incurred, had he been recognized through his disguise.
M. Caillié had provided himself, before his departure, with two
compasses, which he used during his travels, and by their aid he
was enabled to mark the directions of his route. However imperfect
such a method may be, in comparison with geometrical operations and
astronomical observations, we must yet congratulate ourselves on
having obtained a tracing of the route, and the information of an
eye-witness respecting countries, of which we previously possessed
only Arab itineraries, reckoned by days’ journeys, and for the
most part contradictory, vague, and confused. A further proof that
he has correctly noted the length of his journeys is, that they
perfectly correspond with those distances of places in the empire
of Morocco which are the most accurately known.
The success of M. Caillié’s enterprize is the more worthy of
interest for having been accomplished solely by his own resources,
without either participation or assistance from any one. He
sacrificed every thing he possessed to supply his wants on these
travels. He has achieved every thing possible, and more than could
have been hoped for with such resources, and he has the satisfaction
of having completely succeeded.
If such services are calculated to ensure to M. Caillié the favour
of the public and of the government, how powerfully ought they to
excite the interest and gratitude of the Geographical Society! It
was by the Society’s _programme_, published in 1824, that he was
finally determined to penetrate into the interior of an unknown
continent. One of our members, being then resident in Senegal, and
finding that he had been for several years animated by a passion
for travels, communicated to him a copy of this _programme_; during
the three succeeding years M. Caillié incessantly exerted every
possible effort, till he had discovered the means of accomplishing
his adventurous design. This is attested by a witness most worthy
of credit, our colleague Baron Roger, at that time governor of
Senegal. During this period M. Caillié quitted Saint Louis, visited
several neighbouring districts, and then fixed on the Rio-Nuñez as
the point for his departure; at Kakondy he was fortunate enough to
meet with a caravan setting out for the interior, and he skilfully
seized the favourable opportunity.
The _programme_ published by the Society in 1824 consists of two
parts. The first principally requires accurate particulars respecting
Timbuctoo, and the rivers near it, with notices of the eastern
countries. M. Caillié has performed most of these conditions. The
second part, for which the Society offered a special prize, exacted,
is true, astronomical observations; but it is questionable, whether
any one penetrating for the first time into this country, even
if provided with the necessary instruments, could possibly fulfil
conditions so difficult and dangerous. Who is there but is acquainted
with the savage jealousy which the Moors and all those in possession
of the commerce of this part of Africa, have from the earliest ages
conceived against Europeans; the resistance experienced by Belzoni,
when he attempted to pursue this direction; the tragic end of Antonio
Piloti, and the sad termination of Major Laing’s enterprise?
A. Caillié penetrated as far as Timbuctoo; he went thither by way
of Senegambia, as required by the Society. If he has not executed
all that it was desirable to have accomplished, he has, on the
other hand, made many new and valuable observations, which were not
required, upon Fouta-Dhialon, the eastern districts, and the upper
part of the course of the Dhioliba; he navigated the river for a
month; gleaned intelligence respecting the mines of Bourré, and
made other researches that were not required; all which constitutes
a sort of equivalent. The discovery of these countries, and the
description given of the regions of Baleya, Kankan, and Ouassoulo,
are so great an acquisition to geography, that, had he even failed
to reach Timbuctoo, he would have deserved a signal recompense. He
has the additional merit of having collected a vocabulary of the
Mandingo language, and another of the Kissour, spoken at Timbuctoo
concurrently with the Moorish, as well as of having taken notes of
what relates to the customs, ceremonies, productions, and commerce,
of the several countries. On the other hand, our _programme_ contains
conditions which have been partly fulfilled, since its publication,
by the celebrated English travellers, Oudney, Clapperton, and Denham;
namely, those which relate to the districts east and E. S. E. of
Timbuctoo: we had, therefore, no longer the same motives for
requiring their accomplishment.
In awarding, therefore, to M. Caillié the recompense promised to any
one who should reach the city of Timbuctoo, and furnish a description
of it, the Society will satisfy the general expectation, and be
assured of possessing accurate information concerning countries
nearly or wholly unknown; it will grant its honourable suffrage to
a man who speaks of them, not upon hearsay, but upon the evidence
of his own eyes; who, in his simple and unaffected narrative,
relates, without any exaggeration, what he has observed, and does
not endeavour to excite attention by extraordinary adventures. This
is precisely the kind of interest which the Geographical Society
attaches to discoveries—that of truth.
It is no small achievement for a man to have broken through the
species of enchantment, with which every European appears to have
been struck on reaching the mysterious point of the Dhioliba. It is
now certain that four or five months are sufficient for a traveller
to arrive in Europe from Timbuctoo. Now that the possibility of
the journey and return is proved by the event, and not left to
conjecture, all men devoted to African researches, who may have
been diverted from their design by such repeated catastrophes
following one another, will take fresh courage and prosecute the
enterprize. This constitutes an additional important service,
rendered to Science by A. R. Caillié, and for which she will hold
herself his debtor, though his success may not entirely console
her for the lamented loss of Major Laing.
On a subject so fertile in geographical and scientific developments,
it would be easy to expatiate; but the committee feel the propriety
of confining themselves within the limits of their mission; their
end is attained if they have produced conviction. They, therefore,
feel it necessary equally to pass over in silence the accounts of
J. Leon, Ben-Batouta, and el-Adrisi; and the intercourse of the
Portuguese with Timbuctoo in the fifteenth century; the travels
of Paul Imbert in the seventeenth; the still contested journey of
Robert Adams in 1810, and so many other travels which, within the
last forty years, have succeeded each other. To act otherwise would
be to forget that we address an auditory, who are masters of the
principles of every problem in African geography, which, gentlemen
is sufficiently attested by the subjects of your three prizes in
favour of men determined upon braving every danger to explore this
vast continent for the common benefit of science and humanity.
It will be easy, from these premises, to conjecture the propositions
which the committee has the honour of laying before you; first,
that you should grant to M. Auguste Caillié the prize which you
have offered to the first traveller who should reach Timbuctoo by
way of Senegambia; secondly, that this report should be communicated
to their Excellencies the Ministers of the Interior, of the Marine,
and of Foreign Affairs.
We cannot conclude this report without paying a just tribute of
gratitude to M. Delaporte, Vice-Consul-General at Tangier, for the
generous and zealous care which he lavished on our countryman; the
Society owes him a particular testimonial of gratitude for having
preserved the traveller and his papers.
BARON ROGER, LARENAUDIÈRE, AMÉDÉE JAUBERT, CADET DE METZ,
J. B. EYRIÉS, JOMARD, _Reporter_.
CORRESPONDENCE.
* * * * *
[The following letter is an answer to the first letter written by
M. Caillié, on his arrival at Arbate, to the Consul of France.]
GENERAL CONSULATE OF FRANCE AT MOROCCO,
TO M. CAILLIÉ, AT ARBATE.
Tangier, 28th August, 1828.
SIR,
I have the honour to be a member of the Geographical Society;
you will therefore believe with what pleasure I must have perused
the letter which you addressed to me, dated the 21st of this
month, through the medium of the agent of France at Rabat, and
how satisfactory to me must be the arrival in safety of such a
traveller as yourself, Sir, who may have solved the great problem
of the possibility of traversing Africa. It gives me pleasure
to believe that you have visited the towns you mention in your
interesting letter, and particularly the city of Timbuctoo, the rock
upon which, for two or three generations past, so many intrepid
travellers have been lost; but the proofs which you furnish are
not sufficient to confirm my faith: you know how far impostors
are capable of deceiving us. Have the goodness, then, to supply me
with more ample and precise information, that I may make use of it
with our government, the patron of great enterprises, and with the
Geographical Society, to the gratitude and admiration of which you
will have acquired such unexceptionable titles.
I shall write to the agent of France at the place where you have so
miraculously arrived, desiring him to give you all the assistance
which your situation demands, to receive such declarations as you may
wish to make, respecting the difficult and interesting journey you
have just completed, and to furnish you with the means of conveyance
to Gibraltar, or to me, if you should prefer coming hither.
If, however, you should fear being compromised by a declaration,
a report, or other legal statement, address to me a letter for the
president of the Geographical Society, which I will convey to him
through his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
If you should decide to come to Tangier, undertake the journey
in such a manner as not to commit yourself, and above all, be
circumspect in regard to the religion you have embraced, for the
Moors are no triflers on this subject; they are inexorable. Have the
goodness, also, to form into a single packet all the daily notes you
may have taken during the sixteen months of your arduous journey,
and the information you may have collected; request the French
agent at Rabat to seal it with his seal, and to send it to me by a
courier, according to the directions which the agent will receive
from me, in order that these valuable and interesting documents,
which shall be preserved for you, may not be lost.
I should think myself happy, Sir, to be the first member of the
Geographical Society who should enjoy the advantage of embracing an
associate who has successfully passed through all the variety of
fortune, hazards, and perils of a journey, in which so many have
failed; and to give assistance to a countryman under the numerous
sufferings which so much exertion and fatigue must have produced.
I shall wait further intelligence from you before I communicate
your arrival to those interested in it.
I request you to believe me, with admiration, Sir, your very humble
and obedient servant.
_Signed_ DELAPORTE, _Vice-Consul of France, charged with the
provisional administration of the general consulate of his Most
Christian Majesty in Morocco._
_Extract of a Letter from_ M. DELAPORTE, _Vice-Consul administering
the General Consulate of France at Tangier, to the Commander of
the French naval station off Cadiz._
Tangier, 15th September, 1828,
M. Caillié, (Réné-Auguste) has undertaken the painful and
dangerous journey from the Senegal and Sierra-Leone to Tangier,
passing through the city of Timbuctoo, and has had the good fortune
to surmount all the difficulties, which, as you will judge, are
inseparable from such an enterprise.
Chance has thrown him upon an agent of his majesty’s government,
and a member of the Geographical Society, upon me: I take the
best possible care of him; and feel pride in receiving a suffering
fellow-citizen, the first European who has acquired for our country
a knowledge of the city of Timbuctoo, the search after which has
cost so many lives, and so much treasure.
M. Caillié presented himself to me under the costume of a mendicant
Dervish, a character which I assure you he did not belie: during his
journey he feigned himself a follower of Mahomet. If the Moors had
suspected him of being with me, or at the consulate, he would have
been a lost man; I entreat then, from your humanity, your love and
admiration of great enterprises, assistance in saving this intrepid
traveller, whose name will soon become celebrated, by sending to me,
if at present disposable, one of the vessels under your command,
or if you think it preferable, by coming hither yourself. You
would land here. M. Caillié would adopt the accoutrements of a
sailor, or personate an officer; he would mix with the attendants
on the equipage, or with the staff; he would reach your ship,
and be saved. It would be grateful to you and to myself to have
co-operated in the protection of this remarkable traveller.
The English would not hesitate an instant to receive on board one of
their sovereign’s ships of the line a countryman of such merit. It
was lately published at Gibraltar, that Major Laing had arrived there
in the costume of an Arab; a king’s cutter was immediately placed
at his disposal, to transport him to London; instead of Major Laing,
it proved to be M. Linc; the similarity of name caused the mistake,
but the cutter had been dispatched to its destination.
Will you oblige me by an answer, and by informing me whether it will
be in your power to render to France, if I may so express myself,
and to the Geographical Society of France, the service which I
request of you in their name, on behalf of M. Caillié; that if
necessary I may seek other means of restoring him to his country.
I am, &c.
_Signed_ DELAPORTE.
_Extract of a Letter from_ M. DELAPORTE _Vice Consul of France
to_ M. JOMARD _Member of the Institute._
Tangier, 27th September, 1828.
M. Caillié whose name I have read in one of the numbers of the
Bulletins of the Geographical Society, has traversed Africa, from
Rio-Nuñez to Tangier, passing, on his route, through Timbuctoo. He
will embark to-day on board a king’s schooner for Toulon, where he
will arrive without resources. I hope the Geographical Society will
take charge of this traveller, who, I believe will do it honour. He
has crossed Africa as a mendicant; as such he appeared at my door:
but I received him, I paid him every possible attention, and think
myself happy in being the first Frenchman who has embraced him.
He will present himself to you, and will communicate to you the
materials of which he is the bearer: he proposes to intrust you
with the task of editing them[171].
He deplores the want of means which deprived him of the advantages
of a brilliant and distinguished education; but he consoles himself
under this misfortune, in the happiness of being the only European
who has conquered the great difficulty, and of having enriched the
reign of his Majesty Charles X with an enterprise which has baffled
so many travellers and scientific men.
Have the goodness to present him to the President of the Society,
to recommend him to all its members, and to pay him the attention
which he deserves.
I embrace you with all my heart and subscribe myself with affection,
esteem, and consideration, &c.
_Signed_ DELAPORTE.
* * * * *
_Extract of a Letter from_ M. DELAPORTE _to_ M. JOMARD.
Tangier, October 3rd, 1828.
I have introduced to you the French traveller Caillié, who has
crossed the burning deserts of Africa, and there contracted the
scurvy, which has eaten into the bones of his palate. If God, who
has been his protector as far as Tangier, should preserve his health,
he will reach you two or three months’ hence. Instead, of confused
itineraries, put together from hearsay, and taken by stealth, such
as those which for several years past I have furnished, he will
present himself to you with authentic labours, with documents,
and materials taken on the spot, of which he will request you to
superintend the compilation. Do not refuse your assistance.
This traveller has deserved the prize for the journey to Timbuctoo
by the route of Senegal, because he set out from St. Louis to
reach Tangier; he is also entitled to that for the most important
discovery in geography, as he will prove by his work: they cannot
be refused to him.
_Signed_ DELAPORTE.
_Extract of a Letter from_ M. CAILLIÉ _to_ M. JOMARD.
Lazaretto at Toulon, October 10th, 1828.
SIR,
My zeal for geographical discoveries induced me to undertake,
in 1827, a journey into the interior of Africa, to visit the city
of Timbuctoo, the object of anxious research to Europe, and which
has proved fatal to so many illustrious travellers. Being unable
to obtain a mission from the French Government of the Senegal, I
determined to undertake the journey with my private resources: for
this purpose then I realized all my effects and made preparations
for my expedition.
On the 19th of April 1827, I quitted Kakondy upon the Rio-Nuñez,
in company with Mandingo merchants going to the Niger: the Arab
costume and the religion of the Prophet, which I adopted, smoothed
all difficulties; I traversed without obstacle the elevated mountains
of the Fouta-Dhialon, the Kankan and the Ouassoulo. I resided
five months at Timé on account of severe illness. This village is
inhabited by Mahometan Mandingoes; and is situated in the southern
part of the Bambara. Early in January 1828, I continued my route; I
visited the island and town of Jenné, and embarked on the Niger for
Timbuctoo, where I arrived after a difficult navigation of a month:
I resided in that town fourteen days, acquired all the information
in my power respecting it; studied the manners and customs of the
inhabitants, and the commerce and resources of the country; and
thence travelled northwards to accomplish my return by the great
desert. I passed through el-Araouan; after two months of the most
painful privations, I arrived in the Tafilet, and continued my
route by Fez and Rabat to Tangier, where M. Delaporte, the French
Vice-Consul in that town, lavished upon me all the assistance
of which I stood so much in need. I soon after embarked on board
the king’s schooner _La Légère_, which conveyed me to Toulon,
where I now am, convalescent, and without means of support, having
exhausted my all in a journey of sixteen months.
I am, &c.
_Signed_ A. CAILLIÉ.
* * * * *
_Extract of a Letter from_ M. A. CAILLIÉ _to the President of
the Geographical Society._
Toulon, 10th October, 1828.
SIR,
I had the good fortune, in 1824, to take a journey among the people
who inhabit the smiling banks of the Senegal: from that period I
projected an attempt to explore central Africa, to visit the towns
of Jenné and Timbuctoo, in hopes if possible to surpass the English
who had so far outstripped us in this career. Having been unable to
obtain a mission from the Government of the Senegal, I determined
to part with all my resources, convinced that on my return, the
services I might have rendered would be recognized by Government;
I realized then the small means which I possessed, the fruits of
economy, and made preparations for my departure. On the 19th of
April, 1827, I quitted Kakondy upon the Rio-Nuñez, in company with
a caravan of Mandingo merchants going to the Niger. Thanks to the
Arab costume and to the religion of the country which I outwardly
embraced, the numerous difficulties attendant on this laborious
journey were overcome; and to this disguise I owe the success of my
expedition. I crossed without obstacle the high mountains of the
Senegambia, the countries of Baleya, Kankan, and Ouassoulo. I was
compelled to reside five months at Timé, a village of Mahometan
Mandingoes, situated in the southern part of Bambara, being detained
by a severe illness which had nearly proved fatal. On the 9th of
January, 1828, I was able to proceed on my journey. I visited the
island and town of Jenné; and afterwards embarked upon the Niger,
on board a vessel of sixty tons burden going to Timbuctoo, where I
arrived after a month’s tedious navigation. This town is situated
five miles to the north of Cabra, in a plain of quicksand, where
nothing grows but stunted shrubs: I resided there fourteen days. I
inspected the town and took a sketch of it; I studied the manners
and customs of the inhabitants, and the commerce and resources of
the country; then taking a northern direction to cross the great
desert, I arrived at el-Araouan. This town is six days’ journey
north of Timbuctoo: it is the emporium of salt which is exported
thence to Sansanding and Yamina, and is situated in a country
still more sterile than even that about Timbuctoo. Not a shrub is
to be seen; and camel dung is used for fuel. The burning east wind
which constantly prevails renders this a very disagreeable abode. I
continued my route northwards, and reached the Wells of Telig, after
eight days’ journey from el-Araouan. Here we quenched our thirst
and proceeded north north west into the heart of the desert: here
the soil is most barren, composed of moving sand and rocks of grey
quartz veined with white; there is also a little granite. After two
months’ journey in this horrible country, I reached the Tafilet,
a small district forming part of the empire of Marocco, and passed
through Fez, Mequinaz, Rabat, and Tangier, where I was received by
M. Delaporte, Vice-Consul of France, who lavished upon me all the
assistance of which I stood so much in need. I soon after embarked
in the king’s schooner La Légère, which conveyed me to Toulon,
where I have been twenty-two days in quarantine. I am convalescent
and without means of support, having exhausted all in an arduous
journey of sixteen months.
I am, etc.
_Signed_ A. CAILLIÉ.
After having heard the preceding communications at the meeting
of the 17th of October, the central committee of the Geographical
Society decided unanimously, that a first pecuniary indemnity should
be immediately sent to M. Auguste Caillié, and that extracts from
these letters should be printed in a supplement to the 66th Bulletin.
_Letter of_ M. DELAPORTE _to the President of the Geographical
Society._
Tangier, 3rd October 1828.
MR. PRESIDENT,
To communicate to you that a European has just conquered in Africa,
for the Geographical Society, a vast extent of territory, is to
impart good news both to you and the Society; but the announcement
that this European is a Frenchman will render it still more
agreeable.
One of our countrymen, M. Auguste Caillié, has acquired for
the Society all the territories situated between Rio-Nuñez,
(Sierra Leone) and Tangier, that is to say between the Ocean and
the Mediterranean. He has visited the towns of Kankan, Jenné,
Timbuctoo, and Araouan. He sojourned fourteen days at Timbuctoo.
His house was within a few doors of that which had been inhabited by
the unfortunate Major Laing. He has employed sixteen months upon this
labour and in collecting the materials with which he has enriched
his wallet. Nothing disheartened him, neither refusal, nor disgust,
nor fatigue, nor danger; his vocation, as he has frequently repeated
to me, demanded that he should cross Africa; he followed it and has
solved the problem that a European may traverse this continent, a
problem, the impossibility of which appeared all but demonstrated. He
travelled without ostentation; and I saw a mendicant Dervish,
with his leathern wallet at his back, seated at the threshold of my
door, and extending to me, not the hand of indigence, not the hand
of that misery of which he bore the livery, but of a compatriot,
addressing himself to a servant of the King of France, and requiring
his protection. He obtained it, Sir; it was afforded to him by me,
in the character of temporary administrator of the General Consulate
of France, to the utmost of my power; and thanks to the co-operation
of the Chevalier de Luneau, commander of the French naval station
off Cadiz, who had the complaisance to send me a king’s ship,
I have saved the traveller and his papers. Lieutenant Jollivet
received M. Caillié on board the king’s schooner La Légère,
which he commands; and on the 28th of last September he set sail
for Toulon where he will perform his quarantine.
Two departments, those of Foreign Affairs and of the Marine, have
contributed to restore a Frenchman to his native country, and to
acquire for the Society over which you preside a modest traveller,
whose enterprise will reflect lustre upon it.
M. Caillié, whose health has been affected by the fatigue and
labour he has undergone, embarked with a fever. It is to be hoped
that it will have no ill consequences, and that he will land at
Toulon in health and safety.
If M. Caillié does not possess the brilliant qualifications or the
education of our modern travellers, he has the ingenuousness and
frankness of the honest traveller of the olden time who has given
us so much interesting information concerning India; if he is not
the Amédée Jaubert of Asia, he will be the Marco-Polo of Africa;
and he will have had the merit of achieving, at his own expense
and without assistance, what others have been unable to effect with
ample treasures.
After his quarantine, he will repair to Paris, where he proposes to
request the assistance of the Chevalier Jomard, vice-president of
the Central Committee, of the Society, in editing the rich materials
in which alone his fortune consists. To bespeak, Sir, your interest
in favor of this traveller, is to recommend him to all the members
of the Geographical Society, to which I have the honour to belong.
I am, &c.
_Signed_ DELAPORTE.
* * * * *
_Letter from_ M. JOMARD _to_ M. CAILLIÉ.
Paris, 18th October, 1828.
SIR,
I have received, with all the interest it deserves, the letter
which you have addressed to me respecting your Travels in the
interior of Africa. You have justly thought that no one could be
more deeply concerned than myself in the success of your journey,
and I have not lost a moment in communicating to the Geographical
Society the contents of your letters and those of M. Delaporte.
After attending to the reading of them with marks of the most
lively satisfaction, the Society decided that, while the effect
of the representations I am about to make to the government is
in suspense, the sum of five hundred francs should be transmitted
to you to relieve your immediate wants, and to assist you in your
journey to Paris.
We think, Sir, that it will conduce to your interest to make the
best use of your time which your situation and health will permit,
in committing to paper all your recollections while still fresh in
your memory; and particularly that you should note, with exactness,
the hours or the days of march, the bearings you followed, and
whatever from its nature is liable to be forgotten, as the names
of places and proper names in general.
I offer you, Sir, all the service in my power; dispose of my feeble
interest; and, above all, take the repose which is so necessary
to the re-establishment of your health after such long continued
fatigue.
I have the honour to be, &c.
_Signed_ JOMARD.
* * * * *
_Extract of a Letter to the President of the Academy of Sciences._
Paris, 18th October, 1828.
MR. PRESIDENT,
I have the honour to communicate to the Academy of Sciences
the contents of the letters which I yesterday received from M.
Delaporte, Vice-Consul of France, administering the general
Consulate at Tangier. A Frenchman has accomplished the journey
to Timbuctoo. He has been fortunate enough to traverse almost
the whole of Africa, north of the Equator, from the Rio-Nuñez,
in about 10° 15’ north latitude, to the Straits of Gibraltar,
and is arrived in health and safety at the Consulate at Tangier,
after having crossed the Atlas between Tafilet and Fez, and travelled
during sixteen consecutive months.
As he is the first European who has succeeded in the journey to
Timbuctoo, and returned from that place, I doubt not, whatever the
results may prove for which the sciences may be indebted to him,
that the Academy will learn the news with a lively interest.
On the 19th of April, 1827, M. Caillié set out from Kakondy on
the Rio-Nuñez, whence he travelled easterly nearly three hundred
leagues, to Timé, beyond the great river Dhioliba. He embarked upon
it near Jenné, and after a month’s navigation reached Timbuctoo,
in April last. After a residence there of several weeks he pursued
his route to the north and N. N. W. Seventy-five days were occupied
by his journey from this capital to the Tafilet, across the Sahara,
or Great Desert, amidst the severest fatigues and most painful
privations.
The first part of his journey coincides with that of some English
travellers[172]. He subsequently crossed the different stages of
the chain of mountains of the Fouta-Dhialon, in the midst of which
he crossed the route taken by Mollien, and perhaps the Senegal near
its source.
As he travelled little more than twelve geographical miles a day,
he had time for attentive observation. He traversed the countries
of Belia, Kankan, and Ouassoulo, which we barely know by name; and
finally, before arriving at Jenné, had an opportunity of seeing
Bamakou, Yamina, Sego, and Sansanding[173].
Such is a sketch of the journey which M. Caillié has just completed,
extending to about fifteen hundred leagues, a thousand of them
through regions almost unknown. We may at once infer from it, that
Timbuctoo lies much nearer to the ocean than it is marked upon all
the maps. His marches confirm the conjecture which I have already
brought forward that this great town is not far from the seventeenth
degree of north latitude.
I have the honour to be, &c.
_Signed_ JOMARD.
* * * * *
_Letter of the Presidents and Secretary of the Geographical Society,
to His Excellency the Minister of the Interior._
Paris, 20th October, 1828.
MONSEIGNEUR,
By the letter which Your Excellency did us the honour to address to
us, dated the 2nd of April last, you manifest a desire to receive
information of any intelligence which may reach us upon the subject
of the enterprises formed by the Society, and especially upon the
discoveries which relate to the interior of Africa.
We consider it our duty to communicate, without delay, to Your
Excellency, the news which we have received within the last two
days. A Frenchman has been fortunate enough to penetrate into
central Africa. He even appears to have resided for some time in
the city of Timbuctoo. Having quitted in 1827 the banks of the
Rio-Nuñez, he travelled eastwards to beyond the Dhioliba, crossing
the high mountains of the upper Senegambia. He afterwards followed
the course of that great river, and embarked upon it opposite
to Jenné. After a month’s navigation he landed at Cabra, the
port of Timbuctoo. Having made all the observations in his power,
he entered the great desert of Sahara, across which two months and
fourteen days toilsome travel brought him to the Tafilet, whence
he proceeded to Tangier. There, M. Delaporte, his Majesty’s
Vice-Consul, administering the general Consulate, received him,
relieved his immediate necessities, and procured him a passage to
France on board one of the vessels of the state.
This interesting traveller is named Caillié. He had been at the
Senegal since 1824: it was in the month of April 1827, that he
repaired to Kakondy upon the Rio-Nuñez; where he joined a caravan of
Mandingo merchants. This situation is the more deserving of notice,
as before his embarkation he had undergone a serious illness which
detained him five months to the south of Jenné. The total length
of his route is from twelve to fourteen hundred leagues, a thousand
of them through regions nearly unknown.
Such is the substance of the letters we have just received from
the traveller. The reception he experienced from the Vice-Consul,
a gentleman well versed in the languages and relations of Northern
Africa, has determined that of the Geographical Society, which has
hastened to present him with marks of encouragement.
We hope, Monseigneur, that this news will interest Your Excellency,
that you will honour this traveller with marks of your approbation,
and that you will recommend him to the Minister of the Marine,
that he may obtain from him the assistance of which he stands in
need to facilitate his journey to Paris. All his resources have
been exhausted in a laborious journey of sixteen months. He is
the first European, who, after having penetrated into this part of
central Africa, has returned in health and safety. The Geographical
Society takes credit to itself for having directed the attention of
travellers of all countries to the interior of this continent; but
it rejoices to find that it is a Frenchman, who has first attained
the glory of success.
We are &c.
_Signed Baron_ CUVIER, _President of the Society; Viscount_ SIMÉON,
_Vice-president;_ JOMARD, _Vice-president of the Central Committee;_
DE LARENAUDIÈRE, _Secretary_.
* * * * *
_Letter of the Presidents and Secretary of the Geographical Society,
to his Excellency the Minister of the Marine._
Paris, 20th October 1828.
MONSEIGNEUR,
A French traveller, M. A. Caillié has just arrived at Toulon on
board the king’s schooner _La Légère_, after having brought
to a happy termination a difficult and painful journey in the
interior of Africa, from Rio-Nuñez to Tangier. It appears that he
has resided for some time in the town of Timbuctoo. This arduous
journey has exhausted all his resources, and his health is impaired
by long continued fatigue. His Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Tangier
recommends him to the Geographical Society, that it may procure for
him from the government the means to proceed to Paris. As this is
the first European traveller who has accomplished such an enterprise,
we think ourselves entitled, Monseigneur, with confidence to solicit
your interest in his behalf, and to request for him the support of
your benevolence. The Society entreats you to have the goodness to
procure for him the means of conveyance to Paris.
We are, &c.
_Signed Baron_ CUVIER, _President of the Society; Viscount_ SIMEON,
_Vice-president;_ JOMARD, _Vice-president of the Central Committee;_
DE LARENAUDIÈRE, _Secretary_.
* * * * *
Mr. JOHN BARROW, _to_ M. JOMARD.
SIR,
I have the honour to address myself to you on a subject in which
I am persuaded you take as much interest as myself—the progress
of the discoveries in Africa.
I see by the supplement to the 66th Bulletin published by the
Geographical Society of Paris, that a Frenchman, of the name
of Caillié, has succeeded in reaching the city of Timbuctoo;
and that M. Delaporte, Vice-Consul at Tangier, observes in his
letter to you, announcing the arrival of M. Caillié, that that
traveller consoles himself for the fatigues which he has endured
by the reflection that he is the only European who has hitherto
succeeded in happily accomplishing an enterprise in which so many
brave travellers have fallen.
Far be it from me to conceive the idea of detracting from the
merit of this bold and adventurous traveller, or to blame the just
pride which he feels at having brought his enterprise to a happy
termination; but the justice which is due to the memory of another
traveller, who has perished by the barbarous hand of an assassin,
calls upon me to shew you, Sir, that M. Caillié is neither the only,
nor the first European who has visited Timbuctoo.
The late Major Laing was the first who reached Timbuctoo, as I
shall prove by the most indisputable authority—namely his own
hand-writing, and that of his servant, who is now at Tripoli. In a
letter, dated Timbuctoo, September 21, 1826, addressed to the Consul,
Mr. Warrington, now lying before me, the Major says that he arrived
in this city on the 18th of the preceding month; that he intended to
quit it the day following the date of his letter, that is to say,
on the 22nd September and to proceed on the road to Ségo: he then
enters into many details relative to this city, and gives a great
number of curious documents which he had collected on the subject,
and other materials, which will without doubt be one day published.
He accordingly left Timbuctoo, on the 22nd September, with a small
caravan, having only one Arab servant; on the third evening he was
joined by several Arabs belonging to the caravan, and afterwards
basely massacred. It happened that the above-mentioned letter,
written from Timbuctoo, was in the possession of his servant. His
baggage was entirely pillaged, and his journal and numerous papers
carried off; but we have still hopes that they will be recovered. The
servant has undergone the most rigorous examination; he is firm
and consistent in all his answers; and I regret to say that there
is great reason to suppose that this enterprising traveller fell
a victim to the traitorous and barbarous Bello, who behaved so
scandalously to Captain Clapperton.
I therefore hope from your justice, as a man devoted to the
sciences, and particularly to geography, and as President of the
Central Committee, that you will give the same publicity to this
communication as has been given to the fortunate result of the
meritorious enterprise of M. Caillié.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
JOHN BARROW.
* * * * *
_Extract from the Answer of_ M. JOMARD _to_ MR. BARROW.
Paris, 31 October, 1828.
SIR,
Although a stranger to the letter which forms the subject of your
appeal, I should never consent to participate, even indirectly,
in an assertion contrary to truth, or to the reputation of the
courageous traveller, whose interests you justly defend. No one is
less accessible than myself to impressions exclusively national,
and it is on behalf of humanity in general that I am devoted to the
cause of science and its indefinite progress. I should, therefore,
have sincerely rejoiced in being the first to make known in France
the return and success of Major Laing, as I was fortunate enough
to do in regard to Captain Clapperton and Major Denham on their
arrival. You must be aware, Sir, that it was I who announced to the
French public the labours of these intrepid adventurers, who first
published their valuable Discoveries in Central Africa, and paid
legitimate homage to the memory of Dr. Oudney. With respect to
Major Laing, I long questioned and withstood the premature rumours
of his death, and exerted myself to point out the contradictions that
pervaded the accounts circulated both in Africa and Europe; nothing,
indeed, had yet persuaded me of the reality of this catastrophe,
and your letter alone, Sir, could oblige me to give entire credit
to this distressing intelligence, so ardently did I desire to be
informed of Major Laing’s success, and to have the pleasure
of proclaiming it, and of contributing, however feebly, to his
renown. Major Denham may have acquainted you with the reception
which he experienced from me at Paris; and told you how happy I
esteemed myself in embracing this brave officer, and in conversing
with a man who had ten times courageously hazarded his life, in
order to penetrate as far as possible in an unknown continent.
Now, Sir, these are the very expressions which form the subject of
your appeal: “He (M. A. Caillié) is the only European who has
hitherto succeeded in happily accomplishing an enterprize in which
so many brave travellers have fallen.”
You see, Sir, that the matter in question is the fortunate
return of the traveller to his country, and not the discovery of
Timbuctoo. The merit of having first visited that city is not
ascribed to him. Thus, after the death of Dr. Oudney, his more
fortunate companions, Clapperton and Denham, again reached their
native land: it might then be said, on their return to England,
that they were the first Europeans who had come back from Bornou,
and brought this enterprise to a successful termination, and that
without detracting in the least from the Doctor’s wreath of glory.
You will then do justice, Sir, I make no doubt, not only to me,
but to M. Delaporte, Vice-Consul of France; and you will have no
difficulty in acknowledging, that no one has had any intention of
depriving your countrymen of the honour due to them. I take credit
to myself for having contributed to establish it as a principle
in the Geographical Society, that travellers of all nations are
equally entitled to its attention, that its rewards belong to all,
whatever may be their nation; in short, that there is no distinction
in the feelings of this Society towards foreigners and denizens.
Permit me, Sir, to deplore with yourself the sad event related in
your letter; however, several circumstances appear still to leave
some small room for doubt; I hope my incredulity may be justified by
the event. But, if the catastrophe is certain, it is yet devoutly
to be wished that the journal of his travels may be recovered,
or that his servant may be able to furnish some information that
can be depended upon; also, that the curious documents, which you
mention as being in your possession, may be published as soon as
possible. We shall soon, I hope, be favoured with the documents
brought home by Clapperton’s servant, Lander, and I shall not
then be behind-hand in appreciating the merit of this new victim
to the cause of science. Allow me here, Sir, to add one remark:
had it devolved upon me to make a catalogue of the Europeans who
have reached the city of Timbuctoo, I should not have overlooked
several individuals who appear to have visited it; I should even
probably have mentioned Robert Adams, though his travels have been
called in question, and opinions, as you know, are still divided
upon them. Neither would M. Delaporte have failed to cite them, had
this been his object: but his intention was simply to announce the
fortunate return of the traveller, after having crossed the Great
Desert; a happiness neither reserved for Hornemann, Park, Oudney,
the unfortunate Laing, nor for so many other lamented victims.
It only remains for me, Sir, to congratulate myself on the
opportunity you have afforded me for expressing my real sentiments as
to what should constitute the object of all geographical discoveries,
that is to say, usefulness and the increase of human happiness. I
am equally gratified in the opportunity of expressing to you,
individually, the high esteem which I profess for scientific men
and travellers of your nation. With these sentiments I beg you to
believe me, &c.
_Signed_ JOMARD.
* * * * *
_Letter from His Excellency the Minister of the Interior to the
Presidents and Secretary of the Geographical Society._
Paris, 28th October, 1828.
SIR,
I have received the letter you did me the honour of writing to me,
and in which, in answer to that which I had addressed to you on
the second of April last, you communicate to me the most recent
intelligence that has reached you from the interior of Africa. I
have read with real interest the details relative to the travels
of the Sieur Caillié, the first French traveller, you observe,
who has returned without danger and even with success, from such
an enterprise. I see with pleasure that the Geographical Society
has conferred on him marks of satisfaction; for my part, Gentlemen,
in compliance, with the wishes you conveyed to me, I have written in
his favour to His Exc. the Minister of the Marine. I have requested
that minister will have the goodness to provide the Sieur Caillié,
with the means of repairing to Paris; and the better to ensure his
attention, I transmitted to him a copy of the succinct narrative
with which you favoured me, and for which I thank you.
Please to accept, &c.
_Signed_ MARTIGNAC.
* * * * *
_Letter from the Presidents and Secretary of the Society to
M. Delaporte._
Paris, 3rd October 1828.
M. VICE CONSUL,
In a letter from Toulon, dated 10th October, M. Auguste Caillié
informs us of a journey he had just accomplished in the interior of
Africa, and pays you a just tribute of gratitude for the generous
manner in which you received him. In answer to your letter of
the 3d instant, confirming the circumstances of this journey, we
hasten to address to you the thanks of the Geographical Society
for the additional particulars it contains, and especially for the
attention which you paid to our countryman. In thus fulfilling the
duties of humanity, you have saved the life of an estimable and
courageous traveller, the first amongst Europeans who has returned
from Central Africa by way of Morocco.
The Society has already strongly recommended M. Caillié to the
Ministers of the Marine and the Interior, and immediately forwarded
to him at Toulon a first indemnity, to supply his urgent necessities.
We have the honour to be, &c.
_Signed_ Baron CUVIER, JOMARD, DE LARENAUDIÈRE.
* * * * *
_Letter of His Exc. the Minister of the Marine._
Paris, 11th November 1828.
GENTLEMEN,
You have done me the honour of recommending to me the Sieur Caillié
who has just accomplished a journey to Timbuctoo and several other
parts of Central Africa, and is recently arrived at Toulon.
The Minister of the Interior has also written to me in favour
of M. Caillié. My answer to His Exc. is that it belongs to his
office to provide this traveller with the assistance which seems
to be most necessary to him, and that I shall with pleasure concur
in any ulterior measures that may be adopted by the department of
the interior, to make a suitable compensation for the labours and
zeal of M. Caillié, whose claims upon the favour of government I
fully appreciate.
Permit me, &c.
_Signed_ Baron HYDE DE NEUVILLE.
_Extracts from the Minutes of the Meeting of the 21st November 1828._
M. Jomard gave notice that M. Auguste Caillié, present at the
meeting, wished to offer his thanks to the Society; he then gave some
account of the information derived from the travels, and announced
that he had been able from the journal to draw a complete itinerary
from Rio-Nuñez to Tangier, by Timé, Jenné, Timbuctoo, Tafilet,
and Fez. He proposed that a committee of five members should be
appointed to take the papers into consideration and make their
report before the general meeting, in order that the public may be
speedily enabled to appreciate the labours and observations of this
interesting traveller. The proposition was unanimously adopted,
and a special commission composed of Messrs. Eyriès, Amédée
Jaubert, Larenaudière, baron Roger, Cadet de Metz, and Jomard,
appointed to report to the meeting upon the travels and papers
of M. Caillié. The central commission will hold an extraordinary
meeting to receive this report.
_Letter from the President and Secretary of the Society, to their
Excellencies the Ministers of the Marine, of the Interior, and of
Foreign Affairs._
Paris, 28th November, 1828.
MONSEIGNEUR,
The Geographical Society, after having attentively investigated
the efforts and observations of M. A. Caillié in the interior
of Africa, has aknowledged him deserving of the reward promised
_to the first traveller who should reach the city of Timbuctoo,
setting out from Senegambia_, and has decided that the annexed
report should be communicated to Your Excellency. We hasten,
Monseigneur, to address to you a copy[174] in behalf of M. Caillié,
and we deem it superfluous to recommend him again to your favour.
Perhaps Your Excellency may think it advisable to lay before His
Majesty a statement of his services.
We are, &c.
_Signed Baron_ CUVIER, _President; Viscount_ SIMEON, _Vice
president;_ GIRARD, _President of the Central Committee;_ JOMARD,
_Vice-President;_ DE LARENAUDIÈRE, _General Secretary_.
_Letter from_ MR. JOHN BARROW _to_ M. JOMARD.
London, 1st December, 1828.
SIR,
I have received your obliging letter of the first of November and
that of the 20th, to which you have had the goodness to add printed
copies of our correspondence on the subject of the two African
travellers therein mentioned. I beg you to accept my very hearty
thanks. The explanation you have kindly given in your first letter
is perfectly satisfactory, and of a nature to convince me that
I was under a mistake, and that I had confounded M. Caillié’s
happy return with the successful accomplishment of his enterprise.
I have long delayed thanking you, that I might be enabled at the
same time to send you a copy of the map, &c.
_Signed_ JOHN BARROW.
* * * * *
_Letter of His Excellency the Minister of the Marine to_ M. JOMARD.
Paris, 2nd December, 1828.
While the definitive recompense which M. Caillié may be entitled to
expect, on account of the courageous enterprise which he has recently
accomplished, remains in suspense, I have proposed to the King to
grant to this traveller a provisional indemnity of three thousand
francs, payable from the funds of the Senegal. His Majesty has
been graciously pleased, by a decision of the 30th of November, to
accede to my proposition. I have thought that it would be agreeable
to you to be informed of this act of royal beneficence, which I
congratulate myself as having been the instrument of obtaining.
Receive, &c.
_Signed_ Baron HYDE DE NEUVILLE.
* * * * *
_Letter of His Excellency the Minister of the Marine to_ M. JOMARD.
Paris, 10th December, 1828.
I hasten to announce to you that upon my proposition, the King
has deigned, by an ordinance of this day, to create M. Caillié a
Knight of the Legion of Honour: I request you will have the goodness
to announce it to him. I shall be happy to see him to-morrow,
Thursday the 11th of December, between the hours of eleven and one,
to communicate this intelligence to him personally.
Be pleased to accept, &c.,
_Signed_ BARON HYDE DE NEUVILLE.
_Letter of His Excellency the Minister of the Marine, to Baron_
CUVIER, _President of the Geographical Society_.
Paris, 11th December, 1828.
You have transmitted to me, in the name of the Geographical Society,
a copy of the report of the special commission charged to draw
up for the society an account of the travels of M. A. Caillié to
Timbuctoo and in the interior of Africa. I have the honour to thank
you for the communication of this interesting report.
I have learned with pleasure that the Society has judged M.
Caillié deserving of the recompense proposed to the traveller who,
setting out from Senegambia, should penetrate to Timbuctoo.
Considerably as my department has already contributed to the
formation of the fund appropriated to this object, I have proposed
to the King to grant to M. Caillié, from the colonial funds,
a special indemnity of three thousand francs, the allowance of
which I have directly announced to M. Caillié.
A favour of still higher value has since been decreed to this
traveller; by an ordinance of the 10th of December, issued upon my
report, the King has named him a Knight of the royal order of the
Legion of Honour.
I congratulate myself in having to acquaint the Geographical Society
with these acts of royal beneficence, which I have joyfully seized
the opportunity of recommending in recompense for M. Caillié’s
devotedness.
Be pleased to accept, &c.
_Signed_ Baron HYDE DE NEUVILLE.
* * * * *
_Extract from the Minutes of the General Meeting of the 5th of
December, 1828._
M. Jomard, the organ of the Committee charged to draw up an
account of the results of M. Caillié’s travels, read the report,
which was listened to with the most lively and intense attention.
After having successively explained all the reasons upon which
the conviction of the Committee was founded, and especially the
agreement which subsists between the accounts of this traveller
and those published by such of his predecessors as are the most
accurate and most deserving of credit; after having announced that
M. Caillié’s journal contains an itinerary continued without
interruption from Rio-Nuñez to Tangier; the reporter delivered a
sketch of the results of the Travels sufficient to excite, but not to
satisfy the curiosity of the audience. He enumerated the principal
places which our countryman visited during a journey of seventeen
months, and of about three thousand miles. We shall only cite his
embarkation at Jenné on the Dhioliba (vulgarly called the Niger),
his navigation from thence to Timbuctoo, during an entire month in
the season of shallow water; his residence in this town, and his
subsequent journey across the great desert, during two months and a
half, to the kingdom of Morocco and to Tangier. There M. Delaporte,
Consul of France and a member of the Geographical Society, received
our countryman, lavished upon him all the attentions which his
ill-health and exhaustion demanded, after his escape from the dangers
of the climate and the perils of so long and arduous a journey.
The report was warmly applauded; and, in conformity to the
conclusions of the Committee, M. Caillié was introduced, and
received from the hands of the President the recompense offered
to his generous self-devotion, that is to say, the produce of a
subscription opened by the Society in behalf of the person who should
first succeed in penetrating to Timbuctoo by the way of Senegambia,
and in furnishing a description of that town.
* * * * *
_Letter from His Excellency the Minister of the Interior._
Paris, 5th December, 1828.
GENTLEMEN,
I have received the letter which you did me the honour to write on
the 29th of November last, and with it a copy of the report made
to the Society upon the travels of M. A. Caillié in the interior
of Africa.
I shall examine with interest what it may be in my power to do
towards fulfilling the wishes you express in favour of a traveller,
who has executed an enterprise of the great importance of which,
in its relation to science, and our intercourse with countries,
hitherto, and even still, so imperfectly known, I fully appreciate,
as the Minister of the Marine has done.
Be pleased to accept, &c.
_Signed_ MARTIGNAC.
* * * * *
_Death of Major_ LAING.—_Literal translation of a Letter written
at St. Louis by a Moor of Timbuctoo, and addressed to M._ JOMARD
_by M. Prosper_ GERARDIN.
St. Louis, 1828.
Know that Chems, chief of the tribe of Darmancours, has told me
that he has received a letter from Saleh, son of our Iman and of
our Cheyhkh (at Tischit), relating to the christian who went to
Gadamès. From this town he went towards Touat, then he proceded
towards the tribe of the Cheykh Moctar (chief of the Kountas, to
the east of the kingdom of the Dowiches). In consideration of a
thousand drachms of gold, the people of this tribe accompanied him
to Timbuctoo, where they arrived after a journey which continued
seven days; afterwards they left him. This white man remained some
days at Timbuctoo; then he quitted it. He was met by the Moors who
are called Berabiches. These killed him, stole his money, and left
behind the books which he possessed.
Saleh says that, if the christians wish for these books, they have
only to send some one to him, and that he will restore them.
The Berabiches are the Moors who inhabit the environs of Timbuctoo
and Arawane.
The King of Timbuctoo is named الخاش (el-Khâch).
* * * * *
_Narrative of a Moor from Timbuctoo (communicated by the Baron_
ROGER.
St. Louis, September, 1828.
On my way hither from my own country, I passed through Timbuctoo,
when I learnt that a white man, who had resided there some days,
had been murdered on his way to Ségo; and the circumstances of that
unfortunate event, as related to me, in that town, are as follows:
This European, who came from Tripoli, and expressed a desire to
proceed to the Senegambia, travelled with a Jew of Barbary, who
acted as interpreter; he was attended by four black servants, and
possessed nine camels laden with provisions and merchandise. He
had arrived within a few days’ journey of Timbuctoo with his
caravan, when he was joined by another, composed of Moors of Tuat
or _Tuaris_. They first demanded presents of him, and then invited
him to barter. The Englishman (who is supposed to be Major Laing)
consented, and trafficked with this tribe: but, during the night,
they burst into his tent and attacked him. The white man and his
servants defended themselves bravely: though wounded in the arm,
the traveller succeeded in escaping on one of his camels: he was
rejoined soon after by one of the blacks, who brought back two
others; they fortunately reached Timbuctoo and took refuge there.
But the Tuaris pursued them, and required of the King to surrender
to them the white man who had killed several of their companions.
The unfortunate man was obliged to flee from his persecutors: in
vain he took a contrary course to deceive his pursuers and escape
to Ségo; he was overtaken by the villains and put to death.
I could have easily obtained from the Tuaris the books which belonged
to this European; but I durst not, lest I should be suspected of
having been concerned in his murder.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: These planks are sawed; of this, at least, I think I
am certain. The natives are indebted to the Moors for the knowledge
of the saw. Wood is so scarce in this country that it is necessary
to make a tree produce as many planks as possible.]
[Footnote 2: An abbreviation of Moubark.]
[Footnote 3: This custom also prevails on the Senegal.]
[Footnote 4: The word _Nile_ is generic, as are also the terms
_Bahr’Bâ_, _Kouara_, and many similar names.]
[Footnote 5: Like the shields of the ancient Egyptians.]
[Footnote 6: When I wrote in the desert, I sat down and placed
on my knees some leaves of the Koran, which I was supposed to be
copying and studying. See plate 3.]
[Footnote 7: Of about two feet.]
[Footnote 8: See plates 4 and 5.]
[Footnote 9: See plate 3.]
[Footnote 10: See plate 6.]
[Footnote 11: I have already observed that Nile is a generic term
and does not necessarily apply to the Egyptian river.]
[Footnote 12: Wooden locks and keys are also used in Egypt and
Nubia.]
[Footnote 13: See the plan of a private house. Plate 5, Figs. 4. 5.]
[Footnote 14: It is doubtful whether the English traveller would
have expressed himself in this manner.]
[Footnote 15: The value of the gold mitkhal is about twelve francs,
and the silver mitkhal about four.]
[Footnote 16: It was the Moors of the tribe of Zawât, who
assassinated Major Laing.]
[Footnote 17: The Hoden of the maps.]
[Footnote 18: Hedysarum alhagi.]
[Footnote 19: The Guigo without doubt.]
[Footnote 20: A kind of inn.]
[Footnote 21: Felous is a generic word signifying coined money. At
Fez this name is also given to a copper coin resembling the _gu_
of Egypt.]
[Footnote 22: This is the river which on the maps is called Sebou,
and into which the sea ascends.]
[Footnote 23: M. Amédée Jaubert has already presented to the
Geographical Society a translation of the _first climate_ of the
geography of el-Edricy, from the manuscript which he has discovered:
the entire work will be printed in the collection of this society’s
memoirs. The Rev. M. Renouard is also preparing in London, a
translation of another inedited manuscript of the same geographer.]
[Footnote 24: See _Geogr. Nubiens_, by Gabriel Sionit., p. 7, 9,
Paris, 1619, in-4to, and Hartmann, _Edrisii Africa_, p. 28 to 55
and _pass_. Gotting. 1795, 8vo.]
[Footnote 25: Agadez, according to M. Walckenaer. See his learned
_Recherches géographiques sur l’Intérieur de l’Afrique
Septentr._ p. 11, in which work almost all the materials which
should be consulted by those who are studying the history of African
discoveries are quoted and collected.]
[Footnote 26: M. Walckenaer has already remarked that on the
ancient map on wood in the King’s library (of the middle of the
14th century) Timbuctoo is indicated by the name of Tenbuch. Its
foundation dated about a century and a half earlier. _Rech. sur
l’Afr. Septentr. &c._, p. 14.]
[Footnote 27: _Insula verò Ulil in mare sita est, etc_.
_Geograph. Nubiens_ p. 7. But _bahr_ signifies both river and sea.]
[Footnote 28: This same extract more complete has just been published
in an English translation by Mr. S. Lee, under the title of Travels
of Ibn Batuta, etc. London, 1829.—During my abode at Cairo, I
heard mention of a complete manuscript, the work of Ben-Batouta,
deposited in the library of the Mosque el-Azhar.]
[Footnote 29: Perhaps تغازي and not تغاري Teghary as read
by Burckhardt, or Tegherry, which would conduct him to the centre
of the kingdom of Fez: M. Kosegarten read تغازا and Mr. Lee
ثغازي in one of the manuscripts.]
[Footnote 30: Oualet, according to M. Walckenaer.]
[Footnote 31: This opinion is adopted by M. Walckenaer (_Recherches
sur l’Afrique sept._ &c. p. 32).]
[Footnote 32: According to the traveller Adrien Partarrieu, a man
of colour, resident at Senegal, who was well acquainted with the
languages both of Africa and Europe, and capable of making good
geographical observations.]
[Footnote 33: See _Histoire complète des Voyages et Découvertes
en Afrique_, by Dr. Leyden, and H. Murray, French translation,
vol. 3, page 173 and the following.]
[Footnote 34: The position of Timbo should first be corrected from
the observations of Major Laing.]
[Footnote 35: It has already been remarked (if an author may be
permitted to quote himself) in the _Réflexions sur l’état
des connaissances relatives au cours du Dhiolibâ_ (page 23) that
the catastrophe appears to have occurred about the 4th of January
1806. He set out from Sansanding about the 19th of November, his
voyage therefore could only have lasted about forty seven days.]
[Footnote 36: Compare the map of Park’s second journey, in
the “Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa,” etc.
London, 1815.]
[Footnote 37: Otherwise Benjamin Rose.]
[Footnote 38: _Nouveau Voyage dans l’Intérieur de l’Afrique,
fait en 1820_, etc. translated from the English by the Chevalier
de Frasans, Paris, 1817.]
[Footnote 39: Such a change cannot have taken place in eighteen
years.]
[Footnote 40: See plate 6, in this volume, and the explanation.]
[Footnote 41: See below, Chapter II, and _Nouveau Voyage_,
&c. p. 79.]
[Footnote 42: It has been already observed, that he gave five Arabic
words, as those of Timbuctoo. _Nouveau Voyage_, page 175.]
[Footnote 43: The substitution of Bahr zahara (river of the desert)
for Marzarah, as proposed by M. Dupuis, appears improbable. See
_Rel. d’Adams_, page 136.]
[Footnote 44: See below, page 217, the analysis of the general map,
§ II, Art. 3.]
[Footnote 45: See further on for what relates to the basins of the
different rivers.]
[Footnote 46: From this lofty range the Rio-Grande and the rivers
of the Timannie flow to the west and south-west; the Gambia, the
Falemé, the Bâfing or Senegal, to the north; and the Dhioliba
and its tributaries, to the east. It is probably connected with the
mountains vulgarly called _Kong_, a word the true signification of
which is _mountain_.]
[Footnote 47: Several points however of these narratives, which I
cannot here pretend to reconcile, yet remain to be elucidated.]
[Footnote 48: See the _Voyage dans l’Afrique occidentale de 1818
à 1821_, by Major William Gray, and the late Surgeon Dochard,
Paris, 1826, translated by Mme. Ch. Huguet. Every one is acquainted
with the unhappy issue of this mission, during which, however,
interesting observations were made, equally worthy the attention
of geographers and of philanthropists.]
[Footnote 49: See on this subject, the _Nouvelle Histoire générale
des voyages_, &c. published by M. Walckenaer.]
[Footnote 50: See below, Art. 3, remarks on the extent of an hour’s
and a day’s journey in Northern Africa.]
[Footnote 51: Ninety-six days exclusive of those of rest.]
[Footnote 52: The two days’ journey in a mountainous country must
necessarily be valued at less than eighteen geographical miles each.]
[Footnote 53: See amongst others _La Sénégambie pour servir à
la nouvelle Histoire générale des Voyages de M. Walckenaer &c._
par M. Dufour, 1828.]
[Footnote 54: It appears to me that M. Dufour, in his estimable work
on Senegambia, restricts himself too scrupulously to the details
of M. Mollien’s route, which nevertheless are very valuable.]
[Footnote 55: The Mandingoes place the Couranco, where Major Laing
places the Soulimana, that is to say they prolong the Couranco to
the N. W., towards the sources of the Dhioliba.]
[Footnote 56: All the rivulets near Kakondy nevertheless flow to the
north into the Rio-Nuñez; but their course is short; perhaps also,
some of the succeeding ones fall into the Rio-Grande.]
[Footnote 57: Sami to the west of Sego, 13° 17’ north, second
journey of Mungo Park, _Journal of a Mission_, &c. London, 1815,
page 149 and 150.]
[Footnote 58: It is nearly due N. E.]
[Footnote 59: See, farther on, the tracing of the course of the
river.]
[Footnote 60: It is the same with that from Djenné to Timbuctoo.]
[Footnote 61: M. Walckenaer, as I have elsewhere said, was among
the first to acknowledge the necessity of this alteration. See
_Recherches_, &c. See also Vol. II, of the _Mémoires de la Société
de Géographie_, and its _Bulletin_ or _Recueil périodique_.]
[Footnote 62: The journal shows four days’ distance; these must
be days of twelve leagues: there are actually eight ordinary days’
journeys with the windings.]
[Footnote 63: See § V below.]
[Footnote 64: See § V. farther on.]
[Footnote 65: See Art. 3.]
[Footnote 66: See pages 457 and 464.]
[Footnote 67: In the map which accompanies his work, M. Walckenaer
places Tafilet about 5° east of Morocco; but M. Lapie, in the
map to M. Cochelet’s travels makes it only 3 degrees and a half
distant. This is also the difference of longitude which results from
the route of M. Caillié as traced by me, the positions of Morocco
and Fez being moreover precisly known. The whole eastern part however
of the empire of Morocco presents difficulties and uncertainties,
which cause the necessity of new observations to be sensibly felt.]
[Footnote 68: May not the too great remoteness of Tafilet from
Fez arise from the custom of which I have spoken, which always
exaggerates itinerary distances?]
[Footnote 69: May not the word _beheim_ which in Arabic signifies
cattle be here mistaken for the name of a place?]
[Footnote 70: About 300 miles south of Nun, 500 north of Tumbut,
and 100 from the Ocean: it is evident that no point can fulfil all
these conditions.]
[Footnote 71: Perhaps el-Quebly ال قبلي improperly pronounced;
this word, signifying _which is to the south_, should, it is
probable, be erased front the maps.]
[Footnote 72: For caravans moderately laden, see observations below.]
[Footnote 73: Toudeyni is at the distance of one day’s journey.]
[Footnote 74: There is reason to believe that the caravan rested
several times during marches of more than twelve hours.]
[Footnote 75: El-Yabo a Berber town, is one day’s journey N. W. of
Zenatyia.]
[Footnote 76: Afilé is near this place.]
[Footnote 77: I am not speaking of points more or less in the
neighbourhood of the route, as Labé, or of the first part of the
course of the Dhioliba.]
[Footnote 78: The lengths of the style and of the shadow were taken
with cords, which have been brought back to France, and which I
have measured with the utmost possible care, comparing them with
a good copper metre.
The style was a very straight stick, placed quite vertically,
by means of a plummet, which the traveller brought away with him,
and which is deposited at the vice-consulate at Tangier, in the
hands of M. Delaporte.]
[Footnote 79: I am indebted for this calculation, and for the
following obliging notice to Lieut. Col. Corabœuf, of the corps
of royal geographical engineers.
Zenithal distance of the superior edge of ⊙ 22° 22’
Semi-diameter of ⊙ 0° 16’
---------
22° 38’
Southern declination of ⊙ 13° 38’
---------
North latitude 9 0
]
[Footnote 80: Two thousand, eight hundred and forty nine miles and
a quarter.]
[Footnote 81: I say nothing of the false information, which the
natives, and especially the Moors, have wilfully given to Europeans,
to keep them away from the centre of Africa; some out of fanaticism,
others for fear of losing the advantages of commerce.]
[Footnote 82:
Zenithal distance of the superior edge of ⊙ 2° 26’
Semidiameter of ⊙ 0° 16’
---------
2 42
Northern declination of ⊙ 15 9’
---------
North latitude 17 51
I must not conceal the fact that M. Caillié made four similar
observations in different places, which are too inconsistent with
the itinerary to be made any use of.]
[Footnote 83: I have formerly given a rather remarkable example
of an analogous application, in the height of the great pyramid of
Memphis, measured by the assistance of mathematical instruments, and
afterwards by the addition of the partial measures of the degrees,
worked by imperfect processes. The results differ very little,
but the number of the partial measures was 203.]
[Footnote 84: The latitude as determined by M. Walckenaer approaches
very near to this result.]
[Footnote 85: See the Bulletin of the Geographical Society, the
second volume of its memoirs, and the map of the Course of the
Gambia beyond Coussaye etc.]
[Footnote 86: “An Account of the Empire of Morocco,” p. 240.]
[Footnote 87: In his letter dated from Timbuctoo, Major Laing
speaks of a distance of fifteen days’ journeys between Sego and
Timbuctoo; I find upon the map about three hundred and fifty-four
miles in a direct line; the days’ journeys are of twenty four
miles, or those of a light caravan.]
[Footnote 88: _The Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa_,
&c. p. 164.]
[Footnote 89: _A Chart of the River Gambia_, &c.]
[Footnote 90: _Annales Maritimes_ for the year 1827, second part,
vol. ii, p. 276.]
[Footnote 91: _Ann. Marit._ for the year 1828; second part, vol. i,
pages 933 and 941.]
[Footnote 92: _The Journal_, &c. p. 21.]
[Footnote 93: M. de Beaufort has made, at Senegal, two observations
which differ from the above by more than 5°, and others which
exceed from 2 to 5 degrees: this variation is, no doubt, owing to
local circumstances.]
[Footnote 94: The journeys of the subsequent days were shorter.]
[Footnote 95: It is the same with the route from Timbuctoo to
Arbate.]
[Footnote 96: Impatience to arrive, and above all, the imperious
necessity of reaching the wells, sufficiently account for these
long journeys through the desert.]
[Footnote 97: _Recherches sur l’Afrique septentrionale_, &c.,
page 266.]
[Footnote 98: After all deductions.]
[Footnote 99: Or from 24 to 26, on account of a ten hours’ march
of two miles and six-tenths an hour.]
[Footnote 100: The learned M. Eyriès in his _Geographical
Observations_ on the discoveries of M. Mollien, confines the
day’s journey to five leagues, or twelve geographical miles;
this estimate applies only to certain cases, for example the long
extended journeys of pedestrians, but not to the days’ journeys
of ordinary caravans.]
[Footnote 101: _Carte générale des Etats du Nord de l’Afrique,
&c._]
[Footnote 102: The data and calculations exhibited above, being the
basis upon which I have reduced the itinerary map and used it for
the general map, it is superfluous here to explain more at length
the necessary differences between the two; but I have considered it
equally my duty to give the first without modification, that is to
say constructed solely upon the estimate of the journeys. I shall
here give the general result of M. Caillié’s days’ journeys,
which, as a whole, deserve attention for their continuity and extent.
+----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+---------+-----------+
| |Number |Number |Estimated|Number |Estimated|Number of |
| |of |of |number |of |number of|geographic.|
| |days |hours |of |hours |English |miles. |
|JOURNEYS |of |of |English |journey|miles. | |
| |actual |travel.|miles. |daily. +----+----+-----+-----+
| |travel.| | | |per |per |per |per |
| | | | | |hour|day |hour |day |
+----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+----+----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | | |
|From |48 |176½ |529¼ |3,7 |3 |11,0|2,14 |9,43 |
|Kakondy | | | | | | | | |
|to Timé | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|„ Timé to |62 |148 |444 |2,4 |3 |7,2 |2,14 |6,17 |
|Galia | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|„ Galia |26 |262 |524 |10 |2 |20 |1,43 |17,2 |
|to | | | | | | | | |
|Timbuctoo | | | | | | | | |
|by water | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|„ |67 |630 |1260 |9,3 |2 |18,8|1,43 |16,1 |
|Timbuctoo | | | | | | | | |
|to Fez | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|„ Fez to |4 |45 |90 |11,2 |2 |22,5|1,43 |19,3 |
|Arbate | | | | | | | | |
| +-------+-------+---------+-------+----+----+-----+-----+
|Totals |207 |1261½ |2849¼ | „ |„ |„ |„ |„ |
| | | | | | | | | |
+----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+----+----+-----+-----+
| |
| Progress of caravans heavily laden, by the hour in |
| geographical miles: from 1⁹⁄₂₀ to 1½ |
| |
| „ moderately laden, by the hour in ditto. |
| .from 2 to ³⁄₂₀ |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
]
[Footnote 103: See Chapter 3.]
[Footnote 104: See Chapter 2 below.]
[Footnote 105: _Couaraba_, or _River-River_; thus the Africans call
the Nile _Ba-ba_.]
[Footnote 106: See below § V.]
[Footnote 107: “This place,” says Leo, “is a very abundant
mine of salt, whiter than marble, at the distance of about twenty
days’ journey from any inhabited spot, and having wells of very
salt water only.” The author does not give its exact situation. See
_Descrip. Africæ_, 1. 6, p. 425, Figur. 1559.]
[Footnote 108: I apprehend this word to be corrupted by the Europeans
because Kount, the same perhaps as Kant, is actually the name of
a tribe of the Sahara, according to M. Caillié’s Itinerary.]
[Footnote 109: Perhaps a different place from Walet, as I have
conjectured above.]
[Footnote 110: When properly written, I do not think that this
word contains a ي _ye_. We may be satisfied, however, with the
orthography تمبكتُ Temboctou, and the word is perhaps composed
of the Berber particle _te_ or _ta_, as Tamaroc, Takant, Tarekne,
T-rarzas, T-razah, etc., and of _m-boctou_, formed like M-dayara. I
know that Ben Batouta writes Tenboctou, تنبكتوا The only
doubt remaining is relative to the use of the _m_ or _n_. See _The
Travels of Ibn Batouta_, English translation by Mr. Lee, London 1829,
p. 237.]
[Footnote 111: See in § V further on, several remarks upon the
nomenclature.]
[Footnote 112: On the left bank the Tankisso, and several others;
on the right bank the Couaraba, the Bagoé, &c.]
[Footnote 113: Volume II of the Memoirs of the Geographical Society,
page 54.]
[Footnote 114: Speaking of the sight of the river, which he obtained
from the heights of Toniba, at four leagues distance, Park exclaims:
“I once more saw the Niger rolling its immense stream along the
plain.” (_The Journal of a Mission_, &c. London, 1815, page 143).]
[Footnote 115: See Section III below.]
[Footnote 116: _Journal of a Mission, &c._, 144, and following
pages.]
[Footnote 117: I have already called the reader’s attention to
the fact that M. Walckenaer had carried this position at least two
degrees farther west than the old maps. Subsequent observations,
which I have employed myself in collecting, have proved that a
change in this direction was necessary. To judge of its extent it was
essential to have good observations taken at Galam, (or at Bakel),
as well as a new itinerary between Senegambia and the Dhioliba. It
is on these more accurate data that I have endeavoured to work.]
[Footnote 118: On occasion of the rains, the useful assistance he
derived from his English umbrella may be remarked, not only for the
shelter it afforded him, but for the importance which the natives
attached to it, the admiration it produced, and the advantage he
derived from that admiration. This narrative shews that this is one
of the portable articles which Europeans would be most certain of
exporting with success to Africa.]
[Footnote 119: The Marabouts write this word عَراَوَان]
[Footnote 120: See the description of this city in Mr. Jackson’s
work, quoted above, and that of Timbuctoo, in the Travels of Robert
Adams and of Riley, in Leo Africanus, and in the _Recherches_
of M. Walckenaer, &c.]
[Footnote 121: The king of Tombuto, according to Leo, had three
thousand horsemen under his command, and an almost innumerable
multitude of archers. One very remarkable circumstance is that fire
destroyed, according to this author, (if we read _oppidi pars_)
_almost half the city in the space of five hours_. Leo’s recital
is the most important, and perhaps the most authentic, of any we
have hitherto possessed. These motives induce me to place it entire
before the reader, in order that he may compare it with the new
narrative. I shall quote the Latin version made from the Italian of
Leo (2nd edition), though it is not quite so accurate as might be
wished: it is well known that Leo wrote it originally in Arabic. See
Joannis Leonis Africani de totius Africæ Descriptione lib, Tiguri,
1559. 431 and following pages.
TUMBUTUM REGNUM.
Hujus regni nomen nostris ferè temporibus ab
ejusdem nominis oppido desumptum volunt, cujus conditorem fuisse
dicunt quemdam Mensè-Suleiman, hegiræ anno sexcentesimo decimo:
in duodecimo milliario à quodam fluviolo situm fuit, _quod_
è Nigro flumine effluebat; cujus domus omnes in tuguriola
cretacea[A] stramineis tectis sunt mutatæ. Visitur tamen
elegantissimum quoddam templum, cujus murus ex lapidibus atque
calce vivo est fabricatus: deindè et palatium quoddam regium à
quodam Granatæ viro artificiosissimo conditum. Frequentissimæ
hìc sunt artificum, mercatorum, præcipuè autem telæ atque
gossypii textorum, officinæ. Hùc mercatores barbari pannum ex
Europâ afferunt. Hujus quoque regionis mulieres faciem tegunt,
ancillis tamen exceptis, iisque quæ omnia ad victum necessaria
vendunt. Incolæ, ac inter hos exteri præsertim, sunt ditissimi,
adeò ut qui jam regem agit, utramque filiam duobus mercatoribus
ditissimis in uxores dederit. Frequentissimi hìc putei, qui
aquam præbent dulcissimam; ac quoties Niger flumen excrescit,
ejus aquam ductibus quibusdam in urbem trahunt. Regio est
frumentis, pecudibus, lacte atque butyro copiosissima: salis
verò summa est penuria; hùc enim à Tegasa, quod oppidum in
quingentesimo abest milliario, adferri solet. Ego cùm hìc
essem, vidi salis sarcinam unam, quantùm camelus ferre potuit,
octoginta emi aureis. Tumbuti rex opulentissimus bracteas aliquot
atque sceptra habet, quorum nonnulla mille et trecentarum sunt
librarum. Magnificam optimèque instructam alit aulam: quoties
aliquò proficiscitur, camelo insidet, qui à nobilibus duci
solet; idem evenit quoties ad bellum proficiscitur; milites
verò omnes equites sunt. Hunc si quis regem alloqui velit,
ad pedes primùm procidit, deindè terram sumens in caput atque
humeros sternit: soletque hic fère mos ab illis servari, qui
nunquam anteà regi sunt locuti, aut qui ab alio principe hùc
legati sunt missi. Equitum semper tria millia habet, pedites
propemodùm innumeros, qui arcubus sagittas emittunt veneno
infectas. Frequentissimè cum his belligerantur, qui tributum
persolvere recusant, et quotquot prælio capere possunt, Tumbuti
mercatoribus vendunt. Magna hìc est equorum paucitas; mercatores
atque aulici pusillos quosdam alunt, quibus in itinere peragendo
uti solent; præstantissimi autem equi à Barbaria adducuntur;
Rex verò simul atque audit mercatores cum equis appulisse,
mox numerum sibi adferri jubet, deindè omnium præstantissimum
sibi deligit, pretiumque liberalissime persolvit. Judæis omnibus
adeò se hostem atrocem præbet, ut nullos omninò in ea civitate
admittat: si quos Barbaros aliquid cum Judæis commercii habere
intelligit, statim illorum bona proscribere jubet. Magna hìc
est judicum, doctorum, sacerdotum, atque virorum doctissimorum,
copia, qui liberalissimis regiis aluntur stipendiis. Infiniti
hìc libri manuscripti ex Barbaria adferuntur; è quibus
multò plures pecuniæ quàm ex reliquiis omnibus mercibus
colliguntur. Horum moneta aurea est, nullis figuris insignita:
in rebus autem minutioribus cochleis quibusdam utuntur quæ hùc
ex Persarum regione convehi solent, harum quadringentæ aureo
æquivalent: aureorum autem sex, cum duabus unius aurei tertiis,
unciam unam pendent. Homines naturâ sunt mites atque placidi;
à vigesimâ quartâ in primam usque noctis horam cantando atque
saltando omnes ferè civitatis partes ambiunt. Mancipia utriusque
sexûs quàm plurima alunt: estque oppidum ignis injuriæ maximè
obnoxium; ubi jàm secundùm ad hos venissem dimidia ferè
_oppida_ pars quinque horarum spatio igne deleta fuit. Nullum
in suburbio hortum aut fructibus consitum locum reperies.
CABRA OPPIDUM.
Cabra sic satis amplum absque muris ad
pagi modum compositum oppidum, distat à Tumbuto ad flumen
Nigrum in duodecimo ferè milliario; hìc mercatores ad Gineæ
aut Melli regnum navigare cupientes, naves conscendunt. Hujus
tàm cives quàm ædificia Tumbuti ædificiis atque civibus non
admodùm sunt inferiora: hùc Nigritæ navigio undique confluere
solent. In hac civitate Tumbuti rex judicem quemdam constituit,
qui lites inter eos componeret: molestum enim erat toties
in anno eam ob causam eò proficisci. Ego hìc regis fratrem
Abu-Bacr, cognomine Pargama, novi hominem, colore quidem nigrum,
cæterùm animo atque ingenio candidissimum. Frequentissimi hìc
exoriuntur morbi, qui rempublicam mirum in modum minuunt. Idque
propter ciborum ineptissimam commixtionem: pisces enim lacte,
butyro atque carnibus commiscent; estque hic præcipuus ferè
Tumbuti cibus.
]
[Footnote A: These words are not a translation of _capanne fatte
di pali, coperte di creta_, in the Italian text.]
[Footnote 122: _Recherches sur l’Afrique Sept. &c._, page 184.]
[Footnote 123: _Recherches sur l’Afrique Sept. &c._, page
184. It is true that this itinerary is less worthy of credit than
that of Sheik Haggy-Cassem, translated by M. Delaporte, the date
of which seems to be 1805, and which agrees on many points with
M. Caillié. Those who have made this part of Africa the object of
their studies will perceive some evident fiction in the former work.]
[Footnote 124: From Tangier to Timbuctoo, 450 leagues in a direct
line; from Timbuctoo to Bouré 200 leagues, total 650 leagues;
with the return 1300. From St. Louis to Caignon 110 leagues;
from Caignon to Bouré 120; total 230, and with the return 460:
difference in a direct line, 420, and with the return 840.]
[Footnote 125: See the French translation, by Messrs. Eyriès and
de la Renaudière, tome II, supplement, pages 298, etc.]
[Footnote 126: The English translation of this document has here
joined the countries of _Fouta-Torou_ and _Darboz_; the latter
cannot be San-Salvador, as the translator imagines.]
[Footnote 127: Similar instances have induced me long since to
adopt the _dh_ or _gh_ in transcribing several African names,
particularly in the word _Dhioliba_, independently of the meaning
of the word _Dhioli_, which the natives would probably write جلي.]
[Footnote 128: I have however somewhere seen this name translated
by _Black River_; the Banimma is marked on the eastern side, as
well as the Balio.]
[Footnote 129: _The Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern
and Central Africa, by Major Denham and C. H. Clapperton._ London,
1826, page 109 of Clapperton’s journal.]
[Footnote 130: I perceive also the name of Jerry amongst those
of the districts subject to Mohammed-Labou: (Massina, Temboctou,
Jerry) does this name stand for Jenné?]
[Footnote 131: The comparison of these two African maps with
the accounts of Isaaco and Amadi-Fatouma, Mungo Park’s guides,
affords results not unworthy of attention: but I have not room to
deduce them.]
[Footnote 132: See “_Quarterly Review_.” See also _Réflexions
sur l’état des Connaissances relatives au Cours du Dhioliba_,
page 27.]
[Footnote 133: _Ibidem_, page 25.]
[Footnote 134: See above, Vol. I, the account of his first travels.]
[Footnote 135: On the 8th of October he arrived in France, five
months after his departure from Timbuctoo; from this time the
period of his compulsory residence in Morocco must be deducted. The
Geographical Society awarded to him its highest premium at its
general meeting on the 26th of December 1828, only seven months
after he quitted Timbuctoo.]
[Footnote 136: It was during the dry season that the English
travellers found it to be a hundred yards wide; but it is very
broad at other times.]
[Footnote 137: The late Malte-Brun adopted this opinion immediately
after the publication of the English travels to Saccatoo.]
[Footnote 138: See _Ephémérid. Géogr._ for the year 1803.]
[Footnote 139: Is it possible to quote this estimable traveller,
who united so many extraordinary qualities, without offering a
tribute of regret to his memory? His loss has deprived science of
more than one discovery: all, however, has not perished with him;
the account of his travels has been preserved; and it is to be hoped
that it will speedily be published, with his maps and drawings.]
[Footnote 140: See _Mémoire sur la Communication du Nil des Noirs
avec le Nil d’Egypte_, p. 9.]
[Footnote 141: Funda appears to be less than a hundred leagues from
the sea, measuring the distance by the current.]
[Footnote 142: A Dissertation on the Course and probable Termination
of the Niger, London, 1829.]
[Footnote 143: M. Chauvet, however has just published a conjecture
coinciding with several different accounts, and possessing the
advantage of embracing the whole question of the rivers which
traverse Northern Africa in every direction: his opinion is developed
at great length, and I should here insist upon the merit of this
explanation, had not the author prevented me, by quoting my opinion
as an authority. (_Revue Encycl._ October 1829).]
[Footnote 144: The numerals are the same as in Bambara.]
[Footnote 145: I have added within parentheses the words given by
Mungo Park to shew the frequent agreement between the two travellers,
the differences arise from the diversity of the countries through
which they travelled.
It is to be regretted that travellers, when collecting the words
of an unknown language, do not select peculiar and characteristic
terms: it would be easier, by following this method of comparing
the different idioms, to discover their family resemblance or
their original dissimilarity. With this view, I have formed a
rather extended specimen of a vocabulary principally for the use
of travellers in Africa, with a methodic mode of interrogation
(See _Atlas Ethn. de M. Ad. Balbi_, page xlviij).
I have also formed a collection of vocabularies of more than thirty
idioms of Northern Africa, which may serve as a second part of the
_Vocabulaire des Voyageurs_.—E. J.]
[Footnote 146: The _r_ is changed into _l_ in this word and many
others see below.—E. J.]
[Footnote 147: The third numeral order of the Mandingoes, called
_kemmé_, and which answers to a hundred, is composed of only
eight tens; so that our hundred is equal to their hundred and
twenty, which they express by _kemmé_ ni mouga (_a hundred_ and
twenty). Their hundred being only eighty, their thousand is equal
to eight of our hundreds.]
[Footnote 148: An opening in general. See the note, page 384.]
[Footnote 149: M. Caillié has observed that the word _mountain_ is
expressed by _kong_. Mungo Park has taken a generic term for the name
of a particular mountain; Park himself here confirms my observations,
by giving the word _konko_. I may add that the term for head is
_koung_ in Mandingo; and there is an analogy in the sense.—E. J.]
[Footnote 150: This word also signifies mouth, no doubt because it
expresses that which opens, the ear, the mouth, the door, or any
other opening.]
[Footnote 151: The _gu_, _gh_, or _dh_, has here a guttural sound.]
[Footnote 152: The ȷ̈ is used here, and in all the words that
should have a strong guttural pronunciation; it is in the Spanish
_j_, and the Arabic خ, kha.]
[Footnote 153: _Inta_, in Arabic, thou.]
[Footnote 154: _So_ signifies village.]
[Footnote 155: I do not know the name of that.]
[Footnote 156: I have added between parentheses many words of the
language spoken at Timbuctoo, according to Captain Lyon and Major
Denham: these last are accompanied by the letter D.; it is remarkable
that they are all confirmed by M. Caillié, and at the same time
scarcely one of the others. The words given by Robert Adams to
M. Dupuis are in the same predicament as those of Captain Lyon. This
disagreement alone cannot prove the falsity of the travels of Adams;
but it is at least well worthy of attention. See above Chap. 1. §
1.—E. J.]
[Footnote 157: According to Bowdich.]
[Footnote 158: A shell which passes for money.]
[Footnote 159: This word is perhaps meat in Arabic, taken for the
act of eating, in consequence of an error similar to that noticed
at the word hand.]
[Footnote 160: Or _akhod_. This is an Arabic word which signifies
take; the motion of the hand has doubtless been taken for the
hand itself.]
[Footnote 161: The resemblance of this word to _ushti_, _to drink_
cannot fail to be here remarked. Is it not the position of the
hand in the act of drinking which has caused the confusion made by
Capt. Lyon?—E. J.]
[Footnote 162: This should, no doubt be the same word, _tarno_
or _tamo_.]
[Footnote 163: The English mile is intended; the traveller having,
before he quitted Sierra-Leone, acquired the habit of estimating
his march, in a given time, according to a space measured in
English miles.
All the other details of the route, and those which relate to the
accidents of the soil, are noted in the journal of the travels
to which it will be necessary to have recourse in order fully to
understand the circumstances of the march.]
[Footnote 164: Beyond Kera, the journeys were noted by hours,
which have been here turned into miles at the rate of two miles an
hour. The night marches, directed by the true north are summarily
mentioned in the column of observations.]
[Footnote 165: This is the mosque called in the description the
Western Mosque, and which is situated to the W. S. W. of the town.]
[Footnote 166: My learned friend M. Delile, author of the _Flore
d’Egypte_, considers this tree as the _persea_ of the ancients;
but this opinion is disputed.]
[Footnote 167: See “_Réflexions sur l’état des Connoissances
relatives au Dhioliba_,” page 25.]
[Footnote 168: M. Caillié has brought away some seeds and fragments
of gramineous and leguminous plants, collected between Timé and
Djenné, and on the banks of the Dhioliba, now deposited at the
vice-consulate of Tangier, with some white stone from the wells of
El-Araouan, some minerals, and the plummet of which I have spoken.]
[Footnote 169: _Descript. Afric._ &c. page 429, Tigur. 1559.]
[Footnote 170: Consult the interesting work entitled _Naufrage du
brig français la Sophie_, par M. Charles Cochelet, (Paris, 1821,
in 8vo) where the author affirms that Sidi-Hamet did not visit
Timbuctoo, and raises doubts upon the travels of Adams. (Tom. 2,
chap. XV.)]
[Footnote 171: M. Jomard’s share in the publication is confined
to the itinerary, the maps and the geographical discussions, the
division, and the general superintendence of the work.]
[Footnote 172: It is the line which Watt and Winterbottom took
in 1794.]
[Footnote 173: He passed considerably to the east of these towns.]
[Footnote 174: See the report page 451.]
[Transcriber's note:
Only evident typographical errors have been corrected; other
inconsistencies or mistakes have been kept in.
To see the General map and Itinerary map in full detail, the reader
is referred to the _Carte itinéraire du voyage de M. Caillié
à Jenné et à Temboctou_ (E.M. Jomard, 1829), digitized and
available at the _Bibliothèque nationale de France_. Similarly,
the plate elements listed in the Explanation of the Plates that do
not appear in "View of the city of Timbuctoo" (also named "View of
part of the town of Timbuctoo, taken from the summit of a hill to
the E. N. E.") can be found in the French original.]