CHAPTER V.
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.