A biographical memoir of the late Dr. Walter Oudney, Captain Hugh Clapperton, both of the Royal Navy, and Major Alex. Gordon Laing, all of whom died amid their active and enterprising endeavours to explore the interior of Africa

by Thomas Nelson

TO HIS SISTER.

“Mourzuk, November 4, 1822.

“It is now beginning to get very cold here, the mornings are nearly as chilly as with you, so that we find it necessary to have recourse to warm clothing. The people are really very obliging, but they are great beggars. They are always asking for one thing or another, and very frequently I feel it necessary to reject their suit. They are lively, and the lower orders are fond of dancing and music. The dances are not like those in our country, and the musical instruments and tunes are as rude and wild as is the country to which they belong. How would you like to be locked up always in the house and never allowed to go out, as are many of the women here? The lower orders, indeed, are exempted, and they are more happy than those who can boast of their rank. This place is much more tolerant than many other Mahometan states; and we have lived here as safely as we could have done in Auld Reekie.”