Footnote 236:[ (return) ] Isaco was a Jew, not a Moor.--J.G.J.
Footnote 237:[ (return) ] There is a remarkable confirmation of this quotation from Sir Joseph's letter in Mr. Jackson's translation of the Arabic manuscript of Mungo Park's death, for which see Bowdich's Account of a Mission to Ashantee, p. 480.; also Annals of Oriental Literature, No. I.
Death of Mr. Rontgen, in an Attempt to explore the Interior of Africa.
May, 1812.
The young German gentleman of the name of Rontgen, who left England about a twelve-month since for Africa, in order to prosecute discoveries in the interior of that country, has, it is said, been murdered by the Arabs, before he had proceeded any great distance from Mogodor, where he spent some time perfecting himself in the Arabic language. He was a promising young man, and an enthusiast in the cause in which he was lost, and supposed to understand the Arabic language better than any European who ever before entered Africa. At an early age he formed the plan of going to that country, and gave up his connections and a competency in Germany, to prosecute his intentions. His father was a character well known in Europe, who raised himself from obscurity to the greatest celebrity by his talent for mechanics. He was at one time worth a million, but was ruined by the French revolution.
The following Letter from James Willis, Esq. late Consul to Senigambia, is extracted from the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1812.
COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH AFRICA.
May 5. 1812.
At a time when our ancient rivals and enemies are exerting all their powers to destroy the British commerce, and have nearly effected their gigantic schemes of cutting off all communication between Great Britain and the various ports, states, and kingdoms of Europe; at such a time when we are in imminent danger of losing the markets of a quarter of the globe, it becomes essentially important to discover other channels for our commerce, and other markets for our manufactures.
In this point of view, the information lately communicated to the public by Mr. James Grey Jackson, in his "Travels in Africa," becomes highly interesting to the statesman as well as to the merchant. From the account which he has given of the city of Timbuctoo, and its commercial relations, there is great reason to conclude, that if we could find means to open and maintain a safe and easy communication with that great emporium, and with the rich, fertile, and populous regions in its vicinity, we might acquire a market for our manufactures, that would in time compensate for the loss of that of Europe.