It must be obvious to every one, that a considerable portion of time and study is requisite to obtain a thorough acquaintance with the moral and political character of any nation, but particularly with one which differs in every respect from our own, as does that of Marocco; he, therefore, who would be thoroughly acquainted with that country, must reside in it for a length of time; he must possess opportunities of penetrating into the councils of the State, as well as of studying the genius of the people; he must view them in war and in peace; in public and in domestic life; note their military skill, and their commercial system; and finally, and above all, he must have an accurate and practical knowledge of their language, in order to cut off one otherwise universal source of error, misconception, and misrepresentation.
Certainly no country has of late occupied so much attention as Africa, and the exertions of the African Association to explore the interior of this interesting quarter of the globe, do them the highest credit; and if their emissaries have not always been successful, or obtained information only of minor importance compared with the great object of their researches, it is to be attributed to their want of a sufficient knowledge of the nature of the country, and the character and prejudices of its inhabitants, without which, science to a traveller in these regions, is comparatively of little value. When we consider the disadvantages under which Mr. Parke laboured in this respect, and that he travelled in an European dress, it is really astonishing that that gentleman should have penetrated so far as he did, in his first mission; and we are not so much surprised at the perils he endured, as that he should have returned in safety to his native country. Had he previously resided a short time in Barbary, and obtained there a tolerable proficiency in the African Arabic, and with the customs adopted the dress of the country, what might we not have expected from his perseverance and enterprising spirit? Whatever plans future travellers may adopt, I would recommend to them to lay aside the dress of Europe; for, besides its being a badge of Christianity wherever he goes, it inevitably exposes him to danger; and it is so indecent in the eyes of the Arabs and Moors, that a man with no other clothing than a piece of linen round his middle, would excite in them less indignation.
Mr. Horneman, in the above respects, certainly set out with a more probable chance of success; though I much fear the expectations which he raised will never be fulfilled. From his Journal, indeed, he appears to have been of far too sanguine a disposition, and to have relied too much on the fair professions of his African fellow-travellers, an instance of which occurs in his letter from Mourzouk, where he says, “Under protection of two great Shereefs I have the best hopes of success in my undertaking.” Here the hopes of success originate in the very cause that would induce a man versed in the character and springs of action of the Africans, to despair of success. It was the promises of these people that led Major Houghton to his ruin; and the fair representations made by some of them to the first emissaries of the African Association have been proved to be false by the difficulties and dangers which their successors have had to encounter, in attempting to penetrate to Timbuctoo. The Shereefs are very plausible people; many of them possess uncommon suavity of manners, which is too apt to throw the confiding European off his guard, and make him the victim of their artful designs; as to their information, it is not to be depended on; they will say every thing to mislead, an instance of which will be presently mentioned in the case of Mr. Parke. In another place Mr. Horneman says, “In respect to my astronomical instruments, I shall take special care never to be discovered in the act of observation; should these instruments, however, attract notice, the answer is ready, they are articles of sale, nor is there fear I should be deprived of them whilst master of my price.” Nothing can evince greater ignorance of the people than this; indeed I am surprised Mr. Horneman could entertain such an idea. The mode of travelling in Africa will prevent the possibility of his availing himself of these precautions; there is no cafilah, or caravan of itinerant merchants and traders in that country, which does not contain some person who has either been to sea, or has seen nautical instruments, and knows their use. That they are articles for sale would indeed sound very well for a person going through Europe, but there are no purchasers for such things in Africa; besides, no people under heaven are more jealous, or suspicious of every thing which they do not comprehend, than the Africans. The description of them by Sallust holds at this day, and is perhaps a better drawn character of the modern African (although it alludes to their ancestors) than any description which has hitherto been given of this extraordinary people. These ignorant, barbarous savages, as we call them, are much more sagacious, and possess much better intellects, than we have yet been aware of.
The error above alluded to, into which Mr. Parke was led by a Shereef, was in regard to the distance from Marocco through Sueerah, or Mogodor, to Wedinoon, which he makes twenty days,[6] when it is in reality but ten, as I have repeatedly travelled the distance; viz. Marocco to Sueerah, or Mogodor, three days; to Agadeer, or Santa Cruz, three; to Wedinoon four. There is also another error in the same gentleman’s book, which it is proper to notice; he says, Saheel signifies the north country; nothing but an ignorance of Arabic could have thus misled him; Saheel in that language signifying nothing more than an extensive plain; thus the extensive plains south-east of the river Suse are called Saheel; the low country near El Waladia is called Saheel; and if an Arab were to pass over Salisbury Plain, he would term it Saheel. In these few notices respecting the travels of two of the hitherto most successful emissaries of the African Association, I have no other object in view than to point out errors which may mislead those who follow them, and I therefore hope, that they will be favourably received by that respectable body, and by the authors themselves, should they happily return to this country. I had written several remarks on Mr. Horneman’s Journal, which I intended to give in an appendix, but as they might create ill-will, and involve me in useless controversy, I have suppressed them.
With regard to the following Work, it has been my endeavour throughout, to give the reader a clear account of the present state of the Empire of Marocco, and of its commercial relations with the interior, as well as with Europe: on the latter some readers may perhaps think I have enlarged too much, but it was my wish to be particular, on that subject, and to shew the advantages which this country might, and ought to derive from an extensive trade with Barbary. In other respects, I have been as concise as possible, introducing little or nothing of what has been satisfactorily detailed by late writers on the same subject. In the Map of Marocco, I have given the encampments of the various tribes of Arabs, and omitted such towns and villages as are found in modern maps, but which now no longer exist. The track of the caravans through the Desert to Timbuctoo, is, together with the account of that city and the adjacent country, given from sources of information which I had every reason to believe correct. The engravings are from drawings made on the spot by myself; but from the extreme jealousy of the natives, particularly those of the interior provinces, and the consequent difficulty of taking views without being discovered, trifling inaccuracies may have been committed in some of them. Some apology ought perhaps to be made for my language; but any defect, in this respect, will, I trust be excused, when it is recollected that a plain relation of facts, and not an elegant composition, was all I had in view. Some readers, probably may express surprise, that I have said nothing of the political history of the country; but this I have reserved for a future publication should the present one meet with the approbation of the public.
FOOTNOTES:
[3]The Right Hon. the Earl of Moira.
[4]There is a small volume translated from the French of the Abbé Poiret, entitled, Travels through Barbary in a series of letters, written from the Ancient Numidia, in the years 1785 and 1786, which contains many judicious observations. The Abbé was doubtless a man of penetration, and understood the character of the people whom he described.
[5]There is an interesting and, I believe, a very faithful account of an embassy from Queen Elizabeth to Muley Abd El Melk, Emperor of Marocco in 1577, in the Gentleman’s Mag. September 1810, page 219, in which the reader may correct the following errors of the press: for Elchies, r. Alkaids; for lintals, r. quintals.
[6]See Parke’s Travels, 4to. edit. page 141.