In a letter to Mr. G. D———d, Mr. Davidson says, “after endeavouring to enter Africa in forma pauperis, I tried another tack, and got up a staff of six officers in field-day regimentals, and embarking in a brig of war the ‘Jasséen,’ landed at Tangier under a salute of eleven guns. This stamped me at once as a great man; and though I have been somewhat accustomed to such kind of greatness, I find it not very pleasant here, for I have Messúd, my Jewish interpreter, and Ben Hayed, my Moorish interpreter, and I can hardly stir without both being on the alert, the one watching my mouth, the other my eye.”
Speaking of the feelings of the natives towards a foreigner he says, “the people here are worse than any I have yet seen; they hate me because I am a Christian, although they are ready to praise me for my kindness to Abú, who is half-anxious and half afraid to proceed. His health is bad and spirits worse, and his powers quite unequal to what we shall have to go through. We certainly run some risk: I am very careful what he eats, and much fear that the threats thrown out against his getting back will prove too true. As for myself, I pass the time in riding with the Taurick, chatting with the Jews, and taking snuff with the Moors.”
Speaking of the Mona he observes, “I had to pay for a sheep, fowls, eggs, bread, and preserves, but being neither butcher, poulterer, baker or confectioner, the things were of little use to me. They call the present Mona, which may mean Manna; and as these vagabonds call themselves the image of God upon earth, they think it enough if they give only food.”
In allusion to the Lob el Barool he says, “It is literally ‘the game of smoke,’ and played by soldiers on horseback, who fire off their guns with only blank cartridges; but sometimes they put in a ball, which is sure to strike, of course by mere accident, a Christian.”
With regard to the ruins near the outset, Mr. D. seems to think they are Druidical, and he compares them with the remains of Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
Speaking of his medical life in Africa, he says, “all whom I cure come to be paid for allowing me to improve myself in my profession, and demand a piece of coin for every dose they have been taking; while those I fail to cure abuse me for want of skill, and threaten to shorten my life for not prolonging theirs.”
The allusion to the electrical horse will be best explained by the following letter, written by Mr. D. to Professor Faraday, and by whom it was read at the Royal Institution.
“The great interest you take in all matters relating to electricity, and the great advantages which have resulted from your researches in that science, induce me to call your attention to a circumstance, perhaps not new to you, but which has recently fallen under my own observation. I received from the Sultan of Marocco the present of a horse of a peculiar breed, and as every person in this country is his own groom, I observed a peculiar tingling sensation in the hand on dressing the neck of the animal; this I attributed at first to the dirt and vermin with which the poor animals here are infested, and then thought no more of it. On leaving Marocco I proceeded towards the Atlas; and whenever I had occasion to consult my compass I found it extremely difficult, nay, impossible to keep it steady. I supposed this was owing to my sword and pistol; but as I wore these, when walking, without observing the same deflection, I dismounted, and holding the compass, I still perceived the same effect as long as I held it near the horse’s head; but when I left the animal, and put the instrument on the ground, the needle settled to its point. After a little reflection, the effect produced on my hand by rubbing the horse’s neck on the near side occurred to me; when repeating the experiment, I could perceive several distinct intimations of the same tingling sensation. We proceeded to our halt; and as soon as the party had sat down to their evening meal, I began to examine into the matter more closely. It was now dusk; on passing my hand down the neck, not only could I hear distinctly the electrical detonation, but perceive a quantity of sparks; both were such as would be produced by rubbing the large plate machine at the Royal Institution. Thinking the effect might still have been produced by animalculæ, and intending to visit the following day the ruins of Trassermant, I ordered the horse to be well washed in the morning. On pouring water over his neck, I found a peculiar spasmodic action produced, which did not take place when it was poured upon any other part of the body, not even on the off-side of the neck, on which fell the mane. Ascending the lower part of the mountain chain toward the snow, the effect was scarcely visible; but on returning to the valley, it was considerably increased, and especially after the animal had been well washed and dried. Approaching the sea, it became more powerful, and at Mogadór I got several persons to witness the phenomenon. I was here told by the kaid, who had accompanied me from Marocco, to take great care of the animal; that there were very few of them in the country, and that the Sultán seldom gave them away; that it was not only a horse of high blood but of fire, and it would never tire. It has done a great deal of hard work, and fully bears out the character given of him. I have moreover observed, on touching him with the spur, or when he is excited by the firing of a gun, or the sight of other horses, that a violent action is produced on this side of the neck. Upon entering the desert, the effect nearly disappeared, and at the same time a great portion of his courage, although he continued to do his work well. The difference may, however, be owing to the great change from an abundant to a spare diet, and to his sympathising with his master by shewing more bone than flesh, as our meals are reduced to one a-day. Can the colour have any thing to do with it? He is golden dun, with a black mane and tail. I have seen but three of the same hue, two in the stables of the Sultán, and the third in the possession of the Sheïkh of Stuka; but I could not obtain permission to examine them. I am very anxious to send him to England; but I fear it will be impossible, as the whole of the persons in power in Marocco are so incensed against me for having eluded their vigilance, and succeeded in getting out of the empire upon the direct track of the gold district, that I am told that no favour would now be granted, and that if I come back, I shall rue what I have done in passing to this place. The road is now open to me: my intention is not to follow the caravan route, but to proceed with a small escort and a few camels by the road the couriers take, and thus obtain a new line and bearing to establish the position of Tumbuktú. I had made a collection for the Royal Institution of some mineralogical and fossil specimens; amongst which were many of copper, antimony and lead, and what they here call brass (nhas asfer). The last was obtained, but with difficulty, for Professor Berzelius, at the request of the consul-general at Tangiers. But having to lighten my baggage, when passing through Lower Suse, the mule-load of stones had to be sent away, with a promise that they should be forwarded to Mogadór. They were addressed to yourself, with a request to send the duplicates to the professor at Stockholm. I fear much they will never reach you, as a Berber told me the people will be sure to think they contain gold, and they will all be sent to the furnace.”
It appears, however, by a letter to Mr. Drummond Hay, that Sheïkh Alí subsequently told Mr. Davidson, that finding they were only stones, he, the Sheïkh, had thrown them away, but had kept the baskets.
In allusion to the project of making Agadeer the port for sending goods into the interior of Africa, he says, that the people there asserted that the story circulated of the insecure state of property in that country was unfounded; that such reports were spread by the people of Mogadór, who feared that foreigners would come and settle there, if it was thought that trade could be carried on with Suse better by that route than the old one. It was this very dread of the trade being directed into a new channel, that seems to have thrown such impediments in the way of Mr. D.’s journey to Tumbuktú.