“Sir,—I had the melancholy duty, on the 1st instant, to make you acquainted with the distressing intelligence which had reached me regarding Mr. Davidson. I am grieved at heart to inform you that all the accounts I have received since confirm the melancholy tidings.
“The most circumstantial account I have heard, I derived from a Jew trader of the name of Jacob Ben Cohen, who arrived here from Draha on the 2d instant, and reported to me that Mr. Davidson had been robbed on the 29th or 30th of Shaban[177] (thirty-two or thirty-three days after Mr. Davidson started from Wadnoon), by the tribes of Idowlet and Ait Atta, in the district of Hameda, four days’ journey from Tatta, who, receiving from Mr. Davidson eight doubloons and one hundred dollars, and a loaded camel, allowed the party, consisting of eighteen persons, to proceed on their route towards Timbuctoo; Wold Hamdan[178] and Eborria, of Idowlet, and Wold Henna and Wold Aboo, of the tribe of Ait Atta,[179] he mentioned as the names of the robbers. My informant stated, that, eight or ten days after, a marauding party of 100 horsemen of the tribe of El Harib, who were returning from plundering a place called Bousbeyah,[180] met Mr. Davidson’s party a little to the south of Egueda, whom they immediately robbed, and shot Mr. Davidson, who received eight balls, and when dead, every one discharged their muskets at his body as a meritorious act. At El Mehamdee,[181] a town distant six days from Tatta,[182] where my informant was living, he saw in the possession of the Arabs and Jews various articles which had belonged to Mr. Davidson, which he described, and left no doubt on my mind as to his fate. Among the articles which he had seen, he named a silver watch, a pocket-compass, sword, three books, a box of medicines, Japan tea-caddy, beads, and cowries, all of which he must have seen, or he could not have described them so correctly as he did. My informant could not give a certain account of the fate of poor Abou, the companion of Mr. Davidson, but understood he had gone on with the caravan, in which he is partly borne out by the letter received from Sheik Beyrock yesterday.
“Other accounts state Mr. Davidson and party were travelling some distance in a parallel route, but rather behind the caravan, which was first met by the party of El Harib, who were disappointed not to find Mr. Davidson, for whom they inquired. The caravan was stopped; and afterwards Mr. Davidson came up, when he was instantly shot. Another report inclines me to believe the Harib at first appeared friendly, and afterwards seized an opportunity treacherously to murder him at a place called Sheh’ Keyah,[183] twenty days’ journey from Wadnoon, and about twenty-seven days distant from Timbuctoo.
“I have been much disappointed that the information received by the return of the courier I despatched to Wadnoon with letters to Sheik Beyrock is very meagre and inconclusive. In his letters no allusion is made to the robbery and murder of Mr. Davidson, as having occurred at different places, nor is the account of Jacob Ben Cohen supported in this point by any of the reports which have come to my knowledge, except the one received by my agent from his son at Morocco, which states that Mr. Davidson had been robbed, and afterwards allowed to proceed on his journey. I have no reason to suspect treachery on the part of Sheik Beyrock, although the reports set afloat by Wold Isheme are intended to create such a suspicion. The falsity of the report that Mr. Davidson had deposited a large sum of money with the Sheik is evident.
“Considering there was a great probability Abou might have been taken by the tribe of El Harib, and detained as a slave, I directed the Sheik to procure his release, and to send him to me. By the answer he has returned, he appears to believe that Abou had gone on with the caravan, in which case there is not much likelihood of the horsemen despatched from the station of the Tajacanths overtaking it.
“I beg to acquaint you I have not yet determined upon what steps to take to collect further information, having only yesterday received the letters from Sheik Beyrock. It is my wish to despatch a Moor to proceed to Draha, to recover if possible everything belonging to Mr. Davidson; the great difficulty is to select a person well acquainted with the country, and in whom every confidence can be placed. I attach considerable value to the notes Mr. Davidson may have made on the route from Wadnoon up to the moment he met his untimely fate. I have in view a Moorish trader who has travelled in many parts of the Desert, and if I can come to an arrangement with him, I shall despatch him to Draha, with directions to proceed to the very spot; and everything I can do towards elucidating this melancholy affair, be assured, will be done. I mourn for my friend.
| “I remain, &c. (Signed) | “W. Willshire.” |
“P.S.—I have omitted to state, that by the report of Jacob Ben Cohen, Mr. Davidson met his fate on the 8th day of Ramadan,[184] answering to the 17th or 18th of December last. Sheh Keya, near the southern confines of the district of Eguedee,[185] sixteen days from Tatta, and ten days from Toudeyny.
“E. W. A. Drummond Hay, Esq.”
“Mogadore, March 7, 1837.