GENERAL OBSERVATION.
Before entering, in somewhat minute detail upon the examination of M. Caillié’s routes, I should make an observation to warn the reader against the apparent differences which he may observe between the journal of the travels and the map of the route. To render this journal fit for perusal, and not to interrupt perpetually the description of places and people, it has been found necessary to retrench the number of distances and bearings, to such an extent that any one who should attempt to form a plan of the route by the assistance of the narrative alone would fall into serious errors: respecting this circumstance however the reader has been already cautioned in a note in the first volume. The construction of the lines of route upon the map which I have designed is the result of all the indications given by the traveller, and which I have collected in the form of a table. It is also necessary to consult the following article, respecting the use which I have made of these materials, to render them accordant with anterior information and the positions already admitted as incontestable.
The entire journey of M. Caillié, from Kakondy to Tangier occupied five hundred and eight days: from which, in order to obtain the days of actual travel, three hundred and one days of stationary residence in eighteen different places, must be deducted, which will leave two hundred and seven days’ travel. I shall here subjoin a list of these places of residence, but it must not be inferred that the traveller had no convenient means of making observations in other stations, because it will be observed that when he arrived early at any place of consequence, the remainder of the day was spent there.
| PLACES OF ABODE. | DAYS of stationary residence. | PLACES OF ABODE. | DAYS of stationary residence. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kakondy | " | Djenné | 13 |
| L-Antégué | 1 | Isaca | 1 |
| Pandéya | 1 | Tircy | 2 |
| Popoco | 2 | Timbuctoo | 13 |
| Cambaya | 19 | L-A’raouân | 9 |
| Boharaya | 1 | Trarzah (or Teghazza) | 1 |
| Saraya | 1 | Amoul-Gragim | 1 |
| Courouman-Cambaya | 2 | L-Ekseif | 1 |
| Couroussa | 1 | El-Harib | 13 |
| Kan-kan | 28 | Ghourland | 5 |
| Youmosso | 1 | Boheim | 4 |
| Sambatikila | 5 | Fez | 1 |
| Timé | 158 | Mequinaz | 1 |
| Douasso | 1 | Arbate | 15 |
| Days of stationary residence. | 301 | ||
| Days occupied in the whole journey. | 508 |
When it is proposed to offer a new map to the public it is an indispensable duty to submit to inspection the elements which form its basis, and not to ascribe to the work which results from them a greater value than appertains to the materials; these again have no other than what they derive, whether from the instruments and methods which the traveller has employed, or from the manner in which he has collected the observations and information which form the basis of his description. M. Caillié was not provided with any astronomical instruments; he had no watch, and measured the hour only by the height of the sun; but he possessed two compasses which were of great assistance to him. All his bearings were carefully noted by this instrument during the day, and by the stars at night. With regard to distances they were estimated according to several experiments made by himself at Sierra-Leone while preparing for his enterprise. He made a practice of walking over a certain space measured exactly in English miles and of observing the time he spent upon the road. It is thus that he calculated the number of miles in each of his marches from Kakondy to Djenné at three English miles an hour, or two geographical miles and six-tenths: as far as Timbo, however, that is to say during the first days of the journey, this number must be a little increased; this results from the situation of Timbo, as determined by Major Laing; and en passant we may observe that this part of M. Caillié’s journey proves that the ancient position of Timbo, according to Watt and Winterbottom, is totally inadmissible. This rate of two geographical miles six-tenths an hour, or more exactly from two miles four-tenths to two miles six-tenths, can in general only be ascribed to isolated marches, and to caravans lightly laden. An hour’s march of a lightly laden caravan seldom exceeds two geographical miles three-tenths, and that of a numerous caravan heavily laden does not exceed a mile and a half, or a mile and three quarters[50].
On quitting Djenné, M. Caillié travelled by water. The current of the river was slow, the obstacles arising from the faulty construction of the vessel, the ignorance and unskilfulness of the pilot, and the islands and sand-banks, reduce an hour’s direct navigation to two English miles. Different causes producing, however, similar results determine the same value for an hour’s march in the deserts between Timbuctoo and Fez. This number of two miles taken as an average for a long journey[51] admits of almost all possible differences in the degree of expedition with which a caravan will move at different times: while it forms also the intermediate length between the progress of a caravan heavily and of one moderately laden, which was the case with the caravans which M. Caillié accompanied from Timbuctoo, as may be seen by his narrative.
This same deficiency of space with a variation in the bearings, has caused the frequent breaks which I have been obliged to make in the route on the itinerary map. The scale of a millionth part, adopted for this map, is perhaps too small to describe the details and all the angles of the route; I had, accordingly, at first constructed it upon a scale of double dimensions, but this development would have required too much space.