We did not learn from the first travels of Clapperton the name of the prince reigning at Timbuctoo; it was even imagined that the supreme authority resided at that period in a female; and when M. Caillié informed us that the supreme chief of Timbuctoo was named Osman, we could not reconcile this report with those which had preceded it: but we have now letters from Major Laing himself, received since the return of our countryman, one of which dated from Timbuctoo, the 21st of September, 1826, reveals the name of the prince then reigning, and this name is also Osman[133].
In the same letter, Major Laing states the circumference of the city at four miles; this account confirms the small population assigned to it by M. Caillié. He adds that he has collected documents in abundance relating to Timbuctoo. If we may rely on the account of a Moor from Saint Louis, the books of the Major are at the disposal of a certain Saleh, son of the Iman of Timbuctoo; and according to another they are in the hands of the Touariks. Time will in all probability produce some of the documents, the only consolation for so deplorable a loss.
The same accuracy appears in M. Caillié’s observations respecting the journeys, if we admit as a fair specimen those which concern countries whose geography is known; thus the distance from Fez to Arbate by Mequinaz agrees with the itinerary of M. Caillié, at the rate of three miles an hour.
So many motives of confidence and interest sufficiently recommend the accuracy of the travels, and consequently authenticate the results I have above deduced; yet the history of the enterprize itself will, if possible, increase this effect. The inclination of Réné Caillié for travels of discovery early announced his vocation. From the moment of his second landing at Senegal, he employed himself in acquiring a familiarity with the language of the Moors.[134] He talked of nothing but penetrating into the interior of Africa, the object of all his thoughts; his resources became exhausted, yet he refused every other occupation, every other mission. This fixed impression was regarded as a mania; nothing could shake his purpose, not even the insults which his Moorish costume drew upon him from the negroes; he was content to be considered by them as an idiot, and almost an object of derision. The want of sufficient support having obliged him to take another course, he set out for Sierra-Leone; there he remained the period necessary for collecting some resources, and soon quitted it for Rio-Nuñez: thence he announced to a friend at St. Louis (in April 1827) his departure for the interior. He was supposed to be lost, and nearly forgotten like so many other victims, when, at the expiration of eighteen months, he suddenly appeared at the further extremity of Africa, triumphant over every obstacle; like an expert swimmer, who, having plunged into the bosom of a broad stream, after a long interval unexpectedly appears on the opposite bank, while his friends are already lamenting his loss as certain.
Scarcely had he quitted the banks of the Rio-Nuñez and entered upon this new career of difficulty and danger, when he at once displayed a consummate prudence, and far above his years: as skilful in appreciating obstacles as he was firm in encountering them, his embarrassments increased at every step; but his sagacity constantly suggested the means of extricating himself from every new perplexity. Had he not possessed this just estimate of his difficulties and resources, united with a fortitude not to be shaken, he could not have concluded, perhaps not have commenced, his enterprize. How ingenious was the fiction he invented to obtain the confidence of these numerous tribes! This thread, slender as it was, served every where for his guidance and protection. He rightly supposed that the fame of the French expedition to Egypt had spread over Northern Africa: it was natural that a child carried off from its parents at the age of three years, and transported into the heart of France, should be but ill versed in his mother-tongue; equally so that good Musulmans should congratulate him on his return to his country by the most direct line, although he was supposed to be destitute of resources. Now this line must inevitably conduct him beyond the great river: afterwards manifesting a desire of repairing to Alexandria by sea, it was necessary to return to the river and embark on it, and thus his arrival at Timbuctoo was accomplished with certainty; having attained this object, he must naturally seek the readiest and surest means of reaching some place occupied by Europeans, and the caravan of Tafilet offered an opportunity that he could not hesitate to seize.
I shall not advert to all his misfortunes at Timé, and during the journey, nor to his perils at Tangier, when already within sight of his haven; but with what intelligence and courage must he have been endowed to resist and triumph over so many enemies. It was necessary to avoid the most trifling error; a single one would have infallibly proved his destruction.
Few are acquainted with the history of the unfortunate Antonio Piloti, a Spaniard, who took refuge in Morocco in consequence of the political events of 1811. After having assumed the Moorish dress, and habituated himself to the language, he succeeded in enrolling himself amongst the Emperor of Morocco’s guards. Incessantly occupied with the project of going by this means to Timbuctoo, he secretly offered his services to the French consul, M. Sourdeau; he solicited the protection of the French government: the Consul had ascertained that he combined all the qualifications essential to success, yet his offers were rejected. Neverthless Piloti daily prosecuted his preparations for the journey: nothing it should seem could have prevented his success, since he would have set out under the disguise of a Moor, and returned with a caravan of Moors. In the absence of direct assistance from France, he was furnished with instructions by M. Delaporte, our vice-consul, and from a member of the Geographical Society, who was on the point of sending to him some instruments, when he was suddenly implicated in the political movements of the court of Morocco. The Moors and Jews, always intriguing, suspected some secret designs on his part, and denounced him as belonging to the party opposed to the prince. His trial was summary, and Piloti was beheaded. Such is the jealous distrust manifested by the mercenary race, against any stranger, who, making himself acquainted with the localities, should attempt to deprive them of any portion of their commerce with the interior. M. Caillié, ignorant of this adventure, was more fortunate; he did not continue long enough exposed to the suspicions of the Moors, or by prudence and sacrifices he contrived to escape the effects of them.
On the first arrival of the letters which I received from M. Delaporte and M. Caillié himself, I entertained some doubts of the authenticity of his narrative, and I immediately arranged some questions by way of trial, on the language spoken at Timbuctoo, the customs of the country, its natural productions, the nomenclature and distance of places, &c.: but meanwhile I attentively compared the two letters, and found the result so conformable to the most established notions of science, that I determined to publish on that very day the news of the journey to Timbuctoo. Many were incredulous; I expected it. I requested the traveller, who in the interval had landed at Toulon, to commit to paper without delay his recollections respecting the questions which I held in readiness for his arrival, but to which he had beforehand in a great measure replied. The very day of his arrival he submitted to my inspection a journal of his travels complete, and continued from the 19th of April 1827 to the 21st of September 1828, modestly observing: “I do not know whether I can answer all your questions, but here are my notes.” He then shewed me part of the original notes, written in pencil, on the spot, and the narrative written and completed during his residence at Tangier and in quarantine, though suffering under a high fever. He also shewed me the pieces of cord with which he had measured the meridian shadow at Timbuctoo and in other places, some fragments of plants brought from the interior, the vocabularies, and some simple sketches of the town of Timbuctoo. If after such testimony I could retain any doubts, the construction of all the routes of the traveller, which I drew up on the following day, would have effectually dispelled them, for I discovered that the observations were continued without any interruption, and that the whole produced a result agreeing with the data already acquired.
It remained that the learned Geographical Society should share my conviction, an additional success for which M. Caillié had not long to wait;[135] and he obtained a brilliant recompense which he had amply merited. This example will restore confidence to minds discouraged by so many fatal catastrophes; and will inflame the zeal of those who are actuated by a desire for glory and the advancement of geographical science.