Whilst I was discharging this office, with all the mortification of a man who feels that his business is beneath him I learnt the arrival of Baron Roger. At this intelligence I was transported with joy; I ran about in all directions in search of a vessel to take me to St. Louis, and if I could I would have swum thither. On landing, I hastened to present myself to our former governor; I delivered into his hands, the same day, the notes which I had taken during my stay with the Braknas; I accompanied them with a fresh application for assistance, or for an appointment, to enable me to perform my great journey—it was not granted!
To any other person this would have been a thunderclap; but my resolution struck deeper and deeper root every day, and I had the courage to return to the charge. Then indeed, I was kindly promised a sum of money on my return from Timbuctoo.—On my return from Timbuctoo! And what if I died on the way? this idea so dreadful to a man, who in case of this misfortune would leave a sister whom he adored in a state of want, suggested my answer. I refused to make any arrangement; and I determined that, were I destined to die, I would at least leave an incontestable legacy to the friend of my childhood—the merit of having done all without help. I changed my plan, and asked for nothing but the hundred francs that were due to me as overseer. I had disdained to receive them before, but my poverty and the way in which I was abandoned rendered them indispensable.
Attired as I was in my Arab costume, I did not care to ask for letters of introduction to Albreda,[39] whither I resolved to go, knowing that I should have been refused because I was not dressed in the French fashion. As if my heart had ever ceased to beat for my country!—as if I had been more guilty than Aly-Bey, whom government had so warmly patronized! I set off then without passport and without letters of recommendation. I crossed over to the main-land in a canoe, and then pursued my way alone, and with no resource but my hundred francs, towards Goree. Eight years before, I had followed the same route, poor, dejected, and ready to renounce the scheme which might then perhaps have met with encouragement; I was no richer the second time, but I had all the ardour and energy of riper age, and I was resolved, were it only out of pride, to undertake what I had been supposed incapable of accomplishing.
On landing at Goree, I called to see nobody, for I was afraid of being subjected, in this insular dependency of St. Louis, to the same insults with which I had been loaded at the capital of our settlements. I took my passage in a French brig, which was about to sail for Albreda; and thence I proceeded to Sierra-Leone. General Turner, governor of this English establishment, received me with kindness, and, in order to keep me in the colony, he offered me the superintendence of an indigo-factory, and attached to the situation (which he created for me,) a salary of 3600 francs, (£150).
This governor had no notion of the passion for activity which stimulated me, and he fancied he could gratify me with money—a generous mistake, for which I was grateful to him. Shortly after, in 1826, he was succeeded by Sir Neil Campbell, to whom I applied for 6000 francs to enable me to undertake my journey; I met with the refusal which the meanness of my appearance, and what was called the extravagance of my scheme, had already procured me. Sir Neil Campbell did not mention M. Beaufort, but he spoke of Major Laing, from whom he said it would be unfair to attempt to snatch the glory of first arriving at Timbuctoo, and on this ground he rejected my proposal.
The refusal of the French governors had distressed me, but that of the English governor did not affect me at all; I felt myself the more free: I thanked heaven that I was now able to break off my engagement with foreigners, to whom I was indebted for their generous hospitality, but who might perhaps in return have laid claim to the glory of a discovery, with which I hoped to do honour to France. I gave in my resignation, therefore, with as much eagerness as I had felt in giving up my little allowance of fifty francs a month. The sacrifice was so much the easier as I had saved nearly two thousand francs, and this treasure seemed to me to be sufficient to carry me all over the world. Lastly, there was a hope which tranquillised my mind as to the fate of my poor sister; I had just heard of the premium offered by the Geographical Society of Paris to the first European who should reach Timbuctoo, and I said to myself: “Dead or alive, it shall be mine, and my sister shall receive it.”
These hopes, these visions of glory, of patriotism, and of fraternal affection, left me no rest; and I had nothing like peace till the evening before I left Sierra-Leone. Not having been able any where to obtain the necessary assistance for a journey to Timbuctoo, I determined to undertake it entirely at my own expense. I hoped also that when I returned, the French government, ever just in its appreciation of courageous exertion, would reward the service which I should have rendered to geographical science, by making known the new countries which I intended to visit.
Encouraged by these hopes, I gave in my resignation without regret; I was afterwards actively engaged in procuring the goods I was likely to want, and laid out my savings in the purchase of paper, glass, and other articles.
During my residence at Freetown, the capital of the colony of Sierra Leone, I became acquainted with some Mandingoes and seracolets.[40] I won their confidence, and availed myself of it to gain information about the countries which I intended to visit. At last, to make sure of their friendship, I gave them a few trifles; and then I told them one day, with a very mysterious air, and a charge of secrecy, that I was born in Egypt, of Arabian parents, and that I had been carried into France, in my infancy, by some soldiers of the French army which had invaded Egypt; that I had afterwards been brought to the Senegal by my master, who in consideration of my services had given me my liberty. I added that, as I was now free, I felt a natural inclination to return to Egypt, to seek my relations, and to adopt the Mahometan religion. At first the Mandingoes did not seem to credit my account, and especially what I said of my zeal for their religion; but their doubts were removed when they heard me repeat many passages of the Koran, and saw me join with them in performing the salam; at last they said to one another that I was really a good Musulman. Need I say that in secret I addressed my fervent prayers to the God of the christians to favour my undertaking?
The Mandingoes, deceived by my apparent anxiety to observe all the ceremonies of their religion, confided in me entirely. Our acquaintance ripened into intimacy, and they seemed as if they could never be happy without me; every day I was invited, to my great annoyance, to dine with them upon boiled rice and palm-oil. It will be seen by what follows how far these effusions of friendship were to be trusted.