Chapter XLIV: Letter XII (1)

_Translation of a Letter from the Sultan, Seedi Muhamed Emperor of
Marocco, to the Governor of Mogodor_.

"Praise be to God alone,

"I order my servant Alkaid Muhamed ben Amran, to deliver the
treasure and the merchandise to the Christian merchants at Mogodor,
which is in the possession of the Jews, Haim Miram, and Meemon ben
Isaac Corcos, and others of the Jews, friends of the Christian
merchants. God assist you, and peace be with you. 23d of the month
Jumad Ellule, year of the Hejra 1203.

"By order of the Sultan, empowered by God. Written by Talb El
Huderanie."

The courier who receives the letter is ordered by the minister whom
to deliver it to. It is then inclosed in a blank leaf or sheet of
paper, without any address, and not sealed. It is presumed, that
the courier or messenger will not dare to open it, or discover the
contents to any one; such a breach of confidence might cost him his
head, if discovered.
406
_Doubts having been made in the Daily Papers, concerning the
accuracy of the two following Translations of the Shereef Ibrahim's
account of Mungo Park's Death; the following Observations, by the
Author, are laid before the Public in elucidation of those
Translations_.

The following is a copy of a letter, supposed to be a description
of Mungo Park's death; brought to England from Ashantee in Africa,
by Mr. Bowdich; and that gentleman assured me, about six months
after his arrival in England, and a few days previous to the
publication of his interesting account of a mission to Ashantee,
that he had by every means in his power endeavoured, but
ineffectually, to get this manuscript _decyphered_ and translated
into English; that he had sent it to several persons, who had
retained it in their hands a considerable time, but had returned it
without a decypher, or even a complete translation. When delivered
into my hands, I transmitted him a _decypher_, and a translation
immediately. The following is my translation, which, in that
gentleman's account of Ashantee, is coupled with another
translation, _not perspicuous, but unintelligible_; for which see
Bowdich's "Account of a Mission to Ashantee," Appendix, No. 2.

The original Arabic document, of which I have given a decypher in
407 the work before mentioned, is, (for the information of gentlemen
desirous of referring to the same,) deposited in the British
Museum. There are also, in the same work on Ashantee, several
papers decyphered by me, of certain routes in Africa. Now I think
it expedient here, to declare to the public, that whenever the
British Government, the Court of Admiralty, or private individuals,
have stood in need of translations, and decyphers from the Arabic,
they have invariably found it expedient, ultimately, to apply to me
for the same, after having, however, endeavoured ineffectually to
procure their information at the Universities, the Post Office, and
elsewhere: but as this declaration may appear to many incredible, I
will mention three instances in elucidation of this my assertion,
which, as they are all on record, will place this fact beyond
doubt.

1st. A vessel under Marocco colours, was, during last war, taken by
a British cruiser, and sent or brought into Plymouth, or other
port, in England. The captain and the ship were detained a
considerable time here; the former, at length, whose patience
became exhausted, expostulated at his detention, and insisted on
being released, if no interpreter in this commercial nation could
be found competent to translate his passport. _Mr. Slade, an
eminent proctor in Doctors' Commons_, then applied to me, after a
detention of, I believe, two months, and I translated the passport.
408 Mr. Slade very liberally told me, that whatever I chose to charge
for this service, which he had _sought in vain to accomplish_,
should be gratefully paid. I charged five guineas; and it was
instantly paid. The passport consisted of two lines and a half.
This was in the Court of Admiralty. Mr. Slade, who is an honourable
and respectable man, will of course not hesitate to corroborate the
accuracy of this statement.

2d. A letter was written by the present Sultan Soliman, emperor of
Marocco, &c. to our late revered sovereign, George III., in a more
courteous style than is usual for Muhamedan potentates to write to
Christian kings; with liberal offers on the part of the Sultan,
courting an augmentation of friendly intercourse, &c. This letter
(contrary to the usual courtesy of European courts) was neglected
some months, no answer being returned to it. It was sent to the
Universities for translation, but ineffectually; then to the Post
Office; and, at the expiration of some months, it was accidentally
transmitted to me, through the hands of the Right Honourable
Spencer Perceval, at that time Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I
delivered, at the request of that gentleman, a translation of it in
English. This letter was ten or fifteen times as long as the
passport before mentioned, and I charged thirty pounds for the
service. But the Treasury thought ten pounds a sufficient
remuneration, which I accepted!!
409
This service was rendered to the British government, and I have
letters and documents in my possession, which corroborate this
fact.

3d. Was the translation of an Arabic manuscript, respecting Mungo
Park's death; delivered gratuitously to a private individual, viz.
Mr. Bowdich, before mentioned; to satisfy the curiosity of my
country, whose interest was excited respecting the fate of that
enterprising and indefatigable African traveller. Mr. Bowdich, who
is an honourable man, will undoubtedly confirm the truth of this
statement, to any gentleman who may be desirous of ascertaining the
fact.

_The Shereef Ibrahim's account of Mungo Park's Death_.

(THE AUTHOR'S TRANSLATION.)

"In the name of God, the Merciful and Clement!

"This narrative proceeds from the territory in Husa, called Eeaurie
or Yeaurie. We observed an extraordinary event or circumstance, but
we neither saw nor heard of the river which is called Kude. And as
we were sitting we heard the voice of children; and we saw a
vessel, the like to which in size we never saw before. And we saw
the king of Eeaurie send cattle and sheep, and a variety of
vegetables, in great abundance. And there were two men and one
woman, and two slaves; and they tied them in the vessel. There were
410 also in the vessel two white men, of the race called Christians:
and the Sultan of Eeaurie called aloud to them, to come out of the
vessel, but they would not. They proceeded to the country of Busa,
which is greater than that of the Sultan of Eeaurie. And as they
were sitting in the vessel, they hung[232], or were stopped by the
cape, or head-land of Kude."

[Footnote 232: Probably by an impetuous current.]

"And the people of the sultan of Busa called to them, and poured
their arms into the vessel; and the vessel reached the head-land or
cliff, and became attached or fixed to the head of the mountain or
projection in the river, and could not pass it. Then the men and
women of Busa collected themselves hostilely together, with arms of
all descriptions; and the vessel being unable to clear the
head-land, the man in the vessel killed his wife, and threw the
whole of her property into the river; they then threw themselves
into the river through fear. The news of this occurrence was then
conveyed to the Sultan Wawee, until it reached, by water, the
territory of Kanjee, in the country of the Sultan Wawee. And we
buried it in its earth; and one of them we saw not at all in the
water. And God knows the truth of this report from the mouth of the
Shereef Ibrahim. The end."

411 OBSERVATION.

After giving the foregoing translation, it behoves me to inform the
intelligent reader, that I wrote a letter to Mr. Bowdich,
communicating to him my observations on several notes, transmitted
to him by Sir William Ouseley, on the manuscript of which the
foregoing is a translation, in which I informed him, that in
decyphering the Arabic manuscript, I had observed the Oriental or
Asiatic punctuation; knowing that Mr. Bulmer had not letters with
the occidental punctuation. Several observations I made, respecting
the Arabic manuscripts which could not be elucidated here without
the Arabic type. I shall, therefore, omit them, and conclude by
observing, that in translating this manuscript, two gentlemen
(Arabic scholars) had translated _akkadan Fie Asfeena_, "two maids
in the ship;" which words I have translated, "were tied or bound in
the vessel:" the word _akkadan_ being the preterite of the verb
_akkad_, to bind. I was not surprised to hear that _one_ translator
had made such an interpretation; knowing that incredible errors
have been frequently committed by professed Professors in the
Hebrew language as well as in the Arabic. But when I heard, as I
did, that another Arabic scholar had given a similar
interpretation, I must confess that I was not a little surprised.
However, a circumstance soon after unravelled the mystery; for I
discovered that these two gentlemen, at a loss no doubt to
412 ascertain the meaning of _akkadan_, had referred to Richardson's
Arabic Dictionary, wherein the word is quoted to signify, in a
figurative sense, a virgin. _In a figurative sense!_ In translating
an ill-written, illiterate, and ungrammatical manuscript, these two
translators had had recourse to _rhetorical figures_, and actually
substituted a trope for what was a verb, generally used in the
West, signifying "to bind!"

As it has been asserted in the following extract, that my
translation of the foregoing manuscript differs _only in a trifling
degree_ from that of Mr. Abraham Salamé, I here insert my answer to
that assertion, leaving the intelligent reader to determine,
whether they are alike or materially different.

_Extract from The Times, 3d May, 1819_.

MUNGO PARK.

The death of this enterprising traveller is now placed beyond any
doubt. Many accounts of it have been received, and although varying
as to the circumstances attending it, yet all agreeing that it has
taken place. One statement was given to Mr. Bowdich, while on his
mission to the King of the Ashantees, in 1817, by a Moor, who said
that he was an eye-witness; and the same gentleman procured an
Arabic manuscript declaratory of Mr. Park's death. This manuscript
has been deposited with the African Association, formed for the
413 purpose of extending researches in that part of the world. Two
translations have been made of this curious document; one by Mr.
Salamé, an Egyptian, who accompanied Viscount Exmouth in his attack
on Algiers, as interpreter; and the other by Mr. Jackson, formerly
consul at one of the Barbary courts. The following is Mr. Salamé's
translation, from which, however, _the one by Mr. Jackson only
differs in a trifling degree_. The words in italics have been
inserted by Mr. Salamé, in order to render the reading more
perfect, and are not in the original:--

_A literal Translation of a Declaration written in a corrupted
Arabic, from the Town of Yaud, in the Interior of Africa_.

"'In the name of God, the merciful and the munificent. This
declaration is issued from the town called Yaud, in the county of
Kossa. We (the writer) do witness the _following_ case (statement.)
We never saw, nor heard of the sea (river) called Koodd; but we sat
to hear (understood) the voice (report) of some persons, _saying_,
'We saw a ship, equal to her we never saw before; and the King of
Yaud had sent plenty of every kind of food, with cows and sheep;
_there_ were two men, one woman, two male slaves, and two maids in
the ship; _the_ two white men _were_ derived from the race (sect)
414 of Nassri (Christ, or Christianity.) The King of Yaud asked them to
come out to him (to land); but they refused coming out (landing);
and they went to the _King_ of the country of Bassa, who is greater
than the King of Yaud; and _while_ they _were_ sitting in the ship,
and gaining a position (rounding) over the Cape of Koodd, and
_were_ in society with the people of the King of Bassa, the ship
reached (struck) a head of mountain, which took (destroyed) _her_
away, and the men and women of Bassa all together, with every kind
of arms (goods); and the ship could find no way to avoid the
mountain; and the man who _was_ in the ship, killed his wife, and
threw all his property into the sea (river), and _then_ they threw
themselves _also_, from fear. Afterwards they took one _out of the_
water till the news reached the town of Kanji, the country of the
King of Wawi; and the King of Wawi heard of it; he buried him in
his earth (grave), and the other we have not seen; perhaps he is in
the bottom of the water. And God knows best.' Authentic from the
mouth of Sherif Abraham.--Finis.'

"In addition to the foregoing, another corroboration has been
obtained. Lieut. Col. Fitzclarence, when on his voyage down the
Mediterranean on board the _Tagus_ frigate, Capt. Dundas, with
despatches from the Marquis of Hastings, learnt from the governor
to the two sons of the Emperor of Marocco, who had been on a
pilgrimage to Mecca, and were then returning home, that he (Hadjee
415 Tahib) had been at Timbuctoo in 1807, and had heard of _two white_
men, who came from the sea, having been near that place the year
before; and that they sold beads, and had no money to purchase
grain. This person added, that they went down the _Nile_ to the
eastward, and that general report stated that they _died of the
climate_. There can be little doubt but the _two white_ men here
alluded to were Mr. Park and his companion, Lieutenant Martyn, who
were at Sandsanding in Nov. 1805, and could, in the following year,
have been near Timbuctoo. Sandsanding is the place from whence the
last dispatches were dated by Mr. Park; and Amadi Fatouma, who was
his guide afterwards, was sent to learn his fate, and returned with
an account of Mr. Park being drowned. The statement of this person
was, however, of such a nature as to excite suspicions of its
correctness; and hopes were entertained that Mr. Park had not met
with such an untimely fate. Fourteen years have now almost elapsed
since the date of his last dispatches; and this circumstance is of
itself sufficient to demonstrate, that he is to be added to the
catalogue of those who have perished in their attempts to explore
the interior of Africa.--_Englishman_."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH STATESMAN.

Sir;--Seeing in your Paper of yesterday a translation of the Arabic
416 manuscript respecting Mr. Mungo Park's death, which is deposited
with the African Association, and _decyphered and transcribed by
me_ in Mr. Bowdich's account of a Mission to Ashantee, p. 480, and
perceiving that the errors in _that translation_ are thus
propagated to the public through the medium of the London Papers;
which although perhaps of little consequence to the general reader,
yet, as they are of importance to the critic, and to the
investigator of African affairs, I shall take the liberty of
offering a few observations on the subject.

The following passage, in the translation above alluded to, might
have passed the public eye without animadversion as the language of
a foreigner, (as we have understood Mr. Salamé to be,) but from the
intelligent Editor of a London daily paper, might we not have
expected more correct phraseology?[233]

[Footnote 233: "The phrases thus objected to by our learned
Correspondent, were contained in the translations furnished to
us in common with other papers, and not the language of the
Editor. Indeed, this appears to be admitted by our
Correspondent himself, in the apparently very just comments he
has thus favoured us with.--EDITOR."]

"The ship reached a head of mountain which took her away, and the
men and women of Bassa, altogether with every kind of arms, and the
ship could find no way to avoid the mountain."

I have no hesitation in declaring to be incorrect the first two
417 lines of Mr. Abraham Salamé's translation, inserted in your paper
of yesterday, which runs thus:--

"_This declaration is issued from the town called YAUD, in the
country of KOSSA_."

My translation of this passage, inserted in Mr. Bowdich's account
of a Mission to Ashantee, page 478, runs thus:--

"_This narrative proceeds from the territory in HAUSA called
ECAUREE_."

No one, I presume, will say that there is not a _manifest_
difference between these two translations--between _the town called
Yaud, in the country of Kossa_, and the _territory of Hausa, called
Ecauree_.

One of these translations must therefore necessarily be incorrect.
The Arabic manuscript decyphered and transcribed by me, is inserted
in Mr. Bowdich's work, page 480. Those who may feel interested in
ascertaining which is the correct and precise translation, are
requested to refer to the transcript above-mentioned, or to the
original manuscript, in the possession of the African Association.
As for myself, I presume I am right; and would submit the decision
to the judgment of either Sir Gore Ousley, or to that of Sir
William, or to the opinion of any Arabic scholar, to decide this
question.

If, Mr. Editor, you had an Arabic type, to save the trouble of
referring to the original, I should ask the Arabic scholar if it
were possible for any man to translate the following passage in
418 that document:--"Bled Hausa eekalu Ecuree"--"the town called Yaud,
in the country of Cossa;" whilst I should maintain that it would
admit of no other translation but the following, viz.--"the country
of Hausa, called Ecauree."

If you think this elucidation of the translation of the Manuscript
of Park's death sufficiently interesting to the public to deserve a
place in your intelligent paper, it is very much at your service.

From, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

JAMES GREY JACKSON,

Professor of African Languages, and formerly British Consul and
Agent for Holland, Sweden, and Denmark, at Santa Cruz, South
Barbary.[234]

_Circus, Minories, May 4._ 1819.

[Footnote 234: See BRITISH STATESMAN, May 6th, 1819.]

419

LETTERS RESPECTING AFRICA,
FROM
_J.G. JACKSON AND OTHERS._

_On the Plague._

To JAMES WILLIS, Esq. late Consul to Senegambia.

London, October 30, 1804.

My dear Sir,

Your letter reached my hands yesterday; but I am afraid I shall not
be able to satisfy you in every enquiry which you have made
relative to the plague in Barbary in 1799. I have, however, no
doubt but the plague which has prevailed in Spain has originated
from it. Some of the following observations may probably be of
service to you.

It does not appear to be ascertained how the plague originated in
Fas in the year 1799. Some persons have ascribed it to infected
merchandise received at Fas from the East; whilst others maintain
that the locusts which had infested Western Barbary during seven
years, destroying the crops, the vegetables, and every green thing,
even to the bark of the trees, produced such a scarcity, that the
420 poor could obtain scarcely any thing to eat but the locusts; and
living on them for several months, till a most abundant crop
enabled them to satisfy the cravings of nature, they ate abundantly
of the new corn, which producing a fever, brought on the contagion.
At this time the small-pox pervaded the country, and was generally
fatal. The small-pox is thought to be the forerunner of this
species of contagion, as appears by an ancient Arabic manuscript,
which gives a full account of the same disorder having carried off
two-thirds of the inhabitants of West Barbary about four hundred
years since; but, however the dreadful epidemy originated, the
leading features of the disorder were novel, and more dreadful than
the common plague of Turkey, or that of Syria or Egypt, as the
following observations will demonstrate.

In the month of April, 1799, a plague of the most dreadful kind
manifested itself at the city of Old Fas, which soon after
communicated itself to the new city. About this time the Emperor
Muley Soliman ben Muhamed was preparing a numerous army, and was on
the eve of departure to visit his Southern dominions, and to take
possession of the province of Abda, which had not acknowledged him
as Emperor, but was, as well as the port of Saffy, in a state of
rebellion. The Emperor left Fas early in the summer, and proceeded
to Sallee, Mazagan, and Saffee; thence to Marocco and Mogodor. Now
the plague began to kindle in all the Southern provinces, first
carrying off one or two the first day, three or four the second
421 day, six or eight the third day, and increasing progressively till
it amounted to a daily mortality of two in a hundred of the whole
population; continuing _with unabated violence_, ten, fifteen,
twenty days, being of longer duration in old than in new towns;
then diminishing in a progressive proportion from one thousand
a-day, to nine hundred, to eight hundred and so continuing to
decrease till it disappeared.

When it raged at the town of Mogodor, a small village (Deabet)
situated two miles South-east of Mogodor remained uninfected,
although the communication was open between these two places. On
the thirty-fourth day after its first appearance at Mogodor, this
village received the infection, where, after committing dreadful
havock among the human species for twenty-one days carried off one
hundred persons out of one hundred and thirty-three, the population
of the village before the plague visited it. After this, none died;
but those who were infected recovered, some losing the use of a
leg, or an arm, or an eye.

Many similar circumstances might be mentioned relative to the
numerous villages scattered about the extensive province of Haha,
all which shared the like, or a worse fate. Travelling through this
province after the plague had disappeared, I saw many ruins, which
had been flourishing villages before the plague. Making enquiry
concerning the population of these dismal remains of the
422 pestilence, I was informed, that one village contained six hundred
inhabitants; that only four had escaped. Others, which had
contained four and five hundred, had left seven or eight to lament
the calamities they had suffered.

Whenever any families retired to the country, to avoid the
infection; on returning to town, when apparently all infection had
disappeared, they were generally attacked, and died. The
destruction of the human species in the province of Upper and
LowerSuse was much greater than elsewhere. The capital city of this
province (Tarodant) lost, when the infection was at its _acmé_,
about eight hundred each day; the city of Marocco lost one thousand
each day; the cities of Old and New Fas from twelve to fifteen
hundred each day; insomuch, that, in these large towns, the
mortality was such, that the living had not time to bury the dead:
they were therefore thrown altogether into large holes, which were
covered over when full of dead bodies.

Young and healthy robust persons were generally attacked first;
then women and children; lastly, thin, sickly, and old people.
_After the plague had totally subsided, we saw men, who had been
common labourers, enjoying their thousands, and keeping horses,
without knowing how to ride them. Provisions became extremely
cheap, for the flocks and herds had been left in the fields, and
had nobody now to own them. Day-labour increased enormously. Never
423 was equality in the human species more evident than at this time_.
_When corn was to be ground, or bread made, both were done in the
houses of the rich, and prepared by themselves; for the very few
poor people whom the plague had spared were insufficient for the
wants of the affluent, and they were consequently obliged to work
for themselves_. The country being now depopulated, vast tribes of
Arabs from the Desert poured into Suse and Draha; settling
themselves on the river Draha and in Suse, and wherever they found
little or no population.

The symptoms of the disorder varied in different patients; in some
it manifested itself by a sudden shivering, in others by delirium,
succeeded by a violent thirst. Cold water was drank eagerly by the
imprudent, and generally proved fatal. Some had one, two, or three,
some more biles, generally in the groin, under the arm, or near the
breast; some had more. Some had no biles, nor any outward
disfiguration; these were invariably carried off in less than
twenty-four hours. I recommended Mr. Baldwin's remedy[235], applied
according to his directions; and I do not know one instance of its
failing, when properly applied, and sufficiently persevered in.

[Footnote 235: Of unction of the body with olive oil.]

I have no doubt but the epidemy, which has been ravaging Spain
lately, is the same disorder with the one above described. We have
been told that it was communicated originally to Spain by two
424 infected persons, who went from Tangier to Estapona, and eluded the
vigilance of the guards. We have been assured that it was
communicated by some persons infected, who landed in Spain from a
vessel that had loaded produce at Laraich, in West Barbary. We have
also been informed that a Spanish privateer, which had occasion to
land its crew for water in some part of West Barbary, caught the
infection, and afterwards went to Cadiz and communicated it to the
town.

JAMES G. JACKSON.

_Death of Mungo Park_.

May, 1812.

The doubts which may have existed of the fate of this eminent man
are now removed, by the certain accounts lately received from
Goree, of his having perished, through the hostility of the
natives, on one of the branches of the Niger. The particulars have
been transmitted to Sir Joseph Banks, by Governor Maxwell, of
Goree, who received them from Isaco[236], a Moor, sent inland by
the Governor, for the purpose of enquiry. In a letter to Mr.
Dickson, of Covent-garden, brother-in-law to Mr. Park, Sir Joseph
thus writes:--

"I have read Isaco's translated journal; by which it appears, that
425 the numerous European retinue of Mungq Park quickly and miserably
died, leaving, at the last, only himself and a Mr. Martyn.
Proceeding on their route, they stopped at a settlement, from
which, according to custom, they sent a present to the chief whose
territory they were next to pass. This present having been
treacherously withheld, the chief considered it, in the travellers,
as a designed injury and neglect. _On their approaching, in a
canoe, he assembled his people on a narrow channel of rocks[237],
and assailed them so violently with arrows, that some of the rowers
were killed_. This caused Mr. Park and Mr. Martyn to make an effort
by swimming to reach the shore; in which attempt they both were
drowned. The canoe shortly afterwards sunk, and only one hired
native escaped. Every appurtenance also of the travellers was lost
or destroyed, except a sword-belt which had belonged to Mr. Martyn,
and which Isaco redeemed, and brought with him to Goree."

[Footnote 236: Isaco was a Jew, not a Moor.--J.G.J.]

[Footnote 237: There is a remarkable confirmation of this
quotation from Sir Joseph's letter in Mr. _Jackson's_
translation of the Arabic manuscript of Mungo Park's death, for
which see Bowdich's Account of a Mission to Ashantee, p. 480.;
also Annals of Oriental Literature, No. I.]

_Death of Mr. Rontgen, in an Attempt to explore the Interior of
Africa_.

May, 1812.

The young German gentleman of the name of Rontgen, who left England
426 about a twelve-month since for Africa, in order to prosecute
discoveries in the interior of that country, has, it is said, been
murdered by the Arabs, before he had proceeded any great distance
from Mogodor, where he spent some time perfecting himself in the
Arabic language. He was a promising young man, and an enthusiast in
the cause in which he was lost, and supposed to understand the
Arabic language better than any European who ever before entered
Africa. At an early age he formed the plan of going to that
country, and gave up his connections and a competency in Germany,
to prosecute his intentions. His father was a character well known
in Europe, who raised himself from obscurity to the greatest
celebrity by his talent for mechanics. He was at one time worth a
million, but was ruined by the French revolution.

_The following Letter from James Willis, Esq. late Consul to
Senigambia, is extracted from the Gentleman's Magazine for May,
1812_.

COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH AFRICA.

May 5. 1812.

At a time when our ancient rivals and enemies are exerting all
their powers to destroy the British commerce, and have nearly
effected their gigantic schemes of cutting off all communication
between Great Britain and the various ports, states, and kingdoms
of Europe; at such a time when we are in imminent danger of losing
427 the markets of a quarter of the globe, it becomes essentially
important to discover other channels for our commerce, and other
markets for our manufactures.

In this point of view, the information lately communicated to the
public by Mr. James Grey Jackson, in his "Travels in Africa,"
becomes highly interesting to the statesman as well as to the
merchant. From the account which he has given of the city of
Timbuctoo, and its commercial relations, there is great reason to
conclude, that if we could find means to open and maintain a safe
and easy communication with that great emporium, and with the rich,
fertile, and populous regions in its vicinity, we might acquire a
market for our manufactures, that would in time compensate for the
loss of that of Europe.

In the warehouses of Timbuctoo, are accumulated the manufactures of
India and of Europe; and from thence the immense population that
dwells upon the banks of the Niger is supplied. There is no doubt
that we could furnish the articles they want, upon much lower terms
than they can obtain them at present; and, in return, we should
furnish the best market they could have for their gold, ivory,
gums, and other rich products, and raw materials.

Now, it certainly appears to me, and I think it must appear to
every man who takes the trouble of investigating the subject, that,
provided Government would give proper support to the enterprise,
this important communication might easily be established. _For this
428 purpose, nothing more is necessary than to take a fortified station
upon the African coast, somewhere about the 29th degree of north
latitude, near the confines of the Marocco dominions, to serve as a
safe magazine or emporium for merchandize. From this station it
would be easy to maintain a direct correspondence with the opulent
merchants of Timbuctoo; regular caravans might be established to
depart at fixed periods; the protection of the Arabs can at all
times be purchased at stipulated prices, which may be considered as
premiums of insurance, or as a tax for convoy_, and thus in a
little time these caravans might carry out merchandize, to and from
Timbuctoo, with as much regularity and safety, and with less
expense, than our fleets convey our goods to and from the West
Indies.

The expense of such a fortified station as is here proposed, would
be very moderate, in comparison with the advantages it would
produce; and it would be easy to draw out a plan for it; but I do
not think it would be proper to go into a detail here,--_"non est
hic locus."_

It has been well observed, that commerce is the key of Africa; and
I shall only add, that if the plan I have suggested were carried
into execution, these interesting regions of Africa, that have
heretofore baffled the attempts of curiosity and enterprise, and
remained for so many ages a "sealed book" to the inhabitants of
Europe, would soon be explored and laid open. This is an object
429 that cannot be indifferent to a prince, who has so evidently
evinced a desire to patronise science, and who is undoubtedly
desirous to encourage, to facilitate, and to increase, still
further the vast geographical discoveries which have added such
lustre to the reign of his august father.

To return to Mr. Jackson's book. This work contains, besides the
information that more directly concerns the statesman and the
merchant, much interesting matter for the natural and moral
philosopher, as well as for the general reader. The author makes no
pretension to fine writing; his style is plain, unaffected, and
perspicuous, and there is as much new, authentic, and important
matter in the book, as in the hands of the French writers of
African travels, (Golberry, Vaillant, and Savary, for instance,)
would have been spread over three times the space. Upon the whole,
it is the most valuable work of the kind that has appeared for many
years. I hope the author will reap the reward which his labours
have so well deserved.

JAMES WILLIS.

_Of the Venomous Spider.--Charmers of Serpents.--Disease called
Nyctalopia, or Night-blindness.--Remedy for Consumption in
Africa.--Western Branch of the Nile, and Water Communication
between Timbuctoo and Egypt_.

Sir,

The venomous spider (_Tendaraman_). This beautiful reptile is
somewhat similar to a hornet in size and colour, but of a rounder
430 form; its legs are about an inch long, black, and very strong; it
has two bright yellow lines, latitudinally crossing its back; it
forms its web octagonally between bushes, the diameter being two or
three yards; it places itself in the centre of its web, which is so
fine, as to be almost invisible, and attaches to whatever may pass
between those bushes. It is said to make always towards the head,
before it inflicts its deadly wound. In the cork forests, the
sportsman, eager in his pursuit of game, frequently carries away on
his garments the _tenderaman_, whose bite is so poisonous, that the
patient survives but a few hours.

Charmers of serpents (_Aisawie_).--These _Aisawie_ have a
considerable sanctuary at Fas. They go to Suse in large bodies
about the month of July to collect serpents, which they pretend to
render harmless by a certain form of words, incantation, or
invocation to _Seedy ben Aisah_, their tutelary saint. They have an
annual feast, at which time they dance and shake their heads
quickly, during a certain period, till they become giddy, when they
run about the towns frantic, attacking any person that may have a
black or dark dress on; they bite, scratch, and devour any thing
that comes in their way. They will attack an _unjumma_, or portable
fire, and tear the lighted charcoal to pieces with their hands and
mouths. I have seen them take the serpents, which they carry about,
and devour them alive, the blood streaming down their clothes. The
431 incredible accounts of their feats would fill a volume; the
following observations may suffice to give the reader an idea of
these extraordinary fanatics. The _buska_ and the [238]_el effah_
are enticed out of their holes by them; they handle them with
impunity, though their bite is ascertained to be mortal; they put
them into a cane basket, and throw it over their shoulders: these
serpents they carry about the country, and exhibit them to the
people. I have seen them play with them, and suffer them to twist
round their bodies in all directions, without receiving any injury
from them. I have often enquired how they managed to do this, but
never could get any direct or satisfactory answer; they assure you,
however, that faith in their saint, and the powerful influence of
the name of the divinity, (_Isim Allah_,) enables them to work
these miracles: they maintain themselves in a miserable way, by
donations from the spectators before whom they exhibit. This art of
fascinating serpents was known by the ancient Africans, as appears
from the _Marii_ and _Psilii_, who were Africans, and showed proofs
of it at Rome.

[Footnote 238: For a description of these deadly serpents, see
Jackson's Account of Marocco, &c. chapter on Zoology.]

_Bu Telleese Nyctalopia_.--This ophthalmic disease is little known
in the northern provinces; but in Suse and Sahara it prevails. A
defect of vision comes on at dusk, but without pain; the patient is
432 deprived of sight, so that he cannot see distinctly, even with the
assistance of candles. During my residence at Agadeer, a cousin of
mine was dreadfully afflicted with this troublesome disease, losing
his sight at evening, and continuing in that state till the rising
sun. A Deleim Arab, a famous physician, communicated to me a
sovereign remedy, which being extremely simple, I had not
sufficient faith in his prescription to give it a trial, till
reflecting that the simplicity of the remedy was such as to
preclude the possibility of its being injurious, it was applied
inwardly; and twelve hours afterwards, to my astonishment, the
boy's eyes were perfectly well, and continued so during twenty-one
days, when I again had recourse to the same remedy, and it effected
a cure, on one administration, during thirty days, when it again
attacked him; the remedy was again applied with the same beneficial
effect as before.

_Offer to discover the African Remedy for Nyctalopia, or Night
Blindness_.

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE LITERARY PANORAMA.)

Sir,

Having read your animadversions on the additional matter introduced
in my second edition of an "Account of Marocco, Timbuctoo," &c.
(see Literary Panorama for April last, p. 713.) wherein you
433 conceive that I am reprehensible for not having discovered publicly
the remedy alluded to as an infallible cure to the _Butellise_ or
_Nyctalopia_, I should observe that I was not apprised, (till I
read those animadversions,) that this was a disorder incident to
the inhabitants in Europe, or that it affected our seamen on the
Mediterranean station. But, if that be the case, and it should be
found expedient and beneficial to the interests of Great Britain,
that this remedy should be divulged for the alleviation of our
meritorious seamen in His Majesty's service, I am willing to make
the discovery to any respectable medical man who may be appointed
by Government as physician or surgeon on the Mediterranean station.

JAMES G. JACKSON.

May 18. 1812.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LITERARY PANORAMA.

Circus, Minories, June 21. 1815.

Sir,

I request you will contradict in your next publication the
assertion of my _decease_, which is calculated to injure
considerably my interests abroad as a merchant. (Vide your Review
of Parke's Travels, page 377.) In answer to this unfounded
information, which has been propagated in your review of last
month, I have to acquaint you that I am not only in the land of the
living, but in excellent health, and waiting to hear the testimony
434 of some stranger or European traveller (since the Africans are not
to be relied on), who shall establish the fact of _the junction of
the Nile of Sudan with that of Egypt; or at least, the
approximation of these two mighty streams_. And notwithstanding
_the_ insidious reflections and censures passed on the native
Africans, from whom I gathered much of the information communicated
to the public in my account of Marocco, it must be allowed by all
liberal-minded men, that a native is more likely to give an
accurate account of his country than a foreigner; and a residence
of sixteen years in a country may be allowed to give a man of
common observation experience enough to select judiciously such
intelligence as might be relied on; and I have no hesitation in
declaring it to be my unalterable opinion, that _so soon as a
traveller shall have returned from the interior of Africa, many of
my assertions respecting those regions will be confirmed_, and that
information founded on the testimony of unprejudiced and
disinterested Africans, will be found not so contemptible as some
learned persons have imagined.

JAMES G. JACKSON.
435

_Critical Observations on Abstracts from the Travels of Ali Bey,
and Robert Adams, in the Quarterly Journal of Literature, Science,
and the Arts, edited at the Royal Institution of Great Britain,
Vol. I. No. II. page 264_.

London, Dec. 19. 1817.

In the discussion on Aly Bey's Travels, in the Journal of Science
and the Arts, above mentioned, p. 270. are the following words:--

"Aly Bey has added, in a separate chapter, all the information he
received, respecting a mediterranean sea, from a merchant of
Marocco, of the name of Sidi Matte Buhlal, who had resided many
years at Timbuctoo, and in other countries of Sudan or Nigritia,
the most material of which was, that Tombut is a large town, very
trading, and inhabited by Moors and Negroes, and was at the same
distance from the Nile Abid, (or Nile of the Negroes, or Niger,) as
Fez is from Wed Sebu, that is to say, _about three hundred English
miles_."

As this passage is quoted from Aly Bey, by the first literary
society of Great Britain, and is, therefore, calculated to create a
doubt of the accuracy of what I have said, respecting the distance
of the Nile El Abeed from Timbuctoo, in the enlarged editions of my
account of Marocco, &c. page 297. I consider it a duty which I owe
436 to my country and to myself, not to let this sentence pass through
the press without submitting to the public my observations on the
subject.

Sidi Matte Buhlal is a native of Fas: the name is properly Sidi El
Mattie Bû Hellal. This gentleman is one out of twenty authorities
from whom I derived the information recorded in my account of
Marocco, respecting Timbuctoo and the interior of Africa; his whole
family, which is respectable and numerous, are among the first
Timbuctoo merchants that have their establishments at Fas. I
should, however, add, that among the many authorities from whom I
derived my information relative to Timbuctoo, there were two
muselmen in particular,--merchants of respectability and
intelligence, who came from Timbuctoo to Santa Cruz, soon after _I
opened that port to Dutch commerce, in the capacity of agent of
Holland, by order of the then Emperor of Marocco, Muley Yezzid_,
brother and predecessor of the present Emperor Soliman. These two
gentlemen had resided at Timbuctoo, and in other parts of Sudan,
fifteen years, trading during the whole of that period with
Darbeyta, on the coast of the Red Sea, with Jinnie, Housa, Wangara,
Cashna, and other countries of the interior, from whom, and from
others, equally intelligent and credible, I procured my information
respecting the _mediterranean sea in the interior of Africa, called
El Bahar Assudan, i.e. the Sea of Sudan_, situated fifteen days'
437 journey east of Timbuctoo. These two muselmen merchants had amassed
considerable fortunes at Timbuctoo, and were on their journey to
Fas, their native place; but in consequence of a civil war at that
time raging throughout West Barbary, particularly in the province
of Haha, through which it was indispensable that they should pass,
on their way to Fas, they sojourned with me two months; after which
they departed for Fas with a caravan.

These intelligent Moors gave me much information respecting
Timbuctoo, and the interior countries where they had resided; they
sold me many articles of Sudanic manufacture, among which were
three pieces of fine cotton cloth, manufactured at Timbuctoo, and
some ornaments of pure gold _in or molu_, of exquisite workmanship,
of the manufacture of Jinnie; one of these pieces of Timbuctoo
manufacture, of cotton interwoven with silk, of a square
blue-and-white pattern, dyed with _indigo of Timbuctoo_, I had the
honour to present to the British Museum, in April, 1796[239], where
it is now deposited.

[Footnote 239: This piece of cloth, about two yards wide and
five long, I had the honour of offering to Sir Joseph Banks,
who declined receiving it; but at the same time suggested that
it was a manufacture deserving public notice, and would be
considered an acceptable present by the British Museum.]

I have been led into this digression from certain insinuations that
have been[240] insidiously propagated, reflecting on the accuracy
438 of my statements respecting the interior of Africa; and I must add,
that I always have felt, and still feel confident, that in
proportion as we shall become more acquainted with the interior of
this unexplored continent, my account will be so much the more
authenticated: my confidence in this opinion, (however dogmatical
it may appear,) is founded on the original and intelligent sources
of my information; on a long residence and general acquaintance
with all the principal inhabitants of West Barbary, whose
connections lay in Sudan, and at Timbuctoo; in a competent
knowledge and practical acquaintance with the languages of North
Africa, and a consequent ability to discriminate the accuracy of
the sources of my intelligence.

[Footnote 240: See my letter to the editor of the Monthly
Magazine, for March, 1817; page 125.]

This being premised, I now proceed to offer to the public my
animadversions on the above quotation from the Journal of Science
and the Arts.

I have actually crossed the Wed Sebu, or the River Sebu, alluded to
in the above quotation, which passes through the Berebber Kabyl of
Zimure Shelleh; I have crossed the same river several times at the
city of Mequinez, and also at Meheduma, where it enters the
Atlantic Ocean, in lat. 34° 15' north, and from this experimental
knowledge of the course of that river, I can affirm, with
confidence, that it is not inaccurately laid down in my map of West
Barbary[241], and that it is not three hundred English miles from
439 Fas, but only six English miles from that city. I can also assert,
from incontestable testimony, that Tombut, or Timbuctoo, is[242]
not three hundred miles from the Nile El Abeed, but only about
twelve English miles from that stream, the latter being south of
the town.

[Footnote 241: For which see page 55.]

[Footnote 242: Vide Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco, &c.
p. 297.]

Respecting the following passage in the above quoted Journal of
Science and the Arts, p. 272, "This river contains the fierce
animals called _Tzemsah_, which devour men," I shall only observe,
that _Tzemsah_ is the word in Arabic which denominates the
_crocodile_. Farther on, in the same page, we have the words,--"We
must suppose that the Joliba makes at this spot a strange winding,
which gives to the inhabitants of Marocco the opinion they
express." This supposed winding is actually asserted to exist, and
is denominated by the Arabs[243] _El Kose Nile_, i.e. the arch or
curve of the Nile, and is situated between the cities of Timbuctoo
and Jinnie.

[Footnote 243: Idem, note, p. 305.]

I should here adduce some further testimony respecting the course
of the Nile El Abeed; but as the quotation from Aly Bey in the
above Journal of Sciences and the Arts, page 271. asserts it to be
towards the east, and again, in page 272. declares it to be towards
the west, such incoherence, I presume, requires no confutation. I
consider that it originates from Moorish inaccuracy.
440
The _La Mar Zarak_ of Adams, if any such river exists, may be a
corruption of _Sagea el Humra_, i.e. the Red Stream, a river in the
southern confines of Sahara, nearly in the same longitude with
Timbuctoo. This river the late Emperor of Marocco, Muley Yezzid,
announced as the southern boundary of his dominions; but from the
accounts which I have had of it, it was not of that magnitude which
Adams ascribes to the Mar Zarak, nor was it precisely in the
neighbourhood of Timbuctoo, when I was a resident in South Barbary:
rivers, however, _which pass through sandy or desert districts_,
often change their courses in the space of twenty-four hours, by
the drifting of the moving sands impelled by the wind; instances of
which I have myself often witnessed.

If this river proceeded from the Desert, it might have had the name
of _El Bahar Sahara_, i.e. the River of Sahara; the word _La Mar_
is a lingua franca, or corrupt Spanish word, signifying the sea,
and might have been used to this poor sailor by a native to make it
the more intelligible to him. Many Spanish words having crept into
the Arabic vocabulary, and are occasionally used by those Africans
who have had intercourse with Europeans.

441 The next passage for animadversion is as follows:--

"The state in which he represented Timbuctoo, and its being the
residence of a Negro sovereign, instead of a muselman."

The state in which he has represented Timbuctoo, is, I think,
extremely inaccurate; and being a slave, it is more than probable,
that he was placed in a Fondaque[244], or Caravansera, belonging to
the King, which he _mistook_ for his palace; but that his narrative
should be deemed inaccurate, because he has described the town of
Timbuctoo to be under the sovereignty of a Negro prince, is to me
incomprehensible.

[Footnote 244: Vide Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocoo, &c.
p. 298.]

The various sources of information that I have investigated,
uniformly declare that sovereign to be a Negro, and that his name
in the year 1800, was Woolo. This account, it appears, is confirmed
by Adams, who says,[245] Woolo was King of Timbuctoo in 1810, and
that he was then old and grey-headed. Some years after the above
period, Riley's Narrative, epitomised in Leyden's Discoveries and
Travels in Africa, vol. i., _speaking of the King of Timbuctoo,
says, this sovereign is a very large, old, grey-headed black man_,
called _Shegar_, which means Sultan. This, however, I must observe
is a misinterpretation of the word _Shegar_, which is an
African-Arabic word, and signifies _red or carrotty_, and is a word
applicable to his physiognomy; but certainly not to his rank:--_Abd
442 Shegar_, a carrotty or red Negro. If these two testimonies, since
1800, be correct, then the _anachronism_ of which I am accused in
the New Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, (title Africa,)
is misapplied.

[Footnote 245: Since publishing this letter, Mr. Bowdich, in
his Account of Ashantee, pages 194, 195, says, Woolo was King
of Timbuctoo in 1807, or ten years before Mr. Bowdich was at
Ashantee.]

Many of this king's civil officers, however, in 1800, were
muselmen; but the military were altogether Negroes.

However fervent the zeal of Muhamedanism may be at Timbuctoo, it is
not, I imagine, sufficient to convert the Negroes, who have not the
best opinion of the Muhamedan tenets. The Negroes, however, are
disposed to abjure idolatry for any other form of religion that
they can be persuaded to think preferable, or that holds out a
better prospect; a convincing proof of which has been seen by the
readiness of the Africans of Congo and Angola, to renounce their
idolatry for the Christian faith, by the conversion of thousands to
that faith by the indefatigable zeal of the catholic missionaries,
when the Portuguese first discovered those countries, and which, if
the Sovereign of Portugal had persevered with that laudable zeal
with which he began to promote the conversion of the Africans, the
inhabitants of those extensive and populous countries might, at
this day, have been altogether members of the Christian church!!
443
_On the Junction of the Nile of Egypt with the Nile of Timbuctoo,
or of Sudan_.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE.[246]

[Footnote 246: Inserted in March, 1817.]

Sir,

London, Jan. 25. 1817.

Having read some annotations, in the Journal of a Mission to the
Interior of Africa, by Mungo Park, in 1805, which are calculated to
persuade some persons, that my Account of the Interior of Africa is
not altogether authentic, I feel myself called upon to offer some
cursory observations to the public, in refutation of those
aspersions. (Vide Appendix, No. IV. to Mungo Park's Second Journey,
in 1805, pages 114. and 115.)

Although I assert, on the concurrent testimony of the best informed
and most intelligent natives of Sudan, that there exists a
[247]water communication between Timbuctoo and Cairo, I do not
maintain that the [248]Nile of Sudan falls into the [249]Nile of
Egypt, but that it hath a communication with it, or with some river
444 that connects itself with the Nile of Egypt, which opinion is
confirmed by Mr. Hornemann, on African authority.

[Footnote 247: Vide Jackson's Marocco, second or third edition,
page 310.]

[Footnote 248: (_Nile el Kabeer_) the Great Nile, (_Bahar el
Abeed_, or _Nile el Abeed_) the Nile of Slaves or Negroes,
(_Nile Sudan_) the Nile of Sudan or Nigritia, are the various
names applied to the river that passes by Timbuctoo, and
through the interior of Sudan, from west to east.]

[Footnote 249: _Nile Masser_ is the name applied to the Nile of
Egypt.]

It is very probable that this junction is formed by a stream that
flows westward towards Wangara through the country called [250]
Bahar Kulla, and Lake Dwi, from the source of the Nile of Egypt, or
from that part of the Jibbel Kumri, or Lunar Mountains, which form
the southern boundary of Donga.

If this be so, the junction of the Nile el Abeed, of Timbuctoo, and
the Bahar el Aheäd of Donga[251], (or more properly the Bahar el
Abeed,) is established, and the water communication between
Timbuctoo and Cairo is proved; admitting, however, that the Negroes
reported by me to have performed the[252] voyage by water, took
their boat or canoe ashore, to ascend the cataracts, in the country
between Wangara and Donga.

[Footnote 250: _Bahar Kulla_ is an Arabic term, signifying the
sea altogether, implying an alluvial country, (probably forming
a part of the mediterranean sea of central Africa). See Major
Rennel's Map in the Proceedings of the African Association,
vol. i. 8vo. page 209. lat. N. 10°, long. 18°.]