Chapter I: Part 1

_Harper’s Stereotype Edition._

THE LIVES OF CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS.

BY JAMES AUGUSTUS ST. JOHN.

Wand’ring from clime to clime, observant stray’d,
Their manners noted and their states survey’d.
Pope’s Homer.

IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. III.

NEW-YORK:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET,

AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.

1832.

CONTENTS.

MUNGO PARK.

Born 1771.--Died 1806.

Born at Fowlshiels, near Selkirk--Receives a respectable education--Bound apprentice to a surgeon--Finishes his education at Edinburgh--Removes to London--Becomes known to Sir Joseph Banks--Appointed surgeon to the Worcester, East Indiaman--Engaged by the African Association to ascertain the course of the Niger--Sails from England--Arrives at Jillifica--Unknown species of fish--Alligators--Hippopotami--Pisania--Dr. Laidley--Studies the Mandingo language--Attacked by fever and delirium--Horrors of the rainy season in Africa--Wild beasts--Departs from Pisania--Surrounded by a body of the natives--Visits the King of Woolli--Obtains a guide--Elephant-hunters--Presents his coat to the chief of Fatteconda--Major Houghton--Limited territories of the African kings--Suggestion by which Africa may be effectually explored--Folly of despatching a solitary traveller--A night journey--Solitary forest--Dangers from wild beasts--Hospitable Mohammedan--Festival in honour of his arrival--Negro dances--Joag--Robbed of half his merchandise--Humanity of a female slave--Kasson--Robbed a second time--Affectionate meeting between the blacksmith and his relations--Maternal affection--Curiosity excited by the presence of a white man--Kooniakary--Audience with the king--Advised to retrace his footsteps--Romantic scenery--Cheapness of provisions--Superstition of his Mohammedan guide--Terrifies two negro horsemen--Is mistaken for a demon--Kaarta--Buglehorns formed of elephants’ teeth--Receives permission to depart--Jarra--Visits Ali the King of Ludamar--Despatches his journal to the Gambia--Is robbed--Barbarous treatment of Park by Ali and his Moorish countrymen--Placed in a hut with a wild boar--Is chosen royal barber--Pillaged of the remainder of his property--Superstitious curiosity--Is threatened with death or mutilation--Tortured for Moorish amusement--Robbed of his slave-boy--Affecting scene--Attempts to escape--Departs in the night--Stopped and robbed of his cloak--Nearly perishes from hunger and thirst--Storm in the desert--Multitude of frogs--Compelled to wander through the woods--Subsists on wild berries--Enters the kingdom of Bambarra--Mistaken for a Moor--Destitute condition--Comes within sight of the Niger--Joy at effecting the object of his mission--Sego--Refused entrance into the city--Humanity of a woman--Receives a present from the king of Bambarra--Sansanding--Hospitable reception--Is requested to write a saphie, or charm--Camelopard--Encounters a lion--Moodiboo--Loses his horse--Reaches Silla--Exhausted with fatigue and sickness--Unable to proceed--Resolves to return--Song--Denied entrance into the village--In danger of being devoured by lions--Stripped and robbed by a band of peasants--Overwhelmed with grief and terror--Derives consolation from religious reflections--Sibidooloo--Regains his horse and other property--Unites himself to a slave caravan--Obtains a common prayer-book--Arrives at Pisania--Returns to England--Singular interview with his brother-in-law--Received with distinguished honour by the African Association--Publishes his travels--Returns to Scotland--Marries--Practises as a surgeon at Peebles--Becomes disgusted with an obscure life--Appointed chief conductor of a second expedition into the interior of Africa, under the sanction of the British government--Sails from Portsmouth--Arrives at Pisanio--Sets out with the party for the interior--Dreadfully stung by a swarm of bees--The journey nearly put an end to by this event--Rainy season--The whole party sick--Gold-pits--Soldiers become delirious--Numbers die, or are left behind--Attacked by wild beasts--Cut off by the natives--Guide attacked and wounded by a crocodile--Remarkable presence of mind--Robbed by two African princes--Encounters three lions--Arrives on the banks of the Niger--Opens a bazaar--Death of Mr. Scott--Mission reduced to a very small number--Death of Mr. Anderson--Embarks on the Niger--Conclusion of his journal--Isaaco’s account of his death--Captain Clapperton’s corroboration--Character--Sir Walter Scott 13

PETER SIMON PALLAS.

Born 1741.--Died 1811.

Born at Berlin--Educated as a surgeon--Studies natural history--Visits Holland--England--Publishes his first great work--Accepts an appointment in the Academy of St. Petersburg--Catherine II.--Engages in the Russian enterprise for observing the transit of Venus--Sets out from St. Petersburg--Gadflies--River Jemlia--Pearl muscles--Arrives at Moscow--Marine sponges used for painting the cheeks--Rhubarb--Vlodimir--Cherry-orchards--Tartar princes--Goitres--Extreme filthiness of the Russians--Severe cold--Mules between the goat and sheep--Sulphurous springs--Environs of Sumara--Travels on sledges--Skeletons of elephants--Tizran--Excessive heat--Village unroofed by a hurricane--River Volga--Ancient tombs--Gigantic bones--Kalmuc camp--Archery--Botanical excursions--Marsh flies--Kirghees--Orenburg--Golden eagles--Falconry--Value of a trained hawk--Salt-mines--Chinese caravan--Jasper mountains--Jasper tombs--Ruins of Sarai--Embarks upon the Caspian Sea--Arranges his Journal--Floods--Hurricanes--Bottomless pit--Furious wild dogs--Beehives--Method of protecting the hives from the bears--Volcano--Burning forest--Cotton produced from the poplar-tree--Loses himself in a forest--Curious method of passing a river--Asbestos mountain--The mind abhors an uninterrupted calm--Insipid method of travelling--Method of preparing Russia leather in Siberia--Cheliabinsk--Departs for Eastern Siberia--Extensive conflagration--Steppe of Ischimi--Aquatic game--White herons--Arrives at Omsk--Refused permission to inspect the Siberian maps there--Banks of the Irtish--Continual storms--Method of preserving furs from the moth--Encounters an enormous wolf--Ancient mines--Attacked by dysentery--Prodigious tomb--Enormous lump of solid gold--Visits the Altaïc mountains--Sublime scenery--Black sparrows--Crosses Lake Baikal in a sledge--Rugged and sublime scenery--Tremendous storm--Hunting the sea-dog--Mongolia--Borders of China--His health declines--Blue crow--Locusts--Tartar hordes--Intense cold--Prepares for his return to Petersburg--Execrable manner of peopling Siberia--Perilous adventure--Wild horses--Ancient shores of the Caspian--Repairs to Moscow--Arrives at Petersburg--Premature old age--Publishes his travels, &c.--M. Cuvier--Theory of the earth--Traverses the southern provinces of Russia--Dies at Berlin--Character 65

CARSTEN NIEBUHR.

Born 1733.--Died 1815.

Born in the province of Friesland--Studies music--Intends practising as a land-surveyor--Celebrated Reiske--Engaged to accompany a scientific expedition into Arabia--Goes to Copenhagen--Appointed lieutenant of engineers--Liberality of the Danish Minister--Proceeds to Marseilles--White rainbow--Transit of Venus--Malta--Serpents--Maltese knights--Efforts to convert Niebuhr to Catholicism--Great Church of St. John--Prodigious wealth--Hospital--Sails to Smyrna--Tenedos--Attacked by dysentery--Proceeds to Constantinople--Assumes the oriental costume--Sails for Egypt--Rhodes--Turkish eating-house--Wine-drinkers--Female slaves--Amusing story--Plague--Egypt--Pompey’s pillar--Turkish merchant and the telescope--Laughable anecdote--Mr. Forskaal stripped of his breeches--Rosetta--Arrives at Cairo--The river Nile--Pirates--Bruce the traveller--Curious anecdote of robbers--The Virgin on horseback--Churches strewed with crutches--Arrives at Damietta--Boats loaded with beehives--Europeans detested at Damietta--Encountered by a young sheïkh--Visits the Pyramids--Observations on them--Sets out for Suez--Advantages of travelling on dromedaries--Trade of Suez--Rose of Jericho--Mountain of Inscriptions--Arab women--Is refused admission into the monastery of St. Catherine--Deserted by his guides--Ascends a portion of Mount Sinai--Voyage from Suez to Jidda--Black eunuch--Elim--Is protected by some Janizaries--Emerald mountains--Forskaal taken for a physician--Laughable story--Ship in danger of being set on fire--Indiscreet curiosity--Jidda--Custom-house extortions--Forbidden to approach the Mecca gate--Curious method of catching wild ducks--Sails for Loheia--Yemen--Bedouins--Politeness of the emir--Hospitable treatment--Curiosity of the Arabs--Dr. Cramer requested to prescribe for the emir’s horse--Amusing anecdote of two young Arabs--Great coffee emporium of Beit el-Fakih--Description of the coffee plantations--Danger of travelling by day--Niebuhr is mistaken for an Arab--Is supposed to be searching for gold--Balm of Mecca--Is seized with illness--Mokha--Ludicrous anecdote--Death of Von Haven--Of Forskaal--Difficulty of obtaining a place of burial--Polite reception at Sana--Obtains an audience of the imam--Sails for India--Arrives at Bombay--Death of Baurenfeind--Forwards his manuscripts to Copenhagen--Sails for the Persian gulf--Phosphoric fires--Troop of dolphins--History of Nadir Shah--Sir W. Jones--Visits Shiraz--Superstition respecting manner of killing a fowl--Visits a Turkoman camp--Anecdote--Arrives at Shiraz--Hospitable reception by an Englishman--Palace--Persepolis--Arab sheïkh--Dialogue with the moollah of a mosque respecting marriage--Ruins of Babylon--Proceeds with a Jewish caravan--Turkish firman--Devil worshippers--Cowardice of his companions--Adventure with an Arab sheïkh--Dr. Patrick Russel--Oriental Christians--Visits Palestine--Mount Taurus--Baber Khan--Returns to Europe--Arrives at Copenhagen--Publishes his various works--Marries--Quits the capital--Appointed secretary of the district at Meldorf--Anecdotes and character of Niebuhr by his son--Illiberality towards Bruce--Account of Niebuhr’s latter days--Illness--Death 99

CHOISEUL-GOUFFIER.

Born 1752.--Died 1817.

Incompleteness of the biography of celebrated men--Born at Paris of an illustrious family--His passion for the fine arts--Taste for literature--Falls in love--Marries--Adopts the profession of arms--Obtains the rank of colonel--Sails for Greece--His enthusiasm for antiquity--Visits the Grecian Isles--Occupies himself in drawing--Grotto of Antiparos--Opinions respecting its construction--Proceeds to Lemnos, Rhodes, &c.--Ruins of Telmissus--River Mæander, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Troy--Homer--Trojan territories--Rivers Simois and Scamander--Remarkable spots in the neighbourhood of Troy--Tombs of Ilus and Patroclus--Camp of the Greeks--Returns to France--Arranges the materials of his travels--Flattering reception--Patriotism--Modern Greeks--Elected member of the French Academy--Celebrated discourse on the death of D’Alembert--Delille’s poem entitled “Imagination”--Extract applied to Choiseul-Gouffier--Appointed ambassador to the Ottoman Porte--Acquires the confidence of Halil Pasha, and of Prince Mauro Cordato--Attempts to introduce civilization among the Turks--Turkish ship-of-war--Obtains the release of the Russian ambassador--Prevents the imprisonment of the Austrian internuncio--Protects the Russian and Austrian prisoners--Revisits the Troad--Despatches artists to Syria and Egypt--Appointed ambassador to the court of London--Anecdote of the Count de Cobentzel--Emperor Paul of Russia--Returns to France--Rose harvest of Adrianople--Personal existence of Homer--Is seized with an apoplectic fit--Dies 154

JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT.

Born 1784.--Died 1817.

Descended from an eminent family at Basle--Born at Lausanne--Aversion to republican principles--Detestation of the French--Enters as a student at Leipzig--Removes to Göttingen--Arrives in London--African Association--His offers are accepted--Studies Arabic--Allows his beard to grow--Assumes the oriental dress--Accustoms himself to endure hardships--Sails from Cowes--Arrives at Malta--Dr. Sectzen--Assumes the character of an Indian Mohammedan merchant--Reaches the coast of Syria--Departs for Aleppo--Laughable anecdote--Aga’s dislike to beer and potatoes--Suspected of being a Frank in disguise--Is pulled by the beard and otherwise insulted--Arrives at Aleppo--Puts off his Mohammedan dress--Is seized with fever from the bites of vermin--Attempts a translation of Robinson Crusoe into Arabic--Sets out in company with an Arab sheïkh for Palmyra--Robbed on the road--Damascus--Arab hospitality--Beautiful scenery--Baalbec and Libanus--Cedars--The Druses--Haurān the patrimony of Abraham--Vestiges of ancient cities--Places himself under the protection of an Arab sheïkh--Enters the desert--Is stripped to the skin, and left exposed to the rays of the sun--Arab lady attempts to steal his shirt--Returns to Damascus--Dead Sea--Joins a caravan--Philadelphia--Treachery of the Sheïkh of Kerek--Valley of Ghor--Ruins of Petra--Arrives at Cairo--Journey into Nubia--Mameluke chiefs--Deadly feud--Hospitality of the Nubians--Romantic scenery--Curious mode of extorting presents--Admirable custom of placing water-jars by the road-side--Drunken savages--Palm wine--Contempt for Mohammed Ali--Descends the Nile--Colossal statues--Anecdote of an Arab--Assouan--Cheapness of provisions--March of a caravan through the desert--Is treated with great contempt by his companions--Bruce--Burckhardt’s insolent skepticism respecting that eminent traveller--Extraordinary sufferings--Wady el Nabeh--Scarcity of water--Nubian desert--Lakes of mirage--Is near perishing from thirst--Camels despatched to the Nile--Insolence and extortion--Extraordinary method of discovering a stolen lamb--Arrives at Damar--Adventure with a Faky--Numerous crocodiles--Romantic scenery--Tremendous effects of a desert storm--Taka--Enormous lions--Effects of the sultan’s firman on his persecutors--Returns to Jidda--Attacked by fever--Delicious fruit--Sells his slave--Sets out for the interior of the Hejah--Arrives at Mecca--Picturesque scenery--Ras el Kora--Tayef--Observations on Burckhardt’s beard--Suspected of being an English spy--Affects to be hurt by the pasha’s suspicions--Animated description of the Hadj, or pilgrimage to Mecca--Sets out for Medina--Is attacked by an intermittent fever--Melancholy condition--Consoles himself by reading Milton--Tomb of Mohammed--Sets out for Yembo--Plague--Pursues his journey to Cairo--Composes his journal--Excursion to Mount Sinai--Furnishes Belzoni with money for removing the head of Memnon--Is attacked with dysentery--Dies at Cairo--Character 168

VOLNEY.

Born 1757.--Died 1820.

Born at Craon in Anjou--His name first changed by his father, and afterward by himself--Studies the sciences with ardour--Is bequeathed a small sum of money--Determines to spend it in travelling--Proceeds to Marseilles--Embarks for Egypt--Alexandria--Cairo--Studies the Arabic--Defends Herodotus--Proceeds to Syria--Describes Mount Lebanon--Resides in an Arabian convent--Studies the Arabic--Visits the tribe of Bedouins--Is invited to reside among them--Describes the Druzes--Returns to France--Publishes his travels--Acquires a great reputation--Is compared with Herodotus--Is presented with a gold medal by the Empress Catherine--Publishes his considerations on the war between the Turks and Russians--Meditates the improvement of agriculture--Is elected a member of the Constituent Assembly--Connexion with Cabanis and Mirabeau--Anecdote--Returns Catherine her medal, and is abused by Grimm--Visits Corsica--Publishes the “Law of Nature”--Character of that work--Is imprisoned as a royalist--Travels in America--Well received by Washington--Dr. Priestley--Returns to France--Refuses to share the honours of Napoleon--Marries--Dies 219

EDWARD DANIEL CLARKE.

Born 1769.--Died 1822.

Born in Sussex--Is an idle student--Saves the life of his brother--Studies at Cambridge--Loses his father--Proceeds slowly with his studies--Fond of miscellaneous reading--Quits the university--Becomes a private tutor--Makes the tour of England--Publishes an account of it--Travels with Lord Berwick--Passes the Alps--Italy--Naples--Eruption of Mount Vesuvius--Is in danger of perishing among the lava--Engages to travel in Egypt--Returns to England--Is disappointed--Publishes a periodical work--Is again a private tutor--Engages to travel with Mr. Cripps--Departs from England--Sweden--Norway--Lapland--Gulf of Finland--St. Petersburg--Picture of the Russians and their emperor--Moscow--The Crimea--Professor Pallas--Constantinople--The Plain of Troy--Aboukir--Palestine--Egypt--The Pyramids--Antiquities taken from the French--Isles of Greece--Athens--Mount Parnassus--Returns to England--Created LL.D.--Takes orders--Marries--Sells his MSS. and coins--Enjoys pluralities--Sells the copyright of his travels--Lectures on mineralogy--Appointed professor--Studies with enthusiasm--Falls ill--Is carried to London--Dies 238

FRANCOIS LE VAILLANT.

Born 1753.--Died 1824.

Peculiar excellence of Le Vaillant’s style--Born in Dutch Guyana--Early pursuits--Is brought to Europe--Studies--Conceives the idea of travelling--Repairs to Holland--Embarks for the Cape of Good Hope--Arrive--Dutch hospitality--Cape Town--Hurricane--Character of the colonists--Admiration of the English, and detestation of the French--Saldanha Bay--Mutton Island--Gazelle and panther-hunting--Harpooning a whale--The Dane’s grave--Prodigious clouds of birds--Blowing-up of a ship-of-war--Loss of Le Vaillant’s papers, collections, and travelling-chest--Melancholy--Meets with a friend--Recommences his collections--Prepares for a journey into the interior--His wagons, merchandise, and arms--Choice of travelling companions--Hottentot followers--Departs from Cape Town--Sweets of liberty--Magnificent scenery--Vast herds of antelopes--Curious species of tortoise--Augments his followers--Arrives on the Dove’s River--Pleasant mode of spending his time--African story-teller--Abundance of game--Seashore--Beautiful district--Fairy-land--Spenser--Gardens of Adonis--Shoots a touraco--Pursues it through the woods--Falls into an elephant-snare--Danger and alarm--Escapes--Torrents of Africa--Verdant palace--Proceeds to the Black River--Accident--Is attacked by illness--Oppressed by melancholy--Recovers--Discovers the footmarks of elephants--Sets out in chase of them--Shoots an elephant--Pursues the herd--Is in imminent danger--Escapes--Exquisite flavour of an elephant’s foot--Falls in with a tribe of wild Hottentots--Manners and opinions--Approaches the country of the Kaffers--Terrors of his followers--Despatches messengers into Kaffer-land--Fury of an African storm--Wild beasts--Meets with a new tribe of Hottentots--Exchange of presents--Enamoured of a Hottentot girl--Return of his messengers, accompanied by Kaffers--Dutch spies in the camp--Alarm of the Kaffers--Their departure--Prepares to enter Kaffraria--His people refuse to proceed--Selects a small number of the bravest of his Hottentots for the expedition--Quits his camp--Enters Kaffraria--Solitude and desertion of the country--Returns--Contemplates his return to the Cape--Enormous herds of antelopes--Sublime scenery of the Sneuw Bergen--The Bushmen--Great scarcity of water--Reaches the Cape--Reposes--Unhappy opinion--Projects a second journey--Preparations--Departure--Nests of the white ant--Dreadful scarcity of water--Discovers a well in the desert--Elephant’s River--African harpies--Is near perishing in the Elephant’s River--Abandons his chariots in the desert--Forerunners of a tempest--Cloud-worshippers--A storm--Quenches his burning thirst--Visits a Hottentot horde--Hospitality--Is overtaken by a Dutchman, who intoxicates his followers--Terrible accident--Horrors of the savage life--Proceeds on his journey--Beholds a giraffe, and kills one--Presence of women in the camp--Arrives on the frontiers of the Hoozwana country--New terrors of his followers--Solitude of the desert--Discovers a horde of Hoozwanas--Obtains their friendship--Character of these wild people--They reconduct him to his camp on the Gariep--Accident--Oxen stolen by the Bushmen--Follows them to their kraal--Battle--Recovers his cattle, and returns to the camp--Befriends a miserable white family--Is on the point of death--Recovers--Returns to the Cape--And then to Europe--Publishes his travels--Dies 262

BELZONI.

Born at Padua--Is designed for the monastic life--Studies at Rome--Hydraulics--Invasion of Italy by the French--Alters his plan of life--Departs from Rome--Arrives in England--Marries--Remains nine years in Great Britain--Travels through the south of Europe--Malta--Arrives in Egypt--Enters into the service of the pasha--Constructs an hydraulic machine--View from the Pyramids--Is near being murdered by a soldier--Rebellion of the janizaries--Quits the service of the pasha--Undertakes the removal of the Memnon’s head--Ascends the Nile--Arrives at Thebes--Magnificence of the ruins--Establishes himself in the Memnonium--Removes the head to the Nile--Visits the Necropolis at Gournon--Loses himself in the sepulchres--Horrors of the tombs--Proceeds to Assouan--His boat attacked on the Nile--Reaches Deir--Temple of Ipsambul--Ignorance of the Nubians--Use of money--Returns to Thebes--Embarks the head of Memnon--Antiquarians--Is shot at in the ruins of Thebes--Descends the Nile to Rosetta--Mr. Briggs--Returns to Cairo, and thence again to Thebes--Mummy-pits--Decay of the mummies--Proceeds to Ipsambul--Opens the temple--Sepulchres of the kings--Alabaster sarcophagus--Visits the emerald mines on the Red Sea--Returns to Cairo--Visits the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon--Returns to England--Publishes his travels--Proceeds again to Africa--Dies 327

DOMINIQUE VIVANT DENON.

Born 1754.--Died 1825.

Born at Burgundy--Becomes a king’s page--Secretary to the Neapolitan Embassy--His character and physiognomy--Studies the art of design--Adopts the principles of the revolution--Embarks with Napoleon for Egypt--Arrives at Alexandria--Impressions on entering a new city--Rosetta--Pursued by the Arabs--Desaix--Visits the Pyramids--Population of Cairo--Revolt against the French--Danger of Denon--Massacre of four _savans_--Dissects the mummy of Ibis--Serpent-charmers--Departs for Upper Egypt--Murad Bey--Battle with the Mamelukes--Horrible anecdote--Anecdote of a youthful robber--A shower of rain--Ruins of Oxyrinchus--Gloomy opinions--Ruins of Hermopolis--Dangerous mode of travelling--Ruins of Denderah--Anger of General Desaix--Anecdote of a French officer--Comes in sight of the ruins of Thebes--The whole army halt and clap their hands--Statues of Ossymandyas--Island of Phile--Khamsyn wind--Journey to Cosseir--Returns to the Nile--Sails for France--Is made superintendent of museums by Napoleon--Directs the casting of the triumphal column in the Place Vendôme--Dies 345

REGINALD HEBER.

Born 1783.--Died 1826.

Born at Malpas, in the county of Chester--Early piety--Studies at Oxford--Poem of “Palestine”--Recites his work in public--Becomes a volunteer--Loses his father--Travels in Northern Europe--Sweden--Norway--Russia--Ladies of Moscow--Traverses the Ukraine--Romantic view at Nakitchivan--Tcherkask--Inhabitants of the banks of the Kuban--Traverses the Crimea--Returns to England--Obtains the living of Hodnet--Purity and romance of his opinions--Marries--Excellence as a parish priest--Contributes to the Quarterly Review--Publishes his poems--Observance of Sunday--Delivers the Bampton Lectures--Loses his only child--Illness--Appointed Bishop of Calcutta--Friendship of the honourable Watkins Williams Wynn--Is exceedingly esteemed and regretted--Sails with his family for India--Pious conduct on board--Arrives in the Ganges--Colour of the Hindoos--Reaches Calcutta--Laborious situation--Departs from Calcutta on his visitation to the Upper Provinces--Scenery of Bengal--Arrives at Dacca--Visits the Nawâb--Loses his chaplain--Continues his voyage up the Ganges--Sultan Sujah’s palace--Rosefields of Ghazeepoor--Attar of roses--Reaches Benares--Lucknow--First view of the Himalaya--Contrasted with view of Mont Blanc--Approaches the Himalaya--Almorah--Returns towards the south--Delhi--Is presented to the emperor--Agra--The Taj-mahal--Sir David Ochterlony--Traverses Rajpootana--Bombay--Mr. Elphinstone--Ceylon--Calcutta--Madras--Death 356

THE LIVES OF CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS.

MUNGO PARK.

Born 1771.--Died 1806.

This enterprising and distinguished traveller was born on the 10th of September, 1771, at Fowlshiels, a farm occupied by his father on the banks of the Yarrow, near Selkirk. In common with the greater number of the sons of Scottish yeomen, Mungo Park, notwithstanding that the number of his brothers and sisters amounted to no less than thirteen, received a respectable education, and at the age of fifteen was bound apprentice to a surgeon at Selkirk. At the close of this apprenticeship, in 1789, Park continued his medical studies at the university of Edinburgh, where, though nothing remarkable is recorded of him, he seems to have applied with great assiduity to his professional studies. His summer vacations, during one of which he made a tour to the Highlands, were devoted to botany.

Having completed his education, Park removed to London in search of professional employment. Here, through the kindness of Mr. Dickson, his brother-in-law, he had the good fortune to become known to Sir Joseph Banks, to whom so many other distinguished travellers have been indebted; and through whose recommendation he was appointed surgeon to the Worcester East Indiaman. In this capacity he made a voyage to Bencoolen, in Sumatra, the only fruits of which was a paper containing descriptions of eight new fishes from Sumatra, published in the third volume of the _Linnæan Transactions_.

Shortly after his return from this voyage, Park, learning that the African Association, of which his friend Sir Joseph Banks was a very active and zealous member, were desirous of engaging a person to replace Major Houghton, who, it was feared, had fallen a sacrifice to the climate, or perished in some contest with the natives, eagerly offered his services, which after due deliberation were accepted. The association, he observes, conducted itself with great liberality towards him. He forthwith prepared himself for the voyage, and on the 22d of May, 1795, sailed from Portsmouth in the brig Endeavour. His instructions, he says, were very plain and concise. He was directed, on his arrival in Africa, “to pass on to the river Niger, either by the way of Bambouk or by such other route as should be found most convenient; that I should ascertain the course, and, if possible, the rise and termination of the river. That I should use my utmost exertions to visit the principal towns or cities in its neighbourhood, particularly Timbuctoo and Houssa; and that I should afterward be at liberty to return to Europe, either by the way of the Gambia, or by such other route as under all the then existing circumstances of my situation and prospects should appear to me to be most advisable.”

On the 21st of June, after an agreeable voyage of thirty days, he arrived at Jillifica, a town on the northern bank of the Gambia, in the kingdom of Barra. From this place after a stay of two days he proceeded up the Gambia, in the waters of which were found prodigious numbers of fish of unknown species, together with alligators and hippopotami, whose teeth furnish excellent ivory. Park, having quitted the Endeavour at Jonkakonda, proceeded thence by land; and reaching Pisania, a small British factory in the King of Yam’s dominions, on the 5th of July took up his residence at the house of Dr. Laidley, until he should be able to prosecute his journey into the interior.

Our traveller’s first care now was to render himself master of the Mandingo language, which in this part of Africa is in general use; and to collect from every source within his power information respecting the countries he was about to visit. In the language his progress depended on his own application; but he soon found that little or no reliance could be placed on the accounts of the interior furnished him by the natives, who on the most material points were frequently in direct contradiction with each other. His anxiety to examine and judge for himself was therefore increased. However, besides that the rainy season, which had now commenced, rendered travelling impracticable, another equally insuperable bar to the speedy prosecution of his journey quickly presented itself. In observing on the 31st of July an eclipse of the moon, he imprudently exposed himself to the night dew, and next day he found himself attacked by fever and delirium, which were the commencement of an illness that with a very trifling intermission confined him during two months within doors. “The care and attention of Dr. Laidley contributed greatly,” says Park, “to alleviate my sufferings; his company and conversation beguiled the tedious hours during that gloomy season when the rain falls in torrents; when suffocating heats oppress by day, and when the night is spent by the terrified traveller in listening to the croaking of frogs (of which the numbers are beyond imagination), the shrill cry of the jackal, and the deep howling of the hyena; a dismal concert, interrupted only by the roar of such tremendous thunder as no person can form a conception of but those who have heard it.”

Having been disappointed in his expectations of proceeding with a slave caravan towards Bambarra, Park departed from Pisania on the 2d of December, 1795. He had been provided with a negro servant, named Johnson, who had been many years in Great Britain, and understood both the English and Mandingo languages; and with a negro boy, named Demba, the property of Dr. Laidley, who, as the highest inducement of good behaviour, promised him his freedom on his return. Besides these Park was accompanied by four other persons, who, though independent of his control, were made to understand that their safe return to the countries on the Gambia would depend on our traveller’s preservation. His equipment was by no means magnificent: a horse for himself, two asses for his servants, provisions for two days, a small assortment of beads, amber, and tobacco, a few changes of linen and other apparel, an umbrella, a pocket sextant, a magnetic compass, a thermometer, two fowling-pieces, two pair of pistols, and some other small articles. His friends at Pisania accompanied him during the first two days, and then, dismissing him on his way, took their leave, secretly persuaded they should never see him more.

He had scarcely lost sight of his European friends, and ridden off musing and somewhat melancholy into the wood, when a body of black people presented themselves in a clamorous manner before him, demanding custom-dues, in default of which they threatened to carry him before their king. To escape from this honour, which might have proved a costly one, Park presented them with a little tobacco, upon which they were of course contented, and he was allowed to proceed. On reaching Medina, the capital of Woolli, he judged it prudent, or perhaps absolutely necessary, to present himself at the king’s levee, when the venerable benevolent old chief not only granted him permission to traverse his dominions, but assured him he would offer up prayers for his safety, partly to secure which he furnished him with a trusty guide.

Having safely reached the frontiers of the Woolli dominions, Park dismissed his guide; and being about to enter a country interspersed with deserts, in which water is frequently not to be procured, he hired three negroes, experienced elephant-hunters, who were at once to serve as guides and water-bearers. While he was preparing to depart, however, one of these negroes, who had all received a part of their pay in advance, made his escape; and lest the remaining two should be disposed to follow his example, he immediately gave orders to fill their calabashes, or gourds, with water, and struck off into the wilderness, just as the sun was appearing above the horizon. Through this desert they proceeded until they reached Tallika, the frontier town of Bondou towards Woolli, where Park engaged a kind of custom-house officer to accompany him for a trifling present to Fatteconda, the residence of the king. In his company our traveller accordingly performed the journey to that city. On his arrival at Fatteconda he was received by the black chief with much apparent kindness, though Major Houghton, he had heard, in his passage through the country, had been both insulted and plundered by this same man. However, he soon discovered that the manifestations of a hospitable disposition observable in the king’s manner was not deceptive. It is true he was so completely captivated by our traveller’s best blue coat and gilt buttons, that he could not resist the temptation to beg it; but he endeavoured in some measure to remunerate him for the loss by a present of five drachms of gold, and by altogether abstaining from examining his baggage, or exacting any other present than what was voluntarily bestowed.

The territories of these petty African chiefs, whom we complaisantly denominate kings, are exceedingly limited in extent. Your road conducts you to-day through one kingdom, to-morrow through another, and the next day through a third; which, of all those circumstances that obstruct the movements of the traveller in Africa, is, perhaps, the most vexatious and the most difficult to overcome; as the rapacity of the first chiefs who lie in his way deprives him of the power of satisfying the equal rapacity of the remainder. This consideration alone would suffice to convince me that if ever Africa is to be properly explored, it must be by an armed force sufficiently powerful to carry terror through the country, and not by a solitary traveller, who, whatever may be his perseverance or courage, must either fall in the attempt, or return with notions hastily formed, picked up at random, or borrowed from the ignorant credulous natives. The perpetual state of captivity in which Park moved is a strong proof of this. He was never, unless when far removed from human society by woods or deserts, completely master of his own actions, or sufficiently respected to render it possible for him to contemplate the superior classes, even of these savages, from a proper level. To judge with impartiality, a man must neither be under the influence of fear nor of contempt, of anger nor of gratitude. He must feel himself perfectly on a level with those about him.

To proceed, however, with Park:--“In the afternoon,” says he, “my fellow-travellers informed me, that as this was the boundary between Bondou and Kajaaga, and dangerous for travellers, it would be necessary to continue our journey by night, until we should reach a more hospitable part of the country. I agreed to the proposal, and hired two people for guides through the woods, and as soon as the people of the village were gone to sleep (the moon shining bright) we set out. The stillness of the air, the howling of the wild beasts, and the deep solitude of the forest made the scene solemn and impressive. Not a word was uttered by any of us but in a whisper; all were attentive, and every one anxious to show his sagacity by pointing out to me the wolves and hyenas as they glided like shadows from one thicket to another. Towards morning we arrived at a village called Kimmoo, when our guides awakened one of their acquaintance, and we stopped to give our asses some corn, and roast a few ground-nuts for ourselves. At daylight we resumed our journey, and in the afternoon arrived at Joag in the kingdom of Kajaaga.”

On arriving at Joag, the frontier town of the kingdom of Kajaaga, our traveller (who had taken up his residence at the house of the dooty, or chief man of the town, a rigid but hospitable Mohammedan) was favoured with an opportunity of observing the genuine character of the negro. “The same evening,” says he, “Madiboo, the bushreen who had accompanied me from Pisania, went to pay a visit to his father and mother, who dwelt at a neighbouring town called Dramanet. He was joined by my other attendant the blacksmith; and as soon as it was dark, I was invited to see the sports of the inhabitants, it being their custom on the arrival of strangers to welcome them by diversions of different kinds. I found a great crowd surrounding a party who were dancing by the light of some large fires to the music of four drums, which were beat with great exactness and uniformity. The dances, however, consisted more in wanton gestures than in muscular exertion or graceful attitudes. The ladies vied with each other in displaying the most voluptuous movements imaginable.”

At Joag, while preparing to advance on his journey, he was suddenly honoured with a visit from the king’s son, accompanied by a troop of horse, who, pretending that by entering his father’s dominions he had forfeited the whole of his property, insisted upon examining his merchandise, of which he seized upon the moiety. Of the remnant that remained, particularly a little amber and a few beads, which he had succeeded in concealing, he was now so fearful of producing any portion, even for the purchase of food, lest he should once more awaken the cupidity of the authorities, that both he and his attendants determined on combating hunger for the day, “and wait some opportunity of purchasing or begging provisions.” In this extremity, while he was sitting down chewing straws, a female slave, who observed him in passing by, was moved with compassion, and presented him with a quantity of ground-nuts, which was a very seasonable supply. Scarcely had the old woman left him, before he received information that the nephew of the King of Kasson, who had been sent by his uncle on an embassy to the King of Kajaaga, and was now returning to his own country, was about to pay him a visit. He came accordingly, and upon Park’s representing to him his situation and distresses, kindly offered to be his guide and protector as far as Kasson. With him, therefore, our traveller now continued his route to the banks of the Senegal, upon crossing which, his royal guide, who, like other guides, required a present for his services, informed him they were in his uncle’s dominions, and in complete safety.

Safe or not safe, however, Park soon found that the stranger and the traveller were nowhere beyond the reach of extortion. Half of the little property which had escaped the fangs of the Kajaaga people, was here taken from him. He was then permitted to depart. Among the honest negroes with whom he had set out from Pisania, on the Gambia, there was a blacksmith from the interior, who, having amassed some little money upon the coast, was now returning to spend the remainder of his days in his native land. Shortly after quitting Teesee, the last place where our traveller had submitted to legal robbery, he and his companions came within sight of the blacksmith’s village. The news of his return had, it seems, preceded him. His brother, accompanied by a singing-man, came forth to welcome the wanderer home, and brought along with him a horse, that the blacksmith “might enter his native town in a dignified manner.” Park and his companions were desired to put a good charge of powder into their guns. The singing-man led the way; the two brothers followed; and the cavalcade was quickly joined by a considerable number of the inhabitants, who, by extravagant gestures and songs of triumph, testified their joy at the return of their townsman. “When we arrived at the blacksmith’s place of residence, we dismounted, and fired our muskets. The meeting between him and his relations was very tender; for these rude children of nature, freed from restraint, display their emotions in the strongest and most expressive manner.--Amid these transports, the blacksmith’s aged mother was led forth, leaning upon a staff. Every one made way for her; and she stretched out her hand to bid her son welcome. Being totally blind, she stroked his hands, and arms, and face with great care, and seemed highly delighted that her latter days were blessed by his return, and that her ears once more heard the music of his voice. From this interview, I was convinced, that whatever difference there is between the Negro and European in the conformation of the nose, and the colour of their skin, there is none in the genuine sympathies and characteristic feelings of our common nature.

“During the tumult of these congratulations, I had seated myself apart, by the side of one of the huts, being unwilling to interrupt the flow of filial and parental tenderness; and the attention of the company was so entirely taken up with the blacksmith, that I believe none of his friends had observed me. When all the people present had seated themselves, the blacksmith was desired by his father to give some account of his adventures; and silence being commanded he began; and after repeatedly thanking God for the success that had attended him, related every material occurrence that had happened to him from his leaving Kasson to his arrival at the Gambia; his employment and success in those parts; and the dangers he had escaped in returning to his native country. In the latter part of his narration, he had frequent occasion to mention me; and after many strong expressions concerning my kindness to him, he pointed to the place where I sat, and exclaimed, _Affille ibi siring_ (see him sitting there). In a moment all eyes were turned upon me. I appeared like a being dropped from the clouds, every one was surprised that they had not observed me before; and a few women and children expressed great uneasiness at being so near a man of such an uncommon appearance. By degrees, however, their apprehensions subsided, and when the blacksmith assured them I was perfectly inoffensive, some of them ventured so far as to examine the texture of my clothes; but many of them were still very suspicious, and when by accident I happened to move myself, or look at the young children, their mothers would scamper off with them with the greatest precipitation. In a few hours, however, they all became reconciled to me.”

With these honest people Park remained during the whole of that day and the next, and then, accompanied by the worthy blacksmith, who declared he would not quit him during his stay in that part of the country, set forward towards Kooniakary. On his arrival at this city he obtained an audience of the king, a fine old man, who, for his conduct both in peace and war, was greatly beloved by his subjects. His behaviour towards the stranger was not inconsistent with this character. He informed him with apparent regret, that the direct route to Bambarra was about to be closed by war, but, after vainly advising his guest to retrace his footsteps, added, that there yet remained some hopes of peace, respecting the validity of which he should be able to pronounce an opinion in the course of four or five days. In the mean while he invited Park to remain in the neighbourhood.

On the 1st of February, 1796, the king’s messenger returned from the contiguous kingdom of Kaarta, bringing intelligence that the Bambarra army had not yet entered the country, and that it was possible the traveller might be enabled to traverse it before the invasion should take place. Accordingly, being provided with two guides by the king, Park took leave of his friend the blacksmith, and set forward on his dangerous journey. The country, at all times thickly peopled, now swarmed with fugitives, whom the fear of the Bambarrans had terrified from their homes. The scenery in many places was romantically wild. “On coming within sight of the mountains of Foolado, we travelled,” says Park, “with great difficulty down a stony and abrupt precipice, and continued our way in the bed of a dried river-course, where the trees meeting over our heads, made the place dark and cool. In a little time we reached the bottom of this romantic glen; and about ten o’clock emerged from between two rocky hills, and found ourselves on the level and sandy plains of Kaarta. At noon we arrived at a korree, or watering-place, where, for a few strings of beads, I purchased as much milk and corn-meal as we could eat; and indeed provisions are here so cheap, and the shepherds live in such affluence, that they seldom ask any return for what refreshment a traveller receives from them.”

From this place, having prevailed upon his landlord, a Mohammedan negro, to accompany him as a guide to Kemmoo, our traveller set forward on the 11th of February. He observes, “We had no sooner got into a dark and lonely part of the first wood, than he made a sign for us to stop; and taking hold of a hollow piece of bamboo that hung as an amulet round his neck, whistled very loud three times. I confess I was somewhat startled, thinking it was a signal for some of his companions to come and attack us; but he assured me it was done merely with a view to ascertain what success we were likely to meet with on our present journey. He then dismounted, laid his spear across the road, and having said a number of short prayers, concluded with three loud whistles; after which he listened for some time, as if in expectation of an answer, and receiving none, told us we might proceed without fear, for there was no danger.”

Adventures now appeared to crowd upon our traveller. The country through which their road lay being thickly sprinkled with wild fruit-trees, they amused themselves as they rode slowly along with picking and eating the fruit. “In this pursuit,” says Park, “I had wandered a little from my people, and being uncertain whether they were before or behind me, I hastened to a rising ground to look about me. As I was proceeding towards this eminence, two negro horsemen, armed with muskets, came galloping from among the bushes. On seeing them I made a full stop; the horsemen did the same; and all three of us seemed equally surprised and confounded at this interview. As I approached them their fears increased, and one of them, after casting on me a look of horror, rode off at full speed; the other, in a panic of fear, put his hand over his eyes, and continued muttering prayers until his horse, seemingly without his rider’s knowledge, conveyed him slowly after his companion. About a mile to the westward they fell in with my attendants, to whom they related a frightful story; it seems their fears had dressed me in the flowing robes of a tremendous spirit; and one of them affirmed, that when I made my appearance, a cold blast of wind came pouring down upon him from the sky, like so much cold water.”

Shortly after this they arrived at the capital of Kaarta, where he was an object of such extraordinary curiosity to the populace, the majority of whom had never before seen a white man, that they burst forcibly into his hut, crowd after crowd. Those who had beheld the monster giving way to those who had not, until, as he observes, the hut was filled and emptied thirteen different times. Here he found that the war with Bambarra had actually commenced; that all communication between the countries had consequently ceased; and that, if it was his determination to persevere, it would be necessary to take a circuitous route through the Moorish kingdom of Ludamar. The people of Kaarta were Mohammedans; but there is a variety in church discipline even among these inflexible fanatics; for, instead of the fine sonorous voice of the muezzin, by which the faithful are elsewhere summoned to their devotions, the hour of prayer was here announced by the beating of drums, and blowing through large elephant’s teeth, hollowed out in such a manner as to resemble buglehorns. The sound of these horns our traveller thought melodious, and approaching nearer to the human voice than any other artificial sound. Being very desirous to depart from the seat of war, Park presented his horse-pistols and holsters to the king; and on pressing to be dismissed, received in return an escort of eight horsemen to conduct him to Jarra. Three of the king’s sons, with two hundred horsemen, kindly undertook to accompany him a little way on his journey.

On his arrival at Jarra, in the kingdom of Ludamar, he despatched a messenger to Ali, who was then encamped near Benowm, soliciting permission to pass unmolested through his territories; and having waited fourteen days for his reply, a slave at length arrived from the chief, affirming that he had been instructed to conduct the traveller in safety as far as Goomba. His negro, Johnson, here refused to follow him any further, and signified his intention of pushing back without delay to Gambia; upon which Park, fearful of the success of his enterprise, intrusted him with a copy of his journal, reserving another for himself, directing him to deliver the papers to the English on the coast. A portion of his baggage and apparel he committed to the care of a slave-merchant at Jarra, who was known to Dr. Laidley. He then departed with his slave-boy, accompanied by the chief’s messenger. On the road our traveller was robbed once more by the Moors, who added insult to violence; and when he was nearly perishing for thirst, beat away his faithful slave from the wells, without permitting him to draw water.

However, after much fatigue and extraordinary privations, they arrived in Ali’s camp at Benowm, where Park was immediately surrounded by crowds of fanatical Moors, attracted partly by curiosity, partly from a desire to vent their fierce zeal against a Christian. “My arrival,” says he, “was no sooner observed than the people, who drew water at the wells, threw down their buckets; those in the tents mounted their horses, and men, women, and children came running or galloping towards me. I soon found myself surrounded by such a crowd, that I could scarcely move; one pulled my clothes, another took off my hat; a third stopped me to examine my waistcoat buttons, and a fourth called out ‘La illah el allah Mahamet rasowl allahi,’ and signified, in a threatening manner, that I must repeat those words. We reached at length the king’s tent, where we found a great number of people, men, women, and children, assembled. Ali was sitting on a black leathern cushion, clipping a few hairs from his upper lip--a female attendant holding up a looking-glass before him. He appeared to be an old man of the Arab cast, with a long white beard, and he had a sullen and indignant aspect. He surveyed me with attention, and inquired of the Moors if I could speak Arabic; being answered in the negative, he appeared much surprised, and continued silent. The surrounding attendants, and particularly the ladies, were abundantly more inquisitive; they asked a thousand questions, inspected every part of my apparel, searched my pockets, and obliged me to unbutton my waistcoat and display the whiteness of my skin; they even counted my toes and fingers, as if they doubted whether I was in truth a human being.”

Ali now, with the base idea of insulting an unprotected stranger, ordered a wild boar to be brought in, which he signified his desire that Park should kill and eat. This, well knowing their religious prejudices, he of course refused to do; upon which the boys who led in the boar were commanded to let it loose upon him, the Moors supposing that there exists an inveterate feud between pigs and Christians, and that it would immediately run upon and gore him. The boar, however, was more magnanimous. Scorning to attack a defenceless foreigner, he no sooner found himself at liberty than, brandishing his tusks at the natives, he rushed at them indiscriminately, and then, to complete the consternation, took shelter under the very couch upon which the tyrant was sitting. This bold proceeding of the unclean beast dissolved the assembly, and the traveller was led away to the tent of a slave, in front of which, not being permitted to enter, he received a little food. Here he likewise passed the night lying upon the sand, surrounded by the curious multitude. Next day, a hut, constructed with corn-stalks, was given him; but the abovementioned boar, which had been recaptured, was tied to a stake in the corner of it, as his fittest companion.

By degrees, however, the Moors began to conceive that the Christian might in one way or another be rendered useful, but could think of no better employment for him than that of a barber. In this capacity he made his first attempt, in the royal presence, on the head of the young prince of Ludamar. This dignified office he had no great desire to monopolize, and his unskilfulness in performing the operation, for he almost at the outset made an incision in the young prince’s head, quickly reduced him once more to the rank of a common mortal. Ali seemed by no means desirous, however, of dispensing altogether with his services, wishing perhaps to preserve him from the same motives which induce us to preserve a wild beast; and therefore, to render his escape the more impracticable, took possession of the whole of his baggage, including his gold, amber, watch, and one of his pocket compasses; the other he had fortunately buried in the sand composing the floor of his hut. The gold and amber were highly gratifying to Moorish avarice, but the pocket compass soon became an object of superstitious curiosity. “Ali was very desirous to be informed, why that small piece of iron, the needle, always pointed to the Great Desert, and I found myself somewhat puzzled to answer the question. To have pleaded my ignorance, would have created a suspicion that I wished to conceal the real truth from him; I therefore told him that my mother resided far beyond the sands of Sahara, and that while she was alive, the piece of iron would always point that way, and serve as a guide to conduct me to her; and that if she was dead, it would point to her grave. Ali now looked at the compass with redoubled amazement; turned it round and round repeatedly, but observing that it always pointed the same way, he took it up with great caution, and returned it to me, manifesting that he thought there was something of magic in it, and that he was afraid of keeping so dangerous an instrument in his possession.”

It now began to be debated between Ali and his advisers what should be done with their prisoner. Their decisions were very dissimilar. Some were of opinion that he should be put to death; others that he should merely lose his right hand; while a third party thought that his eyes ought to be put out. Ali himself, however, determined that matters should remain as they were until his queen Fatima, then in the north, had seen him. Meanwhile all these reports were related to our traveller, and tended not a little to distress and agitate his mind. His demand to be permitted to depart was formally refused. The accumulated horrors of his situation, united with the want of food and sleep, at length brought on a fever, by which his life was endangered. But his persecution from the Moors did not therefore cease. They plucked his cloak from him; they overwhelmed him with insults; they tortured him like some ferocious animal, for their amusement; and when, to escape from this detestable thraldom, he crawled away to a short distance from the camp, he was forced back by menaces and violence.

At length, after more than a month’s detention at Benowm, he was commanded to follow Ali to the northern encampment of Bubaker, on the skirts of the Great Desert, and on the way endured the extremity of hunger, thirst, and fatigue. Upon arriving at Bubaker, he was shown as a strange animal to Fatima; who, though far from being exempt from the Moorish prejudices against a Christian, or in any remarkable degree disposed to humanity, still treated him with somewhat greater lenity than the rest of the Moors; and, upon the departure of her husband for Jarra, not only obtained him permission to join the party, but prevailed upon the tyrant to restore him his horse, saddle, and bridle, together with a part of his apparel. His faithful black boy Demba, however, was taken from him, notwithstanding his animated remonstrances to Ali, who, upon his pressing the point rather warmly, only replied, that if he did not instantly mount his horse and depart, he should share the fate of his slave. “There is something in the frown of a tyrant,” says Park, “which rouses the most secret emotions of the heart; I could not suppress my feelings; and for once entertained an indignant wish to rid the world of such a monster. Poor Demba was not less affected than myself; he had formed a strong attachment towards me, and had a cheerfulness of disposition which often beguiled the tedious hours of captivity; he was likewise a proficient in the Bambarra tongue, and promised, on that account, to be of great use to me in future. But it was in vain to expect any thing favourable to humanity from a people who are strangers to its dictates. So having shaken hands with this unfortunate boy, and blended my tears with his, assuring him, however, I would do the best to redeem him, I saw him led off by three of Ali’s slaves towards the camp at Bubaker.”

Upon his arrival at Jarra, where he was shortly afterward transferred by Ali to tyrants of a lower grade, his condition, far from being improved, was only rendered the more intolerable. The city itself, moreover, was in a state of the utmost confusion. Malcontents from Kaarta having taken refuge here, had recently made an incursion into their native country, carried off a large quantity of plunder, and thus drawn the vengeance of their king against the city. All those who had reason to dread his resentment were now, therefore, preparing to fly into Bambarra; and Park, whose route lay in the same direction, became exceedingly desirous of effecting his escape from the Moors, that he might seize upon this fortunate occasion of fulfilling the object of his mission. “Their departure,” says he, speaking of the black fugitives, “was very affecting: the women and children crying, the men sullen and dejected, and all of them looking back with regret on their native town; and on the wells and rocks beyond which their ambition had never tempted them to stray, and where they had laid all their plans of future happiness; all of which they were now forced to abandon, and to seek shelter among strangers.”