The Sun Shone
Brightly Upon The Numerous Hamlets; The Oxen, Cows, And Sheep, Presented
A Picture Of Comfort And Peace; And The Air Was Filled With The Song Of
Birds.
Thence he proceeded to Dunrora, and conceived that a few days
farther journey would enable him to attain his object, when four armed
men, mounted on foaming steeds, dashed into the town, and ordered him
immediately to return to the king of Zeg-Zeg.
He was obliged to journey
back by his former route. After being exposed to various dangers from the
enmity of the Portuguese slave-traders on the coast, he embarked on the
13th February, and reached England on the 30th April 1828.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
_Laing and Caillie_.
At the same time that Clapperton undertook his second journey, Major
Laing, who had on a former excursion penetrated a little way into the
interior, attempted to reach Tombuctoo, from Tripoli, across the desert,
by Ghadamis. In the midst of the desert, the party with whom he travelled
was attacked during the night by a formidable band of Tuaricks; and
Laing, having received twenty-four wounds, was left for dead. He
afterwards recovered by the care of his companions, though several
splinters of bone were extracted from his head. Undismayed by this
unpropitious accident, he after a short delay resumed his journey, and
reached Tombuctoo on the 18th August, 1826. There he resided for a month,
during which several letters from him reached England. He described the
city as every way equal, except in size, to his expectation. It was not
above four miles in circumference. During his short residence, he had
collected much valuable information concerning the geography of Central
Africa. He was obliged to depart in consequence of instructions reaching
the governor of the city that the Christian must instantly remove. He
accordingly engaged a merchant, called Barbooshi, to guide him to the
coast. Before he had advanced three days journey from Tombuctoo, the
treacherous Moor murdered him at night, and seized his baggage and
journal. His papers were reported to have been carried to Tripoli; but
they have never since been recovered.
[Illustration: Burial of Clapperian.]
[Illustration: Body Guard, of the Sheik, of Bornoiu.]
The next traveller was a Frenchman, M. Caillie, who, after having
previously resided some years at Senegal, returned to Africa in 1824.
Disguised as a Mahomedan, he departed for the interior on the 19th of
April, 1827, and arrived at Tangier in safety in the following August.
His countrymen rewarded him with a pension and the cross of the legion of
honour, and claimed for him a high place among distinguished travellers.
Doubts have been thrown upon the authenticity of his narrative, some
having gone so far as to say that the greater part of it is a
fabrication. Many errors have been detected in it, particularly with
regard to the observation of the heavenly bodies; but this may have
arisen from ignorance. It is now generally agreed that his account is
entitled to consideration; especially as in the present state of our
knowledge concerning Africa there is not sufficient ground to disprove
it.
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