sion, however, could possess extremely little interest, now that the long period of time which has elapsed must have extinguished almost every hope of the return of this illustrious and lamented tra

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veller. We may here, however, mention the report which Mr Bowdich lately collected in Ashantee from some Moorish merchants, who had been formerly at Haoussa, and mentioned, "that during their residence there, a white man "was seen going down the Niger in a large canoe, in which all the rest were blacks. This "circumstance being reported to the king, he 'immediately despatched some of the people to "advise him to return, and to inform him that, if "he ventured to proceed much farther, he would "be destroyed by the cataracts of the river; the "white man, however, persisted in the voyage, "mistaking apparently the good intention of "those sent by the king to warn him of his dan

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ger. A large party was then despatched with "orders to seize and bring him to Haoussa, which

they effected after some opposition. Here he "was detained by the king for the space of two

years, at the end of which he took a fever and "died. These Moors declared, that they had "themselves seen this white man at Haoussa.”*

* Quart. Review, June 1818, p. 379.

CHAPTER X.

ADAMS'S NARRATIVE.

Shipwreck of Adams.-His Journey through the Desert.-Soudenny.-Arrival at Tombuctoo.-Description of that CityJourney across the Great Desert.-Captivity among the Arabs. -Ransom.—Observations on his Account of the Political State of Tombuctoo.

THE deep interest which was now excited relative to every thing connected with this region of the globe, made even the humblest sources of information eagerly sought after. One occurred, which, in these circumstances, was not to be overlooked: A gentleman, connected with the African Company, received intelligence that there was, in the streets of London, an American sailor, who had been for several years a captive in the heart of Africa, and had even spent six months at Tombuctoo. With laudable curiosity he immediately searched out this man; he found him in a state of rags and misery, obliged, for want of lodging, to spend the night in the open street. The answers to the questions put to him disclosed a series of adventures so extraordinary, as inspir

ed a wish to examine him more minutely. Adams (for this was the sailor's name) was on the point of setting sail for his native country, and shewed at first a considerable reluctance to remain; but this was overcome by the application of powerful motives. He was afterwards repeatedly examined in the presence of persons of distinction, who took a deep interest in African affairs. The substance of his intelligence was then taken down in writing, and thrown into the form of a narrative. The arguments used by the editor, and by a very able writer in the Quarterly Review, to prove the general authenticity of these statements, are so convincing, and have so completely satisfied the public, that it is unnecessary to repeat them here. The want of all attempt, on Adams's part, to turn his information to account, its very discrepancy with all our preconceived ideas on the subject, afford the strongest presumptions in his favour. M. Dupuis, the British Vice-Consul at Mogadore, happening fortunately to be in London, confirmed the fact of Adams's shipwreck, his release from captivity, and the correspondence of his present statements with those formerly given to himself, and also with those of other credible persons who had been at Tombuctoo. It is certainly unfortunate that this grand object of European curiosity should have been first viewed by eyes so little enlightened or curious; and that the particulars

thus gleaned should rather tend to subvert all our preconceived ideas on the subject, than to substitute any others of a satisfactory nature in their place. These facts, however, must still deserve notice in the absence of better information.

On the 17th October 1810, the American ship Charles, John Horton master, set sail from New York, and having touched at Gibraltar, proceeded on a trading voyage along the African coast. On the 11th of October, when they were a little to the south of Cape Blanco, the noise of breakers was heard, and about an hour after, the ship struck. The fog was so thick that the land could not be discerned; yet all the sailors reached it by swimming. Unfortunately, at the first alarm, they had thrown overboard not only their wine and provisions, but their muskets, powder and ball; so that, whatever enemy might appear, they were totally unprovided with any means of defence. They were soon surrounded and made prisoners by thirty or forty Moors, who belonged to a small douar, or fishing encampment, in the neighbourhood. These Moors appeared miserably poor, having no clothes, except a rug or skin round the waist, and a rag, by way of turban, binding the heads of the females. Their tents were composed of stuff resembling a coarse blanket, formed of goats' hair and sheep's wool interwoven; and some had no tents at all. Their

food consisted entirely of fish, which often failed through the mismanagement of their tackle; yet they rejected all offered instructions as to the mode of better employing it. It appears from M. Dupuis, that this wretched spot, called El Gazie, is often the scene of a similar catastrophe. Traders, then, from all parts of the desert, and even from Morocco, hasten thither, in hopes of obtaining articles of value in return for trifles from the ignorant plunderers. In this trade of a wreck, watches, muslins, silks, &c. are received for dates, coarse linens, and the few other articles which are of use in this wretched mode of life; bank notes are often obtained for a mere trifle.

Soon after their captivity the crew were stripped naked, and carried along with the Moors on a journey to the east. The captain, who seems to have lost all prudence, and to have indulged in the most furious marks of impotent resentment, was killed; the rest seem to have been tolerably treated. In about forty-four days they came to the vicinity of Soudenny, a negro village, which seems situated on the northern frontier of Bambarra. Here, concealing themselves in the hills and bushes, they seized and made slaves of all the straggling individuals who fell in their way. The people of the village, however, received notice of their haunts, and, coming out in a body of forty or fifty, surrounded