The Narrative of Robert Adams, a sailor, who was wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa, in the year 1810 ... With a map, etc

Appendix

BOSTON : PUBLISHED BV WELLS AND LILLV SOLD BV M. CAREY AND SON, PHILADELPHIA. i8ir. TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE COMPANY OF MERCHANTS TRADING TO AFRICA. Gentlemen, I beg leave to present to you the Nar rative of the Sailor, Robert Adams, in the form which 1 conceive will be most interesting to you and to the publick, and most useful to the poor man himself, for whose benefit it has been committed to the press. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, your faithful and obedient Servant, S. COCK African Office, April 30th, 1816. CONTENTS. Introductory Details respecting Adams. ...Discovered in London.... examined by the African Committee respecting his travels in Africa ....his answers satisfactory. ...Notes of his story laid before the African Committee... Their beliefin its truth. ...Mode of interrogating Adams His method of reckoning bearings, distances, and rate of travelling, through the Desert. ...Examined by several Members of the Government. ...Receives a Gratuity from the Lords of the Treasury. ...Sir Willoughby Gordon's opinion of his statements page ix — xvi Reasous for publishing the following Narrative. ...Departure of Adams for America Arrival in England of stir.

Dupuis, British Vice Consul at Mogadore His confirmation of the whole of Adams's story in a Letter to the Editor, with other interesting particulars relating to him on his arrival and during his stay at Mogadore p. xvi — xxii Advertisement to the Map.... Explanations respecting the data on which the Map is constructed Information on the route, and nature of the country, between Haoussa and Lagos on the Coast of the Bight of Benin.. ..Probability of Europeans being able to penetrate from Lagos in the direction of the Niger p. xxiv — xxviii NARRATIVE.

Chapter I

Departure from New York on board the " Charles" Names of the Crew.. ..Arrival at Gibraltar.. ..Voyage to the Isle of Mayo. ...Ignorance of the Captain.... the ship is wrecked on the Western coast of Africa.. ..The Crew saved, but are enslaved by the Moors. ...El Gazie... Description ofthe Moors, and their proceedngs... .French Renegade ....Sufferings of the Crew.. ..Death of Captain Horton....Separation CONTENTS. of the Crew, and departure of the Moors from El Gazie.... Adams is conveyed eastward into the Desert. ...Mode of travelling.. ..Arrival at the encampment ofthe Moors.. ..Employment there... .Expedition to steal Negro Slaves at Soudenny.. ..Sufferings in traversing the De sert....Arrival near Soudenny. ...The Moors seize a Woman and two Children ; are themselves surprized by the Negroes, taken prison ers, and confined in the town. ...Soudenny, and its inhabitants.. ..The prisoners are conveyed by a party of armed Negroes to Tombuctoo ...Journey thither ; during which fourteen of the Moors are put to death. ...Arrival at Tombuctoo p. 29

Chapter II

Imprisonment of the Moors at Tombuctoo. ...Adams an object of curiosity, and kindly treated. ...Ring and Queen ; Woollo aud Fatima ....Their Dress, Ceremonies, Residence, and Attendants....Muskets ....Cnriosity of the Natives to see Adams. ...Tombuctoo.. ..La Mar Zarah Cauoes....Fish Fruits.... Vegetables Grain.. ..Food prepared from the Guinea corn. ...Animals.. ..Heirie.. ..Elephant hunt.... Birds : Ostriches. ...Sulphur.. ..Poisonous preparation of the Negroes for their Arrows. ...Persons and Habits of the Negroes.. ..Incisions in their Faces Dress Ornaments, and Customs Musical Instruments. ...Dancing... .Military Excursions against Bambarra.. ..Slaves ....Criminal Punishments.. ..Articles of Trade.. ..Jealous precautions of the Negroes against the Moors ; their kindness to Adams.... Rain.. ..Names of Countries. ...Words in the Language of Tombuctoo p. 40

Chapter III

Ransom of the imprisoned Moors and of Adams.. ..Departure from Tombuctoo.... Journey eastward along the River ; then northward to Taudeny. ...Traders in salt. ...Taudeny. ...Mixed Population of Moors and Negroes. ...Beds of Rock Salt. ...Preparations and Departure, to cross the Sandy Desert. ...Sufferings in , the Desert.... Arrival at Woled D'leim. ...Employment, and long detention there.... Refusal of Adams to attend to his tasks.. ..He is punished for it ; but perseveres.. ..Seizes an opportunity of escaping. ...Is pursued ; but reaches El Kabla ...He is purchased by the Chief. ...Employed to tend the flocks of his Master's Wives. ...Negotiates with Aisha, the younger wife, on the subject of Wages.... Their bargain, and its consequences. ...Adams flies and conceals himself.. ..Is purchased by a CONTENTS.

Trader; and conveyed to Woled Aboussebah.. ..Woled Adrialla.... Aiata Mouessa Ali. ...He attempts to escape. ...Is retakeu ; and conveyed to Wed-Noon p. 58

Chapter IV

Description of Wed-Noon ; where Adams finds three of the crew of the '• Charles". ...He is purchased by Bel-Cossim-Abdallah.. ..French Renegade.. ..Wreck of the Montezuma.. ..Gunpowder Manufacture ....Curious Relation of a Negro Slave from Kanno. ...Severe labours and cruel treatment of the Christian Slaves at Wed-Noon. ...Adams is required to plough on the Sabbath day ; refuses; is cruelly beaten, and put in irons. ...His firmness.. ..Inhuman treatment and death of Dolbie.. ..Williams and Davison, worn out by their sufferings, renounce their Religion.. ..Adams perseveres. ...Letter from the British Vice-Consul at Mogadore, addressed to the Christian Slaves.... Ransom of Adams. ...Departure from Wed-Noon Akkad a. ...Bled Cidi Heshem. ...Market of Cidi Hamet a Moussa... .Agadeer, or hanta Cruz.. ..Mogadore. ...Adams is sent to the Moorish Emperour. ..Fez....

Mequinez.... Tangier... .Cadiz.. .Gibraltar.. ..London p. 72 Concluding Remarks p. 140 — 165 Notes and Illustrations. El Gazie... .Shipwrecks. ...French Renegade.. ..Agadeer Doraa....Soudenny.... Woollo and Fatima. ...Dress of the inhabitants of Tombuctoo, Houses, _c....La Mar Zarah. ...Canoes. ...Fruits.... Quadrupeds. ...Heiries. ...Elephant hunting.... Alligators. ...Courcoo Wild Beasts.. ..Birds.... Poisons.... Poly gamy....Religion Physicians Sorcery ....Dancing Bambarra Slaves.... Punishments. ...Shops and Trade at Tombuctoo Cowries Moors Negroes ....Crossing the Desert.. ..Joliba river.. ..Negro Language ....Taudeny.... Woled D'leim... .El Kabla.... Aisha.. ..Wooled Aboussebah. ...Kanno.. ..Christian Slaves. ...Reckonings of Time and Distance p. 85 — 139 Appenhix, No. I. Information obtained in the year 1764, respecting Tombuctoo, and the course and navigation of the Niger... .Park....

Major Rennell....Sources of the Senegal and Gambia Remarks on the Rivers passed by Park. ...Kong mountains.... Expediency of exploring the furthest western navigation of the Niger.. .p. 167 — 180 Appendix, No. II. Sketch of the Population of Western Barbary Berrebbers Arabs Moors Distinguishing occupations p. 181—193 Index : , p. respecting ROBERT ABAMS. In the month of October, 1815, the Editor of the following pages was informed by a friend, that a Gentleman of his acquaintance, recently arrived from Cadiz, had accidentally recognised an American seaman, in the streets of London, whom he had seen, only a few months before, in the service of an English merchant in Cadiz, where his extraordinary history had excited considerable interest ; the man having been a long time in slavery in the interiour of Jlfrica, and having resided several months at Tombuc too.

Such a report was too curious not to have attract ed the peculiar attention of the Editor at all times ; but the interest of the story was much heightened at that particular moment, by the circumstance of the recent embarkation of Major Peddie and his companions, to explore those very parts of Africa which this person was said to have visited : and the Editor en treated his friend to assist him, by all the means in his power, to find the seaman in question, in order to ascertain, whether he really had been where it was reported, and inthe hope that, either by his infor mation or his personal services, the man might be o X INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. rendered useful to the views of Government in the exploratory expedition then on its way to Africa. Through the intervention of the Gentleman who had originally recognised the seaman, he was again found, and immediately brought to the office ofthe African Committee.

The poor man, whose name was Robert Æams, was in very ill plight, both from hun ger and nakedness. Scarcely recovered from a fit of sickness, he had, in that condition, begged his way from Holyhead to London, for the purpose of obtaining, through the America* Consul, a passage to his native country ; and he had already passed seve ral nights in the open streets amongst many other distressed seamen, with whom the metropolis was at that period unfortunately crowded. No time was lost in questioning him respecting the length of his residence in Africa, the circumstances which led him thither, the places he had visited, and the means by which he had escaped. His answers disclosed so extraordinary a series of adventures and sufferings, as at first to excite a suspicion that his story was an invention ; and the gentlemen, by whom he was accompanied to the office, and who were pre sent at his first examination, were decidedly of that opinion, when they considered how widely his account of Tombuctoo differed from the notions generally entertained of the magnificence of that city, and of the civilization of its inhabitants.

The Edi tor, however, received from this short examination, and from the plain and unpretending answers which the man returned to every question, a strong impres sion in favour of his veracity. He accordingly took notes of the leading facts of his statement, particularly ofthe places he had visited, the distances according to his computations, and the direction in which his several journeys lay ; and having relieved his immediate necessities, and furnished him with a trifle for his future subsistence, he desired the man to attend him again in the course of a few days. It was nearly a week before Adams again made his appearance : but upon his return, being immediately interrogated upon all the leading points of his story, the Editor had the gratification to sind, upon com paring his answers with the account which he had given on his first examination, that they were in sub stance the same, and repeated almost in the same terms.

Thus strengthened in his previous opinion that the man's veracity was to be depended upon, the Editor resolved to take down in writing (the man himself being unable either to write or read) a full account of his travels and adventures, from the period of his departure from America in the ship " Charles," in which he was wrecked on the coast of Africa, until that of his return to Cadiz, from whence he had just arrived. With this intention, the Editor took measures to render Adams's situation more comfortable, by equip ping him with decent clothes, of which he stood peculiarly in need. He was also supplied with a trifle in money, as an earnest of the future recompense which was promised to him, provided he would attend regularly every day until the whole of his story should be taken down. It was not, however, with out considerable difficulty that the man could be persuaded to remain during the period thus required.

He was anxious to return to his friends, after so long and perilous an absence, and had been re commended, by the Consul of the United States, to join a transport of American seamen which was then on the point of sailing. His desire to be gone was increased by some rumours then in circulation, of a probable renewal of hostilities between Great Bri tain and the United States. But his objections were at length overcome on receiving an engagement. that even if war should break out, and he, by any accident, be impressed, his discharge, either by purchase or substitute, should be immediately effected. Upon this understanding, he consented to remain as long as his presence should be required. The Editor has been induced to enter into this de tail, for the satisfaction of those who might be disposed to believe that Adams had obtruded his story upon his hearers, for the purpose either of exciting their compassion, or of profiting by their credulity.

To obviate such a suspicion, it is sufficient to shew, with what difficulty he was induced to remain in the country to tell his story ; and to state, that he was never known to solicit relief from any of the numerous gentlemen by whom he was seen and examined. Previous, however, to Adams's agreement to stay, a Committee of the African Company having met, the Editor laid before them the notes he had taken of the heads of his story, expressing at the same time his firm belief that the man had really been at Tombuctoo ; and he had the satisfaction to find that the Members of the Committee concurred in his opinion of the credibility of the man's statements; in which belief they were afterwards confirmed by their personal examination of him. They strongly encouraged the Editor to proceed in the course which he had begun; and recommended him to omit no practicable means of securing the residence of Adams in this country, until all the information he could possibly give, had been obtained from him, — whether for the purpose of increasing our general knowledge of the interiour of Africa, or of obtaining information on particular points which might be useful to the expedition actually on foot.

After this arrangement was completed, Adams at tended the Editor for a few hours daily during the following fortnight or three weeks, for the purpose of answering his inquiries. During these examina tions upwards of fifty gentlemen saw and interrogat ed him at different times ; among whom there was not one who was not struck with the artlessness and good sense of Adams's replies, or who did not feel persuaded that he was relating simply the facts which he had seen, to the best of his recollection and be lief. The Narrative now presented to the publick, is the fruit of these interrogatories. It is proper to mention in this place, that all the information contained in the Narrative was drawn from Adams, not as a continuous and straight-forward story, but in answer to the detached, and often un connected, questions of the Editor, or of any gentle men who happened to be present at his examinations ; for he related scarcely any thing without his attention being directed to the subject by a special inquiry.

This explanation will be necessary, to ac count for the very large portion of his Narrative devoted to the description of Tombuctoo; for it might otherwise appear extraordinary to some of Adams's readers, that his details respecting a place which occurs so early in his adventures, and of which his recollection might be presumed to be less vivid, should be so much more minute than those respecting any other place which he has visit ed : but the fact is, that Tombuctoo being the point to which the curiosity and inquiries of all his examin ers were mainly directed, his answers on that subject were thus swelled to the prominence which they pos sess in the Narrative. It has already been stated, that the first inquiries of the Editor related to the places which Adams had visited, and the courses and distances of the journeys between them.

Having obtained these particulars, lie communicated them to a friend, who was desirous INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. of examining their pretensions to accuracy by tracing them upon a map of Africa, from the point where Adams appears to have been wrecked. The result of this test, as may be seen in the Map prefixed to the Narrative, at the same time that it afforded a most convincing corroboration of the truth of his story, proved that the man possessed an accuracy of observation and memory that was quite astonishing. Being questioned how he came to have so minute a recollection ofthe exact number of days occupied in his long journeys from place to place, he answer ed, that being obliged to travel almost naked under a burning sun, he always inquired, before setting out on a journey, how long it was expected to last.

In the progress of it he kept an exact account ; and when it was finished, he never failed to notice whe ther it had occupied a greater or lesser number of days than he had been taught to expect, or whether it had been completed exactly in the stated time. On asking him how he could venture to speak with confidence of the precise number of miles which he travelled on each day ; he replied, that he could easily recollect whether the camels on any particular journey, travelled well or ill; and knowing that when they are heavily laden and badly supplied with pro visions, they will not go more than from ten to fif teen miles a day; but that, on the other hand, when they are fresh and lightly laden, they will travel from eighteen to twenty-five miles a day, he had reckoned the length of his journeys accordingly.

When asked how he came to observe so minutely the directions in which he travelled ; he replied, that he always noticed in a morning whether the sun rose in his face, or not : and that his thoughts being for ever turned to the consideration of how he should escape, he never omitted to remark, and as much as possible to impress on his recollection, the course he was travelling, and had travelled, and to make in quiries on the subject. Being a sailor, he observed, he had the habit of noticing the course he was steer ing at sea; and therefore found no difficulty in doing so, when traversing the Deserts of Africa, which looked like the sea in a calm. Enough, it is hoped, has been said to satisfy the Reader that the Narrative is genuine. But the Edi tor, aware that it might be difficult to obtain credit for so extraordinary a story, was anxious, that Adams, before he left the country, should be seen and examined by every gentleman who might wish it, or whose opinions would be most conclusive with the publick.

Fortunately this wish was fully accomplished : for the story having come to the knowledge of Earl Ba thurst, the Right Honourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Major General Sir Willoughby Gordon, the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, John Barrow, Esq.* George Harrison, Esq. Henry Goulburn, Esq. M. P. and other members of the Government who interest themselves in African affairs, and they having expressed a desire to see Adams, he waited upon them in person, and the Narrative was at the same time transmitted to them for their perusal. It is un necessary to give stronger evidence of the general impression derived from this investigation than is af forded by the fact, that the Lords of the Treasury were pleased to order to the poor man a handsome gratuity for his equipment and passage home : and Sir Willoughby Gordon, in a Letter which the Edi- * In mentioning the names of Sir Joseph Banks and Mr. Barrow, the Editor ought not to conceal that Adams had the misfortune, at his first interviews with these gentlemen, and previous to the conclusive corroborations which his story has since received, to excite some doubts in their minds by his account of Tombuctoo, and by his mis takes on some subjects of natural history, (see Notes 15, 18, and 20.) but of the general truth of his Narrative they did not. even at that. early period, entertain any doubts.

INTRODUCTORY DETAILS. tor had subsequently the honour to receive from him, expressed his opinion in the following words : " the perusal of his Statement, and the personal examina tion of Adams, have entirely satisfied me of the truth of his deposition. If he should be proved an impos tor, he will be second only to Psalmanazar." Although the information thus obtained fromAdams did not, in strictness, answer the specifick object for which it was sought, that of assisting Major Fed die; yet as his extraordinary adventures, and his de tails of Tombuctoo, were too curious to be suppress ed, it was resolved, with a view to the gratification of the publick, and in some respects, in justice to Adams, that the Narrative should be printed for his sole benefit. It was accordingly about to be sent to the press in December last, unsupported by any external evidence beyond the considerations and opinions, contained in the preceding part of this Preface, which was written at that time.

And as no sufficient reason then existed for any longer opposing Adams's wish to revisit his home, he embarked on board a vessel bound to New York; leaving until his return, (which he promised should take place in the Spring,) a large balance of the bounty of the Lords of the Treasury, and the expected profits of his Book ; but before his departure he communicated to the Editor such particulars of his family as might lead to the verification of his, and their, identity, if his return to this country should be prevented by his death. At this conjuncture an opportunity unexpectedly presented itself, of putting Adams's veracity to a decisive test on many important details of his Narra tive ; and the intended publication was consequently suspended until the result of this investigation should be ascertained.

The circumstance which produced this fortunate delay, was notice of the arrival in England of Mr. Dupuis, the British Vice-Consul at Mogadore ; to whose interference Adams had ascribed his ransom; and to whom, consequently, the truth or falsehood of many of his statements must of necessity be known. No time was lost in obtaining an interview with this gentleman : and the satisfactory answers returned by him to the Editor's first inquiries, led to further trespasses on his kindness and his leisure ; which ter minated in his consenting, at the earnest solicitation of the Editor, to undertake the perusal ofthe entire Narrative, and to communicate in writing whatever observations, whether confirmatory or otherwise, might occur to him in the course of its examination. The general result of this scrutiny, so satisfacto ry to the previous believers of Adams, is contained in the following Letter from Mr. Dupuis, which is too interesting and important to admit of any abridgment.

" London, 31st January, 1816. " In compliance with your request, I have great pleasure in communicating to you all the particulars with which I am acquainted, respecting the Ameri can seaman who is supposed to have been at Tim buctoo ; of whom I have a distinct recollection. "In the latter end of the year 1810, [ was informed, at Mogadore, that the ship Charles, of New York, to which that seaman belonged, was wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa, near the latitude of Cape Blanco : and about three months after her loss, I was fortunate enough to ransom three of her crew; who informed me that their Captain was dead, that the rest of the crew were in slavery, and that two of them, in particular, had been carried away by the Arabs in an easterly direction across the De sert, and would probably never be heard of again.

Some time after this, I heard that the mate and one seaman were at Wed-Noon ; and I accordingly tried to effect their liberation; but after a considerable time spent in this endeavour, I could neither suc ceed in that object, nor in obtaining any information respecting the rest of the crew. At length, nearly two years after the wreck ofthe Charles, I accidentally heard that a Christian was at El Kabla, a remote Douar in the Desert, in a south-east direction from Mogadore; and subsequently I heard of the arrival of the same individual at Wed-Noon ; from whence, after a tedious negociation, I ultimately ob tained his release about a year afterwards. " The appearance, features and dress of this man upon his arrival at Mogadore, so perfectly resembled those of an Arab, or rather of a Shilluh, his head being shaved, and his beard scanty and black, that I had difficulty at first in believing him to be a Chris tian.

When I spoke to him in English he answered me in a mixture of Arabick and broken English, and sometimes in Arabick only. At this early period I could not help remarking, that his pronunciation of Arabick resembled that of a Negro, but concluded that it was occasioned by his intercourse with Ne gro slaves. " Like most other Christians after a long captivity and severe treatment among the Arabs, he appeared upon his first arrival exceedingly stupid and insensi ble; and he scarcely spoke to any one : but he soon began to show great thankfulness for his ransom, and willingly assisted in arranging and cultivating a small garden, and in other employments, which I gave him with a view of diverting his thoughts. About ten or twelve days afterwards his faculties seemed pretty well restored, and his reserve had in a great mea sure worn off; and about this period, having been informed by a person with whom he conversed, that he had visited the Negro country, I began to inquire of him the extent of his travels in the De sert; suppressing every appearance of peculiar cu riosity, or of expecting any ihing extraordinary from his answers.

He then related to me, with the greatest simplicity, the manner in which he had been wrecked, and afterwards carried away to the eastward, to Timbuctoo; the misfortunes and sufferings of the party which he accompanied, his return across the Desert, and his ultimate arrival at Wed-Noon. What he dwelt upon with most force and earnest ness during this recital, were the particulars of the brutal treatment which he experienced from the Arabs at El Kabla and Wed-Noon. He did not appear to attach any importance to the fact of his having been at Timbuctoo: and the only strong feeling which he expressed respecting it, was that of dread, with which some ofthe Negroes had inspired him, who, he said, were sorcerers, and possessed the power of destroying their enemies by witchcraft. " The probability of the events, the manner of his relating them, and the correspondence of his description of places with what information I possessed respecting them, led me to attach a considerable degree of credit to his Narrative.

After repeated examinations, in which I found him uniformly clear and consistent in his accounts, 1 sent for several respectable traders who had been at Timbuc too ; and these persons, after examining him respect ing the situation of that city and of other places, and respecting the objects which he had seen there, assured me that they had no doubt of his having been where he described. So strongly was my be- XX lief in the truth and accuracy of his recital now con firmed, that I wrote a detail of the circumstances to Mr. Simpson, Consul-General of the United States at Tangier : I made a chart, on which I traced his course ; and observed, that it extended eastward nearly to the supposed situation of Timbuctoo : I also took down in writing an account of his travels, which I regret that 1 left amongst my papers at Mo gadore ; and although in doing this I had occasion to make him repeat his story several times, I never found that he differed in any important particular from the tale he told at first.

"The Narrative which you have transmitted to me appears, after a minute examination, and to the best of my recollection, to be the same, in substance, as that which I received from him at Mogadore. The chain of events is uniformly the same ; but I think he entered more into detail on many points, in the relation which he gave to me. I do not enlarge upon this subject here, having pointed out in the Notes which I have made on the Narrative, the few passages, in which I found it differ materially from what I recollect of his statements at Mogadore. I have also mentioned such circumstances as corroborated any part of his statements ; and I have ad ded, according to your desire, such illustrations or in cidental information, as occurred to me in perusing the Narrative. " Being quite satisfied from your description of the person of the American seaman, and from the internal evidence of the Narrative, that ' Robert Adams' is the identical individual who was with me at Mogadore, I must not, however, omit to inform you, that the name by which he went in Africa was Benjamin Rose ; by which name also he was known to those of the crew of the Charles who were ransomed.

"I cannot say that I am much surprised at this circumstance, because I recollect that he once hint ed, during his residence at Mogadore, that ' Benja min Rose' was not his real name : and from the great apprehensions which he always discovered, lest he should fall in with, or be impressed by a British Man of War, as well as from the anxiety which he shewed on being sent to Tangier, so near to Gibraltar, I could not help suspecting that he might have some reasons of his own, connected with the British Naval service, for going under a feigned name. This conjecture was in some degree con firmed by an acknowledgment which he made, that he had once been on board a British Man of War, either on service, or detained as a prisoner. " There is another circumstance which he men tioned to me at Mogadore, which may possibly have led to this change of name.

He told me that he had quitted America to avoid a prosecution with which he was threatened for the consequences of an amour, which he was unwilling to make good by marriage. But on the whole, I am disposed to think that the former was the real cause; since he never express ed any reluctance to go to America, but always seemed to dread the idea of visiting Europe. I never doubted at Mogadore that he was an Ameri can, as he stated ; and on one occasion, he discover ed an involuntary exultation at the sight of the American flag, which seemed quite convincing. He told me that he was born up the river of New York, where his father lived when he quitted America ; and I learnt, either from himself or from some other of the Charles's crew, that his mother was a Mulat to, which circumstance his features and complex ion seemed to confirm.