Chap. LXXXV. CONCLUSION. 
453 
tremely limited ; and it was only in consequence of 
the success which accompanied our proceedings, that 
a wider extent was given to the range and objects of 
the expedition*; and after its original leader had 
succumbed in his arduous task, instead of giving 
way to despair, I had continued in my career amid 
great embarrassment, carrying on the exploration 
of extensive regions almost without any means. 
And when the leadership of the mission, in conse- 
quence of the confidence of Her Majesty's govern- 
ment, was intrusted to me, and I had been deprived 
of the only European companion who remained 
with me, I resolved upon undertaking, with a very 
limited supply of means, a journey to the far west, in 
order to endeavour to reach Timbuktu, and to explore 
that part of the Niger which, through the untimely 
fate of Mungo Park, had remained unknown to the 
scientific world. In this enterprise I succeeded to 
ray utmost expectation, and not only made known 
the whole of that vast region, which even to the Arab 
merchants in general had remained more unknown 
than any other part of Africaf , but I succeeded also 
* This greater success was especially due to the journey which 
I undertook to the Sultan of A^gades, thus restoring confidence in 
our little band which had been entirely shaken by great reverses. 
t " It appears singular that the country immediately to the east- 
ward of Timbuctoo, as far as Kashna, should be more imperfectly 
known to the Moorish traders, than the rest of Central Africa." 
— Quarterly Review, May, 1820, p. 234. Compare what Clap- 
perton says about the dangers of the road from Sokoto to Tim- 
buktu. Sec. Exped., p. 235. 
G G 3 
