INTRODUCTION. 
Having cherished from my earliest infancy a strong 
desire to become a traveller, I have always seized with 
avidity any occasion that could facilitate the means of 
acquiring knowledge; but, notwithstanding all my efforts 
to supply the want of a good education, 1 have not been able 
to procure more than a scanty store of information. My 
thorough conviction of the inadequacy of my means fre- 
quently grieved me, when thinking of all that I needed for 
the performance of the task which I had imposed on myself ; 
but still, while reflecting on the dangers and difficulties of 
such an enterprise, I hoped that the notes and observations 
which 1 should bring back from my travels would be received 
with interest by the public. 1 did not, therefore, relinquish 
for a moment the hope of exploring some unknown portion 
of Africa ; and in the sequel the city of Timbuctoo became 
the continual object of all my thoughts, the aim of all my 
efforts, and I formed a resolution to reach it or perish. Now 
that I have had the happiness to accomplish this design, the 
yublic will perhaps grant some indulgence to the narrative 
of an unpresuming traveller, who relates simply what he has 
seen, the events which have befallen him, and the facts whicli 
he has witnessed. 
VOL. J. B 
