2 
ARRIVAL IN AFRICA. 
truth of the descriptions of the Arabian writer ; and far from 
apprehending- that I should find uninhabitable deserts, or fero- 
cious people, I hoped to meet with civilized nations, the relics 
of Egyptian or Carthaginian colonies. 
The tardiness of the English in restoring to us our esta- 
blishment at Senegal, proved an obstacle to the execution of 
my projects, which, nevertheless, I kept stedfastly in view; 
and the appointment which I held did not prevent me from 
seizing every opportunity of collecting information concern- 
ing the interior of the country, and the means of penetrating 
thither. Some excursions in the environs of the peninsula 
of Cape Verd, where we were encamped, led me to hope that 
I should meet with hospitality among the negroes : at length 
I was confirmed in my design by a journey to Podor in 1817. 
which made me acquainted with the manners of the Moors, 
who have frequent intercourse with the Blacks, and especially 
with the Jolofs, a people incessantly exposed to their incur- 
sions . 
I had already crossed a small part of the Sahara, after 
escaping from shipwreck ; but wholly engaged, as well as my 
numerous companions in misfortune, with the arrangements 
requisite for our common safety, and for arriving as speedily 
as possible on the banks of the Senegal, I could not pay much 
attention to the manners of that singular race of men who 
inhabit the Desert, and are known to us by the name of Moors. 
In 1817, I went up the Senegal as far as the stations or marts 
