HOUGHTON. 
341 
pHments to Dr Laidley, is in good health, on 
his way to Tombuctoo, robbed of all his goods 
by Fenda Bucar's son." At Jarra, for a mus- 
ket and some tobacco, he engaged certain Moor- 
ish merchants, who were going to purchase salt 
in the desert, to convey him to Tisheet, which 
lies near the salt-pits, ten days journey to the 
north of Jarra. Whether he had been deceived 
concerning his route, or insidiously decoyed into 
the desert, it is impossible to determine ; but, at 
the end of two days, suspecting the perfidy of his 
companions, he resolved to return to Jarra, and, 
upon refusing to advance, was deserted and plun- 
dered by the Moors. Major Houghton returned 
on foot through the desert, solitary, ^nd perishing 
with hunger. He had wanted food for some days 
when he reached Jarra, a watering-place belong- 
ing to the Moors, where he was either murdered 
or suffered to perish, as the Moors refused to sup- 
ply him with meat. His body was dragged into 
the wilderness, and left to waste under a tree, in 
a spot which was pointed out to Mr Park at Jarra. 
The traders on the Gambia reported that he had 
been murdered at the instigation of the king of 
Bambara ; but this w^as afterwards contradicted, 
and he was asserted to have died of a dysentery. 
Dr Laidley attempted to recover his books or pa- 
pers, by offering rewards to the native traders, 
but without success. Thus was the Association 
