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CHAPTER I. 
Geography, 
The impression of the Natives that we came " to spy the coun- 
try" was sedulously strengthened by the Moors, who were actuated 
by alarm, jealousy, and a spirit of intolerance unmitigated by a 
previous intercourse with Europeans. I felt compelled, therefore, 
to suppress all curiosity for a considerable time, lest the anxiety to 
detect us in geographical enquiries, to make their calumny more 
imposing, might have been gratified. Latterly, when better feel- 
ings had been induced through patience and candour, as the 
Moorish charts and MSS. evidence, the inaptitude rather than the 
reluctance of the natives, made the shortness of our stay unaccom- 
modating. I shall pass over a mass of memoranda recorded on 
individual report, and only select such, wherein Moors and natives, 
unknown to each other, have agreed ; describing their travels in 
their own way, without my questions anticipating or directing 
them. These routes and observations were further confirmed by 
the evidence of children, recently arrived as slaves from the 
various countries, whose artless replies decided my credence. It 
may be remarked, that the children of the African Negroes, early 
accustomed to travel with their parents for their convenience or 
their assistance, and unoccupied by the difficulties of incipient 
education, observe nature more attentively than European children 
of the same age would ; for they have nothing else to think of, or 
