AFRICAN EXPLORERS OF TEE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 65 
cordially welcomed that lie already saw himself in fancy 
arrived in the interior of Africa, when a troop of soldiers 
appeared, who led him to Benown, the camp of King 
Ali. 
“ Ali,” says Mungo Park, “ was sitting upon a black 
morocco cushion, clipping a few hairs on his upper lip— 
a female attendant holding a looking-glass before him. 
He was an old man of Arab race, with a long white 
beard, and he looked sullen and angry. He surveyed 
me with attention, and inquired of the Moors if I could 
speak Arabic. Being answered in the negative, he ap¬ 
peared surprised, and continued silent. The surround¬ 
ing attendants, and especially ladies, were much more 
inquisitive. They asked a thousand questions, inspected 
every part of my apparel, searched my pockets, and 
obliged me to unbutton my waistcoat to display the 
whiteness of my skin. They even counted my toes and 
fingers, as if they doubted whether I was in truth a 
human being.” 
An unprotected stranger, a Christian, and accounted 
a spy, Mungo Park was a victim to the insolence, 
ferocity, and fanaticism of the Moors. He was spared 
neither insults, outrages, nor blows. They attempted 
to make a barber of him, but his awkwardness in cutting 
the hairy face of the king’s son exempted him from this 
degrading occupation. During his captivity he collected 
many particulars regarding Timbuctoo, which is so 
difficult of access to Europeans, and was the bourne of 
all early African explorers. 
“ Houssa,” a scherif told him, “ is the largest town I 
have ever seen. Walet is larger than Timbuctoo, but as 
it is farther from the Niger, and its principal trade is in 
salt, few strangers are met there. From Benown to 
Walet is a distance of six days’ journey. No important 
town is passed between the two, and the traveller de¬ 
pends for sustenance upon the milk procurable from 
Arabs, whose flocks and herds graze about the wells and 
springs. The road leads for two days through a sandy 
desert, where not a drop of water is to be had.” 
It takes eleven days to go from Walet to Timbuctoo, 
F 
