until all the information he could possibly give, had been
obtained from him,—whether for the purpose of increasing
our general knowledge of the interior of Africa, or of
obtaining information on particular points which might be
useful to the expedition actually on foot.
After this arrangement was completed, Adams attended
the Editor for a few hours daily during the following fortnight
or three weeks, for the purpose of answering his
inquiries. During these examinations upwards of fifty
gentlemen saw and interrogated him at different times;
among whom there was not one who was not struck with
the artlessness and good seijse of Adams's replies, or who
did not feel persuaded that he was relating simply the
facts which he had seen, to the best of his recollection and
belief.
The Narrative now presented to the public is the fruit of
these interrogatories.
It is proper to mention in this place, that all the information
contained in the Narrative was drawn from Adams,
not as a continuous and strait-forward story, but in answer
to the detached, and often unconnected, questions of the
Editor, or of any gentlemen who happened to be present at
his examinations; for he related scarcely any thing without
his attention being directed to the subject by a special
inquiry. This explanation will be necessary, to account for
the very large portion of his Narrative devoted to the
description of Tombuctoo; for it might otherwise appear
extraordinary to some of Adams's readers, that his details
respecting a place which occurs so early in his adventures,
and of which his recollection might be presumed to be
less vivid, should be so much more minute than those
respecting any other place whieh he has visited: but the
fact is, that Tombuctoo being the point to which the curiosity
and inquiries of all his examiners were mainly directed,
his answers on that subject were thus swelled to the prominence
which they possess in the Narrative.
It has already been stated, that the first inquiries of the
Editor related to the places which Adams had visited, and
the courses and distances of the journeys between them.
Having obtained these particulars, he communicated them
to a friend, who was desirous of examining their pretensions
to accuracy by tracing them upon a map of Africa, from
the point where Adams appears to have been wrecked.
The result of this test, as may be seen in the Map prefixed
to the Narrative, at the same time that it afforded a most
convincing corroboration of the truth of his story, proved
that the man possessed an accuracy of observation and
memory that was quite astonishing.