the ir artful designs; as to their information, it is not to be d e pended o n ; they w ill say every thing to mislead, an instance ol which w ill be presently mentioned in the case o f M r. Parke. In another place Mr. Horneman says, “ In respect to my astronomical instruments, I shall take special care never to be discovered in the act o f observation; should these instruments, however, attract notice, the answer is ready, they are articles o f sale, nor is there fear I should be deprived o f them whilst master o f m y price.” Nothing can evince greater ignorance o f the people than this ; indeed I am surprised Mr, Horneman could entertain such an idea. T h e mode o f travelling in A fr ic a w ill prevent the possibility o f his a va ilin g himself o f these precautions; there is no catilah, or caravan o f itinerant merchants and traders in that country, which does not contain some person who has eith er been to sea,, or has seen nautical instruments, and knows their use. That the y are articles for sale would indeed sound v e ry well for a person going through Europe, but there are no purchasers for such things in A f r ic a ; besides, no people under heaven are more jealous, or suspicious o f eve ry thing which they do not comprehend, than the Africans. T he description o f them b y Sallust holds at this d a y , and is perhaps a better drawn character o f the modern A fr ican (although it alludes to their ancestors) than any description which has hitherto been given o f this extraordinary people. These ignorant, barbarous savages, as we ca ll them, are much more sagacious, and possess much better intellects, ¡than we have y e t been aware of. T h e error above alluded to, into which Mr. Parke was led b y a Shereef, was in regard to the distance from Marocco through Sueerah, or Mogodor, to Wedinoon, w hich he makes twenty da ys,* when it is in reality but ten, as I have repeatedly tra ve lled the distan ce ; v iz . Marocco to Sueerah, or Mogodor, . th re e d a y s ; to Agadeer, or Santa Cruz, th re e ; to Wedinoon • four. There is also another error in the same gentleman’s book, which it is proper to notice; he says, Sakeel signifies the north country s nothing but an ignorance o f A rab ic could have - thus misled h im ; Saheel in that language signifying nothing more than an extensive plain ; thus the extensive plains southeast o f the riv e r Suse are called S a h e e l; the low country near E l Wa lad ia is called Saheel ; and i f an Arab were to pass o ve r .Salisbury Plain, he would term it Saheel. In.these few notices respecting the travels o f two o f the hitherto most successful Emissaries o f the African Association, I have no other object in v iew than to point out errors which may mislead those who follow them, and I therefore hope, that they w ill be favourab ly received b y that respectable body, and b y the authors themselves, should the y h a p p ily return to this country. I had * See Parke’s Travels, 4lo. edit* page 141»
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