Race for Timbuktu: In Search of Africa's City of Gold

by Frank T. Kryza

  IN THE NEAR CENTURY that has elapsed since Bonnel de Mézières conducted his investigations, no trace of Laing’s journals has ever been found.

  *Another term for a dollar. Spanish dollars, or “pieces of eight,” were also known interchangeably in documents of this period as pesos, duros, duros fuertes, thalers, dollars, and piastres, and served as a kind of universal currency.

  *Three months short of his thirty-second birthday.

  *It is astonishing that Bathurst did not insist that Laing and Clapperton send copies of their journals, or the documents themselves, back to London at periodic intervals to avert precisely this catastrophe.

  *Alexandre Timoléon Rousseau died at Tripoli of a broken heart (more literally, “died of an unrequited [or foolish] love”).

  NOTES

  IN HIS SHORT LIFETIME Alexander Gordon Laing published only one book, Travels in the Timanee, in 1825, about his earliest effort to locate the Niger. Tragically, Laing’s principal journals documenting the Timbuktu Mission—hundreds of manuscript pages in his trademark bound notebooks—disappeared in 1826, and Laing himself did not survive to tell his story.

  The last of Laing’s letters to survive is dated September 21, 1826, three days before he died. Though some of Laing’s dispatches certainly failed to reach their destinations, lost in transit, enough survive to make possible the telling of his entire story, not just in broad outline but in day-by-day detail. These materials have been available for years, catalogued by the great amateur Africanist E. W. Bovill in the late 1950s and early 1960s for the Hakluyt Society. Bovill reprinted all the important ones in 1964.*

  The materials I used to tell Laing’s story consist principally of the autograph letters of Alexander Gordon Laing, official and private, and the responses they generated from his correspondents in London and Tripoli. These primary materials are archived in two of the great British repositories of historical documents: the Public Record Office at Kew, Richmond, Surrey; and the archives of the Royal Society in London.

  Supplementing his private letters, Laing also sent back official reports to the Colonial Office. Some of this correspondence was later catalogued by the Foreign Office, but the great bulk of the files relating to the Timbuktu Mission were eventually recombined in the Public Record Office at Kew, where they can be found today. Though each collection is arranged by date, the complete chronology shifts from file to file—most of the letters Laing addressed to Warrington, for example, are separately catalogued from those to Bathurst. We know that Laing also wrote a number of letters to his family in Scotland, but I was able to find only one of them.

  Laing was an avid drafter of memoranda. These were often no more than brief notes on scraps of paper, but sometimes they were long and careful studies to which he gave titles, such as his Cursory Remarks on the Course and Termination of the Great River Niger and his Notes on Ghadames, both of which were catalogued by Bovill and are reprinted in the Hakluyt Society collection of Laing materials.

  Finally, two portions of excerpts from Laing’s journal did survive. The first carries the story of the expedition as far as Ghadames. The second covers his journey up to his departure from In Salah. Both of these documents appear to be summaries of a more detailed private journal and to have been prepared and dispatched to London as a formal report to the Colonial Office on the progress of the mission. Laing had ample leisure in Ghadames and In Salah to “catch up” and issue such reports, above and beyond his private letters, which he often wrote daily. He probably edited and transcribed his primary journal at each of these desert oases, and sent redacted transcripts back to Warrington. If only he had followed this practice at later stops!

  The Park, Hornemann, Lyon, Denham, Clapperton, Oudney, and Lander expeditions do not present the challenges of Laing’s. Except for Park’s second trip down the Niger, these journeys were well documented, often in independent narrations by more than one of the participants. Not so with Laing. Of course, Clapperton, too, died in Africa, as did Ritchie, Oudney, and Lander, but unlike poor Laing, these men were accompanied by faithful collaborators who carefully preserved their journals and notes. Laing traveled alone.

  I AM NO SCHOLAR, and this is not a scholarly book.

  To appeal to the general reader, I resisted burdening the text with citations. Beyond Laing’s own writings, which formed the core of my research, I consulted other texts found in the bibliography relying especially on the primary materials of Lyon, Oudney* Denham, Clapperton, Lander, Caillié, and Bonnel de Mézières, supplemented by the formidable commentary and analysis of Bovill and Hallett, two of the greatest twentieth-century historians of Africa.*

  Preceding the bibliography are notes for each chapter, pointing to sources for quotations and other materials. Unless otherwise indicated, when I have provided English translations of French source material, the translations are mine.

  LAING’S ITINERARY IN HIS LAST TWO YEARS:

  1825

  May 3 Depart Malta

  May 9 Arrive Tripoli

  July 7 Depart Tripoli

  September 13 Arrive Ghadames

  November 3 Depart Ghadames

  December 2 Arrive In Salah

  1826

  January 9 Depart In Salah

  January 26 Enter Tanezrouft Desert

  Early February Recuperation at Wadi Ahnet

  August 13 Arrive Timbuktu

  September 22 Depart Timbuktu

  September 24 Death (at Sahab)

  In the notes below, complete citations for books referenced only by the author’s last name will be found in the bibliography. The acronym PRO refers to the Public Record Office of the British National Archives; FO the Foreign Office; CO the Colonial Office; RS the Royal Society; and Proceedings to the Proceedings of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa. The numbered citations following letters are their catalogue numbers, sometimes including the document number when I thought that important.

  ONE / A SCOTSMAN AT TRIPOLI

  Supplementing Laing’s many letters from the city in the two months he stayed there, Miss Tully’s Letters written during a ten years’ residence at the Court of Tripoli, published in 1816, less than a decade before Laing’s arrival, helped me set the scene in terms of geography, mood, and magical sense of the place. Miss Tully also provides detailed information about street names and the construction of the British consular buildings. Warrington’s voluminous correspondence was also helpful, as were Ward and Furlong. Laing’s first impressions of the city, including all direct quotations in this chapter and Chapter 3 (except those from correspondence), are taken from that portion of his journal which survived (PRO, CO 2/15, 188), a transcript of which he sent back to London from Ghadames. The day after Laing landed at Tripoli, Warrington wrote to Wilmot Horton (May 10, 1825) describing Laing’s arrival (PRO, FO 76/19, 1191). Laing himself wrote several letters to Bathurst assessing the situation prior to departure, including a long letter (May 24, 1825) in which he describes his arrival (PRO, CO 2/15, 1455). On the same day, Laing wrote to his friend James Bandinel sketching the city and telling of his excitement at the prospect of his expedition (RS, 374[La] 78). The organization of Lord Bathurst’s ministry and the complex reporting relationships of Robert Wilmot Horton, Robert William Hay, and Henry Goulbourn, all of whom also had reporting relationships with Warrington and Laing and corresponded frequently with them, are outlined in Young. Furlong helped me to see Tripoli as the vastly more important nineteenth-century diplomatic and geographic center it once was, as did Fisher.

  TWO / THE AFRICAN ASSOCIATION

  The founder of the African Association, Sir Joseph Banks, best remembered as the author of A Journal of a Voyage Round the World in His Majesty’s Ship Endeavour (which has become, in effect, Captain James Cook’s biography), was an obsessive keeper of records and notes, and the history of the African Association is thus a detailed one. The primary source for this chapter (and much of Chapter 4) is the Proceedings itself, along with Hal
lett (Records), which carries the story forward to 1831, with help from O’Brian. John Ledyard’s association with our third president is recounted in Jefferson. Dearden provides the most detailed history of the Karamanli dynasty. Park is his own best biographer, with much additional helpful material in Lupton, especially as regards the fatal second expedition, during which Park’s journals were stolen or lost. In terms of a broad understanding of the overarching British policy that dates from this period to the late nineteenth century, Hallett (Africa) has no peer.

  THREE / A WEDDING IN THE ENGLISH GARDEN

  Dearden provides a crisp biography of Warrington, as does Warrington himself, in a letter to Lord Bathurst dated March 14, 1826 (PRO, FO 76/20, 1255). The layout of the English Garden and Warrington’s additions to consular properties (and details of their costs) are spelled out in a letter to Lord Bathurst dated February 7, 1820 (PRO, FO 76/14). Laing’s adoring comments about Emma are recorded in a letter to James Bandinel dated June 7, 1825 (RS, 374[La] 81). Laing kept Lord Bathurst apprised of his preparations for departure from Tripoli in a series of painstakingly detailed letters, including one dated May 14, 1825 (PRO, CO 2/15, 1455). Warrington’s frustration with the temporizing of the bashaw is also recounted in the previously cited letter to Wilmot Horton (PRO, FO 76/19, 1191). Laing complains to Bathurst of the douceur required by the bashaw in a letter dated from his camp “Tripoli in the West, May 24th, 1825” (PRO, CO 2/25, 1455). The complex interior geography of the Castle and all the exotic denizens therein is wonderfully laid out in Dearden. Warrington’s bizarre and unctuous account of Laing’s wedding to his daughter Emma, quoted in full in this chapter, is addressed to Lord Bathurst, July 14, 1825 (PRO, FO 76/19, 1725). My two biggest disappointments in writing this book were my inability to locate drawings or likenesses either of Hanmer Warrington or of his daughter Emma.

  FOUR / WHITE MAN’S GRAVE

  The early history of the exploration by Europeans of the Congo River basin is treated at length in Forbath and Anstey, and Tuckey provides his own riveting firsthand account.* The challenges and mysteries of Dr. Mungo Park’s second (and fatal) expedition are detailed in Lupton, Hallett (Records), O’Brian, and de Gramont, from which I have pieced together this much shorter account. The abbreviated story of Hornemann’s expedition is taken from Bovill (Missions 1), which contains the complete journal.

  FIVE/ THE “AFRICAN TRAVELER”

  The organization of nineteenth-century desert caravans has been described by many contemporary and modern authors, most compellingly and brilliantly by Maugham in his short but spellbinding first-person account. I have never been able to hear the words “Nemchou Y’Allah!” (Depart, by the grace of God!), without thinking of the Spanish “Vaya con Dios!” which is its practical equivalent. I consulted Fisher, Maugham, Moorhouse, and Bovill (Golden Trade), to flesh out Laing’s own notes, which are sometimes short on things like housekeeping and logistics. The story of Laing’s early life is adapted mainly from Bovill (Missions 1), with the help of Graham in grasping the grimmer qualities of life in the Scotland of Laing’s childhood. Laing’s letter of reprimand from Captain Ross is in the archives of the Royal Society (RS, 374[La] 64). Laing’s effort at self-promotion is a two-page attachment to a letter to Lord Bathurst dated January 12, 1825 (PRO, CO 2/15, 209). General Turner’s brutal censure of Laing is in a letter to Bathurst dated April 9, 1825 (also PRO, CO 2/15). The episode of Laing’s fall from grace with his regimental commanders is nicely detailed in Bovill (Missions 1). The story of Earl Bathurst’s early years, and his relationship with Goulbourn and others at the Colonial Office, is adapted from Young and from Bathurst’s short entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Competing theories about the courses of the Niger and the Congo abounded in early nineteenth-century England. Anstey, Boahen, Curtin, Forbath, Hallett (Africa), Hatch, and Lloyd were helpful to me in articulating the British strategy for exploration and, later, colonization of Africa.

  SIX / THE TRIPOLI ROUTE

  The evolution of the strategy of the conquest of Central Africa via Tripoli is detailed in Smyth and in Bovill (Missions 1), and in the engaging biography of Barrow by Lloyd. Tripoli’s importance in the early nineteenth century is documented in Ward, Furlong, Fisher, and Curtin. The story of the Cologhis in Tripoli, and of the Karamanli dynasty’s origins and bloody rise to power, is told in Dearden, Fisher, and Clissold. Short biographical sketches of the consul are found in Dearden and Bovill (Missions 1). The broad overview of British policy presented in this chapter owes much to the always deeply insightful analysis of Hallett (Africa and Penetration). The story of Ritchie is told in Lyon, who accompanied him, and whose personal account of their harrowing expedition I found riveting. The physical characteristics, climate, and conditions of the Sahara are helpfully explored in Goudie, Gautier, and de Villiers.

  SEVEN / HUGH CLAPPERTON

  Though one could argue about who was the better explorer, there is no question that Hugh Clapperton’s life and his two expeditions in Africa are much better documented in the literature of African exploration than those of Laing. The primary source for this chapter, and the three chapters that follow, is Denham (cowritten by Clapperton and Oudney), along with the account of his second expedition in Clapperton, and the account also in Lander, the devoted assistant who became his best friend. Also essential were Bovill (Missions 4), Bovill (Missions 2), and Bovill (Missions 3), all of which are devoted to the Oudney-Denham-Clapperton expedition to Bornu.

  EIGHT / THE JOURNEY TO BORNU

  Denham’s splenetic outburst to Lord Bathurst is dated August 26, 1822 (PRO, CO 2/13). Robert Wilmot’s* stern reply is dated September 9, 1822 (PRO, FO 8/8). Dr. Oudney’s difficult position is outlined in a long letter to Wilmot dated September 17, 1822 (PRO, CO 2/13), and in many shorter complaints to Warrington. Most of the important events of this chapter are detailed in Bovill (Missions 2), who quotes verbatim the most important letters. The itinerary of the expedition, and some of the day-to-day events recounted, is from Denham.

  NINE / UNDISCOVERED EMPIRES

  Denham is the main source, along with correspondence, for the expedition’s first weeks in Kukawa and the exploration of Lake Chad. His account of his partial circumnavigation of the great inland sea counts among his best writing. The contretemps concerning Denham’s allegations of Clapperton’s homosexuality begins with Oudney’s July 14, 1823, letter to Warrington (PRO, FO 76/17) and is further detailed in Bovill (Missions 3), which contains transcripts of most of the relevant letters. Warrington’s long letter to Wilmot Horton about the whole sordid episode is dated November 4, 1823 (PRO, FO 76/17). Denham is the only source for his (probably much exaggerated) participation in the slaving expedition with the warrior Barca Gana. In addition to the account of it in his book, he wrote about it in a 3,500-word letter to Warrington dated May 15, 1823 (also PRO, FO 76/17). Dr. Oudney’s last letter before his death is dated December 10, 1823, and addressed to Robert Wilmot Horton (PRO, FO 76/18). Clapperton’s moving account of Dr. Oudney’s passing is in Denham.

  TEN / THE RACE BEGINS

  Clapperton’s literary contributions in Denham, preserved by Barrow, provides the basis for my account of his trip to Kano and his long stay there, along with Bovill (Missions 2) and Bovill (Missions 3). Toole’s appointment is detailed in a memorandum by Barrow written in September or October 1823 (PRO, CO 2/14). Further instructions to the expedition were transmitted to Oudney by Horton in a letter from Downing Street dated October 9, 1823 (PRO, FO 8/8). Bathurst’s revised instructions to Denham, once Denham had apprised him of his arrival at El Kanemi’s court, are contained in a letter dated October 9, 1823 (also PRO, FO 8/8). Denham related the Toole story to Warrington in a letter dated January 20, 1824 (PRO, FO 76/18). Tyrwhitt’s suicidal decision to remain at Kukawa is related in a letter to Horton dated August 17, 1824 (PRO, CO 2/13).

  ELEVEN / OVER THE RIM OF THE WORLD

  Laing’s icy acknowledgment of his receipt of Clapperton’s letter of advice is recorded in
a letter to Wilmot Horton dated August 3, 1825 (PRO, CO 2/15, 1986). Laing’s early optimism, and his initial satisfaction with the conduct of Babani, is recorded in two letters to Warrington, both written on the same day: August 3, 1825 (PRO, CO 2/20, 144, 145), the second one ending with his hilariously disparaging remarks about Clapperton’s advice. Laing had written about Jack le Bore, his Caribbean-born servant, years earlier in Laing. He thought well enough of him to take him back to London after the Ashanti campaign, and with him to Tripoli and Timbuktu. Laing complains that Clapperton will “snatch the cup from my lips” in a letter to Bandinel dated August 3, 1825 (RS, 374[La] 91). The crossing to Ghadames is detailed in Laing’s journal (PRO, CO 2/15, 188). I gained some personal sense of the vastness and moonlike sterility of the Hamada el Homra when I flew over it myself in 1966, and crossed portions of the Sahara in Mauritania, Mali, and Niger by air and by Land Rover in 1977, 1989, and 1993. It is still hard for me to imagine anyone crossing the Tanezrouft on foot.

  TWELVE / CLAPPERTON CATCHES UP