I Knew That I Was Able To Bear Fatigue, And I Relied
On My Youth And The Strength Of My Constitution To Preserve Me From
The Effects Of The Climate.
The salary which the committee allowed
was sufficiently large, and I made no stipulation for future reward.
If I
Should perish in my journey, I was willing that my hopes and
expectations should perish with me; and if I should succeed in
rendering the geography of Africa more familiar to my countrymen,
and in opening to their ambition and industry new sources of wealth
and new channels of commerce, I knew that I was in the hands of men
of honour, who would not fail to bestow that remuneration which my
successful services should appear to them to merit. The committee
of the Association having made such inquiries as they thought
necessary, declared themselves satisfied with the qualifications
that I possessed, and accepted me for the service; and, with that
liberality which on all occasions distinguishes their conduct, gave
me every encouragement which it was in their power to grant, or
which I could with propriety ask.
It was at first proposed that I should accompany Mr. James Willis,
who was then recently appointed consul at Senegambia, and whose
countenance in that capacity, it was thought, might have served and
protected me; but Government afterwards rescinded his appointment,
and I lost that advantage. The kindness of the committee, however,
supplied all that was necessary. Being favoured by the secretary of
the Association, the late Henry Beaufoy, Esq., with a recommendation
to Dr. John Laidley (a gentleman who had resided many years at an
English factory on the banks of the Gambia), and furnished with a
letter of credit on him for 200 pounds, I took my passage in the
brig Endeavour - a small vessel trading to the Gambia for beeswax and
ivory, commanded by Captain Richard Wyatt - and I became impatient
for my departure.
My instructions were very plain and concise. I was directed, on my
arrival in Africa, "to pass on to the river Niger, either by way of
Bambouk, or by such other route as should be found most convenient.
That I should ascertain the course, and, if possible, the rise and
termination of that river. That I should use my utmost exertions to
visit the principal towns or cities in its neighbourhood,
particularly Timbuctoo and Houssa; and that I should be afterwards
at liberty to return to Europe, either by the way of the Gambia, or
by such other route as, under all the then existing circumstances of
my situation and prospects, should appear to me to be most
advisable."
We sailed from Portsmouth on the 22nd day of May, 1795. On the 4th
of June we saw the mountains over Mogadore, on the coast of Africa;
and on the 21st of the same month, after a pleasant voyage of thirty
days, we anchored at Jillifrey, a town on the northern bank of the
river Gambia, opposite to James's Island, where the English had
formerly a small fort.
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