This City He Rather
Vaguely And Inconsistently Described As Equalling London And Cairo In
Extent And Population.
As it was necessary to scrutinize the truth and
consistency of his narrative, what he related was at first
Received with
caution and doubt, but an incidental circumstance seemed to prove him
worthy of credit; for in describing the manner in which pottery was
manufactured at Housa, which he did by imitating the actions of those who
made it, it was remarked that he actually described the ancient Grecian
wheel.
In order to learn whether the accounts of this man were true and accurate,
the African Institution sent out Major Houghton: he was instructed to
ascertain the course, and, if possible, the rise and termination of the
Niger; to visit Tombuctoo and Housa, and to return by the Desert.
Accordingly he sailed up the Gambia to Pisania, and thence he proceeded to
Medina, the capital of the Mandingo kingdom. His course from this city was
north-east, which led him beyond the limit of European discovery, to the
uninhabited frontier which separates Bondou and Mandingo. After some time
spent in endeavouring to ingratiate himself with the king of the latter
country, but in vain, he resolved to proceed into Bambouk. On arriving at
Firbanna, the capital, he was hospitably treated by the king. Here be
formed a plan to go with a merchant to Tombuctoo; but on his way he was
robbed, and either perished of hunger, or was murdered: the exact
particulars are not known.
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