XX 11 INTRODUCTION.

“ As to the book which is in our hand, it is true, and we did not give it

to your messenger; but we will deliver it to you, if you come and show us a

letter from your lord. You shall then see it and have it, if God be pleased. And much esteem and Salam be to you, and prayer and peace unto the last

of the apostles.”— (Mohammed.)

No. 5.

The following is a letter from Clapperton to some prince or grandee,

whose name is blotted out of the copy book, complaining of the above re-

fusal of the Lord of Yaoury.

Translation. — “ Hence, my lord, I have written to the Lord of Boossy

about the Christian book, whose owner was destroyed by the inhabitants

;

but when I heard that it was in the hands of the Lord of Yaoury, I wrote to

him to give it to me, and he has refused. I have therefore written to you.”

It cannot be doubted for a moment, that volunteers enough will be found

ready to proceed on an enterprise of so much interest; and for an object, the

recovery of which is not only due to the reputation of the lamented traveller, but

to the nation to which he belonged, and to the government under whose auspices

he undertook to make discoveries in Africa. If Clapperton’s servant could find

his way, alone and unprotected, through three times the distance it would be

necessary to travel for the object in question, how much more likely would a

duly accredited agent, bearing some trifling presents, and a letter from the

King of England, be certain of making good his way, without difficulty, in

the same track which has so recently been trodden, without molestation, by

Christians and white men. A few presents, and but a few, and of trifling

value, would only be necessary to secure the protection and assistance of the

native chieftains on the road.

It is much to be regretted that Clapperton himself did not personally

wait upon the Sultan of Yaoury, whose residence is not more than twenty-five

or thirty miles northward of Boossy, and who appears to have been most

anxious to see the Christian traveller, and pay him every possible attention. He sent messengers with presents, and boats to convey him up the river to

Yaoury. Clapperton, however, had, no doubt, sufficient reasons for not visiting

that chieftain at this time: it might be on account of the delay it would oc-

casion at a time he was most anxious to get to Kano, to avoid the rains ; or,