Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846 | Page 7

own
reward. Something, however, may in time be expected from the French,
who will get restless in their Algerian limits, and make a bold effort to
disenthral themselves, by leaping the bounds of the mysterious Sahara.
Evidently the French Government have prohibited all isolated attempts.
But should their colony succeed, and they must make it succeed, then a
grand stroke of policy and action will be struck upon the lines of the
Saharan routes, for diverting The Desert trade, if possible, into Algerian
channels. We must wait patiently this time for further researches.
Necessity propels nations in the march of discovery. England has some
considerable stake likewise in the commerce of The Great Desert. But
our governmental affairs are so vast, and ramify over so large a space
of the world, that it is extremely difficult to get a Minister to strike out
a new path, unless he has the sympathies and hearty support of the
public with him. And certainly the last thing in the imagination of the
British public is the undertaking Discoveries in The Great Desert.
A remark may be made respecting the English spelling of Arabic words

and names. I have not adopted the new system, as very few people
understand it. I have endeavoured to represent the sounds of the
original words in the ordinary way, giving sometimes the Arabic letters
for those who prefer greater correctness. The spelling of Oriental and
African names is also occasionally varied for the sake of variety, and
sometimes I have written the words in various ways, according to the
style of pronunciation amongst different Saharan tribes. I have also
omitted accents and italics as much as possible, to avoid confusion and
trouble to the printer. With respect to the contents at the head of the
chapters, numberless little things and circumstances are besides
unavoidably omitted in the enumeration.
I have few acknowledgments to make to those who rendered me
assistance in the prosecution of my Saharan tour and researches. I have
rather complaints to prefer against professed friends. I was unable to
get up in The Desert a single thing, the most trifling, to aid me in my
observations, when I had determined to penetrate farther into the
interior; whilst, somehow or other, a Memorandum was obtained from
the Porte to recal me instead of a Firman to help me on my way.
Fortunately I was beyond its power when it arrived at Tripoli, from
Constantinople. But if I feel the bitterness of this want of sympathy,
and these acts of hostility, I have the pleasure of being triumphant over
all the obstacles thrown in my way. I felt freer in The Desert, unloaded
by obligations. Indeed, the fewer of these a traveller has, the better. He
always supports his trials and privations with lighter spirits and a more
cheerful heart. His success is his own, if his failure is his own also.
Nevertheless I have not forgotten, nor can I ever forget, to the latest day
of my life, the acts of kindness shown to me by the rude and
simple-minded people of The Desert, and I have duly and most
scrupulously chronicled them all.
JAMES RICHARDSON.
LONDON, December, 1847.
POSTSCRIPT.--It is hoped, for the honour and humanity of our
Government, that they will resist the clamour to withdraw the Cruisers
from the Western Coast of Africa, and that they will NOT

WITHDRAW the British Cruisers. If a blow is to be struck, let it be
struck at Cuba, or the Brazils, and not on the defenceless Africans,
because they are defenceless. If a burglar prowls about, a whole
neighbourhood is on the alert to protect itself against his depredations.
If a band of pirates swarm in a sea or infest our coasts, a fleet is fitted
out to capture them. But it is attempted to let loose upon weak,
defenceless Africa a legion of pirates and murderers--for such will be
the result if the British Cruisers are withdrawn from the Western Coast.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See the newspapers for the correspondence between some of the
Bishops of our Church and the Premier. As the question is, Whether Dr.
Hampden be a Heretic or a Christian? I may here observe that the term
"Christian" is used in the following pages for "European." To the
epithet "Christian," in the strict sense of the term, I have no other
pretensions than that of being a conscientious reader of the New
Testament.
[2] "Une et indivisible."
[3] Lord Brougham, in his Life of Pitt, very properly takes off some
discount from the Anti-Slavery zeal of this great Statesman, for being
so tardy in the work of Abolition, and allowing his Under Secretaries
and subordinate Ministers to support the Slave-Trade against himself,
and whilst he was advocating its extinction.
[4] "It is impossible to