On attentively studying the materials before me, however, I perceived
that Mr. Richardson had written in most places with a view to
publication; and that, had he lived, he would soon have brought what, on
a cursory examination, appeared a mere chaotic mass, into a shape that
would have accorded with his own idea of a book of travels. Such being
the case, I thought it best--in order to leave the stamp of authenticity
on this singular record of enterprise--to do little more than the author
would himself have done. In the form of a diary, therefore--written
sometimes with Oriental _naivete_--the reader will here find what may be
called the domestic history of one of the most successful expeditions
undertaken for the exploration of Central Africa. I believe it would
have been possible to get up a work of more temporary interest from the
same materials; but this could only have been done by sacrificing
truthfulness of detail. In the present form, Mr. Richardson's journal
will always remain as an authority on the geography and present
condition of a large portion of the Saharan desert, hitherto unvisited,
at any rate undescribed.
As will be seen, the Mission was accompanied by two German gentlemen,
Drs. Barth and Overweg--the former, of whom I had the pleasure of
meeting in Egypt, after his enterprising ride along the coast of Libya.
They are still in Central Africa, pushing their excursions on all sides,
from Bornou into unknown tracts; and the accounts they may publish on
their return will be anxiously looked for.
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