Tunis, some married, others not, who are to return to their homes in
Soudan, Bornou, and Mandara, under our protection. Some of these have
agreed to travel partly on their own account, or nearly so, whilst
others will be paid and act as servants. One of them, named Ali, is a
fine, dashing young fellow. They are very unimportant people here, but
as we advance on our route will no doubt prove of some service,
especially when we fairly enter upon the Black Countries. A marabout of
Fezzan also accompanies us, and our camel-drivers are from the same
country. They arrived with a caravan from Mourzuk, and we were some time
detained by the necessity of allowing them and their beasts to rest
before recommencing their march over the very arduous country that lies
between this and the confines of Fezzan.

Our progress will necessarily be slow, as all travelling is in the
desert. Camels can rarely exceed three miles an hour, and often make but
two. We may calculate their average progress at two miles and a half, so
that the reader will be pleased to bear in mind, that when I speak of a
laborious day of twelve hours, he must not imagine us to have advanced
more than thirty miles.

Before commencing the narrative of my journey, it may be as well to
introduce a few observations on the commerce at present carried on with
the interior by way of Tripoli. In addition to the mere acquisition of
geographical, statistical, and other information, I look upon the great
object of our mission to be the promotion, by all prudent means, of
legitimate trade. This will be the most effectual way of putting a stop
to that frightful system by which all the Central Provinces of Africa
are depopulated, and all the littoral regions demoralized. When the
negro races begin to make great profits by exporting the natural
products of their country, they will then, and perhaps then only, cease