ACCOMPANIEDBY
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OFSOUDAN,
AND OF
THE COURSE OF THE NIGER.
WITH
ACHART OF THE ROUTES, AND A VARIETY OF COLOURED PLATES,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE COSTUMES OF THESEVERAL NATIVES OF NORTHERN AFRICA.
BY CAPTAIN G. F. LYON, R.N.
COMPANION OF THE LATE MR. RITCHIE.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1821.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON,WHITEFRIARS.
TO
HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY
GEORGE THEFOURTH.
Sire,
For the gracious condescension of Your Majesty,in permitting me to place the following pages under Your RoyalPatronage, I shall ever be impressed with the most sinceregratitude.
That Your Majesty may long, happily, and uninterruptedly reignin the hearts and over the destinies of your faithful people, isthe constant and fervent prayer of,
Your Majesty’s
Most dutiful and most devoted
Subject and Servant,
GEORGE FRANCIS LYON.
March, 1821.
The situation of an author, when hepresents himself to the scrutinizing observation of the public,must ever be one of the greatest doubt and anxiety; but as thefollowing pages are intended only to detail facts in the plainestmanner, without attempt at embellishment of any kind, it is hopedthat they will not only meet with indulgence from the generalreader, but escape, without very severe comment, from theexamination of the critic. All that can be said in theirrecommendation is, that they adhere strictly to truth, and that nota single incident described by the author is in the slightestdegree exaggerated; on the contrary, he has not only abridged but,in some instances, entirely omitted to mention circumstances whichoccurred to him, fearing either to excite doubt in the minds of hisreaders, or by too long details to trespass on their patience.
The Tour is divided into two parts. The first comprizes theoriginal progress of the mission from Tripoli to Morzouk,where[vi] the unfortunateMr. Ritchie died: the second embraces the author’s examination ofthe remainder of the kingdom of Fezzan, from the death of hiscompanion, until the final return of the mission to Tripoli; itbeing deemed too hazardous to attempt advancing f