I could not hope for any great accuracy in the observations which might be made during the journey; but I imposed an obligation on the person, whom I employed to perform it, to mark the number of days’ march by the rising and setting of the sun, so as to point out, as nearly as possible, the hour of his arrival at, and departure from, each station. I also pressed him to note in his journal, the changes he might experience in the soil, the hills, mountains, forests, trees, lakes, rivulets, animals, and kinds of cultivation. He was likewise to observe the different tribes which he might meet with in his route, and to give an account of their manners, customs, religion, language, and the reception which he met with amongst them. My ulterior object was, that, after making all these remarks on the country, he should prepare the people for a general intercourse with the French, discover the exact situation of their gold mines, and continue his route as far as the isthmus of Suez, after which he might return to France from some of the ports in the Mediterranean. I have to regret, that the noble enterprize which I had planned, though equal to my expectations, was far from affording the results which might have been expected; as, since my departure, it has never been followed up, and because the principal agent in it became the victim of an unpardonable negligence. M. Rubault, the person employed under my orders in this expedition, left Isle St. Louis on the 11th January, 1786, in company with a Marabou Moor, named Sidy Carachi: this Moor, from his quality as priest and doctor of laws, enjoyed, like all his cast, the greatest veneration from all the hordes in Africa. I gave Rubault two domestic Negroes, three camels to carry the baggage and convey the travellers, and ordered him such a supply of provisions, merchandize, and arms, as I conceived adequate to the undertaking. The party set off from Gandiolle, whither I accompanied them, on the 13th, at break of day. After a march of seven hours, over a flat soil covered with palm-trees, they arrived at a village called Camessou, the master of whom received them with great kindness, and gave them a preparation of flour and milk. Each village, in this part of Africa, has a chief known by the title of master. In some parts of the country the name does not correspond with that of master; but the prerogatives and attributes of the chief are the same. He receives a tribute from all the inhabitants for his expenses, and is charged with executing the orders of the king in whatever relates to the police or general justice, except that recourse is had to the sovereign in cases of condemnation to death or slavery. This establishment is nearly the same as the feudality which is said to have prevailed in the earliest times of the creation. The master is the lord of the village.