The caravan destined for Tafilet was not to leave Timbuctoo for some days, and I was informed that the next did not start for three months; I therefore determined to take advantage of the earliest conveyance; for I dreaded so long a stay at Timbuctoo, notwithstanding the reiterated invitations of Sidi-Abdallahi, who recommended to me to take the route of Tripoli by Ardamas rather than that of Morocco. He told me that he had intended to make a collection for me, but that my speedy departure afforded him no time to do so. He assured me that, if I would remain with him some months, my subsistence should cost me nothing. I scarcely knew how to decline such kindness, but I had formed my determination; I excused myself to Sidi, by telling him that I was afraid to travel in the rainy season, and finding me obstinate he looked out for a good guide to conduct me to Tafilet. The Moors in whose company I was about to travel were far from being so kind and civilized as those who reside in the city. I had had an opportunity of observing their manners before I started; for, they often came and begged of me, and made no scruple of rousing me out of my sleep. They are a class of men whom the Moors of a superior order call _zenagues_, (tributaries). They are very ignorant. Many of them do not know the first prayers of the Koran. They however observe religious ceremonies. A poor stranger like myself, unacquainted with their language, was in their eyes an object of contempt. I expected therefore to suffer much in crossing the desert. Sidi-Abdallahi informed me that he had hired a camel to carry me to Tafilet. The thirty thousand cowries’ worth of cloth, the proceeds of the sale of my merchandise at Jenné, sufficed to pay for the camel. Sidi told me that he would keep my cloth and give my guide ten mitkhals of gold, or thirty piastres. I employed the remainder of the time I stayed in Timbuctoo in collecting information respecting the unfortunate death of Major Laing, which I had heard mentioned at Jenné, and which was confirmed by the inhabitants of Timbuctoo whom I questioned respecting the melancholy event. I learned, that when within a few days’ journey of the city, the caravan to which the major belonged was stopped, on the road to Tripoli, by the Tooariks, or as others alleged, by the Berbiches, a wandering tribe, near the Dhioliba. Laing, being discovered to be a christian, was cruelly attacked, and his assailants continued beating him with a club until they thought him dead. I conclude that the other christian, who was said to have been actually murdered, was a servant of the major’s. The Moors belonging to the caravan raised Laing up, and succeeded in restoring him to animation. When he became sensible, they placed him upon a camel, but he was so weak that they were obliged to tie him on. The robbers left him almost destitute, having robbed him of the greater part of his merchandise.