[Pg iii]
C. Durham, d.el. G. Cook, sc
Mᴿ. JOHN DUNCAN.
(Formerly of the 1ˢᵗ Life Guards.)
THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER.
London: Richard Bentley. 1847.
TRAVELS
IN WESTERN AFRICA,
IN 1845 & 1846,
COMPRISING
A JOURNEY FROM WHYDAH,
THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF DAHOMEY,
TO ADOFOODIA,
IN THE INTERIOR.
BY JOHN DUNCAN,
LATE OF THE FIRST LIFE GUARDS, AND ONE OF THE
LATE NIGER EXPEDITION.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to her Majesty.
1847.
LONDON:
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
PREFACE.
In presenting the following Work to the public, it may be deemed properthat I should preface it by giving some account of my previous career,and of the reasons and circumstances which led to my Travels in WesternAfrica.
I was born in the year 1805, of humble parentage, on the farm ofCuldoch, near Kirkcudbright, in North Britain. I had, at a very earlyperiod, a strong predilection for a military life, being of robusthealth and an athletic frame. In 1822 I therefore enlisted in the FirstRegiment of Life Guards, the discipline and appearance of which are, Imay say, universally admired. During the hours not devoted[Pg iv] to militaryduties, I applied myself to the cultivation of the art of drawing andpainting, in which I attained some proficiency, and acquired alsoconsiderable knowledge of mechanics, all of which I found of greatservice to me when I afterwards became a traveller.
After serving sixteen years in this distinguished regiment, I feltanxious for a field of greater enterprise, and therefore obtained mydischarge, on the conditions of the late good conduct warrant, early in1839. In consequence of meritorious service, I obtained the appointmentof master-at-arms in the late expedition to the Niger. In thisunfortunate enterprise, I narrowly escaped the melancholy fate of somany of my brave and talented countrymen. Of upwards of three hundred,not more than five escaped! When at Egga, on the Niger, I volunteeredto proceed up that river, with a few natives only; but, on account ofthe increasing sickness of the Europeans, the project was abandoned.Before the Albert, indeed, had descended the[Pg v] Niger nearly allof them were either attacked by the fever or were dead! The season wasdeclared by the natives themselves to be particularly fatal, even tothem.
On my arrival at Fernando Po, I was myself attacked with fever,which so seriously affected a wound that I had previously receivedin my leg,[1] that gangrene commenced, and was only checked by theapplication of a powerful acid, which destroyed the part affected. Atthis time my sufferings were ex