Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 5.djvu/284

344 any common degree of satisfaction that I say my perseverance has been amply rewarded. I am now convinced that my hypothesis concerning the termination of the Niger is correct.

"May God bless you all! I shall write you fully from Sego, as also my lord Bathurst, and I rather apprehend that both letters will reach you at one time, as none of the Ghadamis merchants leave Timbuctoo for two months to come. Again may God bless you all! My dear Emma must excuse my writing. I have begun a hundred letters to her, but have been unable to get through one. She is ever uppermost in my thoughts, and I look forward with delight to the hour of our meeting, which, please God, is now at no great distance."

The following abstract of the testimony of Bungola the major's servant, when examined by the British consul, gives the catastrophe of this melancholy story:

When asked if he had been with the major at Mooktar's, he answered, Yes. Did you accompany him from thence to Timbuctoo? Yes. How was he received at Timbuctoo? Well. How long did he remain at Timbuctoo? About two months. Did you leave Timbuctoo with major Laing? Yes. Who went with you? A koffle of Arabs. In what direction did you go? The sun was on my right cheek. Did you know where you were going? To Sansanding. Did you see any water, and were you molested? We saw no water, nor were we molested till the third day, when the Arabs of the country attacked and killed my master. Was any one killed beside your master? I was wounded, but cannot say if any were killed. Were you sleeping near your master? Yes. How many wounds had your master? I cannot say, they were all with swords, and in the morning I saw the head had been cut off. Did the person who had charge of jour master commit the murder? Sheik Bouraboushi, who accompanied the reis, killed him. What did the sheik then do? He went on to his country; an Arab look me back to Timbuctoo. What property had your master when he was killed? Two camels; one carried the provision, the other carried my master and his bags. Where were your master's papers? In his bag. Were the papers brought back to Timbuctoo? I don't know.

Thus perished, a few days after the 21st of September, 1826, by the hand of an assassin, one of the most determined, enthusiastic, and thoroughly accomplished of those daring spirits who have periled their lives in the cause of African discovery. The resolution of the unfortunate Laing was of no ordinary kind; his mother has told the writer of this article, that years before he entered on his last and fatal expedition, in providing against hardships and contingencies, he had accustomed himself to sleep on the hard floor, and to write with the left hand; yea more, with the pen between the first and second toes of the right foot. It is melancholy to think that he should have perished unrequited by that fame for which he sacrificed so much, and undelivered of that tale of the capital of central Africa, which he had qualified himself so well to tell. In any circumstances the death of such a man had been lamentable; but it seems the more so, inasmuch as the result of his successful enterprise is likely for ever to be unavailing for the benefit of the living. Many years have elapsed since his melancholy murder, and there seems not the shadow of a hope that his papers will ever be recovered.

But we cannot conclude this memoir without adding a few sentences regarding