Extracts from the Journal of Lord R. Grosvenor; being an Account of his Visit to the Barbary Regencies in the Spring of 1830 by GROSVENOR, Lord R - 1830

Chester: G Harding, 1830. 8vo, iii, 100 pages. With 2 mounted lithographs, title page also mounted. Bound in contemporary blue cloth labeled to front. Considerable wear to boards, otherwise in Very Good Condition, internally bright with wide margins. A rare account. A scarce account by the second Marquis of Westminster, not referred to in D.N.B. Includes the French blockade of Algiers and the theatre of war on the Barbary Coast, descriptions of Tunisia and Tripoli, accounts of slavery. Suspecting possible French intervention, the lieutenant indulges in speculation surrounding the murder of Major Laing and alleged conspiracy by the French Baron Roussseau. Excerpt from the text: "The next morning was devoted to the examination of the papers and evidence collected by Col. W. relative to the mysterious affair of Major Laing's murder, and the transmission of his sealed papers into the hands of Baron Rousseau. They are extremely voluminous....He was attacked by some Tuarics, and after bravely defending himself, received 24 wounds, and was left for dead in the sand. I read the letters he wrote subsequently with his left hand, his right arm being entirely disabled...There is the strongest evidence in proof of the French Consul's having instigated Assuna de Gheiz, the Bashaw's prime minister, to use his utmost influence.....that Assuna delieverd the packet into Rousseau's hands, and obtained for doing so, an abatement of £400 out of a sum of money claimed by the French Government. The American Consul who assisted in the escape of Assuna, has publicly stated that he was cruelly and perfidiously deceived..." End Excerpt. Major Alexander Gordon Laing was the first European to reach Timbuktu. He left England in February 1825, continued from Tripoli in July to cross the Sahara desert, being accompanied by a sheikh who was subsequently accused of planning his murder. Ghadames was reached by an indirect route in October, and in December Laing was in the Tuat territory, where he was well received by the Tuareg. On 10 January 1826, he left Tuat and made for Timbuktu across the desert of Tanezroft. Letters from him written in May and July following told of sufferings from fever and the plundering of his caravan by Tuareg, Laing being wounded in twenty-four places in the fighting. Another letter dated from Timbuktu on 21 September announced his arrival in that city on the preceding 18 August, and the insecurity of his position owing to the hostility of the Fula chieftain Bello, then ruling the city. He added that he intended leaving Timbuktu in three days time. No further news was received from the traveller. From native information it was ascertained that he left Timbuktu on the day he had planned and was murdered on the night of 26 September 1826. His papers were never recovered, though it is believed that they were secretly brought to Tripoli in 1828. . First and only edition..