Le major A. Gordon Laing (Tombouctou 1826)
"Le major A. Gordon Laing (Tombouctou 1826)" by A. Bonnel de Mézières is a historical account written in the early 20th century. It investigates the Scottish explorer Alexander Gordon Laing’s fateful journey to Timbuktu, his murder in the Sahara, and the subsequent search for his remains and papers. Drawing on Arabic chronicles, official testimonies, and on-the-ground inquiry in French West Africa, the work blends biography, exploration history, and documentary evidence. The beginning of the work sets the scene with a prefatory letter from Governor Clozel praising the mission that finally clarified Laing’s end and arranged his burial at Timbuktu, followed by acknowledgments of colonial officials, scholars, and guides. It then sketches Laing’s background and antislavery service, his overland push from Tripoli with a caravan led by the enigmatic Babani, the Tuareg attack that left him grievously wounded, and his rescue by Kounta allies before he at last reached Timbuktu. The narrative evokes the city’s slave market and scholarly milieu, Laing’s clandestine look at the Niger, and mounting danger as a Toucouleur ruler forced his expulsion. Under escort of the Berabich chief Ahmadou Labeida, Laing departed toward Araouan, was ambushed near an athil tree at Sahab, killed, and his papers burned. The opening then shifts to the author’s early 20th‑century investigation: securing trust in Timbuktu and Araouan, locating Arabic Tarikhs that record the murder, and leading excavations at Sahab that uncovered bones and burned gear, followed by medical examination and official deposit of the remains.