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Biography of Auguste Caillié
Auguste Caillié was a French explorer and adventurer who is best known for being the first European to successfully cross the Western Sahara and explore the eastern outskirts of the El Djouf desert. He also provided Europe with accurate information about the trading city of Timbuktu, which was referred to as the "queen of the desert".
Caillié was born to a baker who had been sentenced to life imprisonment. From a young age, he dreamt of finding Timbuktu, a city that he believed embodied all the wonders of Africa. At the age of sixteen, he embarked on a cargo ship called "La Loire" as a servant and arrived in Senegal (Senegambia) for the first time.
Upon learning about Major Gray's British expedition to find the missing explorer Mungo Park, Caillié believed that Major Gray would gladly accept any new assistant. At the same time, Officer Partarieux, who had been sent by Major Gray to the coast, was preparing to travel with goods for his superior. Caillié volunteered to accompany him without a specific position or salary.
The caravan left Gandiolla in Cayor on February 5, 1819. They bypassed Futa-Toro, known for its hostile population, and entered the territory of Bondou. In the capital city of Bulibani, Caillié received gifts but was denied permission to proceed to Bakel in Senegal. Instead, the locals forced the Englishmen to go towards Futa-Toro. The travelers faced hostile encounters and had to buy food and water at exorbitant prices. Eventually, Caillié deceived their escorts and Partarieux headed towards Bakel, where the French lived.
Due to illness, Caillié returned to Saint-Louis and was later forced to return to France. It was only in 1824 that he returned to Senegal. At the time, the colony was governed by Baron Roger, who aimed to expand France's trade and geographic knowledge. Roger provided Caillié with the means to live among the Braknas, study the Arabic language, and Islam. Caillié documented various aspects of Brakna life in his journal, including their food, simple tents as dwellings, and the pursuit of weight gain by women to achieve beauty.
In May 1825, Caillié returned to Saint-Louis and soon found employment in Senegambia and later Sierra Leone. In the spring of 1827, he was finally able to embark on his planned journey to Timbuktu. Caillié procured goods and established connections with the Mandingo and Seracole traders who traveled across Africa. He posed as an Egyptian captured and taken to France, now supposedly returning to his homeland through Timbuktu. On March 22, 1827, Caillié left Freetown for Kakondi, a village located on the banks of the Roknun River, where he gathered information about the Landuma and Nalu tribes.
On April 19, 1827, Caillié set off for Timbuktu with a guide. He crossed the main tributary of the Senegal River, Bafing, near its source, and reached the village of Gambaya. From there, Caillié continued his journey alone and crossed the Tankiso River, which belonged to the Joliba (Niger) basin, on May 30.
Caillié entered the region of Kankan, inhabited by the Fulbe people, who were fervent Muslims and known for their warrior spirit. He resided in Kankan for four weeks before seizing an opportunity to travel to Sambatikilu.
He crossed several tributaries of the Joliba, including Sarano, and made a stop in Sigale, where he met the ruler, Baramiza, who was believed to possess a vast amount of gold and slaves. Caillié then entered the Fulu region, where the inhabitants also spoke Mandingo and practiced idol worship. In Sambatikilu, the traveler visited the home of the Almamy, who informed Caillié that he could soon reach Time, a city from where caravans departed to Jenne on the Bani River, a major tributary of the Niger.
Caillié passed through the territory inhabited by the Bambara people and eventually reached the small town of Time, where Mandingo Muslims resided. He arrived there at the end of July and stayed to heal a leg wound before continuing his journey.
On January 9, 1828, Caillié left Time and reached Kimba, a village where a caravan to Jenne was assembling. By the time Caillié visited Jenne, it had already lost its prominence as a center of trade, which had shifted to Yamina, Sansanding, and Bamako.
On March 23, Caillié, armed with recommendation letters to prominent residents of Timbuktu, set sail on the Niger River in a large boat. On April 20, he arrived in Timbuktu at sunset. However, what he saw disappointed him. The city, once described by Leo Africanus as a place where many artists and scholars thrived and its royal palace was adorned with gold, had declined significantly. Only a fifth of the previous population remained, and it was constantly fought over by Tuareg and Fulbe groups.
Timbuktu's fortification wall, which formed a triangle, stretched for three miles. The houses, built with round bricks, were large but low. The streets were wide and clean. The city had seven mosques with tall brick towers, from where muezzins called the faithful to prayer.
The city's only natural resource was salt, as it was situated in the middle of a vast plain covered in loose sand. However, the trade of salt was disrupted by nomadic Tuareg tribes who would plunder or extort caravans. If the Tuareg intercepted fleets coming from the lower reaches of the Niger, the city's inhabitants would be doomed.
Caillié spent only four days in Timbuktu. Since the next caravan was departing in three months, the Frenchman, fearing exposure, hastened to leave the city.
On May 4, 1828, Caillié joined a caravan heading to Tafilalt. He passed by the wells of Tarzaz, El Ekreif, Marabuti, and El Harib.
In September 1828, he appeared before the French vice-consul Delaporte, who helped Caillié return to Toulon.
Caillié's return to France as a Frenchman who had journeyed from and to Timbuktu amazed the scientific community. While he was not the first European to see Timbuktu (Major Alexander Gordon Laing had visited the city a year prior but died during his journey), Caillié returned with valuable knowledge and published his travel journal "Journal of a Voyage to Timbuctoo and Jenne in Central Africa" (1830).
Caillié's journey was a significant contribution to the geographical understanding of Northwest Africa. He successfully crossed part of Africa from Senegal to Morocco and discovered the city of Timbuktu. He also unveiled a new caravan route through the Sahara, passing through the oases of Tafilalt and El Harib. Caillié became the first European to explore the internal delta of the Niger River, an expanded section of the river's valley with numerous tributaries, channels, lakes, and swamps.
For his accomplishments, Caillié was awarded a prize of ten thousand francs by the French Geographical Society. However, ten years after leaving Timbuktu, he passed away.
