rite an
Arabic letter to the _Sultan George Sultan El Ingleez_, (these
were his expressions,) whether there were persons capable of
translating it into English: I replied, that there were men at
the Universities capable of translating every learned language
in the known world; and accordingly the letter above alluded to
was written in Arabic, and addressed to His Majesty. This
letter was written by the Emperor himself, which I am competent
to declare, having letters from him in my possession, and being
acquainted with his hand-writing and style.]

It is, therefore, thus ascertained, that the Arabic language spoken
in the kingdom of Tafilelt, of Fas, of Marocco, and in Suse or
South Barbary, is precisely the same language with that which is
now spoken in Syria, and Palestine in Asia; countries distant from
each other nearly 3000 miles, and from information since obtained,
there appears to be no doubt that the Arabic language spoken by the
Arabs in Arabia, by the Moors and Arabs in India and Madagascar, by
the Moorish nations on the African shores of the Mediterranean, are
one and the same language with that spoken in Marocco, subject only
to certain provincial peculiarities, which by no means form
474 impediments to the general understanding of the language, no more,
or not so much so, as the provincial peculiarities of one county of
England differ from another!!

Unwilling to encroach too much on your valuable pages, I will
leave, for the subject of my next letter, the inconceivable
misconstructions and errors into which the ignorance of this
language has led European travellers in Africa, of which I shall
state some examples in a recent publication respecting Africa.

I am, Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

JAMES G. JACKSON.

_Cursory Observations on the Geography of Africa, inserted in an
Account of a Mission to Ashantee, by T. Edward Bowdich, Esq.
showing the Errors that have been committed by European Travellers
on that Continent, from their Ignorance of the Arabic Language, the
learned and the general travelling Language of that interesting
part of the World_.

June 17, 1819.

The Niger, after leaving the lake Dibber, was invariably