Synopsis "Incidents Connected with the Life of Selim Aga, A Native of Central Africa"
IT is not the Author's intention to make great orations out of nothing, nor to picture the description of his country in eloquent language, but to give, in the form of recollections, a brief account of incidents connected with his own life. Having been urged by several friends to write an account of his life, he hopes that this small work will meet the approbation of all who read it. He will not fail, therefore, to make it as interesting as possible. The reader, however, must not expect something extraordinary when beginning to read this narrative. Great anxiety has been felt by geographical and other societies, to obtain an accurate knowledge of Africa and its products. Of these, the Author is sorry that he cannot satisfy his readers, having been taken away from his country at a very early age. Of all the quarters of the globe, Africa is the least known. Ignorance, barbarity, and superstition, prevail in its centre, and the unhealthy nature of its climate renders it almost impracticable for any European to travel into it, and satisfy an enquiring public. Taking a natural view of the country, it is barren, sandy, and mountainous, interspersed with a few green spots, called oases, or made fertile by the inundation of some river in the rainy season. Taking an artificial view of those regions, you will perceive nothing but a few small huts here and there, built by the inhabitants for their own accommodation. The Northern and Southern States can boast of a little civilization, being frequented and inhabited by the dwellers of the north temperate zone. In taking a political view of the centre of Africa, the enquirer will find the country divided into a number of small principalities, who maintain their dignity by making war against each other. The captives taken in these wars are sold as slaves, being purchased by Arabs and Turks on the east coast, and Spaniards, Portuguese, and Americans, on the west. Thus many of these poor creatures are brought to a level with the brute beasts, by the inhabitants of that federal government, (the United States), who pretend to profess the principles of freedom and Christianity in their truest light. The selling of these captives stimulates others to kidnap some of the poor natives, and carry on a brutal traffic in buying and selling human victims for the gratification of their own ambitious propensities. In this manner the fate of the author was sealed. The author will proceed to detail the events of his history in the form of recollections.
