René Caillié

Article summary

showing the house where Caillié stayed in Timbuktu as it appeared in 1905–06 Auguste René Caillié ( ; 19 November 1799 – 17 May 1838) was a French explorer and the first European to return alive from the town of Timbuktu. Caillié had been preceded at Timbuktu by a British officer, Major Gordon Laing, who was murdered in September 1826 on leaving the city. Caillié was therefore the first to return alive. Caillié was born in western France in a village near the port of Rochefort. His parents were poor and died while he was still young. At the age of 16 he left home and signed up as a member of the crew on a French naval vessel sailing to Saint-Louis on the coast of modern Senegal in western Africa. He stayed there for several months and then crossed the Atlantic to Guadeloupe on a merchantman. He made a second visit to West Africa two years later when he accompanied a British expedition across the Ferlo Desert to Bakel on the Senegal River. Caillié returned to Saint-Louis in 1824 with a strong desire to become an explorer and visit Timbuktu. In order to avoid some of the difficulties experienced by the earlier expeditions, he planned to travel alone disguised as a Muslim. He persuaded the French governor in Saint-Louis to help finance a stay of 8 months with the nomadic people in the Brakna Region of southern Mauritania where he learned Arabic and the customs of Islam.…

Key claims

1. date of birth: 1799-11-19 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 1808 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. date of death: 1811 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. date of death: 1838-05-17 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
5. publication date: 1799 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
6. publication date: 1815 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
7. publication date: 1830 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "1799-11-19". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "1808". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the date of death is "1811". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the date of death is "1838-05-17". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. The record states that the publication date is "1799". What evidence would count against this claim?
7. The record states that the publication date is "1815". What evidence would count against this claim?
8. The record states that the publication date is "1830". What evidence would count against this claim?
9. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
10. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373750015