The French explorer Auguste René Caillié (1799-1838) was the first modern European to reach the famous Sudanic cities of West Africa, Timbuktu, and Djenné and to return and tell about it.

René Caillié was born in Mauzé. He never knew his father, and his mother died in 1810. Caillié left school at an early age to become an apprentice shoemaker. Life in the French provinces did not prevent him from reading and hearing about voyages of adventure; he early conceived the idea of visiting Africa and becoming an explorer. He eventually formulated a plan for gaining entry to the remote city of Timbuktu, a passion which shaped the rest of his life.

At 16 and with only 60 francs, Caillié left home for Senegal. He arrived at Cape Verde in July 1816, visited Saint-Louis, shipped to Guadeloupe in the West Indies, and finally returned...