At the end of the eighteenth century there was much interest in the interior of West Africa. In 1788, the African Association was established by Sir Joseph Banks to support expeditions along the River Niger in search of Timbuktu and other legendary cities. The Association outfitted several expeditions, most notably that of Mungo Park, who attempted to reach Timbuktu in 1795.

This book, published in 1820 contains the account of Abd Salam Shabeni, a Moroccan merchant who had travelled to the city with his father from their home in Tetouan when he was 14 years old. Shabeni arrived in Britain around 1790 and his account, as told in person to Henry Beaufoy (1750-95), a prominent member of the African Association, may have inspired the Association to sponsor Park’s expedition.

Shabeni described Timbuktu as being a large city of around 40,000 people (excluding enslaved people and foreigners), stating that it was the great emporium for 'all the country of the Blacks [a generalising term used to describe a range of West African peoples], and even for Morocco and Alexandria' before going on to describe the great wealth of the city. He also said that he lived there for three years before moving to another, even larger city around eight miles to the south-east named Housa. This second city, said to be almost as large and as grand as London or Cairo, is now believed to have been legendary, Shabeni’s account being the first to mention such a place (though there is a town around eight miles south of Timbuktu, Kabara, which was often mentioned by other writers). Later expeditions along the River Niger came to the conclusion that Shabeni may have been misunderstood and instead had actually referred to the various Hausa kingdoms to the south. Edited by James Grey Jackson, a British merchant active in Morocco, this book also contains some of the earliest descriptions of the Hausa language and Hausa customs to be published in English.