Auguste Ren矇 Cailli矇 (November 19, 1799 - May 17, 1838) was a French explorer and the first European to return alive from 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. Encouraged by the prize of 10,000 francs offered by the Soci矇t矇 de G矇ographie for the first person to return with a description of Timbuktu, he decided to fund the journey himself. He worked for a few months in the British colony of Sierra Leone to save some money, then travelled by ship to Bok矇 on the Rio Nu簽ez in modern Guinea. From there in April 1827 he set off across West Africa. He arrived in Timbuktu a year later and stayed there for two weeks before heading across the Sahara Desert to Tangier in Morocco. On his return to France, he was awarded the prize and helped by the scholar Edme-Fran癟ois Jomard, published an account of his journey. In 1830 he was awarded the Gold Medal by the Soci矇t矇 de G矇ographie. He suffered from poor health and died of tuberculosis aged 38.