author
John Buffa
d. 1812
A physician in the British forces turned traveler, this early 19th-century writer left a vivid firsthand account of Morocco drawn from his own journey there. His surviving reputation rests on a single travel narrative that blends observation, curiosity, and sharp social detail.
1 Audiobook
Travels through the Empire of Morocco
by John Buffa
About the author
Little is firmly documented about this author beyond what appears in contemporary catalog records and his own book. He is identified as John Buffa, M.D., and records for Travels through the Empire of Morocco note that he died in 1812.
In the book, Buffa explains that he had served as a physician to His Majesty's Forces and that the circumstances of that service led to his journey in Morocco in the early 1800s. His account was published in London in 1810 and offers descriptions of places, customs, political conditions, and everyday life as he observed them.
Because so little biographical information is easy to confirm, Buffa is remembered mainly through this travel narrative rather than through a well-documented personal history. That makes his work especially interesting: the book itself is the clearest window into who he was, what he noticed, and how he wanted readers in Britain to understand Morocco.