John Buffa

Little is firmly documented about his life beyond his death in 1812, but surviving records identify him as John Buffa, M.D., a physician to the forces and the author of Travels through the Empire of Morocco.

In the preface to that 1810 book, he explains that he had served at the Depot Hospital on the Isle of Wight and was later connected with Gibraltar in a medical role. From there, he was asked by the British consul general at Tangier to cross to Morocco and treat the governor of Larache, a journey that became the basis of his book.

Travels through the Empire of Morocco is the work he is known for today. It offers an early 19th-century English account of Morocco drawn from direct experience, mixing travel narrative with observations on court life, local customs, medicine, and the political relationship between Britain and Morocco.