CHAP. I.

Ancient Geography of Central Africa — General Observations — Accounts of the Interior by Ptolemy, Edrisi, Ebn-al-Fardi, Sheabiddin, Mackrisi, Batouta, Abulfeda, Ebn Haukal, Leo Africanus — Termination of the Niger, &c.

The central parts of Africa, and, in a very particular manner, the interior parts of the northern division of that great continent, together with the course and termination of the great river Niger, are still in a great measure unknown. Become the eager object of European research, these cannot much longer remain hid. It is surprising they have remained undiscovered so long. To explore and determine accurately these important points, is the most interesting geographical problem that now remains to be solved.

Unworthy and erroneous theories, and to which all information hitherto received has been forced to bend, have long led astray the public mind, and general exertions of Europe, from the true path by which the interior of Northern Africa can be explored, and the only way by which the course and termination of the Niger can be ascertained. The road, however, is easy, and quite accessible. Nature has formed it. The Niger, and his tributary streams, pursue their course through Central Africa. From the west, and from the east, they converge to one point. After uniting in one channel, the mighty current divides itself into several streams, which enter the Atlantic ocean by navigable estuaries in the Bights of Benin and Biafra.

Allowing we had no positive information of the course and magnitude of the Niger lower down than Bammakoo, Sego, and Lake Dibbie, still the fact of there being such a river continuing its course eastward from the latter place, is sufficient to induce us to look for its exit on the sea coast. We are quite certain that it does not enter the sea to the north; and we may say we are equally sure that it does not finish its course in any sea to the east. To the south, therefore, we must turn our inquiries. In no part of Western or Southern Africa is there stronger grounds to look for this estuary, than in the coast below Benin. There the soil is all alluvial. For a great distance into the interior, stones larger than a man’s fist are unknown. The country is flat, and inundated during the swell of the rivers from the tropical rains. The land is daily gaining on the sea from the quantity of alluvial matter brought down from the interior. The whole country and coast, for a great extent, is intersected with arms and outlets of rivers, communicating with each other inland. The bottom of the sea, along a great extent of coast, is all soft mud. From the Rio Lagos to the Rio Elrei river, no fewer than twenty streams enter the ocean, several of them of surprising magnitude, and navigable for ships. Large floating islands are borne down by their waves, and carried into the ocean. The great magnitude of these rivers will by and bye come more particularly under our review.

As the easterly course of the Upper Niger is now no longer a matter of dispute, it would be perfectly superfluous to bring forward, in detail, the authority of writers and geographers, from the days of Herodotus downwards to this day, to prove this important fact. Its termination is now the subject which engages the attention of all. The theories at present most in vogue, are, first, that it flows eastward, reaching beyond the parallel of 18° North Lat. and then, in about 20° East Long. flows south-east, and is the parent stream of the Bahr-el-Abiad, or Nile of Egypt; second, that it terminates in a large lake in the interior, which also receives the waters of the Gir, or Nile of Soudan, coming from the eastward; third, that the waters of both rivers are lost in, and absorbed by swamps and sandy deserts, in a country called Wangara; and fourth, that the Niger from his middle course flows south, and joins the great River Congo, or Zaire.

Every one of these theories is grossly erroneous, contrary to every authority on which reliance can be placed, and in opposition to every feature of geography exhibited any where else on this globe. The expedition to the Congo, so lately undertaken, and so unfortunate, has nevertheless settled the question, that the Congo and Niger are different streams. The lake said to receive and retain the waters of the Gir and the Niger, can no where be heard of, either as a sea of salt or fresh water, in the interior of Africa. Wangara, said to absorb these rivers in swamps and sands, or rather those parts of Africa where Wangara is said to lie, is, as the name signifies, a country of a different description—a country intersected by many powerful rivers, mountainous, fertile and cultivated, and inundated during the rains. That the Niger flows to form the Bahr-el-Abiad, is contrary to all probability, contrary to the good authority of Ptolemy, contrary to the authority of the best Arabian geographers, and contrary to excellent modern authority. Yet it is most surprising that an opinion, so improbable in itself, and so directly opposite to all the authorities mentioned, should even to this day continue to be believed and maintained.

In following out this subject, and establishing by conclusive evidence, the fact which I have advanced, it may not be unnecessary to consider the general outline of the Roman and Arabian geography of this portion of Africa, to which our attention is directed, before we consider authorities of more recent dates. The coincidence will thus be more apparent, and the fact more obvious. In the geography of Ptolemy we are not to look for the accuracy of modern details. Nevertheless, his general features of Northern Africa are worthy of attention. In his days, it is obvious, from his enumeration of mountains, rivers, and nations, that it must have been much better known than it now is; and, therefore, we must the more regret that he did not then possess the means which we now possess of fixing the positions of the places he mentions with geographical accuracy. On this part of the subject, however, it is not my intention to enter at great length, but merely to select the undisputed and clearer parts which tend so strongly to confirm the accounts of modern travellers concerning the course and termination of the great and important streams already mentioned.

The most ancient Greek and Roman authors seem to have been very imperfectly acquainted with the great Zahaara, or the countries beyond it. Ptolemy himself seems altogether to overlook the desert, though he minutely enumerates the countries beyond it. Strabo and Pliny conceived that the streams which descended from the south-east side of Mount Atlas formed the Niger, and which river was in these days believed to be one with the Egyptian Nile. They stated that the streams descending from Mount Atlas hid themselves, or rather run under the desert for a space occupying 24 days journey, when, emerging, they continued their course to the eastward, united in the Niger. This desert they describe as being composed of black dust. Modern travellers all describe it as scorching sands. Whether any alteration has taken place on it during the lapse of so many ages, cannot be determined; but it is by no means improbable that its extent is considerably increased, from the sands gaining on the cultivated ground, as is well known to be the case on the side towards Egypt. It is a curious fact, that, approaching the middle thereof, reckoning from the Atlantic Ocean, abundance of water is found upon digging some feet below the surface, and which the Arabs term, “the sea under ground.” This remarkable circumstance might suggest to Strabo and Pliny the idea already mentioned of the rivers from Mount Atlas running under ground.

Ptolemy wrote on Egypt in the second century of the Christian era. Then Africa was better known. The interior of the northern division thereof he describes apparently from good authority, and with considerable accuracy, only he seems altogether to leave out the Great Desert. Mount Mandrus, the middle of which was in 23° East Long. from Ferro, and 22° North Lat., and Rhisadirus Mountain more to the south, he places as the barrier which divides the waters which flow westward into the Atlantic Ocean, by the rivers Stachirus, &c. (the Senegal, Gambia, &c.) from those which flow eastward in the Niger. Turning eastward from Rhisadirus Mountain, we find Mount Caphas in about 10° North Lat. which divides the waters which flow south into the great gulf, or Gulf of Guinea, and those which flow north to join the Niger. In Caphas, we readily recognize the Kong range. Eastward, in the same parallel, there is a blank or opening, and then comes Mount Thala, situated in 10° North Lat. and 38° East Long. from Ferro.

Before proceeding further, it is necessary to correct an obvious error in the longitude, as reckoned by Ptolemy. He places Alexandria in 60° 30′ East Long. from Ferro, or 42° 29′ from Greenwich. This we know is 12° too much, Alexandria being in 30° East Long. from Greenwich, or 48° from Ferro. It is evident, therefore, that we must deduct one-fifth (decreasing this deduction in proportion as we go west) from the longitude, as laid down by Ptolemy, in order to correct his reckoning. By doing this, we shall see how accurately the positions of some places agree with modern accounts.

South of Mount Thala, in 3° North Lat. and 33° East Long. we have Mount Arualtes, and eastward of that in North Lat. 1° 30′, and East Long. 47°, we have Mount Arangas. Turning north in 10° North Lat., and 50° East Long. we have the chain of hills called the Garamantican rampart, which divides the waters which flow west in the Gir, from those deserts which stretch eastward to the Nile. Turning westward, in the parallel of 21° North Lat. and extending along by the sources of the river Cinips, from 40° to 45° East Long. we have Mount Girgiris, and from 8° to 10° farther west, in the same parallel of Lat. are the Usargala mountains. Next, in North Lat. 32°[1], and East Long. 20° 30′, we have Mount Sagapola, placed most erroneously in the map accompanying the work, in 20° North Lat. and 15° East Long., in the south side, in place of the north side of the desert.

The formidable barriers here enumerated, according to the delineation of Ptolemy, encircle or enclose those extensive valleys, if I may use the expression, through which the Niger, the Gir, and their tributary streams, take their course, leaving only the opening between Mount Thala and Mount Caphas, for the collected flood to escape to the southward. How much these general outlines agree with modern accounts, our future investigations, and the map accompanying this work, will shew.

It is in this portion of Africa that the greatest rivers flow, greater, as Ptolemy must mean, than any other which flowed in the northern division of that continent. In the middle of the country, says he, the greatest rivers display themselves, viz. the Gir, joining together the Usargala mountain and the Garamantican barrier or rampart. One branch of this river makes the Lake Chelonides, in 20° North Lat. and 49° East Long. (21° East Long. from Greenwich,) and another the Lake Nuba in North Lat. 15° and East Long. 50°, or 22° from Greenwich, answering very accurately with the Lake Fittre of modern authors. The course of the Gir westward, Ptolemy distinctly marks, by enumerating the cities on its northern bank, from Lynxana, in 20° 30′ North Lat. and 48° 30′ East Long., unto Thycimath, situate in 19° 45′ North Lat. and 38° East Long. Still more westward, he places his Gira metropolis in North Lat. 18° and 36° East Long. or 12° East from Greenwich.

Next is the Niger river, running east, and joining both Mount Mandrus and Mount Thala, that is all the waters which are collected in the vale between these mountains flow to form the Niger. The course east he distinctly marks, by marking first the Lake Nigrites, and then the cities on both the northern and southern banks, viz. on the north from Pessidy, situate in 18° North Lat. and 19° East Long. to Panagra, in 16° 45′ North Lat. and 31° East Long. On the south bank from Thuspu, situated in 17° 45′ North Lat. and 26° 30′ East Long. unto Dudum in 15° North Lat. and 31° East Long. or about 6° east of Greenwich. At this point the river is evidently declining south considerably, and a space of 5° of longitude, by Ptolemy’s reckoning, intervenes between this part of the Niger and the Gira metropolis, the last point mentioned on the Gir river.

The Niger, we are informed, makes the Lake Nigrites in 15° East Long.[2] and 18° North Lat. This is evidently the Lake Dibbie. The Nigira metropolis is placed on the map at the junction of a river coming from the north-east, and in 17° 45′ North Lat. and 25° 20′ East Long. which is about 3° east of Greenwich, answering in longitude very nearly indeed with the position of Timbuctoo. On the north side the Niger receives two branches, viz. one from the Sagapola mountain, and another from the Usargala mountain, which latter is probably that branch which joins at the Nigira metropolis. That from the Sagapola mountain is evidently a mistake, providing that mountain is correctly laid down; but a branch springing south of the desert, and coming from that direction, does perhaps join the Niger. Ptolemy, in his account of the Sagapola mountain, seems to take no notice of the Great Desert, that mountain being placed to the north of it. The Upper Niger he clearly brings from the north-west.

On the south the Niger receives one branch nigh to two places, viz. 17° North Lat. and 21° East Long. and also 13° 30′ North Lat. and 21° East Long. The accuracy of this we shall by and by have occasion to notice more particularly. Towards the Rising Sun it also receives one branch above the Lybian Lake, which lake is placed in 16° 30′ North Lat., and 35° East Long., or about 12° east of Greenwich. This branch, no doubt, comes from the eastern part of, or from the country eastward of Mount Thala. Ptolemy seems to indicate, when he says, above the Lybian Lake, that this branch joined the Niger after the latter had issued from the lake. Yet his exact meaning is not easily ascertained. The point, however, is of considerable importance; for, if to the westward of the lake, no stream coming from the east could join the Niger but the Gir. Be this as it may, it is obvious that he means that this branch from the eastward and this lake communicated with the Niger. Whoever considers for a moment, must see that it could not fail also to have a communication with, or rather that it must receive the waters of the Gir. The latter stream, in its westerly course, is distinctly traced to 18° North Lat. and 36° East Long., while the Lybian Lake is placed in 16° 30′ North Lat. and 35° East Long., only about 100 miles S.W. from the Gira metropolis. This is curious and important.

The Niger from this point continues a southerly course, otherwise it could not join Mount Thala, the middle of which is in 10° North Lat. and 38° East Long., or 13° 40′ east of Greenwich. Further, we have in Ptolemy no accurate accounts of the course of this river. But that it flows south and joins the ocean, he certainly meant, when he says, that Lybia, wherein he had described the courses of the rivers mentioned, was bounded on the south by that part of Ethiopia Interior called Agisymba; and concerning these African rivers, he says, “Illorum vero qui per interiorem Æthiopam fluant, quique fontes et ostia in continente habent maximi sunt Gir et Niger.” (Lib. ii. E. 1. de maximis fluminibus.) In this the southern course is very plainly marked, and also their termination in the ocean.

With one observation I shall conclude this part of the subject. In Mount Girgiris, situate, as has been already mentioned, Ptolemy states that the river Cinips has its source in two places, viz. in the parallel of 21° North Lat. and in 40° and 45° East Long. This river flows north, and enters the Mediterranean between the greater and the lesser Syrtes, in 42° 15′ East Long., or to the eastward of modern Tripoli. No such river we certainly know flows through this part of Africa. It is therefore probable that the springs in Mount Girgiris flowed, joined, and formed a river running in a different direction. The river Cinyphus, which enters the Mediterranean, is certainly one of those streams which rise north of the desert, and have very short courses indeed, compared to what the Cinips would have, if it flowed from Lat. 21° North, a course of nearly 800 miles. The river springing in Mount Girgiris certainly takes a different direction, and doing this, it will correspond with the accounts of the direction of the rivers in that part of Africa, as these are described by modern travellers.

After Ptolemy, the early Arabian authors and geographers demand our attention. From their careless and obscure manner of writing on these subjects, it is impossible to reconcile all their statements. Sufficient, however, remains to shew us our way. According to Leo, the ancient Arabian chroniclers, viz. Bukri and Mishuudi, knew nothing in the land of the Negroes till the year of the Hegira 380 (A.D. 1002,) except Alguechet and Cano. These discoveries were evidently made from Egypt, as Alguechet is an Oasis in the desert 120 Arabian miles distant from Egypt, and seems to have been the first stage in the road to western discovery. At the period last-mentioned, however, the Arabs from Barbary passed the great desert, and all the countries to the south thereof were quickly explored and conquered. Those formidable deserts, which formed a rampart against the advance of the most powerful nations of antiquity, were, to the roving Arab, strengthened by enthusiasm, and fortified by predestination, no barriers whatever. Innumerable swarms soon found their way to the southward, and planted, amidst powerful colonies, the standard and religion of their prophet on the banks of the Niger. They penetrated through the centre of the country, from sea to sea, from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Guinea. When the Portuguese first discovered the latter part of the coast of Africa, they found the population every where mixed with Arabs. The western parts of the continent, however, namely, the countries along the north and south of the Senegal, were less known to them to much later periods. These seem to have been the refuge of the ancient inhabitants of Morocco, &c. who, driven from their ancient abodes by the disciples of Mahommed, sought refuge across the desert, and, being a more intelligent and hardy race than the Negroes, were thus for a longer period enabled to repel the attacks of their restless enemies.

The central and southern parts of Northern Africa became thus well known to the Arabian writers, either from observation or report. In some parts, however, they contracted, and in others extended, the continent beyond its proper limits. “The ambient sea,” (Bahar Addolum, Sea of darkness, or Atlantic Ocean,) says Abulfeda, “extends itself from Mauritania until it has passed the desert of Lemptuna, (Great Desert,) a vast wilderness of barbarians, to the country of the Nigritæ. Thence it stretches yet farther southwards, till it has passed beyond the Equator, after which it extends to the east, behind the mountains of El Komri, from whence the Nile of Egypt has its source. Again, it proceeds southward,” &c. Leo Africanus states, that the “south part of Africa abutteth upon the Ocean Sea, which compasseth it almost as far as the deserts of Gaoga.” These deserts of Gaoga, according to the same authority, lie to the south and the south-west of the kingdom of Gaoga, which kingdom extended on the west bank of the Nile from the confines of Egypt, southward 500 Arabian miles, to the great bend of the Nile, about Dongola. This, with the account from Abulfeda, shews how much the early Arabian writers were deceived regarding the true position of the Gulf of Guinea, and how far eastward they conceived that it pierced into the African continent.

Belad-el-Soudan, was the general term applied to those parts of Africa inhabited by Negroes, south of the Great Zahaara, and west of the deserts of Nubia. “Belad-el-Soudan,” says Bakui, who flourished about the year 1400, “or the Country of the Blacks, extendeth on the north to that of the Berbers, on the south to deserts, on the east to Ethiopia, and on the west to the ocean sea. It is burned by a perpendicular sun. The inhabitants are naked, part Mussulmen, and part Infidels.” Speaking of that portion of Africa which abounds with mines of the “most pure gold,” Ebn Haukal says, “this land of the Blacks is a very extensive region. Their skin is of a finer and deeper black than any other blacks, whether Habeshis, (Abyssinians,) or Zingians, (Ethiopians;) and their country is more extensive than that of any other nation of blacks. It is situated on the coasts of the ocean to the south.” This distinctly points out the northern shore of the Gulf of Guinea. Ebn Haukal was the most accurate of all the Arabian geographers, and is with great reason supposed to have visited every country which he describes. Regarding the boundary south, Bakui seems not to have been so well-informed, when he says, it is “by deserts” on that quarter. But he evidently carries his Belad-el-Sudan no farther south than the mighty chain of Kong and the chain in the same parallel of latitude, stretching eastward to El Komri. By the word deserts, we are to understand not only sandy deserts, like the great Zahaara, but likewise mountainous, rugged, and woody countries less civilized, cultivated, and inhabited than others. Leo Africanus enables us to clear up this point. He states, that the kingdom of Melli is bounded south by “certain deserts and dry mountains,” which are without doubt the bleak mountains in the Kong chain. But still more expressly, and to the point, he states, that “the land of the negroes lies between the Lybian Desert (Zahaara) and a desert to the south, which stretcheth to the main ocean.” But that it is not barren sands is evident, for he adds, “in the desert are infinite nations (except by report) unknown to us.” The country south of Guangara, the same authority informs us, is of a similar description. Hence the authority of Leo and Bakui is reconciled, and the meaning of their respective descriptions, and others of a similar nature, given by other Arabian writers, are, by this elucidation rendered clear and plain.

Belad-el-Sudan, or the country of the blacks, is, by Arabian authors, divided into several large portions, each of which contains a number of kingdoms and states. The larger divisions which are more immediately connected with our present investigation, are the land of Gaoga, the land of Kanem, Ghana, Maly, Meczarat-al-Sudan, Lamlem, and Belad-el-Tibri. The four first occupied the whole country south of the Great Desert, and the deserts of Lybia, extending through central Africa, from the Egyptian Nile to the sources of the Senegal. The three latter divisions, or portions, lie to the south of the former.

Gaoga does not properly belong to the land of the negroes, which, in fact, commences from the western borders of the former. Gaoga, 300 years ago, comprehended all that country from the confines of Egypt to the desert south of Dongola, and from the Nile to the limits of the great empire of Bornou. In the latter direction, according to Leo, it is about 500 miles in breadth. The country is in general barren, and full of burning deserts.

The land of Kanem. This was formerly a mighty and important country, though now merged in the great empire of Bornou, and parcelled out into smaller states, such as Bagherme, &c. “On the borders of the Nile,” says the Egyptian historian Macrisi, “lies also the land of Kanem; the king of which is a Mahommedan. It is at a great distance from the land of Maly. The capital is Heymy. The first town on the side towards Egypt (that is on the caravan route) is Zeilah, and the last, reckoning lengthways, is called Kaka, about three months journey from the other. The people go veiled. Their king remains behind a curtain when he speaks to any one. Except on two mornings each year, at the time of Asseer, no one sees him. Their main food is rice. It grows without culture. They have wheat, Indian corn, (dhoura,) figs, lemons, and other fruits. Their currency is cotton-stuffs, called Dandy, and cowries. Gourds grow to a great size. They make ships (perhaps rafts) of them, upon which they cross the Nile. To the south of them are forests and deserts inhabited by wild creatures, like demons, approaching to the figure of a man, whom a horseman cannot overtake, and which hurt people. In the night there appears something like fire; it shines, and when any one goes towards it, it retires to a distance from him, so that if he should even run, he never can come up with it, but it always keeps before him, and if he throws a stone at it, and hits it, sparks fly from it. These countries lie between Barca and Mogreb (a general name for Southern Africa) and extend to the south as far as the middle Gharb. Their religion is of the sect of Imam Malek Ibn Anes.”— (Burkhardt.)

The manners, customs, and produce of the country, are much the same as are now found in Bornou, at that time a province of Kanem. The wild creatures like demons are no doubt the African ourang-outang and ape, which abound in the forests of Southern Africa, particularly towards Dar Kulla and countries south of Bornou, which places, from the great extent of the land of Kanem, it evidently reached. That they hurt, and even attack people, particularly women, we learn from various authorities. Mollien, page 286, says, “it is dangerous to meet the African ourang-outang, particularly if a person be unarmed;” and in pages 290 and 291, he relates an account of an assault made upon a woman by a number of apes, who beat her most severely, and afterwards fought a desperate battle with the principal inhabitants of a village near Galam, who went on horseback to attack these animals. The fire that appeared at night was most probably the fire fly, so numerous near rivers and forests in the torrid zone, and which perhaps formed those “fiery rivers” which astonished Hanno, the Carthaginian navigator and his followers.

From the description here given by Macrisi, it is plain that the Nile (the Gir,) or some, if not all its large branches, passed through this land of Kanem. Ibn-al-Vardi confirms the account of Macrisi. The former states that “Konem, or Kanem, is a large country, situated along the Nile,” and, what is still more to the point, he says, “the inhabitants were all Mussulmen of the sect of Imam Malek.” Cities fall and empires disappear, but the sects, tribes, and religion of the Arabs survive the roll of ages, and form our sure guides. Edrisi also states Kanem as a large district, and adds, that some negroes stated that Kaugha was subject to it. Kanem, though humbled, is still known. According to Burkhardt, “it is a large district, inhabited by the tribes of Tendjear, and Beni Wayl,” (p. 479.) It is situated east of Bornou, and near the river Sharee, and Bahr el Gazalle. Sheeref Imhammed places Kanem north of Bornou in the road to Mourzook, but Burkhardt is perhaps the best authority.

Ghana, and the countries once subject to it, was, during the days of its vigour, the richest and most important kingdom which the Arabs ruled in interior Africa. It lay to the west of Kanem, and was situated upon the Nile. It was perhaps what is now known under the name of Cano. Vancara, Cassina, and many other surrounding kingdoms, obeyed the authority of Ghana, whose sovereign was exceedingly rich and powerful. The inhabitants had long boats on the Nile, with which they fished and carried on communication with other cities. In its largest sense, the land of Ghana must have been of great extent. Ghana, according to Edrisi, was bounded on the north by the broadest desert, lying out between the countries of the blacks and Barbary. According to Ibn-al-Vardi, it was bounded on the south by Meghrara, or Meczara. It was through the negroes country of Meczara that the Nile of the negroes, according to Edrisi, ran in its progress to the sea near the Isle of Ulil. Meczara El-Sudan, in all probability, was a general term applied by the Arabs to all the countries lying to the south of their first established kingdoms in Africa. They seem, in their progress of colonization, to have proceeded first westward down the Gir, and then to have been met by fresh colonies; which colonies descending from Barbary, urged their progress eastward and along the Niger, till they met their countrymen on the Gir.

The Pagan country of Lamlem lay to the southward and westward of the kingdom of Ghana. “The countries and dominions of Lamlem,” says Edrisi, “lay near a certain river flowing into the Nile. It is not known whether there is any inhabited place to the southward, (rather S.W.) of Lamlem, it being bounded on that side by a “Desert.” Thus indicating that it is bounded on the southward and westward by a mountainous and woody country. According to Ibn-al-Vardi, Lamlem is an inland city, “where gold is found.” This would lead us to look for it between the Niger and the Kong Mountains. Edrisi, however, has left us a more particular mark by which we can ascertain the true position of this country, which was invaded by all its Mahommedan neighbours, and its population carried off to be made slaves. “When any of all the inhabitants of Lamlem,” says Edrisi, “come to have the use of their reason, he is burnt in the face and temples; this they do to distinguish each other.” Now, according to Bowditch, this is the practice of the people of Dagwumba, (famous for the abundance of gold,) Yahndi and Moosee, countries S.W. of the Niger, and in the immediate vicinity of the Kong Mountains, “where gold is found.” “The people of Dagwumba,” says he, “have three slight cuts on each cheek bone, and three below, with one horizontal under the eye. Those of Yahndi, three deep indented cuts. The people of Moosee, three very deep and long, and one under the eye.” (Bowditch, p. 183.) These are unchangeable features, and cannot mislead us. In all other parts of Africa, the people are marked on their bodies. Lamlem, therefore, lay S. and S.W. of the Niger, towards Kong, and was near a river which flowed into the Niger, or the Nile of these Arabian geographers.

Belad-el-Tibri, or the country of pure gold, seems a general name applied to all that part of Africa, south of the Upper Niger, towards the mountainous country of Kong, where gold is so abundant. “Belad-el-Tibri, or the country of pure gold,” says Bakui, “is part of the Sudans or the Blacks in the south of Africa. From Segelmessa (south of Mount Atlas,) to this country, they reckon three months journey. Here you see gold come out of the sand, as elsewhere plants out of the earth.” This is sufficient to enable us to ascertain what is meant by “Belad-el-Tibri,” and also where that country is. The Empire of Ghana, Bakui also informs us, was situate near this rich and evidently extensive district.

The land of Maly, which, according to Macrisi, is at “a very great distance” from the land of Kanem, next demands our attention. The celebrated Arabian traveller, Batouta, enables us to fix the position of this important country. This man was perhaps the greatest land traveller that ever lived. He had visited every country from China to Spain, and traversed nearly all northern Africa. An abridgment of his important travels was found by Burckhardt in Egypt. The work is become very scarce. Batouta was a native of Tangier. From Segelmessa, he set out with the slave caravan for Sudan, in the year of the Hegira 753, (A.D. 1375.) In 45 days they crossed the Desert, and reached the first town in Sudan, called Abou Laten, or Eiswalaten, perhaps Walet. From Abou Laten, he travelled to Maly, through a country abounding with large trees, in the hollow of one of which he saw a weaver at work on his loom. Ten days brought them to Zaghary, an extensive place inhabited by negro traders, and some white people of the heretic creed of Byadha, supposed to be Christians or Jews. Leaving Zaghary, but without mentioning the distance, or the bearing travelled, he came to the Nile (Niger,) at a village named Karsendjour or Kosegarten.

“From Karsendjour,” says Batouta, “the Nile flows down to Kabera, and from thence to Zagha, the inhabitants of which are Moslems of old, and strong in the faith.” In this we readily recognize Sego, whose people are to this day very rigid Mahommedans. “From Zagha,” continues Batouta, “the Nile flows down to Timbuctoo, then to Kuku, to Mouly, the last place in the country of Maly, to Bowy, (Query, can this be the same as Boussa?) which is one of the largest cities in Sudan, and the Sultan one of the most powerful in that country. No white man enters it, for he would be killed before his arrival.” From Karsendjour, the traveller “proceeded to the river called Sansera, about ten miles from Maly, and then entered Maly, where he remained two months, and received presents from Sultan Mousey Solyman, an avaricious but very just king. The women in this country never cover their nakedness till after marriage.”

From the mutability of names in Africa, it is impossible for us to fix precisely the spot where Batouta first reached the Niger. The time he took to travel from Segelmessa across the Desert, agrees very well with the distance to Walet, and from 15 to 20 days would bring him to the Niger about Yamina. His general route to this point was in all probability south. From the Niger, his course was probably to the eastward of south, which would soon bring him to the Ba Nimma, which seems to have been his river Sansera. The Maly here mentioned, there seems no reason to doubt, is the Melli of Leo, and the early Portuguese Voyagers. According to Cadamosto, it was 30 days journey S.W. from Timbuctoo, and from Leo, we learn that it was an extensive country, “extending 300 Arabian miles along a river which falleth into the Niger. It is bounded by Jinnéé on the north, Gago on the east, south by certain deserts and dry mountains, and west by huge woods and forests, stretching to the Ocean (Atlantic) Sea. The capital, Melli, contains 6000 families or more. They excel all negroes in wit, civility, and industry. They are rich, and have plenty of wares. The country yieldeth great abundance of corn, flesh, and cotton. Here are many artificers and merchants in all places. The people of Melli were the first that embraced Mahommedanism.” The identity therefore of the Maly of Batouta, and the Melli of Leo, is very apparent. This country must either be situated along the Ba Nimma, or on the Niger itself, as will be noticed more fully as we proceed in tracing the latter. According to the itineraries which Bowditch obtained from several Moors, there is at this day a place called Mali, to the west of Sego. (Bowditch, pages 484, 487, 489, and 192.)

“In 764, (A.D. 1376,) Batouta left Maly, and came to a canal or branch of the Nile, where he saw a great number of Hippopotami; and from thence, after many days, he reached Timbuctoo. It is a town of the kingdom of Maly, and a black governor, named by the Sultan of Maly, resides there. Most of its inhabitants are traders.” From thence he passed down the Nile in a canoe, till he came to Kuku, paying daily visits to the towns on the banks of the river.” Kuku is a large city, one of the finest in Sudan. Here, as well as in Maly, they use shells for currency. From thence he reached the town of Berdamma, whose inhabitants are the guardians of the caravans. Their women are beautiful. From this he went to Nekda or Tedka, built of red stones. The water with which it was supplied, runs over copper mines, and assumes a red colour, whence it is called Bahar-el-Ahmar, or Red River. The people have no employment except trade, and the copper outside of Nekda, where slaves work. The copper is melted into long pieces, which are carried to the Pagan negroes for sale, and to other places. The Sultan was of the Berber nation. From hence the traveller returned to Barbary in 1376, passing through Twat, Hekar of the Berbers, and Segelmessa, from whence he went to Faz, where his travels ended.”

From Kuku, Batouta turned homewards. The road he took from thence clearly establishes this fact. The people of Berdamma being the guardians of the caravans, and the Sultan of Nekda being of the Berber nation, fixes these places on the south side of the Great Desert, and N.E. of Timbuctoo. How far Kuku is below Timbuctoo, we are left to conjecture. From the former place he was 70 days in reaching Twat. This Oasis in the Desert is 45 days journey from Timbuctoo, nearly north. Allowing that Batouta rested no part of the 70 days mentioned, but which it is probable that he did, and taking into consideration the declination of the Niger southward below Timbuctoo, Batouta could scarcely have been more than 25 days journey below the latter place. About that distance from Timbuctoo, according to Sidi Hamed, there are two very large towns on the south bank of the Niger. Batouta’s account of the river called “Bahar-el-Ahmar,” is a curious circumstance, and seems to confirm the account given by Adams of the river which, coming from the N.E. joins the Niger at Timbuctoo, and called the Red River of the Desert.

The two great points, however, here established by this narrative of Batouta, is the account of the great kingdom of Maly, to which in these days Timbuctoo was tributary, and the information that the great city of Kuku, “famous amongst the negroes for magnitude,” was in this land of Maly, the first place of note below Timbuctoo, and upon the banks of the Niger. Modern geographers have placed Kuku N.E. of Bagharme, near 1200 miles from the Niger. Had such an important city been in these parts, it would not have escaped the knowledge of Mr. Browne’s informants, nor the researches and inquiries of the accurate and intelligent Burckhardt, who gives the routes of travellers from Dar Saley to Mourzook, over the very spot where Kuku has been erroneously placed, without once hinting that such a city existed. This grievous error concerning the situation of Kuku, has tended to confuse all the Arabian geography of Africa. The authority for placing it in the part referred to is Edrisi. But that author is very undecided and uncertain on that point. “Kuku,” says he, “is famous amongst the negroes for magnitude. It is situated on the banks of a river which, flowing from the north part, washes it, and although many negroes relate that the city of Kuku is situated on the banks of the Nile, others place it near a river flowing into the Nile. The king of Kuku is absolute, dependent upon no one, he has much attendance, and the greatest empire. The people are of a martial disposition. The governors and nobility are dressed in satin,” &c.

The accounts given by Edrisi of the magnitude and importance of Kuku, are fully confirmed, and correspond exactly with the description given by Batouta nearly two hundred years later. The position of the city, however, as mentioned by Batouta, must be relied on in preference, because he saw what he describes, and Edrisi only wrote from hearsay, and reports from travellers. Some of these reported that Kuku was not upon the Nile, that is the Gir, but “near a river flowing into the Nile,” which is the fact, by Kuku standing upon the banks of the Niger. Edrisi had evidently very imperfect accounts of the river we call the Niger, and not sufficient to enable him to distinguish it from the Nile or Gir, which ran westward till it met the former. Scheabeddin informs us, that the country between Abyssinia and Syene, through which the Nile of Egypt passed, was called Coucou; and modern authorities tell us, that near Lake Fittre is a country called Dar Cooka, but neither of these were, or could be, the Kuku of Batouta. The city as it is at present placed, is situated in the land of Kanem, whereas Batouta distinctly states it to be in the land of Maly, which Macrisi informs us is at “a very great distance” from the former.

There are some particulars regarding the kingdom of Melli, which require further consideration. According to Leo, it was bounded south by a desert and bare mountains. In this we readily recognize the high and bleak hills of Kong. But he states that, on the west it is bounded by huge woods and forests, which stretch to the ocean, that is to the Atlantic. In this he seems evidently to have had in view the vast woody and hilly country west of the Niger, and its course above Bammakoo. Perhaps these vast countries were in those days but little known to the followers of Mahomet, and therefore supposed to be little else but continued woods and forests. Indeed Abulfeda calls these coasts “uncultivated, uninhabited, and unfrequented countries.” Melli, however, seems to have been a name which extended over a great part of the most western portion of Africa. The name was quite familiar to the early European navigators. Cada Mosto in 1455 was informed, when in the Gambia, that the chiefs up that river, ten days journey distant, “were subservient to the king of Melli, the great emperor of the negroes,” (Clarke’s Mar. Dis. p. 279.) According to Barbot, some navigators make the limits of Sierra Leone extend “north to Cape Verga, making it border on the kingdom of Melli that way.” (Clarke, Mar. Dis. p. 314.) The early Dutch navigators in 1600 state, that the coast from Cape Verde to Cape Palmas, was called Melligette, where the kingdom of Melli was situated. This kingdom of Melli hath another under it called Bitonni, which lyeth not far from the Rio Cestos. (Purchas, vol. ii. p. 928.) This shews how far the fame and authority of Melli extended in those days, and that, though the centre of its power was on the upper Niger, it nevertheless overawed or claimed respect from the most distant parts in the south-most portion of Africa[3].

Cada Mosto particularly mentions, that Melli was the great channel of the gold trade with Timbuctoo, Barbary, Tunis, and Cairo. Salt was a great article of barter for gold dust, and was brought from Tegazza in the Great Desert. The people of Melli were the carriers of these articles, and Cada Mosto and several other authorities mention a strange circumstance, that this barter was effected with negroes whom the Melli merchants never saw. The latter carried their salt to the banks of a great water, and placing it there in parcels, left it. Other negroes then came in boats from islands adjacent, and finding the salt, laid a quantity of gold beside it equal to what they conceived the value of the salt to be, and then retired. The Melli merchants returned, and if they were satisfied with the quantity of gold, took it, left the salt, and departed, without having seen or spoken to the other merchants. (Clarke, Mar. Dis. p. 245.) According to Wadstrom, the negroes who carry on this singular traffic, inhabit the interior countries to the north of the Grain and the Gold coast. The Great Water to which Cada Mosto was informed the salt was carried for this singular trade, was therefore, in all probability, the Niger in its upper course, and eastern branch on the lake, which is probably formed at the confluence of its branches.

Having thus briefly considered Batouta’s important narrative, the land of Maly and Kuku, the most important city in Sudan, situated in the land of Maly, we shall now proceed to give the account of the course and termination of the Nile or Gir, according to the authority of different Arabian geographers. It is the Gir of Ptolemy with which they were acquainted, and to which all their descriptions apply. Scheabeddin, who flourished about the year 1400, follows the ideas of Ptolemy about the Mountains of the Moon being situated beyond the equator, from which mountains the Egyptian Nile takes its rise. “It cuts,” says he, “horizontally the equator in its course north. Many sources come from this mountain, and unite in a great lake. From this lake comes the Nile, the greatest and most beautiful of the rivers of all the earth. Many rivers derived from this great river water Nubia, and the country of Djenawa.” His account of the sources of the Nile south of the equator are grossly erroneous, but the account related, in the Arabic mode of expression, that a river or rivers flowing from it “waters the country of Djenawa,” is most important, because Djenawa is the Arabic name for the country we call Guinea, and by them used in a much more extended sense and meaning. It in fact comprehends Africa from the Gold Coast to the borders of the Great Zahaara[4].

Edrisi, however, who was born in Nubia, and wrote in Egypt, gives us a more accurate account of the sources of what was then known as the Nile of Sudan. “In part 4th of climate 1st, (climate 1st extends from the equator to the tropic of Cancer,) viz. in that part of Ethiopia, south and south-west of Nubia, says he, “is seen the separating of the two Niles. The one flows from south to north into Egypt, and the other part of the Nile flows from the east to the utmost bounds of the west, and upon this branch of the Nile lie all, or at least the most celebrated kingdoms of the negroes. The blacks mostly inhabit the banks of the Nile, or streams that flow into it. It waters the country from east to west.” Here the westerly course is most distinctly marked out by both authors. By the term “separating,” we are not to understand the separation of the two rivers, as if the one really flowed from the other, but their separation as rising and taking different courses in a region, not at a particular spot. Scheabeddin’s term “derived from,” is tantamount to the same thing, and both are a mode of expression quite common and familiar in all eastern countries, and particularly with Arabian writers. Abulfeda also confirms this account of the westerly course of the Nile. Leo also states the same thing, though he is extremely confused between the accounts which he had heard, and that which he must have seen, namely, that the Niger, a different river, ran from west to east.

“In climate 1st, part 1st,” says Edrisi, “are the cities of Ulil, Salla, Tocrur, Dau, Berissa, and Musa, all situated in the Negroes’ country of Mecrara. In the island of Ulil, which stands not far from the continent, are those famous salt-pits, the only ones we know in all the countries of the negroes, whence they are every where supplied with salt. Men coming to this island load their vessels with salt, and direct their course to the mouth of the Nile, which is at the distance of one day’s sail. Along the Nile they afterwards pass by Salla, Tocrur, Berissa, and other provinces of Ghana, Vancara, and Caugha. These countries are subject to intense heat. Therefore the inhabitants of the first, second, and some parts of the third climate are black.” Meghrara, or Meczara, says Ibn-al-Vardi, “is in the territory of the Sudans, or the Blacks. The principal city is named Oulili. It is situated on the shore of the sea. There is salt pits, and a great trade in salt.” Scheabeddin, already quoted, indeed says, that the branch of the Nile which passes westward through “the country of Djenawa, does not flow to the sea, but only to the end of the inhabited part of the land of Ghana.” The end of the land of Ghana, there is little doubt, is the termination of this river, because it thereabouts joins the Niger; but that it does not terminate in this place, Edrisi assures us, when he states that the river runs through the Negroes country of Meczara, which Ibn-al-Vardi says is south of the land of Ghana. He also agrees with Edrisi in the farther course of the river, when he mentions that Tocrur, which is in Meczara, is situated on the south-west bank. Scheabeddin’s meaning, therefore, can only be, that, at the point mentioned, it joined another river, or that its further progress was unknown to him. Had it here terminated in a lake, he would scarcely have omitted to state it.

The salt pits, and a great trade in salt into the interior clearly fixes the mouth of the river on the sea-shore. We shall search the west coast of Africa in vain, for any thing resembling the account given by Edrisi, except in the Delta of Benin. There the island of Fernando Po is exactly one day’s sail from the mouth of a great river. Opposite this island, and on the mainland, are numerous salt pits. To this day, to this hour, a great trade in salt is carried on from these parts up the rivers far into the interior. It is the chief employment of the natives, and has hitherto been the principal trade which they followed, the slave-trade excepted.

In all these accounts, from different authorities, the Nile of Egypt and the Nile of Sudan are clearly and most distinctly stated to be different rivers. But we have yet an earlier authority than any of these authors mentioned, to shew that they are so. In Macrisi’s History of Egypt, we have related the travels of Ibn Selym Assouany, a native of Egypt, who travelled through Nubia, and upwards to the Bahr-el-Abiad, as early as about the year 200 of the Hegira (A.D. 822.) “When on the banks of the Bahr-el-Abiad,” says Selym, “I inquired at the Moggrebbin (negro) travellers whom I met there, and who had travelled in Sudan, about the Nile of their country, they stated that it rose in mountains of sand, (confines of the Desert perhaps they meant) and that it collects in Sudan into large seas, (or lakes;) that it is unknown where it afterwards flowed to, and that its colour was not white.” Here is the most convincing proof that the rivers were different. Standing on the banks of the Bahr-el-Abiad, they must have known if it was the same river which passed through their country (Sudan.) When they state that they were ignorant of the termination of the Nile of Sudan, and that its colour was not white, like the colour of the Bahr-el-Abiad, they in fact distinctly state, that the latter was a different river from the former.

The interior of Northern Africa was visited by Leo Africanus, an intelligent Mahommedan, about 300 years ago. His accounts, as these relate to the general features of the country, the kingdoms, productions, and trade, are in several instances of great importance. There is a confusion, or rather want of accuracy in some particulars, which is to be regretted. This arises perhaps from errors in translating his work, and also from the transmutation of proper names from the Arabic into the Italian, and afterwards into other languages. As several parts of his narrative will be referred to more properly in another place, the notice taken of it in this part of our subject shall necessarily be brief.

His account of Melli we have already considered. The next kingdom of importance is Genni or Jinnee, which is bounded north by Gualata, south by Melle, and east by Timbuctoo. The length, he says, is 500 Arabic miles, and its extent 250 miles along the Niger, bordering upon the Ocean Sea, in the same place where the Niger falleth into the said sea. This region, during July, August, and September, is yearly environed with the overflowings of the Niger in manner of an island, all which time the merchants of Timbuctoo convey their merchandise hither in certain canoes or narrow boats, made of one tree, which they row all day long, but at night they bind to the shore and lodge themselves upon the land. This country was once subject to the Lybians, (Gualata) afterwards it was tributary to King Soni Heli, (Morocco,) and next to Izchia, King of Timbuctoo.” (Purchas, vol. ii. p. 827.) Either Leo or his translator here confounds two things which are radically distinct[5]. The kingdom of Jinnee or Genni is totally different from the country named, (at least in its extended and general meaning,) Gheneoa, Ghenehoa, Genowa, Genawa, or Djenawa, which signifies Guinea, in its most extended meaning. The kingdom of Genni does extend along the Niger, and perhaps from it the whole country southward might derive the general name of Genowa or Djenawa. The kingdom of Jinnee, however, in its restricted and proper sense, does not border upon the Ocean Sea, (Atlantic) but upon Lake Dibbie, whereas Gheneoa or Genawa, (Guinea) does border upon the Ocean Sea, and “in the same place where the Niger entereth that sea.” De Bry, in his Hist. Ind. Orient. states upon the authority of the early European navigators, that “Benni, or Benin, is esteemed to be part of the Gold Coast and Guinea,” (Purchas, vol. ii. p. 965.) The words “Ocean Sea,” invariably mean the Atlantic Ocean, and are never applied by the Arabs to designate a lake, though the word “sea” frequently is. El Hagi Shabeeny establishes the fact that Genawa and Guinea, are the same, when he relates “that fish oil, a great article of trade, is brought from the neighbourhood of the sea, by Genawa to Houssa and Timbuctoo; dearer at Timbuctoo than at Houssa, and dearer at Houssa than at Genawa.” (Jackson’s Shabeeny, p. 28.): thus clearly pointing out the quarter and the course of this trade. The length also of Gheneoa, as recorded by Leo, viz. 500 Arabic miles (625 British) from north to south, would point out, that this country and the kingdom of Jinnee were different, for that distance would extend from Lake Dibbie almost to the mouth of the Rio Lagos.

Timbuctoo, according to Leo, was situated on a branch of the Niger, and was founded in the year of the Hegira 610 (A.D. 1232.) In his days Timbuctoo had subjected to its authority all the neighbouring states, viz. Jinnee, Melli, Cassina, Gago, Guber, &c. Kabra, a large town on the Niger, and the port of that city, was distant from it about 12 Arabic (14½ British) miles. Here the negroes resorted in great numbers from all quarters, and embarking with their merchandise, sailed westward to Jinnee and Melli. Timbuctoo was then, and has ever since, been the great emporium of the trade of Central Africa. The inhabitants were represented as wealthy and industrious, particularly while they were subject to Morocco.

The great city and powerful kingdom of Gago was situated (the capital) about 400 Arabic miles distant from Timbuctoo, a little to the southward of east. The merchants were exceeding rich, and every thing was abundant. The country abounded with corn and cattle, but fruits and wine were scarce. The position of Gago by this reckoning would be in about 10° or 10° 30′ N. Lat. and from 4° to 5° E. Long.[6] South of Gago also, according to other authorities, lay the once powerful kingdom of Eyeo, or Haiho or Hio, which once commanded Dahomy. Dalzel supposes that Eyeo and Gago were the same. According to Bowditch, Hio lies in about 8½° N. Lat. and 4½° E. Long. The people of Acca, or Akim, on the coast of Guinea, carried on a great trade to Tonowah, Gago, and Meczara, and the frontiers of Acca extended north to those of Tonowah. (Leyden’s Africa.) From the Report of Sir George Collier, printed by order of the House of Commons in June 1820, we learn that Dahomy at this day carries on a great trade with Gago. The territories of this kingdom in early times, no doubt, were of considerable extent, and comprehended several adjoining kingdoms and states, which are now become independent or subject to other powerful neighbours, such as Dahomy. Gago, in the days of Leo, who visited it, was bounded on the west by Melli and on the east by Guber.

Eastward of Gago lay the kingdom of Guber, 300 Arabic (370 British) miles distant from the former capital. “Between the two kingdoms lay a vast desert, much destitute of water, for it is distant from the Niger 40 miles. Guber is environed with high mountains, and containeth many villages, peopled with shepherds. There is abundance of cattle, great and small. The capital contained 6000 families, amongst whom were all kinds of merchants. At the inundation of the Niger all the fields in this region are overflowed, and then the inhabitants cast their seed into the water only.” (Purchas, vol. ii. p. 829.) The position of Guber, we are enabled to fix with considerable precision. According to Bowditch, p. 211, Guber, or Goobur, is 10 days journey from the Niger through the territories of Yaoora, and, skirting the eastern limits of the kingdom of Zamfra or Zamfara, and in the direct road from Yaoora to Cashna. From Goobur to the latter place is a journey of eight days, and “across a great river.” From the accounts which Mr. Ritchie obtained at Mourzook, Guber was the first place in the road from Cashna to Timbuctoo, and Zamfra the next. (Quarterly Review, May, 1820.) These accounts correspond very exactly with Leo, and shew that Guber, a country environed with hills, is situated near the eastern river or the Gir, for on a river it is situated, being inundated completely during the floods. Leo has, in this instance, mistaken the one river for the other; but which, the authority of Bowditch and Ritchie enables us to correct. By looking at the map, and attending to the future narrative, we will perceive, that a desert, or bare mountainous district, does, according to Leo, lie westward of the Niger, and in the direction of Gago.

The great province of Cano, certainly the once famous empire of Ghana, is, according to Leo, “500 miles eastward of the river Niger. Here is abundance of corn, rice, and cotton; the inhabitants are partly herdsmen, and partly husbandmen. Here are also many deserts and wild woody mountains, containing many springs of water. In the woods are plenty of wild citrons and lemons. In the midst of the province is the capital of the same name. The walls and houses are built of chalk. The inhabitants are a civil people, and rich merchants. The king was formerly of great puissance, and had mighty troops of horsemen at his command.” In the days of Leo, it paid tribute to Izchia (Timbuctoo. Purchas, vol. ii. p. 829.) Speaking of Ghana, Edrisi, says, “that the palace was founded in 510 (A.D. 1132.) No other king has so many captains, who, every morning, come to his house on horseback. He has abundance of rich ornaments and horses. He has many troops, who march each with their colours under his royal banner, &c. In Ghana are two cities, situated on the two opposite shores of what they called a fresh water sea; and it is the largest, most populous, and wealthiest, in all the negro countries.” There is no difficulty in recognizing, in the Cano of Leo, the Ghana of Edrisi. Four hundred years, however, had greatly changed its fortunes and splendour. The distance of Cano from the Niger, as placed by Leo, is, perhaps, too much; yet, if he calculates the distance actually travelled, his error cannot be great. According to Bowditch, p. 212, Kano is in the direct road from Yaoora to Bornou, and 28 days journey from the former. Bornou, he says, is 52 days journey from Yaoora. From the accounts which Mr. Ritchie received, Cano is 12 days journey west from Bornou, (the capital,) and situated upon the great river, which passes half a day’s journey south of the latter. This river is called Tshadi. (Quarterly Review, May, 1820.) From this account, Cano would be 40 journeys (Bowditch makes it only 28) from the Niger, which, at 14 miles per day, is 560 geographical miles, corresponding very accurately with the distance as given by Leo in Arabic miles.

The great point established by these authorities, is the existence of Cano or Ghanah upon a great river, but not upon the Niger, and the wild woody mountains, with many springs of water, with the abundance of corn, rice, and cotton, herdsmen, and husbandmen, all shew a country very different from what has been supposed, and one where rivers must increase, not decrease.

Cassena, or Kashna, according to Leo, is full of mountains and dry fields, which, notwithstanding, yield great store of barley and mill-seed (supposed Indian and Guinea corn.) The inhabitants, when he visited it, were rude, and dwelt in forlorn cottages. By a mistake, Cassena is placed east of Cano. This, however, is not the fact. Bowditch, Ritchie, and various other authorities, shew it is west of Cano. Lucas places it about five days journey north from the great river, and in this Bowditch nearly agrees; but from the accounts obtained by Ritchie, Kashna was upon a river, there named Gulbe, and as broad as from the gate of Tripoli to the Bazaar in the sands, or one-third of a mile. (Quarterly Review, May, 1820.) Perhaps this may be a tributary stream, descending from the northward, and the mountains about to be mentioned.

Agadez is enumerated as a kingdom by Leo, but it is so well known, that we shall pass it over in this place. The southern parts were inhabited by shepherds and herdsmen. Agadez was said to be distant from Cano about 160 leagues. The kingdom of Zegzeg, mentioned by Leo, is about 150 miles from Cassena, and its south-east parts border upon Cano. The inhabitants are rich, and have great traffic into other nations. Their houses are built like the houses of Cassena. The fields abound with water, and are exceedingly fruitful. Some parts of the country are plain and some mountainous. The mountains are exceedingly cold, but the plains are intolerably hot. Because they can hardly endure the sharpness of the winter, they kindle great fires in the midst of their houses, laying the coals thereof under their high bed-steads, and so betake themselves to sleep.” (Purchas, vol. ii. p. 830.) This country appears to be situated in about 19° or 20° of north latitude, and corresponds very nearly with the position of the Usurgala mountains of Ptolemy. The excessive degree of cold shews the great height of the mountains, and lays before us these interior parts of Africa, under very different features indeed to those we have been called upon to behold. From these mountains numerous and powerful streams certainly flow, and must take their course southward. Accordingly, in the maps by Ortelius in 1570, and others of a latter date, various rivers are represented as descending in this direction, and forming a junction with the Niger. From the accounts obtained by Ritchie, Zegzeg lay in the road from Kashna to Timbuctoo, and west of Nyffe. (Quarterly Review, May, 1820.) If so, then it is several degrees farther to the southward, and, from the degree of cold mentioned, the height of the mountains must be still greater. Though the boundaries mentioned by Leo are not sufficiently clear, yet, being in this instance supported by other authorities, the position given is, perhaps, the safest to rely on. Yet, if Leo is correct, that Zegzeg touches southward upon Zamfra, it must be more southerly than the Usurgala mountains of Ptolemy. According to Ledyard, Zamfra lay to the east of Kashna. From Bowditch, page 211, it would appear to lie S.W. of Kassena; and Leo says Zamfra borders eastward upon Zezgeg; in which case, the position as given to Ritchie, would appear to be the most correct. Amongst such conflicting testimony it is difficult to be perfectly accurate. Zamfra was, in the days of Leo, inhabited by a rustical people, subject to Timbuctoo. Their fields abounded with rice, millet, and cotton.

The kingdom of Guangara, according to Leo, adjoineth south-westerly upon Zamfra, and eastward it had the kingdom of Bornou. From Bowditch, p. 212, we find that this is the case; for there seems no reason to doubt that Oongooroo is the Guangara of Leo. South of this country lay a region greatly abounding in gold. From the accounts given by Leo of their mode of travelling thither, and mules being the chief beasts of burthen, it is evident that the country was exceedingly mountainous and rugged. Guangara, there is the best reason to believe, is the Vancara of the early Arabian geographers. This country, according to Edrisi, was “famous for the excellency and abundance of its gold,” and, according to Ibn-al-Vardi, it was “the country of gold and aromatics.” The Nile surrounded it on three sides, and, after the inundation subsided, the gold was found in abundance. They called it an island, and said it was 300 miles in length, and 150 miles in breadth.

The large province of Bornou, according to Leo, extended eastward from Guangara 500 miles, till it reached the limits of Gaogo. It (that is Bornou) is distant, says he, from the fountain (lake) of Niger almost 150 miles. This distance agrees very nearly with the Lake Caudee, or Fittre. The south part adjoineth the Desert of Seu, and the north part stretcheth to that Desert which extends toward Barca. The monarch was very powerful, and had frequent wars with a powerful people south of the Desert of Seu. The position of Bornou, as here given, is we know sufficiently accurate. Leo clearly brings the river, which passes through it from the eastward, and from the Lake Fittre. Beyond that he had no accurate idea of the Misselad to the S.E. though he states it was reported that the Niger really rose in the Desert of Seu, (that is S.E. of Lake Fittre,) while others said that it was derived from Nilus, which, after disappearing for a space, at last burst up in the Lake mentioned. From the accounts received by Ritchie, we learn that the capital of Bornou is half a day’s journey north of the great river. The port of the city is called Gambarou, where there are the remains of castles and houses formerly inhabited by Christians, (Quart. Rev. May, 1820,) the refugees, no doubt, who sought shelter in the interior of Africa from the fury of the early Mahommedan conquerors.

Gaogo and Nubia are the next kingdoms enumerated by Leo. But, regarding these, nothing remarkable is stated, and it is sufficient here to state, that in those parallels of latitude, they extended from the confines of Bornou to the Nile. All these kingdoms Leo visited, and, in the features of the country, manners and customs of the inhabitants, and in the trade and productions of each of them, he could not be mistaken. Therefore his information is valuable; and we shall see, as we proceed, that modern authority bears him out in most of his leading facts.

One thing is plain, from the consideration of all these ancient authorities, that the interior of Northern Africa is traversed by many mighty rivers, and is also filled with stupendous mountains. Every one of these authorities also agree in the westerly course of the rivers which rise westward of Darfur, and that the great stream which absorbs the whole of them is a distinct river from the Egyptian Nile.

Their confusion regarding the Gir and the Niger being the same, or one stream, we can clear up and account for. For these reasons I have dwelt upon this part of my subject longer than was at first intended. In his account of the great natural features of a country, such as rivers, mountains, lakes, inundated roads, or dry deserts, an Arab cannot be mistaken, and his authority is a guide sufficiently safe. In his names of places, in his bearings and distances, it is very different, and it is there that in following him great caution is necessary. These distances and bearings are, and become so different,—as their journeys are undertaken by the slow, unwieldy caravan, the saint begging his way on foot, the single unencumbered traveller, the messenger urging his way on horseback, or the Moor or Arab mounted on his camel or fleet dromedary—these are so different, that unless each mode is specifically mentioned, there is no possibility of approximating the truth but by a careful attention to, and comparing a variety of them with each other. The distance also from place to place is frequently calculated from capital to capital, sometimes from the capital of one state to the confines of another; sometimes the name of the capital is placed for the name of the kingdom, and the name of the kingdom for the name of the capital; and sometimes both or either are named after some particular thing for which they may have become famous. The name of a river is also frequently substituted for a country, and the name of a country for a river in it. Without being able to determine the distances accurately, it is consequently impossible to fix the bearings correctly, even where these are faithfully taken, which, however, are very seldom found to be the case, particularly when not upon any one of the four chief points of the compass.

These things, together with the ignorance of the Arabic and Negro languages amongst those who have hitherto attempted to explore, or endeavoured to obtain information concerning Northern Africa, have been the sole cause why the geography of the interior has remained so long a mystery. As those are understood, however, the other is elucidated, and as those are rendered clear, the geography of Africa, like the geography of every other quarter of the globe, appears simple and natural. Thus, for instance, Belad-el-Sudan signifies all Africa south of the Great Desert inhabited by negroes, and, therefore, the Sea of Sudan can be no other than that sea on its southern shores, or the great Gulph of Guinea. Bahr-el-Gazalle is not a river, but a fine valley adapted to pasturage. Houssa, according to Horneman, is not a name applied to a particular district, but a great portion of Africa north of the Niger, comprehending many kingdoms and states. Wangara, there is good reason to believe, besides being the name of a province, is also a term applied to all Africa south of the Niger, if not also the countries between it and the great Desert; in short, of all the country through which rivers flow, in contra-distinction to the Zahaara or Great Desert. Such was the explanation given to Mr. Hutchison, (see Bowditch, p. 206,) and such the accounts given to Mr. Ritchie, (Quart. Rev. May, 1820,) as well as other authorities. Dar Kulla, or rather Deaar Kulla, signifies a country full of houses, (Jackson’s Shabeeny, p. 479.) and the same authority, pages 444 and 487, informs us, that Bahar Kulla, or Bahar Kulha, signifies the sea altogether, or an alluvial country.

In like manner, all the names applied to the river we call the Niger, are used to distinguish it from the Nile of Egypt. The latter is invariably called the “Neel Shem,” or the “Neel Masser,” while the Niger is termed “Neel-el-Abeed,” (Nile of Slaves,) “Neel Assudan,” (Nile of Sudan,) and “Neel-el-Kabeer,” or great Nile. (Jackson’s Shabeeny, p. 443, and Transactions of African Association, p. 222.) Regarding the different seas which surround Africa, the Western Ocean is called Bahar Kabeer, or Bahar Addolum, the Great Sea, or the Sea of Darkness. The term Bahar el Mâleh, is applied generally to a salt sea; but the term, says Mr. Jackson, and only term applied by the Moors to the Mediterranean Sea, is the “Bahar Segrer,” literally the Small Sea, (Jackson’s Shabeeny, p. 489.)

Bearing these things in mind, we shall, without much difficulty, clear up many points apparently very confused in African geography. That the Niger enters the Atlantic Ocean we have many direct testimonies. Although Ptolemy was unacquainted with the outlets of the river, he evidently believed that it had one in that direction. Edrisi and Ibn-al-Vardi distinctly state that such is the case; and unless the transcriber, or translators of Leo, have supplied a word which he never wrote, namely, the “Ocean Sea,” that celebrated traveller, who made very diligent inquiries of the merchants who came to Timbuctoo from those coasts, states the same thing. Mr. Horneman was very pointedly informed that the Niger ran southward of Nyffe till it joined the Bahar Kulla, or Bahar Kulha, and Park was told the same thing. Windhus was informed at Morocco, in 1721, that “the Niger, or Black’s River, had a passage into the Southern Sea.” According to the Report of the Committee of Council, Mr. Barnes states, that “the Niger discharges itself into a large lake; that he has heard from the black traders that there are white inhabitants on the borders of that lake—that they dress in the style of the Barbary Moors, and wear turbans, but do not speak Arabic.” There is scarcely any room to doubt that this alludes to the Portuguese, and other European settlements on the coast of Guinea towards Benin.

Besides these authorities, El Hage Shabeeny says most pointedly, that he “always understood the Niger run into the sea, the Salt Sea, or Great Ocean,” on the coast of Genawa, or Guinea. (Jackson’s Shabeeny, p. 40.) Mr. Beaufoy was informed by an intelligent Moor, that “below Ghinea, (that is Genawa, Djenawa, or Guinea,) is the sea into which the river of Timbuctoo disembogues itself, and that boats went with the stream to Ghinea.” Mr. Grey Jackson, who had received much information concerning the interior of Africa, states, that it is “the general African opinion, that the Neel-el-Abeed (Niger) discharges itself into the Salt Sea,” (Bahar el Mâleh,) which he clearly and unequivocally shews is a different sea from the Mediterranean. (Jackson’s Shabeeny, p. 518 and 489.) The Moors told Bowditch and Hutchison at Coomassie, that the Niger ran into the Bahar le Malee, or Baramela, (page 205, Bowditch,) which Mr. Jackson, page 489, clearly shews is a corruption of the Arabic words Bahar el Mâleh, or the Salt Sea. By reports collected for the African Association, from 1790 to 1798, they were told that “the Niger was lost in the sands to the south of Timbuctoo,” which could only mean the sea-shore on the Bight of Benin. The natives on the coasts of Benin and Biafra, assert that all the rivers in the Delta come from one great river which descends from the north. (Robertson’s Notes, and other authorities.) As these sheets were preparing for the press, a further confirmation of this important point was received in the account given by a sailor named Scot, belonging to Liverpool, who was wrecked about Cape Nun, and carried into slavery by the Arabs of the Desert. While in this state, he was carried, along with a tribe, across the Desert into Sudan, and with them he crossed Lake Dibbie, or what he calls “Bahar Tee-eb,” the sea of fresh water, or the sea where boats can go. There he was told by some negro boatmen who rowed them over the Lake, that, very far to the south there “lay a great salt water sea; that the one they were on run into it; that there was no end to it; that there were plenty of Saffina el kabeer (large ships,) upon it, and that they called it Bahar el Kabeer,” that is, the great sea. (Edin. Philosoph. Journ. No. 7.) As we proceed, other authorities will be adduced.

With these general observations, I shall proceed without further remark to the chief object in view, namely, to trace the course, and to point out the termination of the Niger and its tributary streams. In following out this subject I shall endeavour to be as concise as possible. The best authorities also are taken as my guide. “The Niger,” said Park in the last dispatch that he wrote which has reached Britain, “can terminate no where else but in the sea.” In this he was correct. In the sea it must and does terminate.