Note 28 — Chapter I

“According to these statements of the Moorish traders, Adams would seem to have mistaken the course of the stream at Tombuctoo. In fact, I do not recollect that he told me at Mogadore that it flowed in a westerly direction: but, I think, I am correct in saying, that he discovered some uncertainty in speaking upon this subject, (and almost upon this subject alone) observing, in answer to my inquiries, that he had not taken very particular notice, and that the river was steady, without any appearance of a strong current.” Dupuis on Adams.

Adams’s name, La-mar-Zarah (for of course he did not attach La mar to indicate water, but pronounced La-mar-Zarah, as an integral name) seems accounted for by his confounding or connecting the Arabic name of the river, Lahamar, with the Negro name Yça (for we find these names in Marmol, tom. 3. liv. 8.) making Lahamar-yça, La-mar-Zarah.