a vegetable substance which he called grass, but which,
from his description appeared to be the palmeta (called
dome by the Arabs), and the hut, I think he told me, was
afterwards covered with clay.
This description corresponds in all respects with those
which I have received from the Arab and Moorish
traders. D.
Note 13, p. 25.
I do not at all recollect either by what name Adams
spoke of the river of Timbuctoo, when he mentioned it to
me at Mogadore, or that I have ever heard it called La
Mar Zarah, by any of the traders with whom I have conversed.
If I were to hazard a conjecture on so uncertain
a subject, I might suppose that Adams had made a slight
mistake in repeating this name ; and that he should have
said, El Bahar Sahara, which in Arabic would mean the
Desert Sea, or the River of the Desert. His pronunciation
of Arabic was at all times indistinct, and often quite
incorrect; and I remember other words in which he interchanged
the sound of different consonants in the manner
that I have here supposed. However, La Mar Zarah may
very possibly be the name of the river in the language of
the Negroes.
Another question here suggests itself, whether the river
mentioned by Adams is really the great river Niger ; or
whether it is only a branch of it flowing from the south-
east parts of the Desert, and falling into the principal
stream not far from Timbuctoo ?
The river of Timbuctoo (which I have always supposed
to be the Niger itself) is called by the traders of Barbary,
indiscriminately by the several names of Wed-Nile, Bahar-
Nile, or Bahar-Abide. The same people have described it
to me in a situation corresponding with that in the Narrative
; at a very short distance from the town, and as
pursuing its course through fertile countries on the east
and south-east borders of the Desert; after which it is
generally supposed in Barbary to fall into the Nile of
Egypt.
According to these statements of the Moorish traders,
Adams would seem to have mistaken the course of the
stream at Timbuctoo. 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 tq my
inquiries, that he had not taken very particular notice, and
that the river was steady, without any appearance of a
strong current.