boatmen o f Timbuctoo complained to the Cadi, that i f these people were permitted to go to and from Jinnie, they would lose their business, as their boats performed the passage at less expense, and in h a lf the time. On this suggestion the Cadi ordered them out o f the country : some report that th e y were all poisoned, and their boats broken to pieces, and that since then none o f their vessels have been used westward o f this la k e : the boats are described to be about forty cubits* in length, and eight in brteadth, having the planks fastened together by shreet, or bass rope, and carry one hundred and fifty or two hundred men, and forty tons o f goods ; they have no sails, but when tire tvind is favourable, two oars are set up perpendicularly on each side o f the boat, to which is fastened a large hayk, or spreading garment, which serves as a substitute for a s a i l : these boats are rowed b y sixteen o a fs : at night they come to anchor by throwing a large stone overboard tied to a rope or cable, as before mentioned, which serves as an anchor. W ith regard to the water communication between T im b u c too and Cairo, there is no doubt but such a communication exists ; it does not, however, facilitate the purposes o f transport, the expense o f land carriage by means o f camels being more moderate than that b y water, besides the advantages to a trav e lle r o f a continued succession o f rich and fertile country, make the journey rather an excursion o f pleasure when compared to the toils o f a desert, where heat and thirst are so much dreaded by the weary traveller. In the interior o f A f r ic a ; and among the rich traders tvho engage in this traffic across the Continent, there is but one opinion with regard to the N ile o f * Seven cubits make four yards. Egypt and the Nile ofEimbucloo, and that opinion is, that they are one and the same river, or rather that the latter is the western branch o j the former. It may be further observed, that the source o f the Nile o f Timbuctoo is at the foot o f the western branch o f the chain o f mountains called Jibbel Kumra, or Mountains o f the Moon, where it forms (metja) a swamp ; and on the western side o f the same mountain is another lake or swamp, which is the source o f the Senegal r iv e r ; hence the established African opinion, that the Senegal and Nile have the same source, although these two meijas are separated b y the mountain : the copious springs, which throw the water up with great force, are v e r y numerous, and are found on both sides o f the mountain, that is on the eastern as well as on the western side. The western, stream takes a northerly direction, as does also the eastern stream, which is increased in its course by va rious others issuing from the Jibbel Kumri, more to the east o f the source, before described ; but where the two streams unife (i. e the Nile o f Egypt, and that o f Soudan) is not accurately ascertained.* It is proper, also, to observe, that the Africans express * An African manuscript, written by Seedi Mohammed ben Amran So.u- danie, who, however, I do not quote as an author of the first respectability, has the following passage, which I have translated for the curious reader. Respecting the Neele it has been ascertained by various travellers, that it hath (besides many inferior) two principal sources, one of which latter is the larger source, and rises at the foot of the* Jibbei Kumri, (i. e. a chain of mountains which extend from east to west across Africa, passing through lat. N. 10°) north ofGenowa (Guinea), where it forms a lake or swamp, out of which proceeds another river, which, passing N. W througTi Soudan discharges itself near Aseoagha (Senegal), in the El Bafiar Kabeer (id est, the Western or Atlantic ocean); the larger source proceeds northward, and entering the ¿ountry of Bambara, takes an eastern direction, and passing through the city of Segoo, J in n ^ , and. Kabra near Timbuctoo, it .continues its course through W angara; between the two latter cities, it receives from the south two auxiliary streams of considerable .magnitude,
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