their astonishment whenever the Europeans dispute the connection o f these two rivers, ju s t ly observing, that it is a fo lly to dispute a thing w hich the experience o f a succession o f ages has proved to be t ru e ; indeed it is remarkable how many empty hypotheses and idle reasonings the course o f this river, or the Egyptian Nile, has given rise t o ; but there are people so bigotted to the opinions which are founded on these empty hypotheses as to disregard the relation o f travellers who have actually been upon the spot, and who have, b y the evidence of their eyes, confuted all that has been written on the subject. In confirmation o f the opinion that there is a navigable communication between Timbuctoo in Soudan, and Cairo inE g yp t, the following circumstance was related to me b y a v e ry intelligent man, who has, at this time, an establishment in the former c i t y : In the year 1780, a party o f seventeen Jinnie Negroes proceeded in a canoe, to Timbuctoo, on a commercial speculation; they understood the Arabic language, and could read the Korau: the y bartered their merchandize several times during the passage, and reached Cairo, after a voyage o f fourteen months, during which they liv ed upon rice' and other produce, which they procured at the different towns they visited ; they reported that there are twelve hundred cities and towns, with mosques or towers in them, between Timbuctoo and Cairo, built on or which increase it so that the whole flat country of W angara is one immense morass, formed by the overflowing of the waters: one of these auxiliary streams falls into the Neele 10 erhellat (i. e. 10 days journey) east of Timbuctoo; the other at Wangara, and the whole body of accumulated water hence, aptly denominated the Neele El Kabeer (the Great Nile), proceeds eastward till it communicates with the Neele Masser (the Nile of Egypt); the distance between the soured of the greater Nile and its junction with the Nile of Egypt, is 99 erhellat ©f continual travelling.* near the banks o f (the Nile el Aheede, and the N ile Massar) the Nile o f Soudan, and the N ile o f Egyp t. During this vo y a g e they remained in .many; towns several days, when trade, curiosity, or . inclination induced them to sojourn: in three places th e y found the Nile so shallow, by reason o f the numerous channels which are cut froth the mainstream, for the purpose o f irrigating the lands o f the adjacent country, that they could not proceed in the boat, which they transported over land, till they found the water flowing again in sufficient body to float i t ; they also met with three considerable cataracts, the principal o f w hich was at the entrance from the west o f W an g a ra ; here also they transported the boat by land until passing the fall o f water, they floated it again in an immense (merja) lake, whose opposite shore was not visible ; at night they threw a large stone overboard as a substitute for an anchor, and watch was re gu lar ly kept to guard against the attacks o f crocodiles, elephants, and r iv e r horses, w h ich abound in various parts. W h en they arrived at Cairo they joined the great accumulated caravan o f the west, called A kkabah el Garbie, and proceeded therewith through Barca ,Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and A n g ad , to Fas and Marocco, where they jo ined the A kka caravan, and again reached Jinnie, after an absence o f three years and two months. Fina lly it appears from the corroborating testimony o f all who have performed the journey from Timbuctoo to Egypt, that the country contiguous to the Nile E l Abeede is rich and productive, that the banks o f the riv e r are adorned with an incredible number of cities and towns o'f incalculable population, that the Mohammedan religion prevails ; that the A rab ic is the general language spoken throughout these countries. 1 he cities s s
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