56 Wedinoon. ablutions, th e y substitute the use o f sand. These restless people are continually at war with their neighbours, which originates in fam ily quarrels ; plunder keeps them incessantly in motion, and the y traverse the Desert to Soudan, Timbuctoo, and Wan- gara, with as little preparation as we should make to go from London to Hampstead. Wedinoon is a kind o f intermediate depot for merchandize on its w ay to Soudan, and for the produce o f Soudan going to Mogodor. Gums and wax are produced here in abundance ; and the people livin g in indépendance, indulge in the luxuries o f dress, and use many European commodities. A great quantity o f gold dust is bought and sold at Wedinoon. T h e y trade sometimes to Mogodor, but prefer selling their merchandize on the spot, not wishing to trust their persons and- property within the ter rito ry o f the Emperor o f Marocco. With Timbuctoo, however, the y carry on a constant and advantageous trade, and many o f the Arabs are immensely rich ; they also sup ply the Moors o f M arocco with (Statas) convoys through the Desert, in their travels to Timbuctoo. Some o f the more enlightened merchants o f Mogodor, towards the close o f the last century, had a great opinion o f an establishment somewhere on this coast, between the latitude o f .27° and 30° north ; but a famine, and afterwards a most destructive plague, added to various other incidents, conspired to ..prevent the execution o f the plan. It is certain that a v e ry profitable commerce might be carried on with these people ; and most probably Bonaparte, i f he succeed in the final conquest of Spain, w ill turn his mind decidedly to an extensive factory somewhere here, which (besides many advantages, which existing circumstances prevent me explaining here) would effectually open a
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