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de riving it from the Egyptian N i l e ; which is diametrically opposite to the opinion o f Herodotus. Such an opinion marks the v e r y imperfect state o f his knowledge o f A fr ican G e o g ra p h y ; and should induce a degree o f caution in receiving other opinions o f the same author, where they rest absolutely on his own authority. I t is v e ry probable that the waters which co lle ct on the west o f Nubia, may run to the west, and be lost in la k e s : and it is possible, though v e r y improbable, that a branch o f the N ile may take the same c o u r s e : but fortified by' the present state o f o u r kn owled g e , we may ce rta inly pronounce the general scope o f the intelligence communicated b y E d r isi, respecting the course o f the N ig e r , to be erroneous. I co n c e iv e , however, that his error may easily be accounted for, in this w a y . H e was probably told, that the waters on the west o f N u b ia , & c . ran to the westward. H e also knew that a great r iv e r (the Senegal) discharged itse lf into, the Atlantic, nearly in the same p arallel; and moreover, that a great river, whose line o f direction la y between the east and west, and between N u b ia and the just mentioned embouchure, watered a v e r y extensive tract, in the midland part o f A fr ic a . N ow , what so natural (admitting the fact o f the western waters from N u b ia , and which I trust, I shall g o near to p rov e in the sequel) as to suppose, when he had found a head, and a ta il o f a great river, together with a lon g ex ten t o f course o f a riv e r between them, that they were parts o f each other ? I t must also be taken into the account, that he supposed the continent o f A f r ic a to b e about 1000 miles narrower than it really is, in the line between N u b ia and the mouth o f the Senegal. A b u l f e d a followed Edrisi in the same opinion, respecting the N ig e r ; which he calls a twin riv er with that o f E g yp t . H e also calls it the N i le o f Gan a. A b u lfed a also knew, and has described, the general form o f the con tinent o f A f r ic a ; and, o f course knew that it was surrounded by the sea.* B u t his descriptions are limited to the north and north-east parts. H e wrote in the fourteenth century. I t was Edrisi, p rob ab ly , who influenced and determined the opinions o f the moderns, respecting this question. A n author, lon g supposed to be o f the * This was previous to the Portuguese discoveries. same region with that which he .describes,* and who had entered more into the de ta il o f the A fr ican geography, than any other, would, according to the usual mode o f decision, on such pretensions, be preferred to those who went before him, and had treated the su b je c t in a more general way. Mankind bad no criterion by which to ju d g e o f the truth. S in c e then the A rab ian geographer, who had written the most extensively o n the subject, had conducted the N ig e r into the A t la n tic , we cannot wonder th a t the early Po rtuguese discoverers, who doubtless learnt from the A rabian authors the particulars o f A frican geo graphy, should adopt the same id e a ; and that th e y should regard the Senegal r iv e r as the Niger-, as we find it, in the histories o f thpir .discoveries in the fifteenth century. T h e Po r tu gu e se , who at this p e riod to o k the lead, in matters o f navigation and disco v ery, m igh t well be expected to set the fashion, in what related to A fr ic a n geo graphy. S o that in despite o f P to lem y , and o f the ancients in general, the great inland river o f A f r ic a was d escribed to run to the west-, and to form the head o f the Senegal r iv e r . N a y more, it was at last supposed to be the parent stock o f all the great -western riv e rs o f A fr ic a . S an u to , whose G eo g rap h y o f A fr ica , is dated 158 8, describes one branch o f the Niger to be the R io Grande, the other the river o f Sestos-, regardin g the Senegal as a different river. M . D e c i s l e s map o f A f r ic a ( 1 7 0 7 ) giv es the N ig e r a dire c t course through A f r ic a , from Bornou, in the east, and terminating in the r iv e r o f Sen ega l on the west. B u t in his maps o f 1 7 2 2 an d -172 7 , this was co rre cted ; the source o f the Senegal was placed at a shallow lake named M a be ria , between the 14th and 15th degrees o f lon gitude east o f C ape V e r d ; and in latitude 12° ; whilst the riv er o f T o m b u c t o o , named G uien, was described to issue from another lake , in the same neighbourhood, and to flow towards B o rn o u , where it terminated in a third lake. T h e cause o f this change, may be easily traced, in the in telligen c e co llected b y the F ren ch traders and settlers in G a l l a m i F the substance o f • He was commonly called the Ñlibian Geographer. f Gallam is one o f the names o f the country in which Fort St. Joseph is situated; and is often applied to the settlement itself.


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