was informed that it did n o t impede the passage o f canoes : so that it ought more p rop erly to b e termed a rapide, according to the American phrase j that is to say^ a slope, down which the water runs, with more than ordinary rapidity, but which does not, however, totally impede the 'paSsàgé o f canoes, or small boats. T h e Jo lib a (N ig e r ) dfesterids from the -high lev el o f Manding, in to Bam- bara, on the eastward, with a rapid -aftd* furious course, at Bàmmako o, ab out 150 miles bélòwdts source ; after which it glides Smoothly along, and affords an uninterrupted navigation to Houssa, and p rob ab ly b y KaSsina tò Warigarah ; b y the two first o f which places, a ;v e ry lar^e and navigable stream does certainly.pass, under the same name as is applied b y the Arabs and M o o rs 'rto the Jo lib a , that is, N e e l A b e ed , o r R iv e r o f S W e s : ' a name ihatYnàr ks the idea o f the p eop le o f the country through which it flows, in die Winds o f tliOse pèòpleJ ' M f : 1 W a t t w&s info rmed, when at Teembò, ;thè eapital the Ep t ; i -a h kin gdom ,; in Ì 7 9 4 , that in the w a y from thence to T om b u c to o , (concerning which His inquiries Were pointed) a part o f thejrOad, la y 'a lo n g the side o f a GiWat^Wttter-) to 'which they canliè' in about thirty days -from Te em b o . T h e re can be no ques’tion but that :the Great' W a ie r .was the J o lib a r iv e r , who se very name, as we h av e said, in the -Manding language literally imports the ^àme meaning : o r more prop erly , th e -Great R iv e r . Some have ■concluded that thè Foulahs intended by it a great inland sea 5 b u t this is "highly improbable, although there are; nò doubt, such in other quarters o f A fr ica ,'w h ich sèrVe S i réfèèptdéles fb rAhosé:Jrivers w h ich -d o not reach th e séa. B u t , ih th e pre^nt c a ^ ,■ die distance itself points to the J o lib a ; fo r, a month’ s jo u rn e y from T e em b o , would reach beyond Yamina , but fall short o f S é g o : and w e rare told f r o ih -thè same authority, tha t in order to go to T o f ib t lc to o , they pass tW b d gh the countries o f B e liah , Bowriah, Manda, Sego , & c . Beliah,‘ w e k n ow not the situation -of, but may conceive it to lie on the north-east,' t/r éast-north'-èhst o f T e em b o ; because M r . P a rk points o u t Bow riah, under the1 riame"of B o o n , adjacent to Manding, which 'is 'o b v io u s ly recognized in the Manda o f Mr : W a t t : and Sego , there can be no d oub t about. W h a t is farther said concerning/ the grea t breadth o f the water, may either apply to the la k e D ib b ie , o r may be A frican hyperbo le . T h e sense appears clear enough. I have ex tra cted in a note, the intelligence concerning the G re a t W a t e r : and also that, concerning the Nyalas . M r . P a rk has also heard o f the N y a la s , o r Gaungays, but is clearly o f opinion that the interpreter o f Mr. W a tt, either misunderstood the story, o r was himself misinformed.* * “ I had a good deal o f conversation with some men of a particular tribe o f Man- dingas called Nyalas. These are great travellers, and much respected by all the nations Africa. It is from ttris nation that all the Gaungays or workers in leather, come; and they ¿re likewise employed as the speakers on all-embassies: as they are not,only good ■©jjators, but are (S© far privileged, that no one, not ¡even kings, can take offence at any thing they .say. Any one who travels with them., is sure .of heing protected* .and, to use their owi) terms, they can pass .between contending armies, who will defer the battle till they have passed. I inquired aboutTombuctoo,” &c.-—One of them said, that <c about ‘a mottth^ journey beyond Teefnbo, we ¿hOUld dome to a llatgi Water, which our eyes Would not he ah'le to reach across; hut which to the taste was sweet and good : that we .should then coast along, touching at different towns for refreshment* but. that there was one country inhabited by bad people, who would rob and murder .us, i f they could; where we should not sfqp, but keep far out, at a distance from the shore *” dec. They engaged to carry him thither for the price oifour slaves. [Watt’s Journal, MS. p. 181..]
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