“•-'"Zanfatei is .said fcjr Labat, to b e 50 jo u rn ie s from T om b u cto o .* L a o |>bdes'it.between;iWangara,and Z e g z e g ; which latter, b y the same author ity , .beiog. to the S E o f C an o (o r Ganat) Zanfara must necessarily border on the <N£ o f Ghana.; having. iBornou on the east, A g ad e z and Kassina (which .’w e ifo rm e r ly erroneously, spelt Cashttah) on the west. . H e r e i t may b e p rop e rd o :o b se rv e , that in the present political division o fA f r i c a , K a s sina comprizes g en era lly the provinces between F e z z a n and the N ig e r ; and that Zan fara is its eastern boundary. O f . course Ghana,, which in the 15th century was'pafamount im.the oehtre idf A fr ica , is now become a prov in ce o f Kassina. m ».a 1 al-r.qunn )<m ob J -.0 u> ate: out t t c I jK :T o the south o f the line between Ghana and N ub ia , v e r y few particulars a r e knowirnto E u ro p e an s .-T h e knowledge o f Edrisi, was limited to this line itself A and the o n ly country- k n ow o to . him on the s o u th o f the. Niger, was M e Hi, w h ich .h e calks I.amlem. : N o r did the. knowledge o f L e o , ex ten d .b e . y o n d th e countries contiguous to the south bank o f the N ig e r ; no r to any co u n try west o f T om b u c to o ; although b y mistake, he, places. Ghana and Melti, there. T h is may. serve to shew, that the people, on, the north s id e .o f the N ig e r , h a v e 'v e r y little communication with those, wh o live: beyond the great belt o f m ountains, which , runs across A fr ica , at about the: 10th degree. N o r did the inquiries o f- M r - .B e a u fo y . p rodueeian y thing more than thg names o f certain o f the adjacent countries; the o n ly one o f w hich that can. b e pkii'cd, is Begar,mee (perhaps the B eg am a o f E drisi) said to .lie 20 jo u r nies to thenSE o f Bo rnou, and separated, from it b y several small deserts.t. I t seems to be. thfe c o u n t r y ,intended b y the G o rh am o f O ’A n v ille . ,1 :: Ko ro rp fa and G u b e r are satd.'in M r . B e a u fo y ’S M S S . to lie to the west o f Be g a rm e e ; the latter bordering on Wang ara . Neither o f these, can well be in a low e r parallel than 1 1 0 o r 12 degrees. Bu t Da rfo or , a co u n try o f considerable extent and population, and apparently the farthest removed o f any that has a communication with Eg ypt,-is pointed out to o u r notice b y M r it L ed y a rd , as has been already shewn. J <> - * Labat, Vol. iii. p. 363. *1 | m * f African Association, 1790; p. 155 ; O. p. 234.. X African Association. See Ledyard’s Communication!, in Af. Assoc, 1790;'1-791« ■ ' . In the p resent limited state: o f o u r knowledge respecting the interior o f A fr ic a , it would be mis-spending time to attempt to fo llow L e o , in his detail o f p rovinces and nations, in the parts remote from the immediate scene o f ,ou r disco v eries ; or o f the routes communicated to the Asso ciation. B u t it is o f the utmost importance to the argument respecting the course o f the N ig e r , that I should cle a r up some o f his erro rs regarding the positions o f Ghana (his G in e a ) and M e l l i . L e o says, p. 2 4 8 ,2 4 9 , that the merchants o f his country ( I conc eive he means Ba rb a ry ) call the country in question, Gheneoa ; that its proper inhabitants call it Genni: but the Portugueze, and o ther Europeans, Ginea.* H e says that it is situated to the west o f T om b u c to o , that is, between T om bu cto o and G u a la ta : f that it has an extent o f several hundred miles along the N ig e r , even to the p lac e where it discharges itself into the sea. A g a in , says he, the kingdom o f M e lli borders on G in e a , southward; and on the west, are vast forests, which extend ta the sea. A n d finally, he places the kingdom o f G a g o to the east o f M e lli. N ow nothing is more certain, than that the space on the west o f T om b u c too and G a g o , is o ccupied b y nations, v e ry different from those o f Gin ea (b y which G h an a is to be understood) and M e l li : as also that the space assigned b y L e o , to Ginea, is a remarkably dry, sandy, co u n try ; being either adjacent to, or forming a part o f the Sahara : whereas Gin ea is described b y him to be a tract, which, during the inundations o f the N ig e r , in J u ly , A u g u s t , and September, is in c lo sed lik e an island. I t is howev er not improbable, that L e o , w ho it appears had visited T om b u c too (but who ce rtainly n e v e r saw the N ig e r , which is ab out 12 miles beyond it), might confound the c ity o f J en n e , which is situated in a small island in the N ig e r , and to ,th e west o f T om b u c to o , with the k in gdom o f Ghana (his Gin ea ), on the e a s t: but as to M e lli, that is quite out o f the question, in respect o f any mistake o f the lik e k in d ; and could only .be placed on the west o f G a g o , in o rd e r that it might p reserve its southerly position in resp ect o f Ginea. T h u s one mis take seems to h av e p rod u c ed the other. * Abulfeda, Edrisi, and Ibn A 1 Wardi call it Ghana, and Ganah. t Gualata is described by Leo to be situated 500 miles from Tombuctoo towards Nun.
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