da te ; and which may possibly have superseded T o k ru r . .S u ch a fluctuation o f names, serves as much to confound geographers in the political division o f A fr ic a , as the various opinions o f those who have written on the physical geography, do, respecting the relative position o f p laces, and the courses o f its rivers. Remarks on the P o s itio n s o f the S a lt M in e s in the G r ea t D e s e r t. E d r is i understood that all the salt coiisumed in the kingdoms o f Nigritia (particularly along the course o f the N ig e r ) , was brought from U li l, situated at 16 jo u rn ie s to the westward o f Sa la , and erroneously supposed b y him to b e an island, situated in the o cean , near the mouth o f the Nig e r .* B u t b y the situation, one would suppose that the salt mines o f Aroan , 10 jo u rn ie s to the N N W o f T om b u c to o , and in the road to M o ro c c o , were mean t; and from whence T om b u cto o is at present supplied. I t is not easy to guess how an inland salt mine should have b een mistaken fo r an island, in the o c e a n : but it is certain that both Edrisi and A b u lfed a , supposed the N ig e r to discharge itself into the sea, near the meridian o f T om b u c to o . Ibn A 1 W a r d i t speaks o f O u li li, as the prin cip al c ity o f Soudan (o r Nigritia), situated on the sea coast, and h a v in g extensive salt w o rk s, from which salt was ca rried to the other states o f Nigritia . M r . P a rk mentions the city o f W i l e t , capital o f B e e ro o , which may perhaps be the O u lili intended b y Ib n A 1 W a rd i; + but it has no salt p its ; for the inhabitants fetch salt from Sbingarin, s ix journies to the northward o f it :§ and W a le t is more than 24 journ ies from Sala, instead o f 16 , as stated b y E d r is i. Cadamosta and L e o , in the third and fourth centuries after Ed r isi, Jj say, that the people o f T om b u c to o had their salt from T e g a z za , 40 jo u rn ie s to * Edrisi, p. 7. 4- Hartmann’s Edrisi, p. 29. j Oulili, Oualet ? § Mr. Pa rt’s MSS. || Edrisi wrote in the 12th century; Cadamosta in the 15th, and Leo in the 16th. the westward o f that c i ty ; and that the salt was carried so far to the east as M e lli, which is opposite to Kassina. B y T e g a z z a , T ish e e t* the salt mine o f J a rra seems to have been m ean t; but is. far short o f 40 journies from T om b u cto o . N o w , i f in the 12th century, salt was procurable so near to T om b u c tob as A ro a n , o r Sbingarin; (the’ salt pits. b f-W a le t) , ,w.by should they have fetched it from a place 30 o r 40. d ays distant, in the 1 5 th and 16 th ? T h is requires e x p lan a tio n : for Edrisi states v e r y particularly that salt was carried from U li l ip boats along the N ig e r , and distributed amongst the nations on its banks, ,frpm Saja to fcaugad-t M r . Beaufo y , quoted a s a b o v e ,,s a y s ,+ th a t there is a sa lt lake,, qr lakes , in B o rn o u ; from, whence A g a d e z , Kassina, and certain states on the south o i the N ig e r , are supplied, T h is at least implies that there are no salt mines, in the D e se r t, in the quarter east o f T om b u c to o . * *^r'..p?rk’s M s s ’ t Edrisi, p, 7. J African Association, 1790; Q^p. 157, 167; and O. p. 236, 251,
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