GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 391 



river. He was escorted to the town from Kabara by Sidi Alawad, the brother 

 of the absent Sheikh of Bakay, and welcomed by great part of the wealthier 

 Arabs inhabiting the place ; but was obliged to support before the people the 

 character of a messenger of the Sultan of Stamboul, his real character not 

 being known but to his protector himself. When the Sheikh of Bakay 

 himself arrived, he gave Dr. Barth the fullest assurance of his safety in the 

 town, and his safe return home by way of Bornou ; he had done so before, and 

 as far as his influence extended, had given "full security to any Englishman 

 visiting this place." Dr. Barth then gives a brief description of the town : 

 t; Timbuctoo is situated, according to an accurate computation of my route, 

 18 3' 30" till 18 4' 5" north latitude, and 1 45' west longitude, Greenwich; 

 and is distant from the river itself further than has been supposed Kabara, 

 its so-called port, being situated on a very small ditch, which, being inun- 

 dated by the river, is made navigable for four, or when the rams have been 

 most plentiful, for five months of the year, whereas, during the eight remain- 

 ing months, all the merchandise has to be transported on the backs of asses 



to a much greater distance than Kabara As for the town itself, it is not 



now environed by a wall, the former one having long ago fallen into decay ; 

 but like the small towns of the Tonray in general, its mud houses form a 

 tolerably entire enclosure, pierced only by narrow entrances. Having been 

 at least twice as large during the period when the Tonray empire was in its 

 prime and glory, its circumference at present does not exceed two and a half 

 miles. The whole town consists of houses built of mud, for the greater part 

 only one story high, while the wealthier people have all their houses raised to 

 two stories. There are at present only three mosques in the town. The market 

 is well supplied with rich merchandise, much better than the market of Kano. 

 But there is a great defect in the scarcity of current coin salt, a rather heavy, 

 unmanageable sort of money, being the standard for all larger things much 

 more than gold, w r hile cowries are extremely scarce, and dollars are scarcely 

 accepted in payment by anybody. The population of Timbuctoo, as well as 

 its government, are considerably mixed. The original, and by far the most 

 numerous part of the inhabitants, are the Tonray, who, after the supremacy 

 of Morocco had ceased, regained once more the government of their town, 

 and were not disturbed by the Bambara, who did not obtain possession of 

 Timbuctoo, though on the south side of the river ; their empire extended as 

 far as Hombori. Besides the Tonray there are the Arabs, partly settled, and 

 partly belonging to different tribes of the desert, and remaining only for 

 several months or years. Certainly, the mixed population of this place for 

 itself is not able to repulse any serious attack, as it was taken twenty-eight 

 years ago (one year before the unfortunate attempt of Major Laing) by the 

 Fullan of Mohammed Lebbo, almost without a struggle." Eeferring to the 

 Fullan of Hand AUahi, whom he was desirous of visiting, Dr. Barth says : 

 " Their fanaticism would, if not endanger greatly my situation when among 

 them, at least make it all but intolerable. For these Fullan, who call their 

 brethren of Tokoto ' infidels,' and have threatened them with teaching them 

 Islamism, think themselves the only true Moslems. Amongst other things, 

 they have made smoking a capital crime." 



