328 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



are found here in such quantities that they are 

 an article of commerce, being sent as far as 

 Timbuctoo, where they are used as kitchen 

 utensils. South of Taodenui sand and ham- 

 mada alternate, until a stretch of sand-dunes 

 was reached near Arawan. Here the prevail- 

 ing winds come from the south. Arawan is, 

 as formerly, the point where the caravan-traf- 

 fic between Timbuctoo and the north centers. 

 Here the effects of the unfortunate Major 

 Laing are said to be still preserved, but his 

 papers were sent forward before his death and 

 are supposed to have arrived in Ghadames. 

 He was murdered while mounting his camel 

 to depart. The motive, according to one tra- 

 dition, was jealousy ; according to another, re- 

 venge for the death of a magnate whom he 

 had treated medically. Lenz was obliged to 

 pay toll to the chief who resides at Arawan. 

 A day's journey south of that station they en- 

 tered a belt covered with a mimosa-growth 

 which extends as far as Timbuctoo and to the 

 west of it. 



Lenz was received kindly in Timbuctoo, in 

 contrast with the treatment which Barth re- 

 ceived, who was detained seven months, in con- 

 stant fear for his life. Lenz remained about 

 a week, the guest of the head magistrate. 

 The Fullani and Tuaregs, who compose the 

 population, continue to show the same jealousy 

 and enmity toward each other which divided 

 them in Barth's time ; but with this change in 

 the situation, that while the Sheik el Bakay 

 was then upheld by the Tuaregs, his son and 

 successor, Abadin, is supported by the Fullani. 

 Lenz, like his predecessor, was drawn into in- 

 terminable arguments over the Koran with the 

 aristocracy of the town. The size of Timbuc- 

 too and the extent of its trade, however exag- 

 gerated, must have been greater in former ages, 

 as is indicated by the number of unoccupied 

 and ruined dwellings. Its circumference is 

 fully five miles. It seems now, however, to 

 be again growing in population, since Lenz re- 

 ports the number of inhabitants, which was 

 estimated by Barth at 13,000, and by Caillie 

 at 10,000 to 12,000, as about 20,000. Timbuc- 

 too is still the chief slave- mart of the West- 

 ern Soodan. In its suburbs are large numbers 

 of unoccupied huts in which the caravans take 

 up their quarters and store their merchandise, 

 consisting of slaves, dates, ivory, gold-dust, 

 rubber, and ostrich-feathers. The houses of 

 Timbuctoo are built entirely of brick. They 

 are low, but roomy. The city supports nu- 

 merous schools and possesses rich libraries. 

 There are three mosques, surmounted by pict- 

 uresque minarets. Timbuctoo is still the 

 center in which the commercial exchanges 

 between the Western Soodan and the Niger 

 regions on the one hand arid the Sahara and 

 Mediterranean lands on the other are conducted. 

 Apart from the slave-trade the exports from 

 the southern countries are inconsiderable. The 

 slave - trade is itself much smaller than in 

 former times, owing chiefly to the declining 



wealth and purchasing power of the Moham- 

 medan nations bordering the Mediterranean. 

 Timbuctoo does not lie directly upon the Ni- 

 ger, but has water communication witli it.s 

 port, Kabara, through a number of little lakes 

 and a natural canal which connects them. 



Instead of ascending the Niger, Lenz made 

 his way across the country through the popu- 

 lous lands of the Massina and Bambarra to the 

 Senegal, which he struck near the French sta- 

 tion Medine. The country between Timbuc- 

 too and the Senegal consists of a plateau with 

 an average elevation above the sea-level of 320 

 metres. The climate of the Soodan presented 

 an unpleasant contrast to the wholesome airs 

 of the Sahara ; although Lenz retained his 

 strength, the Arab members of his company 

 fell sick, and it was with joy that they finally 

 reached the edge of the plateau and descended 

 into the valley of the Senegal. At Bankunnu 

 the caravan was attacked by a band of Arab 

 robbers, who desisted from their predatory de- 

 signs, the chief even serving them as guide, 

 after the sherif had disclosed his sacred char- 

 acter of a descendant of the Prophet. At Ba- 

 sikunnu the camels were exchanged for oxen, 

 and the expedition proceeded, first southward 

 to Sokolo, otherwise called Kala, in Bambarra 

 land, and then westward. Sokolo is a town 

 of 10,000 inhabitants, subject to Ahmadu, Sul- 

 tan of Segu, whose family exercises a suze- 

 rainty over this whole region. They next came 

 to the large double town of Gumbu, contain- 

 ing 30,000 inhabitants, mostly Arabs. Farther 

 on, at Nioro, all their possessions were taken 

 from them ; but the way was not long from 

 there through Kuniakary to Medine, where the 

 traveler was cordially received by the French 

 commandant. 



Savorgnan de Brazza, the determined pio- 

 neer of exploration on the upper Ogowe, has 

 passed nearly two years more in the examina- 

 tion of the same region and in the establish- 

 ment of stations and opening of commercial 

 intercourse with the interior in the commis- 

 sion of the French branch of the International 

 African Association. He arrived at the Ga- 

 boon in December, 1879, and conducted his 

 expedition up the Ogowe to choose the site of 

 the station which he came to establish. He 

 founded the post at the mouth of the river 

 Bassa, which enters the Ogowe on the left 

 bank, giving it the name of Franceville. Leav- 

 ing this camp in July, 1880, he crossed to the 

 river Alima, the tributary of the Congo, which 

 he had discovered on his previous visit with 

 Ballay. The plateau of the Batek6s, 2,600 feet 

 above the sea, situated between the Alima and 

 the Mpaka, is a fertile region inhabited by 

 peaceful tribes subject to Maskoko, ruler of 

 the warlike TTbangis, the Apfuru people who 

 hotly contested Stanley's passage down the 

 Congo. Brazza descended the Letini, Stanley's 

 Lawson River, to Pulobos, in the heart of their 

 country, determined to obtain the friendship 

 of this tribe, although he had been received 





