CAILLIE. 195 



buctoo, his information respecting it is very defective. It 

 appears, except in point of situation, to be nearly such a 

 city as Jenne, consisting of large houses, chiefly tenanted 

 by Moorish merchants, intermingled with conical straw-huts 

 occupied by negroes. The author has given a croquis, or 

 sketch of part of the city, which, though very deficient in per- 

 spective, is yet so curious as to merit a place in this publi- 

 cation. There are seven mosques, of which the principal 

 one is very extensive, having three galleries, each two hun- 

 dred feet long, with a tower upwards of fifty feet high. 

 One part, apparently more ancient than the rest, and 

 almost falling into ruin, was thought to exhibit a style of 

 architecture decidedly superior to the more modem build- 

 ings. 



Timbuctoo is entirely supported by commerce. It is the 

 depot of the salt conveyed from the mines of Taudeny, and 

 also of the European goods brought by the caravans from 

 Morocco, as well as by those from Tunis and Tripoli, which 

 come by way of Ghadamis. These goods are embarked for 

 Jenne, to be exchanged for the gold, slaves, and provisions 

 with which that city exclusively supplies Timbuctoo, the 

 neighbourhood being almost a complete desert. The popu- 

 lation is estimated at 10,000 or 12,000, which, not being in 

 proportion to a town three miles in circumference, is pro- 

 bably underrated. The people are chiefly negroes of the 

 Kissour tribe, but bigoted Mohammedans. There appeared 

 less bustle and activity than at Jenne, — a circumstance 

 which does not seem very easily accounted for. Osman, 

 the king, was an agreeable-looking negro of fifty-five, to 

 whom the traveller was introduced, without being aware 

 that he was only viceroy, or at least tributary, to the sultan 

 of Masina. The country is much harassed by the wan- 

 dering tribe of Tauricks, who, like the Bedouins in Arabia, 

 le'y a regular tax on the caravans.* 



* The map constructed by M, Jomard, upon Cailli6's routes, changes 

 greatly the position of Timbuctoo, especially in respect to longitude, 

 which it places four degrees to the westward of the site assigned by Ma- 

 jor Rennel. It seems impossible, however, to admit an alteration to this 

 extent, which would throw Sego so far westward as to render Park's 

 bearings from .Tarra to Sego, and from Sego to Bammakoo, completely 

 erroneous. Besides, it appears to us that M. Jomard has forced to the 

 westward all the positions between Jenne and Timbuctoo, in a manner 

 quite unwarranted by M. Cailli6's own descriptions. This excess 



