ARAB EXPLORERS. 287 



the Niger near to one another. The Tuaricks, who 

 had previously lived on horses, under whose bellies 

 they tied water bottles of leather when they went on 

 a long journey, had been able to cross the desert only 

 at certain seasons of the year ; but now with the aid 

 of the camel, which they at once adopted and from 

 which they bred the famous Mehara strain, they could 

 cross the Sahara at its widest part in a few days. A 

 regular trade was established between the two countries 

 and was conducted by the Berbers. Arab merchants, 

 desirous of seeing with their own eyes the wondrous land 

 of ivory and gold, took passage in the caravans, crossed 

 the yellow seas, sprang from their camels upon the green 

 shores of the Soudan, and kneeling on the banks of the 

 Niger, with their faces turned towards Mecca, dipped 

 their hands in its waters and praised the name of 

 the Lord. They journeyed from city to city, and 

 from court to court, and composed works of travel 

 which were read with eager delight all over the 

 Moslem world, from Spain to Hindostan. The Arabs 

 thronged to this newly discovered world. They built 

 factories : they established schools ; they converted 

 dynasties. They covered the river with masted 

 vessels ; they built majestic temples with graceful 

 minaret and swelling dome. Theological colleges and 

 public libraries were founded ; camels came across the 

 desert laden with books ; the negroes swarmed to the 

 lectures of the mollahs ; Plato and Aristotle were 

 studied by the banks of the Niger, and the glories of 

 Granada were reflected at Timbuctoo. That city 

 became the refuge of political fugitives and criminals 

 from Morocco. In the sixteenth century the Emperor 

 despatched across the desert a company of harquebusiers, 

 who, with their strange, terrible weapons, every- 



