INTERIOR COUNTRIES OF AFRICA. .183 



the Niger, at a short distance from Silla) is situate the kingdom of 

 Tombuctoo, the great object of European research ; the capital of 

 this kingdom being one of the principal marts for that extensive com- 

 merce which the Moors carry on with the Negroes. The hopes of 

 acquiring wealth in this pursuit, and zeal for propagating their 

 religion, have filled this extensive city with Moors and Mahom- 

 medan converts; the king himself, and all the chief officers of state s 

 are Moors ; and they are said to be more severe and intolerant in 

 their principles than any other of the Moorish tribes in this part of 

 Africa. I was informed by a venerable old negro, that when he first 

 visited Tombuctoo, he took up his lodging at a sort of public inn, the 

 landlord of which, when he conducted him into his hut, spread a mat 

 on the floor, and laid a rope upon it, saying ' If you are a Mussulman, 

 you are my friend ; sit down : but if you are a kafir (infidel) you are 

 my slave, and with this rope I will lead you to market.' The present 

 king of Tombuctoo is named Abu Abrahima. He is reported to 

 possess immense riches. His wives and concubines are said to be 

 clothed in silk, and the chief officers of state live in considerable 

 splendour. The whole expence of his government is defrayed, as I 

 was told, by a tax upon merchandise, which is collected at the gates of 

 '.he city. 



"The city of Houssa (the capital of a large kingdom to the east- 

 ward of Tombuctoo) is another great mart for Moorish commerce^ 

 I conversed with many merchants who had visited that city, and they 

 all agreed that it is larger and more populous than Tombuctoo. The 

 trade, police, and government, are neai'ly the same in both ; but, in, 

 Houssa, the Negroes are in greater proportion to the Moors, and have 

 some share in the government." 



Mr. Park was likewise told by a shereef who resided at Walet, the 

 capital of the kingdom of Beeroo, to the northward of Sego, and who 

 had visited Houssa, and lived some years at Tombuctoo, " that Houssa 

 was the largest town he had ever seen : that Walet was larger than 

 Tombuctoo : but being remote from the Niger, 1 and its trade consist* 

 ing chiefly of salt, it was not so much resorted to by strangers: that 

 between Benowm and Walet was ten days journey, but the road did 

 not lead through any remarkable towns, and travellers supported 

 themselves by purchasing milk from the Arabs, who keep their herds 

 by the watering places : two of the days journey was over a sandy 

 country without w r ater. From Walet to Tombuctoo was eleven days 

 more : but water was more plentiful, and the journey was usually per- 

 formed upon bullocks. He said there were many Jews at Tombuctoo ; 

 but they all spoke Arabic, and used the same prayers as the Moors.' 5 



Tne city of Tombuctoo is placed by major Rennell, from a com- 

 parison of all the accounts received of it, in north latitude 16* 30'; 

 east longitude 1° 33'. 



According to the report of Mr. Park the interior parts of Africa 

 are inhabited by three distinct races of men ; the Mandingoes, or pro- 

 per negroes ; the Foulahs. or white Ethiopians of Ptolemy and Pliny, 

 who have neither the crisped hair, nor jetty blackness of the Mandin- 

 goes ; and the Moors, natives of Arabia, who in their persons and 

 complexions exactly resemble the mulattoes of the West Indies, and 

 who are bigotted Mahommedans, and of a disposition most perfidious 

 and sanguinary. Of these three nations, though they are frequently 

 intermixed, the negroes, whether Ma.ndingoes or Foulahs, are gen- 

 erally found to the south of the Moors, The Negroes, for the most 



