and reside and they have a flag all white 

 (1081). 



"Thence I went to Nife (Anafi?) and Aza- 

 mor. Know that in this province is the very 

 noble city of Marruecos, which used to be 

 called Cartagu the Great (Carthage, a mistake 

 in which the traveler confuses Morocco with 

 Tunis). A consul of Rome named Scipio 

 Africanus conquered it in the time of the sov- 

 ereignty of the Romans. Afterwards the Goths, 

 who were the lords of Spain, were the sover- 

 eigns here. The King of Marruecos has for 

 his device a red flag with a chess-board black 

 and white (1083). 



"I climbed the mountains of Cucia La-Alta 

 (western Atlas), which is a country well sup- 

 plied with everything. These mountains are 

 very high and it is a most dangerous land, for 

 there are not more than two very perilous 

 passes. The king has for his device a flag — ■ 

 white with a black lion" (1084). 



The friar's next objectives were various 

 points along the West African coast as far as 

 the Senegal River, traveling always in a "pan- 

 filo" — a galley used in the Mediterranean dur- 

 ing the Middle Ages, equipped with two masts 

 for sails and one row of oars. He next visited 

 many of the islands in the Canary and Madeira 

 groups. Returning to the mainland, he joined 

 a party of Moors who were crossing the Sa- 

 hara with gold for the King of Guinea. He 

 continues : 



"We came to some very great and high 

 mountains in the middle of the Zahara (Sa- 

 hara), and afterward we traveled a very great 

 distance over the desert until we came to an- 

 other mountain (oasis?) called Infurent (Ze- 

 fran). Here I parted from these Moors and 

 joined some others. I then went to Sulgu- 

 menca (the ancient town of Segelmessa, now 

 Tafilet), a rich city in the Zahara, near a river 

 which comes from the clear mountains. The 

 king of it has for his device a white flag with 

 the root of a green palm tree, in this manner 

 (1085). 



"I went with some Moors over the Zahara 

 until we arrived at Tocoron (Tamagrut, on 

 the river Dra), which is a city among some 

 mountains. The inhabitants are negroes, and 

 the King of Tocoron has for his device a white 

 flag with a black mountain in the middle, like 

 that of the King of Guynoa (Guinea) (1086). 



"Thence I went to Tibalbert (Tibelbelt, south 

 of the Atlas), a city on some very high moun- 

 tains ; thence to another mountain, which is 

 under the King of Guynoa (Guinea), and 

 thence to Buda, a well-supplied city, also on 

 the top of a mountain. Know that the city 

 was peopled by a king of Tremecen ; for he 

 was bad and did evil things and the people 

 wanted to kill him. So he fled, with his treas- 

 ure, to this place and founded this city of 

 Buda (an oasis south of Atlas). Its flag is 

 white with a red moon (1087). 



"Afterwards I departed from Buda and went 

 by the Zahara to another mountain called Ga- 

 nahe (Ghana), in which there is a rich, well- 

 supplied city of the same name. It is the head 

 of the kingdom, where they crown the kings. 

 And the King of Guynoa (Guinea) has a gold 

 flag with a black mountain in the middle 

 (ic88). 



GOLD-MINING ANTS AS BIG AS CATS 



"Of Guynoa there is much to say. It con- 

 tains seven mountains well peopled and land 

 yielding abundantly as long as there are moun- 

 tains ; elsewhere it is all Zahara. Two ranges 

 of mountains extend to the Rio Del Oro 

 (Senegal River), and there they collect the 

 ivory teeth and the gold in the ant-hills which 

 the ants make on the river banks. The ants are 

 as big as cats and dig out much eartl:. This 

 kingdom marches with the Kingdom of Or- 

 gana (a kingdom on the upper Senegal), in 

 which also there is much desert. Organa is 

 the head of the kingdom, where the king is 

 crowned. The King of Organa has for his 

 device a white flag with a green palm tree and 

 two keys (1089). 



"I traveled for a very long distance on 

 camels, until I arrived at the kingdom they 

 call Tremecen (Tremizen, or Telensin, which 

 extended along the Barbary coast between Me- 

 lilla and the present seaport of Bougie), which 

 borders on the river Nilus (Nile). They live 

 always at war with the Christians of Nubia 

 and Etiopia (Ethiopia). There are in this 

 kingdom five large places inhabited by negroes. 

 Know that these inhabitants of this kingdom 

 of Tremecen peopled it from Berberia (Bar- 

 bary). The king has for his device a purple 

 flag with a white moon (1090). 



"Thence I went to another kingdom called 

 Dongola (west of Nubia), marching with the 

 deserts of Egipto (Egypt) and the river Nilus. 

 It is a country well peopled with Christians 

 from Nubia, but they are negroes. It is a rich 

 land and very well supplied and with many 

 fruit trees. The land has a very hot climate. 

 The King of Dongola has for his device a 

 white flag with a cross like this" (1091). 



After revisiting Cairo in company with some 

 Genoese merchants whom he met in Dongola, 

 the Franciscan journeyed to Damieta (Dami- 

 etta), where he embarked for Ceuta. He dis- 

 embarked and journeyed through Morocco, 

 crossed the Atlas Mountains, where he met 

 some Moorish traders and embarked with them 

 on a galley for another cruise down the west 

 shore of Africa. After leaving the mouth of 

 the Senegal River "we went on for a very long 

 distance," continues the friar, "always keeping 

 in sight of the coast, leaving behind us the 

 Islas Perdidas (the Atlantic Islands), and 

 came to an island inhabited by many people. 



"They call this island Gropis (Galpis, of the 

 Bissagos group, off the coast of Portuguese 

 Guinea). It is a well-supplied island, but the 

 people are idolaters. They took us all before 

 their king, and wondered much at us and our 

 language and customs. The merchants who 

 armed the galley made much profit. The 

 king's device is a white flag with the figure of 

 his idol" (1092 and 1093). 



The Franciscan now left the Moors and 

 journeyed to towns in the Soudan and Sene- 

 gambia. He marvels at the gold, the amber- 

 gris, and the ivory which come from this torrid 

 region, and declares that the Mountains of the 

 Moon, also called the Mountains of Gold, are 

 supposed to be the highest in the world, and 

 that the five largest rivers in the world have 

 their sources in these lofty regions. He gives 



394 



