476 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXVIII. 
longing to the Tawati, Mohammed el f Aish, we turned 
off towards the Jmgere-ber, or " great mosque," 
which by its stately appearance made a deep impres- 
sion upon my mind, as I had not yet had an opportu- 
nity of inspecting it closely. It was here especially 
that I convinced myself, not only of the trustworthy 
character of Caillie' s report in general, of which I 
had already had an opportunity of judging, but also 
of the accuracy with which, under the very unfavour- 
able circumstances in which he was placed, he has 
described the various objects which fell under his 
observation. I was only permitted to survey the 
outside of the mosque ; as to the interior, I was obliged 
to rely upon the information which I received from 
the more intelligent of the natives, 
The mosque is a large building, but a considerable 
portion of it is occupied by an open courtyard, wherein 
the larger tower is enclosed, while the principal part of 
the building includes nine naves, of different dimen- 
sions and structure ; the westernmost portion, which 
consists of three naves, belonging evidently to the old 
mosque, which, together with the palace, was built by 
Mansa Miisa, the king of Melle, as is even attested by 
an inscription over the principal gate, although it has 
become somewhat illegible. The chief error which 
Caillie has committed in describing this mosque re- 
lates to the smaller tower, the position of which he has 
mistaken, and the number of gateways on the eastern 
side, there being seven instead of five. Caillie also 
states the greatest length of the building to be 104 
