CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HISTORY OF SONGHAY. 611 
Songhay. 
A D. 
A. II. 
Neighbouring Kingdoms. 
this report was soon confirmed. 
The emperor of Morocco sent a 
very numerous host, said to be 
20.000 * strong, in the direction of 
Wadan, at that time the general 
caravan road, with the order to 
conquer all the places along the 
river (the Senegal and Niger, pro- 
bably, regarded together)!, and 
thus to proceed towards Timbuktu, 
— an order which clearly shows the 
immense extent of the Songhay 
empire, even at that time : and the 
Imam e' Tekruri | distinctly states 
that, even at the time of its down- 
fall, it comprised a region of six 
months in extent. But this time also 
the danger passed by ; the numbers 
of the army themselves causing its 
ruin, in consequence of hunger and 
thirst. In order to take at least a 
slight revenge, the Sultan of Mo- 
rocco then sent an officer with a 
small troop of musketeers, to take 
possession of the salt-mines of Te- 
ghaza, which at that time supplied 
the whole of Western Negroland 
with that necessary article §, and 
thus to deprive the inhabitants of 
Songhay of it.|| It was in the month 
of Shawal (September) that the 
news reached Gagho that all inter- 
course with those salt-mines had 
been cut off. It was then that 
people went and dug salt in Tao- 
denni, and other places.^" 
* The number may not be much exaggerated. It was probably this example which taught Malay Hamed that a 
small well disciplined army was by far more useful for such a purpose than an undisciplined host. 
t Most probably the people in Morocco had a very confused idea of the relation of the two great rivers of that 
region, the Senegal and Niger, with the ocean ; and both rivers are here meant when Mulay Hamed ordered the army 
t Revue Africaine, i. 291. 
§ The place Teghaza seems to have had a considerable population at that time, which shows the importance of 
this traffic. See Caillie, ii. p. 128. 
J| "We see from this report the remarkable fact that the whole of Songhay at that time was provided from 
Teghaza, while we have seen from El Bekn's account that in the eleventh century Songhay Proper was supplied 
from the mines of Tautek. The words of Baba A'hmed ,. t £. r +«2)\, not translated by Mr. Ralfs, can 
be only understood by him who has travelled in Negroland, and who knows what a precious article salt is in many 
regions, and what it is " to be deprived of salt." 
% The translation of this passage by Mr. Ralfs (p. 543.) is rather defective. 
R R 2 
