vi 
APPENDIX. 
it from the Egyptian Nile ; which is diametrically opposite to the opinion of 
Herodotus. 
Such an opinion marks the very imperfect state of his knowledge of African 
geography ; and should induce a degree of caution in receiving other opinions 
of the same author, where they rest absolutely on his own authority. It is 
very probable that the waters which collect on the west of Nubia, may run to 
the zvesl, and be lost in lakes : and it is possible, though very improbable, 
that a branch of the Nile may take the same course : but fortified by the pre- 
sent state of our knowledge, we may certainly pronounce the general scope of 
the intelligence communicated by Edrisi, respecting the course of the Niger, to 
be erroneous. 
I conceive, however, that his error may easily be accounted for, in this way. 
He was probably told, that the waters on the west of Nubia, &:c, ran to the west- 
ward. He also knew that a great river (the Senegal) discharged itself into the 
Adantic, nearly in the same parallel ; and moreover, that a great river, whose 
line of direction lay between the east and xvcst, and between Nubia and the 
just mentioned f'W/^oz/c/jz/r^, watered a very extensive tract, in the midland 
part of Africa. Now, what so natural (admitting the fact of the western waters 
from Nubia, and which I trust, I shall go near to prove in the sequel) as to sup- 
pose, when he had found a head, -and a tail of a great river, together with a 
long extent of course of a river between them, that they were parts of each 
other ? It must also be taken into the account, that he supposed the continent 
of Africa to be about looo miles narrower than it really is, in the line between 
Nubia and the mouth of the Senegal. 
Abulfeda followed Edrisi in the same opinion, respecting the Niger; 
which he calls a twin river with that of Egypt. He also calls it the Nile of 
Gana. Abulfeda also knew, and has described, the general form of the conti- 
nent of Africa : and, of course knew that- it was surrounded by the sea.* But 
his descriptions are limited to the north and north-east parts. He wrote in the 
. fourteenth century. 
It was Edrisi, probably, who influenced and determined the ojiinions of 
the moderns, respecting this question. An author, long supposed to be of the 
* This was previous to the Portuguese discoveries. 
