APPENDIX. 
xvii 
are not conversant with the subject, that rivers make the greatest display of 
their waters, in proportion to their bulk, at a moderate distance from their 
sources ; and are often wider above, than below * 
There can be no doubt but that the Joliba. is a noble stream ; and the 
prince of the western rivers of Africa, as the l^ile of the eastern : but the 
African rivers, however, rank lower than those of Asia and America. 
Mr. Park judged that the Senegal river below the falls of F'low, or Felou 
(as Labat writes it), was about the bulk of the Tweed at Melross, in sum- 
mer. This was indeed, in the dry season ; but as the river does not begin 
to swell periodically till many months after that, Mr. Park, did not of course 
see it, at its lowest pitch. And yet this was the assemblage of all the prin- 
cipal branches of the river, save the Faleme, which was itself about three feet 
deep at the same season. But the Senegal is even fordable in some places 
below the conflux of the Faleme, according to Labat :t for the Moors cross it 
in the dry season, and commit depredations on some of the lands to the south. 
However, almost the whole of the towns and villages are placed on the south 
side, with a view of being in security for the longest possible term. 
The Senegal river then, is by no means a very capital stream, except in the 
* In the Proceedings of the African Association, (Q_p- 122; O. 183, et seq.) the 
riv'er of Kassina is described to run to the west, and to pass on to Tombuctoo ; where it 
is said to be named Gnewa ; possibly intended for Joliba , for the n and / are more com- 
monly interchanged than the m and n. J It will very probably turn out that there is an 
error in the above statement, and that it runs from W to E in the country of Kassina as 
well as at Tombuctoo. It would seem also to be a larger river in the east, than in the 
west ; a presumption in favour of an easterly course. But perhaps, the best argument is, 
that it certainly runs from Tombuctoo to the east. It must then either be one and the 
same river, or there must be a receptacle common to both, lying between Tombuctoo and 
Kassina ! and we have not heard of any such. Much more will be said concerning this 
subject, in the latter part of the Memoir. 
, t See Labat, Vol. ii. p. 172, where the impediments to the navigation are described. 
They do not appear to arise from differences in the general level, but to a ledge of rocks. 
I Abderachman Aga calls it Giilbi; (orjulbee). Hartmann's Edrisi, quarto ed. p.22. 
It is incumbent on me to acknowledge the obligations 1 owe to M. Hartmann, for 
his arrangement of i\i matter of Edrisi's Africa ; and for his invaluable Elucidations, 
and Notes. 
C 
