316 REMARKS ON TRAVELS 
1 shall here make another remark respectmg the 
situation of places marked upon the two maps, upon in- 
formation communicated by others, and not direct obser- 
vations 3 it is that the natives are extremely clever at 
indicating the direction of places at a greater or less 
distance : they are seldom mistaken in this indication ; 
and they point out with the finger with great accuracy, the 
direction which must be taken to go in a straight line to 
a given spot. This observation has been made before. 
When a certain direction was thus pointed out to M. 
Caillie, he remarked some particular object on the line, 
and applied his compass to it at the first favourable op- 
portunity. These bearings have been extremely useful 
to me for the points situated beyond the route ; without 
this assistance I should have found it impossible to trace, 
even tolerably, the course of the Dhioliba above Djenne. 
