DISCOVERIES OF THE FRENCH. 175 
The other branch was the Senegal, and to it the 
name of Niger was more peculiarly applied. The 
Faleme was supposed to be another branch, which, 
after separating from the Senegal, again rejoined it, 
and formed the intermediate country into a species 
of island. Others of the Mandingo merchants 
made an entirely opposite report. They positively 
asserted, that the Niger flowed eastward in pass- 
ing by Tombuctoo. Of these two opinions, Labat, 
who wrote the discoveries of Brue, decidedly adopts 
the former ; and the same may be said of almost 
all the travellers in this part of Africa, till the time 
of Park. On the other hand, the two great French 
geographers, Delisle and D'Anville, had, on solid 
grounds, as it afterwards proved, adopted the se- 
cond report. In all their maps, with the exception 
of the earliest ones of Delisle, the Niger is repre- 
sented as a separate river from either the Gambia 
or Senegal, and as flowing eastward by Tombuc- 
too. Labat expresses himself much at a loss as to 
the grounds on which they had founded this con- 
struction ; and nothing certainly can better illus- 
strate the excellent information possessed by these 
geographers. On this subject, however, an oppor- 
tunity will occur of making some farther observa- 
tions in the part of the work where we shall treat 
expressly of the Niger. 
Brue, after his return to Fort St Louis, made 
several voyages along the coast, to the mouth of 
