498 * eieey's narrative. 
" fertile." The negroes lived along the river in 
small towns, fenced in with walls of reed, and in 
houses composed of mud and cane. Finding tra- 
velling here difficult, from the woody nature of 
the country, they struck north, till they came again 
to the border of the desert, then journeying ten 
days eastward, they came to Tombuctoo. 
Tombuctoo is described by Sidi Hamet as a 
large town, which appeared to him six times more 
populous than Mogadore. As the latter place 
contains 36,000 inhabitants, this would give to 
Tombuctoo SI 6,000. The population is entirely 
negro, and no Moor is allowed to enter, unless 
fifty at a time unarmed from each caravan. There 
is, however, a separate town divided off from the 
principal one by a strong partition wall, and appro- 
priated to such Mooselmins as are allowed to re- 
main at Tombuctoo. The city is surrounded with 
a strong wall, composed of stone laid in clay, with 
four gates, which are shut in the night time. 
The king's house is large, high, and composed of 
the same materials as the wall. There are many 
stone houses in the town, with shops, but most of 
the habitations are built of reeds. The sovereign 
is a very large, old, grey-headed black man, called 
Shegar, which means sultan, or king. " The 
" people of Tombuctoo do not fear an<$ worship 
v " God like the Mooselmins, but, like the people 
t( of Soudan," they merely pray once in twenty- 
5 
