460 THE MOSQUE. 
being swept almost daily. The environs of Jenn^ are marshy 
and entirely destitute of trees. Some clumps of ronniers are 
however seen on slight elevations at very remote distances. 
Before the rains set in, the plains receive some tillage, and 
are all sown with rice, which grows with the increase of the 
water of the river ; the slaves are the cultivators of this 
grain. There was also on the banks of the river some gombo, 
tobacco, and giraumons. I was told that in the rainy 
season they grow cabbage, carrots, and European turnips, 
the seed of which is brought from Tafilet. In the marshes 
is found a kind of forage, which is cut and dried for the 
cattle. In places not exposed to the inundation they cul- 
tivate only millet and maize. 
The town of Jenne is full of bustle and animation ; every 
day numerous caravans of merchants are arriving and de- 
parting with all kinds of useful productions. In JenntS there 
is a mosque built of earth, surmounted by two massive but 
not high towers ; it is rudely constructed, though very 
large. It is abandoned to thousands of swallows, which build 
their nests in it. This occasions a very disagreeable smell, 
to avoid which, the custom of saying prayers in a small 
outer court has become common. In the environs of the 
mosque, to which I often went, I always observed a number 
of beggars, reduced to mendicity by old age, blindness, or 
other infirmities. 
The town is shaded by some boababs, mimosas, date- 
trees, and ronniers. I remarked another kind of tree, the 
name of which I do not know. 
The population of Jenne includes a number of resident 
strangers, as Mandingoes, Foulahs, Bambaras, and Moors. 
They speak the languages peculiar to their respective 
countries, besides a general dialect called Kissour, which is 
the language currently adopted as far as Timbuctoo. The 
number of the inhabitants may be computed at eight or 
ten thousand. This town was formerly independent, but 
