THEORIES RESPECTING THE NIGER. 405 
selves had an opportunity of making. The coast 
of Western Africa presented to them a succession 
of great rivers, all running westward, and falling 
into the ocean. None of these seemed alone en- 
titled to the honour of forming a termination to 
the great central stream ; the Senegal, the Gam- 
bia, and the Grande, were therefore viewed in ge- 
neral as the Deltaic estuaries, by which it poured 
its waters into the ocean. Even the Faleme was 
supposed to be a branch first separating from, and 
then uniting with the main trunk. On viewing 
these maps, it is impossible not to be struck with 
the proximity of Tombuctoo to the sea, from which 
it is placed at not much above a third of its real 
distance, and so as not to extend beyond the ac- 
tual course of the Senegal. Combining this cir- 
cumstance with the narration of De Barros, the 
question may arise, what Tombuctoo it was, which 
lay adjacent to Manding, which was liable to be 
overrun by an invasion from Foota Jallo, and to 
which the Portuguese sent repeated embassies, 
without learning the existence of Bambarra, or 
of the Niger, as a separate stream from the Sene- 
gal ? * We have already seen how early the first 
discoverers began to consider, as Tombuctoo, every 
town which bore the slightest resemblance to it in 
name and situation. I strongly suspect, therefore, 
that this Portuguese Tombuctoo was some town si- 
* See above, Book I. Chap. I. 
