384^ park's first journey/-. 
siderable affluence, as the country is often visited 
by traders, who pass from the west to Tombuctoo, 
and who, from the swampy nature of the soil, 
intersected by numerous creeks, liave been able 
to resist all the power of the Moors. The soil of 
this island is extremely fertile. The two great 
branches of the Niger, which insulate Ginbala, 
unite at Kabra, the port of Tombuctoo, which is 
one day's journey to the south of that city. On 
the northern banks of the Niger, at a small dis- 
tance from Silla, the pastoral kingdom of Massina 
commences, inhabited by Foulhas, who are tribu- 
tary to Bambarra. On the north-east of Massina 
lies the kingdom of Tombuctoo, the capital of 
which is the principal emporium of the Moorish 
commerce in Africa. The government is in the 
hands of the Moors, who are more intolerant than 
in any other country. Mr Park was informed 
by a respectable negro, that, when he first visited 
Tombuctoo, he took up his lodging in a public 
inn, when the landlord conducted him into his 
hut, spread a mat on the floor, laid a rope upon 
it, and thus addressed him : " If you are a Mus- 
" sulman, you are my friend, sit down ; but, if you 
" are a Kafir, you are my slave, and with this rope 
" I will lead you to market." The present king 
of Tombuctoo is named Abu Abrahima ; his court 
is splendid and magnificent ; he possesses immense 
✓ jriches, and the expenses of government are de- 
