SIDI HAMET, 
517 
through Soudan, described as " a hilly country, 
" but very fertile.'* The negroes lived along the 
river in small towns, fenced in with walls of reed, 
and in houses composed of mud and cane. Find- 
ing travelling here difficult, from the woody na- 
ture of the country, they struck north, till they 
came again to the border of the desert ; then jour- 
neying ten days eastward, they came to Tombuc- 
too. 
Tombuctoo is described by Sidi Hamet as a 
large town, appearing to him six times more popu- 
lous than Mogadore. As the latter place cour 
tains 36,000 inhabitants, this would give to Tom- 
buctoo 216,000. The population is entirely negro, 
and no Moor is allowed to enter, unless fifty at a 
time unarmed from each caravan. Th^re is, how- 
ever, a separate town divided off from the princi- 
pal one by a strong partition w^all, and appropri- 
ated to such Mooselmins as are allowed to remain 
at Tombuctoo. The city is suri'ounded 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 and worship 
