414 THEORIES RESPECTING THE NIGER. 
a mountain, flowed eastward, and fell into a lake ^ 
but this he asserts to be contradicted by his own 
actual observation of the navigation from Tombuc- 
too to Ginea (Jinnie). Upon this extraordinary 
statement, an opportunity will occur of making 
some farther remarks, at the close of the chapter. 
The above observations of Leo entirely con- 
curred with those which the Portuguese them- 
selves had an opportunity of making. The coast 
of Western Africa presented to them a succession 
of great rivers, all running westward, and fliUing 
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 actual course of the Senegal. Combining 
this circumstance with the narration of De Barros, 
the question may arise, what Tombuctoo it was 
which lay adjacent to Handing, which was liable 
to be overrun by an invasion from Foota Jallo, 
and to which the Portuguese sent repeated em- 
