CHAP. III. NOTICES OF THE INTERIOR. 145 
road thence is through Tuat, From the account given by mer- 
chants, it appears that it is not so large a town as has been ima- 
gined ; and indeed some agree in saying, that it is not more exten- 
sive than Morzouk. It is walled ; the houses are very low, and with 
the exception of one or two small streets, are built irregularly. 
Huts of mats seem to be in greater numbers than the houses. 
The merchants to whom I suggested the idea, generally agreed 
with me, that the immense population which is said to exist there, 
may be thus accounted for. Many of the kaffles from Morocco, 
Ghadams, Tripoli, and the Negro states along the banks of the 
Nil, are obliged to remain there during the rainy season, or until 
their goods are sold. During their stay, they find it necessary to 
build huts or houses, to shelter themselves and their merchandise. 
These buildings are got up in a few days ; and thus, perhaps, ten 
or fifteen thousand inhabitants may, in the course of a month, be 
added to the population, which occasions Tembuctoo to be thought 
an immense town by those who are only there at the same time as 
other strangers ; but when the causes which detain the travellers 
cease, the place appears (what in reality it is said to be) insigni- 
ficant. Thus it is that the accounts of it differ so much. 
Kabra, which is its port, is situated south of it about 12 miles, 
and a person on foot may easily walk to and return from it in a day. 
It is more properly a collection of store-houses than a town ; the 
few people residing there being employed to take care of the cargoes 
of vessels. Large boats from Jenne come and unload at this place. 
The river, called Goulbi or Nil (the former name is Soudan, merely 
a generic term for all waters, and by no means applicable to the 
Niger alone), is here very broad, and flows slowly past from the 
w^estward. Many people agree in saying, that in the dry season, a 
camel may pass over it without swimming; but after the rains, it 
becomes very deep, rapid, and dangerous. 
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