6 
NIGRITIA KNOWN BY PTOLEMY. 
The Greeks, in the time of Ptolemy, must have had 
extensive information respecting the countries south of 
the Desert, by means of itineraries of numerous travellers 
of his day. He has laid down the positions of many 
places, which from his imperfect means, ai*e hardly to be 
identified, but he clearly shews that two large rivers 
traversed Sudan ; namely, the Gir and the Nigir ; 
that the latter is the River Joliba, of Park, cannot admit 
of a doubt. Succeeding researches will also, perhaps, 
shew as clearly that the Gir is the Chadda, 
Although the Romans crossed the great Desert with 
their armies, and even reached the countries since 
discovered by Denham and Clappcrton, they have left no 
information respecting our river ; and for many centu- 
ries after them, the interior of Afiica remained 
forgotten and unknown ; until some Ai*abian geogra- 
phers restored it to the speculations of the spoiler, of 
the explorer, and in our own better times, of the 
philanthropist. 
Some of these Arabs, and especially Ibn Batuta* in 
1353, and Leo Africanus,f in his work published 1556, 
speak of the great river of Africa as the Niger, and 
describe the cities and nations on its banks. The latter 
says that, TombuttoJ was a rich and powerful city, built 
^ Professor Lee’s translation. 
t Viaggi da Ramusio, tom. i. p. 78. 
I It is curious that one of our interpreters, Mohained Lamina, said 
he knew two large cities, Timbaktu and Tombuttu, and the latter was 
very much larger than the other. 
