Mr Murray m the Course of the River Niger, 167 
have been viewed as the Niger by Leo, who, though he had 
heard contrary rumours, professes a strong belief, derived from 
observations made during his residence at Tombuctoo, that its 
course was westward. These testimonies and presumptions 
combined, leave, I think, very little doubt upon the subject, 
though, till some more precise report be obtained, I do not wish 
it to be considered as absolutely certain. 
If we suppose that the Gambaroo rolls westward, and falls 
into the main stream of the Niger, we shall obtain at once a so- 
lution of all the mysteries and contradictions which have per- 
plexed this branch of African geography. It appears from Mr 
Bowdich’s statements, that Kano and Wangara (described to 
him under the name of Oongoroo) lie upon the north bank of 
the Gambaroo ; consequently the Gambaroo must have been 
the Nile of the Negroes of the Arabians, who always represen- 
ted that river as flowing westward through these countries. It 
must, as already noticed, have been the Niger of Leo, represen- 
ted by him also as skirting the same countries, and as flowing 
westward. From the position with regard to Kassina, it must 
have been the river referred to as the Niger by the informants 
of Mr Lucas, who described it as flowing in the same direction. 
From these collected testimonies, I was led, on a former occa- 
sion, to observe^, that the contradictory accounts on the sub- 
ject could only be reconciled by the supposition of tw'o rivers 
flowing through this region, one east and the other west; though 
he had then no data which could lead him to suspect that the 
point of junction could be at or near Tombuctoo. 
2. The Joliba . — It appears somewhat odd, that two rivers so 
near to each other as this and the Joliba of Park, should bear 
the same name. Without inquiring whether there be not here 
some mistake, we may remark, that the present river is very 
probably the Gozen Zayr of Sidi Hamet, which, if the Negro 
Zayr be changed to the Moorish Ba^ will have a sound nearly 
similar. In that case it must flow chiefly from the west, which 
is rendered probable by other circumstances. Yahoodee, I pre- 
sume to be Hoden, a mart in the western part of the desert. 
Supplement to Encydopcedla Britannica, art. Africa. 
