172 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
the signal protection He had accorded me in so many 
apparently insurmountable difficulties and perils. My 
first emotions having subsided, I found that the scene 
before me by no means came up to my expectations. I 
had conceived a very different idea of the grandeur and 
wealth of this town. At first sight it appeared nothing- 
more than a mass of badly-built houses, whilst on every 
side stretched vast plains of arid, yellowish, shifting- 
sands. The sky was of a dull red colour on the horizon ; 
all nature seemed melancholy ; profound silence pre¬ 
vailed, not so much as the song of a bird was heard. 
And yet there was something indescribably imposing in 
the sight of a large town rising up in the midst of the 
sandy desert, and the beholder cannot but admire the 
indomitable energy of its founders. I fancy the river 
formerly passed nearer the town of Timbuctoo; it is 
now eight miles north of it and five of Cabra.” 
Timbuctoo, which is neither so large nor so well 
populated as Caillie expected, is altogether wanting in 
animation. There are no large caravans constantly 
arriving in it, as at Jenneh ; nor are there so many 
strangers there as in t-lie latter town ; whilst the market, 
held at three o’clock in the morning on account of the 
heat, appears deserted. 
Timbuctoo is inhabited by Ivissour negroes, who seem 
of mild dispositions, and are employed in trade. There 
is no government, and strictly speaking no central 
authority ; each town and village has its own chief. 
The mode of life is patriarchial. A great many Moorish 
merchants are settled in the town, and rapidly make 
fortunes there. They receive consignments of mer¬ 
chandise from Adrar, Tafilet, Ghat, Ghadames, Algiers, 
Tunis, and Tripoli. 
To Timbuctoo is brought all the salt of the mines of 
Toudeyni, packed on camels. It is imported in slabs, 
bound together by ropes, made from grass in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Tandayeh. 
Timbuctoo is built in the form of a triangle, and 
measures about three miles in circumference. The houses 
are large but not lofty, and are built of round bricks. 
