From Walet To Tombuctoo Was Eleven Days More; But
Water Was More Plentiful, And The Journey Was Usually Performed Upon
Bullocks.
He said there were many Jews at Tombuctoo, but they all spoke
Arabic, and used the same prayers as the Moors.
He frequently pointed his
hand to the south-east quarter, or rather the east by south; observing,
that Tombuctoo was situated in that direction; and though I made him
repeat this information again and again, I never found him to vary more
than half a point, which was to the southward.
April 24th. This morning Shereef Sidi Mahomed Moora Abdalla, a native of
Morocco, arrived with five bullocks loaded with salt. He had formerly
resided some months at Gibraltar, where he had picked up as much English
as enabled him to make himself understood. He informed me, that he had
been five months in coming from Santa Cruz; but that great part of the
time had been spent in trading. When I requested him to enumerate the
days employed in travelling from Morocco to Benowm, he gave them as
follows; - to Swera, three days; to Agadier, three; to Jiniken, ten; to
Wadenoon, four; to Lakeneigh, five; to Zeeriwin-zeriman, five; Tisheet,
ten; to Benowm, ten; in all fifty days; but travellers usually rest a
long while at Jiniken and Tisheet; at the latter of which places they dig
the rock salt, which is so great an article of commerce with the Negroes.
In conversing with these Shereefs, and the different strangers that
resorted to the camp, I passed my time with rather less uneasiness than
formerly.
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