Chapter I: § I (2)

To conclude the examination of this first part of the itinerary, I shall make some remarks on the situation of the country, which appears to be the spot where the waters of this portion of the African continent separate. The first great line of partition is that which divides the waters of the Senegambia from those of the Soudan. The mountains which form it have their nucleus at Timbo, where their distinction into separate ranges is totally lost. Thence one range diverges to the north, and another to the east, and it is remarkable that the divisions of the countries or states correspond with the physical regions. Thus in the country called Fouta-Dhialon, Timbo and its mountains are the sources of the Rio-Grande, the Gambia, the Falemé, the Senegal, &c. The Soulimana and its fountains are the source of the Dhioliba on the one side, and the Rokelle and the Mungo take their rise on the other. From the backs of the mountains of the Fouta-Dhialon spring the tributaries of the Dhioliba, as the Tankisso (which cannot be an arm of the Senegal, as M. Caillié was informed): the spot where it rises is not far from Timbo, and the true point of division between the basons of the north and the east. Thus we have a proximate acquaintance with the relief of the country, which presents a satisfactory whole, where all appears to bear a natural connection. To this result M. Caillié’s observations have materially contributed.

Besides the line of division of which I have just spoken, there is another which separates the waters of the Senegambia from those of the Timannie; it is the result of an attentive examination of M. Caillié’s route. He crossed in fact two considerable rivers: the one, the Kakiriman, which is from seventy to eighty paces in breadth; the other, the Cocoulo, which is forty-five; and both very rapid. He saw them flowing to his right, that is southward, towards the bason of the Timannie.[56] Further on, that is after Popoco, all the rivers which he crossed flow to the left, towards the north, and into the Senegambia. Thus, between the route of M. Mollien and that of M. Caillié, there must be a very elevated mountain crest, running from N. W. to S. E. and passing near the point of intersection of the two routes.

The names of the countries traversed by M. Caillié, in the first part of his travels, deserve a particular examination. According to the circumstantial description of the Baleya, it appears to me, that Major Laing has placed on his map a village of Beilia, where he ought to have marked and where in fact is, the country of Baleya. The Firia of the maps is the same with the Fryia or the Firya of M. Caillié; the Sangaran is nearly where it has been placed upon the recent maps, but on both sides of the river. With respect to the Couranco, if M. Caillié was rightly informed, it extends considerably towards the N. W., whereas Major Laing confines it to the interval between the rivers Rokelle and Camaranca, in the south. This country borders it should seem on the Baleya and the Soulimana. The true source of the Dhioliba is in the Kissi, to the south of Couranco, according to M. Caillié (or of the Soulimana, according to Major Laing). Thus the whole discrepancy between the two travellers is reduced to the lengthening of the country of Couranco; but, are the limits of these petty kingdoms well defined, and are the natives themselves fully agreed as to frontiers which violence is perpetually changing? On many maps the names of Sangala and Couronia are to be found not far from Couranco and Sangara. I suspect they are doing double duty here, as in so many other instances in geography, either through the difference of the orthography or the negligence of the transcriptions. Is not Couronia altered from Couronca (Couranco) and Sangala, by the frequent mutation of the _r_ into _l_, from Sangara? The Wasselon, or Wassoulo, should be placed much nearer to the ocean, the incontestable consequence of M. Caillié’s march; and already this example affords a presentiment of the fact as relates to the course of the Dhioliba and all the districts which it traverses. This river having also been supposed too much to the east by three or four degrees, the result has been the necessity of lengthening all the distances in order to cover the space between it and Timbo, and the constructors of maps have scattered over this space the names of countries and places, made all the positions too remote from each other, and transformed hamlets into towns and towns into kingdoms. They have not sufficiently remarked the custom common to almost all travellers of lengthening distances by an exaggerated estimate, and have neglected to make allowance for the frequent curves and inflexions of the line of route: a double cause for throwing into the interior many countries much nearer to the sea than they are believed to be.

This want of exactness in the compiling of itineraries, or in laying down those itineraries upon maps, is no novelty in geography; the Ancients have furnished many examples of it, and the maps designed after the positions of Ptolemy are nearly all tainted with this defect; I shall mention Arabia alone as an example. But I must here terminate this short digression, the subject of which would almost furnish matter for a book equally useful and instructive. I also pass over many names of countries with which M. Caillié has made us acquainted, and which will figure for the first time upon the map of Africa, and many more which are already known, and the existence of which is now confirmed by authentic testimony.

SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS.

The largest portion of the space between Kakondy and Timé may be regarded as an entirely new acquisition for geography; the same remark applies to that which we are about to run over with our traveller. We must not regret that he abandoned the banks of the Dhioliba, and that this circumstance deprived us of information concerning the banks of that river from Couroussa to Djenné; we are indemnified for this loss by his discoveries respecting countries of which we have hitherto been utterly ignorant. Moreover, had he passed through Bamacou, Sego, and Sansanding, he would not have had time to sojourn in them so long as Mungo Park did: he might, perhaps, even have been recognised at Sego, and like Dochard have been detained. Leaving the river far to the west, he became acquainted with the tributary streams which traverse the triangular space comprised between Couroussa, Timé, and Djenné, and with all the positions of this vast tract. He also acquired information concerning the positions situated near the rivers, and of all the towns of any importance, by the attention which he paid to inquire their distance and direction at different points of his route.

I have already observed that, the route from Timé to Djenné having been performed under the same circumstances as the preceding, the estimate of three English miles an hour applies to this line of road; I have therefore admitted this with M. Caillié, and I have had the satisfaction to see that, in forming this line, without any alteration, upon the distances and bearings as he has given them, the latitude of Sego would remain very nearly the same as that which results from the observations of Mungo Park, made in this vicinity.[57] But this point remains for future examination, when I shall discuss the situation of Timbuctoo. Thus the delineation of this portion of the itinerary has not presented any great difficulties. Some topographical circumstances relating to this extent of country merit observation.

Beyond Timé the traveller proceeds for two days more towards the east; he then turns to the (magnetic) north, and continues afterwards in nearly the same direction, which ought to be borne in mind. There are high mountains of granite at Timé, and again at four days’ distance, after which the ground subsides and becomes level. The sand is succeeded by a fertile soil, furrowed by the frequent streams running westward towards the Dhioliba, amongst others the Bagoe, a navigable river, and the Couara-ba. Tangrera, near the commencement of this line, appears to be a large and very commercial town; this point is placed, according to the journal to the E. N. E. of Timé, (east by the compass), but not ten days to the east as appears by the journal.[58] At Tiara a part of the caravan directed their course upon Sansanding, and to the N. W., according to M. Caillié (the line traced on the map gives the true N. N. W.); agreeably to the information which he obtained at Badiarana. Caya is nine days to the north, and Sego nine days farther on; now Sego (as it is placed upon the map, as I have elsewhere said)[59] is situated due north by the compass, with respect to Badiarana; but the eighteen days’ journey, if they really exist, must be very short, occasioned probably by the stagnant waters, and other obstacles, which render a winding course necessary. The situation of Cayaye is determined by its bearing upon Couara, five days to the N. N. W., which places it, as it should be, half way upon the road between Badiarana and Sego. This spot, Couara, doubly merits our present attention. I have had occasion, in another work, to remark that this is a generic word, the sense of which is analogous to that of river. Here we see beside a village of this name a pretty considerable river called _Couara-ba_, that is to say _river-river_; we have some examples of a like denomination in _Ba-ba_, and other names of the same kind; an additional reason for not identifying rivers and currents on account of the similitude of their names, because it is above all things necessary to know whether these names are generic terms, or individual appellations.

In the second place, the Couaraba runs across a country through which, according to the map of Mungo Park, a river called _Banimma_ passes, parallel with the Dhioliba; this would appear impossible since the Couaraba falls into the latter stream, if we may believe the report of the inhabitants.

This portion of the itinerary furnishes data for the site of a country and even of a town called _Kong_, placed at a considerable distance in all the maps. The bearing of a line directed thither from Douasso is between S. S. E. and E. ¼ S. E. by the compass, which is in fact due south; so much for its longitude: but a distance of forty-five days’ journey would carry it much too far to the south; doubtless the soil is very mountainous upon nearly the whole road, and the journeys very short. If we stop at the seventh parallel north, we shall make each day’s march but seven or eight geographical miles, including the windings of the route.

Still proceeding northward, the traveller crosses large open plains and rich countries, bounded on the left by swamps, lakes, or ponds, which indicate the neighbourhood of a large river. At length he reaches its banks at Galia, opposite to Djenné, at ten miles distance. Before we enter this capital, let us examine some important geographical positions. Nothing could be more obscure than the situation of Bouré; we were ignorant whether there existed a town of this name, and even what was the site of the country of Bouré: in the maps we shall find differences of several degrees. M. Caillié did not visit Bouré; but, in throwing together all the particulars which he collected, I find sufficient data to determine the situation of this town; for there is a town, and a very important one, on account of the vicinity of its rich gold mines, and the commerce of which it is the centre. Bouré stands upon the left bank of the Tankisso, a large tributary, as I have before said, of the Dhioliba, and at three quarters of a day’s journey from the latter in a direct line, or one day’s above the confluence. These particulars which agree well together, were furnished by various persons in various places. Moreover the position of Bouré is given by its distance from Kankan; and its bearing, namely, four or five days to the north, ¼ N. E., in descending Milo. Finally, as a fourth testimony, we learn that Bouré was five days’ march from Couroussa, descending the Dhioliba in a canoe, and _afterwards ascending the Tankisso_.

Bamakou is known to us from the second journey of Mungo Park; but its actual situation should be considerably further to the west: the information obtained by M. Caillié, and the construction of the map, place this town at about the tenth degree of longitude west of Paris, and in latitude eleven degrees forty-five minutes. The idea of forming an establishment there, is founded upon a real knowledge of the country; it was long ago suggested in memorials submitted to government, pointing out its advantages. The documents of M. Caillié confirm the possibility of the scheme at the present time. He thinks that from this point it is eight or ten days’ journey to the nearest point of the Senegal. Now, it appears, from the map, that, by ascending the Bâfing, as far as thirty leagues above the first cataract of Felou, we should be seventy leagues in a direct line from Bamakou, which agrees very well with what has gone before; this, however, is not the place for examining that question.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COURSE OF THE DHIOLIBA AS TRACED FROM COUROUSSA TO SEGO AND DJENNÉ.

The course of the river, from Couroussa to Sego, as I have traced it, deviates from the hitherto received opinions;[60] and I am bound to justify so material a change, when submitting it to the judgment of geographers. In laying down the routes of M. Caillié, I was not prepared for such a result, or rather I was apprehensive of finding former conjectures relative to the much more westerly position of the river, and of the towns through which it flows destroyed by actual observations, as an illusion is dissipated by the clear light of truth. It has however proved quite otherwise, and this opinion was far from rash. In fact, beyond Couroussa the river runs due N. E., then eastward, and afterwards for a great distance to the north, instead of pursuing invariably an eastern direction as marked upon the maps. But on what is this latter direction supported? On what foundations does it rest? It has no other cause than the position arbitrarily assigned to Timbuctoo, much too far east, much too far from the mouth of the Senegal. On the more modern maps attempts have, it is true, been made to remove this position farther west; the necessity of bringing it nearer to the ocean has been felt,[61] but it has not been advanced far enough, and has still been retained in nearly the same parallel, instead of being brought at the same time farther north.

If the objection be admitted that M. Caillié has carried his route by water too far west, the result would then be that his route from Timbuctoo to Fez must have been carried too far east: now these two results are opposed to each other, since it is the same line of route, and the same bearing, which lead from Couroussa to Sego, from Sego to Timbuctoo, and from Timbuctoo to Fez.

One powerful consideration is that M. Beaufort has fixed and ascertained the position of the town of Elimané, eastward of Bakel, by a great number of observations; this is the present capital of Kaarta. From that place travellers are daily going to Sego; our unfortunate countryman was himself on the point of proceeding thither, and would have done so but for the destitution caused by the pillage of which he was a victim, and which compelled him to turn back. He was then told that Ségo was only at ten days’ distance; that the bearing of Elimané with regard to Sego was E. S. E.; and that these days’ journeys were journeys on foot. Let us work on these data, and see whether they confirm the course of the river drawn from the itinerary of M. Caillié.

Can these days’ journeys be computed at more than twenty-one geographical miles? This can scarcely be admitted; but should they even be extended to twenty-two miles and in a direct line, it would be on the whole two hundred and twenty miles, which in the above direction would not reach the ninth meridian west of Paris.

While M. Caillié was at Kiebala, he was told the distances and bearings of Sego, which differ very little from the position resulting from that of Elimané in the opposite direction; and if the river was here carried eastward, as it is found in all the maps calculated from Park’s travels, there would no longer be any agreement between these two different sources of information. If, on the contrary, these respective data are preserved, they naturally harmonize, and the northerly course of the stream is confirmed.

Besides, the latitude of Sego, although not yet observed, cannot greatly differ from that of Sami, which is near it: the observation there made by Mungo Park gives thirteen degrees seventeen minutes, and this is perhaps, a little too northerly. The approximative position of Sego, resulting from various data, and which I have adopted as a medium, would thus be, latitude thirteen degrees; longitude, nine degrees west.

Sego, according to the itinerary, lies due north by the needle of Badiarana, that is north seventeen degrees west. This direction exactly passes through the position which I have assigned to Sego, from the observation of Sami, by Mungo Park.

The bearing of Sego is likewise precisely indicated by the N. N. W. line of the compass, drawn from Saraclé.[62]

The course of the Dhioliba, from Sego to Jenné, west and east, and the position of Sego, are still more strongly confirmed by data with which the traveller was furnished at Bamba. Sego is three days’ journey N. W. of that place; and at noon on the fourth, the city of Sego is reached: these are long days’ journeys. The proportion of three to four, or rather of three to three and two thirds, will be actually found as I have traced it.

Lastly, it is elsewhere expressly said, that Sego is five days west of Jenné; the new map gives W. ¼ S. W. All these data, it is plain, perfectly coincide; and although they are not authenticated by a single good celestial observation, yet they agree too well together to allow one to venture upon deranging the whole itinerary of our traveller, and carrying the city of Sego and with it the whole course of the river, two or three degrees farther east, when besides there exists no observation whatever, either geographical or astronomical, for carrying the river and its towns farther into the interior of the continent.

The position of Djenné, the arms of the river by which it is surrounded, its situation in a large island apart from the Dhioliba, the stream which branches off in the neighbourhood of Sego, and rejoins the river at Isaca, four days further on, are so many circumstances all equally new, and which tend greatly to modify our previous notions. Looking at this complication of details, the obscurity and contradictions contained in all the accounts of the negroes on the subject of Djenné may be easily conceived; but, upon an attentive study and careful comparison of the different data, we arrive at a tolerably just idea of these localities: the reader will judge whether I have attained this object in the course of these observations and in the drawing here submitted to him. Unquestionably, there yet remain many circumstances to be learnt relating to this double branch of the Dhioliba, the true form and actual extent of the island of Djenné, and its double or perhaps triple communication with the branches of the river; for every step yet gained in our acquaintance with this mysterious river seems to throw us to a greater distance from the ultimate object: it is, therefore, to confess the truth, nothing more than a slight sketch that I have presumed to delineate; time will rectify our yet imperfect notions, and complete the observations of our indefatigable traveller, when the use that I have made of them may be judged of. M. Caillié presumes the island of Djenné to be eighteen miles in circumference; but the construction of the route and the general appearance of the map induce me to believe that it is of greater extent: I also suspect, that the junction of the island with the western branch of the river cannot be seen from Djenné, but only its junction with the eastern branch; this would be a natural consequence of the westerly situation of Sego, with regard to Djenné. For the rest, I refer to the observations in the following article, that this discussion may not be prolonged here.

I shall not stay to inquire how it happened that Mungo Park knew nothing of a second branch of the river, when he proceeded from Sego to Silla. I shall likewise abstain from entering into further developments respecting the course of the Dhioliba beyond Djenné. The narrative furnishes ample details, not less instructive than new, respecting the course of the river, its depth, its immense width in some parts, to the extent of half or even a whole mile. One of the most interesting points of this route by water is the great lake Debo, or Dhiebou, which M. Caillié met with half-way between Djenné and Timbuctoo. I cannot help thinking that this lake is the same which figures on the maps under the name of Dibbie, but with a widely different position, form, and extent.

The enthusiasm of our traveller at the sight of this sea of fresh water must appear excusable to every one, and his eagerness to take possession, in a manner, of the spot, on behalf of his country, by giving names to three islets situated in it, cannot but be generally approved. Twenty three years earlier, Mungo Park had accomplished this same navigation, perhaps, had also given names to these little mediterranean isles. Who, either in France or in England would have blamed him for this national feeling, had the account of his discovery reached Europe?.

The lake has two divisions, one eastern, the limits of which may be seen, the other western, extending beyond the reach of sight. M. Caillié is ignorant whence this mass of water proceeds; is it from a tributary, or is it, on the contrary an efflux from the inundations of the Dhioliba? This geographical question, on many accounts an important problem, remains then in obscurity; further on I shall offer a rather probable opinion[63].

To the east of this lake are sands and sterile hills; to the west, it is lost in vast marshes; the navigation of the latter division must be extremely difficult. Passing from Djenné to Timbuctoo, the traveller navigates the eastern division of the lake, keeping close to the right bank.

Below the lake (on the map) a winding of the river will be observed, which perhaps appears forced and unnatural; it results from the lines of route as noted down and the difficulty of substituting any thing else has alone determined me to retain it, although doubtful of its accuracy: an error, however, in this tracing will have little influence on the general result.

In approaching Cabra, the port of Timbuctoo, M. Caillié perceived to the right a large arm of the river, running E. N. E. and he continued to navigate the other, holding a north-west course. He was informed that the latter rejoined the first at some distance; but this important fact has not been verified by any European eye; the traveller could not have ascertained it, without repairing himself, at considerable risk, to the point of junction. As for the inhabitants, perfectly indifferent as to obtaining or transmitting intelligence of this sort, they spoke very vaguely to him on the subject. The problem, therefore, of the ulterior direction, and of the final termination of these branches of the river, is yet to be resolved; I defer this discussion to a subsequent article[64], as well as the particular question of the situation of Timbuctoo[65]; and shall conclude this with repeating, that the itinerary from Timé to Galia, and from Galia to Timbuctoo, has been framed on the calculation of two miles an hour.

THIRD PART OF THE TRAVELS.

The progress of M. Caillié through the desert has also been estimated at two miles an hour, at least as far as Tafilet, and that for reasons explained at the beginning. The principal interest presented by this part of the route consists in the exact information it contains of the wells and stations to be met with amidst this ocean of sand. Science is indebted to M. Caillié for numerous and correct notions of these vast solitudes, which travellers cannot confront without consternation. Thus, we knew the spot called el-Araouan only by the wells found there, as a place at which the caravans usually fill their water-skins; but our traveller informs us that it is an important town: seeing it thus surrounded on all sides by the deserts, we are the less surprized at the situation of Timbuctoo in the midst of the sands.

The wells of Telig are remarkable for the vicinity of granite mountains, and for the neighbourhood of Toudeyni, which, in all the maps, is carried far to the west of the line between Timbuctoo and Tafilet. M. Caillié’s description leaves no room for supposing that he is treating of some other place of the same name, since this city is well known to be a great mart for salt. I pass over in silence the immense banks of moving sand, and the rare accidents of the soil, which scarcely vary throughout this long tract of road, the dreary uniformity of which is interrupted only by the wells. Beyond the wells of Mayara appear the last branches of the chain of Mount Atlas. The granite shews itself at first in fragments and hillocks, afterwards in high hills and steep mountains. Twelve days’ journey beyond el-Harib, we enter the district of Tafilet. Here the report of M. Caillié is widely different from the received opinions: 1st. He heard nothing of any _town of Tafilet_, it is merely, he says, the name of a country. It is nevertheless possible that a town may have heretofore existed there, and have disappeared like so many other towns of central Africa. I observe in the travels of Ebn-Hassan from Fez to Tafilet, quoted in the _Recherches sur l’Afrique septentrionale_[66], &c. that the territory only of Tafilet is mentioned and not the town; which would support the account of M. Caillié. 2ndly. This country is much nearer to the meridian of Fez than it is marked on all the maps[67]. 3rdly. It is farther north[68], Ghourland, M. Caillié informs us, is the principal place in this territory; near it is a place called Afilé, and another of the name of Boheim[69], besides Ressant, the residence of a governor under the Emperor of Morocco. M. Caillié mentions another position unknown upon the maps; a large town called Rauguerute or Rogrut, S. S. E. from Morocco.

The narrative presents but few details concerning the crossing of Mount Atlas; it is not a matter of surprize that, after so many fatigues and perils, our adventurer should be impatient to reach the end of so long a journey. However, I observe in this part the course of a little river or brook, called the Guigo, flowing from Soforo (or perhaps from beyond) towards M-Dayara, and probably as far as Tafilet. Upon carefully examining the traveller’s route, we perceive that he first saw the Guigo, or had some knowledge of it, between Rahaba, and L-Eyarac, afterwards at Tamaroc, and Kars; that he crossed it at L-Eksebi; and that the river fertilizes the environs of N-Zeland, L-Guim, Guigo, and Soforo. The water-mills which our traveller saw at Soforo again announce the presence of the same river. Thus the part of its course with which we are acquainted will be at least fifty leagues in length and probably much more. I do not know whether it passes to el-Fez, where however several different rivulets are seen.

Neither was the journey across the Sahara altogether unprofitable with regard to our knowledge of the oases and of the stations which it contains. The distances of these places from the several points of his route were reported to our traveller; and these distances are very different from those previously admitted: but are there two accordant testimonies concerning these positions? Each caravan and each tribe makes a different estimate of the intervals; and if, to the actual mistakes which the Moors and natives may commit, the errors in which they are interested be added, what a source of uncertainty will these present! Therefore, though I have fixed upon the general map the points of Tychyt, Oualet, Ouadan or Hoden, Ouad-Noun, &c., according to the indications of M. Caillié, combined with other documents, I consider them as very uncertain. Oualet, says our traveller is at ten days’ distance from el-Araouan, to the west, fifteen north from Sego, and eighteen from Ouadan: this point falls near nineteen degrees of latitude and nine degrees forty minutes longitude west from Paris: the three lines meeting at nearly the same point. But if it agrees with the three data given above, it is at variance with the situation of Oualet, as hitherto admitted, either from Mungo Park, or the testimony of the natives. It is perhaps another place named Oualet, not that intended by Mungo Park. Can it be the Gualata of Leo Africanus? but his description suits this no better.[70] In this case Gualata would be much farther to the south than is generally supposed. It is however certain that geographers cannot confound the Walet of Mungo Park with Gualata.

Although M. Caillié has not mentioned Agably which is believed to be the chief place of the oasis of the Touats, I have been obliged to insert it in the map, because the traveller gives a position called Touat much nearer to the route from Timbuctoo to the Tafilet. It is not surprising that several places should be so called, because the wandering tribe bearing this name occupy a considerable portion of the great desert, from the south of Morocco to beyond Agably. Besides, the situation of this place, which could not have been brought within the limits of the map, if we were to adopt the mere reports of the Arabs, to which geographers have had recourse, falls there, on the contrary, according to the astronomical observation of Major Laing, who fixes it much farther to the west. This observation is published, for the first time; I owe it to my learned friend Captain Sabine, himself united in the most affectionate intimacy with the unfortunate traveller, who transmitted it to him after sustaining a first attack on leaving this oasis. Nor was it at Agably that Major Laing made the observation, but at Ain-Salah, belonging to the same canton and at two days’ journey from it; this place is cited in all the itineraries between Tripoli and the western Soudan. According to the Major its situation is twenty nine minutes west of Paris, and twenty-seven degrees eleven minutes thirty seconds north latitude. Notwithstanding the difference between this and the situation allotted to this town upon all the maps, I have thought it right to enter it in the general map of the travels.

The other places of the Sahara, such as Akka, Tatta, el-Kabla,[71] for want of new data, have been fixed from a comparison of those upon which the map of M. Walckenaer, or those of Messrs. Lapie, Brué, Berghaus, &c., were formed. With respect to the names of tribes and colonies, I have endeavoured to place them with all possible exactness, and have been obliged to differ from several recent maps in other respects very valuable.

To the right of his route, and in front of el-A’raouan, M. Caillié heard of an important situation, that of Sala; but the accounts were too vague to be compared with the descriptions of the Arabs.

I shall finish the examination of this third part of the travels by the general list of the wells and stations of the desert on the line from Timbuctoo to Fez; which line appears to be the most advantageous and the shortest, because it is the most frequented. It seemed to me that the collection of all these names into a single table might be of some utility. It will be remarked that Toudeyni does not appear in this list: may not this place be without water fit for drinking? and has Telig succeeded it as a more convenient station for caravans? I submit this doubt to the reader.

+-------------------+----------+-----+-----------------------+
|NAMES OF PLACES, |HOURS of |DAYS.|DEPTH OF THE WELLS, |
|wells and stations.|march[72].| |and quality of the |
| | | |water. |
+-------------------+----------+-----+-----------------------+
|From Timbuctoo to |66 |6 |60 feet in depth; |
|el-A’rouan | | |the water brackish, |
| | | |unwholesome, abundant. |
| | | |_Station._ |
| | | | |
|Mourat |" |" |1 foot; water brackish.|
| | | | |
|Telig[73] |111[74] |8 |3 or 4 feet; water |
| | | |brackish and abundant. |
| | | | |
|Crames |32½ |5 |Wells sometimes dry. |
| | | | |
|Trazas or Tghazah |9 |1 |7 or 8 feet; water |
| | | |very salt and bad. |
| | | | |
|Amoul-Gragim |27½ |3 |7 or 8 feet; water |
| | | |muddy, salt, but not |
| | | |bad. |
| | | | |
|Amoul-Taf |25½ |3 |4 feet; water sweet, |
| | | |but in small quantity. |
| | | | |
|L-Ekseif |19 |3 |Excellent water. |
| | | | |
|Marabouty |40½ |4 |Shallow. |
| | | | |
|L-Guedea |32 |4 |Tolerably good water. |
| | | | |
|Mayara |45 |4 |4 or 5 feet; water |
| | | |very salt and bad. |
| | | | |
|Sibicia |21 |2 |7 or 8 feet; water |
| | | |clear and delicious. |
| | | | |
|El-Harib |23 |2 |_Station._ |
| | | | |
|El-Hamid |19 |2 |From 20 to 25 feet; |
| | | |water good. |
| | | | |
|Mimcina |9 |1 |Large town of the Drah.|
| | | | |
|Yeneguedel |8 |1 |3 feet; water good and |
| | | |abundant. |
| | | | |
|Faratissa |7 |1 |2½ feet; water very |
| | | |good. |
| | | | |
|Boharaya |9 |2 |12 feet; water sweet |
| | | |and excellent. |
|Goud-Zenaga |6 |1 | |
| | | | |
|Zenatyia[75] |7 |1 |From 20 to 24 feet; |
| | | |water pretty good and |
| | | |abundant. |
| | | | |
|Chanerou |6 |1 |Wells frequented by |
| | | |the Berbers. |
| | | | |
|Nyela or Ain-Yela |9 |1 |The water is taken |
| | | |up by hand; it is |
| | | |abundant and good. |
| | | | |
|Ghourland |6 |1 |_Station._; chief town |
| | | |of Tafilet. |
|Boheim[76] |1½ |1 | |
| | | | |
|Afilé |1½ |1 | |
| | | | |
|Taneyara |4½ |" |A village without |
| | | |water. |
| | | | |
|Marca |3 |1 |Deep wells; garden. |
| | | | |
|M-Dayara |9 |1 |Town. |
| | | | |
|Rahaba |3 |1 |A large village. |
| | | | |
|L-Eyarac |3 |" |A hamlet. |
| | | | |
|Tamaroc |5 |" |A village on the banks |
| | | |of the Guigo. |
| | | | |
|Kars |4 |" |A village. |
| | | | |
|N-Zeland or |8 |1 |A hamlet. |
|Ain-Zeland | | | |
| | | | |
|L-Eksebi |11 |1 |A large village. |
| | | | |
|L-Guim |10½ |1 |A small village. |
| | | | |
|Guigo |10 |1 |A Berber village. |
| | | | |
|Soforo |11 |1 |A handsome town. |
| | | | |
|Fez |7 |1 |The ancient capital of |
| | | |Morocco |
+-------------------+----------+-----+-----------------------+

ARTICLE III.

REMARKS ON THE GENERAL MAP OF THE TRAVELS AND THE ELEMENTS WHICH SERVE FOR ITS BASIS.

Having completed the construction of the itinerary, it remained to subject all these lines of route to the invariable data of which geography is already possessed. I first sought among these data for points common to M. Caillié’s march: they are unfortunately very few in number. How then could I flatter myself, whatever trouble I might take, with whatever care I might combine all the data, hazarding nothing without some authority to support it, that I should produce any thing beyond a mere essay? If it should be hereafter confirmed by the observations of travellers furnished with astronomical instruments, the only merits of this work will consist in fortunate combinations; if it should be falsified by future discoveries, still it will have called for the criticism of geographers, and will consequently not have been useless to science. In submitting to the reader results differing from those hitherto admitted, I wish to warn him against an error, too common, especially in map-making, that of giving the preference to the more recent publications, and to place confidence in them in proportion as they are so. I am far from desirous of usurping this species of interest, to the prejudice of geographical works in general estimation.

The points common to the route of M. Caillié and to the list of positions considered by geographers as perfectly or sufficiently established, are confined to the following: the points of the Western coast of Africa, Kakondy, Timbo, Sami and Yamina (for the latitude), Bakel, Elimané, Fez; and I shall add to them the position of Ain-Salah, though published here for the first time. With respect to the positions of Djenné, Timbuctoo, and the places situated in the great desert, the uncertainty is so great, that there is no resting any solid calculation upon them, and they are of no use in verifying the exactness of new itineraries.

Thus we are reduced, for a space which comprehends twenty five degrees of latitude and from ten to twelve degrees of longitude, to eight points in the interior.[77] Still, the point whence the traveller set out on the first part of his travels, the position of Timbo in the middle of this part, and the very probable knowledge of the parallel of Sego, a town which is connected with the itinerary and attaches itself to the fixed points of the Senegambia, with the almost certain situation of Fez, form a first basis, which may serve to verify as well the inflections of the route as the length of the lines travelled over. I began by establishing the lines from Kakondy to Timé, from Timé to Djenné and Timbuctoo, and from Timbuctoo to el-Araouan; first, by supporting them separately upon Timbo, the parallel of Sego, and the position of Fez; and secondly, by attending to the declination of the compass. These lines were at first formed without any other modification than the necessary substitution of the true north for the magnetic north, in the night journeys. The direction of the first line from Fez gave me a very fair position for Timbuctoo; and that of the second line from Timé furnished me with another but little different, and which the situation of the parallel of Sego brought considerably nearer to the first: whatever uncertainty still remained has been cleared up by new data, of which it would have been difficult not to have made some use.

Whilst at Timé, the idea struck M. Caillié of observing the length of the shadow of a style at midday; his long stay there gave him an opportunity of making the observation twice: the first time, which was on the 30th of October 1827, the height of the style, with every reduction, was 0,706 metre; that of the meridian shadow was equal to 0,2945 metre.[78] The second observation was made on the 1st of November 1827; but this measurement cannot have been taken with so much precision. It was the shadow, properly speaking, which was measured, that is to say, the shadow terminating distinctly and without the penumbra. The calculation gives for the latitude as nearly as possible nine degrees.[79]

This being admitted, I perceived that the construction (made in the manner before explained) of the line which represents the first part of the journey, gave to the situation of Timé the same latitude within a few minutes. This agreement convinced me that no change was required in the construction; so small a difference, considering the insufficiency of the means employed, might indeed be regarded as an entire concordance, and I could not but suppose that it was probably the effect of a fortunate compensation for many errors on the contrary side. I might therefore look upon Timé as a point nearly fixed, and leave it to establish the other two lines. The longitude of Timé, resulting from the preceding operations, is nine degrees two minutes west of Paris. Thus Timé would be at a nearly equal distance from the equator and from the meridian of Paris.

The bearing of the line from Kakondy to Timé, according to the travels of M. Caillié, having been confirmed, has given me confidence in the bearings of the rest of the route. I have therefore first laid down the line from Timé to Timbuctoo, and that from Timbuctoo to Fez, such as they result from the construction of the map of the route. The point of Fez being fixed, it became necessary to modify a little the absolute length and the direction of these lines, to confine myself between the two points of Timé and Fez, and I have proceeded upon a proportionate reduction. The difference was nothing extraordinary for so long a route, amongst so many obstacles and difficulties which the indefatigable traveller had to overcome. It amounted on the whole, upon near three thousand English miles,[80] to about one hundred and fifty, or a twentieth part of the space travelled over, and the total angular difference is less than six degrees upon the angle between the meridian of Kakondy and the direction upon Arbate. The latitude of Timbuctoo, obtained by this means, is near seventeen degrees fifty minutes north.

Possessing upon this latitude no geographical data properly so called, having only the routes of caravans, and not even the hours of march, but merely the reckoning of the day’s journey, so that to the uncertainty of the length of the journeys is added the still greater uncertainty of the pace of the caravans, according to whether they were more or less numerous, whether composed of camels more or less laden, or only of pedestrians; together with our ignorance as to the number and situation of the forced halts which they make in the desert, either on account of wells, or of those unforeseen accidents which will happen in these terrible peregrinations;[81] in the midst, I say, of so many causes of hesitation, which ought to warn geographers against the employment of the vague itineraries of the Arabs and the Moors, could I grant less confidence to the route of M. Caillié than to the marches of the Africans?

These routes are constantly divided by hours: the rests are noted with exactness, and they are never undecided with respect to the length of the marches: it only remains then to estimate the pace, and we are enlightened on this latter subject by the composition of the caravan. For these reasons, and others still which it would occupy too much time to explain; I have not thought it right to take preceding itineraries into account in combining the elementary facts necessary for ascertaining the position of Timbuctoo.

I should, however, have still remained in doubt, and have abstained from offering an opinion had there not been other new data susceptible of comparison with the itinerary of M. Caillié; I mean the measure of the meridian shadow which he took at Timbuctoo itself. This observation was made by the same method as that at Timé: this proceeding is undoubtedly very imperfect, but, for want of others I think it should not be entirely neglected. On the 1st of May 1828 our traveller planted a style of the height of 0,635 metre; he measured, at noon, the shadow of this style and found it equal to 0,030 metre.[82] The calculation gives seventeen degrees fifty one minutes north latitude. I must repeat here the reflection that this agreement may very probably result from contrary errors which have balanced each other: but as it is impossible to discover the points in which the errors lie, or the limit of their extent, the final result is all that can be obtained.

I will add one consideration which will not have escaped those geographers who have studied the calculation of probabilities. In a series of observations made under the same circumstances, and especially by the same observers, the greater the number, the more probable is it that their amount will approach to the total quantity required. When there is no reason that the errors committed should be on one side rather than another, they mutually destroy each other, and the more so, the more the observations are multiplied. There is even a rule which teaches us how much the sum found differs from the truth; its discovery belongs to the learned geometrician, who is at present the organ of the French Institute for mathematical science. Knowing the error which may have occurred in an observation, it must be multiplied by the square root of the total number of observations. Thus, instead of growing with this number the total possible error decreases proportionably. For example, for four observations it would be represented by two, and for a hundred observations, by ten only. The proportion of total errors is therefore as ¹⁰⁄₂ whereas the proportion of the number of observations is as ¹⁰⁰⁄₄: thus the error is but the fifth part of what it would be proportionally in four observations.[83] Hence it follows that the more observations are multiplied the more any imperfection in the processes by which they have been made will be corrected.

Are we not authorised to apply this principle to the length of M. Caillié’s stages, since the number of the lines of route is not less than six hundred and thirty three? I may add that the same remark applies to the angular deviation. Indeed, considering the total distance between the meridian of Timé and that of Fez, or the difference in longitude (which is equal to one degree forty four minutes) as being the real sum of all the angles of the route to the east or west of the first, it will follow that the forming of the lines of bearings noted by the traveller (or the calculation of the angles, which is more exact) gives a total variation, so much nearer to the above difference of longitude as the number of bearings is greater; and this number is also six hundred and thirty three. As it has been seen above, I have found the deviation equal to less than six degrees, and it has been easy to divide it over the whole line.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE SITUATION OF TIMBUCTOO, AND PARTICULARLY ON ITS LONGITUDE.

From the determination of the lines which join Timé, Djenné, Timbuctoo, and Fez, and from the latitude of Timbuctoo thus fixed according to the itinerary at seventeen degrees fifty or fifty one minutes,[84] necessarily results a more westerly longitude of this city, than has been hitherto supposed, and even than that which I had formerly admitted, and which brings its position much nearer to the ocean than any geographer has placed it.

Such is the importance of the situation of Timbuctoo that I deem it necessary to insist again on the discussion of the elements; in order, not to establish it with certainty (I am far from believing that I have accomplished this) but to furnish the reader with new means of approaching the truth, as nearly as the state of our knowledge will permit. It is true that a single astronomical observation made by a skilful observer, furnished with good instruments, and worthy of confidence, might overthrow these inductions; but it is equally true that till we are possessed of such an observation, no geographer can fix this main position on a map, without deducing all the reasons which determine him, especially if he dissents from the opinions of his predecessors.

Timbuctoo is placed, on the general map of the travels, in the latitude resulting from the observation of the shadow and the length of the route from Timé to Timbuctoo. A great part of this route, it may be observed, is in a northerly direction, which was far from being conjectured from the course of the river in this quarter. If Mungo Park could have acquainted us with the particulars of his journey beyond Sansanding, we should not have been so long uncertain of this direction, which has uniformly been carried easterly, and that because the situation of Timbuctoo was imagined (as it is still) to be very central in the continent. Park’s map (travels in 1805) places it under the meridian of Paris; Clapperton at 0° 5° west. Rennell at 2° 3°: but the data of which we have been for ten years in possession oblige us to bring it nearer to the ocean; M. Walckenaer has done so, in adopting a longitude from nine to twelve minutes more westerly. I have always proposed to carry this position much farther west, and even placed it four years ago four degrees west.[85] M. Brué has since adopted 3° 34’: perhaps it should have been advanced as far as the sixth degree. For the reasons I have elsewhere given, the route from Timbuctoo to Fez cannot be fixed at more than two English miles an hour: to this rate I have reduced the computation of M. Caillié, who at first estimated the whole route equally at three miles. Now the line of route thus constructed and resting upon Arbate, a well known position, carries Timbuctoo very near the eighteenth degree north; that is to say, from 17° 50’ to 17° 55’; had not this been shortened a little, the city would have been carried to 19°, or 20°, a position far too northerly, and totally inadmissible. Moreover, the line from Timbuctoo to Arbate would be ten degrees too far west; it would also be increasing the declination to 27° instead of 17°, which seems to be its amount for the mean meridian.

But, if the bearing of the line from Timbuctoo to Fez resulting from the itinerary, and that of the line from Timé to Timbuctoo, are preserved, these two intersect each other about the parallel of 17° 50’. This latitude agrees so well with that resulting from the height of the shadow, 17° 51’ that we derive from these data a very satisfactory confirmation. Now the line of the parallel 17° 51’ and the two lines of direction meet, all three, on nearly the same meridian, the sixth west from Paris.

No positive data are yet known which can better fix the longitude: not only are the itineraries of the Moors too vague, but they support themselves upon the Mediterranean, while M. Caillié’s routes, though they are continued to the Mediterranean, support themselves upon the ocean; which is much nearer than the former, and also upon the known positions of Timbo and Fez.

Suppose, however, it were determined, notwithstanding all these reasons to withdraw Timbuctoo farther to the east by a degree or more, it would then become necessary greatly to increase the journeys from Kakondy to Timé. In making them three English miles and three fifths an hour, the true measure has probably been somewhat exceeded, but the situation of Timbo compelled this; while, to place Timbuctoo on the third degree of west longitude, would be to suppose a march of more than four miles and a half an hour.

Another circumstance here comes to our assistance: it is that by carrying it farther towards the east, we must suppose the traveller greatly and constantly deceived in a western direction on his journey from Timé to Timbuctoo, and, on the contrary, in going from Timbuctoo to Fez, he must have made a similar and not less considerable error in all his bearings towards the east. How should we account for this singularity?