situation, and Colonel Fitzclarence has confirmed both these reports. But our author having published a work, entitled "I'Histoire des voyages et des decouvertes faites en Afrique, depuis les siecles les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours," in 4 vols. in 8vo. and speaking of Murray's account of Dr. Leyden's discoveries in Africa (which by the way forms the basis of his work) thinks that the Sea of Sudan is not identified with the Merdja ou Mer de Nigritie, but that they are distinct seas; for he says, p. 244.

"Dans la carte qui accompagne l'édition donnée par M. Murray en 1817 de l'ouvrage de Leyden, intitulé, Histoire des Découvertes en Afrique, on a aussi dessigné cette Mer de Soudan à l'Est de Timbuctou, mais il n'y a point de Merdja ou de Mer de Nigritie."

Thus our author in the foregoing passage says, there is a Sea of Sudan east of Timbuctoo, but no Sea of Nigritia, evidently demonstrating, what he however does not attempt to conceal, his ignorance of the language of Africa, and that he does not know that Nigritia and Sudan are synonimous terms, signifying the same thing!

This confusion of rivers and seas, which are for the most part verbal, being premised, we shall now proceed to the investigation of our subject.

The basis, on which M. Walckenaer's geographical researches on North Africa turn, is-An itinerary of a certain Arabian chief or guide of a caravan, who performs a journey from Tripoli to Timbuctoo; this itinerary is originally written in Arabic, but is translated by M. de la Porte, interpreter to the French consulate at Tripoli. Another itinerary of a journey to Timbuctoo through Housa, is soon after seen by our author, originally written in Arabic, but translated by the celebrated Oriental professor at Paris, M. le Baron Silvestre de Sacy, our author then becomes indebted to M. de la Porte for a third journey in Africa; viz. from Tripoli to Cashna, also a journey from Fas to Tafilelt,' together with several extracts from Hornemann, Shabeeny, Jackson, Bowdich, and other travellers.

The work is divided into three parts:

'We use this orthography instead of that of Fez and Tafilet, because we consider the Emperor of Marocco's (Muley Soliman) authority as paramount to custom, for which vide his Imperial Majesty's Letter to our late revered sovereign, George 3d, in Jackson's account of Marocco, last edition, page 320, line 5. N. The Itinerary here alluded to is inserted in the Class. Journ. No. LII.

The 1st treats of the progress of geographical knowledge in North Africa, of the journies undertaken in that part of the world, and particularly of those whose object it was to reach Timbuctoo.

The 2nd part contains the manner in which geographers have treated the notions suggested to them on this subject by various travellers in Africa.

The 3rd part consists of a geographical analysis of these itineraries. The position of Tafilelt is first fixed by our author from the itineraries of Shabeeny, Ibn Hassen, and from Jackson, for the purpose of ascertaining more accurately that of Timbuctoo by other itineraries; a point of African geography is thus fixed, and is important, inasmuch as Tafilelt is a place which maintains a direct and uninterrupted intercourse with Timbuctoo.

à

The difference between the distance from Fas to Tafilelt, as given by Shabeeny and Ibn Hassen respectively, is, it appears, only 12 or 15 miles. "Il en résulte que la distance de Fez á Tafilet selon l'itinéraire de Ibn Hassen est d'environ 191 milles géographiques; et comme la route se dirige d'abord à l'Est,' et que les ruines de Pharaon sont sur la carte de M. Jackson placées au Nord-est de Fez, on trouve relativement à la distance de ces deux lieux avec Tafilet, une différence d'environ 12 à 15 milles : ainsi donc les renseignements qu'a obtenus M. Jackson s'accordent avec ceux de l'itinéraire de Ibn Hassen relativement à la position de Tafilet." P. 281.

We apprehend M. Walckenaer has overlooked the note in the first page of Shabeeny's account of Timbuctoo, wherein part of the time consumed in the journey to Tafilelt is attributed to the sojournment in, and to the crooked paths across, the mountains, which necessarily extends the time in performing the journey beyond what the distance would indicate. The supposition of three or four miles a day in crossing the mountains, being added to the journey, would annihilate this difference of 12 or 15 miles, and would make the two accounts agree exactly. We consider the corroboration of these two accounts confirming and establishing the position of Tafilelt,2 important to African geography.

'This direction east relates only to the passage across the mountains, for afterwards, in passing through the plains, it is south-eastwardly. 2 We learn from Mr. Jackson that Tafilelt is invariably allowed to be considerably nearer to the city of Marocco than to that of Fas, in a direct line, and that the reason travellers from the former are longer on their journey than from Fas, is, because they are obliged to travel far to the south on departing from Marocco, till they reach a pass in the

M. Walckenaer's work contains a short but interesting epitome of the works hitherto published respecting North Africa, in which candor and impartiality prevail.

In some ancient maps of Africa, chasms are filled up with crocodiles, elephants, rhinoceroses, and negroes; but our author, by a singular timidity, appears to have fallen into the opposite extreme, for he omits in his map of North Africa, inserted in his work, the territory of Tuat; a territory occupying some thousand square miles on the Sahara,' an extensive district, the sovereignty of which is claimed by the emperors of Marocco, as appears by the emperor Soliman's letter to our late revered sovereign, in Jackson's enlarged account of Marocco, p. 320. 5th Arabic line, and in the accompanying English translation, p. 321. line 10th.

Again, Draha is placed in M. Walckenaer's map some hundred miles too far to the east, being about two or three hundred miles from the Atlas mountains east of Terodant; whereas Mr. Jackson, who resided several years at Santa Cruz, a day's journey west of these mountains, assures us that it is indisputable that these mountains separate the province of Susa, and its metropolis Terodant, from the province or district of Draha, and that this province is a long tongue or slip of land running by the eastern ridge of the Atlas, as the etymology of the name incontestibly indicates.

M. W. p. 366 and 367. says, "The communication between Marocco, Tafilelt, Tatta, Akka and Draha are now only occasional, and when undertaken, it is generally by means of caravans-and travellers performing these journies," our author says, are obliged to pass over barren deserts and to provide themselves with water to drink." We shall not stop to enquire on what authority our learned author mentions this circumstance, but we cannot omit to observe that the intercourse between all the places above mentioned, particularly with Fas, is constant and uninterrupted, and will continue so as long as the manufactories of Tafilelt, Fas and Marocco are at work, because trade will always find a market when the articles used in commerce are

mountains called the pass of Draha, which is the only one that there is south of Marocco; the travellers on reaching the plains of Draha on the eastern side of the mountains, direct themselves to the northward and eastward, in their progress to Tafilelt. The only map in which this celebrated pass is noticed is an ancient map of Africa in the King's Library at Paris, delineated upon wood in the 14th century.

See the map of the track of caravans in Shabeeny's account of Timbuctoo, &c. &c.

useful and ornamental; besides it is one of the first objects of the Marocco policy to keep open this communication, so beneficial to the community and to the Sultan, the Sultan therefore must lose his authority before this intercourse can be interrupted. With respect to desert places, where the caravan must carry water to drink, our author alludes unquestionably to the desert between Tafilelt, Marocco and Fas, which is east of the mountains of Atlas, as there is no desert of any consideration between Marocco, Tatta, Akka and Draha.

We shall not notice the omissions of well-known places near Marocco and Terodant, but as accuracy on the coast is of the utmost importance in geographical dissertations, more particularly when describing countries but little known, we are not a little surprised at the omission of the port of Tomie. The situa tion of this place was ascertained by Mr. Jackson, who personally proceeded thither with inviting propositions about the year 1797 with the Khalif (Viceroy) of Suse, M. ben D. at the request of a royal prince, to report if it was a place calculated to open as a port for European commerce, a place where private merchants have since speculated clandestinely, and where European ships of war, particularly the English, have frequently been for water.

The port of Messa, once so celebrated, and formerly the capital of Suse when a kingdom, where there is a gold mine which was destroyed by the Portuguese when they evacuated that place, is also omitted in the map of M. Walckenaer; this celebrated place, situated at the mouth' of the river of the same name, formerly gave its name to Sijin Messa, called in the maps Sigilmessa, which served for the then kingdom of Suse as a state prison, which the name demonstrates, as Tafilelt now serves for Marocco. Sijin Messa or Sigilmessa is also expunged from Mr. Walckenaer's map.

The powerful tribe of Arabs, the Brabeesh, whose encampments are north of Timbuctoo, and to whom the city find it expedient to pay a kind of tribute or statta money, is, for what purpose we cannot tell, or on what authority we are unable to calculate, expunged from this map of M. Walckenaer.

'See this river in the map of West Barbary in Jackson's Marocco or in Shabeeny's Timbuctoo.

2 The etymology of this term is composed of two words, Sejin, the prison, Messa, of Messa. Mr. Jackson assures us that this etymology of these words is from high and erudite authority, and cannot be doubted.

3 The Brabeesh have an encampment in Nubia, west of Cairo, which is the parent tribe.

The 2nd part of this work exhibits the various opinions of geographers respecting the interior of Africa, some founded upon good information, whilst that of others is perhaps some hypothesis or theory of his own, but generally disagreeing one from the other. The true and the false-the probable and improbable-the credible and the incredible have been so mingled together, that the result has been a chaos rather than an elucidation of African geography.-Some are advocates for a Bah'r Sudan; viz. Jackson, Purdy, Aly Bey and others; some expunge altogether the Bah'r or Sea of Sudan from the interior of Africa, viz. Delisle, D'Anville, Arrowsmith, &c. Among all this variety of opinions, we turn our attention to our countryman Alexander Scott, whose narrative,' we presume, no one will doubt. This poor wrecked British sailor has actually sailed and rowed over, from the north to the south shore of one Bah'r Sudan2 or Sea of Sudan, in his journey to the Muselmin sanctuary of HejEl-Hej or the pilgrimage of pilgrimages.

It appears that our author does not know whether Belad-etTibr be the name of a river or of a country, p. 243., when any one acquainted with the African Arabic, of which there are several excellent professors at Paris, might have informed him, and have saved him the trouble of doubting that Belad-et-Tibr3 signifies countries of gold dust. Housa, Wangara, Gago, Jinnie, are all Belad-et-Tibr.

There appears to have been a disposition to innovation, without sufficient evidence, among geographers of the 19th century, when they removed Timbuctoo from the position originally assigned to it by Jackson from various itineraries to that city. Accordingly it was placed more to the east after Park's first journey, then Major Rennel placed it after Park's second jour

'See a review or dissertation on Scott's interesting narrative in the New Monthly Magazine, March and June, 1821.

2 It should be explained that Bah'r Sudan is a general term signifying a Sea in the Negroes land, so that the Bah'r Dehebby (or Bahr Tieb as Scott erroneously calls it) the Murdja or Morass of Wangara, the Bah'r Kulha, the lake Fitrée, the gulf of Gumia are literally all Bahar Sudan or Seas of Sudan or of Nigritia or of the country of Negroes.

3 Similar errors are committed in other parts of this work; thus our author thinks Bled tibr signifies the country of pure gold, when it signifies a country of gold dust, this error is copied from some person who has committed the error before him. The same may be said respecting the translation, page 491, of Bahar Tieb, which he calls the Sea of fresh water, instead of the Calm sea. Vide the explanation of this term in the New Monthly Magazine for March 1821, page 356, note.