seem to be seated in the breadth and strength of his chest, which is two spans between his fore-legs; these, though extremely fine in bone, are uncommonly strong in sinew, and his swiftness and durability exceed those of the common barb almost in the same degree, as the sebayee exceeds the common camel. The arab employs him chiefly in hunting the ostrich, a sport in which he is particularly expert. The motion of this little speedy animal is uneasy to an unpractised rider. He is very low in the crest, and carries his head straight out, and so tucked up (as the jockey phrase is) that he must be girted round the breast. The Scheik Abyd Allah, a familiar friend of Mr. Jackson, rode one of these horses from Mogodor to Santa Cruz, which is not less than a hundred English miles, between the dawn of day and four o'clock in the afternoon. My author also informs me, that upon meeting this Scheik on the sands of Mogodor, so mounted, and being challenged to try the speed of his Barbary horse, which was one of the finest in that country, fifteen hands and a half high, the Scheik upon his desert galloway gave him a start of one hundred yards in the distance of about one mile, and soon passed him with a velocity that put all competition of speed instantly out of question.

The Arabs, who inhabit the cultivated spots, called Oasis, in the desert, where this borse is bred, feed him upon camel's milk, to which he becomes so attached as to reject all other sustenance, even water; and when brought to Marocco, which sometimes happens, he falls away "and if obliged ultimately from hun ger, to eat barley and straw, the Moor. ish provender, he recovers, gradually fills up, and becomes handsome to the sight, but loses entirely his usual speed." Nay, he does more than this, for Mr. Jackson quotes an instance within his knowledge, of Alkaid Omar ben Daudy, an Arab of Rahammenah, and governour of Mogodor,

"who had two Saharawan horses in his stables [horses of the desert] and finding it inconvenient to feed them constantly on camel's milk, he resolved to try them on the usual food given to Barbary horses. He accordingly had their food gradually changed, and in a short time fed them altoge ther with barley, and occasionally wheat and straw. They grew fat, and looked better than before; but they lost their speed, and soon afterwards died, as if nature had desi ned them to be appropriated solely to that district, whose arid and extensive plains render their use essentially ne cessary."

If Mr. Jackson's famous barb was as speedy as one of our profest running horses, the experiment of his match with the Scheik Abyd Allah might tempt our gentlemen of the turf to speculate upon an importation of one of these Sh'rabah Er'rechs, or wind suckers, accompanied with a nursery of camels, and an Arab for his training groom and rider. His breed, however, might be attainable, and an object, perhaps, which some may think worthy of the experiment.

"Gold and silver mines are found in several parts of the empire of Marocco, particularly about Messa, in the province of Suse." Of these the emperour had caused some to be destroyed from reasons of policy, and others, particularly one very rich in silver, which being situated between two clans, who were continually fighting for it, was rendered of no use to either. Iron, copper, and lead ore, saltpetre, sulphur, and antimony, of the finest quality are in great abundance, and "vast quantities of salt are conveyed by the Akkabas to Soudan, where none is produced, and on that account is so valuable at Timbuctoo, that a pound weight is frequently bartered for an ounce of gold dust." To that city, the great emporium of central Africa, where immense treasures of gold are amassed, and which is as yet unvisited by any European adventurer, the curiosity

of the reader will naturally be directed.

The caravans of Marocco, Fez, Tunis, Algiet, Tripoli, Egypt, &c. have, from time immemorial, carried on a very extensive and lucrative trade with Timbuctoo, across the great desert Sahara, between the months of September and April inclusive. From Fez, the distance may be reckoned at fifteen hundred miles, S.S.E.

"The articles transported by the company of merchants trading from Fez to Timbuctoo, are principally as follows: Various kinds of German linens, viz. platillas, rouans, brettanias, muslins of dif ferent qualities, particularly muls, Irish linens, cambricks, fine cloths of particular colours, coral beads, amber beads, pearls, Bengal raw silk, brass nails (in great request) coffee, fine hyson teas, refined sugar, and various manufactures of Fez and Tafilelt, viz. shawls and sashes of silk and gold, hayks of silk, of cotton and silk mixed, of cotton and of wool; also an immense quantity of (hayk filelly) Tafilelt hayks, a particularly light and fine manufacture of that place, and admirably adapted to the climate of Soudan; to these may be added red woollen caps, the general covering of the head, turbans, Italian silks, nutmegs, cloves, ginger, and pepper, Venetian beads, cowries, and a considerable quantity of tobacco and salt, the produce of Barbary and Bled-el-jer. Têde."

The returns made for these articles by the traders at Timbuctoo, consist in gold dust, twisted rings of Wangara of pure gold, gold rings wrought at Jinnie, where they make various trinkets of such workmanship as would be difficult to imitate either in England or France, bars of gold, elephant's teeth, gum of Soudan, grains of Sahara [called by us grains of paradise] odoriferous gums of exquisite perfume, for the purposes of fumigation, slaves in great number, brought from the regions which border on the Jibbel Kumra, or Mountains of the Moon(so called from their white or lunar colour) a chain, which, with little or no intermission, runs through the continent of Africa from west to east, viz. from Assentee in the west to Abyssinia in the east whilst the

finest ostrich feathers and ambergris are collected by the caravans in their passage on the confines of the desert.

As the caravans perform their stated daily journies over this trackless waste, they direct their course to certain well known hospitable spots, interspersed like islands in the ocean, called Oasi's, or Wahsi's, which are inhabited, cultivated, and of amazing fertility and luxuriance; in these the caravans halt about seven days, for the purpose of feeding, refreshing their camels, and recruiting their water skins.

There is no reason why any European traveller might not safely attach himself to one of these accumulated caravans, and visit Timbuctoo, provided only that he had made himself a master of the western Arabick; an indispensable accomplishment, which I understand Mungo Parke to have been deficient in, and of course unqualified for the task he undertook.

The caravans perform the traverse of the desert, including their sojournments at the watering places, in about one hundred and thirty days, going at the rate of three miles and an half an hour, and travelling seven hours a day. Out of these one hundred and thirty, they rest seventy-five days, which leaves fifty-five days for actual travelling, and from these data the reader may easily make a loose computation of the distance. It is practicable, however, for caravans to perform this journey in much less time, and there is a note [p. 241] in which Mr. Jackson says, "That when he had a commercial establishment at Agadeer, he himself received a caravan of gum Soudan from Timbuctoo in eighty-two days."

As the slaves of Wangara and Houssa, purchased by the caravans at Timbuctoo, are sold on their return to the Moors and Arabs of Barba, ry, it is clear that there is a traffick for the human species carried on between inhabitants of the same continent, in which no European nation, or even individual, is concerned. This traf

fick is of high antiquity, long antecedent to any European practice of that reproachful nature. So far, therefore, as it may have contaminated the character of the Christian trader, he has to plead in extenuation of his errour, that he was the last to begin, and the first to leave it off. The territory of Timbuctoo, as described by Mr. Jackson,

May be said to extend northward to the confines of Sahara, or the Desert, a

tract of country about ninety miles in breadth; the western boundary is one hundred and thirty miles west of the city, and the eastern extends to the Bahar Soudan, or the Sea of Soudan, which is a lake formed by the Nile El Abeede, whose

opposite shore is not discernible. On its opposite or eastern shore, begins the territory of the white people, denominated by the Arabs N'sarrath, Christians, or followers of Jesus of Nazareth. South of the river is another territory of immense extent, the boundary of which extends to Lamlem, or Melli, which latter is reported to be inhabited by one of the lost or missing tribes of Israel."

The city of Timbuctoo would furnish to the traveller a most interesting spectacle, forasmuch as it is resorted to by traders from all the neighbouring nations, who enjoy perfect security of property and person,

with unlimited toleration as to their religious worship, of whatever description that may chance to be. The city is about twelve miles in circumference, and without walls. The houses are on one floor, spacious, and the apartments lighted by doors, that open into an interiour square; the inhabitant not requiring the accommodation of a window, whilst the climate never reminds him of the inconvenience of an open door. The women are extremely handsome, and the men proportionably jealous. In every other respect they are hospitable, splendid, and particularly pride themselves in their attention to strangers. What, then, has a European to fear in such a community, and where can he be so entirely to his heart's content, as in a country whose mines of gold are inexhaustible, and where every thing he sees and touch

es, and can take away with him, is that precious metal, the very object he adores, the crown of all his wishes, the reward of all his travel, the first and last great ruling passion of his heart?

The name of the rich and potent monarch, who governed Timbuctoo, in the year 1800, and was sovereign of Bambarra, was Woolo. He is native of the country, and, like his people, black. His usual residence is in the neighbouring city of Jinnia, though he has three palaces at Timbuctoo, which are said to contain an iminense quantity of gold; and fortunate it is for Woolo, that his surrounding deserts are such an impassa ble barrier, else his black army of five hundred thousand-negroes would hardly serve to keep certain marauding white men from unfurnishing those palaces, whose stores are so much more tempting to the plunderer than the statues and pictures of Italy and Spain. Still there are avenues, by which commerce may approach and reach him, and as he will weigh gold even against salt, when there is a dearth of that ne

Cessary in his country, we have only to find those avenues, and his hoards at Timbuctoo will gradually melt away into general circulation. The climate of this yet unvisited city, is, salubrious in the extreme, which is more than men bargain for, when they go to a country that abounds in gold. The sexes marry early, for they are in the latitude of 16° 40′; and the natives, as well as those who have resided there any considerable time, have a suavity of manners,

not to be observed on the northern

side of the desert. There are seve ral large caravanseras, or houses of accommodation for travellers in Timbuctoo, where they will find lodging for themselves and their cattle, till better provision can be made for their establishment.

I particularly recommend the following extract to the attention of my readers.

"It has been said, that there is an extensive library at Timbuctoo, consisting of manuscripts in a character differing from the Arabick. This I am inclined to

think has originated in the fertile imagination of some poet, or perhaps some Arab or Moor, who, willing to indulge at the expense of European curiosity, has fabricated such a story. In all my inquiries during many years, I never heard of any such library at Timbuctoo. The state library, which is composed for the most part of manuscripts in the Arabick, contains a few Hebrew, and perhaps Chaldaick books; amongst the Arabick it is probable there are many translations from Greek and Latin authors at present unknown to Europeans." [P. 257.]

It seems by this account that there is a state library, and probably many Arabick translations of Greek and Latin authors hitherto unknown. How much, therefore, is it to be re

gretted that Mr. Jackson, qualified as he is by his perfect knowledge of Arabick, had not found leisure and ambition to visit and examine this library, which perhaps contains a treasure richer and more valuable to

the enlightened world, than all the golden palaces, which the negro monarch of Bambarra has in his possession!

The path seems open to adventure, and the time may come, when those who send forth missionaries to explore those interesting regions, will recollect, that when a traveller cannot speak the language of the country he is in, he will gain very little in formation from the people that inha

bit it.

It is asserted that the mines belonging to the sultan Woolo are so pure, that lumps of virgin gold are constantly found of several ounces in weight. These mines are worked by the negroes of Bambarra, who are thereby made extremely rich, "for all pieces of ore, which they take from the mines, not weighing twelve mizams, or about two ounces, become a perquisite to themselves, as a remuneration for their labour, and all pieces of a greater weight

belong to the sultan, and are deposited in his before mentioned palaces." I shall now conclude by giving the substance of certain passages, extremely curious, which relate to the river near Timbuctoo, which is called the Nile el Abeede, or Nile of the Negroes. In the interiour of Africa, and amongst the rich traders, who engage in this traffick across the continent, there is but one opinion with regard to the Nile of Egypt and the Nile of Timbuctoo, and that opinion river, or rather that the latter is the is, that they are one and the same western branch of the former. source of the Nile of Timbuctoo is at the foot of the western branch of the chain of mountains called Jibbel Kumra, where it forms a merja, or throw the water up with great force, swamp. The copious springs, which

The

are very numerous, and are found on both sides of the mountain, that is on the eastern as well as on the western side. That these streams communicate with each other is an

opinion so general, that the Africans express their astonishment, whenever the Europeans dispute the fact, and assert that it is a folly to doubt what the experience of succeeding ages has demonstrated to be true. That the Nile of Timbuctoo communicates with Cairo, has been ascertained to a certainty by a party of seventeen negroes of Jinnie, who proceeded thi ther in a canoe, on a commercial speculation, and reached Cairo, after

a

trafficking voyage of fourteen months, who reported that there are twelve hundred cities and towns, with mosques or towers in them, between Timbuctoo and Cairo, built on or near the banks of the Nile el Abeede and the Nile Massar, or in other words the Nile of Soudan and the Nile of Egypt. Precisely where they join is not ascertained, or, more properly speaking, has not come to the knowledge of my author. The Nile el Abeede being the greater, and running through a larger trart of

country than the Nile Cham, or Nile Massar, is called Nile el Kabeer, the greater Nile; the Nile of Egypt, however, is not called the lesser Nile, but always, as above, the Nile Cham, or Nile Wassar; Cham being the Arabick name for Egypt, when united to Syria and other countries The Nile el Abeede overflows in the same manner as the Nile of Egypt, when the sun enters Cancer. At Kabra near Timbuctoo, it becomes a very large stream. River horses and crocodiles are found in it, and the country contiguous to its south

ern banks is covered with forests of primeval growth. in which are many trees of great size and beauty. These forests abound with elephants of an enormous size.

I now close my imperfect review of this very interesting work, which I earnestly recommend to my readers, not doubting but they will find it altogether as worthy of their study and attention, as the Swedish literati have of theirs, who, as I am well informed, are preparing a translation in the Swedish language at the university of Upsala near Stockholm.

A picture of America in doggerel rhymes, but not a poetical picture ; unless this epithet be taken in a sense which the fair writer, we suppose, cannot mean. We are very modestly told that "no muse is invoked;" and as the lady seems to have no acquaintance whatever on the forked hill, we should have commended her prudence had she abstained from any trespass on the manor of the muses, and confined herself to the plains of humble prose. Nothing is gained by lazy and hobbling rhymes, except it be, the amusement of the reader at

the expense of the author; for it is impossible, when verse is execrably bad, to refrain from laughing at it, whether the subject be the travels or even the sorrows of a lady. example:

For

"Unwilling serious thoughts to check, I took a place upon the deck." Further on, we contemplate the lady at her ease, regardless even of the restraints of rhyme:

"We'd time enough to look about, The wind grew slack-the mate had sport."

The state of society in Alexandria is thus depicted :

"Such dull stupidity was there

I thought it seemed exceeding clear
That those who chose to live and stag
In this same Alexandria,

Must feed on air, or for a treat,
Their household furniture soon eat."
At Norfolk, the lady promenaded
to "see the lions:"

"The weather fine, I walked about To see the town, and view the fort." To open our eyes respecting the supposed cheapness of living in Âmerica, it is hinted

"That living is not near so low
As people hope when first they go."

Sometimes the lady "cares not a pin" for grammar, when it opposes the formation of a rhyme; though, in general, she is not very nice in this latter respect :*

"Sometimes the young men smart ap pears

And some look well spite of their ears. In allusion to female resources in America, we are presented with this somehowing couplet:

"As money must be had somehow, There every lady has a cow."

* In one piece, milk is selected as a rhyme to think