As There Was No Tent Appropriated For Him, He
Took Up His Abode In The Same Hut With Me.
He seemed to be a well-
informed man, and his acquaintance both with the Arabic and Bambarra
tongues enabled him to travel with ease and safety through a number
of kingdoms; for though his place of residence was Walet, he had
visited Houssa, and had lived some years at Timbuctoo.
Upon my
inquiring so particularly about the distance from Walet to
Timbuctoo, he asked me if I intended to travel that way; and being
answered in the affirmative, he shook his head, and said it would
not do; for that Christians were looked upon there as the devil's
children, and enemies to the Prophet. From him I learned the
following particulars:- That Houssa was the largest town he had ever
seen: that Walet was larger than Timbuctoo, but being remote from
the Niger, and its trade consisting chiefly of salt, it was not so
much resorted to by strangers: that between Benowm and Walet was
ten days' journey; but the road did not lead through any remarkable
towns, and travellers supported themselves by purchasing milk from
the Arabs, who keep their herds by the watering-places: two of the
days' journeys was over a sandy country, without water. From Walet
to Timbuctoo was eleven days more; but water was more plentiful, and
the journey was usually performed upon bullocks. He said there were
many Jews at Timbuctoo, but they all spoke Arabic, and used the same
prayers as the Moors.
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