in
the same manner as Niger is the Roman name for the _Neel Elabeed_,
which is the Arabic name for the same river. There is a stream
which proceeds from the Sahara, the water of which is _brackish_;
this stream hardly can be called a river, except in the rainy
season. It passes in a south-westerly direction near Timbuctoo, but
does not join the _Neel Elabeed_. I could mention several
intelligent and credible authorities, the report of respectable
merchants, who have resided, and, who have had establishments at
Timbuctoo, in confirmation of this fact; but as the authorities
which I should adduce would be unknown, even by name, to men of
science in Europe, I would refer the reader to the interesting
narrative of an intelligent Moorish merchant, who resided three
years at Timbuctoo, and who was known to the committee of the
African Association; this travelling merchant's name is L'Hage
Abdsalam Shabeeny, and his narrative, a manuscript of which (with
critical and explanatory notes by myself) I have in my possession,
has the following observation:[279]--"Close to the town of
Timbuctoo, on the south, is a small rivulet in which the
479 inhabitants wash their clothes, and which is about two feet deep;
it runs into the great forest on the east, and does not communicate
with the Nile, but is lost in the sands west of the town: its water
is brackish; that of the Nile is good and pleasant."

[Footnote 278: The Arabs who conduct the _cafelahs_ or caravans
across the Sahara, are often seen at Agadeer or Santa Cruz, and
sometimes even at Mogodor; and if there was a river penetrating
to the north through the Sahara, would it not have been noticed
by them? Is it possible that such a prominent feature of
African geography, as a river of sweet water passing through a
desert, could fail of being noticed by these people, who are,
in their passage through the Desert, continually in search of
water?]

[Footnote 279: See page 8.]

Page 199. Mr. Murray recently observes, "Joliba seems readily
convertible into Joli-ba, the latter syllable being merely an
adjunct, signifying river; this I was also given to understand."

This is an etymological error. The Joliba is not a compound word,
if it were it would be Bahar Joli, not