the English during the American war; but ceded to France in 1783.

The river Senegal is one of the most considerable in Africa, and has its rise near the source of the Gambia, about the seventh degree of west longitude, and runs to the north west. Within two leagues of the sea, it turns suddenly to the south, and during the remainder of its course is divided from the ocean only by a natural bank of sand. By this curve it runs twenty-five leagues from north to south, and at length discharges its waters into the sea, in fifteen degrees and fifty minutes of northern latitude. It separates the country of the negroes from Zaara, or the Desert, which is inhabited by Moors. All the prineipal rivers of Nigritia have an annual inundation similar to that of the Nile, and usually about the same season of the year. The Senegal is forty days in rising to its height, and when it has overflowed its banks, the channel caunot be traced without great difficulty, even by those who are accustomed to navigate it; and when, a few years since, a French boat containing thirty men was sent up this river, they could only proceed about a thousand miles, their course being constantly impeded by the tops of trees, and the crew experiencing such a variety of hardships, that only five returned alive.

The extreme rapidity of the current near the mouth of the river, is attributed to the narrow and confined space through which so large a body of water flows; the influx into the ocean being not more than half a league in breadth, in the midst of which is a bar that contracts it still more, and renders the passage both difficult and dangerous, The navigation is extremely

hazardous during the rainy season"; when the prodigious swell of the stream, and the violence of the south-west winds opposed to its rapid course, produce waves of the most tremendous appearance, with a roaring noise that fills with horror the heart of the most adventurous mariner. This bar prevents ships of five or six hundred tons from entering the river; a circumstance, however, that is attended with considèrable advantage, and from which the fort of St. Louis derives its principal strength and security.

After passing the bar, the river glides gently and smoothly, and is four fathoms in depth. The banks are variegated with a pleasing verdure, and with trees in perpetual bloom, which contain birds of the most vivid beauty. In this part of the country, wild beasts are very abundant, particularly elephants, which are inoffensive when unmolested. In the low grounds grows a species of ebony, which rises to a prodigious height, and bears large bunches of yel low flowers of an aromatic smell. The bark of these trees is beautifully variegated with different colours, and the wood constantly bears the same hue as the bark, though the flowers of each are alike.

The Senegal forms a number of islands, which are well clothed with trees, fruits, and herbage; but the only one on which the French, who have been the chief proprietors of this part of the country since they took it from the Dutch in 1687, made any settlement, was the Senegal, situated in sixteen degrees and five minutes of northern latitude, and about five miles from the mouth of the river. This island, which is only

two

two thousand three hundred yards in length, and, at a medium, scarcely three hundred in breadth, is a dry, sandy, and sterile spot, but well defended by the fort of St. Louis, constructed in a quadrangular form, with two bastions of considerable strength, and an arsenal well supplied with stores and ammunition. After the French had been in possession of this settlement about five years, it fell into the hands of the English, who took it in 1692; but in the following year it was retaken. In 1758, Senegal again fell under the power of the English, by the activity and resolution of Captain Marsh of the navy, and Major Mason of the marines; who, with a small squadron of ships, added a valuable conquest to their country, without the loss of a single man. By the treaty of peace in 1763, it was ceded to Great Britain, which rendered the gum trade almost exclusively our own; but it once more fell into the hands of the French, during the American war, to whom it was guaranteed in 1783.

The gum, called Senegal, or Arabic, which constitutes the principal commodity of this country, is reckoned a very valuable article of commerce, and made use of in many arts and manufactures, particularly painting and dying. The tree from which gum exudes, is described as a species of acacia, small and prickly, full of branches, and clothed with ever-green leaves extremely narrow, and of a moderate length. It bears a white flower, the bottom of which at length becomes a pod, filled with small and hard seeds that serve to propagate the species. There are three forests of this tree, which are all situated in the desert north of the river, and at near

ly

ly equal distances from it. They yield every year two crops, one in December, which is the more productive, the other in March. This gum is sold by the natives by a cubit measure called a quintal, which contains about two hundred weight; and in such amazing quantities is it produced, that a quintal of gum is frequently exchanged for goods, which in Europe are not worth more than half-a-crown.

CHAP. XI.

Zaura; or the Desert.

UNDER this general head we shall include

the countries of Biledulgerid and Tombuctoo, together with the several Moorish nations that inhabit the vicinity of this vast Desert, all of which are involved in much uncertainty. As many of these inhospitable regions have never been sufficiently explored by any person capable of communicating information, the descriptions to be met with in modern systems are pregnant only with invention and unauthenticated assertions. We shall, therefore, wave a practice which every liberal and ingenuous mind must condemn, and content ourselves with briefly arranging the best accounts that have been received, relative to this extensive and barren tract of territory.

Zaara is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the west; by Barca, Egypt, and Nubia, on the east; by the rivers Senegal and Niger on the south; and by Biledulgerid on the north; comprehending an immense extent of burning sands,

the

the sterility of which no labour can overcome, unless near the few rivers and springs which are to be met with in this parched land. The Moors of this part of Africa very much resemble in their persons the mulattoes of the West Indies; and seem to be a mixed race between those of the north and the negroes of the south. Of their, origin, as distinguished from the inhabitants of Barbary, we are told, that before the Arabian conquest in the seventh century, the whole of the inhabitants on the continent of Africa then known, were generally denominated Mauri, or Moors. These people were converted to Mahometanism during the reign of the caliphs; and many of the Numidian tribes retired southward across the Great Desert, in order to avoid the fury of the Arabians. It is supposed that their dominion extends from west to east in a narrow belt, from the mouth of the Senegal to the confines of the empire of Abyssinia.

Between Cape Blanco and the river Senegal, the country is chiefly inhabited by those Moorish nations, that acknowledge the supremacy of a sovereign; each of them being governed by a chief, who is generally the most wealthy and considerable person of the tribe. Their government is founded on republican, principles, and nothing can be effected without the advice and approbation of a council, or of an assembly of the whole tribe They are brave and enured to fatigue; and though Mahometans, it would be very difficult to make them undertake a journey to Mecca, because they would gain nothing by it; but they frequently penetrate, without reluctance, to the centre of Africa, whence they bring an amazing quantity of gold. This expe

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