Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/359

 MASSINA. 299 point from Bamaku reached in 1886 by the French steamer plying on the Upper Niger. Here the waters begin to ramify, one branch passiag near the holy city of Biaka northwards in the direction of TenenkUj one of the large markets in the Burgu territory. Another branch running eastwards leads to the famous old city of Jenne, whose name, according to some authorities, is the original of the word Guinoye, or Guinea, assigned by the Portuguese to so large a part of the conti- nent. Now, however, Jenne, which has hitherto been visited by Caillie alone, is a decayed place, reduced by civil and foreign wars, by the stoppage of trade on the river, perhaps also by the shiftings of the fluvial branches in this flat region, where the channels are incessantly changing. Yet even at the time of CailKe's visit in 1828, it still covered a large space with enclosures at least 5 miles in circumference, although it had already ceased to be a royal capital. The Fulah conquerors held its old Barabara inhabitants in subjection, and enforced the strict observance of the Mohammedan worship. After abandoning Jenne, King Sego-Ahmadu founded the new residence of IlamdaUahi, that is, el-IIamdu-Lillahl, or " Praised be Allah," a little to the east of the confluence of the two Nigers. But this new capital of Massina (or Moassina, 98 Lenz always heard it called), was but short-lived, having been captured in 1862 by the great Fulah conqueror, El-Haj Omar. It is now a heap of ruins, succeeded as the capital of Massina by Bandiagara^ near the right bank of the Bakhoy, 60 miles east of Jenne. But the Massina state itself has no political unity, being ruled in one place by a Toucouleur king of the Omar dynasty, in another by Fulah chiefs, and elsewhere occupied by the distinct petty Bambara or Songhai states. Along the routes running through Massina from Jenn^ towards Timbuktu follow eastwards the towns of NiakongOy Bore, and Bwentsa, all mentioned by Barth's informers ; westwards, Bassikunu, visited by Lenz in 1880. Below Moeti, or Issaka, at the confluence of both Nigers, the chief places are ICona, the most advanced Songhai settlement towards the west, and beyond Lake Debo the large city of Yoaru, or Yovaru, which, according to the seasons, lies on a sandy plain or on a marshy bank between stagnant and running waters. The Middle Niger. — Timbuktu. — The Tuaregs and Songhais. Most of the vast region traversed by the Niger between Timbuktu and Gomba is almost uninhabited, although the southern districts appear in many places to be densely peopled. The country has been visited by Barth alone, who on his journey from Sai to Timbuktu, followed the chord of the arc described by the great eastern bend of the river. South of this bend the El-Haj ri, or Hombori Hills, called also in a special sense Tondi, or " The Mountain," form a natural Hmit between the arid Saharian and cultivated Sudanese zones. These hills, rising some 800 or 1,000 feet above the level or slightly undulating plain, itself over 1,600 feet above sea-level, do not constitute a continuous range, but a series of isolated