United States or Kenya ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
His fatal second expedition produced an unfinished journal, which, however, gives the amplest and most interesting notices concerning the gold-production of the region he traversed. The traveller Caillié , after crossing the Niger en route to Tinbukhtu, passed south of the Bouré province, in the valley of the Great River; and here he reports an abundance of gold.
Our good manager, now an adept at prospecting, found the way very foul and the place very rich. It was afterwards, as will be seen, visited by Mr. Oliver Pegler and lastly by Cameron. Amongst the few new faces seen at Tumento were two 'Krambos, Moslems and writers of charms and talismans. Both hailed from about Tinbukhtu, but their Arabic was so imperfect that I could make nothing of their route.
In their turn the English and the French, who had heard of the fabulous treasures of the Joliba valley and the Tinbukhtu mart, began to claim their share. As early as 1551 Captain Thomas Wyndham touched at the Gold Coast and brought home 150 lbs. of the precious dust. The first English company for exploring the Gambia River sent out their agent, Richard Thompson.
Presently Tinbukhtu succeeded, according to Leo Africanus , Gháná as the converging point of the trade, and made the name for wealth which endures even to the present day. Its princes and nobles lavishly employed the precious ore in ornaments, some weighing 1,300 ounces.
Word Of The Day