When the later English travellers had gained intelligence of a river called Couara, to the west of Saccatou, and of the river which is near Funda, it was remembered that this name is also borne by the upper Dhioliba, and these three rivers have been at once identified; but it appears that Couara is a general term signifying a river. The inhabitants who in three different places have been asked the name of the river, not understanding the question, have answered by the word river. Already had this confusion taken place a hundred times with the words ba, bahr, and nil, which also mean river, running water, great water. There is on the road from Timé to Djenné a village named Couara, and near it a river of moderate breadth, called Coraba (or according to my idea Couara-ba,[105].) It is easy to perceive from the face of the country, that it is a tributary of the Dhioliba, which was also reported to M. Caillié; here then is another river of the same name, or rather another general denomination which confirms the import of the word Couara, already observed by travellers.
I have noticed that the Arabic, kha غ, is used every where, even in the countries where the Arabic language and Islamism do not prevail: the traveller had expressed it by a blank; I have written it kh according to the general custom. The slightly lisping sound ﻎ is used in many central districts, as is a liquid sound, common also in Senegambia, and which may be written ghi or dhi. The name of the town of Jenné has been written Djenné, because the Arabs of the present day write جنع or جنا; but M. Caillié remarked that the natives pronounce dhi I am therefore inclined to prefer Dhienné.[106]
M. Caillié knows nothing of the Island of Jinbala marked upon Park’s map, but he was not wholly a stranger to the name; he mentions a tribe of Jinbalas to the north of Timbuctoo.
I entertain doubts, which time alone can remove; respecting the names of many places, and I have therefore thought it better to preserve those names without alteration. I have only omitted, upon consultation with the traveller, letters which appeared useless to the pronunciation, or which might create difficulties. The names of such places as Brahihima no doubt require rectification; the name of Abrahima, or Ibrahima, &c., are met with in some travels.
I have suppressed the letter q and almost always the k, except before e or i, confining myself to the use of c. The double ss merely expresses the sound of an initial S. The w and oo of the English, which M. Caillié acquired the habit of using at Sierra-Leone, I have expressed upon the maps by ou; the words in the text have been generally subjected to the same rules.
On the route to the Tafilet such names as Tamaroc and M-dayara, &c., occur on account of the use of the initial letters T and M which announce the vicinity of the Berbers. The wells of Trasas or Trazah should perhaps be pronounced T-ghazah or T-ghazzah, which will correspond with the Tegasa or Tegazzah of Leo Africanus[107]. In several words beginning with L as L-Eksebi, L-Guedea, L-Eyarac, L-Guim, &c., the Arabic article al appears to me to be joined to the name by contraction, as in the vulgar pronunciation throughout Northern Africa. The words beginning with the letter n should perhaps be pronounced ain, which signifies a source or fountain. I hazard this conjecture from the presence of wells at such places, and from the example of Ain-Salah, in the oasis of Touat, which is frequently written Ensalah, or Nsalah, in a single word. It is difficult for Europeans to pronounce the guttural ع, and they frequently leave a blank for it, as well as for the ق and the خ. I presume, therefore that the names Nzeland, Nyela, &c., stand for Ain-Zeland, Ain-Yela; but this supposition may perhaps be refuted by the orthography of the name of Hanalak or (Hen-Alak) هنالﻜ a place situated upon the route from the country of Galam to Morocco.
I shall take this opportunity of giving the Arabian orthography of the names of several places belonging to the space between St. Louis, Timbuctoo, and Morocco; I am obliged for them, to the Baron Roger, formerly governor of the Senegal, and who has lately enhanced, by important publications, the title he had long since acquired to general esteem, by the improvements of all kinds which he introduced into that country.
LIST OF THE NAMES OF SEVERAL PLACES IN NORTHERN AFRICA.
| Ouad-Noun | وادنون |
| Sous | سوس |
| Marakch, or Maroc | مراكش |
| El-Rebat, or Arbate | الرباط |
| Fes, or Fez | فاس |
| Kalam, or Galam | كّلم |
| Takant, or Tajacant[108] | تاكّانت |
| El-Zaouat | الزاوات |
| Oualata, or Walet | وَلات |
| Ouadan, or Hoden | وأدَان |
| Hanalak | هنالﻜ |
| El-A’rousyoun, or el-Ross | العروسيون |
| Tychyt | تيشيت |
| Oualata, or Oualyata[109] | ولياتَ |
| A’raouan | عَروَان |
| Bouzbeyah | بوزبيه |
| EI-Mabrouk | المبروك |
| Tymboctou[110] | تيمبُكتُ |
| Touat | توَات |
This list contains the names of several Moorish tribes and colonies of different nations, the orthography of which is uncertain. It would require very laborious research, and assistance which will be long unsupplied, to write these names more correctly: I have contented myself with discarding from the names occurring in the journal all useless letters, and those which do not accord with the sound as remembered by our traveller.