TIMBUCTOO, a celebrated city in the interior of Africa, on the slope of a hill about 8 miles north of the Niger, near the most northerly part of its course, N. Lat. 18. 4., W. Long. 1. 45. It has been recently visited by Dr Barth, who set out from Kuka in the end of November 1852; and after a toilsome journey, during which two of his six camels died of fatigue, reached Timbuctoo, September 7, 1853, the distance being about 2000 miles. After some difficulty he succeeded in gaining admission to the city, and remained till 8th July 1854. The city is triangular in form, and closely built, for the most part of clay
and stone. Many of the houses are two stories high, and have their fronts tastefully ornamented. There are several mosques, some of them of considerable size and antiquity. Timbuctoo is a place of considerable trade, as it is a central meeting-place for all the caravans that traverse this portion of Africa. As the country about the town is very barren and unproductive, it requires to be supplied with millet, rice, butter, cloth, &c., from Jenné in Senegambia; fire-wood, timber, and provender for cattle from Cabra, a town on the Niger, not far off; cattle from the Tuariiks and other nomadic tribes in the vicinity. By means of Cabra,
which serves as the port of Timbuctoo, some trade is carried on by the river, which is navigable for about four months in the year, but the principal commerce is by land. The merchandise of Timbuctoo is less in quantity than that of Kano, but superior in quality and value. Timbuctoo is and has long been the capital of a separate state. It is said to have been built by Mansa Suleiman about 1214; but it probably occupies the site of the ancient town mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of Nigeira Metropolis. Under Suleiman and his successors, all bearing the name of Mansa, it became a powerful state; but at length, in 1396, it was made tributary to the Arab rulers of Morocco and Fez, and thus brought into more close connection with Northern Africa. The expulsion of the Arabs from Spain, in the fifteenth century, diminished their power, and, about 1500, Timbuctoo became independent. In 1672 it was a second time made subject to Morocco, and remained in that condition till 1727. Since then it has been sometimes independent, and sometimes subject to the rulers of the neighbouring states; and at present it is governed by a sultan of the Moorish race, who acts as a sort of pope, with authority both in religious and in political affairs. The population is estimated at 20,000.