company of merchants or travellers, who join together in order to go with more security through various countries on the continent of the East Indies, and also Africa.

The cafila differs from a caravan, at least in Persia; for the cafila properly belongs to some sovereign, or to some powerful company in Europe; whereas a caravan is a company of particular merchants, each trading upon his own account. There are also such cafilas which cross some parts of the deserts of Africa, particularly that called the Sahara.