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; firewood, timber, and provender for cattle from Cabra, a town on the Niger, not far off; cattle from the Tuariks 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.

**TIME.** See ASTRONOMY, THEORETICAL, sect. iv.

**TIME,** in Music. See MUSIC.

**TIMOLEON,** a celebrated statesman, and general of ancient Greece. He was a native of Corinth, and descended from one of the highest families in that city. His father was Timodemus; and he had an elder brother named Timophanes, who had led the troops of his country with success in a war against Argos; and when a fresh danger threatened the state, was again appointed to the command of 400 soldiers. With the power thus obtained, Timophanes endeavoured to destroy the then existing oligarchical government, and make himself tyrant; but this scheme was frustrated by Timoleon, who, either with his own hand, or by means of assassins, put his brother to death. The people were divided in their opinion of this deed, and the senate had given no decision, when ambassadors arrived from Syracuse in 344 B.C., requesting assistance against the tyrant Dionysius. Both parties probably seized on this as a favourable opportunity of gaining their ends; the one of getting rid of Timoleon, and the other of saving him from the punishment of murder. He was accordingly appointed to command the expedition to Sicily; although, singular to say, the charge against him was not repelled, but left to depend on his conduct in his new command. This, as far at least as success could do so, amply vindicated his honour. Though but scantily supplied with troops from Corinth, he soon received the submission of Dionysius, and made himself master of Syracuse. He afterwards carried on the war with the Carthaginians, who had from the first opposed his movements; and after gaining several great victories, obtained the liberty of all the Greek cities in Sicily. (See CARTHAGE AND SYRACUSE.) From all these cities Timoleon expelled the tyrants who had formerly ruled them, and established democratic constitutions; and by this means he himself, though holding no public office or station, virtually exercised almost unlimited power. At Syracuse he was opposed by a party who endeavoured to defend the rights of the original citizens against the Corinthians and others whom he had introduced; but this effort was overpowered by the bringing in of fresh bodies of new citizens to outvote the old. Timoleon died at Syracuse in undiminished power and popularity, though he had been for some time blind, in 337 B.C. He was buried with great public honours in the market-place of the city. Timoleon was certainly one of the ablest generals that Greece produced; and if his character did not deserve the extravagant laudations of Plutarch, but was stained with many glaring crimes, it ought not on the other hand to be judged by too severe a test, for the standard of political morality was then not high, and tyranny itself was universally praised. His life has been written by Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos.

**TIMON,** the Sceptic, who is not to be confounded with Timon the Misanthrope, was a Phliasian, and lived in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus about 270 B.C. He studied under Stilpo at Megara, and Pyrrho in Elis; after which he removed to the north of the Aegean, and taught with success at Chalcodon. Finally, he came to Athens, where he spent the rest of his life, and died at the age of ninety. He is said to have written epics, tragedies, comedies, and satyrical dramas; but his most celebrated work was three books of Silli, or satirical pieces. His prose writings, probably philosophical, were voluminous. He is said to have been fond of rural retirement, and was much addicted to wine. Like Lucian, he wrote with sarcastic humour against the whole body of dogmatic philosophers. The fragments of his Silli, often quoted by the ancients, have been carefully collected by Stephanus in his Poess Philosophica, by Brunck in his Analecta, by J. F. Langenrich, by F. A. Wölke, and by F. Paul, in their several Dissertations. (See SCEPTICISM).

**TIMOR,** an island in the East Indian Archipelago, stretching from S.W. to N.E., separated on the N.W. from the island of Ombay by the Ombay Strait, having on the N. the Banda Sea, S.E. and S. the Indian Ocean. S. Lat. (of the S. point), 10. 24.; E. Long, 123. 32. Its length is about 300 miles, and its average breadth 45. The coast is generally rocky, and indented with few bays and creeks. There are two good harbours; Coopang, on a bay of the same name, at the south-west extremity, and Delli on the north coast. A mountain-chain traverses the length of the island; and one of its summits in the north attains the height of 6000 feet. From this central chain many branches diverge on both sides; so that the island is almost entirely occupied with steep mountains and hills and narrow valleys. There are some considerable plains, as that at the head of Coopang Bay, which is about 10 miles square. The rivers are small and rapid, frequently dry in summer, and not navigable beyond the tidal point. The prevalent geological formations in the island are limestone and chalk; and traces of volcanic agency are everywhere apparent. The mountains are generally bare, but in some places there are extensive forests. The chief crops raised are rice, maize, millet, pulse, sweet potatoes, and cotton. Various kinds of palm-trees, tobacco, indigo, sandal-wood, and many kinds of fruit, such as oranges, lemons, pine-apples, and melons abound. Horses, oxen, buffaloes, sheep, pigs, and fowls, are among the domestic animals; and of the wild beasts, deer, buffaloes, hogs, wild cats, and apes, are the most numerous. Gold and copper are the chief mineral productions of the island. The former is found in the rivers, and the latter chiefly in the Philaran mountains, near the centre of the island. The inhabitants are of low stature, very dark in complexion, and with bushy hair. They are divided into three parts, the Timorese, who inhabit the west coast, and came originally from Ceram; the Belonese, on the east coast, from Gilolo; and the independent tribes in the interior. They live chiefly by hunting; agriculture is little attended to; and though fish is abundant round the coasts, very little advantage is taken of it. The women weave the cloth that is needed; and the only manufactures the men condescend to engage in are those of canoes and ornaments for their horses. The chiefs on the west and south coast acknowledge the authority of the Dutch, who have their chief settlement at Coopang; those along the east and north are subject to the Portuguese, whose head quarters are Delli. A considerable trade is carried on, chiefly by the Chinese, at Coopang. Pop. estimated at 200,000.