Timbuctoo

tim-boock'too, a city of Africa. It is situated near the Niger River, near the southern border of the Sahara. It is reached from Senegal by steamer up the Niger or by caravan from Fez, Morocco. The city is surrounded by half ruined walls. It is peopled by Arabs and others. Population, 12,000. Since 1884 Timbuctoo has been the administrative center of a French military possession. A railway is under way from Algiers southward to Timbuctoo. The city is a center of trade in gold, gum and rubber, ivory and fruits, collected in the basin of the Niger, and in ostrich feathers from the Sahara. The latter is here a prairie rather than a desert. The natives raise millet, wheat, rice, and earth-nuts. About one-third of the imports and exports are carried by the Niger and two-thirds by caravan. When it sets out from Algiers the Fez caravan not infrequently numbers 5,000 camels. They are laden with flannel, sheeting, calico, sugar, tea, padlocks, hinges, chains, tacks, nails, wire, beads, necklaces, hand mirrors, bracelets, rosaries, silver, prayer-rings, brooches, essences, perfumes, glassware, lace, yarn, needles, scarfs, paper, soap, tobacco, knives, weapons, medicines, salt, and dates. They return with loads of ivory, gold dust, tanned hides, baskets, and ostrich feathers. The overland trip requires thirty days each way. Two round trips are made yearly between Algiers and Timbuctoo. See Fez; Caravan; Niger