Africa and its inhabitants . VV^.. of G- e e n .-v I c ^ 9° 25 3,300 Yards. diverge in all directions round about the central uplands, and the chief of whichare the Bafing, Fal^me, Gambia, and Niger. Timbo, capital of Futa-Jallon, lies 2,560 feet above sea-level in a hilly districtencircled by the semicircular valley of the Bafing and traversed from south tonorth by one of its head streams. Although long a royal residence, Timbo con-sists only of some groups of cone-shaped huts half buried in verdure at the foot oftwo neighbouring hills. The descendants of the original founders, who came fromM
Africa and its inhabitants . VV^.. of G- e e n .-v I c ^ 9° 25 3,300 Yards. diverge in all directions round about the central uplands, and the chief of whichare the Bafing, Fal^me, Gambia, and Niger. Timbo, capital of Futa-Jallon, lies 2,560 feet above sea-level in a hilly districtencircled by the semicircular valley of the Bafing and traversed from south tonorth by one of its head streams. Although long a royal residence, Timbo con-sists only of some groups of cone-shaped huts half buried in verdure at the foot oftwo neighbouring hills. The descendants of the original founders, who came fromMassina less than two centuries ago, had alone the right to reside in Timbo, where. TOPOGE^VrilY OF 166 however, thej* spent the dry season only. Sokoioro, the Versailles of Timbo,. lies some six miles to the cast fn a cirque enclosed by woodc<l hills. In thesurrounding valleys are scattered some large villages, several of which exceed (he 16G ?R-EST AFEICA. capital itself in population. Such is Biiria, west of Timbo, wliore is seen the firstorange-tree planted in Futa-Jallon, a magniticent plant with a trunk ten feet incircumference, and branches wide enough to shelter two hundred persons. At itsfoot stands the tomb of the famous marabout Issa, or Jesus, before which allriders, even the sovereign himself, must dismount. Fugiimba, the holy city of Futa-Jallon, a group of a thousand huts some 30 milesnorth-west of Timbo in the valley of the Tene, which flows either to the Bafing orto the Faleme, is so embowered in trees that none of the surroimding heightscommand a complete view of the place. Here the conquering Fulahs erected thefirst mosque in this region, a lofty conic structure, to which each new sovereign Fig. 70.—TaiBO and the Sources of the
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Keywords: ., bookauthor, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectethnology
