"View of Timbúktu from the Terrace of the Traveller's House"

"In order to obviate the effect of this want of exercise as much as possible, to enjoy fresh air and at the same time to become more familiar with the principal features of the town, through which I was not allowed to move about at pleasure, I ascended as often as possible the terrace of my house. This afforded an excellent view over the northern quarters of the town. On the north was the massive mosque of Sánkoré, which had just been restored to its former grandeur through the influence of the Sheik el Bakáy, and gave the whole place an imposing character. . . . [T]owards the east the view extended over a wide expanse of the desert, and towards the south the elevated mansions of the Ghadámsíye merchants were visible. The style of the buildings was various. I could see clay houses of different characters, some low and unseemly, others rising with a second story in front to greater elevation, and making even an attempt at architectural ornament, the whole being interrupted by a few round huts of matting. The sight of this spectacle afforded me sufficient matter of interest, although, the streets being very narrow, only little was to be seen of the intercourse carried on in them. . . . At the same time I became aware of the great inaccuracy which characterises the view of the town as given by M. Caillié. . . . the only error being that in his representation the whole town seems to consist of scattered and quite isolated houses, while, in reality, the streets are entirely shut in, as the dwellings form continuous and uninterrupted rows. - Heinrich Barth (1821-1865), Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.’s Government in the Years 1849-1855, Vol. 4, pp. 440-42