Editing Senegal River (section)

=== Cartographic representation ===
[[File:Senegal River according to al-Idrisi.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Western Nile (Senegal-Niger River) according to [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] (1154)]]

Drawing from Classical legend and Arab sources, the "River of Gold" found its way into European maps in the 14th century. In the [[Hereford Mappa Mundi]] (c. 1300), there is a river labelled "Nilus Fluvius" drawn ''parallel'' to the coast of Africa, albeit without communication with Atlantic (it ends in a lake).  It depicts some giant [[ant]]s digging up gold dust from its sands, with the note "''Hic grandes formice auream serican [or servant] arenas''"<ref>Bevan and Phillott (1873: [https://books.google.com/books?id=u_oHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA105 p. 105].</ref> ("Here great ants guard gold sands"). In the mappa mundi made by [[Pietro Vesconte]] for the c. 1320 atlas of [[Marino Sanuto the Elder|Marino Sanuto]], there is an unnamed river stemming from the African interior and opening in the Atlantic ocean.  The 1351 [[Medici-Laurentian Atlas]] shows both the Egyptian Nile and the western Nile stemming from the same internal mountain range, with the note that "''Ilic coligitur aureaum''".<ref>See [[João de Andrade Corvo]] (1882) ''Roteiro de Lisboa a Goa por D. João de Castro'', Lisbon. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8M5AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA68 p.68n.]</ref> The [[portolan chart]] of [[Giovanni da Carignano]] (1310s-20s) has the river with the label, ''iste fluuis exit de nilo ubi multum aurum repperitur''.<ref>Winter (1962: p. 18)</ref>

In the more accurately-drawn [[portolan chart]]s, starting with the 1367 chart of [[Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano]] and carried on in the 1375 [[Catalan Atlas]], the 1413 chart of the [[Catalans|Catalan]] ''[[converso]]'' [[Mecia de Viladestes]], etc. the "River of Gold" is depicted (if only speculatively), draining into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere just south of [[Cape Bojador]]. The legend of Cape Bojador as a terrifying obstacle, the 'cape of no return' to European sailors, emerged around the same time (possibly encouraged by Trans-Saharan traders who did not want to see their land route sidestepped by sea).

The river is frequently depicted with a great river island midway, the "Island of Gold", first mentioned by al-Masudi, and famously called "''Wangara''" by al-Idrisi and "''Palolus''" in the 1367 Pizzigani brothers chart. It is conjectured that this riverine "island" is in fact just the [[Bambuk]]-Buré goldfield district, which is practically surrounded on all sides by rivers - the Senegal river to the north, the [[Falémé River]] to the west, the [[Bagoé River|Bakhoy]] to the east and the [[Niger River|Niger]] and [[Tinkisso River|Tinkisso]] to the south.<ref>Delafosse (1912: v.1,p.55), Crone (1937: p.xv), Mauny (1961: p.302), Levtzion (1973: p.155).  However, McIntosh (1981) suggests an alternative identification of this riverine "island" to be the [[Djenné]] area, around the bend of the Niger.</ref>

[[Image:Palolus river (Senegal-Niger) in 1413 Mecia de Viladestes map.jpg|thumb|1000px|center|Course of the "River of Gold"  (Senegal-Niger) in the 1413 portolan chart of [[Mecia de Viladestes]].]]

The 1413 portolan chart of [[:pt:Mecia de Viladestes|Mecia de Viladestes]] gives perhaps the most detailed depiction of the early state of European knowledge about the Senegal River prior to the 1440s.  Viladestes labels it "River of Gold" ("''riu del or''") and locates it a considerable distance south of [[Cape Bojador]] (''buyeter'') - indeed, south of a mysterious "''cap de abach''" (possibly Cape Timris). There are extensive notes about the plentifulness of ivory and gold in the area, including a note that reads

{{Quote|"This river is called Wad al-Nil and also is called the River of Gold, for one can here obtain the gold of Palolus.  And know that the greater part of those that live here occupy themselves collecting gold on the shores of the river which, at its mouth, is a league wide, and deep enough for the largest ship of the world."<ref>"Aquest flum es apelat ued anil axi matex es apelat riu de lor per tal com si requyl lor de palola. Et scire debeatis quod major pars gentium in partibus istis habitantium sunt electi ad colligendum aurum ipso flumine, qui habet latitudinem unius legue et fondum pro majori nave mundi"</ref>}}
[[File:VillageCayor-1821.jpg|thumb|Slave trade along the Senegal River, kingdom of [[Cayor]]]]

The galley of [[Jaume Ferrer]] is depicted off the coast on the left, with a quick note about his 1346 voyage.  The golden round island at the mouth of the Senegal River is the indication (customary on portolan charts) of river [[mouth bar]]s or islands - in this case, probably a reference to the [[Langue de Barbarie]] or the island of [[Saint-Louis, Senegal|Saint-Louis]]).  The first town, by the mouth of the Senegal, is called "''isingan''" (arguably the etymological source of the term "Senegal"). East of that, the Senegal forms a riverine island called "''insula de bronch''" ([[Morfil|Île à Morfil]]). By its shores lies the city of "''tocoror''" ([[Takrur]]). Above it is a depiction of the [[Almoravid]] general [[Abu Bakr ibn Umar]] ("''Rex Bubecar''") on a camel.  Further east, along the river, is the seated emperor ([[Mansa (title)|mansa]]) of [[Mali Empire|Mali]] ("''Rex Musa Meli''", prob. [[Mansa Musa]]), holding a gold nugget.  His capital, "''civitat musa meli''" is shown on the shores of the river, and the range of the Emperor of Mali's sway is suggested by all the black banners (an inscription notes "This lord of the blacks is called Musa Melli, Lord of Guinea, the greatest noble lord of these parts for the abundance of the gold which is collected in his lands".<ref>"Aquest senyor dels negres es appelat musa melli, senyor de guineua, e aquest es el puys noble senyor de tota esta partida per labondansia del or lo qualse recull en la sua terra"</ref> Curiously, there is a defiant gold-bannered town south of the river, labelled "''tegezeut''" (probably the Ta'adjast of al-Idrisi), and might be an ichoate reference to [[Djenné]].

East of Mali, the river forms a lake or "Island of Gold"  shown here studded with river-washed gold nuggets (this is what the Pizzigani brothers called the island of "''Palolus''", and most commentators take to indicate the Bambuk-Buré goldfields). It is connected by many streams to the southerly "mountains of gold" (labelled "''montanies del lor''", the [[Futa Djallon]]/[[Bambouk Mountains]] and [[Loma Mountains]] of Sierra Leone). It is evident the Senegal river morphs east, unbroken, into the [[Niger River]] - the cities of "''tenbuch''" ([[Timbuktu]]), "''geugeu''" ([[Gao]]) and "''mayna''" ([[Niamey]]? or a misplaced [[Niani, Mali Empire|Niani]]?) are denoted along the same single river.  South of them (barely visible) are what seem like the towns of [[Kukiya]] (on the eastern shore of the Island of Gold), and east of that, probably [[Sokoto (city)|Sokoto]] (called "Zogde" in the Catalan Atlas) and much further southeast, probably [[Kano (city)|Kano]].<ref>The inscription above Kano reads merely: "Africa es apelada la terca part del mon, per rao dun rey afer fill d'abrae, qui la senyorega, laquai partida comensa en les pars degipte al flum del cales, e finey en gutzolanes les pars hoccidentals e combren tota la barberia environant tôt lo mis jorn" (trans: "Africa is called the third part of the world, after King Afer, son of Abraham, who lorded over it, its beginning starts in the part of Egypt by the river of Cairo (''Cales'' = adjective of Cairo) and the western part ends at [[Cape Non]] ("gutzolanes"; Cape Non was called "Caput finis Gozolae" after the Gazzula Berbers of the western Sahara) and covers all of [[Barbary]] (land of the Bebers).</ref>
[[File:Boilat-11-Prince maure, Trarzas.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Moors|Moorish]] man, [[Emirate of Trarza|Trarza]] region of the Senegal River Valley, Abbé David Boilat, 1853]]

North of the Senegal-Niger are the various oases and stations of the [[trans-Saharan route]] ("''Tutega''" = [[Tidjikja|Tijigja]], "''Anzica''" = In-Zize, "''Tegaza''" = [[Taghaza]], etc.) towards the Mediterranean coast. There is an unlabeled depiction of a black African man on a camel traveling from "''Uuegar''" (prob. [[Hoggar]]) to the town of "Organa" ("''ciutat organa''", variously identified as [[Kanem Empire|Kanem]] or [[Ouargla]] or possibly even a misplaced depiction of [[Ghana Empire|Ghana]] - long defunct, but, on the other hand, contemporaneous with the depicted Abu Bakr). Nearby sits its Arab-looking king ("''Rex Organa''") holding a scimitar.  The River of Gold is sourced at a circular island, what seem like the [[Mountains of the Moon (Africa)|Mountains of the Moon]] (albeit unlabeled here).  From this same source also flows north the [[White Nile]] towards Egypt, which forms the frontier between the Muslim "king of [[Nubia]]" ("''Rex Onubia''", his range depicted by crescent-on-gold banners) and the Christian [[Prester John]] ("''Preste Joha''"), i.e. the emperor of [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] in the garb of a Christian bishop (coincidentally, this is the first visual depiction of Prester John on a portolan chart).

Uniquely, the Viladestes map shows another river, south of the Senegal, which it labels the "''flumen gelica''" (poss. ''angelica''), which some have taken to depict the [[Gambia River]].  In the 1459 [[Fra Mauro map|mappa mundi]] of [[Fra Mauro]], drawn a half-century later, after the Portuguese had already visited the Senegal (albeit still trying to respect Classical sources), shows ''two'' parallel rivers running east to west, both of them sourced from the same great internal lake (which, Fra Mauro asserts, is also the same source as the Egyptian Nile). Mauro names the two parallel rivers differently,calling one  "''flumen Mas'' ("Mas River"), the other the "''canal dal oro''" ("Channel of Gold"), and makes the note that "''Inne larena de questi do fiume se trova oro de paiola''" ("In the sands of both these rivers gold of 'palola' may be found"), and nearer to the sea, "''Qui se racoce oro''" ("Here gold is collected"), and finally, on the coast, "''Terra de Palmear''" ("Land of Palms").  It is notable that Fra Mauro knew of the error of Henry the Navigator's captains about the Daklha inlet, which Mauro carefully labels "''Reodor''" ("Rio do Ouro", Western Sahara), distinctly from the "Canal del Oro" (Senegal River).<ref>João de Andrade Corvo (1882: p.70)</ref>