Upper Senegal and Niger, Vol. 2

tombstones. Most are dated, and the oldest do not go back further than the 14th century. Since, on the other hand, they contain nothing other than the name of the deceased, the date of their death, and a few pious formulas, the interest they offer is very secondary. They merely show that there were Muslims established in the region of Gao from at least the 14th century, which we already knew from other sources (1).

And thus, from this whole chapter, only one certainty emerges: we know nothing of the history of the Upper Senegal-Niger prior to the first centuries of our era, and we have very little probability of being better informed in the future about this obscure period.

(1) Lieutenant Marc brought back to France this year several tombstones from Bentia, chosen from among those whose inscriptions are still legible. Rubbings and copies of other engraved stones from the same provenance were collected by this officer. Captain Figaret also photographed some, and M. de Gironcourt copied several inscriptions during his last trip. M. Houdas, who had these various documents in his hands, noted no inscription of historical character and did not find a single one that could be said to be prior to the 14th century.