OCR Text |
Show OLD LETTERS REVEAL LOST CHAPTER IN WORLD HISTORY Lavn preserved tho secrets of no-man no-man civilization In Pompeii; tombs protected tho records of ancient Rgypt's culture; and now thero Is prospect pros-pect thnt somo long neglected letters may reveal ono of tho most fascinating fascinat-ing chapters In tho historic trail of the Jewish people, nnd Incldentnlly show thnt Africa loomed larger In the middle mid-dle nges than modern historians huvo realized. Hitherto Afrlcn has figured not nt all In medieval history. It still wns a "dark continent" when Stnnloy nnd Livingstone penetrated It less than n century ngo. Yet, In view of a remark-nhlo remark-nhlo documentary discovery mndo by Charles do In Honclerc, librarian of tho nntlonnl library In France, It would seem Jews or tho fifteenth century cen-tury hnd trading posts In northwest Afrlcn, nnd cnrrled on n vnst commerce com-merce with tho nntlves from tho Sahara Sa-hara to tho Atlantic nnd from Algerln to tho Niger. Antonln Motfante, a Genoese citizen, traversed this region nnd wrote his descriptive letters. In 1447. from Timbuktu Tim-buktu nnd Tount. Timbuktu wns tho Chicago of tho west African plnlns; nnd Tount the center of tho camel enrovnn trolllc thnt exchnnged tho whent nnd bnrley of Egypt for tho -powdered gold of Timbuktu nnd tho precious snlt from Teghuzzn. All the plnces visited" by Mnlfnnto were so well known to tho Jews of his time thnt they wero listed In a Catalan ntus prepared three-quarters of n century enrller for Charles V. according to M. Itonclere. Hut shortly short-ly nfter Mulfnnto's visit the Jews wyre driven nut of Spnln, and slnco the Jews were the only ones In Rurope who know of the Nigeria country nnd apparently permitted no Christian to enter there except Mnlfnnto the Jewish Jew-ish knowledge wns lost In Rurope. Not until Dr. Gerhard Itnhlfs began his explorations In Algeria nnd Morocco In 1600 did tho rest of the world again form n contact with tho extensive regions re-gions of Malfante's travels. Landing nt n point west of Algiers, Mnlfnnto worked his vny south to Tount, which Itohlfs believed himself to hnvo been tho first Ruropenn to vis-It. vis-It. Yet Mnlfnnto dated his first letter from there four centuries earlier. Tount wns nn onsls, containing from 1f0 to 200 vlllnges, which together formed n vast commercial center. Rnch hnd n chief. Travelers became tho guests of these chiefs and Mnlfnnto Mnl-fnnto reported their protection superior su-perior to thnt In stales llko Tlenicen and Tunis. One of theso towns wns Tametlt. now n decnyed vlllnge. whose peoplo still recnll tho Jewish epoch. Arabian Invaders enrller hnd routed the .Tews, who worn tnnatnra f tm Sahara and whose empire extended south to tho Niger. Tametlt. Mnlfante wrote, sheltered both Jews nnd Mo-ihnmmodans. Mo-ihnmmodans. who lived In hnrmony. Tho native nogroos valued copper hlahlv. Mnlfanto stnted, nnd used it for monpy. Profiteering, npparently, Is not a modern vice. Mnlfanto com-plnlnod. com-plnlnod. "Tho people here do not wnnt to transact any business If they do not mako n commission of 100 per cent." And their business wns on n big scale, nt that. IUif u million head of cattle! to mention but ono item, woro brought to market In tho cnrnvtin Benson. Pushing on to Timbuktu. Malfante's host wns tho brother of a. captain of SSSSSSSSmmSSm desert Industry, n mnn of great wealth I nnd possessed of trade Information concerning nil of north Afrlcn. From him Mnlfnnto learned of such flourishing flourish-ing plnces ns Teghnzzn, futnous for Its salt mines und unique for Its orchl-tecturc. orchl-tecturc. The houses wero made of rock salt. Malfunto noted thnt It nev-er nev-er rained there, or tho houses would have melted nwny. |