Show JEWISH TRADERS IN AFRICA are known to have had depots for commerce there in the fifteenth century jens of the fifteenth century had tr trading posts in northwest africa and carried on a vast commerce with the natives from the sahara to the atlantic and from algeria to the niger according to letters recently discovered by charles de la Ron clere librarian of the national library in france and published by the national geographic society hitherto africa has not figured at all in medieval history it wa called the dark continent when stanley and livingstone penetrated it about a century ago the letters recently discovered were nere written in 1447 by antonia malfante SIal fante a genoese citizen believed to be the only christian the jews allowed to penetrate their trade region th thy they y were written from timbuktu and bouat timbuktu vins ft as the chicago of 0 the west african plains and the center ot of camel caravan traffic that exchanged the wheat and barley of egypt for the powdered gold of timbuktu and the precious salt from bouat was an oasis containing from to villages and each village had a chief the civilization of that date was advanced enough for the residents to take a census of their populations this was done finhen the people of timbuktu and a rival city gad gaa were numbered to decide a wager business 1 vas fas done on a large scale |