Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 24.4

24.4

When the ambassadors had furnished these particulars as to the source and course of the Nile, I wished to form some idea of the situation of the country where the source is found: I therefore inquired in what part of Africa, relatively to Bab-el-mandel, Dumbia is situated. But they could return no other answer than that it lay toward the West. I was surprised to hear this observation, especially from the Mahometan ambassador, who ought to be better informed than a Christian of the relative bearings of places, because all Mahometans are bound, when repeating their prayers, to look toward Meca. He also persisted in saying that Dumbia is situated to the west of Bab-el-mandel; so that the source of the river Nile, according to these ambassadors, is considerably to the north of the equator, and not to the south, where it is placed by Ptolemy, and in all our maps.