146 A TROPICAL DEPENDENCY to keep them in order. The strength of the army of Melle receives indirect testimony from the fact that Jenn6, a territory which, though tying within the limits of the Mellestine and paying tribute to Melle, had its own king, and was never conquered until 1468, thought it necessary, in order to preserve the much-cherished independence of its town, to keep no less than twelve army corps always on foot charged solely with the duty of watching the military movements of Melle and of guarding against any approach of the Melle troops which was not authorised by the king.

Beyond the general indication that the country was fertile, cultivated, and very populous, Ibn Batuta gives no satisfactory account of its agriculture nor of the numbers of its population. Other writers dwell, however, on the fact that it was rich in cattle, corn, and cotton, which last was exchanged freely in its markets for the woollen cloth of Europe. That it was very populous may be inferred from a fact mentioned by the author of the Tarikh-es- Soudan in relation to Jenne, through whose territory Ibn Batuta travelled without mentioning that it was more populous than any other portion of the country. The territory of Jenne extended for a journey of several days. If the king, it is said, desired to send a message, though it might be to the farthest limits of the territory, the royal messenger simply mounted upon the rampart near one of the gates of the town and called aloud the message with which he was charged. The people from village to village repeated the call, and it was delivered in the farthest village to the individual to whom it was addressed. This custom not only illustrates the density of population in a country in which it could be practised, but it also suggests an explanation of the extraordinary rapidity with which news is even now sometimes transmitted among natives in countries where no mechanical means for the purpose exist. A message so delivered from voice to voice might pass with almost the rapidity of a telegram, and doubtless the calling of royal messages