The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-03-22

NIX Y ASHlNGlOIN, D- C-, March ~. MW Special )-'Lava preserved the secrets of Roman civili- f zation in Pompeii; tombs protected the records of ancient Egypts culture, and now there is prospect that some long neglected letters may reveal one of the most fascinating chapters in the historic trail of the Jewish people, and incidentally show that Africa loomed | larger in the Middle Ages than mod ern historians have realized"
 With this introduction the National [ Geographic Society. in bulletin from [ it's Washington headquarters, makes f the first announcement in this country 1 of a remarkable documentary discov- ! cry made by Charles de la Ronciere 1 librarian of the National Library in France
 Hitherto Africa has figured not at all in medieval history. It still was dark continent when Stanley and Livingstone penetrated it less than @ century ago. Yet, 1t would seem Jews of the fifteenth century had trading posts in northwest Africa and carried on vast commerce with the natives from the sahara to the Atlantic, and from Algeria to the Niger.
 These native peoples. who finally resisted the inroads of Christian. Jew and Mohammedan, possessed sources. of wealth in grain and gold. Some. tribes lived in rock salt houses.< Ac- tual history In one case parallels the legendary account of the defense of Troy. Primitive religions and strange 1 customs flourished in common with a civilization advanced enough to take accurate census of cities.
 "Antonia Malfante, a Genoese citi- zen. traversed this region and wrote his descriptive letters, in HAT, from Timbuktu and Touat. Timbuktu' was the Chicago of the west African plains; and Touat the center of the camel car avan traffic that exchanged the wheat and barley of Egypt for the powdered gold of Timbuktu and the precious salt from Teghazza.
 All the places visited by Malfante were so well known to the Jews of his time that they were listed in Catalan atlas prepared three quarters of a cen tury earlier for Charles V, according
 to M. Ronciere But shortly after Nal
 fante's visit, the Jews were driven out of Spain. and since the Jews were the only ones in Europe who knew of the
 Nigeria country. and apparently per mitted no Christian to enter there ex- cept Malfante, the Jewish knowledge
 was lost to Europe Not until pr. Ger
 hard Rohlfs began his explorations in
 Algeria and Morocco in 1860 did the
 rest of the world again form a contact
 with the extensive regions of Nal
 fantes travels.
 Landing a point west of Algiers
 Malfante worked his way south tc ITouat, which Rohlfs believed himself lto have been the first European te
 visit Yet Melfante dated his first let
 ter from there four centuries earlier. ], 'Touat was an oasis, containing from |, 150 to 200 villages, which together formed vast commercial center. Eact had a chief. Travellers became tn, , guests of these chiefs. and Malfant, @reported their protection superior tt that in states like Tlemcen and Tunis
 One of these towns was Tamentit, now
 a decayed village, whose people stil ecall the Jewish epoch. Arabian in vaders earlier had routed the Jews
 who were masters of the Sahara ant whose empire extended south to tn, Niger. Tamentit, Malfante wrote. shel tered both Jews and Mohammedans
 who lived in harmony.
 ",rhe native negroes valued coppe highly, Malfante stated and used it fo money. Profiteering, apparently, is no modern vice. Malfante complained The people here do not want to trans act any business if they do not mak ? a commission of 100 per cent An their business was on big scale a ]