I traveled with a caravan from the Sultan Of Morocco from Marrakech to Sala,Menekes,Fez (the capital) and Sijilmasa. "Miknasa,the wonderful,the green,the many flowered, which has gardens and orchards surrounding it and is in a sea of plantations of olive trees in all directions." Sijilmasa was very nice and the town made excellent sweet dates, and it was very similar to Basra in Persia.


On Feburary 18,1352 I left to go to the south in a caravan of Sijilmsa merchants led by Abu Muhammed Yandakan al-Massafi. We reached Taghaza after 25 days on the road. There was not much to the village the houses were in poor condition and the roofs were made out of camel skin. Nobody lives in the village except for the slaves of Massafa who dig for salt and live for dates brought to them from Dar'a and Sijilmasa.


Works Cited
Ibn Battuta in Black Africa (Princeton, Nj & New York: Markus-Weiner Publishing,Inc., 1994), 27-75. http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his311/lectures/17battut.htm