Timbuctoo \Timbuctoo\, Timbuktoo \Timbuktoo\prop. n.,
   A city on the southern edge of the Sahara, in central Africa,
   some nine miles from the Niger. It is about three miles
   around, and was formerly surrounded by a clay wall. Timbuctoo
   has a large caravan trade, gold dust being the most important
   export. The people are negroes, Tuariks, Mandingoes, Arabs,
   Foolahs, etc. The city was founded in the 12th century, but
   was first seen by a white man in 1826. Timbuctoo now belongs
   to France, and a railroad is proposed to connect Algiers,
   Timbuctoo and Senegambia. Population, 13,000 (1893), greatly
   increased during the trading season from November to January.
   --Student's Cyclopedia, 1897.
   [PJC]