The king, whose authority has been acknowledged at Timbuctoo ever since the death of Muley Ismael, Emperor of Marocco, is the sovereign of Bambarra; the name of this potentate in 1800 was Woolo; he is a black, and a native of the country which he governs; his usual place of residence is Jinnie, though he has three palaces in Timbuctoo, which are said to contain an immense quantity of gold. Many of the civil appointments at Timbuctoo, since the decease of Muley Ismael before mentioned, and the consequent decline of the authority of the Emperor of Marocco, have been filled by Moors of Maroquin origin;[217] but the military appointments, since the above period, have been entirely among negroes of Bambarra, appointed by the King Woolo; the inhabitants are also for the most part Negroes, who possess much of the Arab hospitality, and pride themselves in being attentive to strangers. The various costumes exhibited in the market-places and streets, indicate the variety and extent of the commercial intercourse with the different nations of central Africa; the individuals being each habited in the dress of his respective country, exhibit a variety both pleasing and interesting to every stranger who goes there. The toleration in a country like this is particularly deserving of notice. The Diwan, or L’Alemma, never interfere with the tenets of the various religions professed by the different people, who resort to Timbuctoo for commercial or other purposes; every one is allowed to worship the great Author of his being without restraint, and according to the religion of his father, or in the way wherein he may have been initiated. The police of this extraordinary place is extolled, as surpassing any thing of the kind on this side of the Desert; robberies and house-breaking are scarcely known; the peaceable inhabitants of the town each following their respective avocation, interfere with nothing but what concerns them. The government of the city is entrusted to a Diwan of twelve Alemma, or men learned in the Koran, and an umpire, who retain their appointments, which they receive from the king of Bambarra, three years. The power of the Alemma is great, and their falling into the mass of citizens after the expiration of the above period, obliges them to act uprightly, as their good or bad administration of justice either acquits or condemns them after the expiration of their temporary power. The civil jurisprudence is directed by a Cadi, who decides all judicial proceedings according to the spirit of the Koran; he has twelve talbs of the law, or attornies, attending him, each of whom has a separate department of justice to engage his daily attention.