"The later Spanish tales were largely caused by reports given by the four shipwrecked survivors of the failed Narváez expedition, <u>which included Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca</u> and a black moorish slave named Esteban Dorantes, or Estevanico. Eventually returning to New Spain, the adventurers said they had heard stories from natives about cities with great and limitless riches. However, when conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado finally arrived at Cíbola in 1540, he discovered that the stories were unfounded and that there were, in fact, no treasures as the friar had described — only adobe towns."
In the 11th century CE the Awlil mines were in the hands of Takrur, but it would be the Mali Empire (1240-1645 CE), with its capital at Niani, that dominated the sub-Saharan salt trade following the collapse of the Ghana Empire.
Civilization developed around rivers because their water provided places to hunt and fish. Also as the rivers flooded the land around them became fertile. This allowed them to support farming.
