ABSTRACT
The artillerymen were European gunners, who used to be drawn from English and other ships which frequented Moorish ports or from among the Elches of the army. The proclamation produced the desired effect and the victory of Moorish arms was celebrated in all the towns of the kingdom. Some people saw in the Moorish victory over Songhai the promise of great wealth and the assurance of a glorious future for their country. The people of Songhai were ill prepared for the invasion of their country. The Moors were experiencing the conditions which have combined at all times to prevent the effective occupation of the forests by the predatory slave-raiding tribes of the Sudan. El Mansur next gave orders for a body of irregulars to be raised amongst the Arabs of Sus for dispatch to the Sudan in the autumn. Hearing of the approach of Mahmud he quitted Gurma and marched against the enemy, whom he encountered at Bamba.
