Houssa or Housa (Arabic: هوسا‎), was the name given in western culture to a purportedly huge and magical city in the interior of Africa, on the banks of the Niger. Ezekiel Blomfield described the city thus: When Mungo Park returned from Africa to London in 1797, The Times inaccurately announced that he had found both Timbuctoo and Houssa. Major Houghton's account of Houssa illustrates some of the confusion around the name Houssa.