Becky Barclay, age 14, of Sarasota, Fla., for her question:

IS THERE SUCH A PLACE AS TIMBUCKTU?

Yes, there is such a place as Timbucktu, but it is a long way from the United States. It is a small town of about 10,000 population in central Mali, a country of Algeria in northwest tropical Africa. Founded about 1100, it was the center of Moslem learning and one of the richest commercial cities of Africa between 1200 and 1500. Today it bears evidence of long decline as many of its mud and brick buildings lie half buried in the shifting sands.

"From here to Timbucktu" has long been an expression that leads one to believe that Timbucktu is at the farthest corner of the earth. In fact, Timbucktu is not really all that far away. Maybe it was just that the word "Timbucktu" rolls off tongue so easily that it was fun to say, and that was how it came to be the "far off, mysterious spot on the earth."