 Also, drought began to have a long-term effect on the land, ruining its ability to sustain cattle and cultivation.New gold fields began mining, for example, at Bure (modern Guinea) which was out of reach for Ghana and new trade routes were opening up further east and across the Atlantic.For the Soninke people, the decline of their empire was due to the legend of Wagadu, and the rupture of the pact between the empire and the black snake.