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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/78091-0.txt b/78091-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d792082 --- /dev/null +++ b/78091-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5879 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78091 *** +[Illustration: _Drawn by W. Bagg. Junr._ + +_Engraved by T. A. Dean._ + +RICHARD LANDER.] + + + RECORDS + OF + CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON’S + LAST EXPEDITION + TO + =AFRICA:= + + BY RICHARD LANDER, + HIS FAITHFUL ATTENDANT, AND THE ONLY SURVIVING + MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION: + + WITH THE + SUBSEQUENT ADVENTURES OF THE AUTHOR. + + * * * * * + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + + VOL. I. + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, + NEW BURLINGTON STREET. + 1830. + + + + + CONTENTS + OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + * * * * * + + + Page + + INTRODUCTION ix + + SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR’S LIFE 1 + + CHAPTER I. + + List of the Gentlemen and others engaged in the Mission — 15 + The Brazen sails from Portsmouth — Touches at the Madeiras, + Canaries, and Cape de Verd Islands — Pursues and overtakes a + French slave ship — Falls in with H.M.S. Swinger — Arrives and + anchors at Sierra Leone — The Author’s first illness + + CHAPTER II. + + The ship sails again — Captures a Spanish schooner with slaves 29 + — The natives on the coast come on board — Vessel anchors at + Cape Coast — Sails from thence, and captures another slave + vessel — Arrives at Whydah, where Mr. Dickson lands — His + progress through the country, and reported death — The Brazen + comes to an anchor in Badagry Roads — The Gentlemen of the + Mission give a last farewell to the officers on board, and + proceed on shore + + CHAPTER III. + + The travellers reach Badagry, and leave that city on the 7th of 45 + December — Dr. Morrison’s illness — Arrival at Latoo — Captain + Pearce and the Author attacked with fever — Enter Jannah — + Continued and alarming illness of the party — Their progress — + Dr. Morrison returns to Jannah + + CHAPTER IV. + + Deaths of Dawson, Captain Pearce, and Dr. Morrison — 73 + Their funeral — The survivors, after meeting with various + occurrences, and experiencing the kindest hospitality from + the natives on their route, arrive at Katunga, the capital of + Yariba, on the 15th of January, 1826 + + CHAPTER V. + + Residence at Katunga — Ebo the Eunuch — Pantomimic 108 + representation by the Yaribeans — Departure from the city of + Katunga — Arrival at Khiama — Wow Wow — Manners of the People — + Boussa — Mungo Park + + CHAPTER VI. + + Widow Zuma’s Love Adventures — Departure from Wow Wow — Arrival 150 + at Coulfo — Civil war in Nyffé — Ceremonies observed by the + people of Coulfo at the end of the Rhamadan — Tornado at that + place, and its disastrous consequences — The Travellers quit + Coulfo, and proceed on their journey — The Author attacked + with dysentery — His sufferings — Noble conduct of Captain + Clapperton towards him — They enter Zeg Zeg — Arrive at Kano + + CHAPTER VII. + + Residence at Kano — Captain Clapperton leaves for Soccatoo — 198 + History of Pasko, the Houssa Interpreter — Pasko’s robberies + and confinement — Return of the Captain with the Godado, after + an ineffectual attempt to reach Soccatoo — His second departure + from Kano — His Letters + + CHAPTER VIII. + + The Author quits Kano to join his Master — His illness on the 231 + road — Anecdotes of the Natives, and his reception by them + — Pasko’s new robbery, and elopement — He is overtaken, and + brought back — The Tuarick merchants — The Author’s arrival + at Soccatoo, the metropolis of the Falatah empire — Residence + there — Pasko’s dismissal, conduct, and marriage + + CHAPTER IX. + + Religion — Laws — Government — Amusements, &c. of the Natives 270 + from Badagry to Soccatoo — Slavery in the interior countries — + Timidity of the people — State of the Arts amongst them — Dry + and Wet Seasons + + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + * * * * * + + +On my return from Africa in the summer of 1828, I was so ill with fever +and debility, that I had neither spirit nor inclination to devote much +time to the compilation and arrangement of my notes, and of the short +sketches of character taken by stealth in the heart of that continent. +My duty and sole design, in laying my Journal before the British +Government, were to satisfy Ministers with regard to my conduct after +the decease of Captain Clapperton, my lamented master; and to make them +acquainted with the manner in which the property left in my charge at +Soccatoo had been disposed of, in my hazardous journey back to the sea- +coast. Besides, I had not seen my friends in Cornwall for a period +little short of thirteen years; and it is quite natural to suppose that +I should have felt a longing to re-visit the place of my nativity, after +so protracted and painful an absence. It is not to be wondered at, when +all this is considered, that my printed Narrative, drawn up in haste, +and without having received the benefit of even the slightest +assistance, except from a younger brother, should be incomplete, and in +many instances carelessly expressed. + +To remedy, if possible, these defects, and to insert the relation of a +thousand amusing incidents which had been overlooked, I have in the +following pages given my Narrative a new and a more complete dress; and +I sincerely hope that my countrymen will not be displeased at my humble +but persevering attempts to depict, in true colours, the customs and +ceremonies of the powerful nations or tribes inhabiting that vast tract +of country lying between Badagry and the beautiful kingdom of Houssa. + +The natives of the regions traversed by Captain Clapperton and myself +ever regarded our writing apparatus with mingled sensations of alarm and +jealousy; and fancied, when they observed us using them, that we were +making _fetishes_ (charms) and enchantments prejudicial to their lives +and interests. To this cause is attributable the absence of many +particulars, both in my master’s Journal and my own, which, though +unimportant in themselves, serve to pourtray, and to place in a natural +and lively point of view, the most conspicuous touches in the character +of the African, and gradually to develope his passions, prejudices, and +remarkable superstitions. We were unwilling to raise up enemies against +us in a strange land, by continuing, in presence of the people, a +practice which awakened their jealousy, and served only to make us +objects of distrust and hatred to them all. Hence we were obliged to +cherish in our memory various particulars which we were unable, at that +period, to put on paper; contenting ourselves with the hope that, on our +return to England, we should have ample leisure to devote to the +accomplishment of that object; this was, however, unfortunately +frustrated by the decease of Captain Clapperton. I myself have +consequently taken the liberty, in the following pages, of attempting to +carry into execution the project which that intrepid officer had in +view—when alive, and in the full hope of returning to his native land. + +The recreations and songs of the people, as well as their wars, laws, +religion and government, I have endeavoured faithfully to describe. Of +course it cannot be expected that a person in my humble situation of +life should have powers of language sufficient to give these +descriptions the fullest charm of which they may be susceptible: yet I +have done the best my poor abilities would allow me. I have translated +several songs from the figurative language of the natives into the +English tongue, adopting the similes, and copying the mode of +expression, as nearly as the idiom of the former would permit; while, in +the absence of technical terms relative to law, &c., I have chosen words +which have appeared to me the simplest, and which indeed occur most +easily to me. + +The engagements of the Falatahs with their sable neighbours can scarcely +fail of being interesting in many points of view; and their manner of +making war is characteristic of African customs. That aggrandizing +power, like the government of Russia in Europe, is making rapid and +gigantic strides towards an enormous despotism; and should it hereafter +possess so martial and enterprising a ruler as its founder, Dandfodio, +in the course of a very few years the whole of Central and Northern, if +not of Western Africa, will be under the _surveillance_ of the restless +Falatah; and the worship of snakes and idols be supplanted by the +fanatical tenets of Islamism. + +The history of the far-famed Borghoo-Arabian lady, widow Zuma, is +correct in every particular; the elopement of that most bulky individual +will, it is trusted, be found amusing in the extreme; and the whole +train of her adventures—her passionate fondness for white men—the marvel +of her extraordinary plumpness—her excessive hospitality—the splendour +of her retinue and domestic establishment—her inordinate ambition in +attempting to dethrone her lawful sovereign, the innocent and facetious +Mohammed—her mournful reverse of fortune—her confinement—the song of her +maidens—and her last request,—are singularly remarkable, and strongly +pourtray the disposition and habits of an eminent African belle. + +The narrative of Pasko, or rather, I should say, of _Abbu Becr_, our +Houssa interpreter, contrasted with that of the amiable and accomplished +Zuma, will not be found to be altogether destitute of attraction, +insomuch as it shows the manners and superstitions of his countrymen +much more pleasingly than a laboured description of them would do; while +the archness, drollery, and dishonesty of the old scoundrel, together +with his warm and deep attachment to the gentler sex, and his entire +devotedness to their service, are accurately related, as the +circumstances which called those various passions into action took +place. + +After the decease of Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison, when my late +valued master and myself were the only Europeans left of the mission, +Captain Clapperton for various reasons thought proper to style me his +son, and the natives ever after regarded that gallant officer as my +father. Surrounded as we were by strange faces and strange scenes, cut +off from all communication with civilized society, and wandering, far +from our native country, and all that was truly dear to us, in barbarous +regions, and oftentimes through long dismal woods, and awful solitudes; +we became linked to each other by the strongest of all ties. Ours, if I +may so express myself, were kindred spirits; we entered into each +other’s views, shared each other’s gladness and melancholy, hope and +despair, and participated in each other’s feelings and amusements. It +was for the interest of both to do so. It would not have been well for +any haughtiness or reserve to be manifested towards me under such +circumstances, merely because accident had thrown me into a lower rank +in life than my master; and it would have been unfeeling, nay unmanly, +when bowed down by pain and wretchedness in the heart of Africa, for a +British officer to refuse, for no other reason, to the humble companion +of his wanderings that confidence and friendship which he had in some +measure a right to expect. Such, happily, was not the disposition of +Captain Clapperton; the difference in our respective conditions was +willingly levelled, as it certainly ought to have been, by that +gentleman; and for my part I may justly say, that my attachment for him +was so great that I would cheerfully have undergone any privation rather +than that he should have been a sufferer; or, if necessity required it, +would even have laid down my life with pleasure for the preservation of +his. + +To Capt. Clapperton I owe the existence I enjoy at the present moment; +and for him I would have sacrificed, and perhaps I _did_ sacrifice on +particular occasions, every consideration of personal comfort or +convenience. To “smooth down his lonely pillow;” to mingle my hopes, and +fears, and distresses, with his; and to render the transition from life +to eternity as easy as possible, were my employments when the +unfortunate Captain was stretched out upon his death-bed, in a dismal +solitary hut in Soccatoo; and these services themselves, Heaven knows, +carried their own reward along with them. The affectionate grasp of the +hand—the trembling eye—the _look_ of approbation and +thankfulness—expressed more eloquently and feelingly than words could +have done the gratitude of my heroic master and preserver for my humble +endeavours to serve him, when his cup of pain, disappointment, and +sorrow, was foaming to the brim; and the readers of my “Wanderings” will +excuse me for dwelling on this subject in the chapter devoted to the +illness and decease of Capt. Clapperton, &c. At this distance of time +and place even, I reflect on that gloomy and distressing period with +emotion; I recall to my remembrance all that passed there—disease, +suffering, loneliness, and death; yet do I often wish that my latter end +may be as gentle as was my master’s; more calm I do not expect it to +be—less free from pain it cannot be. + +After all that I have said on this subject, the charge of having assumed +too much consequence in speaking so familiarly of Capt. Clapperton, will +not surely be brought against me; yet in conversation I have heard it +asserted that this sin was committed in my printed journal; but the +remark needs no refutation. I have not chosen to alter this imputed +consequence in the following narrative, simply because there is no +apparent necessity for doing so; and in this opinion the generality of +my countrymen will, I am confident, agree with me. + +My description of the savage manners and horrid barbarities of the +people of Badagry, at the celebration of their monthly sacrifices, &c. +is by no means exaggerated. At present these seem unknown to Englishmen; +and my reasons for not relating them before are already given. I had no +intention of having my Journal printed, and therefore did not study to +render the perusal of it interesting by inserting in it observations +that did not come strictly within the compass of the plan which I had +originally laid down for myself. + +In the composition of the following pages I must acknowledge my +obligations to a younger brother, and (with the exception of the +customary revision of the printed sheets) to him alone. I should feel +both pleasure and pride in expressing, in this place, my gratitude for +even a hint received from any other quarter; but as this has not, even +in a solitary instance, been the case, I have no such thanks to offer. +Although unused to composition, my brother devoted, during the past +summer, the little leisure which relaxation from his daily labour +afforded him, to the office of copying my notes and observations, and +putting them into something like arrangement. Having become impressed +with my thoughts, he has “turned them to shape,” and, entering warmly +into my feelings, he has depicted my emotions, even as I felt them; and +the public will best discern whether they are true to nature or not. + +I beg to introduce this little Work to the notice of my countrymen with +the greatest humility. They will not judge of it by too severe a +standard; they will not—I am sure they will not—accuse me of presumption +in my feeble attempts to portray the manners and peculiarities of a +strange people. I have done the utmost to render the perusal of my +Narrative agreeable; and to give the reader a correct idea of the state +of society in the interior of Africa. It were unreasonable to expect +that my limited knowledge should permit me to give a learned or laboured +description of regions which had never before been visited by Europeans; +yet I repeat I have done the best my power would allow; and no one will, +I think, feel any disposition to question the truth of this declaration. + + THE AUTHOR. + + TRURO, +_October_, 1829. + + * * * * * + +Since the preceding introductory remarks were written, His Majesty’s +Government have engaged me to proceed to Fundah, and trace the river +from thence to Benin; so that before the public will be put in +possession of the following Narrative, in all probability, I shall be on +my way to the Western Coast of Africa. In this new undertaking I shall +be accompanied only by my brother (John Lander), whose assistance in the +composition of this work I have already acknowledged; and if energy and +perseverance can avail us any thing, I have the best reasons for +believing that it will prove as successful as my most sanguine +expectations lead me to hope that it will. At all events, nothing shall +be wanting on our parts to accomplish the object in view. If we be so +unfortunate as to fail in the object, I may say with confidence and +without vanity, that it shall not be attributed to a want of proper +spirit and enterprise; since we have made the fixed determination to +risk every thing, even life itself, towards its final accomplishment. We +shall endeavour to conform ourselves, as nearly as possible, to the +manners and habits of the natives; we will not mock their blind +superstition, but respect it; we will not scoff at their institutions, +but bow to them; we will not condemn their prejudices, but pity them. In +fine, we shall do all in our power to ward off suspicion as to the +integrity of our motives, and the innocency of our intentions; and this +cannot be done more effectually than by mingling with the people in +their general amusements and diversions. Confidence in ourselves, and in +them, will be our best panoply; and an English Testament our safest +_fetish_. Clothed in _this_ armour, by the blessing of God, we have not +much to fear; but if, by any casualty or unforeseen misfortune, we +perish in Africa, and are seen no more, even then our fate will not be +more dismal than that of many of our predecessors in the same pursuit, +whose gallant enterprising spirits have sunk into darkness, without a +voice to record their melancholy end. If _this_ should be our case, our +countrymen may, perhaps, be moved to respect our memory; and, at all +events, it is some consolation to know that the gap we may make in +society will scarcely be observed at all; or, if observed, soon filled +up: + + + “For we to the world are like a drop of water + + That in the ocean falls.” + + + _London_, +_Dec._ 1829. + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + Portrait of Richard Lander Frontispiece. + + Pelicans feeding their young vol. II. p. 16 + + Funeral of Captain Clapperton 78 + + Fainting Scene 93 + + Crossing the streams at Yariba 215 + + Heads of Natives with Tattoo marks 218 + + Ordeal by Poison 257 + + * * * * * + + ERRATA. + + Page 89, for Kang read _Kong_. + + Page 156, omit the preposition “_to_” after “lead me.” + + From p. 134 to p. 269, for Soccasoo read _Soccatoo_. + + At the head of chap. II. p. 29, for Cape Coast read _Papoe_. + + + + + SKETCH + OF THE + AUTHOR’S LIFE. + + * * * * * + + +Many allusions to my earlier history occurring in the following pages, +it may not, perhaps, be deemed impertinent on my part, if I should +attempt to give a short and hasty sketch of my life, devoted as it has +been to perpetual wandering, and chequered by a thousand misfortunes. + +My family is as ancient, I dare say, as that of any upon the face of the +earth, although, notwithstanding the profoundest research, I have been +unable to trace its descent, with genealogical accuracy and precision, +to a more remote era than the period of my grandfather’s nonage; the +history of all my ancestors previous to him, being either mixed with +fable, or involved in doubt and uncertainty. If the ancient saying of +the people of Cornwall, that, + + + “By Tre, Pol, _Lan_, and _Pen_, + + You may know most Cornishmen,” + + +be entitled to credit, then undoubtedly my family is of pure Cornish +extraction; and I would respectfully suggest that it has a double claim, +in the present generation, to the enviable distinction of antiquity, my +mother’s maiden name being _Pen_-rose, and my father’s name _Lan_-der. +Thus much for my pedigree; and I have the solitary satisfaction of +boasting of at least one celebrated character in its humble records, my +grandfather, by my mother’s side, who was a noted wrestler in his day, +and lived some fifty years since near the Land’s End. + +I am the fourth of six children, and was born at Truro, in Cornwall, in +1804, on the very day on which Colonel Lemon was elected Member of +Parliament for the Borough. Owing to this striking coincidence, singular +as it may seem, my father, who was fond of sounding appellations, at the +simple suggestion of the doctor who attended the family, added _Lemon_ +to my baptismal name of Richard: an example of the trivial means by +which people are oftentimes accommodated with an extra name. As nothing +remarkable occurred for the first five or six years after I came into +the world, I shall pass them over in silence, simply observing, that +when yet in infancy, whilst I was in the act of gazing one morning at +something attached to the ceiling of my father’s stable, a piece of +iron, having a sharpened edge, fell and entered my forehead; which +accident was of so serious a nature that I was ill for several weeks, +and narrowly escaped with life. + +My rambling inclinations began to display themselves in early youth. I +was never easy a great while together in one place, and used to be +delighted to play truant and stroll from town to town, and from village +to village, whenever I could steal an opportunity as well; as to mix in +the society of boys possessing restless habits and inclinations similar +to my own. I used also to listen with unmixed attention to old women’s +tales about the manners and ceremonies of the natives of distant regions +of the earth, and never felt greater pleasure than when, dangling me on +their knees, or stroking down my face with their aged hands, they used +to say, “you will be sure to see two kingdoms, Richard, for you have two +_crowns upon your head_!” Their marvellous descriptions of monsters +existing, they affirmed, in remote lands, likewise conspired to raise in +me a longing to be a traveller; for the venerable matrons of my native +county, moving in the humbler walks of life, like those of most other +counties and nations, are fond of the wonderful, and endeavour to stamp +a love of it in the tender mind of youth with all the solemnity and +earnestness of age and belief. These tales, how incredible soever they +might have been, made a deep and permanent impression on my thoughts; +and though so very young, I formed a resolution, or rather felt a strong +and violent inclination to become a wanderer, in order that the story of +_my_ adventures might one day rival in interest those to which I had +listened with so devout an attention; perhaps also a childish feeling of +pride entered my bosom as I used to say to myself: “And when I shall +have returned from such and such a place, and seen all the strange +sights in them, my former companions will look upon me with a mixture of +wonder and admiration, and I shall excite the envy of the other boys.” + +Thus the first period of my life flew swiftly away; and I was no more +than nine years of age, as nearly as my memory, at this distance of +time, will allow me to guess, when owing to a series of domestic +misfortunes, which it would be a tedious and unpleasant task here to +particularise, I left the paternal roof, and have ever since been almost +a stranger in the place of my nativity. + +The frequent observation of my lamented mother, “Remember, my poor +child, the old proverb, ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss,’” has been +entirely thrown away upon me, for between necessity and choice I have +ever been in motion; and with respect to “_moss_,” taken in its +figurative signification, I have certainly, in my own person, verified +the truth of the homely adage above alluded to, scarcely ever having +been able to retain a single handful in my grasp for any length of time +together. + +At the early age of eleven years I accompanied a mercantile gentleman to +the West Indies, and whilst in St. Domingo was attacked with the fever +of the country, suffering so severely under its influence that my life +was despaired of; but, owing chiefly to the kindness and attention I +experienced from some benevolent and sympathizing Negro females, joined +to my youth and a naturally vigorous constitution, I recovered my wonted +health, and after an absence of three years returned to my native +country in 1818. From that period till the attainment of my 19th year, I +lived in the service of various noblemen and gentlemen, one of whom I +accompanied to France, and other countries on the Continent; when, +hearing on my return to London, that Major Colebrook, one of His +Majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of the British +Colonies, was in want of an individual to proceed with him in the +capacity of servant, I quitted the office I then held, and procured the +vacant situation with little difficulty. With this gentleman I embarked +from Portsmouth on board the Lady Campbell, which weighed anchor on the +thirteenth of February, 1823, and after a stormy and hazardous voyage of +nearly five months, arrived in Simmons’s Bay, South Africa, on the 13th +of July following. During the passage our unfortunate vessel, in which +were upwards of forty ladies and gentlemen (passengers) with twenty +servants, very nearly escaped destruction no less than three times. In +the first instance, she encountered a heavy gale on the 8th of March, in +which she lost her rudder, and leaked four feet of water in the hold. +After being buffeted about by the wind and waves for four or five days, +her distressed condition was observed by a small French brig belonging +to L’Orient, which towed her into that port. There she was laid up for +six weeks, in order that the serious damage she had sustained might be +repaired; when, on the 1st of May, she again set sail. On the 10th of +June following, a lady, passing near the gun-room, discovered it to be +on fire, and immediately gave the alarm. After incredible exertions, and +still greater noise, hurry, bustle, and confusion, the progress of the +flames was arrested, and the fire finally extinguished, to the no small +gratification of every one on board, who feared, and with justice, that +from the proximity of the gun-room to the powder-magazine the most +imminent danger was to be apprehended. This was not the last fright we +experienced, for on the night of entering Simmons’s Bay the vessel +unfortunately struck on a rock called by seamen “The Noah’s Ark,” but +was happily lifted by the swell of the sea from her perilous situation, +without being materially damaged by the shock; and nothing worthy of +notice occurred till her arrival before Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, as +above mentioned. + +After accompanying Major Colebrook in his journeyings from one extremity +of that important colony to the other,—for a reason which it would be +superfluous in this place to adduce, I left his service, and sailing +from Cape Town, arrived in England in 1824. I had not been many weeks in +the metropolis before I accepted of a situation in the establishment of +a kinsman to the Duke of Northumberland, where my time passed away +pleasantly and thoughtlessly enough; till the return of Captain +Clapperton and Major Denham from the interior of Africa, in the +following year, again aroused my rambling propensities, and I could not +help reproaching myself for having remained so long a time in a state of +comparative indolence. Determined from that hour to embrace the first +favourable chance of once more quitting my native shores, to whichever +part of the globe fate or fortune might destine me, I waited impatiently +for something to take place in furtherance of the object I had most at +heart; and an opportunity soon offered itself that promised to gratify +my fondest and warmest inclinations, as well as amply to satisfy the +inordinate desire I could not suppress of visiting foreign countries. + +Having heard that it was the intention of the British Government to send +out another expedition for the purpose of exploring the yet undiscovered +parts of central Africa, and of endeavouring to ascertain the source, +progress, and termination, of the mysterious Niger; and the attempt +coinciding exactly with my long-cherished wishes, I instantly waited +upon the late Captain Clapperton, who I was told was to be placed at its +head, and expressed to that brave and spirited officer the great +eagerness I felt to become a party, however humble, to the novel and +hazardous undertaking into which he was about to enter. The Captain +listened to me with attention, and after I had answered a few +interrogations, willingly engaged me to be his confidential servant. In +this interview the keen, penetrating eye of the African traveller, did +not escape my observation; and by its fire, energy, and quickness, +denoted, in my own opinion at least, the very soul of enterprize and +adventure. + +Having made the necessary arrangements, I entered with a light heart +upon my new duties, and enjoyed the thoughts of following the bias of my +own inclination with as great a zest as if the path of my future life +had been strewed with flowers. + +I had not, however, adopted this line of conduct without deep reflection +on the difficulties that would, in all probability, accompany it. The +destruction that had overwhelmed former travellers, engaged in the same +pursuit, was by no means unfamiliar to me; and the melancholy story of +Mungo Park and his companions in misfortune, in particular, had often +crossed my thoughts. I felt a degree of shuddering sympathy for those +enterprizing individuals, (heightened perhaps by the cloud of darkness +in which their latter end was shrouded,) which no fictitious tale of woe +had been ever able to excite in my bosom; yet even this failed in +staggering my resolution, or overcoming my early and deeply-rooted +prejudices. + +There was a charm in the very sound of Africa, that always made my heart +flutter on hearing it mentioned: whilst its boundless deserts of sand; +the awful obscurity in which many of the interior regions were +enveloped; the strange and wild aspect of countries that had never been +trodden by the foot of a European, and even the very failure of all +former undertakings to explore its hidden wonders, united to strengthen +the determination I had come to, of embracing the earliest opportunity +of penetrating into the interior of that immense Continent. + +In vain my London acquaintances urged upon me the risk I should incur of +finding a grave in Africa; and equally vain were the kind +representations of a medical gentleman of the metropolis, who painted to +me in lively colours the imminent danger to which my life would be +exposed, by reason of my youth, inexperience, and habit of body. I +disregarded all the counsel that the world could give me, and perhaps +secretly depended on the strength of an unimpaired constitution to +support me in sickness, and bring me out of every difficulty; so prone +are we to indulge the belief that there is a something different, a +latent excellence within us, which does not belong to the persons or +characters of the rest of the world; and so just is the observation of +the poet, that + + + “All men think all men mortal but themselves.” + + +As soon as my relatives in Cornwall were made acquainted with the step I +was about to take, they expressed the deepest concern and sorrow, and +sent me numbers of letters, couched in the simple and affectionate +language of nature, expressive of their feelings, and endeavouring to +dissuade me from proceeding to a region they all so greatly and justly +dreaded. George Croker Fox, Esq. a highly respectable gentleman, +residing at Grove Hill, near Falmouth, with the spirit of amiable +benevolence by which he is so peculiarly distinguished, also exerted +himself in the same object, promising that if my determination to leave +England was fixed, rather than that I should expose myself to the +dangers to be apprehended from African exploration, he would procure me +a more lucrative situation in one of the South American republics. But +no inducement under the sun could make me swerve, even in thought, from +the line of duty I had laid down for myself; or cool the ardour that +warned me to attempt, at least, the accomplishment of the great object +towards which my earliest thoughts had been intently directed. Indeed, I +had already gone too far to recede; and leaving the metropolis with +Captain Clapperton, I arrived at Portsmouth, in order to embark in the +Brazen sloop of war, Captain Willis, on the 24th of August, 1825, being +then in the 21st year of my age. + + + + + WANDERINGS + IN + AFRICA. + + * * * * * + + CHAPTER I. + +List of the Gentlemen and others engaged in the Mission — The Brazen +sails from Portsmouth — Touches at the Madeiras, Canaries, and Cape de +Verd Islands — Pursues and overtakes a French slave ship — Falls in with +H.M.S. Swinger — Arrives and anchors at Sierra Leone — The Author’s +first illness. + + +On arriving at Portsmouth with Captain Clapperton, I found the following +gentlemen, his associates in the mission, waiting for him:—Captain +Pearce, R.N. an amiable individual, but whose frame was much too +delicate for the arduous task he had undertaken; Dr. Morrison, a navy +surgeon; and Dr. Dickson, a Scotchman, who had served as a surgeon for a +long period in the West Indies. These were attended by Columbus, a West +Indian mulatto, who had accompanied Major Denham in the previous +journey; Pasko, a black, native of Haussa; and myself. + +We embarked on the 27th of August, 1825; and, a light breeze springing +up from the north-east, the vessel got under weigh and made sail, the +shores of England gradually lessening from our view. After touching at +Porto Santo, the least of the Madeiras, on the 8th September, where the +Gentlemen of the Mission landed and obtained various specimens of plants +and minerals, the vessel dropped anchor at Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, on the +13th of the same month. Next day, Captain Clapperton and his coadjutors, +accompanied by three officers of the Brazen, went on shore to make an +excursion to the Peak; but my master being taken suddenly unwell on the +road from Santa Cruz, was obliged to remain at Oratavia, a fine but +irregularly built town, situated at the base of a cluster of mountains, +out of which rises the celebrated Peak, from which it is distant about +four or five miles. The travellers having accomplished the object of +their jaunt, came back with minerals, &c. complaining sadly of fatigue. +On the 16th, we returned to Santa Cruz, the rugged nature of the roads, +together with the stubborn disposition of the asses with which we were +accommodated, being in great measure overlooked by the mirthful humour +and innocent jocularity of our native guides, who enlivened us by +singing and playing on guitars nearly the whole of the way to the +capital, frequently interrupting themselves by shouting “Long live the +English!” The inhabitants were mostly employed in gathering in the +grapes, with which the island abounds; and we were met on the road by +great numbers of them with mules and asses loaded with this delicious +fruit, returning to their respective habitations. + +On the 16th the Brazen again set sail with a fair wind; and on the 24th +following arrived at St. Antonia, one of the Cape de Verd islands, where +Captain Clapperton landed, as on former occasions, and obtained +minerals, &c. from its lofty mountains. The vessel weighed anchor the +same evening, and nothing requiring particular observation occurred for +several days, the wind continuing tolerably fair, but squally. + +On the 4th of October, a small schooner came in sight, and supposing she +had slaves on board, the Brazen chased and overtook her. She proved, +however, to be a Russian merchant vessel, bound for Pernambuco, and was +of course suffered to proceed on her voyage as soon as the error was +discovered. On the 8th of the same month another sail was descried, and +suspecting also that she was engaged in the nefarious traffic in slaves, +we pursued and boarded her. The suspicions were confirmed on discovering +196 human beings in this French schooner (which was bound for St. +Domingo) chained together in couples, and literally crammed between +decks, which being barely three feet in height the slaves were obliged +to remain in a sitting posture whilst they stayed on board. So strong +and disagreeable an odour proceeded from the confined place in which +these poor creatures were huddled, that the air was tainted with it, and +I hastened on board the Brazen as fast as I could; shortly after which +the French vessel proceeded with her living cargo to the place of her +destination. + +On the 19th the Brazen fell in with H.M. ship Swinger, on a cruise. This +vessel had lost nineteen men with fever, and was short of provisions and +water. After relieving her wants, and sending a doctor on board, we +continued our course with a fair light breeze, and on the 21st entered +the river of Sierra Leone. + +The day after our arrival I went on shore, and sauntered alone through +Free Town, visiting the church and other public buildings. I was grieved +to see that sacred edifice converted into a market-place, and buyers and +sellers indecently disputing and wrangling in the temple of God. The +colony was rather sickly, and the great number of deaths which had +recently taken place sufficiently attested the extreme unhealthiness of +that immense “charnel-house.” The country in the neighbourhood of the +town is rich and fertile, producing in great abundance many kinds of +fruits and vegetables. West Indian, and other tropical productions are +cultivated with success, and to a great extent, on the banks of the +river. Cattle and poultry, which are of inferior size and description, +are excessively scarce and dear; but the inhabitants do not seem to feel +much interested in the improvement of the breed of their domestic +animals. The grass in the colony, though apparently rich and luxuriant, +contains in reality but little nutriment; and to this cause, more than +to any other, the sorry condition of the cattle is attributable. + +The Kroomen, great numbers of whom reside at Sierra Leone, are a fine +athletic people; active, clean, and industrious. They have a village at +no great distance from Free Town, which I visited. It consists of a +great number of huts, most of which have a little meadow-land, or +garden, attached to them; but a very small portion of the soil is +cultivated in its vicinity, the male inhabitants being generally +employed by the masters of European vessels visiting Sierra Leone, who +find them extremely serviceable. Notwithstanding their intercourse with +the English and other European nations, which has been preserved for so +long a period, the Kroomen still retain their native costume, which +consists simply of a piece of cotton cloth, tied carelessly round the +waist, and extending to the knees. Almost the whole of them have +obtained a smattering of the English tongue, in which they pride +themselves; whilst many of the more intelligent can converse in it with +tolerable fluency. Upwards of twenty different languages, it is said, +are spoken by the mixed population of the colony, who have been +principally captured from the slave vessels of the Portuguese or +Spaniards, and have been brought from many of the interior countries. + +On the 23d I again went on shore with my gun, to shoot in a savannah at +a short distance from the town, in which I remained a great part of the +day, amongst high coarse grass and thick jungle, indiscreetly exposing +my head to the scorching rays of a vertical sun; in consequence of which +I was attacked in the evening with giddiness of the head, and other +symptoms of fever; but having been bled copiously, and having taken +proper medicine, the progress of the disease was for the time arrested. +My illness, which was not particularly severe, was of short duration, +and I fondly expected that this was but the _seasoning_ every European +should be prepared to encounter on visiting tropical countries. + +Having taken in her supplies of fresh water and provisions, the Brazen +got under weigh on the 27th of October, and made sail for Cape Coast, +with a fresh breeze from the south-east. On the following day a thunder- +storm arose, accompanied by heavy and continued rain and vivid flashes +of lightning, which lasted for several hours; and on the 2d of November +a sail being perceived at some distance, the ship gave her chase, and on +coming up with her, she proved to be the Fortune, a Spanish schooner, +with thirty-five slaves only on board, not having then received her full +complement. The vessel was immediately captured, and sent back to Sierra +Leone. Next day another sail was discovered, and being overtaken, was +found to be a French brig from Martinique, waiting for a cargo of human +beings. + +On the 5th the natives came out to meet the Brazen in canoes, with yams, +plantains, bananas, cassada, and other productions of the country, which +they bartered for tobacco, that article being in great request with +them. Their canoes were lightly and ingeniously constructed, and +propelled through the water with singular swiftness and dexterity, the +rowers performing their laborious task in a kneeling posture. They were +completely destitute of clothing of any kind. + +On the 7th we were honored with a visit from the Kroo king, who is a jet +black of goodly stature, and of simple but prepossessing manners. On his +head the sable monarch had a European hat, and across his loins was +fastened a plain piece of cotton cloth purchased from the English. He +wore a necklace of _gris-gris_ (charms or amulets) made of leather, in +the merits of which he seemed to repose implicit confidence, believing +himself the most fortunate of men in having it in his possession; and as +long as that was the case, he asserted, neither demon nor human being +could in any wise injure him. + +One of his majesty’s attendants, as blindly superstitious as his +sovereign, to put the virtues of _his_ amulet to the test, entreated me +several times to discharge a musket loaded with ball at him, at the +distance of only a few yards, which, when I refused to do, he appeared +to be considerably chagrined and disappointed, and went away muttering +that the English were the most uncivil people in the world. + +The following day, although the ship was at the distance of several +miles from the shore, others of the natives came alongside, differing +but little in external appearance from their neighbours who had visited +us on the former occasions: but in addition to their other ornaments, +they wore iron rings round the neck, with little bells of the same metal +appended, which, on the slightest movement of the wearer, made a +jingling noise not unlike bells hung to the necks of waggon-horses in +England. The Cape Palmas king, accompanied by a great number of his +subjects, also condescended to come on board on the 9th. He is a +powerful athletic man, having a bold expression of countenance, but of +gentle and social habits, and he was graciously pleased to converse +freely with any one on deck, who felt disposed, or had patience enough +to listen to his remarks. + +There was this peculiarity in the appearance of his majesty’s followers: +their heads were shaved either partially or wholly, and the hair of +those that had any being cut into a thousand fantastic modes and forms, +looked exceedingly grotesque. Many of the tribes on the coast, indeed, +appear to devote a large portion of their time to dressing and +ornamenting their hair, which in some districts is plaited and braided +with much care, and peculiar taste and neatness. Others friz out the +hair like the natives of the Tonga islands, and as it is anointed with a +species of red clay, softened with palm-oil, which is found in great +abundance on the coast, it adds greatly to the ferocity of their +appearance. + +The Brazen continued her course with a tolerably fair wind but heavy +showers, and having passed several towns and villages, the inhabitants +of some of which occasionally visited her in canoes, arrived at Cape +Coast on the 14th, at one P.M. + +Cape Coast castle is a strongly-built stone fortification, capable of +containing within its walls the whole of the population of the town it +defends; the habitations of which are constructed in much the same style +as those with which the whole line of coast is thickly studded; being +built of earth, and thatched with rushes, interlaced with palm-leaves. + +A great number of people have settled in the town from the interior +countries; but by far the major part of the inhabitants are Fantees, who +have voluntarily placed themselves under the protection of the British +fortress, in order the more effectually to secure to themselves the +blessings of peace, and preserve their property from the rapacity of +their more restless countrymen, and the neighbouring nations. + +Cleanliness is by no means a characteristic of the Fantees at Cape +Coast, animal and vegetable substances being allowed to accumulate and +putrify in the streets, from which is exhaled so noxious an effluvium, +that the air, impregnated with it, is rendered extremely insalubrious, +particularly to Europeans. + +It is perhaps a fortunate circumstance, that vultures, attracted by the +intolerable odour, resort thither in vast numbers, voraciously devouring +the filth which the indolent inhabitants are either too lazy or too +_ignorant_ to remove; for they cannot be persuaded that disease of any +kind is engendered by such means. If this had not been the case, it +would be a miracle indeed that Europeans should exist in the town many +weeks; and even the Africans themselves, in all likelihood, would +speedily fall victims to pestilential disorders. + +Horned cattle are not less scarce, and yet more diminutive, than at +Sierra Leone, and their flesh is of the worst possible quality. Horses, +for some reason, are no where to be found on the Gold Coast, nor are any +beasts of burden whatever to be met with in the neighbourhood of the +Castle; loads of every description being carried on men’s heads, and in +hammocks fastened to long poles, which are borne by two persons. + +The market is rather scantily supplied with Guinea-corn, maize, yams, +sweet cassada, &c. although the soil is amazingly rich, yielding +abundantly all the necessaries of life. Notwithstanding its fertility, +however, cultivation is carried on to a very inconsiderable extent, and +the surrounding country is still thickly wooded. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + * * * * * + +The ship sails again — Capture of a Spanish schooner with Slaves — The +natives of the coast come on board — Vessel anchors at Papoe — Sails +from thence and captures another slave vessel — Arrives at Whydah, where +Mr. Dickson lands — His progress through the country and reported death +— The Brazen comes to an anchor in Badagry Roads — The Gentlemen of the +Mission give a last farewell to the officers on board, and proceed on +shore. + + +The Brazen sailed from Cape Coast on the 17th, and on the following day +pursued a fine Spanish brigantine, which was waiting to receive a cargo +of slaves from the coast. After a short chase the vessel was captured, +and taken to Accra the same evening. There were only five or six +Europeans at Accra; but the town, as at Cape Coast, is chiefly inhabited +by Fantees, and is very populous. We had an opportunity of seeing the +king of the Fantee nation during our short stay. His majesty, dressed in +a shabby uniform of an English military officer, was supported on the +shoulders of four men, and paraded through the town, preceded and +followed by a number of people, who, by clapping of hands, and beating +on _tom-toms!_ created a loud and most discordant noise, which might +have been heard at a considerable distance from the spot. + +On the 20th the Brazen departed with her prize from Accra, and came to +an anchor at Papoe the day after. From that place the brigantine was to +have taken in her cargo, and the slaves selected were confined in the +town. As soon as the officers landed from the ship, they were demanded, +but the king, obstinately refusing at first to deliver them up, was told +that unless they were immediately produced, his town would be +cannonaded, he himself and his son taken prisoners, and the slaves +seized by main force; on which the royal personage seemed to pay a +little more respect to the imperious summons of the Englishmen; and the +unfortunate people were shortly after ordered to be liberated. These +slaves at length made their appearance, and exhibited a long line of +melancholy faces and emaciated frames, wasted by disease and close +confinement, and by having suffered dreadfully from scantiness of food, +and the impure air of their prison-house. They were 231 in number, men, +women, and children, in a complete state of nudity, and heavily +manacled; several of them were lamed by the weight of their irons, and +their skin sadly excoriated from the same cause. All of them appeared in +the deepest misery, and one little boy in particular was greatly +distressed, and cried much and bitterly. He had been seized whilst at +play with his young companions from before the threshhold of his +parents’ hut, and immediately driven to Papoe with his thoughtless +playmates. The poor things evinced the liveliest joy on being made +acquainted with the favorable turn in their affairs, and the gratitude +they displayed to their deliverers was natural and sincere. Arrangements +were speedily made for their accommodation on board the prize; and that +vessel, which was to have borne them to perpetual slavery in a remote +region, was employed to convey them to hundreds of their countrymen at +Sierra Leone. + +Papoe lies close to the sea, and consists of an assemblage of +irregularly-built mud huts; a number of lofty cocoa-trees growing in its +immediate vicinity conducing greatly to the apparent freshness and +pleasantness of the place. Slavery is carried on to an alarming extent +by the inhabitants, every one of whom is at all times prepared to +accompany a slave expedition. They are said to be more ferocious in +their manners than most tribes on the coast; and if one may be allowed +to judge from the savage expression of their countenances, the people +are eminently entitled to this character. The aspect of the country +presents the same unvaried uniformity of thick forests and extensive +savannas, intersected with rich plains, that is everywhere observable +from the sea. + +The brigantine having been sent to Sierra Leone with the emancipated +slaves, the Brazen sailed from Papoe on the morning of the 23d, and +arrived at Whydah the same evening. Seven sail were at anchor off the +coast fronting the town, the greater part of which were supposed to be +waiting for a favourable opportunity to embark slaves. Captain +Clapperton and Dr. Morrison landed on the following morning, and were +conveyed in hammocks to the town of Whydah, situated about two English +miles from the beach. After making observations, and obtaining the +information they sought, the gentlemen returned the same evening to the +ship. + +On the 25th Dr. Dickson landed to proceed into the interior. The parting +interview between Capt. Clapperton and the warm-hearted Doctor was +singularly tender and pathetic. The latter gentleman entertained a +presentiment that they should never meet again, and his endeavours to +suppress or disguise his emotion entirely failed in their effect. “Study +the character of the natives well,” said the Captain to Dr. Dickson, as +he yet lingered on the deck; “respect their institutions, and be kind to +them on all occasions; for ’tis on paying proper respect to these rules, +and these only, that you must ground your hope of being successful in +your progress through the country; and the conduct of the people to you +will be guided solely by your behaviour towards them. Set a guard over +your temper, my dear Dickson, and never let it lead you into error.” “We +meet at Jennah, then,” said the Doctor, with an inquiring eye, and +anxious, half-doubting look: “We meet at Jennah,” answered Captain +Clapperton, solemnly. “Once more adieu, my dear Dickson, and may God +bless and protect you.” The Doctor then tore himself from the deck, and +we saw him no more. + +Doctor Dickson was met at Whydah by M. de Souza, a Portuguese, and Mr. +James, an Englishman, who accompanied him to Abomey, the capital of +Dahomy, where he was received both by the king and his subjects with a +hearty welcome, and every mark of kindness and respect. He was attacked +with fever shortly after his arrival in that metropolis; but on his +recovery proceeded in high spirits, with an escort of one hundred men, +furnished as a protection by his Dahoman majesty, to Shar, that +monarch’s authority extending no further in that direction. + +On my return from the interior I was told by a person at Jennah, that +Dr. Dickson, having proceeded about two days’ journey into the country +from Shar, (where he had arrived in safety,) for some reason, which was +not correctly explained, had a serious misunderstanding with a party of +the natives, and his life being threatened by its chief, he was so +violently exasperated that he attempted to throttle that individual; +which being observed by his followers, they fell upon the unfortunate +doctor, overcame, and slew him.[1] Thus this gentleman was the first of +the mission that fell a victim to the cause of African research. + +On the 26th the ship departed from Whydah, and came to an anchor in +Badagry Roads on the 28th. + +The appearance of the coast from Sierra Leone to Badagry is, generally +speaking, singularly beautiful and attractive. The soil differs in +various districts, but consists chiefly of a rich reddish mould, +intermixed with sand, which renders it wonderfully fertile. It yields in +the greatest abundance most, if not all, of the necessaries of life, and +many of its luxuries; and millet, Indian corn, yams, sweet potatoes, +cassada, plantains, the banana, &c. are cultivated to a considerable +extent by the natives. Trees in great number and variety, of magnificent +dimensions and luxuriant foliage, adorn the face of the country, the +apparent beauty of which is infinitely heightened by the number of small +villages, embellished with lovely trees, dotting the borders of the sea; +amongst which the stately palm, both on account of the peculiarity and +elegance of its form, must ever hold a distinguished place. Thick +forests are also spread over the landscape, the gloomy shade of which, +contrasted with the smiling verdure of cultivated plains, pleasantly +studded with clumps of cocoa and other trees, and enlightened by a +brilliant sun, offers a variegated and unrivalled picture of rural +beauty, which the eye feasts upon with peculiar pleasure. + +It is melancholy to reflect, however, that a great portion of this +delightful region is peopled with a race of savages and semi-barbarians, +speaking a variety of languages, but all having nearly the same customs, +and engaged in perpetual broils amongst each other. The manners and +ceremonies of the people are indeed the same, essentially, as they were +when the coast was first discovered by the Portuguese in the fifteenth +century; neither time, nor their familiar intercourse with Europeans for +so many ages, having apparently in the slightest degree either +enlightened their minds, or out-rooted their unmeaning superstitions, +which still retain all their original freshness and absurdity. It is +much to be feared that, instead of copying and imbibing the virtues of +their white visitants, they have only adopted their most odious vices. +Intoxication, which in all probability was unknown, or at most but +partially indulged in, by the aboriginal inhabitants, is followed to a +beastly excess at the present time, and is the parent of a thousand +irregularities. + +Slavery, by far the most appalling evil that can befal the human race, +is carried on in particular districts to a deplorable extent, and +spreads like a pestilence through the country. It is impossible to +contemplate this striking and peculiar feature in the African habits, +without experiencing the most lively emotions of surprise and sorrow. It +has insinuated itself so deeply into the very life and spirit of the +laws and institutions of the people, that the period seems remote indeed +when it may fairly be presumed it will be wholly eradicated from them. +It has also produced the most baleful effects, causing anarchy, +injustice, and oppression to reign in Africa, and exciting nation to +rise up against nation, and man against man; it has damped all ardour +for improvement, in the absence of every stimulus to industry and +exertion, and infinitely sunk the character of the people in the eyes of +the rest of the world; it has covered the face of the country with +desolation, and filled the minds of its sorrowing inhabitants with +mourning, lamentation, and woe: but above all, it has confirmed them in +the darkest and most shameful ignorance, and rivetted them more closely +than ever in the bonds of a ridiculous and abominable superstition, to +the utter exclusion of a more amiable and rational belief. All these +evils, and many others, has slavery accomplished; in return for which +the Europeans, for whose benefit, and by whose connivance and +encouragement it has flourished so extensively, have given to the +heartless natives but ardent and intoxicating spirits, tawdry silk +dresses, and paltry necklaces of beads! + +The day after the arrival of the Brazen at Badagry (the 29th of +November), the gentlemen of the mission, and the officers of the ship, +assembled on the quarter-deck to take a final farewell of each other; +and some of the latter were deeply affected, as with a faltering voice +and agitated manner they breathed their hopes that success might attend +the perilous undertaking to which their enterprising friends had so +willingly devoted themselves. There was something so moving in the +pathetic spectacle of Englishmen parting under a strong persuasion, +almost amounting to a conviction, of meeting no more in _this_ world; in +seeing the manly resolution and stubborn indifference of British +officers combating with the tenderer and more amiable feelings of human +nature, that I myself could with difficulty stifle my emotion; and to +dispel the gloom which hung upon my mind, I bade the officers a hasty +and respectful adieu, and shaking hands with many of the honest seamen +on deck, I sprang into a canoe that lay alongside the Brazen; and as two +of the natives were rowing it towards the shore, I took the opportunity +of playing “_Over the hills and far away_,” on a small bugle horn which +I had brought with me. This elicited the admiration of the sailors of +the ship, and I landed amidst the hearty cheers and acclamations of them +all. + +Shortly afterwards Captains Clapperton and Pearce, and Dr. Morrison, +with Pasko and Dawson,[2] also landed; but Columbus the mulatto, who had +been ill almost from the period of his leaving England, was too weak to +accompany them. + +The landing was rendered extremely dangerous by reason of a tremendous +surf, which rolled violently, and to a great height, for many miles +along the coast, and the canoe in which Mr. Houtson (an English +merchant, who was taken on board at Whydah, for the purpose of +accompanying the mission,) was conveyed from the Brazen, with +astronomical instruments, &c. was swamped when at some distance from the +beach. This accident had nearly cost that gentleman his life; for after +being tossed about on the foam and waves for a few minutes, his strength +utterly forsook him, and he ceased to struggle with the waters. In this +perilous state he was observed by two of the blacks who had been with +him in the ill-fated canoe; and, at the imminent risk of their own +lives, the men succeeded in conveying Mr. Houtson, although totally +insensible, to the shore, where proper remedies having been +administered, he shortly afterwards recovered. The natives subsequently +dived after the instruments, &c. and were fortunate enough to regain the +whole, although being seriously damaged by the water, many of them were +of little, if any, use afterwards. + +Neither an English boat, nor a canoe of the ordinary form, can possibly +live, even a single minute, in this dreadful surf; and the natives have +canoes of singular construction, and exceedingly strong, made purposely +to brave its violence; yet, as the preceding casualty clearly shows, +even these are insufficient to preserve the passenger from the danger +apprehended. The canoes here spoken are of immense size and thickness, +and manned by nineteen naked men, who are well skilled in the art of +rowing. On every occasion a Fetish-man, covered from head to foot with +_gris-gris_, stands in the bow invoking the “Spirit of the Waters” to be +propitious, and quell the raging of the sea. He continues alternately +watching the motion of the billows and praying in a low mournful tone +till the boat reaches the shore or the vessel, when thanks are +immediately returned to the water-divinity. When he fancies his petition +has been heard, the Fetish-man, catching a favourable opportunity, +suddenly claps his hands in a transport, and exclaims, with violent +gesticulation and wildness of manner, “i yaw, i yaw!” (now is the time, +now is the time,) which inspires his countrymen in the canoe with fresh +energy, and dashing their paddles into the water, they propel their +enormous bark through the foamy waves with the swiftness of lightning. + +I must own, I was by no means sorry that Columbus did not proceed with +us; he was a man of strong and easily excited passions, and was besides +malicious and revengeful. He used to take offence at the most trifling +accident in the world, and with oaths and bitter imprecations, curse the +individual whom he conceived had been the author of it, vowing at the +same time to be revenged. He frequently declared, during the voyage, +that he himself would be the solitary survivor of the party: all the +others, he affirmed, would die before they had been in the country many +weeks, and he should have the _pleasure_ of returning alone; +nevertheless he was himself the very first victim to the effects of that +climate which he had proudly boasted could not be prejudicial to +him,—for being subsequently landed at Whydah, and overtaking Dr. Dickson +at Abomey, he proceeded with that gentleman on the road to Shar, but +being attacked with fever, expired, I have been informed, before they +had reached that place. + +A day or two previously to our leaving the ship, I had by some means or +other unintentionally offended Columbus; the next time he saw me, he +exclaimed, grinning horribly, in a tone and gesture which could not be +mistaken, and which I shall not easily forget, “I shall one day have the +pleasure of seeing you parching with thirst on the back of a camel; and +rather than give you one drop of water by —— you shall perish there; +_that_ will be my revenge!” + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + * * * * * + +The Travellers reach Badagry, and leave that city on the 7th of December +— Dr. Morrison’s illness — Arrival at Latoo — Captain Pearce and the +Author attacked with fever — Enter Jannah — Continued and alarming +illness of the party — Their progress — Dr. Morrison returns to Jannah. + + +At the distance of about half a mile from the beach we came to a small +creek, near the mouth of which was a solitary fetish-hut, ornamented in +front with a species of small shining stone, which abounds in the +country. Near this sacred spot were deposited several bundles of wood, +and various articles of earthenware of rude manufacture; but not a +single individual could any where be seen. In such reverence are these +pagan temples held by the natives, that property, how valuable soever it +may be, placed within a certain distance of them, is considered as being +under the special protection of their gods; in consequence of which, +though it may remain unclaimed for any length of time, it is rarely +known to be damaged or stolen. + +After crossing the river Formosa, which is about a mile in width, we +arrived at Badagry at five o’clock in the afternoon, and were +comfortably accommodated in the dwelling of Mr. Houtson who had +previously resided at that place. The house, like every other in the +town, except the king’s, is constructed of bamboo cane, and has but one +story. On Friday, the 2d of December, the King, Adólee, sent us a +present of a bullock, a fine pig, and some fowls; and on the following +day honoured us with a visit, in all the pomp and barbarous magnificence +of African royalty. He was mounted on a diminutive black horse, and +followed by about one hundred and fifty of his subjects, who danced and +capered before and behind him; whilst a number of musicians, performing +on native instruments of the rudest description, promoted considerably +the animation and vivacity of their motions and gestures. He was +gorgeously arrayed in a scarlet cloak, literally covered with gold lace, +and white kerseymere trowsers similarly embroidered. His hat was turned +up in front with rich bands of gold lace, and decorated with a splendid +plume of white ostrich feathers, which, waving gracefully over his head, +added not a little to the imposing dignity of his appearance! Close to +the horse’s head marched two boys, each carrying a musket in his right +hand; they wore plain scarlet coats, with white collars and large cocked +hats, tastefully trimmed with gold lace, which costly material all +classes excessively admire. Two fighting chiefs accompanied their +sovereign on foot, and familiarly chatted with him as he advanced. On +approaching within a short distance of us, the monarch dismounted, and +squatting himself on the ground outside our house, an umbrella was +unfurled and held over his head, whilst a dozen of his wives stood round +their lord and master + + + “With diverse-colour’d fans, whose wind did seem + + To glow the _delicate_ cheeks which they did cool!” + + +for the atmosphere was sultry and the heat oppressive. After paying our +respects to our august visitor,—to do him honour, I was desired to hoist +an English union-jack over him. This was the climax of his glory and his +pride; he was sensibly delighted, and looked as childishly vain as a +girl when she first puts on a new dress. All hands now began to drink +rum, and the spectacle became highly and singularly grotesque. Laying +aside all pretensions to superiority of rank, his Badagrian majesty +forgot his illustrious birth, and was as cheerful and merry as the +meanest and most jovial of his subjects. Seated on the ground, his +splendid dress glittering in the rays of the sun, surrounded by his +generals, pages, and wives, with a British flag held by a white floating +over his princely head,—his soul softened by the most inspiring and +delicious music! and his animal spirits exhilarated by large and +repeated draughts of his favourite cordial,—he was in a transport of +joy, and looked and spoke as if he had been the happiest man in the +universe; while the shouts and bustle of the people, the cracking of +fingers and clapping of hands, the singing, and dancing, and capering, +all was so novel, and so African, that it made an impression on my +memory which will never be erased from it. This debauch continued for a +couple of hours; when all the rum being consumed, and Adólee becoming +rather tipsy, his majesty begged me to favour him, before his departure, +with a tune on my bugle horn, of which he had formed the most +extravagant notions. To this modest request I cheerfully acceded, and +played several English and Scotch airs, until I became so completely +exhausted that my breath was entirely spent, the king not permitting me +to drop the instrument till then. Owing either to the effects of the +liquor Adólee had partaken of so freely, or to the sound of the music, +&c. he was quite in an extasy, and shook hands and thanked me at the +close of every tune. The king then remounted, and the procession +returned in the same order, and performed the same anticks as when it +came. Captain Clapperton and his associates accompanied the monarch to +his palace; whilst I and my companions repaired to our peaceful +habitation. + +Adólee, recovered from the fatigue and revelry of the preceding day, +visited us again on the third, and minutely examined every article +belonging to the mission, without, however, expressing the slightest +inclination to reserve any thing for himself. When the use of the +telescope was explained to him, he could not conceal his astonishment, +and fancied its maker to be more than mortal; the medicine-chest also, +and its contents, excited his curiosity and attention, and he quitted us +with an exalted opinion of the knowledge and ingenuity of the English +people. + +His majesty, without pomp or ceremony, visited us daily till the period +of our departure from his capital; he had the reputation of being a +friendly, good sort of man, and was apparently about forty or forty-five +years of age, five feet nine inches in height, and rather inclining to +corpulency. + +The market, which is held daily, is tolerably supplied with poultry, +yams, maize, palm wine, country cloth, &c. &c. The cattle are no better, +either in size or condition, than those at Sierra Leone, and on other +parts of the coast. + +On Wednesday, the 7th, after a drinking revel with the Badagrian great +men, we embarked in canoes on a branch of the Lagos river, accompanied +by Adólee and many of his chiefs, in separate canoes, and people in +armed boats for our mutual protection, in case of surprise or attack. +Landing about a mile and a half from the junction of the Gazie creek, +Adólee and some of his people returned to Badagry, and we slept in the +evening on the western bank, in the open air, without even the shelter +of a single tree. The moon shone brightly and beautifully in the night, +and not a sound disturbed the solemn tranquillity of the place, all +being as still and quiet as the grave. Next morning we found ourselves +wet to the skin with the heavy dew that had fallen in our sleep; and in +all probability were thus sown the seeds of those disorders which +subsequently broke out with such fatal virulence, and produced +suffering, disease, and death, in our little party. In the forenoon I +accompanied my master and Mr. Houtson to Bookhar, a neighbouring town, +and the stores and baggage were ordered to be sent after us. On arriving +at that place we seated ourselves under the branches of a large tree, +and were quickly visited by hundreds of the inhabitants, who came in +large companies to view us, and as soon as their curiosity was +satisfied, made way for their impatient countrymen. The children, who +were not tall enough to catch a glimpse of us through the crowd, were +perched on the shoulders of their parents or relatives, who pointed us +out to them, observing, “There they are!” as if we had been wild beasts, +or monsters of some sort. All, however, behaved with the strictest +propriety, and although they repeatedly laughed to each other on making +observations on the singularity of our appearance or the whiteness of +our skin, not a single word of derision or disrespect was uttered +against the strangers. + +Whilst we were stared at in this manner, the crowd suddenly divided in +order to make way for a fighting chief belonging to the army of the king +of Katunga, who came in full state to visit us, riding on a small horse, +and followed by a large retinue, two of whom were also mounted. On his +head he wore a cap and feathers, evidently of European manufacture, and +he was clad in a scarlet jacket, fluttering in rags, with dirty yellow +facings, and loose trousers of faded nankeen—a dress of which he was +extravagantly vain. The king’s messengers having had a consultation with +the chief, the latter dismounted, and sat himself down at the distance +of about a stone’s-throw from our tree. Captain Clapperton then sent him +an umbrella as a token that we were amicably disposed towards him, and +wished him well; on receipt of which his attendants set up so terrific a +noise, with drums, clapping of hands, &c. that it was utterly impossible +to hear ourselves speak while it lasted. As soon as this clamour had +subsided the chief arose, and coming up to us, shook hands with each, +very complacently seating himself by our sides. He expressed himself +overjoyed at seeing white men, and complimented the English, in no +measured language, for the good they had done in trading with the people +of the country. A glass or two of rum, which he swallowed with peculiar +delight, set the warrior-chief in better humour than ever, and he +repeated his encomiums in so loud a key that they were heard by his +attendants, who, out of respect, had retreated several yards from the +spot, when the music of the drum was revived with greater spirit than +before, interrupted only by immense clapping of hands, and other +demonstrations of joy. This “harmony of sweet sounds” continued till the +mighty chief left us, which took place the moment he perceived that no +more spirits were forthcoming. + +As soon as we had fairly got rid of our garrulous visitor, we rose to +pay a visit to the caboceer, or chief of the town, whom we found in +earnest conversation with his elders, and a few of his old grey-headed +wives, altogether forming the most venerable looking group of human +beings I ever saw. The profoundest silence prevailed as we drew near, +and every eye was anxiously fixed upon us. The chief was a tall thin +man, well stricken in years, and respectably dressed in a silk tobe and +trousers of country cloth. On his head he wore a cap so thickly studded +with various coloured glass beads that the material of which it was +composed could with difficulty be distinguished; and small gold colored +tassels of beads hung from it to the shoulders. The cap was neatly and +fancifully made, and set off the black ill-natured face of its owner to +great advantage. After paying the usual compliments, goora nuts and +water were presented, and my master explaining to the chief who and what +we were, and what motives had induced us to visit the country, with +which he expressed himself perfectly well satisfied, we were conducted +to his residence; receiving shortly afterwards a present of a sheep, +some yams, and fire-wood. Many of the chief’s young wives stole every +opportunity to peep through holes in the walls at the white men, but +when detected gratifying their curiosity in this manner, they were +excessively confused, and ran off and hid themselves. + +In the evening Captain Pearce arrived with the baggage from the banks of +the river; and in the night it was guarded by the soldiers of the king +of Badagry, who serenaded us till the next morning with a most +astounding concert of drums, &c. in order, as they asserted, to deter +thieves from plundering the goods. + +Near the entrance of the town, on the left side of the road, stands a +solitary fetish-hut, of large dimensions, with a number of wooden +figures, carved in bas-relief, some in a kneeling and some in a +recumbent posture, placed outside the walls; these idols the inhabitants +worship, and ascribe miraculous powers to their agency. + +We arose at an early hour on Thursday: but the old hypocritical chief, +alleging that he had not received a present proportionate to his +respectability or expectations, would neither exert himself in any way +to procure a single individual to convey the baggage, nor appeared +willing for us to leave till he had finished a long-winded harangue, +which had already occupied three hours, and threatened to last at least +as many more, when his tongue was fortunately stopped by the two +Badagrian Generals clapping their hands on his lips. Owing to this +circumstance a few individuals only volunteered to assist us, amongst +whom was one of the chief’s daughters, a bouncing woman of five-and- +twenty, who carried the canteen,—so that our Badagrian escort were +obliged to undertake that office themselves. We were equally unfortunate +in our inquiries for hammock-men, not a single individual in the town +being willing to engage himself in what all ranks conceive to be an +occupation fit only for horses; but Captain Clapperton having borrowed +the horse of a Badagrian chief, he and Mr. Houtson agreed to ride him in +turns. We took a short route across the country, whilst Captain Pearce +and Dr. Morrison proceeded to Dagnoo by a safer but more circuitous +road. + +It was evening when we left Bookhar, and it soon becoming dark, we had +to grope our way on a narrow foot path, winding through a gloomy dismal +forest, and rendered almost impervious to man or beast, except on the +beaten track, by reason of thick entangling underwood. To add to our +misery, Captain Clapperton became so painfully galled in consequence of +riding on the back of a lean horse without a saddle, that he preferred +walking the remainder of the way, although wearing only slippers; these +were soon lost, and he was obliged to limp a considerable distance +barefooted, so that his feet were swollen, and blistered dreadfully, and +before reaching Isako were literally bathed in blood. + +We were informed in the village that the party with the baggage had left +that place some time before for Dagnoo, whither we were obliged to +follow it, preceded by a number of the kind inhabitants with burning +torches to show us the intricate path, which did not, however, prevent +our stumbling at every step. We arrived at Dagnoo about midnight, our +clothes being torn to ribbons, and all of us excessively fatigued from +the effects of so long and unpleasant a walk; and on finding that the +beds had been sent still further on, we were again under the necessity +of sleeping in the open air, exposed to a heavy dew, which completely +saturated the remnant of our dress before morning. + +We arose early, and after crossing a small creek in the vicinity of +Dagnoo, continued our journey, through a vast primeval forest, sometimes +broken by a grove of palm-trees, a field of Indian corn, and even a +whole village in large open places. We were met in the path by numbers +of the natives of both sexes, with bundles of palm-leaves on their +heads, used for the purpose of thatching their huts; and the wild shrill +cry of the grey parrot resounded from the huge branches of the trees. + +On arriving at Humba, we found Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison at the +chief’s residence, waiting to receive us; and shortly afterward Captain +Clapperton was taken very unwell with fever, having had a slight attack +of ague in the course of the day. The town was in ruins, and its +inhabitants appeared in a truly pitiable state; nevertheless singing and +dancing, and music-playing, were kept up during the whole of the night, +with as much spirit and good humour as if the people had been the +happiest in the world. + +On the morning of the 11th the baggage was sent on, and we walked to +another village at no great distance from Humba, although my master was +so extremely weak that he was barely able to undertake even so short a +journey on foot. When we entered the place, we found the carriers +detained by command of the chief, until a flask of rum, by way of +tribute, was given him. He came up as soon as he saw us, with a +leopard’s skin thrown carelessly over his shoulders, and repeated his +determination not to let the men proceed till his request was complied +with. The old man was however satisfied with a strong glass of grog, +prepared for him by Mr. Houtson, each mouthful of which, instead of +swallowing, he adroitly squirted into the mouths of his longing +attendants, who stood gaping, with glistering eyes, to receive the +liquor thus deliciously refined, and which was relished by the whole +party with peculiar satisfaction! The carriers were then allowed to go +on with the baggage without further molestation, and Captain Clapperton +got into a hammock; but the bearers had proceeded only a few paces, when +it was for some unaccountable reason suddenly let down, and the fellows +scampered away as fast as their legs could carry them. It was afterwards +taken up by our own party, and conveyed through Ackongujie, a pleasant +village surrounded by fertile land, to a town called Eto, in which the +bearers were changed, and we proceeded through thick woods till we +arrived at Sattoo, where we slept, after having made an excellent supper +on a goat the chief had sent us. Next morning we pursued our journey +early, and at noon reached the pleasant town of Bidgie, near to which +were extensive plantations of corn and plantains. The chief, a fine +young man named Lollakelli, who was perpetually smiling, pressed us to +stay with him the remainder of the day; and the inhabitants, who came in +crowds to see us, passing the same compliment, after a little hesitation +it was accepted, and we slept there. + +Dr. Morrison felt himself indisposed in the evening, with slight +symptoms of fever, and swelling of the legs; but next morning being +partially recovered, we proceeded in good spirits to the borders of a +river we had to cross, Lollakelli, with several of his people +accompanying us. Mr. Houtson and myself embarked in the first canoe, but +we were an hour and half on the water before we could reach the landing- +place, situated on the eastern bank: nor did the other canoes meet with +better success. All being at length safely over, we pursued our journey, +and our road lying nearly the whole of the way through a dried swamp +overgrown with rushes, travelling was thereby rendered extremely +uncomfortable. About mid-day my master became exhausted, in consequence +of fatigue and the excessive heat; and resting himself in the shade of +some diminutive trees for a few minutes, a person on horseback passed +by, who seeing him reposing on the earth, dismounted, and offered him +the use of his horse. This being gratefully accepted, the party was +immediately in motion, and the generous black walked with us to +Atalabora. On entering that village we found the baggage detained for +want of carriers, who had been sent for from an adjoining town, and had +not then arrived; so that Captain Pearce, who felt seriously indisposed, +and Dr. Morrison, the other invalid, thought it necessary to refresh +themselves with an hour or two’s sleep, in the principal hut in the +town; whilst Mr. Houtson, my master, and myself, took the opportunity of +stretching ourselves at full length underneath the branches of a +spreading tree, the heat being oppressive, and unrelieved by a single +zephyr. The expected carriers having arrived, and the sick expressing +themselves somewhat strengthened with the short nap they had enjoyed, +they were first sent forwards, and the other gentlemen, with myself, +followed them. The road was quite level, and lay through a small town +called Funnie, across rich plantations of yams. Towards evening we were +met by a person from the chief of Laboo, with horses for our +accommodation. We immediately mounted the beasts, and journeying at an +easy rate, entered Laboo by moonlight. + +The town is delightfully situated on a rising ground, commanding an +extensive and noble prospect; the approach to it is through a beautiful +walk of trees, between which at certain measured distances, fetish- +houses are erected, which are held in the greatest veneration by the +inhabitants. Immediately on our arrival we were conducted to the chief, +whom we found sitting under the verandah of his dwelling, and who +politely welcomed us to Laboo, observing that he had been anxiously +expecting us for some hours before. Goora nuts, as usual, were +presented, with water in a certain chamber utensil which shall be +nameless, the odd service to which it was applied causing us to laugh +heartily; and the chief became as sociable after we had been in his +company a few minutes only, as if he had been acquainted with us for +years. Dr. Morrison was brought into the town about two hours after, in +a weak and helpless state; and on Wednesday the 14th, I was myself taken +extremely unwell with _coup-de-soleil_, or sun-stroke, having +incautiously left my head uncovered for some time on the preceding day. +Captain Pearce also felt much worse towards the evening of the 14th, so +that the day after that gentleman, and Dr. Morrison and myself, were +obliged to be conveyed in hammocks on men’s heads, to Jannah, where we +arrived an hour before the rest of the party. + +The inhabitants quickly surrounded the tree under which we had been +placed, and teazed us with a thousand questions which we were unable to +answer. Meantime a dense crowd had collected in front of us, and +welcomed the _red_ men as we were termed, (our skin being at that time +much blistered by the rays of the sun,) by drumming, and singing and +dancing. In our languid state, we were ill able to bear this eternal +din, and entreated the people to conduct us to a hut, for that we were +very ill; but they answered with the greatest unconcern, that the king, +whose house was directly opposite, must of necessity see us before we +ventured to stir from the spot; that he was the greatest man between +Badagry and Katunga; and that it would not be well for us to offend him +by being too importunate in our solicitations. We at length lost all +patience, and observing a large empty shed in the centre of the square, +which we found to be the palaver-house or hall of council, we ventured +to crawl into it as well as we could, being only a few yards from the +tree. Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison had then their beds made; but mine +being rolled up, I was too weak to spread it, and so I lay along the +bare ground. As soon as Captain Clapperton and Mr. Houtson had made +their appearance, the noise was hushed for a moment, and shortly +afterwards the chief himself, accompanied by about fifty of his wives, +approached, and, whilst they stationed themselves at a short distance +from us, the latter struck up a native tune, which they sang loudly, and +with much feeling; indeed there was a solemnity and pathos about it that +reminded me of the most impressive church-music of my own country. As +soon as the sound of the ladies’ voices had ceased, the band played a +lively air, in which the singers occasionally joined; and at the +conclusion of the concert a message was sent from the king to the +palaver-house, for the _red men_ that were well to make their +appearance. Accordingly Captain Clapperton and Mr. Houtson went to the +chief, who, at the opening of the conference, I could perceive, as I lay +on the earth, to be violently agitated speaking with great apparent +anger, and pointing several times to a silver knife that was stuck in +his girdle. After kniting his brows, and frowning for a minute or two, +his features suddenly relaxed into a gentler expression, and graciously +smiling, he shook hands cordially with the gentlemen, and entering the +palaver-house, extended his royal hand to us for the like purpose. He +was attired in a loose yellow silk tobe, and trousers of country cloth; +and his cap of red velvet had a purple silk tassel appended to the +crown. Like most of his countrymen, the chief or king of Jannah was fond +of displaying his conversational powers, and when answering any +questions that were put to him, or making observations on what struck +him as being singular or remarkable in our appearance, he rattled a +child’s silver whistle and bells (of English manufacture), which he held +in his left hand, by way of accompaniment to his voice, which was +certainly not the most harmonious in the world. + +We were subsequently conducted to a house which was partly occupied, and +too small for our accommodation; so that my master, Mr. Houtson, and +Dawson were obliged to remain under the verandah, neither of the others +being well enough to follow their example. In the evening the king came +alone, and plainly dressed, to visit us, and in this instance was very +inquisitive and communicative. He wished particularly to understand our +business with the sultan of Yariba, for, as we afterwards learnt, a +messenger from the coast had informed him that the white men’s object +was expressly and solely to make war upon that monarch and dethrone him; +but the sorry plight in which we then were disproved the assertion; and +the chief himself acknowledged that he did not place the slightest +confidence in the unfounded rumour. + +On Friday I became considerably worse, and on the following day my life +was despaired of. In the evening I was bled in the temple; but the +doctor, who was himself suffering from fever, being unable to hold the +instrument steadily, inadvertently thrust it into my skull. This +accident occasioned the most excruciating agony, and made me shriek with +pain. I passed the night in a manner that cannot be described, but next +morning felt much easier and better. On Monday, however, the fever +returned with more violence than ever, attended by a severe head-ache +that almost drove me distracted, and at my own suggestion Dr. Morrison +ordered my head to be shaved. To perform this delicate operation a +native barber was at length found, who came wielding a tremendous knife +curved like a reap-hook, instead of a razor, and began his avocation in +a most brutal manner, just like a clumsy English butcher shaving a +slaughtered pig; insomuch, that when his labour was finished, my skull +was scalped almost as effectually as if it had been done by the tomahawk +of a North American Indian. Although my head was thus miserably +excoriated, a large blister, covering the whole of it, was applied; and +my suffering was heightened to the utmost degree of intensity; so that I +lost my reason, and in the evening was completely delirious. In this +state, as I subsequently learnt, I sprang from my couch, and being +animated with the fury of a maniac, knocked down the doctor and my +master, broke and destroyed every thing within my reach, and when in the +act of escaping in my night-dress from the door, was forcibly dragged +back to my bed by the united strength of the whole party, who had been +alarmed with the noise I had made. Weakened and exhausted by this mad +prank, the phrenzy left me, and reason returned, but with it came the +loss of speech. About an hour afterwards a consultation was held by my +bed-side; and the doctor having carefully felt my pulse, I was comforted +by the expressed opinion, that it would be impossible for me to live +throughout the night. Much to the astonishment of all, however, on +Tuesday the disorder had abated so greatly, that I was enabled to sit up +and converse rationally with those around me: my health, in fact, seemed +to return almost as rapidly as I had lost it. + +Dr. Morrison and Captain Pearce, in the meantime, continued alarmingly +ill, and evidently getting worse. Their hollow eyes, sunk deeply in +their sockets, and their skin exhibiting a sallow and cadaverous hue, +they looked more like walking spectres than living human beings; +insomuch, that Captain Clapperton, distressed at their altered +appearance, urged upon each of them the necessity of their either +remaining at Jannah, or returning, under the care of Mr. Houtson, to the +Brazen. Both gentlemen, however, declared their invincible repugnance to +the measure, and on the contrary expressed themselves resolutely bent to +proceed at all risks: Captain Pearce, in particular, felt greatly hurt +at the suggestion of his friend, and asserted, in a decided tone, that +he would infinitely prefer being buried in the country, remote as it was +from his native land, than suffer Captain Clapperton to pursue his +journey alone, while he had life to accompany him. The Captain, +affectionately pressing the hand of the disinterested invalid, thanked +him for the lively interest he felt in his welfare, but repeated his +unwillingness for either him or Dr. Morrison to proceed further, in +their present emaciated and languid state: to this, however, no +attention was paid. + +Things being thus amicably adjusted, to the complete satisfaction at +least of the invalids, we left Jannah early on the morning of Thursday +the 22d, (the sick, myself amongst the number, travelling in hammocks, +as on former occasions,) and slept at Beechy that night. At ten the next +morning we arrived at Tschow, in which town we received much hospitality +from the natives; and in the afternoon Dr. Morrison, fancying that the +sea air would restore his health, which was hourly declining, at his own +suggestion was sent back to the ship, under the protection of Mr. +Houtson. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + * * * * * + +Deaths of Dawson, Captain Pearce, and Dr. Morrison — Their funeral — The +survivors, after meeting with various occurrences, and experiencing the +kindest hospitality from the natives on their route, arrive at Katunga, +the capital of Yariba, on the 15th of January, 1826. + + +On Saturday, the roads being rendered almost impassable, in consequence +of the rains that had fallen the preceding night, it was not without +experiencing considerable difficulty that we could pursue our journey. +The mud and water reached, in some places, almost to the horses’ +shoulders; and Dawson, who was ill with ague, was unable to retain his +seat on the animal’s back, and fell three or four times in the mire, +till he became so much exhausted by struggling to regain his seat, that, +in despair, he at last flung his arms only across the horse’s back; and +panting with his exertions, was in this manner dragged to a considerable +distance. At eleven o’clock we arrived at the village of Egbo; and after +partaking of a slight refreshment, each of us being indisposed in a +greater or less degree, we stretched ourselves at full length on our +mats, in the hope of obtaining a little sleep. Dawson, however, was +taken dreadfully ill, and his moanings of distress prevented me from +closing my eyes. He pronounced the names of his wife and children, whom +he had left in England, with a bitter emphasis, and reproached himself +repeatedly with having deserted them, to perish miserably in a strange +country. In this manner he complained till the afternoon, refusing all +consolation, when he became a little more composed; and Captain Pearce +fell asleep. My master had quitted the apartment just before; and the +medicine-chest lying open by Dawson’s side, he perceived it, and +pointing to a phial, desired a black attendant to fill him a glass of +its contents; which being promptly done, he eagerly swallowed it. Whilst +this was going on I had fallen into a slumber; and on awaking, about a +quarter of an hour afterwards, not hearing Dawson’s groans, I asked how +he did; but receiving no answer, I went to his bed-side, and found him a +cold and stiffened corpse! The sight of so unexpected and ghastly a +spectacle caused me to shudder, and I involuntarily made an exclamation +of surprise and terror, that awoke Captain Pearce, who asked what was +the matter. Before I had time to reply, he had raised himself on his +couch, and the truth instantly bursting upon him—“What!” said he, “is +Dawson dead? Well, poor fellow, _his_ sufferings are over; _I_ cannot +long survive him;” and with a deep sigh he sunk back exhausted on his +mat, without making any further remark. + +On examining the bottle from which the unfortunate man had desired the +liquor to be taken, I found it to be partly filled with _ether_, which +he must have mistaken for something else, and which had caused his +almost immediate dissolution. As soon as the natives were made +acquainted with the circumstance, they set up their death-yell; and if +all the fiends of darkness had joined in chorus, they could not have +produced an effect more frightfully and fearfully appalling than was the +sound produced in that instance. Captain Clapperton hastened to silence +them, which, after some difficulty, he succeeded in doing; but the +awfully terrific noise the people made, seemed to be ringing in our ears +the whole of the night. As dead bodies cannot be left exposed a great +while in tropical countries, Dawson was buried on the evening of his +death, followed to the grave by the whole of our black attendants and +myself. Captain Clapperton read the funeral service over his remains, +which were then deposited in the earth, and we returned to Captain +Pearce, whom we had left alone in the hut. Our party was now reduced to +three whites, one of whom was dangerously ill; my master himself was in +a much worse state of health than he would either acknowledge or +believe; and I was but just recovering from a disease that had nearly +proved fatal to me. A gloom was therefore cast upon the countenances of +our little band, as we prepared to proceed, on the morning of Sunday; +but Captain Pearce rallying a little, we set off in more cheerful +spirits. + +The appearance of the country, from Jannah to Tshow, is greatly superior +to that from the coast to the former place, being clearer of wood, and +in a higher state of cultivation, swelling likewise into easy and +delightful undulations. Streams of water fertilize the vallies; and the +hills, covered with a lively verdure, are adorned with lofty and +handsome trees. The towns of the natives, from Badagry to Tshow, with a +few exceptions only, like those in the island of Madagascar, are +situated in the bosom of thick woods, and are entered by paths so +intricate, that, like the labyrinth of Woodstock, they are known to none +but the inhabitants themselves. Sometimes, however, they have only one +path, which is generally defended by strong stockades or a mud wall, and +sometimes by both together. + +On Tuesday morning we continued our journey, with a cool strengthening +breeze and a serene atmosphere, which seemed to invigorate each of us +with renewed life and spirit; and, after two hours’ travelling, we +arrived at Engwâ. In the course of the journey, for the first time since +leaving the ship, we perceived great numbers of trees, stripped of their +foliage, and the grass beaten to the ground, so that, with the exception +of the absence of frost and snow, the country looked like many parts of +England in the month of November or December. Several of the natives in +this, as in almost every other instance, either accompanied or followed +us on the way, and we experienced as much civility from them as our +countrymen would have bestowed upon us in our native land. They were, +generally speaking, neatly dressed in cap, shirt (tobe), and trousers, +and very cleanly in their personal appearance. + +About eleven o’clock Captain Pearce became suddenly worse, and an hour +or two afterwards was delirious. He talked much and incoherently, in +detached sentences; at one time apparently conversing with his mother in +the most affectionate terms, asking her questions, and answering them +himself, and the next moment reverting to his own melancholy condition, +and muttering something which no one could understand. In this pitiable +state he remained till nine o’clock in the evening, when he fell into a +stupor, from which he awoke about half an hour afterwards, and +attempting to raise himself on his couch, with a faint groan, and a +convulsive throe, he fell back and instantly expired. + +Both Captain Clapperton and myself were deeply affected as we enveloped +the lifeless body in its shroud; and a host of gloomy reflections +crowded upon our minds, to see the once spirited and cheerful companion +of our wanderings stretched out before us, the shadow only of a man, +clothed in the mournful habiliments of death. Next morning, about eleven +o’clock, the body was borne to the place of its interment, followed by +my master and myself, with the messengers of the kings of Badagry and +Katunga, and a great number of natives, who all behaved with the +strictest decorum. As in the former instance, Captain Clapperton, +although extremely unwell, in a tremulous voice and agitated manner, +read the funeral service, interrupted only by his own emotion, which he +found it impossible to conceal. The corpse having been consigned to the +grave, it was soon closed over him for ever, and my master and myself, +with heavy hearts and melancholy anticipations, returned to our +cheerless habitation. The following inscription, at the desire of +Captain Clapperton, I carved on a board, which was placed at the head of +the pit, over which a shed was built by the natives; and a strong bamboo +fence surrounded the whole:— + +“Here lie the remains of Robert Pearce, Captain in the Royal Navy of +England, who died 27th Dec. 1825, aged 28, much regretted by those that +survive of the mission. + + “H. CLAPPERTON. + + “R. LANDER.” + +Captain Pearce had rendered himself a general favourite by his gentle +and pleasing manners, and excellent natural disposition. My master was +particularly attached to him, and esteemed him highly, while the natives +almost adored him. His companionable qualities were great, and he +displayed them to advantage in our toilsome journeyings, raising the +spirits of the party by his wit and cheerfulness, and infusing his own +good temper into the breasts of every one. He was besides an excellent +limner and draughtsman, and possessed an aptitude for picking up the +various languages of the natives, which bade fair to render him of the +most essential service to the mission. No one deplored his loss, or felt +the want of his pleasant society, more than myself. Just after he was +taken ill, at his own request, as soon as the day’s toil was over, I was +constantly with him, and at night my mat was placed close to his. We +used to chat for whole hours together, on different circumstances of our +lives; and my little history afforded him a fund of amusement. Any +thing, indeed, that promised to divert our thoughts from the calamities +which threatened us, was resorted to, and every trifling incident we had +each met with from our childhood repeated a thousand times over, in +order to dole away the long, still, dismal hours of night, when sickness +prevented either of us from closing our eyes. Throughout Captain +Pearce’s illness, his patience, resignation, and manly fortitude never +forsook him; he was conscious that he should ultimately sink under the +influence of a disorder that was visibly wasting him, and daily reducing +his strength: nevertheless, this belief neither shook his firmness nor +damped his spirits, and he always spoke of his anticipated dissolution +with a serious calmness of manner that surprised and pleased me. None of +us thought that his end was so near; we expected he would have struggled +on at least a week or two longer; but the sorrowful event disappointed +the hopes we had cherished, and he expired prematurely, to the infinite +regret of every one. + +Mr. Houtson returned on Saturday the 31st, with the afflictive +intelligence of the decease of Dr. Morrison, which mournful circumstance +occurred at Jannah, by a coincidence, singular in misfortune, on the +same day, and as nearly as possible at the same hour as that in which +Captain Pearce had breathed his last. He was decently interred by Mr. +Houtson on the 28th, near to the house in which they had resided; and +the ceremonies of the Church of England were performed over his remains +by the same gentleman. + +We saw several busts of men, as well as figures of tigers, crocodiles, +serpents, &c. carved on blocks of wood, and extremely well executed, at +Engwâ. The natives of that part of Africa appear to have a genius for +the art of sculpture, which is in great repute with them; and some of +their productions rival, in point of delicacy, any of a similar kind +that I have seen in Europe. + +A fine Portuguese brig, and a Spanish schooner, had been lying near +Badagry, on our leaving that place, waiting for slaves; to supply which +vessels, the King of Jannah had sent a slaving party to the territories +of the Essàs, a powerful tribe in the neighbourhood of Engwâ, which had +captured numbers of the people. The Chief of the Essàs was greatly +exasperated at this conduct of his neighbour, and had made numerous +reprisals; so that, at the period of our passing through the country, a +general war was the consequence. + +Owing to this circumstance, on leaving the town of Engwâ on the morning +of the 3d of January, 1826, we were accompanied by upwards of a hundred +men and women, who placed themselves under our protection, fancying +that, when within sight of the white strangers, no evil could befall +them. We crossed a river called Akkeni at ten o’clock A.M., which was +full of sunken rocks, and arrived at the village of Afoora about three +hours after. Our journey on that day was rendered particularly pleasant +by the fragrant odour exhaled from the cotton plant, then in full +blossom—the wild, solitary whistle of the grey parrot, and the +delightful melody of hundreds of small birds, swelling from the branches +of the tall trees. The country every where improved as we +advanced:—fields of Indian corn, and plantations of cotton, were +numerous, while groves of palm, and clumps of cocoa and female cocoa +trees, scattered on all sides, rendered the prospect from the hills +inexpressibly beautiful. Quitting Afoora early on Wednesday, we reached +Assula the same morning, in which town we were more conveniently lodged +than we had been since leaving the coast. + +Starting about seven o’clock the next day, and travelling over several +low hills, and through pleasant vallies, we entered Assoudo, (the first +walled town we had yet seen,) at noon. In the paths we observed numbers +of fine birds, with silky and brilliant plumage, but I could not be +informed to what particular species they belonged, neither of us having +seen any of a similar kind before. Assoudo contains upwards of ten +thousand inhabitants, who were all as curious as their countrymen, and +also as noisy, but infinitely more modest and respectful, and +consequently more pleasing in their manners. We received an abundant +supply of provisions from the chief, consisting of a goat, fowls, eggs, +yams, bananas, &c. + +On Friday, after halting at Tedi, a small village romantically situated +on a beautifully wooded slope, where we changed carriers, we arrived at +the town of Choko; but its chief, with nearly the whole of the male +inhabitants, being engaged in hunting the buffalo, did not return till +evening. In the mean time we had spent an hour or two under a tree, but +finding no one disposed to invite us to a house, of our own accord we +took peaceable possession of the best hut the place afforded, of the +goodness of which, however, we could not boast, it being sadly out of +repair. + +Our road from Choko, on Saturday, lay round the sides of low mountains, +on the summits and in the hollows of which were several hamlets, +inhabited by an industrious race, who had extensive plantations in the +valleys below, where the palm tree flourishes in great beauty. We slept +at Yundekka that night, and on the next day arrived at Duffo. There the +inhabitants visited us by thousands, and when desired to go away, they +replied that if we did not allow them to visit our house, we must come +out, and show ourselves to them in the street, for that they were +determined, let the consequence be what it might, to see a white man +before they died. The town contains ten or twelve thousand inhabitants, +nearly half of whom, on our departure the next morning, followed us at +some distance, in order to catch a last glimpse of their white +visitants. + +We passed through three villages, on the route to Chiadoo, to which we +were advancing, viz. Jesin, Weza, and Lukewâ, the chief of each of +which, with the people, detained us an hour or more underneath the +branches of trees, gazing on us with a mingled sensation of compassion +and wonder, till, their curiosity being fully satisfied, we were +suffered to proceed. At the latter of these villages elephants’ teeth +were offered us for sale; but on our refusing to purchase them, on the +ground that we were not come for the purpose of trading, the greatest +amazement was depicted on the countenances of the people, and they +wondered amongst each other what motive besides could possibly attract +us to their country. + +We entered Chiadoo about six o’clock in the evening, and received the +accustomed present of provisions, &c. with the addition of a turkey. The +town, seated on a gentle declivity, is densely inhabited, and defended +by a thick mud wall and deep trench, which wholly surround it. Within +the wall, and almost close to it, trees of large dimensions are planted, +so as to form a belt from two to three miles in circumference, which in +case of necessity might easily be converted into an excellent means of +defence for the inhabitants. + +The scenery on the road from Afoora to Chiadoo is extremely picturesque, +but the path itself is in many places rugged and dangerous to +travellers. Winding by the sides of the _Kong_ mountains, over rocks and +precipices, or through romantic glens at their base, intersected with +innumerable streams, the track was generally covered with small loose +stones, which galled the feet of the hammock-men in a pitiable manner. +On all sides immense masses of granite, jutting abruptly from the hills +or vallies, reared their heads to the height, in some places, of several +hundred feet; whilst others, fearfully overhanging the narrow foot-way, +caused a shuddering awe to creep over us as we passed underneath them, +which could not be suppressed. With some danger, and more difficulty, +the men who bore my hammock clambered with me to the summit of one of +the mounts, from whence the prospect on the one hand was immeasurably +grand and imposing, and on the other enchantingly beautiful. At our feet +were lovely dales, cultivated in the highest degree, and planted with +cotton, yams, the plantain, &c. fertilized by meandering rivulets, +sparkling in the sun-beams; whilst before and behind us were naked +rocks, precipitously steep and rugged, many standing singly, and others +piled loosely upon each other, apparently ready to tumble to the earth +below. The vallies, as well as the slopes and summits of the hills, +being studded with the cleanly habitations of the natives, all bore an +air of novelty, cheerfulness, beauty, and grandeur, that I have never +seen surpassed. + +Our carriers having made themselves merry at the village of Weza, with +an intoxicating beverage called _otée_ (a kind of ale made from millet), +were rather frolicsome during the remainder of the journey; and on +descending an almost perpendicular precipice, I was in momentary +expectation of being tossed head-long from their shoulders, my continued +weakness rendering me unfit to walk; but happily my fears were not +realized, and after numberless hair-breadth escapes, I was conveyed in +safety to Chiadoo. The chief of that town, whose kindness to us was +displayed in a striking manner, entreated us to remain with him a few +days, and Mr. Houtson being indisposed, and Captain Clapperton still +more so, the latter thought it advisable to stay a couple of days at +least in the place, in order to try whether ease and quiet would produce +a beneficial effect on the health of either of them. On the morning of +Thursday, the 12th, we left Chiadoo, followed by the chief and an +immense crowd of people of both sexes, amongst whom were hundreds of +children, the ladies enlivening us with songs at intervals, and the men +blowing on horns and beating on gongs and drums, without any regard to +time, forming altogether a most barbarous concert of vocal and +instrumental music, which continued to our great inconvenience and +annoyance till we arrived at Matoné, when they took leave of us and +returned. The carriers refreshed themselves with two huge calabashes of +_otée_ whilst we remained in the town, after which they started with +redoubled vigour, and about one o’clock halted at Arrowâ, where we +slept. + +After some little difficulty, occasioned by the unwillingness of the +chief and inhabitants to part with us so soon, we pursued our journey at +half-past nine next morning, and resting awhile at Washoo, entered Chaki +in the afternoon. The appearance of the country traversed differed but +little from that which has already been described as seen on the road to +Chiadoo, with the exception of its being, if possible, yet more varied, +and wearing an aspect of still deeper and sterner beauty; hill rising +above hill, and rock above rock, in proud magnificence. In some places +huge blocks of naked granite seemed split as if by the hands of giants, +leaving frightful chasms, the bottoms of which could not be distinctly +seen; and in others detached fragments, irregularly scattered over the +country, looking wildly and negligently grand, inspired the strongest +belief that they had been forcibly rent asunder, at a remote era, by +some dreadful convulsion of nature. + +The air on the mountains is cooler, clearer, and more salubrious than in +the plains below, and the inhabitants seemed to enjoy better health, and +as we were informed lived to a more advanced age than their countrymen +of the vallies. We were every where received on the road with +acclamations and songs of welcome; and as soon as our little party was +discerned, all labour immediately ceased. The people assembling in +groups of from three or four to fifty, approached as near as the rocks +would permit them; and doffing their caps, they greeted us as we passed, +wishing us a pleasant journey to their sovereign at Katunga. + +On the top of the highest hill of the whole ridge is perched the +populous town of Cheki, at an immense elevation from the plains, the +approach to which is by a winding path, more steep and rugged than any +we had before met with, and up which we were obliged positively to climb +on our hands and knees. The chief, who may be styled a petty king, +having a considerable number of towns, and many thousands of people +under his protection and command,—was seated outside of his house, under +its verandah, surrounded by about a hundred of his wives, and musicians +with drums and fifes. On our approach the latter struck up a native air, +the ladies keeping time with their feet, and accompanying the +instruments with their voices, which were so loud and shrill that the +sound rent the air. To this _voluptuous_ music we were obliged to listen +for the space of an hour, when it ceased, and we took the opportunity of +paying our respects to the chief, and being completely tired, were +conducted to a large hut which had been prepared for our reception. No +sooner had we been fairly housed, however, than we were visited, first +by several of the inhabitants, whose curiosity was irksome and painful +to us, and next by the chief in person, who drank tea, and remained with +us till a very late hour, asking us innumerable questions about England, +and listening with the most mortifying attention, and intolerable +patience, to all we chose to tell him. His countenance was open and +pleasing, and in many of his observations he displayed a degree of +acuteness and penetration that startled us. We were treated by this +chief with a kindness, remarkable even amongst his countrymen, and, +under his hospitable roof, we almost forgot all our misfortunes. + +Arising early on Saturday, the 14th, though pressed to remain by every +inducement that could be thought of, we departed from Chaki at eight +o’clock, attended by the mountain-chief, with upwards of two hundred of +his wives, and a long train of people. Passing for the first time +through several Falatah villages, whose inhabitants were chiefly +employed in the occupations of pasturage and agriculture, Mr. Houtson +and myself entered the walled town of Koofo at one, and about an hour +after Captain Clapperton was brought into the town on a hammock, being +still severely indisposed. Several extensive cotton plantations lay near +the road, and the soil, generally speaking, was clear of wood, and +tolerably well cultivated. The town of Koofo has a double wall, and is +the largest we had noticed, containing, in all probability, fully twenty +thousand inhabitants. We were saluted with the usual demonstrations of +African welcome on entering the gates; and in the afternoon of our +arrival, and the next day, the spacious court or yard with which we were +accommodated was literally crammed with people of both sexes, and of all +ages; and their impertinent curiosity it was utterly impossible to +satisfy. As soon as one party had stayed as long as they thought proper, +another supplied its place, in such rapid succession, that, till the +evening of each day had been pretty far advanced, we had not a moment to +call our own. + +The further we penetrated into the country, the more dense we found the +population to be, and civilization became at every step more strikingly +apparent. Large towns at the distance of only a few miles from each +other, we were informed lay on all sides of us, the inhabitants of which +pay the greatest respect to the laws, and live under a regular form of +government. + +Captain Clapperton, finding himself stronger and better, ventured to +leave Koofo on horseback, on Monday at eight o’clock A.M., and after two +hours’ travelling through a well cultivated and delightful country, +studded with pleasant Falatah hamlets, we arrived at Soccasoo. In this +town, our messenger having gormandized on a leg of pork, was taken so +sick that he either could not or would not proceed, and as we durst not +go on without him, we were obliged to abide in the place till the +following day. + +The opinion that the white men were come as “messengers of peace” was +general in the country, and implicitly believed by all ranks. Two years +previously to our landing from the Brazen, the Houssa slaves belonging +to the Sultan of Yariba had rebelled against their sovereign, and, +fleeing into the woods, had built themselves a considerable town, no +more than two days’ journey from the capital (Katunga), which they +called Lori. In it they strongly entrenched themselves, and, by the +addition of numbers of their straggling countrymen, who willingly +flocked to their standard, had become so formidable in a short time, +that they had successfully resisted all the attempts of his Yaribean +Majesty to re-enslave them, and maintained their independence against +the force of an empire. About the time of our journeying into the +interior, it was reported that the insurgents had recently been +reinforced by a large body of Falatah horsemen, which proved in fact to +be the case, and the news had struck so great a panic into the minds of +the people of Yariba, that those residing in the vicinity of the +mutinous slaves had emigrated to more remote provinces. Hence the +anxious solicitation of every one, that as “messengers of peace,” we +should compromise matters between their monarch and his refractory +vassals, which course could alone inspire the people with the hope of +preserving their lives and property. The Houssas had already begun to +act on the offensive, and had made frequent incursions, even to the +dwellings of their former masters, sacking and setting fire to their +towns, and laying their country waste. + +On Tuesday the 17th we left Soccasoo, and changing horses at the town of +Ladooli, halted at Hadjidibbah, where, both my master and Mr. Houtson +becoming sick and ill, we rested for three hours. We then again set +forward, the path lying through a forest of stunted trees; and reaching +Akkibosa in the afternoon, slept there that night. In the course of the +morning we had passed several villages, two or three of which were in +ruins, having been partly burnt by the Houssas, and deserted by their +original inhabitants. + +The atmosphere was close and sultry on our setting out on the morning of +Wednesday, and continued so during the journey. About two hours’ +travelling brought us to the walled town of Adja, the entrance to which +is through a spacious avenue of noble trees. Here we were obliged to +stop for the remainder of the day, because the inhabitants were at work +in the plantations. At an early hour on Thursday, the chief, who had +been informed the previous evening of the complaint under which Captain +Clapperton laboured, came with a dose of medicine for him to take; but +after swallowing it my master became so dreadfully ill, that Mr. +Houtson, as well as myself, suspected that poison had been administered +to him. In this conjecture, however, we were happily deceived; for in +about two hours the pain, which had been occasioned by the potion +together with his former ailment, suddenly left him in an extraordinary +manner, after which, he expressed himself in perfect health, and ready +to proceed. We arrived at Layboo at one o’clock the same day, having +seen on the road five towns, two or three of which were walled, and of +no inconsiderable extent. + +At six next morning we were again in motion, and halting at the village +of Bougboug at seven, and at Leogalla, a Falatah town, at eight o’clock, +arrived at Ateepa at twelve at noon. The country traversed was agreeably +diversified by hills of gentle and gradual ascent, and fertile vallies, +cultivated with yams, corn, bananas, &c. Ateepa, like most towns of any +magnitude in the country, is furnished with a strong wall, made of +earth, and a belt of trees within it, which, by reason of a thorny +creeping shrub clinging round the trunks, like the ivy to the oak, and +throwing out vigorous shoots, had become so thickly entangled as to form +a secure barrier, which, except by the narrow gateway at the entrance, +was impervious to man and beast. + +On Saturday we departed from Ateepa, attended by the chief and a long +train of the male inhabitants, to defend us from any attack that the +Borghoo robbers might feel disposed to make on so insignificant a party +as ourselves. At Nannah, a considerable walled town, we changed +carriers; and its chief, copying the example of him of Ateepa, joined +our procession also, with a strong party, having the same benevolent +object in view, and escorted us to Leobadda, where each of the chiefs +drank a glass of grog, and returned with their attendants to their +respective towns. Leobadda stands close to some huge masses of pale +granite rocks, broken into irregular fragments, and has a wall of +prodigious thickness. Its population is from six to seven thousand +souls, who all seemed to be contentedly poor, invariably happy. The same +generous hospitality which had so eminently characterised their +countrymen, was displayed by the inhabitants of Leobadda, even in the +midst of poverty and rags, with an alacrity and cheerfulness that +redound greatly to their credit, and speak volumes in their praise. + +At seven o’clock on Sunday, the chief, with many of his people, +assembled in front of our house, and accompanied us for some miles. On +the road we met several hundreds of men, women, and children, with heavy +loads on their beads, who had been travelling the whole of the preceding +night, and who appeared so greatly fatigued, as scarcely to be able to +drag their lazy limbs after them. They were carefully watched by +overseers (one of whom was appointed to each fifty), who were all armed, +either with short swords, or bows and arrows, and made the weary +travellers quicken their pace by threats of punishment whenever they +observed them loitering on the way. We passed in the course of the +journey, several villages which had been burnt and destroyed by +Falatahs; the walls were overgrown with weeds, and the trees, which a +short time before had afforded a grateful and refreshing shade to the +inhabitants, seared by the conflagration, and standing blighted and +withering, as solitary memorials of the awful manner in which those once +flourishing towns had been converted into waste and desolate places. At +noon we descended into a delightful valley, situated in the bosom of a +ridge of rocks, which effectually hid it from observation till one +approached almost close to it. It was intersected with whimpering +streams and purling rills, the elegant palm, and the broad leaved +banana, covered with foliage, embellishing the sheltered and beautifully +romantic spot. In the centre was a sheet of water, resembling an +artificial pond, in which were numbers of young maidens from the +neighbouring town of Tschow, some of them reposing at full length on its +verdant banks, and some frisking and basking in the sun-beams, whilst +others of their companions were sporting with the Naiads of the sacred +stream; but all of them visibly delighted with the pleasant recreations +which they were enjoying so prettily and innocently. We stood for a +season gazing on them with pleasure; but no sooner were our white faces +observed by the young ladies, than their amusements instantly ceased, +and the sable beauties simultaneously rushing from the water, snatched +up their apparel, and with their uncovered associates, concealing their +faces with their hands, ran away and hid themselves behind the trunks of +trees, looking as coy and bashful as did their mother Eve in the garden +of Eden. + +Leaving that lovely glen with regret, we arrived at Tschow, a walled +town, with a good population, at two o’clock. As soon as we could be +accommodated with a house, we began cleaning our guns and pistols, as +the roads to Katunga were, we had been repeatedly informed, infested +with numerous bands of desperadoes, whose success and boldness had +terrified, to an alarming degree, the peaceable and timid inhabitants. + +On the evening of our arrival, the expected escort from the Sultan of +Yariba entered the town. It consisted of two hundred horsemen, and +double that number on foot, commanded by a war-chief, and armed with +spears, and bows and arrows; all most grotesquely attired, some +flouncing in handsome robes, and some fluttering in rags. From the +moment of their arrival to the period of our departure, we had not a +moment’s quiet. They paraded the town all night, vociferously bellowing +the happiness they felt, or pretended to feel, on meeting with the white +men—serenaded us with a concert of drums, flutes, and trumpets, with +powerful vocal accompaniments, and kept shouting and hallooing till we +arose in the morning. + +All was hurry and confusion as we prepared to depart, and our escort +soon getting themselves in readiness, we bade adieu to the chief of +Tschow, and started from the town about six o’clock, accompanied by a +great number of merchants and others, who cheerfully embraced the +opportunity of putting themselves under our protection. Nothing could be +more animated than the appearance of our boisterous conductors, winding +their way up a narrow and crooked path; the horsemen with their long +spears, clearing the road, and hurrying onwards as fast as their jaded +and diminutive beasts could walk with them; and the bowmen on foot, with +their instruments slung across their shoulders, and quiver full of +arrows, appended to their sides, plodding after them with all imaginable +haste. But by far the most amusing, if not the most important part of +that strange and singular cavalcade, were the musicians themselves, who +found it no easy matter to keep pace with their more lively countrymen, +and perform on their instruments at the same time. The drummers, +flourishing their sticks with a scornful, consequential air; the +trumpeters with their black bloated cheeks shining with fat; and the +fifers turning up the whites of their eyes towards heaven, and producing +altogether the most discordant, most terrific sounds that can be +conceived, were highly ludicrous; nor could we, in spite of ourselves, +maintain a becoming gravity, or help being infinitely diverted every +time that we ventured to look back, and steal a glance at our never- +enough-to-be-admired lovers of harmony! + +We halted near a village called Achoran at nine o’clock, but the baggage +being at some distance behind, we left it to the care of the chiefs, and +proceeded with a hundred of the escort, (the road in many places rugged +and overshadowed with the branches of trees,) and crossed a stream +flowing to the Quorra about an hour after. + +At eleven at noon, on attaining the summit of a lofty ridge, we came in +sight of the city of Katunga, lying to the south of us, at the base of a +granite mountain, and apparently embosomed in beautiful trees. Between +the ridge and the city was a fertile valley, highly cultivated, and +extending to the westward as far as the eye could reach; while the view +to the eastward was bounded by a gigantic rock, shivered into fragments, +and at no great distance from the place on which we stood. An hour’s +easy riding brought us to the north gate of the metropolis of Yariba, +outside of which were a fetish-hut, and a few private habitations; and +on entering it we took up our abode for the time, at the residence of +one of the chiefs of the escort. + +As soon as the remainder of the convoy with the baggage had arrived, the +intelligence was immediately transmitted to Mansolah, the King, from +whom we presently received a warm invitation. After a ride of full five +miles through the streets of Katunga, in which we were attended by the +escort and musicians, who created so thick a cloud of dust that it had +well nigh suffocated us, we at length reached the king’s palace. His +majesty was seated under the verandah, with two umbrellas spread over +him, and surrounded by above four hundred of his wives, with many of his +caboceers and other great men. Dismounting at the distance of twenty +yards, we walked up almost close to the umbrellas, when Mansolah arose, +and very cordially shook hands with each of us, welcoming us to his +kingdom with a broad grin, lifting up our hands three several times, and +each time exclaiming “Ako! ako!” which means literally “How do you do?” +The multitude, the chiefs, and the king’s ladies, seemed equally pleased +with their good-humoured sovereign at our visit, and displayed the +warmth of their feelings by acclamations, shaking of hands, and smiles +and encouraging glances. Before our dismissal his majesty enquired more +particularly after our respective healths, but made few other +observations. In the evening he visited us at our house, attended by his +eunuchs and women, and, simply asking how we did, left us with the hope +of seeing us again the next day. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + * * * * * + +Residence at Katanga — Ebo the eunuch — Pantomimic representation by the +Yaribeans — Departure from the city of Katunga — Arrival at Khiama — Wow +Wow — Manners of the people — Boussa — Mungo Park. + + +We remained at Katunga exactly seven weeks; the king, on various +frivolous pretexts, refusing to grant us permission to depart before. +During all this time each of us enjoyed but indifferent health, Captain +Clapperton in particular being oftentimes so severely indisposed as to +be unable either to walk or ride; nevertheless we were treated with the +utmost civility and kindness by the people generally. The king himself +visited us almost every day, and never came without an acceptable +present of provisions; while his caboceers behaved with a still nobler +generosity, insomuch that if it had not been for the malpractices of a +sly, lubberly, fat, monstrous eunuch, named Ebo, to whose care was +entrusted our provisions, and whose ravenous appetite was proverbial in +the city, we should have been literally crammed with every delicacy both +of the country and season. That old gormand had a paunch of a most awful +size, which he contrived to keep in excellent condition by partaking +largely of the good things intended for our use, which he purloined in a +daring and impudent manner, and devoured when alone and at leisure. Not +content with secreting the choicest articles, he made so serious an +impression even on the bare necessaries of life, that we were not +unfrequently kept on short allowance. + +On one occasion we detected him in the very act of concealing some +ducks, eggs, and honey, which we knew beforehand had been sent him for +our consumption; and we taxed him with the robbery to his face. Ebo, +however, disclaimed the imputation with earnestness, and maintained his +innocence with considerable volubility. On our entrance he held a bottle +of rum in one hand, to which he had been evidently paying his devotions, +whilst the other was occupied in shuffling something under a mat. It was +no doubt the eunuch’s intention to take another draught of the inspiring +liquid, whilst thus employed, but, mistaking the hand in which it was +held, he snatched the other from underneath the mat, and had actually +the head of our duck in his mouth, instead of the bottle, before the +error was discovered. This it was which he had taken so much pains to +hide from our sight, and the ludicrous misconception of the fellow +caused us infinite diversion. As for the eunuch, he was not the least +disconcerted; and although we discovered the honey and eggs also +concealed in another part of his house, he roundly asserted that he had +purchased them at the market the day before. Complaints were made to the +king of his conduct, without producing a beneficial effect upon the +gormandizing Ebo, who continued to feed without mercy on our provisions, +while his paunch maintained its usual enviable state of rotundity and +bulk, at the expense of our empty stomachs. + +Captain Clapperton diverted the people of Katunga by a display of +rockets at different times; this was the only means we had of making +ourselves in the least degree the instruments of pleasure to them in +return for their good nature; and this they appeared to enjoy with all +the zest that a novelty generally inspires in the breasts of savages, +even after it had ceased to be a novelty. At first the spectators were +terrified with the exhibition, but familiarity with it soon wore off +that impression, and they never appeared satisfied with gazing at our +artificial fire-works. The inhabitants, on their part, with their +sovereign at their head, endeavoured to prolong our stay with them by +straining every nerve to please, and beguiled the time by all the +amusements they could think of. Amongst other allurements held out by +Mansolah towards this end, that of seeing him _as a king_, which would +shortly be the case, was repeatedly urged with much warmth. “You behold +me now, only as a poor man,” observed his majesty, “but by and by I +shall be a king indeed.” + +A womanish fondness for dress and admiration, and a childish vanity in +the most trivial as well as more important concerns, were strikingly +visible in the character of every prince we met with in Africa; nor did +the monarch of Yariba think these frivolities beneath him, any more than +his royal neighbours; but in his case there was mixed up with this +weakness, a certain consciousness of the absurdity of it, which I never +observed in the character of any other African whatever. Mansolah only +conformed to the whims and fancies of his people, he said, when he +attired himself so fancifully; for that they preferred a ruler with a +smart and gorgeous exterior, even if he happened to be the most odious +tyrant on the face of the earth, to a prince meanly dressed, although he +were endowed with every amiable quality. It was not, therefore, in +compliance with his own inclination that he had accepted, with so great +apparent satisfaction, the trinkets we had given him for the adornment +of his person, but solely to please his subjects, to whose taste he +always accommodated himself. Against these philosophical expressions of +the Sultan of Yariba, however, his conduct and actions sadly militated, +for he smiled with delight on beholding a brass watch-chain he had +received of us; his eyes sparkled with rapture at the sight of a gold- +headed cane Captain Clapperton had offered for his acceptance; while a +necklace of large handsome coral beads positively threw him into a +transport of joy. + +The same eager curiosity that had been displayed on the road from +Badagry, was evinced by the people of Katunga; but there was no +boldness, no impudence, no daring effrontery, with the latter; they +every where made way for us to pass, when either curiosity or the desire +of exercise induced us to walk through their town, or its environs, and +retreating to a short distance, made a profound obeisance, and in some +cases even went so far as to prostrate themselves in the dust before us, +although these were acts of humiliation we never countenanced nor +approved of. The more respectable part of the inhabitants, on meeting +with us in the streets, used to run up to shake hands, with as much +cordiality as if they had known us from our childhood; and would very +kindly enquire after our healths, not merely for the sake of having +something to say, as is the case in England, but prompted by an interest +and concern they could not disguise. We felt assured that their motive +for asking sprang from a sincere desire of _knowing_, in order that they +might sympathise with us if we were ill, or congratulate us if we +enjoyed tolerable health. + +The strong desire Mansolah felt and expressed for us to remain at least +for a few months with him, made that prince guilty, on more than one +occasion, of dissimulation, and even falsehood,—which detracts greatly +from his merit, for in other respects he was a generous, sensible, good +natured man. He was fruitful in expedients against our setting out, and +used every means that ingenuity could suggest, to counteract our +intentions of prosecuting our journey; at one time alleging that the +Falatahs, (who had joined a party in a civil war that was then raging in +Nyffé, between two princes, who were disputing the right of succession +to their deceased father’s throne,) intercepted all communication +between that country, through which it was our intention to pass, and +Yariba, or rather Katunga, its capital; and at another time asserting +that he had sent messengers to Yarro, one of his own provinces, to +ascertain whether the road was clear in that direction; for he was +determined, he said, not to be instrumental towards our falling into the +hands of the Falatahs. His assertion, with regard to the war in Nyffé, +proved indeed to be correct; but for some indefinable reason, besides +those adduced, he was excessively jealous of our having the least +intercourse with the Falatahs, his most inveterate enemies, who, as he +repeatedly and feelingly expressed himself, “had torn down his father’s +house.” + +Amongst the amusements of the inhabitants of Katunga, dancing and +tumbling hold a prominent rank. With respect to the latter diversion, +they cannot be excelled by any people in the world; their evolutions in +the air are perfectly astonishing, and by the suppleness and pliability +of their limbs, by their bending, and turning, and twisting themselves +into all manner of shapes, one would be almost inclined to believe that +they have not a single bone in their bodies. + +During our stay at Katunga we were witnesses to a kind of pantomime, +which amusement the inhabitants generally prefer, in honor of the +caboceers, whenever they pay a visit to the king, as was the case in +that instance. The place chosen for the exhibition was a large +enclosure, contiguous to the king’s residence, covered with verdure, and +as level as a bowling-green. It was rendered particularly pleasant by +the refreshing shade afforded by clumps of tall trees, which studded the +spot in all directions. Two huge shapeless rocks of crumbling granite +marked the limits of the play-ground to the south; the king’s house +those to the north; and a range of trees intercepted the view to the +east and west. A lofty fan-palm-tree grew in the centre of the place, +under the branches of which the actors were accommodated; and a +temporary fence, erected round its trunk, screened them from +observation, whenever they chose to remain concealed. + +A most astounding din from drums, horns, and whistles, was the signal +for the performers to begin their manœuvres. The first act consisted of +dancing, capering, and tumbling by about twenty men, enveloped in sacks, +which novel and elegant divertisement was continued with admirable +spirit for a full half hour, when the contents of the sacks becoming +fatigued, bundled themselves back to the palm-tree. + +The second act commenced almost immediately after, with attempting to +catch the _boa constrictor_. To effect this object, one of the dancing +sacks came out of the place of its concealment, and fell gently and most +conveniently to the ground, when a monstrous mishapen figure, with a +head-dress resembling in size and shape a common English wash-tray, from +which streamed a variety of strips of scarlet damask and country cloth, +slowly approached the recumbent sack from behind the fence. The figure +was of most gigantic stature, and changed its appearance as often as the +enchanted Turk in our puppet-shows. It held in its hand a sword, and by +its motions, as well as the commanding attitude it assumed over the +other actors, appeared to be the director of the pageant. Another fellow +in a sack was then brought out, and being placed bolt upright by the +side of the figure, by the application of a slight blow, fell near to +its peaceable companion, and by a little shifting contrived to get its +head close to that of the other. The mouths of the two sacks having been +previously unsewn, the contents of the one crawled into the other, and +after these formalities the representation of the boa presently began. +The reptile at first thrust its head out of the bag and attempted to lay +hold of the tremendous figure, who contrived, dexterously enough, to +make it draw itself into the sack again by a flourish of his weapon, +which the knowing animal appeared to understand perfectly well. The head +of the boa was then jutted out in a different direction, and by degrees +the whole body protruded itself from the place of its confinement into +open day light, and remained exposed for a few seconds to the gaze of +the multitude. It appeared to be about fourteen feet in length, and by +reason of the painted cloth with which it was covered, might easily be +mistaken for the animal it was intended to represent. The angry monster, +after a short pause, pursued the fantastical figure with the sword, +rather slowly, to be sure, but withal very naturally—going through the +motions of a snake by coiling itself round like a rope, opening and +shutting its jaws, and darting out its forked tongue; all of which +elicited the rapturous applauses of the bystanders. But the pursued, +although it never was at a greater distance from the reptile than a few +feet, never had the courage to come in contact with its fangs. At +length, at a given signal by the manager, the whole troop of actors +rushed to the spot; they were then sackless, but their features were +effectually concealed by masks reaching to the bosom. The figure then +began to act on the offensive, by chopping the irritated monster’s tail +with his weapon in a shocking and most unmerciful manner. The snake +apparently writhed in agony, and convulsively twisting its body for a +few moments, whilst it endeavoured, without effect, to be revenged on +its formidable adversary by extending its neck to bite; when life +seeming to be nearly extinguished, it was borne off on the shoulders of +the actors to the fetish-house. + +The third and last part of this extraordinary ceremony, consisted in the +representation of the caricature of a white man. One of the sack- +dancers, placed by himself on a clear spot of ground, near to the palm- +tree, gradually detached his covering, and exposed the figure of a man, +of a chalky whiteness, to the fixed looks of the people, who set up so +terrific a shout of approbation that it startled us, prepared as we had +been to expect some such explosion. The figure walked but indifferently +well, and mimicked our actions as badly; the composition with which it +was bedaubed, evidently preventing the actor from using his limbs +freely, or performing his part with the facility he could have wished; +although his embarrassment was apparent to us, yet the populace did not +seem to take the least notice of this defect, and an universal roar of +laughter expressed the delight which filled every bosom. The pantomimic +incident had now attained its utmost bounds, and all eyes, swimming in +tears, were directed first to us, and then to the intended +representation of us, as much as to say, “what a faithful and striking +resemblance!” We entered most cordially into the good humour of the +moment, not so much on account of the clumsy and unsightly figure before +us, as to see a vast circle of white teeth grinning at the same moment, +and producing an irresistibly ludicrous effect. After exhibiting himself +in this manner about an hour, the white man was enveloped in his sack, +and borne, like the serpent, to the fetish-house, when the amusements +ended, and the people quietly dispersed. Between the acts we were +entertained with a concert of drums and whistles, as well as country +songs from the females who were present, in the choruses of which the +people generally joined. + +The Yarro messengers, of whom Mansolah had spoken, having returned, and +given a favorable report of the state of the roads, on Monday the 6th of +March, we bade adieu to Katunga, its ruler, and inhabitants, and pursued +our journey, attended by the same escort that had conducted us into the +city. Mr. Houtson was left behind, and returned to the coast, where he +was almost immediately seized with fever, and expired after an illness +of only a few days. Our party was therefore reduced to two Europeans +only, my master and myself. + +We passed through several villages which had been pillaged and burnt by +the Falatahs, on the following and three successive days; and on the +11th we arrived at a mean dirty-looking village, remarkable only as +being the first in the Borghoo country. + +The huts of the inhabitants are constructed in a circular form, after +the Bornou fashion, and their tops ornamented with crocodiles’ eggs, +considered as an effectual protection against the ravages of those +animals, which are much dreaded by all classes, but with what justice I +know not. We left the village at four o’clock in the afternoon; and the +horse on which I rode being in better condition than the others, I was +considerably in advance of the rest of the party, when the animal made a +sudden halt, and all my endeavours were inadequate to make him proceed. +There he stood like a block of marble, keeping his eyes rivetted on +something that was approaching us, and I had scarcely time to consider +what it could possibly be, when a fine antelope bounded before me with +incredible swiftness, and in the next moment two huge lions, with mane +and tail erect, crossed the path but a couple of yards from the horse’s +head, almost with equal speed, and covered with foam. A tremendous roar, +which made the forest tremble, informed me in another minute that the +lions had overtaken their prey; but the sudden and unexpected appearance +of those ferocious animals startled me as much as it had intimidated the +horse before, and I hastened back to the party, my poor beast trembling +violently the whole of the way. Fortunately the lions, which were male +and female, were so eager in the chase, that both the horse and its +rider were unobserved by them; otherwise it might have gone hard with +me, for I saw not the slightest chance of escaping. We halted in the +woods that night; but fancying every sound I heard was the roaring of a +lion, I could not compose myself to sleep. Next day I was severely +indisposed, and the party was obliged to stop several times on the road +on my account; a languid faintness frequently overpowering me, and +rendering me insensible to surrounding objects. We put up at a town +called Socka for the night, and on the 13th an escort from the king of +Khiama arrived, mounted on excellent horses, little inferior to the +English breed; but after delivering their monarch’s message, the fellows +very unceremoniously began plundering the villagers of goats, pigs, and +poultry. The escort consisted of fifty horsemen, bold, fierce-looking +fellows, more resembling a desperate band of robbers than peaceably- +disposed individuals. + +Traversing a pleasant and fertile country, we entered the city of Khiama +about ten in the morning, and were immediately conducted to the house of +his majesty, whom we found sitting under the porch of his door, chucking +some of his young wives under the chin. After shaking hands, he +expressed a wish for us to repose ourselves till the heat of the day was +over, and said he would pay us a visit in the cool of the evening. + +The king redeemed his pledge, and came at the appointed time, riding on +one of the handsomest horses I ever saw. He was attended by numbers of +people on horseback and on foot, and half a dozen naked girls _circling_ +round the animal on which he rode, flourishing spears with which they +were furnished, and singing, in a loud voice, the praises of their +husband and prince. Yarro (that is the monarch’s name) dismounted and +entered our house, followed by the girls, who had left their weapons +outside, and for decency’s sake had wrapped a piece of striped cotton +round their delicate waists. After an hour’s conversation, in the course +of which Captain Clapperton informed him of our motives for visiting his +country, whither we intended to go, &c. the king left us, infinitely +pleased, and the extraordinary procession returned in much the same +order as it had come. A few minutes only had elapsed, when we were +favored with a visit from the chief of a Houssa gafflee, or caravan +(returned the day before from Gonja and Ashantee), and accompanied by a +native of Bornou, both of whom strongly advised us to quit Khiama with +as little delay as possible, asserting that the inhabitants were thieves +to a man, and would not let slip the opportunity of putting their +pilfering propensity to the trial on our goods and baggage. The Houssa +caravan consisted of about a thousand individuals of both sexes, many of +whom traded in the kola or goora nut. This nut, which is in high esteem +and general use all through the interior, is frequently applied to the +same purpose as the calumet of peace amongst the North American Indians, +and is likewise used on all public occasions to testify the good +understanding that prevails in the assembly: when presented to private +individuals, it signifies that there is peace between the donor and +receiver. The kola is the fruit of a beautiful tree, growing in +abundance on many parts of the coast, and is an agreeable bitter and +astringent; it also produces a rich yellow dye, which is oftentimes used +by the natives in the embellishment of their persons. In some districts +the nut is exceedingly scarce, and fetches an exhorbitant price; hence +the traffic in it is carried on to an incredible extent, and yields an +immense profit to those who are venturesome enough to risk the dangers +of a long and perilous journey. + +Having been provided with a messenger, carriers, and horses, we quitted +Khiama on the 18th, without experiencing, whilst in the city, any of the +inconveniences we had been led to apprehend—the Houssa caravan had left +us an hour or two previously, to proceed on the same road as ourselves. +In the course of the morning we passed through two villages, excessively +clean, inhabited by Falatahs, who were chiefly employed in pounding corn +in wooden mortars; and sleeping at Bonàga, we overtook the caravan on +Sunday the 19th. It was composed of a long line of horsemen, and people +of both sexes on foot, loaded with bundles, both men and beasts +apparently heartily tired with their long march. The women with them, as +in every other instance that came within the compass of our own +observation, bore the heaviest burdens, and seemed actually sinking to +the earth with heat and fatigue, without exciting the compassion, or +obtaining the assistance of the ruder and stronger companions of their +journey; although several of the latter had little else to do besides +keeping pace with the horses. We slept in a wood, under a tree, for the +night, about half a mile from the Gonja traders. + +The country travelled over since we had left Katunga differed but +slightly from the descriptions which have already been given of the +other parts; the soil generally consisting of a rich reddish loam, +intermixed with fine gravel. In some places it is thickly wooded, but in +others not more than a dozen trees are to be found on an acre of land; +on all sides, however, it is highly picturesque and beautiful. + +Numerous traces of antelopes, elephants, &c. were observable in the +path; but (except in the instance before mentioned) we saw but few of +those animals. The natives hunt the former, and with spears and poisoned +arrows contrive to procure great numbers of them. The arrow is a speedy +and effectual means of destroying wild animals; for being tipped with +poison, the wound it inflicts is sure to prove mortal, although not +quite so instantaneously as the natives would make one believe. The +flesh of antelopes slain in this manner is eaten with avidity by the +people, the hunters simply cutting off the parts near which the arrow +may happen to penetrate. When this vegetable poison is taken internally +it produces no pernicious effects, and it is only when it mingles with +the blood that its consequences are so fatal. The natives, who, like the +vulgar in Europe, are fond of the wonderful, tell a thousand singular +stories respecting its malignancy, which are too improbable and +ridiculous to be believed. + +At Barakina, a small but pleasant village, we met a hunter, clad in a +leopard’s skin, returning from the chase, with his bow and arrows slung +on his shoulder, and a light spear in his hand; a man with a dead +antelope followed at a little distance; and three panting hounds, whose +tongues, lolling out of their mouths, betrayed the severity of the +exercise they had undergone, came after the man. The sable Nimrod took +not the least notice of us, but passed through the village as +incuriously as if he had been in the habit of seeing white faces every +day. + +At twelve at noon on the same day we crossed a river said to take its +rise in Nyffé, and to flow into the Niger above Rakah. Alligators were +plentiful in the river, and one of our carriers, who was sent to fetch a +calabash of water, was pursued by one of these monsters almost up to the +trees under which our little party was encamped. The poor fellow was +terribly frightened, and out of breath, on approaching us; and not all +the promises in the world could induce him to make a second visit to the +river. + +Our ears were ravished by the warbling of hundreds of small birds, +which, with parrots and parroquets, peopled the branches of the trees in +the vicinity of the stream, whose delightful banks were thereby +overshadowed; and the eye was incessantly saluted with a variety of +beautiful objects—groves of noble trees, verdant hills, and smiling +plains, through which the river winded, carrying fertility and beauty in +its course, and altogether forming a rich and charming landscape. + +We slept at Billa, a village on the south side of the river, in the +night; and on the morning of Tuesday an escort of four horsemen arrived +from the chief, or King of Wow Wow, to conduct us to that city, where we +arrived after a journey of four hours, and took our station outside the +monarch’s house, till its royal inmate, who was dressing to receive us, +should make his appearance. After putting our patience to a severe +trial, the King at length came out, supported on a staff, and walking +with the solemn pace of a Spaniard up to our tree, seated himself on a +stool that had been previously placed there for that purpose. We then +dismounted, but were sorely dismayed on observing the chief, contrary to +the custom of the country, shrinking from our hands which were extended +towards him, just with as much repugnance as a European would from the +proffered hand of a leper; but it was only to cover his with his tobe, +which being done, he shook hands with the utmost cordiality. The King +being a Mohammedan, fancied that the touch of a Christian would defile +him; but this stiffness wore off on a more familiar acquaintance, and he +subsequently displayed the characteristic virtues of Africans—generally +hospitality and benevolence. + +In the evening we were visited by fifteen Dahomans, who saluted us with +a discharge from two old rusty muskets. These men had been for five +months beforehand assisting the Sultan of Youri in his war with the +Falatahs, and were so far on their return to their own country. They +extolled to the skies their own prowess in their engagements with the +Falatahs, whilst they represented the people of Youri as the greatest +cowards in the world. We were informed by them that Niki, five days’ +journey from Khiama, is the most considerable city in Borghoo; and that +it was only about fifteen or sixteen days’ journey from Abomey, the +capital of Dahomy. + +Wow Wow is the metropolis of a province of the same name, in the empire +of Borghoo, and is governed by a ruler, named Mohammed, a Mussulman, +strongly addicted to superstition, but of mild, unassuming, and pleasing +manners. The city lies on a beautiful rising ground, with gentle hills +on every side; and may contain, on a hasty computation, perhaps twenty +thousand inhabitants. It is surrounded by a high and substantial mud +wall, and broad deep trench. The houses in it are circular, and the +streets spacious and airy; and it is without exception the neatest, most +wholesome, and best regulated town of any in the interior. The +inhabitants, or at least the better sort of them, dress in tobes, caps, +and trousers; and are a cheerful, thoughtless set of people, yet fonder +of music, carousing, singing, and dancing, than any people we met with +in Africa. Drunkenness is their besetting sin; and the beverage in most +esteem with them is a species of ale, called _pitto_, obtained from +Indian corn previously made into malt. The process is simple, being much +the same as the brewing of beer in England; only no hops are added to +the malt. + +This sad propensity to intoxication, which males and females in every +_grade_ of society love to cultivate, is the agent of many +irregularities, and cause their notions of morality to be so very lax, +that chastity itself is barely acknowledged by them as an excellence; +nevertheless the people of Wow Wow have many substantial virtues, and +agreeable qualities, which one can hardly help loving them for. Their +generous hospitality is unbounded, and a parcel of more merry, +facetious, happy scoundrels than the generality of them is not to be +found in the world. + +The soil in the neighbourhood of Wow Wow is surprisingly rich and heavy; +so that many of the necessaries of life spring up almost spontaneously +from the earth, and others require but trifling labour in their +cultivation and general management; hence the people have abundance of +leisure, which they employ in feasting, drinking, sleeping, visiting, +and oftentimes in less innocent recreations than these. + +The direct road from Badagry, Gonja, Dahomy, Ashantee, Jannah—to Nyffée, +Houssa, Bornou, &c. lying through the town, its inhabitants are supplied +with many of the luxuries of life at a more reasonable rate than their +countrymen in less frequented districts, and their habitations have +consequently more pretensions to _comfort_ than those of any people +between Badagry and Soccatoo. + +Articles of merchandise, of English manufacture, such as Manchester +goods, pewter plates, jugs, and dishes, are very common, both in Khiama +and Wow Wow; and it is really laughable to observe to what elegant uses +some of the latter are applied. + +The religion is either idolatry or Islamism; but these are so blended +into each other, that it would be difficult to draw a line of +distinction between the professors of either faith. Bigotry is unknown, +and the wildest doctrines are tolerated with an amiable and forbearing +spirit that does the government infinite credit! + +The marriages of the people are exceedingly simple, differing in no +essential particular from the manner in which that ceremony is practised +amongst Africans generally. A pagan pays his addresses to a girl, and +if, after a short acquaintance, he fancies she will answer his purpose, +he simply gives or sends a small present to the parents, who rarely +raise any obstacles to balk his wishes; whereupon the female quits her +father’s house, and resides, as long as she lives, with her suitor. The +courtship of a Mohammedan is carried on in much the same fashion, with +the addition of reading the _fatha_ (marriage ceremony). When tired of +each other the “fatha” is again read, and the couple part for ever, +(although they may have lived together for twenty years,) with as much +coolness and unconcern as if they had been utter strangers to each +other. This _convenient_ custom is greatly relished by every one, and is +seldom known to produce any unpleasant consequences. + +The Africans have less of _sentiment_ in their love affairs than +Europeans; they have no stolen interviews—no rambling in verdant +fields—no affectionate squeezes of the hand—no language of the eyes—no +refined feeling—no moonlight reveries; all is conducted in the most +unpoetical business-like way imaginable, and is considered in the light +of one of their least important concerns; the lover merely saying to his +intended bride, “Should you like to become my wife, my dear?” to which +the lady replies, “I have no objection.” “Then come and live with me,” +retorts the man; and from that hour the couple reside together. This is +the beginning and end of their courtship, and I never heard of a refusal +on the lady’s part to embrace the proposal. The notions of female +perfection amongst the people consist in the bulk, plumpness, and +rotundity of the object; and a perfect beauty in their estimation, as it +has often been remarked, is “a load for a camel!” This delicacy of taste +is as general in Africa as it is in Turkey in Europe, although I never +heard that the natives of the former country use any artificial means of +increasing the size of their daughters, in order to their obtaining +admirers. Allowing the qualities of bulk, &c. to be the criterion of +beauty, the widow Zuma, who will by and by be introduced, would bear +away the palm of superiority from every competitor, that lady being a +whole world of fat and loveliness! and consequently the most elegant, +the most charming, the most graceful, the most amiable, the most +captivating beauty in the continent of Africa!! + +The ideas of handsomeness entertained by the _fair_ sex, with regard to +their male companions, are extremely vague, and it is even difficult to +ascertain whether they have any notion of comeliness at all; for a lady +eagerly embraces the first offer, even if the fellow that makes it be as +old as Methusala, and ugly as Sin. As a proof of this, I knew a pretty +girl at Wow Wow, blooming with youth, and full of life and spirit, +possessing besides uncommon shrewdness for an African: to this +individual a tall, lanky, phantom-like man, evidently tottering on the +brink of the grave, whose lantern jaws were of a truly formidable +length, and who squinted most divinely, offered himself, and was of +course accepted, although he had upwards of twenty wives at the time. On +my questioning the damsel as to the reasons of her acceptance of a +person so excessively old and ugly as her spouse, she answered very +smartly something equivalent to the ancient saying still in use amongst +the lower class of people in England, “a toad is a pearl in a duck’s +eye!” and instantly left me. No doubt the number of wives of the old +gentleman, which in Europe would be considered as a serious grievance, +was one of the principal motives that had swayed her in the choice she +had made; as by that criterion the wealth of the party is judged of. + +When a husband dies; the wives who have not borne him children are sold; +whereas those who have had that good fortune are free for life, or at +least till they change their condition a second time. The widows wear a +rope round their head, neck, and waist, as mourning for their deceased +husbands, for the space of twelve months (if they find no one inclined +to make them an offer before the expiration of that period), when their +weeds are flung off, and they cheerfully resume their ordinary apparel. + +When a Borghoo man dies, a pit is dug, either in his own house, or very +near to it, and the body is placed in a sitting posture, with the hands +and feet tied tightly with cord; the head inclining upwards. The horse +and dog of the deceased, after being slaughtered, are buried with him, +to assist him in his peregrinations in the other world; and his spear, +and bow and arrows, are placed over the grave for the same purpose. On +my questioning an inhabitant of Wow Wow, how it was possible for a man +so confined to mount the horse, he shook his head, as much as to say the +subject was of too sacred and delicate a nature to be talked lightly of. + +The men of Wow Wow are, in most instances, tall and well formed, and the +women handsome, having far greater pretensions to beauty than either the +people of Yariba, or those of Khiama, a neighbouring state. Numbers of +horses are kept by the Wow-Wownese, the finest of which are imported +from Bornou; the native breed, although strong and spirited, being +excessively small. Horned cattle are much finer, and their flesh is +superior in quality to those found on the coast. They are bred +principally by Falatahs, numerous tribes of whom are scattered over the +face of the country. + +Some of these same Falatahs profess the Mahommedan faith, and some +worship idols, like the natives themselves, whilst others have no +outward form of religion at all. Many of them are for ever wandering +from place to place, like the Bedouin Arabs, and others spend a tranquil +existence in the occupations of pasturage and agriculture. Several are +suspected of stirring up the minds of the people against their rulers, +and treated accordingly with as much contumely and disrespect as the +Jews in some countries of Europe; and others again contribute, in an +essential degree, to the comforts and convenience of the community in +whose towns they may happen to dwell, and by whom they are esteemed and +caressed; but all have less simplicity in their manners, and infinitely +more art in their dealings, than those of the negro cast of feature, +and, to every appearance, are a stage further advanced in civilization +than they. + +Boussa is a province contiguous to Wow Wow, whose capital is also called +Boussa, and is but one day’s journey, or about twenty miles, from the +latter place. The island of Boussa, on which the city is built, is about +three miles in length, and little more than one in breadth. It is +situated in the river Niger, or, more properly speaking, the Quorra, and +is chiefly remarkable as the place where the enterprising Mr. Park and +his companions came by their melancholy death. It may contain sixteen or +eighteen thousand inhabitants. The road to it from Wow Wow in the dry +season is excellent, but in the wet or rainy months is almost +impassable, by reason of its proximity to the river, which oftentimes +overflows its banks. The country between the two capitals is hilly, +woody, and picturesque, rivalling in beauty any portion between Badagry +and Soccatoo; and its most remarkable feature is a rocky mountain in the +shape of a cone, which Captain Clapperton called, after the reigning +Monarch of England, “Mount George.” + +Thick woods approach even to the margin of the Quorra, and are tenanted +by an ancient tribe of people termed Cumbrie (or Cumbrians), by all +accounts the aborigines of the country, a harmless stupid race, who, +from their tractable dispositions and love of tranquillity, are +frequently imposed on by their spirited and more artful neighbours, and +sold into slavery whenever a favourable opportunity can be obtained of +kidnapping them. + +Many heavy branches of trees overhang, and, as it were, embrace the +Menài, a branch of the Quorra, as it flows by, and impart a darkness and +melancholy to the spot which are any thing but agreeable or enlivening. +It was nearly sunset when I got into the canoe, in which I was ferried +across the stream to Boussa; the evening was calm, clear, and beautiful; +the fire-fly had already begun to shine and buzz in the air; the hollow +roar of the crocodile was heard from the borders of the current, and the +declining sun had tinged the surface of the water with a rich hue of +crimson. The sound of sweet-toned instruments, and the hum of human +voices mingling in concert, and wafted from the city to which I was +approaching, produced a soothing and delightful effect; and as the +little bark was propelled slowly through the lazy stream, the music +sounded like a symphony of angels’ voices floating from the skies. + +The owner of the boat pointed out the spot where my daring countrymen +had so unfortunately perished. After quitting it, their canoe had +drifted on a reef of sunken rocks, not more than half a stone’s throw +from the island, and had gone to pieces. + +Numerous small islands jut up from the bosom of the Quorra, which, near +Boussa, branches into three distinct streams; but they are uninhabited, +and little better than naked rocks. Two of the above streams flow +sluggishly onwards, whilst the other rolls with a rapid current, +fretting and foaming over vast masses of stone, and creates a noise +which at a little distance might be mistaken for that produced by the +waving of a forest of tall trees, when agitated by the wind. + +The Sultan of Youri, understanding that we intended visiting Boussa, had +sent a messenger to that place a week before our arrival there, (with +seven canoes laden with provisions,) to conduct us to the capital of his +empire; but reports from various quarters agreed in representing the +Prince of Youri to be a cruel, treacherous, and wicked man; and this +fact, combined with the advanced state of the season, succeeded in +deterring Captain Clapperton from embracing the monarch’s offer. He told +the messenger, however, that it was solely on account of the rainy +season so soon setting in, that he was obliged to decline his +Sovereign’s proposal, but that he would certainly pay him a visit on his +return from Bornou. + +We had all along been buoyed up with the hope of being able to obtain +the journal and papers of the late Mungo Park at Boussa; but, to our +great mortification and disappointment we discovered, that they had been +either destroyed, or conveyed no one could tell whither, many years +before. The inhabitants were exceedingly reserved on the subject of the +fatal catastrophe, and uniformly gave equivocating or evasive answers to +our enquiries as to the manner in which it had occurred. They seemed +indeed overwhelmed with shame at the part they or their fathers had +taken in the dreadful tragedy, and did all in their power to shift the +blame from the shoulders of themselves and their countrymen. + +The following appeared the most accurate and best authenticated version +of the dismal story of the deaths of Park and Martin, that I was enabled +to obtain whilst I was in the country: + +The voyagers had reached Youri in safety, and were on intimate and +familiar terms with its Sultan, father to the reigning prince, who +intreated them to finish their journey through the country by land, +instead of proceeding down the Quorra to the salt water; observing, that +the people inhabiting the islands and borders of the river, were +ferocious in their manners, and would not suffer their canoe to proceed +without having first rifled it of its contents, and exposed them to +every species of indignity and insult; and that if their lives were +spared, they would infallibly be detained as domestic slaves. This evil +report was considered as the effect of jealousy and prejudice: and, +disregarding the prudent counsel of the Sultan of Youri, the ill-fated +adventurers proceeded down the Quorra as far as the island of Boussa, +from whence their strange-looking canoe was observed by one or two of +the inhabitants, whose shouts brought numbers of their companions, armed +with bows and arrows, to the spot. At that time the usurpations of the +Falatahs had begun to be the general talk of the black population of the +country, so that the people of Boussa, who had only _heard_ of that +warlike nation, fancied Mr. Park and his associates to be some of them, +coming with the intention of taking their town, and subjugating its +inhabitants. Under this impression, they saluted the unfortunate +Englishmen from the beach with showers of missiles and poisoned arrows, +which were returned by the latter with a discharge of musketry. A small +white flag had been previously waved by our countrymen, in token of +their peaceable intentions; but this symbol not being understood by the +people of Boussa, they continued firing arrows, till they were joined by +the whole male population of the island, when the unequal contest was +renewed with greater violence than ever. In the meantime the Englishmen, +with the blacks they had with them, kept firing unceasingly amongst the +multitude on shore, killing many, and wounding a still greater number, +till their ammunition being expended, and seeing every hope of life cut +off, they threw their goods overboard; and desiring their sable +assistants to swim towards the beach, locked themselves firmly in each +other’s arms, and springing into the water, instantly sank, and were +never seen again. + +The bodies of the two slaves, who attempted to save their lives by +swimming, were pierced with a grove of arrows, but they subsequently +recovered from the effects of their wounds, and were certainly alive +when we were at Boussa, but, as I understood afterwards, they were +carefully concealed, in order to prevent our making any inquiries of +them relative to the affair. + +Resistance being thus at an end, the floating property had been eagerly +laid hold of by the people of Boussa, and taken in triumph to their +city. In the evening they formed a circle round it, and for several days +and nights nothing was to be seen or heard but feasting and rejoicing; +but it happened that before their revelries were well over, an +infectious disease, whereof they had not previously had the most distant +idea, raged in the island, and swept off the Sultan, with numbers of his +subjects; and it was remarked, that those who had been most active in +the destruction of the strangers were cut off to a man, expiring in +great agony. The people endeavoured to appease the wrath of the white +man’s God, (by whose instrumentality they were firmly persuaded the +destroying plague had reached them,) by the offering of sacrifices, and +afterwards by setting fire to all the articles found on the surface of +the water; shortly after which, it is asserted, the pestilence left the +island. Meantime the news of the occurrence, and its fatal results, +spread like wild-fire through the neighbouring states; and the people of +Boussa were stigmatized with a reproachful epithet, for having been +guilty of so heinous a crime. Hence the studied reserve of the reigning +Sultan and his subjects, which no consideration could tempt them to +break through, so as to enter into the details of the tragedy; and hence +also the expression, so beneficial to us in those regions, and so +prevalent amongst all ranks and conditions: “Do not hurt the white men; +for if you do, you _will perish like the people of Boussa!_” + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + * * * * * + +Widow Zuma’s love adventures — Departure from Wow Wow — Arrival at +Coulfo — Civil war in Nyffé — Ceremonies observed by the people of +Coulfo at the end of the Rhamadan — Tornado at that place, and its +disastrous consequences — The Travellers quit Coulfo, and proceed on +their journey — The Author attacked with dysentery — His sufferings — +Noble conduct of Captain Clapperton towards him — They enter Zeg Zeg — +Arrive at Kano. + + +Whilst we remained in the city of Wow Wow, we were visited almost every +day by a widow lady, of Arab extraction, named _Zuma_ (_Honey_ in +English), between thirty and forty years of age, who, if one might be +allowed to judge from the remaining charms which were still visible in +her countenance, had been really beautiful in her younger years. This +individual was vastly rich, being the acknowledged mistress of a +thousand slaves; and from her excessive plumpness, and extraordinary +size, was the exact counterpart of our bulky friend Ebo, the fat eunuch +of Katunga. Zuma’s affection for my master and myself was unbounded, and +as it led to an adventure perhaps never equalled in novelty by any +incident that has occurred to Europeans in the bosom of Africa, I hope I +may be forgiven in attempting to trace its causes and effects, without +which my narrative would be incomplete; for they are so intimately +connected with each other, that it would be impossible to disunite them. + +In order to give a clearer idea of the story, it will be necessary to +remark, that Zuma was married in early life to one of the principal +inhabitants of Wow Wow; but her spouse dying shortly after she had given +birth to a son, she was left immensely rich, and lived in almost regal +splendour in the native town of her deceased husband. Nature had endowed +Zuma with an active, restless, and ambitious mind; insomuch that not +long after she had become a widow, and before the regular term of +mourning had expired, her weeds were thrown aside, and she aspired to +the government of Wow Wow, by attempting to depose her sovereign. But +Mohammed, although an imbecile and superstitious prince, could + + + “Bear, like a Turk, no rival near his throne!” + + +and was roused into action at the threatening aspect his too powerful +subject had assumed. Instantly arming his vassals, he made a sudden and +unexpected attack on the slaves of the rebellious lady, who for want of +an efficient leader were put completely to the rout, though without +bloodshed, and Zuma herself taken prisoner. Whether it was owing to the +profound veneration in which that elegant lady’s charms were held by the +monarch, to the natural mildness of his disposition, or to the fear of +stirring up the people against him, I could not learn; but certain it is +that Zuma was pardoned, and set at liberty, after a confinement of only +one or two days; and though she had repeated her treasonable attempt +several times, even up to the period of our visiting the city, the same +amiable forbearance had been extended to her. + +It was the misfortune of the far-famed Zuma to fancy herself, for no +reason in the world, to be extremely fair, and although she had +certainly passed the “Age of the Passions,” she took it into her head to +fall desperately in love with me, whose complexion, she affirmed, +rivalled her own in whiteness! The frequency of her visitations to our +house nourished the tender feeling, which was encouraged by Captain +Clapperton, who relished a joke with all his heart, and did his utmost +to inflame the lady’s passion, by passing a thousand unmeaning +compliments on the regularity of my features, and the handsomeness of my +person. “See what beautiful eyes he has,” observed the Captain; “if you +were to search from Badagry to Wow Wow, and from Wow Wow to Bornou, you +would not find such eyes.” For my own part I was but a novice in the art +of courtship, and imagining it to be altogether in jest, took little +pains to spoil the fun by shrinking from it. Besides, Zuma had behaved +remarkably well to us in sending, repeatedly, presents of provisions, +together with every luxury with which she was acquainted, and I was +rather glad than otherwise to have her for our guest, + + + ------“For the heart must + + Leap kindly back to kindness;” + + +and neither of us wished to offend a lady of her consequence by being +morose and unsociable in manners, or by repelling her advances with +ridicule and contempt. + +For an hour together the widow would gaze intently on me, while the most +amorous glances shot from her large, full, and certainly beautiful eye, +which confused and disconcerted me not a little, even though I was +surrounded by strangers and in the heart of Africa; for I had been a +wanderer from my childhood, and had had but few opportunities of +mingling in the delightful company of the gentler sex in my own country, +and consequently was excessively bashful on coming in contact with +ladies, whether in the country of the Hottentots, or the birth-place of +the widow Zuma. + +As for my master, he was sensibly delighted with these interviews, and +with his arms folded on his breast, while thick volumes of tobacco-smoke +rolled from his pipe, he with the most impenetrable gravity enjoyed the +scene, and looked as happy and as much at home as if he had been seated +by his friends in his native Scotland. After the widow’s departure, it +was his usual custom, tapping me on the shoulder, to ask how I felt my +heart, and observe what a boast I could make, on our return to England, +of so magnificent a conquest. + +All this I took in good part for some days; but things beginning, at +length, to wear a more serious aspect than I had at first anticipated, I +was resolved to bring this whimsical courtship to a conclusion as +speedily as possible. I was the more inclined to do so, because I did +not wish to wound the feelings of even a _black_ lady (for black she +most certainly was, although not quite so deep a sable as the +aborigines), by trifling with them; nor did I forget the exclamation of +the frog in the fable:—“It may be sport to you, but it is death to us!” + +Independently of the delicate state of my health, which incapacitated me +from carrying on so curious an amour with the spirit and gallantry it +required, I was positively afraid that, from the warmth and energy of +Zuma’s embraces, I should actually be pressed to death between her +monstrous arms! I was but a youth, and my short residence in the country +had certainly impaired a constitution originally robust and vigorous; by +reason of which I was sadly apprehensive that one of her Brobdignagian +hugs would send me into the other world with very little ceremony. These +reflexions I had seriously revolved in my mind; and on her next visit I +candidly told the widow by signs, words, and gestures, that I could not +love her; but she either did not or would not understand me. I remarked +that I should never choose a _black_ wife: she pointed to her face, and +said she was a _white_ woman. I then observed that it would be +impossible for me to exist in her country, the heat being insupportable. +Her reply was disinterested and tender:—“Then I will quit it, and follow +you to whichever part of the world you may be inclined to lead me.” Thus +beset on all sides, I hardly knew what to say next; but after a short +pause, summing up all my resolution, I gave my greasy inamorata a flat +refusal to see her again in the light of a lover, as it was out of her +power to awaken in my breast a corresponding sensation to that which +reigned in her own! and saying this I instantly left the apartment; +whilst Zuma, poor lady, + + + ----“Rais’d a sigh so piteous and profound, + + As it did seem to shatter all her bulk, + + And end her being!” + + +I was surprised, however, to find that my cruelty had produced no +visible impression on the widow, and that her _heart_ was big in +proportion to the largeness of her _body_; for I discovered that she +could love _two_ individuals at the same time with as much ardour and +sincerity as _one_ only. Seeing all hopes of success effectually shut +out on my side, she had the good sense to discontinue her solicitations +(although she continued her kindness), and looked as tenderly on me as +ever; and applied herself strenuously to be on a more affectionate and +familiar footing with Captain Clapperton, whose favourable notice she +strove to attract by all the fascinating allurements she was mistress +of; and actually went so far as to bribe Pasko, our Houssa interpreter, +with a young and handsome girl for a wife, in order that he might use +his _powerful_ influence to bring the matter between my master and +herself to an amicable adjustment. The old libertine accepted the +present with rapture, which made the third or fourth spouse he had had +since leaving Badagry, but he was prudent enough to retain his counsel +within his own bosom. + +A white husband and happiness were synonymous terms with the gentle and +delicate Zuma, and she grasped at even the shadow of it with an +eagerness and determination that caused her to overstep the boundaries +of that amiable modesty which is so pleasing and peculiar a +characteristic of her sex, whereby she did more towards injuring her own +cause than coyness or reserve would have done. The Captain carried on +the innocent game for some time, for we were greatly in want of +something to enliven us; and so romantic an adventure as this, in such a +place, and under such circumstances, caused us very many hours of +diversion, and was an amusing subject of conversation even up to the +period of my master’s last illness at Soccatoo. + +Poor widow Zuma! I almost fancy I see her now, waddling into our house, +a moving world of flesh, “puffing and blowing like a blacksmith’s +bellows,” and the very pink and essence of African fashion. Her hair +used to be carefully dyed with indigo, and of a rich and vivid blue; her +feet and hands stained with hennah and an extraction of the goora-nut, +produced alternate streaks of red and yellow; and her teeth were also +tinged with a delicate crimson stain. In the adornment of her person, +likewise, the buxom widow evinced considerable taste. Her bared neck and +bosom were ornamented with coral and gold beads, which, contrasted with +the dingy colour of her skin, occasioned a truly captivating effect! +while a dress of striped silk, hanging in graceful folds from the waist +to the ancles, set off her _fairy form_ to the best possible advantage! +Thus beautified, the accomplished Zuma used to sit cross-legged on our +mat, and chewing the goora-nut, or a little tobacco-snuff, she was +without exception the most ravishing object that came across our path in +all our wanderings! + +One day she invited my master to visit her at her own house, where she +took the opportunity of displaying to him her wealth and grandeur, the +number of her slaves, and her princely domestic establishment, all of +which the tempter assured him he should share with her if he would +consent to be her husband. No encouragement whatever was given to the +lady; but when Capt. Clapperton left the town for Boussa a short time +afterwards, Madam Zuma, dressed in her gaudiest attire, followed when he +had got about six miles on his journey, having called before she set out +to see me. On this occasion she wore a mantle of silk and gold, and +loose trowsers of scarlet silk, with red morocco boots; her blue head +was enveloped in the ample folds of a white turban, and she rode astride +on the back of a noble horse, which came prancing before the door of our +hut, decorated with a number of brass plates and bells, as well as a +profusion of charms or amulets enclosed in green, red, and yellow +leather. Her saddle-cloth was of scarlet, and the appearance of both +widow and horse was singularly imposing. In her train were many spearmen +on horseback, and bowmen on foot, with a band of musicians furnished +with drums, fiddles, guitars, and flutes, who continued playing till +their mistress was fairly out of the town. The widow briefly told me of +her intention to accompany Capt. Clapperton to Kano, &c. &c. which +eclaircissement startled me for an instant; but, putting on my most +serious look, I wished her a pleasant journey, and hoped I should +overtake her myself in a day or two. Zuma then took her leave, and the +whole cavalcade was quickly out of sight. + +I was absolutely longing to learn the issue of this strange elopement of +Zuma’s; and was engaged in making preparations previously to my +departure for Coulfo, in Nyffé, when a message from the king, forbidding +my departure from Wow Wow, diverted me from my intention, and overturned +all my plans. I had an interview with the irritated Mohammed the same +day, and another on the following one; but my efforts to induce him to +change his resolution were abortive. He turned a deaf ear to all my +eloquence, and would not suffer me to quit the town for any +consideration; “For,” said the king, “your countryman has eloped with +the captious Zuma, who will raise up enemies, and make war upon me, if +she be not speedily checked; and the better way to accomplish this is to +detain you here with the baggage, which will bring back the ‘great white +man,’ and the widow will not be able to remain behind long after.” + +In order to secure me the more effectually, our house was guarded by a +dozen soldiers, who had received strict injunctions not to let me escape +on any account. I contrived, however, to elude the vigilance of my +keepers, and, taking with me a boy only twelve years of age, who had +assisted me in making my escape, I hastily mounted my Yariba pony, and +was on the road to Boussa in an instant. + +At sunset I crossed the Menài, a branch of the Quorra, leading to the +island; and after landing shortly entered the city. As soon as I was +recognized as one of the strangers, a good house was immediately +prepared for my reception, and I was presently honored with a visit from +the king and queen, who informed me that my master had left Boussa, and +that, if I were to travel all night, it would be impossible to overtake +him before the next morning; they would therefore insist upon my +remaining and sleeping in the city. My royal visitors staid with me a +considerable time, and the queen gave directions about my supper, and +even assisted to prepare it with her own hands. + +A multitude of the usual questions were put to me by their majesties, +which, on account of my almost total ignorance of the language in which +they were uttered, I was not very well qualified to answer; but, +notwithstanding this inconvenience, we succeeded in making ourselves +pretty well understood; and from the excessive kindness, and watchful +anxiety to anticipate my wants, displayed by the king and his royal +consort, it was evident that I was a great favourite with them. + +The queen had certainly not much of the widow Zuma about her, either in +appearance or manners; being delicate in person, and possessing a native +dignity and gracefulness of mien that could not fail to please. The +features of the royal couple bore a closer resemblance to the European +than the negro cast, and might be styled handsome, even in England; +besides which an ineffable sweetness shone upon the countenance of +Medàki, the queen, and there was an agreeableness in the innocent +freedom of her deportment that captivated me at first sight. A tear of +pity trembled in the expressive eye of Medàki, when, observing my +emaciated looks, and surveying me from head to foot, she enquired if I +had a mother in my own country; and when I answered that I had not, she +said, “Poor white man! then who have you at home to talk about you, and +make fetishes for your preservation whilst you remain away?” I was +certainly not prepared to meet with such extraordinary kindness at +Boussa; and it shows the great revolution that has taken place in the +opinions of the people since Mr. Park’s appearance in the interior. + +I had been extremely unwell before leaving Wow Wow; and my rapid journey +on the back of a lean horse, without saddle or bridle, had nowise +improved my health; fatigue also had rendered me so sleepy that after +supper I could with difficulty keep my eyes open, and my answers to the +queries of the royal pair were given at random. It was in vain that I +bit my tongue and lips, and used every other means I could devise in +order to arouse myself from the stupid state I was in; the inclination +to slumber overcame them all, and at last I fell fast asleep. On awaking +in the night I found myself alone, with a solitary lamp burning in my +apartment; and was informed, an hour or two afterwards, that their +majesties, as soon as they saw me fairly insensible, had left me in the +care of two slaves, and returned to their own abode, after expressly +desiring them to make no noise that might awaken me. Next morning I went +to the king to apologize for my unintentional breach of etiquette; and +shaking hands with the royal couple, who wished me every happiness, I +returned to Wow Wow (whither I had learnt Captain Clapperton had also +gone back), in company of two armed men, who had been furnished as a +protection against highway robbers, with which the road was declared to +be infested. On my arrival in the city, I found that my master had +entered it but a few minutes before, but had not seen the fat widow +during his absence. + +A short time only had elapsed before we resolved to go to the king; and +being ushered into an apartment, found the important personage yawning +from the effects of his afternoon’s nap. The Captain was the fittest +person in the world to deal with the African rulers. The first thing he +did was to shake hands affectionately and heartily with the sullen +Mohammed, covering his face at the same time with smiles and looks of +joy on seeing him again; but the king accepted the compliment with just +so good a grace as a growling mastiff would receive the caresses of a +person against whom he bears a grudge; neither willing to bite the hand +that pats its big head, nor wishing to be altogether on a friendly +footing with its suspected friend. “What pleasure it gives me to see you +again,” said my master; “I have not beheld so handsome a face as yours +since leaving the city. I suppose you did not think it safe to send my +baggage after me; and am therefore come to fetch it myself. I have seen +the king of Boussa, who, with the Medàki, gave so very favorable an +account of you, that really I am filled with admiration for your talents +and virtues; and am sure there cannot be your equal in the whole +country.” All this the great man listened to with a deal of attention, +and one could perceive plainly enough that the sternness of his features +gradually gave place to a softer and kindlier expression; indeed, from +the commencement of the above well-timed encomium, a smile overspread +his sable countenance which promised the most flattering results. His +majesty then, with the utmost dignity, detailed his reasons for the line +of conduct he had been obliged to adopt, in consequence of his belief +that the Captain and the rebellious Zuma had entered into a conspiracy +to usurp his authority; that when their treasonable object should be +accomplished, he would be put out of the way, in order that my master +might take the reins of government into his own hands. He added that the +widow had been guilty of similar unlawful practices before, but had +failed in her attempts; and that notwithstanding the lenity with which +she had been treated, her thoughts were perpetually employed in devising +means for the execution of her ambitious designs; and she had moreover +threatened him unceasingly with raising an army to overcome and destroy +him. As this was spoken with an air of great solemnity, and towards the +latter part of it with emotion, which was plainly evinced by his tears, +my master thought proper to disclaim, with correspondent energy and +seriousness, the imputations on his own character, by professing himself +a total stranger to the widow’s movements from the time of his departure +from Wow Wow; and as for deposing so powerful a prince as Mohammed, and +taking Zuma to wife, such things were altogether beyond his ambition; +and he ridiculed the very idea of it. He therefore hoped that the king +would no longer refuse his permission for the party under his (Captain +Clapperton’s) command, to go on immediately, as he had bargained with +the chief of the Houssa caravan to convey the goods to Kano, and he was +impatiently waiting his arrival at the ferry. The old gentleman, +however, was not quite so easily prevailed upon as we had anticipated; +and in all probability was smitten with the widow’s charms himself; for +he declared with firmness, that until the absent lady returned, both my +master and myself must abandon all thoughts of proceeding on our +journey, or of again leaving Wow Wow. Further cajolery, we knew, would +have been superfluous, so we were obliged to make a virtue of necessity, +and wait patiently the re-appearance of our affectionate friend, the +amiable Zuma. To our infinite joy that circumstance took place on the +5th of April, the day after our conference with the prince; the widow +had not been able to meet with the object of her tender solicitude, and +hearing that he had re-visited Wow Wow, agreeably to the prediction of +Mohammed, returned to that town in much the same order as she had +quitted it about a week before, without discovering the slightest +symptoms either of disappointment at the ill-success of her jaunt, or +fear for having so egregiously offended her sovereign. + +Like most of her sex, however, Zuma knew perfectly well how to adapt her +conduct to circumstances, and was, moreover, complete mistress of the +art of dissimulation and deceit; for no sooner had she entered her own +habitation, than her splendid habiliments were instantly thrown aside, +and a dress of common country cloth substituted in their stead. Thus +meanly attired, she paid her respects to Mohammed in our presence, and +saluted him by falling on her knees, with her elbows to the earth, +while, supporting her head on the palms of her hands, she shed a whole +river of tears. Surely + + + “Heav’n gave to woman the peculiar grace + + To spin, to weep, and cully human race.” + + +The great man looked sternly on her at first; but whose heart could be +proof against _so much_ loveliness in distress, and in that humiliating +posture? Anger forsook his brow, as the prince of Wow Wow requested the +repentant woman to rise; and simply upbraiding her for disregarding his +authority and threatening to subvert his government, he shook hands, and +desired her to go her way, but be more cautious of offending him in +future. The widow accordingly left the house, and shaking the dust from +her feet in token of bravado, cast a “longing, lingering look +behind;”—and we saw no more of the generous, the kind-hearted, the +affectionate, the ambitious, but above all the enormous widow Zuma! + +This singular adventure, although it caused us to laugh heartily, had +been of a much more serious nature than we could have foreseen, and had +given us much unnecessary trouble, as well as occasioned some days’ +delay; but when it was thus satisfactorily terminated, we resolved to be +more guarded in encouraging, even in jest, the advances of the African +belles, as our lives might thereby be endangered, by exciting the +prejudices of the people against us. The widow being returned, and +having promised to abide in peace, his majesty of Wow Wow offered no +further impediment to our departure, and we quitted his capital on the +following day. + +After passing through three or four insignificant villages, inhabited by +_Cambrie_, we arrived at Comoe, a good-sized town, about half a mile +from the ferry, in which we remained three days, as Captain Clapperton +was too weak and ill to proceed at an earlier period. + +On the 10th we crossed the Quorra, running in a southerly direction, +which is full of diminutive islands, and about the width of the Thames +at Westminster. We had now left the Borghoo country, and were treading +on the soil of Nyffé; and notwithstanding the unfavorable account every +where received of the rapacity, dishonesty, and injustice of the natives +generally, we ever found them strictly honorable in their dealings +towards us, good-natured and cheerful; and were always ready not only to +do a benevolent action, but willing to sacrifice personal comfort to our +accommodation. + +At one o’clock we entered Galloway, a village about eight miles from the +Quorra, where we changed carriers, and reaching another village called +Yowta, slept there for the night. Iron is found in abundance on and in +the neighbouring hills, and requires very little labour in procuring it. +The plains and borders of the river were cultivated with yams, millet, +the plantain, &c. We observed numerous nests of termites (the white +ants) at and near Yowta, reared by those formidable insects to the +almost incredible height of twenty feet. These immense anthills were +constructed of earth or clay, divided into distinct apartments, which +evinced considerable ingenuity, and at a distance greatly resembled the +huts of the natives. + +The country traversed was exceedingly populous, and on the eleventh the +villages lay at no greater distance from each other than two miles; at +every one of which we were obliged to change carriers, and this caused +us infinite trouble and great delay. The chief of the Houssa caravan +also began to equivocate, raising a thousand obstacles in our way, and +did all in his power to detain us on the road as long as possible, in +order that he might avoid the Falatahs, who were then at Coulfo, making +preparations for their return to Soccatoo. + +On Wednesday the 12th we crossed a stream, over which was thrown a +wretched and insecure bridge, the first we had seen in the country, and +constructed of branches of trees, covered with a thick layer of clay; +and on reaching a village at a short distance from the spot, all our +carriers, as if by instinct, simultaneously dropped their burdens, and +scampered off as fast as if they had been running for their lives. In a +few moments we were surrounded by great numbers of the male inhabitants +of the place, who were armed with bows and arrows; and, pretending not +to understand a word of the Houssa language, the fellows snatched up the +deserted property, and before we had time to prevent them, or ask what +they intended doing, went off with it at an inconceivable rate, we +following on horseback, till tired and out of breath, the blacks halted +at another assemblage of huts on the banks of the same stream we had +crossed the preceding day, forming a portion of Tabria. Resting there +for a short period, the good-natured people voluntarily caught up the +baggage a second time, and passing with all haste over a bridge to the +opposite side of the river, finally stopped in front of the house of one +of the head men of the place. + +The village forms the remaining part of the before mentioned town, with +which it is connected by a miserable old bridge, and it contains a great +population. + +Coming at length to an explanation with the martial carriers of our +baggage, we had it lodged in a large empty hut for the night; but the +fellows returned to their town very much dissatisfied with the trifle +with which they were remunerated; for they had hoped that on entering +Tabria the property would have become their own. + +Tabria consists of two towns, lying on the margins of a stream or river +called the May-yarrow, which are connected together by a wooden bridge; +and both places may contain eighteen thousand inhabitants. They are +occasionally visited by the sovereigns of Nyffé. + +An exterminating civil war had been raging in the kingdom, and was still +in active operation at the period of our arrival; one party of the +natives siding with Edrisi, a pagan, the rightful heir to the throne of +his deceased father; and the other leaning on the side of Mohammed, a +Mussulman, who had disputed his brother’s right of succession. By far +the major part of the people, being pagans, were decidedly in favour of +the former prince; but the other having invited the Falatahs to his +assistance, had completely beaten his less fortunate brother, and it was +generally expected that in the next campaign Edrisi would be driven from +the country; or, if taken prisoner, decapitated without mercy. A +cessation of hostilities had been resolved on by the belligerent parties +on the day we entered Tabria; but the contest would be resumed, it was +affirmed, after the rains. + +The queen dowager of Nyffé, a decrepit and infirm old lady, one of whose +eyes had been accidentally shot out of her head by an arrow, resided at +Tabria, with the head wife of Mohammed. That prince himself was at a +place three days’ journey from the town; and the old queen having +intimated to Captain Clapperton, that it would be well for him to visit +her son, before he quitted the country, with a suitable present, my +master thought proper to accede to the wishes of the queen mother; and +leaving me in charge of the baggage, &c. carried his intention into +effect on the 21st of April. + +During the Captain’s absence I used daily to take a ramble on the +borders of the May-Yarrow, and amuse myself with my gun, plenty of game +existing in the vicinity. The river is serpentine, and of irregular +breadth; in some places so narrow that a person may easily jump across, +and at others widening from twenty to thirty yards; its depth generally +fluctuating between eight and twelve feet. Thousands of monkeys inhabit +the leafy branches of the trees that overhang the stream; and play all +manner of mischievous tricks on the people who may venture to stroll in +that direction. Going one day with the design of shooting guinea-fowl, I +unintentionally killed two of these little animals, and wounded a third, +which fell, apparently dead, at my feet. I took them to our lodgings, +and the hostess immediately offered forty cowries for each of them; but, +perceiving signs of life in the wounded monkey, I kept it, with the +intention of ascertaining whether it would recover, and spared her the +slain ones. The good woman, having skinned and broiled the animals, sat +down to partake of them with two or three of her neighbours, and after +making a sumptuous repast, declared the flesh to be sweeter and richer +than that of any animal with which she was acquainted. One of our +landlady’s guests, falling in love with the living monkey, took the +liberty of stealing it in the night, when, no doubt, it shared the fate +of its companions. + +On the 24th the usurper’s eldest daughter paid me a visit, bringing with +her a present of yams and rice; and being a very agreeable girl, I +solicited her so pressingly to take tea with me, that the princess +accepted the invitation, after which we took a walk together through the +town, arm in arm, _à l’Europe_. The inhabitants of Fabria stood staring +at us with open mouths, for some seconds, and wondering greatly what +could be the meaning of so singular a custom, when they set up so +astounding a roar of laughter, as put her royal highness fairly out of +countenance; and I was obliged to re-conduct her to our lodgings with +the utmost haste. On entering them, I made her a trifling present, with +which she was infinitely pleased; and the princess of the powerful +kingdom of Nyffé went away dancing, singing, and capering, and promised +to honour me with another visit on the morning of the next day. + +The Falatahs left Coulfo for Soccatoo the day after our arrival at +Tabria, with a thousand slaves, some of whom were partizans of Edrisi, +who had been taken prisoners by that prince. Besides this, they +compelled Mohammed to present them with four hundred tobes, which with +the slaves they took to Sultan Bello, as a partial recompence for the +services they had rendered his cause in the late desolating campaign. +Mohammed, called by his people the _Magee_, was a most cruel and inhuman +prince, and the greatest scourge that had ever afflicted his country. He +had poisoned, it was confidently reported, a younger brother and two of +his sons, for having ventured to express their opinion against his wild +and inordinate ambition, in attempting to rule the kingdom against the +interests and inclinations of the people; and because they, in common +with their countrymen, hated the Falatahs most cordially, for the +willingness and alacrity they had ever displayed to embroil Nyffé in +civil war, to the advancement of their own influence, and the +aggrandizement of their own power. + +The war was still raging in Nyffé on my return to that country from +Houssa, with far different prospects. The pagan brother, Edrisi, had +recovered from the effects of his defeats, and gained important +advantages over Mohammed and the Falatahs, his allies. This good success +was owing to a large body of men having come to Edrisi’s assistance from +Benin, and inspired with fresh courage his disspirited followers. These +individuals had proceeded up the Quorra in canoes, and landed at +_Mulagee_, a small town in Nyffé situated on the banks of that river; a +junction was then immediately formed with the pagan natives of the +country, and an attack made on the Mussulmans with European muskets, a +great number of which they had brought with them; when the latter, with +the Magee at their head, were defeated with dreadful slaughter, and the +Falatahs being the objects against whom the fire-arms of the people of +Benin were more particularly directed, very few of them, comparatively +speaking, escaped with life. The week before I revisited Tabria, +Mohammed had experienced another signal overthrow, and it was generally +believed by the inhabitants that the remnant of the Falatahs, who had +been so roughly handled, would be obliged to abandon Nyffé in a few +days, and return, discomfited, to Soccatoo, in which case Edrisi would +reign in the kingdom, and Mohammed either follow the Falatahs, or lose +his life by remaining behind. + +On the 25th Captain Clapperton returned from the camp of Mohammed, and +on Tuesday the 2nd of May we proceeded on our journey by a path winding +along the delightful banks of the May-yarrow. Passing near to Gonda, a +walled village, and crossing a broad but shallow stream, we entered by +one of the gates into the town of Coulfo, which is distant from Tabria, +in a direct line, only four miles. + +Coulfo is the most considerable market town in Nyffé, and the general +emporium of that part of Africa. It contains between fifteen and sixteen +thousand _resident_ inhabitants, and, like most towns of any +consideration or extent in the country, is surrounded by a high wall, +outside of which is a deep and broad ditch. + +The May-yarrow flows by the wall of the town, and is a source of much +comfort to the inhabitants, particularly by reason of its imparting an +agreeable coolness to the atmosphere, which is very desirable in the +heat of the day. Markets are daily held at Coulfo, and an immense +variety of articles, of native and foreign manufacture, are exposed for +sale in them. Traders resort in vast numbers from Bornou and Soccatoo to +the north and east, and from the sea coast to the west, with the produce +and manufactures of their respective countries, for which they find +ready buyers in the town. Slaves, horses, asses, and horned cattle, are +brought from every part of Africa, as well as silk, wrought and +unwrought, cotton, natron, beads, turbans, scarlet caps, goora nuts, +malaguetta pepper, red wood, &c.; the traffic in which is carried on to +an indefinite extent. + +The inhabitants of Coulfo, like the natives of many parts of the ivory +and gold coasts, anoint their bodies with softened clay, or pounded wood +of the same colour, with which a little grease is invariably mixed. They +are principally Mahommedans, and perform a few of the rites and +ceremonies prescribed by the prophet, such as praying a given number of +times in the day, frequent lustrations of the hands and face, and a +rigid adherence to the fast of the Rhamadan. In other respects, however, +they do not conform to the moral precepts of the Koran, drunkenness +being their ruling passion; and so addicted are they to falsehood and +deception, and so generally prevalent are these vices become, that all +sense of their impropriety is lost amongst the people, and it is not +considered discreditable for the most respectable individuals in the +town to practise these arts upon each other. Theft also may be said to +be encouraged, in some degree; for, like the ancient Spartans, parents +praise the spirit and ingenuity of the junior branches of the community +who pilfer articles of trifling value from their neighbours, without +being detected in the act. + +The females set off their charms to the best advantage, by staining +their hair, teeth, hands, and feet, in a similar manner to that of the +widow Zuma, which has already been described. This practice, which is +common to all ranks, and without adhering to which beauty cannot exist +in their eyes, in all probability is derived from the Moors or Saracens, +many of whose habits were copied by the natives at the time of their +irruption into the country, and still maintain the ascendancy which they +at first assumed. The more glaring the colour of the dye on the persons +of the _fair_ sex, the more fascinating is the object in the eyes of the +men of Coulfo—hence the pains every young woman takes to attract the +admiration and win the love of her male companion by bright blue hair, +red teeth, yellow hands, &c.; but above all, by keeping her body supple +and yielding by the use of red clay. It is hardly possible to conceive +the jealousies, and the thousand other afflicting passions that spring +up in the breast of a lady, if the person of another excels her own in +brilliancy of colouring. I have seen the poor things shed floods of +tears on this account; and on one occasion, in particular, was greatly +moved at observing a girl of our landlady’s acquaintance sighing and +sobbing in a corner of our room, because _Nuggree_, her lover, had told +her a few minutes before, that her teeth were not quite of so bright a +red as those of her female companion! + +Whilst we remained at Coulfo, a messenger from our friend, the king of +Boussa, arrived with a present of a beautiful little mare for my master, +accompanied by a female slave, who brought butter and rice from the +Queen to Captain Clapperton and myself. His majesty had desired the man +to caution us against partaking of any food that might be sent from the +female relatives of the usurper of Nyffé, it being their avowed +intention to poison us by that means. This information, joined with +other circumstances, rendered us infinitely more suspicious than we had +previously been, and obliged us to use greater caution in accepting +presents of provisions from doubtful quarters. From that time it was our +usual custom to interrogate the individual bringing butter, &c. and if +he evinced the least reluctance to answer our questions, or betrayed the +slightest symptoms of fear or timidity in our presence, he was compelled +to eat part of the suspected articles himself, and in case of refusal, +dismissed with a severe whipping, and his presents thrown away. We found +this plan extremely serviceable to us, if we might be allowed to judge +from the hasty retreat of more than one of these good-natured +individuals. + +The new moon, to catch a glimpse of which every eye in Coulfo was on the +stretch, was seen on Tuesday the 8th of May, and her first appearance +welcomed by a flourish of trumpets from the inhabitants.[3] This +concluded the fast of the Rhamadan; and the following day was kept as a +holiday for feasting and rejoicing by every individual in the place, +amongst all classes, and of every sect and party,—thousands of both +sexes from the neighbouring towns and villages flocking into it, in +order to participate in the festivities and amusements of the occasion. +Men and boys, old women and young maidens, slave and free, Mahommedan +and Pagan, forgot all distinctions of rank, and difference in age and +modes of worship,—and joining in the song and the dance, drank palm-wine +and _booza_ together, and before the morning was well over, all hands +became comfortably drunk. Groups of persons might be seen in the +afternoon, rambling from one end of the town to the other, dancing, +capering, tumbling, and hallooing, some reeling to and fro, scarcely +able to stand, others insensible from excessive intoxication; some flung +into the river by their boisterous companions, and dragged out again +half drowned; some smiting their breasts, and calling upon the name of +the Prophet; others hurrying about in every direction; fighting, +praying, laughing, weeping; but all, from the governor and his ladies to +the meanest bondmen and slaves,—all drunk in a greater or less degree. + +It was now inexpressibly—insufferably hot; not a single zephyr panted +upon the motionless trees, and the intensity of the sun’s rays +threatened to set fire to the tenantless huts of the inhabitants. About +five or six o’clock a sultry haze obscured the firmament, which +dispersing some time afterwards, a solemn, fearful calm succeeded, and +continued for an hour or two, the people still enjoying their noisy +revelry, and loud bursts of merriment resounding from every quarter of +the town. We, apprehensive of what was to come after, kept our eyes +intently fixed on the eastern horizon, and at length espied a small dark +cloud slowly rising from that quarter of the heavens. Immediately after +the appearance of this object, faint flashes of lightning, and distant +peals of thunder following in rapid succession, convinced us that a +tornado was approaching. The people at last understanding these +symptoms, all was hurry, bustle, and confusion, in a moment—the music +and dancing suddenly ceased—the drunken became sober—a deep, wild, +thrilling cry was raised by the women, and answered by screams of +affright from the children and young persons. Meanwhile, the peals of +thunder became infinitely louder and more appalling, and the lightning +more intensely vivid than before: the clouds in the east gradually +rolling towards the zenith in denser and heavier masses, a large portion +of the heavens was presently clothed in almost midnight darkness, when +the western horizon suddenly opened, and a sea of liquid fire streaming +from that direction, added a sterner and yet more dreadful grandeur to +the firmament, exposing by its yellowish glare all the horrors and +blackness of the scene. The sable curtain that overhung our heads, was +rent asunder shortly after with a frightful explosion, causing the earth +to tremble and shake as if the Almighty had set his foot upon the world, +and reproached the people for their wickedness; while the shuddering +war-cry, and the tumult and wailings of the multitude, mingling with the +hollow blast of the tempest, produced on us an indescribable effect, and +awoke in me an exalted, but painful and tremulous emotion of soul, that +had nearly overpowered me. + +To increase the consternation that was depicted on every countenance, +the town of _Balì_, containing eleven hundred houses, and situated about +half a mile from Coulfo, was set on fire by the lightning; and the +piercing cries of its terrified inhabitants floating dismally into the +latter town, were re-echoed by thousands of human voices, which produced +a concert of melancholy sounds, that caused even the domestic animals to +shrink with fear. + +The hurricane and rain at length ceased, the noise of the people was +hushed into silence, and the tempestuous elements sank from horrid +sublimity into their previous state of awful repose. I have witnessed +many tornados in other parts of the globe; + + + “But never till that night, never till then, + + Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.” + + +Next morning I took a walk through the town, and in the country in its +vicinity: the air, as it generally is after such visitations, was +delightfully fresh and pleasant, but the earth was covered with +afflicting proofs of the tremendous power of the storm; superb trees, +through the trunks of which, if scooped out, a coach might easily pass, +were torn up by the roots, and their gigantic branches shivered into +splinters; whilst others were indeed standing, but scathed and blackened +from the effects of the lightning, and entirely stripped of their +verdant foliage. Fragments and roofs of huts, many of them yet +smouldering, were scattered in every direction; and here and there the +dead body of a bird or beast, which had perished the preceding night, +might be met with. + +The destitute inhabitants of Balì came to Coulfo, the day after their +town had been reduced to ashes, to tell their simple tale of distress, +and solicit the assistance of their more favoured neighbours. I was +pleased to see their story listened to with tears, and their sorrowful +condition ameliorated, with a benevolence and zeal that effectually +covered the bad qualities of the people of Coulfo, and made one forget +for a moment that they possessed any. In a conversation with one of the +sufferers in the ill-fated town, I learned that several mothers had +perished in the flames, while in the act of escaping from them with +their tender offspring slung to their backs; and it was supposed that +many of the male sex had shared in the like calamity, as they were +missing, and no intelligence whatever had transpired respecting them. +One individual, bowed down with years, had snatched up in his arms a +little boy who was crossing his path, screaming with terror; but, just +as he had reached the outskirts of the burning town, and was +congratulating himself on his good fortune, in having preserved his own +and the child’s life so unexpectedly, a moving mass of fire, whirled by +the wind, suddenly fell upon him, and both he and his charge were +scorched to death, in sight of their sorrowing relatives. + +The town of Balì soon rose from its ruins, and the people, by their +merriment and vivacity, seemed to forget, a month or two afterwards, +that any such calamity had befallen it. + +The country for miles round Coulfo is studded with walled towns, open +villages, and clusters of houses; and so jealous are the inhabitants of +one of these places of the superiority, imaginary or real, whether as +regards personal bravery or success in slave-catching, of another, that, +like the natives of rival parishes in Cornwall, before the introduction +of Methodism into that county, or the different sects and orders which +agitate Ireland at the present time, formally challenge each other, and +meet by appointment to try the prowess and superiority of their +respective parties. On such occasions, the combatants arm themselves +with bludgeons, bows and arrows, and spears; and the conflict is, in +almost every instance, prosecuted with the bitterness and animosity of +the most ruthless savages, frequently terminating in the death or +capture of numbers of each party, when the latter are uniformly sold +into slavery. Just at the period of our arrival at Coulfo, the +inhabitants of the walled town of Koofoo, situated but a short distance +from the former place, having captured and sold, contrary to custom, the +wife of a man belonging to a neighbouring village, who was supposed to +have been slain in one of these engagements, a mutual system of +retaliation and petty warfare was the consequence, which had embroiled +all the country in domestic dissensions; and their war-cry, of all +sounds, next to their death-yell, the most truly terrific, could be +distinctly heard at our lodgings in Coulfo every evening. A person +connected with either of the disturbed towns could not venture out +alone, or unarmed, without exposing himself to be shot at or pierced by +his inveterate antagonists, who made it a constant practice to prowl +about the country, and spring, tiger-like, upon any unsuspecting victim +whom pleasure or business had induced to quit the boundaries of his +native village. These intestine commotions, united to the formidable +civil war that was desolating the kingdom of Nyffé, had caused the minds +of the people to be in a perpetual state of fermentation and alarm, +occasioning their angry and incited passions to have the ascendancy over +their milder virtues; and to this cause is attributable, more than to +any other, the absence of that kindness and hospitality, amongst the +natives generally, which were so cheerfully bestowed upon us in the less +civilized kingdoms of Yariba and Borghoo,—although even the people of +Nyffé were by no means destitute of the gentle charities of life. + +The severe and continued indisposition that both my master and myself +experienced, obliged us to remain in the city of Coulfo six or seven +weeks; but, getting better at the termination of that period, we +departed on the nineteenth of June, and passing through Koofoo, where we +slept, and several other villages, encamped outside the walled town of +Bullabulla on the 21st of the same month. At that place I was attacked +with dysentery, a truly frightful disorder, that causes hope to die +within the patient, and puts him altogether out of the love of life. The +pain it occasioned me was so great, and its effects so distressing, that +I was unable to keep a regular journal of occurrences until my arrival +at Kano. On the road to that city my sufferings were too acute to be +described; and it was not unusual for me to lag behind the rest of the +party, and, dismounting from my horse, to roll myself in the dust, in +the hope of relieving the agony of the moment, where I remained panting +on the naked earth, till my master, alarmed at my long absence, would +light large fires, by the smoke of which I was directed to his resting- +place. On entering the tent, it was my custom, without uttering a word, +to fling myself on a mat, and, embracing my pillow,[4] to sleep, or +rather _endeavour_ to sleep till morning. By this means I acquired a +habit of groaning in my slumbers, of which I could not completely divest +myself, even for some months after my return to England. Whenever we +came to a stream which was too deep to ford, and unfurnished with a +ferry-boat, being too weak myself to swim, my generous master used to +take me on his shoulders, and, oftentimes at the imminent risk of his +own life, carry me in safety to the opposite bank. + +We journeyed over a wooded and partially cultivated country, through +several populous walled towns and open villages, and arrived at Guâri, +in Kashna, on Monday the 3d of July. + +Leaving that place on the following Friday we continued our course, and +entered the western gate of Zaria, a considerable Falatah town, and the +capital of the province of Zeg Zeg, on Monday the 10th. + +The country to the eastward of the town was unspeakably fine, and almost +clear of wood; and looked as fresh and beautiful as the richest parts of +England in the summer months. Plantations of rice and cotton; fields of +undulating corn; meadows covered with a lovely verdure; and gentle +slopes with herds and flocks grazing and browzing on them, looked as +picturesque and rural as any landscape I had beheld in my own, or indeed +any other country. + +We remained at Zaria a week, when we again set out; and traversing a +country charmingly diversified by hills and dales, streamlets of water, +groves of superb trees peopled with birds of the gayest plumage, and +enclosures of Indian corn, yams, indigo, the cotton plant, wheat, +millet, &c. we arrived at Kano on Thursday the 20th of July. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + * * * * * + +Residence at Kano — Captain Clapperton leaves for Soccatoo — History of +Pasko, the Houssa Interpreter — Pasko’s robberies and confinement — +Return of the Captain with the Godado, after an ineffectual attempt to +reach Soccatoo — His second departure from Kano — His Letters. + + +We were mortified beyond measure to learn of Hat Sallah, my master’s +agent on the former journey, that the Bornouese and Falatahs were at +war, and in consequence thereof that all communication between the two +kingdoms had been effectually cut off. On hearing of our arrival, the +countenances of the Arabs in the city brightened up; for they fancied +that we should be the means of bringing about a permanent peace between +the belligerents, the war having occasioned the ruin of several of them, +and threatened the prosperity of the whole. + +I had received instructions from Captain Clapperton to remain in Kano +with the baggage, whilst he undertook a journey to Soccatoo and back, it +being unnecessary to have the goods conveyed so far out of the road to +Bornou. Therefore on Thursday the 24th of July, every arrangement having +been previously made, my master came to bid me adieu, and give me final +instructions relative to proceeding to Bornou and Tripoli, in case of +his death, or of any unforeseen accident that might befall him. On this +occasion each of us was much moved, and we parted with that unaffected +sorrow which the circumstances in which we were placed were so eminently +calculated to call forth. Our little party had left their native country +full of hope and enterprising spirit, and we had seen them sicken and +die by our sides without being in a condition to mitigate their +sufferings, or “smooth down their lonely pillow.” Like the characters in +Mozart’s “Farewell,” they had dropped one by one; and they were buried +in a strange land, far from the graves of their fathers, with scarce a +memento to point out the solitary spot. These were my thoughts at the +moment of separation from my valued master, whom I may justly style the +preserver of my life. I knew that it was by no means unlikely we might +never meet again, and we were well assured, that in the event of our +dissolutions when apart, no one could be found to close our eyes, still +less to perform the rites of Christian burial over our remains. My +master therefore left me with emotion. For my own part, I was yet, if +possible, more sensibly agitated; I was ill with dysentery at the time, +_very_ ill; and throwing myself on my couch as soon as the Captain was +out of sight, I did not arise from it again for twenty-four hours. + +Kano is one of the most important and considerable cities in Soudan, and +is a general mart for all sorts of merchandize. The indigo, manufactured +by the inhabitants, has the reputation of producing a richer and more +permanent dye than is to be met with in any other part of Africa +whatever, and is on this account in very high estimation with all +classes of people. The population of the town, on a rough computation, +probably exceeds forty thousand souls, the major part of whom are +slaves, but treated with kindness and forbearance by their masters. +Arabs and Moors resort thither from the Barbary States, for the purposes +of trade, and their goods realise an immense profit in the market, +remunerating them with a rapid fortune. The wall of the city, thirty +feet in height, and of proportionable thickness, encompasses a space of +nearly ten English miles; but upwards of two-thirds of the ground +enclosed is taken up with morasses, plantations, and gardens, the +dwelling of the inhabitants occupying the remaining portion. The houses +are built in a square form, after the Moorish fashion, of flat roofs +covered with hardened clay interlaced with palm leaves; and are on the +whole roomy and comfortable abodes. + +The air of Kano is close and insalubrious, and rendered yet more +unwholesome, in consequence of the number of stagnant pools of water, +partly filled with putrifying animal and vegetable substances, which are +tolerated in the town. A most disagreeable odour is exhaled by this +means; while a large morass intersecting the city from east to west, +into which the filth of the inhabitants is indiscriminately emptied, +tends still further towards its general unhealthiness. The dead bodies +of slaves are frequently cast into this morass, exposed to the action of +the air or visits of birds of prey; and it is truly shocking to observe +their mangled members in a state of decomposition, and their fleshless +bones bleaching in the sun in the very heart of the town. + +This painful and disgusting spectacle I was oftentimes obliged to be a +witness to, a week rarely passing without one or more of these +unregretted corpses being flung into the common receptacle, and left to +the gaze of the people, amongst whom all sense of delicacy in this +respect seemed to have been stifled by gross familiarity with this +revolting custom; by reason of this the inhabitants pass by the decaying +bodies of their fellow creatures with no greater symptoms of repugnance +than if they had been the remains of their own domestic animals. + +I had scarcely been in Kano a fortnight, when Pasko, our Houssa +interpreter, absconded with a few articles of trifling value, and after +a diligent and persevering search of three days, he was found concealed +under a heap of yams, in the house of the mother to a female he had +recently married. He was accompanied to our house by his better half, +sobbing all the way, who begged me, with much earnestness, to forgive +her husband for the offence he had been guilty of, which I consented to +do, but not till after he had received a severe scolding, and promised +never again to perpetrate a crime of a similar nature against me or any +one else. + +As this old man’s history may not be altogether uninteresting, inasmuch +as it shows, in a lively point of view, the ridiculous superstitions of +his countrymen, imbibed in their infant years, which no circumstance or +change of scene in their after life can wholly eradicate, I hope I may +be excused for giving a short account of his adventures previously to +his being engaged in the African mission, as repeated solemnly to me +several times from his own lips, and after that period till his arrival +with us at Kano, drawn from personal observation. + +Pasko’s native name was _Abbu Becr_, and although this is without doubt +a Mohammedan appellation, he knew nothing more of Islamism than its +name, being in reality a Pagan. He was born in the district of Goober, +and was brother to the reigning prince of that country, who at the +period of the subjugation of the neighbouring provinces to the yoke of +Danfodio, Bello’s father, ridiculed that wily conqueror’s pretensions to +sanctity, and rose with his people to dispute his further advances into +Houssa. In an engagement with the Falatahs, in which Pasko distinguished +himself, his brother was suddenly metamorphosed into a white elephant! +and as soon as he was conscious of his melancholy change, rushed into +the thickest of the fight, trampling to death upwards of two hundred of +his adversaries, who were panic-struck at the unexpected appearance of +so formidable an animal amongst them; but rallying a short time +afterwards, they winged their arrows so effectually, that the body of +the enormous beast became like that of a porcupine, being literally +covered with them; and this fact, joined to his extraordinary exertions +and loss of blood, made the intrepid elephant quit the field of battle. +Lifting up Pasko, therefore, from the ground with his proboscis, he +repaired to a neighbouring forest, and dropping his charge, was +transfixed, like Lot’s wife to the spot, by the same invisible power +that had been so instrumental in bringing about his previous alteration +of form and nature. Here he stood, without the power of stirring an +inch, or of moving a limb, and although Pasko’s bitter lamentations were +heard at a considerable distance, the inexorable deity was deaf to these +violent bursts of sorrow; but his fraternal tenderness would not suffer +Pasko to leave the place till he had the felicity of beholding trees and +shrubs grow round the body of the petrified elephant; which third +miracle took place about three hours after the former ones, and +completely hid the transformed from the most prying curiosity! + +The remainder of Pasko’s history is entitled to a greater share of +credence. A year or two subsequent to the above singular occurrence, as +Pasko was dancing by the light of the moon, with several of his +companions, he was kidnapped by a marauding party of Falatahs, and sold +to a Gonja trader. This man not treating him with the kindness he +expected, to be revenged Pasko took the liberty of robbing him of all +his goods, and decamping in the night; he was, however, apprehended the +next evening, in a state of intoxication, dancing with a dozen females, +and taken back to his master, who re-sold him to a native of Ashantee. +By this master he was taken considerable notice of, and sent, along with +many others, to his own country (Ashantee); but no great while after his +arrival thither he committed a second serious misdemeanour, for which +offence he was driven to the sea-side, and sold to the master of a +Portuguese schooner, then lying at Whydah. On her voyage to Bahia, the +vessel was captured by an English sloop of war, and Pasko was liberated; +but consented to remain with the British, and serve as an ordinary +seaman. He was, however, taken from his employment by Mr. Belzoni, in +order to accompany him in his attempt to reach Tombuctoo by way of Fez; +but that enterprizing traveller dying of dysentery, Pasko returned to +his duties in the British navy, where he remained till engaged by +Captain Clapperton, in the joint capacity of servant to Captain Pearce, +and general interpreter to the mission. + +Pasko was no more than five feet in height, with hands and arms +disproportionately long: his face was open and expressive, if a mouth +extending literally from ear to ear can impart an enviable cast of +feature to the human countenance; and his cheek was furrowed with the +tatto mark of the Houssa nation (eight deep scars, inflicted by a rude +instrument during boyhood). His nose was excessively broad and flat, and +his lips resembled, as nearly as possible, the famous German sausage +ornamented; and these were, with large teeth, of pearly whiteness, which +were generally exposed by a perpetual grin playing upon his countenance. +But there was an undefinable expression of low cunning in his dark, +wandering eye, and an habitual restlessness in his manner which induced +one to suspect that there was more of evil in him than he was willing +should be detected, and which he strove to disguise under forced +stupidity and carelessness which in reality did not belong to his +disposition. It is somewhat odd that Pasko, plain as his appearance most +undoubtedly was, should have entertained the strange notion that almost +every female who saw him, of whatever hue, nation, or religion she might +be, could not help falling in love with him at first sight, imagining +that his intellectual physiognomy possessed some peculiar attraction—an +oil of rhodium,—which fascinated all beholders. Hence, secure of the +affections of the softer sex, his behaviour to them was not always +graced by that studied civility, and agreeableness of manner, which are +the characteristics of most gallants; what others were obliged to +entreat and sigh for as a favour, Pasko demanded as a right, and +enforced his pretensions with an eloquence so commanding, that according +to his own asseverations at least, his advances were never repelled by +coldness or disdain. At the period of his engaging himself with the +African mission, he might have been about sixty years of age, but looked +considerably older; and the above unaccountable feeling of his had lost +none of its intensity at so advanced a period of life. Like Aaron’s rod, +it swallowed up every other passion; and as will be seen by the numerous +wives with whom he was accommodated, and the scrapes he fell into by +their means, Pasko subscribed, with all his heart, to the anathema of +the Poet: + + + “Curse on all laws save those which _Love_ has made!” + + +At Badagry, one of the wives of Adólee, the king, fell desperately in +love with the self-enamoured Pasko, and strove to awaken his sensibility +by a present of a bottle of rum; but the latter being observed sneaking +near the king’s house at unseasonable hours, was threatened with death +if he attempted to display his alluring accomplishments before the +illustrious female inmates, to the infinite uneasiness of his majesty’s +mind. Pasko, with whom foolhardiness was in no very high esteem, went +off in great dudgeon, and never repeated his visit to the seraglio, +confining himself within doors as much as possible. This seclusion, +however, could not screen him from the resentment of the slighted lady, +for as he was standing outside our house one day, a stone, flung with +great force from her own _fair_ hand, struck Pasko so violent a blow on +the breast, that it completely ejected every spark of tenderness he +might have entertained for her, and he vowed to embrace the earliest +opportunity of being revenged. At Jannah he forgot his disappointment in +the endearing expressions lavished upon his extraordinary beauty by a +girl of that place, whom he married agreeably to the custom of the +country, and took with him to Katunga, in Yariba. The attachment seemed +to be reciprocal for some time; and Pasko was so bound up in the +blandishments of his spouse, that he was loth to expose her delicate +person to the dangers of a journey to Bornou, and proposed remaining in +that city, instead of continuing in the service of the mission; his +better half relishing the proposal extremely well, and seconding it with +all the weight of her influence. Aspiring, however, to the society of +the wives of his majesty of Katunga, and those of his great men, Pasko’s +rib fell into the temptation of tippling and carousing with them at all +seasons, and indulged in this disgraceful propensity to so great an +excess, that she rarely returned to the arms of her impatient husband in +a sober state; and was, moreover, frequently seen in the company of +younger men than he. All this at length reaching the ears of Captain +Clapperton, she was dismissed his service, but retaken at the piteous +lamentations and entreaties of Pasko, who declared, blubbering all the +while, that he could not survive her loss, so strongly was she linked to +him by the silken bands of love! The amiable lady, nevertheless, the +morning before our departure from Katunga, rising from the couch of her +unsuspecting companion, decamped with the coral beads and other trinkets +he had received of Mrs. Belzoni whilst in England, and was never seen or +heard of after. Pasko consoled himself with the reflection that the +woman was certainly deranged, or she never could have treated a person +of his consideration so unhandsomely! + +At Wow Wow he buried all his griefs and vexations in the embraces of a +fresh wife he had received of the generous Zuma; but it being unlawful +to accept such a present without having first obtained the consent of +the king, Mohammed compelled him to return the dear object of his +affections, much against his own inclination, and the unfortunate lover +determined not to marry again in a hurry. A young woman in Kano however +overturned his resolution, and he left me in the manner which has +already been related. Pasko never troubled his head much about religious +matters, adopting the prevailing opinions about them in the various +countries through which he might happen to pass: thus, he was a +Christian in England, a Pagan in Yariba and Borghoo, and a Mohammedan in +the Falatah empire; although the superstitious notions of his childhood +clung like instinct to his manhood and declining years, evidently +disposing him to lean towards Paganism, as the best and most convenient +doctrine with which he was acquainted. + +My master unexpectedly returned to Kano in September, accompanied by the +Godado (prime minister of sultan Bello) and several Falatahs of less +consequence, the road to Soccatoo having been found impassable by reason +of the rain that had fallen. After remaining with me three or four days, +Captain Clapperton left the city a second time, and entered the capital +of Houssa in safety, on Thursday the 19th of October. + +On the night of the 1st of November Pasko eloped with his Kano wife, +taking with him six pairs of scissors and a pistol. On missing him next +morning, I made an inquiry after him in the city, but no one could give +me the least account of the fugitive, till a person informed me of his +having met him with a woman at an early hour on the road to Zeg Zeg. As +soon as this information was communicated to me, I secured the baggage +in an apartment of our house, and took the key to Hat Sallah, with a +request that he would suffer no one to enter it till my return. Although +I was by no means recovered from the painful illness which had for so +long a time afflicted me, I immediately mounted my horse, and desiring +Abdalfitha, one of our Arab servants to accompany me on another, took +the road to Quorra, a large town in Zeg Zeg, and travelled with unusual +speed. A journey of four days brought us to Roma, on entering which town +we were told that Pasko had just before quitted it; but our horses being +almost knocked up, we could proceed no further on that day, by reason +whereof we were obliged to remain there till the following morning. + +We had not been in the place, however, more than an hour, when some of +the inhabitants came with the news that they had seen Pasko in a woman’s +house near the market-place; and as soon as I had ascertained that this +was actually the case, I hired a dozen stout men to watch at the gates, +and apprehend him if he attempted to escape from the town. Meanwhile, +being exhausted myself with the violent exercise I had been necessitated +to take, I ordered Abdulfitha to proceed to the place of his +concealment, and endeavour to secure the criminal, which he succeeded in +doing without even the shadow of opposition on Pasko’s part, and +presently after brought him to me. The old fellow, with the most +unconcerned air imaginable, wondered I had taken so much pains on his +account, affirming that he had taken a jaunt into the country for a day +or two, in order to amuse himself by shooting a few pigeons for my use, +for he felt for me in my long indisposition! and that it was his +intention to return to Kano as soon as he had accomplished his +charitable purpose. His wife, not liking this species of enjoyment, had +left him the preceding day, and had gone back to her mother’s house. +Pasko, having made this ingenious defence, I gave him a severe lecture +for having left Kano without my knowledge or consent; but as he showed +symptoms of contrition, and promising solemnly to behave with more +circumspection for the future, I cheerfully forgave him; and we retired +to rest. + +On our return we halted at a small village about twelve miles from Kano, +where we slept. In the night, Pasko, watching a favorable opportunity, +stole unobserved out of the hut with all my money, which I had +concealed, for its better security, in my stocking, together with my +guns, pistols, and in fact every thing belonging to me, with the +exception of the horse. The manner in which the robbery was discovered +was as follows:—About two o’clock in the morning, being thirsty, I +called on Pasko several times to fetch me a little water, but receiving +no answer, I arose, and approaching the mat on which he had lain down +the preceding evening, caught hold of what I conceived to be his head, +and shook it violently. Still receiving no answer, I became alarmed, and +instantly striking a light, I found, not Pasko’s corpse stretched on the +mat as I expected, but a slaughtered sheep! which had been sent me from +the chief of the town, in its stead, and which the artful old scoundrel +had placed in that position, enveloping the head of the animal in one of +my woollen caps, for the purpose of deceiving me! as Abdulfitha had been +in the habit of laying his hand on Pasko’s head at intervals during the +night, in order to ascertain that all was right. The thief had stripped +me almost naked; but wrapping a blanket round my person, I rode hastily +with Abdulfitha, by star-light, to Kano, and arrived there early in the +morning. As soon as Hat Sallah had arisen, I simply told him how I had +been served, when he immediately sent several individuals in quest of +the robber, who returned with him two days after. This was enjoyment +with a vengeance; so being determined he should take no more rural +excursions, I ordered the prisoner to be heavily ironed, and confined in +the common dungeon till the return of the governor of Kano from a town +called Fanisoe: this took place two or three days only before my +departure, and on the same day Pasko being examined by his excellency, +and having taken an oath in his presence that he would not again desert +me till the arrival of Captain Clapperton from Soccatoo, he was set at +large in the city. + +I saw a slave in Kano whose fore teeth were cut and pointed, a custom I +thought peculiar to the coast, and some of the islands in the South +Seas. The man’s appearance was most ferocious; and so sullen and +reserved was he, that he refused to answer any interrogations that were +put to him, although I was inclined to believe that he had perpetrated +some flagrant crime, as he was so far on his way to Badagry, whither he +would not have been sent, if his character were not of the very worst +description. + +One day, as I was walking to the governor’s house, I espied a white man +at some distance; I ran after him as fast as my strength would permit +me, and thought at first he was an apparition; but on approaching within +a few yards, and the man suddenly stopping, I immediately perceived that +he was a leper. His head, neck, and shoulders were bared, and the skin, +covered with a thick scurf, had a ghastly and cadaverous appearance. +When he turned to look at me, I could not forbear shuddering, and felt +so peculiar a sensation creep through my frame, that I willingly laid +hold of a date tree growing near the spot, in order to keep myself in an +erect position. The wool, nose, and lips, were entirely negro, and when +these were contrasted with his pale, diseased skin, the leper scarcely +maintained the appearance of a human being. We had seen a woman in +Katunga afflicted with a similar loathsome malady; but its effects in +the latter instance were not nearly so visibly disgusting. Both the +unhappy individuals were vagrants, and shunned, like the lazars of +Italy, by their fellow-creatures. Their life must, indeed, have been a +burden to them; for the disease, preying upon their vitals, threatened +to terminate their wretched career very speedily; and to add to their +sorrows, they had no where to lay their heads. + +I had purchased a young ostrich of a Tuarick, who had brought it from +the desert, shortly after our arrival at Kano, and the animal soon +became so tame, that it would follow me like a dog. In two months after +I had it in my possession it grew amazingly, and I was in hopes of +bringing it to England with me; but an envious Arab in the city, whose +inveterate dislike to every thing belonging to the Christians he took no +pains to conceal, cut off its head, and artfully attributed it to +accident. Meeting the fellow in the street a short time afterwards, I +belaboured his sides so effectually with a stout stick which I held in +my hand, that he ran off bellowing with a complaint to the governor, +who, after listening patiently to his story, observed, with a very +significant look, that he was quite sure the drubbing he had received +must have been inflicted _by accident_, and dismissed the malicious Arab +without granting the redress he sought. + +A wealthy Nyffé man had in his possession, in Kano, two individuals, +male and female, so excessively small, that although they were nearly +thirty years of age, their height did not exceed forty inches. Each of +them had been brought from a place called Goorma, and they had left +their native country at a very early period of life; insomuch, that they +had no recollection of their parents, or of any thing connected with the +manners and customs of their countrymen. None but particular friends of +the proprietor were allowed to see these human beings in miniature, and +even they were introduced only at particular seasons. For my part, I +often visited them, and their innocent playful manners greatly diverted +me. They were extremely chatty and good-tempered, and their agility was +as remarkable as their size was diminutive. I offered to purchase them; +but not altogether admiring my white skin, they refused to quit the +hospitable roof of their owner, who candidly acknowledged that he was so +much attached to the dwarfs, that he had resolved never to force their +inclinations to a measure they disliked in their hearts. + +When I was able, I used, during my stay at Kano, to collect plants, +shrubs, insects, &c. and stuff any birds that I might happen to shoot, +if I fancied there was any thing peculiar or strange in their +appearance. By this means I soon acquired a great variety of beautiful +insects, which, with the birds and plants, I attempted to bring to +England with me; but the portmanteau in which they were placed having +been frequently wetted on my return to the coast, they were all so +completely spoiled, that I was obliged to throw them away. + +On the 12th of November I had the happiness of receiving the following +letter from my master, dated Soccatoo, Tuesday, October 26, 1826:— + + + “DEAR RICHARD, + +“I arrived here on Thursday, after a most fatiguing and harassing +journey. I find the city in much the same state as on my former visit. +They say it has been burnt by the rebels of Goober, but I have observed +no traces of a recent conflagration, and therefore suspect the rumour to +be unfounded. Sultan Bello has been investing Coonia, the capital of +Goober, with a large but irregular army. I visited him in his camp +previously to my arrival here. He appeared glad to see me, and welcomed +me to his country with the utmost cordiality. He is now at Magaria, +anticipating an attack from the rebel chief, but is expected here +shortly. The Arabs have already begun their underhand and deceitful +practices, by tampering with Mohammed [an Arab servant], and insinuating +the injury he would do his soul by serving an enemy to their faith. The +man hardly knows how to act; on the one hand he dreads the resentment of +his namesake the Prophet; and on the other, if he quits my service, he +must necessarily throw himself upon the good-nature of his rascally +countrymen, who indeed make golden promises, but whose filthy +niggardliness is proverbial, even amongst the Falatahs. I shall +certainly feel his loss severely, if Mohammed follows their advice, as I +have no one in whom I can repose so much confidence as himself; but I +have left it entirely to his own choice, either to go or stay. I have +just had a conversation with a messenger, arrived within these few +minutes from Bello and the Godado; he tells me the rebels are hourly +expected near Magaria, and of his sovereign’s wish for me to make all +haste to him, as he is utterly unconscious how long he may be detained +with his army. For the purpose of assisting me on my journey, the Sultan +has sent me two camels and a horse; and most likely I shall leave this +city to-morrow or next day. + +“It is most violently hot here. I fancy the weather has already made +some impression on my health, for I feel now and then a little feverish +and unwell. I sincerely wish it may not increase upon me. Heaven knows I +have had enough of sickness since I first set my foot on African soil; +and it would be disheartening indeed if I should be laid up at this +particular time. Let me hope your health is improved since I saw you. It +would grieve me exceedingly to hear an unfavourable account of it; and I +would suggest that you keep both mind and body as much employed as +possible. By right you should have no idle moments. I hope you ride out +every day, and amuse yourself with shooting and stuffing birds: this +will tend to keep you in good health and spirits. Apply your mind +strictly to the duties of religion; rely firmly on the mercy and +assistance of Heaven; for in all your difficulties and distress, this +alone will bear you up like a man, and render you superior to +misfortune. + +“I pray God to bless you; and believe me to be + + “Your sincere friend and master, + + “HUGH CLAPPERTON.” + +“_Rd. Lander, Kano._” + + +Towards the latter end of November, I received a second letter from +Capt. Clapperton, dated Soccatoo, November 7th, 1826. The following is a +copy of it:— + + + “DEAR RICHARD, + + “I returned from Magaria yesterday: the Sultan received his present +with rapture; nor did the godado appear much less pleased with his. I +enjoy, thank God, tolerable health, with the exception of being +afflicted at times with a sharp pain in my side, which annoys me +greatly; but I hope it will soon wear off. The Sultan does not seem in +the least willing for me to visit Bornou, by reason of the war; but I +shall do all in my power to overturn his unjust prejudices. He fancies, +no doubt, the present intended for the Sheikh consists of warlike +stores; at least, I am pretty confident my kind friends the Arabs have +intimated as much to him. Yet I am infinitely pleased to learn that +Bello does not altogether relish their counsel, and that he judges +pretty correctly of the falsehood and deceit they have so often +practised to serve their own ends. + +“If the road to Bornou be denied me, I really can’t tell what we shall +do, or how we shall get home. It is certain if we pursue a different +route, my business will be incomplete, and of all things this lies +nearest my heart. It is not likely, however, I shall be kept in suspense +a great while longer, and I shall know with certainty perhaps in a few +days. I am already heartily tired of this place; and most devoutly wish +I were with you. I long to turn my face towards our dear country again; +yet whenever I think calmly of it, as oftentimes I do, a cloud seems to +hang over the future which saddens me, I know not why, and makes me +excessively low-spirited. I would cheerfully dissipate all gloomy +reflections if I could; but they come over one at times when one is +least capable of resisting their influence, and an unpleasant sensation +steals insensibly upon the mind, and renders one careless of oneself, +and regardless of the world. + +“My dear Richard, do _you_ endeavour to keep up your spirits. You tell +me you are ill; I imagine this proceeds more from brooding over your +misfortunes than any other cause whatever: it is not well to do so; you +should not suffer despondency and dejection to have the mastery over +your judgment and resolution. Think of your friends in England, and +fancy yourself in their little circle; never permit hope to sink so far +within you, as to say to yourself, ‘I shall never see my country again.’ +Such thoughts, I repeat, should never be indulged; for they are ever +attended with mischief. Your disorder is, indeed, a peculiarly painful +one; yet it is one which every European must expect to be visited with +in this remote region. I have been afflicted with it myself before now, +and you see I am completely recovered from its effects. + +“Let me entreat you, therefore, to hope for the best: it is unmanly to +repine at any trifling casualty that may befal one, which we are all so +very apt to do. Above all things, place your confidence in the wisdom of +the Almighty; let your whole heart and affections rest upon him, for he +alone is able to support you under the trying sickness that wastes you, +and conduct you in safety to dear old England. Pray to Heaven night and +morning, and read the church service as often as you can, particularly +on the Sabbath; for a firm reliance on the goodness and mercy of the +Divine Power, will inspire you with confidence, and bear you up with +cheerfulness and courage, even when all earthly enjoyments fail you. For +my own part, I am inclined to believe you will soon be well, and that we +shall shortly see better and happier days. Most likely I shall leave +this city for Kano the latter part of the week, and surely I need not +repeat how happy I shall be to see you again. + + “Adieu, and believe me + + “Your sincere friend and master, + + “H. CLAPPERTON.” + +“_Richard Lander, Kano._” + + +The above letter had been delivered to me but two days, when I received +a message from the governor of Kano to pay him a visit at his house. On +entering the apartment in which he was seated, he abruptly informed me +that he had just received a letter from my master, which contained a +wish for me to come to him immediately with all the baggage. This piece +of intelligence surprised me not a little, for I had been led to +believe, from the tenor of his last letter, that, instead of my +proceeding to Soccatoo, Captain Clapperton must by that time have been +on the road to Kano. I could not help fancying, however, that something +of a melancholy nature had taken place, which, from motives of delicacy, +had been prudently withheld from me, although I was at a loss to +conjecture of what nature it could be; for it did not occur to me at the +moment that Bello, who bore a high character for uprightness and +integrity, could resort to so mean a stratagem, in order to inveigle an +unprotected stranger into his power, without assigning any reason for +such unwarrantable conduct. + +Two days after this interview (22d November) I received another +invitation from the governor, on which occasion, after briefly alluding +to the former conversation, he hinted that it was necessary for me to +quit the city without delay, naming the 25th as the day most proper for +my departure. He said he should make my master a present of five _pack_ +bullocks to convey the goods to Soccatoo, and order four men to take +charge of the animals on the road. + +On the 24th I paid my respects to the governor, with whom I was closeted +considerably more than an hour; and on rising to depart, he shook hands +heartily with me, saying, with much warmth and feeling, “Good bye, +‘little Christian,’ God take you safe to Soccatoo.” On going back to my +house, I found Hat Salah rather impatiently waiting my return; he +advised me to procure a strong camel by all means, affirming that the +bullocks of themselves were inadequate for the purpose intended. I +agreed with him in this particular, and purchased one which the Arab +recommended for 62,000 cowries. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + * * * * * + +The Author quits Kano to join his master — His illness on the road — +Anecdotes of the natives, and his reception by them — Pasko’s last +robbery, and elopement — He is overtaken, and brought back — The Tuarick +merchants — The Author’s arrival at Soccatoo, the metropolis of the +Falatah empire — Residence there — Pasko’s dismissal, conduct, and +marriage. + + +On the 25th of November I left the city of Kano, accompanied by _honest_ +Pasko, who had just been liberated from his confinement, Abdulfitha the +Arab, and messengers from Bello and the governor of Kano. At one in the +afternoon our party halted at Zungugwâ; but the camel, in endeavouring +to enter by one of the narrow gates of the town, unfortunately broke two +boxes, in which were contained stationery and other articles. This +accident detained us outside the walls for more than an hour, when the +men were obliged to take the goods on their heads, and carry them to the +residence of the chief, at a distance of half a mile from the spot. I +waited on him myself shortly afterwards, and gave him a pair of +scissors, fifty needles, and a small paper of cloves, all which pleased +him highly. The chief then led me into one of his best huts, where he +told me I might remain till I felt inclined to leave the place, and +shortly afterwards sent me butter, sour milk, a couple of fine fowls, +with tuah and corn. + +I awoke early in the morning of the 26th, and leaving the hut of the +hospitable chief, after a ride of six hours, came to Markee, a large, +though thinly inhabited village, the chief of which, a kind-hearted old +man, upwards, I should think, of ninety years of age, and withal very +feeble, was delighted to see me, and testified the pleasure he felt by +repeatedly shaking hands with me for the space of half an hour; and +would undoubtedly have pulled off my arm, if I had not expressed myself +too greatly fatigued to stand so long a time in one place. After a short +conversation, he conducted me into an inner apartment, and, bidding me +to sit, took from a calabash which was suspended from the ceiling a +small box made of skin, round which had been wound, with the greatest +care, upwards of five hundred yards of thread, which occupied him twenty +minutes in taking off. This having been done, he showed me four bits of +tin lying at the bottom of the box, about the size of swan and common +shot. The old chief then gave me to understand, with much seriousness, +as well as earnestness of manner, that the little balls I was looking at +had been given to him by an Arab fifteen years before, who had +positively affirmed that they were of silver, and possessed of life. The +larger pieces, the old man continued, were of the masculine, and the +smaller of the feminine gender; the latter of which would produce young +at the end of every twelve years, and till the expiration of that period +were by no means to be looked at! + +In order to impart warmth to the balls, he had enveloped them in a +quantity of cotton wool, and the thread had been tied round the box, +that the offspring might have no opportunity of escaping! “But,” said +the hoary-headed chief, with a disappointed air, “though I kept them +with the utmost care, agreeably to the instructions I had received, for +twelve years, to my consternation and sorrow, at the end of that period, +I found that they had made no increase, and I begin to think that they +never will;” in saying which, the tender-hearted man was so grievously +affected that he burst into tears. It was with the greatest difficulty +that I could refrain from laughing aloud in his face; but succeeded at +length in subduing the strong inclination I had to be merry, and I told +him, with all the solemnity the occasion required, that the Arab was a +rogue and had deceived him; that the articles he had so highly valued +were bits of tin, and not of silver; that they were without life, and, +therefore, could not infuse the living principle into other inanimate +substances. I consoled the old gentleman, however, upon the hoax that +had been so successfully played off upon him, and sympathized with him +in his sorrow. + +His mind soon afterwards became more composed, although at times he +could not help sobbing audibly; and after answering numerous questions +put to me about my country, I complained of indisposition, and retired +to rest. + +After spending a sleepless night, I arose unrefreshed at six in the +morning, and pursuing our journey, passed close to a large Falatah town, +called Kiowah, in the neighbourhood of which were numerous herds of +horned cattle grazing. Here, as in other parts of Houssa, the cows are +mostly white, and the sheep of the same colour, spotted with red and +black, which occasioned the latter animals to have a very agreeable +appearance at a distance, and recalled to my memory Jacob’s spotted +sheep, mentioned in Scripture. In the afternoon we arrived at Guâri, a +large walled town with an indifferent population. The beasts were unable +to enter the gate with their loads, by reason of its narrowness, and +being unwilling for the men to take them into the town on their heads, +which would have occupied a considerable time—much longer, indeed, than +my fatigue and illness would allow, I reposed for the night underneath +the branches of a large tree. On being made acquainted with my arrival, +the chief paid me a visit, and seating himself by my side, entered most +familiarly into conversation with me, in the course of which he observed +that tigers abounded in the neighbourhood, and unless I kept fires +burning during the whole of the night, my attendants and cattle would in +all probability be attacked and destroyed by those rapacious animals. He +also informed me, that two years before, the Gooberites took and +pillaged his town, putting to the sword nearly the whole of its +inhabitants, and he himself narrowly escaped with life. This was, no +doubt, the reason of the scantiness of the population, and the poverty +of the chief and his remaining subjects. As soon as the chief had +returned to the town, a new-married couple paid me a visit. To the +bride, a very interesting girl of eighteen, I gave guinea-nuts, to the +value of one hundred cowries, on accepting which she dropped on one +knee, and thanked me in a modest but graceful manner; and in the +evening, in return for the trifling present I had given her, she sent me +some butter-milk, which was an acceptable gift at that time. + +At the usual hour, on the morning of the 28th, we again set out, and +halted at a small wretched looking village, called Kookay, at twelve at +noon. The inhabitants, who were as squalid in appearance as their +village was contemptible, were miserably attired, and complained sadly, +amongst other grievances, of the mischief done to their crops by +repeated visits of wild pigs, which had completely destroyed the +principal part of them. + +At noon of the next day we stopped at Duncammee, a moderately sized +walled town, with an overflowing population. I was both surprised and +pleased to observe the neatness of this town, and the tidiness of its +inhabitants. Every inch of spare ground was planted with tobacco, and +tastefully fenced round with the dried stalks of that plant. The +inhabitants at the northern quarter of the town manufacture large +quantities of cotton cloths, which are neat and durable. The wall, by +which the town is surrounded, was in a decayed state, but the houses +were in excellent condition. The chief welcomed me to his dwelling, and +offered me the best apartment in it; and to remunerate his generosity I +gave him a clasp knife and a hundred needles. + +On the morning of the 30th we were again in motion, and halted at Gaza +at noon. The chief, like his neighbours, was happy to see me, lodged me +in his own house, and paid every attention to my wants. + +Next day we continued our journey at the usual hour, and halted at Royoó +at one o’clock at noon. In that town I became suddenly worse, lost my +sight in an extraordinary manner, and could not rise in bed from +excessive weakness and pain. Fancying I should be able to proceed no +further, and that my existence was drawing rapidly to a close, I called +Pasko to my bed-side, and implored him, after he had buried me, to take +particular care of the property he would be left in charge of, and +travel with the utmost expedition to Soccatoo, where he would be +rewarded, according to his deserts, by Captain Clapperton; for thief and +villain as he had proved himself to be, he had some good points, and I +thought that the oath he had taken before the Governor of Kano would +have bound him to honesty. + +On the 1st of December I remained dreadfully ill, expecting every moment +to draw my last breath; but at two o’clock on the afternoon of the next +day I rallied a little, and although unable to sit up, determined to see +my dear master, if possible, before I died. With this object in view, I +ordered my people to prepare a couch for me on the back of the camel, +after which they lifted me gently into it, and I almost immediately +desired them to proceed. + +The Chief of Royoó, who was one of Bello’s principal fighting men, +behaved particularly kindly to me, and I really believe sincerely +sympathized in my distress. He expressed his regret and sorrow at +parting with me in so languid a state, and intimated, that it would be +dangerous to go on, although he did not oppose my resolution, when he +saw it would be useless to do so. The path, the greater part of the way, +being very narrow, and thickly lined on each side with a species of +prickly thorn, I was annoyed greatly, in consequence of their sharp +points frequently tearing the covering from my bed, and exposing my body +to the intense heat of a burning sun. The Kano messenger, however, +ascertaining the cause of my uneasiness, and compassionating my misery, +rode before the camel, and with the greatest dexterity lopped off the +overhanging branches that were likely to impede the animal’s progress, +which rendered the remaining part of the journey infinitely more +tolerable. The violent shaking of the camel caused a faintness to come +over me several times on the road, on which occasions my party uniformly +halted until I revived; and in this manner we travelled till seven in +the evening, when we entered the walled town of Koólefée. + +The chief, a remarkably fine old man, never having seen a white man, was +in transports the moment he learnt I was in the town; and running to the +camel, he took me from off its back, and carried me into an apartment +which had been hastily prepared for my reception. Placing me on a mat, +he took a goora nut from his pocket, and holding it betwixt his finger +and thumb, intreated me to chew one end of it, in order that he might +have the honor of eating with a white man, and a Christian; this I +succeeded in doing after some difficulty, when he immediately ate the +remainder with much apparent satisfaction. His great men, who surrounded +me, reproved the chief sharply for doing this; but quickly answering +them in a pleasant and firm tone, he said that he believed the “Little +Christian” was as good a man as himself, or any of them; which +effectually silenced their remarks. The chief shortly afterwards went +out, and returning in a few minutes with a bowl containing six quarts of +new milk, sweetened with honey, told me that he was determined to see me +swallow the whole of it before he left the apartment. Contrary to his +wishes, however, I partook sparingly of the contents of the bowl at +first, but during the night took large and repeated draughts, which +refreshed and invigorated me. + +On arising the following morning, I found myself so much better, that I +travelled on horseback, although not without much difficulty, to Zunko, +a miserable village in which we slept. + +At sunrise on the 4th, we resumed our journey, and after a fatiguing +ride of seven hours, arrived at Roma, a town insignificant as to size, +but which being built on an eminence, commands a delightful prospect of +the country for miles round. As soon as I entered the house of the +chief, in which I slept, he made me the accustomed presents of +provisions, &c. for which he accepted in return a pair of scissars, a +hundred needles, and a paper of cloves. Several Falatah girls of a +bright copper colour; came to me in the evening, who were exceedingly +beautiful, having delicate and graceful forms; and, with a curiosity so +natural to their sex, were all eager to catch a glimpse of the “Little +Christian,” they having before seen the “_Great_ Christian,” as my +master was called. In the course of the afternoon some of these damsels +brought me milk and butter, for which I requited them with a few glass +beads. In the night, I was rejoiced to find that my disorder, from the +effects of which I had suffered so greatly, left me entirely: and from +that hour my health rapidly and wonderfully improved. + +We bade adieu to the chief of Roma early in the morning of the fifth, +and arrived at a contemptible village, called Bogell, in the course of +the afternoon. Having slept there, we pursued our journey on the +following day, and on entering Zulamee, the chief capered for joy on +welcoming me to his town, and ordered four men to guard the beasts and +property. A band of robbers having infested the neighbourhood for some +time, had committed serious depredations on the inhabitants; and the +chief, fancying that if the goods were left unprotected, they would be +stolen, desired me to discharge a gun morning and evening, that the +brigands might not think I was unprepared to receive them. They did not, +however, think proper to molest me; but the King of Kashna was not quite +so fortunate, for on the preceding day a fine horse was stolen from him, +which he never afterwards recovered. I remained at Zulamee two days, in +order to recruit the spirits of the party, and refresh the animals under +their charge. + +We quitted the town on the morning of the ninth, and sleeping at +Gundumowah, a small but neat Falatah village, arrived at Sansanee on the +following day. The country traversed was thickly wooded, and the path +lay for three hours through a large bush, which having recently been +visited by a horde of elephants, the impressions of whose feet were very +perceptible, travelling was rendered extremely unpleasant, and even +dangerous. On our arrival the chief of the town ordered an open shed, +occupied by a number of calves, to be cleaned out for our reception. In +the evening, placing the baggage in the centre, I desired the men to lie +around it, whilst I reposed near the most valuable articles. Not deeming +the property sufficiently secure in so exposed a place, my sleep was +rather disturbed; and arising about ten or eleven o’clock in the night, +I found that my camel had strayed from outside the shed. Being unwilling +to arouse my drowsy companions, I went myself in quest of him; and on +returning a short time afterwards, discovered, to my infinite surprise +and alarm, that Pasko had decamped with a valuable gun, two pistols, a +cutlass, six sovereigns, nineteen dollars, twenty large and small +knives, and various other articles, which he had contrived to extract +from the boxes in which they had been secured. To deceive me, the artful +old scoundrel had put a pillow into a sack, over which he threw an old +tobe, and laid it along his own mat. On the discovery I instantly made +an alarm, and sent to the chief for a dozen armed horsemen to go in +pursuit of the robber. + +As I was standing in the shed in the afternoon of the next day, I +perceived a party of horsemen coming towards me at full gallop. On +approaching within a few yards they suddenly checked their steeds, and +brandishing their spears over their heads, exclaimed in a loud voice, +“Nasarah, Nasarah, acqui de moogoo!” (Christian, Christian, we have the +rogue!) The men informed me that a little before daybreak in the +morning, hearing the report of a gun, they rode towards the spot whence +the sound seemed to proceed, and saw Pasko perched on the top of a high +tree, the stolen articles lying at the root of it. On their threatening +to shoot him with poisoned arrows unless he immediately came down, the +old fellow hastily obeyed the summons, and delivered himself into their +hands without uttering a syllable. One of the horsemen took the +trembling scoundrel behind him, and the whole party instantly clapped +spurs to their horses, and rode swiftly towards the village. I asked +Pasko what had possessed him to abscond in so disgraceful a manner after +all the protestations he had made to serve me with fidelity. He replied, +that as his countrymen, the Gooberites, were at war with the Falatahs, +he was afraid the latter would cut off his head the moment he was +recognized in Soccatoo, and therefore he had adopted the wiser plan of +securing his person from danger by running away. Whilst he was speaking +the chief of the village, running up to us, cried out, “A blessing, a +blessing! you have caught the thief, let me take off his head!” Not +wishing to gratify the _good-natured_ Falatah in this his merciful +request, I took the punishment of Pasko into my own hands; and it being +his third or fourth offence, I ordered him to be heavily ironed, and +pinioned in the town dungeon. This sentence was rigidly enforced, and on +the following day, the criminal having expressed a wish to speak to me, +I sent for him. He came into my hut, and holding up his naked arms, +which were swollen to thrice their natural size, begged so piteously to +be liberated from his confinement, or at least to have his punishment +mitigated in some degree, that I desired he might not be pinioned again, +as that operation seemed to have given him most pain; but his irons were +not taken off till our departure from the place. + +On the 13th, five hundred camels, laden with salt, obtained from the +borders of the Desert, entered Sansanee, preceded by their owners, a +party of twenty Tuarick merchants, whose appearance was singularly novel +and imposing. The men were all attired in the same fashion, and mounted +on handsome pied camels, which trotted into the town with uncommon +speed. Their dress consisted of black cotton tobes, and full trousers of +the same colour; white caps encircled with black turbans, which +concealed every part of the face but the nose and eyes; and red morocco +boots. In the right hand they held a long and highly-polished spear, +whilst the left was occupied in grasping their shields (the only +defensive armour with which the Tuaricks are acquainted), and retaining +the reins of the camels. The shields were covered with white leather, +and ornamented with a small plate of silver in the centre. As they +passed me they shook their lances, which glittered in the sun-beams, and +their appearance was certainly warlike and formidable in the extreme. +Stopping suddenly in front of the chief’s house, they all exclaimed, as +if with one voice, “Tchow!” at the sound whereof the camels fell +simultaneously on their knees, and the riders dismounted to pay their +respects. They came in a body to see me shortly afterwards, and +notwithstanding their apparent respectability, evinced not the slightest +unwillingness to beg money of me, which they did in a most importunate +manner. One of the merchants, yet more incessant in his solicitations +than his companions, amongst other shining qualities he affirmed he was +in possession of, stated with the utmost seriousness, that he was “God’s +own slave,” and on that account he was not to be overlooked. I said that +the Almighty loved his servants, and made them prosperous and happy, and +therefore he stood in no need of my assistance. The fellow, however, +would not be repulsed, but continued hanging on me, and in fact almost +tore the clothes from my back, till out of all patience, I took the +importunate slave by the shoulders, and thrust him out of the shed into +the street. As he went off, no doubt greatly humiliated in his own +estimation, he muttered some reproaches which I could not comprehend, +and said that I was the first person he had ever applied to in vain for +money. Like thousands of others, these merchants were very inquisitive, +and amongst other questions, wished to know whether many of my +countrymen had not tails like monkeys! I assured them that no human +being had that elegant appendage; but instead of believing my assertion, +they shook their heads, looked wise, and said, “You do not speak the +truth, white man, we know better than you on saying which, they surveyed +me with more attention than before, and one amongst them walked round me +several times, cautiously raising the end of my tobe, to ascertain with +certainty whether I had any thing in the shape of a tail! On observing +the man’s motions, I took off my tobe, which convinced his countrymen +that _I_ at least was without a tail, when they appeared better +satisfied; and left my shed in the course of an hour to look after their +wives and children, who were with the camels on the road, and had not +then arrived. + +Provisions being rather scarce, I went a-shooting on the 14th, to +procure a few pigeons for dinner. The Tuarick men, women, and children, +on hearing the report of my gun, surrounded me in great numbers, and +were infinitely amazed to see the birds falling dead at my feet from the +tops of the tall trees. After examining them with the greatest +attention, they declared that I was a beautiful man, too good a one for +a Kaffir, and that I ought to be a worshipper of the true faith. + +In the afternoon of the 16th, fifty armed horsemen, sent by Bello, +arrived at Sansanee, to accompany me to Soccatoo, his capital, in which +he was waiting my arrival with impatience, and urged me to prepare to +accompany them. The soldiers had brought my master’s two camels to +assist in conveying the goods, which animals, as I subsequently learnt, +the Godado had borrowed under false pretences. A messenger belonging to +the Governor of Kano, who had accompanied the escort so far on his way +to that city, came to me in the evening, unobserved by the Falatahs, and +gave me a letter from Captain Clapperton, of which the following is a +transcript: + + + “_Soccatoo, Wednesday, Dec._ 13, 1826. + + “DEAR RICHARD, + +“I hope you do well; I am still here, contrary to my expectations, and +Heaven knows when I shall be permitted to leave. This cursed Bornou war +has overturned all my plans and intentions, and set the minds of the +people generally against me, as it is pretty well understood by both +rich and poor, that I have presents for their enemy the Sheikh. I wish, +with all my heart, it was ended; no matter whether the Falatahs or +Bornouese be victorious, so I could conveniently pursue my journey. The +Sultan has told me that I may return by way of Bornou, if I insist upon +it, but raises so many obstacles, that it amounts to a prohibition. He +is evidently unwilling for me to have any dealings with his adversaries. +I do not know how this matter will end; I must acknowledge I do not like +the appearance of things just now; God grant my fears may be groundless. +Since my last I have been seriously ill with an enlargement of the +spleen,[5] but am now much relieved from the pain attendant upon this +complaint; and the swelling is also greatly reduced. I amuse myself as +often as opportunities occur, which are seldom enough, and frequently +take a ramble through the town, or a ride into the country. I generally +feel stronger after the exercise, and would recommend you to adopt a +similar practice, for, believe me, you would soon experience the benefit +of it. Three or four fires have happened here lately, which have done +much mischief; but nothing of mine, I am happy to say, has been injured +by them, although a house almost adjoining ours has been burnt to the +ground. People say the rebels of Goober are the authors of them, but I +put no confidence in these rumours, as they are without the slightest +proof. I believe I have nothing more, in the shape of news, to acquaint +you with, and my only reason for writing you at all is, to let you know +how I get on, that you may not be uneasy on my account. Adieu, Richard, +and rest assured I have your interest and welfare at heart. + + “Your sincere friend and master, + + “HUGH CLAPPERTON.” + +“_Richard Lander, Kano._” + + +I was astonished, on perusing this letter, to find that my master knew +nothing of the circumstance of my having left Kano, still less of my +being so near him; and it struck me forcibly at the time that Bello +wished to get me into his power, only to become the sole possessor of +the presents intended for the Sheikh of Bornou, by laying violent hands +both on Captain Clapperton and myself. With this belief I arose next +morning, and asked the Godado’s brother, who commanded the escort, if it +was not the Sultan’s intention to take away our lives on my entering +Soccatoo, as my master knew nothing of what had transpired; but the +Falatah answered,—“Fear nothing, our King will not injure either of you; +his sole reason for sending for you is, that as he has seen but one +Christian, he feels the greatest desire to become acquainted with a +second.” “Remember the men of Boussa!” I simply retorted, when he left +me in extreme haste and great uneasiness. + +The Godado’s brother was as importunate as the Tuarick merchants in +begging money of me to purchase goora nuts, for the two first days after +the arrival of the escort, and became so troublesome that I at length +told him I had no property of my own, but that all he saw belonged to my +master, without whose consent I was determined not to spare a single +cowry. The Falatah was not at all pleased at the answer; but on telling +him that on my arrival in Soccatoo he should be handsomely rewarded, he +ceased to plague me. + +Every thing being in readiness, on the 19th, I liberated old Pasko, who +seemed dispirited, and truly sorry for the offence he had been guilty +of, and at two in the afternoon I quitted the town with the escort, but +was obliged to leave a bullock behind, the animal being lamed, and +unable to walk a hundred steps without stumbling. Having travelled at a +rapid rate through the dreaded “Goober Bush,” we arrived, much fatigued, +at Magaria, about eleven o’clock the next night. The poor horses and +camels having suffered dreadfully during the journey from thirst and +over-exertion, we were obliged to remain in the town two days, in order +that they might enjoy a little rest. During our stay I resided in a +house belonging to the Godado, whose brother supplied me with abundance +of excellent provisions. I was requested by some of the principal +inhabitants to kill a few birds with my gun, that several strangers then +in the town might have an opportunity of seeing in what manner they were +procured in my country. I soon gratified their curiosity, by shooting a +small bird at the distance of fifty yards; on which they betrayed the +utmost surprise, nor would they believe for a long time that it was +really dead, but kept turning it round, and feeling whether it had +actually received a wound. + +On the 23rd we quitted the town of Magaria, and, to my great joy, +entered Soccatoo about two o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, +after a disagreeable and wearisome journey (from Kano) of nearly a +month. Not having seen my master for the period of a quarter of a year, +I made the greatest haste to his house; but not finding him at home, I +was conducted to the Godado’s, with whose owner I found him in earnest +conversation. Although certainly surprised, he was glad to see me, and +we walked home together. + +The day after my arrival (24th December), Sultan Bello sent a messenger +to request my master and myself to repair without delay to his +residence. As soon as we were admitted into his presence, he abruptly +began the conversation by inquiring the nature of the presents I had +with me, and was extremely solicitous to know if I had left any of them +behind in Kano, for the Sheikh of Bornou. I replied that I had not. “Are +you sure of that?” rejoined the Sultan. I answered with firmness a +second time in the negative. Bello then demanded the King of England’s +letters to the Sheikh, which my master, after a short pause, reluctantly +produced; but vehemently opposed the Sultan’s wishes for him to open and +read them, observing, that as soon as his sovereign should discover, on +his return to England, that he had so unfaithfully broken his trust, he +would instantly be beheaded. The Falatah prince then took the letters +into his own hands, and on his graciously waving his hand in token that +he wished to have nothing more to say, we bowed, and left the apartment. + +We had not returned to our hut a great while, when the Godado, his +brother, Hat Sallah, (who had received secret instructions to overtake +me on the road,) with several of the principal inhabitants of Soccatoo, +entered, and demanded, in the name of the Sultan, the presents intended +for the Sheikh of Bornou, together with all the arms and ammunition +which we should not want ourselves. My master became violently agitated +when their errand was communicated, and rising from the mat on which he +had been reposing, exclaimed with energy and bitterness:— + +“There is no faith in any of you; you are an unjust people; you are +worse than highway robbers!” + +The Falatahs cautioned him to be more moderate in his expressions, or it +might cost him his head. + +“If I lose my head,” retorted the Captain, in the same determined tone +and manner, “it will be for no other crime than that of speaking for the +just rights of my king and country; I repeat, you are a nation of +scoundrels and robbers.” + +Hat Sallah entreated him (in Arabic) to express himself with less +emphasis, and in milder language before the people, who would carry +every word he had uttered to their sovereign. I also joined in the same +request, and begged him, as the attempt at resistance, for people so +circumstanced as we were, would be the height of imprudence, to accede +to the commands of the sultan, how tyrannical soever they might be. At +length, after much persuasion, Capt. Clapperton consented that the +presents in question should be produced; but desired the godado, on his +leaving the apartment, to inform his king that he never wished to see +him again; and that his business with him, after such perfidious +conduct, was at an end. + +A short time after they had quitted our house, Mallam Mudey returned +with a message from Bello, stating it to be the intention of that +monarch to write to his _friend_ the King of England, in explanation of +his behaviour; but my master assured the holy man that _his_ sovereign +would not even look at the superscription of a letter from Bello, after +being made acquainted with the dastardly action by which he had so +disgraced himself. + +Soccatoo has been considerably enlarged by the present sultan, and is +indisputably the most important city in the interior of Africa. The wall +that surrounds the capital of the Falatah empire, does not indeed +encompass so large a portion of ground as that of Kano, but its +population is treble the amount; and allowing the latter city to contain +forty thousand souls, the aggregate number of inhabitants in Soccatoo +will be one hundred and twenty thousand; which computation I do not +conceive to be over-rated. + +Kano is distant from Soccatoo twenty regular days journey, or about two +hundred and fifty English miles. The metropolis is built in a pleasant +situation, on the summit of a gently elevated spot of land, and has a +river flowing near the northern end, which enters the Quorra four days +journey from Cubbé. The wall is high, and provided with eleven gates; +but has an extremely heavy appearance. Architecture, as a science, is +not cultivated in the interior; and the termites can rear as elegant a +mansion as the natives, and in a far more ingenious manner. The +habitations in Soccatoo are constructed like those of Kano, with clay, +and have a dull, gloomy appearance. + +An old Haussan with two asses arrived in the city one day from Egypt. +Having stopped in the different towns through which he had to pass, for +the purpose of trafficking with their inhabitants, he had accomplished +the long and dangerous journey in little more than a twelvemonth. He +informed me that he had undergone great privations on the road, and had +well nigh perished of thirst on more than one occasion. He had had no +human companion to cheer him; and his affection for the brute associates +of his lonely pilgrimage was singularly great. They had fared in common +with himself; they had eaten and slept together; and, said the old man, +as he drove away the patient-looking animals, “I would as soon lose my +life as be deprived of them.” The Haussan observed that it was his +intention to proceed to Tombuctoo the following week, and that on his +return he should pay me a visit, but I never saw or heard any thing of +him afterwards. + +The people of Soccatoo cry their provisions round the city; and milk, +fish, &c. are daily hawked through the streets by the lower orders, +whose voices are as loud and shrill as those heard in London. The cry of +“_Nono de mi!_” (milk and butter) always put me in mind of bells +belonging to village churches; there was something peculiarly plaintive +in the rising and falling of the voice of the young female who used to +vend those articles morning and evening in the immediate neighbourhood +of our dwelling; and, in my opinion, it strikingly resembled them in +sound. “Namah du tonkah,” mutton (literally “flesh of the sheep”); +“Namah de la comma” (camel’s meat); “Namah du acquia” (beef); “Gorassa” +(little cakes made of pounded wheat); are also cried every morning; as +is likewise “dowah,” and every other variety of grain produced in +Haussa. + +Wheat was first imported into Haussa by the Arabs about a century ago; +and even now they have the exclusive cultivation of it. Bread is only to +be met with in two cities, Soccatoo and Zaria, and is manufactured by +the female slaves of the Arabs, who sell it publicly by retail for their +masters. For a very good reason I never tasted any of it whilst in +Africa, and therefore can say nothing as to its good or bad quality. + +Pasko, whom my master had dismissed his service the moment he was made +acquainted with his two-fold villainy, without paying the wages that +were due to him, applied to a native lawyer in Soccatoo for advice; but +the learned Falatah having patiently listened to the details of his +case, discarded him, with the assurance, that if he had been Abdullah +(Captain Clapperton’s travelling name), instead of rewarding him, he +would have cut off his head! + +Under this consolation the old man, having a small sum of money in his +possession, turned snuff-merchant, but being cheated by every body, +became insolvent in the course of a very short time, and, in order to +procure a slender maintenance, was ultimately obliged to cut wood from a +neighbouring forest. In the height of his prosperity as a tradesman, +Pasko, forgetting all his former vows and misfortunes and contrary to +his usual custom, formally paid his addresses to a black slave, named +Mattah Gewow (literally Miss, or woman-elephant), in the household of +Ben Gumso, an Arab. This woman, a native of Yariba, which country is +notorious for ugly females, had a countenance inexpressibly hideous, but +was well known by all ranks in Soccatoo, as the most experienced maker +of _tuah_[6] which that or any other city could produce. In addition to +the other attractions of this lady, a huge white tooth hung from her +upper jaw, affectionately embracing the nether lip; and her chin was +bristled most divinely with a slender but conspicuous and stubborn +beard,—she being the only individual of her sex I had seen in the +country possessing so masculine an ornament. Mattah Gewow was in the +decline of life, having seen between fifty and sixty dry seasons pass +over her head, and had, in her earlier years, been allured from the +paths of innocence and virtue by a blind fiddler in the pay of the late +and present sultan, who had refused to make her reparation by marriage. +From that period to the time of our visiting Soccatoo, no sable swain +had been emboldened to pay her any marked attentions; and the injured +woman was inconsolable under the thoughts of living for ever in “single +blessedness,” when the affectionate Pasko, having casually partaken of +her far-famed tuah, pronounced it to be the best he had ever tasted, and +immediately offered his heart and person, which, after a few _invisible_ +blushes on the lady’s part, were modestly accepted. The betrothed, as +soon as they perfectly understood each other, spent all their leisure +moments in their own delightful society, Pasko extolling the charms of +the peerless Miss Elephant to the skies, and Miss Elephant returning the +compliment by perpetually discovering fresh subjects for admiration and +love in the person and physiognomy of the incomparable snuff-merchant. +Thus the first few evenings of their courtship were passed, at which +time I was a constant visiter at Ben Gumso’s, and often overheard their +tender discourse. I broke in upon the lovers one day rather +unexpectedly, in the midst of their dalliance, when Pasko was pouring +out an eloquent and passionate eulogium on the graces of his Mattah, +who, on observing me, + + + “_Blush’d_ at the praise of her own loveliness!” + + +and, with her adorer, looked exceedingly foolish. Being unwilling to +disturb the harmony that had prevailed before my intrusion, I left the +happy couple to enjoy themselves as they thought proper, and quitted the +house. + +A day having been fixed upon for the marriage ceremony, the suitor +determined to spend it jovially; and his own finances being at a very +low ebb, he borrowed four thousand cowries of Ben Gumso, in order that +nothing might be wanting to stamp dignity and consequence on the +celebration of the festival. Pasko had just before embraced Islamism, +and rigidly observed the outward rules of that belief; besides which he +was well skilled in all the learning and knowledge of the Falatahs; so +that the Arab did not hesitate to advance him the money he sought, on +the faith of his bare promise of re-payment. The evening preceding the +ceremony, Pasko sent a present of snuff, an old shirt, &c. to Mattah, +which was acknowleged by a bowl of rich tuah; and the compact was thus +formally ratified. On the following morning the “fatha” was read, and +Pasko and the _lovely_ Mattah became man and wife. Agreeably to promise, +the happy bridegroom spent the day merrily with a friend or two he had +invited; but so far forgot himself, his newly-adopted religion, and the +respect he owed his bride, that towards evening he became intoxicated; +indeed so much so that he was bereaved of his reason; and Mattah, who +was only _tipsy_, perceiving her husband in this pickle, was very wrath, +and pouring a whole bowl of hot half-boiled tuah over his head, face, +and breast, gave him a sound drubbing with an empty calabash, and turned +the unfortunate snuff-merchant out into the street half dead, where he +remained in a state of insensibility till the next morning. On awaking, +and finding himself bespattered from head to foot with tuah, Pasko had a +confused recollection of the preceding evening’s debauch, and its +disastrous consequences; but instead of disturbing the slumbers of his +amiable wife, he strolled listlessly towards our hut, sorely distressed +in mind and body, where I met him an hour or so afterwards, the end of +his tobe being completely saturated with his tears, which were yet +flowing, and his whole appearance looking uncommonly grotesque. After +making me acquainted with the melancholy tale of his mishap, he begged +me to use my influence in order to compromise matters betwixt his gentle +consort and himself, and assured me that if I succeeded, when occasion +needed, he would cheerfully lay down his life for me. + +Wishing to be better acquainted with a woman, whose excessive ugliness +and skilful tuah-making were the table talk of the whole kingdom of +Houssa, I willingly embraced the proposition, and making a visit to Ben +Gumso’s, had the good fortune to reconcile the angry lady to her +sorrowing lord, after which they lived very happily together, till +Pasko’s bankruptcy broke in upon their domestic felicity, and drove the +ill-fated man into the woods. To the credit of Mattah, however, be it +spoken, she did not abandon her husband in his mournful reverse of +fortune; but, with an attachment worthy of her sex, supplied him, as far +as she was able, with food and raiment; and their parting interview, on +Pasko’s leaving Soccatoo with me, was beyond description natural, +tender, and pathetic. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + * * * * * + +Religion — Laws — Government — Amusements, &c. of the Natives from +Badagry to Soccatoo — Slavery in the interior countries — Timidity of +the people — State of the arts amongst them — Dry and wet seasons. + + +The religion of the natives from Badagry to Soccatoo is either +Mohammedism or Paganism; or, as it frequently appeared to us, a mixture +of both, so nicely blended, as to make it impossible to ascertain with +accuracy which belief had the ascendancy. Idols, or figures of birds, +beasts, and reptiles, are worshipped in Badagry, Jannah, and Yaribas +exclusively, while in the kingdoms of Borghoo, Nyffé, and Houssa, +Islamism prevails in a greater or less degree. + +The professors of the former faith have a vague and indistinct notion of +one great Being reigning above the skies, who is infinitely superior to +every other in the nature of his attributes, and the extent of his power +and influence. To this unknown God they pay divine adoration, through +the medium of insignificant and inanimate objects, by the offering up of +sacrifices to the latter, under the belief that the Great Spirit exists +at so immeasurable a distance from them, and his time is so much +employed in other and more important matters, that he cannot listen to +the prayers of every individual. In consequence of this he appoints +innumerable subordinate agents and machines, who aid and assist him, and +minister to the affairs of mankind. They believe also in the existence +of a powerful malevolent Spirit, who endeavours to counteract the good +deeds of the Most High by every means, and is the author of all the +mischief that annoys them. The people stand in the greatest dread of the +power and machinations of this terrible demon, and strive to avert his +wrath, and conciliate his favour, by oblations of dogs, sheep, and, in +many cases, of human beings. Fetish-huts are the temples of their +worship, which are regarded with superstitious awe by rich and poor; and +are each furnished with one or more priests, who alone are acquainted +with the mysteries of their religion. Some of the people are very +sincere in their devotional exercises, which are energetic and simple; +whilst many pay little respect to the exterior forms of worship, openly +ridiculing those who profess a greater share of sanctity than +themselves; and, whenever they are unsuccessful in their pursuits and +enterprizes, even belabour their household gods without mercy. They +entertain also an idea that the soul hovers round the scenes it had +known in the body, for an indefinite length of time; but that it is +ultimately conducted to a place of happiness or misery; a kind of heaven +for the peaceable, and hell for the turbulent, according to the deeds it +has suggested in this life, and there to remain everlastingly. Both +Mohammedan and Pagan attach miraculous qualities to fetishes or charms, +which to them are an effectual panoply against every danger; sometimes a +chief or great man is actually covered with them from head to foot, and +in this state considers himself as secure as Achilles in his armour. I +have often been urged to discharge a pistol, loaded with ball, at the +breast of an individual thus supernaturally defended, but it is +unnecessary to say that I never risked the men’s lives at the expence of +their ignorance and credulity, having endeavoured in every instance, +although unsuccessfully, to persuade them out of their superstitious +prejudices by less dangerous experiments. The natives appear to have no +gloomy foreboding as the hour of death approaches; nor do they, as I had +often been given to understand, anticipate dissolution with any symptoms +of fear or alarm. + +Those who profess the Mohammedan religion amongst the negroes are as +ignorant and superstitious as their idolatrous brethren; nor does it +appear that their having adopted a new creed has either improved their +manners, or bettered their state and condition in life. On the contrary, +I have generally found the followers of the Prophet to be less +hospitable to strangers, less kind to each other, and infinitely more +mischievous and wicked than the heathen portions of the community, whom +they, whimsically enough, affect to despise as rude barbarians, although +_their_ claims to superior intelligence are grounded simply on the oral +communications of the principles of the Koran, received from time to +time from the wandering Moors and Arabs; or from traditionary legends of +their country. The artful Arabian, however, withholds from them a full +half of the little he himself may be acquainted with, taking care to +teach them no more than is absolutely necessary to promote his own +views, and enlarge his own interests. The Mohammedan negroes go through +their ablutions regularly, and when water is not to be obtained, make +use of sand, as the Koran enjoins. The Tuaricks, or “Bereberes,” +(Children of the Desert,) adopt the latter method on all occasions, the +trouble of applying water, even when they have abundance within their +reach, being too irksome and unpleasant for them. + +The Falatahs, who profess Islamism, understand and make use of a few +Arabic prayers, but the negro that can utter so long a sentence as: “_La +illah el Allah rasoul allahi!_” (There is but one God, and Mohammed is +his prophet,) is styled _mallam_, or learned, and is regarded with looks +of respect and reverence by his less intelligent countrymen. These +mallams are scattered in great numbers over the country, and procure an +easy and respectable subsistence by making fetishes, or writing charms +on bits of wood, which are washed off carefully into a bason, and drunk +with avidity by the credulous multitude, who consider the dirty water +used in the operation as a panacea for every disease and affliction. As +the office of mallam, which answers to that of priest in Catholic +countries, is one of great sanctity as well as considerable emolument, +every one burns with impatience to get initiated into its sacred +mysteries, and enjoy a like comfortable and indolent life as the mallams +themselves; for a learned man never toils or spins, but is bountifully +fed, and pampered in luxury by his lay countrymen. Every caravan is +furnished with one or more of these corpulent drones, who loll at their +ease, while their employers are at the same time, perhaps, actually +killing themselves with over-exertion. + +Few of the negroes can articulate in Arabic more than the word “Allah,” +or “Bismillah,” believing that the frequent repetition of the former of +these expressions can absolve them from all sin, without any further +demonstration of their zeal and sincerity. Even after the committal of a +capital offence, should the criminal be almost immediately executed, and +“Allah!” is heard to tremble on his closing lips, the multitude firmly +believe that his soul will inevitably be conveyed to the third Heaven, +and be happy for evermore. + +Swarms of sheriffs, or emirs, the real or fictitious descendants of +Mohammed and Ali, have crossed the desert, and practice their +disgraceful impositions to so great an extent, that the eyes of the +natives are partially opened to their chicanery, and they are often +regarded as characters with whom it would be dangerous to meddle. + +The belief in the “Evil Eye,” is equally common with Mohammedan as +Pagan, and this superstition, borrowed from the Moors, has lost none of +its fearful interest by being transplanted to a foreign soil. If +sickness of any kind visits a child before it has attained the age of +three or four years, then say the people the “Evil Eye, is fixed upon +it,” and the relatives of the afflicted infant endeavour to avert the +wasting glance of the malevolent and unseen spirit by sacrifices of +birds, and various other means. + +Mallams from Houssa reside in almost every town of consequence through +which we passed on our journey into the interior,—propagating their +religion, and teaching the inhabitants to read and write as much as they +themselves know. The Mohammedan faith is spreading daily and rapidly by +this means, particularly in Nyffé, hundreds of the natives of that +kingdom having lost sight of their ancient prejudices, and the religion +of their forefathers, and embraced the more congenial tenets of +Islamism. In some cities or towns, however, these mallams have been very +roughly handled by the people, and many of them have lost their lives in +disseminating, with too great eagerness, their opinions amongst the +worshippers of idols. As an instance of this, five holy men, two or +three of whom were Arab emirs, visited Katunga, the capital of Yariba, a +few years since, and immediately began to spread the dogmas of their +faith amongst the inhabitants, publicly teaching their children to read +the Koran, &c. The priests of the fetish, who, in regard to their +religious observances, surprizingly resemble the Druids of England +before the Conquest, became sensibly alarmed at the rapid progress of +another and strange belief, so inimical to their best interests, and +tending to the injury, if not the complete overthrow, of the power and +influence which they themselves and their ancestors had exercised for a +series of ages over the minds and actions of the votaries of Paganism. +They went in a body to their monarch, the present king, threatening him +with the loss of his empire, if he persisted in tolerating the religious +principles broached by the mallams. This denunciation so intimidated the +superstitious prince, that he was frightened into a compliance with +their wishes of appointing a day, or rather night, for the assassination +of the unsuspecting Mussulmans, which was accordingly carried into +execution, and Ben Gumso, my old friend in Soccatoo, was the only one +amongst the number who escaped with life. This learned Arab was indebted +to one of the wives of his Yaribean majesty, for his flight and +preservation. Having overheard part of the conversation between her +royal consort and the fetish-priests, and entertaining some share of +veneration for the expounders of a doctrine she secretly approved of, as +well as feeling compassion for them, in consequence of their +premeditated massacre, the queen embraced the earliest opportunity of +apprizing Ben Gumso of the danger that threatened his companions and +himself; but this being done only a few seconds before the execution of +the sentence, the Arab was obliged to elope in a state of nudity from +his house, without having leisure to bestow a single thought on his ill- +fated associates. + +From that period a mallam has never ventured to enter the gates of +Katunga, and the Mohammedan religion was soon forgotten by the people. +They have, however, penetrated beyond the empire of Yariba, two Houssa +holy men, having found their way to Jannah, the town in which Dr. +Morrison, it is said, died and was buried, and three others to Badagry; +but more of these individuals are allowed openly to profess their +religion, or teach the children of the inhabitants to read, on pain of +death; and, they are, moreover, looked upon with the greatest suspicion. +The mallams, in the latter city, were not permitted to make themselves +known to us on our journey into the interior, nor to me on my return, +till after I had swallowed the fetish-water, when they visited me with +presents of fowls, ducks, and rice, and testified the sincerest pleasure +on my answering their earnest interrogations respecting their native +country. + +Nevertheless, in the course of a generation or two, I have no doubt, in +spite of every obstacle, that the religion of Mohammed, in its exterior +forms and ceremonies at least, will be universally adopted in Western +and Central Africa, to the complete discomforture of the fetish-priests +and their proselytes; and unless some unforseen convulsion arrest the +hasty and gigantic strides Islamism is making towards that consummation, +and divert the minds of the people to other objects, the period does not +seem to be very remote when Paganism will be unknown in the land. + + + LAWS. + + +In a rude state of society nothing can be more simple than the laws and +punishments of the people. In several of the Pagan countries of the +interior of Africa, having no written code, the natives appoint elders +to administer justice, at the head of whom the King, or chief, generally +presides. In petty cases, such as trifling assaults and other +misdemeanors, the parties concerned compromise the matter without +referring it to the general assembly. In Badagry the fetish-priests are +the sole judges of the people, and the statutes of their country, like +those of the Druids, are recorded in their own breasts only, +consequently they are mostly swayed in their decisions by interest, or +influenced by prejudice and passion; but in no instance are they +murmured against by either plaintiff or defendant. + +Murder, adultery, and theft, are the most general crimes, and in many +African countries are punishable with death, banishment, or perpetual +imprisonment. In Yariba and Nyffé, the relatives of a murdered man may, +and often do, accept of a sum of money, named by them, from the +criminal, which is considered equivalent to corporal punishment. In +Badagry, Borghoo, and Houssa, however, an individual guilty of slaying a +free man, if apprehended, instantly loses his life, and his body is left +to be devoured by vultures. + +In cases of adultery, the injured husband is at liberty to do what he +pleases with his unfaithful partner, even to the taking away her life; +and if her seducer has not money enough at his disposal to satisfy the +former for the loss of his honor, the same punishment may be inflicted +upon him also. The extreme rigor of the laws on this head occasions +instances of adultery to be exceedingly rare in every other country but +Borghoo, where the punishment attending it being infinitely less rigidly +exacted, the offence is more generally prevalent. + +Theft, in Nyffé, is punished by imprisonment of the party or parties; +and in all aggravated cases the criminal is confined in irons, in a +large gloomy dungeon, for a given number of years, where he is compelled +to labour in various avocations till the expiration of the term +expressed in his sentence. In Yariba the crime of stealing, owing to the +dreadful severity of punishment that awaits delinquents, is by no means +common among the people. Free men, found guilty of larceny, are operated +upon, and retained by the king or his chiefs as guardians for their +numerous wives. In this state they are equal in value to five prime +slaves; and it makes no difference if the thief be the father of a large +family, or the husband of many females, and respectable as to wealth and +connections,—the sentence is on all occasions rigorously enforced. Those +who effect robberies of greater magnitude, or burglaries (if free men), +are chastised in the same singular manner, after which the tattoo mark +of their country is cancelled (consisting simply of having the face cut +and gashed in a thousand places), that of another nation substituted, +and when partially recovered from the effects of the wounds, the +miserable wretches are driven, like beasts, to the sea-coast, and sold +into perpetual slavery. _Slaves_ guilty of theft, or indeed of almost +any other crime, are uniformly decapitated in Yariba, without the +benefit of trial; whereas all free men are judged impartially by the +elders of the people in the hearing of the king, in the palaver-house, +or hall of council. + +Yarro, ruler of Khiama, a province of Borghoo, encourages theft, by +appropriating part of the stolen property to his own use, which is +generally presented to him by the robber in person; but if an +individual, after being successful in a depredation, forgets or refuses +to tender the accustomed portion of the spoil to his sovereign, he is +immediately beheaded, and the whole of his property falls to the king. +On my return to that country I was informed by several of the natives, +that as soon as their prince heard of our approaching his territories +from Yariba, he caused a proclamation to be issued in every town through +which we were expected to pass, prohibiting the inhabitants from +stealing even a needle from the white men, and threatening with death +every one that infringed this law. To this wholesome and timely +declaration of Yarro I attribute the great respect in which our persons +were held by the multitude, and the reverence with which they regarded +our property and effects. + +In Yariba and Borghoo, as well as in several other countries, when women +find themselves _enceintes_, they must immediately inform their husbands +of the circumstance; or in attempt at concealment, are publicly flogged. +The same punishment is also inflicted on females who are known to +associate with the other sex before the expiration of three years after +the birth of an infant, that being the period mothers are obliged to +suckle their offspring. + + + GOVERNMENT. + + +The government of Badagry, Yariba, Nyffé, and Houssa, is a perfect and +unlimited despotism, the sovereigns of those countries exercising +absolute power over the lives and property of their subjects, as well as +the privilege of enacting the most arbitrary laws, and other acts +peculiar to the kingly office. The government of Borghoo, however, +partakes more of the nature of a limited monarchy than of real +despotism, the people sharing, in some degree, in the management of the +state, through the representation of the chiefs or elders of towns, who, +like the feudal barons of England in the reign of John, have +considerable influence with their sovereign, and are consulted in all +affairs of consequence. These chiefs, themselves, are oftentimes +factious and turbulent, fomenting innumerable broils and wranglings +amongst the people in their respective jurisdictions, to gratify with a +better grace their own private feelings of resentment, and to disturb +the public peace by arbitrary and unlawful proceedings. The people of +Boussa, the principal state in Borghoo, together with those of its +sister provinces of Youri, Wow Wow, and Khiama, are indebted to the +Bornouese for their origin; or at least the traditions of the natives +intimate that Borghoo was colonized from Bornou at a remote era, in +which opinion all classes implicitly believe; and, like the +Carthaginians of old, the people of the former kingdom are not forgetful +of their derivation, but send annually a number of presents by way of +acknowledgment to their ancient country; although of late years, owing +to the disturbances of the Falatahs, the accustomed presents have not +been received in Bornou with the same punctuality as formerly. + + + AMUSEMENTS. + + +The recreations of the Africans are few and simple. At Wow Wow horse- +racing takes place every Friday, (the Mohammedan Sabbath,) immediately +after the compliments of the day are over. The course, which is a mile +in length, is kept clean and free from grass, &c. by persons appointed +for that purpose by the king; and the race is extremely well contested, +exciting amongst the people generally as lively an interest as the same +sport does in the minds of my own countrymen. The competitors are +oftentimes twelve or fourteen in number, and the rider of the swiftest +horse obtains no other reward than the honor of the deed itself, and the +privilege of _dancing_, at the conclusion of the game, with the king, +queens, and princesses of Wow Wow! The inhabitants, on these occasions, +attire themselves in their gayest apparel, and, in the evening, +assembling in groups in different parts of the town, pass many an hour +in singing, dancing, and carousing, till, towards morning, they go tipsy +to bed. Horse-racing is, I believe, peculiar to Wow Wow; for in no other +African country that I have heard of (except perhaps Khiama), or that +came within the reach of my own observation, is a similar amusement +preserved. The people of Borghoo divert themselves by playing at a kind +of chequers, and throwing cowries from a certain distance into a hole +previously dug in the earth; the latter amusement is somewhat similar to +our “pitch and toss,” and is cultivated by all ranks and both sexes with +uncommon ardour. In addition to these pastimes, the higher orders spend +whole days in hunting and fishing. + + + SONGS, MUSIC, &c. + + +If the character of a nation may be judged of by its Songs, the Africans +undoubtedly would be pronounced as the boldest and most martial, as well +as the most amorous people, on the face of the globe. Their strains +breathe nothing but love and war, and contempt of death; but their +conduct, instead of corresponding with such lofty ideas, is the most +pusillanimous imaginable, scarcely one amongst them ever evincing a +solitary trait of true courage or resolution. Of all figures of speech, +they most delight in the use of the “apostrophe;” and it is not +uncommon, even but a single day after a defeat, to hear them calling +aloud on the names of their absent adversaries, and bestowing upon them +all manner of cowardly and reproachful epithets. + +“Our enemies tremble and are dismayed when they hear of our approach,” +sing the people of Yariba; “and at sight of our arrows they die with +fear! See them fleeing like the doe from our fighting men! Behold them +falling down and kissing the dust from the feet of our warriors! Haste, +haste, Yaribeans! pursue and overtake your enemies; slay them without +mercy; stop their voices, that they sing no more at eventide by the +light of the moon; they are swift of foot, but they shall not escape +you; they are already weary; their journey of life is almost at an end; +they have fallen to the earth, and will dance no more. Weep, ye widows +of Houssa, and let the lamentations of your children be heard in the +land, for they are fatherless, and your husbands have been pierced by +the lance of Yariba! They are clothed in darkness, as the noon in a +storm. Who can tell whither their spirits are wandering? Weep, ye widows +of Houssa; but your tears flow in vain; your husbands will return no +more!” + +This is the nature of the strains sung by the females of Katunga, +(principally the king’s wives,) at the celebration of their solemn +feasts and festivals: the Houssans (or rather the Falatahs of that +country) being their most inveterate enemies, are on all occasions the +subject of their poetry, and are made to flee from the Yaribeans in +imagination, whilst in reality they are worsted in every engagement. +Their social and domestic songs, however, are delivered in recitative, +(as are likewise those of the people of Borghoo,) and are the reverse of +their public and national ones. The young females in both kingdoms that +may happen to have strong clear voices, are generally selected as wives, +or rather concubines, for the ruling monarchs. Their office is +principally to attend on the king’s person, and sing and fan him to +sleep, and the ladies consume great part of the day in these avocations; +to vary which they sometimes play music and whistle for a long time +together. These ladies also dally with their sovereign, by flinging +their arms round his neck, arranging his sable locks with their fingers, +playing the fool with his face, and a thousand other fantastic +inventions to amuse him, such as the sex know so well how to avail +themselves of all over the world. It is the custom in Europe for +gentlemen to flatter the graces of the fair sex, whereas in Africa the +practice is completely reversed; for the most extravagant encomiums are +lavished on the beauty and blandishments of mankind by the gentler part +of the creation. + +The following imperfect translation of a song, recited by his young +wives, to the sovereign of Khiama, may serve as a specimen of the whole +of their amatory poetry:— + +“Yarrow is fair among men: he shines like a star of the night; who so +beautiful as Yarrow? His eyes have greater lustre than the +antelope’s—more ardour than a young lion’s, when he captures his prey. +His form is elegant as the palm-tree; he is gentle as a kid when she +follows her dam. But Yarrow is brave in fight; his enemies tremble at +the sound of his name, as a leaf shaken by the wind; they fall to the +earth beneath the power of his arm, for he is a mountain of strength. +The turtle dove is not so affectionate as our king; doth he not cherish +his wives and concubines? Who so lovely as Yarrow? When he is pleased, +the moon is not so mild as the light of his countenance; but when he +frowns, who shall withstand his wrath? His face lowers like the clouds +of heaven in a tempest; O, he is terrible in battle! Awake and be glad, +ye daughters of Khiama; sing, ye sons, to the praise of our lord, for he +is fair as the morning, and his countenance is like the sun in his +strength. He is fair among men; who so beautiful as Yarrow?” + +It would be as difficult to detach singing and dancing from the +character of an African, as to change the colour of his skin. I do not +think he would live a single week in his own country without +participating in these his favourite amusements; to deprive him of which +would be indeed worse than death. In every _grade_ of society, from the +monarch to the meanest slave, he is also fond of instrumental music, +even to a passion, and a European fiddler (provided he be not blind,) +with no very extraordinary pretensions to excellence in his profession, +might travel with ease and comfort, even if he were destitute of a +single cowry, from Badagry to Bornou. He would be received every where +with open arms, lodged in palaces, and sumptuously fed; although he +might, perhaps, feel some trifling inconvenience from excess of +kindness, and compulsory detention for a day or two in the principal +cities. But, notwithstanding their strong partiality for this kind of +music, the instruments of the Africans are of the rudest description. A +large drum, made from the trunk of a tree, and covered with sheep-skin; +a long brass trumpet, from Barbary; the Arab fiddle, and a kind of +dulcimer, formed of bamboo, and played upon with two little sticks, are +great favorites in all the interior countries. The people have also +guitars, bag-pipes, and tubes of iron, which answer the purpose of tin +plates, the sound produced being very similar to the noise of those +instruments; but a little flute, like a child’s penny whistle in +England, is most admired by the Africans; and of all their music this is +certainly the most harmonious. Yet even on these instruments they +perform most vilely, and produce a horribly discordant noise, which may, +perhaps, be delightful to their own ears; but to strangers, if they have +the misfortune to be too near the performers, no sounds can be more +harsh and disagreeable than such a concert. + +Of all the amusements of the Africans, none can equal their song and +dance in the still, clear hours of night, when the moon, walking in +beauty in the heavens, awakens all the milder affections of their +nature, and invites them to gladness and mirth. As soon as this splendid +luminary appears above the horizon, every individual, both slave and +free, is on the alert,—some to fetch wood from a neighbouring forest, +and others to procure provisions in the village; and forming themselves +in a circle, generally round a venerable tree, they prepare large fires, +in order to frighten away any wild beasts that may be prowling near the +spot, and begin their country dance, which does not differ from one +extremity of the continent to the other. I have often been a party to +these innocent entertainments, which are frequently kept up with +inconceivable spirit and agility, till the approach of morning; and as +often been delighted with the perfect harmony and kindly feeling that +prevailed amongst the dancers. It produces a pleasing and romantic +effect, to observe the silvery light of the moon, blending with the +radiance of the flames, and thrown upon the sable countenances of the +happy group,—as well as the lengthened reflection of the majestic tree +cast along the ground, and the moving figures, gliding like shadows +across it. + +On these occasions all care is completely laid aside, and every one +delivers himself up to the dissipation of the moment, without a thought +of the morrow, his heart having no _vacuum_ for melancholy +anticipations. During the intervals of the dance and song, the party +either eat and drink, or re-kindle the fires, after which they begin +again with renewed ardour. Their songs are composed extempore by one of +the party, who recites to his or her companions, and they all join in +the strain. They do not contain many poetical beauties, but allude +generally to the dancers themselves, to the dread of wild beasts, or +commands or entreaties for a particular person to fetch wood. The +following, sung in my presence, may serve as a translated specimen of +all of them:— + + + Come, let us join the dance and song, + + The moon is bright in heaven; + + No anxious cares to us belong, + + To cloud this lovely even. + + + The white man midst our festive glee— + + Forgets his father-land; + + And the group laughs around our tree + + By gentle zephyrs fann’d. + + + Haste, Nalla,[7] to yon forest shade, + + And feed the flickering flame; + + How swiftly flies the panting maid + + To earn a deathless name![8] + + + The panther’s yell—the lion’s roar— + + Resound from wood to wood; + + How gladly would they spill our gore! + + How gladly lap our blood! + + + But we are safe—they dare not come + + To mar our evening sport; + + Scared by the fire, or sounding drum, + + They other pleasures court. + + + Then join the merry dance and song; + + The moon is high in heaven; + + No anxious cares to us belong, + + To cloud this lovely even. + + +When heard at a distance, in the midst of solitary woods, the vocal +music of the natives has a pleasing plaintive effect, equalling in +softness any I have heard in more civilized countries; and Captain +Clapperton and myself used to remain awake in our tent for hours +together, listening to its melancholy strains. + +It is not to be expected that after these midnight revelries the people +are in a condition to rise at a very early hour; indeed the generality +of Africans are constitutionally inclined to indolence, a disease which +the relaxing nature of their climate by no means tends to lessen; and +when not _obliged_ to labour, they feel no desire to over-exert +themselves, or to shake off their drowsiness, except from a call of +necessity. Their soil, in fact, in most parts is so surprisingly rich +and productive, as to supersede the necessity of that laborious manual +exertion which the cultivation of it requires in many other regions; and +in the absence of all intellectual amusements, they dole away the sultry +hours of noon in sleeping, lounging about from place to place, +gossiping, smoking, or drinking. + + + SLAVERY. + + +Slavery, from time immemorial, has flourished in every nation and +amongst every people in the interior countries, and seems to be +implanted so deeply in the soil, that the slightest hope cannot be +entertained of its being speedily outrooted. The slave, however, in most +interior districts, is treated with infinitely greater lenity and +kindness than among the less civilized natives of the sea coast; and the +condition of the slaves of European planters is not to be compared with +his, for happiness and comfort. If his character be good, and his +honesty unquestioned, the slave of the African is admitted into the +house of his master, placed on an equality with himself and male +children, thrusts his hand into the same bowl of tuah as they, shares +their confidence, and participates in all their pleasures and +amusements. An instance is never known of a dependant, having an +unblemished character, and active industrious habits, being sent to the +coast, to be sold; in fact, every one considers this to be the greatest +punishment that can be inflicted upon him,—the idea of the whites eating +their countrymen, and dyeing their clothes red with their blood, being +as general and as deeply-rooted as in the nations through which Mr. Park +travelled twenty or thirty years ago. Those sent to the sea-side from +the interior are invariably the scum and refuse of the +country,—freebooters, lawless refractory fellows, adulterers, and even +murderers. Upon the whole, I should consider the situation of the +domestic slave of Africa (their relative feelings compared), to be more +enviable than that of the household servant of Europe, inasmuch as a +feeling of dependence never enters the mind of the former, and, as it +has already been observed, he is placed in almost every respect on an +equality with his master. + +Nature has wisely endowed the African with a buoyant, cheerful, happy +temper; so that no calamity, however great,—no grief, however +poignant,—is capable of making a deep or lasting impression on his mind. +He does indeed display a lively natural feeling when his infant children +are snatched forcibly from his embraces, or he himself torn from his +home, and kindred, and village-tree, to gaze upon strange faces, and +wander amongst foreign scenes; but this emotion is as evanescent as a +flash of lightning; he knows no fixed lasting sorrow; past misfortunes +are quickly swallowed up in present enjoyment, while anticipations of +the future have no power to harass and perplex him, because it is +painful for him to think at all, and he does _not_ think. I have often +seen disobedient slaves, and slaves offered for sale, singing in chains +and dancing in fetters, suffering at the same time under a loathsome +disease, and an accumulation of misery, the very _thoughts_ of which +would melt, even to tears, a sympathizing English philanthropist! For +their parts, they hardly know what a bitter moment is, and enjoy +themselves, although under such apparently overwhelming circumstances, +with as keen a zest as if they had been surrounded by their friends and +companions, and dancing by the light of the moon, underneath the +branches of their favourite tree. In their toilsome journeyings from one +part of the country to another, it must be admitted that the _captured_ +slaves undergo incredible hardships; yet when even they arrive at the +end of their march, all their woes are buried for ever in a calabash of +_pitto_ or _otée_, and they are as merry and thoughtless a day or two +afterwards as they ever were. + +On the coast, however, things wear a different and far less agreeable +aspect; the slaves there are mostly captured from the neighbouring +states, and, suddenly losing their darling amusements, become melancholy +and pensive on shipboard. The confined, impure air of the vessel +augments their sufferings; and when, after landing on an unknown, and to +them an unlovely soil, they writhe in agony under the excoriating lash +of the unfeeling planter, because they _cannot_ work, is it to be +marvelled at that, driven to almost desperation, they become morose, +unsociable, and headstrong? I have often been a reluctant witness to +such disgraceful spectacles, and wondered it was in the power of a human +creature to undergo so rigorous a punishment without a murmur. + + + TIMIDITY OF THE NATIVES. + + +A vein of _true_ courage does not exist, I really believe, in any +individual of the nations we visited. In most savage and half-civilized +countries, such as the Tonga Islands, and the rarely frequented +districts of North America, for instance, sparks of noble resolution and +greatness of soul are oftentimes observable in the natives: but the +timidity of the African character is every where apparent. The eyes of +the Gooberites, as well as those of the people of Borghoo, not +unfrequently flash with a wild expression of ferocity, and their actions +sometimes correspond with this indication of a barbarous nature, but it +is not _courage_, and gradually fades at the approach of real danger. +The people rarely make an attack on each other, or on a common enemy, +excepting when they have a decided superiority of numbers, or are placed +under circumstances peculiarly favourable to their operations; and even +when this is the case, they are more mindful of individual safety than +the general welfare, trusting rather to their heels than their arms to +make good their retreat, if the least danger threatens them. They have +no tradition of a chief amongst them that possessed, when living, a +calm, unshrinking, persevering spirit; their greatest leaders now (as in +former years) being all of one stamp, revengeful and passionate in war, +and if not successful on the first onset, like the lion, making rarely a +second spring. The Falatahs, who claim all the bravery to themselves, +are to a man dastardly poltroons, and have met with their astonishing +good fortune,—not by open, manly courage, but by treachery, deceit, and +cunning—by imposing on the superstitious fears of the simple aborigines, +and by artfully insinuating themselves into the good opinion of the very +people it was their secret intention to enslave, and, like the adder in +the fable, watching the opportunity to bite the hand that nourished +them. It would not be well to say that they have greater positive +courage than the negro, but they have less pusillanimity and more +shrewdness than he. Not all the glowing pleasures after death, which the +religion of the Falatah teaches him to expect—not the unshaken belief in +predestination that prompts the gloomy and enthusiastic Turk to rush +headlong upon his fate—not the promised enjoyment for ever of the +seventy-two lovely _houris_ awarded to those that fall in the cause of +Mohammed—not even the fearful and tremendous war-cry of his countrymen, +“Allah Ackbar!” (God is victorious!) has the power of arousing the +energies of the Falatah, or inspiring him with ardour and impetuosity in +the fight. Securely shielded, as he fancies himself to be, from the +effects of the arrows and spears of his adversary, by wearing thickly- +quilted armour, and fortifying himself with Arab charms, the Falatah may +indeed exhibit an air of defiance for a time; but if any thing occurs to +stagger his faith in the virtue of his ægis, off he scampers, without +considering the example he sets his companions, and does not stop till +he is far beyond the reach of even imaginary danger! + + + THE ARTS, &c. + + +Of the imitative arts, painting and sculpture, the Falatah understands +absolutely nothing; indeed, the former art is almost entirely unknown in +the interior, whilst the latter, however, is practised amongst the +natives of Jannah, Yariba, and Borghoo, who have a natural fondness for +it, and produce various specimens that evince considerable skill in the +artist. Figures of men, as well as those of snakes, crocodiles, &c. are +carved in bas-relief by them; and, contrasting the rudeness of the +instruments used, with the fineness and delicacy of some of the +indentions, it excites one’s admiration for their persevering industry +and ingenious labours. The people are acquainted with many of the useful +arts, such as working in iron, tanning, dyeing, &c. The smiths are +surprisingly skilful in their profession, and fuse and fashion iron into +all manner of forms with extraordinary ease and dispatch. Hundreds of +these useful artizans are scattered over the country, and Nyffé in +particular swarms with them; they are universally respected, and treated +with the utmost deference by every rank. + +The variety of the dyes of the Africans has been often remarked, and the +richness and beauty which they maintain, notwithstanding constant +exposure to the elements, elicit the admiration of even Europeans. The +exquisite colour of native cottons, in particular, is unrivalled; and +the art of dyeing is carried to as great a height of perfection in many +countries in the interior as in the more enlightened portions of the +world. The art of tanning is also carried on with equal spirit and +success; and the leather dressed by the natives is equal, if not +superior, to that manufactured in England. Saddlers, shoemakers, and +tailors, are to be met with in most nations in Africa, and for ingenuity +in their respective trades, yield to few. + +A smithy in Nyffé, &c. is very similar to that which has been described +in the celebrated narrative of Mr. Park’s first journey into the +interior of Africa. The process of the fusion and fashioning of iron is +exceedingly simple; and notwithstanding the very few tools that are used +by working smiths, their quickness and ingenuity cannot be excelled, +even by a European professing the same trade, and who has the advantages +afforded by an acquaintance with all the rules of art. + + + DRY AND WET SEASONS, &c. + + +The air, especially in the dry season, is oppressively hot; and if a +mist or haze that sometimes hangs between the earth and sky, did not +intercept the sun’s rays, it would be wholly insupportable. The African +sky seldom displays the clear, rich ether, or the beautiful and +evanescent touches of the Italian; but if the appearance of the heavens +be less lovely to the sight in the former country, by the existence of +vapoury clouds in the air, the heat is rendered infinitely more +tolerable by the same cause. Towards the latter part of the dry season, +and all nature seems parched while withering (except on the margins of +rivers), the earth is literally baked as hard as flint, while the birds +and beasts, fluttering and panting in the shades, by their cries and +moans seem to bewail the absence of rain. But no sooner does the wet +season set in, than vegetation suddenly springing up, bursts into being; +a fresh and redundant luxuriance of life breathes and floats around; the +hills and dales are covered with a delightful verdure; the earth, the +air, the sky, seem smiling in joy, and refreshed into gladness and +beauty. Every thing looks cheerful and attractive: the horned cattle +gambol on the plains, and the sheep and goats frisk on the slopes of +mountains and hills; man himself appears animated with a new existence; +pleasure swells in his veins, and dances on his countenance, and he +enters cordially into the enjoyment which every province of nature +invites him to partake in common with itself. This is generally during +the intervals of the showers; it rather _floods_ than _rains_ in Africa, +and continues without intermission for the space of twelve hours, when +it suddenly stops, and a cessation of rain for twenty-four hours not +unfrequently takes place. + +The sun setting in Africa is a grand and magnificent object; he then +appears shorn of his beams, and may be gazed at by the naked eye for any +length of time, without our experiencing a single painful sensation in +that delicate organ. When he sinks below the horizon, he looks like a +huge sphere of burning gold, and the hills (if any) towards the west +seem as if on fire by the vivid reflection of his rays. Twilight is of +short duration, and if the moon does not shine, darkness soon covers the +earth like a veil. In no other country have I seen such cloudless, +lovely nights, or so mildly beautiful a moon. I do not wonder that the +natives sometimes adore her; she possesses a soothing, softening +influence, of which they themselves are susceptible; and there is +certainly something more captivating in the delightful appearance of so +resplendent an orb, sailing gracefully through the purple vault of +heaven, than in the figures of disgusting reptiles and monsters which +the natives so often worship. + + + END OF VOL. I. + + + * * * * * + J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, + 25, Parliament Street. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[Footnote 1: Mr. James was attacked with dysentery on his journey to +Abomey, but lived to return to Whydah, where he died. It was said that +he was assassinated by M. de Souza, but this report was not +authenticated.] + +[Footnote 2: George Dawson, an English seaman, was engaged at Badagry, +as servant to Dr. Morrison, and accompanied that gentleman as far as +Enguâ, where he died.] + +[Footnote 3: A ceremony very similar to that which was formerly in use +among the Jews, as may be seen by perusing the third verse of the 31st +Psalm:—“Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on +our solemn feast-day.”] + +[Footnote 4: Captain Clapperton and myself procured, whilst in the +interior, two large pillows, covered with leather, and stuffed full of +hair, which we found extremely serviceable to us, in consequence of the +grateful coolness thus imparted during the warm nights of the dry +season. Instead of laying our heads on the pillow, we used to clasp it +in our arms, and, when saturated with perspiration, it was thrown aside, +till becoming dry it was again embraced.] + +[Footnote 5: In some counties in England called “ague-cake,” and +supposed to arise from the effects of intermittent fevers.] + +[Footnote 6: A kind of pudding made of flour, butter, and eggs.] + +[Footnote 7: A female’s slave.] + +[Footnote 8: The act of fetching wood in the night season, by reason of +the existence of wild beasts in the woods, is considered an enterprize +of danger; and those who accept the proposal are greatly eulogised, and +held up as examples for others to copy.] + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + + The changes in the ERRATA have been made. + + pg 10 Changed: "of the myterious Niger" to: "mysterious" + + pg 31 Changed: "slavery in in a remote region" to: "slavery in a" + + pg 32 Changed: "brigantine haing been sent" to: "having" + + pg 67 Changed: "were subequently conducted" to: "subsequently" + + pg 127 Changed: "any of the incoveniences we had" to: + "inconveniences" + + pg 146 Changed: "their strange-looking anoe" to: "canoe" + + pg 150-151 Changed: "her excescessive plumpness" to: "excessive" + + pg 186 Changed: "the place, amogsnt all classes" to: "amongst" + + pg 199 Changed: "to migitate their sufferings" to: "mitigate" + + pg 212 Changed: "head much about religous matters" to: "religious" + + pg 213 Changed: "this information was comunicated" to: + "communicated" + + pg 224 Changed: "The ollowing is a copy of it" to: "following" + + pg 243 Changed: "infested the neigbourhood" to: "neighbourhood" + + pg 300 Changed: "a bouyant, cheerful, happy temper" to: "buoyant" + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78091 *** diff --git a/78091-h/78091-h.htm b/78091-h/78091-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5790ba8 --- /dev/null +++ b/78091-h/78091-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7290 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> +<title>Records of Captain Clapperton's last expedition to Africa, +Vol. 1 (of 2) | Project Gutenberg</title> +<meta charset="utf-8"> +<link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> +<style> +body { + margin-left: 10%; 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Bagg. Jun<sup>r</sup>.</em> +</td> +<td class="tdr"><em>Engraved by T. A. Dean.</em> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="cp2">Richard Lander.</p> +</figure> +</div> + +<div class="titlepage"> +<h1><span class="xlarge letter-spaced">RECORDS</span><br> +<span class="small">OF</span><br> +<span class="xlarge letter-spaced">CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON’S</span><br> +LAST EXPEDITION<br> +<span class="small">TO</span><br> +<span class="xxlarge bold letter-spaced02">AFRICA:</span></h1> + +<p class="center spaced15"><span class="sc">By</span> RICHARD +LANDER,<br> +<span class="small">HIS FAITHFUL ATTENDANT, AND THE ONLY +SURVIVING<br> +MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION:</span></p> + +<p class="center spaced15"><span class="small">WITH THE</span><br> +<span class="med">SUBSEQUENT ADVENTURES OF THE AUTHOR.</span> +</p> + +<hr class="decor spaced2 width6"> + +<p class="center spaced2"><span class="less">IN TWO +VOLUMES.</span><br> +VOL. I.</p> + +<hr class="decor spaced2 width10"> + +<p class="publisher"><span class= +"letter-spaced01">LONDON:</span><br> +<span class="less">HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY,</span><br> +<span class="med">NEW BURLINGTON STREET.</span><br> +<span class="less">1830.</span> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2 class="spaced2"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_v">[v]</span><a id="toc"></a><span class= +"large">CONTENTS</span><br> +<span class="less">OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</span> +</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<table class="toc"> +<tr> +<td> +</td> +<td class="tdr med">Page</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="sc">Introduction</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href="#intro">ix</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="sc">Sketch of the Author’s Life</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href="#bio">1</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><a href="#c01">CHAPTER +I.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">List of the Gentlemen and others engaged +in the Mission — The Brazen sails from Portsmouth — Touches at the +Madeiras, Canaries, and Cape de Verd Islands — Pursues and +overtakes a French slave ship — Falls in with H.M.S. Swinger — +Arrives and anchors at Sierra Leone — The Author’s first +illness</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">15</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><a href="#c02">CHAPTER +II.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">The ship sails again — Captures a Spanish +schooner with slaves — The natives on the coast come on<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span> board — Vessel anchors at Cape +Coast — Sails from thence, and captures another slave vessel — +Arrives at Whydah, where Mr. Dickson lands — His progress through +the country, and reported death — The Brazen comes to an anchor in +Badagry Roads — The Gentlemen of the Mission give a last farewell +to the officers on board, and proceed on shore</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">29</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><a href="#c03">CHAPTER +III.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">The travellers reach Badagry, and leave +that city on the 7th of December — Dr. Morrison’s illness — Arrival +at Latoo — Captain Pearce and the Author attacked with fever — +Enter Jannah — Continued and alarming illness of the party — Their +progress — Dr. Morrison returns to Jannah</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">45</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><a href="#c04">CHAPTER +IV.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">Deaths of Dawson, Captain Pearce, and Dr. +Morrison — Their funeral — The survivors, after meeting with +various occurrences, and experiencing the kindest hospitality from +the natives on their route, arrive at Katunga, the capital of +Yariba, on the 15th of January, 1826</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">73</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_vii">[vii]</span><a href="#c05">CHAPTER V.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">Residence at Katunga — Ebo the Eunuch — +Pantomimic representation by the Yaribeans — Departure from the +city of Katunga — Arrival at Khiama — Wow Wow — Manners of the +People — Boussa — Mungo Park</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">108</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><a href="#c06">CHAPTER +VI.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">Widow Zuma’s Love Adventures — Departure +from Wow Wow — Arrival at Coulfo — Civil war in Nyffé — Ceremonies +observed by the people of Coulfo at the end of the Rhamadan — +Tornado at that place, and its disastrous consequences — The +Travellers quit Coulfo, and proceed on their journey — The Author +attacked with dysentery — His sufferings — Noble conduct of Captain +Clapperton towards him — They enter Zeg Zeg — Arrive at Kano</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">150</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><a href="#c07">CHAPTER +VII.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">Residence at Kano — Captain Clapperton +leaves for Soccatoo — History of Pasko, the Houssa Interpreter — +Pasko’s robberies and confinement — Return of the Captain with the +Godado, after an ineffectual attempt to reach Soccatoo — His second +departure from Kano — His Letters</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">198</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_viii">[viii]</span><a href="#c08">CHAPTER VIII.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">The Author quits Kano to join his Master +— His illness on the road — Anecdotes of the Natives, and his +reception by them — Pasko’s new robbery, and elopement — He is +overtaken, and brought back — The Tuarick merchants — The Author’s +arrival at Soccatoo, the metropolis of the Falatah empire — +Residence there — Pasko’s dismissal, conduct, and marriage</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">231</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc large sect"><a href="#c09">CHAPTER +IX.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl-top hang1">Religion — Laws — Government — +Amusements, &c. of the Natives from Badagry to Soccatoo — +Slavery in the interior countries — Timidity of the people — State +of the Arts amongst them — Dry and Wet Seasons</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">270</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2 class="large"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_ix">[ix]</span><a id="intro"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="space-above15"><span class="sc">On</span> my return from +Africa in the summer of 1828, I was so ill with fever and debility, +that I had neither spirit nor inclination to devote much time to +the compilation and arrangement of my notes, and of the short +sketches of character taken by stealth in the heart of that +continent. My duty and sole design, in laying my Journal before the +British Government, were to satisfy Ministers with regard to my +conduct after the decease of Captain Clapperton, my lamented +master; and to make them acquainted with the manner in which the +property left in my charge at Soccatoo had been disposed of, in my +hazardous journey back to the sea-coast. Besides, I had not seen my +friends in Cornwall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[x]</span> for +a period little short of thirteen years; and it is quite natural to +suppose that I should have felt a longing to re-visit the place of +my nativity, after so protracted and painful an absence. It is not +to be wondered at, when all this is considered, that my printed +Narrative, drawn up in haste, and without having received the +benefit of even the slightest assistance, except from a younger +brother, should be incomplete, and in many instances carelessly +expressed.</p> + +<p>To remedy, if possible, these defects, and to insert the +relation of a thousand amusing incidents which had been overlooked, +I have in the following pages given my Narrative a new and a more +complete dress; and I sincerely hope that my countrymen will not be +displeased at my humble but persevering attempts to depict, in true +colours, the customs and ceremonies of the powerful nations or +tribes inhabiting that vast tract of country lying between Badagry +and the beautiful kingdom of Houssa.</p> + +<p>The natives of the regions traversed by Captain Clapperton and +myself ever regarded our writing apparatus with mingled sensations +of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[xi]</span> alarm and +jealousy; and fancied, when they observed us using them, that we +were making <em>fetishes</em> (charms) and enchantments prejudicial +to their lives and interests. To this cause is attributable the +absence of many particulars, both in my master’s Journal and my +own, which, though unimportant in themselves, serve to pourtray, +and to place in a natural and lively point of view, the most +conspicuous touches in the character of the African, and gradually +to develope his passions, prejudices, and remarkable superstitions. +We were unwilling to raise up enemies against us in a strange land, +by continuing, in presence of the people, a practice which awakened +their jealousy, and served only to make us objects of distrust and +hatred to them all. Hence we were obliged to cherish in our memory +various particulars which we were unable, at that period, to put on +paper; contenting ourselves with the hope that, on our return to +England, we should have ample leisure to devote to the +accomplishment of that object; this was, however, unfortunately +frustrated by the decease of Captain Clapperton. I myself +have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[xii]</span> consequently +taken the liberty, in the following pages, of attempting to carry +into execution the project which that intrepid officer had in +view—when alive, and in the full hope of returning to his native +land.</p> + +<p>The recreations and songs of the people, as well as their wars, +laws, religion and government, I have endeavoured faithfully to +describe. Of course it cannot be expected that a person in my +humble situation of life should have powers of language sufficient +to give these descriptions the fullest charm of which they may be +susceptible: yet I have done the best my poor abilities would allow +me. I have translated several songs from the figurative language of +the natives into the English tongue, adopting the similes, and +copying the mode of expression, as nearly as the idiom of the +former would permit; while, in the absence of technical terms +relative to law, &c., I have chosen words which have appeared +to me the simplest, and which indeed occur most easily to me.</p> + +<p>The engagements of the Falatahs with their sable neighbours can +scarcely fail of being interesting<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_xiii">[xiii]</span> in many points of view; and their manner +of making war is characteristic of African customs. That +aggrandizing power, like the government of Russia in Europe, is +making rapid and gigantic strides towards an enormous despotism; +and should it hereafter possess so martial and enterprising a ruler +as its founder, Dandfodio, in the course of a very few years the +whole of Central and Northern, if not of Western Africa, will be +under the <em>surveillance</em> of the restless Falatah; and the +worship of snakes and idols be supplanted by the fanatical tenets +of Islamism.</p> + +<p>The history of the far-famed Borghoo-Arabian lady, widow Zuma, +is correct in every particular; the elopement of that most bulky +individual will, it is trusted, be found amusing in the extreme; +and the whole train of her adventures—her passionate fondness for +white men—the marvel of her extraordinary plumpness—her excessive +hospitality—the splendour of her retinue and domestic +establishment—her inordinate ambition in attempting to dethrone her +lawful sovereign, the innocent and facetious Mohammed—her mournful +reverse of fortune—<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_xiv">[xiv]</span>her confinement—the song of her maidens—and +her last request,—are singularly remarkable, and strongly pourtray +the disposition and habits of an eminent African belle.</p> + +<p>The narrative of Pasko, or rather, I should say, of <em>Abbu +Becr</em>, our Houssa interpreter, contrasted with that of the +amiable and accomplished Zuma, will not be found to be altogether +destitute of attraction, insomuch as it shows the manners and +superstitions of his countrymen much more pleasingly than a +laboured description of them would do; while the archness, +drollery, and dishonesty of the old scoundrel, together with his +warm and deep attachment to the gentler sex, and his entire +devotedness to their service, are accurately related, as the +circumstances which called those various passions into action took +place.</p> + +<p>After the decease of Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison, when my +late valued master and myself were the only Europeans left of the +mission, Captain Clapperton for various reasons thought proper to +style me his son, and the natives ever after regarded that gallant +officer as my father.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[xv]</span> +Surrounded as we were by strange faces and strange scenes, cut off +from all communication with civilized society, and wandering, far +from our native country, and all that was truly dear to us, in +barbarous regions, and oftentimes through long dismal woods, and +awful solitudes; we became linked to each other by the strongest of +all ties. Ours, if I may so express myself, were kindred spirits; +we entered into each other’s views, shared each other’s gladness +and melancholy, hope and despair, and participated in each other’s +feelings and amusements. It was for the interest of both to do so. +It would not have been well for any haughtiness or reserve to be +manifested towards me under such circumstances, merely because +accident had thrown me into a lower rank in life than my master; +and it would have been unfeeling, nay unmanly, when bowed down by +pain and wretchedness in the heart of Africa, for a British officer +to refuse, for no other reason, to the humble companion of his +wanderings that confidence and friendship which he had in some +measure a right to expect. Such, happily, was<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</span> not the disposition of Captain +Clapperton; the difference in our respective conditions was +willingly levelled, as it certainly ought to have been, by that +gentleman; and for my part I may justly say, that my attachment for +him was so great that I would cheerfully have undergone any +privation rather than that he should have been a sufferer; or, if +necessity required it, would even have laid down my life with +pleasure for the preservation of his.</p> + +<p>To Capt. Clapperton I owe the existence I enjoy at the present +moment; and for him I would have sacrificed, and perhaps I +<em>did</em> sacrifice on particular occasions, every consideration +of personal comfort or convenience. To “smooth down his lonely +pillow;” to mingle my hopes, and fears, and distresses, with his; +and to render the transition from life to eternity as easy as +possible, were my employments when the unfortunate Captain was +stretched out upon his death-bed, in a dismal solitary hut in +Soccatoo; and these services themselves, Heaven knows, carried +their own reward along with them. The affectionate grasp of the +hand—the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</span> +trembling eye—the <em>look</em> of approbation and +thankfulness—expressed more eloquently and feelingly than words +could have done the gratitude of my heroic master and preserver for +my humble endeavours to serve him, when his cup of pain, +disappointment, and sorrow, was foaming to the brim; and the +readers of my “Wanderings” will excuse me for dwelling on this +subject in the chapter devoted to the illness and decease of Capt. +Clapperton, &c. At this distance of time and place even, I +reflect on that gloomy and distressing period with emotion; I +recall to my remembrance all that passed there—disease, suffering, +loneliness, and death; yet do I often wish that my latter end may +be as gentle as was my master’s; more calm I do not expect it to +be—less free from pain it cannot be.</p> + +<p>After all that I have said on this subject, the charge of having +assumed too much consequence in speaking so familiarly of Capt. +Clapperton, will not surely be brought against me; yet in +conversation I have heard it asserted that this sin was committed +in my printed journal; but the remark needs no refutation. I have +not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</span> chosen to +alter this imputed consequence in the following narrative, simply +because there is no apparent necessity for doing so; and in this +opinion the generality of my countrymen will, I am confident, agree +with me.</p> + +<p>My description of the savage manners and horrid barbarities of +the people of Badagry, at the celebration of their monthly +sacrifices, &c. is by no means exaggerated. At present these +seem unknown to Englishmen; and my reasons for not relating them +before are already given. I had no intention of having my Journal +printed, and therefore did not study to render the perusal of it +interesting by inserting in it observations that did not come +strictly within the compass of the plan which I had originally laid +down for myself.</p> + +<p>In the composition of the following pages I must acknowledge my +obligations to a younger brother, and (with the exception of the +customary revision of the printed sheets) to him alone. I should +feel both pleasure and pride in expressing, in this place, my +gratitude for even a hint received from any other quarter; but +as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xix">[xix]</span> this has not, +even in a solitary instance, been the case, I have no such thanks +to offer. Although unused to composition, my brother devoted, +during the past summer, the little leisure which relaxation from +his daily labour afforded him, to the office of copying my notes +and observations, and putting them into something like arrangement. +Having become impressed with my thoughts, he has “turned them to +shape,” and, entering warmly into my feelings, he has depicted my +emotions, even as I felt them; and the public will best discern +whether they are true to nature or not.</p> + +<p>I beg to introduce this little Work to the notice of my +countrymen with the greatest humility. They will not judge of it by +too severe a standard; they will not—I am sure they will not—accuse +me of presumption in my feeble attempts to portray the manners and +peculiarities of a strange people. I have done the utmost to render +the perusal of my Narrative agreeable; and to give the reader a +correct idea of the state of society in the interior of Africa. It +were unreasonable to expect that<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_xx">[xx]</span> my limited knowledge should permit me to give +a learned or laboured description of regions which had never before +been visited by Europeans; yet I repeat I have done the best my +power would allow; and no one will, I think, feel any disposition +to question the truth of this declaration.</p> + +<p class="right pad-right2">THE AUTHOR.</p> + +<p class="less pad2"><span class="sc">Truro</span>,<br> +<em>October</em>, 1829.</p> + +<hr class="decor width8"> + +<p class="space-above15"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_xxi">[xxi]</span>Since the preceding introductory remarks +were written, His Majesty’s Government have engaged me to proceed +to Fundah, and trace the river from thence to Benin; so that before +the public will be put in possession of the following Narrative, in +all probability, I shall be on my way to the Western Coast of +Africa. In this new undertaking I shall be accompanied only by my +brother (John Lander), whose assistance in the composition of this +work I have already acknowledged; and if energy and perseverance +can avail us any thing, I have the best reasons for believing that +it will prove as successful as my most sanguine expectations lead +me to hope that it will.<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_xxii">[xxii]</span> At all events, nothing shall be wanting +on our parts to accomplish the object in view. If we be so +unfortunate as to fail in the object, I may say with confidence and +without vanity, that it shall not be attributed to a want of proper +spirit and enterprise; since we have made the fixed determination +to risk every thing, even life itself, towards its final +accomplishment. We shall endeavour to conform ourselves, as nearly +as possible, to the manners and habits of the natives; we will not +mock their blind superstition, but respect it; we will not scoff at +their institutions, but bow to them; we will not condemn their +prejudices, but pity them. In fine, we shall do all in our power to +ward off suspicion as to the integrity of our motives, and the +innocency of our intentions; and this cannot be done more +effectually than by mingling with the people in their general +amusements and diversions. Confidence<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_xxiii">[xxiii]</span> in ourselves, and in them, will be our +best panoply; and an English Testament our safest <em>fetish</em>. +Clothed in <em>this</em> armour, by the blessing of God, we have +not much to fear; but if, by any casualty or unforeseen misfortune, +we perish in Africa, and are seen no more, even then our fate will +not be more dismal than that of many of our predecessors in the +same pursuit, whose gallant enterprising spirits have sunk into +darkness, without a voice to record their melancholy end. If +<em>this</em> should be our case, our countrymen may, perhaps, be +moved to respect our memory; and, at all events, it is some +consolation to know that the gap we may make in society will +scarcely be observed at all; or, if observed, soon filled up:</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“For we to the world are like a drop of +water</div> + +<div class="line indent0"> That in the ocean falls.”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="less pad2"><em>London</em>,<br> +<em>Dec.</em> 1829.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2 class="less"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_xxiv">[xxiv]</span><a id="toi"></a>LIST OF +ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<table class="toi"> +<tr> +<td>Portrait of Richard Lander</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href="#i1">Frontispiece.</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Pelicans feeding their young</td> +<td class="tdr-bot">vol. II. <a href= +"https://www.gutenberg.org/files/78092/78092-h/78092-h.htm#i2">p. +16</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Funeral of Captain Clapperton</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href= +"https://www.gutenberg.org/files/78092/78092-h/78092-h.htm#i3">78</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Fainting Scene</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href= +"https://www.gutenberg.org/files/78092/78092-h/78092-h.htm#i4">93</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Crossing the streams at Yariba</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href= +"https://www.gutenberg.org/files/78092/78092-h/78092-h.htm#i5">215</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Heads of Natives with Tattoo marks</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href= +"https://www.gutenberg.org/files/78092/78092-h/78092-h.htm#i6">218</a> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Ordeal by Poison</td> +<td class="tdr-bot"><a href= +"https://www.gutenberg.org/files/78092/78092-h/78092-h.htm#i7">257</a> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="decor width10"> + +<h2 class="nopb less"><a id="err"></a>ERRATA.</h2> + +<ul class="simple1"> +<li>Page <a href="#Page_89">89,</a> for Kang read +<em>Kong</em>.</li> + +<li>Page <a href="#Page_156">156,</a> omit the preposition +“<em>to</em>” after “lead me.”</li> + +<li>From p. <a href="#Page_134">134</a> to p. 269, for Soccasoo +read <em>Soccatoo</em>.</li> + +<li>At the head of chap. II. p. 29, for Cape Coast read +<em>Papoe</em>.</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2 class="spaced2"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_1">[1]</span><a id="bio"></a><span class= +"large letter-spaced01">SKETCH</span><br> +<span class="small">OF THE</span><br> +<span class="large"><span class="letter-spaced01">AUTHOR’S +LIF</span>E.</span> +</h2> + +<hr class="decor spaced2 width8"> + +<p><span class="sc">Many</span> allusions to my earlier history +occurring in the following pages, it may not, perhaps, be deemed +impertinent on my part, if I should attempt to give a short and +hasty sketch of my life, devoted as it has been to perpetual +wandering, and chequered by a thousand misfortunes.</p> + +<p>My family is as ancient, I dare say, as that of any upon the +face of the earth, although, notwithstanding the profoundest +research, I have been unable to trace its descent, with +genealogical accuracy and precision, to a more<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_2">[2]</span> remote era than the period of my +grandfather’s nonage; the history of all my ancestors previous to +him, being either mixed with fable, or involved in doubt and +uncertainty. If the ancient saying of the people of Cornwall, +that,</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“By Tre, Pol, <em>Lan</em>, and +<em>Pen</em>,</div> + +<div class="line indent0"> You may know most +Cornishmen,”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="nind">be entitled to credit, then undoubtedly my family +is of pure Cornish extraction; and I would respectfully suggest +that it has a double claim, in the present generation, to the +enviable distinction of antiquity, my mother’s maiden name being +<em>Pen</em>-rose, and my father’s name <em>Lan</em>-der. Thus much +for my pedigree; and I have the solitary satisfaction of boasting +of at least one celebrated character in its humble records, my +grandfather, by my mother’s side, who was a noted wrestler in his +day, and lived some fifty years since near the Land’s End.</p> + +<p>I am the fourth of six children, and was born at Truro, in +Cornwall, in 1804, on the very day on which Colonel Lemon was +elected Member of Parliament for the Borough. Owing to<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span> this striking coincidence, +singular as it may seem, my father, who was fond of sounding +appellations, at the simple suggestion of the doctor who attended +the family, added <em>Lemon</em> to my baptismal name of Richard: +an example of the trivial means by which people are oftentimes +accommodated with an extra name. As nothing remarkable occurred for +the first five or six years after I came into the world, I shall +pass them over in silence, simply observing, that when yet in +infancy, whilst I was in the act of gazing one morning at something +attached to the ceiling of my father’s stable, a piece of iron, +having a sharpened edge, fell and entered my forehead; which +accident was of so serious a nature that I was ill for several +weeks, and narrowly escaped with life.</p> + +<p>My rambling inclinations began to display themselves in early +youth. I was never easy a great while together in one place, and +used to be delighted to play truant and stroll from town to town, +and from village to village, whenever I could steal an opportunity +as well; as to mix in the society of boys possessing<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span> restless habits and inclinations +similar to my own. I used also to listen with unmixed attention to +old women’s tales about the manners and ceremonies of the natives +of distant regions of the earth, and never felt greater pleasure +than when, dangling me on their knees, or stroking down my face +with their aged hands, they used to say, “you will be sure to see +two kingdoms, Richard, for you have two <em>crowns upon your +head</em>!” Their marvellous descriptions of monsters existing, +they affirmed, in remote lands, likewise conspired to raise in me a +longing to be a traveller; for the venerable matrons of my native +county, moving in the humbler walks of life, like those of most +other counties and nations, are fond of the wonderful, and +endeavour to stamp a love of it in the tender mind of youth with +all the solemnity and earnestness of age and belief. These tales, +how incredible soever they might have been, made a deep and +permanent impression on my thoughts; and though so very young, I +formed a resolution, or rather felt a strong and violent +inclination to become a wanderer, in order that the story of +<em>my</em><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span> adventures +might one day rival in interest those to which I had listened with +so devout an attention; perhaps also a childish feeling of pride +entered my bosom as I used to say to myself: “And when I shall have +returned from such and such a place, and seen all the strange +sights in them, my former companions will look upon me with a +mixture of wonder and admiration, and I shall excite the envy of +the other boys.”</p> + +<p>Thus the first period of my life flew swiftly away; and I was no +more than nine years of age, as nearly as my memory, at this +distance of time, will allow me to guess, when owing to a series of +domestic misfortunes, which it would be a tedious and unpleasant +task here to particularise, I left the paternal roof, and have ever +since been almost a stranger in the place of my nativity.</p> + +<p>The frequent observation of my lamented mother, “Remember, my +poor child, the old proverb, ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss,’” +has been entirely thrown away upon me, for between necessity and +choice I have ever been in<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_6">[6]</span> motion; and with respect to “<em>moss</em>,” +taken in its figurative signification, I have certainly, in my own +person, verified the truth of the homely adage above alluded to, +scarcely ever having been able to retain a single handful in my +grasp for any length of time together.</p> + +<p>At the early age of eleven years I accompanied a mercantile +gentleman to the West Indies, and whilst in St. Domingo was +attacked with the fever of the country, suffering so severely under +its influence that my life was despaired of; but, owing chiefly to +the kindness and attention I experienced from some benevolent and +sympathizing Negro females, joined to my youth and a naturally +vigorous constitution, I recovered my wonted health, and after an +absence of three years returned to my native country in 1818. From +that period till the attainment of my 19th year, I lived in the +service of various noblemen and gentlemen, one of whom I +accompanied to France, and other countries on the Continent; when, +hearing on my return to London, that Major Colebrook, one of His +Majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry into the<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_7">[7]</span> State of the British Colonies, was in want +of an individual to proceed with him in the capacity of servant, I +quitted the office I then held, and procured the vacant situation +with little difficulty. With this gentleman I embarked from +Portsmouth on board the Lady Campbell, which weighed anchor on the +thirteenth of February, 1823, and after a stormy and hazardous +voyage of nearly five months, arrived in Simmons’s Bay, South +Africa, on the 13th of July following. During the passage our +unfortunate vessel, in which were upwards of forty ladies and +gentlemen (passengers) with twenty servants, very nearly escaped +destruction no less than three times. In the first instance, she +encountered a heavy gale on the 8th of March, in which she lost her +rudder, and leaked four feet of water in the hold. After being +buffeted about by the wind and waves for four or five days, her +distressed condition was observed by a small French brig belonging +to L’Orient, which towed her into that port. There she was laid up +for six weeks, in order that the serious damage she had sustained +might be repaired;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> +when, on the 1st of May, she again set sail. On the 10th of June +following, a lady, passing near the gun-room, discovered it to be +on fire, and immediately gave the alarm. After incredible +exertions, and still greater noise, hurry, bustle, and confusion, +the progress of the flames was arrested, and the fire finally +extinguished, to the no small gratification of every one on board, +who feared, and with justice, that from the proximity of the +gun-room to the powder-magazine the most imminent danger was to be +apprehended. This was not the last fright we experienced, for on +the night of entering Simmons’s Bay the vessel unfortunately struck +on a rock called by seamen “The Noah’s Ark,” but was happily lifted +by the swell of the sea from her perilous situation, without being +materially damaged by the shock; and nothing worthy of notice +occurred till her arrival before Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, as +above mentioned.</p> + +<p>After accompanying Major Colebrook in his journeyings from one +extremity of that important colony to the other,—for a reason which +it would be superfluous in this place to adduce,<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> I left his service, and sailing +from Cape Town, arrived in England in 1824. I had not been many +weeks in the metropolis before I accepted of a situation in the +establishment of a kinsman to the Duke of Northumberland, where my +time passed away pleasantly and thoughtlessly enough; till the +return of Captain Clapperton and Major Denham from the interior of +Africa, in the following year, again aroused my rambling +propensities, and I could not help reproaching myself for having +remained so long a time in a state of comparative indolence. +Determined from that hour to embrace the first favourable chance of +once more quitting my native shores, to whichever part of the globe +fate or fortune might destine me, I waited impatiently for +something to take place in furtherance of the object I had most at +heart; and an opportunity soon offered itself that promised to +gratify my fondest and warmest inclinations, as well as amply to +satisfy the inordinate desire I could not suppress of visiting +foreign countries.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>Having heard that +it was the intention of the British Government to send out another +expedition for the purpose of exploring the yet undiscovered parts +of central Africa, and of endeavouring to ascertain the source, +progress, and termination, of the mysterious Niger; and the attempt +coinciding exactly with my long-cherished wishes, I instantly +waited upon the late Captain Clapperton, who I was told was to be +placed at its head, and expressed to that brave and spirited +officer the great eagerness I felt to become a party, however +humble, to the novel and hazardous undertaking into which he was +about to enter. The Captain listened to me with attention, and +after I had answered a few interrogations, willingly engaged me to +be his confidential servant. In this interview the keen, +penetrating eye of the African traveller, did not escape my +observation; and by its fire, energy, and quickness, denoted, in my +own opinion at least, the very soul of enterprize and +adventure.</p> + +<p>Having made the necessary arrangements, I entered with a light +heart upon my new duties, and enjoyed the thoughts of following the +bias<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> of my own +inclination with as great a zest as if the path of my future life +had been strewed with flowers.</p> + +<p>I had not, however, adopted this line of conduct without deep +reflection on the difficulties that would, in all probability, +accompany it. The destruction that had overwhelmed former +travellers, engaged in the same pursuit, was by no means unfamiliar +to me; and the melancholy story of Mungo Park and his companions in +misfortune, in particular, had often crossed my thoughts. I felt a +degree of shuddering sympathy for those enterprizing individuals, +(heightened perhaps by the cloud of darkness in which their latter +end was shrouded,) which no fictitious tale of woe had been ever +able to excite in my bosom; yet even this failed in staggering my +resolution, or overcoming my early and deeply-rooted +prejudices.</p> + +<p>There was a charm in the very sound of Africa, that always made +my heart flutter on hearing it mentioned: whilst its boundless +deserts of sand; the awful obscurity in which many of the interior +regions were enveloped; the<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_12">[12]</span> strange and wild aspect of countries that had +never been trodden by the foot of a European, and even the very +failure of all former undertakings to explore its hidden wonders, +united to strengthen the determination I had come to, of embracing +the earliest opportunity of penetrating into the interior of that +immense Continent.</p> + +<p>In vain my London acquaintances urged upon me the risk I should +incur of finding a grave in Africa; and equally vain were the kind +representations of a medical gentleman of the metropolis, who +painted to me in lively colours the imminent danger to which my +life would be exposed, by reason of my youth, inexperience, and +habit of body. I disregarded all the counsel that the world could +give me, and perhaps secretly depended on the strength of an +unimpaired constitution to support me in sickness, and bring me out +of every difficulty; so prone are we to indulge the belief that +there is a something different, a latent excellence within us, +which does not belong to the persons<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_13">[13]</span> or characters of the rest of the world; and +so just is the observation of the poet, that</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“All men think all men mortal but +themselves.”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>As soon as my relatives in Cornwall were made acquainted with +the step I was about to take, they expressed the deepest concern +and sorrow, and sent me numbers of letters, couched in the simple +and affectionate language of nature, expressive of their feelings, +and endeavouring to dissuade me from proceeding to a region they +all so greatly and justly dreaded. George Croker Fox, Esq. a highly +respectable gentleman, residing at Grove Hill, near Falmouth, with +the spirit of amiable benevolence by which he is so peculiarly +distinguished, also exerted himself in the same object, promising +that if my determination to leave England was fixed, rather than +that I should expose myself to the dangers to be apprehended from +African exploration, he would procure me a more lucrative situation +in one of the South American republics. But no inducement under the +sun could make me swerve, even in thought, from the line +of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> duty I had laid +down for myself; or cool the ardour that warned me to attempt, at +least, the accomplishment of the great object towards which my +earliest thoughts had been intently directed. Indeed, I had already +gone too far to recede; and leaving the metropolis with Captain +Clapperton, I arrived at Portsmouth, in order to embark in the +Brazen sloop of war, Captain Willis, on the 24th of August, 1825, +being then in the 21st year of my age.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<p class="center spaced2 pb"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_15">[15]</span><span class= +"large letter-spaced01">WANDERINGS</span><br> +<span class="small">IN</span><br> +<span class="large"><span class= +"letter-spaced01">AFRIC</span>A.</span> +</p> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<h2 class="nopb"><a id="c01"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="csum">List of the Gentlemen and others engaged in the +Mission — The Brazen sails from Portsmouth — Touches at the +Madeiras, Canaries, and Cape de Verd Islands — Pursues and +overtakes a French slave ship — Falls in with H.M.S. Swinger — +Arrives and anchors at Sierra Leone — The Author’s first +illness.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">On</span> arriving at Portsmouth with Captain +Clapperton, I found the following gentlemen, his associates in the +mission, waiting for him:—Captain Pearce, R.N. an amiable +individual, but whose frame was much too delicate for the arduous +task he had undertaken; Dr. Morrison, a navy surgeon; and Dr. +Dickson, a Scotchman, who had served as a surgeon for a long +period<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> in the West +Indies. These were attended by Columbus, a West Indian mulatto, who +had accompanied Major Denham in the previous journey; Pasko, a +black, native of Haussa; and myself.</p> + +<p>We embarked on the 27th of August, 1825; and, a light breeze +springing up from the north-east, the vessel got under weigh and +made sail, the shores of England gradually lessening from our view. +After touching at Porto Santo, the least of the Madeiras, on the +8th September, where the Gentlemen of the Mission landed and +obtained various specimens of plants and minerals, the vessel +dropped anchor at Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, on the 13th of the same +month. Next day, Captain Clapperton and his coadjutors, accompanied +by three officers of the Brazen, went on shore to make an excursion +to the Peak; but my master being taken suddenly unwell on the road +from Santa Cruz, was obliged to remain at Oratavia, a fine but +irregularly built town, situated at the base of a cluster of +mountains, out of which rises the celebrated Peak, from which it is +distant about four or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span> +five miles. The travellers having accomplished the object of their +jaunt, came back with minerals, &c. complaining sadly of +fatigue. On the 16th, we returned to Santa Cruz, the rugged nature +of the roads, together with the stubborn disposition of the asses +with which we were accommodated, being in great measure overlooked +by the mirthful humour and innocent jocularity of our native +guides, who enlivened us by singing and playing on guitars nearly +the whole of the way to the capital, frequently interrupting +themselves by shouting “Long live the English!” The inhabitants +were mostly employed in gathering in the grapes, with which the +island abounds; and we were met on the road by great numbers of +them with mules and asses loaded with this delicious fruit, +returning to their respective habitations.</p> + +<p>On the 16th the Brazen again set sail with a fair wind; and on +the 24th following arrived at St. Antonia, one of the Cape de Verd +islands, where Captain Clapperton landed, as on former occasions, +and obtained minerals, &c. from its lofty mountains. The vessel +weighed anchor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> the +same evening, and nothing requiring particular observation occurred +for several days, the wind continuing tolerably fair, but +squally.</p> + +<p>On the 4th of October, a small schooner came in sight, and +supposing she had slaves on board, the Brazen chased and overtook +her. She proved, however, to be a Russian merchant vessel, bound +for Pernambuco, and was of course suffered to proceed on her voyage +as soon as the error was discovered. On the 8th of the same month +another sail was descried, and suspecting also that she was engaged +in the nefarious traffic in slaves, we pursued and boarded her. The +suspicions were confirmed on discovering 196 human beings in this +French schooner (which was bound for St. Domingo) chained together +in couples, and literally crammed between decks, which being barely +three feet in height the slaves were obliged to remain in a sitting +posture whilst they stayed on board. So strong and disagreeable an +odour proceeded from the confined place in which these poor +creatures were huddled, that the air was tainted<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> with it, and I hastened on board +the Brazen as fast as I could; shortly after which the French +vessel proceeded with her living cargo to the place of her +destination.</p> + +<p>On the 19th the Brazen fell in with H.M. ship Swinger, on a +cruise. This vessel had lost nineteen men with fever, and was short +of provisions and water. After relieving her wants, and sending a +doctor on board, we continued our course with a fair light breeze, +and on the 21st entered the river of Sierra Leone.</p> + +<p>The day after our arrival I went on shore, and sauntered alone +through Free Town, visiting the church and other public buildings. +I was grieved to see that sacred edifice converted into a +market-place, and buyers and sellers indecently disputing and +wrangling in the temple of God. The colony was rather sickly, and +the great number of deaths which had recently taken place +sufficiently attested the extreme unhealthiness of that immense +“charnel-house.” The country in the neighbourhood of the town is +rich and fertile, producing in great abundance<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_20">[20]</span> many kinds of fruits and vegetables. West +Indian, and other tropical productions are cultivated with success, +and to a great extent, on the banks of the river. Cattle and +poultry, which are of inferior size and description, are +excessively scarce and dear; but the inhabitants do not seem to +feel much interested in the improvement of the breed of their +domestic animals. The grass in the colony, though apparently rich +and luxuriant, contains in reality but little nutriment; and to +this cause, more than to any other, the sorry condition of the +cattle is attributable.</p> + +<p>The Kroomen, great numbers of whom reside at Sierra Leone, are a +fine athletic people; active, clean, and industrious. They have a +village at no great distance from Free Town, which I visited. It +consists of a great number of huts, most of which have a little +meadow-land, or garden, attached to them; but a very small portion +of the soil is cultivated in its vicinity, the male inhabitants +being generally employed by the masters of European vessels +visiting Sierra<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> +Leone, who find them extremely serviceable. Notwithstanding their +intercourse with the English and other European nations, which has +been preserved for so long a period, the Kroomen still retain their +native costume, which consists simply of a piece of cotton cloth, +tied carelessly round the waist, and extending to the knees. Almost +the whole of them have obtained a smattering of the English tongue, +in which they pride themselves; whilst many of the more intelligent +can converse in it with tolerable fluency. Upwards of twenty +different languages, it is said, are spoken by the mixed population +of the colony, who have been principally captured from the slave +vessels of the Portuguese or Spaniards, and have been brought from +many of the interior countries.</p> + +<p>On the 23d I again went on shore with my gun, to shoot in a +savannah at a short distance from the town, in which I remained a +great part of the day, amongst high coarse grass and thick jungle, +indiscreetly exposing my head to the scorching rays of a vertical +sun; in consequence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> +of which I was attacked in the evening with giddiness of the head, +and other symptoms of fever; but having been bled copiously, and +having taken proper medicine, the progress of the disease was for +the time arrested. My illness, which was not particularly severe, +was of short duration, and I fondly expected that this was but the +<em>seasoning</em> every European should be prepared to encounter +on visiting tropical countries.</p> + +<p>Having taken in her supplies of fresh water and provisions, the +Brazen got under weigh on the 27th of October, and made sail for +Cape Coast, with a fresh breeze from the south-east. On the +following day a thunder-storm arose, accompanied by heavy and +continued rain and vivid flashes of lightning, which lasted for +several hours; and on the 2d of November a sail being perceived at +some distance, the ship gave her chase, and on coming up with her, +she proved to be the Fortune, a Spanish schooner, with thirty-five +slaves only on board, not having then received her full complement. +The vessel was immediately captured, and sent back to Sierra Leone. +Next day another sail was discovered,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_23">[23]</span> and being overtaken, was found to be a French +brig from Martinique, waiting for a cargo of human beings.</p> + +<p>On the 5th the natives came out to meet the Brazen in canoes, +with yams, plantains, bananas, cassada, and other productions of +the country, which they bartered for tobacco, that article being in +great request with them. Their canoes were lightly and ingeniously +constructed, and propelled through the water with singular +swiftness and dexterity, the rowers performing their laborious task +in a kneeling posture. They were completely destitute of clothing +of any kind.</p> + +<p>On the 7th we were honored with a visit from the Kroo king, who +is a jet black of goodly stature, and of simple but prepossessing +manners. On his head the sable monarch had a European hat, and +across his loins was fastened a plain piece of cotton cloth +purchased from the English. He wore a necklace of +<em>gris-gris</em> (charms or amulets) made of leather, in the +merits of which he seemed to repose implicit confidence, believing +himself the most fortunate<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_24">[24]</span> of men in having it in his possession; and as +long as that was the case, he asserted, neither demon nor human +being could in any wise injure him.</p> + +<p>One of his majesty’s attendants, as blindly superstitious as his +sovereign, to put the virtues of <em>his</em> amulet to the test, +entreated me several times to discharge a musket loaded with ball +at him, at the distance of only a few yards, which, when I refused +to do, he appeared to be considerably chagrined and disappointed, +and went away muttering that the English were the most uncivil +people in the world.</p> + +<p>The following day, although the ship was at the distance of +several miles from the shore, others of the natives came alongside, +differing but little in external appearance from their neighbours +who had visited us on the former occasions: but in addition to +their other ornaments, they wore iron rings round the neck, with +little bells of the same metal appended, which, on the slightest +movement of the wearer, made a jingling noise not unlike bells hung +to the necks of waggon-horses in England. The<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_25">[25]</span> Cape Palmas king, accompanied by a great +number of his subjects, also condescended to come on board on the +9th. He is a powerful athletic man, having a bold expression of +countenance, but of gentle and social habits, and he was graciously +pleased to converse freely with any one on deck, who felt disposed, +or had patience enough to listen to his remarks.</p> + +<p>There was this peculiarity in the appearance of his majesty’s +followers: their heads were shaved either partially or wholly, and +the hair of those that had any being cut into a thousand fantastic +modes and forms, looked exceedingly grotesque. Many of the tribes +on the coast, indeed, appear to devote a large portion of their +time to dressing and ornamenting their hair, which in some +districts is plaited and braided with much care, and peculiar taste +and neatness. Others friz out the hair like the natives of the +Tonga islands, and as it is anointed with a species of red clay, +softened with palm-oil, which is found in great abundance on the +coast, it adds greatly to the ferocity of their appearance.</p> + +<p>The Brazen continued her course with a<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_26">[26]</span> tolerably fair wind but heavy showers, and +having passed several towns and villages, the inhabitants of some +of which occasionally visited her in canoes, arrived at Cape Coast +on the 14th, at one <span class="sc2">P.M.</span></p> + +<p>Cape Coast castle is a strongly-built stone fortification, +capable of containing within its walls the whole of the population +of the town it defends; the habitations of which are constructed in +much the same style as those with which the whole line of coast is +thickly studded; being built of earth, and thatched with rushes, +interlaced with palm-leaves.</p> + +<p>A great number of people have settled in the town from the +interior countries; but by far the major part of the inhabitants +are Fantees, who have voluntarily placed themselves under the +protection of the British fortress, in order the more effectually +to secure to themselves the blessings of peace, and preserve their +property from the rapacity of their more restless countrymen, and +the neighbouring nations.</p> + +<p>Cleanliness is by no means a characteristic of the Fantees at +Cape Coast, animal and vegetable substances being allowed to +accumulate and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> +putrify in the streets, from which is exhaled so noxious an +effluvium, that the air, impregnated with it, is rendered extremely +insalubrious, particularly to Europeans.</p> + +<p>It is perhaps a fortunate circumstance, that vultures, attracted +by the intolerable odour, resort thither in vast numbers, +voraciously devouring the filth which the indolent inhabitants are +either too lazy or too <em>ignorant</em> to remove; for they cannot +be persuaded that disease of any kind is engendered by such means. +If this had not been the case, it would be a miracle indeed that +Europeans should exist in the town many weeks; and even the +Africans themselves, in all likelihood, would speedily fall victims +to pestilential disorders.</p> + +<p>Horned cattle are not less scarce, and yet more diminutive, than +at Sierra Leone, and their flesh is of the worst possible quality. +Horses, for some reason, are no where to be found on the Gold +Coast, nor are any beasts of burden whatever to be met with in the +neighbourhood of the Castle; loads of every description being +carried on men’s heads, and in hammocks<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_28">[28]</span> fastened to long poles, which are borne by +two persons.</p> + +<p>The market is rather scantily supplied with Guinea-corn, maize, +yams, sweet cassada, &c. although the soil is amazingly rich, +yielding abundantly all the necessaries of life. Notwithstanding +its fertility, however, cultivation is carried on to a very +inconsiderable extent, and the surrounding country is still thickly +wooded.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span><a id= +"c02"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">The ship sails again — Capture of a Spanish +schooner with Slaves — The natives of the coast come on board — +Vessel anchors at Papoe — Sails from thence and captures another +slave vessel — Arrives at Whydah, where Mr. Dickson lands — His +progress through the country and reported death — The Brazen comes +to an anchor in Badagry Roads — The Gentlemen of the Mission give a +last farewell to the officers on board, and proceed on shore.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">The</span> Brazen sailed from Cape Coast on the +17th, and on the following day pursued a fine Spanish brigantine, +which was waiting to receive a cargo of slaves from the coast. +After a short chase the vessel was captured, and taken to Accra the +same evening. There were only five or six Europeans at Accra; but +the town, as at Cape Coast, is chiefly inhabited by Fantees, and is +very populous. We had an opportunity of seeing the king of the +Fantee nation during our short stay. His majesty, dressed in a +shabby<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> uniform of an +English military officer, was supported on the shoulders of four +men, and paraded through the town, preceded and followed by a +number of people, who, by clapping of hands, and beating on +<em>tom-toms!</em> created a loud and most discordant noise, which +might have been heard at a considerable distance from the spot.</p> + +<p>On the 20th the Brazen departed with her prize from Accra, and +came to an anchor at Papoe the day after. From that place the +brigantine was to have taken in her cargo, and the slaves selected +were confined in the town. As soon as the officers landed from the +ship, they were demanded, but the king, obstinately refusing at +first to deliver them up, was told that unless they were +immediately produced, his town would be cannonaded, he himself and +his son taken prisoners, and the slaves seized by main force; on +which the royal personage seemed to pay a little more respect to +the imperious summons of the Englishmen; and the unfortunate people +were shortly after ordered to be liberated. These slaves at length +made their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> +appearance, and exhibited a long line of melancholy faces and +emaciated frames, wasted by disease and close confinement, and by +having suffered dreadfully from scantiness of food, and the impure +air of their prison-house. They were 231 in number, men, women, and +children, in a complete state of nudity, and heavily manacled; +several of them were lamed by the weight of their irons, and their +skin sadly excoriated from the same cause. All of them appeared in +the deepest misery, and one little boy in particular was greatly +distressed, and cried much and bitterly. He had been seized whilst +at play with his young companions from before the threshhold of his +parents’ hut, and immediately driven to Papoe with his thoughtless +playmates. The poor things evinced the liveliest joy on being made +acquainted with the favorable turn in their affairs, and the +gratitude they displayed to their deliverers was natural and +sincere. Arrangements were speedily made for their accommodation on +board the prize; and that vessel, which was to have borne them to +perpetual slavery in a remote region, was employed to +convey<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> them to +hundreds of their countrymen at Sierra Leone.</p> + +<p>Papoe lies close to the sea, and consists of an assemblage of +irregularly-built mud huts; a number of lofty cocoa-trees growing +in its immediate vicinity conducing greatly to the apparent +freshness and pleasantness of the place. Slavery is carried on to +an alarming extent by the inhabitants, every one of whom is at all +times prepared to accompany a slave expedition. They are said to be +more ferocious in their manners than most tribes on the coast; and +if one may be allowed to judge from the savage expression of their +countenances, the people are eminently entitled to this character. +The aspect of the country presents the same unvaried uniformity of +thick forests and extensive savannas, intersected with rich plains, +that is everywhere observable from the sea.</p> + +<p>The brigantine having been sent to Sierra Leone with the +emancipated slaves, the Brazen sailed from Papoe on the morning of +the 23d, and arrived at Whydah the same evening. Seven sail were at +anchor off the coast fronting the<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_33">[33]</span> town, the greater part of which were supposed +to be waiting for a favourable opportunity to embark slaves. +Captain Clapperton and Dr. Morrison landed on the following +morning, and were conveyed in hammocks to the town of Whydah, +situated about two English miles from the beach. After making +observations, and obtaining the information they sought, the +gentlemen returned the same evening to the ship.</p> + +<p>On the 25th Dr. Dickson landed to proceed into the interior. The +parting interview between Capt. Clapperton and the warm-hearted +Doctor was singularly tender and pathetic. The latter gentleman +entertained a presentiment that they should never meet again, and +his endeavours to suppress or disguise his emotion entirely failed +in their effect. “Study the character of the natives well,” said +the Captain to Dr. Dickson, as he yet lingered on the deck; +“respect their institutions, and be kind to them on all occasions; +for ’tis on paying proper respect to these rules, and these only, +that you must ground your hope of being successful in your progress +through the country; and the<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_34">[34]</span> conduct of the people to you will be guided +solely by your behaviour towards them. Set a guard over your +temper, my dear Dickson, and never let it lead you into error.” “We +meet at Jennah, then,” said the Doctor, with an inquiring eye, and +anxious, half-doubting look: “We meet at Jennah,” answered Captain +Clapperton, solemnly. “Once more adieu, my dear Dickson, and may +God bless and protect you.” The Doctor then tore himself from the +deck, and we saw him no more.</p> + +<p>Doctor Dickson was met at Whydah by M. de Souza, a Portuguese, +and Mr. James, an Englishman, who accompanied him to Abomey, the +capital of Dahomy, where he was received both by the king and his +subjects with a hearty welcome, and every mark of kindness and +respect. He was attacked with fever shortly after his arrival in +that metropolis; but on his recovery proceeded in high spirits, +with an escort of one hundred men, furnished as a protection by his +Dahoman majesty, to Shar, that monarch’s authority extending no +further in that direction.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>On my return from +the interior I was told by a person at Jennah, that Dr. Dickson, +having proceeded about two days’ journey into the country from +Shar, (where he had arrived in safety,) for some reason, which was +not correctly explained, had a serious misunderstanding with a +party of the natives, and his life being threatened by its chief, +he was so violently exasperated that he attempted to throttle that +individual; which being observed by his followers, they fell upon +the unfortunate doctor, overcame, and slew him.<a id= +"FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +Thus this gentleman was the first of the mission that fell a victim +to the cause of African research.</p> + +<p>On the 26th the ship departed from Whydah, and came to an anchor +in Badagry Roads on the 28th.</p> + +<p>The appearance of the coast from Sierra Leone to Badagry is, +generally speaking, singularly beautiful and attractive. The soil +differs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> in various +districts, but consists chiefly of a rich reddish mould, intermixed +with sand, which renders it wonderfully fertile. It yields in the +greatest abundance most, if not all, of the necessaries of life, +and many of its luxuries; and millet, Indian corn, yams, sweet +potatoes, cassada, plantains, the banana, &c. are cultivated to +a considerable extent by the natives. Trees in great number and +variety, of magnificent dimensions and luxuriant foliage, adorn the +face of the country, the apparent beauty of which is infinitely +heightened by the number of small villages, embellished with lovely +trees, dotting the borders of the sea; amongst which the stately +palm, both on account of the peculiarity and elegance of its form, +must ever hold a distinguished place. Thick forests are also spread +over the landscape, the gloomy shade of which, contrasted with the +smiling verdure of cultivated plains, pleasantly studded with +clumps of cocoa and other trees, and enlightened by a brilliant +sun, offers a variegated and unrivalled picture of rural beauty, +which the eye feasts upon with peculiar pleasure.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>It is melancholy +to reflect, however, that a great portion of this delightful region +is peopled with a race of savages and semi-barbarians, speaking a +variety of languages, but all having nearly the same customs, and +engaged in perpetual broils amongst each other. The manners and +ceremonies of the people are indeed the same, essentially, as they +were when the coast was first discovered by the Portuguese in the +fifteenth century; neither time, nor their familiar intercourse +with Europeans for so many ages, having apparently in the slightest +degree either enlightened their minds, or out-rooted their +unmeaning superstitions, which still retain all their original +freshness and absurdity. It is much to be feared that, instead of +copying and imbibing the virtues of their white visitants, they +have only adopted their most odious vices. Intoxication, which in +all probability was unknown, or at most but partially indulged in, +by the aboriginal inhabitants, is followed to a beastly excess at +the present time, and is the parent of a thousand +irregularities.</p> + +<p>Slavery, by far the most appalling evil that<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span> can befal the human race, is +carried on in particular districts to a deplorable extent, and +spreads like a pestilence through the country. It is impossible to +contemplate this striking and peculiar feature in the African +habits, without experiencing the most lively emotions of surprise +and sorrow. It has insinuated itself so deeply into the very life +and spirit of the laws and institutions of the people, that the +period seems remote indeed when it may fairly be presumed it will +be wholly eradicated from them. It has also produced the most +baleful effects, causing anarchy, injustice, and oppression to +reign in Africa, and exciting nation to rise up against nation, and +man against man; it has damped all ardour for improvement, in the +absence of every stimulus to industry and exertion, and infinitely +sunk the character of the people in the eyes of the rest of the +world; it has covered the face of the country with desolation, and +filled the minds of its sorrowing inhabitants with mourning, +lamentation, and woe: but above all, it has confirmed them in the +darkest and most shameful ignorance, and rivetted<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span> them more closely than ever in +the bonds of a ridiculous and abominable superstition, to the utter +exclusion of a more amiable and rational belief. All these evils, +and many others, has slavery accomplished; in return for which the +Europeans, for whose benefit, and by whose connivance and +encouragement it has flourished so extensively, have given to the +heartless natives but ardent and intoxicating spirits, tawdry silk +dresses, and paltry necklaces of beads!</p> + +<p>The day after the arrival of the Brazen at Badagry (the 29th of +November), the gentlemen of the mission, and the officers of the +ship, assembled on the quarter-deck to take a final farewell of +each other; and some of the latter were deeply affected, as with a +faltering voice and agitated manner they breathed their hopes that +success might attend the perilous undertaking to which their +enterprising friends had so willingly devoted themselves. There was +something so moving in the pathetic spectacle of Englishmen parting +under a strong persuasion, almost amounting to a conviction, of +meeting no more in <em>this</em> world; in seeing the manly +resolution<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> and +stubborn indifference of British officers combating with the +tenderer and more amiable feelings of human nature, that I myself +could with difficulty stifle my emotion; and to dispel the gloom +which hung upon my mind, I bade the officers a hasty and respectful +adieu, and shaking hands with many of the honest seamen on deck, I +sprang into a canoe that lay alongside the Brazen; and as two of +the natives were rowing it towards the shore, I took the +opportunity of playing “<em>Over the hills and far away</em>,” on a +small bugle horn which I had brought with me. This elicited the +admiration of the sailors of the ship, and I landed amidst the +hearty cheers and acclamations of them all.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards Captains Clapperton and Pearce, and Dr. +Morrison, with Pasko and Dawson,<a id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> also landed; but Columbus +the mulatto, who had been ill almost from the period of his leaving +England, was too weak to accompany them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>The landing was +rendered extremely dangerous by reason of a tremendous surf, which +rolled violently, and to a great height, for many miles along the +coast, and the canoe in which Mr. Houtson (an English merchant, who +was taken on board at Whydah, for the purpose of accompanying the +mission,) was conveyed from the Brazen, with astronomical +instruments, &c. was swamped when at some distance from the +beach. This accident had nearly cost that gentleman his life; for +after being tossed about on the foam and waves for a few minutes, +his strength utterly forsook him, and he ceased to struggle with +the waters. In this perilous state he was observed by two of the +blacks who had been with him in the ill-fated canoe; and, at the +imminent risk of their own lives, the men succeeded in conveying +Mr. Houtson, although totally insensible, to the shore, where +proper remedies having been administered, he shortly afterwards +recovered. The natives subsequently dived after the instruments, +&c. and were fortunate enough to regain the whole, +although<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> being +seriously damaged by the water, many of them were of little, if +any, use afterwards.</p> + +<p>Neither an English boat, nor a canoe of the ordinary form, can +possibly live, even a single minute, in this dreadful surf; and the +natives have canoes of singular construction, and exceedingly +strong, made purposely to brave its violence; yet, as the preceding +casualty clearly shows, even these are insufficient to preserve the +passenger from the danger apprehended. The canoes here spoken are +of immense size and thickness, and manned by nineteen naked men, +who are well skilled in the art of rowing. On every occasion a +Fetish-man, covered from head to foot with <em>gris-gris</em>, +stands in the bow invoking the “Spirit of the Waters” to be +propitious, and quell the raging of the sea. He continues +alternately watching the motion of the billows and praying in a low +mournful tone till the boat reaches the shore or the vessel, when +thanks are immediately returned to the water-divinity. When he +fancies his petition has been heard, the Fetish-man, catching a +favourable opportunity,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_43">[43]</span> suddenly claps his hands in a transport, and +exclaims, with violent gesticulation and wildness of manner, “i +yaw, i yaw!” (now is the time, now is the time,) which inspires his +countrymen in the canoe with fresh energy, and dashing their +paddles into the water, they propel their enormous bark through the +foamy waves with the swiftness of lightning.</p> + +<p>I must own, I was by no means sorry that Columbus did not +proceed with us; he was a man of strong and easily excited +passions, and was besides malicious and revengeful. He used to take +offence at the most trifling accident in the world, and with oaths +and bitter imprecations, curse the individual whom he conceived had +been the author of it, vowing at the same time to be revenged. He +frequently declared, during the voyage, that he himself would be +the solitary survivor of the party: all the others, he affirmed, +would die before they had been in the country many weeks, and he +should have the <em>pleasure</em> of returning alone; nevertheless +he was himself the very first victim to the effects of that climate +which he had proudly boasted<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_44">[44]</span> could not be prejudicial to him,—for being +subsequently landed at Whydah, and overtaking Dr. Dickson at +Abomey, he proceeded with that gentleman on the road to Shar, but +being attacked with fever, expired, I have been informed, before +they had reached that place.</p> + +<p>A day or two previously to our leaving the ship, I had by some +means or other unintentionally offended Columbus; the next time he +saw me, he exclaimed, grinning horribly, in a tone and gesture +which could not be mistaken, and which I shall not easily forget, +“I shall one day have the pleasure of seeing you parching with +thirst on the back of a camel; and rather than give you one drop of +water by —— you shall perish there; <em>that</em> will be my +revenge!”</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span><a id= +"c03"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">The Travellers reach Badagry, and leave that city +on the 7th of December — Dr. Morrison’s illness — Arrival at Latoo +— Captain Pearce and the Author attacked with fever — Enter Jannah +— Continued and alarming illness of the party — Their progress — +Dr. Morrison returns to Jannah.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">At</span> the distance of about half a mile +from the beach we came to a small creek, near the mouth of which +was a solitary fetish-hut, ornamented in front with a species of +small shining stone, which abounds in the country. Near this sacred +spot were deposited several bundles of wood, and various articles +of earthenware of rude manufacture; but not a single individual +could any where be seen. In such reverence are these pagan temples +held by the natives, that property, how valuable soever it may be, +placed within a certain distance of them, is considered as being +under the special protection of their<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_46">[46]</span> gods; in consequence of which, though it may +remain unclaimed for any length of time, it is rarely known to be +damaged or stolen.</p> + +<p>After crossing the river Formosa, which is about a mile in +width, we arrived at Badagry at five o’clock in the afternoon, and +were comfortably accommodated in the dwelling of Mr. Houtson who +had previously resided at that place. The house, like every other +in the town, except the king’s, is constructed of bamboo cane, and +has but one story. On Friday, the 2d of December, the King, Adólee, +sent us a present of a bullock, a fine pig, and some fowls; and on +the following day honoured us with a visit, in all the pomp and +barbarous magnificence of African royalty. He was mounted on a +diminutive black horse, and followed by about one hundred and fifty +of his subjects, who danced and capered before and behind him; +whilst a number of musicians, performing on native instruments of +the rudest description, promoted considerably the animation and +vivacity of their motions and gestures. He was gorgeously arrayed +in a scarlet cloak, literally covered with<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_47">[47]</span> gold lace, and white kerseymere trowsers +similarly embroidered. His hat was turned up in front with rich +bands of gold lace, and decorated with a splendid plume of white +ostrich feathers, which, waving gracefully over his head, added not +a little to the imposing dignity of his appearance! Close to the +horse’s head marched two boys, each carrying a musket in his right +hand; they wore plain scarlet coats, with white collars and large +cocked hats, tastefully trimmed with gold lace, which costly +material all classes excessively admire. Two fighting chiefs +accompanied their sovereign on foot, and familiarly chatted with +him as he advanced. On approaching within a short distance of us, +the monarch dismounted, and squatting himself on the ground outside +our house, an umbrella was unfurled and held over his head, whilst +a dozen of his wives stood round their lord and master</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“With diverse-colour’d fans, whose wind +did seem</div> + +<div class="line indent0"> To glow the <em>delicate</em> +cheeks which they did cool!”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="nind">for the atmosphere was sultry and the heat +oppressive. After paying our respects to our august visitor,—to do +him honour, I was desired to hoist<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_48">[48]</span> an English union-jack over him. This was the +climax of his glory and his pride; he was sensibly delighted, and +looked as childishly vain as a girl when she first puts on a new +dress. All hands now began to drink rum, and the spectacle became +highly and singularly grotesque. Laying aside all pretensions to +superiority of rank, his Badagrian majesty forgot his illustrious +birth, and was as cheerful and merry as the meanest and most jovial +of his subjects. Seated on the ground, his splendid dress +glittering in the rays of the sun, surrounded by his generals, +pages, and wives, with a British flag held by a white floating over +his princely head,—his soul softened by the most inspiring and +delicious music! and his animal spirits exhilarated by large and +repeated draughts of his favourite cordial,—he was in a transport +of joy, and looked and spoke as if he had been the happiest man in +the universe; while the shouts and bustle of the people, the +cracking of fingers and clapping of hands, the singing, and +dancing, and capering, all was so novel, and so African, that it +made an impression on my memory which will never be erased +from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> it. This debauch +continued for a couple of hours; when all the rum being consumed, +and Adólee becoming rather tipsy, his majesty begged me to favour +him, before his departure, with a tune on my bugle horn, of which +he had formed the most extravagant notions. To this modest request +I cheerfully acceded, and played several English and Scotch airs, +until I became so completely exhausted that my breath was entirely +spent, the king not permitting me to drop the instrument till then. +Owing either to the effects of the liquor Adólee had partaken of so +freely, or to the sound of the music, &c. he was quite in an +extasy, and shook hands and thanked me at the close of every tune. +The king then remounted, and the procession returned in the same +order, and performed the same anticks as when it came. Captain +Clapperton and his associates accompanied the monarch to his +palace; whilst I and my companions repaired to our peaceful +habitation.</p> + +<p>Adólee, recovered from the fatigue and revelry of the preceding +day, visited us again on<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_50">[50]</span> the third, and minutely examined every +article belonging to the mission, without, however, expressing the +slightest inclination to reserve any thing for himself. When the +use of the telescope was explained to him, he could not conceal his +astonishment, and fancied its maker to be more than mortal; the +medicine-chest also, and its contents, excited his curiosity and +attention, and he quitted us with an exalted opinion of the +knowledge and ingenuity of the English people.</p> + +<p>His majesty, without pomp or ceremony, visited us daily till the +period of our departure from his capital; he had the reputation of +being a friendly, good sort of man, and was apparently about forty +or forty-five years of age, five feet nine inches in height, and +rather inclining to corpulency.</p> + +<p>The market, which is held daily, is tolerably supplied with +poultry, yams, maize, palm wine, country cloth, &c. &c. The +cattle are no better, either in size or condition, than those at +Sierra Leone, and on other parts of the coast.</p> + +<p>On Wednesday, the 7th, after a drinking<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_51">[51]</span> revel with the Badagrian great men, we +embarked in canoes on a branch of the Lagos river, accompanied by +Adólee and many of his chiefs, in separate canoes, and people in +armed boats for our mutual protection, in case of surprise or +attack. Landing about a mile and a half from the junction of the +Gazie creek, Adólee and some of his people returned to Badagry, and +we slept in the evening on the western bank, in the open air, +without even the shelter of a single tree. The moon shone brightly +and beautifully in the night, and not a sound disturbed the solemn +tranquillity of the place, all being as still and quiet as the +grave. Next morning we found ourselves wet to the skin with the +heavy dew that had fallen in our sleep; and in all probability were +thus sown the seeds of those disorders which subsequently broke out +with such fatal virulence, and produced suffering, disease, and +death, in our little party. In the forenoon I accompanied my master +and Mr. Houtson to Bookhar, a neighbouring town, and the stores and +baggage were ordered to be sent after us. On arriving<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> at that place we seated +ourselves under the branches of a large tree, and were quickly +visited by hundreds of the inhabitants, who came in large companies +to view us, and as soon as their curiosity was satisfied, made way +for their impatient countrymen. The children, who were not tall +enough to catch a glimpse of us through the crowd, were perched on +the shoulders of their parents or relatives, who pointed us out to +them, observing, “There they are!” as if we had been wild beasts, +or monsters of some sort. All, however, behaved with the strictest +propriety, and although they repeatedly laughed to each other on +making observations on the singularity of our appearance or the +whiteness of our skin, not a single word of derision or disrespect +was uttered against the strangers.</p> + +<p>Whilst we were stared at in this manner, the crowd suddenly +divided in order to make way for a fighting chief belonging to the +army of the king of Katunga, who came in full state to visit us, +riding on a small horse, and followed by a large retinue, two of +whom were also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> +mounted. On his head he wore a cap and feathers, evidently of +European manufacture, and he was clad in a scarlet jacket, +fluttering in rags, with dirty yellow facings, and loose trousers +of faded nankeen—a dress of which he was extravagantly vain. The +king’s messengers having had a consultation with the chief, the +latter dismounted, and sat himself down at the distance of about a +stone’s-throw from our tree. Captain Clapperton then sent him an +umbrella as a token that we were amicably disposed towards him, and +wished him well; on receipt of which his attendants set up so +terrific a noise, with drums, clapping of hands, &c. that it +was utterly impossible to hear ourselves speak while it lasted. As +soon as this clamour had subsided the chief arose, and coming up to +us, shook hands with each, very complacently seating himself by our +sides. He expressed himself overjoyed at seeing white men, and +complimented the English, in no measured language, for the good +they had done in trading with the people of the country. A glass or +two of rum, which he swallowed with<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_54">[54]</span> peculiar delight, set the warrior-chief in +better humour than ever, and he repeated his encomiums in so loud a +key that they were heard by his attendants, who, out of respect, +had retreated several yards from the spot, when the music of the +drum was revived with greater spirit than before, interrupted only +by immense clapping of hands, and other demonstrations of joy. This +“harmony of sweet sounds” continued till the mighty chief left us, +which took place the moment he perceived that no more spirits were +forthcoming.</p> + +<p>As soon as we had fairly got rid of our garrulous visitor, we +rose to pay a visit to the caboceer, or chief of the town, whom we +found in earnest conversation with his elders, and a few of his old +grey-headed wives, altogether forming the most venerable looking +group of human beings I ever saw. The profoundest silence prevailed +as we drew near, and every eye was anxiously fixed upon us. The +chief was a tall thin man, well stricken in years, and respectably +dressed in a silk tobe and trousers of country cloth. On his head +he wore a cap<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> so +thickly studded with various coloured glass beads that the material +of which it was composed could with difficulty be distinguished; +and small gold colored tassels of beads hung from it to the +shoulders. The cap was neatly and fancifully made, and set off the +black ill-natured face of its owner to great advantage. After +paying the usual compliments, goora nuts and water were presented, +and my master explaining to the chief who and what we were, and +what motives had induced us to visit the country, with which he +expressed himself perfectly well satisfied, we were conducted to +his residence; receiving shortly afterwards a present of a sheep, +some yams, and fire-wood. Many of the chief’s young wives stole +every opportunity to peep through holes in the walls at the white +men, but when detected gratifying their curiosity in this manner, +they were excessively confused, and ran off and hid themselves.</p> + +<p>In the evening Captain Pearce arrived with the baggage from the +banks of the river; and in the night it was guarded by the soldiers +of the king of Badagry, who serenaded us till the<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> next morning with a most +astounding concert of drums, &c. in order, as they asserted, to +deter thieves from plundering the goods.</p> + +<p>Near the entrance of the town, on the left side of the road, +stands a solitary fetish-hut, of large dimensions, with a number of +wooden figures, carved in bas-relief, some in a kneeling and some +in a recumbent posture, placed outside the walls; these idols the +inhabitants worship, and ascribe miraculous powers to their +agency.</p> + +<p>We arose at an early hour on Thursday: but the old hypocritical +chief, alleging that he had not received a present proportionate to +his respectability or expectations, would neither exert himself in +any way to procure a single individual to convey the baggage, nor +appeared willing for us to leave till he had finished a long-winded +harangue, which had already occupied three hours, and threatened to +last at least as many more, when his tongue was fortunately stopped +by the two Badagrian Generals clapping their hands on his lips. +Owing to this circumstance a few individuals only +volunteered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> to assist +us, amongst whom was one of the chief’s daughters, a bouncing woman +of five-and-twenty, who carried the canteen,—so that our Badagrian +escort were obliged to undertake that office themselves. We were +equally unfortunate in our inquiries for hammock-men, not a single +individual in the town being willing to engage himself in what all +ranks conceive to be an occupation fit only for horses; but Captain +Clapperton having borrowed the horse of a Badagrian chief, he and +Mr. Houtson agreed to ride him in turns. We took a short route +across the country, whilst Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison +proceeded to Dagnoo by a safer but more circuitous road.</p> + +<p>It was evening when we left Bookhar, and it soon becoming dark, +we had to grope our way on a narrow foot path, winding through a +gloomy dismal forest, and rendered almost impervious to man or +beast, except on the beaten track, by reason of thick entangling +underwood. To add to our misery, Captain Clapperton became so +painfully galled in consequence of riding on the back of a lean +horse without a saddle,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_58">[58]</span> that he preferred walking the remainder of +the way, although wearing only slippers; these were soon lost, and +he was obliged to limp a considerable distance barefooted, so that +his feet were swollen, and blistered dreadfully, and before +reaching Isako were literally bathed in blood.</p> + +<p>We were informed in the village that the party with the baggage +had left that place some time before for Dagnoo, whither we were +obliged to follow it, preceded by a number of the kind inhabitants +with burning torches to show us the intricate path, which did not, +however, prevent our stumbling at every step. We arrived at Dagnoo +about midnight, our clothes being torn to ribbons, and all of us +excessively fatigued from the effects of so long and unpleasant a +walk; and on finding that the beds had been sent still further on, +we were again under the necessity of sleeping in the open air, +exposed to a heavy dew, which completely saturated the remnant of +our dress before morning.</p> + +<p>We arose early, and after crossing a small creek in the vicinity +of Dagnoo, continued our journey, through a vast primeval forest, +sometimes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> broken by a +grove of palm-trees, a field of Indian corn, and even a whole +village in large open places. We were met in the path by numbers of +the natives of both sexes, with bundles of palm-leaves on their +heads, used for the purpose of thatching their huts; and the wild +shrill cry of the grey parrot resounded from the huge branches of +the trees.</p> + +<p>On arriving at Humba, we found Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison +at the chief’s residence, waiting to receive us; and shortly +afterward Captain Clapperton was taken very unwell with fever, +having had a slight attack of ague in the course of the day. The +town was in ruins, and its inhabitants appeared in a truly pitiable +state; nevertheless singing and dancing, and music-playing, were +kept up during the whole of the night, with as much spirit and good +humour as if the people had been the happiest in the world.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 11th the baggage was sent on, and we +walked to another village at no great distance from Humba, although +my master was so extremely weak that he was barely able<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span> to undertake even so short a +journey on foot. When we entered the place, we found the carriers +detained by command of the chief, until a flask of rum, by way of +tribute, was given him. He came up as soon as he saw us, with a +leopard’s skin thrown carelessly over his shoulders, and repeated +his determination not to let the men proceed till his request was +complied with. The old man was however satisfied with a strong +glass of grog, prepared for him by Mr. Houtson, each mouthful of +which, instead of swallowing, he adroitly squirted into the mouths +of his longing attendants, who stood gaping, with glistering eyes, +to receive the liquor thus deliciously refined, and which was +relished by the whole party with peculiar satisfaction! The +carriers were then allowed to go on with the baggage without +further molestation, and Captain Clapperton got into a hammock; but +the bearers had proceeded only a few paces, when it was for some +unaccountable reason suddenly let down, and the fellows scampered +away as fast as their legs could carry them. It was afterwards +taken up by our own party, and conveyed<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_61">[61]</span> through Ackongujie, a pleasant village +surrounded by fertile land, to a town called Eto, in which the +bearers were changed, and we proceeded through thick woods till we +arrived at Sattoo, where we slept, after having made an excellent +supper on a goat the chief had sent us. Next morning we pursued our +journey early, and at noon reached the pleasant town of Bidgie, +near to which were extensive plantations of corn and plantains. The +chief, a fine young man named Lollakelli, who was perpetually +smiling, pressed us to stay with him the remainder of the day; and +the inhabitants, who came in crowds to see us, passing the same +compliment, after a little hesitation it was accepted, and we slept +there.</p> + +<p>Dr. Morrison felt himself indisposed in the evening, with slight +symptoms of fever, and swelling of the legs; but next morning being +partially recovered, we proceeded in good spirits to the borders of +a river we had to cross, Lollakelli, with several of his people +accompanying us. Mr. Houtson and myself embarked in the first +canoe, but we were an hour and half on<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_62">[62]</span> the water before we could reach the +landing-place, situated on the eastern bank: nor did the other +canoes meet with better success. All being at length safely over, +we pursued our journey, and our road lying nearly the whole of the +way through a dried swamp overgrown with rushes, travelling was +thereby rendered extremely uncomfortable. About mid-day my master +became exhausted, in consequence of fatigue and the excessive heat; +and resting himself in the shade of some diminutive trees for a few +minutes, a person on horseback passed by, who seeing him reposing +on the earth, dismounted, and offered him the use of his horse. +This being gratefully accepted, the party was immediately in +motion, and the generous black walked with us to Atalabora. On +entering that village we found the baggage detained for want of +carriers, who had been sent for from an adjoining town, and had not +then arrived; so that Captain Pearce, who felt seriously +indisposed, and Dr. Morrison, the other invalid, thought it +necessary to refresh themselves with an hour or two’s sleep, in the +principal hut in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span> the +town; whilst Mr. Houtson, my master, and myself, took the +opportunity of stretching ourselves at full length underneath the +branches of a spreading tree, the heat being oppressive, and +unrelieved by a single zephyr. The expected carriers having +arrived, and the sick expressing themselves somewhat strengthened +with the short nap they had enjoyed, they were first sent forwards, +and the other gentlemen, with myself, followed them. The road was +quite level, and lay through a small town called Funnie, across +rich plantations of yams. Towards evening we were met by a person +from the chief of Laboo, with horses for our accommodation. We +immediately mounted the beasts, and journeying at an easy rate, +entered Laboo by moonlight.</p> + +<p>The town is delightfully situated on a rising ground, commanding +an extensive and noble prospect; the approach to it is through a +beautiful walk of trees, between which at certain measured +distances, fetish-houses are erected, which are held in the +greatest veneration by the inhabitants. Immediately on our arrival +we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> were conducted to +the chief, whom we found sitting under the verandah of his +dwelling, and who politely welcomed us to Laboo, observing that he +had been anxiously expecting us for some hours before. Goora nuts, +as usual, were presented, with water in a certain chamber utensil +which shall be nameless, the odd service to which it was applied +causing us to laugh heartily; and the chief became as sociable +after we had been in his company a few minutes only, as if he had +been acquainted with us for years. Dr. Morrison was brought into +the town about two hours after, in a weak and helpless state; and +on Wednesday the 14th, I was myself taken extremely unwell with +<em>coup-de-soleil</em>, or sun-stroke, having incautiously left my +head uncovered for some time on the preceding day. Captain Pearce +also felt much worse towards the evening of the 14th, so that the +day after that gentleman, and Dr. Morrison and myself, were obliged +to be conveyed in hammocks on men’s heads, to Jannah, where we +arrived an hour before the rest of the party.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants quickly surrounded the tree<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_65">[65]</span> under which we had been placed, and teazed +us with a thousand questions which we were unable to answer. +Meantime a dense crowd had collected in front of us, and welcomed +the <em>red</em> men as we were termed, (our skin being at that +time much blistered by the rays of the sun,) by drumming, and +singing and dancing. In our languid state, we were ill able to bear +this eternal din, and entreated the people to conduct us to a hut, +for that we were very ill; but they answered with the greatest +unconcern, that the king, whose house was directly opposite, must +of necessity see us before we ventured to stir from the spot; that +he was the greatest man between Badagry and Katunga; and that it +would not be well for us to offend him by being too importunate in +our solicitations. We at length lost all patience, and observing a +large empty shed in the centre of the square, which we found to be +the palaver-house or hall of council, we ventured to crawl into it +as well as we could, being only a few yards from the tree. Captain +Pearce and Dr. Morrison had then their beds made; but mine being +rolled up, I was too weak to spread it,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_66">[66]</span> and so I lay along the bare ground. As soon +as Captain Clapperton and Mr. Houtson had made their appearance, +the noise was hushed for a moment, and shortly afterwards the chief +himself, accompanied by about fifty of his wives, approached, and, +whilst they stationed themselves at a short distance from us, the +latter struck up a native tune, which they sang loudly, and with +much feeling; indeed there was a solemnity and pathos about it that +reminded me of the most impressive church-music of my own country. +As soon as the sound of the ladies’ voices had ceased, the band +played a lively air, in which the singers occasionally joined; and +at the conclusion of the concert a message was sent from the king +to the palaver-house, for the <em>red men</em> that were well to +make their appearance. Accordingly Captain Clapperton and Mr. +Houtson went to the chief, who, at the opening of the conference, I +could perceive, as I lay on the earth, to be violently agitated +speaking with great apparent anger, and pointing several times to a +silver knife that was stuck in his girdle. After kniting his brows, +and frowning for a minute or<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_67">[67]</span> two, his features suddenly relaxed into a +gentler expression, and graciously smiling, he shook hands +cordially with the gentlemen, and entering the palaver-house, +extended his royal hand to us for the like purpose. He was attired +in a loose yellow silk tobe, and trousers of country cloth; and his +cap of red velvet had a purple silk tassel appended to the crown. +Like most of his countrymen, the chief or king of Jannah was fond +of displaying his conversational powers, and when answering any +questions that were put to him, or making observations on what +struck him as being singular or remarkable in our appearance, he +rattled a child’s silver whistle and bells (of English +manufacture), which he held in his left hand, by way of +accompaniment to his voice, which was certainly not the most +harmonious in the world.</p> + +<p>We were subsequently conducted to a house which was partly +occupied, and too small for our accommodation; so that my master, +Mr. Houtson, and Dawson were obliged to remain under the verandah, +neither of the others being well enough to follow their example. In +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> evening the king +came alone, and plainly dressed, to visit us, and in this instance +was very inquisitive and communicative. He wished particularly to +understand our business with the sultan of Yariba, for, as we +afterwards learnt, a messenger from the coast had informed him that +the white men’s object was expressly and solely to make war upon +that monarch and dethrone him; but the sorry plight in which we +then were disproved the assertion; and the chief himself +acknowledged that he did not place the slightest confidence in the +unfounded rumour.</p> + +<p>On Friday I became considerably worse, and on the following day +my life was despaired of. In the evening I was bled in the temple; +but the doctor, who was himself suffering from fever, being unable +to hold the instrument steadily, inadvertently thrust it into my +skull. This accident occasioned the most excruciating agony, and +made me shriek with pain. I passed the night in a manner that +cannot be described, but next morning felt much easier and better. +On Monday, however, the fever returned with more violence than +ever, attended by a severe<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_69">[69]</span> head-ache that almost drove me distracted, +and at my own suggestion Dr. Morrison ordered my head to be shaved. +To perform this delicate operation a native barber was at length +found, who came wielding a tremendous knife curved like a +reap-hook, instead of a razor, and began his avocation in a most +brutal manner, just like a clumsy English butcher shaving a +slaughtered pig; insomuch, that when his labour was finished, my +skull was scalped almost as effectually as if it had been done by +the tomahawk of a North American Indian. Although my head was thus +miserably excoriated, a large blister, covering the whole of it, +was applied; and my suffering was heightened to the utmost degree +of intensity; so that I lost my reason, and in the evening was +completely delirious. In this state, as I subsequently learnt, I +sprang from my couch, and being animated with the fury of a maniac, +knocked down the doctor and my master, broke and destroyed every +thing within my reach, and when in the act of escaping in my +night-dress from the door, was forcibly dragged back to my bed by +the united strength of the whole party,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_70">[70]</span> who had been alarmed with the noise I had +made. Weakened and exhausted by this mad prank, the phrenzy left +me, and reason returned, but with it came the loss of speech. About +an hour afterwards a consultation was held by my bed-side; and the +doctor having carefully felt my pulse, I was comforted by the +expressed opinion, that it would be impossible for me to live +throughout the night. Much to the astonishment of all, however, on +Tuesday the disorder had abated so greatly, that I was enabled to +sit up and converse rationally with those around me: my health, in +fact, seemed to return almost as rapidly as I had lost it.</p> + +<p>Dr. Morrison and Captain Pearce, in the meantime, continued +alarmingly ill, and evidently getting worse. Their hollow eyes, +sunk deeply in their sockets, and their skin exhibiting a sallow +and cadaverous hue, they looked more like walking spectres than +living human beings; insomuch, that Captain Clapperton, distressed +at their altered appearance, urged upon each of them the necessity +of their either remaining at Jannah, or returning, under the care +of Mr.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> Houtson, to +the Brazen. Both gentlemen, however, declared their invincible +repugnance to the measure, and on the contrary expressed themselves +resolutely bent to proceed at all risks: Captain Pearce, in +particular, felt greatly hurt at the suggestion of his friend, and +asserted, in a decided tone, that he would infinitely prefer being +buried in the country, remote as it was from his native land, than +suffer Captain Clapperton to pursue his journey alone, while he had +life to accompany him. The Captain, affectionately pressing the +hand of the disinterested invalid, thanked him for the lively +interest he felt in his welfare, but repeated his unwillingness for +either him or Dr. Morrison to proceed further, in their present +emaciated and languid state: to this, however, no attention was +paid.</p> + +<p>Things being thus amicably adjusted, to the complete +satisfaction at least of the invalids, we left Jannah early on the +morning of Thursday the 22d, (the sick, myself amongst the number, +travelling in hammocks, as on former occasions,) and slept at +Beechy that night. At ten the next morning we arrived at Tschow, in +which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> town we +received much hospitality from the natives; and in the afternoon +Dr. Morrison, fancying that the sea air would restore his health, +which was hourly declining, at his own suggestion was sent back to +the ship, under the protection of Mr. Houtson.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span><a id= +"c04"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">Deaths of Dawson, Captain Pearce, and Dr. Morrison +— Their funeral — The survivors, after meeting with various +occurrences, and experiencing the kindest hospitality from the +natives on their route, arrive at Katunga, the capital of Yariba, +on the 15th of January, 1826.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">On</span> Saturday, the roads being rendered +almost impassable, in consequence of the rains that had fallen the +preceding night, it was not without experiencing considerable +difficulty that we could pursue our journey. The mud and water +reached, in some places, almost to the horses’ shoulders; and +Dawson, who was ill with ague, was unable to retain his seat on the +animal’s back, and fell three or four times in the mire, till he +became so much exhausted by struggling to regain his seat, that, in +despair, he at last flung his arms only across the +horse’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> back; and +panting with his exertions, was in this manner dragged to a +considerable distance. At eleven o’clock we arrived at the village +of Egbo; and after partaking of a slight refreshment, each of us +being indisposed in a greater or less degree, we stretched +ourselves at full length on our mats, in the hope of obtaining a +little sleep. Dawson, however, was taken dreadfully ill, and his +moanings of distress prevented me from closing my eyes. He +pronounced the names of his wife and children, whom he had left in +England, with a bitter emphasis, and reproached himself repeatedly +with having deserted them, to perish miserably in a strange +country. In this manner he complained till the afternoon, refusing +all consolation, when he became a little more composed; and Captain +Pearce fell asleep. My master had quitted the apartment just +before; and the medicine-chest lying open by Dawson’s side, he +perceived it, and pointing to a phial, desired a black attendant to +fill him a glass of its contents; which being promptly done, he +eagerly swallowed it. Whilst this was going on I had fallen into +a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> slumber; and on +awaking, about a quarter of an hour afterwards, not hearing +Dawson’s groans, I asked how he did; but receiving no answer, I +went to his bed-side, and found him a cold and stiffened corpse! +The sight of so unexpected and ghastly a spectacle caused me to +shudder, and I involuntarily made an exclamation of surprise and +terror, that awoke Captain Pearce, who asked what was the matter. +Before I had time to reply, he had raised himself on his couch, and +the truth instantly bursting upon him—“What!” said he, “is Dawson +dead? Well, poor fellow, <em>his</em> sufferings are over; +<em>I</em> cannot long survive him;” and with a deep sigh he sunk +back exhausted on his mat, without making any further remark.</p> + +<p>On examining the bottle from which the unfortunate man had +desired the liquor to be taken, I found it to be partly filled with +<em>ether</em>, which he must have mistaken for something else, and +which had caused his almost immediate dissolution. As soon as the +natives were made acquainted with the circumstance, they set up +their death-yell; and if all the fiends of darkness<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> had joined in chorus, they could +not have produced an effect more frightfully and fearfully +appalling than was the sound produced in that instance. Captain +Clapperton hastened to silence them, which, after some difficulty, +he succeeded in doing; but the awfully terrific noise the people +made, seemed to be ringing in our ears the whole of the night. As +dead bodies cannot be left exposed a great while in tropical +countries, Dawson was buried on the evening of his death, followed +to the grave by the whole of our black attendants and myself. +Captain Clapperton read the funeral service over his remains, which +were then deposited in the earth, and we returned to Captain +Pearce, whom we had left alone in the hut. Our party was now +reduced to three whites, one of whom was dangerously ill; my master +himself was in a much worse state of health than he would either +acknowledge or believe; and I was but just recovering from a +disease that had nearly proved fatal to me. A gloom was therefore +cast upon the countenances of our little band, as we prepared to +proceed, on the morning of Sunday;<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_77">[77]</span> but Captain Pearce rallying a little, we set +off in more cheerful spirits.</p> + +<p>The appearance of the country, from Jannah to Tshow, is greatly +superior to that from the coast to the former place, being clearer +of wood, and in a higher state of cultivation, swelling likewise +into easy and delightful undulations. Streams of water fertilize +the vallies; and the hills, covered with a lively verdure, are +adorned with lofty and handsome trees. The towns of the natives, +from Badagry to Tshow, with a few exceptions only, like those in +the island of Madagascar, are situated in the bosom of thick woods, +and are entered by paths so intricate, that, like the labyrinth of +Woodstock, they are known to none but the inhabitants themselves. +Sometimes, however, they have only one path, which is generally +defended by strong stockades or a mud wall, and sometimes by both +together.</p> + +<p>On Tuesday morning we continued our journey, with a cool +strengthening breeze and a serene atmosphere, which seemed to +invigorate each of us with renewed life and spirit; and, +after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> two hours’ +travelling, we arrived at Engwâ. In the course of the journey, for +the first time since leaving the ship, we perceived great numbers +of trees, stripped of their foliage, and the grass beaten to the +ground, so that, with the exception of the absence of frost and +snow, the country looked like many parts of England in the month of +November or December. Several of the natives in this, as in almost +every other instance, either accompanied or followed us on the way, +and we experienced as much civility from them as our countrymen +would have bestowed upon us in our native land. They were, +generally speaking, neatly dressed in cap, shirt (tobe), and +trousers, and very cleanly in their personal appearance.</p> + +<p>About eleven o’clock Captain Pearce became suddenly worse, and +an hour or two afterwards was delirious. He talked much and +incoherently, in detached sentences; at one time apparently +conversing with his mother in the most affectionate terms, asking +her questions, and answering them himself, and the next moment +reverting to his own melancholy condition, and<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_79">[79]</span> muttering something which no one could +understand. In this pitiable state he remained till nine o’clock in +the evening, when he fell into a stupor, from which he awoke about +half an hour afterwards, and attempting to raise himself on his +couch, with a faint groan, and a convulsive throe, he fell back and +instantly expired.</p> + +<p>Both Captain Clapperton and myself were deeply affected as we +enveloped the lifeless body in its shroud; and a host of gloomy +reflections crowded upon our minds, to see the once spirited and +cheerful companion of our wanderings stretched out before us, the +shadow only of a man, clothed in the mournful habiliments of death. +Next morning, about eleven o’clock, the body was borne to the place +of its interment, followed by my master and myself, with the +messengers of the kings of Badagry and Katunga, and a great number +of natives, who all behaved with the strictest decorum. As in the +former instance, Captain Clapperton, although extremely unwell, in +a tremulous voice and agitated manner, read the funeral service, +interrupted only by his own emotion, which he found<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> it impossible to conceal. The +corpse having been consigned to the grave, it was soon closed over +him for ever, and my master and myself, with heavy hearts and +melancholy anticipations, returned to our cheerless habitation. The +following inscription, at the desire of Captain Clapperton, I +carved on a board, which was placed at the head of the pit, over +which a shed was built by the natives; and a strong bamboo fence +surrounded the whole:—</p> + +<p>“Here lie the remains of Robert Pearce, Captain in the Royal +Navy of England, who died 27th Dec. 1825, aged 28, much regretted +by those that survive of the mission.</p> + +<ul class="sign1"> +<li>“H. <span class="sc">Clapperton</span>.</li> + +<li>“R. <span class="sc">Lander</span>.”</li> +</ul> + +<p>Captain Pearce had rendered himself a general favourite by his +gentle and pleasing manners, and excellent natural disposition. My +master was particularly attached to him, and esteemed him highly, +while the natives almost adored him. His companionable qualities +were great, and he displayed them to advantage in our toilsome +journeyings, raising the spirits of<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_81">[81]</span> the party by his wit and cheerfulness, and +infusing his own good temper into the breasts of every one. He was +besides an excellent limner and draughtsman, and possessed an +aptitude for picking up the various languages of the natives, which +bade fair to render him of the most essential service to the +mission. No one deplored his loss, or felt the want of his pleasant +society, more than myself. Just after he was taken ill, at his own +request, as soon as the day’s toil was over, I was constantly with +him, and at night my mat was placed close to his. We used to chat +for whole hours together, on different circumstances of our lives; +and my little history afforded him a fund of amusement. Any thing, +indeed, that promised to divert our thoughts from the calamities +which threatened us, was resorted to, and every trifling incident +we had each met with from our childhood repeated a thousand times +over, in order to dole away the long, still, dismal hours of night, +when sickness prevented either of us from closing our eyes. +Throughout Captain Pearce’s illness, his patience, resignation, and +manly fortitude never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> +forsook him; he was conscious that he should ultimately sink under +the influence of a disorder that was visibly wasting him, and daily +reducing his strength: nevertheless, this belief neither shook his +firmness nor damped his spirits, and he always spoke of his +anticipated dissolution with a serious calmness of manner that +surprised and pleased me. None of us thought that his end was so +near; we expected he would have struggled on at least a week or two +longer; but the sorrowful event disappointed the hopes we had +cherished, and he expired prematurely, to the infinite regret of +every one.</p> + +<p>Mr. Houtson returned on Saturday the 31st, with the afflictive +intelligence of the decease of Dr. Morrison, which mournful +circumstance occurred at Jannah, by a coincidence, singular in +misfortune, on the same day, and as nearly as possible at the same +hour as that in which Captain Pearce had breathed his last. He was +decently interred by Mr. Houtson on the 28th, near to the house in +which they had resided; and the ceremonies of the Church of England +were performed over his remains by the same gentleman.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>We saw several +busts of men, as well as figures of tigers, crocodiles, serpents, +&c. carved on blocks of wood, and extremely well executed, at +Engwâ. The natives of that part of Africa appear to have a genius +for the art of sculpture, which is in great repute with them; and +some of their productions rival, in point of delicacy, any of a +similar kind that I have seen in Europe.</p> + +<p>A fine Portuguese brig, and a Spanish schooner, had been lying +near Badagry, on our leaving that place, waiting for slaves; to +supply which vessels, the King of Jannah had sent a slaving party +to the territories of the Essàs, a powerful tribe in the +neighbourhood of Engwâ, which had captured numbers of the people. +The Chief of the Essàs was greatly exasperated at this conduct of +his neighbour, and had made numerous reprisals; so that, at the +period of our passing through the country, a general war was the +consequence.</p> + +<p>Owing to this circumstance, on leaving the town of Engwâ on the +morning of the 3d of January, 1826, we were accompanied by upwards +of a hundred men and women, who placed<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_84">[84]</span> themselves under our protection, fancying +that, when within sight of the white strangers, no evil could +befall them. We crossed a river called Akkeni at ten o’clock +<span class="sc2">A.M.</span>, which was full of sunken rocks, and +arrived at the village of Afoora about three hours after. Our +journey on that day was rendered particularly pleasant by the +fragrant odour exhaled from the cotton plant, then in full +blossom—the wild, solitary whistle of the grey parrot, and the +delightful melody of hundreds of small birds, swelling from the +branches of the tall trees. The country every where improved as we +advanced:—fields of Indian corn, and plantations of cotton, were +numerous, while groves of palm, and clumps of cocoa and female +cocoa trees, scattered on all sides, rendered the prospect from the +hills inexpressibly beautiful. Quitting Afoora early on Wednesday, +we reached Assula the same morning, in which town we were more +conveniently lodged than we had been since leaving the coast.</p> + +<p>Starting about seven o’clock the next day, and travelling over +several low hills, and through pleasant vallies, we entered +Assoudo,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> (the first +walled town we had yet seen,) at noon. In the paths we observed +numbers of fine birds, with silky and brilliant plumage, but I +could not be informed to what particular species they belonged, +neither of us having seen any of a similar kind before. Assoudo +contains upwards of ten thousand inhabitants, who were all as +curious as their countrymen, and also as noisy, but infinitely more +modest and respectful, and consequently more pleasing in their +manners. We received an abundant supply of provisions from the +chief, consisting of a goat, fowls, eggs, yams, bananas, +&c.</p> + +<p>On Friday, after halting at Tedi, a small village romantically +situated on a beautifully wooded slope, where we changed carriers, +we arrived at the town of Choko; but its chief, with nearly the +whole of the male inhabitants, being engaged in hunting the +buffalo, did not return till evening. In the mean time we had spent +an hour or two under a tree, but finding no one disposed to invite +us to a house, of our own accord we took peaceable possession of +the best hut the place afforded, of the goodness<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> of which, however, we could not +boast, it being sadly out of repair.</p> + +<p>Our road from Choko, on Saturday, lay round the sides of low +mountains, on the summits and in the hollows of which were several +hamlets, inhabited by an industrious race, who had extensive +plantations in the valleys below, where the palm tree flourishes in +great beauty. We slept at Yundekka that night, and on the next day +arrived at Duffo. There the inhabitants visited us by thousands, +and when desired to go away, they replied that if we did not allow +them to visit our house, we must come out, and show ourselves to +them in the street, for that they were determined, let the +consequence be what it might, to see a white man before they died. +The town contains ten or twelve thousand inhabitants, nearly half +of whom, on our departure the next morning, followed us at some +distance, in order to catch a last glimpse of their white +visitants.</p> + +<p>We passed through three villages, on the route to Chiadoo, to +which we were advancing, viz. Jesin, Weza, and Lukewâ, the chief of +each of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> which, with +the people, detained us an hour or more underneath the branches of +trees, gazing on us with a mingled sensation of compassion and +wonder, till, their curiosity being fully satisfied, we were +suffered to proceed. At the latter of these villages elephants’ +teeth were offered us for sale; but on our refusing to purchase +them, on the ground that we were not come for the purpose of +trading, the greatest amazement was depicted on the countenances of +the people, and they wondered amongst each other what motive +besides could possibly attract us to their country.</p> + +<p>We entered Chiadoo about six o’clock in the evening, and +received the accustomed present of provisions, &c. with the +addition of a turkey. The town, seated on a gentle declivity, is +densely inhabited, and defended by a thick mud wall and deep +trench, which wholly surround it. Within the wall, and almost close +to it, trees of large dimensions are planted, so as to form a belt +from two to three miles in circumference, which in case of +necessity might easily be converted into an excellent means of +defence for the inhabitants.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>The scenery on the +road from Afoora to Chiadoo is extremely picturesque, but the path +itself is in many places rugged and dangerous to travellers. +Winding by the sides of the <em>Kong</em> mountains, over rocks and +precipices, or through romantic glens at their base, intersected +with innumerable streams, the track was generally covered with +small loose stones, which galled the feet of the hammock-men in a +pitiable manner. On all sides immense masses of granite, jutting +abruptly from the hills or vallies, reared their heads to the +height, in some places, of several hundred feet; whilst others, +fearfully overhanging the narrow foot-way, caused a shuddering awe +to creep over us as we passed underneath them, which could not be +suppressed. With some danger, and more difficulty, the men who bore +my hammock clambered with me to the summit of one of the mounts, +from whence the prospect on the one hand was immeasurably grand and +imposing, and on the other enchantingly beautiful. At our feet were +lovely dales, cultivated in the highest degree, and planted with +cotton, yams, the plantain, &c. fertilized<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_89">[89]</span> by meandering rivulets, sparkling in the +sun-beams; whilst before and behind us were naked rocks, +precipitously steep and rugged, many standing singly, and others +piled loosely upon each other, apparently ready to tumble to the +earth below. The vallies, as well as the slopes and summits of the +hills, being studded with the cleanly habitations of the natives, +all bore an air of novelty, cheerfulness, beauty, and grandeur, +that I have never seen surpassed.</p> + +<p>Our carriers having made themselves merry at the village of +Weza, with an intoxicating beverage called <em>otée</em> (a kind of +ale made from millet), were rather frolicsome during the remainder +of the journey; and on descending an almost perpendicular +precipice, I was in momentary expectation of being tossed head-long +from their shoulders, my continued weakness rendering me unfit to +walk; but happily my fears were not realized, and after numberless +hair-breadth escapes, I was conveyed in safety to Chiadoo. The +chief of that town, whose kindness to us was displayed in a +striking manner, entreated us to remain with him a few days, and +Mr. Houtson<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> being +indisposed, and Captain Clapperton still more so, the latter +thought it advisable to stay a couple of days at least in the +place, in order to try whether ease and quiet would produce a +beneficial effect on the health of either of them. On the morning +of Thursday, the 12th, we left Chiadoo, followed by the chief and +an immense crowd of people of both sexes, amongst whom were +hundreds of children, the ladies enlivening us with songs at +intervals, and the men blowing on horns and beating on gongs and +drums, without any regard to time, forming altogether a most +barbarous concert of vocal and instrumental music, which continued +to our great inconvenience and annoyance till we arrived at Matoné, +when they took leave of us and returned. The carriers refreshed +themselves with two huge calabashes of <em>otée</em> whilst we +remained in the town, after which they started with redoubled +vigour, and about one o’clock halted at Arrowâ, where we slept.</p> + +<p>After some little difficulty, occasioned by the unwillingness of +the chief and inhabitants to part with us so soon, we pursued our +journey at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> half-past +nine next morning, and resting awhile at Washoo, entered Chaki in +the afternoon. The appearance of the country traversed differed but +little from that which has already been described as seen on the +road to Chiadoo, with the exception of its being, if possible, yet +more varied, and wearing an aspect of still deeper and sterner +beauty; hill rising above hill, and rock above rock, in proud +magnificence. In some places huge blocks of naked granite seemed +split as if by the hands of giants, leaving frightful chasms, the +bottoms of which could not be distinctly seen; and in others +detached fragments, irregularly scattered over the country, looking +wildly and negligently grand, inspired the strongest belief that +they had been forcibly rent asunder, at a remote era, by some +dreadful convulsion of nature.</p> + +<p>The air on the mountains is cooler, clearer, and more salubrious +than in the plains below, and the inhabitants seemed to enjoy +better health, and as we were informed lived to a more advanced age +than their countrymen of the vallies. We were every where received +on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> the road with +acclamations and songs of welcome; and as soon as our little party +was discerned, all labour immediately ceased. The people assembling +in groups of from three or four to fifty, approached as near as the +rocks would permit them; and doffing their caps, they greeted us as +we passed, wishing us a pleasant journey to their sovereign at +Katunga.</p> + +<p>On the top of the highest hill of the whole ridge is perched the +populous town of Cheki, at an immense elevation from the plains, +the approach to which is by a winding path, more steep and rugged +than any we had before met with, and up which we were obliged +positively to climb on our hands and knees. The chief, who may be +styled a petty king, having a considerable number of towns, and +many thousands of people under his protection and command,—was +seated outside of his house, under its verandah, surrounded by +about a hundred of his wives, and musicians with drums and fifes. +On our approach the latter struck up a native air, the ladies +keeping time with their feet, and accompanying the instruments with +their voices,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> which +were so loud and shrill that the sound rent the air. To this +<em>voluptuous</em> music we were obliged to listen for the space +of an hour, when it ceased, and we took the opportunity of paying +our respects to the chief, and being completely tired, were +conducted to a large hut which had been prepared for our reception. +No sooner had we been fairly housed, however, than we were visited, +first by several of the inhabitants, whose curiosity was irksome +and painful to us, and next by the chief in person, who drank tea, +and remained with us till a very late hour, asking us innumerable +questions about England, and listening with the most mortifying +attention, and intolerable patience, to all we chose to tell him. +His countenance was open and pleasing, and in many of his +observations he displayed a degree of acuteness and penetration +that startled us. We were treated by this chief with a kindness, +remarkable even amongst his countrymen, and, under his hospitable +roof, we almost forgot all our misfortunes.</p> + +<p>Arising early on Saturday, the 14th, though pressed to remain by +every inducement that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> +could be thought of, we departed from Chaki at eight o’clock, +attended by the mountain-chief, with upwards of two hundred of his +wives, and a long train of people. Passing for the first time +through several Falatah villages, whose inhabitants were chiefly +employed in the occupations of pasturage and agriculture, Mr. +Houtson and myself entered the walled town of Koofo at one, and +about an hour after Captain Clapperton was brought into the town on +a hammock, being still severely indisposed. Several extensive +cotton plantations lay near the road, and the soil, generally +speaking, was clear of wood, and tolerably well cultivated. The +town of Koofo has a double wall, and is the largest we had noticed, +containing, in all probability, fully twenty thousand inhabitants. +We were saluted with the usual demonstrations of African welcome on +entering the gates; and in the afternoon of our arrival, and the +next day, the spacious court or yard with which we were +accommodated was literally crammed with people of both sexes, and +of all ages; and their impertinent curiosity it was utterly +impossible<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> to +satisfy. As soon as one party had stayed as long as they thought +proper, another supplied its place, in such rapid succession, that, +till the evening of each day had been pretty far advanced, we had +not a moment to call our own.</p> + +<p>The further we penetrated into the country, the more dense we +found the population to be, and civilization became at every step +more strikingly apparent. Large towns at the distance of only a few +miles from each other, we were informed lay on all sides of us, the +inhabitants of which pay the greatest respect to the laws, and live +under a regular form of government.</p> + +<p>Captain Clapperton, finding himself stronger and better, +ventured to leave Koofo on horseback, on Monday at eight o’clock +<span class="sc2">A.M.</span>, and after two hours’ travelling +through a well cultivated and delightful country, studded with +pleasant Falatah hamlets, we arrived at Soccasoo. In this town, our +messenger having gormandized on a leg of pork, was taken so sick +that he either could not or would not<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_96">[96]</span> proceed, and as we durst not go on without +him, we were obliged to abide in the place till the following +day.</p> + +<p>The opinion that the white men were come as “messengers of +peace” was general in the country, and implicitly believed by all +ranks. Two years previously to our landing from the Brazen, the +Houssa slaves belonging to the Sultan of Yariba had rebelled +against their sovereign, and, fleeing into the woods, had built +themselves a considerable town, no more than two days’ journey from +the capital (Katunga), which they called Lori. In it they strongly +entrenched themselves, and, by the addition of numbers of their +straggling countrymen, who willingly flocked to their standard, had +become so formidable in a short time, that they had successfully +resisted all the attempts of his Yaribean Majesty to re-enslave +them, and maintained their independence against the force of an +empire. About the time of our journeying into the interior, it was +reported that the insurgents had recently been reinforced by a +large body of Falatah horsemen, which proved in fact to +be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span> the case, and the +news had struck so great a panic into the minds of the people of +Yariba, that those residing in the vicinity of the mutinous slaves +had emigrated to more remote provinces. Hence the anxious +solicitation of every one, that as “messengers of peace,” we should +compromise matters between their monarch and his refractory +vassals, which course could alone inspire the people with the hope +of preserving their lives and property. The Houssas had already +begun to act on the offensive, and had made frequent incursions, +even to the dwellings of their former masters, sacking and setting +fire to their towns, and laying their country waste.</p> + +<p>On Tuesday the 17th we left Soccasoo, and changing horses at the +town of Ladooli, halted at Hadjidibbah, where, both my master and +Mr. Houtson becoming sick and ill, we rested for three hours. We +then again set forward, the path lying through a forest of stunted +trees; and reaching Akkibosa in the afternoon, slept there that +night. In the course of the morning we had passed several villages, +two or three of which were in ruins, having been partly burnt by +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> Houssas, and +deserted by their original inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The atmosphere was close and sultry on our setting out on the +morning of Wednesday, and continued so during the journey. About +two hours’ travelling brought us to the walled town of Adja, the +entrance to which is through a spacious avenue of noble trees. Here +we were obliged to stop for the remainder of the day, because the +inhabitants were at work in the plantations. At an early hour on +Thursday, the chief, who had been informed the previous evening of +the complaint under which Captain Clapperton laboured, came with a +dose of medicine for him to take; but after swallowing it my master +became so dreadfully ill, that Mr. Houtson, as well as myself, +suspected that poison had been administered to him. In this +conjecture, however, we were happily deceived; for in about two +hours the pain, which had been occasioned by the potion together +with his former ailment, suddenly left him in an extraordinary +manner, after which, he expressed himself in perfect health, and +ready to proceed. We arrived at Layboo<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_99">[99]</span> at one o’clock the same day, having seen on +the road five towns, two or three of which were walled, and of no +inconsiderable extent.</p> + +<p>At six next morning we were again in motion, and halting at the +village of Bougboug at seven, and at Leogalla, a Falatah town, at +eight o’clock, arrived at Ateepa at twelve at noon. The country +traversed was agreeably diversified by hills of gentle and gradual +ascent, and fertile vallies, cultivated with yams, corn, bananas, +&c. Ateepa, like most towns of any magnitude in the country, is +furnished with a strong wall, made of earth, and a belt of trees +within it, which, by reason of a thorny creeping shrub clinging +round the trunks, like the ivy to the oak, and throwing out +vigorous shoots, had become so thickly entangled as to form a +secure barrier, which, except by the narrow gateway at the +entrance, was impervious to man and beast.</p> + +<p>On Saturday we departed from Ateepa, attended by the chief and a +long train of the male inhabitants, to defend us from any attack +that the Borghoo robbers might feel disposed to make on so +insignificant a party as ourselves.<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_100">[100]</span> At Nannah, a considerable walled town, we +changed carriers; and its chief, copying the example of him of +Ateepa, joined our procession also, with a strong party, having the +same benevolent object in view, and escorted us to Leobadda, where +each of the chiefs drank a glass of grog, and returned with their +attendants to their respective towns. Leobadda stands close to some +huge masses of pale granite rocks, broken into irregular fragments, +and has a wall of prodigious thickness. Its population is from six +to seven thousand souls, who all seemed to be contentedly poor, +invariably happy. The same generous hospitality which had so +eminently characterised their countrymen, was displayed by the +inhabitants of Leobadda, even in the midst of poverty and rags, +with an alacrity and cheerfulness that redound greatly to their +credit, and speak volumes in their praise.</p> + +<p>At seven o’clock on Sunday, the chief, with many of his people, +assembled in front of our house, and accompanied us for some miles. +On the road we met several hundreds of men, women, and children, +with heavy loads on their beads,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_101">[101]</span> who had been travelling the whole of the +preceding night, and who appeared so greatly fatigued, as scarcely +to be able to drag their lazy limbs after them. They were carefully +watched by overseers (one of whom was appointed to each fifty), who +were all armed, either with short swords, or bows and arrows, and +made the weary travellers quicken their pace by threats of +punishment whenever they observed them loitering on the way. We +passed in the course of the journey, several villages which had +been burnt and destroyed by Falatahs; the walls were overgrown with +weeds, and the trees, which a short time before had afforded a +grateful and refreshing shade to the inhabitants, seared by the +conflagration, and standing blighted and withering, as solitary +memorials of the awful manner in which those once flourishing towns +had been converted into waste and desolate places. At noon we +descended into a delightful valley, situated in the bosom of a +ridge of rocks, which effectually hid it from observation till one +approached almost close to it. It was intersected with whimpering +streams and purling rills, the elegant palm, and the +broad<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> leaved +banana, covered with foliage, embellishing the sheltered and +beautifully romantic spot. In the centre was a sheet of water, +resembling an artificial pond, in which were numbers of young +maidens from the neighbouring town of Tschow, some of them reposing +at full length on its verdant banks, and some frisking and basking +in the sun-beams, whilst others of their companions were sporting +with the Naiads of the sacred stream; but all of them visibly +delighted with the pleasant recreations which they were enjoying so +prettily and innocently. We stood for a season gazing on them with +pleasure; but no sooner were our white faces observed by the young +ladies, than their amusements instantly ceased, and the sable +beauties simultaneously rushing from the water, snatched up their +apparel, and with their uncovered associates, concealing their +faces with their hands, ran away and hid themselves behind the +trunks of trees, looking as coy and bashful as did their mother Eve +in the garden of Eden.</p> + +<p>Leaving that lovely glen with regret, we arrived at Tschow, a +walled town, with a good<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_103">[103]</span> population, at two o’clock. As soon as we +could be accommodated with a house, we began cleaning our guns and +pistols, as the roads to Katunga were, we had been repeatedly +informed, infested with numerous bands of desperadoes, whose +success and boldness had terrified, to an alarming degree, the +peaceable and timid inhabitants.</p> + +<p>On the evening of our arrival, the expected escort from the +Sultan of Yariba entered the town. It consisted of two hundred +horsemen, and double that number on foot, commanded by a war-chief, +and armed with spears, and bows and arrows; all most grotesquely +attired, some flouncing in handsome robes, and some fluttering in +rags. From the moment of their arrival to the period of our +departure, we had not a moment’s quiet. They paraded the town all +night, vociferously bellowing the happiness they felt, or pretended +to feel, on meeting with the white men—serenaded us with a concert +of drums, flutes, and trumpets, with powerful vocal accompaniments, +and kept shouting and hallooing till we arose in the morning.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>All was hurry +and confusion as we prepared to depart, and our escort soon getting +themselves in readiness, we bade adieu to the chief of Tschow, and +started from the town about six o’clock, accompanied by a great +number of merchants and others, who cheerfully embraced the +opportunity of putting themselves under our protection. Nothing +could be more animated than the appearance of our boisterous +conductors, winding their way up a narrow and crooked path; the +horsemen with their long spears, clearing the road, and hurrying +onwards as fast as their jaded and diminutive beasts could walk +with them; and the bowmen on foot, with their instruments slung +across their shoulders, and quiver full of arrows, appended to +their sides, plodding after them with all imaginable haste. But by +far the most amusing, if not the most important part of that +strange and singular cavalcade, were the musicians themselves, who +found it no easy matter to keep pace with their more lively +countrymen, and perform on their instruments at the same time. The +drummers, flourishing their sticks with a scornful, +consequential<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> air; +the trumpeters with their black bloated cheeks shining with fat; +and the fifers turning up the whites of their eyes towards heaven, +and producing altogether the most discordant, most terrific sounds +that can be conceived, were highly ludicrous; nor could we, in +spite of ourselves, maintain a becoming gravity, or help being +infinitely diverted every time that we ventured to look back, and +steal a glance at our never-enough-to-be-admired lovers of +harmony!</p> + +<p>We halted near a village called Achoran at nine o’clock, but the +baggage being at some distance behind, we left it to the care of +the chiefs, and proceeded with a hundred of the escort, (the road +in many places rugged and overshadowed with the branches of trees,) +and crossed a stream flowing to the Quorra about an hour after.</p> + +<p>At eleven at noon, on attaining the summit of a lofty ridge, we +came in sight of the city of Katunga, lying to the south of us, at +the base of a granite mountain, and apparently embosomed in +beautiful trees. Between the ridge and the city was a fertile +valley, highly cultivated, and extending to the westward as far as +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> eye could +reach; while the view to the eastward was bounded by a gigantic +rock, shivered into fragments, and at no great distance from the +place on which we stood. An hour’s easy riding brought us to the +north gate of the metropolis of Yariba, outside of which were a +fetish-hut, and a few private habitations; and on entering it we +took up our abode for the time, at the residence of one of the +chiefs of the escort.</p> + +<p>As soon as the remainder of the convoy with the baggage had +arrived, the intelligence was immediately transmitted to Mansolah, +the King, from whom we presently received a warm invitation. After +a ride of full five miles through the streets of Katunga, in which +we were attended by the escort and musicians, who created so thick +a cloud of dust that it had well nigh suffocated us, we at length +reached the king’s palace. His majesty was seated under the +verandah, with two umbrellas spread over him, and surrounded by +above four hundred of his wives, with many of his caboceers and +other great men. Dismounting at the distance of twenty yards, we +walked up almost close to the<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_107">[107]</span> umbrellas, when Mansolah arose, and very +cordially shook hands with each of us, welcoming us to his kingdom +with a broad grin, lifting up our hands three several times, and +each time exclaiming “Ako! ako!” which means literally “How do you +do?” The multitude, the chiefs, and the king’s ladies, seemed +equally pleased with their good-humoured sovereign at our visit, +and displayed the warmth of their feelings by acclamations, shaking +of hands, and smiles and encouraging glances. Before our dismissal +his majesty enquired more particularly after our respective +healths, but made few other observations. In the evening he visited +us at our house, attended by his eunuchs and women, and, simply +asking how we did, left us with the hope of seeing us again the +next day.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span><a id= +"c05"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">Residence at Katanga — Ebo the eunuch — Pantomimic +representation by the Yaribeans — Departure from the city of +Katunga — Arrival at Khiama — Wow Wow — Manners of the people — +Boussa — Mungo Park.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">We</span> remained at Katunga exactly seven +weeks; the king, on various frivolous pretexts, refusing to grant +us permission to depart before. During all this time each of us +enjoyed but indifferent health, Captain Clapperton in particular +being oftentimes so severely indisposed as to be unable either to +walk or ride; nevertheless we were treated with the utmost civility +and kindness by the people generally. The king himself visited us +almost every day, and never came without an acceptable present of +provisions; while his caboceers behaved with a still nobler +generosity, insomuch that if it had not been for the +malpractices<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> of a +sly, lubberly, fat, monstrous eunuch, named Ebo, to whose care was +entrusted our provisions, and whose ravenous appetite was +proverbial in the city, we should have been literally crammed with +every delicacy both of the country and season. That old gormand had +a paunch of a most awful size, which he contrived to keep in +excellent condition by partaking largely of the good things +intended for our use, which he purloined in a daring and impudent +manner, and devoured when alone and at leisure. Not content with +secreting the choicest articles, he made so serious an impression +even on the bare necessaries of life, that we were not unfrequently +kept on short allowance.</p> + +<p>On one occasion we detected him in the very act of concealing +some ducks, eggs, and honey, which we knew beforehand had been sent +him for our consumption; and we taxed him with the robbery to his +face. Ebo, however, disclaimed the imputation with earnestness, and +maintained his innocence with considerable volubility. On our +entrance he held a bottle of rum in one hand, to which he had been +evidently paying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span> +his devotions, whilst the other was occupied in shuffling something +under a mat. It was no doubt the eunuch’s intention to take another +draught of the inspiring liquid, whilst thus employed, but, +mistaking the hand in which it was held, he snatched the other from +underneath the mat, and had actually the head of our duck in his +mouth, instead of the bottle, before the error was discovered. This +it was which he had taken so much pains to hide from our sight, and +the ludicrous misconception of the fellow caused us infinite +diversion. As for the eunuch, he was not the least disconcerted; +and although we discovered the honey and eggs also concealed in +another part of his house, he roundly asserted that he had +purchased them at the market the day before. Complaints were made +to the king of his conduct, without producing a beneficial effect +upon the gormandizing Ebo, who continued to feed without mercy on +our provisions, while his paunch maintained its usual enviable +state of rotundity and bulk, at the expense of our empty +stomachs.</p> + +<p>Captain Clapperton diverted the people of<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_111">[111]</span> Katunga by a display of rockets at +different times; this was the only means we had of making ourselves +in the least degree the instruments of pleasure to them in return +for their good nature; and this they appeared to enjoy with all the +zest that a novelty generally inspires in the breasts of savages, +even after it had ceased to be a novelty. At first the spectators +were terrified with the exhibition, but familiarity with it soon +wore off that impression, and they never appeared satisfied with +gazing at our artificial fire-works. The inhabitants, on their +part, with their sovereign at their head, endeavoured to prolong +our stay with them by straining every nerve to please, and beguiled +the time by all the amusements they could think of. Amongst other +allurements held out by Mansolah towards this end, that of seeing +him <em>as a king</em>, which would shortly be the case, was +repeatedly urged with much warmth. “You behold me now, only as a +poor man,” observed his majesty, “but by and by I shall be a king +indeed.”</p> + +<p>A womanish fondness for dress and admiration, and a childish +vanity in the most trivial as<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_112">[112]</span> well as more important concerns, were +strikingly visible in the character of every prince we met with in +Africa; nor did the monarch of Yariba think these frivolities +beneath him, any more than his royal neighbours; but in his case +there was mixed up with this weakness, a certain consciousness of +the absurdity of it, which I never observed in the character of any +other African whatever. Mansolah only conformed to the whims and +fancies of his people, he said, when he attired himself so +fancifully; for that they preferred a ruler with a smart and +gorgeous exterior, even if he happened to be the most odious tyrant +on the face of the earth, to a prince meanly dressed, although he +were endowed with every amiable quality. It was not, therefore, in +compliance with his own inclination that he had accepted, with so +great apparent satisfaction, the trinkets we had given him for the +adornment of his person, but solely to please his subjects, to +whose taste he always accommodated himself. Against these +philosophical expressions of the Sultan of Yariba, however, his +conduct and actions sadly militated, for he smiled with delight on +beholding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> a brass +watch-chain he had received of us; his eyes sparkled with rapture +at the sight of a gold-headed cane Captain Clapperton had offered +for his acceptance; while a necklace of large handsome coral beads +positively threw him into a transport of joy.</p> + +<p>The same eager curiosity that had been displayed on the road +from Badagry, was evinced by the people of Katunga; but there was +no boldness, no impudence, no daring effrontery, with the latter; +they every where made way for us to pass, when either curiosity or +the desire of exercise induced us to walk through their town, or +its environs, and retreating to a short distance, made a profound +obeisance, and in some cases even went so far as to prostrate +themselves in the dust before us, although these were acts of +humiliation we never countenanced nor approved of. The more +respectable part of the inhabitants, on meeting with us in the +streets, used to run up to shake hands, with as much cordiality as +if they had known us from our childhood; and would very kindly +enquire after our healths, not merely for the sake of having +something<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> to say, +as is the case in England, but prompted by an interest and concern +they could not disguise. We felt assured that their motive for +asking sprang from a sincere desire of <em>knowing</em>, in order +that they might sympathise with us if we were ill, or congratulate +us if we enjoyed tolerable health.</p> + +<p>The strong desire Mansolah felt and expressed for us to remain +at least for a few months with him, made that prince guilty, on +more than one occasion, of dissimulation, and even falsehood,—which +detracts greatly from his merit, for in other respects he was a +generous, sensible, good natured man. He was fruitful in expedients +against our setting out, and used every means that ingenuity could +suggest, to counteract our intentions of prosecuting our journey; +at one time alleging that the Falatahs, (who had joined a party in +a civil war that was then raging in Nyffé, between two princes, who +were disputing the right of succession to their deceased father’s +throne,) intercepted all communication between that country, +through which it was our intention to pass, and Yariba, or rather +Katunga, its capital;<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_115">[115]</span> and at another time asserting that he had +sent messengers to Yarro, one of his own provinces, to ascertain +whether the road was clear in that direction; for he was +determined, he said, not to be instrumental towards our falling +into the hands of the Falatahs. His assertion, with regard to the +war in Nyffé, proved indeed to be correct; but for some indefinable +reason, besides those adduced, he was excessively jealous of our +having the least intercourse with the Falatahs, his most inveterate +enemies, who, as he repeatedly and feelingly expressed himself, +“had torn down his father’s house.”</p> + +<p>Amongst the amusements of the inhabitants of Katunga, dancing +and tumbling hold a prominent rank. With respect to the latter +diversion, they cannot be excelled by any people in the world; +their evolutions in the air are perfectly astonishing, and by the +suppleness and pliability of their limbs, by their bending, and +turning, and twisting themselves into all manner of shapes, one +would be almost inclined to believe that they have not a single +bone in their bodies.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>During our stay +at Katunga we were witnesses to a kind of pantomime, which +amusement the inhabitants generally prefer, in honor of the +caboceers, whenever they pay a visit to the king, as was the case +in that instance. The place chosen for the exhibition was a large +enclosure, contiguous to the king’s residence, covered with +verdure, and as level as a bowling-green. It was rendered +particularly pleasant by the refreshing shade afforded by clumps of +tall trees, which studded the spot in all directions. Two huge +shapeless rocks of crumbling granite marked the limits of the +play-ground to the south; the king’s house those to the north; and +a range of trees intercepted the view to the east and west. A lofty +fan-palm-tree grew in the centre of the place, under the branches +of which the actors were accommodated; and a temporary fence, +erected round its trunk, screened them from observation, whenever +they chose to remain concealed.</p> + +<p>A most astounding din from drums, horns, and whistles, was the +signal for the performers to begin their manœuvres. The first act +consisted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> of +dancing, capering, and tumbling by about twenty men, enveloped in +sacks, which novel and elegant divertisement was continued with +admirable spirit for a full half hour, when the contents of the +sacks becoming fatigued, bundled themselves back to the +palm-tree.</p> + +<p>The second act commenced almost immediately after, with +attempting to catch the <em>boa constrictor</em>. To effect this +object, one of the dancing sacks came out of the place of its +concealment, and fell gently and most conveniently to the ground, +when a monstrous mishapen figure, with a head-dress resembling in +size and shape a common English wash-tray, from which streamed a +variety of strips of scarlet damask and country cloth, slowly +approached the recumbent sack from behind the fence. The figure was +of most gigantic stature, and changed its appearance as often as +the enchanted Turk in our puppet-shows. It held in its hand a +sword, and by its motions, as well as the commanding attitude it +assumed over the other actors, appeared to be the director of the +pageant. Another fellow in a sack was then<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_118">[118]</span> brought out, and being placed bolt upright +by the side of the figure, by the application of a slight blow, +fell near to its peaceable companion, and by a little shifting +contrived to get its head close to that of the other. The mouths of +the two sacks having been previously unsewn, the contents of the +one crawled into the other, and after these formalities the +representation of the boa presently began. The reptile at first +thrust its head out of the bag and attempted to lay hold of the +tremendous figure, who contrived, dexterously enough, to make it +draw itself into the sack again by a flourish of his weapon, which +the knowing animal appeared to understand perfectly well. The head +of the boa was then jutted out in a different direction, and by +degrees the whole body protruded itself from the place of its +confinement into open day light, and remained exposed for a few +seconds to the gaze of the multitude. It appeared to be about +fourteen feet in length, and by reason of the painted cloth with +which it was covered, might easily be mistaken for the animal it +was intended to represent. The angry monster, after a +short<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> pause, +pursued the fantastical figure with the sword, rather slowly, to be +sure, but withal very naturally—going through the motions of a +snake by coiling itself round like a rope, opening and shutting its +jaws, and darting out its forked tongue; all of which elicited the +rapturous applauses of the bystanders. But the pursued, although it +never was at a greater distance from the reptile than a few feet, +never had the courage to come in contact with its fangs. At length, +at a given signal by the manager, the whole troop of actors rushed +to the spot; they were then sackless, but their features were +effectually concealed by masks reaching to the bosom. The figure +then began to act on the offensive, by chopping the irritated +monster’s tail with his weapon in a shocking and most unmerciful +manner. The snake apparently writhed in agony, and convulsively +twisting its body for a few moments, whilst it endeavoured, without +effect, to be revenged on its formidable adversary by extending its +neck to bite; when life seeming to be nearly extinguished, it was +borne off on the shoulders of the actors to the fetish-house.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>The third and +last part of this extraordinary ceremony, consisted in the +representation of the caricature of a white man. One of the +sack-dancers, placed by himself on a clear spot of ground, near to +the palm-tree, gradually detached his covering, and exposed the +figure of a man, of a chalky whiteness, to the fixed looks of the +people, who set up so terrific a shout of approbation that it +startled us, prepared as we had been to expect some such explosion. +The figure walked but indifferently well, and mimicked our actions +as badly; the composition with which it was bedaubed, evidently +preventing the actor from using his limbs freely, or performing his +part with the facility he could have wished; although his +embarrassment was apparent to us, yet the populace did not seem to +take the least notice of this defect, and an universal roar of +laughter expressed the delight which filled every bosom. The +pantomimic incident had now attained its utmost bounds, and all +eyes, swimming in tears, were directed first to us, and then to the +intended representation of us, as much as to say, “what a faithful +and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> striking +resemblance!” We entered most cordially into the good humour of the +moment, not so much on account of the clumsy and unsightly figure +before us, as to see a vast circle of white teeth grinning at the +same moment, and producing an irresistibly ludicrous effect. After +exhibiting himself in this manner about an hour, the white man was +enveloped in his sack, and borne, like the serpent, to the +fetish-house, when the amusements ended, and the people quietly +dispersed. Between the acts we were entertained with a concert of +drums and whistles, as well as country songs from the females who +were present, in the choruses of which the people generally +joined.</p> + +<p>The Yarro messengers, of whom Mansolah had spoken, having +returned, and given a favorable report of the state of the roads, +on Monday the 6th of March, we bade adieu to Katunga, its ruler, +and inhabitants, and pursued our journey, attended by the same +escort that had conducted us into the city. Mr. Houtson was left +behind, and returned to the coast, where he was almost immediately +seized with fever, and expired<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_122">[122]</span> after an illness of only a few days. Our +party was therefore reduced to two Europeans only, my master and +myself.</p> + +<p>We passed through several villages which had been pillaged and +burnt by the Falatahs, on the following and three successive days; +and on the 11th we arrived at a mean dirty-looking village, +remarkable only as being the first in the Borghoo country.</p> + +<p>The huts of the inhabitants are constructed in a circular form, +after the Bornou fashion, and their tops ornamented with +crocodiles’ eggs, considered as an effectual protection against the +ravages of those animals, which are much dreaded by all classes, +but with what justice I know not. We left the village at four +o’clock in the afternoon; and the horse on which I rode being in +better condition than the others, I was considerably in advance of +the rest of the party, when the animal made a sudden halt, and all +my endeavours were inadequate to make him proceed. There he stood +like a block of marble, keeping his eyes rivetted on something that +was approaching us, and I had scarcely time<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_123">[123]</span> to consider what it could possibly be, +when a fine antelope bounded before me with incredible swiftness, +and in the next moment two huge lions, with mane and tail erect, +crossed the path but a couple of yards from the horse’s head, +almost with equal speed, and covered with foam. A tremendous roar, +which made the forest tremble, informed me in another minute that +the lions had overtaken their prey; but the sudden and unexpected +appearance of those ferocious animals startled me as much as it had +intimidated the horse before, and I hastened back to the party, my +poor beast trembling violently the whole of the way. Fortunately +the lions, which were male and female, were so eager in the chase, +that both the horse and its rider were unobserved by them; +otherwise it might have gone hard with me, for I saw not the +slightest chance of escaping. We halted in the woods that night; +but fancying every sound I heard was the roaring of a lion, I could +not compose myself to sleep. Next day I was severely indisposed, +and the party was obliged to stop several times on the road on my +account; a languid faintness frequently overpowering +me,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> and rendering +me insensible to surrounding objects. We put up at a town called +Socka for the night, and on the 13th an escort from the king of +Khiama arrived, mounted on excellent horses, little inferior to the +English breed; but after delivering their monarch’s message, the +fellows very unceremoniously began plundering the villagers of +goats, pigs, and poultry. The escort consisted of fifty horsemen, +bold, fierce-looking fellows, more resembling a desperate band of +robbers than peaceably-disposed individuals.</p> + +<p>Traversing a pleasant and fertile country, we entered the city +of Khiama about ten in the morning, and were immediately conducted +to the house of his majesty, whom we found sitting under the porch +of his door, chucking some of his young wives under the chin. After +shaking hands, he expressed a wish for us to repose ourselves till +the heat of the day was over, and said he would pay us a visit in +the cool of the evening.</p> + +<p>The king redeemed his pledge, and came at the appointed time, +riding on one of the handsomest horses I ever saw. He was attended +by numbers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span> of +people on horseback and on foot, and half a dozen naked girls +<em>circling</em> round the animal on which he rode, flourishing +spears with which they were furnished, and singing, in a loud +voice, the praises of their husband and prince. Yarro (that is the +monarch’s name) dismounted and entered our house, followed by the +girls, who had left their weapons outside, and for decency’s sake +had wrapped a piece of striped cotton round their delicate waists. +After an hour’s conversation, in the course of which Captain +Clapperton informed him of our motives for visiting his country, +whither we intended to go, &c. the king left us, infinitely +pleased, and the extraordinary procession returned in much the same +order as it had come. A few minutes only had elapsed, when we were +favored with a visit from the chief of a Houssa gafflee, or caravan +(returned the day before from Gonja and Ashantee), and accompanied +by a native of Bornou, both of whom strongly advised us to quit +Khiama with as little delay as possible, asserting that the +inhabitants were thieves to a man, and would not let slip the +opportunity of putting<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_126">[126]</span> their pilfering propensity to the trial on +our goods and baggage. The Houssa caravan consisted of about a +thousand individuals of both sexes, many of whom traded in the kola +or goora nut. This nut, which is in high esteem and general use all +through the interior, is frequently applied to the same purpose as +the calumet of peace amongst the North American Indians, and is +likewise used on all public occasions to testify the good +understanding that prevails in the assembly: when presented to +private individuals, it signifies that there is peace between the +donor and receiver. The kola is the fruit of a beautiful tree, +growing in abundance on many parts of the coast, and is an +agreeable bitter and astringent; it also produces a rich yellow +dye, which is oftentimes used by the natives in the embellishment +of their persons. In some districts the nut is exceedingly scarce, +and fetches an exhorbitant price; hence the traffic in it is +carried on to an incredible extent, and yields an immense profit to +those who are venturesome enough to risk the dangers of a long and +perilous journey.</p> + +<p>Having been provided with a messenger,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_127">[127]</span> carriers, and horses, we quitted Khiama on +the 18th, without experiencing, whilst in the city, any of the +inconveniences we had been led to apprehend—the Houssa caravan had +left us an hour or two previously, to proceed on the same road as +ourselves. In the course of the morning we passed through two +villages, excessively clean, inhabited by Falatahs, who were +chiefly employed in pounding corn in wooden mortars; and sleeping +at Bonàga, we overtook the caravan on Sunday the 19th. It was +composed of a long line of horsemen, and people of both sexes on +foot, loaded with bundles, both men and beasts apparently heartily +tired with their long march. The women with them, as in every other +instance that came within the compass of our own observation, bore +the heaviest burdens, and seemed actually sinking to the earth with +heat and fatigue, without exciting the compassion, or obtaining the +assistance of the ruder and stronger companions of their journey; +although several of the latter had little else to do besides +keeping pace with the horses. We slept<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_128">[128]</span> in a wood, under a tree, for the night, +about half a mile from the Gonja traders.</p> + +<p>The country travelled over since we had left Katunga differed +but slightly from the descriptions which have already been given of +the other parts; the soil generally consisting of a rich reddish +loam, intermixed with fine gravel. In some places it is thickly +wooded, but in others not more than a dozen trees are to be found +on an acre of land; on all sides, however, it is highly picturesque +and beautiful.</p> + +<p>Numerous traces of antelopes, elephants, &c. were observable +in the path; but (except in the instance before mentioned) we saw +but few of those animals. The natives hunt the former, and with +spears and poisoned arrows contrive to procure great numbers of +them. The arrow is a speedy and effectual means of destroying wild +animals; for being tipped with poison, the wound it inflicts is +sure to prove mortal, although not quite so instantaneously as the +natives would make one believe. The flesh of antelopes slain in +this manner is eaten with avidity by the people, the hunters simply +cutting off the parts<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_129">[129]</span> near which the arrow may happen to +penetrate. When this vegetable poison is taken internally it +produces no pernicious effects, and it is only when it mingles with +the blood that its consequences are so fatal. The natives, who, +like the vulgar in Europe, are fond of the wonderful, tell a +thousand singular stories respecting its malignancy, which are too +improbable and ridiculous to be believed.</p> + +<p>At Barakina, a small but pleasant village, we met a hunter, clad +in a leopard’s skin, returning from the chase, with his bow and +arrows slung on his shoulder, and a light spear in his hand; a man +with a dead antelope followed at a little distance; and three +panting hounds, whose tongues, lolling out of their mouths, +betrayed the severity of the exercise they had undergone, came +after the man. The sable Nimrod took not the least notice of us, +but passed through the village as incuriously as if he had been in +the habit of seeing white faces every day.</p> + +<p>At twelve at noon on the same day we crossed a river said to +take its rise in Nyffé, and to flow into the Niger above Rakah. +Alligators<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> were +plentiful in the river, and one of our carriers, who was sent to +fetch a calabash of water, was pursued by one of these monsters +almost up to the trees under which our little party was encamped. +The poor fellow was terribly frightened, and out of breath, on +approaching us; and not all the promises in the world could induce +him to make a second visit to the river.</p> + +<p>Our ears were ravished by the warbling of hundreds of small +birds, which, with parrots and parroquets, peopled the branches of +the trees in the vicinity of the stream, whose delightful banks +were thereby overshadowed; and the eye was incessantly saluted with +a variety of beautiful objects—groves of noble trees, verdant +hills, and smiling plains, through which the river winded, carrying +fertility and beauty in its course, and altogether forming a rich +and charming landscape.</p> + +<p>We slept at Billa, a village on the south side of the river, in +the night; and on the morning of Tuesday an escort of four horsemen +arrived from the chief, or King of Wow Wow, to conduct us to that +city, where we arrived after a<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_131">[131]</span> journey of four hours, and took our station +outside the monarch’s house, till its royal inmate, who was +dressing to receive us, should make his appearance. After putting +our patience to a severe trial, the King at length came out, +supported on a staff, and walking with the solemn pace of a +Spaniard up to our tree, seated himself on a stool that had been +previously placed there for that purpose. We then dismounted, but +were sorely dismayed on observing the chief, contrary to the custom +of the country, shrinking from our hands which were extended +towards him, just with as much repugnance as a European would from +the proffered hand of a leper; but it was only to cover his with +his tobe, which being done, he shook hands with the utmost +cordiality. The King being a Mohammedan, fancied that the touch of +a Christian would defile him; but this stiffness wore off on a more +familiar acquaintance, and he subsequently displayed the +characteristic virtues of Africans—generally hospitality and +benevolence.</p> + +<p>In the evening we were visited by fifteen Dahomans, who saluted +us with a discharge from<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_132">[132]</span> two old rusty muskets. These men had been +for five months beforehand assisting the Sultan of Youri in his war +with the Falatahs, and were so far on their return to their own +country. They extolled to the skies their own prowess in their +engagements with the Falatahs, whilst they represented the people +of Youri as the greatest cowards in the world. We were informed by +them that Niki, five days’ journey from Khiama, is the most +considerable city in Borghoo; and that it was only about fifteen or +sixteen days’ journey from Abomey, the capital of Dahomy.</p> + +<p>Wow Wow is the metropolis of a province of the same name, in the +empire of Borghoo, and is governed by a ruler, named Mohammed, a +Mussulman, strongly addicted to superstition, but of mild, +unassuming, and pleasing manners. The city lies on a beautiful +rising ground, with gentle hills on every side; and may contain, on +a hasty computation, perhaps twenty thousand inhabitants. It is +surrounded by a high and substantial mud wall, and broad deep +trench. The houses in it are circular, and the<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_133">[133]</span> streets spacious and airy; and it is +without exception the neatest, most wholesome, and best regulated +town of any in the interior. The inhabitants, or at least the +better sort of them, dress in tobes, caps, and trousers; and are a +cheerful, thoughtless set of people, yet fonder of music, +carousing, singing, and dancing, than any people we met with in +Africa. Drunkenness is their besetting sin; and the beverage in +most esteem with them is a species of ale, called <em>pitto</em>, +obtained from Indian corn previously made into malt. The process is +simple, being much the same as the brewing of beer in England; only +no hops are added to the malt.</p> + +<p>This sad propensity to intoxication, which males and females in +every <em>grade</em> of society love to cultivate, is the agent of +many irregularities, and cause their notions of morality to be so +very lax, that chastity itself is barely acknowledged by them as an +excellence; nevertheless the people of Wow Wow have many +substantial virtues, and agreeable qualities, which one can hardly +help loving them for. Their generous hospitality is unbounded, and +a parcel of more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span> +merry, facetious, happy scoundrels than the generality of them is +not to be found in the world.</p> + +<p>The soil in the neighbourhood of Wow Wow is surprisingly rich +and heavy; so that many of the necessaries of life spring up almost +spontaneously from the earth, and others require but trifling +labour in their cultivation and general management; hence the +people have abundance of leisure, which they employ in feasting, +drinking, sleeping, visiting, and oftentimes in less innocent +recreations than these.</p> + +<p>The direct road from Badagry, Gonja, Dahomy, Ashantee, Jannah—to +Nyffée, Houssa, Bornou, &c. lying through the town, its +inhabitants are supplied with many of the luxuries of life at a +more reasonable rate than their countrymen in less frequented +districts, and their habitations have consequently more pretensions +to <em>comfort</em> than those of any people between Badagry and +Soccatoo.</p> + +<p>Articles of merchandise, of English manufacture, such as +Manchester goods, pewter plates, jugs, and dishes, are very common, +both in Khiama and Wow Wow; and it is really laughable<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> to observe to what elegant +uses some of the latter are applied.</p> + +<p>The religion is either idolatry or Islamism; but these are so +blended into each other, that it would be difficult to draw a line +of distinction between the professors of either faith. Bigotry is +unknown, and the wildest doctrines are tolerated with an amiable +and forbearing spirit that does the government infinite credit!</p> + +<p>The marriages of the people are exceedingly simple, differing in +no essential particular from the manner in which that ceremony is +practised amongst Africans generally. A pagan pays his addresses to +a girl, and if, after a short acquaintance, he fancies she will +answer his purpose, he simply gives or sends a small present to the +parents, who rarely raise any obstacles to balk his wishes; +whereupon the female quits her father’s house, and resides, as long +as she lives, with her suitor. The courtship of a Mohammedan is +carried on in much the same fashion, with the addition of reading +the <em>fatha</em> (marriage ceremony). When tired of each other +the “fatha” is again read, and the couple part for +ever,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span> (although +they may have lived together for twenty years,) with as much +coolness and unconcern as if they had been utter strangers to each +other. This <em>convenient</em> custom is greatly relished by every +one, and is seldom known to produce any unpleasant +consequences.</p> + +<p>The Africans have less of <em>sentiment</em> in their love +affairs than Europeans; they have no stolen interviews—no rambling +in verdant fields—no affectionate squeezes of the hand—no language +of the eyes—no refined feeling—no moonlight reveries; all is +conducted in the most unpoetical business-like way imaginable, and +is considered in the light of one of their least important +concerns; the lover merely saying to his intended bride, “Should +you like to become my wife, my dear?” to which the lady replies, “I +have no objection.” “Then come and live with me,” retorts the man; +and from that hour the couple reside together. This is the +beginning and end of their courtship, and I never heard of a +refusal on the lady’s part to embrace the proposal. The notions of +female perfection amongst the people consist in the bulk, +plumpness, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span> +rotundity of the object; and a perfect beauty in their estimation, +as it has often been remarked, is “a load for a camel!” This +delicacy of taste is as general in Africa as it is in Turkey in +Europe, although I never heard that the natives of the former +country use any artificial means of increasing the size of their +daughters, in order to their obtaining admirers. Allowing the +qualities of bulk, &c. to be the criterion of beauty, the widow +Zuma, who will by and by be introduced, would bear away the palm of +superiority from every competitor, that lady being a whole world of +fat and loveliness! and consequently the most elegant, the most +charming, the most graceful, the most amiable, the most captivating +beauty in the continent of Africa!!</p> + +<p>The ideas of handsomeness entertained by the <em>fair</em> sex, +with regard to their male companions, are extremely vague, and it +is even difficult to ascertain whether they have any notion of +comeliness at all; for a lady eagerly embraces the first offer, +even if the fellow that makes it be as old as Methusala, and ugly +as Sin. As a proof of<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_138">[138]</span> this, I knew a pretty girl at Wow Wow, +blooming with youth, and full of life and spirit, possessing +besides uncommon shrewdness for an African: to this individual a +tall, lanky, phantom-like man, evidently tottering on the brink of +the grave, whose lantern jaws were of a truly formidable length, +and who squinted most divinely, offered himself, and was of course +accepted, although he had upwards of twenty wives at the time. On +my questioning the damsel as to the reasons of her acceptance of a +person so excessively old and ugly as her spouse, she answered very +smartly something equivalent to the ancient saying still in use +amongst the lower class of people in England, “a toad is a pearl in +a duck’s eye!” and instantly left me. No doubt the number of wives +of the old gentleman, which in Europe would be considered as a +serious grievance, was one of the principal motives that had swayed +her in the choice she had made; as by that criterion the wealth of +the party is judged of.</p> + +<p>When a husband dies; the wives who have not borne him children +are sold; whereas those<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_139">[139]</span> who have had that good fortune are free for +life, or at least till they change their condition a second time. +The widows wear a rope round their head, neck, and waist, as +mourning for their deceased husbands, for the space of twelve +months (if they find no one inclined to make them an offer before +the expiration of that period), when their weeds are flung off, and +they cheerfully resume their ordinary apparel.</p> + +<p>When a Borghoo man dies, a pit is dug, either in his own house, +or very near to it, and the body is placed in a sitting posture, +with the hands and feet tied tightly with cord; the head inclining +upwards. The horse and dog of the deceased, after being +slaughtered, are buried with him, to assist him in his +peregrinations in the other world; and his spear, and bow and +arrows, are placed over the grave for the same purpose. On my +questioning an inhabitant of Wow Wow, how it was possible for a man +so confined to mount the horse, he shook his head, as much as to +say the subject was of too sacred and delicate a nature to be +talked lightly of.</p> + +<p>The men of Wow Wow are, in most instances,<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_140">[140]</span> tall and well formed, and the women +handsome, having far greater pretensions to beauty than either the +people of Yariba, or those of Khiama, a neighbouring state. Numbers +of horses are kept by the Wow-Wownese, the finest of which are +imported from Bornou; the native breed, although strong and +spirited, being excessively small. Horned cattle are much finer, +and their flesh is superior in quality to those found on the coast. +They are bred principally by Falatahs, numerous tribes of whom are +scattered over the face of the country.</p> + +<p>Some of these same Falatahs profess the Mahommedan faith, and +some worship idols, like the natives themselves, whilst others have +no outward form of religion at all. Many of them are for ever +wandering from place to place, like the Bedouin Arabs, and others +spend a tranquil existence in the occupations of pasturage and +agriculture. Several are suspected of stirring up the minds of the +people against their rulers, and treated accordingly with as much +contumely and disrespect as the Jews in some countries of Europe; +and others again contribute, in an essential<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_141">[141]</span> degree, to the comforts and convenience +of the community in whose towns they may happen to dwell, and by +whom they are esteemed and caressed; but all have less simplicity +in their manners, and infinitely more art in their dealings, than +those of the negro cast of feature, and, to every appearance, are a +stage further advanced in civilization than they.</p> + +<p>Boussa is a province contiguous to Wow Wow, whose capital is +also called Boussa, and is but one day’s journey, or about twenty +miles, from the latter place. The island of Boussa, on which the +city is built, is about three miles in length, and little more than +one in breadth. It is situated in the river Niger, or, more +properly speaking, the Quorra, and is chiefly remarkable as the +place where the enterprising Mr. Park and his companions came by +their melancholy death. It may contain sixteen or eighteen thousand +inhabitants. The road to it from Wow Wow in the dry season is +excellent, but in the wet or rainy months is almost impassable, by +reason of its proximity to the river, which oftentimes overflows +its banks. The country between the two capitals is<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> hilly, woody, and picturesque, +rivalling in beauty any portion between Badagry and Soccatoo; and +its most remarkable feature is a rocky mountain in the shape of a +cone, which Captain Clapperton called, after the reigning Monarch +of England, “Mount George.”</p> + +<p>Thick woods approach even to the margin of the Quorra, and are +tenanted by an ancient tribe of people termed Cumbrie (or +Cumbrians), by all accounts the aborigines of the country, a +harmless stupid race, who, from their tractable dispositions and +love of tranquillity, are frequently imposed on by their spirited +and more artful neighbours, and sold into slavery whenever a +favourable opportunity can be obtained of kidnapping them.</p> + +<p>Many heavy branches of trees overhang, and, as it were, embrace +the Menài, a branch of the Quorra, as it flows by, and impart a +darkness and melancholy to the spot which are any thing but +agreeable or enlivening. It was nearly sunset when I got into the +canoe, in which I was ferried across the stream to Boussa; the +evening was calm, clear, and beautiful; the fire-fly had +already<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span> begun to +shine and buzz in the air; the hollow roar of the crocodile was +heard from the borders of the current, and the declining sun had +tinged the surface of the water with a rich hue of crimson. The +sound of sweet-toned instruments, and the hum of human voices +mingling in concert, and wafted from the city to which I was +approaching, produced a soothing and delightful effect; and as the +little bark was propelled slowly through the lazy stream, the music +sounded like a symphony of angels’ voices floating from the +skies.</p> + +<p>The owner of the boat pointed out the spot where my daring +countrymen had so unfortunately perished. After quitting it, their +canoe had drifted on a reef of sunken rocks, not more than half a +stone’s throw from the island, and had gone to pieces.</p> + +<p>Numerous small islands jut up from the bosom of the Quorra, +which, near Boussa, branches into three distinct streams; but they +are uninhabited, and little better than naked rocks. Two of the +above streams flow sluggishly onwards, whilst the other rolls with +a rapid current, fretting<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_144">[144]</span> and foaming over vast masses of stone, and +creates a noise which at a little distance might be mistaken for +that produced by the waving of a forest of tall trees, when +agitated by the wind.</p> + +<p>The Sultan of Youri, understanding that we intended visiting +Boussa, had sent a messenger to that place a week before our +arrival there, (with seven canoes laden with provisions,) to +conduct us to the capital of his empire; but reports from various +quarters agreed in representing the Prince of Youri to be a cruel, +treacherous, and wicked man; and this fact, combined with the +advanced state of the season, succeeded in deterring Captain +Clapperton from embracing the monarch’s offer. He told the +messenger, however, that it was solely on account of the rainy +season so soon setting in, that he was obliged to decline his +Sovereign’s proposal, but that he would certainly pay him a visit +on his return from Bornou.</p> + +<p>We had all along been buoyed up with the hope of being able to +obtain the journal and papers of the late Mungo Park at Boussa; +but, to our great mortification and disappointment<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span> we discovered, that they had +been either destroyed, or conveyed no one could tell whither, many +years before. The inhabitants were exceedingly reserved on the +subject of the fatal catastrophe, and uniformly gave equivocating +or evasive answers to our enquiries as to the manner in which it +had occurred. They seemed indeed overwhelmed with shame at the part +they or their fathers had taken in the dreadful tragedy, and did +all in their power to shift the blame from the shoulders of +themselves and their countrymen.</p> + +<p>The following appeared the most accurate and best authenticated +version of the dismal story of the deaths of Park and Martin, that +I was enabled to obtain whilst I was in the country:</p> + +<p>The voyagers had reached Youri in safety, and were on intimate +and familiar terms with its Sultan, father to the reigning prince, +who intreated them to finish their journey through the country by +land, instead of proceeding down the Quorra to the salt water; +observing, that the people inhabiting the islands and borders of +the river, were ferocious in their manners, and would<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span> not suffer their canoe to +proceed without having first rifled it of its contents, and exposed +them to every species of indignity and insult; and that if their +lives were spared, they would infallibly be detained as domestic +slaves. This evil report was considered as the effect of jealousy +and prejudice: and, disregarding the prudent counsel of the Sultan +of Youri, the ill-fated adventurers proceeded down the Quorra as +far as the island of Boussa, from whence their strange-looking +canoe was observed by one or two of the inhabitants, whose shouts +brought numbers of their companions, armed with bows and arrows, to +the spot. At that time the usurpations of the Falatahs had begun to +be the general talk of the black population of the country, so that +the people of Boussa, who had only <em>heard</em> of that warlike +nation, fancied Mr. Park and his associates to be some of them, +coming with the intention of taking their town, and subjugating its +inhabitants. Under this impression, they saluted the unfortunate +Englishmen from the beach with showers of missiles and poisoned +arrows, which were returned by the latter with a discharge +of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span> musketry. A +small white flag had been previously waved by our countrymen, in +token of their peaceable intentions; but this symbol not being +understood by the people of Boussa, they continued firing arrows, +till they were joined by the whole male population of the island, +when the unequal contest was renewed with greater violence than +ever. In the meantime the Englishmen, with the blacks they had with +them, kept firing unceasingly amongst the multitude on shore, +killing many, and wounding a still greater number, till their +ammunition being expended, and seeing every hope of life cut off, +they threw their goods overboard; and desiring their sable +assistants to swim towards the beach, locked themselves firmly in +each other’s arms, and springing into the water, instantly sank, +and were never seen again.</p> + +<p>The bodies of the two slaves, who attempted to save their lives +by swimming, were pierced with a grove of arrows, but they +subsequently recovered from the effects of their wounds, and were +certainly alive when we were at Boussa, but, as I understood +afterwards, they were carefully<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_148">[148]</span> concealed, in order to prevent our making +any inquiries of them relative to the affair.</p> + +<p>Resistance being thus at an end, the floating property had been +eagerly laid hold of by the people of Boussa, and taken in triumph +to their city. In the evening they formed a circle round it, and +for several days and nights nothing was to be seen or heard but +feasting and rejoicing; but it happened that before their revelries +were well over, an infectious disease, whereof they had not +previously had the most distant idea, raged in the island, and +swept off the Sultan, with numbers of his subjects; and it was +remarked, that those who had been most active in the destruction of +the strangers were cut off to a man, expiring in great agony. The +people endeavoured to appease the wrath of the white man’s God, (by +whose instrumentality they were firmly persuaded the destroying +plague had reached them,) by the offering of sacrifices, and +afterwards by setting fire to all the articles found on the surface +of the water; shortly after which, it is asserted, the pestilence +left the island. Meantime the news of the occurrence, and its +fatal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> results, +spread like wild-fire through the neighbouring states; and the +people of Boussa were stigmatized with a reproachful epithet, for +having been guilty of so heinous a crime. Hence the studied reserve +of the reigning Sultan and his subjects, which no consideration +could tempt them to break through, so as to enter into the details +of the tragedy; and hence also the expression, so beneficial to us +in those regions, and so prevalent amongst all ranks and +conditions: “Do not hurt the white men; for if you do, you <em>will +perish like the people of Boussa!</em>”</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span><a id= +"c06"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">Widow Zuma’s love adventures — Departure from Wow +Wow — Arrival at Coulfo — Civil war in Nyffé — Ceremonies observed +by the people of Coulfo at the end of the Rhamadan — Tornado at +that place, and its disastrous consequences — The Travellers quit +Coulfo, and proceed on their journey — The Author attacked with +dysentery — His sufferings — Noble conduct of Captain Clapperton +towards him — They enter Zeg Zeg — Arrive at Kano.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">Whilst</span> we remained in the city of Wow +Wow, we were visited almost every day by a widow lady, of Arab +extraction, named <em>Zuma</em> (<em>Honey</em> in English), +between thirty and forty years of age, who, if one might be allowed +to judge from the remaining charms which were still visible in her +countenance, had been really beautiful in her younger years. This +individual was vastly rich, being the acknowledged mistress of a +thousand slaves; and from her excessive<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_151">[151]</span> plumpness, and extraordinary size, was the +exact counterpart of our bulky friend Ebo, the fat eunuch of +Katunga. Zuma’s affection for my master and myself was unbounded, +and as it led to an adventure perhaps never equalled in novelty by +any incident that has occurred to Europeans in the bosom of Africa, +I hope I may be forgiven in attempting to trace its causes and +effects, without which my narrative would be incomplete; for they +are so intimately connected with each other, that it would be +impossible to disunite them.</p> + +<p>In order to give a clearer idea of the story, it will be +necessary to remark, that Zuma was married in early life to one of +the principal inhabitants of Wow Wow; but her spouse dying shortly +after she had given birth to a son, she was left immensely rich, +and lived in almost regal splendour in the native town of her +deceased husband. Nature had endowed Zuma with an active, restless, +and ambitious mind; insomuch that not long after she had become a +widow, and before the regular term of mourning had expired, her +weeds were thrown aside, and<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_152">[152]</span> she aspired to the government of Wow Wow, +by attempting to depose her sovereign. But Mohammed, although an +imbecile and superstitious prince, could</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“Bear, like a Turk, no rival near his +throne!”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="nind">and was roused into action at the threatening +aspect his too powerful subject had assumed. Instantly arming his +vassals, he made a sudden and unexpected attack on the slaves of +the rebellious lady, who for want of an efficient leader were put +completely to the rout, though without bloodshed, and Zuma herself +taken prisoner. Whether it was owing to the profound veneration in +which that elegant lady’s charms were held by the monarch, to the +natural mildness of his disposition, or to the fear of stirring up +the people against him, I could not learn; but certain it is that +Zuma was pardoned, and set at liberty, after a confinement of only +one or two days; and though she had repeated her treasonable +attempt several times, even up to the period of our visiting the +city, the same amiable forbearance had been extended to her.</p> + +<p>It was the misfortune of the far-famed Zuma<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_153">[153]</span> to fancy herself, for no reason in the +world, to be extremely fair, and although she had certainly passed +the “Age of the Passions,” she took it into her head to fall +desperately in love with me, whose complexion, she affirmed, +rivalled her own in whiteness! The frequency of her visitations to +our house nourished the tender feeling, which was encouraged by +Captain Clapperton, who relished a joke with all his heart, and did +his utmost to inflame the lady’s passion, by passing a thousand +unmeaning compliments on the regularity of my features, and the +handsomeness of my person. “See what beautiful eyes he has,” +observed the Captain; “if you were to search from Badagry to Wow +Wow, and from Wow Wow to Bornou, you would not find such eyes.” For +my own part I was but a novice in the art of courtship, and +imagining it to be altogether in jest, took little pains to spoil +the fun by shrinking from it. Besides, Zuma had behaved remarkably +well to us in sending, repeatedly, presents of provisions, together +with every luxury with which she was acquainted, and I was rather +glad than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span> otherwise +to have her for our guest,</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent6"><span class= +"strike word-spaced6"> </span>“For the heart must</div> + +<div class="line indent0">Leap kindly back to kindness;”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="nind">and neither of us wished to offend a lady of her +consequence by being morose and unsociable in manners, or by +repelling her advances with ridicule and contempt.</p> + +<p>For an hour together the widow would gaze intently on me, while +the most amorous glances shot from her large, full, and certainly +beautiful eye, which confused and disconcerted me not a little, +even though I was surrounded by strangers and in the heart of +Africa; for I had been a wanderer from my childhood, and had had +but few opportunities of mingling in the delightful company of the +gentler sex in my own country, and consequently was excessively +bashful on coming in contact with ladies, whether in the country of +the Hottentots, or the birth-place of the widow Zuma.</p> + +<p>As for my master, he was sensibly delighted with these +interviews, and with his arms folded on his breast, while thick +volumes of tobacco-smoke rolled from his pipe, he with the most +impenetrable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span> +gravity enjoyed the scene, and looked as happy and as much at home +as if he had been seated by his friends in his native Scotland. +After the widow’s departure, it was his usual custom, tapping me on +the shoulder, to ask how I felt my heart, and observe what a boast +I could make, on our return to England, of so magnificent a +conquest.</p> + +<p>All this I took in good part for some days; but things +beginning, at length, to wear a more serious aspect than I had at +first anticipated, I was resolved to bring this whimsical courtship +to a conclusion as speedily as possible. I was the more inclined to +do so, because I did not wish to wound the feelings of even a +<em>black</em> lady (for black she most certainly was, although not +quite so deep a sable as the aborigines), by trifling with them; +nor did I forget the exclamation of the frog in the fable:—“It may +be sport to you, but it is death to us!”</p> + +<p>Independently of the delicate state of my health, which +incapacitated me from carrying on so curious an amour with the +spirit and gallantry it required, I was positively +afraid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> that, from +the warmth and energy of Zuma’s embraces, I should actually be +pressed to death between her monstrous arms! I was but a youth, and +my short residence in the country had certainly impaired a +constitution originally robust and vigorous; by reason of which I +was sadly apprehensive that one of her Brobdignagian hugs would +send me into the other world with very little ceremony. These +reflexions I had seriously revolved in my mind; and on her next +visit I candidly told the widow by signs, words, and gestures, that +I could not love her; but she either did not or would not +understand me. I remarked that I should never choose a +<em>black</em> wife: she pointed to her face, and said she was a +<em>white</em> woman. I then observed that it would be impossible +for me to exist in her country, the heat being insupportable. Her +reply was disinterested and tender:—“Then I will quit it, and +follow you to whichever part of the world you may be inclined to +lead me.” Thus beset on all sides, I hardly knew what to say next; +but after a short pause, summing up all my resolution, I gave my +greasy inamorata a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span> +flat refusal to see her again in the light of a lover, as it was +out of her power to awaken in my breast a corresponding sensation +to that which reigned in her own! and saying this I instantly left +the apartment; whilst Zuma, poor lady,</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0"><span class= +"strike word-spaced4"> </span>“Rais’d a sigh so piteous +and profound,</div> + +<div class="line indent0">As it did seem to shatter all her +bulk,</div> + +<div class="line indent0">And end her being!”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>I was surprised, however, to find that my cruelty had produced +no visible impression on the widow, and that her <em>heart</em> was +big in proportion to the largeness of her <em>body</em>; for I +discovered that she could love <em>two</em> individuals at the same +time with as much ardour and sincerity as <em>one</em> only. Seeing +all hopes of success effectually shut out on my side, she had the +good sense to discontinue her solicitations (although she continued +her kindness), and looked as tenderly on me as ever; and applied +herself strenuously to be on a more affectionate and familiar +footing with Captain Clapperton, whose favourable notice she strove +to attract by all the fascinating allurements she was mistress of; +and actually went so far as to bribe Pasko, our Houssa interpreter, +with a young and handsome girl for a wife, in order that he might +use his <em>powerful</em><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_158">[158]</span> influence to bring the matter between my +master and herself to an amicable adjustment. The old libertine +accepted the present with rapture, which made the third or fourth +spouse he had had since leaving Badagry, but he was prudent enough +to retain his counsel within his own bosom.</p> + +<p>A white husband and happiness were synonymous terms with the +gentle and delicate Zuma, and she grasped at even the shadow of it +with an eagerness and determination that caused her to overstep the +boundaries of that amiable modesty which is so pleasing and +peculiar a characteristic of her sex, whereby she did more towards +injuring her own cause than coyness or reserve would have done. The +Captain carried on the innocent game for some time, for we were +greatly in want of something to enliven us; and so romantic an +adventure as this, in such a place, and under such circumstances, +caused us very many hours of diversion, and was an amusing subject +of conversation even up to the period of my master’s last illness +at Soccatoo.</p> + +<p>Poor widow Zuma! I almost fancy I see her now, waddling into our +house, a moving<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span> +world of flesh, “puffing and blowing like a blacksmith’s bellows,” +and the very pink and essence of African fashion. Her hair used to +be carefully dyed with indigo, and of a rich and vivid blue; her +feet and hands stained with hennah and an extraction of the +goora-nut, produced alternate streaks of red and yellow; and her +teeth were also tinged with a delicate crimson stain. In the +adornment of her person, likewise, the buxom widow evinced +considerable taste. Her bared neck and bosom were ornamented with +coral and gold beads, which, contrasted with the dingy colour of +her skin, occasioned a truly captivating effect! while a dress of +striped silk, hanging in graceful folds from the waist to the +ancles, set off her <em>fairy form</em> to the best possible +advantage! Thus beautified, the accomplished Zuma used to sit +cross-legged on our mat, and chewing the goora-nut, or a little +tobacco-snuff, she was without exception the most ravishing object +that came across our path in all our wanderings!</p> + +<p>One day she invited my master to visit her at her own house, +where she took the opportunity<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_160">[160]</span> of displaying to him her wealth and +grandeur, the number of her slaves, and her princely domestic +establishment, all of which the tempter assured him he should share +with her if he would consent to be her husband. No encouragement +whatever was given to the lady; but when Capt. Clapperton left the +town for Boussa a short time afterwards, Madam Zuma, dressed in her +gaudiest attire, followed when he had got about six miles on his +journey, having called before she set out to see me. On this +occasion she wore a mantle of silk and gold, and loose trowsers of +scarlet silk, with red morocco boots; her blue head was enveloped +in the ample folds of a white turban, and she rode astride on the +back of a noble horse, which came prancing before the door of our +hut, decorated with a number of brass plates and bells, as well as +a profusion of charms or amulets enclosed in green, red, and yellow +leather. Her saddle-cloth was of scarlet, and the appearance of +both widow and horse was singularly imposing. In her train were +many spearmen on horseback, and bowmen on foot, with a band of +musicians furnished with<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_161">[161]</span> drums, fiddles, guitars, and flutes, who +continued playing till their mistress was fairly out of the town. +The widow briefly told me of her intention to accompany Capt. +Clapperton to Kano, &c. &c. which eclaircissement startled +me for an instant; but, putting on my most serious look, I wished +her a pleasant journey, and hoped I should overtake her myself in a +day or two. Zuma then took her leave, and the whole cavalcade was +quickly out of sight.</p> + +<p>I was absolutely longing to learn the issue of this strange +elopement of Zuma’s; and was engaged in making preparations +previously to my departure for Coulfo, in Nyffé, when a message +from the king, forbidding my departure from Wow Wow, diverted me +from my intention, and overturned all my plans. I had an interview +with the irritated Mohammed the same day, and another on the +following one; but my efforts to induce him to change his +resolution were abortive. He turned a deaf ear to all my eloquence, +and would not suffer me to quit the town for any consideration; +“For,” said the king, “your countryman has eloped with the +captious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span> Zuma, who +will raise up enemies, and make war upon me, if she be not speedily +checked; and the better way to accomplish this is to detain you +here with the baggage, which will bring back the ‘great white man,’ +and the widow will not be able to remain behind long after.”</p> + +<p>In order to secure me the more effectually, our house was +guarded by a dozen soldiers, who had received strict injunctions +not to let me escape on any account. I contrived, however, to elude +the vigilance of my keepers, and, taking with me a boy only twelve +years of age, who had assisted me in making my escape, I hastily +mounted my Yariba pony, and was on the road to Boussa in an +instant.</p> + +<p>At sunset I crossed the Menài, a branch of the Quorra, leading +to the island; and after landing shortly entered the city. As soon +as I was recognized as one of the strangers, a good house was +immediately prepared for my reception, and I was presently honored +with a visit from the king and queen, who informed me that my +master had left Boussa, and that, if I were to travel all night, it +would be impossible to overtake him<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_163">[163]</span> before the next morning; they would +therefore insist upon my remaining and sleeping in the city. My +royal visitors staid with me a considerable time, and the queen +gave directions about my supper, and even assisted to prepare it +with her own hands.</p> + +<p>A multitude of the usual questions were put to me by their +majesties, which, on account of my almost total ignorance of the +language in which they were uttered, I was not very well qualified +to answer; but, notwithstanding this inconvenience, we succeeded in +making ourselves pretty well understood; and from the excessive +kindness, and watchful anxiety to anticipate my wants, displayed by +the king and his royal consort, it was evident that I was a great +favourite with them.</p> + +<p>The queen had certainly not much of the widow Zuma about her, +either in appearance or manners; being delicate in person, and +possessing a native dignity and gracefulness of mien that could not +fail to please. The features of the royal couple bore a closer +resemblance to the European than the negro cast, and +might<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span> be styled +handsome, even in England; besides which an ineffable sweetness +shone upon the countenance of Medàki, the queen, and there was an +agreeableness in the innocent freedom of her deportment that +captivated me at first sight. A tear of pity trembled in the +expressive eye of Medàki, when, observing my emaciated looks, and +surveying me from head to foot, she enquired if I had a mother in +my own country; and when I answered that I had not, she said, “Poor +white man! then who have you at home to talk about you, and make +fetishes for your preservation whilst you remain away?” I was +certainly not prepared to meet with such extraordinary kindness at +Boussa; and it shows the great revolution that has taken place in +the opinions of the people since Mr. Park’s appearance in the +interior.</p> + +<p>I had been extremely unwell before leaving Wow Wow; and my rapid +journey on the back of a lean horse, without saddle or bridle, had +nowise improved my health; fatigue also had rendered me so sleepy +that after supper I could with difficulty keep my eyes open, and +my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span> answers to the +queries of the royal pair were given at random. It was in vain that +I bit my tongue and lips, and used every other means I could devise +in order to arouse myself from the stupid state I was in; the +inclination to slumber overcame them all, and at last I fell fast +asleep. On awaking in the night I found myself alone, with a +solitary lamp burning in my apartment; and was informed, an hour or +two afterwards, that their majesties, as soon as they saw me fairly +insensible, had left me in the care of two slaves, and returned to +their own abode, after expressly desiring them to make no noise +that might awaken me. Next morning I went to the king to apologize +for my unintentional breach of etiquette; and shaking hands with +the royal couple, who wished me every happiness, I returned to Wow +Wow (whither I had learnt Captain Clapperton had also gone back), +in company of two armed men, who had been furnished as a protection +against highway robbers, with which the road was declared to be +infested. On my arrival in the city, I found that my master +had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span> entered it but +a few minutes before, but had not seen the fat widow during his +absence.</p> + +<p>A short time only had elapsed before we resolved to go to the +king; and being ushered into an apartment, found the important +personage yawning from the effects of his afternoon’s nap. The +Captain was the fittest person in the world to deal with the +African rulers. The first thing he did was to shake hands +affectionately and heartily with the sullen Mohammed, covering his +face at the same time with smiles and looks of joy on seeing him +again; but the king accepted the compliment with just so good a +grace as a growling mastiff would receive the caresses of a person +against whom he bears a grudge; neither willing to bite the hand +that pats its big head, nor wishing to be altogether on a friendly +footing with its suspected friend. “What pleasure it gives me to +see you again,” said my master; “I have not beheld so handsome a +face as yours since leaving the city. I suppose you did not think +it safe to send my baggage after me; and am therefore come to fetch +it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span> myself. I have +seen the king of Boussa, who, with the Medàki, gave so very +favorable an account of you, that really I am filled with +admiration for your talents and virtues; and am sure there cannot +be your equal in the whole country.” All this the great man +listened to with a deal of attention, and one could perceive +plainly enough that the sternness of his features gradually gave +place to a softer and kindlier expression; indeed, from the +commencement of the above well-timed encomium, a smile overspread +his sable countenance which promised the most flattering results. +His majesty then, with the utmost dignity, detailed his reasons for +the line of conduct he had been obliged to adopt, in consequence of +his belief that the Captain and the rebellious Zuma had entered +into a conspiracy to usurp his authority; that when their +treasonable object should be accomplished, he would be put out of +the way, in order that my master might take the reins of government +into his own hands. He added that the widow had been guilty of +similar unlawful practices before, but had failed in her attempts; +and that notwithstanding<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_168">[168]</span> the lenity with which she had been treated, +her thoughts were perpetually employed in devising means for the +execution of her ambitious designs; and she had moreover threatened +him unceasingly with raising an army to overcome and destroy him. +As this was spoken with an air of great solemnity, and towards the +latter part of it with emotion, which was plainly evinced by his +tears, my master thought proper to disclaim, with correspondent +energy and seriousness, the imputations on his own character, by +professing himself a total stranger to the widow’s movements from +the time of his departure from Wow Wow; and as for deposing so +powerful a prince as Mohammed, and taking Zuma to wife, such things +were altogether beyond his ambition; and he ridiculed the very idea +of it. He therefore hoped that the king would no longer refuse his +permission for the party under his (Captain Clapperton’s) command, +to go on immediately, as he had bargained with the chief of the +Houssa caravan to convey the goods to Kano, and he was impatiently +waiting his arrival at the ferry. The old gentleman, however, was +not quite so easily prevailed<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_169">[169]</span> upon as we had anticipated; and in all +probability was smitten with the widow’s charms himself; for he +declared with firmness, that until the absent lady returned, both +my master and myself must abandon all thoughts of proceeding on our +journey, or of again leaving Wow Wow. Further cajolery, we knew, +would have been superfluous, so we were obliged to make a virtue of +necessity, and wait patiently the re-appearance of our affectionate +friend, the amiable Zuma. To our infinite joy that circumstance +took place on the 5th of April, the day after our conference with +the prince; the widow had not been able to meet with the object of +her tender solicitude, and hearing that he had re-visited Wow Wow, +agreeably to the prediction of Mohammed, returned to that town in +much the same order as she had quitted it about a week before, +without discovering the slightest symptoms either of disappointment +at the ill-success of her jaunt, or fear for having so egregiously +offended her sovereign.</p> + +<p>Like most of her sex, however, Zuma knew perfectly well how to +adapt her conduct to<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_170">[170]</span> circumstances, and was, moreover, complete +mistress of the art of dissimulation and deceit; for no sooner had +she entered her own habitation, than her splendid habiliments were +instantly thrown aside, and a dress of common country cloth +substituted in their stead. Thus meanly attired, she paid her +respects to Mohammed in our presence, and saluted him by falling on +her knees, with her elbows to the earth, while, supporting her head +on the palms of her hands, she shed a whole river of tears. +Surely</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“Heav’n gave to woman the peculiar +grace</div> + +<div class="line indent0"> To spin, to weep, and cully human +race.”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="nind">The great man looked sternly on her at first; but +whose heart could be proof against <em>so much</em> loveliness in +distress, and in that humiliating posture? Anger forsook his brow, +as the prince of Wow Wow requested the repentant woman to rise; and +simply upbraiding her for disregarding his authority and +threatening to subvert his government, he shook hands, and desired +her to go her way, but be more cautious of offending him in future. +The widow accordingly left the house, and shaking the dust +from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span> her feet in +token of bravado, cast a “longing, lingering look behind;”—and we +saw no more of the generous, the kind-hearted, the affectionate, +the ambitious, but above all the enormous widow Zuma!</p> + +<p>This singular adventure, although it caused us to laugh +heartily, had been of a much more serious nature than we could have +foreseen, and had given us much unnecessary trouble, as well as +occasioned some days’ delay; but when it was thus satisfactorily +terminated, we resolved to be more guarded in encouraging, even in +jest, the advances of the African belles, as our lives might +thereby be endangered, by exciting the prejudices of the people +against us. The widow being returned, and having promised to abide +in peace, his majesty of Wow Wow offered no further impediment to +our departure, and we quitted his capital on the following day.</p> + +<p>After passing through three or four insignificant villages, +inhabited by <em>Cambrie</em>, we arrived at Comoe, a good-sized +town, about half a mile from the ferry, in which we remained +three<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span> days, as +Captain Clapperton was too weak and ill to proceed at an earlier +period.</p> + +<p>On the 10th we crossed the Quorra, running in a southerly +direction, which is full of diminutive islands, and about the width +of the Thames at Westminster. We had now left the Borghoo country, +and were treading on the soil of Nyffé; and notwithstanding the +unfavorable account every where received of the rapacity, +dishonesty, and injustice of the natives generally, we ever found +them strictly honorable in their dealings towards us, good-natured +and cheerful; and were always ready not only to do a benevolent +action, but willing to sacrifice personal comfort to our +accommodation.</p> + +<p>At one o’clock we entered Galloway, a village about eight miles +from the Quorra, where we changed carriers, and reaching another +village called Yowta, slept there for the night. Iron is found in +abundance on and in the neighbouring hills, and requires very +little labour in procuring it. The plains and borders of the river +were cultivated with yams, millet, the plantain, &c. We +observed numerous nests of termites (the<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_173">[173]</span> white ants) at and near Yowta, reared by +those formidable insects to the almost incredible height of twenty +feet. These immense anthills were constructed of earth or clay, +divided into distinct apartments, which evinced considerable +ingenuity, and at a distance greatly resembled the huts of the +natives.</p> + +<p>The country traversed was exceedingly populous, and on the +eleventh the villages lay at no greater distance from each other +than two miles; at every one of which we were obliged to change +carriers, and this caused us infinite trouble and great delay. The +chief of the Houssa caravan also began to equivocate, raising a +thousand obstacles in our way, and did all in his power to detain +us on the road as long as possible, in order that he might avoid +the Falatahs, who were then at Coulfo, making preparations for +their return to Soccatoo.</p> + +<p>On Wednesday the 12th we crossed a stream, over which was thrown +a wretched and insecure bridge, the first we had seen in the +country, and constructed of branches of trees, covered with a thick +layer of clay; and on reaching a village at<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_174">[174]</span> a short distance from the spot, all our +carriers, as if by instinct, simultaneously dropped their burdens, +and scampered off as fast as if they had been running for their +lives. In a few moments we were surrounded by great numbers of the +male inhabitants of the place, who were armed with bows and arrows; +and, pretending not to understand a word of the Houssa language, +the fellows snatched up the deserted property, and before we had +time to prevent them, or ask what they intended doing, went off +with it at an inconceivable rate, we following on horseback, till +tired and out of breath, the blacks halted at another assemblage of +huts on the banks of the same stream we had crossed the preceding +day, forming a portion of Tabria. Resting there for a short period, +the good-natured people voluntarily caught up the baggage a second +time, and passing with all haste over a bridge to the opposite side +of the river, finally stopped in front of the house of one of the +head men of the place.</p> + +<p>The village forms the remaining part of the before mentioned +town, with which it is connected<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_175">[175]</span> by a miserable old bridge, and it contains +a great population.</p> + +<p>Coming at length to an explanation with the martial carriers of +our baggage, we had it lodged in a large empty hut for the night; +but the fellows returned to their town very much dissatisfied with +the trifle with which they were remunerated; for they had hoped +that on entering Tabria the property would have become their +own.</p> + +<p>Tabria consists of two towns, lying on the margins of a stream +or river called the May-yarrow, which are connected together by a +wooden bridge; and both places may contain eighteen thousand +inhabitants. They are occasionally visited by the sovereigns of +Nyffé.</p> + +<p>An exterminating civil war had been raging in the kingdom, and +was still in active operation at the period of our arrival; one +party of the natives siding with Edrisi, a pagan, the rightful heir +to the throne of his deceased father; and the other leaning on the +side of Mohammed, a Mussulman, who had disputed his brother’s right +of succession. By far the major part of the people, being pagans, +were decidedly in favour of the former prince; but the +other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span> having +invited the Falatahs to his assistance, had completely beaten his +less fortunate brother, and it was generally expected that in the +next campaign Edrisi would be driven from the country; or, if taken +prisoner, decapitated without mercy. A cessation of hostilities had +been resolved on by the belligerent parties on the day we entered +Tabria; but the contest would be resumed, it was affirmed, after +the rains.</p> + +<p>The queen dowager of Nyffé, a decrepit and infirm old lady, one +of whose eyes had been accidentally shot out of her head by an +arrow, resided at Tabria, with the head wife of Mohammed. That +prince himself was at a place three days’ journey from the town; +and the old queen having intimated to Captain Clapperton, that it +would be well for him to visit her son, before he quitted the +country, with a suitable present, my master thought proper to +accede to the wishes of the queen mother; and leaving me in charge +of the baggage, &c. carried his intention into effect on the +21st of April.</p> + +<p>During the Captain’s absence I used daily to take a ramble on +the borders of the May-Yarrow,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_177">[177]</span> and amuse myself with my gun, plenty of +game existing in the vicinity. The river is serpentine, and of +irregular breadth; in some places so narrow that a person may +easily jump across, and at others widening from twenty to thirty +yards; its depth generally fluctuating between eight and twelve +feet. Thousands of monkeys inhabit the leafy branches of the trees +that overhang the stream; and play all manner of mischievous tricks +on the people who may venture to stroll in that direction. Going +one day with the design of shooting guinea-fowl, I unintentionally +killed two of these little animals, and wounded a third, which +fell, apparently dead, at my feet. I took them to our lodgings, and +the hostess immediately offered forty cowries for each of them; +but, perceiving signs of life in the wounded monkey, I kept it, +with the intention of ascertaining whether it would recover, and +spared her the slain ones. The good woman, having skinned and +broiled the animals, sat down to partake of them with two or three +of her neighbours, and after making a sumptuous<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span> repast, declared the flesh to +be sweeter and richer than that of any animal with which she was +acquainted. One of our landlady’s guests, falling in love with the +living monkey, took the liberty of stealing it in the night, when, +no doubt, it shared the fate of its companions.</p> + +<p>On the 24th the usurper’s eldest daughter paid me a visit, +bringing with her a present of yams and rice; and being a very +agreeable girl, I solicited her so pressingly to take tea with me, +that the princess accepted the invitation, after which we took a +walk together through the town, arm in arm, <em>à l’Europe</em>. +The inhabitants of Fabria stood staring at us with open mouths, for +some seconds, and wondering greatly what could be the meaning of so +singular a custom, when they set up so astounding a roar of +laughter, as put her royal highness fairly out of countenance; and +I was obliged to re-conduct her to our lodgings with the utmost +haste. On entering them, I made her a trifling present, with which +she was infinitely pleased; and the princess of the powerful +kingdom of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span> Nyffé +went away dancing, singing, and capering, and promised to honour me +with another visit on the morning of the next day.</p> + +<p>The Falatahs left Coulfo for Soccatoo the day after our arrival +at Tabria, with a thousand slaves, some of whom were partizans of +Edrisi, who had been taken prisoners by that prince. Besides this, +they compelled Mohammed to present them with four hundred tobes, +which with the slaves they took to Sultan Bello, as a partial +recompence for the services they had rendered his cause in the late +desolating campaign. Mohammed, called by his people the +<em>Magee</em>, was a most cruel and inhuman prince, and the +greatest scourge that had ever afflicted his country. He had +poisoned, it was confidently reported, a younger brother and two of +his sons, for having ventured to express their opinion against his +wild and inordinate ambition, in attempting to rule the kingdom +against the interests and inclinations of the people; and because +they, in common with their countrymen, hated the Falatahs most +cordially, for the willingness and alacrity they had ever displayed +to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span> embroil Nyffé in +civil war, to the advancement of their own influence, and the +aggrandizement of their own power.</p> + +<p>The war was still raging in Nyffé on my return to that country +from Houssa, with far different prospects. The pagan brother, +Edrisi, had recovered from the effects of his defeats, and gained +important advantages over Mohammed and the Falatahs, his allies. +This good success was owing to a large body of men having come to +Edrisi’s assistance from Benin, and inspired with fresh courage his +disspirited followers. These individuals had proceeded up the +Quorra in canoes, and landed at <em>Mulagee</em>, a small town in +Nyffé situated on the banks of that river; a junction was then +immediately formed with the pagan natives of the country, and an +attack made on the Mussulmans with European muskets, a great number +of which they had brought with them; when the latter, with the +Magee at their head, were defeated with dreadful slaughter, and the +Falatahs being the objects against whom the fire-arms of the people +of Benin were more particularly directed,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_181">[181]</span> very few of them, comparatively speaking, +escaped with life. The week before I revisited Tabria, Mohammed had +experienced another signal overthrow, and it was generally believed +by the inhabitants that the remnant of the Falatahs, who had been +so roughly handled, would be obliged to abandon Nyffé in a few +days, and return, discomfited, to Soccatoo, in which case Edrisi +would reign in the kingdom, and Mohammed either follow the +Falatahs, or lose his life by remaining behind.</p> + +<p>On the 25th Captain Clapperton returned from the camp of +Mohammed, and on Tuesday the 2nd of May we proceeded on our journey +by a path winding along the delightful banks of the May-yarrow. +Passing near to Gonda, a walled village, and crossing a broad but +shallow stream, we entered by one of the gates into the town of +Coulfo, which is distant from Tabria, in a direct line, only four +miles.</p> + +<p>Coulfo is the most considerable market town in Nyffé, and the +general emporium of that part of Africa. It contains between +fifteen and sixteen thousand <em>resident</em> inhabitants, and, +like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span> most towns of +any consideration or extent in the country, is surrounded by a high +wall, outside of which is a deep and broad ditch.</p> + +<p>The May-yarrow flows by the wall of the town, and is a source of +much comfort to the inhabitants, particularly by reason of its +imparting an agreeable coolness to the atmosphere, which is very +desirable in the heat of the day. Markets are daily held at Coulfo, +and an immense variety of articles, of native and foreign +manufacture, are exposed for sale in them. Traders resort in vast +numbers from Bornou and Soccatoo to the north and east, and from +the sea coast to the west, with the produce and manufactures of +their respective countries, for which they find ready buyers in the +town. Slaves, horses, asses, and horned cattle, are brought from +every part of Africa, as well as silk, wrought and unwrought, +cotton, natron, beads, turbans, scarlet caps, goora nuts, +malaguetta pepper, red wood, &c.; the traffic in which is +carried on to an indefinite extent.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Coulfo, like the natives of many parts of the +ivory and gold coasts, anoint<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_183">[183]</span> their bodies with softened clay, or pounded +wood of the same colour, with which a little grease is invariably +mixed. They are principally Mahommedans, and perform a few of the +rites and ceremonies prescribed by the prophet, such as praying a +given number of times in the day, frequent lustrations of the hands +and face, and a rigid adherence to the fast of the Rhamadan. In +other respects, however, they do not conform to the moral precepts +of the Koran, drunkenness being their ruling passion; and so +addicted are they to falsehood and deception, and so generally +prevalent are these vices become, that all sense of their +impropriety is lost amongst the people, and it is not considered +discreditable for the most respectable individuals in the town to +practise these arts upon each other. Theft also may be said to be +encouraged, in some degree; for, like the ancient Spartans, parents +praise the spirit and ingenuity of the junior branches of the +community who pilfer articles of trifling value from their +neighbours, without being detected in the act.</p> + +<p>The females set off their charms to the best<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span> advantage, by staining their +hair, teeth, hands, and feet, in a similar manner to that of the +widow Zuma, which has already been described. This practice, which +is common to all ranks, and without adhering to which beauty cannot +exist in their eyes, in all probability is derived from the Moors +or Saracens, many of whose habits were copied by the natives at the +time of their irruption into the country, and still maintain the +ascendancy which they at first assumed. The more glaring the colour +of the dye on the persons of the <em>fair</em> sex, the more +fascinating is the object in the eyes of the men of Coulfo—hence +the pains every young woman takes to attract the admiration and win +the love of her male companion by bright blue hair, red teeth, +yellow hands, &c.; but above all, by keeping her body supple +and yielding by the use of red clay. It is hardly possible to +conceive the jealousies, and the thousand other afflicting passions +that spring up in the breast of a lady, if the person of another +excels her own in brilliancy of colouring. I have seen the poor +things shed floods of tears on this<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_185">[185]</span> account; and on one occasion, in +particular, was greatly moved at observing a girl of our landlady’s +acquaintance sighing and sobbing in a corner of our room, because +<em>Nuggree</em>, her lover, had told her a few minutes before, +that her teeth were not quite of so bright a red as those of her +female companion!</p> + +<p>Whilst we remained at Coulfo, a messenger from our friend, the +king of Boussa, arrived with a present of a beautiful little mare +for my master, accompanied by a female slave, who brought butter +and rice from the Queen to Captain Clapperton and myself. His +majesty had desired the man to caution us against partaking of any +food that might be sent from the female relatives of the usurper of +Nyffé, it being their avowed intention to poison us by that means. +This information, joined with other circumstances, rendered us +infinitely more suspicious than we had previously been, and obliged +us to use greater caution in accepting presents of provisions from +doubtful quarters. From that time it was our usual custom to +interrogate the individual bringing butter, &c. and if he +evinced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span> the least +reluctance to answer our questions, or betrayed the slightest +symptoms of fear or timidity in our presence, he was compelled to +eat part of the suspected articles himself, and in case of refusal, +dismissed with a severe whipping, and his presents thrown away. We +found this plan extremely serviceable to us, if we might be allowed +to judge from the hasty retreat of more than one of these +good-natured individuals.</p> + +<p>The new moon, to catch a glimpse of which every eye in Coulfo +was on the stretch, was seen on Tuesday the 8th of May, and her +first appearance welcomed by a flourish of trumpets from the +inhabitants.<a id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class= +"fnanchor">[3]</a> This concluded the fast of the Rhamadan; and the +following day was kept as a holiday for feasting and rejoicing by +every individual in the place, amongst all classes, and of every +sect and party,—thousands of both sexes from the neighbouring towns +and villages flocking into it, in order to participate<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span> in the festivities and +amusements of the occasion. Men and boys, old women and young +maidens, slave and free, Mahommedan and Pagan, forgot all +distinctions of rank, and difference in age and modes of +worship,—and joining in the song and the dance, drank palm-wine and +<em>booza</em> together, and before the morning was well over, all +hands became comfortably drunk. Groups of persons might be seen in +the afternoon, rambling from one end of the town to the other, +dancing, capering, tumbling, and hallooing, some reeling to and +fro, scarcely able to stand, others insensible from excessive +intoxication; some flung into the river by their boisterous +companions, and dragged out again half drowned; some smiting their +breasts, and calling upon the name of the Prophet; others hurrying +about in every direction; fighting, praying, laughing, weeping; but +all, from the governor and his ladies to the meanest bondmen and +slaves,—all drunk in a greater or less degree.</p> + +<p>It was now inexpressibly—insufferably hot; not a single zephyr +panted upon the motionless trees, and the intensity of the sun’s +rays<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span> threatened to +set fire to the tenantless huts of the inhabitants. About five or +six o’clock a sultry haze obscured the firmament, which dispersing +some time afterwards, a solemn, fearful calm succeeded, and +continued for an hour or two, the people still enjoying their noisy +revelry, and loud bursts of merriment resounding from every quarter +of the town. We, apprehensive of what was to come after, kept our +eyes intently fixed on the eastern horizon, and at length espied a +small dark cloud slowly rising from that quarter of the heavens. +Immediately after the appearance of this object, faint flashes of +lightning, and distant peals of thunder following in rapid +succession, convinced us that a tornado was approaching. The people +at last understanding these symptoms, all was hurry, bustle, and +confusion, in a moment—the music and dancing suddenly ceased—the +drunken became sober—a deep, wild, thrilling cry was raised by the +women, and answered by screams of affright from the children and +young persons. Meanwhile, the peals of thunder became infinitely +louder and more appalling, and the lightning<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_189">[189]</span> more intensely vivid than before: the +clouds in the east gradually rolling towards the zenith in denser +and heavier masses, a large portion of the heavens was presently +clothed in almost midnight darkness, when the western horizon +suddenly opened, and a sea of liquid fire streaming from that +direction, added a sterner and yet more dreadful grandeur to the +firmament, exposing by its yellowish glare all the horrors and +blackness of the scene. The sable curtain that overhung our heads, +was rent asunder shortly after with a frightful explosion, causing +the earth to tremble and shake as if the Almighty had set his foot +upon the world, and reproached the people for their wickedness; +while the shuddering war-cry, and the tumult and wailings of the +multitude, mingling with the hollow blast of the tempest, produced +on us an indescribable effect, and awoke in me an exalted, but +painful and tremulous emotion of soul, that had nearly overpowered +me.</p> + +<p>To increase the consternation that was depicted on every +countenance, the town of <em>Balì</em>, containing eleven hundred +houses, and situated<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_190">[190]</span> about half a mile from Coulfo, was set on +fire by the lightning; and the piercing cries of its terrified +inhabitants floating dismally into the latter town, were re-echoed +by thousands of human voices, which produced a concert of +melancholy sounds, that caused even the domestic animals to shrink +with fear.</p> + +<p>The hurricane and rain at length ceased, the noise of the people +was hushed into silence, and the tempestuous elements sank from +horrid sublimity into their previous state of awful repose. I have +witnessed many tornados in other parts of the globe;</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“But never till that night, never till +then,</div> + +<div class="line indent0"> Did I go through a tempest dropping +fire.”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Next morning I took a walk through the town, and in the country +in its vicinity: the air, as it generally is after such +visitations, was delightfully fresh and pleasant, but the earth was +covered with afflicting proofs of the tremendous power of the +storm; superb trees, through the trunks of which, if scooped out, a +coach might easily pass, were torn up by the roots, and their +gigantic branches shivered into splinters; whilst<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span> others were indeed standing, +but scathed and blackened from the effects of the lightning, and +entirely stripped of their verdant foliage. Fragments and roofs of +huts, many of them yet smouldering, were scattered in every +direction; and here and there the dead body of a bird or beast, +which had perished the preceding night, might be met with.</p> + +<p>The destitute inhabitants of Balì came to Coulfo, the day after +their town had been reduced to ashes, to tell their simple tale of +distress, and solicit the assistance of their more favoured +neighbours. I was pleased to see their story listened to with +tears, and their sorrowful condition ameliorated, with a +benevolence and zeal that effectually covered the bad qualities of +the people of Coulfo, and made one forget for a moment that they +possessed any. In a conversation with one of the sufferers in the +ill-fated town, I learned that several mothers had perished in the +flames, while in the act of escaping from them with their tender +offspring slung to their backs; and it was supposed that many of +the male sex had shared in the like calamity,<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_192">[192]</span> as they were missing, and no +intelligence whatever had transpired respecting them. One +individual, bowed down with years, had snatched up in his arms a +little boy who was crossing his path, screaming with terror; but, +just as he had reached the outskirts of the burning town, and was +congratulating himself on his good fortune, in having preserved his +own and the child’s life so unexpectedly, a moving mass of fire, +whirled by the wind, suddenly fell upon him, and both he and his +charge were scorched to death, in sight of their sorrowing +relatives.</p> + +<p>The town of Balì soon rose from its ruins, and the people, by +their merriment and vivacity, seemed to forget, a month or two +afterwards, that any such calamity had befallen it.</p> + +<p>The country for miles round Coulfo is studded with walled towns, +open villages, and clusters of houses; and so jealous are the +inhabitants of one of these places of the superiority, imaginary or +real, whether as regards personal bravery or success in +slave-catching, of another, that, like the natives of rival +parishes in Cornwall, before the introduction of Methodism +into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span> that county, +or the different sects and orders which agitate Ireland at the +present time, formally challenge each other, and meet by +appointment to try the prowess and superiority of their respective +parties. On such occasions, the combatants arm themselves with +bludgeons, bows and arrows, and spears; and the conflict is, in +almost every instance, prosecuted with the bitterness and animosity +of the most ruthless savages, frequently terminating in the death +or capture of numbers of each party, when the latter are uniformly +sold into slavery. Just at the period of our arrival at Coulfo, the +inhabitants of the walled town of Koofoo, situated but a short +distance from the former place, having captured and sold, contrary +to custom, the wife of a man belonging to a neighbouring village, +who was supposed to have been slain in one of these engagements, a +mutual system of retaliation and petty warfare was the consequence, +which had embroiled all the country in domestic dissensions; and +their war-cry, of all sounds, next to their death-yell, the most +truly terrific, could be distinctly heard at our lodgings +in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span> Coulfo every +evening. A person connected with either of the disturbed towns +could not venture out alone, or unarmed, without exposing himself +to be shot at or pierced by his inveterate antagonists, who made it +a constant practice to prowl about the country, and spring, +tiger-like, upon any unsuspecting victim whom pleasure or business +had induced to quit the boundaries of his native village. These +intestine commotions, united to the formidable civil war that was +desolating the kingdom of Nyffé, had caused the minds of the people +to be in a perpetual state of fermentation and alarm, occasioning +their angry and incited passions to have the ascendancy over their +milder virtues; and to this cause is attributable, more than to any +other, the absence of that kindness and hospitality, amongst the +natives generally, which were so cheerfully bestowed upon us in the +less civilized kingdoms of Yariba and Borghoo,—although even the +people of Nyffé were by no means destitute of the gentle charities +of life.</p> + +<p>The severe and continued indisposition that both my master and +myself experienced, obliged<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_195">[195]</span> us to remain in the city of Coulfo six or +seven weeks; but, getting better at the termination of that period, +we departed on the nineteenth of June, and passing through Koofoo, +where we slept, and several other villages, encamped outside the +walled town of Bullabulla on the 21st of the same month. At that +place I was attacked with dysentery, a truly frightful disorder, +that causes hope to die within the patient, and puts him altogether +out of the love of life. The pain it occasioned me was so great, +and its effects so distressing, that I was unable to keep a regular +journal of occurrences until my arrival at Kano. On the road to +that city my sufferings were too acute to be described; and it was +not unusual for me to lag behind the rest of the party, and, +dismounting from my horse, to roll myself in the dust, in the hope +of relieving the agony of the moment, where I remained panting on +the naked earth, till my master, alarmed at my long absence, would +light large fires, by the smoke of which I was directed to his +resting-place. On entering the tent, it was my custom, without +uttering a word, to fling myself on a<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_196">[196]</span> mat, and, embracing my pillow,<a id= +"FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> to +sleep, or rather <em>endeavour</em> to sleep till morning. By this +means I acquired a habit of groaning in my slumbers, of which I +could not completely divest myself, even for some months after my +return to England. Whenever we came to a stream which was too deep +to ford, and unfurnished with a ferry-boat, being too weak myself +to swim, my generous master used to take me on his shoulders, and, +oftentimes at the imminent risk of his own life, carry me in safety +to the opposite bank.</p> + +<p>We journeyed over a wooded and partially cultivated country, +through several populous walled towns and open villages, and +arrived at Guâri, in Kashna, on Monday the 3d of July.</p> + +<p>Leaving that place on the following Friday we continued our +course, and entered the<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_197">[197]</span> western gate of Zaria, a considerable +Falatah town, and the capital of the province of Zeg Zeg, on Monday +the 10th.</p> + +<p>The country to the eastward of the town was unspeakably fine, +and almost clear of wood; and looked as fresh and beautiful as the +richest parts of England in the summer months. Plantations of rice +and cotton; fields of undulating corn; meadows covered with a +lovely verdure; and gentle slopes with herds and flocks grazing and +browzing on them, looked as picturesque and rural as any landscape +I had beheld in my own, or indeed any other country.</p> + +<p>We remained at Zaria a week, when we again set out; and +traversing a country charmingly diversified by hills and dales, +streamlets of water, groves of superb trees peopled with birds of +the gayest plumage, and enclosures of Indian corn, yams, indigo, +the cotton plant, wheat, millet, &c. we arrived at Kano on +Thursday the 20th of July.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span><a id= +"c07"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">Residence at Kano — Captain Clapperton leaves for +Soccatoo — History of Pasko, the Houssa Interpreter — Pasko’s +robberies and confinement — Return of the Captain with the Godado, +after an ineffectual attempt to reach Soccatoo — His second +departure from Kano — His Letters.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">We</span> were mortified beyond measure to +learn of Hat Sallah, my master’s agent on the former journey, that +the Bornouese and Falatahs were at war, and in consequence thereof +that all communication between the two kingdoms had been +effectually cut off. On hearing of our arrival, the countenances of +the Arabs in the city brightened up; for they fancied that we +should be the means of bringing about a permanent peace between the +belligerents, the war having occasioned the ruin of several of +them, and threatened the prosperity of the whole.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>I had received +instructions from Captain Clapperton to remain in Kano with the +baggage, whilst he undertook a journey to Soccatoo and back, it +being unnecessary to have the goods conveyed so far out of the road +to Bornou. Therefore on Thursday the 24th of July, every +arrangement having been previously made, my master came to bid me +adieu, and give me final instructions relative to proceeding to +Bornou and Tripoli, in case of his death, or of any unforeseen +accident that might befall him. On this occasion each of us was +much moved, and we parted with that unaffected sorrow which the +circumstances in which we were placed were so eminently calculated +to call forth. Our little party had left their native country full +of hope and enterprising spirit, and we had seen them sicken and +die by our sides without being in a condition to mitigate their +sufferings, or “smooth down their lonely pillow.” Like the +characters in Mozart’s “Farewell,” they had dropped one by one; and +they were buried in a strange land, far from the graves of their +fathers, with scarce a memento to point out the<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span> solitary spot. These were my +thoughts at the moment of separation from my valued master, whom I +may justly style the preserver of my life. I knew that it was by no +means unlikely we might never meet again, and we were well assured, +that in the event of our dissolutions when apart, no one could be +found to close our eyes, still less to perform the rites of +Christian burial over our remains. My master therefore left me with +emotion. For my own part, I was yet, if possible, more sensibly +agitated; I was ill with dysentery at the time, <em>very</em> ill; +and throwing myself on my couch as soon as the Captain was out of +sight, I did not arise from it again for twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>Kano is one of the most important and considerable cities in +Soudan, and is a general mart for all sorts of merchandize. The +indigo, manufactured by the inhabitants, has the reputation of +producing a richer and more permanent dye than is to be met with in +any other part of Africa whatever, and is on this account in very +high estimation with all classes of people. The population of the +town, on a rough computation,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_201">[201]</span> probably exceeds forty thousand souls, the +major part of whom are slaves, but treated with kindness and +forbearance by their masters. Arabs and Moors resort thither from +the Barbary States, for the purposes of trade, and their goods +realise an immense profit in the market, remunerating them with a +rapid fortune. The wall of the city, thirty feet in height, and of +proportionable thickness, encompasses a space of nearly ten English +miles; but upwards of two-thirds of the ground enclosed is taken up +with morasses, plantations, and gardens, the dwelling of the +inhabitants occupying the remaining portion. The houses are built +in a square form, after the Moorish fashion, of flat roofs covered +with hardened clay interlaced with palm leaves; and are on the +whole roomy and comfortable abodes.</p> + +<p>The air of Kano is close and insalubrious, and rendered yet more +unwholesome, in consequence of the number of stagnant pools of +water, partly filled with putrifying animal and vegetable +substances, which are tolerated in the town. A most disagreeable +odour is exhaled by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span> +this means; while a large morass intersecting the city from east to +west, into which the filth of the inhabitants is indiscriminately +emptied, tends still further towards its general unhealthiness. The +dead bodies of slaves are frequently cast into this morass, exposed +to the action of the air or visits of birds of prey; and it is +truly shocking to observe their mangled members in a state of +decomposition, and their fleshless bones bleaching in the sun in +the very heart of the town.</p> + +<p>This painful and disgusting spectacle I was oftentimes obliged +to be a witness to, a week rarely passing without one or more of +these unregretted corpses being flung into the common receptacle, +and left to the gaze of the people, amongst whom all sense of +delicacy in this respect seemed to have been stifled by gross +familiarity with this revolting custom; by reason of this the +inhabitants pass by the decaying bodies of their fellow creatures +with no greater symptoms of repugnance than if they had been the +remains of their own domestic animals.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>I had scarcely +been in Kano a fortnight, when Pasko, our Houssa interpreter, +absconded with a few articles of trifling value, and after a +diligent and persevering search of three days, he was found +concealed under a heap of yams, in the house of the mother to a +female he had recently married. He was accompanied to our house by +his better half, sobbing all the way, who begged me, with much +earnestness, to forgive her husband for the offence he had been +guilty of, which I consented to do, but not till after he had +received a severe scolding, and promised never again to perpetrate +a crime of a similar nature against me or any one else.</p> + +<p>As this old man’s history may not be altogether uninteresting, +inasmuch as it shows, in a lively point of view, the ridiculous +superstitions of his countrymen, imbibed in their infant years, +which no circumstance or change of scene in their after life can +wholly eradicate, I hope I may be excused for giving a short +account of his adventures previously to his being engaged in the +African mission, as repeated solemnly to me several times from his +own lips, and after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span> +that period till his arrival with us at Kano, drawn from personal +observation.</p> + +<p>Pasko’s native name was <em>Abbu Becr</em>, and although this is +without doubt a Mohammedan appellation, he knew nothing more of +Islamism than its name, being in reality a Pagan. He was born in +the district of Goober, and was brother to the reigning prince of +that country, who at the period of the subjugation of the +neighbouring provinces to the yoke of Danfodio, Bello’s father, +ridiculed that wily conqueror’s pretensions to sanctity, and rose +with his people to dispute his further advances into Houssa. In an +engagement with the Falatahs, in which Pasko distinguished himself, +his brother was suddenly metamorphosed into a white elephant! and +as soon as he was conscious of his melancholy change, rushed into +the thickest of the fight, trampling to death upwards of two +hundred of his adversaries, who were panic-struck at the unexpected +appearance of so formidable an animal amongst them; but rallying a +short time afterwards, they winged their arrows so effectually, +that the body of the enormous beast became<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_205">[205]</span> like that of a porcupine, being literally +covered with them; and this fact, joined to his extraordinary +exertions and loss of blood, made the intrepid elephant quit the +field of battle. Lifting up Pasko, therefore, from the ground with +his proboscis, he repaired to a neighbouring forest, and dropping +his charge, was transfixed, like Lot’s wife to the spot, by the +same invisible power that had been so instrumental in bringing +about his previous alteration of form and nature. Here he stood, +without the power of stirring an inch, or of moving a limb, and +although Pasko’s bitter lamentations were heard at a considerable +distance, the inexorable deity was deaf to these violent bursts of +sorrow; but his fraternal tenderness would not suffer Pasko to +leave the place till he had the felicity of beholding trees and +shrubs grow round the body of the petrified elephant; which third +miracle took place about three hours after the former ones, and +completely hid the transformed from the most prying curiosity!</p> + +<p>The remainder of Pasko’s history is entitled to a greater share +of credence. A year or two<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_206">[206]</span> subsequent to the above singular +occurrence, as Pasko was dancing by the light of the moon, with +several of his companions, he was kidnapped by a marauding party of +Falatahs, and sold to a Gonja trader. This man not treating him +with the kindness he expected, to be revenged Pasko took the +liberty of robbing him of all his goods, and decamping in the +night; he was, however, apprehended the next evening, in a state of +intoxication, dancing with a dozen females, and taken back to his +master, who re-sold him to a native of Ashantee. By this master he +was taken considerable notice of, and sent, along with many others, +to his own country (Ashantee); but no great while after his arrival +thither he committed a second serious misdemeanour, for which +offence he was driven to the sea-side, and sold to the master of a +Portuguese schooner, then lying at Whydah. On her voyage to Bahia, +the vessel was captured by an English sloop of war, and Pasko was +liberated; but consented to remain with the British, and serve as +an ordinary seaman. He was, however, taken from his employment by +Mr.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span> Belzoni, in +order to accompany him in his attempt to reach Tombuctoo by way of +Fez; but that enterprizing traveller dying of dysentery, Pasko +returned to his duties in the British navy, where he remained till +engaged by Captain Clapperton, in the joint capacity of servant to +Captain Pearce, and general interpreter to the mission.</p> + +<p>Pasko was no more than five feet in height, with hands and arms +disproportionately long: his face was open and expressive, if a +mouth extending literally from ear to ear can impart an enviable +cast of feature to the human countenance; and his cheek was +furrowed with the tatto mark of the Houssa nation (eight deep +scars, inflicted by a rude instrument during boyhood). His nose was +excessively broad and flat, and his lips resembled, as nearly as +possible, the famous German sausage ornamented; and these were, +with large teeth, of pearly whiteness, which were generally exposed +by a perpetual grin playing upon his countenance. But there was an +undefinable expression of low cunning in his dark, wandering eye, +and an habitual restlessness<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_208">[208]</span> in his manner which induced one to suspect +that there was more of evil in him than he was willing should be +detected, and which he strove to disguise under forced stupidity +and carelessness which in reality did not belong to his +disposition. It is somewhat odd that Pasko, plain as his appearance +most undoubtedly was, should have entertained the strange notion +that almost every female who saw him, of whatever hue, nation, or +religion she might be, could not help falling in love with him at +first sight, imagining that his intellectual physiognomy possessed +some peculiar attraction—an oil of rhodium,—which fascinated all +beholders. Hence, secure of the affections of the softer sex, his +behaviour to them was not always graced by that studied civility, +and agreeableness of manner, which are the characteristics of most +gallants; what others were obliged to entreat and sigh for as a +favour, Pasko demanded as a right, and enforced his pretensions +with an eloquence so commanding, that according to his own +asseverations at least, his advances were never repelled by +coldness or disdain. At the period of his<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_209">[209]</span> engaging himself with the African mission, +he might have been about sixty years of age, but looked +considerably older; and the above unaccountable feeling of his had +lost none of its intensity at so advanced a period of life. Like +Aaron’s rod, it swallowed up every other passion; and as will be +seen by the numerous wives with whom he was accommodated, and the +scrapes he fell into by their means, Pasko subscribed, with all his +heart, to the anathema of the Poet:</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“Curse on all laws save those which +<em>Love</em> has made!”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>At Badagry, one of the wives of Adólee, the king, fell +desperately in love with the self-enamoured Pasko, and strove to +awaken his sensibility by a present of a bottle of rum; but the +latter being observed sneaking near the king’s house at +unseasonable hours, was threatened with death if he attempted to +display his alluring accomplishments before the illustrious female +inmates, to the infinite uneasiness of his majesty’s mind. Pasko, +with whom foolhardiness was in no very high esteem, went off in +great dudgeon, and never repeated his visit<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_210">[210]</span> to the seraglio, confining himself +within doors as much as possible. This seclusion, however, could +not screen him from the resentment of the slighted lady, for as he +was standing outside our house one day, a stone, flung with great +force from her own <em>fair</em> hand, struck Pasko so violent a +blow on the breast, that it completely ejected every spark of +tenderness he might have entertained for her, and he vowed to +embrace the earliest opportunity of being revenged. At Jannah he +forgot his disappointment in the endearing expressions lavished +upon his extraordinary beauty by a girl of that place, whom he +married agreeably to the custom of the country, and took with him +to Katunga, in Yariba. The attachment seemed to be reciprocal for +some time; and Pasko was so bound up in the blandishments of his +spouse, that he was loth to expose her delicate person to the +dangers of a journey to Bornou, and proposed remaining in that +city, instead of continuing in the service of the mission; his +better half relishing the proposal extremely well, and seconding it +with all the weight of her influence. Aspiring,<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span> however, to the society of the +wives of his majesty of Katunga, and those of his great men, +Pasko’s rib fell into the temptation of tippling and carousing with +them at all seasons, and indulged in this disgraceful propensity to +so great an excess, that she rarely returned to the arms of her +impatient husband in a sober state; and was, moreover, frequently +seen in the company of younger men than he. All this at length +reaching the ears of Captain Clapperton, she was dismissed his +service, but retaken at the piteous lamentations and entreaties of +Pasko, who declared, blubbering all the while, that he could not +survive her loss, so strongly was she linked to him by the silken +bands of love! The amiable lady, nevertheless, the morning before +our departure from Katunga, rising from the couch of her +unsuspecting companion, decamped with the coral beads and other +trinkets he had received of Mrs. Belzoni whilst in England, and was +never seen or heard of after. Pasko consoled himself with the +reflection that the woman was certainly deranged, or she never +could have treated a person of his consideration so +unhandsomely!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>At Wow Wow he +buried all his griefs and vexations in the embraces of a fresh wife +he had received of the generous Zuma; but it being unlawful to +accept such a present without having first obtained the consent of +the king, Mohammed compelled him to return the dear object of his +affections, much against his own inclination, and the unfortunate +lover determined not to marry again in a hurry. A young woman in +Kano however overturned his resolution, and he left me in the +manner which has already been related. Pasko never troubled his +head much about religious matters, adopting the prevailing opinions +about them in the various countries through which he might happen +to pass: thus, he was a Christian in England, a Pagan in Yariba and +Borghoo, and a Mohammedan in the Falatah empire; although the +superstitious notions of his childhood clung like instinct to his +manhood and declining years, evidently disposing him to lean +towards Paganism, as the best and most convenient doctrine with +which he was acquainted.</p> + +<p>My master unexpectedly returned to Kano<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_213">[213]</span> in September, accompanied by the Godado +(prime minister of sultan Bello) and several Falatahs of less +consequence, the road to Soccatoo having been found impassable by +reason of the rain that had fallen. After remaining with me three +or four days, Captain Clapperton left the city a second time, and +entered the capital of Houssa in safety, on Thursday the 19th of +October.</p> + +<p>On the night of the 1st of November Pasko eloped with his Kano +wife, taking with him six pairs of scissors and a pistol. On +missing him next morning, I made an inquiry after him in the city, +but no one could give me the least account of the fugitive, till a +person informed me of his having met him with a woman at an early +hour on the road to Zeg Zeg. As soon as this information was +communicated to me, I secured the baggage in an apartment of our +house, and took the key to Hat Sallah, with a request that he would +suffer no one to enter it till my return. Although I was by no +means recovered from the painful illness which had for so long a +time afflicted me, I immediately mounted my horse,<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> and desiring Abdalfitha, one +of our Arab servants to accompany me on another, took the road to +Quorra, a large town in Zeg Zeg, and travelled with unusual speed. +A journey of four days brought us to Roma, on entering which town +we were told that Pasko had just before quitted it; but our horses +being almost knocked up, we could proceed no further on that day, +by reason whereof we were obliged to remain there till the +following morning.</p> + +<p>We had not been in the place, however, more than an hour, when +some of the inhabitants came with the news that they had seen Pasko +in a woman’s house near the market-place; and as soon as I had +ascertained that this was actually the case, I hired a dozen stout +men to watch at the gates, and apprehend him if he attempted to +escape from the town. Meanwhile, being exhausted myself with the +violent exercise I had been necessitated to take, I ordered +Abdulfitha to proceed to the place of his concealment, and +endeavour to secure the criminal, which he succeeded in doing +without even the shadow of opposition on Pasko’s part,<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span> and presently after brought +him to me. The old fellow, with the most unconcerned air +imaginable, wondered I had taken so much pains on his account, +affirming that he had taken a jaunt into the country for a day or +two, in order to amuse himself by shooting a few pigeons for my +use, for he felt for me in my long indisposition! and that it was +his intention to return to Kano as soon as he had accomplished his +charitable purpose. His wife, not liking this species of enjoyment, +had left him the preceding day, and had gone back to her mother’s +house. Pasko, having made this ingenious defence, I gave him a +severe lecture for having left Kano without my knowledge or +consent; but as he showed symptoms of contrition, and promising +solemnly to behave with more circumspection for the future, I +cheerfully forgave him; and we retired to rest.</p> + +<p>On our return we halted at a small village about twelve miles +from Kano, where we slept. In the night, Pasko, watching a +favorable opportunity, stole unobserved out of the hut with all my +money, which I had concealed, for its better<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_216">[216]</span> security, in my stocking, together with +my guns, pistols, and in fact every thing belonging to me, with the +exception of the horse. The manner in which the robbery was +discovered was as follows:—About two o’clock in the morning, being +thirsty, I called on Pasko several times to fetch me a little +water, but receiving no answer, I arose, and approaching the mat on +which he had lain down the preceding evening, caught hold of what I +conceived to be his head, and shook it violently. Still receiving +no answer, I became alarmed, and instantly striking a light, I +found, not Pasko’s corpse stretched on the mat as I expected, but a +slaughtered sheep! which had been sent me from the chief of the +town, in its stead, and which the artful old scoundrel had placed +in that position, enveloping the head of the animal in one of my +woollen caps, for the purpose of deceiving me! as Abdulfitha had +been in the habit of laying his hand on Pasko’s head at intervals +during the night, in order to ascertain that all was right. The +thief had stripped me almost naked; but wrapping a blanket round my +person, I rode hastily with<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_217">[217]</span> Abdulfitha, by star-light, to Kano, and +arrived there early in the morning. As soon as Hat Sallah had +arisen, I simply told him how I had been served, when he +immediately sent several individuals in quest of the robber, who +returned with him two days after. This was enjoyment with a +vengeance; so being determined he should take no more rural +excursions, I ordered the prisoner to be heavily ironed, and +confined in the common dungeon till the return of the governor of +Kano from a town called Fanisoe: this took place two or three days +only before my departure, and on the same day Pasko being examined +by his excellency, and having taken an oath in his presence that he +would not again desert me till the arrival of Captain Clapperton +from Soccatoo, he was set at large in the city.</p> + +<p>I saw a slave in Kano whose fore teeth were cut and pointed, a +custom I thought peculiar to the coast, and some of the islands in +the South Seas. The man’s appearance was most ferocious; and so +sullen and reserved was he, that he refused to answer any +interrogations that were put to him, although I was inclined +to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span> believe that he +had perpetrated some flagrant crime, as he was so far on his way to +Badagry, whither he would not have been sent, if his character were +not of the very worst description.</p> + +<p>One day, as I was walking to the governor’s house, I espied a +white man at some distance; I ran after him as fast as my strength +would permit me, and thought at first he was an apparition; but on +approaching within a few yards, and the man suddenly stopping, I +immediately perceived that he was a leper. His head, neck, and +shoulders were bared, and the skin, covered with a thick scurf, had +a ghastly and cadaverous appearance. When he turned to look at me, +I could not forbear shuddering, and felt so peculiar a sensation +creep through my frame, that I willingly laid hold of a date tree +growing near the spot, in order to keep myself in an erect +position. The wool, nose, and lips, were entirely negro, and when +these were contrasted with his pale, diseased skin, the leper +scarcely maintained the appearance of a human being. We had seen a +woman in Katunga afflicted with a similar loathsome malady; but its +effects in the latter instance<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_219">[219]</span> were not nearly so visibly disgusting. Both +the unhappy individuals were vagrants, and shunned, like the lazars +of Italy, by their fellow-creatures. Their life must, indeed, have +been a burden to them; for the disease, preying upon their vitals, +threatened to terminate their wretched career very speedily; and to +add to their sorrows, they had no where to lay their heads.</p> + +<p>I had purchased a young ostrich of a Tuarick, who had brought it +from the desert, shortly after our arrival at Kano, and the animal +soon became so tame, that it would follow me like a dog. In two +months after I had it in my possession it grew amazingly, and I was +in hopes of bringing it to England with me; but an envious Arab in +the city, whose inveterate dislike to every thing belonging to the +Christians he took no pains to conceal, cut off its head, and +artfully attributed it to accident. Meeting the fellow in the +street a short time afterwards, I belaboured his sides so +effectually with a stout stick which I held in my hand, that he ran +off bellowing with a complaint to the governor,<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span> who, after listening patiently +to his story, observed, with a very significant look, that he was +quite sure the drubbing he had received must have been inflicted +<em>by accident</em>, and dismissed the malicious Arab without +granting the redress he sought.</p> + +<p>A wealthy Nyffé man had in his possession, in Kano, two +individuals, male and female, so excessively small, that although +they were nearly thirty years of age, their height did not exceed +forty inches. Each of them had been brought from a place called +Goorma, and they had left their native country at a very early +period of life; insomuch, that they had no recollection of their +parents, or of any thing connected with the manners and customs of +their countrymen. None but particular friends of the proprietor +were allowed to see these human beings in miniature, and even they +were introduced only at particular seasons. For my part, I often +visited them, and their innocent playful manners greatly diverted +me. They were extremely chatty and good-tempered, and their agility +was as remarkable as their size was diminutive. I offered to +purchase them; but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span> +not altogether admiring my white skin, they refused to quit the +hospitable roof of their owner, who candidly acknowledged that he +was so much attached to the dwarfs, that he had resolved never to +force their inclinations to a measure they disliked in their +hearts.</p> + +<p>When I was able, I used, during my stay at Kano, to collect +plants, shrubs, insects, &c. and stuff any birds that I might +happen to shoot, if I fancied there was any thing peculiar or +strange in their appearance. By this means I soon acquired a great +variety of beautiful insects, which, with the birds and plants, I +attempted to bring to England with me; but the portmanteau in which +they were placed having been frequently wetted on my return to the +coast, they were all so completely spoiled, that I was obliged to +throw them away.</p> + +<p>On the 12th of November I had the happiness of receiving the +following letter from my master, dated Soccatoo, Tuesday, October +26, 1826:—</p> + +<div class="quote"> +<p class="nind pad3"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_222">[222]</span>“<span class="sc">Dear Richard</span>,</p> + +<p>“I arrived here on Thursday, after a most fatiguing and +harassing journey. I find the city in much the same state as on my +former visit. They say it has been burnt by the rebels of Goober, +but I have observed no traces of a recent conflagration, and +therefore suspect the rumour to be unfounded. Sultan Bello has been +investing Coonia, the capital of Goober, with a large but irregular +army. I visited him in his camp previously to my arrival here. He +appeared glad to see me, and welcomed me to his country with the +utmost cordiality. He is now at Magaria, anticipating an attack +from the rebel chief, but is expected here shortly. The Arabs have +already begun their underhand and deceitful practices, by tampering +with Mohammed [an Arab servant], and insinuating the injury he +would do his soul by serving an enemy to their faith. The man +hardly knows how to act; on the one hand he dreads the resentment +of his namesake the Prophet; and on the other, if he quits my +service, he must necessarily throw himself upon the good-nature of +his rascally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span> +countrymen, who indeed make golden promises, but whose filthy +niggardliness is proverbial, even amongst the Falatahs. I shall +certainly feel his loss severely, if Mohammed follows their advice, +as I have no one in whom I can repose so much confidence as +himself; but I have left it entirely to his own choice, either to +go or stay. I have just had a conversation with a messenger, +arrived within these few minutes from Bello and the Godado; he +tells me the rebels are hourly expected near Magaria, and of his +sovereign’s wish for me to make all haste to him, as he is utterly +unconscious how long he may be detained with his army. For the +purpose of assisting me on my journey, the Sultan has sent me two +camels and a horse; and most likely I shall leave this city +to-morrow or next day.</p> + +<p>“It is most violently hot here. I fancy the weather has already +made some impression on my health, for I feel now and then a little +feverish and unwell. I sincerely wish it may not increase upon me. +Heaven knows I have had enough of sickness since I first set my +foot on African soil; and it would be disheartening +indeed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span> if I should +be laid up at this particular time. Let me hope your health is +improved since I saw you. It would grieve me exceedingly to hear an +unfavourable account of it; and I would suggest that you keep both +mind and body as much employed as possible. By right you should +have no idle moments. I hope you ride out every day, and amuse +yourself with shooting and stuffing birds: this will tend to keep +you in good health and spirits. Apply your mind strictly to the +duties of religion; rely firmly on the mercy and assistance of +Heaven; for in all your difficulties and distress, this alone will +bear you up like a man, and render you superior to misfortune.</p> + +<p>“I pray God to bless you; and believe me to be</p> + +<p class="right pad-right5">“Your sincere friend and master,</p> + +<p class="right pad-right2">“<span class="sc">Hugh +Clapperton</span>.”</p> + +<p class="nind">“<em>Rd. Lander, Kano.</em>”</p> +</div> + +<p>Towards the latter end of November, I received a second letter +from Capt. Clapperton, dated Soccatoo, November 7th, 1826. The +following is a copy of it:—</p> + +<div class="quote"> +<p class="nind pad2"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_225">[225]</span>“<span class="sc">Dear Richard</span>,</p> + +<p class="ind3">“I returned from Magaria yesterday: the Sultan +received his present with rapture; nor did the godado appear much +less pleased with his. I enjoy, thank God, tolerable health, with +the exception of being afflicted at times with a sharp pain in my +side, which annoys me greatly; but I hope it will soon wear off. +The Sultan does not seem in the least willing for me to visit +Bornou, by reason of the war; but I shall do all in my power to +overturn his unjust prejudices. He fancies, no doubt, the present +intended for the Sheikh consists of warlike stores; at least, I am +pretty confident my kind friends the Arabs have intimated as much +to him. Yet I am infinitely pleased to learn that Bello does not +altogether relish their counsel, and that he judges pretty +correctly of the falsehood and deceit they have so often practised +to serve their own ends.</p> + +<p>“If the road to Bornou be denied me, I really can’t tell what we +shall do, or how we shall get home. It is certain if we pursue a +different route, my business will be incomplete, and of all things +this lies nearest my heart. It is<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_226">[226]</span> not likely, however, I shall be kept in +suspense a great while longer, and I shall know with certainty +perhaps in a few days. I am already heartily tired of this place; +and most devoutly wish I were with you. I long to turn my face +towards our dear country again; yet whenever I think calmly of it, +as oftentimes I do, a cloud seems to hang over the future which +saddens me, I know not why, and makes me excessively low-spirited. +I would cheerfully dissipate all gloomy reflections if I could; but +they come over one at times when one is least capable of resisting +their influence, and an unpleasant sensation steals insensibly upon +the mind, and renders one careless of oneself, and regardless of +the world.</p> + +<p>“My dear Richard, do <em>you</em> endeavour to keep up your +spirits. You tell me you are ill; I imagine this proceeds more from +brooding over your misfortunes than any other cause whatever: it is +not well to do so; you should not suffer despondency and dejection +to have the mastery over your judgment and resolution. Think of +your friends in England, and fancy yourself in their little circle; +never permit hope<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span> +to sink so far within you, as to say to yourself, ‘I shall never +see my country again.’ Such thoughts, I repeat, should never be +indulged; for they are ever attended with mischief. Your disorder +is, indeed, a peculiarly painful one; yet it is one which every +European must expect to be visited with in this remote region. I +have been afflicted with it myself before now, and you see I am +completely recovered from its effects.</p> + +<p>“Let me entreat you, therefore, to hope for the best: it is +unmanly to repine at any trifling casualty that may befal one, +which we are all so very apt to do. Above all things, place your +confidence in the wisdom of the Almighty; let your whole heart and +affections rest upon him, for he alone is able to support you under +the trying sickness that wastes you, and conduct you in safety to +dear old England. Pray to Heaven night and morning, and read the +church service as often as you can, particularly on the Sabbath; +for a firm reliance on the goodness and mercy of the Divine Power, +will inspire you with confidence, and bear you up with cheerfulness +and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> courage, even +when all earthly enjoyments fail you. For my own part, I am +inclined to believe you will soon be well, and that we shall +shortly see better and happier days. Most likely I shall leave this +city for Kano the latter part of the week, and surely I need not +repeat how happy I shall be to see you again.</p> + +<p class="right pad-right12">“Adieu, and believe me</p> + +<p class="right pad-right5">“Your sincere friend and master,</p> + +<p class="right pad-right2">“H. <span class= +"sc">Clapperton</span>.”</p> + +<p class="nind">“<em>Richard Lander, Kano.</em>”</p> +</div> + +<p>The above letter had been delivered to me but two days, when I +received a message from the governor of Kano to pay him a visit at +his house. On entering the apartment in which he was seated, he +abruptly informed me that he had just received a letter from my +master, which contained a wish for me to come to him immediately +with all the baggage. This piece of intelligence surprised me not a +little, for I had been led to believe, from the tenor of his last +letter, that, instead of my proceeding to Soccatoo, Captain +Clapperton must by that time have been on the<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_229">[229]</span> road to Kano. I could not help fancying, +however, that something of a melancholy nature had taken place, +which, from motives of delicacy, had been prudently withheld from +me, although I was at a loss to conjecture of what nature it could +be; for it did not occur to me at the moment that Bello, who bore a +high character for uprightness and integrity, could resort to so +mean a stratagem, in order to inveigle an unprotected stranger into +his power, without assigning any reason for such unwarrantable +conduct.</p> + +<p>Two days after this interview (22d November) I received another +invitation from the governor, on which occasion, after briefly +alluding to the former conversation, he hinted that it was +necessary for me to quit the city without delay, naming the 25th as +the day most proper for my departure. He said he should make my +master a present of five <em>pack</em> bullocks to convey the goods +to Soccatoo, and order four men to take charge of the animals on +the road.</p> + +<p>On the 24th I paid my respects to the governor, with whom I was +closeted considerably more than an hour; and on rising to depart, +he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> shook hands +heartily with me, saying, with much warmth and feeling, “Good bye, +‘little Christian,’ God take you safe to Soccatoo.” On going back +to my house, I found Hat Salah rather impatiently waiting my +return; he advised me to procure a strong camel by all means, +affirming that the bullocks of themselves were inadequate for the +purpose intended. I agreed with him in this particular, and +purchased one which the Arab recommended for 62,000 cowries.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span><a id= +"c08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">The Author quits Kano to join his master — His +illness on the road — Anecdotes of the natives, and his reception +by them — Pasko’s last robbery, and elopement — He is overtaken, +and brought back — The Tuarick merchants — The Author’s arrival at +Soccatoo, the metropolis of the Falatah empire — Residence there — +Pasko’s dismissal, conduct, and marriage.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">On</span> the 25th of November I left the city +of Kano, accompanied by <em>honest</em> Pasko, who had just been +liberated from his confinement, Abdulfitha the Arab, and messengers +from Bello and the governor of Kano. At one in the afternoon our +party halted at Zungugwâ; but the camel, in endeavouring to enter +by one of the narrow gates of the town, unfortunately broke two +boxes, in which were contained stationery and other articles. This +accident detained us outside the walls for more than an hour, when +the men were obliged to take the goods on their<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span> heads, and carry them to the +residence of the chief, at a distance of half a mile from the spot. +I waited on him myself shortly afterwards, and gave him a pair of +scissors, fifty needles, and a small paper of cloves, all which +pleased him highly. The chief then led me into one of his best +huts, where he told me I might remain till I felt inclined to leave +the place, and shortly afterwards sent me butter, sour milk, a +couple of fine fowls, with tuah and corn.</p> + +<p>I awoke early in the morning of the 26th, and leaving the hut of +the hospitable chief, after a ride of six hours, came to Markee, a +large, though thinly inhabited village, the chief of which, a +kind-hearted old man, upwards, I should think, of ninety years of +age, and withal very feeble, was delighted to see me, and testified +the pleasure he felt by repeatedly shaking hands with me for the +space of half an hour; and would undoubtedly have pulled off my +arm, if I had not expressed myself too greatly fatigued to stand so +long a time in one place. After a short conversation, he conducted +me into an inner apartment, and, bidding me to sit,<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> took from a calabash which was +suspended from the ceiling a small box made of skin, round which +had been wound, with the greatest care, upwards of five hundred +yards of thread, which occupied him twenty minutes in taking off. +This having been done, he showed me four bits of tin lying at the +bottom of the box, about the size of swan and common shot. The old +chief then gave me to understand, with much seriousness, as well as +earnestness of manner, that the little balls I was looking at had +been given to him by an Arab fifteen years before, who had +positively affirmed that they were of silver, and possessed of +life. The larger pieces, the old man continued, were of the +masculine, and the smaller of the feminine gender; the latter of +which would produce young at the end of every twelve years, and +till the expiration of that period were by no means to be looked +at!</p> + +<p>In order to impart warmth to the balls, he had enveloped them in +a quantity of cotton wool, and the thread had been tied round the +box, that the offspring might have no opportunity of escaping! +“But,” said the hoary-headed chief,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_234">[234]</span> with a disappointed air, “though I kept +them with the utmost care, agreeably to the instructions I had +received, for twelve years, to my consternation and sorrow, at the +end of that period, I found that they had made no increase, and I +begin to think that they never will;” in saying which, the +tender-hearted man was so grievously affected that he burst into +tears. It was with the greatest difficulty that I could refrain +from laughing aloud in his face; but succeeded at length in +subduing the strong inclination I had to be merry, and I told him, +with all the solemnity the occasion required, that the Arab was a +rogue and had deceived him; that the articles he had so highly +valued were bits of tin, and not of silver; that they were without +life, and, therefore, could not infuse the living principle into +other inanimate substances. I consoled the old gentleman, however, +upon the hoax that had been so successfully played off upon him, +and sympathized with him in his sorrow.</p> + +<p>His mind soon afterwards became more composed, although at times +he could not help<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span> +sobbing audibly; and after answering numerous questions put to me +about my country, I complained of indisposition, and retired to +rest.</p> + +<p>After spending a sleepless night, I arose unrefreshed at six in +the morning, and pursuing our journey, passed close to a large +Falatah town, called Kiowah, in the neighbourhood of which were +numerous herds of horned cattle grazing. Here, as in other parts of +Houssa, the cows are mostly white, and the sheep of the same +colour, spotted with red and black, which occasioned the latter +animals to have a very agreeable appearance at a distance, and +recalled to my memory Jacob’s spotted sheep, mentioned in +Scripture. In the afternoon we arrived at Guâri, a large walled +town with an indifferent population. The beasts were unable to +enter the gate with their loads, by reason of its narrowness, and +being unwilling for the men to take them into the town on their +heads, which would have occupied a considerable time—much longer, +indeed, than my fatigue and illness would allow, I reposed for the +night underneath the branches of a large tree. On being +made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span> acquainted +with my arrival, the chief paid me a visit, and seating himself by +my side, entered most familiarly into conversation with me, in the +course of which he observed that tigers abounded in the +neighbourhood, and unless I kept fires burning during the whole of +the night, my attendants and cattle would in all probability be +attacked and destroyed by those rapacious animals. He also informed +me, that two years before, the Gooberites took and pillaged his +town, putting to the sword nearly the whole of its inhabitants, and +he himself narrowly escaped with life. This was, no doubt, the +reason of the scantiness of the population, and the poverty of the +chief and his remaining subjects. As soon as the chief had returned +to the town, a new-married couple paid me a visit. To the bride, a +very interesting girl of eighteen, I gave guinea-nuts, to the value +of one hundred cowries, on accepting which she dropped on one knee, +and thanked me in a modest but graceful manner; and in the evening, +in return for the trifling present I had given her, she sent me +some butter-milk, which was an acceptable gift at that time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span>At the usual +hour, on the morning of the 28th, we again set out, and halted at a +small wretched looking village, called Kookay, at twelve at noon. +The inhabitants, who were as squalid in appearance as their village +was contemptible, were miserably attired, and complained sadly, +amongst other grievances, of the mischief done to their crops by +repeated visits of wild pigs, which had completely destroyed the +principal part of them.</p> + +<p>At noon of the next day we stopped at Duncammee, a moderately +sized walled town, with an overflowing population. I was both +surprised and pleased to observe the neatness of this town, and the +tidiness of its inhabitants. Every inch of spare ground was planted +with tobacco, and tastefully fenced round with the dried stalks of +that plant. The inhabitants at the northern quarter of the town +manufacture large quantities of cotton cloths, which are neat and +durable. The wall, by which the town is surrounded, was in a +decayed state, but the houses were in excellent condition. The +chief welcomed me to his dwelling, and offered me<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span> the best apartment in it; and +to remunerate his generosity I gave him a clasp knife and a hundred +needles.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 30th we were again in motion, and halted +at Gaza at noon. The chief, like his neighbours, was happy to see +me, lodged me in his own house, and paid every attention to my +wants.</p> + +<p>Next day we continued our journey at the usual hour, and halted +at Royoó at one o’clock at noon. In that town I became suddenly +worse, lost my sight in an extraordinary manner, and could not rise +in bed from excessive weakness and pain. Fancying I should be able +to proceed no further, and that my existence was drawing rapidly to +a close, I called Pasko to my bed-side, and implored him, after he +had buried me, to take particular care of the property he would be +left in charge of, and travel with the utmost expedition to +Soccatoo, where he would be rewarded, according to his deserts, by +Captain Clapperton; for thief and villain as he had proved himself +to be, he had some good points, and I thought that the oath he had +taken before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span> the +Governor of Kano would have bound him to honesty.</p> + +<p>On the 1st of December I remained dreadfully ill, expecting +every moment to draw my last breath; but at two o’clock on the +afternoon of the next day I rallied a little, and although unable +to sit up, determined to see my dear master, if possible, before I +died. With this object in view, I ordered my people to prepare a +couch for me on the back of the camel, after which they lifted me +gently into it, and I almost immediately desired them to +proceed.</p> + +<p>The Chief of Royoó, who was one of Bello’s principal fighting +men, behaved particularly kindly to me, and I really believe +sincerely sympathized in my distress. He expressed his regret and +sorrow at parting with me in so languid a state, and intimated, +that it would be dangerous to go on, although he did not oppose my +resolution, when he saw it would be useless to do so. The path, the +greater part of the way, being very narrow, and thickly lined on +each side with a species of prickly thorn, I was annoyed greatly, +in consequence of their<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_240">[240]</span> sharp points frequently tearing the +covering from my bed, and exposing my body to the intense heat of a +burning sun. The Kano messenger, however, ascertaining the cause of +my uneasiness, and compassionating my misery, rode before the +camel, and with the greatest dexterity lopped off the overhanging +branches that were likely to impede the animal’s progress, which +rendered the remaining part of the journey infinitely more +tolerable. The violent shaking of the camel caused a faintness to +come over me several times on the road, on which occasions my party +uniformly halted until I revived; and in this manner we travelled +till seven in the evening, when we entered the walled town of +Koólefée.</p> + +<p>The chief, a remarkably fine old man, never having seen a white +man, was in transports the moment he learnt I was in the town; and +running to the camel, he took me from off its back, and carried me +into an apartment which had been hastily prepared for my reception. +Placing me on a mat, he took a goora nut from his pocket, and +holding it betwixt his finger and thumb,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_241">[241]</span> intreated me to chew one end of it, in +order that he might have the honor of eating with a white man, and +a Christian; this I succeeded in doing after some difficulty, when +he immediately ate the remainder with much apparent satisfaction. +His great men, who surrounded me, reproved the chief sharply for +doing this; but quickly answering them in a pleasant and firm tone, +he said that he believed the “Little Christian” was as good a man +as himself, or any of them; which effectually silenced their +remarks. The chief shortly afterwards went out, and returning in a +few minutes with a bowl containing six quarts of new milk, +sweetened with honey, told me that he was determined to see me +swallow the whole of it before he left the apartment. Contrary to +his wishes, however, I partook sparingly of the contents of the +bowl at first, but during the night took large and repeated +draughts, which refreshed and invigorated me.</p> + +<p>On arising the following morning, I found myself so much better, +that I travelled on horseback, although not without much +difficulty, to Zunko, a miserable village in which we slept.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>At sunrise on +the 4th, we resumed our journey, and after a fatiguing ride of +seven hours, arrived at Roma, a town insignificant as to size, but +which being built on an eminence, commands a delightful prospect of +the country for miles round. As soon as I entered the house of the +chief, in which I slept, he made me the accustomed presents of +provisions, &c. for which he accepted in return a pair of +scissars, a hundred needles, and a paper of cloves. Several Falatah +girls of a bright copper colour; came to me in the evening, who +were exceedingly beautiful, having delicate and graceful forms; +and, with a curiosity so natural to their sex, were all eager to +catch a glimpse of the “Little Christian,” they having before seen +the “<em>Great</em> Christian,” as my master was called. In the +course of the afternoon some of these damsels brought me milk and +butter, for which I requited them with a few glass beads. In the +night, I was rejoiced to find that my disorder, from the effects of +which I had suffered so greatly, left me entirely: and from that +hour my health rapidly and wonderfully improved.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span>We bade adieu to +the chief of Roma early in the morning of the fifth, and arrived at +a contemptible village, called Bogell, in the course of the +afternoon. Having slept there, we pursued our journey on the +following day, and on entering Zulamee, the chief capered for joy +on welcoming me to his town, and ordered four men to guard the +beasts and property. A band of robbers having infested the +neighbourhood for some time, had committed serious depredations on +the inhabitants; and the chief, fancying that if the goods were +left unprotected, they would be stolen, desired me to discharge a +gun morning and evening, that the brigands might not think I was +unprepared to receive them. They did not, however, think proper to +molest me; but the King of Kashna was not quite so fortunate, for +on the preceding day a fine horse was stolen from him, which he +never afterwards recovered. I remained at Zulamee two days, in +order to recruit the spirits of the party, and refresh the animals +under their charge.</p> + +<p>We quitted the town on the morning of the<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_244">[244]</span> ninth, and sleeping at Gundumowah, a +small but neat Falatah village, arrived at Sansanee on the +following day. The country traversed was thickly wooded, and the +path lay for three hours through a large bush, which having +recently been visited by a horde of elephants, the impressions of +whose feet were very perceptible, travelling was rendered extremely +unpleasant, and even dangerous. On our arrival the chief of the +town ordered an open shed, occupied by a number of calves, to be +cleaned out for our reception. In the evening, placing the baggage +in the centre, I desired the men to lie around it, whilst I reposed +near the most valuable articles. Not deeming the property +sufficiently secure in so exposed a place, my sleep was rather +disturbed; and arising about ten or eleven o’clock in the night, I +found that my camel had strayed from outside the shed. Being +unwilling to arouse my drowsy companions, I went myself in quest of +him; and on returning a short time afterwards, discovered, to my +infinite surprise and alarm, that Pasko had decamped with a +valuable gun, two pistols,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_245">[245]</span> a cutlass, six sovereigns, nineteen +dollars, twenty large and small knives, and various other articles, +which he had contrived to extract from the boxes in which they had +been secured. To deceive me, the artful old scoundrel had put a +pillow into a sack, over which he threw an old tobe, and laid it +along his own mat. On the discovery I instantly made an alarm, and +sent to the chief for a dozen armed horsemen to go in pursuit of +the robber.</p> + +<p>As I was standing in the shed in the afternoon of the next day, +I perceived a party of horsemen coming towards me at full gallop. +On approaching within a few yards they suddenly checked their +steeds, and brandishing their spears over their heads, exclaimed in +a loud voice, “Nasarah, Nasarah, acqui de moogoo!” (Christian, +Christian, we have the rogue!) The men informed me that a little +before daybreak in the morning, hearing the report of a gun, they +rode towards the spot whence the sound seemed to proceed, and saw +Pasko perched on the top of a high tree, the stolen articles lying +at the root of it. On their<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_246">[246]</span> threatening to shoot him with poisoned +arrows unless he immediately came down, the old fellow hastily +obeyed the summons, and delivered himself into their hands without +uttering a syllable. One of the horsemen took the trembling +scoundrel behind him, and the whole party instantly clapped spurs +to their horses, and rode swiftly towards the village. I asked +Pasko what had possessed him to abscond in so disgraceful a manner +after all the protestations he had made to serve me with fidelity. +He replied, that as his countrymen, the Gooberites, were at war +with the Falatahs, he was afraid the latter would cut off his head +the moment he was recognized in Soccatoo, and therefore he had +adopted the wiser plan of securing his person from danger by +running away. Whilst he was speaking the chief of the village, +running up to us, cried out, “A blessing, a blessing! you have +caught the thief, let me take off his head!” Not wishing to gratify +the <em>good-natured</em> Falatah in this his merciful request, I +took the punishment of Pasko into my own hands; and it being +his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span> third or fourth +offence, I ordered him to be heavily ironed, and pinioned in the +town dungeon. This sentence was rigidly enforced, and on the +following day, the criminal having expressed a wish to speak to me, +I sent for him. He came into my hut, and holding up his naked arms, +which were swollen to thrice their natural size, begged so +piteously to be liberated from his confinement, or at least to have +his punishment mitigated in some degree, that I desired he might +not be pinioned again, as that operation seemed to have given him +most pain; but his irons were not taken off till our departure from +the place.</p> + +<p>On the 13th, five hundred camels, laden with salt, obtained from +the borders of the Desert, entered Sansanee, preceded by their +owners, a party of twenty Tuarick merchants, whose appearance was +singularly novel and imposing. The men were all attired in the same +fashion, and mounted on handsome pied camels, which trotted into +the town with uncommon speed. Their dress consisted of black cotton +tobes, and full trousers of the same colour;<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_248">[248]</span> white caps encircled with black turbans, +which concealed every part of the face but the nose and eyes; and +red morocco boots. In the right hand they held a long and +highly-polished spear, whilst the left was occupied in grasping +their shields (the only defensive armour with which the Tuaricks +are acquainted), and retaining the reins of the camels. The shields +were covered with white leather, and ornamented with a small plate +of silver in the centre. As they passed me they shook their lances, +which glittered in the sun-beams, and their appearance was +certainly warlike and formidable in the extreme. Stopping suddenly +in front of the chief’s house, they all exclaimed, as if with one +voice, “Tchow!” at the sound whereof the camels fell simultaneously +on their knees, and the riders dismounted to pay their respects. +They came in a body to see me shortly afterwards, and +notwithstanding their apparent respectability, evinced not the +slightest unwillingness to beg money of me, which they did in a +most importunate manner. One of the merchants, yet more incessant +in his solicitations than his companions,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_249">[249]</span> amongst other shining qualities he affirmed +he was in possession of, stated with the utmost seriousness, that +he was “God’s own slave,” and on that account he was not to be +overlooked. I said that the Almighty loved his servants, and made +them prosperous and happy, and therefore he stood in no need of my +assistance. The fellow, however, would not be repulsed, but +continued hanging on me, and in fact almost tore the clothes from +my back, till out of all patience, I took the importunate slave by +the shoulders, and thrust him out of the shed into the street. As +he went off, no doubt greatly humiliated in his own estimation, he +muttered some reproaches which I could not comprehend, and said +that I was the first person he had ever applied to in vain for +money. Like thousands of others, these merchants were very +inquisitive, and amongst other questions, wished to know whether +many of my countrymen had not tails like monkeys! I assured them +that no human being had that elegant appendage; but instead of +believing my assertion, they shook their heads, looked wise, and +said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span> “You do not +speak the truth, white man, we know better than you on saying +which, they surveyed me with more attention than before, and one +amongst them walked round me several times, cautiously raising the +end of my tobe, to ascertain with certainty whether I had any thing +in the shape of a tail! On observing the man’s motions, I took off +my tobe, which convinced his countrymen that <em>I</em> at least +was without a tail, when they appeared better satisfied; and left +my shed in the course of an hour to look after their wives and +children, who were with the camels on the road, and had not then +arrived.</p> + +<p>Provisions being rather scarce, I went a-shooting on the 14th, +to procure a few pigeons for dinner. The Tuarick men, women, and +children, on hearing the report of my gun, surrounded me in great +numbers, and were infinitely amazed to see the birds falling dead +at my feet from the tops of the tall trees. After examining them +with the greatest attention, they declared that I was a beautiful +man, too good a one for a Kaffir, and that I ought to be a +worshipper of the true faith.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>In the afternoon +of the 16th, fifty armed horsemen, sent by Bello, arrived at +Sansanee, to accompany me to Soccatoo, his capital, in which he was +waiting my arrival with impatience, and urged me to prepare to +accompany them. The soldiers had brought my master’s two camels to +assist in conveying the goods, which animals, as I subsequently +learnt, the Godado had borrowed under false pretences. A messenger +belonging to the Governor of Kano, who had accompanied the escort +so far on his way to that city, came to me in the evening, +unobserved by the Falatahs, and gave me a letter from Captain +Clapperton, of which the following is a transcript:</p> + +<div class="quote"> +<p class="right">“<em>Soccatoo, Wednesday, Dec.</em> 13, 1826.</p> + +<p class="nind pad3">“<span class="sc">Dear Richard</span>,</p> + +<p>“I hope you do well; I am still here, contrary to my +expectations, and Heaven knows when I shall be permitted to leave. +This cursed Bornou war has overturned all my plans and intentions, +and set the minds of the people generally against me, as it is +pretty well understood<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_252">[252]</span> by both rich and poor, that I have presents +for their enemy the Sheikh. I wish, with all my heart, it was +ended; no matter whether the Falatahs or Bornouese be victorious, +so I could conveniently pursue my journey. The Sultan has told me +that I may return by way of Bornou, if I insist upon it, but raises +so many obstacles, that it amounts to a prohibition. He is +evidently unwilling for me to have any dealings with his +adversaries. I do not know how this matter will end; I must +acknowledge I do not like the appearance of things just now; God +grant my fears may be groundless. Since my last I have been +seriously ill with an enlargement of the spleen,<a id= +"FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> but +am now much relieved from the pain attendant upon this complaint; +and the swelling is also greatly reduced. I amuse myself as often +as opportunities occur, which are seldom enough, and frequently +take a ramble through the town, or a ride into the country. I +generally feel stronger after the exercise, and would recommend you +to adopt a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span> similar +practice, for, believe me, you would soon experience the benefit of +it. Three or four fires have happened here lately, which have done +much mischief; but nothing of mine, I am happy to say, has been +injured by them, although a house almost adjoining ours has been +burnt to the ground. People say the rebels of Goober are the +authors of them, but I put no confidence in these rumours, as they +are without the slightest proof. I believe I have nothing more, in +the shape of news, to acquaint you with, and my only reason for +writing you at all is, to let you know how I get on, that you may +not be uneasy on my account. Adieu, Richard, and rest assured I +have your interest and welfare at heart.</p> + +<p class="right pad-right3">“Your sincere friend and master,</p> + +<p class="right pad-right2">“<span class="sc">Hugh +Clapperton</span>.”</p> + +<p class="nind">“<em>Richard Lander, Kano.</em>”</p> +</div> + +<p>I was astonished, on perusing this letter, to find that my +master knew nothing of the circumstance of my having left Kano, +still less of my being so near him; and it struck me forcibly +at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span> the time that +Bello wished to get me into his power, only to become the sole +possessor of the presents intended for the Sheikh of Bornou, by +laying violent hands both on Captain Clapperton and myself. With +this belief I arose next morning, and asked the Godado’s brother, +who commanded the escort, if it was not the Sultan’s intention to +take away our lives on my entering Soccatoo, as my master knew +nothing of what had transpired; but the Falatah answered,—“Fear +nothing, our King will not injure either of you; his sole reason +for sending for you is, that as he has seen but one Christian, he +feels the greatest desire to become acquainted with a second.” +“Remember the men of Boussa!” I simply retorted, when he left me in +extreme haste and great uneasiness.</p> + +<p>The Godado’s brother was as importunate as the Tuarick merchants +in begging money of me to purchase goora nuts, for the two first +days after the arrival of the escort, and became so troublesome +that I at length told him I had no property of my own, but that all +he saw belonged to my master, without whose consent I<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span> was determined not to spare a +single cowry. The Falatah was not at all pleased at the answer; but +on telling him that on my arrival in Soccatoo he should be +handsomely rewarded, he ceased to plague me.</p> + +<p>Every thing being in readiness, on the 19th, I liberated old +Pasko, who seemed dispirited, and truly sorry for the offence he +had been guilty of, and at two in the afternoon I quitted the town +with the escort, but was obliged to leave a bullock behind, the +animal being lamed, and unable to walk a hundred steps without +stumbling. Having travelled at a rapid rate through the dreaded +“Goober Bush,” we arrived, much fatigued, at Magaria, about eleven +o’clock the next night. The poor horses and camels having suffered +dreadfully during the journey from thirst and over-exertion, we +were obliged to remain in the town two days, in order that they +might enjoy a little rest. During our stay I resided in a house +belonging to the Godado, whose brother supplied me with abundance +of excellent provisions. I was requested by some of the principal +inhabitants to kill a few birds<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_256">[256]</span> with my gun, that several strangers then in +the town might have an opportunity of seeing in what manner they +were procured in my country. I soon gratified their curiosity, by +shooting a small bird at the distance of fifty yards; on which they +betrayed the utmost surprise, nor would they believe for a long +time that it was really dead, but kept turning it round, and +feeling whether it had actually received a wound.</p> + +<p>On the 23rd we quitted the town of Magaria, and, to my great +joy, entered Soccatoo about two o’clock in the afternoon of the +same day, after a disagreeable and wearisome journey (from Kano) of +nearly a month. Not having seen my master for the period of a +quarter of a year, I made the greatest haste to his house; but not +finding him at home, I was conducted to the Godado’s, with whose +owner I found him in earnest conversation. Although certainly +surprised, he was glad to see me, and we walked home together.</p> + +<p>The day after my arrival (24th December), Sultan Bello sent a +messenger to request my master and myself to repair without delay +to his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span> residence. +As soon as we were admitted into his presence, he abruptly began +the conversation by inquiring the nature of the presents I had with +me, and was extremely solicitous to know if I had left any of them +behind in Kano, for the Sheikh of Bornou. I replied that I had not. +“Are you sure of that?” rejoined the Sultan. I answered with +firmness a second time in the negative. Bello then demanded the +King of England’s letters to the Sheikh, which my master, after a +short pause, reluctantly produced; but vehemently opposed the +Sultan’s wishes for him to open and read them, observing, that as +soon as his sovereign should discover, on his return to England, +that he had so unfaithfully broken his trust, he would instantly be +beheaded. The Falatah prince then took the letters into his own +hands, and on his graciously waving his hand in token that he +wished to have nothing more to say, we bowed, and left the +apartment.</p> + +<p>We had not returned to our hut a great while, when the Godado, +his brother, Hat Sallah, (who had received secret instructions to +overtake me on the road,) with several of the<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_258">[258]</span> principal inhabitants of Soccatoo, +entered, and demanded, in the name of the Sultan, the presents +intended for the Sheikh of Bornou, together with all the arms and +ammunition which we should not want ourselves. My master became +violently agitated when their errand was communicated, and rising +from the mat on which he had been reposing, exclaimed with energy +and bitterness:—</p> + +<p>“There is no faith in any of you; you are an unjust people; you +are worse than highway robbers!”</p> + +<p>The Falatahs cautioned him to be more moderate in his +expressions, or it might cost him his head.</p> + +<p>“If I lose my head,” retorted the Captain, in the same +determined tone and manner, “it will be for no other crime than +that of speaking for the just rights of my king and country; I +repeat, you are a nation of scoundrels and robbers.”</p> + +<p>Hat Sallah entreated him (in Arabic) to express himself with +less emphasis, and in milder language before the people, who would +carry every word he had uttered to their sovereign.<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span> I also joined in the same +request, and begged him, as the attempt at resistance, for people +so circumstanced as we were, would be the height of imprudence, to +accede to the commands of the sultan, how tyrannical soever they +might be. At length, after much persuasion, Capt. Clapperton +consented that the presents in question should be produced; but +desired the godado, on his leaving the apartment, to inform his +king that he never wished to see him again; and that his business +with him, after such perfidious conduct, was at an end.</p> + +<p>A short time after they had quitted our house, Mallam Mudey +returned with a message from Bello, stating it to be the intention +of that monarch to write to his <em>friend</em> the King of +England, in explanation of his behaviour; but my master assured the +holy man that <em>his</em> sovereign would not even look at the +superscription of a letter from Bello, after being made acquainted +with the dastardly action by which he had so disgraced himself.</p> + +<p>Soccatoo has been considerably enlarged by the present sultan, +and is indisputably the most<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_260">[260]</span> important city in the interior of Africa. +The wall that surrounds the capital of the Falatah empire, does not +indeed encompass so large a portion of ground as that of Kano, but +its population is treble the amount; and allowing the latter city +to contain forty thousand souls, the aggregate number of +inhabitants in Soccatoo will be one hundred and twenty thousand; +which computation I do not conceive to be over-rated.</p> + +<p>Kano is distant from Soccatoo twenty regular days journey, or +about two hundred and fifty English miles. The metropolis is built +in a pleasant situation, on the summit of a gently elevated spot of +land, and has a river flowing near the northern end, which enters +the Quorra four days journey from Cubbé. The wall is high, and +provided with eleven gates; but has an extremely heavy appearance. +Architecture, as a science, is not cultivated in the interior; and +the termites can rear as elegant a mansion as the natives, and in a +far more ingenious manner. The habitations in Soccatoo are +constructed like those of Kano, with clay, and have a dull, gloomy +appearance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>An old Haussan +with two asses arrived in the city one day from Egypt. Having +stopped in the different towns through which he had to pass, for +the purpose of trafficking with their inhabitants, he had +accomplished the long and dangerous journey in little more than a +twelvemonth. He informed me that he had undergone great privations +on the road, and had well nigh perished of thirst on more than one +occasion. He had had no human companion to cheer him; and his +affection for the brute associates of his lonely pilgrimage was +singularly great. They had fared in common with himself; they had +eaten and slept together; and, said the old man, as he drove away +the patient-looking animals, “I would as soon lose my life as be +deprived of them.” The Haussan observed that it was his intention +to proceed to Tombuctoo the following week, and that on his return +he should pay me a visit, but I never saw or heard any thing of him +afterwards.</p> + +<p>The people of Soccatoo cry their provisions round the city; and +milk, fish, &c. are daily hawked through the streets by the +lower orders,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span> whose +voices are as loud and shrill as those heard in London. The cry of +“<em>Nono de mi!</em>” (milk and butter) always put me in mind of +bells belonging to village churches; there was something peculiarly +plaintive in the rising and falling of the voice of the young +female who used to vend those articles morning and evening in the +immediate neighbourhood of our dwelling; and, in my opinion, it +strikingly resembled them in sound. “Namah du tonkah,” mutton +(literally “flesh of the sheep”); “Namah de la comma” (camel’s +meat); “Namah du acquia” (beef); “Gorassa” (little cakes made of +pounded wheat); are also cried every morning; as is likewise +“dowah,” and every other variety of grain produced in Haussa.</p> + +<p>Wheat was first imported into Haussa by the Arabs about a +century ago; and even now they have the exclusive cultivation of +it. Bread is only to be met with in two cities, Soccatoo and Zaria, +and is manufactured by the female slaves of the Arabs, who sell it +publicly by retail for their masters. For a very good reason I +never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span> tasted any of +it whilst in Africa, and therefore can say nothing as to its good +or bad quality.</p> + +<p>Pasko, whom my master had dismissed his service the moment he +was made acquainted with his two-fold villainy, without paying the +wages that were due to him, applied to a native lawyer in Soccatoo +for advice; but the learned Falatah having patiently listened to +the details of his case, discarded him, with the assurance, that if +he had been Abdullah (Captain Clapperton’s travelling name), +instead of rewarding him, he would have cut off his head!</p> + +<p>Under this consolation the old man, having a small sum of money +in his possession, turned snuff-merchant, but being cheated by +every body, became insolvent in the course of a very short time, +and, in order to procure a slender maintenance, was ultimately +obliged to cut wood from a neighbouring forest. In the height of +his prosperity as a tradesman, Pasko, forgetting all his former +vows and misfortunes and contrary to his usual custom, formally +paid his addresses to a black slave, named Mattah Gewow (literally +Miss, or woman-elephant), in<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_264">[264]</span> the household of Ben Gumso, an Arab. This +woman, a native of Yariba, which country is notorious for ugly +females, had a countenance inexpressibly hideous, but was well +known by all ranks in Soccatoo, as the most experienced maker of +<em>tuah</em><a id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class= +"fnanchor">[6]</a> which that or any other city could produce. In +addition to the other attractions of this lady, a huge white tooth +hung from her upper jaw, affectionately embracing the nether lip; +and her chin was bristled most divinely with a slender but +conspicuous and stubborn beard,—she being the only individual of +her sex I had seen in the country possessing so masculine an +ornament. Mattah Gewow was in the decline of life, having seen +between fifty and sixty dry seasons pass over her head, and had, in +her earlier years, been allured from the paths of innocence and +virtue by a blind fiddler in the pay of the late and present +sultan, who had refused to make her reparation by marriage. From +that period to the time of our visiting Soccatoo, no sable swain +had been emboldened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span> +to pay her any marked attentions; and the injured woman was +inconsolable under the thoughts of living for ever in “single +blessedness,” when the affectionate Pasko, having casually partaken +of her far-famed tuah, pronounced it to be the best he had ever +tasted, and immediately offered his heart and person, which, after +a few <em>invisible</em> blushes on the lady’s part, were modestly +accepted. The betrothed, as soon as they perfectly understood each +other, spent all their leisure moments in their own delightful +society, Pasko extolling the charms of the peerless Miss Elephant +to the skies, and Miss Elephant returning the compliment by +perpetually discovering fresh subjects for admiration and love in +the person and physiognomy of the incomparable snuff-merchant. Thus +the first few evenings of their courtship were passed, at which +time I was a constant visiter at Ben Gumso’s, and often overheard +their tender discourse. I broke in upon the lovers one day rather +unexpectedly, in the midst of their dalliance, when Pasko was +pouring out an eloquent<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_266">[266]</span> and passionate eulogium on the graces of +his Mattah, who, on observing me,</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">“<em>Blush’d</em> at the praise of her +own loveliness!”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="nind">and, with her adorer, looked exceedingly foolish. +Being unwilling to disturb the harmony that had prevailed before my +intrusion, I left the happy couple to enjoy themselves as they +thought proper, and quitted the house.</p> + +<p>A day having been fixed upon for the marriage ceremony, the +suitor determined to spend it jovially; and his own finances being +at a very low ebb, he borrowed four thousand cowries of Ben Gumso, +in order that nothing might be wanting to stamp dignity and +consequence on the celebration of the festival. Pasko had just +before embraced Islamism, and rigidly observed the outward rules of +that belief; besides which he was well skilled in all the learning +and knowledge of the Falatahs; so that the Arab did not hesitate to +advance him the money he sought, on the faith of his bare promise +of re-payment. The evening preceding the ceremony, Pasko sent a +present of snuff, an old shirt, &c. to Mattah,<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span> which was acknowleged by a +bowl of rich tuah; and the compact was thus formally ratified. On +the following morning the “fatha” was read, and Pasko and the +<em>lovely</em> Mattah became man and wife. Agreeably to promise, +the happy bridegroom spent the day merrily with a friend or two he +had invited; but so far forgot himself, his newly-adopted religion, +and the respect he owed his bride, that towards evening he became +intoxicated; indeed so much so that he was bereaved of his reason; +and Mattah, who was only <em>tipsy</em>, perceiving her husband in +this pickle, was very wrath, and pouring a whole bowl of hot +half-boiled tuah over his head, face, and breast, gave him a sound +drubbing with an empty calabash, and turned the unfortunate +snuff-merchant out into the street half dead, where he remained in +a state of insensibility till the next morning. On awaking, and +finding himself bespattered from head to foot with tuah, Pasko had +a confused recollection of the preceding evening’s debauch, and its +disastrous consequences; but instead of disturbing the<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span> slumbers of his amiable wife, +he strolled listlessly towards our hut, sorely distressed in mind +and body, where I met him an hour or so afterwards, the end of his +tobe being completely saturated with his tears, which were yet +flowing, and his whole appearance looking uncommonly grotesque. +After making me acquainted with the melancholy tale of his mishap, +he begged me to use my influence in order to compromise matters +betwixt his gentle consort and himself, and assured me that if I +succeeded, when occasion needed, he would cheerfully lay down his +life for me.</p> + +<p>Wishing to be better acquainted with a woman, whose excessive +ugliness and skilful tuah-making were the table talk of the whole +kingdom of Houssa, I willingly embraced the proposition, and making +a visit to Ben Gumso’s, had the good fortune to reconcile the angry +lady to her sorrowing lord, after which they lived very happily +together, till Pasko’s bankruptcy broke in upon their domestic +felicity, and drove the ill-fated man into the woods. To the credit +of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span> Mattah, however, +be it spoken, she did not abandon her husband in his mournful +reverse of fortune; but, with an attachment worthy of her sex, +supplied him, as far as she was able, with food and raiment; and +their parting interview, on Pasko’s leaving Soccatoo with me, was +beyond description natural, tender, and pathetic.</p> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span><a id= +"c09"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<hr class="decor width5"> + +<p class="csum">Religion — Laws — Government — Amusements, &c. +of the Natives from Badagry to Soccatoo — Slavery in the interior +countries — Timidity of the people — State of the arts amongst them +— Dry and wet seasons.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">The</span> religion of the natives from Badagry +to Soccatoo is either Mohammedism or Paganism; or, as it frequently +appeared to us, a mixture of both, so nicely blended, as to make it +impossible to ascertain with accuracy which belief had the +ascendancy. Idols, or figures of birds, beasts, and reptiles, are +worshipped in Badagry, Jannah, and Yaribas exclusively, while in +the kingdoms of Borghoo, Nyffé, and Houssa, Islamism prevails in a +greater or less degree.</p> + +<p>The professors of the former faith have a vague and indistinct +notion of one great Being reigning above the skies, who is +infinitely superior to every other in the nature of his +attributes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span> and the +extent of his power and influence. To this unknown God they pay +divine adoration, through the medium of insignificant and inanimate +objects, by the offering up of sacrifices to the latter, under the +belief that the Great Spirit exists at so immeasurable a distance +from them, and his time is so much employed in other and more +important matters, that he cannot listen to the prayers of every +individual. In consequence of this he appoints innumerable +subordinate agents and machines, who aid and assist him, and +minister to the affairs of mankind. They believe also in the +existence of a powerful malevolent Spirit, who endeavours to +counteract the good deeds of the Most High by every means, and is +the author of all the mischief that annoys them. The people stand +in the greatest dread of the power and machinations of this +terrible demon, and strive to avert his wrath, and conciliate his +favour, by oblations of dogs, sheep, and, in many cases, of human +beings. Fetish-huts are the temples of their worship, which are +regarded with superstitious awe by rich and poor; and are each +furnished with one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span> +or more priests, who alone are acquainted with the mysteries of +their religion. Some of the people are very sincere in their +devotional exercises, which are energetic and simple; whilst many +pay little respect to the exterior forms of worship, openly +ridiculing those who profess a greater share of sanctity than +themselves; and, whenever they are unsuccessful in their pursuits +and enterprizes, even belabour their household gods without mercy. +They entertain also an idea that the soul hovers round the scenes +it had known in the body, for an indefinite length of time; but +that it is ultimately conducted to a place of happiness or misery; +a kind of heaven for the peaceable, and hell for the turbulent, +according to the deeds it has suggested in this life, and there to +remain everlastingly. Both Mohammedan and Pagan attach miraculous +qualities to fetishes or charms, which to them are an effectual +panoply against every danger; sometimes a chief or great man is +actually covered with them from head to foot, and in this state +considers himself as secure as Achilles in his armour. I have often +been urged to discharge<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_273">[273]</span> a pistol, loaded with ball, at the breast +of an individual thus supernaturally defended, but it is +unnecessary to say that I never risked the men’s lives at the +expence of their ignorance and credulity, having endeavoured in +every instance, although unsuccessfully, to persuade them out of +their superstitious prejudices by less dangerous experiments. The +natives appear to have no gloomy foreboding as the hour of death +approaches; nor do they, as I had often been given to understand, +anticipate dissolution with any symptoms of fear or alarm.</p> + +<p>Those who profess the Mohammedan religion amongst the negroes +are as ignorant and superstitious as their idolatrous brethren; nor +does it appear that their having adopted a new creed has either +improved their manners, or bettered their state and condition in +life. On the contrary, I have generally found the followers of the +Prophet to be less hospitable to strangers, less kind to each +other, and infinitely more mischievous and wicked than the heathen +portions of the community, whom they, whimsically enough, affect to +despise as rude barbarians,<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_274">[274]</span> although <em>their</em> claims to superior +intelligence are grounded simply on the oral communications of the +principles of the Koran, received from time to time from the +wandering Moors and Arabs; or from traditionary legends of their +country. The artful Arabian, however, withholds from them a full +half of the little he himself may be acquainted with, taking care +to teach them no more than is absolutely necessary to promote his +own views, and enlarge his own interests. The Mohammedan negroes go +through their ablutions regularly, and when water is not to be +obtained, make use of sand, as the Koran enjoins. The Tuaricks, or +“Bereberes,” (Children of the Desert,) adopt the latter method on +all occasions, the trouble of applying water, even when they have +abundance within their reach, being too irksome and unpleasant for +them.</p> + +<p>The Falatahs, who profess Islamism, understand and make use of a +few Arabic prayers, but the negro that can utter so long a sentence +as: “<em>La illah el Allah rasoul allahi!</em>” (There is but one +God, and Mohammed is his prophet,)<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_275">[275]</span> is styled <em>mallam</em>, or learned, and +is regarded with looks of respect and reverence by his less +intelligent countrymen. These mallams are scattered in great +numbers over the country, and procure an easy and respectable +subsistence by making fetishes, or writing charms on bits of wood, +which are washed off carefully into a bason, and drunk with avidity +by the credulous multitude, who consider the dirty water used in +the operation as a panacea for every disease and affliction. As the +office of mallam, which answers to that of priest in Catholic +countries, is one of great sanctity as well as considerable +emolument, every one burns with impatience to get initiated into +its sacred mysteries, and enjoy a like comfortable and indolent +life as the mallams themselves; for a learned man never toils or +spins, but is bountifully fed, and pampered in luxury by his lay +countrymen. Every caravan is furnished with one or more of these +corpulent drones, who loll at their ease, while their employers are +at the same time, perhaps, actually killing themselves with +over-exertion.</p> + +<p>Few of the negroes can articulate in Arabic<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_276">[276]</span> more than the word “Allah,” or +“Bismillah,” believing that the frequent repetition of the former +of these expressions can absolve them from all sin, without any +further demonstration of their zeal and sincerity. Even after the +committal of a capital offence, should the criminal be almost +immediately executed, and “Allah!” is heard to tremble on his +closing lips, the multitude firmly believe that his soul will +inevitably be conveyed to the third Heaven, and be happy for +evermore.</p> + +<p>Swarms of sheriffs, or emirs, the real or fictitious descendants +of Mohammed and Ali, have crossed the desert, and practice their +disgraceful impositions to so great an extent, that the eyes of the +natives are partially opened to their chicanery, and they are often +regarded as characters with whom it would be dangerous to +meddle.</p> + +<p>The belief in the “Evil Eye,” is equally common with Mohammedan +as Pagan, and this superstition, borrowed from the Moors, has lost +none of its fearful interest by being transplanted to a foreign +soil. If sickness of any kind visits a child before it has attained +the age of three or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span> +four years, then say the people the “Evil Eye, is fixed upon it,” +and the relatives of the afflicted infant endeavour to avert the +wasting glance of the malevolent and unseen spirit by sacrifices of +birds, and various other means.</p> + +<p>Mallams from Houssa reside in almost every town of consequence +through which we passed on our journey into the +interior,—propagating their religion, and teaching the inhabitants +to read and write as much as they themselves know. The Mohammedan +faith is spreading daily and rapidly by this means, particularly in +Nyffé, hundreds of the natives of that kingdom having lost sight of +their ancient prejudices, and the religion of their forefathers, +and embraced the more congenial tenets of Islamism. In some cities +or towns, however, these mallams have been very roughly handled by +the people, and many of them have lost their lives in +disseminating, with too great eagerness, their opinions amongst the +worshippers of idols. As an instance of this, five holy men, two or +three of whom were Arab emirs, visited Katunga, the capital of +Yariba, a few years since, and immediately<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_278">[278]</span> began to spread the dogmas of their faith +amongst the inhabitants, publicly teaching their children to read +the Koran, &c. The priests of the fetish, who, in regard to +their religious observances, surprizingly resemble the Druids of +England before the Conquest, became sensibly alarmed at the rapid +progress of another and strange belief, so inimical to their best +interests, and tending to the injury, if not the complete +overthrow, of the power and influence which they themselves and +their ancestors had exercised for a series of ages over the minds +and actions of the votaries of Paganism. They went in a body to +their monarch, the present king, threatening him with the loss of +his empire, if he persisted in tolerating the religious principles +broached by the mallams. This denunciation so intimidated the +superstitious prince, that he was frightened into a compliance with +their wishes of appointing a day, or rather night, for the +assassination of the unsuspecting Mussulmans, which was accordingly +carried into execution, and Ben Gumso, my old friend in Soccatoo, +was the only one amongst the number<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_279">[279]</span> who escaped with life. This learned Arab +was indebted to one of the wives of his Yaribean majesty, for his +flight and preservation. Having overheard part of the conversation +between her royal consort and the fetish-priests, and entertaining +some share of veneration for the expounders of a doctrine she +secretly approved of, as well as feeling compassion for them, in +consequence of their premeditated massacre, the queen embraced the +earliest opportunity of apprizing Ben Gumso of the danger that +threatened his companions and himself; but this being done only a +few seconds before the execution of the sentence, the Arab was +obliged to elope in a state of nudity from his house, without +having leisure to bestow a single thought on his ill-fated +associates.</p> + +<p>From that period a mallam has never ventured to enter the gates +of Katunga, and the Mohammedan religion was soon forgotten by the +people. They have, however, penetrated beyond the empire of Yariba, +two Houssa holy men, having found their way to Jannah, the town in +which Dr. Morrison, it is said, died<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_280">[280]</span> and was buried, and three others to +Badagry; but more of these individuals are allowed openly to +profess their religion, or teach the children of the inhabitants to +read, on pain of death; and, they are, moreover, looked upon with +the greatest suspicion. The mallams, in the latter city, were not +permitted to make themselves known to us on our journey into the +interior, nor to me on my return, till after I had swallowed the +fetish-water, when they visited me with presents of fowls, ducks, +and rice, and testified the sincerest pleasure on my answering +their earnest interrogations respecting their native country.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, in the course of a generation or two, I have no +doubt, in spite of every obstacle, that the religion of Mohammed, +in its exterior forms and ceremonies at least, will be universally +adopted in Western and Central Africa, to the complete +discomforture of the fetish-priests and their proselytes; and +unless some unforseen convulsion arrest the hasty and gigantic +strides Islamism is making towards that consummation, and divert +the minds of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span> +people to other objects, the period does not seem to be very remote +when Paganism will be unknown in the land.</p> + +<h3>LAWS.</h3> + +<p>In a rude state of society nothing can be more simple than the +laws and punishments of the people. In several of the Pagan +countries of the interior of Africa, having no written code, the +natives appoint elders to administer justice, at the head of whom +the King, or chief, generally presides. In petty cases, such as +trifling assaults and other misdemeanors, the parties concerned +compromise the matter without referring it to the general assembly. +In Badagry the fetish-priests are the sole judges of the people, +and the statutes of their country, like those of the Druids, are +recorded in their own breasts only, consequently they are mostly +swayed in their decisions by interest, or influenced by prejudice +and passion; but in no instance are they murmured against by either +plaintiff or defendant.</p> + +<p>Murder, adultery, and theft, are the most general crimes, and in +many African countries are<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_282">[282]</span> punishable with death, banishment, or +perpetual imprisonment. In Yariba and Nyffé, the relatives of a +murdered man may, and often do, accept of a sum of money, named by +them, from the criminal, which is considered equivalent to corporal +punishment. In Badagry, Borghoo, and Houssa, however, an individual +guilty of slaying a free man, if apprehended, instantly loses his +life, and his body is left to be devoured by vultures.</p> + +<p>In cases of adultery, the injured husband is at liberty to do +what he pleases with his unfaithful partner, even to the taking +away her life; and if her seducer has not money enough at his +disposal to satisfy the former for the loss of his honor, the same +punishment may be inflicted upon him also. The extreme rigor of the +laws on this head occasions instances of adultery to be exceedingly +rare in every other country but Borghoo, where the punishment +attending it being infinitely less rigidly exacted, the offence is +more generally prevalent.</p> + +<p>Theft, in Nyffé, is punished by imprisonment of the party or +parties; and in all aggravated<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_283">[283]</span> cases the criminal is confined in irons, in +a large gloomy dungeon, for a given number of years, where he is +compelled to labour in various avocations till the expiration of +the term expressed in his sentence. In Yariba the crime of +stealing, owing to the dreadful severity of punishment that awaits +delinquents, is by no means common among the people. Free men, +found guilty of larceny, are operated upon, and retained by the +king or his chiefs as guardians for their numerous wives. In this +state they are equal in value to five prime slaves; and it makes no +difference if the thief be the father of a large family, or the +husband of many females, and respectable as to wealth and +connections,—the sentence is on all occasions rigorously enforced. +Those who effect robberies of greater magnitude, or burglaries (if +free men), are chastised in the same singular manner, after which +the tattoo mark of their country is cancelled (consisting simply of +having the face cut and gashed in a thousand places), that of +another nation substituted, and when partially recovered from the +effects of the wounds, the miserable wretches are<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span> driven, like beasts, to the +sea-coast, and sold into perpetual slavery. <em>Slaves</em> guilty +of theft, or indeed of almost any other crime, are uniformly +decapitated in Yariba, without the benefit of trial; whereas all +free men are judged impartially by the elders of the people in the +hearing of the king, in the palaver-house, or hall of council.</p> + +<p>Yarro, ruler of Khiama, a province of Borghoo, encourages theft, +by appropriating part of the stolen property to his own use, which +is generally presented to him by the robber in person; but if an +individual, after being successful in a depredation, forgets or +refuses to tender the accustomed portion of the spoil to his +sovereign, he is immediately beheaded, and the whole of his +property falls to the king. On my return to that country I was +informed by several of the natives, that as soon as their prince +heard of our approaching his territories from Yariba, he caused a +proclamation to be issued in every town through which we were +expected to pass, prohibiting the inhabitants from stealing even a +needle from the white men, and threatening with<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span> death every one that infringed +this law. To this wholesome and timely declaration of Yarro I +attribute the great respect in which our persons were held by the +multitude, and the reverence with which they regarded our property +and effects.</p> + +<p>In Yariba and Borghoo, as well as in several other countries, +when women find themselves <em>enceintes</em>, they must +immediately inform their husbands of the circumstance; or in +attempt at concealment, are publicly flogged. The same punishment +is also inflicted on females who are known to associate with the +other sex before the expiration of three years after the birth of +an infant, that being the period mothers are obliged to suckle +their offspring.</p> + +<h3>GOVERNMENT.</h3> + +<p>The government of Badagry, Yariba, Nyffé, and Houssa, is a +perfect and unlimited despotism, the sovereigns of those countries +exercising absolute power over the lives and property of their +subjects, as well as the privilege of enacting the most arbitrary +laws, and other acts peculiar<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_286">[286]</span> to the kingly office. The government of +Borghoo, however, partakes more of the nature of a limited monarchy +than of real despotism, the people sharing, in some degree, in the +management of the state, through the representation of the chiefs +or elders of towns, who, like the feudal barons of England in the +reign of John, have considerable influence with their sovereign, +and are consulted in all affairs of consequence. These chiefs, +themselves, are oftentimes factious and turbulent, fomenting +innumerable broils and wranglings amongst the people in their +respective jurisdictions, to gratify with a better grace their own +private feelings of resentment, and to disturb the public peace by +arbitrary and unlawful proceedings. The people of Boussa, the +principal state in Borghoo, together with those of its sister +provinces of Youri, Wow Wow, and Khiama, are indebted to the +Bornouese for their origin; or at least the traditions of the +natives intimate that Borghoo was colonized from Bornou at a remote +era, in which opinion all classes implicitly believe; and, like the +Carthaginians of old, the people of the former<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_287">[287]</span> kingdom are not forgetful of their +derivation, but send annually a number of presents by way of +acknowledgment to their ancient country; although of late years, +owing to the disturbances of the Falatahs, the accustomed presents +have not been received in Bornou with the same punctuality as +formerly.</p> + +<h3>AMUSEMENTS.</h3> + +<p>The recreations of the Africans are few and simple. At Wow Wow +horse-racing takes place every Friday, (the Mohammedan Sabbath,) +immediately after the compliments of the day are over. The course, +which is a mile in length, is kept clean and free from grass, +&c. by persons appointed for that purpose by the king; and the +race is extremely well contested, exciting amongst the people +generally as lively an interest as the same sport does in the minds +of my own countrymen. The competitors are oftentimes twelve or +fourteen in number, and the rider of the swiftest horse obtains no +other reward than the honor of the deed itself, and the privilege +of <em>dancing</em>, at the conclusion of the<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_288">[288]</span> game, with the king, queens, and +princesses of Wow Wow! The inhabitants, on these occasions, attire +themselves in their gayest apparel, and, in the evening, assembling +in groups in different parts of the town, pass many an hour in +singing, dancing, and carousing, till, towards morning, they go +tipsy to bed. Horse-racing is, I believe, peculiar to Wow Wow; for +in no other African country that I have heard of (except perhaps +Khiama), or that came within the reach of my own observation, is a +similar amusement preserved. The people of Borghoo divert +themselves by playing at a kind of chequers, and throwing cowries +from a certain distance into a hole previously dug in the earth; +the latter amusement is somewhat similar to our “pitch and toss,” +and is cultivated by all ranks and both sexes with uncommon ardour. +In addition to these pastimes, the higher orders spend whole days +in hunting and fishing.</p> + +<h3 class="normal-size"><span class="med-size">SONGS, MUSIC,</span> +&c.</h3> + +<p>If the character of a nation may be judged of by its Songs, the +Africans undoubtedly would<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_289">[289]</span> be pronounced as the boldest and most +martial, as well as the most amorous people, on the face of the +globe. Their strains breathe nothing but love and war, and contempt +of death; but their conduct, instead of corresponding with such +lofty ideas, is the most pusillanimous imaginable, scarcely one +amongst them ever evincing a solitary trait of true courage or +resolution. Of all figures of speech, they most delight in the use +of the “apostrophe;” and it is not uncommon, even but a single day +after a defeat, to hear them calling aloud on the names of their +absent adversaries, and bestowing upon them all manner of cowardly +and reproachful epithets.</p> + +<p>“Our enemies tremble and are dismayed when they hear of our +approach,” sing the people of Yariba; “and at sight of our arrows +they die with fear! See them fleeing like the doe from our fighting +men! Behold them falling down and kissing the dust from the feet of +our warriors! Haste, haste, Yaribeans! pursue and overtake your +enemies; slay them without mercy; stop their voices, that they sing +no more at eventide by the light of the moon; they are<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span> swift of foot, but they shall +not escape you; they are already weary; their journey of life is +almost at an end; they have fallen to the earth, and will dance no +more. Weep, ye widows of Houssa, and let the lamentations of your +children be heard in the land, for they are fatherless, and your +husbands have been pierced by the lance of Yariba! They are clothed +in darkness, as the noon in a storm. Who can tell whither their +spirits are wandering? Weep, ye widows of Houssa; but your tears +flow in vain; your husbands will return no more!”</p> + +<p>This is the nature of the strains sung by the females of +Katunga, (principally the king’s wives,) at the celebration of +their solemn feasts and festivals: the Houssans (or rather the +Falatahs of that country) being their most inveterate enemies, are +on all occasions the subject of their poetry, and are made to flee +from the Yaribeans in imagination, whilst in reality they are +worsted in every engagement. Their social and domestic songs, +however, are delivered in recitative, (as are likewise those of the +people of Borghoo,) and are the reverse of their public and +national ones.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span> The +young females in both kingdoms that may happen to have strong clear +voices, are generally selected as wives, or rather concubines, for +the ruling monarchs. Their office is principally to attend on the +king’s person, and sing and fan him to sleep, and the ladies +consume great part of the day in these avocations; to vary which +they sometimes play music and whistle for a long time together. +These ladies also dally with their sovereign, by flinging their +arms round his neck, arranging his sable locks with their fingers, +playing the fool with his face, and a thousand other fantastic +inventions to amuse him, such as the sex know so well how to avail +themselves of all over the world. It is the custom in Europe for +gentlemen to flatter the graces of the fair sex, whereas in Africa +the practice is completely reversed; for the most extravagant +encomiums are lavished on the beauty and blandishments of mankind +by the gentler part of the creation.</p> + +<p>The following imperfect translation of a song, recited by his +young wives, to the sovereign of Khiama, may serve as a specimen of +the whole of their amatory poetry:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span>“Yarrow is fair +among men: he shines like a star of the night; who so beautiful as +Yarrow? His eyes have greater lustre than the antelope’s—more +ardour than a young lion’s, when he captures his prey. His form is +elegant as the palm-tree; he is gentle as a kid when she follows +her dam. But Yarrow is brave in fight; his enemies tremble at the +sound of his name, as a leaf shaken by the wind; they fall to the +earth beneath the power of his arm, for he is a mountain of +strength. The turtle dove is not so affectionate as our king; doth +he not cherish his wives and concubines? Who so lovely as Yarrow? +When he is pleased, the moon is not so mild as the light of his +countenance; but when he frowns, who shall withstand his wrath? His +face lowers like the clouds of heaven in a tempest; O, he is +terrible in battle! Awake and be glad, ye daughters of Khiama; +sing, ye sons, to the praise of our lord, for he is fair as the +morning, and his countenance is like the sun in his strength. He is +fair among men; who so beautiful as Yarrow?”</p> + +<p>It would be as difficult to detach singing and<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span> dancing from the character of +an African, as to change the colour of his skin. I do not think he +would live a single week in his own country without participating +in these his favourite amusements; to deprive him of which would be +indeed worse than death. In every <em>grade</em> of society, from +the monarch to the meanest slave, he is also fond of instrumental +music, even to a passion, and a European fiddler (provided he be +not blind,) with no very extraordinary pretensions to excellence in +his profession, might travel with ease and comfort, even if he were +destitute of a single cowry, from Badagry to Bornou. He would be +received every where with open arms, lodged in palaces, and +sumptuously fed; although he might, perhaps, feel some trifling +inconvenience from excess of kindness, and compulsory detention for +a day or two in the principal cities. But, notwithstanding their +strong partiality for this kind of music, the instruments of the +Africans are of the rudest description. A large drum, made from the +trunk of a tree, and covered with sheep-skin; a long brass trumpet, +from Barbary; the Arab fiddle, and a kind of<span class="pagenum" +id="Page_294">[294]</span> dulcimer, formed of bamboo, and played +upon with two little sticks, are great favorites in all the +interior countries. The people have also guitars, bag-pipes, and +tubes of iron, which answer the purpose of tin plates, the sound +produced being very similar to the noise of those instruments; but +a little flute, like a child’s penny whistle in England, is most +admired by the Africans; and of all their music this is certainly +the most harmonious. Yet even on these instruments they perform +most vilely, and produce a horribly discordant noise, which may, +perhaps, be delightful to their own ears; but to strangers, if they +have the misfortune to be too near the performers, no sounds can be +more harsh and disagreeable than such a concert.</p> + +<p>Of all the amusements of the Africans, none can equal their song +and dance in the still, clear hours of night, when the moon, +walking in beauty in the heavens, awakens all the milder affections +of their nature, and invites them to gladness and mirth. As soon as +this splendid luminary appears above the horizon, every individual, +both slave and free, is on the alert,—some<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_295">[295]</span> to fetch wood from a neighbouring forest, +and others to procure provisions in the village; and forming +themselves in a circle, generally round a venerable tree, they +prepare large fires, in order to frighten away any wild beasts that +may be prowling near the spot, and begin their country dance, which +does not differ from one extremity of the continent to the other. I +have often been a party to these innocent entertainments, which are +frequently kept up with inconceivable spirit and agility, till the +approach of morning; and as often been delighted with the perfect +harmony and kindly feeling that prevailed amongst the dancers. It +produces a pleasing and romantic effect, to observe the silvery +light of the moon, blending with the radiance of the flames, and +thrown upon the sable countenances of the happy group,—as well as +the lengthened reflection of the majestic tree cast along the +ground, and the moving figures, gliding like shadows across it.</p> + +<p>On these occasions all care is completely laid aside, and every +one delivers himself up<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_296">[296]</span> to the dissipation of the moment, without a +thought of the morrow, his heart having no <em>vacuum</em> for +melancholy anticipations. During the intervals of the dance and +song, the party either eat and drink, or re-kindle the fires, after +which they begin again with renewed ardour. Their songs are +composed extempore by one of the party, who recites to his or her +companions, and they all join in the strain. They do not contain +many poetical beauties, but allude generally to the dancers +themselves, to the dread of wild beasts, or commands or entreaties +for a particular person to fetch wood. The following, sung in my +presence, may serve as a translated specimen of all of them:—</p> + +<div class="linegrp-container"> +<div class="linegrp"> +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">Come, let us join the dance and +song,</div> + +<div class="line indent4">The moon is bright in heaven;</div> + +<div class="line indent0">No anxious cares to us belong,</div> + +<div class="line indent4">To cloud this lovely even.</div> +</div> + +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">The white man midst our festive +glee—</div> + +<div class="line indent4">Forgets his father-land;</div> + +<div class="line indent0">And the group laughs around our +tree</div> + +<div class="line indent4">By gentle zephyrs fann’d.</div> +</div> + +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0"><span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_297">[297]</span>Haste, Nalla,<a id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> to yon forest shade,</div> + +<div class="line indent4">And feed the flickering flame;</div> + +<div class="line indent0">How swiftly flies the panting maid</div> + +<div class="line indent4">To earn a deathless name!<a id= +"FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class= +"fnanchor">[8]</a></div> +</div> + +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">The panther’s yell—the lion’s roar—</div> + +<div class="line indent4">Resound from wood to wood;</div> + +<div class="line indent0">How gladly would they spill our +gore!</div> + +<div class="line indent4">How gladly lap our blood!</div> +</div> + +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">But we are safe—they dare not come</div> + +<div class="line indent4">To mar our evening sport;</div> + +<div class="line indent0">Scared by the fire, or sounding +drum,</div> + +<div class="line indent4">They other pleasures court.</div> +</div> + +<div class="group"> +<div class="line indent0">Then join the merry dance and song;</div> + +<div class="line indent4">The moon is high in heaven;</div> + +<div class="line indent0">No anxious cares to us belong,</div> + +<div class="line indent4">To cloud this lovely even.</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>When heard at a distance, in the midst of solitary woods, the +vocal music of the natives has a pleasing plaintive effect, +equalling in softness any I have heard in more civilized countries; +and Captain Clapperton and myself used to remain<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span> awake in our tent for hours +together, listening to its melancholy strains.</p> + +<p>It is not to be expected that after these midnight revelries the +people are in a condition to rise at a very early hour; indeed the +generality of Africans are constitutionally inclined to indolence, +a disease which the relaxing nature of their climate by no means +tends to lessen; and when not <em>obliged</em> to labour, they feel +no desire to over-exert themselves, or to shake off their +drowsiness, except from a call of necessity. Their soil, in fact, +in most parts is so surprisingly rich and productive, as to +supersede the necessity of that laborious manual exertion which the +cultivation of it requires in many other regions; and in the +absence of all intellectual amusements, they dole away the sultry +hours of noon in sleeping, lounging about from place to place, +gossiping, smoking, or drinking.</p> + +<h3>SLAVERY.</h3> + +<p>Slavery, from time immemorial, has flourished in every nation +and amongst every people in the interior countries, and seems to be +implanted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span> so deeply +in the soil, that the slightest hope cannot be entertained of its +being speedily outrooted. The slave, however, in most interior +districts, is treated with infinitely greater lenity and kindness +than among the less civilized natives of the sea coast; and the +condition of the slaves of European planters is not to be compared +with his, for happiness and comfort. If his character be good, and +his honesty unquestioned, the slave of the African is admitted into +the house of his master, placed on an equality with himself and +male children, thrusts his hand into the same bowl of tuah as they, +shares their confidence, and participates in all their pleasures +and amusements. An instance is never known of a dependant, having +an unblemished character, and active industrious habits, being sent +to the coast, to be sold; in fact, every one considers this to be +the greatest punishment that can be inflicted upon him,—the idea of +the whites eating their countrymen, and dyeing their clothes red +with their blood, being as general and as deeply-rooted as in the +nations through which Mr. Park travelled twenty or<span class= +"pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span> thirty years ago. Those sent +to the sea-side from the interior are invariably the scum and +refuse of the country,—freebooters, lawless refractory fellows, +adulterers, and even murderers. Upon the whole, I should consider +the situation of the domestic slave of Africa (their relative +feelings compared), to be more enviable than that of the household +servant of Europe, inasmuch as a feeling of dependence never enters +the mind of the former, and, as it has already been observed, he is +placed in almost every respect on an equality with his master.</p> + +<p>Nature has wisely endowed the African with a buoyant, cheerful, +happy temper; so that no calamity, however great,—no grief, however +poignant,—is capable of making a deep or lasting impression on his +mind. He does indeed display a lively natural feeling when his +infant children are snatched forcibly from his embraces, or he +himself torn from his home, and kindred, and village-tree, to gaze +upon strange faces, and wander amongst foreign scenes; but this +emotion is as evanescent as a flash of lightning; he knows no fixed +lasting sorrow; past<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_301">[301]</span> misfortunes are quickly swallowed up in +present enjoyment, while anticipations of the future have no power +to harass and perplex him, because it is painful for him to think +at all, and he does <em>not</em> think. I have often seen +disobedient slaves, and slaves offered for sale, singing in chains +and dancing in fetters, suffering at the same time under a +loathsome disease, and an accumulation of misery, the very +<em>thoughts</em> of which would melt, even to tears, a +sympathizing English philanthropist! For their parts, they hardly +know what a bitter moment is, and enjoy themselves, although under +such apparently overwhelming circumstances, with as keen a zest as +if they had been surrounded by their friends and companions, and +dancing by the light of the moon, underneath the branches of their +favourite tree. In their toilsome journeyings from one part of the +country to another, it must be admitted that the <em>captured</em> +slaves undergo incredible hardships; yet when even they arrive at +the end of their march, all their woes are buried for ever in a +calabash of <em>pitto</em> or <em>otée</em>, and they are as merry +and thoughtless a day or two afterwards as they ever were.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span>On the coast, +however, things wear a different and far less agreeable aspect; the +slaves there are mostly captured from the neighbouring states, and, +suddenly losing their darling amusements, become melancholy and +pensive on shipboard. The confined, impure air of the vessel +augments their sufferings; and when, after landing on an unknown, +and to them an unlovely soil, they writhe in agony under the +excoriating lash of the unfeeling planter, because they +<em>cannot</em> work, is it to be marvelled at that, driven to +almost desperation, they become morose, unsociable, and headstrong? +I have often been a reluctant witness to such disgraceful +spectacles, and wondered it was in the power of a human creature to +undergo so rigorous a punishment without a murmur.</p> + +<h3>TIMIDITY OF THE NATIVES.</h3> + +<p>A vein of <em>true</em> courage does not exist, I really +believe, in any individual of the nations we visited. In most +savage and half-civilized countries, such as the Tonga Islands, and +the rarely frequented districts of North America, for +instance,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span> sparks of +noble resolution and greatness of soul are oftentimes observable in +the natives: but the timidity of the African character is every +where apparent. The eyes of the Gooberites, as well as those of the +people of Borghoo, not unfrequently flash with a wild expression of +ferocity, and their actions sometimes correspond with this +indication of a barbarous nature, but it is not <em>courage</em>, +and gradually fades at the approach of real danger. The people +rarely make an attack on each other, or on a common enemy, +excepting when they have a decided superiority of numbers, or are +placed under circumstances peculiarly favourable to their +operations; and even when this is the case, they are more mindful +of individual safety than the general welfare, trusting rather to +their heels than their arms to make good their retreat, if the +least danger threatens them. They have no tradition of a chief +amongst them that possessed, when living, a calm, unshrinking, +persevering spirit; their greatest leaders now (as in former years) +being all of one stamp, revengeful and passionate in war, and if +not successful on the first onset, like<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_304">[304]</span> the lion, making rarely a second spring. +The Falatahs, who claim all the bravery to themselves, are to a man +dastardly poltroons, and have met with their astonishing good +fortune,—not by open, manly courage, but by treachery, deceit, and +cunning—by imposing on the superstitious fears of the simple +aborigines, and by artfully insinuating themselves into the good +opinion of the very people it was their secret intention to +enslave, and, like the adder in the fable, watching the opportunity +to bite the hand that nourished them. It would not be well to say +that they have greater positive courage than the negro, but they +have less pusillanimity and more shrewdness than he. Not all the +glowing pleasures after death, which the religion of the Falatah +teaches him to expect—not the unshaken belief in predestination +that prompts the gloomy and enthusiastic Turk to rush headlong upon +his fate—not the promised enjoyment for ever of the seventy-two +lovely <em>houris</em> awarded to those that fall in the cause of +Mohammed—not even the fearful and tremendous war-cry of his +countrymen, “Allah Ackbar!” (God is victorious!) has +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span> power of +arousing the energies of the Falatah, or inspiring him with ardour +and impetuosity in the fight. Securely shielded, as he fancies +himself to be, from the effects of the arrows and spears of his +adversary, by wearing thickly-quilted armour, and fortifying +himself with Arab charms, the Falatah may indeed exhibit an air of +defiance for a time; but if any thing occurs to stagger his faith +in the virtue of his ægis, off he scampers, without considering the +example he sets his companions, and does not stop till he is far +beyond the reach of even imaginary danger!</p> + +<h3 class="normal-size"><span class="med-size">THE ARTS,</span> +&c.</h3> + +<p>Of the imitative arts, painting and sculpture, the Falatah +understands absolutely nothing; indeed, the former art is almost +entirely unknown in the interior, whilst the latter, however, is +practised amongst the natives of Jannah, Yariba, and Borghoo, who +have a natural fondness for it, and produce various specimens that +evince considerable skill in the artist. Figures of men, as well as +those of snakes, crocodiles, &c. are<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_306">[306]</span> carved in bas-relief by them; and, +contrasting the rudeness of the instruments used, with the fineness +and delicacy of some of the indentions, it excites one’s admiration +for their persevering industry and ingenious labours. The people +are acquainted with many of the useful arts, such as working in +iron, tanning, dyeing, &c. The smiths are surprisingly skilful +in their profession, and fuse and fashion iron into all manner of +forms with extraordinary ease and dispatch. Hundreds of these +useful artizans are scattered over the country, and Nyffé in +particular swarms with them; they are universally respected, and +treated with the utmost deference by every rank.</p> + +<p>The variety of the dyes of the Africans has been often remarked, +and the richness and beauty which they maintain, notwithstanding +constant exposure to the elements, elicit the admiration of even +Europeans. The exquisite colour of native cottons, in particular, +is unrivalled; and the art of dyeing is carried to as great a +height of perfection in many countries in the interior as in the +more enlightened portions of the world. The art of tanning is also +carried on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span> with +equal spirit and success; and the leather dressed by the natives is +equal, if not superior, to that manufactured in England. Saddlers, +shoemakers, and tailors, are to be met with in most nations in +Africa, and for ingenuity in their respective trades, yield to +few.</p> + +<p>A smithy in Nyffé, &c. is very similar to that which has +been described in the celebrated narrative of Mr. Park’s first +journey into the interior of Africa. The process of the fusion and +fashioning of iron is exceedingly simple; and notwithstanding the +very few tools that are used by working smiths, their quickness and +ingenuity cannot be excelled, even by a European professing the +same trade, and who has the advantages afforded by an acquaintance +with all the rules of art.</p> + +<h3 class="normal-size"><span class="med-size">DRY AND WET +SEASONS</span>, &c.</h3> + +<p>The air, especially in the dry season, is oppressively hot; and +if a mist or haze that sometimes hangs between the earth and sky, +did not intercept the sun’s rays, it would be wholly insupportable. +The African sky seldom displays<span class="pagenum" id= +"Page_308">[308]</span> the clear, rich ether, or the beautiful and +evanescent touches of the Italian; but if the appearance of the +heavens be less lovely to the sight in the former country, by the +existence of vapoury clouds in the air, the heat is rendered +infinitely more tolerable by the same cause. Towards the latter +part of the dry season, and all nature seems parched while +withering (except on the margins of rivers), the earth is literally +baked as hard as flint, while the birds and beasts, fluttering and +panting in the shades, by their cries and moans seem to bewail the +absence of rain. But no sooner does the wet season set in, than +vegetation suddenly springing up, bursts into being; a fresh and +redundant luxuriance of life breathes and floats around; the hills +and dales are covered with a delightful verdure; the earth, the +air, the sky, seem smiling in joy, and refreshed into gladness and +beauty. Every thing looks cheerful and attractive: the horned +cattle gambol on the plains, and the sheep and goats frisk on the +slopes of mountains and hills; man himself appears animated with a +new existence; pleasure swells in his veins, and dances on +his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span> countenance, +and he enters cordially into the enjoyment which every province of +nature invites him to partake in common with itself. This is +generally during the intervals of the showers; it rather +<em>floods</em> than <em>rains</em> in Africa, and continues +without intermission for the space of twelve hours, when it +suddenly stops, and a cessation of rain for twenty-four hours not +unfrequently takes place.</p> + +<p>The sun setting in Africa is a grand and magnificent object; he +then appears shorn of his beams, and may be gazed at by the naked +eye for any length of time, without our experiencing a single +painful sensation in that delicate organ. When he sinks below the +horizon, he looks like a huge sphere of burning gold, and the hills +(if any) towards the west seem as if on fire by the vivid +reflection of his rays. Twilight is of short duration, and if the +moon does not shine, darkness soon covers the earth like a veil. In +no other country have I seen such cloudless, lovely nights, or so +mildly beautiful a moon. I do not wonder that the natives sometimes +adore her;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span> she +possesses a soothing, softening influence, of which they themselves +are susceptible; and there is certainly something more captivating +in the delightful appearance of so resplendent an orb, sailing +gracefully through the purple vault of heaven, than in the figures +of disgusting reptiles and monsters which the natives so often +worship.</p> + +<p class="center med space-above2 space-below2">END OF VOL. I.</p> + +<hr class="decor width8"> + +<p class="center"><span class="small">J. B. NICHOLS AND +SON,</span><br> +<span class="med">25, Parliament Street.</span> +</p> + +<p class="x-ebookmaker-drop space-above2"> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class= +"label">[1]</span></a>Mr. James was attacked with dysentery on his +journey to Abomey, but lived to return to Whydah, where he died. It +was said that he was assassinated by M. de Souza, but this report +was not authenticated.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class= +"label">[2]</span></a>George Dawson, an English seaman, was engaged +at Badagry, as servant to Dr. Morrison, and accompanied that +gentleman as far as Enguâ, where he died.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class= +"label">[3]</span></a>A ceremony very similar to that which was +formerly in use among the Jews, as may be seen by perusing the +third verse of the 31st Psalm:—“Blow up the trumpet in the new +moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast-day.”</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class= +"label">[4]</span></a>Captain Clapperton and myself procured, +whilst in the interior, two large pillows, covered with leather, +and stuffed full of hair, which we found extremely serviceable to +us, in consequence of the grateful coolness thus imparted during +the warm nights of the dry season. Instead of laying our heads on +the pillow, we used to clasp it in our arms, and, when saturated +with perspiration, it was thrown aside, till becoming dry it was +again embraced.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class= +"label">[5]</span></a>In some counties in England called +“ague-cake,” and supposed to arise from the effects of intermittent +fevers.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class= +"label">[6]</span></a>A kind of pudding made of flour, butter, and +eggs.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class= +"label">[7]</span></a>A female’s slave.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class= +"label">[8]</span></a>The act of fetching wood in the night season, +by reason of the existence of wild beasts in the woods, is +considered an enterprize of danger; and those who accept the +proposal are greatly eulogised, and held up as examples for others +to copy.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="space-above2 x-ebookmaker-drop"> +</p> + +<div class="transnote"> +<h2>Transcriber's note:</h2> + +<ul> +<li>The changes in the <a href="#err">ERRATA</a> have been +made.</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_10">10</a> Changed: "of the myterious Niger" +to: "mysterious"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_31">31</a> Changed: "slavery in in a remote +region" to: "slavery in a"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_32">32</a> Changed: "brigantine haing been +sent" to: "having"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_67">67</a> Changed: "were subequently +conducted" to: "subsequently"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_127">127</a> Changed: "any of the +incoveniences we had" to: "inconveniences"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_146">146</a> Changed: "their strange-looking +anoe" to: "canoe"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_150">150</a>-151 Changed: "her excescessive +plumpness" to: "excessive"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_186">186</a> Changed: "the place, amogsnt all +classes" to: "amongst"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_199">199</a> Changed: "to migitate their +sufferings" to: "mitigate"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_212">212</a> Changed: "head much about +religous matters" to: "religious"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_213">213</a> Changed: "this information was +comunicated" to: "communicated"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_224">224</a> Changed: "The ollowing is a copy +of it" to: "following"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_243">243</a> Changed: "infested the +neigbourhood" to: "neighbourhood"</li> + +<li>pg <a href="#Page_300">300</a> Changed: "a bouyant, cheerful, +happy temper" to: "buoyant"</li> + +<li>New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to +the public domain.</li> +</ul> +</div> +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78091 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78091-h/images/cover.jpg b/78091-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..736c5c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/78091-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/78091-h/images/i1.jpg b/78091-h/images/i1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d7e0c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/78091-h/images/i1.jpg diff --git a/78091-h/images/i1_large.jpg b/78091-h/images/i1_large.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..567af8b --- /dev/null +++ b/78091-h/images/i1_large.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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