RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO, TILL THE DEATH OF THE AUTHOR.
Shortly after my arrival at Soccatoo, I was visited by all the Arabs
of the place, who began to pay me a great many compliments, and after
that, to beg every thing they saw in my possession. They immediately
recollected my servant, Mahomed El Siekis, who was formerly a slave
of Bukhaloom, and the only one of his army who brought off the flag
of the bashaw of Tripoli, at the battle with the Fellatas at Musfeia;
and the same man who restored Major Denham his horse, when he thought
he had lost it in that action. I had found this man a slave to a
Fellata, in the town of Korfu, and bought him for 25,700 cowries,
and gave him his liberty. These villains of Arabs now advised him
to leave me, because I was a Christian; telling him that they would
maintain him. I told him he was at full liberty to go, when and
where he pleased; that he was now free, and no longer a slave: but
I advised him not to go away like a thief and abscond, but to leave
me boldly and openly; at the same time I desired him only to look at
the dirty and ragged tobes of his advisers, poor rascals, who were
not able to buy soap to wash themselves or keep their clothes clean,
still less to give him food, wages, and clothes as I did.
On taking a survey of Soccatoo, I was not able to see much, if any,
alteration in its buildings, though I understand it was nearly
consumed by fire last winter, said to be the work of the rebels of
Goobur; who, as the morning breezes at day-break come strong from
the north-east, set fire to one house in that quarter, which spread
rapidly, and consumed nearly two-thirds of the town before it could
be stopped. It is now rebuilt just as it was before. There are at
present eleven gates into Soccatoo; seven having been built up since
the breaking out of the rebellion.
There are ten cadies or judges, who, with old Ben Gumso, an Arab
living here, whenever the sultan leaves the city, keep watch at the
gates day and night, with their people, until his return. Each takes a
gate, and has a temporary house of matting, built close inside to live
in. Ben Gumso, on my arrival, sent to tell me where he was stationed,
and that he could not come and see me, until the sultan should return,
as the punishment for leaving his post would be death. I accordingly
went to see him. He was standing at the door of his house; he had
seven crazy Arab muskets, some of them without flint or ramrod;
but, notwithstanding all this, his post, on account of the muskets,
was considered impregnable.
Tuesday, 24th.—In the afternoon a messenger arrived from the
sultan and the Gadado, to inform me that, as the rebels were daily
expected near Magaria, they did not know when they would be able to
return to Soccatoo. They therefore wished me to return to that place,
and remain with them, and sent two camels to carry my baggage, and
a horse for myself. The report here is, that the inhabitants of the
neighbouring villages near Magaria have all fled, and taken up their
quarters there.
Wednesday, 25th.—I did not start for Magaria to-day, as I had
to lay in a stock of rice, bread, dried meat, and flour, as these
articles are much dearer in Magaria, and bread not known. Magaria
is in the province of Adir, which is also called Tadela, containing
a great number of towns. The inhabitants are for the greatest part
negroes. The rest are a half breed between the Tuarics and their
slaves. The country is full of low rocky hills, and is well watered
by lakes and streams.
Thursday, 26th.—Morning cool and clear. At 8 A.M. I left
Soccatoo for Magaria. I was ill with a severe cold, caught by my own
carelessness, in throwing off my cloth trousers and worsted stockings
on my arrival at Soccatoo. The sun being very hot, I was quite
feverish. I halted at a village till 3 P.M., when I started again,
and arrived at Magaria at 6 P.M., where a house had been prepared
for me. I had messages from the sultan and Gadado, to inquire after
my health. My spleen was considerably increased in one day; but I
went to bed without tasting food: had a fire made at my bed-side,
which procured me a good sweat, and I soon found myself better;
though not lessening the swelling in my side, it eased the pain,
as also the pain in my head and bones.
Friday, 27th.—Cool and clear. I found myself much relieved;
and the Gadado, paying me an early visit, said, if I was able,
the sultan would receive his majesty’s letters and presents. I
immediately dressed in my uniform, and the presents being ready
packed in separate parcels, the time-piece, watch, &c. taken out of
the tin cases, and all just as they had left the maker’s hands, I
went, accompanied by the Gadado, my servants and the servants of the
Gadado carrying the presents, consisting of red silk umbrella, silver
mounted; a message cane, silver mounted; twelve yards red damask;
twelve yards sky blue; twelve yards red silk; twelve yards blue silk;
twenty-four yards cambric; two pounds cloves; a fowling-piece, brass
mountings, single barrel; a plain fowling-piece, double barrel; a pair
of pistols for his eldest son; two short swords; two boxes of rockets;
a quantity of powder, balls, flints, and small shot; one ream of
English foolscap paper; two bundles of black lead pencils; coloured
prints of the royal family, battles, and a plain journal book; a
small ditto; a dozen pair white cotton stockings; a dozen pair white
cotton gloves; a time-piece by Rigby; gold watch by ditto; a Bramah
pen; a pistol, detonating lock; two gilt chains; four clasp knives;
a dressing-case complete; a magnifying looking-glass; two English
bridles; a quantity of medicines; two empty trunks; the New Testament
in Arabic; that part of the Old Testament which was translated; the
Koran in Arabic; Euclid’s Elements in ditto; Ebn Senna in ditto;
History of the Tartars under Tamerlane; Psalms of David; several
chapters of the Bible, with a number of other books in Arabic. To
the Gadado a smaller collection of the same kind of articles.
Saturday, 28th.—I was visited this morning by Sidi Sheik, Bello’s
doctor, and one of his secretaries, who said he had a message from
the sultan for me, which, on his delivery, certainly surprised me
not a little, though I was cautious not to show him that I considered
it as any thing but a thing of course. It was this, that the sultan
had sent him to inform me that, by whatever road I might choose to
return to England, he would send me, were it even by Bornou, if I
should prefer that road; but that I should consider well before I
decided upon that road, as he had to inform me that, when I was here
two years ago, the Sheik of Bornou had written to him, advising him
to put me to death; as, if the English should meet with too great
encouragement, they would come into Soudan, one after another, until
they got strong enough to seize on the country, and dispossess him,
as they had done with regard to India, which they had wrested from
the hands of the Mahometans: that Bello, however, had said, in reply,
it would be a most disgraceful thing in him to cause an unprotected
man to be put to death, and could only account for such conduct, on
the part of the Sheik, after he himself had placed me under Bello’s
protection, to seek a quarrel between him and the Sultan Bello.
I observed to Sidi Sheik, that it was certainly very extraordinary to
me, that the Sheik El Kanemi should have written in such a manner;
as he had ever behaved to me with the greatest kindness, both
before I came to Soudan and on my return; and that, when I left
Bornou for England, he had dismissed me with a handsome present,
and the strongest expressions of friendship and regard. I added,
that I must insist on seeing this extraordinary letter, and have
a copy of it; but he said that Bello had sent the letter to Gondo,
to his cousin Abdallah. I must positively see it, I rejoined; and
also be allowed to take a copy of it before I leave this place; for I
had a letter and presents from the king of England for the Sheik. I
then asked him what other path the sultan proposed. He replied that
he would place me under the protection of a maraboot, or holy man,
who would safely conduct me to the sultan of Borgoo, and from thence
I might pass to the northward, as far as the borders of the desert,
and proceed along it until I came near to Foutoo Tora, from whence I
could turn to the southward into a country that belonged to Bello, and
which was inhabited by Fellatas, and not far from one of the English
settlements. I told him it was a matter of serious consideration to
me, as I had a sick servant at Kano, who was unable to travel; but,
at all events, I must have the letter the Sheik of Bornou had sent
to Bello.
I was very ill all day; but in the afternoon I paid a visit to Atego,
Bello’s brother, and made him a present of a gilt chain and a pair
of scissors, and a few cloves. His house being at some distance,
I was so much fatigued I thought I should not live until the morning.
Sunday, 29th.—Saw the sultan this morning, who was sitting in
the inner apartment of his house, with the Arabic copy of Euclid
before him, which I had given to him as a present. He said that
his family had a copy of Euclid brought by one of their relations,
who had procured it in Mecca; that it was destroyed when part of
his house was burnt down last year; and he observed, that he could
not but feel very much obliged to the king of England for sending
him so valuable a present. After a few general questions, I retired
with the Gadado; and when we arrived at his house, and were seated,
I again expressed my anxious desire that he would give me a copy of
the letter which had been sent from the Sheik of Bornou, as it was
of some importance to me to be guided as to my choice of the road I
was to take on my return home. The Gadado said he was not aware of
any letter having been sent; that it was very wrong in Sidi Sheik to
have told me such a story; said he must have made a mistake; but,
to relieve me from any uneasiness on that score, he would inquire
into the truth, and let me know to-morrow.
Monday, 30th.—I had been so ill all night with the pain in my side
that I had no rest whatever. At noon the Gadado came to say that he
would go with me to the sultan. Though very ill, I went; and we were
immediately shown into the apartment of the sultan, who was reading:
but when we entered, he laid down his book, and began of his own
accord about the letter. He observed, that a letter had certainly
come to him, but not with the Sheik’s signature; that it appeared,
however, the letter had been written, with the Sheik’s sanction, by
that holy man Hadgi Mohamed Bootabli; and that he was desired to say
I was a spy, and that he would not allow me to go beyond Soccatoo;
hinting, at the same time, that it would be better I should die,
as the English had taken possession of all India by first going
there by ones and twos, until we got strong enough to seize upon
the whole country. And thus ended our interview.
Tuesday, 31st.—I was much better this morning, and the swelling
and pain in my side much less, a dose of calomel I took having done
its duty; but I thought it advisable not to stir out all day. The
sultan and Gadado sent to me to know how I was.
Wednesday, Nov. 1st.—Clear. Magaria is now increasing to a town of
considerable size. Before, it was without shape or form; now, all the
people from the villages, for a considerable distance around, have
been ordered to live here; and the houses being properly arranged,
each man’s cluster of huts being fenced round with matting, nearly
all the vacant places are filled up with houses or enclosures for
cattle. A new wall has been built, according to the present Goobur
mode of fortifying a town; which is, to build a low wall, with a deep
ditch outside, and to erect on the wall a stockade of rough stakes,
firmly fixed in an upright posture, through the openings of which the
people inside are enabled to shoot their arrows and fire muskets, when
they have any. This new wall was not quite completed when I arrived;
but as every man having a house in the town was to bear his part in
the work, and every man of consideration who held office under the
sultan was to superintend that part of it next to his residence,
as well as to employ his slaves and servants in bringing wood and
materials, the progress advanced rapidly.
This evening we had a courier from the nearest town in the province of
Zamfra, bringing intelligence that Aleva, the rebel sultan of Goobur,
had died by an arrow wound in his side, which he received when we
made the attack. Whether this will have any effect in bringing about
a reconciliation with Bello and them I know not.
Thursday, 2d.—Warm, with light flying clouds. The Juma, or
place of worship, in Magaria, is only a temporary one. I have had
several opportunities of seeing them at prayers, being only a square
enclosure of matting, supported by stakes, and open on one side,
which is to the east. The Iman, or priest, a head man, stands at
a little distance in front, on his mat; the rest of the people in
rows behind him. He repeats the prayer, and those behind him also
repeating inwardly at the same time, and with the greatest regularity,
in a kneeling posture, with their heads inclined.
I had a long visit from Prince Atego this morning, who was amazingly
civil: at last it came out that he was afflicted with a disorder which
he represented as being very common in this country. I recommended
him to drink rice water in plenty, to refrain from pepper and strong
spices, and not to visit his ladies too often, and to wear a hat
when he rode out. I also gave him a dose of calomel, recommending
him to use natron in his food.
The henna or salli, with whose leaves they stain their hands and toes,
is made of pounded leaves, mixed with water to the consistence of a
poultice, which is laid on thick, and bound with gourd leaves to keep
it on. To see a person in this state, without knowing that he was
sacrificing comfort to make himself look beautiful, would be apt to
excite pity for the poor man, and to imagine that he had fallen from
some height, and bruised his hands and feet so badly as to require
their being poulticed to reduce the inflammation. Some great people
go so far as to have themselves stained every three nights.
Friday, 3d.—The negroes and most of the Arabs are great gamblers,
though it is strictly prohibited by the Fellata laws. Their principal
game is called cha-cha, and is played by any number of persons
at a time, with cowries. Night is the usual time for this game;
and so eager are they in it, that they will frequently stake their
breeches and every part of their dress. I should never have known
of its existence, had not one of my servants, named Micama, a native
of Zinder in Bornou, come home last night with the loss of his tobe;
and on my insisting this morning that he should not enter the house
in such a state, he pleaded the heat of the weather, and made other
excuses, which I could not allow: the other servants then told me
what he had been at, and said he was an expert hand, and could not
refrain from playing when he saw others play. I advanced him money
to buy another tobe, telling him if I ever knew him to play again,
I should give him up to the Fellatas, who punish all caught at such
a game with death, or something approaching it. In the afternoon I
took leave of the sultan, who breaks up in the night, and proceeds
to Soccatoo.
Saturday, 4th.—Morning cool and clear. The sultan did not leave
last night, but to-day at 3 P.M. I had to go and see the chronometer
carefully put up to bear carriage without injury: it is considered
the most valuable part of his property, and numbers come from a great
distance to hear it strike. One of the gold watches he has already
spoiled, and I have had to give his brother Atego my silver watch for
it in return, but I have got the worse bargain. If the sultan had not
asked me I should never have done it, as it has the new patent key,
and kept a regular rate from England.
Sunday, 5th.—I did not start this morning, as I had been very unwell
all night: got a new camel, and employed a Tuarick to buy me another,
as they are nearly 2000 cowries cheaper here than they are at Kano.
Monday, 6th.—Cool and clear. At 6 A.M. left Magaria. I rode my new
camel, as his load was light, and I had no horse. At 11 A.M. halted
at a spring for an hour, and started again at 2. Arrived at Soccatoo.
Tuesday, 7th.—This day I visited the sultan about noon, and,
at his request, taught a man, one of his servants, how to wind
up the time-piece, which is one of eight days. In the afternoon I
was visited by three Fellatas, Hadji Omer from Foota Tora, Malem
Mahomed from Timbuctoo, and the third from a neighbouring town
to Timbuctoo. Malem Mahomed says the whole of the district called
Timbuctoo is at present under the authority of the Tuaricks; that the
principal town is called Timbuctoo; and that their gold comes from
Ashantee, Gonga, and Bambarra, where they exchange it for salt to the
Tuaricks, and cloths to the inhabitants of Fez, Ghadamis, and Tripoli;
that Timbuctoo produces no gold, it being only the great market where
all the gaffles from the north and east meet those of the south and
west; that few Arabs now come from Fez and Morocco, owing, he says,
to the Arabs, called Waled Dleim, cutting off the caravans.
Hadji Omar, who was an intelligent man, told me that forty men arrived
at Sego with the late Mungo Park. That, out of the forty, thirty-five
had died of sickness, and that five only embarked in the canoe given
to him by the sultan of Sego. That they were repeatedly attacked by
the Tuaricks, of whom they killed a great number. Whether any, or
how many, of those belonging to the canoe were killed, he could not
say. The Hadji had just returned from Mecca, and wished to go there
again, if he could get an opportunity; but, as he said the sultan of
Baghermi and his subjects had been driven into the mountains to the
south of that kingdom by the Sheik el Kanemi, there was no passing
through that country, as it was now only inhabited by wandering
Arabs, who plunder all that fall into their hands, otherwise it was
the best road to the east from Adamowa, by the way of Baghermi.
Friday, 10th.—For the two last days I have found myself very ill,
with an enlargement of the spleen. Soccatoo was built by Sheik Othman,
usually known by the name of Danfodio, or the learned son of Fodio. He
was a good linguist; and knew most of the languages of the interior,
which he spoke fluently, and also all the dialects of the Arabic. He
knew all the learning of the Arabs; and, what was of the greatest
importance to him, was firmly believed to be a prophet; and the belief
continues, getting stronger as the Fellatas get stronger. He came out
of the woods of Ader, or Tadela, and settled, and built a town in the
province of Goobur, where the Fellatas began to gather around him;
he soon began to interfere with the affairs of the sultan of Goobur,
saying this was proper to be done, and such a thing was improper. This
not pleasing either the people of Goobur or the sultan, he was ordered
out of the country, he and his people. This order he did not obey; and
the people of Goobur rose and drove them out; when he again settled
in Ader, not in the woods, as formerly, but built a town. Fellatas
gathering round him from all the different countries, he divided
them under different chiefs, giving each chief a white flag, telling
them to go and conquer in the name of God and the prophet, as God
had given the Fellatas the lands and the riches of all the Kaffirs,
as they, the Fellatas, were the only true believers. In addition to
the white flag, the Fellatas were to wear a white tobe, as an emblem
of their purity, and their war-cry was to be Allahu Akber! or,
God is great! That every one who was wounded, or fell in battle,
was sure to gain paradise. Their belief in him as a prophet, their
own poverty, numbers, and the apparent wealth of the blacks, who had
been lulled into a fatal security, made the latter fall an easy prey
to their conquerors. Kano submitted without a blow. The next was
Goobur; the people of which had taken the alarm, and attempted to
turn Danfodio out of his town in Ader, but they were driven back,
and the wily old chief then attacked them, overran their country,
and killed the sultan. After this the whole of Houssa, with Cubbé,
Youri, and part of Nyffé, fell under their dominion. The whole
of the interior, from east to west, was terror-struck. Bornou, in
the east, was attacked with success, as was also Yourriba, in the
west. Here they found more resistance than any where else, as they
(the people of Yourriba) could not be made to believe in his doctrine
or prophecy, as they were confirmed Kaffers, who, on the invasion of
the Fellatas, put all the Mahometans to death, whether natives, or
in caravans trafficking; quite denying the plea that God had given to
the faithful their lands and houses, and their wives and children to
be slaves. Notwithstanding, they took Rakah, Elora or Affaga, besides
a great number of other towns, reaching to the sea coast, in their
expeditions; and once entered Eyeo, or Katunga, the capital, a great
part of which they burnt down, giving liberty to all the Mahometan
slaves, and encouraging others to kill their pagan masters and join
them. After they had fairly settled themselves, the Arabs from the
east and west came to congratulate Danfodio on his newly acquired
territory. Numbers of his countrymen came from the west to settle
in Houssa. These he located principally in the province of Zegzeg,
where he gave the lands and houses of the negroes who had fled to
the mountains and inaccessible parts of that province lying to the
south. To the Arabs of Tripoli and Fezzan he made large presents
of slaves and camels, sending none away empty-handed. The news of
his fame spread every way. Arabs, in shoals, came and passed with
him as sherifs, and would seldom go away under a hundred slaves,
with camels and provisions.
Before he gathered the Foulahs, or Fellatas, under his government,
they did not live in towns, but were scattered over the greater
part of Soudan, attending to their herds and flocks, living in
temporary huts, generally in the midst of unfrequented woods,
seldom visiting the towns. This business they left to the women,
who attended the markets, and sold the produce of their cattle. The
men were reported to live a religious and harmless life, spending a
great part of their time in reading the Koran and other religious
books. Now and then a few of their learned men would come forth,
and engage themselves for a few years with the Mahometan sultans
and governors, until they had collected a little money, with which
they purchased a few cattle, and then returned to the woods to
their countrymen, who moved about from one province to another,
according to the seasons, and the nature and quantity of pasture and
water; contented with building temporary huts of straw and rushes,
and to be left in peace. No one indeed thought of disturbing them,
or interfering with their pursuits, they being probably considered as
too contemptible and insignificant to excite any fear. Thus dispersed,
no one but themselves knew or could guess at their numbers. Melli,
or the petty kingdoms of Foota-Torra, Foota-Bonda, and Foota-Jella,
were the places from whence they spread themselves eastward, until
they became very considerable, in point of numbers, in all the
countries between the above-mentioned places and Wady. Many of them
had performed their pilgrimage to Mecca, and others had visited the
empires of Turkey and Morocco, as also Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli,
bringing back with them all the Arabic books they were able to beg
or buy.
In the year of the Hegira 1218, the old Mallem Sheik Othman Danfodio,
Sheik of the Koran, became religiously mad, and is said to have died
some years afterwards in that state. This Foulah or Fellata conqueror
was styled Sheik of the Koran from his being perfect master of that
book, not only being able to read it, and all the commentaries upon
it, but also to repeat any part, and explain it, from memory. The
laws of the Koran were in his time, and indeed continue to be, so
strictly put in force, not only among the Fellatas, but the negroes
and Arabs, and the whole country, when not in a state of war,
was so well regulated, that it was a common saying, that a woman
might travel with a casket of gold upon her head from one end of
the Fellata dominions to the other.
His madness took a very unhappy turn. In the midst of a paroxysm,
he would constantly call out that he should go to hell, for having
put so many good Mussulmen to death. The Arabs used to take advantage
of this, and tell him he was sure to be damned, unless he made amends
by giving them presents to assuage the manes of their friends. Not so
with the Fellatas. These people had so great a veneration for their
chief that, when his head was shaving, the hairs were carefully
collected, and preserved by them in cases of gold and silver, and
they used to come from all parts of the interior to get a sight of
him, negroes as well as Fellatas.
After his death, his son Mohamed Bello, the present sultan, governed
the kingdom which his father had conquered; but that part of the
country to the westward of Houssa he left to his brother’s son,
Mohamed Ben Abdallah, while the eldest, Mohammed Bello, had Haussa,
with all the countries to the south and east. Atego, the brother of
Mohammed Bello, both by father and mother, attempted to usurp the
government of the latter, at the death of the Sheik Othman; but his
brother put him down, and confined him to his house for twelve months;
and they are now as good friends as before.
Bello extended the walls of Soccatoo, which is now the largest and
most populous town in the interior that I have seen. Within these
walls live all the children which Danfodio had by his different wives
and concubines, very quietly and without splendour, except Atego,
who is a mean fellow, but keeps a large establishment. At the death
of Danfodio, in the year of the Hegira 1232 (in 1816 of ours),
the province of the Goobur, Zamfra, part of Kashna, and Zegzeg,
threw off the yoke of the Fellatas, and put the whole of them to
death that they could lay their hands on. Since that time, Bello
has retaken the greater part of Goobur; part of Zamfra, and Guari,
the southern part of Kashna, have made their peace, as also part
of Cubbé; but on this condition, that they shall be ruled by their
native chiefs, and the Fellatas not to interfere with them. Since my
arrival, he has also got back the greater part of Nyffé. Youri has,
since 1822, joined in the rebellion, being forced by the people of
Zamfra, who at all times can command that province, if not supported
by Cubbé or Soccatoo. The governor is to be hereditary, not like
most of the other provinces and kingdoms in the interior, where the
oldest relation always succeeds.
The city of Soccatoo stands on the top of a low hill, or rising
ground, having a river passing at a short distance from the
northern wall. It is formed of the united branches of the several
streams, which take their rise to the south of Kashna, and flow
past Zirmie. Having passed Soccatoo, it crosses the district of
Cubbé in a south-westerly direction, and at the distance of four
days’ journey enters the Quorra. It is well stored with fish,
which afford the poor people of Soccatoo a very considerable part
of their food. The city is surrounded by a wall, about twenty-four
feet high, and a dry ditch. The wall is kept in good repair, and
there are eleven gates; seven having been built up at the breaking
out of the rebellion. The clay walls which surround all African
towns, clusters of huts, and even single coozies, give a deadly
dull appearance to them all, whether negro or Mahometan. The only
appearance of animation is given by the great number of slaves and
others moving to and fro, or lounging, or lying in the shade at the
doors of great men. A great part of the town within the walls might
be taken for a number of ill-enclosed gardens.
The house of the sultan is surrounded by a clay wall, about twenty
feet high, having two low tower-like entrances, one on the east,
the other on the west. The eastern one is entirely guarded by
eunuchs, of whom he has a great number, I suppose because the harem
is on the eastern side. The whole of his house forms, as it were,
a little town of itself; for in it there are five square towers, a
small mosque, a great number of huts, and a garden, besides a house,
which consists of one single room, used as the place for his receiving
and hearing complaints, receiving visitors, and giving audiences to
strangers. This room or house is nothing more than what we should call
in our country a shed. Two large pillars support a beam, or bundle
of long rods, plastered over with clay. These support the rafters,
which are of the branches of the palm-tree; on the back part is an
imitation of a fire-place, with a fire-screen before it; and on each
side are two chairs, which are also plastered with clay, and coloured
like mahogany. The ornament or figure on the back of these is the
same as those seen on a number of chairs in England, and corresponds
with that on the fire-screen. The walls are ornamented partly in the
European and partly in the African fashion. There are two doors,
one in the front towards the right, and the other in the left end
of the house, and which leads through a small street of huts to a
large hut, with two doors: passing through and within a few yards of
it stands a large square clay tower, with an entrance in the west
side. The interior of this is common in most of the great men’s
houses in Houssa. It is in the shape of a dome, formed of eight
arches springing from the ground; in the centre of which is a large
bright brass basin, acting as it were in the place of a key-stone
to the arches, which are turned by branches plastered over with
clay. If I had not seen them constructing the arches and pillars of
a mosque, I should have supposed them to be formed entirely of clay,
as the wood in no part appears. The clay serves to keep the white
ants from destroying the wood; they are ornamented in their fashion
while the clay is wet, an operation performed with the fingers and
a small square stick. From the arches, about one-third up, runs a
gallery quite round the interior building, having a railing with
pillars of wood, covered and ornamented with clay. There are three
steps leading up to this gallery, from which every thing in the dome
may be seen or heard. Passages also lead from it into small rooms,
having each one small window, or square hole, some appearing to be
used as store-rooms, and others as sleeping-rooms. The floor of
the dome was covered with clean white sand. The height might be,
from the floor to the brass basin in the centre of the arches, from
thirty-five to forty feet. The air inside of this dome was cool and
pleasant; and Bello told me he often used it as a place to read in
during the heat of the day. These two apartments are the only two
I have seen deserving remark within his enclosure. One night that
he sent for me, when it was rather late, I was led by the hand by
an old woman through several apartments before I arrived at the one
in which he was. As there was no light, I could only judge by the
stooping, and ascending and descending through doors and galleries,
that I passed through some large rooms, out of one into another.
The houses of the other great men, and those of his brothers, are
nearly the same, but on a much smaller scale. A great number of the
poorer sort are fenced round with matting, or the stalk of dourra
or millet. Before the west front of the sultan’s enclosure is a
large open space, of an irregular form, on the west side of which
stands the principal mosque. In this space is also the prison, a
building of about eighty feet long, and nearly the same in breadth,
covered at top with a flat clay roof, overlaid with boughs. Inside
is a deep pit, where those who have committed the greatest crimes
are confined. No person is put in prison for debt; only thieves,
prisoners of war (taken singly), such as spies, and disobedient
slaves, who, on a complaint to the sultan that they will not work,
are sent to prison. Their only food is the bran or husks of millet
and dourra, with water; but their friends are allowed to give them
food, if they have any. It is a filthy place, and the terror of the
men-slaves of Soccatoo. The prisoners are taken out, two and two,
every day to work at the walls, or any laborious work which may occur.
Another house and the tomb of the sultan is further to the west of
the mosque, on the north side of a broad street, which leads to
the western gate. It is occupied by his widows, concubines, and
youngest son, called Abedelgader, who is not arrived at a proper
age to have a house for himself. The sheik’s tent is inside of
the square enclosure, behind the room he generally occupied when
living. It is visited as a holy place by all Mahometan strangers,
from which they afterwards hope to enjoy the good things of this
world, and that of their world to come.
The ordinary occupations of the higher, and indeed I may say of all
classes of the Fellatas is, they rise at day-break, wash and say
their prayers, count their beads for about half an hour, and then
chew a gora nut, if they have any; which done, they sip a quantity
of senkie, or furro-furrocoo. These articles are a preparation of
half-boiled dourra flowers, made into balls of about one pound,
mixed up with dry flour. Senkie is one of these balls, bruised and
mixed with milk; furro-furrocoo is the same kind of ball mixed with
water. About 10 A.M. they have rice boiled, which they eat with a
little melted butter. After this they pay visits, or lounge in the
shade, hear the news, say prayers, count their beads, which employ
them till sunset, when they have a meal of pudding, with a little
stewed meat and gravy, or a few small fish; they then retire to rest.
During the spring and harvest the proprietors of estates ride out to
their different slave villages to look after their grain, cotton,
indigo, &c.; or to the place where they have their cattle. The
occupations of the poorer class, who are not engaged in trade, are
much the same as those of their superiors; their food is somewhat
different, being principally confined to furro-furrocoo. The wives
of the principal people, of whom they all appear to keep up the
number allowed by the Koran, which is four, with concubines as many
as they can get or are able to keep, are occupied in directing the
female slaves in their work, cooking their husband’s food, cleaning
and spinning cotton, and dressing their hair, teeth, eye-brows and
eye-lashes, which take up no little time. They also take charge
of sending the female slaves to market to sell their spare cotton,
grain, furro-furrocoo, millet, cakes fried in butter, fried fish,
which are usually caught by the younger male slaves; in receiving
or paying visits, for they are great gossips. They are allowed more
liberty than the generality of Mahometan women.
The dress of the men is a red cap, with a blue tassel of silk, a
white turban, part of which, or a fold, shades the brow and eyes;
another fold is taken over the nose, which covers mouth and chin,
hanging down on the breast; a white shirt, close at the breast and
short in the skirts, a large white tobe, and white trousers, trimmed
with red or green silk, and a pair of sandals or boots: this is the
dress of the greater part of the wealthy inhabitants. When travelling,
they wear, over the turban, a broad-brimmed straw hat, with a round
low crown. Some who do not affect great sanctity or learning wear
check tobes and blue turbans over the forehead, with the end hanging
down behind; the poorer, a white check tobe, white cap and trousers,
and sandals. Some are content with the straw hat only, but all wear
a sword, which is carried over the left shoulder. The women have
a cloth striped with blue, white, and red, falling as low as the
ankles; silver rings in the ear, about an inch and a half in diameter,
bracelets of horn, glass, brass, copper, and silver, according to the
quality of the wearer; round the neck, beads, and strings of glass,
or coral; round the ankles, brass, copper, or silver, and sometimes
rings on the toes as well as fingers. The fashionable ornament is a
Spanish dollar soldered fast to a ring. The poor women have pewter,
brass, and copper rings. The hair is generally turned up like a
crest on the top of the head, with something like a pig’s tail
hanging down from each extremity, a little before the ears.
Some of the Fellata women have the hair frizzed out at the ends, all
round the head; others have the hair plaited in four small plaits,
going round the head like a riband or bandeau. This, and all the
plaited parts, are well smeared over with indigo or shumri. The
razor is applied to smooth all uneven places, and give a high and
fine arch to the forehead; they thin the eye-brows to a fine line,
which, with the eye-lashes, are rubbed over with pounded lead ore,
and done by drawing a small pen that has been dipped in this ore. The
teeth are then dyed with the gora nut, and a root of a shining red
colour; the hands and feet, the toe and finger nails, are stained
red with henna. A lady thus equipped is fit to appear in the best
society. The looking-glass is a circular piece of metal, about an
inch and a half in diameter, set in a small skin box, and is often
applied to. The young girls of the better sort of people dress much
in the same manner as their mothers, after they arrive at the age
of nine or ten; before that, they have very little dress, except
the binta or apron, scolloped or vandyked round with red cloth,
with two long broad strings vandyked round in the same manner,
hanging down as low as the heels behind. This is the dress of the
poorer sort of people, until fit for marriage, as also of a great
many of the virgin female slaves.
Their marriages are celebrated without any pomp or noise. The bride,
as far as I was informed, is always consulted by her parents; but a
refusal on her part is unknown. The poorer class of people make up
matters much in the same way; that is, after having got the consent
of one another, they ask their father and mother. The dowry given
by a man of good condition, with regard to riches, may be said to
consist of young female slaves, carved and mounted calabashes or
gourds, filled with millet, dourra and rice, cloths for the loins,
bracelets, and the equipage of her toilet, and one or two large
wooden mortars for beating corn, &c. and stones for grinding, &c.;
even these are carried in procession on the heads of her female
slaves, when she first goes to her husband’s house.
It is said that, in the event of the husband sleeping or having
connexion with any of the female slaves given as dower to the wife,
he must give her in lieu a virgin slave of equal value the next
day. This never causes any dispute between the parties.
Their mode of burial I have never seen; but I understand they always
bury their dead behind the house which the deceased occupied while
living. The following day all the friends and relations of the
deceased visit the head of the family, and sit a while with him
or her. If the husband dies, the widow returns to the house of her
parents, with the property she brought with her.
The domestic slaves are generally well treated. The males who have
arrived at the age of eighteen or nineteen are given a wife, and
sent to live at their villages and farms in the country, where they
build a hut, and until the harvest are fed by their owners. When the
time for cultivating the ground and sowing the seed comes on, the
owner points out what he requires, and what is to be sown on it. The
slave is then allowed to enclose a part for himself and family. The
hours of labour, for his master, are from daylight till mid-day; the
remainder of the day is employed on his own, or in any other way he
may think proper. At the time of harvest, when they cut and tie up
the grain, each slave gets a bundle of the different sorts of grain,
about a bushel of our measure, for himself. The grain on his own
ground is entirely left for his own use, and he may dispose of it as
he thinks proper. At the vacant seasons of the year he must attend
to the calls of his master, whether to accompany him on a journey,
or go to war, if so ordered.
The children of a slave are also slaves, and when able are usually
sent out to attend the goats and sheep, and, at a more advanced age,
the bullocks and larger cattle; they are soon afterwards taken home
to the master’s house, to look after his horse or his domestic
concerns, as long as they remain single. The domestic slaves are fed
the same as the rest of the family, with whom they appear to be on
an equality of footing.
The children of slaves, whether dwelling in the house or on the
farm, are never sold, unless their behaviour is such that, after
repeated punishment, they continue unmanageable, so that the master
is compelled to part with them. The slaves that are sold are those
taken from the enemy, or newly purchased, who, on trial, do not
suit the purchaser. When a male or female slave dies unmarried, his
property goes to the owner. The children of the slaves are sometimes
educated with those of the owner, but this is not generally the case.
The male and female children of the better sort of the Fellatas
are all taught to read and write Arabic, but are instructed
separately. The male children of the great are generally sent to
another town, at some distance from that where their parents reside,
to receive their education; in which case they usually reside in the
house of a friend, and a malem or man of learning attends them. Those
of the middle and lower classes generally send their children to the
schools, which they attend for an hour at day-break, and another at
sunset, reading their Arabic lessons aloud and simultaneously. They
are required to get their lessons by heart before the writing is
washed off the board on which it is written. The ink thus diluted
is drank by the scholars, when their master writes a new lesson on
the board.
The government of the Fellatas in Soudan is in its infancy; but, as it
now exists, and is likely to continue, is a perfect despotism. It was
left by will to Mahomed Bello, who was the eldest of Sheik Othman’s
sons, and is meant to descend to his eldest son at his death. The
governors of the different provinces are appointed during pleasure,
as, in the event of any improper conduct, they are displaced; and all
their property, at their death or removal, falls to the sultan. The
appointment to a vacancy is then sold to the highest bidder, who
is generally a near relation, provided his property is sufficient
to bid up to the mark. All the inferior offices in the towns of the
provinces are sold in like manner by the governors, who also succeed
to the property of those petty officers at their death or removal.
Of their revenues I can say very little. I only know that in the
province of Kano they have no regular system of taxation. A great deal
of marketable property is claimed by the governor, such as two-thirds
of the produce of all the date and other fruit trees, the proprietor
being allowed only the remaining third. A small duty is also levied on
every article sold in the market; or, in lieu thereof, a certain rent
is paid for the stall or shed: a duty is also fixed on every tobe that
is dyed blue and sold. On grain there is no duty. Kano produces the
greatest revenue which the sultan receives, and is paid monthly in
horses, cowries, and cloth. Adamawa pays yearly in slaves; Jackoba,
in slaves and lead ore; Zegzeg, in slaves and cowries; Zamfra,
the same; Hadiga and Katagum, and Zaonima, in horses, bullocks,
and slaves; Kashna, in slaves, cowries, and cloth; Ader or Tadela,
in bullocks, sheep, camels, and a coarse kind of cloth of cotton,
like what is called by us a counterpane. Every town, on being visited
by the governor or other public functionaries, must contribute to
the support of these officers, and bear the expense of travelling,
and feed all his servants and his cattle.
Their agriculture is simple enough. They begin clearing the ground
of weeds, and burning them after the first fall of rain, which in
Houssa is in the month of May; and when a person wishes to enclose a
piece of ground for his own use, he first gets permission from the
governor. He then sets his slaves, if he has any, to cut down the
smaller trees and brushwood, leaving the micadonia or butter trees,
if there be any, standing on the ground: the wood, brushwood, and
weeds are then gathered together in heaps and burnt. After the first
rains have fallen, the male and female slaves go to work, each male
having a hoe with a long handle, and each female a basket, dish, or
gourd, filled with the grain intended to be sown: the male goes on in
a straight line crossing the field, striking as it were with his hoe
on each side, and raising a little earth each blow in the line about
two or three feet, or broad enough for a man to walk; the females
follow with their baskets of grain, dropping the seeds into the holes
made by the hoe, which they then cover over with earth, and give it
a slight pressure with the foot. When the dourra or other grain has
risen above the ground three or four inches, the weeds are hoed off,
and the earth loosened around the stalks; when the dourra has got to
the height of three or four feet, they hoe around it a second time,
leaving the weeds in the middle of the rows. This is cleared away,
when small millet or calavances are to be sown between the rows of
doura, which is frequently the case. The third operation is to draw
the weeds and earth towards the roots of the doura a little before it
ripens. When ripe, the slaves go into the field or plantation, pull
it up by the roots, and lay it in rows between each row of millet
which is left to ripen: it lies in this state four or five days,
when they cut the heads off, tie them up in bundles, and carry it
home; where, after lying upon sheds made of the branches of trees
for a few days to dry, what is not wanted for use is stowed away in
their granary. As the seeds of the doura begin to ripen, it must
be constantly watched by the slaves, who are perched on trees, or
on raised platforms, with dried gourds, which they shake to make a
noise, at the same time shouting and hallooing to frighten away the
flocks of small birds which come to devour the grain, and which at
this season fly in myriads, making a whirring noise with their wings
when they rise. The doura is very subject to blight, caused by a kind
of winged insect, of a black colour, something like the bugs on a
camel; its smell is most offensive, and if killed by the fingers,
the stench can hardly be borne, and is not easily washed off. The
millet and calavances remain a month on the ground after the doura.
The stalks of the doura grow to the height of nine and ten feet;
the thunder storms, accompanied with rain and wind, often bend these
stalks when near ripe, so that the roots are raised above ground,
and the plant dies if the slaves the next day are not sent in to hoe
the earth up to the roots of such as are broken down. The stalks of
this grain are frequently used for fences and the rafters of their
houses. Sometimes they tie the bean and millet straw into bundles,
and carry them home for their camels. Their granaries are made in
the form of a large urn or pitcher, raised from the ground about
three feet by stones. They are made of clay and chopped straw, and
are raised to the height of eleven or twelve feet. The thickness of
the sides is not above four inches, though in any part it will bear a
man’s weight: the diameter in the widest part may be from seven to
eight feet, at the top about three or four feet, and is overlapped at
the mouth like a wide-mouthed earthen jar. When the grain is put in,
a conical cap of thatch is put over to keep out birds, insects, wet
and moisture. The doura and millet will keep well in these jars for
two or three years; after that period it perishes, and is destroyed
by worms and insects. The jar itself will last seven or eight years,
if taken care of, by matting round the lower part with straw during
the rainy season; if not, two or three years is the period it will
stand unimpaired.
The time of putting the sweet potatoes in the ground is at the
commencement of the rains, the ground being first well cleared of
weeds, well hoed into furrows, the clods all broken, and the soil a
good strong clay or mould. The branches or stems, in slips, are then
planted by the dibble, and are two months before they have potatoes
at the roots.
The gaza, though differing in taste, shape, name, and size, is not
unlike a small quince: it is more watery than a gourd, of a reddish
white inside, and by no means a pleasant taste; its stem is as
thick as that of a gourd, with large rough leaves like those of a
gourd. It is planted like the sweet potatoes, and is perpetuated in
the same manner, by joints, and sown in furrows, at the same time,
in a good soil of clay or mould.
Wheat, of which they raise enough to supply all who make use of it
in this country, is sown after the rains, when the cold weather has
set in. It is always met with by the side of a small lake or river,
where they are able to water it by irrigation every day. It is
ripe in three months after it is put into the ground: the grain is
small. It is not much relished by the Arabs, who say that it injures
the spleen, in whatever shape it may be eaten. The bread made of it
is black and coarse; but that may arise from the imperfect manner in
which it is ground and cleaned. Barley they also have; but this grain
is only used in very small quantity. The rice is sown in long beds;
and they have it in great abundance from the Surano, near Magaria:
the rice of Soccatoo is considered the best in Houssa. Melons, pappa
apples, the great . . . . ., a few fig and pomegranate trees are
grown in gardens. They have not been able to make the date tree grow
at Soccatoo; whenever it gets a little above ground it rots and dies.
They have a great many wild fruit trees, the principal of which is the
butter tree. Onions are brought forth at the side of the rivers or
lakes, and the place on which they are growing is watered afternoon
and morning, the water being drawn by a bucket and a rope fixed to
a long pole, over an upright post which serves as a pivot; the water
being poured into hollowed trees, conducts it to the entrance of the
little squares where the onions are growing. The onions are large
and good, much like the Portuguese onion. The leaves of the kuka
tree, or adansonia, are carefully gathered after the rains, dried,
and used in all their soups and gravies, giving to them a slimy
gelatinous consistence. The sauce, or cake which makes a sauce,
from the beans of the nitta tree, is in great request. The beans,
when taken out of the shell, are then broken in a wooden mortar,
and put into a pot with water, and kept on a good fire from sunrise
to sunset, when the pot is taken off: they are allowed to stand
in it until they begin to ferment and smell. They are then taken
to the river, pond, or well, where they are washed thoroughly with
clean water: when they are considered as perfectly clean, they are
spread on mats in the sun, and carefully covered up at night. When
a second fermentation takes place, or they begin to smell, they
are taken and bruised fine in their mortars, until it becomes like
paste. It is then made into small circular cakes, which are dried
in the sun before they are put by for use. This, when prepared,
looks like chocolate. To me it had always a very disagreeable smell;
but the taste was rather pleasant than otherwise when put on roast
meat or fowls. Of this the people are very fond, and go so far as
to eat it alone, and without being cooked.
When they wish to plant indigo, the place chosen is one of a good
strong clay or mould, and in a situation where there is moisture
through the heat of the summer. After enclosing the ground, they clear
it entirely of weeds, and burn them. The ground is well worked up by
the hoe (they have no spade or pickaxe), and laid out in furrows,
with a flat top, about a foot high, two broad, and six or seven
inches between each furrow. The indigo seeds are then planted by
the dibble, and just as the rains have begun: they cut it every
year during the rainy season. A plantation will last four or five
years without renewing the seeds. They crop it about three or four
inches above the ground. The leaves are then stripped from the stems,
and laid in a heap, exposed to the rains and weather for a month,
until they ferment, when they are beaten in wooden troughs of a round
form, and about two feet deep, and two feet in diameter; here they
remain until dry, and are then considered as fit for use. One of
these troughs of indigo, in the spring, costs three hundred cowries;
in the summer, the price rises to six or seven hundred.
The cotton is here planted in low situations, where the ground is
partially covered with water during the rains, or else in a good
clay that has moisture in it through the dry season. The ground,
or plantation, is generally only surrounded by thorny branches
stuck in the ground as a fence, then hoed well, and the clods,
if any remain, broken. A hole is made with the hoe, and the seed
is put in and lightly covered. If the season be abundant in rain,
the cotton is plenty; if not, the crop is bad. The time of pulling
is in the months of December and January. When worked, it is done by
the women, clearing it of the seeds by two small iron pins, between
which the cotton passes over a flat stone lying on the ground; the
seeds are thrown behind them, the cotton before. The seeds they give
to bullocks and camels, and are considered as very fattening. The
cotton being prepared, is put on a distaff, which is short, light,
neat, and small, great pains being taken in shaping and ornamenting
it. The females who spin it have generally small looking-glasses in
their baskets of cotton, with which they often survey their teeth
and eyes. A piece of chalk, or pipe-clay, is in constant use, to
rub the spinning thumb and finger. The occupation of spinning is
generally assigned to married women, or some old female slave that
is a favourite: weaving and sowing is left to the men. They have
three different kinds of hoes: one with a handle of about five feet
in length, and a small head stuck into the end of the staff; this
is used in sowing the grain: one with a handle of about three feet
in length, with a small iron head stuck into the end of the staff:
the third, called gilma, has a short bent handle, with a large head,
and is used in all the heavy work instead of a spade.
Their manufactures are confined to a very few articles, the principal
of which is the dying of tanned goat skins red and yellow. The red
skins are dyed with the leaves of a red millet, which is pounded
in water mixed with natron; when thick enough, the skin is put on
the stretch, and the dye rubbed in. The yellow is with the root of a
tree called raurya, which is also pounded in water mixed with natron,
and laid on the skin in the same manner as the red. The latter are
considered as superior to all the other skins dyed of the same colour
in any part of Houssa. A number both of the red and yellow skins are
carried to Kano and Kashna almost monthly, where they are made into
cushions, bags, boots, and shoes, &c.
The next article is the white cotton cloth of the country, of which
they make a considerable quantity, both for the home consumption and
for exportation to Kano and Nyffé: what they export is principally
made into tobes and large shirts before it leaves Soccatoo. They have
also a cloth called naroo, which is something like our counterpanes;
a few checked and red striped cloths, used as tobes, and some as
wrappers or zinnies for the women. The weavers of the latter are
mostly natives of Nyffé, as are also all their blacksmiths. They
have shoe, boot, saddle, and bridle-makers. Another article of export
is the civet; the animals that produce it are kept in wooden cages,
and fed on pounded fish and corn. A few slaves are also sold out
of the province to the merchants of Kano, Kashna, Ghadamis, and
Tripoli. A young male slave, from thirteen to twenty years of age,
will bring from 10,000 to 20,000 cowries; a female slave, if very
handsome, from 40,000 to 50,000; the common price is about 30,000 for
a virgin about fourteen or fifteen. The articles brought to Soccatoo
for sale by the Arabs are the same as what are brought to other parts
of Houssa, and are mentioned in another place. Salt is brought by
the Tuaricks from Billma, and also by the Tuaricks of the west. The
salt from the latter quarter is much better, being more pure, and in
large pieces like ice. Ostriches alive and ostrich skins are brought
by these people, but little is given for a skin, only from 4000 to
5000 cowries for the finest. They also bring horses which fetch a
good price here; dates from Billma, and a small quantity of goods
which they buy from the Arabs at Aghadiz. The articles they could
export in considerable quantities, if there were buyers, would be
elephants’ teeth, bullocks’ hides, which, when tanned, only cost
five hundred cowries, equal to sixpence of our money. Goat skins,
and the skins of antelopes, and other wild animals, might be procured
in abundance, but, of course, would rise much in price if there was
a great demand. Gum-arabic might also be procured in abundance. What
they would take from us in exchange would be coarse scarlet cloths,
which in all parts of the interior bring a good price, say 10,000
cowries a yard; coarse yellow and green cloth; red tape; unwrought
silk, of glowing colours; sewing needles, of the commonest kind;
looking-glasses, no matter however small, at a penny or twopence
each in England; earthenware with figures, plain ware would not pay;
the coarsest kind of red camlet scarfs; jugs and hardware of the most
common description, but stout; foolscap paper of the coarsest kind,
if it did not let the ink through: beads, I think, are sold as cheap
here by the Arabs as they are in England; sheets of tin; tin pots
and cups; brass gilt rings for the fingers, arms, and ankles; as
also ear-rings; copper and brass pots, the more figures the better;
paper and wooden snuff-boxes of the commonest sort.
These Africans keep up the appearance of religion. They pray five
times a day. They seldom take the trouble to wash before prayers,
except in the morning; but they go through the motions of washing,
clapping their hands on the ground as if in water, and muttering a
prayer. This done, as if they had washed, they untie their breeches
and let them fall off; then, facing the east, let the sleeves of
their larger shirt, or tobe, fall over their hands, and assuming
at the same time a grave countenance, begin by calling out, in an
audible voice, “Allahu Akber!” &c. kneeling down and touching
the ground with the forehead. When they have finished repeating this
prayer, they sit down, leaning over on the left thigh and leg, and
count or pass the beads through their fingers. All their prayers
and religious expressions are in Arabic; and I may say without
exaggeration, taking Negroes and Fellatas together, that not one
in a thousand know what they are saying. All they know of their
religion is to repeat their prayers by rote in Arabic, first from
sunrise to sunset in the Rhamadan, and a firm belief that the goods
and chattels, wives and children of all people differing with them
in faith, belong to them; and that it is quite lawful in any way to
abuse, rob, or kill an unbeliever. Of the Fellatas, I should suppose
about one in ten are able to read and write. They believe, they say,
in predestination; but it is all a farce; they show not the least
of such belief in any of their actions.
They believe, however, in divination by the book, in dreams, and in
good and bad omens.
Wednesday, Nov. 29th.—This morning the Gadado sent to inform me that
in the course of two days the sultan was going a short distance to the
south of Soccatoo, to found a new town, and asked me to accompany
him. At noon a fire broke out in the west quarter of the town,
which consumed nearly 200 houses, and a great quantity of grain. At
3 P.M. another fire broke out in the adjoining house to that in
which I was living. I had my baggage put out in the open square,
in my enclosure, and placed a servant over it as sentry, and went
with my two other servants to assist the wives and concubines of my
friend Malam Moodie, who was out of town. They were busy in removing
the household goods into the street. This I stopped, and had them
put into my square; as I saw that the fire was nearly put down by
the removal of the roofs of the huts in the adjoining house, and by
applying wet mats. Thieves were in abundance, and a great quantity
of articles were stolen belonging to the people whose house was on
fire. There was fortunately little wind, or several other houses
would have been burnt. As it was, the light and burning thatch was
carried to a great distance. My servant, Mohamed Allah Sirkie, got
great praise from the Gadado for his activity in putting a stop
to the flames: after all was over, the principal wife of Malam
Moodie sent her compliments and thanks to me for taking care of
her husband’s house and property. There have been three fires in
the town in the course of the day; they say they were done by the
agents of the rebels, who tie a burning cotton thread to the tail of
a large species of buzzard, with yellow head and reddish-yellow tail,
and blue body, common in this country, which flies to the thatch of
the house when set adrift.
Friday, Dec. 1st.—At 4 P.M. left Soccatoo by the southern gate,
with a camel carrying my tent and bed, with a small quantity of
provisions. After leaving the gate, the road was over what had been
plantations of millet, doura, and beans; the soil a stiff red clay,
covered with a thin layer of sand, with blocks of clay iron-stone,
which is often mixed with white pebbles; sometimes it would cover a
space of a quarter of a mile, like a crust, of about from two feet
to two and a half feet in thickness; the face of the country almost
bare of trees, but studded with villages; the herds of horned cattle
were to be seen in great numbers every where, returning to their
night’s quarters, feeding as they went along. The country hilly,
with very steep and slippery ravines in many places.
At 8 P.M. halted at the camp of the sultan, which was in a valley
of about three miles wide, and close to the bed of a small stream
passing the east of Soccatoo, which was distant about two miles and
a half to the north-east. After my tent was pitched, the Gadado sent
me a sheep, and I had my share of a bullock that was killed. There
were very few people with the sultan, and the Gadado had only three
servants with him.
Saturday, 2d.—Morning clear and cool at day-light. Rode out with the
sultan and Gadado to mark out the site of the new town. I took my gun
with me, intending to shoot: we rode to the eastward about two miles,
and halted within a short distance of the river, on the side of a low
hill, sloping to the river by a gradual and easy descent. This was
the place fixed on for the new town, which I left them to settle,
and went to shoot; but was never more unsuccessful. I saw several
antelopes and some bustards, but could not get within shot. At noon
I returned to the camp. The reason of founding this town is, that
the woods on the banks of the river are the resort and hiding-place
of the rebels, who come and plunder the herds, and set fire to the
villages before they can have information; and in Soccatoo the rebels
are hid with their prey in the woods. In the evening, as it was also
last night, the cryer went round the camp, calling every one to look
well after their horses, camels, and baggage; to pretend to sleep,
but not to sleep, as the place was full of robbers; and that every
one seen outside the camp after this notice, whether Fellata or not,
was to be secured. I set off three rockets at the request of the
sultan; for though I have shown them several times, they are still
afraid to try them, and the wonder and alarm is still as strong in
their favour as ever.
At 11 P.M. a courier arrived from Magaria, bringing information
that the rebels of Goobur had encamped a little to the eastward of
that place in great force. The order to march was given, and the camp
was cleared in a few minutes. I first saw my camel and baggage well
forward on the road to Soccatoo. Before I took the road for Magaria,
which was across the country, the alarm was spread from village
to village, by a cry not unlike the Indian warwhoop, with a clear
shrill voice; and bands of horse and foot were pressing forward
every where at day-break. We met large parties of women, children,
old men, bullocks, sheep, and asses, all flying towards Soccatoo.
At 10 A.M. I arrived at Magaria, where all was now quiet; and
put up at the house of my friend the Gadado, who had gone to rest,
having arrived an hour before me. Maalem Moodie, his brother, told
me that all the rebel army turned out to be only a few robbers come
to steal bullocks, one of which, on their not being able to drive
them away, they had killed, carried away its flesh, and fled. On my
asking one of his female slaves, who had the charge of his house at
Magaria, why they had been so much frightened by only a few thieves,
she replied, “What could we do? only a parcel of women to be seen:
there were two or three fellows within hearing of the noises, but they
were good for nothing; they were just as much afraid as we were. All
night (pointing to the highest point of ground in the town, which is
unoccupied, and kept for a market-place) did we stand there with what
things we could carry on our heads, our mouths open, no one thought
of eating or sitting down until the men came from Soccatoo and the
camp. This world,” continued she, “is nothing without the men
after all. If three of the thieves had only come, they might have
taken the town and all that was in it, for the gates were all open,
and we had not sense to shut them.”—After breakfast and a good
sleep, I waited on the Gadado, and told him that, as all was happily
quiet, I should return to Soccatoo at day-break to-morrow, as I had
neither bed nor baggage with me. He thanked me very much for coming to
their assistance, and said he should also return to the capital in the
course of the next day, and the sultan intended returning to the camp.
Sunday, 3d.—At day-break mounted and rode to Soccatoo, accompanied
by my freedman, Mohamed Allah Sirkie, who accompanies me on all
enterprises of danger. At noon arrived at Soccatoo, and the Gadado
arrived at midnight.
Wednesday, 6th.—The eunuchs of the sultan came to-day, wishing me
to go to the sultan’s house to wind up the time-piece. Though I
taught a man how it should be done, and to do it every eight days,
they have always neglected to do it: only for such an excellent
time-piece, the present of his majesty, and my having brought it so
far without injury, I would not have put a finger to it again; but
the Gadado coming, and asking me to go with him, I showed another
how to wind it up.
Saturday, 9th.—News from Magaria this day arrived, that the people
of Goobur had formed a camp outside the walls of their capital, and
there elected a new sultan or chief, in the room of the one killed
at our attack on Coonia; that he must go on some expedition against
their enemies before he returns to his house, such being their custom:
but at what part he is going against they do not as yet know. The
custom of the Gooburites is at first that, when they elect a chief,
which they do outside the walls of the capital, where they sacrifice
a bullock, a sheep, and a goat, under a tree, they must go on some
expedition against their enemies before they return to their house.
Tuesday, 12th.—Part of the tribe of Killgris, Tuaricks, or Berbers,
who inhabit that part of the desert between Timbuctoo and Tuat,
and to the north of Tadela, and Ader, come on their annual summer
or dry season visit to Soccatoo; also part of the tribe of Etassan,
from that part called Anbur, which lies to the north of Kashna and
Zinder in Bornou. The latter brought the sultan a present of a fine
Tuarick horse from their sultan, who has not come this year to pay his
yearly respects to Bello, as is the custom. The Tuaricks, or Berbers,
inhabiting the south part of the desert, consist of the tribes of
Etassan, Killgris, Killaway, and Timsgeda. Ajudiz is the capital,
and they jointly depose their sultan and elect another when they
think fit, which is generally once every two or three years. They do
not kill the old one; he only retires from his office, and remains
as a common man.
They yearly, after the grain has been cut and got in, arrive in
Houssa with salt, which they visit in the latter end of harvest,
or in the months of October or November, to exchange for grain, blue
tobes or large shirts, mugabs or blue turban dresses for their women,
and swords; they also lay in a sufficient quantity of millet and
doura to last them through the season, until they return to their
own country, as they neither sow nor reap. During the whole of the
dry season they remain in Houssa, principally in the provinces of
Kano, Kashna, Zamfra, and Soccatoo. The latter mostly Killgris;
and Kashna and Kano are the principal resort of the Etassan and
Killaway: they do not live, except a few, in houses in the town;
but build temporary huts in the woods, not far distant from them,
where they have their wives, their bullocks, horses, and camels,
the men only visiting the town: in this way they live until the
month in which the rains commence, when they retire north to the
desert. They are a fine manly looking race of men, but extremely
dirty in their persons, not even washing before prayers, but going
through the form with sand, as if washing. The poorest amongst them
are armed with a sword and spear, which are their constant companions.
Wednesday, 13th.—The sultan sent me a present of a sheep and
four Guinea fowls and some rice, from the Sanson, apologizing for
his long absence in the camp, as the Tuaricks were very unsettled,
and they had not as yet determined what party to side with.
Thursday, 14th.—I to-day employed Hadji Omar and Malam Mohamed,
the latter to give me a route, noting the northing and southing
of the road, between Massina, the country in which he was born,
to Soccatoo; the other, who has just returned from Mecca, to give
me an account between this and Sennar, with a description of the
countries, towns, and rivers: his route is from Kano to Adamowa,
Bagermie, Runza, Kaffins, Darfoor, and Kordofan: he says the
Bahr-el-Abiad is only about four feet deep in the summer, as is
also the Shari above Logan, before it is joined by the river Asha,
which comes from the south-east, through Bagermie, and falls into
the Shari above Logan. This is the only river not fordable in the
summer between the Quorra and the Bahr-el Azrek.
Monday, 18th.—I was not a little surprised to-day with the arrival
of a messenger from Kano, who had left, he said, my servants and
baggage at the border town, or, as they call it, the Sanson, of
Zamfra, with Hadji Salah, my agent; all of which he said had been
sent for by the sultan’s order: he also said that Pascoe had been
taken and brought back by Richard, after his having got as far as
Roma, in Zegzeg, and that he had twice run away since, and had been
taken, committing a fresh robbery each time; the last time was at
the Sanson. The only construction I put on this strange proceeding
was, that the sultan had done it, thinking that my things would be
safer with me than at Kano; and, as my health was not very good,
the account of Pascoe’s repeated robberies would make me worse;
and he, I thought, had judged that it would be time enough to tell
me when all my things had arrived.
Tuesday, 19th.—I was visited by Sidi Sheik, who is one of the
sultan’s Arab secretaries and confidential friends, who, after
a little conversation on the affairs of other people, asked me if
I was not glad my things were coming, and my servants. I said it
would put me to an expense I could ill afford, and I thought it a
very strange proceeding of the sultan.
Wednesday, 20th.—I was very ill all day, and in the evening I had
a visit from Mohamed Ben Haja Gumso and Sidi Sheik, who said they
had been sent to me by the sultan, to tell me not to consider it
strange that he had sent for my servants and baggage; and to tell me,
that there were three roads by which I could return, one of which I
must choose; also to speak the truth, had I come as a messenger from
the king of England to Bello, or only to seek out a road? that one
of the paths was through Yourriba, the way I had come; the other by
Timbuctoo; and another by way of Aghadez, Tuat, and Morzuk. I said
that, after such a message, and such unwarranted proceeding on the
part of the sultan, I could have no further communication with them;
that they might act as they thought fit, all was the same to me. They
went off, saying I was a very difficult man; had I nothing to say to
the sultan? I said that my business with the sultan was now finished,
and I would have no more to say.
Thursday, 21st.—In the morning I sent to the sultan to take
possession of my baggage, as it now appeared from Sidi Sheik,
who early visited me, that they considered I was conveying guns
and warlike stores to the sheik of Bornou. He sent to say that no
one should touch my baggage; he only wanted to see the letter of
Lord Bathurst to the sheik. I answered, they must take it if they
pleased, but that I would not give it. At noon the Gadado arrived,
and a short while after Hadji Hat Salah; the latter called on me as
he went to his house. He declared that he knew not on what business
they had sent for him; that he did not fear them, he had done nothing
amiss. As there were too many persons around, I did not ask him any
further questions, and instantly went to the Gadado, whom I found
alone, sitting by a warm fire. After the usual compliments were over,
I asked him for what reason the sultan had sent for my baggage. He
said of that he had not the least knowledge, until my servants
and baggage had arrived at Magaria; but the sultan had told him,
since his return, that all he wanted was to see the letter to the
sheik of Bornou. I told him that to give up the letter was more than
my head was worth. He said they did not want to open the letter,
they only wanted to see the direction, and if it was really from
Lord Bathurst. I told him of the strange conversation of Ben Gumso
and Sidi Sheik. He said, certainly such was not the message of the
sultan, but an addition of their own; the sultan never sent to ask
if I was really a messenger of the king of England.
At 3 P.M. my servant Richard arrived with my baggage and
Pascoe. Richard had been very ill on the road, but had received
every attention from the people in the different towns in which he
had halted, and also from the messenger which the sultan of Kano
had sent to accompany him, who had also given him five bullocks,
and four men to accompany him and carry the baggage, and a camel
which Hadji Salah had bought for me, for 60,000 cowries. The price
of the bullocks was 12,000 each, and the pay of the men 4,000 cowries
each. Richard’s account of Pascoe was as follows:—The second day
after Pascoe’s first desertion, he, though very ill, secured all my
baggage and goods in a secure room in the house, and went and gave
Hadji Salah the key, declaring he must be answerable to me if any
thing was lost, as he was going to bring Pascoe back. Hadji Salah
advised him much not to go; but Richard, with the Arab servant whom
I had left sick, and who was now recovered, mounting the two horses,
took the road to Quorra, the capital of Zegzeg. When they arrived
at the town of Aushur, in Zegzeg, they were informed by a person
who had just arrived that Pascoe had been firing a pistol in the
market-place in the town of Roma, a day’s journey ahead. They
arrived at Roma, where the people informed them that Pascoe had
been there, but had gone away. Richard stopped there that night,
as the horses were unable to proceed. A short time after halting,
some people came and informed him that he (Pascoe) was stopping in
a woman’s house near the market-place. Richard immediately sent
people to the gates of the town to stop him, if he attempted to
depart. Richard was too ill to go to the house, but sent Abdulfitha,
the Arab, and some other people to secure him, and bring him to
the house, which they did, and he promised faithfully to behave
well for the future; and Richard had him put inside of the hut,
he and the Arab sleeping at the door. Next day they departed with
their prisoner for Kano; but when within half a day’s journey of
Kano, where they halted for the night, during the time Richard was
asleep, Pascoe slipped out of the hut, taking with him all the arms
and money Richard had. He immediately mounted, and as he had now
neither money nor arms, he started for Kano, where he arrived early
in the morning, and told Hadji Salah to send instantly after him,
which he did, and Pascoe was brought back in two days after, and put
in irons in a house in Richard’s charge until the arrival of the
governor of Kano, when Richard set him at large, after his taking an
oath before the governor that he would not run away, or misbehave,
until he joined me: this was the day before Richard’s departure
from Kano. After leaving Kano, Richard was nearly dead with fatigue,
weakness, and watching; but the fourth day he got better. Ten days
after Richard arrived at the Sanson, or town, called Fofin Birnee,
bordering on Goobur and the territory of the rebels of Zamfra. Here
he was waiting for an escort to take him through the part of the
road infested by the rebels of Goobur and Zamfra, when Pascoe, the
third night after their arrival at the Sanson, took an opportunity,
when Richard was asleep, of breaking open one of my trunks and a
gun-box, taking a double-barrelled gun, five gilt chains, two dozen
and a half pairs of scissors, all my money, a brace of pistols,
seven hundred needles, one dozen of penknives, and a large quantity
of beads. Richard immediately gave the alarm, and the people of
the town were sent after him directly: they returned with him the
next night. He having taken the road towards Goobur, and the hyænas
being numerous, and following him, he got up into a tree, and fired
his newly-acquired gun at them, the report of which brought those in
search of him to the place, when they brought him back, and pinioned
him to the ground, and abused him very much. When Richard asked what
the Fellatas were saying, he said they were cursing Richard for
having him pinioned to the ground, but Richard would not have him
let loose. On his arrival here, the Gadado asked me to forgive him:
I told him that was impossible. They allow him to go at large, and
he stops in the house of the Gadado’s master of the camels. When
I saw him, he appeared as if nothing had been the matter. I forbad
my servants holding any communication with him.
Friday, 22d.—In the morning the Gadado sent for Allah Sirkie to
tell me the sultan wished to see Richard my servant, as he had never
seen another Christian besides myself; and he also wished to see me,
and I was to bring the sheik’s letter, which he by no means wished
to take from me, or to open; he only wished to see how we addressed
him, and if it was in a tin case like his. I went after the mid-day
prayers with the Gadado, taking with me my servant Richard, whom
they all called Insurah Coramina, or the little Christian, and Allah
Sirkie, to the sultan’s, where we found him sitting in an inner
room, better dressed than usual, and Mohamed Ben Hadji Gumso and
Sidi Sheik sitting on his left: the Gadado sat down on his right,
I with my servants in front. After his asking Richard and I how we
were, and a few other questions, he then said he had sent Ben Hadji
Gumso and Sidi Sheik to me, to inform me that he had sent for my
people and baggage. Before he had not informed me, but now he would
tell me how matters stood. The king of England had sent me to him,
but I wished to go to the Sheik of Bornou: that between him and the
sheik there was war; and therefore, though I had come from the king
of England, he would not allow me to go: that there were three roads,
out of which I must choose one; and he would send people with me;
one road was the way I had come, the second by way of Timbuctoo, and
the third by way of Aghadiz and Fezzan. I answered, that by the way I
had come he could not send me, nor was it safe I should attempt it,
as all Yourriba and the other countries at war with the Fellatas
were now well acquainted with my having come here as a messenger,
with presents from the king of England to him, for the purpose of
putting a stop to the slave trade. That the way by Timbuctoo was
almost impassable, for the Fellatas from Foota-Torra and Foota-Bonda,
&c. who had arrived here a short while ago, had with the greatest
difficulty been allowed to come here with nothing but a staff and a
shirt, and had been twelve months on the road, owing to the war; and
that, were I to go, all the country would hear of me, and his enemies
would have me and all my baggage before I had been two months on the
road. That the road by Aghadiz would require a number of camels,
more than I could afford to buy at present, also a great deal of
provisions, water-skins, &c. as there was no place for seven days’
journey that supplied either wood or water: that the Tuaricks were
a people without either law or government; and if they did allow
me to go, I should have to pay very dear for their permission, at
least two camel-loads of blue tobes and turbans; but if he would
allow me to go by the way of Baghermi, Darfoor, and Egypt, I would
go at all risks. He replied that was just going by way of Bornou,
as I must pass through from Adamawa to Logan. “With truth,” said
old Ben Gumso with great earnestness to Sidi Sheik, and loud enough
for the sultan to hear, “do you hear how that man talks before
the prince of the faithful?” He, the sultan, then asked to see
the sheik’s letter; I showed it to him, as also the Arabic list
of medicines which I had brought as far as Badagry for the sheik,
but had sent them back. He asked me to open the sheik’s letter,
after he had read the list of medicines. I said, it was more than
my head was worth to do such a thing; that I had come to him with a
letter and presents from the king of England, on the faith of his
own letter the preceding year, and I hoped he would not break his
promises and his word for the sake of seeing the contents of that
letter which he had now lying beside him. He then made a motion with
his hand for me to go, and I accordingly rose, made my bow, and went
out: I saw Pascoe at the door, ready to have his audience, the Gadado
accompanying me as far as the door. Instead of going to my house, I
went to see Hadji Salah, who certainly was but poorly lodged by the
Fellatas. I asked him, as there was none present but the son of the
former sultan of Fezzan, and whom he had brought from Kano with him,
what had brought him to Soccatoo? He said, they had not yet told him,
but he did not care for them. The house, as soon as it was known
that I was there, was soon filled with Fellatas, and I left him.
Saturday, 23d.—Hadji Salah to-day saw the sultan, and I was
informed by the master of my house that he was to return to Kano
in four days after this. In the evening, Hadji Salah, having asked
the Gadado’s permission to pay me a visit, came about eight P.M.:
he was not watched, that I could see. He informed me that he had
seen the sultan to-day, who had desired him to tell the truth,
whether I had given him the sheik’s present, or any thing for
the sheik before I left Kano. He said he certainly never received
any thing from me for the sheik, neither letter, nor goods, nor
any thing else. After answering to this effect, as also the two
friends that had come with him, the sultan told him it was well;
he would allow him to return to his family in four days. He said,
with respect to me, he would advise me, as a friend and a man of
peace, to give up to them the present I had for the sheik, and
return home by the way of Aghadiz, which they had proposed to me;
that there was not a Fellata, from the sultan to the meanest man
amongst them, that could bear the sheik of Bornou, or any one who
had ever been friends with him; that, thank God! I had put nothing
into his hands for the sheik, or he would have lost his head; that
he would (most earnestly repeating it again) advise me to give up
the sheik’s present to them, as I could not keep it. I observed
that it was the same thing as forcing the letter from me; it would
be the last injury they could do me; that they had broken all faith
with me; I could have no more to say to them: after their cheating or
robbing me of the letter, they might take what they pleased. I was
only one man, I could not fight against a nation: they could not,
even by taking away my life, do worse with me than they had done.
Sunday, 24th.—I saw the Gadado this morning, who complained that
he had got a bad cold: I recommended him to take a dose of senna. He
said he had to ride out of town a short distance, to meet Mohamed Ben
Abdullahir, Bello’s first cousin by the father’s side: he is the
Fellata king or sultan of Nyffé, and is coming here to get permission
to go down this year, as before he had sent only a relation or head
chief to command there, which was Omar Zurmie, whom I had seen when
there. He asked me to go with him to meet Abdullahir. I told him no;
my affairs with them were now at an end: after the manner in which
the sultan had behaved to me, it was impossible for them to put a
greater affront on me than what they had done. He said that when
I came here before, I had come with letters from the Bashaw of
Tripoli and the Sheik of Bornou, and that at that time they were
all at peace; now they were at war, and the sultan neither held,
nor allowed others to hold, any communication with the sheik or his
people: that I had come then with a letter and presents from the king,
and delivered them; that I had a letter and presents from the king of
England’s vizier; that when I sent the sword from Katagum to Bello,
from the king of England, the Sheik of Bornou had seized the letter
that came with it, and they had now done the same by him; and that,
if I would give up the present, they would send it by Hadji Salah. I
said there was no letter whatever came with the sword and box I had
sent from Katagum. I observed to him, that the conduct of Bello
was not like that of a prince of the faithful, who, in defiance
of his letter requesting the king of England to send a consul out,
had broken all faith between us; that they had done every evil to me
they could. The Gadado pleaded the letters sent from the Sheik and the
two Hadjis of Tripoli, saying that I was a spy, and that we wanted to
take this country, as we had done India. He was very sorry for what
the sultan had done, he said—as sore at heart as I could be: that
they had sent for Hadji Salah, who had been fourteen years in this
country, and all that time transacting the business of the Sheik,
to tell him, if he chose to go to Bornou, to go; if he remained,
he must not interfere any more for the Sheik. I said, what had I to
do with the Sheik or Hadji Salah’s affairs? he was my agent before,
and that was the reason I had employed him a second time. I then took
leave of the Gadado, after repeating to him what I had said above,
two or three times, till he perfectly understood what I had said;
and adding, that I never wished to see the sultan again, and I must
insist on the Gadado to repeat to him what I had said; and also that I
must for the future consider every part of his dominions as a prison,
for he had broken his word in every thing. Notwithstanding all this,
the Gadado and his brother Moodie still send me milk and food the same
as usual; there is not the least difference in their conduct. The
common conversation of the town now is, that the English intend to
take Houssa.
Monday, 25th.—Being Christmas-day, I gave my servant Richard one
sovereign out of six I have left, as a Christmas gift; for he is well
deserving, and has never once shown a want of courage or enterprise
unworthy an Englishman. The Gadado early sent to know how I was,
and desired my servant to tell me he had acquainted the sultan with
all I had said; and he inquired if my heart was difficult as ever,
which is their way of asking if I meant to talk in the same strong
language. Pascoe was to-day sent to the house of Ben Hadji Gumso,
from that of the Gadado’s servant, with all his baggage; whether
for the purpose of fishing him or making him say what they want,
or to make him a slave, I do not know. He made a fair recantation of
his faith to-day before an Imam and the Gadado: the latter told him,
when he had done, to go and wash himself from head to foot—that
yesterday he was a Kaffir, but now he was friends with the prophet. I
had provisions sent as usual in the evening.
Tuesday, 26th.—Early this morning I was visited by Hadgi Salah
and Malem Moodie, the Gadado’s brother. They said they had been
sent by the sultan, who had read the letter addressed to the Sheik,
in which it was said that I had six guns for the Sheik, two boxes
of balls and one box of powder, and one chest of goods as presents,
and they were come to demand them. I said it was untrue; no such
thing could have been put in the letter, for that the guns belonged
to myself and servants, except those of the gentlemen who accompanied
me, and who had died in Yourriba, and two others as presents: this
falsehood they must have had from their friend Pascoe. The present
I had intended to give the Sheik I had all ready prepared, and the
Gadado entering, I ordered my servants to bring it forth: the Gadado,
looking over the articles, said he did not want any thing of mine;
whatever belonged to the Sheik they would take, for he was making
a very unjust war upon them, and they would not allow any one to
carry arms or warlike stores to him. I told the Gadado that they
were acting like robbers towards me, in defiance of all good faith;
that no people in the world would act the same, and they had far
better have cut my head off than done such an act; but I supposed
they would do that also when they had taken every thing from me. The
Gadado flew off in a great passion, and the rest followed, carrying
the present for the Sheik with them. Hadji Salah said he was afraid
they would cut his head off, and he was a man with a large family;
he would from this time forward have no further concern with me or
my affairs. A short while after this, Hadji Salah and his attendants
came with a message from the sultan, to say the sultan had ordered
them to tell me that he did not wish to do any thing or say any thing
unpleasant to me; all he wanted was to know if I had any arms or
warlike stores for the Sheik—if I had, to give them up: I told him
all I had for the Sheik they had already taken. Hadji Salah wanted me
to give up all my own arms: I told him I would not give one. He said,
I was once, he thought, a wise man, now I acted like an unwise one,
not to give up all to save my head: I told him I would not give them
a charge of powder to save my head. They went off displeased again.
My servants and all my visitors fell off at this time. My servants
said they were afraid to remain, even Allah Sirkie. This cowardice
and ingratitude I did not expect from one I had found a slave, with
only a leather skin about his middle, and whom I had clothed, fed,
given him wages the same as my other servants from the day I bought
him, and made him free. I told them they were at perfect liberty
to go where they thought proper; that I could soon get others who,
after the manner in which I had behaved to them, could not behave
worse: they however returned in the evening, and begged I would take
them back, which I did; as lies, and ingratitude, and petty robbery,
no servant who is a native of Houssa, Fezzan, or Bornou, is free from.
Thursday, 28th.—The Gadado left to-day for Magaria: before he went,
he told me he should not stay long away; that if any thing unpleasant
happened to me during his absence, to send an express off to him
directly. In the afternoon the sultan left for the Sansan or new town,
which he is building. He sent, by Sidi Sheik, to ask me to go and
show him the way to build a house and fortify it; but as I did not
believe what he said, I took no notice of the message. It afterwards
turned out that Sidi Sheik had a relation who had lately arrived,
who was a builder, and he wanted to introduce him to the sultan.
Friday, 29th.—I applied a large blister to my side, as, from the
enlargement of the spleen, it gave me great pain, having increased
to such a size that I was unable to eat, and had little or no rest.
Sunday, 14th January, 1827.—No news from Magaria. After sunset,
a messenger with a horse for me arrived from the Gadado at Magaria,
wishing me to go there.
Monday, 15th.—Started at sunrise for Magaria; but I was so ill on
the road that I did not arrive there before 5 P.M. All the reports
of the enemy being near proved untrue.
Tuesday, 16th.—Waited on the Gadado and sultan. The latter told
me, as soon as the reports of the rebels being out were found to be
true or false, I should go; that he intended I should go by the way
of Asbur, and that I should visit the country of Jacoba during the
interval; that he should send a Fellata to Tripoli with me. I returned
in the afternoon, and arrived at Soccatoo a little after sunset.
Wednesday, 17th.—A small gaffle of Arabs arrived to-day from
Timbuctoo, one of whom had seen Major Laing, who, he said, had
lost his hand in an attack which the Tuaricks had made on him and
his servants during the night, and that his servants, a Jew and a
Christian, had got severely wounded.
Saturday, 20th.—Sent Richard to Magaria with a letter to the
Gadado, urging him to apply to the sultan for permission to visit
Jacoba and the southern parts of Houssa, that I might be able to
ascertain whether and where the Quorra fell into the sea.
Friday, 26th.—Light airs, with a slight haze; at 8 strong breezes
from the E.N.E. The sultan sent to inform me that a courier had
arrived from the sultan of Kano, informing him of the sheik being
only a day’s journey to the south of that place; and the Sultan
Bello wished to know if, after such intelligence, I wished to go
to Kashna. Sidi Sheik was the bearer of the message. I, of course,
said I should remain where I was at present, without making any
observations, as the news might be untrue, and it was only a catch
to get at my intentions.
Saturday, 27th.—Cool and clear. At day-break the Gadado arrived
from Magaria. In the forenoon I visited him, when he told me he was
going to Kano: he said that as soon as every thing was settled he
would write for me to come; but that I had better remain where I
was until the sheik had returned, who was at Sangia, on his way to
Kano. It seems the sheik, before he entered the territory of Houssa,
had sent to the governors of Katagum, Hadiga, Lamema, and Kano,
to say he was not at war with Bello or his people, but at peace;
that he had only come to take Mohamed Mungo and Mohamed Nema, two
of the Fellata chiefs on the frontiers, who were constantly invading
Bornou, and carrying off the inhabitants and cattle. Instead however
of looking after these chiefs, he entered the province of Shena,
took all the people and cattle he could lay his hands on, and was
now on his march to Kano, trying to cut off the sultan, who was
at Dushie, the frontier town, to assist Hadgi Katagum in case of
attack; but on hearing that the sheik was on his march to Kano,
he had returned to secure that important city.
Sunday, 28th.—Clear and cloudless sky. Took leave of the Gadado,
as he goes to Kano to-morrow to take command of the forces. The whole
of the Fellatas are in the greatest state of alarm, as they expect
the whole of the blacks will join the sheik, as also the Tuaricks:
they are now busily employed in getting their grain into Soccatoo,
expecting an attack here.
Monday, 29th.—The Gadado did not leave until the afternoon. The
sultan, and every one that could muster a horse, besides a number
on foot, accompanied him as far as the river side, which runs to
the north, on the east of Soccatoo: here they repeated the fatha,
after which all those not going to accompany him returned.
Thursday, February 8th.—Having taken leave of the sultan, I put all
my baggage, except one trunk and the canteen, into the Gadado’s
house, as well to prevent robbery as to guard against fires, which
are very common in Soccatoo; taking my two camels and all my servants
for Magaria. At 8 A.M. one of my camels being sickly and weak,
we travelled very slowly until 3 P.M., when I halted at a village
near the road-side, where the head man gave me a hut to sleep in;
and the river being about two miles distant to the north, we sent
the camels out to feed, and left Richard and Allah Sirkie to pitch
the tent and take care of the horses. I went down to the river
side with the gun, to look at the hunting ground: I was attended
by Malem Moodie, the owner of the village, on horseback, and about
twenty of his slaves. He is the only free man in the village,
which consists of about seventy men, women, and children. After
descending the rocky and gravelly side of the hill over which the
road lies, I came upon the flat, which spreads out about four miles
to the foot of the high ground or low hills. On the north side,
the river overflows all the flat during the rains; and the former
course of the river has left several pools and beautiful lakes of
water. The soil in the flat is generally a blue clay and mould to
a depth of from three to four feet; in the upper parts planted with
cotton and gourds, and the other parts, during the rains, with rice,
which is of a very good quality. The river runs at this place in a
narrow winding bed, about twelve feet deep; the banks sandy below the
strata of clay and mould; and the falling of trees, and the looseness
of the soil, cause it often to shift its bed through the flats or
swamps in the rainy season. The acacia trees were in blossom, and
the traces of elephants were numerous. I saw only three antelopes,
but great numbers of guinea-fowl, which were too wild to come near,
as they are so much hunted by the young Fellatas; so I returned
without any thing. I was very anxious to have shot a wild boar, of
which there were great numbers; but Malem Moodie was quite shocked at
the thought of my wanting the skin, so that he would not, I suppose,
have let me or my people have any supper if I had touched it; though
he had no objection to my shooting as many as I pleased of their
Kaffirs and Eblis. I returned to my hut in the village, when the
Malem, at meal-time, sent me a large store-pudding, and gravy made
of butter and the leaves of the adansonia, with corn for my horses.
Friday, 9th.—After day-light, left the village of Malem Moodie,
having given his female slaves who brought the pudding and millet
the full price in cowries, and the old Malem two gora nuts: the old
man was quite pleased with the present, and accompanied me a little
distance on the road, calling at two other villages on the road-side
to show his guest to the people. Though they have seen me fifty times,
every man and woman, for twenty miles round Soccatoo, still their
curiosity is as great as ever, examining my dress, and the dress
of my servant Richard; the buttons of brass they always call gold:
also my English bridles, and the cloth of my trousers, and my coat,
which is a striped printed dressing-gown, draw the attention of all
the women, young and old, who beg always a piece of the same to tie
round their heads: all good things, they say, we have got. They call
me the big Christian, and my servant Richard the little Christian: my
old name of Abdulla is seldom used, except by those who knew me when
I was here before, and that only to my face. At 10 A.M. arrived at
Magaria. My friend Malem Moodie was not at home; but I took up my
quarters at my old house; and Moodie’s wife, the one that lives
here (for he has four wives and sixteen concubines), sent me plenty
of milk and doura. Moodie arriving, I told him I had come to remain
a few days to shoot, and I wanted a man to show me the ground:
he soon got me one, and I had every thing ready to start next morning.
Saturday, 10th.—A little after day-light left Magaria, and riding
through between a number of plantations of cotton on the low ground,
which had been covered during the rains, we came on to the rice
ground, which is now covered with fine green grass, and has several
small lakes and pools of water formed by the ancient beds of the
river. The sides of the lakes and pools were swampy for a considerable
distance, so that there was no getting within reach of the birds
with small shot. They consisted of the white and gray pelican, the
Muscovy duck, Egyptian goose, ducks, widgeons, and snipes; the heron,
adjutant, ibis, and a small white crane were numerous. On the low
flat were feeding, amongst the herds of bullocks, five or six of
the large red antelopes, between the size of the common antelope
and the nylghau, of a red colour, about as high as a small ass,
with large thick horns, called by the Arabs the hamoria, and by the
people marea. I did not look after them, as there was little cover,
but rode over to the north side of the flat, where the river lies,
expecting to find plenty of game and plenty of cover. On approaching
through the flats, and within about a mile of the river, the woods
were almost impenetrable, abounding in wild hogs and guinea-fowl: of
the latter I shot some, but the hogs were forbidden fruits. I had no
wish to kill them, except to eat, or to have their skins; and my own
servants would have been the first to have held me up to abomination
if I had done so, as the less these rogues know about their religion,
the more they adhere to the less scrupulous points of it; the whole
they know being to repeat their prayers in Arabic, not a word of which
they understand; abhor a Christian, a Kaffir, and a poor harmless
pig. I saw five elephants, and the traces of a great many more. They
hunt them, or set watch for them in their regular paths, sitting on
the branch of some high tree which overhangs the path. Their weapon
is a harpoon, with two moveable barbs, like our whale harpoons, but a
shorter shaft, which is stuck into the end of the large wooden pestle
with which the women beat the husks of the rice and millet in their
mortars. The iron head is poisoned, and night being the time, they
strike on the back as the animal passes under the branch. The hunter
traces him for a little distance; the wood of the harpoon drops off,
and if the animal does not soon fall, the hunter returns home until
next morning, when he is sure to find him dead near to where he had
left him. They eat the flesh, and sometimes sell the tusks for a few
cowries, or they are oftener brought to the sultan or Gadado, along
with the trunk, as a proof of their victory; the tusks they always
give to the Arabs. Three have been killed since I have been here:
they watch only in the evening. At sunset we returned to Magaria,
all very tired, and I with my old dressing-gown torn to ribands.
Monday, 12th.—I went out to hunt on the flats on foot, with a
Fellata to drive in the game, my servants being all knocked up, and
too tired to accompany me. After getting on the ground, I lay down
amongst the long grass, and sent out the Fellata, who twice drove
the game close to where I was lying, but on both occasions I was
sound asleep, being overcome with fatigue, and I got up and returned
home. As I was returning I fell in with an old sow and five pigs: I
let fly at her, as she with her whole family were coming up to take a
look at me. This, as I did not hit any of them, did not at all disturb
her or her brood, who, by their size, might be about nine months old;
she, with four of the young ones, only turned on one side, and walked
slowly amongst the long grass. As I came nearer, the fifth, a young
boar, came snorting up, with his tail erect, to within pistol shot;
I presented the gun to him, but he seemed to care very little for me,
and I did not like to kill him. After both had satisfied ourselves
with looking at one another, he, seeing the whole of his relations
in safety, turned round with a grunt, and strutted after them,
with as little fear in his gesture as if he had been lord of the
soil. The wild hogs of Africa, both in Borgo, Houssa, and Bornou,
are the same in appearance, having a head much larger in proportion
to their bodies than the domestic hog of Europe. In Yourriba and
Nyffé the snout is very broad and round, with two large tusks
on each side, one in each jaw, both upper and lower turning up,
the lower fitting also the upper and outside; the back of the neck
covered with a mane of upright bristles of a snuff-brown colour,
no other hair appearing on any other part, except at the tip of the
tail: they are universally of the same colour, a dark mouse or lead
colour: the height of a full grown boar is about three and a half
or four feet, and from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail
about five feet. They have also two warts on each side of the head,
on a line with the nose, the largest below the ear, two inches and a
half, the other about an inch lower down, upon the end of the upper
tusk, which look like two horns.
Tuesday, 13th.—I did not go out until nearly mid-day, and then went
to the south of the town, amongst the hills and woods, but again was
unsuccessful. Though the traces of game of all kinds were numerous,
yet I saw nothing but one flock of antelopes, which I could not get
near; guinea-fowl were in plenty, but as shy as before. The hills
were composed of loose clay, iron-stone rocks on the surface, and a
red clay and sand for the depth of about four or five feet, then a
dull whitish or rather bluish clay, containing shining particles of
mica underneath. Several of the stones had rounded pebbles imbedded in
them; others were, on breaking, like yellow ochre; the outer surfaces
of all as if they had been burnt in the fire. This is owing to the
weather I suppose, as well as the appearance of having been melted
from the rains and sand beating on them, and wearing away the soft
parts. The blocks of rock never exceed six feet square when loose,
and when covering a flat, never above three or four feet thick over
the clay soil. I forgot to mention that the greater number, when
broke, present a glistening or shining appearance, like iron-ore,
and that they are much heavier than pieces of sandstone of the same
bulk. After tiring myself amongst the hills to no purpose, and I
and my guides being very thirsty, we went across to the north, to
a small lake on the flat or plain, to drink. Here I fell in with a
party of Fellata girls washing their gourds, from which their people,
who had a temporary bullock or cattle village close at hand, under
the shade of some large adansonia (kouka trees), had just gone out
on the flats with their cattle. They gave me curdled milk and water
to drink; after which I lay down by the side of the lake, and took
the bridle off my horse, to let him enjoy himself also amongst the
fine green grass.
Wednesday, 14th.—I did not go out to-day, as I had had such bad
success, and was too much fatigued. A courier arrived from the Gadado,
bringing intelligence of the Sheik El Kanemi being defeated with
great loss, and that he had fled towards Bornou; the governors of
Fudba and Zegzeg had beaten him; and that the governor of Kano had
joined them, with all his forces, in the rear. Duncoroa, governor
of Katagum, Ben Gumso of Hadiga, &c. were in front of the sheik,
so that he will not be able to return to Bornou if they manœuvre
right. The Fellatas are all in great glee on the occasion, and they
do not spare him the name of Dan Caria, or son of a b——h.
Thursday, 15th.—Took leave of Moodie, and left Magaria after 6
A.M., sending two camels with Richard and Moodie to the village
where I had halted on my way to Magaria. I proceeded along the foot
of the hills, skirting the river, the bed of which is now dry in a
number of places. I shot one duck and two guinea-fowls, the latter
of which were very numerous; but the boys had that morning been
hunting them, and they were very wild. I also saw one elephant, a
number of hogs, seven of what the Arabs call the red bullock, and
the people of Bornou the corigum. I take them to be the nylghau,
but only a variety in colour. In Bornou they are of a dark brown;
here they are of a cream colour. I shot several; they are of the
antelope tribe, very fierce when wounded, and will give battle when
attacked. At sunset I returned, and had a plentiful supply of pudding
from the old malem; and the guinea-fowls and duck feasted all hands.
Friday, 16th.—At daylight started, and rode on to the Sanson, where
I arrived at 10 A.M. The sultan sent, as soon as I arrived, to ask
how I was, and to tell me he wished to see me next day. The messenger
between him and me, since the Gadado is gone, is old Yargoorma,
who acts in that capacity when the Gadado is here. She also sits up
all night in the room he sleeps in, and keeps his fire alight. She
is a shrewd old woman, of strong natural sense; and has apartments
in the Gadado’s house, and also in the sultan’s, and possesses
upwards of forty male and female slaves, though herself a slave. This
possessing slaves and property is not uncommon for slaves here,
which, if they have no children, go at their death to their master.
Saturday, 17th.—Clear and warm. At 3 A.M. old Yargoorma came
and told me the sultan wished to see me. I went, and found him
alone. He asked after my health, and if my exercise in hunting
had cured me of the spleen, which is considerably reduced, and I
am now free from pain. He also asked after Richard, my servant;
if his legs and feet had got better; a disorder of which he is
also cured. The feet and ankles first swell, and cause great pain,
not being able to walk; then it proceeds to the calves of the legs,
knees, and thigh-joints. Purgative medicines are of little service;
and the soles and ankles are so painful the patient can walk but with
great difficulty, and great pain afterwards. The swelling is not like
the scurvy, as on pressing the finger on the part it is attended with
great pain, and does not leave a hollow after the finger is taken off.
I told him of the difficulty and the impossibility it was for me to
get the skin, head, and feet-bones of two wild hogs, as he wished,
because my servants would not touch them if I killed them. He said
he would send for two, and I might either have them skinned myself,
or they would bring the skins for me. I thanked him, and said I would
prefer them skinned in the woods, as, were they brought to me alive,
my house would be filled with idle people, and the whole town would
never leave off talking about it whenever they saw me. Good, he
said, and ordered a eunuch to give orders to the hunters to bring
two as soon as possible. He asked me if we eat pork? I said yes,
and the flesh was very good when they were well fed; we only eat it
sparingly; the fat, I said, was always used for salves. I said it
was much better to eat than dogs’ flesh, which they sold publicly
in the market at Tripoli; and all the great in Fezzan eat dogs’
flesh whenever they could procure it. This account Sidi Sheik, who
had just come in, confirmed. The sultan said, it was strange what
people would eat: in the district of Umburm, belonging to Jacoba,
they eat human flesh. I said I did not think any people existed on
the face of the earth that eat their own kind as food; that certainly
there were some savages in different parts of the world who eat their
enemies. The sultan said he had seen them eat human flesh; that on
the governor of Jacoba telling him of these people, he could hardly
believe it himself; but on a Tuarick being hanged for theft, he saw
five of these people eat a part, with which he was so disgusted that
he sent them back to Jacoba soon after. He said that whenever a person
complained of sickness amongst these men, even though only a slight
headach, they are killed instantly, for fear they should be lost
by death, as they will not eat a person that has died by sickness;
that the person falling sick is requested by some other family, and
repaid when they had a sick relation; that universally when they went
to war, the dead and wounded were always eaten; that the hearts were
claimed by the head men; and that, on asking them why they eat human
flesh, they said it was better than any other; that the heart and
breasts of a woman were the best part of the body; and that they had
no want of food, as an excuse for eating one another. Indian corn,
millet, doura, and sweet potatoes were in plenty; that both men and
women went naked, though their houses were much neater and cleaner
than those of the common people of Soccatoo; that, excepting this
bad custom, they were very cleanly, and otherwise not bad people,
except that they were Kaffirs; that he would make me a present of
some of them to let the king of England see that such was the fact. I
said, I would rather be excused taking them, as both the king and
the people of England would be too much disgusted at seeing such a
sight. You will see them, he said, when you go to Jacoba: he would
write to the governor to show them to me when I went. I then told him
I wished as soon as possible to go to Jacoba, as I had been here now
five months very idle. He said that the rebels of Zamfra had sent to
beg for peace, and that, as soon as their sultan or chief arrived,
he would send me through that part of Zamfra which I had not seen,
and I should see the gold ores said to be there; that I should also
see Adamawa and the Shari; and that he would send me afterwards to
the sea, by the way of a country called Kano, bordering on the sea,
and going to the south of the province of Zegzeg, and whose sultan
had sent a messenger a short while after I left Soccatoo on my former
journey, wishing to open a trade with Houssa. I said that the sooner
he could send me the better, as he would have every thing that he
could wish from England much cheaper than he could have by the way of
the desert. He asked me again who the eleven slave-dealers were that
his cousin, Mohamed Ben Abdullah, had taken at his camp at Nyffé;
and if I knew that they were Christians. He said they were black;
and had come from, or by the way of Borgoo; and what ought to be done
with them; for Abdullah had seized them, and written to know what he
should do with them. I said, he had better either take their goods,
and send them away home, or have them brought up here; that they
were not Christians, but I thought natives of Dahomey, and part of
the same gang I had seen at Wawa in Borgoo; as it was common for
the Mahomedans to call all persons, not agreeing with them in faith,
Christians or Jews. After this I took leave; and in the evening he
sent me a fine fat sheep, and two pomegranates from his garden.
Monday, 19th.—A courier from the Gadado arrived at Kano with a
letter to the sultan, informing him of the defeat of the sheik of
Bornou, and his retreat, with the loss of all his baggage, camels,
and tents, two hundred and nine horses, and a number of slaves. The
sultan sent me the letter to read, and the sheik’s water-pot,
made of copper. This is an article of the first importance to a
Mahomedan great man; he never travels without one. It had been cut
in three different places by a sword, not in taking it, as it was
found in the tent, but hacked by some of them to vent their rage on
the poor pot, as they could not do it on the sheik.
Saturday, 24th.—At day-break the pagans whom the sultan had sent
to kill and skin a wild boar for me arrived with the skins of a
boar, a sow, and one of their young ones. All the idle people in the
neighbourhood had come to have a peep, as did several of the better
sort of people, some of whom sat down to see me and the poor pagan,
whose name is Whidah, and his sons go through the operation of salting
and packing the skins. They asked Whidah if he eat the flesh? He
answered, Yes, and very good it is too. It is quite ridiculous to see
how much those people dread even to touch any part of the animal’s
skin, and know not for what reason, only because they have heard
others say so. I told them it was better meat than dogs’ flesh,
which the people of Fezzan and those of Tripoli eat; and at Tripoli
dogs’ flesh was publicly sold in the market; true they were Moslem,
and had not a pig, which was more cleanly in its eating, and better
to be eaten than a dog. My servants, the ignorant rascals, would not
come near, and if there had been others to be hired, I would have paid
them off. I first strewed the poison slightly over the inner part of
the hides, then plenty of finely pounded salt, and made Whidah and
his sons rub all well in, strewed them over with dried grass, and
packed each separately in a mat, and gave them in charge to Whidah,
to have them properly dried, and to take the flesh off the bones of
the heads. The news soon got to the market that I had such things
in my house; and on sending to the market to buy three new mats,
the owner said he would sell them to me, but would not bring them
to my house; and now the pigs and I are the whole talk of Soccatoo.
Sunday, 25th.—Divine service. Nothing worth remarking has happened
since the 25th, except that I was laid up for the last four days
with ague.
Wednesday, 28th.—Paid Malem Mohamed 20,000 cowries for his writing
me an account of the country between Soccatoo and Masina, and Kano
and Sennar, and making a chart of the river Quorra, between Cubbie
and Masina.
Sunday, 11th March, nothing worth noting down, until the 12th, when a
messenger of the governor of Boushi arrived, bringing with him part
of the spoil taken from the sheik of Bornou, which consisted of an
old Bornou tent, a horse, and two mares, with two drums. The tent
was erected in the square in the front of the sultan’s house, and
two slaves set to beat the drums; the whole population of Soccatoo
came to see them, and they continued beating all night. The sultan
sent for me. I went, and found him alone, and appearing very good
humoured with the news that had arrived. After my asking after his
health, and just beginning to ask if he would send me as soon as
convenient to Adamowa, and to write to the governor to allow me to
proceed up the Shari as far as possible, and show me every thing
worth seeing in that province; and after that, if the governor
of Adamowa thought it safe, he would send me to Boushi, without
coming back to Kano; and that from Boushi I would proceed to Zari,
and wait until after the rains, and then proceed with his messenger
to the other Kano and the sea—before he could give me an answer,
a number of the principal people of Soccatoo came in, and interrupted
the conversation; so I took my leave, he appointing another day to
give me the information I requested.
(_Note._—Here Clapperton’s Journal finishes, and no notices of
any kind appear among his papers subsequent to the above-mentioned
date; but the following Journal, kept by his faithful servant,
Richard Lander, amply supplies the deficiency.)
=JOURNAL=
OF
=RICHARD LANDER,=
SERVANT TO THE LATE
CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON.
JOURNAL, &c.
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO.
November 20, 1826.—The sultan sent a messenger for me this morning,
and after waiting in a coozie an hour, I was introduced to him. He
informed me of his having received a letter from my father (after
the death of Dr. Morrison I always passed for my master’s son),
desiring him to send me to Soccatoo, with the whole of the property
intrusted to my care. I had myself received a letter from my master
only two days previously, in which he expressed no such intention;
but, on the contrary, said he should be with me shortly. In that
letter he complained of a violent pain in his side, to which he had
been for some time subject; and I fancied, by his not writing me
to-day, he had died; and that, from motives of delicacy, the king
had withheld the news from me.
22d.—The sultan again sent for me, and said he would make my father
a present of five pack bullocks to convey the goods to Soccatoo,
and send four men to take charge of them on the road; at the same
time wished me to leave on the 25th.
24th.—Paid my respects to the sultan in the morning; remained with
him upwards of an hour; and on leaving, he said in a feeling tone,
shaking hands with me at the same time, “Good bye, little Christian;
God take you safe to Soccatoo.” He sent a letter by me to my master,
and desired me to give his compliments to the king of the Mussulmans
(sultan Bello, who was invariably designated by that appellation). On
returning to my house, found Hadji Hat Sallah waiting for me. He told
me it was necessary I should take the whole of my master’s money,
which consisted of 212,000 cowries, to him. As this could not be
done conveniently without a camel, I purchased one for 62,000 cowries.
25th.—At half-past seven in the morning, left my house, accompanied
by old Pascoe, a messenger from sultan Bello, and one from the
king of Kano. Could not, however, get without the gates of the city
till ten, the bullocks being very restive, and throwing off their
burdens repeatedly. At one o’clock halted at Zungugwa: the camel,
in endeavouring to enter the gate, unfortunately broke two boxes in
which was stationery, &c. This accident detained us an hour outside
the walls, and the men were ultimately obliged to carry the goods
on their heads to the residence of the chief, which was a quarter
of a mile’s distance. I waited on him, and gave him a pair of
scissors, fifty needles, and a small paper of cloves, which pleased
him highly. The chief showed me into one of his best huts, where,
he told me, I might remain till I thought proper to leave the place;
and shortly afterwards sent me butter, sour milk, a couple of fine
fowls, and _tuah_ and corn.
26th.—At six in the morning left the hut of this hospitable chief;
and, after a ride of six hours, came to Markee, a large, but rather
thinly inhabited village. The chief, a kind-hearted old man, upwards,
I should suppose, of ninety years of age, and very feeble, was
delighted to see me, and testified the pleasure he felt by shaking
hands with me repeatedly, and by doing me many acts of kindness. He
presented me with fowls, rice, corn, and _tuah_. After a little
conversation, he took me into an inner apartment, and bidding me to
sit, took from a calabash, which was suspended to a piece of wood
attached to the roof, a small box made of skin, round which was wound,
with the greatest care, upwards of five hundred yards of thread, which
occupied him twenty minutes in taking off. In this box he showed me
four bits of tin, about the size of swan and common shot, which he
told me were silver. The old chief gave me to understand, with much
seriousness and earnestness of manner, that they had been given by
an Arab fifteen years before, who told him they were possessed of
life. The larger pieces, he continued, were males, and the smaller
females; and were to produce young at the end of every twelve years,
before which time they were by no means to be looked at. He had
enveloped them in a quantity of cotton-wool, in order to impart warmth
to them; and the thread was tied round the box that the offspring
might have no opportunity of escaping! “But,” said the old man,
with a disappointed air, “though I kept them with the greatest care
for twelve years, suffering no one to approach them, I found, to my
sorrow, at the expiration of that time, they had made no increase;
and I begin to fear they never will:” in saying which the old man
was so grievously affected that he burst into tears. It was with
considerable difficulty I could refrain from laughing aloud in his
face. I succeeded, however, in subduing the great inclination I had to
be merry; and told him, with all the solemnity the occasion deserved,
that the Arab was a rogue, and had deceived him; that the articles
were bits of tin, and not of silver; that they were without life,
and therefore could not produce young. I consoled the old gentleman on
the hoax that had been played off upon him, and sympathized with him
in his sorrow. He soon afterwards became more composed, although at
times he could not help sobbing audibly. After answering the numerous
questions he put to me about my country, &c. I complained of fatigue,
and retired to rest. Ill with dysentery all day.
27th.—Passing a very restless night, got up at six in the morning
and proceeded on my journey. At 10 A.M. passed close to a large
Fellata town, called Kaowah, in the neighbourhood of which were
numerous herds of cattle grazing. Here, as in other parts of Houssa,
the cows are mostly white; and the sheep generally white, with black
and red spots, which had a very agreeable appearance at a distance,
and put me strongly in remembrance of Jacob’s spotted sheep,
mentioned in Scripture. A ride of four hours brought us to Goguay, a
large walled town. The beasts were unable to enter the gate with their
loads, by reason of its extreme narrowness; and being ill, and much
in want of rest, I was unwilling for so much time to be consumed in
conveying them into the town on men’s heads: I accordingly reposed
for the night underneath the branches of a large tree. On learning
of my arrival, the chief came to see me, seated himself by my side,
and entered familiarly into conversation. He observed that tigers
abounded in the neighbourhood, and advised me by all means to keep
fires burning the whole of the night round my attendants and cattle,
to prevent their being attacked by those rapacious animals, which
would very likely be the case if that precaution were not used. The
chief told me that about two years before the Gooberites took and
plundered his town, and put to the sword nearly the whole of its
inhabitants, he himself very narrowly escaping with his 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 left me, a new married couple paid me a visit. I gave the
bride, a very pretty girl of eighteen, guinea nuts to the value of
one hundred cowries, for which she dropped on one knee, and thanked
me in a graceful and becoming manner. I shortly afterwards received
some butter-milk from her, which was a welcome present.
28th.—Left Goguay at half-past six in the morning, and halted at
Kookay, a small wretched looking village, at twelve at noon. The
chief sent provisions for myself and people, and provender for the
cattle; and the inhabitants complained sadly of the mischief done
to their crops by wild pigs, a great part of which was completely
destroyed. They were miserably clad, and exhibited signs of extreme
poverty. This night slept a little, which is a comfort I seldom enjoy.
29th.—At half-past six in the morning proceeded on our journey,
and at twelve stopped at Duncammee, a moderately sized walled town. I
was both surprised and pleased to observe the neatness of this town,
and the cleanliness of its inhabitants. Every inch of spare ground
was planted with tobacco, and very tastefully fenced round with
dried tobacco stalks. The natives manufacture large quantities of
cotton cloths, which are neat and durable; and at the north end
of the town are several dye-pits. The wall surrounding the town
is in rather a ruinous state. The chief welcomed me to his house,
and offered me the best apartment in it. Provisions were plentiful,
and we fared exceedingly well. In return for his kindness, I gave
him a clasp knife, and a hundred needles.
30th.—At six in the morning were again on our route, and halted
at Gaza at one at noon. The chief was happy to see me, lodged me in
his own house, and seemed to take pleasure in obliging me.
31st.—Continued our journey at the usual hour, and halted at Rayoo
at one o’clock. In this town I was considerably worse, became
debilitated in a surprising manner, lost my sight, and could not rise
in bed. Fancying I should not be able to proceed any further, and
that my life was drawing to a close, I called Pascoe to my bed-side,
and advised him, after he had buried me, to make all haste to my
master at Soccatoo; to take particular care of the property he would
have the charge of, and I had no doubt my master would reward him.
December 1st.—This day was dreadfully ill—unable to taste any
kind of food, and expecting every moment would be my last.
2d.—Did not find myself at all better this morning, and was
surprised I had lived so long. At 2 P.M., finding myself a little
revived, but unable to sit up, I determined to see my dear master,
if I could, before I died. For this purpose ordered my people to make
a couch on the back of the camel; after which they gently lifted
me into it, and I almost immediately ordered them to proceed. The
chief of Rayoo, who was one of Bello’s principal fighting men,
behaved particularly kind to me, and, I really believe, sincerely
sympathized in my distress. He expressed much sorrow on parting,
and hinted it would be dangerous to proceed, but did not oppose my
determination. The path, the greater part of the way, being very
narrow, and thickly lined on each side with a species of thorn,
I was annoyed greatly, by reason of the thorns frequently tearing
the covering from my bed, and exposing me to the intense heat of a
burning sun. The sultan of Kano’s messenger, however, seeing me in
this state, rode before the camel, and dexterously lopped off the
overhanging branches with his cutlass: this proved of the utmost
advantage. The violent shaking of the camel caused me to be faint
several times on the road; on which occasions my party uniformly
halted until I revived. In this manner we journeyed till seven in
the evening, when we entered a walled town called Koolefee. The
chief, a very fine old man, never having seen a white man before,
was in raptures when he learned of my being in the town; and
running to the camel, took me from its back, and carried me in
his arms into an apartment which had been hastily prepared for
my reception. Placing me on a bed, he took a gora nut from his
pocket, and holding it betwixt his finger and thumb, wished me to
chew one end of it, that he might have the pleasure of eating with
a Christian. I did it after some difficulty, when he immediately
ate the remainder with much apparent satisfaction. His great men,
who surrounded me, reproved him sharply for doing this. He quickly
answered them, in a pleasant but firm tone, that he believed the
“little Christian” was as good a man as himself or any of them;
which effectually silenced their remarks. He shortly afterwards went
out, and returned with a bowl, containing six quarts of new milk,
with which a little flour and some honey had been mixed. He told
me he was determined to see me eat the whole of it before he left
the apartment. I partook sparingly of it at first, but in the night
tasted it several times, which refreshed and invigorated me.
3d.—Finding myself considerably better this morning, I ordered a
pillow to be laid across my horse’s saddle, that I might travel
for a short distance on his back. Entered a miserable village named
Zunko, and slept there for the night.