* * * * *
Residence at Katanga — Ebo the eunuch — Pantomimic representation by the
Yaribeans — Departure from the city of Katunga — Arrival at Khiama — Wow
Wow — Manners of the people — Boussa — Mungo Park.
We remained at Katunga exactly seven weeks; the king, on various
frivolous pretexts, refusing to grant us permission to depart before.
During all this time each of us enjoyed but indifferent health, Captain
Clapperton in particular being oftentimes so severely indisposed as to
be unable either to walk or ride; nevertheless we were treated with the
utmost civility and kindness by the people generally. The king himself
visited us almost every day, and never came without an acceptable
present of provisions; while his caboceers behaved with a still nobler
generosity, insomuch that if it had not been for the malpractices of a
sly, lubberly, fat, monstrous eunuch, named Ebo, to whose care was
entrusted our provisions, and whose ravenous appetite was proverbial in
the city, we should have been literally crammed with every delicacy both
of the country and season. That old gormand had a paunch of a most awful
size, which he contrived to keep in excellent condition by partaking
largely of the good things intended for our use, which he purloined in a
daring and impudent manner, and devoured when alone and at leisure. Not
content with secreting the choicest articles, he made so serious an
impression even on the bare necessaries of life, that we were not
unfrequently kept on short allowance.
On one occasion we detected him in the very act of concealing some
ducks, eggs, and honey, which we knew beforehand had been sent him for
our consumption; and we taxed him with the robbery to his face. Ebo,
however, disclaimed the imputation with earnestness, and maintained his
innocence with considerable volubility. On our entrance he held a bottle
of rum in one hand, to which he had been evidently paying his devotions,
whilst the other was occupied in shuffling something under a mat. It was
no doubt the eunuch’s intention to take another draught of the inspiring
liquid, whilst thus employed, but, mistaking the hand in which it was
held, he snatched the other from underneath the mat, and had actually
the head of our duck in his mouth, instead of the bottle, before the
error was discovered. This it was which he had taken so much pains to
hide from our sight, and the ludicrous misconception of the fellow
caused us infinite diversion. As for the eunuch, he was not the least
disconcerted; and although we discovered the honey and eggs also
concealed in another part of his house, he roundly asserted that he had
purchased them at the market the day before. Complaints were made to the
king of his conduct, without producing a beneficial effect upon the
gormandizing Ebo, who continued to feed without mercy on our provisions,
while his paunch maintained its usual enviable state of rotundity and
bulk, at the expense of our empty stomachs.
Captain Clapperton diverted the people of Katunga by a display of
rockets at different times; this was the only means we had of making
ourselves in the least degree the instruments of pleasure to them in
return for their good nature; and this they appeared to enjoy with all
the zest that a novelty generally inspires in the breasts of savages,
even after it had ceased to be a novelty. At first the spectators were
terrified with the exhibition, but familiarity with it soon wore off
that impression, and they never appeared satisfied with gazing at our
artificial fire-works. The inhabitants, on their part, with their
sovereign at their head, endeavoured to prolong our stay with them by
straining every nerve to please, and beguiled the time by all the
amusements they could think of. Amongst other allurements held out by
Mansolah towards this end, that of seeing him _as a king_, which would
shortly be the case, was repeatedly urged with much warmth. “You behold
me now, only as a poor man,” observed his majesty, “but by and by I
shall be a king indeed.”
A womanish fondness for dress and admiration, and a childish vanity in
the most trivial as well as more important concerns, were strikingly
visible in the character of every prince we met with in Africa; nor did
the monarch of Yariba think these frivolities beneath him, any more than
his royal neighbours; but in his case there was mixed up with this
weakness, a certain consciousness of the absurdity of it, which I never
observed in the character of any other African whatever. Mansolah only
conformed to the whims and fancies of his people, he said, when he
attired himself so fancifully; for that they preferred a ruler with a
smart and gorgeous exterior, even if he happened to be the most odious
tyrant on the face of the earth, to a prince meanly dressed, although he
were endowed with every amiable quality. It was not, therefore, in
compliance with his own inclination that he had accepted, with so great
apparent satisfaction, the trinkets we had given him for the adornment
of his person, but solely to please his subjects, to whose taste he
always accommodated himself. Against these philosophical expressions of
the Sultan of Yariba, however, his conduct and actions sadly militated,
for he smiled with delight on beholding a brass watch-chain he had
received of us; his eyes sparkled with rapture at the sight of a gold-
headed cane Captain Clapperton had offered for his acceptance; while a
necklace of large handsome coral beads positively threw him into a
transport of joy.
The same eager curiosity that had been displayed on the road from
Badagry, was evinced by the people of Katunga; but there was no
boldness, no impudence, no daring effrontery, with the latter; they
every where made way for us to pass, when either curiosity or the desire
of exercise induced us to walk through their town, or its environs, and
retreating to a short distance, made a profound obeisance, and in some
cases even went so far as to prostrate themselves in the dust before us,
although these were acts of humiliation we never countenanced nor
approved of. The more respectable part of the inhabitants, on meeting
with us in the streets, used to run up to shake hands, with as much
cordiality as if they had known us from our childhood; and would very
kindly enquire after our healths, not merely for the sake of having
something to say, as is the case in England, but prompted by an interest
and concern they could not disguise. We felt assured that their motive
for asking sprang from a sincere desire of _knowing_, in order that they
might sympathise with us if we were ill, or congratulate us if we
enjoyed tolerable health.
The strong desire Mansolah felt and expressed for us to remain at least
for a few months with him, made that prince guilty, on more than one
occasion, of dissimulation, and even falsehood,—which detracts greatly
from his merit, for in other respects he was a generous, sensible, good
natured man. He was fruitful in expedients against our setting out, and
used every means that ingenuity could suggest, to counteract our
intentions of prosecuting our journey; at one time alleging that the
Falatahs, (who had joined a party in a civil war that was then raging in
Nyffé, between two princes, who were disputing the right of succession
to their deceased father’s throne,) intercepted all communication
between that country, through which it was our intention to pass, and
Yariba, or rather Katunga, its capital; and at another time asserting
that he had sent messengers to Yarro, one of his own provinces, to
ascertain whether the road was clear in that direction; for he was
determined, he said, not to be instrumental towards our falling into the
hands of the Falatahs. His assertion, with regard to the war in Nyffé,
proved indeed to be correct; but for some indefinable reason, besides
those adduced, he was excessively jealous of our having the least
intercourse with the Falatahs, his most inveterate enemies, who, as he
repeatedly and feelingly expressed himself, “had torn down his father’s
house.”
Amongst the amusements of the inhabitants of Katunga, dancing and
tumbling hold a prominent rank. With respect to the latter diversion,
they cannot be excelled by any people in the world; their evolutions in
the air are perfectly astonishing, and by the suppleness and pliability
of their limbs, by their bending, and turning, and twisting themselves
into all manner of shapes, one would be almost inclined to believe that
they have not a single bone in their bodies.
During our stay at Katunga we were witnesses to a kind of pantomime,
which amusement the inhabitants generally prefer, in honor of the
caboceers, whenever they pay a visit to the king, as was the case in
that instance. The place chosen for the exhibition was a large
enclosure, contiguous to the king’s residence, covered with verdure, and
as level as a bowling-green. It was rendered particularly pleasant by
the refreshing shade afforded by clumps of tall trees, which studded the
spot in all directions. Two huge shapeless rocks of crumbling granite
marked the limits of the play-ground to the south; the king’s house
those to the north; and a range of trees intercepted the view to the
east and west. A lofty fan-palm-tree grew in the centre of the place,
under the branches of which the actors were accommodated; and a
temporary fence, erected round its trunk, screened them from
observation, whenever they chose to remain concealed.
A most astounding din from drums, horns, and whistles, was the signal
for the performers to begin their manœuvres. The first act consisted of
dancing, capering, and tumbling by about twenty men, enveloped in sacks,
which novel and elegant divertisement was continued with admirable
spirit for a full half hour, when the contents of the sacks becoming
fatigued, bundled themselves back to the palm-tree.
The second act commenced almost immediately after, with attempting to
catch the _boa constrictor_. To effect this object, one of the dancing
sacks came out of the place of its concealment, and fell gently and most
conveniently to the ground, when a monstrous mishapen figure, with a
head-dress resembling in size and shape a common English wash-tray, from
which streamed a variety of strips of scarlet damask and country cloth,
slowly approached the recumbent sack from behind the fence. The figure
was of most gigantic stature, and changed its appearance as often as the
enchanted Turk in our puppet-shows. It held in its hand a sword, and by
its motions, as well as the commanding attitude it assumed over the
other actors, appeared to be the director of the pageant. Another fellow
in a sack was then brought out, and being placed bolt upright by the
side of the figure, by the application of a slight blow, fell near to
its peaceable companion, and by a little shifting contrived to get its
head close to that of the other. The mouths of the two sacks having been
previously unsewn, the contents of the one crawled into the other, and
after these formalities the representation of the boa presently began.
The reptile at first thrust its head out of the bag and attempted to lay
hold of the tremendous figure, who contrived, dexterously enough, to
make it draw itself into the sack again by a flourish of his weapon,
which the knowing animal appeared to understand perfectly well. The head
of the boa was then jutted out in a different direction, and by degrees
the whole body protruded itself from the place of its confinement into
open day light, and remained exposed for a few seconds to the gaze of
the multitude. It appeared to be about fourteen feet in length, and by
reason of the painted cloth with which it was covered, might easily be
mistaken for the animal it was intended to represent. The angry monster,
after a short pause, pursued the fantastical figure with the sword,
rather slowly, to be sure, but withal very naturally—going through the
motions of a snake by coiling itself round like a rope, opening and
shutting its jaws, and darting out its forked tongue; all of which
elicited the rapturous applauses of the bystanders. But the pursued,
although it never was at a greater distance from the reptile than a few
feet, never had the courage to come in contact with its fangs. At
length, at a given signal by the manager, the whole troop of actors
rushed to the spot; they were then sackless, but their features were
effectually concealed by masks reaching to the bosom. The figure then
began to act on the offensive, by chopping the irritated monster’s tail
with his weapon in a shocking and most unmerciful manner. The snake
apparently writhed in agony, and convulsively twisting its body for a
few moments, whilst it endeavoured, without effect, to be revenged on
its formidable adversary by extending its neck to bite; when life
seeming to be nearly extinguished, it was borne off on the shoulders of
the actors to the fetish-house.
The third and last part of this extraordinary ceremony, consisted in the
representation of the caricature of a white man. One of the sack-
dancers, placed by himself on a clear spot of ground, near to the palm-
tree, gradually detached his covering, and exposed the figure of a man,
of a chalky whiteness, to the fixed looks of the people, who set up so
terrific a shout of approbation that it startled us, prepared as we had
been to expect some such explosion. The figure walked but indifferently
well, and mimicked our actions as badly; the composition with which it
was bedaubed, evidently preventing the actor from using his limbs
freely, or performing his part with the facility he could have wished;
although his embarrassment was apparent to us, yet the populace did not
seem to take the least notice of this defect, and an universal roar of
laughter expressed the delight which filled every bosom. The pantomimic
incident had now attained its utmost bounds, and all eyes, swimming in
tears, were directed first to us, and then to the intended
representation of us, as much as to say, “what a faithful and striking
resemblance!” We entered most cordially into the good humour of the
moment, not so much on account of the clumsy and unsightly figure before
us, as to see a vast circle of white teeth grinning at the same moment,
and producing an irresistibly ludicrous effect. After exhibiting himself
in this manner about an hour, the white man was enveloped in his sack,
and borne, like the serpent, to the fetish-house, when the amusements
ended, and the people quietly dispersed. Between the acts we were
entertained with a concert of drums and whistles, as well as country
songs from the females who were present, in the choruses of which the
people generally joined.
The Yarro messengers, of whom Mansolah had spoken, having returned, and
given a favorable report of the state of the roads, on Monday the 6th of
March, we bade adieu to Katunga, its ruler, and inhabitants, and pursued
our journey, attended by the same escort that had conducted us into the
city. Mr. Houtson was left behind, and returned to the coast, where he
was almost immediately seized with fever, and expired after an illness
of only a few days. Our party was therefore reduced to two Europeans
only, my master and myself.
We passed through several villages which had been pillaged and burnt by
the Falatahs, on the following and three successive days; and on the
11th we arrived at a mean dirty-looking village, remarkable only as
being the first in the Borghoo country.
The huts of the inhabitants are constructed in a circular form, after
the Bornou fashion, and their tops ornamented with crocodiles’ eggs,
considered as an effectual protection against the ravages of those
animals, which are much dreaded by all classes, but with what justice I
know not. We left the village at four o’clock in the afternoon; and the
horse on which I rode being in better condition than the others, I was
considerably in advance of the rest of the party, when the animal made a
sudden halt, and all my endeavours were inadequate to make him proceed.
There he stood like a block of marble, keeping his eyes rivetted on
something that was approaching us, and I had scarcely time to consider
what it could possibly be, when a fine antelope bounded before me with
incredible swiftness, and in the next moment two huge lions, with mane
and tail erect, crossed the path but a couple of yards from the horse’s
head, almost with equal speed, and covered with foam. A tremendous roar,
which made the forest tremble, informed me in another minute that the
lions had overtaken their prey; but the sudden and unexpected appearance
of those ferocious animals startled me as much as it had intimidated the
horse before, and I hastened back to the party, my poor beast trembling
violently the whole of the way. Fortunately the lions, which were male
and female, were so eager in the chase, that both the horse and its
rider were unobserved by them; otherwise it might have gone hard with
me, for I saw not the slightest chance of escaping. We halted in the
woods that night; but fancying every sound I heard was the roaring of a
lion, I could not compose myself to sleep. Next day I was severely
indisposed, and the party was obliged to stop several times on the road
on my account; a languid faintness frequently overpowering me, and
rendering me insensible to surrounding objects. We put up at a town
called Socka for the night, and on the 13th an escort from the king of
Khiama arrived, mounted on excellent horses, little inferior to the
English breed; but after delivering their monarch’s message, the fellows
very unceremoniously began plundering the villagers of goats, pigs, and
poultry. The escort consisted of fifty horsemen, bold, fierce-looking
fellows, more resembling a desperate band of robbers than peaceably-
disposed individuals.
Traversing a pleasant and fertile country, we entered the city of Khiama
about ten in the morning, and were immediately conducted to the house of
his majesty, whom we found sitting under the porch of his door, chucking
some of his young wives under the chin. After shaking hands, he
expressed a wish for us to repose ourselves till the heat of the day was
over, and said he would pay us a visit in the cool of the evening.
The king redeemed his pledge, and came at the appointed time, riding on
one of the handsomest horses I ever saw. He was attended by numbers of
people on horseback and on foot, and half a dozen naked girls _circling_
round the animal on which he rode, flourishing spears with which they
were furnished, and singing, in a loud voice, the praises of their
husband and prince. Yarro (that is the monarch’s name) dismounted and
entered our house, followed by the girls, who had left their weapons
outside, and for decency’s sake had wrapped a piece of striped cotton
round their delicate waists. After an hour’s conversation, in the course
of which Captain Clapperton informed him of our motives for visiting his
country, whither we intended to go, &c. the king left us, infinitely
pleased, and the extraordinary procession returned in much the same
order as it had come. A few minutes only had elapsed, when we were
favored with a visit from the chief of a Houssa gafflee, or caravan
(returned the day before from Gonja and Ashantee), and accompanied by a
native of Bornou, both of whom strongly advised us to quit Khiama with
as little delay as possible, asserting that the inhabitants were thieves
to a man, and would not let slip the opportunity of putting their
pilfering propensity to the trial on our goods and baggage. The Houssa
caravan consisted of about a thousand individuals of both sexes, many of
whom traded in the kola or goora nut. This nut, which is in high esteem
and general use all through the interior, is frequently applied to the
same purpose as the calumet of peace amongst the North American Indians,
and is likewise used on all public occasions to testify the good
understanding that prevails in the assembly: when presented to private
individuals, it signifies that there is peace between the donor and
receiver. The kola is the fruit of a beautiful tree, growing in
abundance on many parts of the coast, and is an agreeable bitter and
astringent; it also produces a rich yellow dye, which is oftentimes used
by the natives in the embellishment of their persons. In some districts
the nut is exceedingly scarce, and fetches an exhorbitant price; hence
the traffic in it is carried on to an incredible extent, and yields an
immense profit to those who are venturesome enough to risk the dangers
of a long and perilous journey.
Having been provided with a messenger, carriers, and horses, we quitted
Khiama on the 18th, without experiencing, whilst in the city, any of the
inconveniences we had been led to apprehend—the Houssa caravan had left
us an hour or two previously, to proceed on the same road as ourselves.
In the course of the morning we passed through two villages, excessively
clean, inhabited by Falatahs, who were chiefly employed in pounding corn
in wooden mortars; and sleeping at Bonàga, we overtook the caravan on
Sunday the 19th. It was composed of a long line of horsemen, and people
of both sexes on foot, loaded with bundles, both men and beasts
apparently heartily tired with their long march. The women with them, as
in every other instance that came within the compass of our own
observation, bore the heaviest burdens, and seemed actually sinking to
the earth with heat and fatigue, without exciting the compassion, or
obtaining the assistance of the ruder and stronger companions of their
journey; although several of the latter had little else to do besides
keeping pace with the horses. We slept in a wood, under a tree, for the
night, about half a mile from the Gonja traders.
The country travelled over since we had left Katunga differed but
slightly from the descriptions which have already been given of the
other parts; the soil generally consisting of a rich reddish loam,
intermixed with fine gravel. In some places it is thickly wooded, but in
others not more than a dozen trees are to be found on an acre of land;
on all sides, however, it is highly picturesque and beautiful.
Numerous traces of antelopes, elephants, &c. were observable in the
path; but (except in the instance before mentioned) we saw but few of
those animals. The natives hunt the former, and with spears and poisoned
arrows contrive to procure great numbers of them. The arrow is a speedy
and effectual means of destroying wild animals; for being tipped with
poison, the wound it inflicts is sure to prove mortal, although not
quite so instantaneously as the natives would make one believe. The
flesh of antelopes slain in this manner is eaten with avidity by the
people, the hunters simply cutting off the parts near which the arrow
may happen to penetrate. When this vegetable poison is taken internally
it produces no pernicious effects, and it is only when it mingles with
the blood that its consequences are so fatal. The natives, who, like the
vulgar in Europe, are fond of the wonderful, tell a thousand singular
stories respecting its malignancy, which are too improbable and
ridiculous to be believed.
At Barakina, a small but pleasant village, we met a hunter, clad in a
leopard’s skin, returning from the chase, with his bow and arrows slung
on his shoulder, and a light spear in his hand; a man with a dead
antelope followed at a little distance; and three panting hounds, whose
tongues, lolling out of their mouths, betrayed the severity of the
exercise they had undergone, came after the man. The sable Nimrod took
not the least notice of us, but passed through the village as
incuriously as if he had been in the habit of seeing white faces every
day.
At twelve at noon on the same day we crossed a river said to take its
rise in Nyffé, and to flow into the Niger above Rakah. Alligators were
plentiful in the river, and one of our carriers, who was sent to fetch a
calabash of water, was pursued by one of these monsters almost up to the
trees under which our little party was encamped. The poor fellow was
terribly frightened, and out of breath, on approaching us; and not all
the promises in the world could induce him to make a second visit to the
river.
Our ears were ravished by the warbling of hundreds of small birds,
which, with parrots and parroquets, peopled the branches of the trees in
the vicinity of the stream, whose delightful banks were thereby
overshadowed; and the eye was incessantly saluted with a variety of
beautiful objects—groves of noble trees, verdant hills, and smiling
plains, through which the river winded, carrying fertility and beauty in
its course, and altogether forming a rich and charming landscape.
We slept at Billa, a village on the south side of the river, in the
night; and on the morning of Tuesday an escort of four horsemen arrived
from the chief, or King of Wow Wow, to conduct us to that city, where we
arrived after a journey of four hours, and took our station outside the
monarch’s house, till its royal inmate, who was dressing to receive us,
should make his appearance. After putting our patience to a severe
trial, the King at length came out, supported on a staff, and walking
with the solemn pace of a Spaniard up to our tree, seated himself on a
stool that had been previously placed there for that purpose. We then
dismounted, but were sorely dismayed on observing the chief, contrary to
the custom of the country, shrinking from our hands which were extended
towards him, just with as much repugnance as a European would from the
proffered hand of a leper; but it was only to cover his with his tobe,
which being done, he shook hands with the utmost cordiality. The King
being a Mohammedan, fancied that the touch of a Christian would defile
him; but this stiffness wore off on a more familiar acquaintance, and he
subsequently displayed the characteristic virtues of Africans—generally
hospitality and benevolence.
In the evening we were visited by fifteen Dahomans, who saluted us with
a discharge from two old rusty muskets. These men had been for five
months beforehand assisting the Sultan of Youri in his war with the
Falatahs, and were so far on their return to their own country. They
extolled to the skies their own prowess in their engagements with the
Falatahs, whilst they represented the people of Youri as the greatest
cowards in the world. We were informed by them that Niki, five days’
journey from Khiama, is the most considerable city in Borghoo; and that
it was only about fifteen or sixteen days’ journey from Abomey, the
capital of Dahomy.
Wow Wow is the metropolis of a province of the same name, in the empire
of Borghoo, and is governed by a ruler, named Mohammed, a Mussulman,
strongly addicted to superstition, but of mild, unassuming, and pleasing
manners. The city lies on a beautiful rising ground, with gentle hills
on every side; and may contain, on a hasty computation, perhaps twenty
thousand inhabitants. It is surrounded by a high and substantial mud
wall, and broad deep trench. The houses in it are circular, and the
streets spacious and airy; and it is without exception the neatest, most
wholesome, and best regulated town of any in the interior. The
inhabitants, or at least the better sort of them, dress in tobes, caps,
and trousers; and are a cheerful, thoughtless set of people, yet fonder
of music, carousing, singing, and dancing, than any people we met with
in Africa. Drunkenness is their besetting sin; and the beverage in most
esteem with them is a species of ale, called _pitto_, obtained from
Indian corn previously made into malt. The process is simple, being much
the same as the brewing of beer in England; only no hops are added to
the malt.
This sad propensity to intoxication, which males and females in every
_grade_ of society love to cultivate, is the agent of many
irregularities, and cause their notions of morality to be so very lax,
that chastity itself is barely acknowledged by them as an excellence;
nevertheless the people of Wow Wow have many substantial virtues, and
agreeable qualities, which one can hardly help loving them for. Their
generous hospitality is unbounded, and a parcel of more merry,
facetious, happy scoundrels than the generality of them is not to be
found in the world.
The soil in the neighbourhood of Wow Wow is surprisingly rich and heavy;
so that many of the necessaries of life spring up almost spontaneously
from the earth, and others require but trifling labour in their
cultivation and general management; hence the people have abundance of
leisure, which they employ in feasting, drinking, sleeping, visiting,
and oftentimes in less innocent recreations than these.
The direct road from Badagry, Gonja, Dahomy, Ashantee, Jannah—to Nyffée,
Houssa, Bornou, &c. lying through the town, its inhabitants are supplied
with many of the luxuries of life at a more reasonable rate than their
countrymen in less frequented districts, and their habitations have
consequently more pretensions to _comfort_ than those of any people
between Badagry and Soccatoo.
Articles of merchandise, of English manufacture, such as Manchester
goods, pewter plates, jugs, and dishes, are very common, both in Khiama
and Wow Wow; and it is really laughable to observe to what elegant uses
some of the latter are applied.
The religion is either idolatry or Islamism; but these are so blended
into each other, that it would be difficult to draw a line of
distinction between the professors of either faith. Bigotry is unknown,
and the wildest doctrines are tolerated with an amiable and forbearing
spirit that does the government infinite credit!
The marriages of the people are exceedingly simple, differing in no
essential particular from the manner in which that ceremony is practised
amongst Africans generally. A pagan pays his addresses to a girl, and
if, after a short acquaintance, he fancies she will answer his purpose,
he simply gives or sends a small present to the parents, who rarely
raise any obstacles to balk his wishes; whereupon the female quits her
father’s house, and resides, as long as she lives, with her suitor. The
courtship of a Mohammedan is carried on in much the same fashion, with
the addition of reading the _fatha_ (marriage ceremony). When tired of
each other the “fatha” is again read, and the couple part for ever,
(although they may have lived together for twenty years,) with as much
coolness and unconcern as if they had been utter strangers to each
other. This _convenient_ custom is greatly relished by every one, and is
seldom known to produce any unpleasant consequences.
The Africans have less of _sentiment_ in their love affairs than
Europeans; they have no stolen interviews—no rambling in verdant
fields—no affectionate squeezes of the hand—no language of the eyes—no
refined feeling—no moonlight reveries; all is conducted in the most
unpoetical business-like way imaginable, and is considered in the light
of one of their least important concerns; the lover merely saying to his
intended bride, “Should you like to become my wife, my dear?” to which
the lady replies, “I have no objection.” “Then come and live with me,”
retorts the man; and from that hour the couple reside together. This is
the beginning and end of their courtship, and I never heard of a refusal
on the lady’s part to embrace the proposal. The notions of female
perfection amongst the people consist in the bulk, plumpness, and
rotundity of the object; and a perfect beauty in their estimation, as it
has often been remarked, is “a load for a camel!” This delicacy of taste
is as general in Africa as it is in Turkey in Europe, although I never
heard that the natives of the former country use any artificial means of
increasing the size of their daughters, in order to their obtaining
admirers. Allowing the qualities of bulk, &c. to be the criterion of
beauty, the widow Zuma, who will by and by be introduced, would bear
away the palm of superiority from every competitor, that lady being a
whole world of fat and loveliness! and consequently the most elegant,
the most charming, the most graceful, the most amiable, the most
captivating beauty in the continent of Africa!!
The ideas of handsomeness entertained by the _fair_ sex, with regard to
their male companions, are extremely vague, and it is even difficult to
ascertain whether they have any notion of comeliness at all; for a lady
eagerly embraces the first offer, even if the fellow that makes it be as
old as Methusala, and ugly as Sin. As a proof of this, I knew a pretty
girl at Wow Wow, blooming with youth, and full of life and spirit,
possessing besides uncommon shrewdness for an African: to this
individual a tall, lanky, phantom-like man, evidently tottering on the
brink of the grave, whose lantern jaws were of a truly formidable
length, and who squinted most divinely, offered himself, and was of
course accepted, although he had upwards of twenty wives at the time. On
my questioning the damsel as to the reasons of her acceptance of a
person so excessively old and ugly as her spouse, she answered very
smartly something equivalent to the ancient saying still in use amongst
the lower class of people in England, “a toad is a pearl in a duck’s
eye!” and instantly left me. No doubt the number of wives of the old
gentleman, which in Europe would be considered as a serious grievance,
was one of the principal motives that had swayed her in the choice she
had made; as by that criterion the wealth of the party is judged of.
When a husband dies; the wives who have not borne him children are sold;
whereas those who have had that good fortune are free for life, or at
least till they change their condition a second time. The widows wear a
rope round their head, neck, and waist, as mourning for their deceased
husbands, for the space of twelve months (if they find no one inclined
to make them an offer before the expiration of that period), when their
weeds are flung off, and they cheerfully resume their ordinary apparel.
When a Borghoo man dies, a pit is dug, either in his own house, or very
near to it, and the body is placed in a sitting posture, with the hands
and feet tied tightly with cord; the head inclining upwards. The horse
and dog of the deceased, after being slaughtered, are buried with him,
to assist him in his peregrinations in the other world; and his spear,
and bow and arrows, are placed over the grave for the same purpose. On
my questioning an inhabitant of Wow Wow, how it was possible for a man
so confined to mount the horse, he shook his head, as much as to say the
subject was of too sacred and delicate a nature to be talked lightly of.
The men of Wow Wow are, in most instances, tall and well formed, and the
women handsome, having far greater pretensions to beauty than either the
people of Yariba, or those of Khiama, a neighbouring state. Numbers of
horses are kept by the Wow-Wownese, the finest of which are imported
from Bornou; the native breed, although strong and spirited, being
excessively small. Horned cattle are much finer, and their flesh is
superior in quality to those found on the coast. They are bred
principally by Falatahs, numerous tribes of whom are scattered over the
face of the country.
Some of these same Falatahs profess the Mahommedan faith, and some
worship idols, like the natives themselves, whilst others have no
outward form of religion at all. Many of them are for ever wandering
from place to place, like the Bedouin Arabs, and others spend a tranquil
existence in the occupations of pasturage and agriculture. Several are
suspected of stirring up the minds of the people against their rulers,
and treated accordingly with as much contumely and disrespect as the
Jews in some countries of Europe; and others again contribute, in an
essential degree, to the comforts and convenience of the community in
whose towns they may happen to dwell, and by whom they are esteemed and
caressed; but all have less simplicity in their manners, and infinitely
more art in their dealings, than those of the negro cast of feature,
and, to every appearance, are a stage further advanced in civilization
than they.
Boussa is a province contiguous to Wow Wow, whose capital is also called
Boussa, and is but one day’s journey, or about twenty miles, from the
latter place. The island of Boussa, on which the city is built, is about
three miles in length, and little more than one in breadth. It is
situated in the river Niger, or, more properly speaking, the Quorra, and
is chiefly remarkable as the place where the enterprising Mr. Park and
his companions came by their melancholy death. It may contain sixteen or
eighteen thousand inhabitants. The road to it from Wow Wow in the dry
season is excellent, but in the wet or rainy months is almost
impassable, by reason of its proximity to the river, which oftentimes
overflows its banks. The country between the two capitals is hilly,
woody, and picturesque, rivalling in beauty any portion between Badagry
and Soccatoo; and its most remarkable feature is a rocky mountain in the
shape of a cone, which Captain Clapperton called, after the reigning
Monarch of England, “Mount George.”
Thick woods approach even to the margin of the Quorra, and are tenanted
by an ancient tribe of people termed Cumbrie (or Cumbrians), by all
accounts the aborigines of the country, a harmless stupid race, who,
from their tractable dispositions and love of tranquillity, are
frequently imposed on by their spirited and more artful neighbours, and
sold into slavery whenever a favourable opportunity can be obtained of
kidnapping them.
Many heavy branches of trees overhang, and, as it were, embrace the
Menài, a branch of the Quorra, as it flows by, and impart a darkness and
melancholy to the spot which are any thing but agreeable or enlivening.
It was nearly sunset when I got into the canoe, in which I was ferried
across the stream to Boussa; the evening was calm, clear, and beautiful;
the fire-fly had already begun to shine and buzz in the air; the hollow
roar of the crocodile was heard from the borders of the current, and the
declining sun had tinged the surface of the water with a rich hue of
crimson. The sound of sweet-toned instruments, and the hum of human
voices mingling in concert, and wafted from the city to which I was
approaching, produced a soothing and delightful effect; and as the
little bark was propelled slowly through the lazy stream, the music
sounded like a symphony of angels’ voices floating from the skies.
The owner of the boat pointed out the spot where my daring countrymen
had so unfortunately perished. After quitting it, their canoe had
drifted on a reef of sunken rocks, not more than half a stone’s throw
from the island, and had gone to pieces.
Numerous small islands jut up from the bosom of the Quorra, which, near
Boussa, branches into three distinct streams; but they are uninhabited,
and little better than naked rocks. Two of the above streams flow
sluggishly onwards, whilst the other rolls with a rapid current,
fretting and foaming over vast masses of stone, and creates a noise
which at a little distance might be mistaken for that produced by the
waving of a forest of tall trees, when agitated by the wind.
The Sultan of Youri, understanding that we intended visiting Boussa, had
sent a messenger to that place a week before our arrival there, (with
seven canoes laden with provisions,) to conduct us to the capital of his
empire; but reports from various quarters agreed in representing the
Prince of Youri to be a cruel, treacherous, and wicked man; and this
fact, combined with the advanced state of the season, succeeded in
deterring Captain Clapperton from embracing the monarch’s offer. He told
the messenger, however, that it was solely on account of the rainy
season so soon setting in, that he was obliged to decline his
Sovereign’s proposal, but that he would certainly pay him a visit on his
return from Bornou.
We had all along been buoyed up with the hope of being able to obtain
the journal and papers of the late Mungo Park at Boussa; but, to our
great mortification and disappointment we discovered, that they had been
either destroyed, or conveyed no one could tell whither, many years
before. The inhabitants were exceedingly reserved on the subject of the
fatal catastrophe, and uniformly gave equivocating or evasive answers to
our enquiries as to the manner in which it had occurred. They seemed
indeed overwhelmed with shame at the part they or their fathers had
taken in the dreadful tragedy, and did all in their power to shift the
blame from the shoulders of themselves and their countrymen.
The following appeared the most accurate and best authenticated version
of the dismal story of the deaths of Park and Martin, that I was enabled
to obtain whilst I was in the country:
The voyagers had reached Youri in safety, and were on intimate and
familiar terms with its Sultan, father to the reigning prince, who
intreated them to finish their journey through the country by land,
instead of proceeding down the Quorra to the salt water; observing, that
the people inhabiting the islands and borders of the river, were
ferocious in their manners, and would not suffer their canoe to proceed
without having first rifled it of its contents, and exposed them to
every species of indignity and insult; and that if their lives were
spared, they would infallibly be detained as domestic slaves. This evil
report was considered as the effect of jealousy and prejudice: and,
disregarding the prudent counsel of the Sultan of Youri, the ill-fated
adventurers proceeded down the Quorra as far as the island of Boussa,
from whence their strange-looking canoe was observed by one or two of
the inhabitants, whose shouts brought numbers of their companions, armed
with bows and arrows, to the spot. At that time the usurpations of the
Falatahs had begun to be the general talk of the black population of the
country, so that the people of Boussa, who had only _heard_ of that
warlike nation, fancied Mr. Park and his associates to be some of them,
coming with the intention of taking their town, and subjugating its
inhabitants. Under this impression, they saluted the unfortunate
Englishmen from the beach with showers of missiles and poisoned arrows,
which were returned by the latter with a discharge of musketry. A small
white flag had been previously waved by our countrymen, in token of
their peaceable intentions; but this symbol not being understood by the
people of Boussa, they continued firing arrows, till they were joined by
the whole male population of the island, when the unequal contest was
renewed with greater violence than ever. In the meantime the Englishmen,
with the blacks they had with them, kept firing unceasingly amongst the
multitude on shore, killing many, and wounding a still greater number,
till their ammunition being expended, and seeing every hope of life cut
off, they threw their goods overboard; and desiring their sable
assistants to swim towards the beach, locked themselves firmly in each
other’s arms, and springing into the water, instantly sank, and were
never seen again.
The bodies of the two slaves, who attempted to save their lives by
swimming, were pierced with a grove of arrows, but they subsequently
recovered from the effects of their wounds, and were certainly alive
when we were at Boussa, but, as I understood afterwards, they were
carefully concealed, in order to prevent our making any inquiries of
them relative to the affair.
Resistance being thus at an end, the floating property had been eagerly
laid hold of by the people of Boussa, and taken in triumph to their
city. In the evening they formed a circle round it, and for several days
and nights nothing was to be seen or heard but feasting and rejoicing;
but it happened that before their revelries were well over, an
infectious disease, whereof they had not previously had the most distant
idea, raged in the island, and swept off the Sultan, with numbers of his
subjects; and it was remarked, that those who had been most active in
the destruction of the strangers were cut off to a man, expiring in
great agony. The people endeavoured to appease the wrath of the white
man’s God, (by whose instrumentality they were firmly persuaded the
destroying plague had reached them,) by the offering of sacrifices, and
afterwards by setting fire to all the articles found on the surface of
the water; shortly after which, it is asserted, the pestilence left the
island. Meantime the news of the occurrence, and its fatal results,
spread like wild-fire through the neighbouring states; and the people of
Boussa were stigmatized with a reproachful epithet, for having been
guilty of so heinous a crime. Hence the studied reserve of the reigning
Sultan and his subjects, which no consideration could tempt them to
break through, so as to enter into the details of the tragedy; and hence
also the expression, so beneficial to us in those regions, and so
prevalent amongst all ranks and conditions: “Do not hurt the white men;
for if you do, you _will perish like the people of Boussa!_”