* * * * *
Widow Zuma’s love adventures — Departure from Wow Wow — Arrival at
Coulfo — Civil war in Nyffé — Ceremonies observed by the people of
Coulfo at the end of the Rhamadan — Tornado at that place, and its
disastrous consequences — The Travellers quit Coulfo, and proceed on
their journey — The Author attacked with dysentery — His sufferings —
Noble conduct of Captain Clapperton towards him — They enter Zeg Zeg —
Arrive at Kano.
Whilst we remained in the city of Wow Wow, we were visited almost every
day by a widow lady, of Arab extraction, named _Zuma_ (_Honey_ in
English), between thirty and forty years of age, who, if one might be
allowed to judge from the remaining charms which were still visible in
her countenance, had been really beautiful in her younger years. This
individual was vastly rich, being the acknowledged mistress of a
thousand slaves; and from her excessive plumpness, and extraordinary
size, was the exact counterpart of our bulky friend Ebo, the fat eunuch
of Katunga. Zuma’s affection for my master and myself was unbounded, and
as it led to an adventure perhaps never equalled in novelty by any
incident that has occurred to Europeans in the bosom of Africa, I hope I
may be forgiven in attempting to trace its causes and effects, without
which my narrative would be incomplete; for they are so intimately
connected with each other, that it would be impossible to disunite them.
In order to give a clearer idea of the story, it will be necessary to
remark, that Zuma was married in early life to one of the principal
inhabitants of Wow Wow; but her spouse dying shortly after she had given
birth to a son, she was left immensely rich, and lived in almost regal
splendour in the native town of her deceased husband. Nature had endowed
Zuma with an active, restless, and ambitious mind; insomuch that not
long after she had become a widow, and before the regular term of
mourning had expired, her weeds were thrown aside, and she aspired to
the government of Wow Wow, by attempting to depose her sovereign. But
Mohammed, although an imbecile and superstitious prince, could
“Bear, like a Turk, no rival near his throne!”
and was roused into action at the threatening aspect his too powerful
subject had assumed. Instantly arming his vassals, he made a sudden and
unexpected attack on the slaves of the rebellious lady, who for want of
an efficient leader were put completely to the rout, though without
bloodshed, and Zuma herself taken prisoner. Whether it was owing to the
profound veneration in which that elegant lady’s charms were held by the
monarch, to the natural mildness of his disposition, or to the fear of
stirring up the people against him, I could not learn; but certain it is
that Zuma was pardoned, and set at liberty, after a confinement of only
one or two days; and though she had repeated her treasonable attempt
several times, even up to the period of our visiting the city, the same
amiable forbearance had been extended to her.
It was the misfortune of the far-famed Zuma to fancy herself, for no
reason in the world, to be extremely fair, and although she had
certainly passed the “Age of the Passions,” she took it into her head to
fall desperately in love with me, whose complexion, she affirmed,
rivalled her own in whiteness! The frequency of her visitations to our
house nourished the tender feeling, which was encouraged by Captain
Clapperton, who relished a joke with all his heart, and did his utmost
to inflame the lady’s passion, by passing a thousand unmeaning
compliments on the regularity of my features, and the handsomeness of my
person. “See what beautiful eyes he has,” observed the Captain; “if you
were to search from Badagry to Wow Wow, and from Wow Wow to Bornou, you
would not find such eyes.” For my own part I was but a novice in the art
of courtship, and imagining it to be altogether in jest, took little
pains to spoil the fun by shrinking from it. Besides, Zuma had behaved
remarkably well to us in sending, repeatedly, presents of provisions,
together with every luxury with which she was acquainted, and I was
rather glad than otherwise to have her for our guest,
------“For the heart must
Leap kindly back to kindness;”
and neither of us wished to offend a lady of her consequence by being
morose and unsociable in manners, or by repelling her advances with
ridicule and contempt.
For an hour together the widow would gaze intently on me, while the most
amorous glances shot from her large, full, and certainly beautiful eye,
which confused and disconcerted me not a little, even though I was
surrounded by strangers and in the heart of Africa; for I had been a
wanderer from my childhood, and had had but few opportunities of
mingling in the delightful company of the gentler sex in my own country,
and consequently was excessively bashful on coming in contact with
ladies, whether in the country of the Hottentots, or the birth-place of
the widow Zuma.
As for my master, he was sensibly delighted with these interviews, and
with his arms folded on his breast, while thick volumes of tobacco-smoke
rolled from his pipe, he with the most impenetrable gravity enjoyed the
scene, and looked as happy and as much at home as if he had been seated
by his friends in his native Scotland. After the widow’s departure, it
was his usual custom, tapping me on the shoulder, to ask how I felt my
heart, and observe what a boast I could make, on our return to England,
of so magnificent a conquest.
All this I took in good part for some days; but things beginning, at
length, to wear a more serious aspect than I had at first anticipated, I
was resolved to bring this whimsical courtship to a conclusion as
speedily as possible. I was the more inclined to do so, because I did
not wish to wound the feelings of even a _black_ lady (for black she
most certainly was, although not quite so deep a sable as the
aborigines), by trifling with them; nor did I forget the exclamation of
the frog in the fable:—“It may be sport to you, but it is death to us!”
Independently of the delicate state of my health, which incapacitated me
from carrying on so curious an amour with the spirit and gallantry it
required, I was positively afraid that, from the warmth and energy of
Zuma’s embraces, I should actually be pressed to death between her
monstrous arms! I was but a youth, and my short residence in the country
had certainly impaired a constitution originally robust and vigorous; by
reason of which I was sadly apprehensive that one of her Brobdignagian
hugs would send me into the other world with very little ceremony. These
reflexions I had seriously revolved in my mind; and on her next visit I
candidly told the widow by signs, words, and gestures, that I could not
love her; but she either did not or would not understand me. I remarked
that I should never choose a _black_ wife: she pointed to her face, and
said she was a _white_ woman. I then observed that it would be
impossible for me to exist in her country, the heat being insupportable.
Her reply was disinterested and tender:—“Then I will quit it, and follow
you to whichever part of the world you may be inclined to lead me.” Thus
beset on all sides, I hardly knew what to say next; but after a short
pause, summing up all my resolution, I gave my greasy inamorata a flat
refusal to see her again in the light of a lover, as it was out of her
power to awaken in my breast a corresponding sensation to that which
reigned in her own! and saying this I instantly left the apartment;
whilst Zuma, poor lady,
----“Rais’d a sigh so piteous and profound,
As it did seem to shatter all her bulk,
And end her being!”
I was surprised, however, to find that my cruelty had produced no
visible impression on the widow, and that her _heart_ was big in
proportion to the largeness of her _body_; for I discovered that she
could love _two_ individuals at the same time with as much ardour and
sincerity as _one_ only. Seeing all hopes of success effectually shut
out on my side, she had the good sense to discontinue her solicitations
(although she continued her kindness), and looked as tenderly on me as
ever; and applied herself strenuously to be on a more affectionate and
familiar footing with Captain Clapperton, whose favourable notice she
strove to attract by all the fascinating allurements she was mistress
of; and actually went so far as to bribe Pasko, our Houssa interpreter,
with a young and handsome girl for a wife, in order that he might use
his _powerful_ influence to bring the matter between my master and
herself to an amicable adjustment. The old libertine accepted the
present with rapture, which made the third or fourth spouse he had had
since leaving Badagry, but he was prudent enough to retain his counsel
within his own bosom.
A white husband and happiness were synonymous terms with the gentle and
delicate Zuma, and she grasped at even the shadow of it with an
eagerness and determination that caused her to overstep the boundaries
of that amiable modesty which is so pleasing and peculiar a
characteristic of her sex, whereby she did more towards injuring her own
cause than coyness or reserve would have done. The Captain carried on
the innocent game for some time, for we were greatly in want of
something to enliven us; and so romantic an adventure as this, in such a
place, and under such circumstances, caused us very many hours of
diversion, and was an amusing subject of conversation even up to the
period of my master’s last illness at Soccatoo.
Poor widow Zuma! I almost fancy I see her now, waddling into our house,
a moving world of flesh, “puffing and blowing like a blacksmith’s
bellows,” and the very pink and essence of African fashion. Her hair
used to be carefully dyed with indigo, and of a rich and vivid blue; her
feet and hands stained with hennah and an extraction of the goora-nut,
produced alternate streaks of red and yellow; and her teeth were also
tinged with a delicate crimson stain. In the adornment of her person,
likewise, the buxom widow evinced considerable taste. Her bared neck and
bosom were ornamented with coral and gold beads, which, contrasted with
the dingy colour of her skin, occasioned a truly captivating effect!
while a dress of striped silk, hanging in graceful folds from the waist
to the ancles, set off her _fairy form_ to the best possible advantage!
Thus beautified, the accomplished Zuma used to sit cross-legged on our
mat, and chewing the goora-nut, or a little tobacco-snuff, she was
without exception the most ravishing object that came across our path in
all our wanderings!
One day she invited my master to visit her at her own house, where she
took the opportunity of displaying to him her wealth and grandeur, the
number of her slaves, and her princely domestic establishment, all of
which the tempter assured him he should share with her if he would
consent to be her husband. No encouragement whatever was given to the
lady; but when Capt. Clapperton left the town for Boussa a short time
afterwards, Madam Zuma, dressed in her gaudiest attire, followed when he
had got about six miles on his journey, having called before she set out
to see me. On this occasion she wore a mantle of silk and gold, and
loose trowsers of scarlet silk, with red morocco boots; her blue head
was enveloped in the ample folds of a white turban, and she rode astride
on the back of a noble horse, which came prancing before the door of our
hut, decorated with a number of brass plates and bells, as well as a
profusion of charms or amulets enclosed in green, red, and yellow
leather. Her saddle-cloth was of scarlet, and the appearance of both
widow and horse was singularly imposing. In her train were many spearmen
on horseback, and bowmen on foot, with a band of musicians furnished
with drums, fiddles, guitars, and flutes, who continued playing till
their mistress was fairly out of the town. The widow briefly told me of
her intention to accompany Capt. Clapperton to Kano, &c. &c. which
eclaircissement startled me for an instant; but, putting on my most
serious look, I wished her a pleasant journey, and hoped I should
overtake her myself in a day or two. Zuma then took her leave, and the
whole cavalcade was quickly out of sight.
I was absolutely longing to learn the issue of this strange elopement of
Zuma’s; and was engaged in making preparations previously to my
departure for Coulfo, in Nyffé, when a message from the king, forbidding
my departure from Wow Wow, diverted me from my intention, and overturned
all my plans. I had an interview with the irritated Mohammed the same
day, and another on the following one; but my efforts to induce him to
change his resolution were abortive. He turned a deaf ear to all my
eloquence, and would not suffer me to quit the town for any
consideration; “For,” said the king, “your countryman has eloped with
the captious Zuma, who will raise up enemies, and make war upon me, if
she be not speedily checked; and the better way to accomplish this is to
detain you here with the baggage, which will bring back the ‘great white
man,’ and the widow will not be able to remain behind long after.”
In order to secure me the more effectually, our house was guarded by a
dozen soldiers, who had received strict injunctions not to let me escape
on any account. I contrived, however, to elude the vigilance of my
keepers, and, taking with me a boy only twelve years of age, who had
assisted me in making my escape, I hastily mounted my Yariba pony, and
was on the road to Boussa in an instant.
At sunset I crossed the Menài, a branch of the Quorra, leading to the
island; and after landing shortly entered the city. As soon as I was
recognized as one of the strangers, a good house was immediately
prepared for my reception, and I was presently honored with a visit from
the king and queen, who informed me that my master had left Boussa, and
that, if I were to travel all night, it would be impossible to overtake
him before the next morning; they would therefore insist upon my
remaining and sleeping in the city. My royal visitors staid with me a
considerable time, and the queen gave directions about my supper, and
even assisted to prepare it with her own hands.
A multitude of the usual questions were put to me by their majesties,
which, on account of my almost total ignorance of the language in which
they were uttered, I was not very well qualified to answer; but,
notwithstanding this inconvenience, we succeeded in making ourselves
pretty well understood; and from the excessive kindness, and watchful
anxiety to anticipate my wants, displayed by the king and his royal
consort, it was evident that I was a great favourite with them.
The queen had certainly not much of the widow Zuma about her, either in
appearance or manners; being delicate in person, and possessing a native
dignity and gracefulness of mien that could not fail to please. The
features of the royal couple bore a closer resemblance to the European
than the negro cast, and might be styled handsome, even in England;
besides which an ineffable sweetness shone upon the countenance of
Medàki, the queen, and there was an agreeableness in the innocent
freedom of her deportment that captivated me at first sight. A tear of
pity trembled in the expressive eye of Medàki, when, observing my
emaciated looks, and surveying me from head to foot, she enquired if I
had a mother in my own country; and when I answered that I had not, she
said, “Poor white man! then who have you at home to talk about you, and
make fetishes for your preservation whilst you remain away?” I was
certainly not prepared to meet with such extraordinary kindness at
Boussa; and it shows the great revolution that has taken place in the
opinions of the people since Mr. Park’s appearance in the interior.
I had been extremely unwell before leaving Wow Wow; and my rapid journey
on the back of a lean horse, without saddle or bridle, had nowise
improved my health; fatigue also had rendered me so sleepy that after
supper I could with difficulty keep my eyes open, and my answers to the
queries of the royal pair were given at random. It was in vain that I
bit my tongue and lips, and used every other means I could devise in
order to arouse myself from the stupid state I was in; the inclination
to slumber overcame them all, and at last I fell fast asleep. On awaking
in the night I found myself alone, with a solitary lamp burning in my
apartment; and was informed, an hour or two afterwards, that their
majesties, as soon as they saw me fairly insensible, had left me in the
care of two slaves, and returned to their own abode, after expressly
desiring them to make no noise that might awaken me. Next morning I went
to the king to apologize for my unintentional breach of etiquette; and
shaking hands with the royal couple, who wished me every happiness, I
returned to Wow Wow (whither I had learnt Captain Clapperton had also
gone back), in company of two armed men, who had been furnished as a
protection against highway robbers, with which the road was declared to
be infested. On my arrival in the city, I found that my master had
entered it but a few minutes before, but had not seen the fat widow
during his absence.
A short time only had elapsed before we resolved to go to the king; and
being ushered into an apartment, found the important personage yawning
from the effects of his afternoon’s nap. The Captain was the fittest
person in the world to deal with the African rulers. The first thing he
did was to shake hands affectionately and heartily with the sullen
Mohammed, covering his face at the same time with smiles and looks of
joy on seeing him again; but the king accepted the compliment with just
so good a grace as a growling mastiff would receive the caresses of a
person against whom he bears a grudge; neither willing to bite the hand
that pats its big head, nor wishing to be altogether on a friendly
footing with its suspected friend. “What pleasure it gives me to see you
again,” said my master; “I have not beheld so handsome a face as yours
since leaving the city. I suppose you did not think it safe to send my
baggage after me; and am therefore come to fetch it myself. I have seen
the king of Boussa, who, with the Medàki, gave so very favorable an
account of you, that really I am filled with admiration for your talents
and virtues; and am sure there cannot be your equal in the whole
country.” All this the great man listened to with a deal of attention,
and one could perceive plainly enough that the sternness of his features
gradually gave place to a softer and kindlier expression; indeed, from
the commencement of the above well-timed encomium, a smile overspread
his sable countenance which promised the most flattering results. His
majesty then, with the utmost dignity, detailed his reasons for the line
of conduct he had been obliged to adopt, in consequence of his belief
that the Captain and the rebellious Zuma had entered into a conspiracy
to usurp his authority; that when their treasonable object should be
accomplished, he would be put out of the way, in order that my master
might take the reins of government into his own hands. He added that the
widow had been guilty of similar unlawful practices before, but had
failed in her attempts; and that notwithstanding the lenity with which
she had been treated, her thoughts were perpetually employed in devising
means for the execution of her ambitious designs; and she had moreover
threatened him unceasingly with raising an army to overcome and destroy
him. As this was spoken with an air of great solemnity, and towards the
latter part of it with emotion, which was plainly evinced by his tears,
my master thought proper to disclaim, with correspondent energy and
seriousness, the imputations on his own character, by professing himself
a total stranger to the widow’s movements from the time of his departure
from Wow Wow; and as for deposing so powerful a prince as Mohammed, and
taking Zuma to wife, such things were altogether beyond his ambition;
and he ridiculed the very idea of it. He therefore hoped that the king
would no longer refuse his permission for the party under his (Captain
Clapperton’s) command, to go on immediately, as he had bargained with
the chief of the Houssa caravan to convey the goods to Kano, and he was
impatiently waiting his arrival at the ferry. The old gentleman,
however, was not quite so easily prevailed upon as we had anticipated;
and in all probability was smitten with the widow’s charms himself; for
he declared with firmness, that until the absent lady returned, both my
master and myself must abandon all thoughts of proceeding on our
journey, or of again leaving Wow Wow. Further cajolery, we knew, would
have been superfluous, so we were obliged to make a virtue of necessity,
and wait patiently the re-appearance of our affectionate friend, the
amiable Zuma. To our infinite joy that circumstance took place on the
5th of April, the day after our conference with the prince; the widow
had not been able to meet with the object of her tender solicitude, and
hearing that he had re-visited Wow Wow, agreeably to the prediction of
Mohammed, returned to that town in much the same order as she had
quitted it about a week before, without discovering the slightest
symptoms either of disappointment at the ill-success of her jaunt, or
fear for having so egregiously offended her sovereign.
Like most of her sex, however, Zuma knew perfectly well how to adapt her
conduct to circumstances, and was, moreover, complete mistress of the
art of dissimulation and deceit; for no sooner had she entered her own
habitation, than her splendid habiliments were instantly thrown aside,
and a dress of common country cloth substituted in their stead. Thus
meanly attired, she paid her respects to Mohammed in our presence, and
saluted him by falling on her knees, with her elbows to the earth,
while, supporting her head on the palms of her hands, she shed a whole
river of tears. Surely
“Heav’n gave to woman the peculiar grace
To spin, to weep, and cully human race.”
The great man looked sternly on her at first; but whose heart could be
proof against _so much_ loveliness in distress, and in that humiliating
posture? Anger forsook his brow, as the prince of Wow Wow requested the
repentant woman to rise; and simply upbraiding her for disregarding his
authority and threatening to subvert his government, he shook hands, and
desired her to go her way, but be more cautious of offending him in
future. The widow accordingly left the house, and shaking the dust from
her feet in token of bravado, cast a “longing, lingering look
behind;”—and we saw no more of the generous, the kind-hearted, the
affectionate, the ambitious, but above all the enormous widow Zuma!
This singular adventure, although it caused us to laugh heartily, had
been of a much more serious nature than we could have foreseen, and had
given us much unnecessary trouble, as well as occasioned some days’
delay; but when it was thus satisfactorily terminated, we resolved to be
more guarded in encouraging, even in jest, the advances of the African
belles, as our lives might thereby be endangered, by exciting the
prejudices of the people against us. The widow being returned, and
having promised to abide in peace, his majesty of Wow Wow offered no
further impediment to our departure, and we quitted his capital on the
following day.
After passing through three or four insignificant villages, inhabited by
_Cambrie_, we arrived at Comoe, a good-sized town, about half a mile
from the ferry, in which we remained three days, as Captain Clapperton
was too weak and ill to proceed at an earlier period.
On the 10th we crossed the Quorra, running in a southerly direction,
which is full of diminutive islands, and about the width of the Thames
at Westminster. We had now left the Borghoo country, and were treading
on the soil of Nyffé; and notwithstanding the unfavorable account every
where received of the rapacity, dishonesty, and injustice of the natives
generally, we ever found them strictly honorable in their dealings
towards us, good-natured and cheerful; and were always ready not only to
do a benevolent action, but willing to sacrifice personal comfort to our
accommodation.
At one o’clock we entered Galloway, a village about eight miles from the
Quorra, where we changed carriers, and reaching another village called
Yowta, slept there for the night. Iron is found in abundance on and in
the neighbouring hills, and requires very little labour in procuring it.
The plains and borders of the river were cultivated with yams, millet,
the plantain, &c. We observed numerous nests of termites (the white
ants) at and near Yowta, reared by those formidable insects to the
almost incredible height of twenty feet. These immense anthills were
constructed of earth or clay, divided into distinct apartments, which
evinced considerable ingenuity, and at a distance greatly resembled the
huts of the natives.
The country traversed was exceedingly populous, and on the eleventh the
villages lay at no greater distance from each other than two miles; at
every one of which we were obliged to change carriers, and this caused
us infinite trouble and great delay. The chief of the Houssa caravan
also began to equivocate, raising a thousand obstacles in our way, and
did all in his power to detain us on the road as long as possible, in
order that he might avoid the Falatahs, who were then at Coulfo, making
preparations for their return to Soccatoo.
On Wednesday the 12th we crossed a stream, over which was thrown a
wretched and insecure bridge, the first we had seen in the country, and
constructed of branches of trees, covered with a thick layer of clay;
and on reaching a village at a short distance from the spot, all our
carriers, as if by instinct, simultaneously dropped their burdens, and
scampered off as fast as if they had been running for their lives. In a
few moments we were surrounded by great numbers of the male inhabitants
of the place, who were armed with bows and arrows; and, pretending not
to understand a word of the Houssa language, the fellows snatched up the
deserted property, and before we had time to prevent them, or ask what
they intended doing, went off with it at an inconceivable rate, we
following on horseback, till tired and out of breath, the blacks halted
at another assemblage of huts on the banks of the same stream we had
crossed the preceding day, forming a portion of Tabria. Resting there
for a short period, the good-natured people voluntarily caught up the
baggage a second time, and passing with all haste over a bridge to the
opposite side of the river, finally stopped in front of the house of one
of the head men of the place.
The village forms the remaining part of the before mentioned town, with
which it is connected by a miserable old bridge, and it contains a great
population.
Coming at length to an explanation with the martial carriers of our
baggage, we had it lodged in a large empty hut for the night; but the
fellows returned to their town very much dissatisfied with the trifle
with which they were remunerated; for they had hoped that on entering
Tabria the property would have become their own.
Tabria consists of two towns, lying on the margins of a stream or river
called the May-yarrow, which are connected together by a wooden bridge;
and both places may contain eighteen thousand inhabitants. They are
occasionally visited by the sovereigns of Nyffé.
An exterminating civil war had been raging in the kingdom, and was still
in active operation at the period of our arrival; one party of the
natives siding with Edrisi, a pagan, the rightful heir to the throne of
his deceased father; and the other leaning on the side of Mohammed, a
Mussulman, who had disputed his brother’s right of succession. By far
the major part of the people, being pagans, were decidedly in favour of
the former prince; but the other having invited the Falatahs to his
assistance, had completely beaten his less fortunate brother, and it was
generally expected that in the next campaign Edrisi would be driven from
the country; or, if taken prisoner, decapitated without mercy. A
cessation of hostilities had been resolved on by the belligerent parties
on the day we entered Tabria; but the contest would be resumed, it was
affirmed, after the rains.
The queen dowager of Nyffé, a decrepit and infirm old lady, one of whose
eyes had been accidentally shot out of her head by an arrow, resided at
Tabria, with the head wife of Mohammed. That prince himself was at a
place three days’ journey from the town; and the old queen having
intimated to Captain Clapperton, that it would be well for him to visit
her son, before he quitted the country, with a suitable present, my
master thought proper to accede to the wishes of the queen mother; and
leaving me in charge of the baggage, &c. carried his intention into
effect on the 21st of April.
During the Captain’s absence I used daily to take a ramble on the
borders of the May-Yarrow, and amuse myself with my gun, plenty of game
existing in the vicinity. The river is serpentine, and of irregular
breadth; in some places so narrow that a person may easily jump across,
and at others widening from twenty to thirty yards; its depth generally
fluctuating between eight and twelve feet. Thousands of monkeys inhabit
the leafy branches of the trees that overhang the stream; and play all
manner of mischievous tricks on the people who may venture to stroll in
that direction. Going one day with the design of shooting guinea-fowl, I
unintentionally killed two of these little animals, and wounded a third,
which fell, apparently dead, at my feet. I took them to our lodgings,
and the hostess immediately offered forty cowries for each of them; but,
perceiving signs of life in the wounded monkey, I kept it, with the
intention of ascertaining whether it would recover, and spared her the
slain ones. The good woman, having skinned and broiled the animals, sat
down to partake of them with two or three of her neighbours, and after
making a sumptuous repast, declared the flesh to be sweeter and richer
than that of any animal with which she was acquainted. One of our
landlady’s guests, falling in love with the living monkey, took the
liberty of stealing it in the night, when, no doubt, it shared the fate
of its companions.
On the 24th the usurper’s eldest daughter paid me a visit, bringing with
her a present of yams and rice; and being a very agreeable girl, I
solicited her so pressingly to take tea with me, that the princess
accepted the invitation, after which we took a walk together through the
town, arm in arm, _à l’Europe_. The inhabitants of Fabria stood staring
at us with open mouths, for some seconds, and wondering greatly what
could be the meaning of so singular a custom, when they set up so
astounding a roar of laughter, as put her royal highness fairly out of
countenance; and I was obliged to re-conduct her to our lodgings with
the utmost haste. On entering them, I made her a trifling present, with
which she was infinitely pleased; and the princess of the powerful
kingdom of Nyffé went away dancing, singing, and capering, and promised
to honour me with another visit on the morning of the next day.
The Falatahs left Coulfo for Soccatoo the day after our arrival at
Tabria, with a thousand slaves, some of whom were partizans of Edrisi,
who had been taken prisoners by that prince. Besides this, they
compelled Mohammed to present them with four hundred tobes, which with
the slaves they took to Sultan Bello, as a partial recompence for the
services they had rendered his cause in the late desolating campaign.
Mohammed, called by his people the _Magee_, was a most cruel and inhuman
prince, and the greatest scourge that had ever afflicted his country. He
had poisoned, it was confidently reported, a younger brother and two of
his sons, for having ventured to express their opinion against his wild
and inordinate ambition, in attempting to rule the kingdom against the
interests and inclinations of the people; and because they, in common
with their countrymen, hated the Falatahs most cordially, for the
willingness and alacrity they had ever displayed to embroil Nyffé in
civil war, to the advancement of their own influence, and the
aggrandizement of their own power.
The war was still raging in Nyffé on my return to that country from
Houssa, with far different prospects. The pagan brother, Edrisi, had
recovered from the effects of his defeats, and gained important
advantages over Mohammed and the Falatahs, his allies. This good success
was owing to a large body of men having come to Edrisi’s assistance from
Benin, and inspired with fresh courage his disspirited followers. These
individuals had proceeded up the Quorra in canoes, and landed at
_Mulagee_, a small town in Nyffé situated on the banks of that river; a
junction was then immediately formed with the pagan natives of the
country, and an attack made on the Mussulmans with European muskets, a
great number of which they had brought with them; when the latter, with
the Magee at their head, were defeated with dreadful slaughter, and the
Falatahs being the objects against whom the fire-arms of the people of
Benin were more particularly directed, very few of them, comparatively
speaking, escaped with life. The week before I revisited Tabria,
Mohammed had experienced another signal overthrow, and it was generally
believed by the inhabitants that the remnant of the Falatahs, who had
been so roughly handled, would be obliged to abandon Nyffé in a few
days, and return, discomfited, to Soccatoo, in which case Edrisi would
reign in the kingdom, and Mohammed either follow the Falatahs, or lose
his life by remaining behind.
On the 25th Captain Clapperton returned from the camp of Mohammed, and
on Tuesday the 2nd of May we proceeded on our journey by a path winding
along the delightful banks of the May-yarrow. Passing near to Gonda, a
walled village, and crossing a broad but shallow stream, we entered by
one of the gates into the town of Coulfo, which is distant from Tabria,
in a direct line, only four miles.
Coulfo is the most considerable market town in Nyffé, and the general
emporium of that part of Africa. It contains between fifteen and sixteen
thousand _resident_ inhabitants, and, like most towns of any
consideration or extent in the country, is surrounded by a high wall,
outside of which is a deep and broad ditch.
The May-yarrow flows by the wall of the town, and is a source of much
comfort to the inhabitants, particularly by reason of its imparting an
agreeable coolness to the atmosphere, which is very desirable in the
heat of the day. Markets are daily held at Coulfo, and an immense
variety of articles, of native and foreign manufacture, are exposed for
sale in them. Traders resort in vast numbers from Bornou and Soccatoo to
the north and east, and from the sea coast to the west, with the produce
and manufactures of their respective countries, for which they find
ready buyers in the town. Slaves, horses, asses, and horned cattle, are
brought from every part of Africa, as well as silk, wrought and
unwrought, cotton, natron, beads, turbans, scarlet caps, goora nuts,
malaguetta pepper, red wood, &c.; the traffic in which is carried on to
an indefinite extent.
The inhabitants of Coulfo, like the natives of many parts of the ivory
and gold coasts, anoint their bodies with softened clay, or pounded wood
of the same colour, with which a little grease is invariably mixed. They
are principally Mahommedans, and perform a few of the rites and
ceremonies prescribed by the prophet, such as praying a given number of
times in the day, frequent lustrations of the hands and face, and a
rigid adherence to the fast of the Rhamadan. In other respects, however,
they do not conform to the moral precepts of the Koran, drunkenness
being their ruling passion; and so addicted are they to falsehood and
deception, and so generally prevalent are these vices become, that all
sense of their impropriety is lost amongst the people, and it is not
considered discreditable for the most respectable individuals in the
town to practise these arts upon each other. Theft also may be said to
be encouraged, in some degree; for, like the ancient Spartans, parents
praise the spirit and ingenuity of the junior branches of the community
who pilfer articles of trifling value from their neighbours, without
being detected in the act.
The females set off their charms to the best advantage, by staining
their hair, teeth, hands, and feet, in a similar manner to that of the
widow Zuma, which has already been described. This practice, which is
common to all ranks, and without adhering to which beauty cannot exist
in their eyes, in all probability is derived from the Moors or Saracens,
many of whose habits were copied by the natives at the time of their
irruption into the country, and still maintain the ascendancy which they
at first assumed. The more glaring the colour of the dye on the persons
of the _fair_ sex, the more fascinating is the object in the eyes of the
men of Coulfo—hence the pains every young woman takes to attract the
admiration and win the love of her male companion by bright blue hair,
red teeth, yellow hands, &c.; but above all, by keeping her body supple
and yielding by the use of red clay. It is hardly possible to conceive
the jealousies, and the thousand other afflicting passions that spring
up in the breast of a lady, if the person of another excels her own in
brilliancy of colouring. I have seen the poor things shed floods of
tears on this account; and on one occasion, in particular, was greatly
moved at observing a girl of our landlady’s acquaintance sighing and
sobbing in a corner of our room, because _Nuggree_, her lover, had told
her a few minutes before, that her teeth were not quite of so bright a
red as those of her female companion!
Whilst we remained at Coulfo, a messenger from our friend, the king of
Boussa, arrived with a present of a beautiful little mare for my master,
accompanied by a female slave, who brought butter and rice from the
Queen to Captain Clapperton and myself. His majesty had desired the man
to caution us against partaking of any food that might be sent from the
female relatives of the usurper of Nyffé, it being their avowed
intention to poison us by that means. This information, joined with
other circumstances, rendered us infinitely more suspicious than we had
previously been, and obliged us to use greater caution in accepting
presents of provisions from doubtful quarters. From that time it was our
usual custom to interrogate the individual bringing butter, &c. and if
he evinced the least reluctance to answer our questions, or betrayed the
slightest symptoms of fear or timidity in our presence, he was compelled
to eat part of the suspected articles himself, and in case of refusal,
dismissed with a severe whipping, and his presents thrown away. We found
this plan extremely serviceable to us, if we might be allowed to judge
from the hasty retreat of more than one of these good-natured
individuals.
The new moon, to catch a glimpse of which every eye in Coulfo was on the
stretch, was seen on Tuesday the 8th of May, and her first appearance
welcomed by a flourish of trumpets from the inhabitants.[3] This
concluded the fast of the Rhamadan; and the following day was kept as a
holiday for feasting and rejoicing by every individual in the place,
amongst all classes, and of every sect and party,—thousands of both
sexes from the neighbouring towns and villages flocking into it, in
order to participate in the festivities and amusements of the occasion.
Men and boys, old women and young maidens, slave and free, Mahommedan
and Pagan, forgot all distinctions of rank, and difference in age and
modes of worship,—and joining in the song and the dance, drank palm-wine
and _booza_ together, and before the morning was well over, all hands
became comfortably drunk. Groups of persons might be seen in the
afternoon, rambling from one end of the town to the other, dancing,
capering, tumbling, and hallooing, some reeling to and fro, scarcely
able to stand, others insensible from excessive intoxication; some flung
into the river by their boisterous companions, and dragged out again
half drowned; some smiting their breasts, and calling upon the name of
the Prophet; others hurrying about in every direction; fighting,
praying, laughing, weeping; but all, from the governor and his ladies to
the meanest bondmen and slaves,—all drunk in a greater or less degree.
It was now inexpressibly—insufferably hot; not a single zephyr panted
upon the motionless trees, and the intensity of the sun’s rays
threatened to set fire to the tenantless huts of the inhabitants. About
five or six o’clock a sultry haze obscured the firmament, which
dispersing some time afterwards, a solemn, fearful calm succeeded, and
continued for an hour or two, the people still enjoying their noisy
revelry, and loud bursts of merriment resounding from every quarter of
the town. We, apprehensive of what was to come after, kept our eyes
intently fixed on the eastern horizon, and at length espied a small dark
cloud slowly rising from that quarter of the heavens. Immediately after
the appearance of this object, faint flashes of lightning, and distant
peals of thunder following in rapid succession, convinced us that a
tornado was approaching. The people at last understanding these
symptoms, all was hurry, bustle, and confusion, in a moment—the music
and dancing suddenly ceased—the drunken became sober—a deep, wild,
thrilling cry was raised by the women, and answered by screams of
affright from the children and young persons. Meanwhile, the peals of
thunder became infinitely louder and more appalling, and the lightning
more intensely vivid than before: the clouds in the east gradually
rolling towards the zenith in denser and heavier masses, a large portion
of the heavens was presently clothed in almost midnight darkness, when
the western horizon suddenly opened, and a sea of liquid fire streaming
from that direction, added a sterner and yet more dreadful grandeur to
the firmament, exposing by its yellowish glare all the horrors and
blackness of the scene. The sable curtain that overhung our heads, was
rent asunder shortly after with a frightful explosion, causing the earth
to tremble and shake as if the Almighty had set his foot upon the world,
and reproached the people for their wickedness; while the shuddering
war-cry, and the tumult and wailings of the multitude, mingling with the
hollow blast of the tempest, produced on us an indescribable effect, and
awoke in me an exalted, but painful and tremulous emotion of soul, that
had nearly overpowered me.
To increase the consternation that was depicted on every countenance,
the town of _Balì_, containing eleven hundred houses, and situated about
half a mile from Coulfo, was set on fire by the lightning; and the
piercing cries of its terrified inhabitants floating dismally into the
latter town, were re-echoed by thousands of human voices, which produced
a concert of melancholy sounds, that caused even the domestic animals to
shrink with fear.
The hurricane and rain at length ceased, the noise of the people was
hushed into silence, and the tempestuous elements sank from horrid
sublimity into their previous state of awful repose. I have witnessed
many tornados in other parts of the globe;
“But never till that night, never till then,
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.”
Next morning I took a walk through the town, and in the country in its
vicinity: the air, as it generally is after such visitations, was
delightfully fresh and pleasant, but the earth was covered with
afflicting proofs of the tremendous power of the storm; superb trees,
through the trunks of which, if scooped out, a coach might easily pass,
were torn up by the roots, and their gigantic branches shivered into
splinters; whilst others were indeed standing, but scathed and blackened
from the effects of the lightning, and entirely stripped of their
verdant foliage. Fragments and roofs of huts, many of them yet
smouldering, were scattered in every direction; and here and there the
dead body of a bird or beast, which had perished the preceding night,
might be met with.
The destitute inhabitants of Balì came to Coulfo, the day after their
town had been reduced to ashes, to tell their simple tale of distress,
and solicit the assistance of their more favoured neighbours. I was
pleased to see their story listened to with tears, and their sorrowful
condition ameliorated, with a benevolence and zeal that effectually
covered the bad qualities of the people of Coulfo, and made one forget
for a moment that they possessed any. In a conversation with one of the
sufferers in the ill-fated town, I learned that several mothers had
perished in the flames, while in the act of escaping from them with
their tender offspring slung to their backs; and it was supposed that
many of the male sex had shared in the like calamity, as they were
missing, and no intelligence whatever had transpired respecting them.
One individual, bowed down with years, had snatched up in his arms a
little boy who was crossing his path, screaming with terror; but, just
as he had reached the outskirts of the burning town, and was
congratulating himself on his good fortune, in having preserved his own
and the child’s life so unexpectedly, a moving mass of fire, whirled by
the wind, suddenly fell upon him, and both he and his charge were
scorched to death, in sight of their sorrowing relatives.
The town of Balì soon rose from its ruins, and the people, by their
merriment and vivacity, seemed to forget, a month or two afterwards,
that any such calamity had befallen it.
The country for miles round Coulfo is studded with walled towns, open
villages, and clusters of houses; and so jealous are the inhabitants of
one of these places of the superiority, imaginary or real, whether as
regards personal bravery or success in slave-catching, of another, that,
like the natives of rival parishes in Cornwall, before the introduction
of Methodism into that county, or the different sects and orders which
agitate Ireland at the present time, formally challenge each other, and
meet by appointment to try the prowess and superiority of their
respective parties. On such occasions, the combatants arm themselves
with bludgeons, bows and arrows, and spears; and the conflict is, in
almost every instance, prosecuted with the bitterness and animosity of
the most ruthless savages, frequently terminating in the death or
capture of numbers of each party, when the latter are uniformly sold
into slavery. Just at the period of our arrival at Coulfo, the
inhabitants of the walled town of Koofoo, situated but a short distance
from the former place, having captured and sold, contrary to custom, the
wife of a man belonging to a neighbouring village, who was supposed to
have been slain in one of these engagements, a mutual system of
retaliation and petty warfare was the consequence, which had embroiled
all the country in domestic dissensions; and their war-cry, of all
sounds, next to their death-yell, the most truly terrific, could be
distinctly heard at our lodgings in Coulfo every evening. A person
connected with either of the disturbed towns could not venture out
alone, or unarmed, without exposing himself to be shot at or pierced by
his inveterate antagonists, who made it a constant practice to prowl
about the country, and spring, tiger-like, upon any unsuspecting victim
whom pleasure or business had induced to quit the boundaries of his
native village. These intestine commotions, united to the formidable
civil war that was desolating the kingdom of Nyffé, had caused the minds
of the people to be in a perpetual state of fermentation and alarm,
occasioning their angry and incited passions to have the ascendancy over
their milder virtues; and to this cause is attributable, more than to
any other, the absence of that kindness and hospitality, amongst the
natives generally, which were so cheerfully bestowed upon us in the less
civilized kingdoms of Yariba and Borghoo,—although even the people of
Nyffé were by no means destitute of the gentle charities of life.
The severe and continued indisposition that both my master and myself
experienced, obliged us to remain in the city of Coulfo six or seven
weeks; but, getting better at the termination of that period, we
departed on the nineteenth of June, and passing through Koofoo, where we
slept, and several other villages, encamped outside the walled town of
Bullabulla on the 21st of the same month. At that place I was attacked
with dysentery, a truly frightful disorder, that causes hope to die
within the patient, and puts him altogether out of the love of life. The
pain it occasioned me was so great, and its effects so distressing, that
I was unable to keep a regular journal of occurrences until my arrival
at Kano. On the road to that city my sufferings were too acute to be
described; and it was not unusual for me to lag behind the rest of the
party, and, dismounting from my horse, to roll myself in the dust, in
the hope of relieving the agony of the moment, where I remained panting
on the naked earth, till my master, alarmed at my long absence, would
light large fires, by the smoke of which I was directed to his resting-
place. On entering the tent, it was my custom, without uttering a word,
to fling myself on a mat, and, embracing my pillow,[4] to sleep, or
rather _endeavour_ to sleep till morning. By this means I acquired a
habit of groaning in my slumbers, of which I could not completely divest
myself, even for some months after my return to England. Whenever we
came to a stream which was too deep to ford, and unfurnished with a
ferry-boat, being too weak myself to swim, my generous master used to
take me on his shoulders, and, oftentimes at the imminent risk of his
own life, carry me in safety to the opposite bank.
We journeyed over a wooded and partially cultivated country, through
several populous walled towns and open villages, and arrived at Guâri,
in Kashna, on Monday the 3d of July.
Leaving that place on the following Friday we continued our course, and
entered the western gate of Zaria, a considerable Falatah town, and the
capital of the province of Zeg Zeg, on Monday the 10th.
The country to the eastward of the town was unspeakably fine, and almost
clear of wood; and looked as fresh and beautiful as the richest parts of
England in the summer months. Plantations of rice and cotton; fields of
undulating corn; meadows covered with a lovely verdure; and gentle
slopes with herds and flocks grazing and browzing on them, looked as
picturesque and rural as any landscape I had beheld in my own, or indeed
any other country.
We remained at Zaria a week, when we again set out; and traversing a
country charmingly diversified by hills and dales, streamlets of water,
groves of superb trees peopled with birds of the gayest plumage, and
enclosures of Indian corn, yams, indigo, the cotton plant, wheat,
millet, &c. we arrived at Kano on Thursday the 20th of July.