* * * * *
Residence at Kano — Captain Clapperton leaves for Soccatoo — History of
Pasko, the Houssa Interpreter — Pasko’s robberies and confinement —
Return of the Captain with the Godado, after an ineffectual attempt to
reach Soccatoo — His second departure from Kano — His Letters.
We were mortified beyond measure to learn of Hat Sallah, my master’s
agent on the former journey, that the Bornouese and Falatahs were at
war, and in consequence thereof that all communication between the two
kingdoms had been effectually cut off. On hearing of our arrival, the
countenances of the Arabs in the city brightened up; for they fancied
that we should be the means of bringing about a permanent peace between
the belligerents, the war having occasioned the ruin of several of them,
and threatened the prosperity of the whole.
I had received instructions from Captain Clapperton to remain in Kano
with the baggage, whilst he undertook a journey to Soccatoo and back, it
being unnecessary to have the goods conveyed so far out of the road to
Bornou. Therefore on Thursday the 24th of July, every arrangement having
been previously made, my master came to bid me adieu, and give me final
instructions relative to proceeding to Bornou and Tripoli, in case of
his death, or of any unforeseen accident that might befall him. On this
occasion each of us was much moved, and we parted with that unaffected
sorrow which the circumstances in which we were placed were so eminently
calculated to call forth. Our little party had left their native country
full of hope and enterprising spirit, and we had seen them sicken and
die by our sides without being in a condition to mitigate their
sufferings, or “smooth down their lonely pillow.” Like the characters in
Mozart’s “Farewell,” they had dropped one by one; and they were buried
in a strange land, far from the graves of their fathers, with scarce a
memento to point out the solitary spot. These were my thoughts at the
moment of separation from my valued master, whom I may justly style the
preserver of my life. I knew that it was by no means unlikely we might
never meet again, and we were well assured, that in the event of our
dissolutions when apart, no one could be found to close our eyes, still
less to perform the rites of Christian burial over our remains. My
master therefore left me with emotion. For my own part, I was yet, if
possible, more sensibly agitated; I was ill with dysentery at the time,
_very_ ill; and throwing myself on my couch as soon as the Captain was
out of sight, I did not arise from it again for twenty-four hours.
Kano is one of the most important and considerable cities in Soudan, and
is a general mart for all sorts of merchandize. The indigo, manufactured
by the inhabitants, has the reputation of producing a richer and more
permanent dye than is to be met with in any other part of Africa
whatever, and is on this account in very high estimation with all
classes of people. The population of the town, on a rough computation,
probably exceeds forty thousand souls, the major part of whom are
slaves, but treated with kindness and forbearance by their masters.
Arabs and Moors resort thither from the Barbary States, for the purposes
of trade, and their goods realise an immense profit in the market,
remunerating them with a rapid fortune. The wall of the city, thirty
feet in height, and of proportionable thickness, encompasses a space of
nearly ten English miles; but upwards of two-thirds of the ground
enclosed is taken up with morasses, plantations, and gardens, the
dwelling of the inhabitants occupying the remaining portion. The houses
are built in a square form, after the Moorish fashion, of flat roofs
covered with hardened clay interlaced with palm leaves; and are on the
whole roomy and comfortable abodes.
The air of Kano is close and insalubrious, and rendered yet more
unwholesome, in consequence of the number of stagnant pools of water,
partly filled with putrifying animal and vegetable substances, which are
tolerated in the town. A most disagreeable odour is exhaled by this
means; while a large morass intersecting the city from east to west,
into which the filth of the inhabitants is indiscriminately emptied,
tends still further towards its general unhealthiness. The dead bodies
of slaves are frequently cast into this morass, exposed to the action of
the air or visits of birds of prey; and it is truly shocking to observe
their mangled members in a state of decomposition, and their fleshless
bones bleaching in the sun in the very heart of the town.
This painful and disgusting spectacle I was oftentimes obliged to be a
witness to, a week rarely passing without one or more of these
unregretted corpses being flung into the common receptacle, and left to
the gaze of the people, amongst whom all sense of delicacy in this
respect seemed to have been stifled by gross familiarity with this
revolting custom; by reason of this the inhabitants pass by the decaying
bodies of their fellow creatures with no greater symptoms of repugnance
than if they had been the remains of their own domestic animals.
I had scarcely been in Kano a fortnight, when Pasko, our Houssa
interpreter, absconded with a few articles of trifling value, and after
a diligent and persevering search of three days, he was found concealed
under a heap of yams, in the house of the mother to a female he had
recently married. He was accompanied to our house by his better half,
sobbing all the way, who begged me, with much earnestness, to forgive
her husband for the offence he had been guilty of, which I consented to
do, but not till after he had received a severe scolding, and promised
never again to perpetrate a crime of a similar nature against me or any
one else.
As this old man’s history may not be altogether uninteresting, inasmuch
as it shows, in a lively point of view, the ridiculous superstitions of
his countrymen, imbibed in their infant years, which no circumstance or
change of scene in their after life can wholly eradicate, I hope I may
be excused for giving a short account of his adventures previously to
his being engaged in the African mission, as repeated solemnly to me
several times from his own lips, and after that period till his arrival
with us at Kano, drawn from personal observation.
Pasko’s native name was _Abbu Becr_, and although this is without doubt
a Mohammedan appellation, he knew nothing more of Islamism than its
name, being in reality a Pagan. He was born in the district of Goober,
and was brother to the reigning prince of that country, who at the
period of the subjugation of the neighbouring provinces to the yoke of
Danfodio, Bello’s father, ridiculed that wily conqueror’s pretensions to
sanctity, and rose with his people to dispute his further advances into
Houssa. In an engagement with the Falatahs, in which Pasko distinguished
himself, his brother was suddenly metamorphosed into a white elephant!
and as soon as he was conscious of his melancholy change, rushed into
the thickest of the fight, trampling to death upwards of two hundred of
his adversaries, who were panic-struck at the unexpected appearance of
so formidable an animal amongst them; but rallying a short time
afterwards, they winged their arrows so effectually, that the body of
the enormous beast became like that of a porcupine, being literally
covered with them; and this fact, joined to his extraordinary exertions
and loss of blood, made the intrepid elephant quit the field of battle.
Lifting up Pasko, therefore, from the ground with his proboscis, he
repaired to a neighbouring forest, and dropping his charge, was
transfixed, like Lot’s wife to the spot, by the same invisible power
that had been so instrumental in bringing about his previous alteration
of form and nature. Here he stood, without the power of stirring an
inch, or of moving a limb, and although Pasko’s bitter lamentations were
heard at a considerable distance, the inexorable deity was deaf to these
violent bursts of sorrow; but his fraternal tenderness would not suffer
Pasko to leave the place till he had the felicity of beholding trees and
shrubs grow round the body of the petrified elephant; which third
miracle took place about three hours after the former ones, and
completely hid the transformed from the most prying curiosity!
The remainder of Pasko’s history is entitled to a greater share of
credence. A year or two subsequent to the above singular occurrence, as
Pasko was dancing by the light of the moon, with several of his
companions, he was kidnapped by a marauding party of Falatahs, and sold
to a Gonja trader. This man not treating him with the kindness he
expected, to be revenged Pasko took the liberty of robbing him of all
his goods, and decamping in the night; he was, however, apprehended the
next evening, in a state of intoxication, dancing with a dozen females,
and taken back to his master, who re-sold him to a native of Ashantee.
By this master he was taken considerable notice of, and sent, along with
many others, to his own country (Ashantee); but no great while after his
arrival thither he committed a second serious misdemeanour, for which
offence he was driven to the sea-side, and sold to the master of a
Portuguese schooner, then lying at Whydah. On her voyage to Bahia, the
vessel was captured by an English sloop of war, and Pasko was liberated;
but consented to remain with the British, and serve as an ordinary
seaman. He was, however, taken from his employment by Mr. Belzoni, in
order to accompany him in his attempt to reach Tombuctoo by way of Fez;
but that enterprizing traveller dying of dysentery, Pasko returned to
his duties in the British navy, where he remained till engaged by
Captain Clapperton, in the joint capacity of servant to Captain Pearce,
and general interpreter to the mission.
Pasko was no more than five feet in height, with hands and arms
disproportionately long: his face was open and expressive, if a mouth
extending literally from ear to ear can impart an enviable cast of
feature to the human countenance; and his cheek was furrowed with the
tatto mark of the Houssa nation (eight deep scars, inflicted by a rude
instrument during boyhood). His nose was excessively broad and flat, and
his lips resembled, as nearly as possible, the famous German sausage
ornamented; and these were, with large teeth, of pearly whiteness, which
were generally exposed by a perpetual grin playing upon his countenance.
But there was an undefinable expression of low cunning in his dark,
wandering eye, and an habitual restlessness in his manner which induced
one to suspect that there was more of evil in him than he was willing
should be detected, and which he strove to disguise under forced
stupidity and carelessness which in reality did not belong to his
disposition. It is somewhat odd that Pasko, plain as his appearance most
undoubtedly was, should have entertained the strange notion that almost
every female who saw him, of whatever hue, nation, or religion she might
be, could not help falling in love with him at first sight, imagining
that his intellectual physiognomy possessed some peculiar attraction—an
oil of rhodium,—which fascinated all beholders. Hence, secure of the
affections of the softer sex, his behaviour to them was not always
graced by that studied civility, and agreeableness of manner, which are
the characteristics of most gallants; what others were obliged to
entreat and sigh for as a favour, Pasko demanded as a right, and
enforced his pretensions with an eloquence so commanding, that according
to his own asseverations at least, his advances were never repelled by
coldness or disdain. At the period of his engaging himself with the
African mission, he might have been about sixty years of age, but looked
considerably older; and the above unaccountable feeling of his had lost
none of its intensity at so advanced a period of life. Like Aaron’s rod,
it swallowed up every other passion; and as will be seen by the numerous
wives with whom he was accommodated, and the scrapes he fell into by
their means, Pasko subscribed, with all his heart, to the anathema of
the Poet:
“Curse on all laws save those which _Love_ has made!”
At Badagry, one of the wives of Adólee, the king, fell desperately in
love with the self-enamoured Pasko, and strove to awaken his sensibility
by a present of a bottle of rum; but the latter being observed sneaking
near the king’s house at unseasonable hours, was threatened with death
if he attempted to display his alluring accomplishments before the
illustrious female inmates, to the infinite uneasiness of his majesty’s
mind. Pasko, with whom foolhardiness was in no very high esteem, went
off in great dudgeon, and never repeated his visit to the seraglio,
confining himself within doors as much as possible. This seclusion,
however, could not screen him from the resentment of the slighted lady,
for as he was standing outside our house one day, a stone, flung with
great force from her own _fair_ hand, struck Pasko so violent a blow on
the breast, that it completely ejected every spark of tenderness he
might have entertained for her, and he vowed to embrace the earliest
opportunity of being revenged. At Jannah he forgot his disappointment in
the endearing expressions lavished upon his extraordinary beauty by a
girl of that place, whom he married agreeably to the custom of the
country, and took with him to Katunga, in Yariba. The attachment seemed
to be reciprocal for some time; and Pasko was so bound up in the
blandishments of his spouse, that he was loth to expose her delicate
person to the dangers of a journey to Bornou, and proposed remaining in
that city, instead of continuing in the service of the mission; his
better half relishing the proposal extremely well, and seconding it with
all the weight of her influence. Aspiring, however, to the society of
the wives of his majesty of Katunga, and those of his great men, Pasko’s
rib fell into the temptation of tippling and carousing with them at all
seasons, and indulged in this disgraceful propensity to so great an
excess, that she rarely returned to the arms of her impatient husband in
a sober state; and was, moreover, frequently seen in the company of
younger men than he. All this at length reaching the ears of Captain
Clapperton, she was dismissed his service, but retaken at the piteous
lamentations and entreaties of Pasko, who declared, blubbering all the
while, that he could not survive her loss, so strongly was she linked to
him by the silken bands of love! The amiable lady, nevertheless, the
morning before our departure from Katunga, rising from the couch of her
unsuspecting companion, decamped with the coral beads and other trinkets
he had received of Mrs. Belzoni whilst in England, and was never seen or
heard of after. Pasko consoled himself with the reflection that the
woman was certainly deranged, or she never could have treated a person
of his consideration so unhandsomely!
At Wow Wow he buried all his griefs and vexations in the embraces of a
fresh wife he had received of the generous Zuma; but it being unlawful
to accept such a present without having first obtained the consent of
the king, Mohammed compelled him to return the dear object of his
affections, much against his own inclination, and the unfortunate lover
determined not to marry again in a hurry. A young woman in Kano however
overturned his resolution, and he left me in the manner which has
already been related. Pasko never troubled his head much about religious
matters, adopting the prevailing opinions about them in the various
countries through which he might happen to pass: thus, he was a
Christian in England, a Pagan in Yariba and Borghoo, and a Mohammedan in
the Falatah empire; although the superstitious notions of his childhood
clung like instinct to his manhood and declining years, evidently
disposing him to lean towards Paganism, as the best and most convenient
doctrine with which he was acquainted.
My master unexpectedly returned to Kano in September, accompanied by the
Godado (prime minister of sultan Bello) and several Falatahs of less
consequence, the road to Soccatoo having been found impassable by reason
of the rain that had fallen. After remaining with me three or four days,
Captain Clapperton left the city a second time, and entered the capital
of Houssa in safety, on Thursday the 19th of October.
On the night of the 1st of November Pasko eloped with his Kano wife,
taking with him six pairs of scissors and a pistol. On missing him next
morning, I made an inquiry after him in the city, but no one could give
me the least account of the fugitive, till a person informed me of his
having met him with a woman at an early hour on the road to Zeg Zeg. As
soon as this information was communicated to me, I secured the baggage
in an apartment of our house, and took the key to Hat Sallah, with a
request that he would suffer no one to enter it till my return. Although
I was by no means recovered from the painful illness which had for so
long a time afflicted me, I immediately mounted my horse, and desiring
Abdalfitha, one of our Arab servants to accompany me on another, took
the road to Quorra, a large town in Zeg Zeg, and travelled with unusual
speed. A journey of four days brought us to Roma, on entering which town
we were told that Pasko had just before quitted it; but our horses being
almost knocked up, we could proceed no further on that day, by reason
whereof we were obliged to remain there till the following morning.
We had not been in the place, however, more than an hour, when some of
the inhabitants came with the news that they had seen Pasko in a woman’s
house near the market-place; and as soon as I had ascertained that this
was actually the case, I hired a dozen stout men to watch at the gates,
and apprehend him if he attempted to escape from the town. Meanwhile,
being exhausted myself with the violent exercise I had been necessitated
to take, I ordered Abdulfitha to proceed to the place of his
concealment, and endeavour to secure the criminal, which he succeeded in
doing without even the shadow of opposition on Pasko’s part, and
presently after brought him to me. The old fellow, with the most
unconcerned air imaginable, wondered I had taken so much pains on his
account, affirming that he had taken a jaunt into the country for a day
or two, in order to amuse himself by shooting a few pigeons for my use,
for he felt for me in my long indisposition! and that it was his
intention to return to Kano as soon as he had accomplished his
charitable purpose. His wife, not liking this species of enjoyment, had
left him the preceding day, and had gone back to her mother’s house.
Pasko, having made this ingenious defence, I gave him a severe lecture
for having left Kano without my knowledge or consent; but as he showed
symptoms of contrition, and promising solemnly to behave with more
circumspection for the future, I cheerfully forgave him; and we retired
to rest.
On our return we halted at a small village about twelve miles from Kano,
where we slept. In the night, Pasko, watching a favorable opportunity,
stole unobserved out of the hut with all my money, which I had
concealed, for its better security, in my stocking, together with my
guns, pistols, and in fact every thing belonging to me, with the
exception of the horse. The manner in which the robbery was discovered
was as follows:—About two o’clock in the morning, being thirsty, I
called on Pasko several times to fetch me a little water, but receiving
no answer, I arose, and approaching the mat on which he had lain down
the preceding evening, caught hold of what I conceived to be his head,
and shook it violently. Still receiving no answer, I became alarmed, and
instantly striking a light, I found, not Pasko’s corpse stretched on the
mat as I expected, but a slaughtered sheep! which had been sent me from
the chief of the town, in its stead, and which the artful old scoundrel
had placed in that position, enveloping the head of the animal in one of
my woollen caps, for the purpose of deceiving me! as Abdulfitha had been
in the habit of laying his hand on Pasko’s head at intervals during the
night, in order to ascertain that all was right. The thief had stripped
me almost naked; but wrapping a blanket round my person, I rode hastily
with Abdulfitha, by star-light, to Kano, and arrived there early in the
morning. As soon as Hat Sallah had arisen, I simply told him how I had
been served, when he immediately sent several individuals in quest of
the robber, who returned with him two days after. This was enjoyment
with a vengeance; so being determined he should take no more rural
excursions, I ordered the prisoner to be heavily ironed, and confined in
the common dungeon till the return of the governor of Kano from a town
called Fanisoe: this took place two or three days only before my
departure, and on the same day Pasko being examined by his excellency,
and having taken an oath in his presence that he would not again desert
me till the arrival of Captain Clapperton from Soccatoo, he was set at
large in the city.
I saw a slave in Kano whose fore teeth were cut and pointed, a custom I
thought peculiar to the coast, and some of the islands in the South
Seas. The man’s appearance was most ferocious; and so sullen and
reserved was he, that he refused to answer any interrogations that were
put to him, although I was inclined to believe that he had perpetrated
some flagrant crime, as he was so far on his way to Badagry, whither he
would not have been sent, if his character were not of the very worst
description.
One day, as I was walking to the governor’s house, I espied a white man
at some distance; I ran after him as fast as my strength would permit
me, and thought at first he was an apparition; but on approaching within
a few yards, and the man suddenly stopping, I immediately perceived that
he was a leper. His head, neck, and shoulders were bared, and the skin,
covered with a thick scurf, had a ghastly and cadaverous appearance.
When he turned to look at me, I could not forbear shuddering, and felt
so peculiar a sensation creep through my frame, that I willingly laid
hold of a date tree growing near the spot, in order to keep myself in an
erect position. The wool, nose, and lips, were entirely negro, and when
these were contrasted with his pale, diseased skin, the leper scarcely
maintained the appearance of a human being. We had seen a woman in
Katunga afflicted with a similar loathsome malady; but its effects in
the latter instance were not nearly so visibly disgusting. Both the
unhappy individuals were vagrants, and shunned, like the lazars of
Italy, by their fellow-creatures. Their life must, indeed, have been a
burden to them; for the disease, preying upon their vitals, threatened
to terminate their wretched career very speedily; and to add to their
sorrows, they had no where to lay their heads.
I had purchased a young ostrich of a Tuarick, who had brought it from
the desert, shortly after our arrival at Kano, and the animal soon
became so tame, that it would follow me like a dog. In two months after
I had it in my possession it grew amazingly, and I was in hopes of
bringing it to England with me; but an envious Arab in the city, whose
inveterate dislike to every thing belonging to the Christians he took no
pains to conceal, cut off its head, and artfully attributed it to
accident. Meeting the fellow in the street a short time afterwards, I
belaboured his sides so effectually with a stout stick which I held in
my hand, that he ran off bellowing with a complaint to the governor,
who, after listening patiently to his story, observed, with a very
significant look, that he was quite sure the drubbing he had received
must have been inflicted _by accident_, and dismissed the malicious Arab
without granting the redress he sought.
A wealthy Nyffé man had in his possession, in Kano, two individuals,
male and female, so excessively small, that although they were nearly
thirty years of age, their height did not exceed forty inches. Each of
them had been brought from a place called Goorma, and they had left
their native country at a very early period of life; insomuch, that they
had no recollection of their parents, or of any thing connected with the
manners and customs of their countrymen. None but particular friends of
the proprietor were allowed to see these human beings in miniature, and
even they were introduced only at particular seasons. For my part, I
often visited them, and their innocent playful manners greatly diverted
me. They were extremely chatty and good-tempered, and their agility was
as remarkable as their size was diminutive. I offered to purchase them;
but not altogether admiring my white skin, they refused to quit the
hospitable roof of their owner, who candidly acknowledged that he was so
much attached to the dwarfs, that he had resolved never to force their
inclinations to a measure they disliked in their hearts.
When I was able, I used, during my stay at Kano, to collect plants,
shrubs, insects, &c. and stuff any birds that I might happen to shoot,
if I fancied there was any thing peculiar or strange in their
appearance. By this means I soon acquired a great variety of beautiful
insects, which, with the birds and plants, I attempted to bring to
England with me; but the portmanteau in which they were placed having
been frequently wetted on my return to the coast, they were all so
completely spoiled, that I was obliged to throw them away.
On the 12th of November I had the happiness of receiving the following
letter from my master, dated Soccatoo, Tuesday, October 26, 1826:—
“DEAR RICHARD,
“I arrived here on Thursday, after a most fatiguing and harassing
journey. I find the city in much the same state as on my former visit.
They say it has been burnt by the rebels of Goober, but I have observed
no traces of a recent conflagration, and therefore suspect the rumour to
be unfounded. Sultan Bello has been investing Coonia, the capital of
Goober, with a large but irregular army. I visited him in his camp
previously to my arrival here. He appeared glad to see me, and welcomed
me to his country with the utmost cordiality. He is now at Magaria,
anticipating an attack from the rebel chief, but is expected here
shortly. The Arabs have already begun their underhand and deceitful
practices, by tampering with Mohammed [an Arab servant], and insinuating
the injury he would do his soul by serving an enemy to their faith. The
man hardly knows how to act; on the one hand he dreads the resentment of
his namesake the Prophet; and on the other, if he quits my service, he
must necessarily throw himself upon the good-nature of his rascally
countrymen, who indeed make golden promises, but whose filthy
niggardliness is proverbial, even amongst the Falatahs. I shall
certainly feel his loss severely, if Mohammed follows their advice, as I
have no one in whom I can repose so much confidence as himself; but I
have left it entirely to his own choice, either to go or stay. I have
just had a conversation with a messenger, arrived within these few
minutes from Bello and the Godado; he tells me the rebels are hourly
expected near Magaria, and of his sovereign’s wish for me to make all
haste to him, as he is utterly unconscious how long he may be detained
with his army. For the purpose of assisting me on my journey, the Sultan
has sent me two camels and a horse; and most likely I shall leave this
city to-morrow or next day.
“It is most violently hot here. I fancy the weather has already made
some impression on my health, for I feel now and then a little feverish
and unwell. I sincerely wish it may not increase upon me. Heaven knows I
have had enough of sickness since I first set my foot on African soil;
and it would be disheartening indeed if I should be laid up at this
particular time. Let me hope your health is improved since I saw you. It
would grieve me exceedingly to hear an unfavourable account of it; and I
would suggest that you keep both mind and body as much employed as
possible. By right you should have no idle moments. I hope you ride out
every day, and amuse yourself with shooting and stuffing birds: this
will tend to keep you in good health and spirits. Apply your mind
strictly to the duties of religion; rely firmly on the mercy and
assistance of Heaven; for in all your difficulties and distress, this
alone will bear you up like a man, and render you superior to
misfortune.
“I pray God to bless you; and believe me to be
“Your sincere friend and master,
“HUGH CLAPPERTON.”
“_Rd. Lander, Kano._”
Towards the latter end of November, I received a second letter from
Capt. Clapperton, dated Soccatoo, November 7th, 1826. The following is a
copy of it:—
“DEAR RICHARD,
“I returned from Magaria yesterday: the Sultan received his present
with rapture; nor did the godado appear much less pleased with his. I
enjoy, thank God, tolerable health, with the exception of being
afflicted at times with a sharp pain in my side, which annoys me
greatly; but I hope it will soon wear off. The Sultan does not seem in
the least willing for me to visit Bornou, by reason of the war; but I
shall do all in my power to overturn his unjust prejudices. He fancies,
no doubt, the present intended for the Sheikh consists of warlike
stores; at least, I am pretty confident my kind friends the Arabs have
intimated as much to him. Yet I am infinitely pleased to learn that
Bello does not altogether relish their counsel, and that he judges
pretty correctly of the falsehood and deceit they have so often
practised to serve their own ends.
“If the road to Bornou be denied me, I really can’t tell what we shall
do, or how we shall get home. It is certain if we pursue a different
route, my business will be incomplete, and of all things this lies
nearest my heart. It is not likely, however, I shall be kept in suspense
a great while longer, and I shall know with certainty perhaps in a few
days. I am already heartily tired of this place; and most devoutly wish
I were with you. I long to turn my face towards our dear country again;
yet whenever I think calmly of it, as oftentimes I do, a cloud seems to
hang over the future which saddens me, I know not why, and makes me
excessively low-spirited. I would cheerfully dissipate all gloomy
reflections if I could; but they come over one at times when one is
least capable of resisting their influence, and an unpleasant sensation
steals insensibly upon the mind, and renders one careless of oneself,
and regardless of the world.
“My dear Richard, do _you_ endeavour to keep up your spirits. You tell
me you are ill; I imagine this proceeds more from brooding over your
misfortunes than any other cause whatever: it is not well to do so; you
should not suffer despondency and dejection to have the mastery over
your judgment and resolution. Think of your friends in England, and
fancy yourself in their little circle; never permit hope to sink so far
within you, as to say to yourself, ‘I shall never see my country again.’
Such thoughts, I repeat, should never be indulged; for they are ever
attended with mischief. Your disorder is, indeed, a peculiarly painful
one; yet it is one which every European must expect to be visited with
in this remote region. I have been afflicted with it myself before now,
and you see I am completely recovered from its effects.
“Let me entreat you, therefore, to hope for the best: it is unmanly to
repine at any trifling casualty that may befal one, which we are all so
very apt to do. Above all things, place your confidence in the wisdom of
the Almighty; let your whole heart and affections rest upon him, for he
alone is able to support you under the trying sickness that wastes you,
and conduct you in safety to dear old England. Pray to Heaven night and
morning, and read the church service as often as you can, particularly
on the Sabbath; for a firm reliance on the goodness and mercy of the
Divine Power, will inspire you with confidence, and bear you up with
cheerfulness and courage, even when all earthly enjoyments fail you. For
my own part, I am inclined to believe you will soon be well, and that we
shall shortly see better and happier days. Most likely I shall leave
this city for Kano the latter part of the week, and surely I need not
repeat how happy I shall be to see you again.
“Adieu, and believe me
“Your sincere friend and master,
“H. CLAPPERTON.”
“_Richard Lander, Kano._”
The above letter had been delivered to me but two days, when I received
a message from the governor of Kano to pay him a visit at his house. On
entering the apartment in which he was seated, he abruptly informed me
that he had just received a letter from my master, which contained a
wish for me to come to him immediately with all the baggage. This piece
of intelligence surprised me not a little, for I had been led to
believe, from the tenor of his last letter, that, instead of my
proceeding to Soccatoo, Captain Clapperton must by that time have been
on the road to Kano. I could not help fancying, however, that something
of a melancholy nature had taken place, which, from motives of delicacy,
had been prudently withheld from me, although I was at a loss to
conjecture of what nature it could be; for it did not occur to me at the
moment that Bello, who bore a high character for uprightness and
integrity, could resort to so mean a stratagem, in order to inveigle an
unprotected stranger into his power, without assigning any reason for
such unwarrantable conduct.
Two days after this interview (22d November) I received another
invitation from the governor, on which occasion, after briefly alluding
to the former conversation, he hinted that it was necessary for me to
quit the city without delay, naming the 25th as the day most proper for
my departure. He said he should make my master a present of five _pack_
bullocks to convey the goods to Soccatoo, and order four men to take
charge of the animals on the road.
On the 24th I paid my respects to the governor, with whom I was closeted
considerably more than an hour; and on rising to depart, he shook hands
heartily with me, saying, with much warmth and feeling, “Good bye,
‘little Christian,’ God take you safe to Soccatoo.” On going back to my
house, I found Hat Salah rather impatiently waiting my return; he
advised me to procure a strong camel by all means, affirming that the
bullocks of themselves were inadequate for the purpose intended. I
agreed with him in this particular, and purchased one which the Arab
recommended for 62,000 cowries.