Departure from Egga — A sea-gull observed — Rivery scenery — Arrive at
Kacunda — Mahomedan schoolmaster — Natives — The king’s brother —
Accounts of the natives below Kacunda — Superstitious demands of the
king and his people — The Tshadda river — Departure from Kacunda —
Precautions against an attack — A night on the river — Pass the Tshadda
— The Bird Rock — Natives surprized — Perilous condition of the
travellers at Bocquâ — Geographical information — Departure from Bocquâ
— Towns of Atta and Abbazacca — Departure from Abbazacca — The
travellers stopped at Damuggoo.
_Friday, October 22nd._—At half past six this morning our people set
about loading the canoe according to my expectations, but with a bad
grace, and nothing but sulky looks, grumbling, and fearful apprehensions
passed among them. They were, however, unwilling to lose their wages,
which would certainly have been the case had they persisted in their
refusal to proceed, and they seemed to have no wish to remain at Egga.
Having no one to look to for protection, it is not improbable but that
they would have been made slaves immediately after our departure, so
that they had made up their minds to accompany us, although, when they
took their paddles and we were fairly starting, they seemed to feel
their situation more keenly than ever, and said that we were going to
take them to a country where they would all be murdered. We endeavoured
as much as possible to pacify their fears, but were obliged to have
recourse to threats, and therefore said we would throw them overboard if
they were not quiet and worked the canoe properly. This and other
threats to the same effect silenced them, and we were not sorry to see
it, for we should have had a difficult matter to get others to fill
their places had they persisted in leaving us.
At seven o’clock, all being ready, we bade farewell to the old chief,
whose good humour had afforded us so much amusement, although his wives
had nearly suffocated us, and on leaving the landing-place of Egga we
fired off three muskets as a parting salute. Several of the principal
inhabitants came hurrying down to the water-side to take their leave, to
give us their blessing, and wish us a successful voyage. Our men at
first paddled sluggishly, and the canoe went slowly through the water.
It was nine before we reached the middle of the river. A little below
Egga we passed two very beautiful small islands, which were covered with
cultivation, and well inhabited; we did not stop, but kept our course
down the river. A few miles from the town we saw, with emotions of
pleasure, a sea-gull, which flew over our heads; this was a most
gratifying sight to us. It reminded us forcibly of the object we had in
view, and we fondly allowed it to confirm our hopes that we were drawing
very near to our journey’s end. We likewise beheld, for the first time,
about half a dozen large white pelicans, which were sailing gracefully
on the water.
It was a fine cheerful morning; our spirits were buoyant, and our hearts
light, as we passed smoothly, swiftly, and pleasantly along. We had been
informed at Egga that we should soon meet with canoes of very different
construction from any which we had before seen, and have to communicate
with various tribes and nations, different in all respects from the
people with whom we have heretofore maintained any intercourse. We were
likewise cautioned to be guarded in our conduct and demeanour, because
those tribes are pronounced by the Noufanchie to be bloody, savage and
ferocious in their habits and manners. We had also been advised to part
with our strange-looking canoe, which might attract their curiosity and
excite suspicion, and in consequence endanger our personal safety. After
making every allowance for exaggeration, still we fancy there is
sufficient truth in these reports to make us watchful and cautious, and
to put us on our guard.
The borders of the river during the morning were generally low and
swampy: high land appeared beyond them, but at some distance from the
water, and the intermediate spaces are occupied by extensive morasses.
The current swept us into one with great force, because we happened to
keep too near, nor were we able to extricate ourselves from this
unpleasant situation without infinite labour and difficulty, and much
loss of time. The hills seen on the 19th, now appear to take the same
direction as the river, which is here about south-east. The west side of
the river is low, while a double range of hills border the eastern bank.
These appear very fertile, and covered with verdure nearly to their
summits. In the afternoon, both the banks of the Niger became more
fertile, more pleasing, and more elevated. We saw, in the earlier part
of the day, several small and wretched-looking villages which lay nearly
under water, and also very extensive plantations of rice, at an immense
distance from any human habitation, but the tops of these plants only
were visible, and no cultivated land anywhere appeared. Afterwards,
however, the soil was more rich and grateful, and the country more
varied in its appearance. At eleven A.M., we passed a very large market-
town on our left, situated at the foot of a high hill and very near the
water’s edge. The hill was immediately over it, and seemed ready to fall
upon it every instant. We inquired the name of it among our people, but
they knew nothing of it, and our time was too precious to stop, although
several canoes from it passed near us. We observed an immense number of
canoes lying off it, built in the same manner as those of the Bonny and
Calabar rivers. This is another symptom of communication with those
people, and confirms our opinion that we are drawing near the sea. A
great many of them were moving to and fro on the river; some passed
close to us, and their crews gazed at us with astonishment, but did not
offer to interfere with us. It is a source of annoyance that we have no
means of conversing with these people, and it may prove of serious
inconvenience hereafter.
For many miles we could see nothing but large, open, well-built villages
on both banks of the river, but more especially on the eastern, and
tracts of land covered with verdure, or prepared for cultivation,
between them. Here Nature seems to have scattered her favours with an
unsparing hand. Yet we touched at none of these goodly places, but
continued our journey till the sun began to decline, and the men to be
fatigued, when we stopped at a small hamlet on an island, intending to
sleep there. At first the inhabitants mistrusted our intentions, and
were alarmed at our appearance. They no sooner saw us than they raised
the war-cry, and every man and woman armed themselves with swords and
dirks, bows and arrows, assuming a threatening and alarming position. We
called out lustily to them in the Hàussa language, but they were unable
to understand either our words or gestures. Fortunately, in a few
minutes a woman, who could converse a little in the Hàussa tongue, came
down to us at the water-side, and we informed her that we were friends
and Christians, travelling down the river to our native country, and
that it was not our wish to make war with them. All this she repeated to
those around her, and succeeded but partially, however, in removing
their prejudices and suspicions. Had it not been for the timely arrival
of this woman, we should certainly have had a volley of arrows among us,
for we were taken for Falàtahs at first, and we observed the woman
persuading them to the contrary. Still the people could not, or rather
would not, accommodate us with a lodging for the night, which was
contrary to our expectations, though we solicited them with much
importunity to grant us this favour, and though we assured them that the
most homely, the most shattered hut would answer our purpose, for we
cared not for matters of such trifling consequence. They were all deaf
to our entreaties; but fearing that we could enforce our request, they
did all they could to induce us to proceed onwards a little further,
when we should arrive at a city of considerable importance, called
_Kacunda_, at which place we recollected that the people of Egga had
strongly advised us to stay. They also told us, that at Kacunda we
should get plenty of provisions, and receive much attention from the
inhabitants; and also, that we should meet with people from Funda who
understood the Hàussa language.
We therefore left the village, but were almost immediately afterwards
hailed by them to come back again, and remain there for the night. Our
men were glad of this, for they were tired, and they struggled hard to
stem the current, but it was so impetuous, that, instead of nearing the
village, we found that we were fast receding from it; therefore, we had
no other resource, when the attempt was discovered to be impracticable,
than to follow the advice which had previously been given us by the
villagers, and we continued down the stream.
Kacunda is situated on the western bank of the river; and at a little
distance, it has an advantageous and uncommonly fine appearance. The
only access to the town is by winding channels that intersperse an
unwholesome swamp, which is nearly two miles in breadth. It was evening
when we arrived there. The people at first were alarmed at our
appearance, but we were soon welcomed on shore by an old Mahomedan
priest, who speedily introduced us into an excellent and commodious hut,
once the residence of a prince, but now the domicile of a school-master.
This old man had come from Cuttumcurrafee. He told us that he heard of
two Christians being in Borgoo, and supposed that we were them. The room
to which he took us, is the largest we have ever seen, and is used by
him for the purpose of instructing the children of Kacunda in the
Mahomedan prayers. This old man seemed to take a great deal of interest
in us, for seeing the people alarmed at our first appearance, he exerted
himself in quieting them; saying, that we were quite harmless, and took
us immediately under his protection. He told us that a hut was preparing
for us at a short distance in the town, but the weather being
excessively hot and fatiguing, we preferred remaining where we were,
thinking also, that any other we might be taken to would not be so large
and airy as this. Therefore we requested his permission to be allowed to
stay with him, to which the old man readily assented.
We are informed that the chief of Kacunda resides a distance of four
miles from where we are now, and near the market-place. The old Mallam
would not allow us to go and visit him, but promised to send a messenger
for the chief’s brother to come and see us to-morrow morning, an
arrangement with which we were perfectly satisfied. About ten gallons of
country beer were sent to us, with some good pounded corn and stewed
fowls for our supper, and having made a hearty meal, we retired
thankfully to rest.
The river runs in a serpentine direction, between this place and Egga,
varying between south and south-east; there are several islands in it,
all of which are cultivated and inhabited. The current is very rapid,
and certainly runs at the rate of four or five miles an hour, if we may
judge from the difficulty with which we even paddled against it without
making any progress towards the island after we had left it. Near this
island, which lies nearer the north than the south bank of the river,
the former is rather low, but still well cultivated, and below this, it
continues low as far as opposite to Kacunda. The south bank is rather
higher. We are informed, that at the town we observed on the left bank
in the morning, a little below Egga, the dominion of the chiefs of
territories is no longer acknowledged, but that at every other on the
banks of the river below it, each town has its own chief. The Nouffie
territory terminates at Egga.
_Saturday, October 23d._—Kacunda, properly speaking, consists of three
or four villages, all of them considerably large, but unconnected,
though situated within a very short distance of each other. It is the
capital of a state or kingdom of the same name, which is quite
independent of Nouffie, or any other foreign power. Its government is
despotic, and all power is invested with the chief or king, who
exercises it with lenity: in all cases of emergency, he never depends
upon his own judgment entirely, but consults the opinion of the elders
of the people. Kacunda maintains little intercourse with Nouffie, or any
other considerable nation, but confines its trade, almost exclusively,
to divers people inhabiting the banks of the Niger to the southward; and
slaves purchased here are said to find their way to the sea. In their
persons, the natives are chiefly tall, well-formed, and muscular. Their
ornaments are few; strings of red cornelian stone (which is plentiful in
Nouffie), cut into something like the shape of a heart, and which are
smooth, flat, and highly polished, are what they are most fond of
wearing, and, in many cases, these are their only decoration. The only
dress that the natives wear, is a piece of cotton cloth round the loins.
This is made by themselves, and is dyed of various colours, according to
the taste of the owner. The women wear small earrings of silver, but use
no paint, nor bedaub their persons with any sort of pigment. In the
productions of the country there is nothing peculiar; and in the
manufacture of cloth, &c. these people are greatly inferior to their
neighbours. The Nouffie language is not understood in Kacunda,
notwithstanding its proximity to that kingdom; but, as in almost every
place which we have visited, the Hàussa tongue is spoken fluently by
several individuals.
The chief excused himself from visiting us this morning, but sent his
brother in his stead, to assure us of the pleasure he felt in our
arrival, and that he welcomed us with the utmost gratification.
At 11 A.M., a large double-bank canoe, paddled by fourteen men, arrived
at Kacunda, and we shortly found that the king’s brother had come in her
to see us. He was saluted, on landing, with a discharge from five old
rusty muskets. A messenger was immediately despatched to us, announcing
that he was ready to see us, and I sent word that I begged he would
come. The brother came, attended by a long train of followers, and in
the name of the chief he presented us with a few goora-nuts, a goat,
some yams, and an immense quantity of country beer. They were all
dressed in the Mahomedan costume, although pagans, and appeared very
clean in their persons. Several gallons of ale were likewise sent us in
huge calabashes, from the more wealthy part of the population of the
town. Our meeting was very cordial, and we shook hands heartily with,
and immediately explained to him our business. On seeing the goat he had
brought with him, I told him we was sorry he had brought so valuable a
present, as we had nothing to give him in return which would be worth
presenting to his brother; that we had been so long in the country, all
our presents were expended before we arrived at Kacunda. I then took out
a pair of silver bracelets, and begged he would present them to his
brother, and tell him the reason we could give him nothing better. He
took them from me, but did not seem to be much interested about them, or
to care at all for them. But looking round our room, he perceived
several little things to which he took a fancy, and which, being of no
value whatever to us, were readily presented to him; and it was
satisfactory to see him much pleased with them.
We had now become great friends, and he commenced giving us a dreadful
account of the natives down the river, and would have us not think of
going among them, but return by the way we had come. He said to us, with
much emphasis, ‘If you go down the river, you will surely fall into
their hands and be murdered.’ ‘Go we must,’ I said, ‘if we live or die
by it, and that also to-morrow.’ I then asked him if he would send a
messenger with us, for that he might ensure our safety, coming from so
powerful a person as the Chief of Kacunda. But he replied directly, ‘No,
if I were to do such a thing, the people at the next town would
assuredly cut off his head; but,’ he added, ‘if you will not be
persuaded by me to turn back, and save your lives, at least you must not
leave this by day-light, but stop until the sun goes down, and you may
then go on your journey—you will then pass the most dangerous town in
the middle of the night, and perhaps save yourselves.’ We asked him
whether the people he spoke of had muskets or large canoes? To which he
replied, ‘Yes; in great numbers—they are very large and powerful, and no
canoe can pass down the river in the day-time without being taken by
them and plundered; and even at night, the canoes from here are obliged
to go in large numbers, and keep close company with each other, to make
a formidable appearance in case of their being seen by them.’
We had no reason whatever to doubt this information, and being well
aware how little we could do if we should be attacked by these
formidable fellows, we determined on going at night, according to the
custom of the rest, and propose starting at half-past four to-morrow
evening. I told the chief’s brother of our intentions, at which he
seemed quite astonished; and we have no doubt that this determined
conduct, which we have everywhere shown, and apparent defiance of all
danger, in making light of the dreadful stories we have heard, has had
much influence on the minds of the people, and no doubt inspired them
with a belief that we were supernatural beings, gifted with more than
ordinary qualifications. Having communicated our intentions to our
friend, and given him all the little trifling things he wished for, he
departed with the present for his brother the chief.
The few things which we sent back to the chief, trifling as they were,
gave him complete satisfaction: they were received by him in a much more
gracious manner than we had anticipated. He besought us earnestly to
write him a few charms—one of which is to insure a continuance of peace
and prosperity to the kingdom; another to prevent quarrels, abuses, and
disturbances in the market-place; to obviate the shedding of human blood
therein, which has recently been of frequent occurrence; and to bring to
the market a greater number of buyers and sellers, which would
proportionably augment the amount of duty exacted from them. Another
charm he wants of us is to possess the virtues of a panoply, for
preserving all persons, whilst bathing, from the fangs of the
crocodiles, which infest the adjoining slough in great numbers, and
which, it is said, have lately carried off and destroyed several
children. Another charm he requires is to have still more powerful
properties, and cause a neighbouring rivulet, which has heretofore been
dried up in the summer season, to be filled with water, and flow all the
year round.
All ranks of people are firmly persuaded that we are necromancers, or at
least that we are capable of performing any miracle, and, therefore,
they believe that the making of these charms is but a trifling effort,
compared with what we _might_ do, were we to exert the whole of our
power. An attempt to undeceive the ignorant, credulous, and deluded
people, we know, would be unavailing and useless, and fear that it would
be dangerous; therefore we dare not meddle with their superstitions or
prejudices, but conform to their wishes, and let them enjoy their own
opinions in peace.
Several of the inhabitants have brought us little presents of goora-
nuts, Chili and Cayenne pepper, a bit of fish or any such trifle, in the
expectation of receiving a hundred times their value in the shape of
charms. We have been pestered all day by a young native, to get a charm
from us to enable him to catch plenty of fish. The poor fellow followed
us about like a child begging for a toy, and offered us a variety of
little trifling things which he could afford, such as country beer,
goora-nuts, &c.; and we believe there was nothing he had that he would
not have willingly given us, so great was his faith in the power we had
of bestowing on him the means of enriching himself by catching fish.
There was no getting rid of him without complying with his request, so
we gave him a small piece of paper on which something had been written,
of no consequence whatever. The poor fellow no sooner got it, than he
looked at it with much earnestness, and proceeded with great solemnity
to fasten it to the end of his fishing-line. Having done this, he set
off with great glee to go and fish, congratulating himself, no doubt, on
the multitude of fishes his charm would obtain him.
It is painful to contemplate the melancholy ignorance and superstition
in which the minds of the natives are involved; nor is this confined to
Kacunda alone—at Egga, and other places up the river, they are equally
as bad. Ready for the first impression, and easily imposed on, the minds
of these poor creatures naturally receive as truth whatever is told
them. Their faith in charms, and their credulity in the power of white
men, is not to be wondered at. The former they are taught by the
Mahomedan Mallams, and these again are equally as credulous as the
natives, of the efficacy of anything coming from us.
The natives are successful in their fishing expeditions, and generally
use a line with a piece of iron fastened to the end of it, bent in the
shape of a hook. They use a large worm as bait, and more frequently part
of a fish. The line is made of a tough grass neatly twisted. In these
excursions they sometimes carelessly expose themselves to the attacks of
the alligators, of which there are great numbers in the river, and the
natives are frequently sufferers by them. In fetching water for use from
the river at night they often become a prey to them. They destroy the
crocodile and eat its flesh, as well as that of the hippopotami, which
are equally as numerous. The eggs of the former also they are very fond
of.
We have been visited by the chief of a neighbouring province, and an
impostor, who represents himself as son to Ederesa, the ex-king of
Nouffie, both of whom, like their less presumptuous brethren, are
disappointed in their hopes of receiving valuable presents, for we are
daily diminishing the few things which were left, and must not be
prodigal in giving away.
As at Egga, we are here earnestly solicited by the Mallams to stop two
or three days, to give the market-people an opportunity of accompanying
us to Bocquâ, every one warning us that we shall be in jeopardy of our
lives, unless we take this precaution. The manners of the people all
along the banks of the Niger from hence, they also represent to us as
being in the highest degree dangerous. They are said to be public
robbers, without laws or regulations of any kind; that they live under
no king, and acknowledge no human authority—in a word, that they are a
community of ferocious outlaws. We hear nothing but stories about the
inhabitants of Egga, who, when they attend the Bocquâ market for the
purposes of trade, are obliged to sail in companies of ten or twelve
canoes, for mutual encouragement and protection; and that even then the
merchants dare not travel in the day-time, but pass those places which
are considered as dangerous in the darkness of night, when there is
least fear of molestation: such stories, similar to that of the king’s
brother, are told us to prevent our proceeding.
Well might the king of Yarriba hesitate on sending either Captain
Clapperton or ourselves to the banks of the Niger, when he knew that he
had neither a single town so far to the eastward, nor a single subject
from Yàoorie to the sea. Above Egga, as far as Wowow, the western bank
of the river, which he boasts as being in his dominions, is thickly
inhabited solely by Noufanchie; and below that town they are peopled by
strange and distinct tribes, who have never heard his name, nor an echo
of his glory and power! We observe here, for the first time, that the
natives have a custom of marking themselves, so that their tribe may be
known from the rest. The distinguishing mark of the people of Kacunda is
three cuts down the face from the temple to the chin, which gives them
an odd appearance. They are a mild, harmless, and inoffensive race of
people, and very industrious. Their huts are the largest and cleanest we
have seen in the whole country. Our old friend the schoolmaster informs
us that we shall very soon pass the _Tshadda_ river, as it is only a
day’s journey distant from here down the river. He was a very
communicative old man, and informed me that the city of Funda is not on
the banks of the Quorra, but situated a distance of three days’ journey
up the Tshadda. According to his report, the Tshadda is a large river,
nearly as much so as the Quorra. Canoes, he said, frequently go up the
Tshadda to Bornou, and that it was only fifteen days’ journey from hence
to that place by the Tshadda. The countries of Jacoba and Adamowa, he
said, are at peace with Bornou, and the communication open from both
those places by water, as well as land. The Pagan countries, it appears,
are all greatly alarmed by the expectation of an attack from the
Falàtahs when the dry season arrives. The Tshadda, he said, was very
safe, and much frequented by canoes. A town called Cuttumcurrafee, which
has been before alluded to, he informed us was seated at the junction of
the Tshadda with the Quorra.
_Sunday, October 24th._—The children of the more respectable inhabitants
of Egga are placed at a very early age under the tuition of our friendly
host, the schoolmaster, who teaches them a few Mahomedan prayers; all,
indeed, with which he himself may be acquainted in the Arabic tongue. In
this consists the whole of their education. The boys are diligent in
their exercises, and arise every morning between midnight and sunrise,
and are studiously employed by lamplight in copying their prayers, after
which they read them to the master one after another, beginning with the
eldest. This is repeated in a shrill, bawling tone, so loud as to be
heard at the distance of half a mile at least, which is believed to be a
criterion of excellence by the parents; and he who has the strongest
lungs and clearest voice is of course considered as the best scholar,
and caressed accordingly. The Mahomedans, though excessively vain of
their attainments, and proud of their learning, and intellectual
superiority over their companions, are nevertheless conscious of the
vast pre-eminence of white men over themselves, for they have heard many
marvellous stories of Europeans, and their fame has been proclaimed with
a trumpet-voice among all people and nations of the interior, insomuch
that they are placed on an equality with supernatural beings. As an
illustration of this, a priest, himself a writer of charms, made a
pressing application to-day for an amulet from us, which he begged might
possess properties so extraordinary and amazing, as to be the wonder of
the whole country; and so firmly persuaded was he that it was in our
power, and ours only, to grant this request, that we could not induce
him by any means to forego his application. He gave us a large pot of
beer, and would not leave our hut until he had exacted a promise that we
would give him the paper which he had craved so piteously. We have
likewise been perplexed with other demands of a similar nature, and the
tearful importunities of the poor applicants has troubled us
exceedingly. In all obstinate cases of this nature, we have found it
expedient to follow the example of Mr. Park, which is, to give the
superstitious people a copy of the _Lord’s Prayer_, which, at least, can
produce no mischievous effects.
The chief’s brother paid us a visit again this morning, and urged us by
every argument which he could think of, to defer our departure for our
own sakes, for two or three days, that canoes might be got ready to
accompany us on our voyage; and he endeavoured again to impress on our
minds the danger which we should inevitably incur, if we were determined
to go alone. Yet, it was apparent to us, after all that he had said,
that covetousness was his predominant feeling, and therefore we paid
little attention to his remarks, further than that we consented to wait
till the afternoon for a man to accompany us in capacity of messenger to
the so-much-talked-of Bocquâ market, where, it is asserted, we shall be
perfectly safe; and beyond which place the people are represented as
being less rapacious, so that we shall have little to fear from them.
The description which the chief’s brother has given us of the people
residing a day’s journey from hence, is too shocking to describe. To use
a very common and familiar expression: ‘What every one says must be
true,’ and we begin to give credence to the rumours so often repeated,
of the fierceness and cruelty of this race of human beings which occupy
both sides of the Niger, between Kacunda and Bocquâ, though we make
every allowance for exaggeration, because the natives are fond of the
marvellous, and are apt to magnify the most trifling circumstances into
incidents of the last importance.
As the afternoon came on, we inquired in vain for the promised guide;
and when we found that the chief, or rather his brother, felt no
disposition whatever to redeem his pledge, we made immediate
preparations to leave the town, to the manifest disappointment of the
latter, who made a very dolorous lament, and did all in his power,
except employing actual force, to induce us to change our resolution.
At three in the afternoon, we offered up a prayer to the Almighty
Disposer of all human events, for protection on our future voyage, that
he would deign to extend to us his all-saving power among the lawless
barbarians it was our lot to be obliged to pass. Having done this, we
next ordered Pascoe and our people to commence loading the canoe. I
shall never forget them, poor fellows, they were all in tears, and
trembled with fear. One of them, named Antonio, a native of Bonny, and
son to the late chief of that river, who had joined us from his
Majesty’s brig the Clinker, with the consent of Lieutenant Matson, her
commander, was as much affected as the rest, but on a different account.
For himself, he said that he did not care, his own life was of no
consequence. All he feared was, that my brother and I should be
murdered: he loved us dearly: he had been with us ever since we had left
the sea, and it would be as bad as dying himself to see us killed.
At half past four in the afternoon, in pursuance of our plan, we bade
adieu to the kind inhabitants of Kacunda, and everything having been
conveyed to the canoe, and our men in their places, we embarked and
pushed off the shore in sight of multitudes of people. We worked our way
with incredible difficulty, through the morass, before we were enabled
to get into the body of the stream. The poor natives gazed at us with
astonishment, and followed us with their eyes as long as they could, no
doubt expecting that we should never be seen or heard of more.
We were now fairly off, and prepared ourselves for the worst. ‘Now,’
said I, ‘my boys,’ as our canoe glided down with the stream, ‘let us all
stick together. I hope that we have none among us who will flinch, come
what may.’ Antonio and Sam said they were determined to stick to us to
the last. The former I have before alluded to; the latter is a native of
Sierra Leone, and I believe them both to be firm fellows when required.
Old Pascoe and Jowdie, two of my former people, I knew could be depended
on; but the new ones, although they boasted much when they found that
there was no avoiding it, I had not much dependence on, as I had not had
an opportunity of trying them. We directed the four muskets and two
pistols to be loaded with ball and slugs, determined that our opponents,
whoever they might be, should meet with a warm reception; and having
made every preparation for our defence which we thought would be
availing, and encouraging our little band to behave themselves
gallantly, we gave three hearty cheers, and commended ourselves to
Providence.
Our little vessel moved on in grand style under the vigorous and
animated exertions of our men. There were no tears now, and I thought,
as they propelled her along with more than their usual strength, that
they felt they were a match for any canoe that would dare to attack us.
Shortly after leaving Kacunda, the river took a turn due south, between
tolerably high hills; the strength of the current continued much about
the same. A few miles further on, we observed a branch of the Niger,
rather diminutive, running off in a westerly direction; but are not
certain whether this was only a creek, or a branch of the river: the
banks of it were covered with palm trees, and little hills were
scattered over them. We found ourselves opposite a large, spreading
town, from which issued a great and confused noise, as of a multitude
quarrelling, or as the waves of the sea rolling upon a rocky beach; we
saw also other towns on the western bank of the river, but we cautiously
avoided them all. The evening was calm and serene, the heat of the day
was over, the moon and stars now afforded us an agreeable
light—everything was still and pleasant; we glided smoothly and silently
down the stream, and for a long while we saw little to excite our fears,
and heard nothing but a gentle rustling of the leaves, occasioned by the
wind, the noise of our paddles, or now and then the plashing of fishes,
as they leapt out of the water.
About midnight we observed lights from a village, to which we were very
close, and heard people dancing, singing, and laughing in the moonshine
outside their huts. We made haste over to the opposite side to get away,
for fear of a lurking danger, and we fancied that a light was following
us, but it was only a ‘Will o’ the wisp,’ or some such thing, and trees
soon hid it from our sight. After the moon had gone down, it became
rather cloudy, so that we could not discern the way as plainly as we
could have wished, and the consequence was, that we were suddenly
drifted by the current into an eddy, and in spite of all our exertions
to get out of it, we swept over into a small, shallow channel which had
been formed by the overflowing of the river, and it cost two hours’ hard
labour to get into the main stream again. The course of the river was
turned to the south-east by a range of very high hills. We also passed a
great number of islands.
[Illustration: _Banks of the Quorra._]
_Monday, October 25th._—At one A.M., the direction of the river changed
to south-south-west, running between immensely high hills. At five
o’clock this morning, we found ourselves nearly opposite a very
considerable river, entering the Niger from the eastward; it appeared to
be three or four miles wide at its mouth, and on the bank we saw a large
town, one part of which faced the river, and the other the Quorra. We at
first supposed it to be an arm of that river, and running from us; and
therefore directed our course for it. We proceeded up it a short
distance, but finding the current against us, and that it increased as
we got within its entrance, and our people being tired, we were
compelled to give up the attempt, and were easily swept back into the
Niger. Consequently we passed on, but determined on making inquiries
concerning it the first convenient opportunity. But we conclude this to
be the Tshadda, and the large town we have alluded to, to be
Cuttumcurrafee, the same which had been mentioned to us by the old
Mallam. At all events, we had satisfied ourselves it was not a branch of
the Niger. The banks on both sides, as far as we could see up it, were
very high, and appeared verdant and fertile.
The morning was dull and cloudy; yet, as soon as the sun had partially
dispersed the mists which hung over the valleys and upon the little
hills, we could distinguish irregular mountains jutting up almost close
to the water’s edge, whose height we were prevented even from guessing
at; because their summits were involved in clouds, or inwrapped in
vapours, which yet lingered about their sides. A double range of
elevated hills appeared beyond them on the south-east side; and on the
north-west side a chain of lesser hills extended as far as the eye could
discern. They appeared very sterile. Those on the north-west were formed
of clumps, very much resembling the shape of those we had seen in
Yarriba, which are here called the Kong mountains.
At seven o’clock the Niger seemed free of islands and clear of morasses
on both sides, and its banks were well wooded, and much higher than we
had observed them for a long time previously; nevertheless, it ran over
a rocky bottom, which caused its surface to ripple exceedingly. Just
about the same hour, one of the canoes, which we were told of as of
different make to our own, passed us. In shape, it much resembled a
common butcher’s tray, and it was furnished with seats like those used
on various parts of the sea-coast. It was paddled by eight or ten little
boys, who sung as they worked; and they were superintended by an elderly
person who sat in the middle of the canoe. The motion of their paddles
was regulated by a peculiar hissing noise which they made at intervals
with their mouth; and it was pleasing to observe the celerity with which
this little vessel was impelled against the stream. In the early part of
the morning after daylight, we passed a great many villages. The banks
of the river were ornamented with palm trees, and much cultivated
ground, which extended to the foot of the mountains, and among the
avenues formed between them.
At 10 A.M., we passed a huge and naked white rock, in the form of a
perfect dome, arising from the centre of the river. It was about twenty
feet high, and covered with an immense quantity of white birds, in
consequence of which we named it the Bird Rock: it is about three or
four miles distant from Bocquâ, on the same side of the river. It is
safest to pass it on the south-east side, on which side is also the
proper channel of the river, about three miles in width. We passed it on
the western side, and were very nearly lost in a whirlpool. It was with
the utmost difficulty we preserved the canoe from being carried away,
and dashed against the rocks. Fortunately, I saw the danger at first,
and finding we could not get clear of it, my brother and I took a
paddle, and animating our men, we exerted all our strength, and
succeeded in preventing her from turning round. The distance of this
rock from the nearest bank is about a quarter of a mile, and the current
was running with the velocity of six miles an hour, according to our
estimation. Had our canoe become unmanageable, we should inevitably have
perished. Shortly after, seeing a convenient place for landing, the men
being languid and weary with hunger and exertion, we halted on the right
bank of the river, which we imagined was most convenient for our
purpose. The course of the river this morning was south-south-west, and
its width varied as usual from two to five or six miles. The angry and
scowling appearance of the firmament forewarned us of a heavy shower, or
something worse, which induced us hastily to erect an awning of mats
under a palm-tree’s shade. As soon as we had leisure to look around us,
though no habitation could anywhere be seen, yet it was evident the spot
had been visited, and that very recently, by numbers of people. We
discovered the remains of several extinct fires, with broken calabashes
and pieces of earthen vessels, which were scattered around; and our men
likewise picked up a quantity of cocoa-nut shells, and three or four
staves of a powder-barrel. These discoveries, trifling as they were,
filled us with pleasant and hopeful sensations; and we felt assured,
from the circumstance of a barrel of powder having found its way hither,
that the natives in the neighbourhood maintained some kind of
intercourse with Europeans from the sea.
The spot, for a hundred yards, was cleared of grass, underwood, and
vegetation of all kinds; and, on a further observation, we came to the
conclusion that a market or fair was periodically held thereon. Very
shortly afterwards, as three of our men were straggling about in the
bush, searching for firewood, a village suddenly opened before them:
this did not excite their astonishment, and they entered one of the huts
which was nearest them to procure a little fire. However it happened to
contain only women; but these were terrified beyond measure at the
sudden and abrupt entrance of strange-looking men, whose language they
did not know, and whose business they could not understand, and they all
ran out in a fright into the woods, to warn their male relatives of
them, who were labouring at their usual occupation of husbandry.
Meanwhile our men had very composedly taken some burning embers from the
fire, and returned to us in a few minutes, with the brief allusion to
the circumstance of having discovered a village. They told us also that
they had seen cultivated land, and that these women had run away from
them as soon as they saw them. This we thought lightly of; but rejoiced
that they had seen the village, and immediately sent Pascoe, Abraham,
and Jowdie, in company, to obtain some fire, and to purchase a few yams
for us. In about ten minutes after, they returned in haste, telling us
that they had been to the village, and had asked for some fire, but that
the people did not understand them, and, instead of attending to their
wishes, they looked terrified, and had suddenly disappeared. In
consequence of their threatening attitudes, our people had left the
village, and rejoined us with all the haste they could. We did not,
however, think that they would attack us, and we proceeded to make our
fires and then laid ourselves down.
Totally unconscious of danger, we were reclining on our mats,—for we,
too, like our people, were wearied with toil, and overcome with
drowsiness,—when in about twenty minutes after our men had returned, one
of them shouted, with a loud voice, ‘War is coming! O war is coming!’
and ran towards us with a scream of terror, telling us that the natives
were hastening to attack us. We started up at this unusual exclamation,
and, looking about us, we beheld a large party of men, almost naked,
running in a very irregular manner, and with uncouth gestures, towards
our little encampment. They were all variously armed with muskets, bows
and arrows, knives, cutlasses, barbs, long spears, and other instruments
of destruction; and, as we gazed upon this band of wild men, with their
ferocious looks and hostile appearance, which was not a little
heightened on observing the weapons in their hands, we felt a very
uneasy kind of sensation, and wished ourselves safe out of their hands.
To persons peaceably inclined, like ourselves, and who had done them no
harm, we could look on their preparations with calmness; but as it is
impossible to foresee to what extremities such encounters might lead, we
waited the result with the most painful anxiety.
Our party was much scattered, but fortunately we could see them coming
to us at some distance, and we had time to collect our men. We resolved,
however, to prevent bloodshed if possible,—our numbers were too few to
leave us a chance of escaping by any other way. The natives were
approaching us fast, and had by this time arrived almost close to our
palm-tree. Not a moment was to be lost. We desired Pascoe and all our
people to follow behind us at a short distance with the loaded muskets
and pistols; and we enjoined them strictly not to fire, unless they
first fired at us. One of the natives, who proved to be the chief, we
perceived a little in advance of his companions; and, throwing down our
pistols, which we had snatched up in the first moment of surprise, my
brother and I walked very composedly, and unarmed, towards him. As we
approached him, we made all the signs and motions we could with our
arms, to deter him and his people from firing on us. His quiver was
dangling at his side, his bow was bent, and an arrow, which was pointed
at our breasts, already trembled on the string, when we were within a
few yards of his person. This was a highly critical moment—the next
might be our last. But the hand of Providence averted the blow; for just
as the chief was about to pull the fatal cord, a man that was nearest
him rushed forward, and stayed his arm. At that instant we stood before
him, and immediately held forth our hands; all of them trembled like
aspen leaves; the chief looked up full in our faces, kneeling on the
ground—light seemed to flash from his dark, rolling eyes—his body was
convulsed all over, as though he were enduring the utmost torture, and
with a timorous, yet undefinable, expression of countenance, in which
all the passions of our nature were strangely blended, he drooped his
head, eagerly grasped our proffered hands, and burst into tears. This
was a sign of friendship—harmony followed, and war and bloodshed were
thought of no more. Peace and friendship now reigned among us; and the
first thing that we did was to lift the old chief from the ground, and
to convey him to our encampment. The behaviour of our men afforded us no
little amusement, now that the danger was past. We had now had a fair
trial of their courage, and should know who to trust on a future
occasion. Pascoe was firm to his post, and stood still with his musket
pointed at the chief’s breast during the whole time. He is a brave
fellow, and said to us, as we passed him to our encampment with the old
man, ‘If the _black_ rascals had fired at either of you, I should have
brought the old chief down like a guinea-fowl.’ It was impossible to
avoid smiling at the fellow’s honesty, although we were on the best of
terms with the old chief,—and we have little doubt that he would have
been as good as his word. As for our two brave fellows, Sam and Antonio,
they took to their heels, and scampered off as fast as they could
directly they saw the natives approaching us over the long grass, nor
did they make their appearance again until the chief and all his people
were sitting round us; and even when they did return, they were so
frightened, they could not speak for some time.
All the armed villagers had now gathered round their leader, and
anxiously watched his looks and gestures. The result of the meeting
delighted them—every eye sparkled with pleasure—they uttered a shout of
joy—they thrust their bloodless arrows into their quivers—they ran about
as though they were possessed of evil spirits—they twanged their
bowstrings, fired off their muskets, shook their spears, clattered their
quivers, danced, put their bodies into all manner of ridiculous
positions, laughed, cried, and sung in rapid succession—they were like a
troop of maniacs. Never was spectacle more wild and terrific. When this
sally of passion to which they had worked themselves had subsided into
calmer and more reasonable behaviour, we presented each of the war-men
with a quantity of needles, as a further token of our friendly
intentions. The chief sat himself down on the turf, with one of us on
each side of him, while the men were leaning on their weapons on his
right and left. At first no one could understand us; but an old man made
his appearance shortly after, who understood the Hàussa language. Him
the chief employed as an interpreter, and every one listened with
anxiety to the following explanation which he gave us:—
‘A few minutes after you first landed, one of my people came to me and
said, that a number of strange people had arrived at the market-place. I
sent him back again to get as near to you as he could, to hear what you
intended doing. He soon after returned to me, and said that you spoke in
a language which he could not understand. Not doubting that it was your
intention to attack my village at night, and carry off my people, I
desired them to get ready to fight. We were all prepared and eager to
kill you, and came down breathing vengeance and slaughter, supposing
that you were my enemies, and had landed from the opposite side of the
river. But when you came to meet us unarmed, and we saw your white
faces, we were all so frightened that we could not pull our bows, nor
move hand or foot; and when you drew near me, and extended your hands
towards me, I felt my heart faint within me, and believed that you were
“_Children of Heaven_,” and had dropped from the skies.’ Such was the
effect we had produced on him; and under this impression he knew not
what he did. ‘And now,’ said he, ‘white men, all I want is your
forgiveness.’ ‘That you shall have most heartily,’ we said, as we shook
hands with the old chief, and having taken care to assure him we had not
come from so good a place as he had imagined, we congratulated
ourselves, as well as him, that this affair had ended so happily. For
our own parts, we had reason to feel the most unspeakable pleasure at
its favourable termination; and we offered up internally to our merciful
Creator, a prayer of thanksgiving and praise, for his providential
interference in our behalf; for the Almighty has indeed, to use the
words of the Psalmist of Israel, ‘delivered our soul from death, and our
feet from falling; and preserved us from any terror by night, and from
the arrow that flieth by day; from the pestilence that walketh in
darkness; and from the sickness that destroyeth at noon-day.’ We were
grateful to find that our blood had not been shed, and that we had been
prevented from spilling the blood of others, which we imagined we should
have been constrained to do from irremediable necessity. Our guns were
all double-loaded with balls and slugs, our men were ready to present
them, and a single arrow from a bow would have been the signal for
immediate destruction. It was a narrow escape; and God grant we may
never be so near a cruel death again. It was happy for us that our white
faces and calm behaviour produced the effect it did on these people—in
another minute our bodies would have been as full of arrows as a
porcupine’s is full of quills.
The old chief returned to the village, followed by his people, whom he
addressed by the way from an ant-hill, on which he mounted himself. He
put himself into a great variety of attitudes, and delivered them a
speech which lasted more than half an hour. Whether this was relating to
ourselves or not we could not ascertain; but it seemed more than
probable. They came back to us again in the afternoon, bringing with
them a large quantity of yams and goora-nuts as a present, and invited
us with urgent importunity to sleep in their huts for the night,
promising to treat us as well as their circumstances would permit. We
thanked them for their kindness, but for many reasons we did not embrace
their offer. However, it seemed as though this refusal on our parts
caused them to be mistrustful of our intentions; for the villagers were
discharging their muskets from sunset till nearly eleven o’clock at
night, when the chief paid us a third visit, and brought with him eight
thousand cowries, and a large heap of yams, which he laid at our feet.
Poor fellow! his countenance beamed with joy on discovering that we were
_really_ his friends. At length he was induced to place confidence in
us; and, as he wished us good night, he seemed well pleased with the
tranquil appearance of things, and went away.
In the course of our conversation with the chief, when all his villagers
were assembled around us, we pointed to their guns, and the bits of red
cloth they had with them, and made them understand that they all came
from our country, at which their admiration and wonder was much
increased. The old man who had performed the part of our interpreter so
admirably, is an old Funda Mallam. He understood the Hàussa language
perfectly, and told us he had come here from Funda to attend the market
which was held here every nine days. He informed us that many people
came from the sea-coast, with goods from the white men to purchase
slaves, a great number of which he said came from his country. He told
us that this place is the famous Bocquâ market-place, of which we had
heard so great talk, and that the opposite bank of the river belonged to
the Funda country. We now asked the old Mallam the distance from this
place to the sea, and he told us about ten days’ journey. We then
pointed out the hills on the opposite side of the river, and asked him
where they led to? ‘The sea,’ was his answer. And ‘where do they lead
to,’ we enquired, pointing to those on the same bank of the river as
ourselves? He answered, they run a long way into a country we do not
know. We then asked him, if he had ever heard of a country called Eyeo
or Yarriba? To which he replied, he had never heard of any country of
either of those names. Our next concern was about the safety of the
river navigation; and we anxiously inquired his opinion of it lower
down, and whether there were any rocks or dangerous places? As to the
river navigation, he satisfied us by saying, he knew of no dangers, nor
had he ever heard of any; but the people on the banks he said were very
bad. We asked him if he thought the chief would send a messenger with us
if we were to request him, even one day’s journey from this place?
Without the least hesitation he answered us—‘No; the people of this
country can go no further down the river; if they do, and are caught,
they will lose their heads. Every town that I know of on the banks of
the river is at war with its neighbour, and all the rest likewise.’ We
asked him then, how far Bornou was from Funda? To which he replied,
‘Fifteen days’ journey.’ We were also anxious to know the character of
the people on the borders of the Tshadda; and he informed us they were
all good people, nearly all Mussulmen. There was one bad place to pass,
he said, which was Yamyam. Here our conversation was interrupted by the
old chief, who wished to return to the village, and the Mallam was
obliged to accompany him. He was a fine respectable old man, and
answered all our questions with a readiness which evinced the
superiority of his class.
We offered up a prayer to the Almighty for his signal protection during
this eventful day, and retired to rest.
_Tuesday, October 26th._—When I awoke in the morning the first person I
saw was our trusty old man, Pascoe, very busy roasting yams for our
breakfast. This man has been a most valuable servant to us, and is the
only staunch fellow among all our people. In spite of a good deal of
rain that had fallen in the night, we got up much refreshed this
morning; for our mat awning, although rather a frail covering, had
excluded the rain and kept us tolerably dry. Early in the morning the
chief of the village, the old man that acted as interpreter, and a
number of men and women visited our encampment, and behaved themselves
in the most becoming and friendly manner. Not satisfied with what they
had given us yesterday, the villagers offered us another large heap of
yams, which, however, we refused to accept without making a suitable
recompense. We accordingly gave them some beads in exchange for them,
although I believe they would have been contented had we possessed
nothing to offer them in return.
We now learnt from the interpreter that buyers and sellers attend this
market, not only from places adjacent, but also from remote towns and
villages, both above and below, and on each bank of the Niger. A small
tribute is exacted by the chief from every one that offers articles for
sale at the market, and in this consists the whole of his revenues. All
the villagers that came out against us yesterday are his slaves. We were
likewise informed that directly opposite, on the eastern bank, is the
common path to the city of Funda, which is indeed, as we had been told
at _Fofo_, situated three days’ journey up the Tshadda from the Niger;
that the large river which we observed yesterday falling into the Niger
from the eastward, is the celebrated _Shar_, _Shary_, or _Sharry_, of
travellers, or, which is more proper than either, the _Tshadda_, as it
is universally called throughout the country. The interpreter said
further that the smaller stream which we passed on the 19th, flowing
from the same direction, is the ‘_Coodoonia_.’
The chief assured us that we had nothing to fear, having passed all
those places from which we might have expected danger and molestation
during the night. However he cautioned us to avoid, if possible, a very
considerable town lying on the eastern bank, which we should pass in the
afternoon, the governor of which, he affirmed, would detain us a
considerable time in his territories, though he might treat us well. A
little way below Bocquâ, he said, on the left border of the river,
resides a powerful king, sovereign of a fine country, called _Attà_, who
would force us to visit him, if by any means he were to be forewarned of
our approach. He said, that he did not think he would do us any injury,
but that the chief was a very extraordinary man, and if he had us in his
power would detain us longer than we wished. Perhaps he might keep us in
his town two or three months, but he would at least detain us till all
his people had satisfied their curiosity, and then he might allow us to
depart. As the chief of Bocquâ was decidedly of opinion that it would be
in the power of this prince to render us the most essential service if
he were our friend, we requested of him a guide and messenger to
accompany us to _Attà_, and introduce us to the king; but he answered
without hesitation, that a man from him would be captured and slain the
moment he should make his appearance there, but for what reason we are
left to conjecture. This did not argue, however, very favourably as to
the clemency or merciful disposition of the monarch of Attà, and
therefore we resolved to keep out of his reach by running along close to
the shore on the opposite side of the water. The chief concluded by
observing that in seven days we should reach the sea, a piece of
intelligence with which we were not a little pleased. The old
interpreter had told us that we should get there in ten days; therefore
we cannot be far from it.
The females of Bocquâ are good-looking and very neat in their persons.
The men have not the custom, as at Kacunda, of cutting marks on the face
or on any part of the body. Having finished our usual scanty breakfast
of a roasted yam and some water from the river, we commenced loading our
canoe and preparing for our day’s journey. We had now passed the worst
place on the river, which is between this and Kacunda, and there was no
further necessity for travelling by night. This we by no means regret;
for although we are exposed to the heat of the sun by day, yet there are
dangers in the river in consequence of the water being so high, which
are more easily avoided by day-light than in the dark. It is not easy to
keep clear of eddies, and when influenced by them our canoe is swept out
of the main stream of the river, and it is with difficulty we regain our
course. The canoe being all ready, we shook hands cordially with our
friend the chief, and the principal male and female villagers, and a few
minutes after seven fired a salute of two or three muskets, gave three
cheers, and departed from Bocquâ. We soon passed their little town,
which had a neat appearance, and was fortified by a strong wooden fence.
Both banks of the river still continued hilly, and were fringed with
primeval woods, which were bending over the water. At eleven, A.M., we
were opposite a town, which, from the description that had been given of
it, we supposed to be Attà. It is situated close to the water’s edge on
the south-east bank of the river, in an elevated situation, and on a
fine green sward: its appearance was unspeakably beautiful. The town is
clean, of prodigious extent, and ornamented with verdant shrubs and tall
goodly trees. A few canoes were lying at the foot of the town, but we
escaped observation, and passed on near the opposite shore. Afterwards
the margin of the river became more thickly wooded, and more umbrageous
than before; and for upwards of thirty miles not a town or a village, or
even a single hut, could anywhere be seen. The whole of this distance
our canoe passed smoothly along the Niger, and everything was silent and
solitary; no sound could be distinguished save our own voices and the
plashing of the paddles with their echoes; the song of birds was not
heard, nor could any animal whatever be seen; the banks seemed to be
entirely deserted, and the magnificent Niger to be slumbering in its own
grandeur.
From Bocquâ the river runs in a valley between mountains of a
considerable height. Between Attà and Bocquâ market the course of the
river is about south-west, with several turnings in it. The hills on the
north-west side seemed to decrease in height about the middle of the
day, and those on the eastern side are changing their course to the
south-east, while the river still flows to the south-west. About two in
the afternoon the nature of the banks was entirely changed; from being
high they became low and swampy, particularly the left bank, and were
covered with thick jungle, which mostly overhung the water. At half past
two we passed two charming little islands, which appeared to be
uninhabited, and at four we saw a branch of the river running off in a
southerly direction, inclining a little to the east. It appeared to be a
quarter of a mile wide. At about five in the evening, our people being
tired, we descried a canoe, and pulled towards it; but those that were
in it were frightened on seeing us, and jumped out and hid themselves in
the forest. In two or three minutes we perceived on the left bank a few
dilapidated huts, and we pulled the canoe ashore, intending to remain
there for the night. A number of women first observed us; they were also
alarmed, and hurried away to an adjacent village, where we saw them
providing themselves with muskets and other uncivil weapons, and very
formidable Amazons they appeared to be. However we did not seem to
regard them, but jumped on shore with our mats and sat down on the
ground very comfortably under the branches of a cocoa-nut tree, the
first that we have seen since leaving Yarriba. We had not been long
seated before a number of people made their appearance, running hastily
towards us with swords and muskets in their hands. Seeing that we were
sitting down quietly, without making any hostile display, they hesitated
and stopped at a short distance from us, and wished to know what we
wanted at their town. We had recourse to our usual method of expressing
ourselves by signs, and the natives finding that we were really harmless
beings, ventured to draw nearer, and very soon became reconciled to us.
Shortly after they were joined by some more of their companions, and
among them was a young man who imperfectly understood the _Bonny_
language; so that Antonio, one of our men, who is son to ‘_King
Pepper_,’ chief of that country, was enabled to enter into conversation
with him, and presently made him comprehend everything relative to us,
which he repeated to the villagers. We had been thus employed a short
time, and had become great friends with these people, the women chatting
with a familiarity we had not been accustomed to up the country, and
began to find ourselves very comfortable, when the chief, a tall,
Herculean, awkward figure, with a sullen and most forbidding
countenance, made his appearance. He introduced himself without the
smallest ceremony, and very briefly desired us to accompany him to his
hut in the principal village, which is called _Abbazacca_. The road to
this place is by a narrow foot-way, overhung by rank grass three times
our own height. This formed a complete arch over our heads, and the path
was exceedingly intricate. On arriving there, a clean shed was prepared
for us, which, though small, was one of the largest in the village.
Through the interpretation of Antonio we informed the chief who we were,
and where we wished to go. He immediately said he would accompany us to
a large town lower down the river, of which his brother was governor,
and where we should meet with people from Bonny, Calebar, Brass, and
Bini, which latter place we conclude is meant for Benin. The natives of
all these places, he informed us, come up to his brother’s town for the
purpose of buying slaves, and we shall then be at liberty to accompany
whichever party we please. It was important to ascertain which was the
largest branch, as soon as we found that these different rivers
communicated with the Niger, and we asked him the question, through
Antonio, which was considered the largest river. This he was unable to
say, but we were told by Antonio afterwards, that he thought the Bonny
was the largest. He informed us that if we intended going to the town of
which his brother was governor to-morrow, that we must get up very
early, otherwise we should not arrive there before sunset. After
thanking the chief for his communications and attention to us, we took
our leave of him for the night.
Before we had retired to rest, a few stale eggs which we could not eat,
and a calabash of very inferior tuah, were sent us by the chief, with a
hint that a present would be acceptable in the morning. This was very
inhospitable treatment of us, and we could not help thinking the chief
was a mean old fellow, for we saw plenty of poultry and goats in his
yard, which he knew would be more acceptable to us than his stale eggs.
At eight in the evening we lay down to sleep, but could find no rest, on
account of an army of gigantic mosquitoes, which desperately attacked us
from all quarters, and serenaded us till morning with their unwelcome
song. The course of the river to-day has been nearly south-west, and its
width varying from two to three miles.
_Wednesday, October 27th._—At day-break we arose from our mats after no
very comfortable night’s rest in consequence of the attacks of the
musquitoes. We took a little refreshment, and commenced our preparations
for starting. At six o’clock the chief, who as well as his villagers had
long been on the alert, came to us for his present, and, as we suspected
last evening, we found considerable difficulty in satisfying the surly
old man. I accordingly gave him a pair of silver bracelets, a pair of
scissors, five hundred needles, and a handsome country cloth, which the
queen of Boossà had given us. The fellow was discontented with this,
which was more than we had given away a long time. He began to grumble,
and told us plainly, that he would not let us leave his village till
something better was given to him. To enforce his threats, fourteen of
his slaves stood around him armed with muskets, whose appearance alone,
I suppose, he thought would be sufficient to intimidate us into
compliance. We by no means wished to have any disturbance, and therefore
endeavoured as much as we could to persuade him that we had nothing more
to give him. I directed all our travelling things to be taken out of our
boxes before him, and had them put back again and locked up. This would
not satisfy him, and he desired them to be searched again, and that he
himself might be allowed to examine them. Our patience was now quite
exhausted: ‘Tell the chief,’ said I to Antonio, ‘the boxes shall be
opened no more, and let him stop my people from loading the canoe if he
dare.’ My brother and I had armed ourselves with the loaded pistols and
swords, as well as all our people, and on telling the chief what we had
done, we ordered them to proceed loading the canoe, which they obeyed
directly. The chief stood amazed, and did not offer to interfere with
us. This old rascal had muttered and grumbled at everything which was
offered him; _this_ was of no use and _that_ of no value, and he would
desire all that we had, such was his covetousness. After having gone the
length he did, and having shown his insolent airs, without producing the
expected impression, he feared that he should get nothing at all, and
therefore accepted the present we had offered him at first. The country
cloth alone, which had been given us by the queen of Boossà, was ten
times more than he deserved.
At _Abbazacca_ we saw an English iron bar, and feasted our eyes on the
graceful cocoa-nut tree, which we had not seen so long. We were
delighted also with the mellow whistling of grey parrots. Trifling as
these circumstances may appear, yet they made our hearts beats with
delight, and awakened in us a train of very pleasing associations. We
indulged in a delusive, yet fanciful reverie, and we fondly hoped,—but
what good would it be to tell of what we hoped so fondly?
It was the avowed intention of the chief to send a man with us as
messenger to a large town, which he described to be a day’s journey from
Abbazacca, and of which he said that his brother was governor; but
imagining, no doubt, that he would not be paid to his satisfaction, and
that, should he accompany us himself, the reward would be greater, he
changed his mind, and resolved on the latter expedient. Therefore he got
into one of his own canoes, and between seven and eight in the morning,
our canoe having been loaded without any interference from the chief or
his people, and without taking any further notice of him, we led the way
from the village through a large and unwholesome swamp which is before
it, and were soon followed by him. We succeeded in getting into the open
river with incredible difficulty.
In consequence of the lightness of his canoe, and its superiority to our
old one, which we had got at Zagōzhi, the chief passed us with the
utmost facility, and touched at various towns and villages, to inform
their inhabitants of the fact of our journeying down the river, and that
Christians were coming from a country they had never heard of. We were
solicited to stop at one or two of these, in order to please the
curiosity of the people, hundreds of whom ran out into the water to
obtain a better view of our persons, but we did not get out of our
canoe. These brought us presents of eggs, which we accepted very gladly
and passed on.
During the first part of the day the course of the river was about west-
south-west, the breadth varying from two to four miles, according to our
estimation. At noon we saw a small branch running off to the south-east.
The chief of Abbazacca, who had kept company with us, seemed to get
impatient as his canoe was so much swifter than our own, and coming
close to it, told us to pull as strong as we could, or that we should
not reach his brother’s town by day-light. However we did not pay much
attention to his remarks, but quietly kept on our usual rate. The north-
west side of the river was now low, and covered with thick jungle, and
the bank in many places was overflown, so that the jungle appeared to be
growing out of the water. The south-east bank was rather higher, and
cultivated pieces of ground were seen now and then about three or four
miles apart, with villages about them.
At two in the afternoon we came abreast of a village of pretty
considerable extent, intending to pass it by on the other side. We had
no sooner made our appearance than we were lustily hailed by a little
squinting fellow, dressed in an English soldier’s jacket, who kept
crying out as loud as his lungs would permit him, ‘Holloa, you
Englishman! you come here.’ However we were not inclined to obey his
summons, being rather anxious to get to the town mentioned to us by the
chief of Abbazacca, and as the current swept us along past the village,
we took no notice of the little man; and we had already sailed beyond
the landing-place, when we were overtaken by about a dozen canoes, and
the people in them stopping us, desired us to turn back, for that we had
forgotten to pay our respects to the king. The name of this village, we
now find, is _Damuggoo_. Ever willing to please and oblige all parties,
as far as we are able, and being in no condition to force ourselves from
the men that had interrupted us with so little ceremony, we pulled with
all our strength against the current, and, after an hour’s exertion,
landed amidst the cheers and huzzas of a multitude of people. The first
person we observed at the landing-place was our little friend in the red
jacket, whom we found out afterwards was a messenger from the chief of
Bonny. His business here was to buy slaves for his master.
My brother and I were instantly conducted over a bog to a large fetish
tree, at the root of which we were made to sit down, and were shaded by
its branches from an intolerably hot sun. Here we waited till the
arrival of the chief, who made his appearance in a few minutes, bringing
with him a goat, with a quantity of yams and other provisions as a
present. We arose to salute him, and he shook hands with us, welcoming
us to his town with a reserved and sorrowful, yet friendly air. In his
dress and person we saw nothing remarkable, save that his countenance
displayed mildness and benevolence, mingled with a great deal of
seriousness and native dignity. His stature is above the middle size,
and he is rather advanced in years. He requested us to stop a few days
at his town, which we promised him we would do, having told him that we
were going to the sea. The chief of Bonny’s messenger, he said, was
going there in a few days, and he would recommend us to remain with him
till he went, that we might accompany him. We had no objection to this,
and thought that the little squinting fellow, who was a very important
personage in his own estimation, might be useful to us, and be some sort
of protection to our party where he was known. He was at all events a
man of some consequence even from his red jacket alone, which rendered
him a conspicuous object among the dark natives by whom he was
surrounded; so we congratulated ourselves with the thoughts of being
quite safe.
The chief put a great many questions to us respecting ourselves and our
country, the places we had come from, their distance up the river, and
also concerning the river itself, and was astonished at our answers. He
told us that he had never heard of any countries higher up the river
than Funda and _Tacwâ_, by which latter we found he meant the Nouffie
country. He said that he had never heard of Yarriba, Borgoo, or Yàoorie.
A Mallam now joined our company, who appeared to be a respectable man.
We found afterwards that he was one of Ederesa’s people, and had been
sent for by the chief of Damuggoo for the purpose of writing charms to
protect him from all evil which might threaten him and his village. This
man seemed happy at seeing people who had come from his own country,
which he told us he had heard nothing of during the last year. He was
pleased in being able to talk with those who could give him information
concerning it, and he offered us his services in all manner of ways, and
told us he would do everything in his power to make us comfortable.
A messenger now arrived to inform us that our hut was ready. The chief,
on our taking leave of him, told us we were only eight days’ journey
from the sea, and that we should soon get there. We were then conducted
through filthy streets of mud to a very diminutive hut, which we find
excessively warm, owing to the small quantity of light and air, which
are admitted into it only through a narrow aperture, opening into a
gloomy and dismal passage. The appearance of the inside is better than
that of the outside, being plastered rudely with clay, and surrounded
with indifferently carved fetish figures, either painted or chalked a
red colour.
The news of our arrival having spread through the village, the people
flocked in hundreds to see us. They so completely blocked up every place
through which we might receive air, that we were nearly suffocated; nor
could we succeed in driving them away. We made our people arm themselves
with swords and sticks to keep them off, but to no purpose; their
curiosity overcame their fears, and they pressed on us as thickly as
ever. This was no longer to be borne, and we were obliged to send to the
chief, requesting his interference. His reply was, that if the people
would not go away when they were desired, we were to fire at, and kill
as many of them as we pleased. This we could not think of doing, and
therefore desired he would command some of his own people to come and
drive them away. They soon arrived, armed with large, heavy sticks,
which they laid about the natives in so merciless a manner, that, to our
great relief, our hut was soon cleared, and we again enjoyed the fresh
air.
At six in the evening, the chief sent us some fofo, and a quantity of
stewed goat, sufficient for thirty persons. We were not a little
surprised by the addition of a small case-bottle of rum—a luxury which
we have not had since we were at Kiama. It is long since we have tasted
tea or coffee; but the rum was a treat that we did not expect, although
it was the worst kind of trade rum I ever recollect to have tasted.
Here, to our infinite surprise, we saw, on landing, besides the little
man dressed in a soldier’s jacket, several others partially clothed in
European apparel, all of whom have picked up a smattering of the English
language from Liverpool vessels which frequent the Bonny river for palm-
oil. The messenger from the chief of that country, who has come hither
to purchase slaves and ivory, asserts, that the ship _Bamboo_, and four
other Liverpool vessels, are now at anchor in the river. Bonny is said
to be four or five days’ journey from hence.
After making a hearty meal off the stewed goat and fofo, we laid
ourselves down to rest, but the mosquitoes were so troublesome, that
they prevented us from getting any till nearly morning. We have
generally found that the mosquitoes are more troublesome and vigorous in
their attacks a short time before rain than at any other. The course of
the river has been much in the same direction as yesterday; the current
very rapid.