I went with El Wordee directly to the house of Hadje Hat Salah, to

whom I had a letter of recommendation from the sheikh of Bornou. We

found Hat Salah sitting under a rude porch in front of his house

amid a party of Arabs, Tuaricks, and people of the town. When

El Wordee presented me, and told him of the sheikh’s letter of

recommendation, he bade me welcome, and desired me to sit down by

his side. After exchanging many compliments, I inquired for the house

he had hired for me, as El Wordee had sent a messenger on horseback

the day before, to inform him of my approach, and to request him to

have a house ready for my reception. Hat Salah now sent one of his

slaves to conduct us to the house.

We had to retrace our steps more than half a mile through the

market-place, which is bordered to the east and west by an extensive

swamp covered with reeds and water, and frequented by wild ducks,

cranes, and a filthy kind of vulture. The last is extremely useful,

and by picking up offal serves as a sort of town scavenger. The

house provided for me was situated at the south end of the morass,

the pestilential exhalations of which, and of the pools of standing

water, were increased by the sewers of the houses all opening into

the street. I was fatigued and sick, and lay down on a mat that the

owner of the house spread for me. I was immediately visited by all the

Arab merchants who had been my fellow travellers from Kouka, and were

not prevented by sickness from coming to see me. They were more like

ghosts than men, as almost all strangers were at this time, suffering

from intermittent fever. My house had six chambers above, extremely

dark, and five rooms below, with a dismal looking entrance or lobby, a

back court, draw-well, and other conveniences. Little holes or windows

admitted a glimmering light into the apartments. Nevertheless this

was here thought a handsome mansion. I paid at first a rent of three

dollars a month; but it was afterwards reduced to two dollars. El

Wordee was my next door neighbour.

In the evening Hat Salah sent me a sheep, some honey, and a dinner

ready cooked. I received a similar present from Michah Eben Taleb,

the brother of an Arab merchant of Sockna, residing at Kouka, to

whom I had a letter of introduction, with an order for the payment

of a hundred dollars.

Jan. 21.—The weather cool and clear. This afternoon I delivered

to Hadje Hat Salah the sheikh’s letter, and accompanied it with

a present of two turban shawls, made of wool and cotton, one white,

the other red, both of French manufacture, a scarlet Turkish jacket,

lined with silk and trimmed with gold lace, that had belonged to the

late Dr. Oudney, two clasp knives, two razors, two pair of scissors,

two paper snuff-boxes, and one of tin, about a pound of spices, and a

parcel of thin brass ornaments for children’s caps. These are of the

size of a sixpence, stamped with fancy heads, and made at Trieste for

the Barbary market. He was much pleased with my present, and promised

to present me to the governor in two days. In the evening provisions

were sent me as before, both by Hat Salah and Michah Eben Taleb.

Jan. 22.—I had a visit from Hat Salah to-day, when I presented

him with half a pound of French gunpowder and a few flints. Being

very unwell, I remained at home all day.

Jan. 23.—I was still confined to the house by indisposition. In

the evening I overheard a conversation concerning the river Quarra,

between my servant and the man the governor of Katagum sent with

me. The latter described it as running into the sea at Baka, and

added the following particulars. The country is called Yowriba by

the natives. The ships of Christians visit the town, which is only

twenty-four days’ journey from Nyffee at a quick rate of travelling,

or thirty-two days at a leisurely pace. The river is there as wide as

from Kano to Katagum, and the waters salt. Although I think proper

to notice this incident, I must at the same time observe, that I

place little dependence on such accounts. Next morning I put several

questions to him, but he told me quite a different story; for it is

commonly believed among them that strangers would come and take their

country from them, if they knew the course of the Quarra. Nyffee, as I

afterwards learned, is distant from Kano about twelve days’ journey.

Jan. 24.—At seven in the morning I set out, accompanied by El Wordee

and Hat Salah, to visit the governor, who was at the sansan, or camp,

five miles east of Kano. I took with me the sheikh’s letter and

a present I had prepared the day before, consisting of a sword, a

tea-tray, a spy-glass, twenty yards of yellow silk, a white turban,

a French shawl, three snuff-boxes, two razors, four clasp knives,

two pair of scissors, a few brass trinkets for children’s caps,

as already described, and two pounds of spices, besides a broken

thermometer, which I understood would be very acceptable. Of course,

I could not spare either of the only two thermometers which had

hitherto escaped accidents. A thermometer is descriptively named

by the natives “a watch of heat,” and was every where regarded

as a great curiosity. I also took a present for the wan-bey, or

governor’s chief minister, of a French shawl, a large Egyptian

shawl, a pound of cloves and cinnamon, a razor, a clasp knife,

a pair of scissors, and two snuff-boxes. The sansan, where the

governor now was, is a rendezvous for the army. The governor then

intended to march against Dantanqua, a former governor of Kano who

was deposed, and who, having rebelled, had seized upon a large town

and territory called Doura, only distant one day’s journey, or

about twenty-two English miles, according to the common allowance

for a day’s journey. I was not a little surprised to find this

sansan a walled town of considerable extent. El Wordee and Hat Salah

informed me it had been built these five years, the governor of Kano

having made for that period a yearly excursion against the rebels,

without ever bringing them to a decisive engagement.

We proceeded immediately to the governor’s house, which is about

500 or 600 yards from the gate. At the outer guard house, I found

all the Arab merchants in attendance, with the horses they had for

sale. The governor is always entitled to the first choice; but if he

declines them at the price affixed, any other person may become the

purchaser. We were shown into the house of the wan-bey, until the

governor was ready to receive us. In a short time he sent for me:

I was accompanied by El Wordee and Hat Salah; but as he does not

usually admit Arab merchants into his presence, El Wordee was in

this instance specially favoured on my account. When introduced,

we had to pass through three coozees or guard houses, the walls

of which were covered with shields, and the doors guarded by black

eunuchs. These coozees were connected by screens of matting covered

over head. The governor was seated at the entrance of an inner

coozee. After shaking hands with him, he desired us to sit down:

I then produced the presents, explaining to him particularly the use

of the spy-glass, and commending the sword, by acquainting him that

such were worn by the great nobles of England, when they attended on

the king. He seemed highly pleased, and bade me a thousand welcomes

to the country. I next delivered the sheikh El Kanemy’s letter. He

read it, and told me he expected to return to Kano in fifteen days,

and would then send me to his master Bello, who, he knew, would be

very glad to see me. We shook hands again at parting. The governor

is a Felatah, of a dark copper colour and stout make, and has the

character of being very devout and learned. Except El Wordee and Hat

Salah, the wan bey was the only person present, at this interview,

whom we next accompanied to his house, where I gave him his present

without any ceremony. He was a thin, slender man, of a pretty

fair complexion, with only one eye, and was clad in a rather dirty

tobe. He was said to be the father of fifty sons—a circumstance

which is here regarded as a matter of much respect and honour. I

returned immediately to Kano; but Hat Salah and El Wordee remained

behind to sell some horses. Hat Salah had two horses belonging to

the late Dr. Oudney to dispose of; one of which was given to him

by the sheikh of Bornou, and the other was palmed upon us at Kouka

by Hadje Ali Bookhaloom for eighty dollars. The governor of Kano

frequently gives from 100 to 120 dollars for a good horse. Mares

are seldom for sale, and are highly prized, both for breeding, and

because they do not neigh on approaching other horses—a quality

that especially fits them for predatory inroads. Geldings are unknown.

Jan. 25 and 26.—I was solicited by some merchants of Ghadamis,

settled here, to take supplies of goods or money to any amount,

for my bill on our Tripolitan consul; but, having no occasion for

advances, I declined this unexpected offer of accommodation, which was

frequently and urgently tendered. Ghadamis—the ancient Bydamus—is

an inland town in the state of Tripoli, and its merchants are famed

over all central Africa for fair dealing and the extent of their

commercial transactions.

Jan. 27 and 28.—The governor sent me a present of a sheep; an

immense gourd, upwards of two feet in diameter, filled with wheat;

and two other gourds of the same dimensions, filled with rice. A

kafila from Bornou arrived to-day. It brought a letter from the sheikh

to Hat Salah, warning him not to purchase any slaves, as they would

not be allowed to pass through Bornou, on account of the detention

of the sheikh’s children in Fezzan, who had been sent there for

protection during a recent invasion by the people of Begharmi.

Jan. 29.—A courier to-day, from Major Denham at Kouka, brought

me letters and newspapers from England; also gunpowder, coffee,

tea, and sugar, Peruvian bark, and three bottles of Port wine;

three silver watches, and some articles of dress, such as red caps

of Tunis, red Turkish trowsers, and Bornouses, or woollen cloaks,

with hoods from Tripoli. Mr. Warrington, our consul at Tripoli, also

forwarded a teskara, or order from the bashaw, which Major Denham

took care to have enforced by a letter from the sheikh of Bornou,

both addressed to Hadje Ali, requiring him to pay the money due

by his deceased brother. The sheikh likewise wrote to Hat Salah,

requesting him to exert all his influence to overcome the scruples

of Hadje Ali; for Hadje Bos Zaid, the other executor, never once

hesitated about the matter. The newspapers first apprised me of

Belzoni’s attempt to penetrate to Timbuctoo by the way of Fez.

Jan. 30.—Ill with ague.

Jan. 31.—A little better.

Feb. 1. 1824.—After breakfast I accompanied Hat Salah, the

sheikh’s agent, to the sansan, which, since it became a town,

is also called Fanisoe, and presented the governor with one of the

watches. He was highly pleased with it, and requested me to teach Hat

Salah the use of it, that he might give lessons to the wan-bey, who

would in turn instruct him. I also showed him the sheikh’s letter

to his master Bello. He read it, and told me I should be sent forward

to Sackatoo without delay in a kafila which was then assembling.

On my return I met two governors with troops repairing to the

sansan. They had each about five hundred horse and foot. The foot

were armed with bows and arrows. The quiver is slung over the left

shoulder, together with a small, highly ornamented leathern pouch

for little necessaries, and a canteen of dried grass, so compactly

plaited, that it is used for holding water. The bow unstrung is

sometimes carried in the hand as a walking stick. Many carried on the

head a little triangular bag, filled with bruised Guinea corn. Others

wore a little conical grass cap, with a tuft of feathers. The rest

of their dress consists solely of a tanned skin, strung with coarse

shells, or fringed with tassels, girt round the loins, and a pair

of sandals of very simple workmanship.

The cavalry were armed with shields, swords, and spears, and

otherwise more sumptuously accoutred. The spear is about six feet

long, the wooden shaft slender, and the point of iron. The swords are

broad, straight, and long, but require no particular description,

as, by a vicissitude somewhat singular, they are in fact the very

blades formerly wielded by the knights of Malta. These swords are

sent from Malta to Bengazee, in the state of Tripoli, where they are

exchanged for bullocks. They are afterwards carried across the desert

to Bornou, thence to Haussa, and at last remounted at Kano, for the

use of the inhabitants of almost all central Africa. The shields,

covered with the hides of tame or wild animals, are generally plain

and round. There is, however, a remarkable variety, not uncommon, of

an oval shape, somewhat broader below than above, with an edging of

blue cloth, forming six little lappets, one above, one below, and two

on each side. In the centre of the shield there is a stripe of scarlet

cloth fastened by the same studs that clinch the iron handle, and

around it is scored a perfect Maltese cross. This kind of shield is

borne by horsemen only; but it is found of the same shape and figure,

equally among Tibboes, Tuaricks, Felatahs, and Bornouese. A cross of

the same form, moulded in a sort of low relief, is not an unfrequent

ornament on the clay plaster of their huts. Crosses of other forms

also are sometimes cut in the doors of their houses. Several camels,

loaded with quilted cotton armour, both for men and horses, were in

attendance. One of the governor’s slaves wore a quilted helmet of

red cloth, very unwieldy, not unlike a bucket in shape, only scooped

out in front for the face, and terminating on the crown in a large tin

funnel, full of ostrich feathers. He was also clad in a red quilted

corslet of the same cumbrous materials. The other articles of this

armour are trunk hose for the rider, and a head piece, poitrel,

and hausing, all quilted and arrow proof, for the horse. Armour,

however, is hardly ever worn, except in actual combat, and then it

must very much impede the quickness of their military evolutions. The

saddles have high peaks before and behind. The stirrup irons are in

the shape of a fire-shovel, turned up at the sides, and so sharp as

to render spurs superfluous. This body of heavy horse protects the

advance and retreat of the army, the bowmen being drawn up in the

rear, and shooting from between the horsemen as occasion offers.

Feb. 2.—This morning I was visited by a nephew of sultan Bello, who

arrived yesterday from Sackatoo. He was a lad of a dark copper colour,

and of a thin active make, like all the Felatahs. I ordered tea to

be presented to him; but he would not taste it, till the brother

of El Wordee set him the example, when he ventured to drink a cup,

and soon became very fond of it. Before this visit he considered

a Christian little better than a monster, as he confessed to me,

though, perhaps, with some degree of flattery. I showed him all my

instruments, and the presents intended for his uncle, the sultan.

Feb. 3.—I had a visit from another nephew of the sultan, one of the

finest and most intelligent young men I had seen in this country. He

read and spoke Arabic with ease and fluency, and was very anxious

to see every thing, and to hear all about my country. He assured

me the sultan would be delighted to see me, and said he had a large

collection of books, which he made him read aloud. He told me there

was a camel road from Sackatoo to Timbuctoo, which, however, was

rendered dangerous by the Kafirs of Cobee, a country lying between

the two towns.

Feb. 4.—The governor sent back the two horses he had on trial; but

this was to be expected, one of them having galled withers, and the

other being nothing but skin and bone. He returned, at the same time,

a number of the horses belonging to the Arab merchants, who came

to me with loud clamours against this alleged act of injustice. I

warily answered, in one of their own hypocritical exaggerations,

“Whatever the sultan does is beautiful;” for I knew they only

wanted to entrap me into an unguarded expression, which would be

repeated to the governor, either to my disadvantage, or to induce

him to take all the horses at the price first demanded. Accordingly

I was no more troubled with their complaints on this subject.

Feb. 5 and 6.—I had a conversation with Abdelgader, a relation of

sultan Bello, at the house of a Ghadamis merchant. Abdelgader was

particularly inquisitive about our religious observances, prayers,

the worship of images, and the eating of pork. I told him we were

commanded by our religion to pray without ceasing; but as no people

on earth does as it ought, we generally prayed at stated times. The

worship of images, with which I was repeatedly charged, I indignantly

abjured. Of course I represented the eating of pork as a mere matter

of policy. My Mahomedan catechist next inquired, with some degree

of ridicule, as to the doctrine of the Trinity; and turning to his

countrymen who were present, without waiting for my reply, exclaimed,

in allusion to the three persons of the God-head:—“Father,

Son, and Uncle.” In this way Mahometans are wont to turn to scorn

the pure morals inculcated by Christianity, both in precept and in

practice. Abdelgader next expressed great curiosity to have my Jew

servant, Jacob, sent for. I declined; explaining to him that it was

utterly inconsistent with the toleration to which I had ever been

accustomed, to have any man interrogated by constraint respecting

his religious opinions; but that, with his own consent, he might

be asked any questions Abdelgader pleased. I left the party soon

after, and Jacob was prevailed upon to undergo a similar examination;

but his holy zeal was quickly fired, for he soon returned home in a

storm of passion. To put a stop to such acrimonious and dangerous

discussions, I afterwards hinted to the Ghadamis merchant that a

repetition of such conduct, in regard to my servants, would oblige

me to complain to the bashaw of Tripoli.

Feb. 7.—Rather sick to-day.

Feb. 8.—The governor returned to the sansan with his army; and the

current report was, that they had entered the capital of the enemy;

and, supposing Duntungua to have fled to the forest, they began to

enjoy themselves in banquets and carousals, when Duntungua suddenly

fell upon them with his army, and killed fifteen thousand men,

the rest flying in the greatest confusion to Fanisoe.

Feb. 9.—Again unwell.

Feb. 10.—Kano is the capital of a province of the same name, and

one of the principal towns of the kingdom of Soudan, and is situate

in 12° 0′ 19″ north latitude by observation, and 9° 20′ east

longitude by dead reckoning, carried on from a lunar observation at

Kouka, in Bornou.

Kano may contain from 30,000 to 40,000 resident inhabitants, of

whom more than one half are slaves. This estimate of the population

is of course conjectural, and must be received with due allowance,

although I have studiously under-rated my rough calculations on the

subject. This number is exclusive of strangers who come here in crowds

during the dry months from all parts of Africa, from the Mediterranean

and the Mountains of the Moon, and from Sennar and Ashantee.

The city is rendered very unhealthy by a large morass, which almost

divides it into two parts, besides many pools of stagnant water,

made by digging clay for building houses. The house gutters also open

into the street, and frequently occasion an abominable stench. On

the north side of the city are two remarkable mounts, each about 200

feet in height, lying nearly east and west from one another, and a

trifling distance apart. They are formed of argillaceous iron-stone,

mixed with pebbles, and a rather soft kind of marl. The city is of

an irregular oval shape, about fifteen miles in circumference, and

surrounded by a clay wall thirty feet high, with a dry ditch along

the inside, and another on the outside. There are fifteen gates,

including one lately built up. The gates are of wood, covered

with sheet iron, and are regularly opened and shut at sunrise and

sunset. A platform inside, with two guardhouses below it, serves to

defend each entrance. Not more than one fourth of the ground within

the walls is occupied by houses: the vacant space is laid out in

fields and gardens. The large morass, nearly intersecting the city

from east to west, and crossed by a small neck of land, on which

the market is held, is overflowed in the rainy season. The water of

the city being considered unwholesome, women are constantly employed

hawking water about the streets, from the favourite springs in the

neighbourhood. The houses are built of clay, and are mostly of a

square form, in the Moorish fashion, with a central room, the roof

of which is supported by the trunks of palm trees, where visitors

and strangers are received. The apartments of the ground floor open

into this hall of audience, and are generally used as store-rooms. A

staircase leads to an open gallery overlooking the hall, and serving

as a passage to the chambers of the second story, which are lighted

with small windows. In a back courtyard there is a well and other

conveniences. Within the enclosure in which the house stands,

there are also a few round huts of clay, roofed with the stalks of

Indian corn, and thatched with long grass. These are usually very

neat and clean, and of a much larger size than those of Bornou. The

governor’s residence covers a large space, and resembles a walled

village. It even contains a mosque, and several towers three or four

stories high, with windows in the European style, but without glass

or frame-work. It is necessary to pass through two of these towers in

order to gain the suite of inner apartments occupied by the governor.

The soug, or market, is well supplied with every necessary and luxury

in request among the people of the interior. It is held, as I have

mentioned, on a neck of land between two swamps; and as this site

is covered with water during the rainy season, the holding it here

is consequently limited to the dry months, when it is numerously

frequented as well by strangers as inhabitants: indeed, there is

no market in Africa so well regulated. The sheikh of the soug lets

the stalls at so much a month, and the rent forms a part of the

revenues of the governor. The sheikh of the soug also fixes the

prices of all wares, for which he is entitled to a small commission,

at the rate of fifty whydah or cowries, on every sale amounting to

four dollars or 8,000 cowries, according to the standard exchange

between silver money and this shell currency. There is another

custom regulated with equal certainty and in universal practice:

the seller returns to the buyer a stated part of the price, by way

of blessing, as they term it, or of luck-penny, according to our

less devout phraseology. This is a discount of two per cent. on

the purchase money; but, if the bargain is made in a hired house,

it is the landlord who receives the luck-penny. I may here notice

the great convenience of the cowrie, which no forgery can imitate;

and which, by the dexterity of the natives in reckoning the largest

sums, forms a ready medium of exchange in all transactions, from

the lowest to the highest. Particular quarters are appropriated to

distinct articles; the smaller wares being set out in booths in the

middle, and cattle and bulky commodities being exposed to sale in

the outskirts of the market-place: wood, dried grass, bean straw

for provender, beans, Guinea corn, Indian corn, wheat, &c. are in

one quarter; goats, sheep, asses, bullocks, horses, and camels, in

another; earthenware and indigo in a third; vegetables and fruit of

all descriptions, such as yams, sweet potatoes, water and musk melons,

pappaw fruit, limes, cashew nuts, plums, mangoes, shaddocks, dates,

&c. in a fourth, and so on. Wheaten flour is baked into bread of three

different kinds; one like muffins, another like our twists, and the

third a light puffy cake, with honey and melted butter poured over

it. Rice is also made into little cakes. Beef and mutton are killed

daily. Camel flesh is occasionally to be had, but is often meagre;

the animal being commonly killed, as an Irish grazier might say, to

save its life: it is esteemed a great delicacy, however, by the Arabs,

when the carcass is fat. The native butchers are fully as knowing as

our own, for they make a few slashes to show the fat, blow up meat,

and sometimes even stick a little sheep’s wool on a leg of goat’s

flesh, to make it pass with the ignorant for mutton. When a fat bull

is brought to market to be killed, its horns are dyed red with henna;

drummers attend, a mob soon collects, the news of the animal’s

size and fatness spreads, and all run to buy. The colouring of

the horns is effected by applying the green leaves of the henna

tree, bruised into a kind of poultice. Near the shambles there is

a number of cook-shops in the open air; each consisting merely of

a wood fire, stuck round with wooden skewers, on which small bits

of fat and lean meat, alternately mixed, and scarcely larger than

a pennypiece each, are roasting. Every thing looks very clean and

comfortable; and a woman does the honours of the table, with a mat

dish-cover placed on her knees, from which she serves her guests,

who are squatted around her. Ground gussub water is retailed at hand,

to those who can afford this beverage at their repast: the price,

at most, does not exceed twenty cowries, or about two farthings and

⁴⁄₁₀ of a farthing, English money, estimating the dollar

at five shillings. Those who have houses eat at home; women never

resort to cook-shops, and even at home eat apart from men.

The interior of the market is filled with stalls of bamboo, laid

out in regular streets; where the more costly wares are sold,

and articles of dress, and other little matters of use or ornament

made and repaired. Bands of musicians parade up and down to attract

purchasers to particular booths. Here are displayed coarse writing

paper, of French manufacture, brought from Barbary; scissors and

knives, of native workmanship; crude antimony and tin, both the

produce of the country; unwrought silk of a red colour, which they

make into belts and slings, or weave in stripes into the finest

cotton tobes; armlets and bracelets of brass; beads of glass, coral,

and amber; finger rings of pewter, and a few silver trinkets, but

none of gold; tobes, turkadees, and turban shawls; coarse woollen

cloths of all colours; coarse calico; Moorish dresses; the cast off

gaudy garbs of the Mamelukes of Barbary; pieces of Egyptian linen,

checked or striped with gold; sword blades from Malta, &c. &c. The

market is crowded from sunrise to sunset every day, not excepting

their Sabbath, which is kept on Friday. The merchants understand

the benefits of monopoly as well as any people in the world; they

take good care never to overstock the market, and if any thing falls

in price, it is immediately withdrawn for a few days.—The market

is regulated with the greatest fairness, and the regulations are

strictly and impartially enforced. If a tobe or turkadee, purchased

here, is carried to Bornou or any other distant place, without

being opened, and is there discovered to be of inferior quality,

it is immediately sent back, as a matter of course,—the name of

the _dylala_, or broker, being written inside every parcel. In this

case the _dylala_ must find out the seller, who, by the laws of Kano,

is forthwith obliged to refund the purchase money.

The slave market is held in two long sheds, one for males, the other

for females, where they are seated in rows, and carefully decked out

for the exhibition; the owner, or one of his trusty slaves, sitting

near them. Young or old, plump or withered, beautiful or ugly, are

sold without distinction; but, in other respects, the buyer inspects

them with the utmost attention, and somewhat in the same manner as

a volunteer seaman is examined by a surgeon on entering the navy:

he looks at the tongue, teeth, eyes, and limbs, and endeavours to

detect rupture by a forced cough. If they are afterwards found to be

faulty or unsound, or even without any specific objection, they may

be returned within three days. When taken home, they are stripped

of their finery, which is sent back to their former owner. Slavery

is here so common, or the mind of slaves is so constituted, that

they always appeared much happier than their masters; the women,

especially, singing with the greatest glee all the time they are at

work. People become slaves by birth or by capture in war. The Felatahs

frequently manumit slaves at the death of their master, or on the

occasion of some religious festival. The letter of manumission must

be signed before the cadi, and attested by two witnesses; and the

mark of a cross is used by the illiterate among them, just as with

us. The male slaves are employed in the various trades of building,

working in iron, weaving, making shoes or clothes, and in traffic;

the female slaves in spinning, baking, and selling water in the

streets. Of the various people who frequent Kano, the _Nyffuans_

are most celebrated for their industry; as soon as they arrive,

they go to market and buy cotton for their women to spin, who, if

not employed in this way, make _billam_ for sale, which is a kind

of flummery made of flour and tamarinds. The very slaves of this

people are in great request, being invariably excellent tradesmen;

and when once obtained, are never sold again out of the country.

I bought, for three Spanish dollars, an English green cotton umbrella,

an article I little expected to meet with, yet by no means uncommon:

my Moorish servants, in their figurative language, were wont to

give it the name of “the cloud.” I found, on inquiry, that

these umbrellas are brought from the shores of the Mediterranean,

by the way of Ghadamis.

[Illustration: NATIVE OF KASUNA IN SOUDAN.

NEGRESS OF JACOBA.

NEGRESS OF NYFFEE.

UMBURUM SOUTH OF KANO.

GOOBUR AND ZAMFRA.

Drawn by Captn. Clapperton. R.N.

Etched by E. Finden.

_Published by John Murray, London. Feb. 1826._]

A large kafila of Tuaricks, loaded solely with salt, arrived here

from Billma. The Arabs told me it consisted of 3,000 camels; at all

events, the kafila was extremely numerous.

Feb. 11.—A Felatah of respectability having arrived from the sultan,

with offers of every accommodation on my journey, I visited the

governor to compliment him on his return, and to inquire about my

departure for Sackatoo. He received me with much civility, and,

addressing me like an old acquaintance by my travelling name,

Abdallah, he assured me I should set out in six days.

Feb. 12.—The weather was cold, and we had a fire all day. Indeed

it is the invariable practice here to have fires all the year round,

both in the wet and dry season, although generally I did not find

one necessary.

Feb. 13 and 14.—I had a visit from the governor’s eldest son,

a stupid fellow, who was afraid to taste a cup of tea with which I

presented him. He bluntly told me, I possessed the power of changing

people into rats, cats, dogs, and monkeys. I made a servant drink

the tea he had refused, and then remarked, “Thank God, neither I,

nor any one else, was able to work such wonders, otherwise both of us

probably had been long ago metamorphosed into asses, and compelled

to bear burdens on our backs.” He affected to blame the people of

the town for these reports, and told me they were further persuaded,

that, by reading in my book, I could at any time turn a handful of

earth into gold. I easily refuted this absurdity, by asking him why

I applied to Hadje Hat Salah for money if I knew such a secret. He

now became somewhat tranquillized, and sipped a little of the tea,

but with fear and trembling. He afterwards begged for a black-lead

pencil, which I did not choose to give him. A son of Sultan Bello,

named Abdelgader, also paid me a visit. He returns, early to-morrow

morning, to Sackatoo.

Feb. 15.—This afternoon I ascended the eastern mount (one of the

two already described) to take an eye sketch of the plan of the town,

which, as nearly as I could guess it, may be represented as under. By

way of precaution, I was accompanied by Hat Salah’s eldest son,

to prevent the people fancying I was going to perform some magical

feat. On the eastern side of the mount, the young man gravely pointed

out to me the print of the foot of the she-camel on which the Prophet

rode to heaven. It was certainly very like the print of a camel’s

foot, only much larger, and seemed to be a hole where two stones had

been picked out. I asked my companion, if the prophet’s naga, or

she-camel, had only one leg. “Oh!” said he, “it had four.”

Where are the other three? “Oh!” he replied, “God has done

it:” an unanswerable argument, which with them settles all points

of religious controversy. He added, “All the faithful of Soudan

believe in the truth of this story.” The mount I found to consist

of strata of clay iron-stone, and conglomerate, lying on a bed of

soft light clay, apparently mixed with vegetable remains.

[Illustration]

Feb. 16.—Early this morning two massi dubu, or jugglers, came to

my door. Two snakes were let out of a bag, when one of the jugglers

began to beat a little drum. The snakes immediately reared themselves

on their tail, and made a kind of sham dance. The juggler afterwards

played various tricks with them, sometimes wreathing them round

his neck, coiling them in his bosom, or throwing them among the

people. On pointing his finger at their mouth, they immediately

raised themselves up in an attitude to spring forward; but after

having exasperated them to the utmost, he had only to spit in their

face to make them retreat quite crestfallen. I measured one of them:

it was six feet three inches long; the head large, flat, and blunted,

and, along the neck, a kind of gills fully two inches in breadth,

and five inches in length, which they elevated when angry. The

back and belly were of a dull white, and the sides of a dark lead

colour. Between the gills there were five red stripes across the

throat, decreasing in size from the mouth downwards. The venomous

fangs had been extracted; but still, to guard against all possible

injury, the fellow who played tricks with them had a large roll of

cloth wound round the right arm. Their bite is said to be mortal,

and to prove fatal to a horse or a cow in half an hour.

Having heard a great deal of the boxers of Haussa, I was anxious

to witness their performance. Accordingly I sent one of my servants

last night to offer 2000 whydah for a pugilistic exhibition in the

morning. As the death of one of the combatants is almost certain

before a battle is over, I expressly prohibited all fighting in

earnest; for it would have been disgraceful, both to myself and

my country, to hire men to kill one another for the gratification

of idle curiosity. About half an hour after the massi dubu were

gone, the boxers arrived, attended by two drums, and the whole

body of butchers, who here compose “the fancy.” A ring was

soon formed, by the master of the ceremonies throwing dust on the

spectators to make them stand back. The drummers entered the ring,

and began to drum lustily. One of the boxers followed, quite naked,

except a skin round the middle. He placed himself in an attitude as

if to oppose an antagonist, and wrought his muscles into action,

seemingly to find out that every sinew was in full force for the

approaching combat; then coming from time to time to the side of

the ring, and presenting his right arm to the bystanders, he said,

“I am a hyena;” “I am a lion;” “I am able to kill all

that oppose me.” The spectators, to whom he presented himself,

laid their hands on his shoulder, repeating, “The blessing of

God be upon thee;” “Thou art a hyena;” “Thou art a lion.”

He then abandoned the ring to another, who showed off in the same

manner. The right hand and arm of the pugilists were now bound with

narrow country cloth, beginning with a fold round the middle finger,

when, the hand being first clinched with the thumb between the fore

and mid fingers, the cloth was passed in many turns round the fist,

the wrist, and the fore arm. After about twenty had separately gone

through their attitudes of defiance, and appeals to the bystanders,

they were next brought forward by pairs. If they happened to be

friends, they laid their left breasts together twice, and exclaimed,

“We are lions;” “We are friends.” One then left the ring,

and another was brought forward. If the two did not recognise one

another as friends, the set-to immediately commenced. On taking their

stations, the two pugilists first stood at some distance, parrying

with the left hand open, and, whenever opportunity offered, striking

with the right. They generally aimed at the pit of the stomach, and

under the ribs. Whenever they closed, one seized the other’s head

under his arm, and beat it with his fist, at the same time striking

with his knee between his antagonist’s thighs. In this position,

with the head _in chancery_, they are said sometimes to attempt to

gouge or scoop out one of the eyes. When they break loose, they

never fail to give a swinging blow with the heel under the ribs,

or sometimes under the left ear. It is these blows which are so

often fatal. The combatants were repeatedly separated by my orders,

as they were beginning to lose their temper. When this spectacle was

heard of, girls left their pitchers at the wells, the market people

threw down their baskets, and all ran to see the fight. The whole

square before my house was crowded to excess. After six pairs had gone

through several rounds, I ordered them, to their great satisfaction,

the promised reward, and the multitude quietly dispersed.

Both Hat Salah and Benderachmani, another Fezzan merchant residing

here, had been with the late Mr. Hornemann at the time of his

death. They travelled with him from Mourzuk to Nyffee, where he died

of dysentery, after an illness of six days. He passed himself off as

an English merchant, professing the Mahometan faith, and had sold

two fine horses here. At my instance, Benderachmani sent a courier

to Nyffee, to endeavour to recover Mr. Hornemann’s manuscripts,

for which I offered him a reward of a hundred dollars; but, on my

return from Sackatoo, I found the messenger come back with the

information, that Jussuf Felatah, a learned man of the country,

with whom Mr. Hornemann lodged, had been burned in his own house,

together with all Mr. Hornemann’s papers, by the negro rabble, from

a superstitious dread of his holding intercourse with evil spirits.

All the date trees, of which there is a great number, as well as

the fig and pappaw trees, &c. together with the waste ground, and

fields of wheat, onions, &c. bordering on the morass, belong to

the governor. The date trees bear twice a year, before and after

the annual rains, which fall between the middle of May and the end

of August.

Cotton, after it is gathered from the shrub, is prepared by the

careful housewife, or a steady female slave, by laying a quantity of

it on a stone, or a piece of board, along which she twirls two slender

iron rods about a foot in length, and thus dexterously separates the

seeds from the cotton wool. The cotton is afterwards teazed or opened

out with a small bone, something like an instrument used by us in the

manufacture of hat felt. Women then spin it out of a basket upon a

slender spindle. The basket always contains a little pocket mirror,

used at least once every five minutes, for adjusting or contemplating

their charms. It is now sold in yarn, or made into cloth. The common

cloth of the country is, as formerly stated, only three or four inches

broad. The weaver’s loom is very simple, having a fly and treadles

like ours, but no beam; and the warp, fastened to a stone, is drawn

along the ground as wanted. The shuttle is passed by the hand. When

close at work, they are said to weave from twenty to thirty fathoms

of cloth a day. Kano is famed over all central Africa for the dyeing

of cloth; for which process there are numerous establishments. Indigo

is here prepared in rather a different manner from that of India and

America. When the plant is ripe, the fresh green tops are cut off,

and put into a wooden trough about a foot and a half across, and one

foot deep, in which, when pounded, they are left to ferment. When

dry, this indigo looks like earth mixed with decayed grass, retains

the shape of the trough, and three or four lumps being tied together

with Indian corn-stalks, it is carried in this state to market. The

apparatus for dyeing is a large pot of clay, about nine feet deep,

and three feet broad, sunk in the earth. The indigo is thrown in,

mixed with the ashes of the residuum of a former dyeing. These are

prepared from the lees of the dye-pot, kneaded up and dried in the

sun, after which they are burned. In the process of dyeing cold water

alone is used. The articles to be dyed remain in the pot three or

four days, and are frequently stirred up with a pole; besides which,

they are well wrung out every night, and hung up to dry till morning,

during which time the dye-pot is covered with a straw mat. After the

tobes, turkadees, &c. are dyed, they are sent to the cloth-glazer,

who places them between mats, laid over a large block of wood,

and two men, with wooden mallets in each hand, continue to beat the

cloth, sprinkling a little water from time to time upon the mats,

until it acquires a japan-like gloss. The block for beating the

tobes is part of the trunk of a large tree, and when brought to the

gates of the city, the proprietor musters three or four drummers,

at whose summons the mob never fails to assemble, and the block is

gratuitously rolled to the workshop. The price of dyeing a good tobe

of the darkest blue colour is 3000 cowries, or a dollar and a half;

and for glazing it, 700 cowries. The total price of a tobe is 5000

cowries, and of a turkadee, from 2000 to 3000 cowries.

The women of this country, and of Bornou, dye their hair blue as

well as their hands, feet, legs, and eyebrows. They prefer the

paint called shunee, made in the following manner:—They have an

old tobe slit up, and dyed a second time. They make a pit in the

ground, moistening it with water, in which they put the old tobe,

first imbedded in sheep’s dung, and well drenched with water, and

then fill up the pit with wet earth. In winter the fire for domestic

purposes is made close to the spot, and the pit remains unopened for

ten days. In summer no fire is required; and after seven or eight

days the remnants of the old tobe, so decayed in texture as barely

to hang together, are taken out and dried in the sun for use. This

paint sells at 400 cowries the gubga, or fathom; for this measure

of length commonly gives name to the cloth itself. A little of the

paint being mixed with water in a shell, with a feather in one hand,

and a looking-glass in the other, the lady carefully embellishes her

sable charms. The arms and legs, when painted, look as if covered

with dark blue gloves and boots.

They show some ingenuity in the manufacture of leathern jars,

fashioning them upon a clay mould out of the raw hide, previously

well soaked in water: these jars serve to contain fat, melted butter,

honey, and bees’ wax.

They are also acquainted with the art of tanning; in which they make

use of the milky juice of a plant called in Arabic _brumbugh_, and

in the Bornouese tongue _kyo_. It is an annual plant, and grows in

dry sandy situations to the height of five or six feet, with a stem

about an inch in diameter. It has broad thick leaves, and bears a

small flower, in colour and shape not unlike a pink. The fruit is

green, and larger than our garden turnip. It contains a fine white

silky texture, intermixed with seeds like those of the melon, and

becomes ripe some time before the rains commence, during which the

plant itself withers. The juice is collected in a horn or gourd, from

incisions made in the stem. It is poured over the inner surface of the

skin to be tanned, which is then put in some vessel or other; when,

in the course of a day or two, the smell becomes extremely offensive,

and the hair rubs off with great ease. They afterwards take the beans

or seeds of a species of mimosa, called in Arabic _gurud_. These,

when pounded in a wooden mortar, form a coarse black powder, which

is thrown into warm water, wherein the skin is steeped for one day;

being frequently well pressed and hard wrung, to make it imbibe the

liquor. It is then spread out in the sun, or hung up in the wind,

and when half dry, is again well rubbed between the hands, to render

it soft and pliant for use. To colour it red, they daub it over with

a composition, made of trona and the outer leaves of red Indian corn,

first beaten into a powder and mixed up with water.

The negroes here are excessively polite and ceremonious, especially

to those advanced in years. They salute one another, by laying the

hand on the breast, making a bow, and inquiring, “Kona lafia? Ki ka

kykee. Fo fo da rana?” “How do you do? I hope you are well. How

have you passed the heat of the day?” The last question corresponds

in their climate to the circumstantiality with which our honest

countryfolks inquire about a good night’s rest.

The unmarried girls, whether slaves or free, and likewise the

young unmarried men, wear a long apron of blue and white check,

with a notched edging of red woollen cloth. It is tied with two

broad bands, ornamented in the same way, and hanging down behind

to the very ancles. This is peculiar to Soudan, and forms the only

distinction in dress from the people of Bornou.

Both men and women colour their teeth and lips with the flowers of

the goorjee tree, and of the tobacco plant. The former I only saw

once or twice; the latter is carried every day to market, beautifully

arranged in large baskets. The flowers of both these plants, rubbed

on the lips and teeth, give them a blood red appearance, which is here

thought a great beauty. This practice is comparatively rare in Bornou.

Chewing the goora nut, already described, or snuff mixed with trona,

is a favourite habit. This use of snuff is not confined to men

in Haussa, as is the case in Bornou, where the indulgence is not

permitted to women. Snuff is very seldom taken up the nostrils,

according to our custom. Smoking tobacco is a universal practice,

both of negroes and Moors. Women, however, are debarred this

fashionable gratification.

The practitioners of the healing art in this country, as formerly

in Europe, officiate likewise as barbers, and are very dexterous in

the latter capacity, at least.

Blindness is a prevalent disease. Within the walls of the city,

there is a separate district or village for people afflicted with

this infirmity, who have certain allowances from the governor, but

who also beg in the streets and market-place. Their little town is

extremely neat, and the coozees well built. With the exception of

the slaves, none but the blind are permitted to live here, unless on

rare occasions a one-eyed man is received into their community. I was

informed the lame had a similar establishment; but I did not see it.

When a bride is first conducted to the house of the bridegroom,

she is attended by a great number of friends and slaves, bearing

presents of melted fat, honey, wheat, turkadees, and tobes, as

her dower. She whines all the way—“Wey kina! wey kina! wey

Io.” “Oh! my head! my head! oh! dear me.” Notwithstanding

this lamentation, the husband has commonly known his wife some

time before marriage. Preparatory to the ceremony of reading the

“Fatha,” both bridegroom and bride remain shut up for some days,

and have their hands and feet dyed, for three days successively,

with henna. The bride herself visits the bridegroom, and applies

the henna plasters with her own hand.

Every one is buried under the floor of his own house, without

monument or memorial; and among the commonalty the house continues

occupied as usual; but among the great there is more refinement,

and it is ever after abandoned. The corpse being washed, the first

chapter of the Koran is read over it, and the interment takes place

the same day. The bodies of slaves are dragged out of town, and left

a prey to vultures and wild beasts. In Kano they do not even take

the trouble to convey them beyond the walls, but throw the corpse

into the morass or nearest pool of water.

Feb. 22.—At seven in the morning I waited on the governor. He

informed me that the sultan had sent a messenger express, with orders

to have me conducted to his capital, and to supply me with every

thing necessary for my journey. He now begged me to state what I

stood in need of. I assured him that the King of England, my master,

had liberally provided for all my wants; but that I felt profoundly

grateful for the kind offers of the sultan, and had only to crave

from him the favour of being attended by one of his people as a

guide. He instantly called a fair-complexioned Felatah, and asked

me if I liked him. I accepted him with thanks, and took leave. I

afterwards went by invitation to visit the governor of Hadyja,

who was here on his return from Sackatoo, and lived in the house

of the wan-bey. I found this governor of Hadyja a black man, about

fifty years of age, sitting among his own people at the upper end of

the room, which is usually a little raised, and is reserved in this

country for the master of the house or visitors of high rank. He was

well acquainted with my travelling name; for the moment I entered,

he said laughing, “How do you do, Abdullah? Will you come and see me

at Hadyja on your return?” I answered, “God willing,” with due

Moslem solemnity. “You are a Christian, Abdullah?”—“Yes.”

“And what are you come to see?”—“The country.” “What do

you think of it?”—“It is a fine country, but very sickly.” At

this he smiled, and again asked, “Would you Christians allow us to

come and see your country?” I said, “Certainly.”—“Would

you force us to become Christians?” “By no means; we never

meddle with a man’s religion.”—“What!” says he, “and

do you ever pray?”—“Sometimes; our religion commands us

to pray always; but we pray in secret, and not in public, except

on Sundays.” One of his people abruptly asked what a Christian

was? “Why a Kafir,” rejoined the governor. “Where is your

Jew servant?” again asked the governor; “you ought to let me

see him.” “Excuse me, he is averse to it; and I never allow

my servants to be molested for religious opinions.” “Well,

Abdullah, thou art a man of understanding, and must come and see me

at Hadyja.” I then retired, and the Arabs afterwards told me he

was a perfect savage, and sometimes put a merchant to death for the

sake of his goods; but this account, if true, is less to be wondered

at, from the notorious villany of some of them. In the afternoon

I went to Hadje Hat Salah’s, and made an arrangement with him

to act as my agent, both in recovering the money due by Hadje Ali

Boo Khaloom, and in answering any drafts upon him. In the event

of my death, I also agreed with him to have my Jew servant Jacob,

who was to remain here with my books and papers, sent with them to

the sheikh of Bornou, and so to the English consul at Tripoli. I

left Jacob here, partly on account of his irritable temper, which,

presuming on my countenance and support, was apt to lead him into

altercations and squabbles, as well as to take care of my effects. I

made this arrangement at Hat Salah’s particular recommendation,

who strongly impressed upon me the dangers of the journey I had

undertaken. According to a custom which the late Dr. Oudney had

always followed at every principal town where we made a short stay,

I had two bullocks slaughtered and given to the poor.

SECTION III.

FROM KANO TO SACKATOO, AND RESIDENCE THERE.

Feb. 23.—At day-break all the Arab merchants of my acquaintance

waited upon me to wish me a prosperous journey. Hadje Hat Salah

and Hadje Ben Hamed accompanied me four miles beyond the gate

Kooffe. Before they left me I had a return of fever, and lay down

under the shade of a tree to wait for Mohammed Jollie, as my conductor

was named. My two camels being evidently overladen, and my servant

Abraham unable to walk from sickness, I requested Hat Salah to buy

another camel and send it after me.

At one in the afternoon, Mohammed Jollie, with two loaded camels and

a handsome led horse of Tuarick breed, sent as the weekly present

or tribute from Kano to the sultan, joined me. He also brought

with him a beautiful Felatah girl for his travelling chere amie,

who was placed astride on a light dromedary, according to the custom

of the country. My fever having abated, we proceeded on our journey,

and by sunset reached the village of Yaromba; where I was provided

with a house for myself and another for my servants, and with food

and provender in abundance. The country had much the same appearance

as on the other side of Kano, but was not quite so well cultivated.

Feb. 24.—We traversed a woody country, and crossed the dry beds of

several small streams, the course of each being to the eastward. In

the afternoon we passed a walled town called Toffa, when the country

became still more thickly wooded. There were many villages in ruins

which had been destroyed by the rebel Duntungua, and the inhabitants

sold as slaves. A little after mid-day, we halted at the town of Roma

or Soup; where we found the inhabitants very civil, and were furnished

with houses and provisions. I was here joined by a she-camel, which

Hat Salah had sent by a native of Kano, of the name of Nouzama,

whom I also engaged as a servant.

Feb. 25.—The country very woody, the road zigzag, and crossed

sometimes by dikes, or ridges of white quartz, running north and

south, sometimes by ravines and the dry channels of rivers. We saw

many Felatah villages, and numerous herds of horned cattle, and flocks

of sheep and goats. The cattle are remarkably fine, and of a white

or whitish grey colour; the horns are not disproportionately large

in size, in which circumstance they differ from the cattle of Bornou:

they have also a hump on the shoulders. The bull is very fierce, and,

as in England, the king of the herd; while in Bornou he is tamer,

and generally weaker than the cow. The shepherd with his crook

usually goes before the flock, and leads them to fresh pasture, by

merely calling with a loud but slow voice, “Hot, hot;” while the

sheep keep nibbling as they follow. I was well supplied with milk,

but only got it fresh from the cow when they understood I was a

stranger going to visit the sultan; for, as I have already mentioned,

they hold it unlucky to drink or sell milk before it has been churned.

We stopped at the town of Gadania or Kadania, which is surrounded by

a wall and dry ditch. The governor was out warring with Duntungua,

who had committed dreadful havoc in this neighbourhood. I was

accommodated with an excellent house; so were also El Wordee and

a shreef named Hassan, a native of Houn in the regency of Tripoli,

who had joined my party, and was going a begging to the sultan. This

is a very common custom with the shreefs, who sometimes realize a

little fortune by visiting all the governors and sultans within their

reach. Hassan was blind, but a great rogue, and gifted with a ready

wit. He frequently amused us on the road with stories of his younger

days, when he had his eyesight. I had another attack of fever to-day,

and could not walk three paces without assistance.

Feb. 26.—I was detained to-day on account of the disappearance of

El Wordee and Shreef Hassan’s camels: we did not know whether they

had been stolen, or had only strayed during the night. I availed

myself of this opportunity of taking a large dose of calomel, and

administered another to my servant.

Feb. 27.—The camels were still missing; and had it been otherwise,

I could not have continued my journey, for I found myself excessively

weak. In the evening El Wordee offered a reward of two dollars to

a Tuarick to bring back the camels, to which I added two dollars

more. Kadania is very thinly peopled, the inhabitants, as in most

other captured towns, having been sold by the Felatahs. The houses

are scattered up and down; but there is a good daily market, supplied

by the people of the adjoining country. The soil around is a strong

red clay. The trees were higher here than in Bornou; and the fields

of Indian corn, gussub, cotton, and indigo, were neatly enclosed

with fences, and kept free of weeds.

Feb. 18.—No news of the lost camels. I determined to proceed, and

had my camels loaded with the baggage of El Wordee and the shreef;

the former remaining behind, to await the return of the Tuarick. The

country was still thickly wooded, with a few cultivated patches

of land. The soil was a red and white clay, mixed with gravel,

and traversed by ridges of schistus. We crossed the dry beds of

several rainy-season streams, whose banks were lined with rocks,

and covered with majestic trees. In the little glens and nooks,

there were small plots of onions and tobacco; which the inhabitants

water from holes dug in the dry channel of the river, by means of a

bucket and long bar or lever. At noon we halted at the walled town

of Faniroce or “White Water,” the walls of which are extensive,

but the houses few and mean. I was shown into one of the best of

them; but my servants had much ado to render it habitable. Soon

after El Wordee arrived, but without the camels. In the evening I

was visited by the governor, a very good-natured fellow, who, when

he saw that I was ill, went and brought some fine trona, of which

he recommended me to take a little every evening. On inquiring

about the course of the streams whose dry channels I had passed,

he informed me that all between this place and Kano run eastward;

but that to-morrow I should cross the first that runs to the west,

and divides the provinces of Kano and Kashna. At eight in the evening,

the Tuarick brought back the camels of El Wordee and the shreef.

Feb. 29.—The governor and some of his friends accompanied us a

short distance out of the town. The country was still very woody,

and the road extremely crooked. At eleven in the forenoon we crossed

the bed of the stream that separates Kano from Kashna, the channel

being here about twenty feet broad, and perfectly dry; and at noon

we halted at the town of Duncamee. The stream near this town assumes

the same name, and, after passing Zirmie, the capital of Zamfra,

it bends northward, and traverses the province of Goobeer; then,

turning again to the west, it washes the city of Sackatoo, and, at

the distance of four days’ journey, is said to enter the Quarra

at Kubby.

March 1.—At six in the morning we left Duncamee, and travelled

through a thickly wooded country; and at noon we passed a walled

town, of considerable size, called Geoza, after which we came to

ridges of granite, running in a north-easterly direction. At three

in the afternoon we halted at the town of Ratah, whose site is

very remarkable. It is built amidst large blocks of granite, which

rise out of the earth like towers, and form its only defence on the

northern side, some of the houses being perched like bird-cages on

the top of the rocks. The south side is enclosed by a wall about

twenty feet high, but in bad repair. The inhabitants are numerous,

and the women are the tallest and fattest I ever saw.

March 2.—We rode through a beautiful and well cultivated country,

rendered extremely romantic by ledges of rocks, and clumps of

large shady trees. We passed a number of villages, the inhabitants

of which are mostly Felatahs, who, when they knew I was going to

visit the sultan, presented me with new milk. At noon we halted

at the town of Bershee, which is situate amongst large blocks of

granite, and is the first town with suburbs I had seen in Haussa,

although, from the ruinous state of the walls, this was no very

important distinction. The governor of Ongooroo was here, on his way

from Sackatoo to his province; but, through the care of my guide,

Mohammed Jollie, this circumstance did not prevent me from obtaining

the best house in the town, and abundance of provisions for myself

and servants.

March 3.—The weather clear and fine: we rode to-day through little

valleys, delightfully green, lying between high ridges of granite;

and, to add to the beauty of the scenery, there were many clear

springs issuing out of the rocks, where young women were employed

drawing water. I asked several times for a gourd of water, by way of

excuse to enter into conversation with them. Bending gracefully on

one knee, and displaying at the same time teeth of pearly whiteness,

and eyes of the blackest lustre, they presented it to me on horseback,

and appeared highly delighted when I thanked them for their civility:

remarking to one another, “Did you hear the white man thank

me?” After leaving this beautiful spot, the land rose gently

into hill and dale, and we had to cross the dry bed of the same

rainy-season stream no less than four times in the course of three

hours. The country also became more wooded, and worse cultivated;

and the soil in most places was of a strong red and blue clay. There

were numerous herds of cattle. At two in the afternoon we halted

at the village of Kagaria, situate on the brow of a sloping hill,

and inhabited by Felatahs. Here, for the first time, I found some

difficulty in procuring lodgings. The chief of the village, an old

venerable-looking Felatah, told my guide, that when they went to

Kano, the governor turned up his nose at them, and, if ever he came

there, they were determined not to receive him. Then, addressing

me, he said, “You are a stranger, from a far distant country;

you and your servants shall have a house, but none of the others.”

I was accordingly conducted to a very excellent house, but took my

fellow travellers with me; and, in due time, provisions were sent,

with the usual attention.

March 4.—At six in the morning left Kagaria, but not without

giving the old Felatah a present of a turkadee, of which he was

very proud. Our road lay through a beautiful country, highly

cultivated. At nine o’clock we passed through many villages,

romantically situate amongst ridges of granite. From the fertility

and beauty of the country, it appeared like an ornamental park in

England, shaded with luxuriant trees. We now entered a forest,

where the road became both difficult and dreary. Here our guide

enjoined my servants not to stray from the caravan, as the woods

were infested with banditti, who murdered every one they seized too

old for the slave market. The soil was composed of clay and gravel:

in the hollows I frequently saw rocks of granite, and mica slate. The

trees upon the high grounds were low and stunted, amongst which I

remarked several wild mangoes. We halted at the Felatah village of

Bobaginn, where the country is again open. The inhabitants were kind

and attentive in procuring me a house and provisions.

Mar. 5.—The country was now highly cultivated. The road was crowded

with passengers and loaded bullocks, going to the market of Zirmie;

which town we passed a little to the southward, about noon, when

the country became more woody. At two in the afternoon we entered

an opening in a range of low hills; this proved to be the dry bed

of the river we had crossed at Duncamee, which is here joined by

another watercourse from the southward. The land rises into hills

on each side, and, as our road lay at some distance to the west,

we had a beautiful view along the red sandy bed of the river, which

formed a striking contrast with the green hills on each side. The

banks were planted with onions, melons, cotton, indigo, and some

wheat; and watered, by means of a basket and lever, out of holes

dug about two feet deep in the bed of the river, in which water is

always found in abundance. On the eastern bank there is a town called

Kutri, apparently large and populous, with a number of dye-pots

in its outskirts. At four in the afternoon we crossed the bed of

another small river, coming from the south-west, and falling into

the forementioned river, a mile and a half to the east of a town,

on its northern bank, called Quari, or Quoli, where we halted. I

waited on the governor, who was an aged Felatah: after the usual

compliments, he anxiously inquired for Dr. Oudney, and was much

disappointed when I informed him of his death. He complained of being

grievously afflicted with rheumatic pains; and said he had already

outlived most of the people of this country, having attained the age

of seventy-two years. We remained with him until houses were prepared

for us; and he told me that the river, which flows to the eastward

(mentioned before as dividing the provinces of Kano and Kashna),

after the junction of some other streams, takes the name of Quarrama.

March 6 and 7.—The weather clear and warm. This morning I exchanged

a turkadee, worth about two dollars and a quarter, for a sheep,

and gave a feast to El Wordee and the shreef, along with all our

servants. About a hundred Tuaricks came to see me, having learned I

had visited Ghraat, and was acquainted with their countrymen. The

women and children of the town every where peeped at me through

the matting of their houses, with eager curiosity: although some

of the Tuaricks were nearly as white as myself. The Tuaricks here

have a beautiful breed of horses, full of fire; but they do not

stand so high as the barbs of Tripoli. In the evening I despatched

a courier with a letter to Sultan Bello, as I had been recommended

by the governor of Kano to remain here until a guard was sent from

Sackatoo to conduct me through the provinces of Goober and Zamfra,

which were in a state of insurrection. I found by observation the

town of Quarro to be in lat. 13° 7′ 14″ north.

I was unluckily taken for a fighi, or teacher, and was pestered,

at all hours of the day, to write out prayers by the people. My

servants hit upon a scheme to get rid of their importunities,

by acquainting them if I did such things, they must be paid the

perquisites usually given to the servants of other fighis. To-day

my washerwoman positively insisted on being paid with a charm, in

writing, that would entice people to buy earthen-ware of her; and no

persuasions of mine could either induce her to accept of money for

her service, or make her believe that the request was beyond human

power. In the cool of the afternoon, I was visited by three of the

governor’s wives, who, after examining my skin with much attention,

remarked, compassionately, it was a thousand pities I was not black,

for I had then been tolerably good-looking. I asked one of them, a

buxom young girl of fifteen, if she would accept of me for a husband,

provided I could obtain the permission of her master the governor. She

immediately began to whimper; and on urging her to explain the cause,

she frankly avowed she did not know how to dispose of my white

legs. I gave each of them a snuff-box, with a string of white beads

in addition, to the coy maiden. They were attended by an old woman,

and two little female slaves, and during their stay made very merry,

but I fear their gaiety soon fled on returning to the close custody

of their old gaoler.

Mar. 8 and 9.—Thermometer in the shade 91°. To-day I was visited

by several females, who evinced much discernment in their curious

manipulation of my person. One of them, from Zirmee, the capital of

Zamfra, was with difficulty prevailed on to leave me.

Mar. 10.—We had a shower of rain during the night. Two messengers

arrived from Sackatoo, going their rounds with orders for all Felatahs

to repair to the capital, as the sultan was going on an expedition,

but where they did not know.—Both myself and servants have had

a return of the same fever we had at Koka. This was almost always

the case whenever we remained two or three days together in any

town. In vain I tried every thing in my power to induce my guide

to proceed without waiting for the escort; but El Wordee and the

shreef, who were the most pusillanimous rascals I ever met with,

effectually dissuaded him from it.

I was much amused with a conversation I overheard between the

blind shreef and his servant, respecting myself and my intended

journey. “That Abdullah,” says the servant, “is a very bad man;

he has no more sense than an ass, and is now going to lead us all

to the devil, if we will accompany him: I hope, master, you are not

such a fool.” “Yes!” ejaculates the shreef, “it was a black

day when I joined that Kafir, but if I don’t go with him I shall

never see the sultan, and when I return to Kano without any thing,

the people will laugh at me for my pains.” Says the servant, “Why

do you not talk to him about the dangers of the road?” “Damn his

father!” replies the shreef, “I have talked to him, but these

infidels have no prudence.” I now called out,—“A thousand

thanks to you, my lord shreef.” “May the blessing of God be upon

you!” he exclaimed. “Oh! Rais Abdullah, you are a beautiful man;

I will go with you wherever you go. I was only speaking in jest to

this dog.” “My lord shreef, I was aware of it from the first; it

is of no importance, but if the escort does not arrive to-morrow, I

may merely mention to you I shall certainly proceed, without further

delay, to Kashna.” This I said by way of alarming the shreef,

who liked his present quarters too well, from the number of pious

females who sought edification from the lips of a true descendant of

the Prophet: besides the chance such visits afforded of transmitting

to their offspring the honour of so holy a descent.

March 11.—Small-pox is at present very prevalent. The patient

is treated in the following manner:—When the disease makes its

appearance, they anoint the whole body with honey, and the patient

lies down on the floor, previously strewed with warm sand, some of

which is also sprinkled upon him. If the patient is very ill, he is

bathed in cold water early every morning, and is afterwards anointed

with honey, and replaced on the warm sand. This is their only mode

of treatment; but numbers died every day of this loathsome disease,

which had now been raging for the last six months.

I had my baggage packed up for my journey to Kashna; to the great

terror of El Wordee, the shreef, and all my servants, who earnestly

begged me to remain only one day longer.—A party of horse and foot

arrived from Zirmee last night. It was the retinue of a Felatah

captain, who was bringing back a young wife from her father’s,

where she had made her escape. The fair fugitive bestrode a very

handsome palfrey, amid a group of female attendants on foot. I was

introduced to her this morning, when she politely joined her husband

in requesting me to delay my journey another day, in which case they

kindly proposed we should travel together. Of course it was impossible

to refuse so agreeable an invitation, to which I seemed to yield with

all possible courtesy; indeed I had no serious intention of setting

out that day. The figure of the lady was small, but finely formed, and

her complexion of a clear copper colour; while, unlike most beautiful

women, she was mild and unobtrusive in her manners. Her husband, too,

whom she had deserted, was one of the finest-looking men I ever saw,

and had also the reputation of being one of the bravest of his nation.

A hump-backed lad, in the service of the gadado, or vizier, of Bello,

who, on his way from Sackatoo, had his hand dreadfully wounded by

the people of Goober, was in the habit of coming every evening

to my servants to have the wound dressed. Last night he told me

he had formerly been on an expedition under Abderachman, a Felatah

chief. They started from the town of Labojee in Nyffee, and crossing

the Quarra, travelled south fourteen days along the banks of the

river, until they were within four days’ journey of the sea,

where, according to his literal expression, “the river was one,

and the sea was one but at what precise point the river actually

entered the sea he had no distinct notion.

March 12.—The weather clear and warm. The Felatah chief again

waited upon me to-day, and handsomely offered to conduct me himself

to Sackatoo, if my escort did not arrive in time. The town of Quarra

is surrounded by a clay wall about twenty feet high, and may contain

from 5000 to 6000 inhabitants, who are principally Felatahs. It lies

in a valley environed by low hills, the river Quarrama flowing a

little to the south of the town, and two or three miles lower down

joining the river before-mentioned that passes Kutri. During the

dry season, a number of Tuaricks, who come with salt from Bilma,

lodge in huts outside the walls.

March 13.—At half-past six o’clock I commenced my journey,

in company with the Felatah chief. El Wordee and the shreef were

evidently in much trepidation, as they did not consider our present

party sufficiently strong in case of attack. Our road lay through a

level country, clear of wood, with large fields of indigo, cotton,

and grain. At nine in the morning, we were agreeably surprised by

meeting the escort I expected. It consisted of 150 horsemen, with

drums and trumpets. Their leader, with his attendants, advanced to

me at full gallop, and bade me welcome to the country in the name of

his master, the sultan; who, he said, was rejoiced to hear I was so

near, and had sent him to conduct me to his capital. Nothing could

now equal the joy of El Wordee and the shreef, who had both been

cursing my temerity the whole morning. During the time we halted with

the escort, a party of boxers from a neighbouring village passed us,

on their way to challenge “the fancy” of Quarra. They were fine

looking men, carrying muffles for the hands over their shoulders, and

were attended by drummers and a large posse of women. They offered

to exhibit before me, but I declined, and we proceeded to a village

called Burdarawa, where the commander of the escort begged me to

halt for one day, as both his men and horses were much fatigued by

their journey from Sackatoo. I was provided with the best house in

the village, and supplied with every thing the place afforded. El

Wordee, the shreef, and my people, fared equally well. There is a

ridge of low hills to the north-east.

March. 14.—At six in the morning left Burderawa, and traversing

a thickly wooded country we arrived at the bed of the river Fulche,

which in many places was quite dry. The channel was only thirty or

forty yards wide where we crossed. We halted on the opposite bank,

and sent the camels out to graze. The servants here filled our

water-skins. This river joins the river of Zirmee, half a day’s

journey to the north. Several people were very busy fishing in the

pools left by the river; while assistants, floating on a stick buoyed

up at each end with gourds, were splashing in the water with spears to

drive fish into the nets. I treated the chief of the escort and his

friends with tea, of which they had heard many exaggerated reports

from people that had been at Kano.

At two in the afternoon we left the banks of the river Fulche,

at the quickest pace it was possible to make the camels travel. We

were previously joined by an immense number of people, some bearing

burdens on their heads, others with loaded asses and bullocks. Our

road, for two or three miles, lay through an open country; we then

entered a thick wood, by a narrow winding path, where the shreef,

and others who rode on camels, suffered severely from the overhanging

branches. Bullocks, asses, and camels; men, women, and children, were

now all struggling to be foremost; every person exclaiming, “Wo to

the wretch who falls behind; he is sure to meet an unhappy end at

the hands of the Gooberites.” Had it not been for the care of my

escort, I must have run great risk of being thrown down, and trampled

to death, by the bullocks which frequently rushed furiously past me

on the narrow path. The horsemen, however, rode on each side of me,

to protect my person. We were now on the confines of the provinces

of Goober and Zamfra; and a place better adapted for land pirates,

as the Arabs name robbers, is scarcely to be conceived. Till sunset

we continued to thread a thick wood, the road being overrun with long

grass, and apparently covered with water during the rainy season. The

soil now became more gravelly, the trees stunted, and the country

altogether more open. The pebbles were of clay ironstone, which in

some places was seen in large masses. There were numerous tracks of

elephants, and other wild animals. From the great care the escort

took of me, I was often almost suffocated with dust in riding over

dry clay grounds, for I had horsemen continually on each side of me;

while from time to time a reconnoitring party would pass at full

speed, then halt, and say prayers, and so skirr past me again and

again. During the day a drum was beat every ten minutes, in the rear

of our line of march, and at night this was repeated every two or

three minutes, and also answered by the trumpets in front.

At half-past two in the morning we stopped at the lake Gondamee, to

water our horses and beasts of burden, and to give the foot passengers

and slaves time to fill their gourds and water-skins. The place is

reckoned the most dangerous in the whole road, as it is only one

day’s journey to the north of Kalawawa, the capital of the province

of Goober, which has been for some time in a state of open rebellion.

The appearance of the country was much the same as before. At four

in the morning we came to a large lawn in the woods, where we again

halted for an hour. I felt quite refreshed by this short rest. The

country to the westward of the lake of Gondamee rises into ridges,

running north-north-east, with loose gravelly stones and clay on the

surface. We continued to travel with the utmost speed, but the people

soon began to fag; and the lady of the Felatah chief, who rode not far

distant from me, began to complain of fatigue. At noon we halted at

the side of a hollow, said to be the haunt of lions, where water is

generally found, but this year it was dry. Tracks of elephants were

every where visible, but I perceived no marks of lions. We stopped

here only half an hour, and set off again, through a country rising

into low hills, composed of red clay and loose stones, the descent

of some of which proved both difficult and dangerous to the loaded

camels. At eight in the evening we halted at the wells of Kamoon,

all extremely fatigued. I ordered a little kouskousoo for supper, but

fell asleep before it was ready. When I awoke at midnight, I found it

by my side; never in my whole life did I make a more delicious repast.

March 16.—At day-break I discovered our camels had strayed in quest

of food, nor could I be angry with their keepers, feeling so tired

myself from our rapid journey. Indeed my ankles were considerably

swelled and inflamed. Here again I experienced the civility of the

escort, as all the horsemen were immediately despatched after the

camels, with which they returned about eight o’clock. I gave the

man who found them a Spanish dollar, and to the commander of the

escort, and his two principal officers, I made each a present of

a cotton kaftan, or loose gown, a knife, looking-glass, snuff-box,

razor, and some spices.

I now left the wells of Kamoon, followed by my escort and a numerous

retinue, amid a loud flourish of horns and trumpets. Of course this

extraordinary respect was paid to me as the servant of the king

of England, as I was styled in the sheikh of Bornou’s letter. To

impress them further with my official importance, I arrayed myself in

my lieutenant’s coat, trimmed with gold lace, white trowsers, and

silk stockings, and, to complete my finery, I wore Turkish slippers

and a turban. Although my limbs pained me extremely, in consequence

of our recent forced march, I constrained myself to assume the utmost

serenity of countenance, in order to meet with befitting dignity the

honours they lavished on me, the humble representative of my country.

Near Kamoon the country is hilly, but seemed to yield much grain. The

soil is red clay, mixed with gravel, the stones of which looked as

if covered with iron rust. We passed some beautiful springs on the

sloping declivities of the hills, which in general are low, and run

in broken ridges in a north-east direction. The valleys between the

hills became wider as we approached Sackatoo, which capital we at

length saw from the top of the second hill after we left Kamoon. A

messenger from the sultan met us here, to bid me welcome, and to

acquaint us that his master was at a neighbouring town, on his return

from a ghrazie, or expedition, but intended to be in Sackatoo in the

evening. Crowds of people were thronging to market with wood, straw,

onions, indigo, &c. At noon we arrived at Sackatoo, where a great

multitude of people was assembled to look at me, and I entered the

city amid the hearty welcomes of young and old. I was conducted to

the house of the gadado, or vizier, where apartments were provided

for me and my servants. After being supplied with plenty of milk,

I was left to repose myself. The gadado, an elderly man named Simnou

Bona Lima, arrived near midnight, and came instantly to see me. He

was excessively polite, but would on no account drink tea with me,

as he said I was a stranger in their land, and had not yet eaten of

his bread. He told me the sultan wished to see me in the morning, and

repeatedly assured me of experiencing the most cordial reception. He

spoke Arabic extremely well, which he said he learned solely from

the Koran.

March 17.—After breakfast the sultan sent for me; his residence was

at no great distance. In front of it there is a large quadrangle,

into which several of the principal streets of the city lead. We

passed through three coozees, as guardhouses, without the least

detention, and were immediately ushered into the presence of Bello,

the second sultan of the Felatahs. He was seated on a small carpet,

between two pillars supporting the roof of a thatched house, not

unlike one of our cottages. The walls and pillars were painted blue

and white, in the Moorish taste; and on the back wall was sketched

a fire-screen, ornamented with a coarse painting of a flower-pot. An

arm-chair, with an iron lamp standing on it, was placed on each side

of the screen. The sultan bade me many hearty welcomes, and asked me

if I was not much tired with my journey from Burderawa. I told him

it was the most severe travelling I had experienced between Tripoli

and Sackatoo, and thanked him for the guard, the conduct of which

I did not fail to commend in the strongest terms.

He asked me a great many questions about Europe, and our religious

distinctions. He was acquainted with the names of some of the

more ancient sects, and asked whether we were Nestorians or

Socinians. To extricate myself from the embarrassment occasioned by

this question, I bluntly replied we were called Protestants. “What

are Protestants?” says he. I attempted to explain to him, as well

as I was able, that having protested, more than two centuries and a

half ago, against the superstition, absurdities, and abuses practised

in those days, we had ever since professed to follow simply what was

written “in the book of our Lord Jesus,” as they call the New

Testament, and thence received the name of Protestants. He continued

to ask several other theological questions, until I was obliged

to confess myself not sufficiently versed in religious subtleties

to resolve these knotty points, having always left that task to

others more learned than myself. He now ordered some books to be

produced which belonged to Major Denham, and began to speak with

great bitterness of the late Boo Khaloom, for making a predatory

inroad into his territories; adding, in his own words, “I am

sure the bashaw of Tripoli never meant to strike me with one hand,

while he offers a present with the other: at least it is a strange

way for friends to act. But what was your friend doing there?” he

asked abruptly. I assured the sultan, that Major Denham had no other

object than to make a short excursion into the country. The books

being brought in, proved to be the Nautical Almanack, two Reviews,

Lord Bacon’s Essays, and Major Denham’s Journal; all which the

sultan returned to me in the most handsome manner. Before taking

leave, however, I had to explain the contents of each, and was set to

read them, in order to give him an opportunity of hearing the sound

of our language, which he thought very beautiful. The sultan is a

noble-looking man, forty-four years of age, although much younger in

appearance, five feet ten inches high, portly in person, with a short

curling black beard, a small mouth, a fine forehead, a Grecian nose,

and large black eyes. He was dressed in a light blue cotton tobe,

with a white muslin turban, the shawl of which he wore over the nose

and mouth in the Tuarick fashion.

In the afternoon I repeated my visit, accompanied by the gadado,

Mahomed El Wordee, and Mahomed Gumsoo, the principal Arab of the city,

to whom I had a letter of introduction from Hat Salah at Kano. The

sultan was sitting in the same apartment in which he received me in

the morning. I now laid before him a present, in the name of His

Majesty the King of England, consisting of two new blunderbusses

highly ornamented with silver, the double-barrelled pistols,

pocket-compass, and embroidered jacket of the late Dr. Oudney; a

scarlet bornouse trimmed with silver lace, a pair of scarlet breeches,

thirty yards of red silk, two white, two red, and two Egyptian turban

shawls, the latter trimmed with gold; four pounds each of cloves

and cinnamon; three cases of gunpowder, with shot and balls; three

razors, three clasp-knives, three looking-glasses; six snuff-boxes,

three of paper, and three of tin; a spy-glass, and a large English

tea-tray, on which the smaller articles were arranged. He took them

up one by one. The compass and spy-glass excited great interest;

and he seemed much gratified when I pointed out that by means of the

former, he could at any time find out the east to address himself

in his daily prayers. He said, “Every thing is wonderful; but you

are the greatest curiosity of all!” and then added, “What can I

give that is most acceptable to the King of England?” I replied,

“The most acceptable service you can render to the King of England,

is to co-operate with His Majesty in putting a stop to the slave

trade on the coast: as the King of England sends every year large

ships to cruise there, for the sole purpose of seizing all vessels

engaged in this trade, whose crews are thrown into prison; and of

liberating the unfortunate slaves, on whom lands and houses are

conferred, at one of our settlements in Africa. “What!” said he,

“have you no slaves in England?” “No. Whenever a slave sets

his foot in England, he is from that moment free.”—“What do

you then do for servants?” “We hire them for a stated period,

and give them regular wages: nor is any person in England allowed

to strike another; and the very soldiers are fed, clothed, and paid

by Government.” “God is great!” he exclaimed; “You are

a beautiful people.” I next presented the sheikh of Bornou’s

letter. On perusing it, he assured me I should see all that was

to be seen within his dominions, as well as in Youri and Nyffee,

both of which, I informed him, I was anxious to visit. He expressed

great regret at the death of Dr. Oudney, as he wished particularly

to see an English physician, who might instruct his people in the

healing art. In the evening I made a present to the gadado of a

scarlet bornouse, a pair of scarlet breeches, a red Turkish jacket,

two white, and one red turban shawls, three razors, three knives,

three paper snuff-boxes, and three of tin, three looking-glasses,

two pounds of cloves, and two pounds of cinnamon. The gadado is an

excellent man, and has unbounded influence with the sultan, to whose

sister he is married.

March 18.—Weather clear and warm. Although I was very ill all day,

the courtyard of my house was crowded with people, from sunrise to

sunset; all of whom I had to see with the greatest patience, and

to answer their numberless questions, such as, “Have you rain in

your country?” “Have you wheat?” “Have you goats, sheep,

and horses?” But the obvious and favourite interrogatory was,

“What are you come for?” This I always attempted to explain to

their satisfaction; telling them, “I came to see the country, its

rivers, mountains, and inhabitants, its flowers, fruits, minerals,

and animals, and to ascertain wherein they differed from those

in other parts of the world. When their friends travelled among

strange nations, did they not on their return ask them what they

had seen? The people of England could all read and write, and were

acquainted with most other regions of the earth; but of this country

alone they hitherto knew scarcely any thing, and erroneously regarded

the inhabitants as naked savages, devoid of religion, and not far

removed from the condition of wild beasts: whereas I found them,

from my personal observation, to be civilized, learned, humane,

and pious.”

March 19.—I was sent for by the sultan, and desired to bring

with me the “looking-glass of the sun,” the name they gave

to my sextant. I was conducted farther into the interior of his

residence than on my two former visits. This part consisted of

coozees, pretty far apart from each other. I first exhibited a

planisphere of the heavenly bodies. The sultan knew all the signs

of the Zodiac, some of the constellations, and many of the stars,

by their Arabic names. The “looking-glass of the sun” was then

brought forward, and occasioned much surprise. I had to explain all

its appendages. The inverting telescope was an object of intense

astonishment; and I had to stand at some little distance, to let

the sultan look at me through it; for his people were all afraid of

placing themselves within its magical influence. I had next to show

him how to take an observation of the sun. The case of the artificial

horizon, of which I had lost the key, was sometimes very difficult

to open, as happened on this occasion: I asked one of the people

near me for a knife to press up the lid. He handed me one much too

small, and I quite inadvertently asked for a dagger for the same

purpose. The sultan was instantly thrown into a fright: he seized

his sword, and half drawing it from the scabbard, placed it before

him, trembling all the time like an aspen leaf. I did not deem it

prudent to take the least notice of his alarm, although it was I

who had in reality most cause of fear; and on receiving the dagger,

I calmly opened the case, and returned the weapon to its owner with

apparent unconcern. When the artificial horizon was arranged, the

sultan and all his attendants had a peep at the sun; and my breach

of etiquette seemed entirely forgotten. After the curiosity of all

was satisfied, I returned to my house. I had now a severe headach,

and was seized with violent vomiting. In the evening the sultan

sent me two sheep, a camel-load of wheat and rice, some plantains,

and some of the finest figs I had ever tasted in Africa.

March 20.—I returned the visit of Mahomed Gomsoo, the chief of

the Arabs; taking him a present of a scarlet bornouse, jacket and

breeches, two white turbans, two razors, two knives, two snuff-boxes

of paper, and two of tin, a pound of cinnamon, and two cases of

gunpowder, with some balls and flints. I was warned at Kano of his

excessive greediness; but at the same time recommended to make him

a handsome present, and to endeavour by all means to keep him in

good humour, on account of his great influence. On receiving the

presents, Gomsoo promised to give me a letter to the sultan of

Youri, who was his particular friend, and with whom he had lived

many years. He also said he was there when the English came down in

a boat from Timbuctoo, and were lost; which circumstance he related

in the following manner:—They had arrived off a town called Boosa,

and having sent a gun and some other articles as presents to the

sultan of Youri, they sent to purchase a supply of onions in the

market. The sultan apprised them of his intention to pay them a visit,

and offered to send people to guide them through the ledges of rock

which run quite across the channel of the river a little below the

town, where the banks rise into high hills on both sides. Instead

of waiting for the sultan, however, they set off at night, and by

day-break next morning, a horseman arrived at Youri, to inform the

sultan that the boat had struck on the rocks. The people on both

sides of the river then began to assail them with arrows, upon which

they threw overboard all their effects; and two white men arm in

arm jumped into the water, two slaves only remaining in the boat,

with some books and papers and several guns: one of the books was

covered with wax-cloth, and still remained in the hands of the sultan

of Youri. He also told me, and his account was confirmed by others,

that the sultan of Youri was a native of Sockna in the regency of

Tripoli, and prided himself extremely on his birth; but that he was

such a drunkard, whenever any person of consequence came to visit him,

that nothing proved so acceptable a present as a bottle of rum.

I learned, besides, from Gomsoo, that he had been detained a prisoner

three years, in a country called Yoriba, on the west side of the

Quarra; which, he said, entered the sea at Fundah, a little below

the town of Rakah. The latter is opposite to Nyffee; is a place of

great trade between the interior and the coast, and all kinds of

European goods, such as beads, woollen and cotton cloth, pewter and

copper dishes, gunpowder, rum, &c., are to be had there in exchange

for slaves. The inhabitants of Yoriba he represented to be extremely

ill disposed. I may here mention, that during my stay in Sackatoo,

provisions were regularly sent me from the sultan’s table on pewter

dishes, with the London stamp; and one day I even had a piece of

meat served up in a white wash-hand basin, of English manufacture.

On my return home from Gomsoo’s, I found a message had been left

for me to wait on the sultan, with which I complied immediately after

breakfast. He received me in an inner apartment, attended only by a

few slaves: after asking me how I did, and several other chit-chat

questions, I was not a little surprised when he observed, without a

single question being put by me on the subject, that if I wished to

go to Nyffee, there were two roads leading to it—the one direct,

but beset by enemies; the other safer, but more circuitous: that by

either route I should be detained, during the rains, in a country at

present in a state of open rebellion, and therefore that I ought to

think seriously of these difficulties. I assured him I had already

taken the matter into consideration, and that I was neither afraid

of the dangers of the road nor of the rains. “Think of it with

prudence,” he replied, and we parted. From the tone and manner

with which this was spoken, I felt a foreboding that my intended

visit to Youri and Nyffee was at an end. I could not help suspecting

the intrigues of the Arabs to be the cause; as, they know well,

if the native Africans were once acquainted with English commerce

by the way of the sea, their own lucrative inland trade would from

that moment cease. I was much perplexed the whole day how to act, and

went after sunset to consult Mohamed Gomsoo: I met him at the door of

his house on his way to the sultan, and stopped him, to mention what

had passed, and how unaccountably strange it appeared to me that the

sultan, after having repeatedly assured me of being at liberty to

visit every part of his dominions, should now, for the first time,

seem inclined to withdraw that permission; adding, that before I

came to Sackatoo, I never heard of a king making a promise one day,

and breaking it the next. All this, I knew, would find its way to

the sultan. Gomsoo told me I was quite mistaken; for the sultan,

the gadado, and all the principal people, entertained the highest

opinion of me, and wished for nothing so much as to cultivate the

friendship of the English nation. “But it is necessary for me to

visit those places,” I remarked, on leaving him; “or how else

can the English get here?” As I anticipated, he repeated to the

sultan every word I had said; for I was no sooner at home than I was

sent for by the sultan, whom I found seated with Mahomed Gomsoo, and

two others. He received me with great kindness, and Mahomed Gomsoo

said he had made the sultan acquainted with our conversation. I

thanked him, and expressed my earnest hope I had neither said nor

done any thing to offend him. The sultan assured me that my conduct

had always met with his approbation, and that, although he was freely

disposed to show me all the country, still he wished to do so with

safety to myself. An army, he added, was at this moment ravaging the

country through which I had to pass, and, until he heard from it, it

would be unsafe to go; but he expected farther information in three

or four days. He drew on the sand the course of the river Quarra,

which he also informed me entered the sea at Fundah. By his account

the river ran parallel to the sea coast for several days’ journey,

being in some places only a few hours’, in others a day’s journey,

distant from it. Two or three years ago the sea, he said, closed up

the mouth of the river, and its mouth was at present a day or two

farther south; but, during the rains, when the river was high, it

still ran into the sea by the old channel. He asked me if the King of

England would send him a consul and a physician, to reside in Soudan,

and merchants to trade with his people; and what I had seen among

them, which I thought the English would buy? Here again I enforced the

discontinuance of the slave trade on the coast, as the only effectual

method of inducing the King of England to establish a consul and a

physician at Sackatoo; and that, as the sultan could easily prevent

all slaves from the eastward passing through Haussa and Nyffee,

it would be the consul’s duty to see that engagement faithfully

fulfilled. With respect to what English merchants were disposed to

buy, I particularized senna, gum-arabic, bees’ wax, untanned hides,

indigo, and ivory. I also endeavoured to impress on his mind that

Soudan was the country best situate in all Central Africa for such a

trade, which would not only be the means of enriching himself, but,

likewise, all his subjects; and that all the merchandise from the

east and from the west would be conveyed through his territories to

the sea. “I will give the King of England,” says he, “a place

on the coast to build a town: only I wish a road to be cut to Rakah,

if vessels should not be able to navigate the river.” I asked him

if the country he promised to give belonged to him? “Yes:” said

he, “God has given me all the land of the infidels.” This was

an answer that admitted of no contradiction.

He then spoke of Mungo Park, and said, that had he come in the rainy

season, he would have passed the rocks; but that the river fell so

low in the dry season, boats could only pass at a certain point. He

told me, that some timbers of the boat, fastened together with nails,

remained a long time on the rocks; and that a double-barrelled gun,

taken in the boat, was once in his possession; but it had lately

burst. His cousin, Abderachman, however, had a small printed book

taken out of the boat; but he was now absent on an expedition to

Nyffee. The other books were in the hands of the sultan of Youri,

who was tributary to him. I told the sultan, if he could procure these

articles for the King of England, they would prove a most acceptable

present, and he promised to make every exertion in his power.

March 21.—Confined to my bed all day with headach and bilious

vomiting. In the afternoon I was visited by Mahomed Gomsoo, who was

going on a journey to Kano. He casually mentioned, that it was a

fortunate circumstance we did not accompany Hadje Ali Boo Khaloom,

when he brought the bashaw’s present last year; as the rogue had

opened the bashaw’s letter before presenting it to Bello, and

erased out of the list several of the presents named in it, which he

embezzled, and substituted for them some of inferior quality. The news

of his brother’s wanton inroad into the sultan’s territories,

with the bashaw’s forces arriving at the same time, Bello sent

Hadje Ali back without any present, and would not even admit him into

his presence. His conduct, he assured me, had exasperated the sultan

against all the Arabs in the bashaw’s dominions. Both Bello and his

father have, it seems, been much cheated by the Arabs in all their

dealings, twenty sometimes coming at a time on a begging excursion,

with the story of being poor shreefs; and, if not presented with

thirty or forty slaves, besides food and camels, they were sure to

bully the Felatahs, telling them they were not Mussulmans, and would

never see paradise, on account of the number of the faithful they

had put to death in the conquest of Soudan.

March 22.—Clear and warm. My fever a little abated. In the afternoon

the sultan sent for me again, to discuss the advantages and best

method of establishing a permanent intercourse with England. I

expressed myself exactly in the same terms I had done before,

carefully avoiding the mention of any thing which might awaken the

jealousy of the Arabs.

The direct road to Youri is only five days’ journey; but, on

account of the rebellious state of the country, it was necessary

to take a circuitous route of twelve days. Numbers of the principal

people of Sackatoo came to me, to advise me to give up the idea of

going; all alleging that the rains had already commenced at Youri,

and that the road was in the hands of their enemies. They repeated

the same tales to the servants who were to accompany me, and threw

them all into a panic at the prospect of so dangerous a journey.

March 23.—Very ill all day. I discovered that the Arabs were

also tampering with my servants. One of them, named Absalom, was

accosted to-day in the market by one of the merchants of that nation,

who told him, if ever he arrived at Youri, without meeting with

disasters by the way, the sultan there would assuredly sell him,

and that he would never be allowed to return.

March 24.—I felt much better. The sultan sent for me this forenoon

about the guide who was to accompany me to Youri. One man had already

refused, and I had to tempt another with a promise of 40,000 cowries,

unknown to the sultan; who kindly took much pains to impress upon me

the necessity of my return within twenty-six days, on account of the

capricious character of the people of that place. From every person

here dissuading me from the attempt, I had too good reason to fear

that a regular plan was laid to obstruct my further progress. Even El

Wordee went so far as to say, that it was contrary to the wishes of

the sheikh that we should either go to Youri or Nyffee, and complained

sadly of being afflicted with a dysentery, which very opportunely

made its attack the instant I expressed a wish to visit Youri; and,

although I protested against his accompanying me, I have no doubt he

both practised on my servants, and used his influence with the gadado

to oppose my departure. At last El Wordee, and Mahomed Sidi sheikh,

a native of Tuat, and fighee to the sultan, came to tell me, that no

person would venture to accompany me, from the road to Youri being

infested with Kafirs, and that it was impossible to travel in safety

without an army. I remained silent; for had I once begun to give vent

to my feelings, I might have committed myself. I thank God I had never

once lost my temper amid all these crosses and vexations, and in spite

even of this deathblow to all my hopes of reaching Youri. The whole

tissue of dangers, however, I believed to be a mere fabrication;

for the Arabs, having learned what the sultan said with respect to

the English opening a trade with his people by the way of the sea,

and well knowing how fatal this scheme would prove to their traffic

in the interior, probably now attempted to persuade both the sultan

and the gadado that the English would come and take the country from

them: by which insinuations they induced the sultan to embrace this

disingenuous expedient to disengage himself from his promise.

March 25.—Clear and warm. Early this morning I was sent for by the

sultan, and, although suffering from fever, I went immediately. He was

seated in an inner coozee, with only one eunuch in attendance. The

conversation again commenced concerning the projected trade with

England, when I repeated the same arguments. He inquired if the King

of England would give him a couple of guns, with ammunition and some

rockets? I assured him of His Majesty’s compliance with his wishes,

if he would consent to put down the slave trade on the coast. I

further pointed out to him that Sackatoo was the best situate town in

all Northern Africa for commerce, without which a nation was nothing;

that rich merchants make rich kings; and that it was in the power of

the King of England to make him one of the greatest princes in Africa,

when all the trade from the east and west of that continent would

centre in his dominions: at the same time advising him strongly to

have a port on the sea coast, where he might have ships, and where

his people would be taught by the English the art of ship-building,

unless he preferred to send some of them to our settlements on the

coast to learn to work as carpenters or blacksmiths, where their

religion would be respected, and, after learning these trades from

us, they would be enabled to instruct their countrymen. By weighing

these important considerations in his mind, he would see that it

was both his own interest, and the interest of his people, to form

a strict friendship with the English; for when once he had ships,

his people might trade to every part of the world, and could even

make the pilgrimage to Mecca by a much safer route than at present

by land, being able to go there and return in six months; and,

at the same time, bring with them all the produce of the East.

March 26.—I was much better. Being Friday, the Mahommedan Sabbath,

a crowd of people from the country came to see me, after being at the

mosque, and the square in front of my house was completely filled. I

was sitting in the shade, on a mat spread on the ground, and Mahomed

El Wordee with me: both he and my servants were in great fright at

the increasing numbers of country people, and El Wordee begged of

me either to have my guns loaded, or to threaten to fire among the

multitude, if they did not go away; or else to send a message to

the gadado to have them dispersed. By way of aggravating his alarm,

I said to him, with provoking indifference, “Let them look at me,

and welcome; they are like all other country people, and will do me no

harm.” A number of boys squeezing through the crowd, whenever they

caught a glimpse of me, called out to their companions, “Wishod

en ila hullah ila hullah wahod Mohamoud wa rhasoul illah, hada el

Kaffir;” or more briefly, “ila el ullah Mohamoud wa rhasoul illah,

hada el Kaffir,”—“I bear witness there is no God but one God,

and Mahomet is his prophet; there is the Infidel,” and immediately

took to their heels. At last one of my servants stole through the

crowd and informed the gadado, who sent and dispersed the people,

to the great satisfaction of El Wordee; when I was allowed to enjoy

the remainder of the day undisturbed.

March 27.—Clear and warm. In the morning I was very ill with ague,

and at eleven the sultan sent for El Wordee and me, with a request

to bring my English saddle along with me. We were conducted farther

into the interior of his residence than I had ever been before:

the sultan was sitting reading in one corner of a square tower:

on showing him my English saddle, he examined it very minutely, and

said it was exactly like the ancient Arab saddle, described in one

of his books. It was a second-hand saddle which we bought at Malta,

and having often also served myself and my servant for a pillow, I

had it re-stuffed at Kano: on seeing the maker’s card, “Laurie,

Oxford-Street, London,” under the saddle lap, the sultan, surmising

perhaps that it was a charm, requested me to explain its meaning;

upon which I told him, that in England a tradesman generally attached

his name to the articles made by him, which, if of superior quality,

brought him into notice.

He again renewed the subject of the establishment of an English consul

and physician at Sackatoo, as well as of the likelihood of receiving

guns and rockets from England, which he now recommended to be sent by

the way of Tripoli and Bornou, under the escort of El Wordee. To the

latter part of this proposal I gave a direct negative: I assured him,

that unless he undertook to convey them to Rakah at his own expense,

they would not be sent at all, as the expense and delay by the other

route were obstacles of too serious a nature to be repeated; besides,

should the bashaw of Tripoli even allow the guns to pass, the sheikh

of Bornou, who was famed for prudence and foresight, would forfeit

all claim to that character, if he did not seize them on reaching

his territory. “Oh! no,” said the sultan, “he will never do

that; he is my friend.” I again expatiated on the futility of this

mistaken confidence, so opposite to sound policy. At this discourse

El Wordee seemed to be quite crest-fallen; and it plainly appeared

that this was his own device, in order that he might be sent by the

bashaw along with another English mission; and after fleecing them

throughout the route, have another opportunity here of playing the

same game over again. All my former suspicions were now confirmed;

and I attribute, in a great measure, to his machinations the necessity

of abandoning my journey to Youri. I once more assured the sultan,

that it was only by the sea-coast he must expect to maintain an

intercourse with England. He then promised, that if I would wait

till after the rains, he would send me to the governor of Zeg Zeg,

with orders to convey me to the coast.

Having heard of our newspapers, he desired me to send for them,

calling them the “Huber el dineah,” or “News of the world.”

Being set to read extracts from them, I happened to mention that

thousands of them were printed daily, when he exclaimed, “God

is great; You are a wonderful people.” He asked me about the

Greeks, and inquired if they were joined by any other Christians;

the discussion of which subject I contrived to evade. He then

remarked, “You were at war with Algiers, and killed a number of

the Algerines.” I assured him that they were a ferocious race,

never at peace amongst themselves (having even killed three of their

own deys in one month), and persisting in the practice of making

slaves of Europeans, until forcibly compelled by us to relinquish it.

In this conversation, he repeated “You are a strange people,

the strongest of all Christian nations: you have subjugated all

India.” I said, we merely afforded it our protection, and gave it

good laws. I mentioned, particularly, that many Mahometan states

had put themselves under our protection, knowing we were a people

that never interfered with the rights of others, whether civil or

religious, but caused the laws to be impartially administered among

all sects and persuasions. The King of England, I often told him,

had, in fact, as many Mahometan subjects as the Grand Signor; and

I took care to enlarge upon the favourite topic of several ships

conveying the inhabitants of India annually to Mecca.

The sultan again drew on the sand the course of the Quarra, with the

outline of the adjoining countries. I now requested him to order

one of his learned men to make me a chart of the river, on paper,

which he promised to have done. The sultan re-stated that Fundah

is the name of the place where the Quarra enters the sea, during

the rainy season; and that Tagra, a town on the sea-coast, where

many Felatahs reside, is governed by one of his subjects, a native

of Kashna, named Mohamed Mishnee. In the evening I saw him again,

when he told me that he was going on an expedition against some of

his enemies, but would not be away more than five days, desiring me

not to be uneasy during his absence, and assuring me that I should

want for nothing.

To announce to the people any public measure, such as the present

expedition, the city crier is sent round, who first proclaims,

“This is the will of the sultan;” the people replying “Whatever

the sultan does, is good; we will do it:” the crier stops in like

manner at the end of every sentence, when the people renew the same

assurances of submission. The crier always commences at the sultan’s

gate, from which he proceeds to the market-place. It was proclaimed

on this occasion, that all those who were to accompany the expedition

must provide themselves with eight days’ provisions. At eight in

the evening, the sultan left the capital with his army.

March 28.—This forenoon I had a visit from a famous Marauboot, or

holy man: he was accompanied by a great retinue, and repeated the

Fatha at his entrance, for the first time this ceremony had been

performed before me in Haussa. He began by asking me, abruptly,

to become a Moslem: I said, “God willing, I might; but I require

much previous instruction in religious matters before I can think of

changing my faith.” At this answer the bystanders began to laugh

immoderately, to the evident discomposure of the holy man’s gravity:

for my part, I could not discover any wit in what I said, although

it had the effect of relieving me from further impertinent questions

on religious subjects; and he soon left me, rather disconcerted at

his want of success. After sunset I had a visit from Ateeko, the

brother of the sultan, to whom I had sent a present of a scarlet

jacket, breeches, and bornouse: when he was seated, and the usual

compliments were over, I apologized on the score of ill health,

and the remoteness of his abode, for not having already paid him

a visit. He now told me he had a few things which belonged to the

Englishman who was at Musfia, with the late Boo Khaloom, but as

no person knew what they were, he would gladly sell them to me,

ordering his servant at the same time to produce a bundle he held

under his arm. The servant took from the bundle a shirt, two pair

of trowsers, and two pieces of parchment, used for sketching by

Major Denham. The only other articles, Ateeko said, were a trunk,

a broken sextant, and a watch; but the watch had been destroyed, as

he alleged, in their ignorant eagerness to examine its structure. He

then invited me to visit him the following morning, when we might

fix the price of what I wished to buy, to which I assented; and he

bade me good night; but, on re-considering the matter, I thought

it prudent first to consult the gadado, particularly as the sultan

was absent. I began to fear lest a bad construction might be put

upon my visit to this mean prince, who, on the death of his father,

Bello the first, had aspired to the throne, and had even had himself

proclaimed sultan in Sackatoo; from the mere circumstance of his

brother Bello, the present sultan, having expressed the intention,

during his father’s lifetime, of resigning the splendour of

sovereignty for the tranquillity of a learned and holy life. Ateeko

even had the audacity to enter his brother’s house, preceded by

drums and trumpets; and when Bello inquired the cause of the tumult,

he received the first intimation of his brother’s perfidy, in the

answer “The sultan Ateeko is come.” Bello, nowise disconcerted,

immediately ordered the usurper into his presence, when Ateeko

pleaded, in vindication of his conduct, his brother’s proposed

disinclination to reign; to which the sultan only deigned to reply,

“Go and take off these trappings, or I will take off your head:”

Ateeko, with characteristic abjectness of spirit, began to wring his

hands, as if washing them in water, and called God and the Prophet

to witness that his motives were innocent and upright; since which

time, he has remained in the utmost obscurity.

March 29.—I visited the gadado very early, and informed him of what

had taken place last night. He told me by no means to go while the

sultan was absent, as my visit at this juncture might be regarded

with a very jealous eye by the people; who would not hesitate to

charge me with a plot to place prince Ateeko on the throne, by

the assistance of England. The gadado undisguisedly expressed his

contempt of Ateeko’s conduct, and assured me that it was entirely

without the sanction of the sultan.—In the afternoon I was again

seized with bilious vomiting.

March 30.—Cloudy and warm. El Wordee came to-day in the name

of the gadado, to ask me to sell him a silk tobe and some other

articles, although it was well known to him I had nothing of the

kind in my possession; and had it been otherwise, he was also aware

I would not sell them. I suspected that he was manœuvring in some

way for himself; and as soon as he was gone, I went to the gadado,

and asked him if he had sent any message to me, when it turned out

as I conjectured. The good old gadado said he felt quite ashamed

that any thing should have been asked in his name; and shaking his

head, he said he feared El Wordee was —— then checking himself,

he earnestly requested me to take no further notice of it.

March 31.—I was confined to the house all day with ague. During

the time I had been in Sackatoo, I had, at the recommendation

of both the sultan and gadado, ridden out every morning for the

benefit of my health; but instead of choosing the high grounds,

I had generally taken my rides by the banks of the river, where

there were many stagnant pools of water, and the land was low and

swampy. To this I attributed my ague. The Arabs are likewise much

afflicted with it at this season of the year. With the gadado’s

advice, I took my morning rides in future on the high grounds.

April 1.—Morning cool and clear. I discovered that one of my bags

of cowries had been cut open; and having good reason to suspect my

servant Absalom of the theft, as he was known to have made a number

of extravagant presents to one of the gadado’s female slaves, of

whom he was passionately enamoured, I was obliged to dismiss him my

service, although both a smart and a brave fellow, uniting at once

in his person the important functions of barber and butler.

April 4.—Cool and clear. My ague had left me. In the evening the

sultan returned to town.

April 5.—This morning Hadje Ali Boo Khaloom arrived from

Kano. Although he left the town of Quarra with a large kafila,

consisting of a thousand people, and protected by an escort of fifty

horsemen, yet they were attacked between the lake of Gondamee and

the wells of Kamoon, by the people of Goober and Zanfra, who after

killing one shreef, two Arabs of Tripoli, and seventeen Felatahs,

and taking the negroes prisoners, captured all the baggage except

that of Hadje Ali. He fortunately escaped with his camels, though

less by his own bravery than through the address of one of his

slaves, who kept cheering up his master’s spirits, and urging the

camels to their utmost speed, until they completely outstripped their

pursuers. The shreef who was killed left two young children, to whom

I sent ten dollars, by way of encouraging others to contribute to

their relief.—In the afternoon I paid my respects to the sultan,

on his return from the army. Hadje Ali Boo Khaloom accompanied me;

but the sultan did not deign to look towards the place where he sat,

although he was extremely kind to me, inquiring how I did, and if

any thing had happened in his absence.

A slave belonging to Mahomed Moode, the gadado’s brother,

whose duty it was to run with his spears by his horse’s side,

had feigned lameness, to be excused attending his master. For this

offence his legs were heavily shackled, in which miserable plight

he often contrived to crawl to the square before my door, and at

length begged me to intercede with his master for his release. In

the evening, when his master came as usual to see me, I asked him

to pardon the slave, who was immediately sent for, and his fetters

taken off. It is but justice to say, his master appeared as grateful

to me for affording him the opportunity of liberating his slave, as

if I had done him a personal favour. The mode of punishing slaves

in Sackatoo is by putting them in irons, and throwing them into a

dungeon under the common prison of the city. The dungeon is reported

to be extremely filthy and abominable. Here they remain without

any food, but what is gratuitously supplied by their fellow slaves,

until their master releases them. This punishment is much dreaded,

and its duration depends entirely on the caprice of the master.

April 6.—Clear and cool.

April 7.—Having obtained the permission of the gadado to purchase

from Ateeko the sorry remains of Major Denham’s baggage, I went

early this morning with El Wordee to the prince’s house, which is

situate at the west end of the town. After waiting some time in the

porch of a square tower, we were introduced into an inner coozee

hung round with blue and yellow silk, in sharp pointed festoons,

not unlike gothic arches. Ateeko soon made his appearance, and

after a few compliments, we proceeded to business. He brought out a

damaged leathern trunk, with two or three shirts and other articles

of dress, much the worse for wear, and the sextant and parchment

already mentioned. The sextant was completely demolished, the whole

of the glasses being taken out, or where they could not unscrew them,

broken off the frame, which remained a mere skeleton. He seemed to

fancy that the sextant was gold, in which I soon undeceived him;

and selecting it with the parchment and one or two flannel waistcoats

and towels, likely to be useful to Major Denham, I offered him 5000

cowries, at which he appeared much surprised and mortified. El

Wordee whispered in my ear,—“Remember he is a prince, and

not a merchant.” I said, loud enough for his highness to hear,

“Remember that when a prince turns merchant, he must expect no

more than another man; and as that is the value of the articles,

it is a matter of indifference to me whether I buy them or not.”

Ateeko frequently repeated his belief of the sextant being gold;

but at length the bargain seemed to be concluded, and I requested

him to send a slave to my house with the articles I had picked out,

to whom I would pay the money. The slave, however, was recalled

before he got half way, and his suspicious master took back the

sextant frame, in dread of being overreached by me in its value,

which I did not fail to deduct from the price agreed on.

The prince’s residence, like those of other great men in this

country, is within a large quadrangular enclosure, surrounded by a

high clay wall, with a high tower at the entrance, in which some

of the slaves or body-guard lounge during the day, and sleep at

night. The enclosure is occupied by coozees, some of them in a very

ruinous condition. He told me that he possessed a great number of

slaves; and I saw many females about his person, most of them very

beautiful. He also stated, that he kept two hundred civet cats,

two of which he showed me. These animals were extremely savage,

and were confined in separate wooden cages. They were about four

feet long, from the nose to the tip of the tail; and with the

exception of a greater length of body and a longer tail, they

very much resembled diminutive hyenas. They are fed with pounded

Guinea corn, and dried fish made into balls. The civet is scraped

off with a kind of muscle shell every other morning, the animal

being forced into a corner of the cage, and its head held down

with a stick during the operation. The prince offered to sell any

number of them I might wish to have; but they did not appear to

be desirable travelling companions. Ateeko is a little spare man,

with a full face, of monkey-like expression. He speaks in a slow

and subdued tone of voice; and the Felatahs acknowledge him to be

extremely brave, but at the same time avaricious and cruel. “Were

he sultan,” say they, “heads would fly about in Soudan.”

After taking leave of the prince, we rode by appointment to view

a new mosque, which was building at the expense of the gadado,

not far distant from Ateeko’s house. Like all mosques, it was of

a quadrangular form, the sides facing the four cardinal points,

and about 800 feet in length. On the eastern side there were two

doors. The western entrance had a small square apartment on the right

hand in entering, where the people perform their ablutions before

prayers. The roof of the mosque was perfectly flat, and formed of

joists laid from wall to wall, the interstices being filled up with

slender spars placed obliquely from joist to joist, and the whole

covered outside with a thick stratum of indurated clay. The roof

rested on arches, which were supported by seven rows of pillars, seven

in each row. The pillars were of wood, plastered over with clay, and

highly ornamented. On the south side of the body of the building there

was a small recess appropriated solely to the sultan’s use. Some

workmen were employed in ornamenting the pillars, others in completing

the roof; and all appeared particularly busy, from the circumstance

of the gadado himself being here to receive me. The gadado was very

inquisitive to know my opinion, every two or three minutes asking me

what I thought of the building. The master builder, a shrewd looking

little man, continually laughing, was seated in a position whence

he could conveniently overlook all the workmen. He informed me he

was a native of Zeg Zeg, and that his father having been in Egypt,

had there acquired a smattering of Moorish architecture, and had

left him at his death all his papers, from which he derived his only

architectural knowledge. He was particularly solicitous to possess

a Gunter’s scale, which I afterwards sent to the sultan.

April 8.—Clear and cool. I was confined to the house all day with

ague. Hadje Ali Boo Khaloom, who has paid me two or three visits,

which I never return, sent me half a sheep, and accompanied the

present with great offers of his services, of which I took no notice,

but ordered the present to be given to the poor. I always treated

this man with civility; but took good care never to follow any of his

suggestions, or to allow myself the smallest freedom of conversation

before him.

A number of poor children came to ask alms every morning, to whom I

was in the habit of giving two or three cowries a piece. Their cry

was, “Allah attik jinne,” or “God give you paradise;” a style

of begging that a kafir like me could not withstand; and when almost

all Africa doomed me to eternal perdition, I considered it obtaining

their suffrages at a cheap rate. Amongst the older beggars, there was

one, a native of Bornou, who had once been governor of a town called

Sockwa near Katagum, and had come to Sackatoo in consequence of having

made certain complaints against Duncowa, which being on investigation

found to be untrue, he had been degraded. He was said to be rich;

but in order to save his wealth, now feigned madness. Every night

after sunset, he used to sing extempore before the gadado’s door;

and I was frequently the subject of his songs, particularly if I

had given him any thing in the course of the day. He generally set

the people around him in a roar of laughter.

April 9.—This morning I paid the gadado a visit, and found

him alone, reading an Arabic book, one of a small collection he

possessed. “Abdullah,” said he, “I had a dream last night,

and am perusing this book to find out what it meant. Do you believe

in such things?” “No, my lord gadado; I consider books of dreams

to be full of idle conceits. God gives a man wisdom to guide his

conduct, while dreams are occasioned by the accidental circumstances

of sleeping with the head low, excess of food, or uneasiness of

mind.” “Abdullah,” he replied, smiling, “this book tells me

differently.” He then mentioned, that in a few days the sultan was

going on another expedition, and wished him to join it, but that he

preferred remaining, in order to have the mosque finished before the

Rhamadan, lest the workmen should idle away their time in his absence.

To-day Mahomed Moode, the gadado’s brother, lost an adopted son,

who died of the small-pox. I paid him a visit of condolence, which

seemed to gratify him exceedingly. The Felatahs here, and indeed

almost all the principal people of Soudan, bury their dead in the

house where they die, as before-mentioned. Poor Moode’s grief

was inconsolable; after the burial was over, he came and sat down

alone in the shade before my door, and spreading his tobe over his

knees as if he was reading a book, repeated in a low broken tone of

voice several verses of the Koran, his eyes all the time streaming

with tears. In this woful state of dejection he remained at least

two hours. I could not help admiring the affectionate warmth of his

feelings, so indicative of a good heart, and I sincerely sympathized

in his sorrow. The child was the son of his brother the gadado. The

practice of adopting children is very prevalent among the Felatahs,

and though they have sons and daughters of their own, the adopted

child generally becomes heir to the whole of the property.

April 10.—At three in the afternoon I waited on the sultan, to

wish him success on the present expedition, and a happy return. We

conversed on different subjects, but ended, as usual, about the trade

with England; when I again endeavoured to impress on his mind, that

we should be able to supply his subjects with all kinds of goods at

a very cheap rate,—that his dominions were better situated for the

gum trade than any other country in Africa,—and that many other

valuable articles would be brought here from Timbuctoo, Bornou,

and Wadey, and easily carried by the Felatahs to the sea-coast, to

be disposed of to the English. He dwelt much on receiving in return

cloth, muskets, and gunpowder; and asked me if I would not come back,

and if the King of England would be induced to send out a consul

and a physician, should he address a letter to His Majesty on the

subject. He now asked in what time they would come: I told him they

could be upon the coast in two months after his wishes were known

in England. He resumed,—“Let me know the precise time, and my

messengers shall be down at any part of the coast you may appoint,

to forward letters to me from the mission, on receipt of which I will

send an escort to conduct it to Soudan.” He also assured me he was

able to put an effectual stop to the slave trade, and that the chart

I asked for was nearly ready. At the close of this interview, the

sultan kindly requested me not to be uneasy in his absence. At five

in the afternoon, the sultan and gadado joined the army at the Sansan.

April 11, 12, and 13.—A refreshing breeze for the last two or

three days. I received a present of two large baskets of wheat,

which the sultan had ordered me before his departure. I was sitting

in the shade before my door, with Sidi Sheikh, the sultan’s fighi,

when an ill-looking wretch, with a fiend-like grin on his countenance,

came and placed himself directly before me. I asked Sidi Sheikh who

he was? He answered, with great composure, “The executioner.”

I instantly ordered my servants to turn him out. “Be patient,”

said Sidi Sheikh, laying his hand upon mine: “he visits the first

people in Sackatoo, and they never allow him to go away without

giving him a few Goora nuts, or money to buy them.” In compliance

with this hint, I requested forty cowries to be given to the fellow,

with strict orders never again to cross my threshold. Sidi Sheikh now

related to me a professional anecdote of my uninvited visitor. Being

brother of the executioner of Yacoba, of which place he was a native,

he applied to the governor for his brother’s situation, boasting

of superior adroitness in the family vocation. The governor coolly

remarked, “We will try;—go, fetch your brother’s head!” He

instantly went in quest of his brother, and finding him seated at

the door of his house, without noise or warning he struck off his

head with a sword, at one blow; then carrying the bleeding head to

the governor, and claiming the reward of such transcendent atrocity,

he was appointed to the vacant office. The sultan being afterwards

in want of an expert headsman, sent for him to Sackatoo, where a

short time after his arrival he had to officiate at the execution

of 2000 Tuaricks, who, in conjunction with the rebels of Goober,

had attempted to plunder the country, but were all made prisoners;

this event happening about four years ago. I may here add, that the

capital punishments inflicted in Soudan are beheading, impaling,

and crucifixion; the first being reserved for Mahometans, and the

other two practised on Pagans. I was told, as a matter of curiosity,

that wretches on the cross generally linger three days, before death

puts an end to their sufferings.

April 14.—Clear and warm. The gadado’s harem having paid me

repeated visits, I was much struck with the beauty of some of the

female slaves. To-day an Arab belonging to a kafila that left Quarra

on the 10th instant made his escape here, all his fellow travellers

having been taken by the people of Goober and Zamfra, who fell upon

the kafila near the lake Gondamee.

April 15.—Notwithstanding that I had an attack of fever to-day,

I received a visit from the females of the gadado’s household,

who during their stay seemed to evince much sympathy, but as soon as

they reached the outer square, their unrestrained gaiety and noisy

mirth soon convinced me that they only frequented my house as a

place where they could with security amuse themselves.

April 16.—I took an emetic of ipecacuanha, with immediate relief

of my bilious symptoms.

April 17.—At day-break the sultan returned with the army,

having made a large capture of sheep, bullocks, asses, &c. in the

neighbourhood of the new capital of Zamfra.

April 18.—This morning I went to congratulate the sultan and the

gadado on their safe return. In the evening we had rain, thunder,

and lightning.

April 19.—The gadado’s favourite son, by Bello’s sister,

died to-day of small-pox, after being considered convalescent, in

consequence of riding out too early to visit his grandfather. This

lad was buried in the house, as usual, a few hours after death,

amid the loud lamentations of the female slaves of the family.

April 20.—I went this morning to condole with the gadado on the

death of his son. He was sitting in an inner apartment, and smiling

mournfully at my entrance, he said: “This is very kind of you,

Abdullah; I have met with a great misfortune, but it is the will of

God.” I endeavoured to reconcile him to this severe dispensation

of Providence, and expressed my hope that he might yet have another

son in room of him he had lost. He shook his head, and said, “God

willing, but I am an old man:” then covering his face with his

hands, we sat together nearly an hour in silence, when, unable to

alleviate his grief, I took him by the hand; he pressed mine in

return; and I left this disconsolate father with heaviness of heart.

April 21.—News arrived this morning, that the Tuaricks of the

tribe of Kilgris had taken and plundered the town of Adia, six

days’ journey to the northward of Sackatoo; in consequence of

which a proclamation was issued, that all the Tuaricks belonging

to that tribe should depart from Bello’s dominions in three days,

under the penalty of death. The gadado informed me to-day, that he

should not be able to accompany me to Kano before the rains, as he

once intended, in consequence of all the horses being worn out from

want of water during the last expedition. In the afternoon I had a

severe attack of ague, with bilious vomiting.

April 22.—Thunder and lightning all night.

April 23.—We heard that another kafila had been seized by the

Gooberites, and six Felatah women taken amongst the spoil, besides

300 slaves.

[Illustration: _A Reduction of Bello’s Map of Central Africa._

_J. & C. Walker Sculpt._

_Published as the Act directs Jany. 1826, by John Murray Albemarle

Street London._]

April 27.—To-day a party which had gone on a marauding expedition

to Kulee sent word that they had made a large capture of bullocks

and slaves.