RECORDS
OF
CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON’S
LAST EXPEDITION
TO
=AFRICA:=
BY RICHARD LANDER,
HIS FAITHFUL ATTENDANT, AND THE ONLY SURVIVING
MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION:
WITH THE
SUBSEQUENT ADVENTURES OF THE AUTHOR.
* * * * *
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
* * * * *
LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY,
NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1830.
* * * * *
J. B. NICHOLS AND SON,
25, Parliament Street.
CONTENTS
OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
* * * * *
CHAPTER X.
Page
Character of the Africans in general — Their social qualities
considered — Succinct remarks on the Natural History of the
Interior — Yam Yams — Arabs — Falatahs — War of the latter
people with Bornou and Fundah 1
CHAPTER XI.
The Author resumes his Narrative — African huts — Recreations
and evening amusements of his Master and himself — Illness of
Captain Clapperton — His sufferings — Perfect resignation
under them — His death — Burial — Character 57
CHAPTER XII.
The Author’s severe indisposition and distress of mind —
Conduct of Bello — Departure from Soccatoo — The Author almost
perishes of thirst in the “Goober Bush,” where he is deserted
by the faithless Pasko — The King of Jacoba — Horrid death of
that monarch’s slaves — The Author’s arrival at Kano 82
CHAPTER XIII.
Pasko — The Author pays his respects to the Governor, and
leaves Kano — Chooses, near Bebajie, the road to Fundah —
Almena mountain — The Author is seen and recognised by
horsemen from Zeg Zeg — Arrives amongst the people of Bowchee
— Their manners — A girl’s lamentation on being sold by her
mother — The Author enters the immense plain of Cuttup —
Anecdote of an old woman 100
CHAPTER XIV.
The Author overtaken at Dunrora by four armed horsemen from
Zeg Zeg, who force him to accompany them back to Zaria — His
reflections — Arrives in Zaria — Treatment of the King and his
son towards the Author — His entrance into Coulfo in Nyffé —
Revisits Wow Wow — The noted widow Zuma 128
CHAPTER XV.
The Author becoming entangled, whilst crossing a river, in the
stirrups of his horse’s saddle, is thrown from its back, and
narrowly escapes drowning — Arrival at Khiama — Eccentric
conduct of the Prince of that State — Anecdote of his
messenger — Pasko’s thieving propensities turned to account —
The Author enters Katunga, the capital of Yariba — His
reception by Mansolah, its monarch — Song of five hundred of
his Wives — Fetish-hut 176
CHAPTER XVI.
Ebo the celebrated fat Eunuch — The Yaribeans not very
delicate in the choice of what they eat — Dress of the
different people in the interior — Treatment of invalids —
Tattoo marks of different nations — The Author is urged to
become Son-in-law to Mansolah, Generalissimo of his forces,
and Prime Minister of State — Names of Towns — Departure from
Katunga — Anecdote of a gang of robbers — Mungo Park’s son —
Arrival at Badagry 201
CHAPTER XVII.
Novel method adopted by Europeans for conveying slaves on
board their vessels — Conduct of the Portuguese Merchants,
resident at Badagry, towards the Author — The White Negroes —
Manners and ceremonies of the Badagrians — Horrid indifference
with respect to the Shedding of Human Blood — Murder of two of
the King’s wives by moonlight 238
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Fetish-huts and tree at Badagry — Owing to the
insinuations of the Portuguese the Author is examined by the
Priests of the Fetish, and compelled to swallow bitter water,
being the only European that ever underwent that dreadful
ordeal — His thoughts when informed of the circumstance —
Astonishing preservation from an expected cruel death —
Sacrifices of human beings under the branches of the
Fetish-tree, exceeding in atrocity any thing heard of before —
Song of the inhabitants, with Adólee at their head, on the
occasion — The Author, on his visit to a Portuguese pirate,
discovers the sacred Fetish-tree of the Badagrians growing in
the heart of the forest, and covered with dismembered corpses
of human beings — The Portuguese 252
CHAPTER XIX.
Captain Laing, of the Brig Maria, of London, hearing that an
Englishman was at Badagry, comes from Whydah to fetch the
Author — His reflections on leaving Badagry, and on reaching
the British vessel — The Maria sails for Cape Coast, where the
Author lands, and is taken on board the Esk sloop of war,
which Vessel sails for England — The Turtles — Arrival in
England, &c. 276
WANDERINGS
IN
AFRICA.
* * * * *
CHAPTER X.
Character of the Africans in general — Their social qualities considered
— Succinct remarks on the Natural History of the Interior — Yam Yams —
Arabs — Falatahs — War of the latter people with Bornou and Fundah.
The character Plutarch gives of the Athenians is strictly applicable to
the people of Africa in general, _in times of peace_:—“They are easily
provoked to anger, and as easily induced to resume sentiments of
benevolence and compassion.” This we found to be true in numberless
instances; particularly amongst the gentler sex, whose apprehensions are
quicker and more lively, and whose finer feelings more easily excited
than those of their male companions. We not unfrequently observed
persons quarrelling and fighting in one moment, with all the bitterness
of angry and elevated passions, and in the next as gentle as lambs, and
the most cordial friends in the universe; forgetting their previous
noisy dispute in the performance of reciprocal acts of kindness and good
nature.
The African, ceaselessly engaged in sleeping, warfare, drinking, &c.
takes little, if any, delight in his own family circle. His is no
_domestic_ life: his children never prattle round his knee; his eye
never glistens with tenderness on receiving their innocent caresses; his
numerous wives, who are valued as a distinct and inferior order of
beings, weaken his affections and blunt his feelings; and he regards
them with looks of indifference or contempt. With him,
“All claims that bind and sweeten life,”
are, indeed, unknown; and, provided his wants be supplied, unless
aroused from his stupor by any particular event, he journeys calmly on,
with the most listless indifference imaginable, scarcely deigning to
bestow a solitary thought either on his country, or his wives and
children. He holds the dead, however, in the greatest veneration, hardly
venturing to let the name of a deceased relative escape his lips; and
if, when engaged in contentious bickerings, his opponent alludes to them
in a disrespectful manner, he interrupts him with this energetic
expression: “Curse _me_; slay _me_, if thou wilt; but do not rake up the
ashes of the dead. Let them rest in peace, or thou thyself shalt follow
them to the grave.”
The natives are passionately fond of storytelling, and listen for hours
after the setting of the sun, with a gravity truly comic, to the recital
of tales of the most wonderful and incredible description, in which they
repose implicit belief. The following was told me with an air of great
solemnity, and with a full conviction of its truth, by a native of
Goober:—
“Doncasson, Prince of that province, ordered a number of men to build
houses at the distance of three miles from Coonia, the capital, which
they undertook to finish within a given number of days. The workmen,
contrary to their expectation, could find no water in the neighbourhood
of the spot, nor, indeed, at a shorter distance than Coonia; and having
no vessels large enough to convey a sufficient quantity within the time
specified, they were put to their wits’ end, in what manner to act,
fearing that in the event of the non-fulfilment of their engagement a
dreadful punishment would await them. In this dilemma they applied for
advice to a female fortune-teller, residing in the city, who, having
accompanied them to the scite of the intended hamlet, ordered an immense
heap of earth, sufficient for the walls of the buildings, to be thrown
up; when the old woman immediately supplied them with the water
required, in the same manner as Gulliver extinguished the dreadful fire
that threatened to destroy the capital of the kingdom of Lilliput, on
his visit to that country; and thus the buildings of Doncasson were
finished a week earlier than was expected.”
The persons of the Africans, of both sexes, are perfectly well-formed. I
never saw an individual in the whole country with a hump on his back, or
any other species of deformity whatever; and this will appear the more
strange when it is considered that no people in the world pay less
attention to their offspring in their tender years. We frequently saw
individuals with only one hand, the other having been amputated as a
punishment; but never met with a person that had lost a leg. The people
used to deride us when we affirmed that some of our countrymen were
furnished with _wooden_ legs in lieu of natural ones, believing that a
person could never survive the loss of so important a member.
NATURAL HISTORY.
Of the natural history of the regions we traversed I can say but little,
my very limited and imperfect acquaintance with that interesting study,
in either of its branches, incapacitating me from giving any thing like
a description of the various productions of the soil, or of the numerous
animals that inhabit the woods or the rivers.
Magnificent forests of tall trees are scattered over the face of the
country from Badagry to Soccatoo, and afford, in their gloomy solitudes,
shelter to numerous species of reptiles and wild beasts. The palm, the
cocoa, the tamarind, the banana, the fig, the date (a species of palm),
the butter, and other trees, are indigenous; and several varieties of
plum grow in woods of Yariba, as well as a tree bearing a fruit similar
in size and appearance to our “love apple,” and in flavour, to the
_cashew_ apple of the West Indies. Stunted orange, lemon, and lime
trees, bearing fruit of inferior quality, may also be found growing wild
in that region, but are made little use of by the natives, who know not
how to improve them; the people have likewise water-melons, guayavas,
papaws, &c. &c. The cotton plant, indigo, rice, wheat, yams, maize,
Guinea corn, dourra, six or seven other varieties of corn, the plantain,
sweet potatoes, onions, and cassada, are cultivated to a great extent in
the interior countries.
Reptiles are exceedingly numerous, but the bites of few of them, as far
as I was able to learn, are attended with fatal effects. We frequently
saw in the woods of Borghoo and Houssa a large species of snake swinging
in the sun-beams, with its tail encircling the branch of a tree; but on
the approach of a human creature, it would attain the summit in an
instant, and look from its elevation on the head of the person beneath.
The boa constrictor we rarely met with alive; on my journey from Kano,
however, I espied one of them, of about the bigness of a man’s thigh,
coiled up like a rope, and partially concealed by fallen branches and
leaves of trees. I watched the monster attentively for a moment or two,
being within a few yards of the spot: but at length observing me, it
attempted to hide itself, when I immediately discharged my piece at its
head, and in all probability wounded the animal, although it eluded a
rigorous search that I caused to be made after it. The beautiful reptile
called at the Cape of Good Hope the puff-adder, is unknown in the
central parts of the continent; but a slender green snake, elegantly
variegated with black, which is sometimes met with in the former
country, is seen in almost every inhabited place of the latter. I have
frequently observed, on awaking in the morning, one or more of these
reptiles, gliding from underneath the mat on which I had been sleeping,
towards the door of the hut, and so making their escape. The bite is
speedily mortal. Another snake, about two feet long, of a greyish
colour, whose bite is also fatal, is found in many parts of the country.
Pasko snatched up an adder of this description one day, thinking it to
be a bit of decayed wood, covered with lichen, which it greatly
resembles; but feeling the reptile twisting itself round his fingers, he
cast it from him before it had power to bite, and immediately fainted
from excess of fear. The natives hold all poisonous snakes in the
greatest dread, and can never be induced to touch them, even after they
are destroyed, believing that, although there be no cut on the hand by
which it could so enter, their venom yet attaches itself to the skin,
and insinuates itself into the blood of the person that seizes it.
Of insects the most formidable are the ant, the locust, the mosquito,
the centipede (a peculiarly hideous animal), and the scorpion. The bites
of the two latter are attended with danger; but although they frequently
visited us in our tents and huts, we never had the ill-fortune to suffer
from their attacks.
Wild animals, in incredible numbers, abound in the woods; amongst which
are the lion, elephant, tiger, tiger-cat, panther, leopard, hyena, wolf,
and hog. The camel is found in a wild state in Houssa; and that
beautiful animal the giraffe, or cameleopard, also inhabits the forests
of the same country. I saw three of them in my travels between Zaria,
Kano, and Soccatoo; they are excessively timid, and are rarely, if ever,
caught by the natives. Although the tremendous roar of the lion, which
made the woods tremble, could be heard by us when travelling at all
hours of the night; yet I never saw but two of those ferocious animals,
a male and female; which incident has already been mentioned in a
preceding part of my narrative.
The elephant is annually becoming more shy and scarce in the interior.
The country people say that they have been taught the value of their
tusks, and therefore studiously avoid, as often as possible, the haunts
of man, by penetrating more deeply into the bosom of their ancient
forests. Be this as it may, they are not so frequently seen in Houssa as
formerly, and less often slain; and although numerous traces of them
were perceptible in the woods, we never met with a considerable number
at one time in all our journeyings. Elephants are more numerous in the
deep woods on the borders of the Quorra, near the island of Boussa, than
in any other place whatever. This may be accounted for by the king of
that country having interdicted his subjects, under dreadful penalties,
from slaying them. The fetish of the same monarch is a white elephant;
and it is believed that he can assume the form of that animal whenever
inclination or necessity may prompt him to disguise himself. Hence
elephants are held in considerable veneration by all ranks in Boussa;
and the figure of a _white_ one is worshipped as a god in that kingdom.
I have often heard it remarked, that the elephant is as sluggish in his
motions as he is unwieldly in appearance; but this is by no means the
case. In proportion to his size, he is as fleet as other animals, which
I learnt to my cost in South Africa; for on going out shooting one day I
disturbed a huge elephant, which, unobserved by me, was standing at a
very short distance. The animal immediately pursued me; but it being a
few seconds before he could disentangle his legs from the thick
underwood that grew on the spot, I was considerably in advance before he
got into open ground. The beast ran much faster than I, and would have
overtaken me in a few minutes, if a dog that was with me had not made an
alarm which drew our party out of their encampment, fixed at no great
distance, who came to my assistance, and drove the animal back. As it
was, I was almost frightened to death, and resolved never again to come
to such close quarters with an elephant, bulky as he might be; since
that quality does not prevent him from using his gigantic legs with
elegance and dispatch.
Of all untamed animals in Central Africa, hyenas are most to be dreaded;
they are astonishingly bold and ferocious, and commit great depredations
on the domestic animals of the natives. The howl of these creatures is
truly terrific, and their demoniacal laugh is enough to appal the
stoutest heart; hundreds of them used to pass and repass our tent in the
woods by night, our fires alone preventing them from commencing an
attack on our persons. The wild hog also does a great deal of mischief;
they visit the plantations in immense droves, and destroy the corn, or
whatever else may be growing on them. They inhabit the woods of Houssa,
but more particularly those in the vicinity of Soccatoo, where they are
found in considerable numbers; but no pains are taken by the inhabitants
of that city to exterminate them; in fact the Mohammedan portion of the
community would rather embrace a leper than touch the skin of one of
these abhorred animals; and there cannot be a greater affront than to
give a Falatah the epithet of “pork-eater.”
The domestic animals are the camel, horse, ass, ox, pig, goat, sheep,
&c.; turkeys, ducks (the Muscovy kind), geese, the Guinea and common
fowl, are also tamed. The turkey is no where to be met with after
leaving Yariba; nor is the camel seen in that or any other country
between it and the coast. Although the pig is detested by the Falatahs,
the Mohammedan negro feasts on its flesh without the slightest
reluctance, as do likewise the Pagan natives indiscriminately. The large
species of ox with the hump, was first brought into Houssa, Nyffé,
Borghoo, Yariba, Cuttum Cora, Cubbé, &c. by the Falatahs, the native
breed being diminutive, and without the hump. The beef of both kinds is
always dry, and tough as leather; and as by reason of the heat it never
gets perfectly cool, or solid, it is very indifferent eating. The
sweetest and most palatable animal food, is the flesh of kids, which is
publicly sold in the markets at a reasonable rate.
The native horse of the countries above enumerated, is particularly
small and shaggy; it is generally of a mouse colour, with hair as soft
and fine as silk; and, like the ass, has a black streak placed
transversely on the back and shoulders. The finest horses are imported
from Bornou, which country supplies every other in the interior with
that useful animal; and these are handsome, powerful beasts. The ass is
common in the interior, and for size, speed, strength, and beauty,
surpasses any animal of its kind I have ever seen, not even excepting
the most approved of the famous Spanish breed. They are highly valued by
the natives, and in some instances are preferred to the horse. Sheep and
goats are plentiful, but are of very inferior description; none of the
former are to be found with the enormous tail of fat which so peculiarly
distinguishes that animal at the Cape; but, as in all tropical
countries, they have hair instead of wool. Dogs and asses are eaten in
Yariba, and their flesh is much sought after.
Of the feathered tribe, there are various species, of rich and brilliant
plumage. Parrots, Guinea fowls in a wild state, and a variety of doves,
are seen in the branches of the beautiful trees, and by their chattering
and cooing, impart a grateful animation to the spot near which they may
happen to take up their abode. The golden pigeon is sometimes to be
seen; its ground colour is a rich and vivid blue, and the feathers on
the breast and under the wings are tinged with a glittering yellow,
whence it takes its name. The grey pelican abounds on the margins of
rivers and streams in Houssa; it is much less than the white pelican,
and the beak in particular is considerably smaller than that of the
latter species. The former are found in immense numbers, more especially
at a place called Zulamee, and build their nests close to the water’s
edge, near to which they always stand to feed their young. The eggs are
esteemed as a delicacy by the natives; but the flesh of the bird is of
so offensive a flavour that it cannot be eaten. It is somewhat singular
that the opinion of the pelican feeding its young with its blood is as
general in Houssa as it is amongst the lower class of people in Europe;
and to this belief I must acknowledge myself a proselyte! I have stood
for a long while together by the side of this stupid animal, watching
its motions, and seeing it bending its head for its offspring to extract
their nourishment. The young ones thrust their beaks into a small round
aperture at the lower part of the back of the neck of their parent, and
they swallow the substance that flows freely through. If it be not blood
that issues from the old bird, it is a red liquid so closely resembling
it, that the difference cannot be perceived. I took a sketch of a
pelican feeding its young in this manner, in Houssa, which is now in my
possession; and I should not have said so much on the subject, if my
assertions had not been questioned by several of my countrymen.
[Illustration]
I met with few of the species of birds to be found in Southern Africa,
in the more central parts. A rook having a white ring round its throat,
is the same in both regions, as is also a small bird called in the
former country _finy fink_, and in the latter the “harvest-bird.” Its
feathers are fine, soft, and silky; but retain their splendid colour
only whilst the corn is in the ground, changing its plumage to a russet
brown as soon as the grain is fairly housed, which is just about the
period that its young are able to take wing. There are two varieties of
this beautiful bird, the colours of the one being yellow and black, and
those of the other a bright scarlet, or red and black.
The rivers swarm with fish, which, generally speaking, are not very
delicious eating; and the consumption of them is confined chiefly to the
lower orders of the community. Crocodiles in incredible numbers infest
the rivers and streams from Badagry to Soccatoo, and are held in
considerable dread. I never saw any of these amphibious monsters of such
exceeding length and enormous dimensions as I have heard spoken of; the
largest I saw measuring no more than from fourteen to eighteen feet in
length, and of proportionate bulk. They sometimes attack the human
species; but such instances of their ferocity are not so often displayed
as the natives would wish strangers to believe, for, being fond of the
terrible, they magnify the most trifling incident in the world to one of
excessive horror. The eggs of the crocodiles are eaten by the people,
and greatly esteemed; they are certainly preferable to their hen’s eggs,
which are rarely more than half hatched, and when dressed look and taste
like water and curdled milk. They are also superior in flavour to the
eggs of the penguin, and although larger, closely resemble them in
appearance when boiled, the yolk in both being of a pale yellow, and the
more liquid part of a delicate blue. The former are used as charms by
the natives of Yariba and Borghoo, not only to deter crocodiles from
visiting their villages, but likewise to avert the “Evil Eye.”
THE YAM YAM.
The Yam Yam, in his most conspicuous traits, is alike different from the
Falatah, the Arab, and him that claims a Bornou descent, resembling, as
nearly as possible, the Caffre of the southern interior. The same open,
manly countenance—the same jetty blackness of skin—the same noble but
restless eye—the same advantageous stature, and athletic, powerful form,
are observable in both savages; and they have a like fondness for
pastoral pursuits; but the Yam Yam differs from the Caffre in being a
cannibal. He is accused by every nation of the revolting crime of eating
his own species; yet the united testimony of every nation might be
questioned as arising from prejudice or dislike, if he did not confess
it himself. A Yam Yam told me at Kano, deliberately and seriously, that
his countrymen not only devour the bodies of their enemies taken in
battle, but feed on the flesh of their friends and companions, purchased
from human shambles!
THE ARABS.
This ancient and extraordinary people are spread like locusts over the
central parts of the continent; and, like locusts also, have left marks
of their devastating qualities wherever they have appeared. Both Saracen
and Moor fall under the general denomination of _Arab_; and although it
is said that the former made an irruption and settled in the northern
parts as early as the seventh or eighth century, and the Arabs three or
four centuries subsequently to that era, there does not appear at this
time to be the least difference in the persons or manners of the whole.
At whatever period they crossed the desert, however, it is certain that
the wild and fanatical religion of Mohammed accompanied them, and that
they preached it with zeal and energy amongst the natives, making
innumerable converts to the new and strange doctrine.
The Arabs in Houssa and other parts have, unhappily, lost all trace of
their ancient splendour, as well as the characteristic features of their
countrymen. Like the Jews in Barbary, monopolize not only all the trade,
but likewise all the money concerns of the state and people;
degenerating from a restless, but high-minded and imaginative race, to
the vilest and most grovelling on the face of the earth. They pluck the
ignorant and superstitious aborigines of their substance with impunity,
and perpetrate the most revolting crimes for the bare love of gain. Some
of them are observed straggling from one end of the African continent to
the other, practising, like wandering quacks, the most shameful
impositions in the different towns and villages through which they may
happen to pass. An Arab mallam selling the small balls of tin to a
native chief, which has been already mentioned, is a proof of this; and
hundreds of other examples might be adduced, if necessary, as a further
corroboration of the truth of my assertion. They also tell fortunes, and
by various incantations pretend to discover the authors of robberies or
mischief of any kind that may have been effected. Some again remain
stationary in cities and in courts, ever ready to take advantage of
circumstances to cheat and embezzle, and to enrich themselves at the
expense of the prince or the public; and, although they are so numerous
in the interior, I do not believe there exists half a dozen honest men
amongst them. Unacquainted with the brilliant achievements that shed so
rich a lustre over his earlier history, the Arab of the internal
districts of Africa ceases to retain the politeness, the gallantry, the
lofty enthusiasm, and the love for the fine arts, which distinguished
his ancestors under the Califs; and even the desire of collecting and
preserving Arabic manuscripts, which for a long time prevailed amongst
his countrymen, is now wholly extinct. Intolerant and bigoted in their
religious principles, the Arabs look with invincible contempt on all
those differing from them in opinion; and their dislike to Christians in
particular is inveterate and deeply-rooted. They did their utmost to
prejudice the minds of the rulers as well as the _canaille_ of Africa
against us, by propagating the most unfavourable rumours of our
character and our motives; and partially succeeded in convincing them
that we were either spies or robbers; insomuch that the term “Christian”
became in disrepute with a large portion of all ranks, and a watchword
for reproaches and indignities of every description. Jealous and
malevolent, and fearful that through our means the great fabric of
imposture they had reared with so much facility on the basis of
superstition would be overthrown, as well as their lucrative trade with
the natives ruined, they watched all our actions with distrust and
alarm; and although they covered their faces with smiles on visiting us,
or on accosting us in the streets, those looks of kindness were put on
only to lull us into a security, and to impress us with the belief that
they were our best friends. Their relentless malice at length displayed
itself; for by repeatedly throwing out indirect insinuations on our
integrity in the hearing of Sultan Bello, these Arabs succeeded in
undermining our reputation in the eyes of that monarch; the consequences
of which hastened the death of my valued master, together with the
failure of the African Mission—for, to the perfidious endeavours of
those scoundrels I must attribute our detention in Soccatoo, and all the
misfortunes which attended that restraint.
THE FALATAHS.
The Falatahs, as a people, are perhaps not less extraordinary than the
Arabs, whom they formerly resembled in their unsettled, wandering
habits, and simple manners. No one can tell their origin, from what
country they at first emigrated, or to what extent they have scattered
themselves. They have overrun the continent from east to west, and are
found tending their flocks and herds near the sea, and warring with
success in the interior: some of them profess the Mohammedan religion,
and some worship stocks and stones; but all speak the same language, and
have the same ceremonies and amusements. The negroes who have travelled
farthest have declared to me that Falatahs are every where to be met
with, seldom mixing with the owners of the soil; but, like the gipsies
of Europe, keeping themselves a peculiar and distinct people.
When I was at Graham’s Town, Cape of Good Hope, in 1824, two copper-
coloured men, who had incautiously separated themselves from their
companions, were found wandering in the woods in the vicinity of the
place, and brought into it by a body of Caffres; they excited at the
time a great deal of curiosity, and conjecture was afloat as to what
particular nation they could have belonged to. For my part, from what I
now know, I have every reason for believing that those very men were
Falatahs; and I have a strong persuasion within my own breast that the
tribe called in Southern Africa the _Red_ Caffre, and the Falatah of the
eastern and central parts, are one and the same people! I do not affirm
that they _are_ actually the same; I only state it as my decided
conviction that they have sprung from one common source. I know nothing
of the language of the Red Caffre, but he certainly does not differ from
the Falatah in personal appearance; and by all accounts the manners,
customs, and ceremonies of both are precisely the same. It would be a
truly magnificent undertaking to traverse the unexplored regions between
Leetakoo and the (so called) Mountains of the Moon; and every way worthy
the courage and enterprise of an Englishman. I really believe that a
person acquainted with the genius and usages of the natives, and
possessing a persevering, undaunted spirit, with an unruffled temper,
would find no insurmountable difficulties against accomplishing this
object, stupendous as it may at first appear; he might soon and easily
accommodate himself to the manners of the Africans, which are generally
mild and simple, and do not differ, in many very essential points, from
the Cape to Bornou; and leaving gradually, and almost imperceptibly, the
healthy for the insalubrious climates, his frame would be prepared, by
such degrees, to encounter the transition.
At one time the Falatahs never resided in towns, but rambled, with their
flocks and herds, from place to place, as pasturage and water might
invite their steps. They journeyed in companies, having no particular
chief, or regular form of government; and their numbers were at first
too contemptible to excite the notice, still less the fears, of the
aborigines. Into Houssa they stole insensibly by “ones and twos,” and
finding that fertile and beautiful country much to their liking, they
took up a permanent abode in the woods at no great distance from the
spot on which Soccatoo now stands.
By some secret intelligence or correspondence, hordes of their
straggling countrymen soon gathered around them, and they at length
built a town in the province of Goober, in Houssa, and chose for
themselves a chief, named Danfodio. This man was well versed in the
religion of Mohammed, and had derived from the figurative language and
splendid diction of the Koran, a visionary and romantic turn of mind,
which prompted him to undertake novel and daring exploits, not unworthy
that great legislator whose work he had so intently studied. He began at
first to meddle with the polity of the ruling prince of Goober, and
adopted the language of dictation to that imbecile monarch, which not
being altogether agreeable to the royal mind, the newly built Falatah
town was levelled with the dust, and the chief himself, with all his
people, driven out of the country into the woods, wherein they erected
another town; and the Falatahs from the east and west flocked, in
considerable numbers, to the standard of their countryman. Finding his
strength daily and hourly increasing, Danfodio divided his men into
bands, or companies, and nominating a captain to each fifty, bade them
go forth and conquer in the name of the Prophet, for that God had given
them the lands and houses of the natives. He also embraced the
opportunity of impressing upon the minds of the leaders, with admirable
eloquence, the most prominent features of the religion they professed;
and artfully insinuated the exalted and unfading happiness which those
who fell in the cause of Mohammed would be entitled to in the other
world. The captains, filled with ardour and enthusiasm, found little
difficulty in the accomplishment of the task imposed upon them by their
crafty leader. With a handful of men the flourishing and important city
of Kano was taken and pillaged; and other parties overran the country
and subjugated the people, telling them that the Almighty had given them
their possessions for an inheritance; and that they themselves, with
their offspring, must ever after be their slaves and bondsmen. The
stupid natives were palsied with fear, and understanding little or
nothing of the Koran, knew not what to think of the strange doctrines of
the Prophet sprung up so suddenly and unexpectedly amongst them.
Danfodio’s pretensions, therefore, were seldom disputed; the Houssans
have often declared to me that the strength and inclination to “shake
the spear!” were denied them; they had no will of their own,—their hands
fell powerless by their sides, and they felt as if they had been touched
by the finger of a god, or were under the influence of an eastern
talisman. Abandoning their wives and children to the mercy of the
invaders, they consented to lose their liberty, and fell, like “silly
sheep,” into the snare that had been laid for them with so little art;
not even attempting to struggle with their oppressors; or if so, making
efforts as puny and ineffectual as the fluttering of a fly in a spider’s
web. Of all the provinces in Houssa, Goober alone made a show of
resistance; its monarch invested Danfodio in his own town, but being
repulsed with loss, made a precipitate retreat to Coonia, the capital of
his kingdom. He was pursued thither with slaughter by the Falatahs, who,
in their turn, surrounded his town, and succeeded in slaying him in a
sally, when the inhabitants, deprived of a leader, immediately
capitulated, and bowed their necks to the yoke of the Falatah chieftain.
All Houssa was now in subjection; Bornou was attacked with success; the
dynasty of that ancient kingdom tottered to its foundation, and its
monarch trembled on his throne. The Falatahs pushed their almost
bloodless conquests to Nyffé, and conquering part of that country with
the whole of Cubbé and Youri, had the audacity to enter Katunga, the
metropolis of Yariba, which being an idolatrous city, was set on fire;
but the inhabitants, recovering from the panic into which they had been
so suddenly thrown, rallied, and turning upon the incendiaries,
compelled them to make a precipitate, and disgraceful retreat. For some
reason, which I could never exactly comprehend, Danfodio hastily
recalled his victorious soldiers, and concentrating his power in Houssa,
founded the city of Soccatoo, somewhere about the year 1798, which he
resolved should be the metropolis of his usurped empire. Here he lived
in peace for many years, uniting in his own person, like his celebrated
prototype, the sacerdotal and kingly offices; and ruled his people with
candour, equity, and justice. As soon as the Arabs were made acquainted
with these sudden and important changes, they hastened, with well-timed
speed, to do homage to the success of his arms and the wisdom of his
councils; and ingratiated themselves so effectually into the favour of
the conqueror, by flattering his self-love with artful and well-directed
encomiums, that he loaded them with benefits, and intreated them to
remain for ever in his newly-acquired territory. He also presented them
with horned cattle, camels, and slaves, and offered them the most
fertile lands in Houssa, if they would consent to teach his subjects to
read the Koran, and give them an acquaintance with the Arabic language
and literature.
In the midst of these proceedings, the terrible Danfodio, at whose name
thousands of negroes trembled, became religiously mad, and was often
seized with paroxysms of remorse, for having erected a throne, by the
shedding of so much Mussulman blood. In his lucid intervals, a
melancholy preyed upon his mind, and he delivered his conscience into
the hands of the Arab emirs who surrounded him. These hungry and
insatiable adventurers plied the fanatical prince unceasingly for more
valuable presents, as the only means of appeasing the wrath of offended
Heaven; in which object they were eminently successful; but this failed
in alleviating the malady that afflicted Danfodio, and he expired in
great anguish in one of his fits about the year 1816, to the infinite
joy of his conquered subjects, and the sincere regret of the interested
Arabs, and the aspiring Falatahs. Amongst all people, however, he bore
the reputation of being one of the most extraordinary men that had ever
existed in the interior of Africa; and his enterprizing spirit, artful
stratagems, and perfect acquaintance with the African character, which
the whole tenor of his conduct evinces, show that the honor he had
acquired was not founded on popular clamour, or national prejudice; but
that his mind was greatly superior to those of the semi-barbarians that
surrounded him. He had made great and important changes in the laws and
government of the people he had subjugated to his sway, and created on
the ruins of the most flourishing and beautiful kingdom in the interior,
a new dynasty which is likely to become, in time, the most formidable
power in the whole continent.
Mohammed Bello, the present Sultan, and eldest son of Danfodio, ascended
the throne, by the unanimous voice of the Falatahs, shortly after his
father’s decease; but the government of the conquered territory to the
westward of Houssa, was awarded to Mohammed Ben Abdallah, his cousin.
Atego, a younger brother of Bello, attempted to raise a rebellion in
furtherance of his own ambitious projects in opposition to the rightful
heir, but being completely defeated in a pitched battle, by the
partizans of Bello, was taken prisoner, and liberated after a year’s
imprisonment in a common dungeon. He is now on a friendly footing with
his brother, but is a contemptible fellow, and appears to have sunk the
dignity of the prince in the meanness of the man.
On receiving intelligence of the death of the Sultan of the Falatahs,
the people of Goober, and many of those of the other conquered
provinces, impatient of the galling yoke which they had been compelled,
much against their own inclinations, to bear, rose simultaneously into
an open and general revolt, and put to death, indiscriminately, every
Falatah that had located himself in their country. Then, forming
themselves into a confederacy, with a variety of leaders at their head,
they for a long time waged an exterminating war with the successor of
Danfodio; but their movements being unconnected and irregular, and
anarchy having the ascendancy in their councils, Bello had reconquered
several of the mutinous districts at the period of our arrival, and made
a great slaughter of the miserable inhabitants. The towns whose gates
were not instantly opened to their summons, the Falatahs surrounded, and
intercepting all communication between the people residing in them and
those of the neighbouring country, prevented any provisions being
obtained by the besieged, and in a manner starved them into
capitulation. The insurgents had made, however, for Africans, a gallant
defence; and well knowing what they had to expect from their sanguinary
adversaries, would not surrender till all their domestic animals had
been consumed, and they themselves reduced to the extremity of feeding
on decoyed vultures, which, next to human flesh, they most cordially
abhor. Having obliged them at length to open the gates, the Falatahs
rushed in, and pouncing upon the emaciated and unresisting inhabitants,
made dreadful havoc of them, putting the old men and councillors to the
edge of the sword; thrusting a sharp stake into their bodies, and
exhibiting them on the tops of the walls and other conspicuous places,
as melancholy trophies of their success, and as a spectacle of horror
for their shuddering countrymen to profit by. In this situation the
ghastly corpses were exposed, till they had fallen to pieces by the
action of the air, or been devoured by birds of prey. The old women, and
young people of both sexes, who had escaped the general massacre, were
driven in triumph to Soccatoo, and retained as slaves by their imperious
conquerors. This was the dismal fate of the inhabitants of Coonia, the
capital of Goober, the prince of which country, named Doncasson, with
other young men, laboured as a slave till a year or two before Captain
Clapperton’s first arrival at Soccatoo, (about 1822,) when, effecting
his escape, with the most determined of his countrymen, he was elected
their captain, and being joined by numbers of the disaffected, marched
forthwith to the metropolis of the kingdom of his ancestors, and
vigorously assaulting it by surprise, the Falatahs, in their turn, after
a short and ineffectual resistance, surrendered to the infuriated
Gooberites.
The merciless Doncasson retaliated upon the inhabitants the dreadful
cruelties which they had so inhumanly inflicted upon his countrymen not
long before; in addition to which, the left hand of every young woman in
the town, in spite of their cries and tears, was amputated; after which,
being set at liberty, they returned with their mutilated bleeding
members, to Soccatoo. I saw several of the unfortunate creatures in that
city who had undergone this barbarous operation; the hand had been cut
off at the wrist, and the wound being left to nature for a cure, several
of the young women had bled to death on the road.
Sultan Bello meantime had not been an unconcerned or inactive spectator
of the exploit of Doncasson; he immediately assembled a strong force,
and made repeated attacks on Coonia, but was repulsed with loss in all
his attempts. The belligerents likewise fought two pitched battles, in
which the Falatahs were discomfited, and their Sultan wounded by a
poisoned arrow; by this means the Falatahs were no longer considered as
invincible by the original natives; and, foiled in all their manœuvres,
they returned crest-fallen and defeated to Soccatoo. Bello soon
recovered from the effects of his wound, but was ever after so
excessively afraid of the _Towayahs_, as Doncasson’s followers were
called, that, unless protected by a strong escort, neither he nor his
people dared to venture near their territories.
The Gooberites, at the period of my departure from Soccatoo, had
received a considerable reinforcement of cavalry from the Sheikh of
Bornou, and were daily becoming stronger and more formidable to the
Falatahs. Numerous bands of their young men infested the Goober, or
_Gondamie_ “bush,” through which the road to Kano lay. Here they hid
themselves in caves and unfrequented places; but on receiving
intelligence from their scouts of the approach of a body of the enemy,
less powerful than themselves, they would suddenly emerge from their
concealment, and springing upon the ill-fated Falatahs, generally
contrived to capture or destroy them. Hence the rapidity with which we
travelled through the dreaded bush—a rapidity that, in one instance, had
nearly cost me my life; and hence the exclamation of “O, the Goober
Bush!” so general amongst the Falatahs.
WAR WITH BORNOU.
The war between the Bornouese and Falatahs, which has been already
mentioned as raging at the time of our arrival in Kano, and which had
caused the Arabs in that city great uneasiness, originated from the
following cause:—A famine having impoverished the natives of the former
country, and threatened them with utter destruction, the Sheikh sent a
number of handsome horses, for which his kingdom is celebrated, as
presents to the Governor of Kano, and the chiefs of other Falatah towns.
The animals were delivered to the care of the ambassadors, who depicted
to the receivers of them, in lively colours, the destitute condition of
the people of Bornou; and intimated a wish that the Falatahs would
relieve their wants, by returning as much corn and other provisions as
they could readily spare, without putting themselves to an
inconvenience. The custom of giving and receiving presents is of very
ancient standing in Africa, and sanctioned by universal adoption.
Instead of acceding to the reasonable desires of the Ruler of Bornou,
the Chiefs of all the towns, excepting the Governor of Kano, kept indeed
the horses, but followed the example of many rude nations of antiquity,
as well as that of more modern times[1] and sent back the ambassadors to
their monarch, with bundles of sharp-pointed spears, hinting by these
hieroglyphics, that if the Sheikh wanted corn, he was to come and fight
for it. The Governor of Kano, however, went even a step beyond this, for
he not only retained the horses sent him, but bound the unsuspecting
ambassadors hand and foot, and taking them to the market-place, the
pitiless Falatah publicly butchered them in cold blood. The consummation
of this atrocious act, to which I was myself a spectator, elicited a
universal murmur of disapprobation from the slaves, who form by far the
major part of the inhabitants of the city; and it was generally feared,
from their deep but not loud execrations, that they would have risen
into open revolt, and revenged the murder of the Bornouese, by wreaking
their vengeance on the head of the perpetrator of the abominable crime.
This effervescence of the public mind, nevertheless, had subsided at the
period of my departure for Soccatoo, without producing any of the
effects so much dreaded by the free population of Kano; and the
recollection of the revolting and sanguinary action of the Governor was
swallowed up in other and more important incidents.
As soon as the news of this melancholy catastrophe reached the ears of
the Sheikh of Bornou, who was then at Kouka, the capital of his empire,
he was so violently exasperated, that he swore by the Prophet he would
have an immediate and ample revenge of the Falatahs for the insult they
had offered him; and for this purpose, instantly assembling a numerous
and powerful army, he hastened to chastise his relentless enemies. The
inhabitants of every Falatah town opened their gates to the Sheikh till
he reached Murmur, (the place in which Dr. Oudney died and was buried by
my lamented master, in the former journey,) where the people who refused
to follow the example set them by their countrymen; and prepared to
defend themselves to the last extremity. The Bornouese, being unwilling
to lose so much time as the investment of the town, in a formal manner,
would inevitably occasion, contrived to ensnare a number of vultures, by
baiting a crooked bit of iron, sharpened at the extremity, and
resembling in shape a small sized English fish-hook, with pieces of
putrid beef. These instruments, to which a long string was attached,
were eagerly seized by those voracious birds, which by this means were
caught with little difficulty. The soldiers of the Sheikh had no sooner
obtained as many as they fancied would be necessary, by this stratagem,
than they tied pieces of burning cotton to the claws or tails of the
vultures, and so set them at liberty. The affrighted birds instantly
flew into the town, and alighting on the thatch of the dwellings, of
course set them on fire, and a general conflagration was the almost
immediate consequence.
This unlooked for calamity distracted the attention of the besieged; and
all flew to arrest the progress of the flames, and to snatch their
children from their burning habitations; whilst the Bornouese, taking
advantage of the general consternation that prevailed in the town, made
a sudden rush on the massy gates or doors, (which are made of the bark
of the date tree, fastened and strengthened with iron clasps,) and so
desperate was the assault, that in less than a minute’s time they had
entered the place, and were engaged in their work of death and slaughter
amongst the inhabitants.
The infuriated Bornouese pursued their way through the burning streets,
amidst the crackling huts of the people, and the general devastation and
ruin—respecting neither party, but frequently overwhelming both
themselves and their enemies in one common destruction. The male
Falatahs were marked out as peculiar objects of the vengeance of the
victorious troops, one only escaping to tell the dismal tale to his
countrymen; but not yet satiated with blood, the pagan soldiers in the
army of the Sheikh captured all the unoffending females who were running
about in every direction, with their offspring in their arms, or on
their breasts; and, as with the Gooberites, after amputating one of
their hands, ejected them from their town, snatched their children from
their embraces, and compelled the poor creatures to wander without
protection, and almost dead with grief and intense suffering, to other
towns and villages, before arriving at which many of them were released
by death.
Several other Falatah towns were treated in a similar dreadful manner by
the Bornouese, who marched hastily towards Kano; but when about a day’s
journey from that city, were intercepted by the troops of the king of
Jacoba, and other allies of Bello, and coming to an engagement, the
latter were utterly routed by the Sheikh, after a short but sanguinary
contest. The Bornouese obtained immense booty by this victory, and on
drawing near the walls of Kano, the governor went out to meet them with
the joint forces of that city and the province of Zeg Zeg, when the
Falatahs again suffered a mortifying defeat, and were obliged to flee
back into Kano, the immense wall of which, with its ponderous doors,
alone prevented the victorious Sheikh, flushed with success, and glutted
with revenge, from following them into the town, and annihilating every
soul; in which he would undoubtedly have been assisted by the murmuring
slaves.
Bello, meantime, was gathering together an immense army to attack the
Sheikh, who, being made acquainted with the circumstance, in order more
effectually to secure the booty he had already required, having
fulfilled to the letter his terrible denunciation on the insolent
Falatahs, thought proper to raise the siege of Kano, and return to his
own kingdom, laden with provisions and spoil; nor did the Gooberites
leave it in the power of Bello to make reprisals on his triumphant
adversaries; so that they were suffered to retreat unmolested to Bornou.
The old coffee-pot, tent, and drum, which the disappointed Falatahs
boasted, amongst other things, they had captured from the Bornouese, and
which were publicly exhibited as trophies of a victory they had never
won, were owned, the day before I left Soccatoo, by the discomfited king
of Jacoba, as his property, and restored to that monarch immediately.
The prince informed me that the soldiers of the Sheikh were so loaded
with articles of greater value, that they did not think it worth while
to have the trouble of conveying an old worn-out tent, coffee-pot, &c.
to Bornou, and therefore left them behind for the use of their
opponents.
I could hardly forbear laughing to see the animosity which the Falatahs
evinced against the unconscious coffee-pot, and the dreadful punishments
they inflicted upon it, on all occasions, as if this inanimate vessel
could satisfy their thirst for vengeance on their enemies. I have heard
of boys in England, during the period of the war with France,
desperately lopping off the tops of thistles with a walking-stick, and
exclaiming, with appropriate gesticulation, “Oh, if you were Frenchmen,
we would behead you in this manner!” The expression of the Falatah, with
regard to the coffee-pot, was very similar. I have seen him lift his
spear in a transport of rage, and while his eyes flashed fire, cry out
with dreadful vehemence: “Oh, if you were the Sheikh of Bornou, thus
would I pierce your vile body!” accompanying his words and gesture by
making, with all the fury of excitement and disappointed revenge, a
valorous thrust at the ill-used breakfast-preparer of the king of
Jacoba. When it came to be understood, however, that the coffee-pot did
not actually belong to the Bornouese monarch, but was the property of
one of their most faithful allies, they were overwhelmed with shame and
chagrin; but hushed up the matter as well as they were able, vowing,
that as soon as the Gooberites should give them a short respite, they
would be amply revenged on their spirited and successful antagonists.
WAR WITH FUNDAH.
Fundah was described to me as being a large and populous city, the
capital of a kingdom of the same name, and situated on the banks of the
Niger. It is defended by a high wall, except the part facing the sea;
and canoes are continually plying up and down the river, between the
town and the bight of Benin. The inhabitants, having received a quantity
of European fire-arms from the coast by this water-conveyance, no sooner
heard of the Falatah conquests, than they perforated the wall of Fundah
with innumerable little holes, barely large enough to admit the barrels
of muskets, and light for the soldiers to distinguish objects without.
The city never was invested in Danfodio’s time, that prince wisely
contenting himself with the subjection of Houssa, &c.; but Bello, his
successor, having cast an envious eye on so rich and flourishing a
kingdom, had long premeditated the conquest of dominions that lay so
near and so commodious for the accomplishment of his ambitious views;
and attempted to carry his well-matured design into execution a few
weeks only after Captain Clapperton had quitted Soccatoo on his former
journey (1824).
The Sultan accordingly, assembling all his forces, marched with a
formidable army towards the devoted Fundah; and halting about a half
mile from that city, sent the following singular and characteristic
message to the king:—
BELLO’S MESSAGE.
“Ruler of Fundah! deliver up your country, your riches, your people, and
your slaves, to the beloved of God, Mohammed Bello, king of all the
Mussulmans, without reluctance on your part; for if you do not suffer
him quietly and peaceably to take possession of your kingdom, in order
to propagate the religion of the only true Prophet in it, he will shed
your blood, and the blood of your children, and the blood of your
household; not one shall be left alive: while your people he will bind
with fetters of iron, to be his slaves and bondsmen for ever—God having
so spoken by the mouth of Mohammed!”
KING OF FUNDAH’S ANSWER.
“Sultan of the Falatahs! The king of Fundah does not know you or your
Prophet; he laughs your boastings to scorn, and despises your impotent
threats. Go back to your country, and live in peace with your people;
for if you persist in the foolish attempt to invade his dominions, you
will surely fall by his hands; and instead of his or his subjects being
your vassals and bondsmen,—your slaves shall be his slaves, and your
people his people. Your chiefs and warriors, and mighty men, will he
slaughter without mercy, and their blood shall be sprinkled on the walls
of his town; while even your mallams and emirs will he thrust through
with spears, and cast their bodies into the woods, to be devoured by
lions and birds of prey!”
This insulting and contemptuous message to the beloved of God, the high-
minded Bello, irritated the choler of the Falatah monarch to so great a
degree, that he immediately ordered his cavalry to advance to the very
walls of Fundah; and the conquest of that important city was already
effected in his imagination;—the glory and fame he was about to acquire
filled him with pride of heart, and the brightest visions of
aggrandizement floated in his fancy. The cavalry were dressed in flowing
white tobes; and as they drew near, the mallams, preceding the horse,
read aloud sentences from the Koran, as they were wont to do, till,
approaching within a few yards of the fatal wall, they made a
simultaneous pause for the infantry to come up. The mallans then
embraced the opportunity of reading a few Mohammedan prayers in Arabic,
which no one understood or cared about; and the army unconcernedly
prepared to make the attack. They were quite easy as to the result of
it; and contrary to the solemnity of the Moslam character, laughed,
joked, and made merry amongst themselves, playing all manner of antics,
just like a fool shaking his bells before the mouth of a cannon about to
sweep him to destruction.
Meanwhile the king of Fundah had not been idle. Anticipating what was
actually taking place, he had prepared to meet the shock of his powerful
antagonist by every means that could be devised in so pressing an
emergency, rallying the drooping spirits of his people, and dissipating
the dread that even the _sound_ of the Falatah name could not fail of
inspiring. The apertures already mentioned as being formed in the wall,
the prince caused to be filled with muskets; and placing a soldier at
each, watched attentively the motions and advances of his enemies. He
waited till, as it has already been remarked, the foe, by a strange
indifference, began to play the fool almost close to the walls. Another
moment—and a thousand Falatah jaws were extended to shout the war-cry of
their countrymen, “Allah Ackbar!” previously to making the premeditated
assault; but before they had uttered the first syllable of the sentence,
their mouths were suddenly closed by the salute of a volley of musketry
from the fatal wall, which did dreadful execution amongst them. Hardly
knowing what to make of this rough and ungracious reception, so entirely
different from what they had ever before experienced, they were
petrified to the spot, and could neither fly, nor prosecute the assault
against the town; but kept their stupid eyes foolishly staring into each
other’s countenance, as if to ask the meaning of what had taken place.
Whilst the Falatahs were in this state of horrid suspense, and before
they could have time to recover their presence of mind, another well-
directed discharge of fire-arms from the holes in the wall, completed
the general consternation, broke the charm that had bound them to the
soil, and away scampered the heroic Mohammedans in all directions—Bello,
the beloved of God, and king of all the Mussulmans! being the first to
set them the example. At that instant the men of Fundah, rushing from
the gates, accelerated the flight of the invaders, who were terror-
stricken on hearing the war-cry of their pursuers, a loud, wild yell,
close at their heels; many of them were killed, and many taken
prisoners, not one of them daring to make the shadow of resistance, or
even venturing to look behind him. Being loaded with booty, the
successful people of Fundah discontinued the carnage, and returned in
triumph to their city.
In this disastrous affair, the Falatahs left five hundred of their best
troops dead on the field, besides a vast number of prisoners and
wounded; two hundred of the finest horses in their empire also fell into
the hands of the conquerors, so that the threat of the Fundah monarch
was more than partially accomplished. This, in African warfare, was
considered as a sanguinary contest: indeed Bello himself was so severely
humbled at the decisive and signal overthrow, that, for a long season
afterwards, he was ashamed to show himself to his people. What surprised
the Falatahs and their prince was the death of so many mallams, who,
being placed in front of the horsemen, were consequently more exposed to
the fire of the enemy, and the first victims to the Fundah musketry; but
the greatest wonder of all was the loss of an Arab emir, who received
two shots in his breast, and fell dead from the side of the sultan.
These men were supposed to have a charmed life, and in all probability
believed themselves that they were invulnerable; but the result proved
on what a fragile tenure they had held their pretensions to
impenetrability, and opened, in some measure, the eyes of the multitude
to their abominable deceptions.
The preceding information was first furnished to me by the king of
Jacoba; and afterwards corroborated in all its particulars by Mohammed,
a Houssa man, and servant of mine, who accompanied me to Dunrora. He had
been himself a spectator of the bloody scene he described; and fought
with the cavalry in the Falatah army, in their memorable exploit before
the walls of Fundah.
Bello, it was asserted, would not risk the dangers of a second campaign,
the first having given him a _quietus_, which, it was generally
believed, would effectually damp his ardour for conquest during his
lifetime. The Falatahs, a proud, conceited people, and excessively vain
of their national spirit, carefully exclude from their conversation even
an allusion to a defeat; whilst their victories are always made the most
of, and repeated a thousand times in every company.
The great eagerness and anxiety which Bello displayed on Captain
Clapperton’s former visit to Soccatoo, to maintain a friendly
intercourse with the English nation, arose undoubtedly from the
expectation, that by the assistance he should derive by that means, he
would find little difficulty in overcoming his enemies: a universal
despotism which he had attempted, singly and unprotected, to erect over
the minds and persons of every Pagan nation in the interior, being a
desideratum with him, towards the accomplishment of which his thoughts
and actions were unceasingly directed.
FOOD OF THE NATIVES.
In Houssa, and, generally speaking, in every country in the interior
(except Yariba), the natives have but two meals a-day, one before
sunrise, and the other after sun-set. The breakfast of the higher
classes consists either of rice and milk, or flour and milk, boiled with
honey, and butter manufactured from cow’s milk. The supper, which is
considered the principal meal, is made of a small quantity of meat
stewed in butter, and poured over a bowl of tuah. Poorer people
breakfast on flour and water only; and their evening’s repast is
composed simply of flour boiled in water till it attains the consistence
of pudding, seasoned with a sauce made from a certain herb, which to the
palate of an European would be most disgusting stuff indeed. With this,
however, they are perfectly contented; and, indeed they are infinitely
happier than the same class of people in Europe.