* * * * *
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 recognized 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.
Not having sufficient money at my disposal to purchase fresh camels, or
provisions and presents for the different chiefs of towns on the road to
Fezzan, I was necessitated to take a different route, which I was not at
all sorry for; and for that purpose purchased a horse and two asses.
Bello had not forgotten to desire Hat Sallah, in his letter to him, to
send back Pasko to Soccatoo the day after my arrival at Kano, and
procure me a substitute. I begged of him, however, to suffer the Haussan
to accompany me to Coulfo in Nyffé, and promised to have him conveyed
back to Kano on my arrival there. He at first refused to accede to my
wishes, but the temptation of a present, the best argument in the world
in such cases, made the old Arab smile an assent to my proposition; and
calling Pasko into his presence, he gave him permission to attend me to
Coulfo, but enjoined him to return the moment he had entered that city,
on pain of having _Jerrub_ (the Devil) sent after him. The old offender,
who could be moved by nothing else, at the bare sound of _Jerrub_ was
flung into a violent fever, and hastened to me in great trepidation
shortly after, every member of his body trembling like an aspen-leaf.
After giving me to understand, as well as his agitation would allow him
to do, the conversation he had had with Hat Sallah, and in consequence
thereof his reluctance to quit Kano with me, I endeavoured to deride him
out of his superstitious prejudices; but they had taken so firm a grasp
on his mind that all my exertions were ineffectual; and he still
persevered in his resolution of remaining behind. Knowing Pasko’s tender
regard for the softer sex, however, I made this a means of accomplishing
my object. I had consented he should take the slave that Hat Sallah had
sold me, to wife, for he had forgotten the lovely Mattah, of tuah
celebrity, and felt great loneliness in the absence of female converse;
I therefore assured him that unless he would consent to accompany me, a
separation should instantly take place. The event showed that I had
touched the right chord; on hearing my decision, he trembled more
violently than ever, and while rivers of tears flowed down his furrowed
cheeks, exclaimed, in a tone of agony that rendered his expression
almost inarticulate, “O, don’t—I—will—go.” This weighty point being
decided, I made the necessary preparations for my departure.
On the 29th, Hat Sallah hinted that it would be well for me to pay a
visit to the governor of Kano, who was at Faniso. I agreed with the Arab
in opinion, and waited on his Excellency in the course of the morning,
who, on my leaving him, said, “When you return to your country,
Christian, give the Falatahs a good name.”
In the afternoon we left Kano, and travelling at a rapid rate, halted on
the banks of the Kogie, four hours’ journey from that place, but the
river being much swollen, we did not dare to cross it. To our infinite
disappointment I found that the tent poles had been left behind, and was
therefore obliged to send back one of the servants to fetch them, giving
him a sword in proof that he was despatched by me. The scoundrel,
however, never returned; and it being necessary for us to rest on the
margin of the stream that night, I slung the tent to the branch of a
tree, and fastened the lower part of it to the earth. In the evening the
rain poured down in torrents, accompanied by awful and tremendous
thunder, so that in the night, our tent being completely drenched, the
bough to which it was appended broke with its increasing weight; and
falling on us as we were reposing on our mats, we found it impossible to
sleep, and were obliged to remain in that miserable plight till the next
morning.
We arose at an early hour, and as soon as things were put in some kind
of order, I sent Pasko to Kano, to endeavour to apprehend the fellow
that had absconded with my sword, for I fancied that one rogue was
better qualified to detect another, than an honest man: but the man not
having been seen in the city, Pasko was unsuccessful in his search, and
returned, very much down in the mouth, bringing with him the tent-poles.
The river Kogie by that time was become fordable; but, in consequence of
the strength and rapidity of its current, we crossed with extreme
difficulty. No sooner was this object effected, and before we had time
to clothe ourselves, than four armed slaves from Soccatoo hastened up to
us, and demanded the four thousand cowries, which, it will be
recollected Pasko had borrowed of Ben Gumso, to defray the expenses of
his marriage with the accomplished, but hard-handed, Mattah Gewow. Pasko
protested that he had left property in Soccatoo to the value of fifty
thousand cowries, out of which Ben Gumso might satisfy himself. This
answer by no means pleased the myrmidons of the illustrious Arab emir,
who, for the sake of little more than a shilling of English money, had
despatched four men to the distance of between two and three hundred
miles to arrest the debtor; and they were about to take the affectionate
lover away by force, when I thought it time to interfere, and paid them
the money they demanded. The armed scoundrels then went their way,
taking with them the whole of Pasko’s wearing apparel, which he had left
on the opposite side of the stream; so that the every-way unfortunate
man was obliged to have a rough mat tied to his waist, till I could
procure him a more becoming garment. This little matter being adjusted,
to the complete satisfaction of the husband of Mattah, we slept on the
borders of the stream for the night, and pursued our journey on the
morning of the next day. At two o’clock we arrived at a small walled
town called Madubie, in which I erected my tent; and in the evening the
chief’s daughter visited me with milk, and a huge bowl of beef and tuah,
sufficient for the whole of us for supper.
The weather had been violent during the night, but clearing up early on
the 1st of June, we dried the tent, and journeyed onwards till we
arrived at the Gora, a narrow, but deep and rapid river. As on the
former occasion, the men experienced considerable difficulty in
attaining the opposite side, and I was greatly afraid they would be
washed away and drowned by the swiftness with which the water rolled on;
but, happily, after a world of exertion, they crossed in safety, and at
one at noon, passing near the walled town of Bebajie, I desired them to
proceed a-head. I myself followed alone at some distance, for I dreaded
being seen by any of the straggling inhabitants, who, if they happened
to recognize my features, would infallibly detain me amongst them. In
half an hour we came to two other roads, the one leading to Nyffé, and
the other to the far-famed Fundah.
When Capt. Clapperton found himself dying in Soccatoo, he intimated to
me that if I attempted to return through Nyffé and Yariba, the
inhabitants of one of those countries, who must have heard of our having
taken presents to their common adversary, would undoubtedly put me to
death; and this was the reason he wished to impress so strongly upon me
the necessity of my accompanying the Arabs over the desert. I paused for
an instant, as I looked on each of the said roads; but, feeling an
earnest desire, which I could not repress, to visit Fundah, on the banks
of the Niger, and trace that much-talked of river in a canoe to Benin;
and, perhaps, fearing that my departed master’s observation was well-
grounded, I did not hesitate a great while, but travelled on the latter
road.
About six in the evening we erected our tent near to Koofa, a small
walled town, in which I was fortunate enough to obtain a little sleep
for the first time since leaving Kano. The town is situated at the base
of an immense rock, on which there is not the slightest trace of
vegetation; and, although extremely populous, is no more than two miles
in circumference. To the eastward of it is a range of high hills,
stretching from north to south as far as the eye can reach; and their
slopes being green and luxuriant, they wore a delightful appearance.
On the three following days, we crossed several rapid streams, and
passed through many insignificant walled towns. The country traversed on
those days, although level, was picturesque and beautiful; and all
nature was covered with a lively verdure.
On the 4th of June we came to the foot of a high and craggy mountain,
called Almena, rising abruptly from the plains. It consists of gigantic
blocks of granite, fearfully piled on each other, and at a distance
resembled the rocks in the vicinity of the celebrated logan-stone, in
Cornwall. Mohammed, an intelligent mussulman, who was acquainted with
the traditions of the whole country, seating himself on a mass of rock,
gave me the following story:—
“About five hundred years ago, a queen of the Fantee nation, having
quarrelled with her husband about a golden stool, fled with it from her
dominions, followed by a great number of her subjects; and built a
considerable town at the foot of this mountain, which she called Almena.
Her irritated husband pursued the queen with an army; but, losing a
great part of his men from sickness and other causes, adopted the
language of a suppliant instead of the bearing of the general of an
army, and prayed to be admitted into the town, and live in peace with
his ambitious spouse. His petition was granted, and the newly-built town
flourished under their joint government till about ten or twelve years
afterwards, when the natives of the country rose against them, and
putting the principal inhabitants, with their sovereign, to death, took
the remainder into slavery, and levelled the ill-fated Almena with the
dust.”
The town, of whatever kind it might have been, was formerly surrounded
by a wall, the ruins of which are yet visible.
We halted at another walled town, called Gatas, in the afternoon, where
I accidentally met with some Kano merchants from Cuttup. The
inhabitants, discovering by some means that I was a Christian, came in
crowds to see me; but behaved in an orderly and respectful manner. I
invited the most respectable females into my tent, which they all
greatly admired, and in return for this civility shortly afterwards
presented me with milk and _foorah_. The inhabitants of Gatas, as well
as those of every other town I had passed through since leaving Kano,
are natives of Houssa, and tributary to the Falatahs.
We halted at the outside of Damoy on the 5th, the inhabitants of which
informed me that the range of hills I have already mentioned as
extending to the verge of the horizon, are inhabited by the terrible Yam
Yams, whom they all declared to be confirmed cannibals. That singular
people formerly carried on an extensive traffic with the natives of the
surrounding country in elephants’ teeth, which they exchanged for red
cloth, beads, &c.; but having about five years before assassinated and
eaten a gaffle of merchants, all communication had, from that period,
been cut off, between the savage mountaineers and their timid neighbours
of the plains.
We arrived at Nammaleek on the 7th: the town is defended by a mountain
nearly perpendicular, and thickly covered with wood. Thousands of
hyænas, tiger-cats, jackalls, monkeys, &c. which exist on the latter,
kept so terrific a noise during the night, that although much fatigued,
I could not close my eyes. These animals are so bold and rapacious, that
the poor inhabitants of Nammaleek cannot preserve a single bullock,
sheep, or goat; in consequence of which no animal food was to be had in
the town. The chief put us into a hut, and presented us with tuah, which
being most unpalatable stuff, by reason of a little sauce, prepared from
the juice of the monkey’s bread-fruit tree, which had been mixed with
it, I could not taste a mouthful.
I intended to have remained in the place for a few hours on the
following day, in order to take medicine; for, having a slight fever on
me, I felt extremely unwell; but the curiosity of the people not
permitting me to embrace an opportunity of opening my medicine-chest,
excepting in their presence, I felt no inclination to try the
experiment. In the course of the day (7th) two messengers unluckily
recognized me, and asked whither I was journeying. On my acquainting
them, the horsemen instantly rode off, and, as I subsequently learnt,
returned to Zaria, and informed the King of Zeg Zeg that the Christian
was on his way to Fundah, with two asses, loaded with riches, and a
beautiful horse, as presents to the monarch of that kingdom.
Leaving Nammaleek on the 8th, and keeping in a south-westerly direction,
at the base of a range of mountains, we observed an opening through
them, and rode to the opposite side. Our course then lay more easterly;
and, having crossed one large and three small rivers, whose names I
could not learn, we arrived at Fullindushie, the frontier town in
Catica, or Bowchee, in the afternoon. On our journey we met, on their
way to Soccatoo, as a tax paid to Sultan Bello from a neighbouring
country, thirty slaves, men, women, and children, who were all ill with
the small pox. The males were tied to each other by the neck, with
thongs made of twisted bullock’s hide; but the women and children were
unconfined: notwithstanding the loathsome disease that hung upon these
poor wretches, they all appeared merry, thoughtless, and happy, as
though they had been enjoying their freedom in perfect health.
The inhabitants of Fullindushie were the first people in Africa I had
seen that disdained to confine their well-proportioned limbs in any kind
of dress; they went perfectly naked, and laughed immoderately on seeing
me; whilst I, on my part, made myself equally merry at the singularity
of their appearance. Their sable locks were bedecked with huge lumps of
red clay and grease—their bodies shone with a clammy unction, any thing
but agreeable to the eye, or pleasant to the smell—a massy piece of blue
glass hung from a hole in the upper lip—and from the lobe of the ear
dangled a misshapen fragment of red wood, about the largeness of a man’s
thumb.
Their features do not resemble, in the slightest degree, those of the
Negro, but are fine, regular and handsome, bearing a striking similitude
to the European, such as impressed me at first sight;—yet, with all
these pretensions to superiority over their jetty neighbours in personal
appearance, they yield to them in cleanliness and decency; for, although
an artless, good-tempered, social race, the Bowchee people are filthy in
their habits, and disgusting in their manners; their sheep, goats, and
poultry eat and sleep in the same room with them, and a most intolerable
odour is exhaled from all their dwellings. When the females of Catica go
to market, they wear a twig tied to the middle, and hanging down in
front. Nothing can be more graceful or _picturesque_ than a troop of
these modest damsels proceeding to market bedizened in this manner; and
I could hardly tell what to make of a body of about a hundred of them
which met me near La Zumee. The Bowchee people appear to have no
affection for their offspring—the gentle appeals of nature are unknown
to them—parental tenderness dwells not in their bosoms; and they sell
their children as slaves to the greatest strangers in the world, with no
greater remorse of conscience than if they had been common articles of
merchandize. As a proof of this strange and unnatural apathy on the part
of a mother towards her child, the following touching scene took place
at Fullindushie whilst I was in the town:—
A travelling slave-dealer passing through the place, had purchased
several of their children, of both sexes, from the inhabitants; and
amongst others, a middle-aged woman had an only daughter, whom she
parted with for a necklace of beads. The unhappy girl, who might have
been about thirteen or fourteen years of age, on being dragged away from
the threshold of her parents’ hut, clung distractedly, like a
shipwrecked mariner to a floating mast, round the knees of her unfeeling
mother, and looking up wistfully in her countenance, burst into a flood
of tears, exclaiming with vehemence and passion:—“O mother! do not sell
me; what will become of me? what will become of yourself in your old
age, if you suffer me to desert you? Who will fetch you corn and milk?
Who will pity you when you die? Have I been unkind to you? O, mother! do
not sell your only daughter. I will take you in my arms when you are
feeble, and carry you under the shade of trees. As a hen watches over
her chicken, so will I watch over you, my dear mother. I will repay the
kindness you showed me in my infant years. When you are weary, I will
fan you to sleep; and whilst you are sleeping, I will drive away flies
from you. I will attend on you when you are in pain; and when you die I
will shed rivers of sorrow over your grave. O mother! my dear mother! do
not push me away from you; do not sell your only daughter to be the
slave of a stranger!”—Useless tears! vain remonstrance! The unnatural,
relentless parent, shaking the beads in the face of her only child,
thrust her from her embraces; and the slave-dealer drove the agonized
girl from the place of her nativity, which she was to behold no more.
Quitting Fullindushie, the day after our arrival, in the course of the
afternoon, we halted at La Zumee, a small town with a good population.
On entering it I observed two men, sitting under a date-tree, to which I
instantly walked up, and accosted the one, whom, being neatly dressed, I
conceived to be the chief; but was surprised to find that the person I
addressed was a Kano merchant; and the individual by his side, a dirty
contemptible old fellow, dressed in a filthy sheep skin, I was obliged
to pay my respects to as the chief of La Zumee. Having pointed out an
empty hut for my use, he disappeared, but returned in two hours after
with an apology for not sending me provisions, saying that his wives
were at work in his gardens; and on their leaving them he would remember
me. Accordingly about three hours after the chief had left me, the
industrious ladies brought me a couple of fowls, and tuah and rice, for
which I gave them a pair of scissors and fifty needles; the latter
articles, like cowries, being the circulating medium of the country.
Surrounding the town is a remarkably broad and deep ditch, on the
outside of which the country is well cultivated, and the soil appears to
be rich and highly productive. On the 10th we slept at Coorokoo, a small
walled town, and on the following day pitched our tent on the banks of a
large river called Coodoonia, (flowing swiftly to the north-west, and
entering, it is said, the Niger near Fundah,) where we lay without food
till the next day.
Arising at an early hour in the morning, we succeeded in crossing the
water, which reached to our chins, and immediately proceeded towards
_Cuttup_, where we arrived after three hours travelling. Having heard on
my route from Kano, so many different accounts of Cuttup, its wealth,
population, and celebrated market, I was surprised and disappointed on
finding it to consist of nearly five hundred small villages or hamlets,
almost adjoining each other; for I had been given to understand, in the
hyperbolical relations of the natives, that it was a magnificent and
powerful city, the wealth and prosperity of its inhabitants rendering it
of more importance than any other in the interior. The villages occupy
an immense and beautiful plain, embellished with a variety of elegant
trees, amongst which I observed, for the first time since I had left
Yariba, the plantain, the palm, and the cocoa trees, all flourishing in
vernal luxuriance. The sun shone brightly upon the numerous rural
hamlets as I passed through them; the oxen and cows were chewing the cud
in front of the tidy looking habitations; flocks of sheep bleated from
the inclosures; fowls were clucking in the lanes; small birds were
careering in the sky;—all bore an air of peace, loveliness, simplicity,
and comfort, that delighted and charmed me.
A considerable traffic is carried on at Cuttup, in slaves and horned
cattle; the latter of which are bred by the Falatahs, (great numbers of
whom reside there for no other purpose,) who sell or exchange them to
the natives. Slaves, as well as bullocks and sheep, are exposed in the
market, which is held daily; and also red caps, country cloth, gum,
salt, goora nuts, trona, beads, tobacco, rings, needles, cutlery
articles; and honey, rice, milk, &c. People from the most remote parts
resort to the market in vast numbers, to purchase these various articles
of merchandize; and return with them to their respective countries. The
chief or sultan as he is called, being a _very_ great man, I thought it
would not be amiss to give him a present worthy his dignity and exalted
station, and accordingly took him eight yards of blue and scarlet
damask, prints of my own gracious sovereign and the late duke of York,
with several articles of minor value, in return for which I received a
sheep, the humps of two bullocks, and stewed rice sufficient to satisfy
the appetites of at least fifty hungry men. I was honoured by a visit
from ten of the king’s wives two days after my arrival, who expressing
the most rapturous delight on observing the gilt buttons on my jacket, I
cut them off, and presented them to their sable majesties, who accepted
them with a loud laugh of thankfulness, and sticking them in their ears,
bade me farewell, and danced away.
Unlike the princes of Houssa, Nyffé, Borghoo, &c. the king of Cuttup
gives his wives unrestricted liberty, which they are never known to
abuse; but in other respects they are treated in much the same manner as
the women of those sovereigns. During my stay in Cuttup I was never in
want of a bullock’s hump, (by far the most delicate part of the animal,
and frequently weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds,) the king
invariably receiving as a tribute from the butchers, the hump of every
bullock they slaughter; and one of these delicious oily excrescences was
brought me daily by a person purposely despatched from the _queens_.
Being much in want of money, I ordered it to be published in the market-
place that I had needles and beads for sale, which brought a number of
individuals into my hut, who purchased freely, giving at least eighty
per cent more for my property than for the needles of the Arabs; but
whether the buyers actually fancied mine were of more excellent quality
than those they had been in the habit of using, or whether it arose from
a spirit of curiosity to preserve something belonging to so rare a
creature as “the white man,” I was at a loss to conjecture.
An old woman came to me one afternoon, sobbing aloud and full of grief;
telling me in a tone of peculiar dolefulness, that all her little
savings, the accumulation of years of industry and frugality, had been
stolen from a hole in her hut, in which she had concealed it a short
time before, by some of her dishonest neighbours; and entreating me to
favour her with a charm that would effectually prevent a recurrence of
so ignominious an action in future. Being ever willing to oblige the
simple-hearted Africans, and knowing also the profound veneration in
which a charm of mine would be held by all ranks, I gave the poor woman
a teaspoonful of common sweet oil, and urged her to pour it on the money
she intended hiding, stating, that if any person should dare to touch it
without her permission, he would instantly be punished with suffering
and death. I likewise desired her to give the virtues of the charm as
extensive a circulation as possible amongst her acquaintances, who would
be so awed by the terrible denunciation threatened by the charmer, that
fear itself would deter them from exercising their pilfering
propensities on her property. The countenance of the venerable matron
brightened up at these expressions; and substituting tears of gratitude
and pleasure for those of disappointment and sorrow, she fell on her
knees before me, embraced my feet, and looking up with a mingled
expression of _naïveté_ and maternal tenderness, poured out a full tide
of thanks and blessings on her protector, as she called me, which made
me blush for the deception I had practised; but I was consoled with the
reflection, that in consequence of the invincible superstition—the
ignorance—the unconquerable prejudices of the people, and the fear in
which I was held, the very object aimed at by me, would in all
probability be fully accomplished.
On the 16th I paid my respects to the King of Cuttup and his amiable,
laughter-loving consorts; and then pursuing my journey to Fundah in a
more cheerful mood than I had felt for a long time, arrived at a small
town called Coogie, in the middle of the afternoon. The journey,
however, was not of the most agreeable description; the road at one
moment winding over a sharp, rugged precipice, and in the next through
pools of water and deceitful hollows; we were oftentimes up to the neck
in filth and wet; to add to which, flies were innumerable, and so
troublesome to the asses by their mischievous propensity to bite and
sting, that the irritated animals, flinging off their riders in the
mire, and playing all manner of wanton pranks, detained us a
considerable time in the course of the forenoon.
The next day our journey was not a whit more pleasant or comfortable.
The rain fell in torrents, and the water, roaring down the sides of the
mountains, rolled in one mighty stream, with inconceivable impetuosity
through the vallies, and carried every thing in its progress. This
continued for hours, when the thick clouds dispersing, the sun broke
forth in all his majesty, and the tumultuous elements were lulled into
peace. We crossed a stream, or river, called Rary, in the course of the
day, and slept at Dungoora, a small town, in which we found ourselves
very hungry, but could get nothing at all to eat.
We pursued our course on the 18th, and arrived at Dunrora, a paltry
town, containing four thousand inhabitants, by six o’clock in the
evening. Our route, for some part of the journey, lay over steep and
craggy precipices, on the summit of one of which the horse that carried
the portmanteaus struck himself against a sharp piece of rock jutting up
out of the narrow foot path, and was precipitated a distance of eighty
yards, the ropes which were fastened to the portmanteaus arresting his
further progress. I was filled with alarm on observing the helpless
little animal tumbling head over heels down the frightful declivity, and
expected at least that he would have been dashed to pieces before
reaching the bottom; but, some stunted trees luckily growing on the side
of the precipice, he became entangled in the manner which has just been
related. We had been travelling about half an hour, after leaving the
spot on which the accident occurred, when reaching a yet more elevated
situation, an extensive and delightful prospect suddenly burst on our
view; and several days’ journey might plainly be seen before us.
I halted for a moment to gaze upon the fine and noble scene around me,
which rivalled in magnificence and beauty the appearance of the
landscape from the Kong mountains. About half a day’s journey to the
east stood a lofty hill, at the foot of which lay the large city of
Jacoba, the metropolis of a kingdom of the same name, to which, it will
be recollected, I was invited a short time before, by its monarch; but
not having felt any inclination to depart a step out of the direct road,
had declined embracing the offer. Mahomet, my servant, declared that a
river, called Shar, or Sharra, deriving its source from the lake Tschad,
flows about half a mile from Jacoba; and that canoes can be paddled from
the said lake to the Niger at any season of the year. The Sharra enters
the latter river at Fundah, when, in conjunction with its sister
streams, after laving its banks before the towns of Cuttum Currifee,
Gattoo, and Jibboo, it joins the salt water; but at what particular
place, my informant was ignorant, never having heard the word “Benin”
till I mentioned it myself. Fundah lies due west of Dunrora.
Not being aware that the chief of Dunrora was so _very_ eminent a
character, my present to him was of a trifling nature, consisting only
of a pair of scissors and a few needles, which were returned to me
shortly afterwards, with a contemptuous message, importing that I would
be pleased to bestow it on a less exalted individual, or send something
of greater value. On demanding the reason of such strange conduct from
the people who surrounded me, they answered that I had insulted the
dignity of themselves and their chief by offering so insignificant a
gift, he being a mighty man; but feeling no disposition to add any thing
to it, I dismissed the messenger empty-handed to his _mighty_ master.