* * * * *
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.
As I was loading my beasts to depart on the morning of the 19th, I
observed four armed men ride up at full gallop to the residence of the
chief of Dunrora, whose horses were covered with foam. The great man was
no sooner made acquainted with the nature of their errand, than he came
hastily to me, followed by a multitude of people, and told me that I
must instantly return with the horsemen to Zaria, the king of Zeg Zeg
having despatched them purposely to escort me to that city. I was
amazed—thunderstruck. It was in vain to remonstrate with a chief whom I
had unwittingly offended: “If I suffer you to proceed on your journey to
Fundah,” said he, “I shall lose my head; you must submit.” Entreaty,
cajolery, and persuasion, were alike useless; the orders of the armed
men were imperative; they were backed by a thousand bows and arrows; and
with a heavy heart and cruel reflections, I turned the head of my horse
towards Cuttup.
Thus was I obliged, after seventeen days’ perilous travelling from Kano,
with a fair prospect of reaching the celebrated Fundah in twelve or
thirteen more, from whence four days’ sail would bring me to the salt
water—a new country opening before me, and my mind filled with the most
lively anticipations of solving the geographical problem, as to whether
the Niger actually joins the sea in that direction;—thus was I obliged
to abandon my fondest and long-cherished expectations, and return to Zeg
Zeg; thence to be transported the Lord knew whither! I felt depressed
and miserable at this sudden and unexpected change in my affairs; and
was really indifferent as to my future proceedings; caring not whether I
lived or died.
On our arrival in Cuttup, I was attacked with dysentery, and, much
against the inclination of my escort, obliged to remain there four days,
suffering during that period, and indeed a long while afterwards, more
dreadfully than I can or will describe. Finding me very tractable, and
too ill to make the least exertion, the horsemen left me in Cuttup, and
in their stead substituted two homely, peaceable men, who proceeded with
me in a different direction, towards Zeg Zeg.
The following day the asses were excessively troublesome through the
attacks of forest flies, myriads of which swarm around and alight in
great numbers on men and beasts. These insects bit the asses so severely
that blood streamed copiously from their sides, and the animals at
length became so restive, that Pasko and Mohammed, who rode on them,
were frequently thrown to the ground; besides which the loads on their
backs were seriously damaged by reason of the asses rolling themselves
in the earth, and rubbing their backs against the trunks of trees. We
slept in our tent in the midst of a large wood, surrounded by vast
numbers of bamboo, palm, and cocoa trees; and, although very ill, I
found myself considerably stronger.
At Cokalo, a Bowchee village, where we arrived on the 27th, the
inhabitants were so poor, that they sent us nothing but corn; but the
chief, in honor of our arrival, made a fetish, and having roasted a
fatted dog, stewed a snake in oil and water, and boiled a quantity of
corn. He then invited his people to a feast; and they partook of the
good things set before them with peculiar relish. With a benevolence
truly amiable, a small bowl of the corn so prepared, enriched with a
portion of the reptile, and the liquid in which it had been dressed, was
brought me from the chief’s table; and, supposing it to be fish swimming
in oil, I ate a mouthful or two with a very good appetite. It had,
however, a peculiar, although certainly not a disagreeable flavour with
it, and I carelessly asked a person standing near, the name of the
animal I was eating; but on his assuring me that it was part of a _land_
fish, my appetite forsook me, and Pasko, who had been casting many a
longing eye on the delicate morsel, devoured the remainder with looks of
infinite delight, asserting that it equalled in goodness the best dried
ling he had ever tasted.
On the following morning we arrived on the banks of the river Coodoonia;
but there it was broader, deeper, and more rapid than at Cuttup,
insomuch that it was dangerous to cross it. In attempting to convey, on
a small bamboo raft, one of the portmanteaus to the opposite side of the
stream, I found that it would not bear its weight, and I snatched it
from the sinking frame, a few feet only from the margin of the water.
Being convinced, therefore, that it would be dangerous to cross till the
river became shallower, I strenuously objected to the wishes of my
guard, (who almost dragged me into it,) and insisted that I would risk
neither my person nor property on so fragile and dangerous a conveyance
as the one at the ferry. The men, finding me resolute in my
determination, poured out a volley of abuse, and threatened in insolent
terms to go immediately and inform their sovereign of my refusal to
accompany them. I desired the fellows to give my best respects to his
majesty, and said that they were at liberty to go as soon as they
pleased; and they left me in great anger, cursing me as they went,
whilst I slowly returned with my horses and asses to the village we had
left an hour before.
Whether the messengers did or did not go to their king, I cannot tell,
but they did not come back till nearly a fortnight afterwards; and
during that time I was ill in the village, with nothing to eat but
boiled Indian corn; for I by no means relished the huge luncheons of
roasted dogs which were served up twice in the day. The inhabitants, who
came in hundreds to see me, like their countrymen, were destitute of
apparel of any kind, yet behaved with becoming decency; and I never had
cause, in a single instance, to complain of the conduct of those simple-
minded savages. The male portion of the community seemed to have no
occupation or employment whatever, spending the whole of their time in
lounging and loitering about their native village; whilst the women were
more laudably engaged in extracting an oil from a small black seed and
from the guinea-nut.
My escort returned on the 11th July, and in a tone of deep submission
begged me to go along with them, urging as a reason that the king of Zeg
Zeg would not give his permission to my proceeding a single step, unless
I visited first at Zaria, the capital of his dominions. Accordingly, our
beasts were loaded, and I followed them a second time to the banks of
the Coodoonia, but found the river still too deep to ford; and one
bamboo raft being insufficient to bear a heavy article without sinking,
I caused two of them to be lashed together, which answered the purpose
extremely well. The portmanteaus, &c. were first taken over, and I,
laying myself flat on my face, was next pushed across by the two
messengers, who swam behind, and dexterously propelled the frame forward
by their hands and feet. The horses and asses were not quite so
fortunate, for the current being strong and swift, they were borne by it
nearly a quarter of a mile down the stream, and could scarcely stand
from exhaustion for some time after they were dragged out of the water.
Every thing being at length safely landed on the opposite side, we left
the borders of the river, and pursuing a north-east course till sunset,
pitched our tent on a rising ground, near to a small stream.
Leaving our encampment at half-past six in the morning, we halted
outside Accoran, the first walled town I had seen since quitting
Nammaleek. The west end of it is defended by a gigantic naked rock, and
the other parts by a mud wall and a spacious ditch. The inhabitants are
Bowchees, but so miserably poor that not even a single goat or fowl
could be procured in the town. We were again in motion on the 13th, and
traversing an agreeable country intersected with shallow streams,
arrived at Cowro in the afternoon. The palm and cocoa, which had been so
numerous since leaving Dunrora, suddenly disappeared after we had passed
Accoran, and we saw no more of those beautiful trees till we reached the
kingdom of Yariba. We remained at Cowro three days, the beasts and their
riders being equally fatigued; and its chief, a noble looking Houssan,
behaved with the most studied civility towards his guests. He was neatly
clad in a white tobe, trousers, and cap; but he wore no sandals, and his
feet were stained with hennah. In return for the chief’s kindness, and
the excellent provisions he supplied us with, I made him a present of an
old piece of carpeting, a scarlet cap, white turban, and gilt chain,
which he received with extraordinary demonstrations of gratitude.
Having been ferried across a large river called Makkamee, we entered a
town of the same name, situated at the distance of a quarter of a mile
from its banks, where we slept; and on the following day, halting at
Wautorah, a walled town, I shot a few pigeons, which so terrified the
inhabitants that they did not approach me for some hours afterwards. The
morning of the 19th was damp, foggy, and disagreeable; and Mahomet, who,
with all his intelligence, was an idle scoundrel, wishing to have a
holiday, refused to proceed any further with me. The messengers longed
also for a similar indulgence, and fancying, no doubt, I should be
unable to go on without them, followed my servant’s example; but, seeing
through their design, I immediately ordered Pasko and his faithful wife
to load the beasts, and so left the town without them. Unluckily, a path
leading to the gardens of the inhabitants misled me; but having
discovered my error after an hour’s travelling, instead of returning by
the beaten track the way I had come, I crossed the country in the
direction I conceived the main road to take. Owing, however, to the
swampy nature of the soil, I did not attain it till four o’clock in the
afternoon, when, after a journey of two hours, the beasts becoming
exhausted, I pitched the tent by the road-side, and being greatly
distressed for want of water, slaked my thirst with some, which, oozing
from the fissures of a neighbouring rock, made a gentle gurgling noise,
that drew my attention to the spot.
We struck our tent on the morning of the 20th, and crossing a large
river flowing to the southward at one o’clock, entered the spacious and
handsome town of Eggebee an hour afterwards. Eggebee is governed by one
of the king of Zeg Zeg’s principal fighting men; and for its excessive
cleanliness, the tidiness of its inhabitants, their prosperity and
apparent happiness, yields only to Wow Wow; and strongly reminded me of
my own far distant country. It is situated on a fine, highly-cultivated
plain; and nothing can be more agreeable than the prospect of the
country for miles round. I have seen many charming landscapes in
Africa—many which come nearer to my ideas of the garden of Eden than any
others I have beheld—but none so pleasingly, softly beautiful, as that
near Eggebee. The earth, clad in simple and lovely magnificence, was
embellished with superb trees filled with singing birds—plots of Indian
corn waved in the wind—a luxuriant vegetation sprung up at every
step—every living thing revelled in enjoyment—happiness, peace, and
plenty dwelt on the enchanting spot. It was evening when I took a stroll
a little way into the country—a calm cloudless, lovely evening. The
earth had just before been refreshed by a shower, and the sun was
setting in all his glory; the neatly-attired maidens of Eggebee,
returning to the town with calabashes of milk, sang as they went along;
birds of golden plumage fluttered on the branches of the noble trees;
insects of dazzling brightness buzzed in the air; the stridulous notes
of the grasshopper was heard from the ground; smoke ascended in circling
volumes to the skies from the dwellings of the people; and the music of
guitars and dulcimers swelled from the town,—all was soothing, serene,
heavenly. I was a sojourner in a strange land; I thought on my country,
my kindred, my home, till melancholy reflections rushed upon my mind,
and I longed to lay down my burden of care and suffering,
disappointment, vexation, and sorrow. “I am unhappy,” I said to myself,
“in all this loveliness; I have no portion in the pleasure that
surrounds me. Why am I an Englishman, why am I not rather an African? I
should then be simple as he, thoughtless as he, happy as he.”
The delightful town of Eggebee contains a population of not less than
fourteen thousand souls; and its wall, forming a perfect square,
measures a mile each side. The inhabitants being supplied with a fine
reddish sand, (found in abundance along the beach of a noble river,
flowing about a couple of miles from the town,) and a kind of whitening,
use these ingredients for the purpose of cleansing their calabashes, and
other domestic articles; and really it gives one a sensible pleasure to
observe the taste and regularity with which these are arranged in the
interior of their dwellings, and the extreme whiteness of the whole. The
calabashes have figures of horses, sheep, cows, &c. carved on them by
persons whose time is entirely devoted to this single object, and who
receive for the work on each the sum of five cowries (less than a
farthing sterling). Instead of sleeping on the bare ground, as is the
case in every other town in the interior, excepting Cuttup, the
inhabitants of Eggebee raise a kind of platform at a height of three or
four feet from the floor, supported on clay pillars, on which they
repose themselves during the heat of the day, and at night. In the
vicinity of the town grew a great variety of beautiful flowers, which
opening in all their richness to the rays of the sun, had a truly
enchanting appearance. Many of them were of the same species as those
which thrive so luxuriantly in the interior of South Africa; but the
fragrance emitted from the former is neither equally pleasant nor
equally powerful.
We left Eggebee on the morning of the 21st, and the asses becoming
exhausted, encamped in a thick wood for the night. No village being near
at hand, we could obtain no provisions, and consequently went supperless
to bed. On the following morning we entered the city of Zaria, and took
up our quarters with Abbel Crême, Captain Clapperton’s host and friend
on his journey to Kano. The king was in the country, and did not see me
on the day of my arrival, but had left orders to have me well supplied
with provisions. His majesty returned in the evening, and sent a
messenger to say that he should be glad to see me early on the following
morning; accordingly at the time appointed I visited him with a suitable
present, which greatly delighted him; and he took the opportunity of
telling me that it was entirely for my own sake he had ordered me to be
brought back; for, said the king, “Sultan Bello is at variance with the
rulers of Fundah, and the latter would have you beheaded the moment you
set foot in his dominions, because he well knows you have been on
intimate terms with his powerful antagonist.” I, of course, acquiesced
in the opinion of his Zeg Zeg majesty, praised to the skies the
charitable spirit that had influenced him, and admired the milk of human
kindness that flowed in his veins; this well-timed flattery pleased the
monarch as much as the present had done; and in the course of the day I
received a present of two fine bullocks. Abbel Crême having intimated
that the king’s eldest son was invested with as much authority as his
father, I waited on him with a trifling gift; on which occasion he
received me very graciously. The prince was a remarkably fine young man,
apparently about twenty-two years of age, and beloved by every one. As
an especial mark of favour, I was introduced into his seraglio to see
his wives. They were fifty in number, and on my entrance were all
industriously employed in preparing cotton and thread, and weaving it
into cloth. My intrusion was not remarked till the prince said, “I have
brought the Christian to see you;” their eyes were immediately fixed
upon me at this expression, but on observing my white skin, the bashful
creatures, simultaneously dropping their work, flew with all possible
haste into their coozies, and I saw no more of them. In the afternoon
the prince offered me a really pleasing female named Aboudah (woman) for
a wife. I was almost frightened to death at the very sound of wife, yet
I accepted her with the best grace I could assume, not only to avoid
offending my royal friend, which would inevitably have been the case, if
I had refused the well-meant offer; but also that I might at least have
the satisfaction of giving the poor creature her freedom if I ever
reached the sea-coast.
Mahomet came to me on the 23d, having just arrived from Wautorah, where
he had deserted me, and entreated to be admitted again into my service;
but the fellow had behaved so ill towards me, that I ordered him to go
about his business. I had seen enough of him to convince me that no
dependance whatever could be placed on the fidelity of hired domestics;
and therefore purchased a slave in Zaria for seven dollars, to supply
Mahomet’s place. The asses being nearly worn out from our long and
fatiguing journey, and requiring at least twenty days of rest to recruit
their strength, I exchanged them for a strong Yariba pony, which, with a
pack bullock the king had given me was fully adequate to undertake their
work. Both the monarch of Zeg Zeg and his son were warring when we
passed through their territories on our way to Kano; and it was in order
to gratify their curiosity, I verily believe, that I was so
unfortunately stopped on the road to Fundah.
I bade adieu to the king and prince on the 24th, and, risking every
danger, pursued my journey towards the dreaded Nyffé and Yariba.
Leaving the extensive empire of Houssa three days after, we entered
Guârie in the evening of the 27th, and on the 29th pitched our tent
outside of the capital, which is also called Guâri. Next day we found
the river, near the city, so much swollen, that I considered it would be
imprudent to attempt to cross; and on the 31st I waited on the king,
governor, or whatever he is, of Guâri, with a present of light blue and
scarlet damask, and a smart red cap. He was a man of venerable
appearance. He wished to know the reason of my having been so long on
the road from Kano, as merchants had informed him that I had quitted
that city some time before. I replied that I had attempted the road to
Fundah, it being the nearer way, but that the King of Zeg Zeg had sent
armed men after me, who had compelled me to retrace my steps. He
observed that if I wished to proceed to that kingdom then, he would send
a messenger with me, and he had no doubt, as the monarch of Fundah was
his particular friend, I should experience every kindness at his hands.
I expressed great concern at being unable to embrace his generous
proposal, having nothing good enough left to give the King of Fundah;
and on that account feeling no particular wish to pass through his
dominions.
His Guâri majesty had in his service an eunuch, whose native town was
not far from Fundah; and, at his sovereign’s instigation, the man paid
me a visit. In the course of conversation with him, the eunuch told me
that he was born at Gibboo, a town situated on the banks of the Niger,
and about four days journey from the city of Fundah. He had often
proceeded by water from the former to the latter place in eight days,
the river running five knots an hour against him; but the voyage from
Fundah to Gibboo might easily be performed in three, or at most four
days.
I had no opportunity of ascertaining whether the testimony of the eunuch
was actually correct; as the reports of the natives, whether owing to
the difficulty of expressing themselves so as to be understood by a
stranger, or from other causes, vary considerably. I should conceive
that the former is the chief reason of this difficulty so often
complained of; and that in their relations of rivers and streams, the
natives do not designedly deceive, but the interrogator, taking no pains
to obtain a clear idea of their meaning, forms an opinion of his own
which he fancies approaches nearest to that which his informants
themselves entertain.
I fell in with a party of merchants in Guâri, who were so far on their
journey to Coulfo, and they begged me to accompany them to that city, in
order to repel the attacks of a desperate gang of robbers, which they
affirmed infested the main road leading to Nyffé, and had committed
dreadful excesses. Fearing there might be some foundation in this
rumour, I waited for the merchants three days; but they not having then
paid the accustomed tribute, and not seeming to have the slightest
inclination to do so in a hurry, I preferred risking the alleged dangers
in the path, to abiding longer at Guâri.
On the 2d of August, therefore, I paid my respects to the king, who
offered a messenger to accompany me to Womba; but I declined the offer,
observing that I was not afraid to proceed with my own little party; and
on the next morning left the city, without merchants, messengers, or
guide. No robbers molested me; nor did I see a single suspicious-looking
fellow on the path; and I reached Fullindushie, the second town of that
name, after a ride of nine hours.
The following day it rained incessantly, so that we were unable to take
down our tent, and remained under it till the 5th, when we continued our
course, and encamped outside the walled town of Kazzagebubba by four in
the afternoon. The chief apologised for sending us nothing better than
tuah and corn, on the ground of its being market-day; and this trifling
present was acknowledged on my part by a red cap and a pair of scissors,
which made the receiver proud, vain, and foolish.
Next morning we were again in motion, at an early hour: and having
crossed a large river, in the afternoon, we pitched our tent in the
centre of a number of small, uninhabited grass huts, erected as a
temporary abode by a party of merchants some months previously. In the
night myriads of mosquitoes annoyed us so greatly that we were obliged
to set fire to the huts, in order to be rid of them.
On the 7th we arrived at the spacious town of Womba; and, being sadly in
want of money, I despatched Jowdie, my slave, to the market with needles
to sell, which fetched fifteen cowries each, and brought me 3,400 of
them. The chief, having declared the road to be dangerous, would insist
on sending an armed guide with me; and on the morning of the ninth we
left Womba in company; halted on the south side of a large river at six
in the evening, and fixed our tent in the midst of grass huts, similar
to those already mentioned; but they harboured, as on the former
occasion, mosquitoes and vermin, so that we were under the necessity of
burning them to the ground.
Hearing that a gaffle of merchants had been plundered, and many of them
slain, by freebooters on the road I intended taking,—instead of
journeying in a south-westerly direction to Borghoo, I travelled by
another route, and halted at the town of Beari on the evening of the
10th of August. As soon as one of the head-men was aware of my approach
to the king’s residence, he blew a blast “both loud and shrill,” on a
long brass trumpet, in token of welcome, the noise of which brought all
the principal inhabitants to the spot, who went with me into the chief’s
hut, and seated themselves in a circle round that individual and myself.
The chief was a fine handsome fellow, apparently about fifty years of
age, with a noble expression of countenance and a commanding air; and
the coozie into which I was introduced was the largest I ever saw in
Africa, being not less, I should think, than eighty yards in
circumference. The conversation was carried on through the medium of a
third person, (although the chief himself perfectly understood what I
said,) which singular custom is, I believe, peculiar to Beari, for I
never observed a similar practice at any other place. The town contained
about four thousand inhabitants, and was surrounded by a high wall and
ditch.
On the 12th we halted at the town of Ragada; and its chief, who was
delighted to see me, gave me a whole sheep, fowls, and a jar of gear (an
ale manufactured from Indian corn). It began to rain a few minutes after
we had quitted Ragada, and continued without ceasing till we encamped a
little to the westward of Wittesa, in the afternoon; and although the
portmanteaus were secured in a thick bullock’s hide, every thing they
contained, with the exception of the papers, became completely saturated
with water. In order to dry the tent, &c. we were obliged to remain at
our encampment the following day, towards the evening of which a fellow
came outside the pavilion with a calabash of bum, and bawled out
repeatedly in an insolent tone that I should come out and drink with
him. Being busily engaged in packing up the articles that had been put
out to dry, I paid no attention at first to the vociferous bellowing of
the man; but becoming at length impudent and daring, he threatened to
break into the tent, when, thinking to intimidate him, I took a loaded
pistol and went out. I told the noisy scoundrel that if he did not
instantly quit the spot, and stop his throat, I would shoot him without
further hesitation; but this menace, instead of terrifying him, only
incensed him the more, and flourishing a lance he had with him over his
head, as quick as lightning, he made a desperate thrust at my breast;
but slipping a little on one side, I parried the weapon with my hands
when within an inch of my body, and this fortunately saved me from being
run through. This was carrying the jest a little too far, and striking
the ruffian violently with the but-end of my pistol, I desired his
companions, who stood near, and were spectators of the whole affray, to
take him instantly from the tent, or I would fire at him in earnest. The
men accordingly dragged away the intoxicated fellow to his home; but he
returned the next morning, and throwing himself at my feet, begged that
I would not inform his sovereign of the conduct he had displayed, for
that he should be beheaded if it came to the king’s ears. I promised to
accede to his wishes, on condition that he should never get tipsy again;
whereat the man evinced the most lively gratitude, and shed tears of
joy.
We struck our tent on the morning of the 14th, and passing through the
ruins of a large town called Kabojie, halted a little to the westward of
Dogo at three o’clock in the afternoon, where we slept. In the evening I
was visited by several respectable females of the neighbouring town, who
brought with them stewed beef and tuah, for which I recompensed them
with a few beads.
At two o’clock in the afternoon of the following day, we entered the
celebrated commercial town of Coulfo, where I was met at the gates by
the female, in whose house we lodged in our way to Kano, accompanied by
every lady of note in the town, who expressed the most lively joy on
seeing me again; but when I informed them that Captain Clapperton was no
more, they wept bitterly, and, wringing their hands, made loud
lamentations. Although the town was filled with merchants, and her own
house occupied by some of them, my kind hostess turned out her lodgers,
and gave me the best apartment in it. The merchants came from Cuttum
Kora, Youri and other provinces in Borghoo, Yariba, Kano, and Soccatoo,
to purchase Nyffé cloth (which is decidedly the best in the interior),
iron bits and stirrups, brass ornaments for saddles and bridles, brass
ear-rings, &c. &c. the traffic in which is carried on to a considerable
extent. The good old chief sent me fowls, tuah, milk, and bum; my
hostess gave me a sheep; and during my stay, this excellent old lady
supplied me with the choicest provisions daily.
I take this opportunity of expressing my high admiration of the amiable
conduct of the African females toward me; in sickness and in health; in
prosperity and in adversity—their kindness and affection were ever the
same. They have danced and sung with me in health, grieved with me in
sorrow, and shed tears of compassion at the recital of my misfortunes.
When quite a boy, and suffering from fever in the West Indies, women of
the same race used to take me in their arms, or on their knees, sing and
weep over me, and tell me not to die, for that my mother would break her
heart to hear the news; and pointing to the ocean, they cheered my
spirits, by saying that it laved the shores of England, and would
shortly bear me on its bosom to my distant home. In fine, through
whatever region I have wandered, whether slave or free, I have
invariably found a chord of tenderness and trembling pity to vibrate in
the breast of an African _woman_; a spirit ever alive to soothe my
sorrows and compassionate my afflictions;—and I never in my life knew
one of them to bestow on me a single unpleasant look or angry word.
I abode in Coulfo five days, and finding my Yariba pony, and the bullock
the King of Zeg Zeg had given me, unfit to bear the fatigues of a
journey to the sea coast, I exchanged the latter, with an old Turkish
jacket, for a couple of asses; but, owing to its being in so miserable a
condition, no purchaser could be found for the pony, although I offered
to sell it for a dollar. On the morning preceding my departure, poor
little Boussa Jack, the faithful companion of my wanderings, was
discovered lying dead outside my hut, having crawled from its stable, in
the night, to die as near to its master as possible. Bidding my generous
hostess an affectionate adieu, I paid my respects to the chief, and left
Coulfo in high spirits and health, on the morning of the 20th of August;
and halted at Majonka in the afternoon. In the town I met with a gaffle
of merchants on their way to Gonja, to purchase the kola, or goora nut.
Being unable to procure any kind of provisions in the place, I took my
gun, and shot a heron, not being aware that this, being a fetish bird,
is allowed only to be eaten by the chiefs; but, on being made acquainted
with the circumstance, one of the principal inhabitants, came to my
house with a loaded musket, and, using the most abusive language,
threatened to discharge it in my face. Not at all daunted, I dared him
to fire; and hinted that I should take the liberty of acquainting the
King of Nyffé with such unwarrantable behaviour, when the fellow
stammered out an apology, and sneaked off. Early on the following
morning the man returned to my dwelling, and in a tone of humiliation,
begged me not to carry my menace into execution, (which, indeed, I had
no intention of doing,) and excused the violence of his conduct, on the
plea of having swallowed too large a quantity of bum the preceding day.
At six o’clock we continued our route, halting at twelve at noon at
Dalho, on the banks of the river Quontakora, which having crossed with
some difficulty, we journeyed till sun-set, and reached the foot of a
hill, five miles to the eastward of the Niger, where we pitched our
tent, and slept. We arrived on the banks of that river on the following
day, and found it to be at least a hundred yards broader than it was on
our way to Soccatoo; and after our hallooing a thousand times, the
boatman on the opposite side came to fetch us. My poor slave, Jowdie,
who had never seen so large a body of water before, became terribly
agitated at the bare thoughts of crossing it; but getting him at last,
after much persuasion, into the canoe, I found him overpowered with
fear, and he fainted the moment he set his foot on _terra firma_. We
landed at Inguâzhilligie, where the principal inhabitants pressed us to
remain; but, having no presents to offer, I declined stopping, and
expecting to reach a village in the evening, made all possible haste to
get out of the town. The path lying through swampy ground, was horribly
bad, and the asses could only travel two miles an hour; so that at six,
p.m., the beasts being completely knocked up, we were obliged to pitch
our tent in the midst of a wild, dismal, uncultivated waste. In these
journeyings Pasko headed the party; Aboudah, Joudie, and Pasko’s wife
then followed with the baggage, whilst I myself brought up the rear; by
which arrangement the whole of them were under my own eye, and I could
watch all their motions. After erecting the tent, and previously to
retiring to rest, it was my usual custom to read aloud, from a book of
common prayer, some portion of its contents, making the servants sit
around me in a circle. By this pleasing exercise I felt unusual calmness
and serenity steal over my mind; and I slept as soundly in the bosom of
awful woods, amidst the howlings of the tempest and the pelting of the
storm—the yell of the tiger and the hollow roar of the crocodile—as if I
had been reposing on a bed of down in my own country.
The roads were equally bad on the 23d, and the rain, which fell heavily
and incessantly, drenched us to the skin; so that about the middle of
the day we were obliged to encamp in a small village, where we attempted
to sleep. The poor beasts had stuck in the bogs several times in the
morning, on each of which occasions they were dragged from their
unpleasant situation with much difficulty, and retarded our movements
considerably. None of the inhabitants of the village understanding the
Houssa language, I entered a hut, the door of which was open, and
presenting the inmates with a few beads, made them comprehend by signs
and gestures, that we were wearied and hungry, when one lean fowl alone
could be procured; but having the good fortune to shoot a guinea-fowl,
we made a tolerable supper, and went contentedly to rest.
A ride of eight hours on the following day brought us to the celebrated
city of Wow Wow, the birth place of Mohammed, the residence of the
_lovely_ Zuma, and the scene of our adventures with those two
illustrious characters on our former journey into the interior. I had
taken two days and a half on the road from Inguâzhilligee, while in the
dry season we had done it with ease in one.
The day after my arrival I visited the king with a present of scarlet
and blue damask, &c. and Mohammed, although he was overjoyed to see me
at first, was greatly distressed, and wept much on hearing of the death
of Captain Clapperton in Soccatoo. He wondered at my being alive after
visiting the Falatah country, the natives of which, he maintained, were
the most barbarous and blood-thirsty in the world; and said moreover,
that I was certainly one of God’s own favorites, or I never could have
escaped so easily from their clutches. I was obliged to comply with the
monarch’s request, which indeed was tantamount to a command, to abide at
Wow Wow a few days, in order to clean seven muskets and three pistols,
which he afterwards told me belonged to the white men who were drowned
in the Quorra. They had the Tower mark on them, and were in excellent
condition. Having obtained permission of Mohammed to visit the amiable
king and queen of Boussa, whose behaviour to me, it will be recollected
was so inexpressibly kind, after my escaping from my confinement in the
Zuma elopement affair, I took old Pasko with me, and left Wow Wow early
in the morning of the 27th; but after journeying till six in the
evening, we had only got half-way to the city, in consequence of bogs
and swamps, which overspread the country. Our horses were oftentimes up
to the saddles in mire and wet, and Pasko’s legs being excessively
short, the exertions of his animal to extricate himself threw him from
its back into the filth on the path, so that the old man was covered
with dirt. The remaining part of the journey appearing yet more
difficult and dangerous, I found it impossible to go on; and being
directed by a glimmering light to a solitary hut embosomed in trees, we
slept there, and returned to Wow Wow on the following day.
The king sent me a goat, cut up into small pieces, and a large bowl of
tuah, on the 29th, in order to make a _sadacco_ for my lamented master;
a ceremony common to many places in the interior, on the decease of any
person of consequence. The bowl of tuah and the goat’s flesh were
forwarded to a mallam, who repeated a short prayer over them; but before
this ceremony could be performed, it being necessary to place a gold or
silver coin, or in lieu thereof, an article made of either of those
metals, on the top of the bowl, I put a silver pencil-case on the tuah,
which was never returned me. As soon as the prayer had been offered up,
the consecrated articles were immediately forwarded to me, and hundreds
of the Wow Wownese flocked to my habitation to show their respect for
the memory of the deceased, by partaking of the goat’s flesh and tuah,
each person ejaculating with fervor, on conveying the food to his lips,
“God send the Christian safe to heaven!” It is unnecessary to say, that
the bowl was soon emptied of its contents.
The day after the celebration of this mournful rite, having finished
cleaning the fire-arms of the venerable Mohammed, I requested his
permission to leave Wow Wow; but the king, smiling, told me that not
half my business was done; for that he wanted to have six charms, which
I alone could write. “The charms,” said the learned Moslem, “will be
worn round my waist, and are to possess the following virtues: 1st
charm: if my enemies think of making war on me, it shall cause them to
forget to carry such an intention into effect. 2d. If my adversaries be
on their way to Wow Wow for the purpose of warring, it shall cause them
to be dismayed and turn back. 3d. If they discharge their arrows at my
people when close to the city walls, the province of this charm shall be
to make them rebound in their own faces, and wound them. Let the fourth
prevent my guns from bursting; and the fifth hinder the persons that
hold them from receiving an injury, should they by any accident break
when loaded. The sixth and last charm is to make me the happiest and
most successful of men.” I protested my inability to comply with his
wishes, on the ground of ignorance; but the old man, wisely shaking his
cranium, said with a significant look, “Nay, Christian, don’t be so
modest; I know you have the power; it is useless to attempt to deceive
me; let me see how long it will be before you produce them.” On the
following day, therefore, I took my charms to the superstitious monarch
of Wow Wow, on which I had written scraps of old English ballads; and
the prince was so much pleased with my civility, that he paid me a
thousand compliments, and I left him in the best humour in the world.
Thus was I obliged in this, as well as in former instances, certainly
against my inclination, to copy the example the Arabs had set me, of
imposing upon the ignorance and superstition of the natives, of which I
have complained so frequently. It was utterly useless to deny them so
singular a favour on the plea of incapacity or ignorance; for on urging
either of these reasons, it was not unusual for them to say, “The white
man is ill-natured; he is no good man;” and run away with tears in their
eyes.
Not satisfied with all I had done for him, Mohammed still wished to
detain me in Wow Wow, and very reluctantly gave me permission to depart
on the 3d of September. He also insisted on my selling or giving him my
gun and pistols, the only fire-arms that were left me. I endeavoured in
vain to coax the old gentleman to waive his pretensions; and finding him
firm in his determination of having the gun, and at least one of the
pistols, I sent them to his residence, leaving it entirely to his
generosity to pay me what he thought proper. The liberal-minded king
shortly after returned four thousand cowries (worth little more than a
dollar) as a sufficient equivalent for the gun and pistol; but on the
ensuing day made me a present of a beautiful little mare.
The 3d of September being the day appointed for my departure, the old
king sent a message for me to visit him at an early hour; on which
occasion he wrung from me a promise to return to Wow Wow in a
twelvemonth. He displayed before me various patterns of silk to bring
with me from England, for a tobe he was to wear; and said, as I was
leaving the apartment, “Tell your countrymen, Christian, that they have
my permission to come here and build a town, and trade up and down the
Quorra; we know now that you are good men; but we did not think so when
the white men, who were drowned before Boussa, visited the country.” He
had kept me chatting with him on indifferent subjects till nine o’clock,
when we shook hands, and the old man followed me with his eyes till I
was out of sight. On reaching my dwelling, I found a party of merchants,
(whom the kind-hearted Mohammed had, unknown to me, detained in Wow Wow
on purpose that I might accompany them,) anxiously waiting my
appearance. They were to go to Khiama; and the road to that kingdom
being infested with gangs of robbers, I embraced the opportunity with
pleasure, and we left the city in company about ten o’clock in the
morning.
THE WIDOW ZUMA.
On approaching Wow Wow, I had not been able to avoid feeling the
liveliest emotions of delight. We had left it under peculiar
circumstances; and the generous, warm-hearted, beauteous Zuma, had often
crossed my thoughts! I fondly indulged the hopes of seeing that lady
again, after so long an absence; and notwithstanding my refusal to
accept of her heart and person, I had so managed this delicate affair as
not to forfeit her esteem; besides which, I had never spoken slightingly
of her person; I had never ridiculed her pretensions to beauty, and
_therefore_ I knew well enough that Zuma could not hate me. It was
sweet, particularly in Africa, to know,
----“There was an eye would mark
My coming, and look brighter when I came;”
—and all circumstances considered, I was well and light of heart on
drawing near to the beautiful city of Wow Wow. On the night of my
arrival, I was serenaded with the wild music of a guitar, accompanied by
a female voice. Curiosity induced me to listen to its import, when I
soon learnt that the singer was a slave from my sable inamorata, and
sent by her mistress to congratulate me on my arrival. As soon as I
ascertained that this was really the case, I immediately hailed the
young woman, and admitted her into my dwelling. She came, she said, to
welcome me back to Wow Wow, on her mistress’s account, and to express
the widow’s sorrow for the decease of Captain Clapperton. But what was
of most consequence, and what gave me infinite concern, was the news
that the amiable and impassioned Zuma was herself in “durance vile,” by
command of the perfidious Mohammed, who, fearful of the consequences of
the expected rencontre, had filled and surrounded her dwelling with
soldiers, kept a watch over her “thousand” slaves, and forbidden either
the lady or her domestics to maintain the slightest intercourse with the
“Little Christian.” This unexpected information moved me to compassion;
and desiring the female slave, who had contrived to elude the vigilance
of her guardians, and steal unobserved to my hut, to express to her
unfortunate mistress my deep regret at her predicament, I dismissed the
young woman, and returned to my couch to reflect on the pitiable
condition of the gentle Zuma, whose heart, I had no doubt, yet throbbed
with tenderness for her former love!
On the two succeeding nights, and indeed every other that I spent at Wow
Wow, I was visited about the midnight hour by the girl above-mentioned,
with her female companions, who brought presents of honey, &c. from the
widow, and sung, or rather chanted to me at different times, the
following melancholy tale of her mistress’s feelings and misfortunes,
from the period of my leaving her to the time of my return. The _sense_
of their strains is maintained throughout, with the strictest regard to
truth:
THE SONG OF ZUMA’S SLAVES.
Scarce, Christian, hadst thou left Wow Wow
When Zuma’s tears began to flow;
They’ve flowed since, they are flowing now,
In copious streams of living woe;
And, shunning pleasure, suffering pain,
She wept, and wore Love’s silken chain.
A sadness prey’d upon her mind,
A gloom o’erspread her lovely face,
As, wandering far and unconfined,
She summon’d up each matchless grace
That charm’d her once, when white man came,
Her warm heart fluttering at his name.
Oft loitering near the sounding grove,
Or hearkening to the Quorra’s roar,
She told the listening air her love,
And feelings never known before;
The listening air received her grief,
But bore it to the yellow leaf.
The fire that gleam’d in her dark eye,
The heav’n that in her gesture dwelt,
The smile she wore when thou wast nigh,
(Which one might think would Alla melt,)
All passed away, and envious Care
Usurp’d the features of the fair.
Her teeth soon lost their roseate hue,
No longer shone her feet with yellow,
Her hair, which rivall’d heaven’s own blue,
Turn’d softly grey as that of Lello;[2]
The goora nut had ceased to charm,
And grateful _pitto_ scarce could warm.
Thus mistress felt, whilst far away
The cruel white-faced stranger stray’d;
Nor could he hear her tender lay,
Which every chord of woe betray’d.
Alas! her melancholy wails
Were plaintive as the crocodile’s.
But when she learnt that thou wast near,
She flung off suddenly her gloom,
Colour’d afresh her clustering hair,
And bade her teeth their red resume;
And frolicsome and full of glee,
Who was so glad, so gay as she?
To add to her inspiring bliss,
With _pitto_ Zuma then got mellow;
But oh! that old Mohammed is
A wicked, most tyrannic fellow;
For, all her hope, and all her joy,
He bade his soldiers to destroy.
They rush’d into her house, and bound
The hapless fair with thongs of leather;
Forbade her slaves to quit the ground,
And tied them hand and foot together.
Thus mistress far’d, and all for thee,
Unkind _Nasarah Curramee_.[3]
But, Christian, Zuma sends her love,
As warm as when at first ye met:
Like that which dwells within the dove,
It lasted, and will linger yet.
Her deep-drawn sighs and melting tears,
Will but increase with growing years.
Yet, wishing thou wilt sometimes tell
Of her, when thou art far away,
Ere Zuma breathes a last farewell,
To Alla she will warmly pray,
To love, and bless, and prosper thee,
Blue-eyed Nasarah Curramee!
Thus sang the maidens of the graceful Zuma; and I was not a little
grieved to find myself the cause of unhappiness, and of the infliction
of corporal punishment on so fair a creature, for she was still fresh,
and beautiful, and full of lovely life! I sent her a trifling present to
keep in remembrance of “the white-fac’d stranger;” but all my coaxing
could not melt the inflexible, the iron-hearted Mohammed to obtain an
interview with her; that sage monarch fearing that a general rebellion
would be the consequence of such a meeting. He well knew that when love
was in the question, the energetic widow was not mistress of her own
actions; whilst her power, her courage, her generosity, and above all,
her bulk and personal charms, would induce thousands to rally round her
standard, and commit all sorts of excesses. It was therefore a politic,
although certainly a most ungallant measure on the part of the powerful
prince of Wow Wow, to confine a lady so unfeelingly;—a lady whose meek,
equable disposition, and amiable spirit, had displayed themselves in
numberless instances! a lady, whose kindness and affection for the white
men was so strikingly apparent. Nevertheless Mohammed comforted me by
promising to liberate her as soon as I had reached a day’s journey from
the city.
I had scarcely left the walls of the town, when a young woman, panting
and out of breath, overtook me. I immediately recognized her as being my
old acquaintance, the favourite and confidential slave of the widow; but
before I had time to inquire the nature of her errand, she had produced
two calabashes of honey, which her compassionate mistress had sent by
way of refreshment on my journey. I was, however, greatly shocked when
she told me it was Zuma’s desire, since fate had so ordered it, that she
could never be united to me, that I would, on my return to my own
country, let the Christians understand her extreme tenderness for white
men in general, and that if any one had courage and enterprize enough to
undertake a journey to Wow Wow, she would immediately make him her
husband, depose old Mohammed, and proclaim her spouse king in his stead.
This urgent bidding, although of course it excessively mortified my
vanity at the time, I promised to do;—and I hereby redeem the pledge I
then made! In addition to which I would observe that Wow Wow is, without
exception, the cleanest, healthiest, and most agreeable city of any in
the interior, and one in which an Englishman, if he could contrive to
forget his country and friends, might live very happily; he might spend
his time in hunting wild beasts and antelopes, sporting, dancing with
the beauties of Africa, feasting, carousing, and fishing; he might take
thousands of delightful excursions on the mysterious Quorra—keep race-
horses, and in fine live like an absolute prince, with the satisfaction,
in dying, of transmitting to his posterity a kingdom, insignificant
indeed as to its population or extent, but withal rich, brave, compact,
and flourishing. This, I am persuaded, (if an Englishman could be found
possessing the necessary qualifications to fill the throne,) would be
more effectual in checking the traffic in human beings than the united
force of all the naval powers in the world. Yet I would entreat that
individual, whoever he might be, to be merciful to the superstitious
Mohammed—whose years render him venerable—his virtues amiable,—and who,
with the exception of being rather harsh to the romantic Zuma, is as
innocent as a child; besides that he was kind to Englishmen, and above
all gave me a little mare!