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D.·.· .. 1 lQ28 b}T John !.furJ.-xy .AlbemarlE" Su eel 
JOURNAL 
OF A 
SECOND EXPEDITION 
I N TO THE 
--- INTERIOR OF AFRICA, 
FROM 
THE BIGHT OF BENIN TO SOCCATOO. 
BY THE LATE COMMANDER CLAPPERTON, 
OF THE ROYAL NAVY. 
TO WIIICH IS ADDED) 
·THE JOURNAL OF RICHARD LANDER FROM KANO 1'0 THE SEA.COAST, 
PARTLY BY A MORE EASTERN ROUTE. 
"WITII 
A PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON, AND A MAP OF THE ROUTE, 
ClIlEFI,Y I,AID DOWN FRO~! ACTUAL OBSERVATIONS FOR LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 
f":C, 
~' " ~,..  
.., ~ 
.,.:'O~ 
LONDON: 
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEi\1ARLE.STREET. 
MDCCCXXIX. 
SHORT SKETCH 
OF THE 
LIFE OF CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON. 
BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL CLAPPERTON. 
CAPTAIN HUGH CLAPPERTON was born in Annan, Dumfries-shire, in the year 
1788. His grandfather, Robert Clapperton, M. D., was a man of considerable know-
ledge, as a classical scholar, and in his profession. He first studied at Edinburgh; but as, 
in those days, the continental colleges were considered superior in medicine and surgery; 
he went to Pari, and there studied for some time. On his return to his native country, 
he married Elizabeth Campbell, second cousin of Colonel Archibald Campbell of Glen-
lyon; and soon after settled in Dumfries-shire, at a place called Crowden Nows, where 
he remained until George Clapperton (the father of our traveller), and another son were 
born. He afterwards remQved to Lochmaben, where he had an increase to his family 
of four sons and one daughter. All the son became medical men, except the youngest 
and the only survivor, who entered his Majesty's service, in the beginning of 1793, as a 
second lieutenant of marines. His eldest son, George Clapperton, married young to a 
daughter of John Johnstone, proprietor of the lands of Thorniwhate IUld Lochmaben 
Castle, and settled in Annan, where he wa a considerable time the only medical man of 
repute in the place, and performed many operations and cures which spread his fame 
over the borders of England and Scotland. His father bestowed a good education upon 
him, which proved so useful a passport to public favour, that he might have made a 
fortunc; but, unfortunately, he was, like his father, careless of money. H e man;ed a 
ccond wife, and was the father of no fewer than twenty-one children. Of the fruit of 
the first marriage, he had six sons and one daughter who grew to men and women's estate. 
All the sons entered his Majesty's service, the youngest of whom wa Captain Clapperton, 
the African trayeller, and the suhject of this memoir. In his person he resembled his 
father greatly, but was not so tall by two inche." being five feet eleven inche ; bad great 
hreadth of che t and expansion ofhouJder., and otherwise proportionably strong; and 
b 
VI LIFE OF CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON. 
was a handsome, athletic, powerful man. He received no classical education, and could 
do little more than read and write, when he was put under the tuition of Mr. Bryce 
Downie, a man of general knowledge, but chiefly celebrated for his mathematical abilities. 
He remained with Mr. Downie until he required a knowledge of practical mathematics, 
including navigation and trigonometry. He was found an apt scholar and an obliging 
boy by Mr. Downie, whose attention was never forgot by the traveller; as he expressed a 
great wish, when he arrived the first journey from Africa, that he could have had time 
to see his native country, and shake his old master once more by the hand. Captain 
Clapperton left MI>. Downie about the age of thirteen; when, by his olVn wish, he was 
bound an apprentice to the owner of a vessel of considerable burthen, trading between 
Liverpool and North America. After making several voyages in that vessel, he either 
left her, or was impres~ed int.o bis Majesty's service, an_d was put on board a Tender 
then lying at Liverpool, which vessel carried him round to Plymouth, where he with 
others were draughted on board of his Majesty's ship Gibraltar, of eighty guns. He 
did not remain long in that ship, as in 1806 he alTived at Gibraltar in a naval transport; 
.from which he wa~} iW,wessed, with otpers"on board his Majesty's frigate Renommee, 
Capt.a.in Sir Thomas Livingston. Opportunely for our traveller, at that time his Ma-
jesty's ship Saturn, Captain Lord Amelias :Beauclerc (belonging to Lord Collingwood's 
fleet off C!!piz), ar'rived for the purpose of watering and refitting; and our traveller, 
learning that his uncle (now Lieut.-Col. Clapperton) was captain of royal marines on 
board the Sat,urn, sent him a, letter describing his situation in the Renommee. The 
ul10le having beep an old mgs§mate of Sir Thomas's, when both were lieutenants at 
the Cape of G,oociHope many years before, made it his business immediately to see Sir 
'l'homas; and, through his intercession, Sir Thomas very kindly put our traveller, for the 
fip,t time, upon the quarter-Cleek as a midshipman. The Renommee very soon after left 
Gibraltar fQ~' the Meditep'aneap; al1d, when on_ the coast of Spain, had occasion to send 
boats to atta~k some enerpy\ ve§sel§ on shQre. Clapperton, being in one of the boats, 
was sligQtly, as he considEl.r~d it, wout;lge!i in the helld, which, however, afterwards gave 
him much annoyance. He remJrin~d ill the Repommee, with Sir Thomas, until she 
returned to F;ng1a.np, and was paid off, in the year 1808. He then joined his Majesty's 
ship Venerable, Captain King, in the Downs, as a midshipman, where he did not remain 
long, having heard that Captain Briggs was going to the East Indies in the ' Clorinde 
frigate, and wishilJg to go to that country, he applied for his discharge, that he might 
enter wi~11 Captain :Qrjggs; but he could not accomplish it b'efore the Clorinde had 
sailed £r_om Portsmouth; he was ordered, however, (by-the admiral) to have-a passage 
in a ship going to the Ell.§t Indies. In the course of the voyage, they fell in with a ship 
in great distl'ess, it then blowing a gale of wind; but humanity required assistance, if it 
could be give!!.. l\.boa.t was ordered to be got ready, and Clapperton to go in her. He 
declared to his me~slllates hi~ decided opinion that the boat could not possibly live in the 
LIFE OF CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON. Vll 
sea that was then running, but that it was not for him to question the orders of his superior 
officer. On pushing off, he told his messmates to share equally among them any articles 
belonging to him, and bade them good bye. The boat had scarcely put off from the ship 
when she swamped, and as no assistance could be rendered, all hands perished, with the 
exception ot' two; one of whom was Clapperton, who, under such trying circumstances, 
encouraged and assisted his only surviving companion till his own strength failed him. 
Among others, he had previously.struggled hard to save a warrant officer; but finding 
himself nearl y exhausted, he was obliged to desist, and he perished. They then dropped 
off, one after the other, until the bowman and Clapperton were the only two remaining 
out of the whole boat's crew. The latter then made use of a common sea expression to 
the bowman, " Thank God, I am not the Jonah!" meaning that he was not, by his bad 
conduct in life, the cause of the Almighty visiting them with his venge~ce. The bow-
man seconded him in the exclamation, and they kept cheering each other until the gale 
so far abated, that another boat was got out and sent to their relief. 
They then proceeded upon their voyage; and in March, 1810, Clapperton joined 
his majesty's ship Clorinde, where he received the greatest attention from Captain Briggs 
during the time he was on board. In 181~, when lying in Bombay harbour, he was 
joined by another messmate, the Hon. F. Mackenzie, youngest son of the late Lord 
Seaforth, between whom a most sincere friendship was contraoted, Not long after this, 
Mr. Mackenzie was attacked with a severe illness, on which occasion Clapperton never 
left him, but nursed him as he would his own brother, until he died; when he added a 
lock of his hair to his locket, which contained that of his father and some friends. H e 
returned to England in the end of 181S, or beginning of 14; and he was then sent, with 
some other intelligent midshipmen, to Portsmouth dock-yard, for the purpose of being 
instructed in Angelo's sword exercise, in which he afterwards excelled. When these 
midshipmen were distributed to the different ships in the fleet as drill-masters, Clapperton 
volunteered his services for the Canadian lakes, and was sent on board Sir Alexander 
Cochrane's flag ship, the Asia. This ship continued at Spithead till the end of January, 
1814. During the passage to Bermudas, Clapperton's services as a drill were performed 
on the quarter. deck. On ller arrival, he was sent to Halifax, and from thence to the 
lakes,j ust then about to become the scene of warlike operations. During his passage out 
and his stay at Bermuda, nothing could exceed his diligence in the discharge of his duty 
with the officers and men. At his own and the other me -tables, he was the soul and 
life of the party: he could sing a good song, tell humorous tales, and his conversation 
was extremely amusing. He bade adieu to all on board the Asia, and pursued hi~ 
voyage to Halifax; from that to Upper Canada. 
Soon after he arrived on the lakes, in 1815, he wa placed in a situation that &trongly 
marked that benevolence which was so strong a feature in his character. In the ,,;nter 
he \Va' in command of a blockhouse on Lake Huron, with a party of men, for the purpo:.e 
b 2 
Vin LIFE OF CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON. 
of defending it: he had, only one small gun for its defence; he was attacked by an 
American schooner; the blockhouse was soon demolished by the superiority of the 
enemy's fire; ,and he found that himself and the party must either become prisoners of 
war, or form the resolution of immediately crossing Lake Michigan upon the ice, ajourney 
of nearly sixty miles, to York, the capital of Upper Canada, and the nearest British 
depot. Notwithstanding the difficulty and danger attending a journey of such length 
over the ice in the depth of winter, the alternative was soon adopted, and the party set 
out to cross the lake, but had not gone more than ten or twelve miles, before a boy, one 
of the party, was unable to proceed from the cold; everyone of the sailors declared that 
they were unable to carry him, as they were so benumbed with the cold, and had scarcely 
stl'ength sufficient to support themselves. Clapperton's generous nature could not bear 
the idea of a fellow-creature being left to perish under such appalling circumstances, for a 
dreadful snow-storm had commenced; he therefore took the boy upon his back, holding 
him with his left hand, and supporting himself from slipping with a staff in his right. 
In this manner he continued to go forward for eight or nine miles, when he perceived 
that the boy relaxed his hold; and on Clapperton examining the cause, he fa"und that 
the boy was in a dyinK state from the cold, and he soon after expired. The sufferings 
of the whole party were great before they reached York; the stockings and shoes com-
pletely worn off their feet; their bodies in a dreadful state from the want of nourishment, 
they having nothing during the journey except one bag of meal. From the long in-
action of Clapperton's left hand, in carrying the boy upon his back, he lost, from the 
effects of the frost, the first joint of his thumb. 
Not long after this, Sir Edward Owen was appointed to the command upon the 
lakes. A short time after his arrival, he gave to Clapperton an acting order as a lieu-
tenant, and appointed him to the Confiance. While belonging to this ship, he often made 
excursions on shore, with his gun, into the woods, for the purpose of getting a little fresh 
meat. In these excursions he cultivated an acquaintance with the aborigines of the 
forest, and was much charmed with their m,)de of life, He had sent to his uncle in 
England the acting order which Sir Edward Owen had given him, that it might be laid 
before the Board of Admiralty for their confirmation; but, unfortunately, a very large 
promotion had taken place a little before his acting order came to England, and the 
Board declined confirming his commission. No sooner was he made acquainted with its 
ill success, than he formed the idea of quitting his Majesty's service altogether, and be-
coming one of the inhabitants of the North American forests. Fortunately for him, he 
some time afterwards abandoned that idea. 
'iVhiJe the Connance was at anchOl' near the shores of the Lake, Clapperton often 
went on shore to dinner and other parties. When he thought it time to return on board, 
he never employed a boat; being an expert swimmer, he plunged into the water with his 
clothes on, and swam along. side of the vessel; but this mode of proceeding very nearly 
LIFE OF CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON. IX 
lost him his life. One night he was 50 exhausted, that he could scarcely make the people 
on board hear his cries: they got a boat ready, and, as he was on the point of sinking, 
they picked him up, and took him on board; but he never tried the same method of 
getting on board again. 
About the end of 1816, Sir Edward Owen returned to England, and was the means 
of Clappcrton's commission being confirmed by the Board of Admiralty. And in the 
year 1817, when our vessels on the Canadian lakes were paid off alld laid up, Lieute-
nant Clapperton returned to England, and, like many more, was put on half-pay. He 
went then to Edinburgh, where he remained a short time, and was introduced to the 
amiable mother of his beloved friend, Mr. Mackenzie, who died at Bombay. He after-
wards retired to Lochmaben in 1818, and lived with an aged sister of his beloved 
mother's, at the abode for many years of his grandfather. Here he continued to amuse 
himself with rural sports until 18~O, when he went to Edinburgh, and there became ac-
quainted with Dr. Oudney, who mentioned to him the offer that had been made to 
employ him in a mission to the interior of Africa. This was an opening, to Clapperton's 
enterprising mind, not to be resisted; he immediately entreated that he might accom-
pany the doctor, and his offer was accepted. Dr. Oudney was told by a friend that 
knew Lieutenant Clapperton well, that, in all varieties, and under every circumstance, 
however trying, he would find him a steady and faithful friend, and that his powerfl'l 
and athletic form, and excellent constitution, had never been surpassed. This person 
was a medical man, and was so confirmed in the opinion that Clapperton, from the 
strength of hi constitution, could not fall a sacrifice to disease, that, until the arrival of 
Clapperton's servant, Richard Lander, from his last and fatal expedition, he would not 
(like many more who knew Clapperton) believe the report of his death in any way but 
by accident. 
In the highest spirits, Lieutenant Clapperton left Edinburgh, where he had been 
for a short time with his sister and other relations. Before his departure, he was intro-
duced by Lady Seaforth (the mother of his friend l\Iackenzie) to a di tinguished coun-
tryman, the author of the Man of Feeling. Clapper ton's spirits were elated, and he 
left Edinburgh and his relations with the highe t hopes. He returned to England, and 
was made a commander in J line QQ, 1825; and before he could finish for the pre's an 
account of his former journey, he wa engaged again, by Lord Bathurst, for a second 
mission, by the way of the western coast of Africa, near the Bight of Benin. H e sailed 
from Port mouth in his Majesty's sloop Brazen, commanded by Captain 'Villis; and 
was accompanied by Doctor Dickson, Captain Pearce, and Doctor Morrison. They 
called at Sierra Leone; from that to Benin, where they landed; but Dr. Dick-on landed 
near '''hioa, and proceeded by the way of Dahomy. Captains Clapperton, P earce, 
and Dr. Morrison, pu hed tbeir way up the country; but they" ere soon attacked with 
disease, and Captain Pearce and Doctor Morrison died, as did also Columbus, the former 
x LIFE OF CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON. 
servant of Lieut.-Col. Denham. Captain Clapperton and his servant, Richard Lander, 
accompanied by Mr. Routson, a British resident at Benin, proceeded across the moun-
tains to Katunga, where Mr. Houtson left them to return to the coast, where he shortly 
afterwards died, Dr, Dickson reached Dahomey, and proceeded on his way to join 
Clapperton, but has not since been heard of, Captain Clapperton, with his servant, 
Lander, and a native black of Houssa, reached Soccatoo in safety, where they remained 
many months; but at last the captain was seized with a fever and dysentery, which tel'-
minated his existence, and was bmied, by his faithful , servant, four miles south-east of 
Soccatoo, at a village called Chungary, April 13, 18~7, 
Thus perished, in the bloom of life, an officer beloved and respected by those of 
his profession who were acquainted with him; a man of a daring and enterprising 
spirit; and one who, for humanity and active benevolence, could be surpassed by none. 
I N THO Due TI 0 N. 
WHEN the late Captain Clapperton made his way to Soccatoo for the first 
time, in the year 18!l!4, he received the most flattering attentions, and every 
mark of kindness, from Bello, the sultan of the Fellans, as they call them-
selves, or Fellatas, as they are called by the people of Soudan. This chieftain 
may be said to rule over almost the whole of that part of North Africa which 
is distinguished by the name of Houssa, though he appears to have lost a con-
siderable portion of what his father, Hatman Danfodio, first overran; and 
many of the petty chiefs still continue in a state of rebellion, some of them 
within a day's journey of his capital. In the course of frequent conversations 
held with this chief, at his usual residence of Soccatoo, Clapperton was given to 
understand, that the establishment of a friendly intercourse with England 
would be most agreeable to him; that he wished particularly for certain 
articles of English manufacture to be sent out to him to the sea-coast, where 
there was a place of great commerce belonging to him, named Funda: he 
also expressed a wish that an English physician and a consul should be 
appointed to reside at another sea-port, called Raka; to the former of which 
places, he said, he would despatch messengers to bring up the articles from 
England; and to the latter he would send down a proper person to transact 
all matters of business between the two governments, through the interven-
tion of the English consul; and he made no difficulty in declaring his readi-
nes ' to adopt measures for putting an entire stop to that part of the slave-trade 
suppo ed to be carried on by his subjects with foreigners. 
On the arrival of ClappE'rton in England, Lord Bathurst, then secretary 
of tate for the colonies, comidering this so favourable an opportunity of esta-
blishing an intercourse with the interior of Africa, and probably of putting 
an effectual check, through this powerful chief, to a large portion of the 
xu INTRODUCTION. 
infamous traffic carried on in the Bight of Benin, and also for extending the 
legitimate commerce of Great Britain with this part of Africa, and at the 
same time adding to our knowledge of the country, did not hesitate in 
adopting the arrangement which Clapperton had made with Bello. Accord-
ingly it was determined to send him out again to that chief, by the way of 
Benin, with suitable companions and presents, in order that a communication 
might be opened between Soccatoo and the sea-coast, and an attempt made to 
carry into effect the objects to which Bello was supposed to have given his 
hearty assent. 
It had been arranged that, after a certain period agreed upon, Bello 
should send down his messengers to Whidah, on the coast, to meet Captain 
Clapperton and his companions. On their arrival, however, in the Bight of 
Benin, they could neither gain any intelligence of Bello's messengers, nor did 
any of the people there know any thing of such names as Funda or Raka, 
the places which were pointed out by Bello as lying on the sea-coast. The 
country of Houssa, however, was well known by name, and as the precise 
geographical positi(m of Soccatoo had been ascertained, our enterprising 
travellers could ha~e no difficulty in knowing what direction to take; but the 
spot from whence it would be most advisable to start was a point not so easily 
to be determined. They finally, however, selected Badagry, for reasons that 
will be briefly stated; and proceeding northerly, from one chief to another, 
the survivors met with some delay, but no serious impediments, in reaching 
the spot of their destination. 
The conduct, however, of Bello, though at first kind, was afterwards 
changed to every thing the reverse, for reasons which will appear in the course 
of the journal. His desire for establishing an amicable intercourse was not even 
hinted at, nor one word respecting the physician, the consul, or the. slave-
trade; and, either through ignorance or design (the former, in all probability), 
Bello had totally misled Clapperton as to the position of the city or district 
of Funda; which, instead of being on the sea-coast, as stated by him, is 
now ascertained to be at least 150 miles from the nearest part of the coast; 
and the other city, Raka, still farther in the interior. Indeed, one would 
almost suspect that Clapperton, from not being sufficiently acquainted with the 
Fellata language, must have mistaken the meaning of Bello on his former · 
visit, had not the letter in Arabic, which he brought home from the latter, 
addressed to the king of England, borne him out in his representation ohhe 
INTRODUCTION. XUl 
proposals made or assented to by this chieftain. In this letter he says, "We 
agreed with him upon this (the prohibition of the exportation of slaves), on 
account of the good which will result from it, both to you and to liS; and that a 
vessel of yours is to come to the harbour of Ruka, with two cannons, and the 
quantities of powder, shot, &c. which they require, as also a .number of 
muskets: we will then send our officer to arrange and settle every thing with 
your consul, and fix a certain period for the arrival of your merchant ships; 
and when they come, they may traffic and deal with our merchants. Then, 
after their return, the consul may reside in that harbour (namely, Raka) as 
protector, in company with 0111" agent there, if God be pleased." 
It is clear, from this letter, that Bello understood what was proposed and 
accepted, but, with regard to the geographical position of his two sea-ports, he 
was evidently most grossly ignorant; for, admitting the ambiguity of the Arabic 
word bah?', which signifies any great collection of water, whether sea, lake, or 
river, merchant ships could not get up to Raka, which is an inland town, not 
situated on any coast or river. Be this as it may, an expedition, as already 
stated, was planned without loss of time, at the head of which Clapperton was 
placed. He was allowed to take with him, as a companion, a fellow-countryman 
of the name of Dickson, who had been brought up as a surgeon, in which capacity 
he had served in the West Indies, but had recently been studying the law. Thi 
person considered himself to be inured to a tropical climate, and was supposed' 
to have a sufficient knowledge of medicine to take care of himself and the 
rest of the party. 
In an enterprise of this novel and hazardous nature, it was deemed 
advi -able to unite two other gentlemeu to those above-mentioned; in order 
that, when once at Soccatoo, two of them might be spared to set out from 
thence, and explore the country of Soudan in various directions. For this 
purpose, Captain Pearce of the navy, and Dr. Morrison, a naval surgeon, were 
'elected; the fonner an active and accomplished officer, and a most excellent 
draughtsman; the latter well versed in various branches of natural history. Un-
happily, it was not their good fortune to live long enough to put their respective 
talents in practice for the benefit of the public, or the gratification of their 
friends; having each of them, on the same day, fallen a sacrifice to the pesti-
lential climate, at a very early period of their journey in Africa. 
The pre ents intended for the Sultan of the Fellatas, and also for the 
c 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
" Sheik of Bornou, being- all ready, the four gentlemen, with their servants, 
embarked in his majesty's ship Brazen on the 27th August, 18!l!5, and, after 
touching at Teneriffe and St. J ago, _a rrived in the Bight of Benin on the 26th 
November, 1825. Mr. Dickson being desirous of making his way alone 
to Soccatoo, for what reason it does not appear, was landed at Whidah, where 
a Portuguese gentleman, of the name of Dc Sousa, offered to accompany him 
as far as Dahomey, where he had resided for some time in the employ of the 
king. The offer was accepted, and Dickson, taking with him a mulatto of 
the name of Columbus, who had been a servant to Lieutenant-Colonel Den-
ham on the former expedition to Bomou, departed on the 20th November, 
arrived safe at Dahomey, where he was well received, and sent forward to a 
place called Shar, seventeen days' from Dahomey, under a suitable escort, 
where he also arrived safely, and had an ,escort given him from thence on his 
intended journey to YOUl"i, since which no account of him whatever -has been 
received. By some Dahomey messengers, which Clapperton met with at 
Wawa, he sent a letter to Dickson; but ~t is evident they did not fall in with 
him, as the letter was some months afterwards sent down to the coast. It 
may here be observed, that though Whidah-was the port to which Bello was 
ultimately understood to say he would despatch his messengers to convey the 
travellers, and their presents and baggage, to Soccatoo, it did not appeal' that 
any inquiries had been made there respecting them; nor did any person there 
seem to know more about Bello or Soccatoo, than was known, further on, of 
Funda or Raka. 
The rest of the travellers proceeded towards the river of Benin, where they 
encountered an English merchant of the name of Houtson, who advised them 
by no means to think of ascending that river, in their way into the interior, 
as the king of that country was well known to bear a particular hatred to the 
English, for their exertions in endeavouring to put a stop to the slave-trade, 
by which his greatest profits had been derived: no)' had he any knowledge how 
far, or in what direction that river might convey them; he mentioned Badagry 
as a place far more preferable, as being equally near to Soccatoo, and the chief of 
which was favo~rable to the English; said that he would, no doubt, afford them 
protection and assistance on their journey, as far as his country extended, 
which was to the frontier of the kingdom of Yourriba. As Mr. Houtson had 
resided on this part of the coast for many years, and was well acquainted with 
INTRODUCTION. xv 
the customs of the people, Captain Clapperton engaged him to accompany the 
party as far as the city of Eyeo 01' Katung~, the capital of Yourriba. Having, 
therefore, arranged matters with Captain Willis of the Brazen, as to sending 
after them the heavy baggage, and keeping up, for a certain time, a communi-
cation with them, they landed on the 29th November at Badagry; and, under 
the sanction of the king, commenced their long journey on the 7th December, 
the details of which will be found in the following Journal. 
On his arrival at the encampment of Bello, at a short distance from Soc-
eatoo, Clapperton had every reason to be satisfied with his reception. While 
at Kano, he bad received a letter fi'om that chief, congratulating him on his 
first arrival there, and inviting him to Soccatoo; and when he discovered, soon 
after his arrival at that city, that Clapperton had left at Kano the presents 
intended for the Sheik of Bornou, hc again wrote to him, in a friendly manner, 
vcry civilly informing him of the impossibility of his allowing the warlike 
stores to be sent to one with whom he was in a state of hostility: he told him, 
also, that he had letters from a most respectable quarter, putting him on his 
guard against Christian spies. These circumstances seem, by the servant's 
account, to have preyed very much on Clapperton's mind; and that, when 
seized with dysentery and inflammation of the bowels, which, after thirty-six 
days' illness, carried him off, Bello's coolness and suspicion tended very much 
to depress his spirits and increase his disorder. 
To Clapperton's Journal is appended that of his servant, Richard Lander, 
giving an account of his retum joumey from Kano, after his mastelJs death, 
a great part of the way by a more easterly route. This journal of a very in-
telligent young man will be read with interest. Accompanied by two 01' 
three slaves, and a black man of Houssa, of the name (English) of Pascoe, who 
once belonged to a British ship of war, and bad been engaged to attend Belzoni 
as interpreter, with a scanty supply of money, and . without pt'esents of any kind 
(so lleCeSSal'y in this country), he not only made his way among the various 
tribes he had to pass through, but brought with him, in afety, a large trunk 
belonging to his mastel', containing hi clothes and other property; three 
watches, which he secreted about his person, to preserve from the rapacity of 
Bello; and all hi· ma"ter's papers and journals, with which, after a journey 
of nine months, he arrived in safety on the sea-coa t. 
The friend hip and kind feeling which Clappertoll entertained for this 
c Q 
XVlll INTRODUCTION. 
by an Arab, whom I have told that, on delivering them safe, you will give 
him thirty dollar~. I remain; &c. 
(Signed) " RICHARD LANDER, 
" Servant to the late Captain Clapperton. 
" MI'. Consul-General Warrington." 
'Vith regard to the Journal of Clapperton, it may be necessary to observe, 
that it is written throughout in the most loose and careless manner; all 
orthography and grammar equally disregarded, and many of the proper names 
quite impossible to be made out; full. of tautology, so as to have the same 
thing repeated over and over again daily, and even on the same day. Much, 
therefore, has been left out, in sending it to the press, but nothing whatever 
is omitted, that could be considered of the least importance; and the only 
change that has been made is that of breakillg it into chapters, which is always 
a relief to the reader. Clapperton was evidently a man of no education; he 
nowhere disturbs the progress of the day's narrative by any reflections of his 
own, but-contents himself with noticing objects as they appear before him, 
and conversations just as they were held; setting down both in his Journal 
without order, or any kind of arrangement. This may, perhaps, in one respect 
be considered as an advantage. The reader sees the naked facts as they 
occurred, and is left free to draw his own inference from them. There is no 
tl~eory, no speculation, scat'cely an opinion advanced throughout the whole of his 
Journal. He has not contributed much to general science, but, by his frequent 
observations for the latitude and longitude of places, hehas made a most valuable 
addition to the geography' of Northern Africa; and it may now be said of him, 
what will most probably never be said of any other person, that he has traversed 
the wlu)le of that country, from the Mediterranean to the Bight of Benin. 
The map that accompanies the Journal was constructed entirely from the 
latitudes and longitudes in a table annexed to that document. That portion 
of it which shows the route pursued by Richard Lander on his return, till 
stopped by the Fellatas at Dunrora, and from thence back again to Zegzeg, 
w,as laid off from the bearings and distances marked down by this intelligent 
young man; and no better proof is wanting of its general accuracy than 
that of his return route closing in with the fixed point Zaria, or Zegzeg, 
within ten ~niles. 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
It is greatly to be regretted, that the premature deaths of Captain Pearce 
and Dr. Morrison have deprived the world of many beautiful specimens of art, 
Hnd many valuable acquisitions to the stores of natural history. Among the 
vegetable products of the tropical regions of North Africa, which, from the 
general descriptions here and there given, are of great beauty and fertility, 
there are no doubt to be found many new and valuable species; the whole 
linc from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo being entirely untrodden ground, 
consisting of ~very variety of feature, mostly left in a state of nature, and a 
great portion of it covered with magnificent forests. 
Various notices are given, in the Journal, of two objects of peculiar interest, 
which are still left open for further investigation; the course and termination 
of the river which has been (improperly, as it now appears) called the Nigel', 
a.nd the recovery of the papers, which sti ll exist, of the late Mungo Park. The 
exact spot on whieh he perished, and the manner of his death, are now ascer-
taincd with precision. The former of these inquiries wiII now be considered, 
perhaps, to have lost much of its original interest, by the deflection which that 
river takes fr0111 its easterly into that of a southerly coursc; and which, in point 
of filet and strict propriety, has destroyed every pretension to its continuing 
the name of Jiger. It cannot be supposed that either Herodotus, 01' Ptolemy, 
or Pliny, 01' any Greek or Roman writer whatever, could have had the slightest 
intimation of such a river as this, so far to the westward and to the southward 
of the Great Desert, of the crossing of which by any of the nncient travellers 
there does not exist the slightest testimony. The name of Quorra, or CowalTa, 
by which it is known universally in Soudan, aud probably also to the westward 
ofTimbuctoo, ought now, therefore, to be adopted on our charts of Africa. 
'Vith regard to its termination, the reports continue to be contradictory, 
and the question is sti ll opeu to conjecture. Its direction, as far as has now 
been a certained, point to the Bight of Benin ; but there is still a considel'ablc 
distam'e, and a deep range of granite mountains intervening, between the point 
to which with any certainty it has been traced, and the sea-coast. If, however, 
it be the fact, that the liver of Benin has been traced as high up as is marked 
011 the chart (and it is taken fr0111 an old chart of the year 175.3, stated to 
have been engraved for Postlethwayte's Dictionary), that distance, between 
the lowest ascertained point of the Quorra and the highest of the Benin, i~ 
xx INTRODUCTION. 
reduced to little more than a degree of latitude, or about seventy miles; but 
it is seventy miles of a mountainous country. By our occupation of the beauti. 
ful and fertile island of Fernando Po, and the extension of African commerce . 
which may be anticipated in consequence thereof, there can be little doubt th~t 
this question of their identity or otherwise will ere long .be decided. 
From a variety of notices obtained by Clapperton, it is pretty clear, th~t the 
particulars of the death of Mungo Park, and the spot where the fatal event 
happened, are not very different from what was originally reported by Amadoo 
Fatima, and has since been repeated in various parts of the continent. The 
following correspondence, which was found in one of Clapperton's memoran· 
dum books, and translated from the Arabic by Mr. Abraham Salame, is highly 
interesting; and the more important, from the avowal of an individual, that he 
is in possession of the books of that enterprising traveller, and is ready to 
-.eliver them up to any person duly authorised by the sovereign of England 
to receive them. 
£RANSLATION OF SOME DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO MUNGO PARK'S DEATH 
AND PAPERS. 
No. 1. 
" Praise is due to God alone !-As to the subject of the Christians who 
were drowned in the river of Boossy, they consisted of two freemen, and two 
slaves, their own property. The event thus happened in the month of Rajab : 
As their ship or vessel was proceeding down the river, it came to a narrow 
place or creek, into which they pushed it, and remained there three days; 
but the people of Boossy, having observed them, assembled, and went and 
fought them for three days. When the fight became severe, they (the 
Christians) began to take up their goods, and throw them into the river, till 
they had thrown a great quantity; and on the fight becoming still more 
severe (desperate), one of them got out, and threw himself into the river, and 
died; and, in the same manner, the other followed him, leaving their two 
slaves imprisoned in the ship; so that the hands of the people of Boossy did 
not reach so far as to kill them (i. e. they died in Jrr,wning, and were not 
murdered). Thus I have heard, and do herein write it myself. 
" THE SHARIF OF BOKHARY." 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
No. ~. 
Arabic Lettel'from Clapperton to tke Lm'd qf Boossy. 
Translation.-" Praise be to God, and prayers and peace be unto his 
apostle. From Abdallah, the English rais (captain), to the lord of Boossy, 
named Moosa (Moses), with regard and salutation; and that he has heard 
that the writings of his brethren, who were slain by the people of your country, 
have come into your hands. He therefore wishes you to give them up to him, 
either by purchase, or as a gift, or by exchange for a book of your own (the 
Koran), or, at least, to let him see them only. We conjure thee, 0 lord, by 
God, by God, by God! and Salam to you." 
The reply to this does not appear among Clapperton's papers; but, from 
the following letter, it may be concluded that he was referred to the Lord of 
yaoury.-A. S. 
No. S. 
Arabic Letter from Clapperton to the Lm'd qf yaoury. 
Translation.-" Praise be to God alone. From Abdallah, the English 
I..dptain, to the Lord ofyaoury. Hence respecting the book of the Christians 
who were seized by the people of Boossy, he wishes you to give it to him, 
that he may deliver it to his master, the Great Lord of the English nation. 
This only is his desire; and Salam be to you." 
No.4. 
Reply to tlte above. 
Translation.-" This is issued from the Prince or Lord of Yaoury to 
Abdallah, the English captain: salutation and esteem. Hence your mes-
senger has arrived and brought us your letter, and we understand what you 
write. You inquire about a thing that has no trace with us. The Prince or 
Lord of Boossy is older (or greater) than us, because he is our grandfather. 
Why did not you inquire of him about what you wish for? You were at 
Boossy, and did not inquire of the inhabitants what was the cause of the de-
struction of the ship and your friends, nor what happened between them of 
evil; but you do now inquire of one who is far off, and knows nothing of the 
cause of their (the Christians') destruction. 
d 
XXll INTRODUCTION. 
" As to the book which is in our hand, it is true, and we did not give it 
to your messenger; but we will deliver it to you, if you come and show us a 
letter from your lord. You shall then see it and have it, if God be pleased. 
And much esteem and Salam be to you, and prayer and peace unto the last 
of the apostles." -(Mohammed.) 
No.5, 
The following is a letter from Clapperton to some prince or grandee, 
whose name is blotted out of the copy book, complaining of the above re-
fusal of the Lord of yaoury. 
Trauslation.-" Hence, my lord, I have written to the Lord of Boossy 
about the Christian book, whose owner was destroyed by the inhabitants; 
but when I heard that it was in the hands of the Lord of Yaoury, I wrote to 
him to give it to me, and he has refused. I have therefore written to you." 
It cannot be doubted for a moment, that volunteers enough will be found 
ready to proceed on an enterprise of S0 much interest; and for an object, the 
recovery of whichis not only due to the reputation of the lamented traveller, but 
to the nation to which he belonged, and to the government under whose auspices 
he undertook to make discoveries in Africa. If Clapperton's servant could find 
his way, alone and unprotected, through three times the distance it would be 
necessary to travel for the object in question, how much more likely would a 
duly accredited agent, bearing some trifling presents, and a letter from the 
King of England, be certain of making good his way, without difficulty, in 
the same track which has so recently been trodden, without molestation, by 
Christians and white men. A few presents, and but a few, and of trifling 
value, would only be necessary to secure the protection and assistance of the 
native chieftains on the road. 
It is much to be regretted that Clapperton himself did not personally 
wait upon the Sultan of Yaoury, whose residence is not more than twenty-five 
or thirty miles northward of Boossy, and who appears to have been most 
anxious to see the Christian traveller, and pay him every possible attention. 
He sent messengers with presents, and I?oats to c0nvey him up the river to 
Yaoury. Clapperton, however, had, no d0ubt, sufficient reasons for not visiting 
that chieftain at this time: it might be on account of the delay it would oc-
casion at a time he was most anxious to get to Kano, to avoid the rains; or, 
INTRODUCTION. XXlll 
for the sake of keeping clear of the belligerent parties who were ravaging the 
country in that direction. Perhaps he thought that, not being furnished with 
a letter to the sultan of that country, he would not have given up the papers 
to him. And, after all, it is not quite certain, from what he afterwards learned, 
that the Sultan of Yaoury has in his possession any thing more than some 
printed books; for on Clapperton inquiring of one of the sultan's people, if 
there were any books like his own Journal, the man said there was one, but 
that his master had given it to an Arab merchant ten years ago; but that the 
merchant was killed by the Fellatas on his way to Kano, and what had become 
of that book afterwards he did not know. 
The death of Dr. Morrison, at an early period of the journey, deprived 
the scientific world of all information on the subject of natural history, of 
which, as might well be supposed, neither Clapperton nor his servant had any 
knowledge. It will be matter of regret to some, that they had not, which 
they might easily have done, collected specimens of the language of the 
several districts through which they passed. The little that is added to the 
Appendix is all that was found among the papers of the deceased commander 
on this subject; and the state of the thermometer and barometer at different 
hours of the day, as observed on the journey, and also by Lander at Kano and 
Soccatoo, is not quite complete. J. B. 
EXPEDITION 
FOR 
THE DISCOVERY OF THE INTERIOR 
OF 
NOR THE RNA F RIC A. 
II' Cl 
}[ 0 
D 
EXPEDITION 
FOR 
THE DISCOVERY OF THE INTERIOR 
OF 
NORTHERN AFRICA. 
CHAPTER I. 
J OURNEY FROM nADAGRY OVER THE KONG MOUNTAINS TO THE 
CITY OF EYEO OR KATUNGA . 
"\VEDNESDAY, December 7th, 1825.-After a great deal of 
palavering and drinking with our African friends, we succeeded 
in getting off all our baggage and presents; and embarked in the 
canoes provided for our accommodation. That in which I was with 
the presents and stores, being very heavy, proceeded slowly up a 
branch of the Lagos river as far as the junction of the Gazie creek, 
up which we then proceeded about a mile and a half, and landed 
on the west bank. The banks of both these small rivers are low, 
and covered with reeds: at the place where we halted, a market is 
held for the Badagry people, and those of Puka and other neigh-
bouring towns; it is called Bawie. The Gazie comes from the 
north-west, running through part of the kingdom of Dahomy, 
having its rise in the country called Keeto. 
Thursday, 8th.-Morning thick and hazy, and though sleeping 
close to the river in the open air, for the first time ince we have 
been on shore, we did not hear the hum of a single mu quito. The 
B 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
canoes of our attendants were armed with small guns in the bow, 
to guard us from the danger of any attack; Adoli had his cook 
and one of his wives with him in his own canoe, the after part of 
which was covered with a matted roof. 
While halting here Mr. Routson and I walked on to the town 
of Puka, leaving the baggage and stores to come on after us. The 
path over which we travelled was partly cleared, and covered with 
high grass wherever it was clear of wood; and had apparently once 
been cultivated. The woods were thick and the trees high, with a 
great deal of tangle and underwood, so as to render it impenetrable 
to man or beast excepting along the path. The country is low and 
flat, and the soil a red clay mixed with sand. 
On arriving at Puka, we halted under a tree, and were sur-
rounded by immense crowds of people, who were very civil: those 
who could not get near enough to see us, on account of their small 
size, were held up on others' shoulders; and from the great number 
of old people and of young children, it would appear that they are 
not much in the habit of~ing their children at this plac~. They 
are all negro pagans. 'Ve had a visit from one of the Eyeo war 
chiefs, who came in state: he was mounted on a small horse, as 
were also two of his attendants; the saddles and ornaments were t1 
the same as those in Soudan and Bornou; the rest of the caval-
cade were on foot, amongst which was a little boy apparently the 
favourite slave of the chief, judging from the conspicuous part he 
bore, and the great attention which was paid to him by all the 
others. Ris dress and appearance was most grotesque, consisting 
of a ragged red coat with yellow facings, a military cap and feather 
apparently Portuguese. The captain came curvetting and leaping 
his horse until within the distance of a hundred yards, when he 
dismounted, and approached within twenty yards of us, where he 
sat down. 'Ve then sent our umbrella as a message or token that 
we wished him well; and on the receipt of which, the drums beat 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
and hands were clapped, and fingers cracked at a great rate. He 
now came up to us, capering and dancing the whole ~ay, and 
shook us by the hand, a few of his attendants accompanying him. 
He then began his speech, saying he was very glad that he now 
saw white man; and pointing to the various parts of his dress, he 
said, This cloth is not made in my country, this -cap is of white 
man'.s velvet, these trowsers are of white man's nankeen, this is a 
white man's shawl; we get all good things from white man, and 
we must therefore be glad when white man come to visit our 
country. The two men who appeared next in authority to him-
self were stout good-looking men, natives of Bornou; they were 
dressed in the fashion of that country, with blue velvet caps on 
their heads. Being Mahometans, they could not be prevailed on 
to drink spirits, bqt the captain and his men drank each two 
drams. 
'Ye paid a visit to the caboceer, or chief man of the town. 
We found him seated in the midst of his elders and women. He 
was an ancient, tall, stupid-looking man, dressed in a red silken 
tobe, or long shirt; on his head was a cap made of small glass 
beads of various colours, surrounded by tassels of small gold-coloured 
beads, and three large coral ones in front. The cap was the best 
part of the man, for it was very neat; in his hand he held a fiy-
-flapper, the handle of which was covered with ~eads. After a 
number of compliments, we were presented with goroo-nuts and 
water. vVe told him of our intent.ion to proceed to Eyeo, that 
we ''''ere servants of the king of England, and that we wanted car-
riers for ourselves and baggage. 'Ye remained here for the night, 
and as all our baggage had not come up from the coast, Captain 
Pearce went down to the beach after them. 
As soon as we had removed into the caboceer's house he sent 
us a present of a sheep, a basket of yams, and some fire-wood. 
His wives and young women came peeping at us through the holes 
B 2 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
in the walls, and at the doors; and whenever we went near them 
they w(;JUld run off. Captain Adamooli told us to keep a good 
look out after our things, for the people here were great thieves.1 
I said he must make his men keep watch, as I held him. answerable 
for whatever might be lost. Accordingly he sent the greater part 
of his troop, he himself taking up his station at the principal door, 
where they kept drumming all night. 
This morning, Friday, 9, there was a good deal of palavering 
between the captain and the old caboceer; while we sat patiently 
waiting the removal of the baggage and stores from his house. I 
found the old caboceer sitting on a chair with an umbrella held 
over his head; his aged counsellors by his side. The old gentle-
man was carefully counting all the articles as they were brought 
out, laying a small piece of stick on each; they were then counted 
over a second and a third time, after which the bundles were tied 
up; not however before they obliged me to count them over, and 
till I said all was right. After waiting about two hours for carriers, 
the old caboceer said with the most invincible graVity that he would 
not procure a single carrier, alleging that he had not received 
enough for a present. We then declared we would return to Ba-
dagry, and let the king know of his conduct, and made a show of 
going that way; but the old ,caboceer was not in the least moved. 
Poor Captain Adamooli, however, prostrated himself before me, 
laid hold of my legs, and said he should lose his head if I 'Went 
back. I therefore returned, and he loaded his own people; the 
old wretch not giving us a single man. 
Having seen the whole of the baggage off, we started in the 
evening, and proceeded on our journey. We learned in fact that 
we were not now in the king of Badagry's territory, but in a district-
of Eyeo, which is called Yarriba by the Arabs and people of Houssa, 
and that the name of the capital is called Katunga, and that it is 
thirty days' journey. Finding we could get no men to carry the 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 5 
hammocks which they supplied us with, I mounted my friend Ali's 
small horse, without a saddle, and Houtson and I agreed to ride 
and tie, as my feet were cut and blistered with a pair of new boots 
I had mounted yesterday, and I could only wear a pair of slippers. 
'Ve set off in this state, accompanied by the caboceer of Jannah's 
messenger, named Acra, and Mr. Houtson's boys. Puka, which 
we are leaving, has once been a large town, surrounded by a wall 
and deep ditch; the wall is now down, and all the houses of the 
town in ruins. After leaving this place it soon became dark, and we 
fi'equently lost our way. We could see, however, that the road in 
the open part of the country was through fine plantations of corn; 
the rest was through thick dark woods, where we could not see the 
heaven over our heads, the path winding in every direction. JHy 
slippers being down at the heels I soon lost them off my feet, which 
were miserably cut; but I became so galled by riding without a 
saddle, that I was compelled thus to walk barefooted, which was 
the worst of the two; for whenever I crossed an ant path, which 
were frequent, my feet felt as if in the fire, these little animals 
drawing blood from them and fl;om my ankles. 'iV e halted at a 
village called Isako, after passing several others on the road: here 
the people offered us a house for the night, but on their telling us 
that our people had gone on to a town a short distance off, we re-
mained only a little while and set off again. They kindly gave us 
guides with lamps to show us the way. Our short rest and ride 
had had a bad effect on us, and the road only wanted thorns to 
make OUl' misery complete. However, after struggling on till 
midnight, we arrived at a town called Dagmoo, where we found 
our servants with the heavy baggage and the canteen, but our beds 
had gone further on, so that we were obliged to sleep in the market-
place, in the open air: even till , with a little cold meat, was better 
than travelling. 
Saturday, 1O th.-The morning raw, cold, and hazy, and we had 
6 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
nothing to eat. The road lay through the thiokest woods I ever 
saw; and, except on the narrow footpath, wholly impenetrable by 
man or beast: the surface rather uneven; the soil a strong red 
clay. "iV e passed several people, principally women, heavily laden 
with cloth, plantains, and a- paste made from pounded Indian corn, 
wrapped in leaves called accaSSOl1, going to market. They were all 
extremely civil, and never omitted saluting us, or giving us the 
road. One woman, whom I made signs to that I was thirsty, was 
nearly crying that she had no water to give, but would make us take 
plantains an,d accassons. Shortly after leaving Dagmoo we crossed 
a small stream, over which I was carried. About noon, arrived at the 
town of Humba, where I found Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison in 
the caboceer's house, and the caboceer waiting in state to receive 
us. Here I had my feet bathed, but found I had a considerable 
degree of fever on me, and was glad to get to bed. In the after-
noon I had a slight fit of ague. The house was in a very ruinous 
state; and, indeed, the whole town, as far as we saw of it, was 
equally so. The inhabitants, however, were cheerful enough, and 
kept singing and dancing all night round our house; their songs 
were in chorus, and not unlike some churoh music that I have 
heard. 
Sunday, 1 Ith.-Though very weak, I walked on for a mile to a 
town called Akalou, where the baggage was halted; and here I 
found a black captain in a leopard skin cloak, holding a palaver, 
and declaring he would neither go nor let the baggage go on, with~ 
out a flask of rum. Mr. Houtson gave him a glass of grog, when, 
after keeping it in his mouth for some time, he poured it out of 
his own into the mouths of his attendants. After this the baggage 
proceeded, and I had two men to carry me in my hammock; but 
they had not gone twenty paces before they set me down, and said 
they would carry me no further. I accordingly endeavoured to 
creep on slowl~, hut on seeing the fe1l9ws walking very deliberately 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 7 
after me, I took my gun and presented it at them, when they 
threw down the empty hammock and fled. The two messengers, 
however, took me up and carried me to a town called Eto, where 
we were to change the bearers. The caboceer of this place sent us 
a goat and a basket of yams, and Mr. Houtson gave him in return 
a flask of rum. Here I procured hammock-men, and we left Eto 
and proceeded on through thick woods to Sado 01' Isado, where we 
halted in the palaver house. Here, as in other places since leaving 
Puka, our articles of baggage were strictly counted in presence of 
the caboceer. The people sung and danced all night around our 
houses. 
The soil between this place and Humba is generally a strong 
red clay, and there must be considerable plantations not far from 
the road, but none appear near the towns for the support of the 
numerous inhabitants. I judge we are not far from the banks of 
the river which they say we are to cross to-morrow; but old Acra, 
the messenger, says, that the fetish at Gazie would kill any white 
man that came up the river, and that this is the only reason why we 
did not come that way. 
Monday, l~th.-Morning raw and hazy; our things going off 
with alacrity this morning, and hammock-men provided. Leaving 
Sado, the road lay principally through thick woods for an hour, 
when we arrived at the town of Bidgie, where there are some fine 
plantations of corn and plantains. The caboceer was all ready 
to receive us: a fine civil young fellow, his name Lorokekri. 
They came in crowds to see us; and on our expressing a wi h to 
proceed on without delay, he begged we would stop all day, as 
neither he nor his people had ever seen white men before, and he 
was desirous of giving us something to eat. 1\lr. Routson and I 
went down to the river, embarked in a canoe, and cros ed over to 
the other side. " re found there was no place clear of wood except 
the footpath. The river we had to cross was about a quarter of 
8 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
a mile in width, full of low swampy islands and floating reeds. The 
natives appear to have a number of canoes, which are not used with 
paddles, but a forked pole, and they manage them very cleverly. 
At this place Dr. Morrison was taken very unwell, and had 
slight symptoms of fever. The caboceer made us a present of two 
hogs and some yams. \ Ve observed here some women very oddly 
marked, having small raised dots, like wens, across the forehead, 
about ha~an inch apart; those on the cheek about an inch. 
They are made by cutting and lifting the skin. 
Tuesday, 13th.-This morning Dr. Morrison was better, and we 
,left Bidgie in the canoes. The road from this place was through 
a dry swamp nearly the whole way. The sun was very oppressive, 
and I had sent my umbrella on. About midday I sat down in the 
shade, quite exhausted by the heat, when a horseman came up; 
he kindly dismounted, and gave me his horse, while he walked 
with me to the village of Atalioboloo, where the baggage and 
people were halted, waiting for carriers to come from the next town. 
I procured rooms in the principal man's house for Captain Pearce 
and Dr. M orrison, who were indisposed. This town is surrounded 
with plantations of yams and corn; numbers of people were on the 
road going to the market at Bidgie. The carriers having arrived from 
Laboo, the sick, and the greater part of the baggage, sent forward, 
Routson and I followed in hammocks; the road lying through fine 
plantations of.yams, and nearly as level as a bowling-green. In the 
evening I was met by the Jannah messenger, with an officer of the 
caboceer of Laboo, bringing horses for the party: we got out of our 
hammocks and mounted. I was the only one that had a saddle, but it 
was so hard and the stirrups so short, that it became a question which 
of us had the best bargain. We soon arrived at the town of Laboo, 
which stands on an eminence, and is the cleanest we have seen since 
we first set foot in Africa. The country has now become beautiful, 
rising into hill and dale, from which there are some fine views: part 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 9 
of our road lay through large plantations of corn and yams and fine 
avenues of trees. 
At 7 P. lVI. we arrived at Laboo. The approach to the town 
appeared by the moonlight quite enchanting, being through an 
avenue of tall majestic trees, with fetish houses placed here and 
there, and solitary lights burning by each. On entering the town 
we were taken to the caboceer's house, where he was sitting under 
his verandah ready to receive us, and the house was crowded with 
spectators; he rose as high as the roof would admit, welcomed us 
to his country, and said he was glad to see us. vVe told him there 
was one sick gentleman behind, and requested he would send lights, 
and people to assist to bring him up. In less than two hours Dr. 
Morrison arrived; and having received a present of a pig and five 
baskets of yams, we prepared our supper and went to bed. 
W"ednesday, 14th.-The morning raw and cold; Morrison a 
little better; Captain Pearce and my servant Richard Lander taken 
ill. After daylight the caboceer sent to inquire after our health, 
and at 10 A. M. we paid him a visit. We found him in the same 
place we saw him last night. The whole of the verandah and 
square was full of people, except a small space for those who came 
to prostrate themselves. In the centre of the square was a large 
baboon and pole, and a forked stick, with water for pigeons, that 
were continually flying about our heads. Behind the caboceer sat 
about two hundred of his wives and concubines. He was sitting 
on a mat, reclining on a large round pillow, one of each of which 
he immediately ordered for us. ,Ye sat down beside him and gave 
him a glass of grog, which he drank off with great relish, turning 
himself round so that his own people might not see him drink. ,Ye 
handed a few glasses more to his ladies, and a goblet full to his 
headmen, who were sitting in front with all the marks of their 
morning's salutation of their master. Their obeisance is a com-
plete prostration of the body at full length on the ground, with 
c 
10 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
the chin resting on the hands, turning one cheek to the ground, 
then the other, and finally to bestow a kiss on their mother earth 
and rise. Before entering the caboceer's presence their heads must 
be covered with dust or clay. He told us he had a house at Eyeo, 
and that half his wives were there. When he spoke in a compli-
mentary way to us, all the people clapped their hands joyfully. 
When we told him that a white man had only one wife, he and 
the whole people, with his wives, laughed immoderately. After 
staying with him an hour we took our leave, giving him two 
bottles of rum, and a promise of something more when the bag-
gage alrived. The town of Laboo is large, and stands on a rising 
ground on the top of a small hill, and in some parts commands an 
extensive view, particularly to the south, which is low and flat. 
Lagos, we were told, can be reached in one day by a messenger. 
Thursday, 15th.- Our sick better: at eight, sent them off in 
the hammocks: at nine, started on horseback, but waited a short 
time for the caboceer, who came mounted, but without stirrups. 
He attended us some distance out of town with the whole popula-
tion of Laboo around him, the women singing in chorus and holding 
up both hands as we passed; and groups of people were kneeling 
down and apparently wishing us a good journey. The country well 
cultivated and beautiful, rising into hill and dale: from the tops of 
the hills we had distant views, the road leading through plantations 
of millet, yams, alavances, and Indian corn. 
On arriving at J annah about noon, I found our poor sick halted 
in the palaver house, which is an open shed, surrounded by thou-
sands of people making a great noise. Here we had to wait about 
an hour before the caboceer made his appearance, which however · 
at last he did, gorgeously arrayed in a large yellow silken shirt and 
red velvet cap; with a silver mounted and silver wrought kind of 
horsewhip ornamented with beads, in one hand, and a child's silver 
bells in the other, which he rattled or shook when he spoke: he 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 11 
was seated on a large leathern cushion, which was placed on a mat 
covered with scarlet cloth. On the cloth I was going to sit down, 
but the ladies very unceremoniously whipt it from under me, and I 
squatted myself on the mat; his female attendants sung in chorus 
very beautifully: the drummers were at a more respectable distance, 
and the whole space in front of his house was covered with people. 
Here also were the worshippers, who paid their respects in due form 
to their master, going out and coming in three times. We shook 
hands with him. He said he was glad to see us; that whatever we 
had to say to the king of Eyeo we must first deliver to him; that 
if he approved of our palaver, so would the king; but if not, neither 
would the king of Eyeo. This seemed somewhat ungracious and 
consequential, especially when coupled with his apparent inattention 
while the interpreter was speaking to him: but on our explaining to 
him that we had nothing of particular importance to say to the king 
of Eyeo beyond a request that he would accept the king of England's 
respects, and grant a passage through his country, he said all was 
right; that he was glad we should see the king of Eyeo's face; that 
God would give us a good path, and that he would forward us right 
on without any trouble. We then asked him for a house: he said 
he would give us into the hands of his principal servant, who would 
lend us his house, to which we went. "'\Ve found it pretty well oc-
cupied with people, but there was a room each for the sick, and 
Houtson and I took up our quarters in the verandah. In the 
evening we were visited by the caboceer incognito. He was now 
quite a different man: his servant Akoni, who had come with us 
from 13adagry, sat down, and the caboceer made a seat of his knee. 
He now conversed freely, gave us a great deal of good advice, and 
spoke of God more like a chri tian than a pagan. He said that the 
king of Eyeo would not allow us to go through his dominions, but 
that he would give us horses and carriers to bring us to the king; 
but that the Eyeo people were unaccustomed to carry hammocks, 
and we must go on horseback. He repeatedly assured us of safe 
c 2 
1~ JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
conduct to Eyeo, and said we might start to-morrow if our sick 
were well. We then gave him the grea,test pal't of our string of 
coral, which in this country is highly esteemed. Mr. Routson 
learnt this evening that a' message had arriv.ed to the caboceer 
from some part of the coast, probably Lagos or Dahomy, advising 
him that the Englishmen were going to make war upon the king 
of Eyeo, and that we might perhaps kill the king: this, I appre-
hend, was the reason why he was so positive in wanting to know 
our business with the king of Eyeo. 
Friday, 16th.-Morning raw and hazy. We this morning re-
ceived two goats, a hog, and a large quantity of yams, ten fowls 
and two pigeons. . We are visited by a great number of the town's-
people; and whenever we show ourselves out of the house we are 
followed by an immense crowd. We received a present of a goat 
and a quantity of yams from the town's-people. In the evening 
Mr. Routson and I took a walk through the town : we were fol-
lowed by an.immense crowd, which gathered as we went along, but 
all very civil; the men taking off their caps, the women kneeling 
on their knees ahd one elbow, the other elbow resting upon the . 
hand. In return"ing we came through the market, which, though 
nearly sunset, was well supplied with raw cotton, country cloths, 
provision, and fruit,· such as oranges, limes, plantains, bananas; and 
vegetables, such . as sm~ll oni?ns, chalotes, pepper, and gums for 
soups; also, boiled yams and accassons. Here the crowd rolled on 
like a sea, the men jumping over the provision baskets, the boys 
dancing under the stalls, the women bawling, and saluting those 
who were looking after their scattered goods, yet no word or look 
of disrespect to us. 
Saturday, 17th.-Morning clear. Captain Pearce much better; 
Richard worse. Dr. Morrison bled Ri~hard in the temple in the 
evening, but he has had no relief. 
Sunday, 18th.-Our patients to-day a little better. The town of 
Jannah stands on the side of a gentle hill, commanding an extensive 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 15 
VIeW to the west; the view to the east is interrupted by thick 
woods. The inhabitants are apparently civil and industrious, and 
may amoun.t from 8000 to 10,000. They are great carvers; their 
doors, drums, and every thing of wood is carved. It has formerly 
been surrounded by a wall and ditch: the gate and ditch are now all 
that remain. The streets are irregular and narrow; the houses occu-
pying a large space, and in the same form as those of Puka. Here, 
amongst the Yarribanies, is the poor dog treated with respect, and 
made the companion of man; here he has collars around his neck 
of different colours, and Ol:namented with cowries, and sits by his 
master, and follows him in all his journeys and visits. The great 
man is never without one, and it appeared to me a boy was ap-
pointed to take care of him. In no other country of Africa, that 
I have been in, is this faithful animal treated with common hu-
manity. 
Owing to a Brazilian brig having arrived at Badagry for slaves, 
the people here have been preparing themselves for two days to 
go on a slaving expedition to a place called Tabbo, lying to the 
eastward. 
I cannot omit bearing testimony to the singular and perhaps 
unprecedented fact, that we have already travelled sixty miles in 
eight days, with a numerous and heavy baggage, and about ten 
different relays of carriers, without ~osing so much as the value of 
a shilling public or private; a circumstance evincing not only some-
what more than common honesty in the inhabitants, but a degree 
of subordination and regular government which could not have 
been supposed to exist amongst a people hitherto considered bar-
barians. Humanity, however, is the same in every land ; gov~rn­
ment may restrain the vicious principles of our nature, but it is 
beyond the power even of African despotism to silence a woman' 
tongue: in sickness and in health, and at every stage, we have 
been obliged to endure their eternal loquacity and noise. 
14 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
'VVe have observed several looms going here: in one house 
it we saw eight or ten-in fact a regular manufactory. Their cloth 
is good in texture, and some very fine. They also manufacture 
earthenware, but prefer European, though they sometimes mis-
appropriate the different articles. The vessel in which the cabo-
ceer of Labo.o presented us water to drink, Mr. Houtson re-
cognised 'as a handsome chamber-pot sold by him last year at 
Bad~gry. 
Monday, 19th.- Captain Pearce is better this morning, but 
Ricpard continues still very ill with severe head-ache and fever. 
About twelve o'clock we visited the caboceer at his own house. 
He had previously sent us about twenty-five gallons of rum, saying 
he heard we had not brought much rum with us; that Eyeo people 
liked rum too much, and that he sent us this that we might give 
aU ' his people a dram to get us a good name amongst the inha-
bitants. . 
vVe found his highness seated in the door-way of a room, in 
the inner verandah, and on his large leather cushion; behind were 
his singing women; and under the verandahs, on both sides of 
the doors, were his mtlsicians and his headmen. He wore this 
liI10rning a rich crimson damask robe, or shirt, and the same red 
velvet cap; but during the visit, to display his grandeur, he 
changed his dress three different times, each time wearing a richer 
than before, The whole court, which was large, was filled, crowded, 
crammed, with people, except a space in front where we sat, into 
which his highness led Mr. Houtson and myself, one in each hand, 
alilQ there we performed an African dance, to the great delight of 
tbte surrounding multitude. The tout ensemble would doubtless 
have formed an excellent subject for a caricaturist, and we re-
gretted the absence of Captain Pearce to sketch off the old black 
caboceer, sailing majestically around in his damask robe, with a 
train-bearer behind him, and every now and then turning up his 
JOURNEY PROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 15 
old withered face to myself, then to Mr. Houtson-then whisking 
round on one foot, then marching slow, with solemn gait, twining 
our hands in his-proud that a white man should dance with him. 
W" e gave in to the humours of the day, and thus" cheered we our 
old friend, and he was cheered." We sent for Captain Pearce, 
who came on his hammock, but he could only stay a few minutes, 
the noise being too great for him. In the evening we despatched 
our messenger to the caboceer to ask when the horses would be 
ready; he returned with an answer, that his highness was drunk 
to-night, but would see us to-morrow morning. Richard much 
worse: Dr. Morrison put a large blister over his head, which caused 
a temporary delirium; but as the blister rose he got better, and 
promises in the morning to be convalescent. 
Tuesday, QOth.-Morning raw and hazy. The caboceer called 
to inquire after the sick, and expressed much concern at their not 
getting well. Indeed Dr. Morrison continued very weak, and Cap-
tain Pearce getting weaker; Richard something better. 
vVednesday, Qlst.-The caboceer came this morning with his 
headmen to overhaul the packages, to see how many carriers would 
be requisite. 'Ve tried for hammock-men for the sick, but the 
caboceer said, that the Eyeo people could not and would not carry 
a hammock-that a man was not a horse; which, to be sure, was a 
truism so obvious and ancient, that we could not venture to con-
tradict it. I offered him a string of coral, which to him is most 
tempting, but he would not make a positive promise. However, 
he sent a messenger in the evening, saying that he would find 
hammocks to the first ~tage. He promised also to forward any 
thing that was sent from Badagry for the mission, and any thing 
from the mission to Badagry. "T e visited several manufactories 
of cloth and three dyehouses, with upwards of twenty vats or large 
earthen pots in each, and all in full work. The indigo here is of 
an excellent quality, and forms a most beautiful and durilble dye; 
16 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
the women are the dyers, the boys the weavers; the loom and 
shuttles are on the same principle as the common English loom, but 
the warp only about four inches wide. Mr. Routson was anxious 
to purchase the freedom of a Bornouese slave, a dwarf three feet 
high and thirty years of age, a cunning-looking rogue; but he was 
not willing to be sold, and his master would not therefore sell him. 
Thursday, 22d.-This morning Dr. Morrison was looking ill, 
but in better spirits; Captain Pearce very weak; Richard better. 
In the extreme weak state of the two former, I thought it ad-
visable to say to both, that I would either make arrangements for 
their remaining here until they were completely convalescent, or 
for their return on board the Brazen, provided hammocks could 
be got to carry them to Puka, and to go under the care of Mr. 
Routson's boy, Accra; or, if necessary, that Mr. Routson should 
himself take charge of them, and return them safe to Badagry. 
Captain Pearce expressed a decided determination to proceed, and 
Dr. JVl orrison would not even hear Mr. Routson speak on the 
subject of a return or stay, but said he would proceed on. The 
caboceer came early, and after much trouble, and seemingly much 
difficulty, got men to carry the sick, his own son being obliged to 
take one end of a hammock. I observed that, on the caboceer's 
sneezing, all his attendants clapped their hands and snapped their 
fingers, a custom common to Benin, Lagos, and Dahomy, and 
similar to our exclamation of "God bless us" on the same oc-
casion. The hammocks started early, when Mr. Routson's small 
boys, owing to some people frightening them with stories of war 
on the path, and probably a message from their friends at Badagry 
requesting them to go no further, all ran away. He immediately 
despatched a letter for another interpreter, who will join us in a 
few days. About an hour afterwards, I started after the sick, 
leaving Mr. Routson to see the baggage off. 
;Friday, ~!'3d.-At 7 A. M. the sick left Bachy. Dr. Morrison 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 17 
looking very ill; Captain Pearce much the same; Richard better. 
"Te had presents, as l~sual, of yams, plantains, eggs, and a goat. At 
ten, arrived at Tshow; the countq finely cleared, and diversified 
with hill and dale, a number of inhabitants travelling with us. A 
little after our arrival Dr. .M orrison sent for me, and said, that as 
our proceeding onwards had made him no better, he wished me to 
allow him to return, which I did, to see if the sea air would recover 
him; I therefore gave Mr. Routson an order to see him to Jannah, 
or to Uadagry if necessary, and they parted at 4 P. M. 
Saturday, 24th.-Raw cold morning: Captain Pearce much the 
same, Richard better. At 7 A. M. left Tshow. During last night 
we had thunder, lightning, and rain; the roads dreadfully bad; in 
some places over the horses' bellies. In one place George Dawson's 
horse lay down in the midst of the water, and the rider rolled off, 
as he was weak and ill with ague. At 10. 30 A. M. arrived at Ega; 
the road mostly through thick woods, with here and there patches 
of cleared ground planted with corn. Received a present of yams, 
oranges, eggs, plantains, and a goat. At 4 P. M. George Dawson, 
seaman, died: he had got the ague at J annah, where Dr. Morrison 
had turned him off. I was not aware of his belonging to his ma-
jesty's service until after his death, or I should have sent him down 
to his ship the moment of his discharge at J annah. I caused him 
to be decently buried, and read the service over the body, making 
all the sel'Yants that were able to attend the ceremony. 
Sunday, Q5th.-Our poor sick still remain much the same. I 
also have been very ill from a cold caught 011 the journey of 
yesterday. The country continues to be diversified with hill and 
dale. and in many places well cultivated. The approach to Emadoo 
is through a long, broad, and beautiful avenue of the talle t tree ; 
a strong stockade eighteen feet high, with a wicker gate, and at 
one hundred paces from this another of the same kind, defends 
the entrance to the town. The road from Ega to Liabo was 
o 
18 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
beautiful, rising ground, gentle hills and dales, a small stream of water 
running through each valley: the land partly in a state of cultiva-
tion, and sufficiently cleared of that thick forest which gives such a 
monotony to this part of Africa. At 9 A. M: halted at a town called 
Ekwa, where we received a present of yams, plantains, and a goat. 
Monday, ~6th.-Raw, cloudy morning. All the towns from 
Jannah to Ekwa are situated in the bosom of an inaccessible 
wood; the approach is through an avenue defended by three 
stockades with narrow wicket gates and only one entrance; but 
Liabo only had a mud wall and ditch in addition to the stockades. 
Tuesday, ~7th.-Morning clear for the first time since we left 
J annah-a strong wind blowing-our sick and myself the same-
had them well wrapped up in their hammocks. I suffered much 
from cold, being lightly dressed. After leaving Ekwa we crossed 
a deep ravine, and descended a hill on the ridge of which we travelled 
until we arrived at Engwa, at 9 A. M. 
At 11 A. M. Pearce had become much worse and quite in-
sensible; and at nine in the evening he breathed his last. From 
the moment of Captain Pearce's being taken ill, his wonted spirits ' 
supported him through the progress of a disease that was evidently 
wasting his strength from day to day; but after Dr. Morrison left 
us, he became less sanguine of recovery, and wished Richard to 
remain in his room to keep him company, as my duties in attending 
to the business of the mission prevented me from being as much 
with him as I could have wished. On the morning of our leaving 
Tshow I gave him some bark, but afterwards the heat of his skin 
was so great, that I thought it prudent not to give him any more, 
and he was too weak to venture on any strong medicine. The death 
of Captain Pearce has caused me much concern, for independently 
of his amiable qualities as a friend and companion, he was emi-
nently qualified by his -talents, his perseverance, and his fortitude 
to be of singular service to the mission, and on these accounts I 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 19 
deplore his loss as the greatest I could have sustained, both as 
regards my private feelings and the public service. 
vVednesday, 28th.-At eleven this morning I interred the re-
mains of Captain Pearce, the whole of the principal people of the 
town attending, and all the servants. The grave was staked round 
by the inhabitants and a shed built over it: at the head of the 
grave, an inscription was carved on a board by Richard, I being 
unable to assist or even to sit up. 
Saturday, SIst.- As I had heard nothing from Mr. J-Joutson as 
to the fate of Dr. Morrison, I determined to wait here until I 
should get a little stronger. In the evening, however, Mr. Routson 
arrived, who informed me that Dr. Morrison had died at J annah on 
the same day as Captain Pearce. 
'With the assistance (says Mr. Houtson) of old Accra, and the 
caboceer's messenger, I had the body washed and dressed, and at 
8 A.1Vr. on the morning of the 28th buried him at the south-west 
end of the house we lived in; the king's messenger and a number 
of people attending. I read the church of England service over 
his remains, and paid all the respect that circumstances permitted. 
I sent to Badagry for a head board with an inscription stating his 
name and the date and place of his death. 
Tuesday, January 3d, 1826.-Left the town of Engwa in a 
hammock, and reached the town of Afoora, where we were well 
lodged, and had a present of yams, fowls, a goat, &c. The town is 
surrounded by a stockade; the state of the atmosphere much changed 
for the better. 
'Vednesday, 4t.h.-Clear and cool, all of us much better. At 7.50. 
left ~Hoora. The country clear, and rising into hill and dale: on the 
ri ing grounds large blocks of gray granite showed their heads 
above the earth; the plains were scattered with the female cocoa-
nut, and covered with long high gra s, which in many places had 
recently been burnt down. The view on leaving Afool'a was beautiful 
nQ 
£0 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
from the hills; all the valleys being filled with streams of water 
running to the north-west, to join a larger river said to empty itself 
into the Lagos. Halted at the town of Assulah, and received plenty 
of yams, fowls, plantains, eggs, and a goat; the inhabitants were as 
usual very kind and civil, and may consist of five or six thousand 
people: the town is surrounded by a new made ditch, on account 
of the existing war, and they are building a number of houses; the 
women are very shy, and they say that adultery is punished with 
death. 
Thursday, 5th.-Left the town of Assula, and passed through 
the village of !tallia. The country to-day very beautiful. Arrived 
at Assoudo: it is a walled town, and as far as my observation 
'goes, at least 10,000 inhabitants. We received a plentiful supply 
of provisions, wood, and water. The people here are as curious 
as at other places, but very civil. Houtson and I rode out at 
sunset, and were surrounded by thousands; the men kept dancing 
and the women singing all night on account of our arrival. 
Friday,6th.-We left the townof Assoudo: the countrynuturally 
deal' of wood, and planted with cotton and corn; the succession of 
hill . and dale beautiful We halted for the night at the town of 
Chocho. The caboceer out hunting, as he did not expect us to-day. 
All the men in the place were with him, hunting the wild buffalo. 
We got the best house the town afforded. In the evening the cabo-
ceer arrived, and we received a present of yams, plantains, eggs, 
and a goat. This town is pleasantly situated among the rocky hills, 
but the inhabitants not numerous. 
Saturday, 7th.-On leaving Chocho our road lay through beau-
tiful rocky valleys, cultivated in many places and planted with 
cotton, corn, yams, and bananas; and well watered with many fine 
streams. A number of little towns are pe~ched on the top and iil 
the hollows of the hills, to whose inhabitants the plantations in the 
valley belong. A war is now carrying on only a few hours' ride 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 21 
from us: not a national but a slaving war. We were supplied with 
yams, eggs, and plantains, a goat and fowls. The caboceer did not 
make his appearance: I therefore told the king's messenger that I 
should inform the king of Eyeo of this caboceer's want of respect. 
Sunday, 8th.-Last night we had thunder, lightning, and rain j 
the morning dull and cloudy: at 8 A.M. left Bendekka, our 
road through winding and beautiful valleys formed by the rugged 
and gigantic blocks of granite, which in some places rose to the 
height of six or seven hundred feet above the valleys in which 
We travelled. Sometimes the valley is not a hundred yards broad, 
at others it may widen out to half a mile j in one place we had 
to travel over a wide mountain plain. The soil is rich, but shallow, 
except alongside the fine streams of water which run through the 
valleys, where large tall trees were growing j the sides of the moun-
tains are bare except in the crevices, which are filled with stunted 
trees and shrubs. The valleys well cultivated, and planted with 
cotton, corn, yams, &c. At l~. 30. P.M. arrived at the town of 
Dufi'oo, where we were well lodged j but the crowds of people were 
immense: when told to go away, they said-No; if white man 
would not come out, they would come in to see him. 
This cluster of hills said to rise in the Berghoo country, which 
is behind Ashantee, and to run eastward through J aboo to Benin. 
They do not know their direction any farther. They extend from 
W. N . W. to to E. S. E. j and are about 80 miles in width from north 
to south. 
The king of Eyeo's wives are to be found in every place trading 
for him, and, like other women of the common class, carrying large 
loads on their heads from town to town. ~Ir. Houtson and I went 
to the top of one of the mounts: I had to be assisted by two men, 
being so weak I could not go alone. We had a grand and beautiful 
view of mountains, precipices, and valleys, wherever we turned our 
eyes, with the town of Dufi'oo spread out at our feet. The top of 
the hill was covered with women grinding corn. They make round 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
holes in the face of the rock in which they crush the grain with a 
small stone in the hand. This mount may be called a large corn mill. 
This evening the fetish went round to keep away thieves. 
These watchmen make a noise resemblirig that which a boy does by 
spinning a notched stick tied to a string, round his head. When 
this is heard, no one, on pain of death, must stir out of his house. 
Monday, gth.-Left Duffoo, a town that may contain upwards 
of fifteen thousand people. Mr. Routson unwell; he rode on early 
to avoid the sun. I had great trouble in getting hammock-men. 
After leaving Duffoo, the road winding around between two hills, 
descending over rugged rocks and stones, and immense blocks of 
granite overhanging us, as ready to start from their base to the 
destruction of every thing below. About half a mile came to the 
village of J esin, close at the base of five towering rocky hills, and 
surrounded by tall trees, a small stream running through it; from 
this the road ascends and descends, still winding round the hills, 
until we arrived at the town of Weza. Here our carriers would 
not start until they had quaffed an immense calabash of ot ee, 
(mountain ale made from millet), which the caboceer of the town 
sent to me with some plantains and eggs: the last article in this 
country almost invariably half-hatched. We now passed over a 
table land, gently descending from the mountains, well cultivated 
and watered with several streams; halted at the town of Chiadoo, 
situated on the side of a gently rising hill, surrounded by a wall 
and 'ditch; and within the walls thickly planted with a belt of 
trees, which entirely surround the town. 
Tuesday, 10th.-The caboceer of this town is a friend of the 
caboceer of Jannah, and extremely kind and attentive. Re hopes 
our stay may be extended to ten days, and assures us that neither 
we nor our people should find any want of provisions. He sent us 
abundance of yams, fowls, a goat and a turkey; the last a rare 
fowl in this country. The caboceer's name is Toko. I have put 
the barometer up, and shall wait two days. Mr. Routson better; 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
myself unwell, with head-ache, languor, and weakness; Richard 
much better, but still weak. 
Wrednesday, llth.-Calm and clear. The caboceer waited on 
us to-day, when we gave him ten coral beads for a piece of cloth, 
with which he was much pleased. This town of Chiadoo is large, 
and I think contains upwards of 7900 inhabitants, whose curiosity 
regarding us is insatiable, crowding the square whenever we make 
our appearance. 
Thursday, 12th.-The morning dull and cloudy. About eight 
o'clock left Chiadoo; the caboceer, and an immense train of men, 
women, and children, attending us; the women singing in chorus, 
while the drums, horns, and gongs, formed a strange discord with 
their agreeable voices: the road, through a well cultivated country, 
apparently descending through the rude and rugged pass between 
the hills. The soil a fine mould, but very thinly strewed over the 
granite base, which in many places on the plain broke out and 
appeared like large sheets of water glittering in the sun. At 10 
halted at the town of Matoni (signifying " Let me alone"), where 
we took leave of the caboceer. 'iVe staid but a few minutes, while 
the carriers had swigged a few calabashes of mountain ale, or atee, 
as it is called in their language. The road was now very difficult 
and dangerous, over broken rocks, and through rugged passes, 
where the inhabitants were perched in groups to look at us as we 
passed by. At one halted at the town of Erawa, where we were 
received with drums; the caboceer conducted us to his house and 
gave us fowls, sheep, and a goat; and the caboceer ofa neighbouring 
town sent us a pig. The people were here curious beyond measure, 
yet exceedingly kind. The town is large and very populous. 
Friday, 13th.-Dull and hazy. The caboceer, on coming to 
bid us good morning, said that our guide had not told him that we 
wished to go away to-day, a manceuvre of the caboceer and the 
guide to detain us, so that all the people might have an opportunity 
of seeing us: but we were determined to proceed; and after much 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA . 
palaver about hammock-men and caiTiers, left Erawa at nine: the 
I'oad through a mountain pass as far as a town called Washoo, 
where we rested. After this we again entered the mountains. At 
2 : 30 P.M:. arrived at Chaki. The country from Erawa to Chaki 
well planted and thickly inhabited, till we entered the last men-
tioned mountains, which were more broken than those we had 
hitherto passed, and appeared as if some great convulsion of nature 
had thrown the immense masses of granite into wild and terrific 
confusion. The road through this mountain pass was grand and 
imposing, sometimes rising almost perpendicularly, and then de-
scending .i n the midst of rocks into deep dells; then winding 
beautifully round the side of a steep hill, the rocks above ovel'-
hanging us in fearful uncertainty. In every cleft of the hills, 
. wherever there appeared the least soil, were cottages, surrounded 
by small plantations of millet, yams, or plantains, giving a beautiful 
variety to the rude scenery. The road continued rising, hill above 
hill, for at least two miles, until our arrival at the large and po-
pulous town of Chaki, situated on the top of the very highest hill. 
On every hand, on the hills, on the rocks, and crowding on the road, 
the inhabitants were assembled in thousands; the women welcoming 
us with holding up their hands and chanting choral songs, and the 
men with the usual salutations and every demonstration of joy. 
The caboceer was seated on the outside of his house, surrounded 
by his ladies, his singing men and singing women, his drums, fifes, 
and gong-gongs, He is a good-looking man, about fifty years of 
age, and has a pleasing countenance. His house was all ready for 
us; and he immediately ordered us a large supply of goats, sheep, 
and yams; pressing us strongly to stay a day or two with him. 
He appeared to consider us as messengers of peace, come with 
blessings to his king and country. Indeed a belief is very pre-
valent, and seems to have gone before us all the way, that we are 
charged with a commission to make peace wherever there is war; 
and to do good to every country through which we pass. The 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 25 
caboceer of this town indeed told us so; and said he hoped that 
we should settle the war with the Nyffee people and the Fel1atah; 
and the rebellion of the Housa slaves, who have risen against 
the king of Yarriba. When I shook hands with him, he passed 
his hand over the heads of his chiefs, as confirming on them a 
white man's blessing. He was more inquisitive and more com-
municative than anyone whom we have yet seen. He sat until 
near midnight, talking and inquiring about England. On asking 
if he would send one of his sons to see our country, he rose up 
with alacrity, and said he would go himself. He inquired how 
many wives an Englishman had? Being told only one, he seemed 
much astonished, and laughed greatly, as did all his people. "·What 
does he do," said he, "when one of his wives has a child? Our 
caboceer has two thousand." 
'iV e learned from this man that the Nigerr or Quorra, passed 
Jaboo, and entered the sea at Benin, but that it flowed over rocks; 
that Burgho is only one day's ride north-north-west, and that the 
mountains through which we are travelling pass through Ghunga, 
thirty-five days distant from hence west-north-west ; that they con-
tinue through Burgho, Youriba, and Laboo, to Benin; but of their 
further course he was ignorant. This was confirmed by the king 
of Burgho's messenger, who was present. On asking for milk he 
sent for it, and said, that if we wished to wash in milk there was 
abundance for us all. A baco, our guide, told us this caboceer held 
great authority under the king of Eyeo, and had an extensive dis-
trict of country, and many large towns, under his regency. He 
appeared a true mountain king, and the friend of strangers; his 
name i Toko, and he is fond of our tea. 
Saturday, 14th.-Clear, and a fine breeze from the westward; 
much difficulty in getting away the people, and cabocecr wishing 
us to stay. At 8. 40 A.i\I. started, accompanied several miles by 
F. 
26 JOURNEY FROM BApAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
the caboceer and a great number of people, with upwards of two 
hundred of the caboceer's wives,· one of which was young and beau-
tiful. The messenger from Burgho also was with us, and mounted 
on a much better horse than any I had yet seen. He said it was 
a war-horse, and set much value on it. Passed through the vil- } 
lage of Fellah: the country extremely beautiful, clear of wood, and 
partly cl\ltivateQ.. We passed a number of Fellatah villages, whose . 
inhabitants live here as they do in most other parts of Africa, at-
.tending to the -pasturage of their cattle, without interfering in the ' 
customs of the cOl\ntry, or the natives giving them any molestation. 
Passed Awari at ten; at eleven started again and halted at Bayoo ; 
the country still continuing nne and well cultivated. Here we 
changed carriers; and at 1. 40 P .J.\{. arrived at Kooso, a large, 
double-walled town; the outel' wall extending from some rugged 
granite hills on the south-east to a great distance in the ' plain: the 
walls were crowded with people to receive and welcome us. The 
caboceer was seated under his verandah, with his wives and head-
I1len around him, and shortly after came to welcome us. He was 
dressed in a N yffee tobe, made after the Mohammedan fashion. He 
said he was glad to see white men come to his country, and going 
to see his king; that he never expected to see th-{s day; that all the 
wars and bad palavers would now be settled. He presented us with 
yams, eggs, a goat, a sheep, and a Rne fat turkey, and milk: a large 
J ~ '\ .J ~ 
pig also from the caboceer of a neighbouring town. 
Sunday, 15th.-Clear and cool breeze from the east. The ca-
boceer came to bid us good morning, bringing abundance of pro-
visions, which we gave to the kafila ~ccompanying the messenger. 
The large court, about two hundred yards square, in which we are 
lodged, is constantly filled with some thousands of people, who will 
not be driven away, party succeeding party in their curiosity to 
see us; and ".wide-mouthed wonder stares apace." This is by 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 27 
much the largest town we have seen, and at least contains twenty 
thousand people. They describe the country on every side as being 
full of large towns. 
Monday, 16th.-Morning clear and fine. Last night we had 
thunder, lightning, and a few drops of rain; the thermometer had 
been as low as sixty:two degrees. They tried very hard this 
morning to retain us another day, but we were determined to go 
on, and at eight we left Kooso. I rode to-day, as I felt myself 
much stronger than since I left Engwa. Just as we were starting, 
Mr. Routson being mounted on a vicious horse, the animal reared 
and fell backwards with him. Our road was in a parallel line with 
the hills until we passed through the town of Yapoo; course, east 
three-quarters north; the country well cultivated and very beau-
tiful. At 10 A.M. halted at the town of Ensookosoo; here we 
had to stop, much against our will, as Abaco, the messenger, had 
eaten too much pork, and made himself sick, and could proceed no 
farthcr. \Ve therefore took up our ' quarters in the house of the 
caboceer, a dull-looking man, with a long iron chain round his 
neck, an ornament of which they are all fond: a pair of manacles 
for the hands lay beside him. \Ve were lodged in the fetish room, 
which was the best in the house, and a very good one. \,y e had a 
present of a pig, fowls, guinea-fowl, goat, fruits, milk, two bushels 
of plantains, yams, &c. The country between Yaboo and Ensoo-
kosoo was a beautiful plain, well cultivated, and studded with a 
number of Fellatah villages; here also the curiosity of the people 
appeared to be insat.iable, but the women very shy; they are well 
drcs cd, and have immense large bugles on their arms, the Fellatah 
women who came from the villages to see us especially, as also their 
necks covered with coarse jasper beads, made in the country: we 
mct a number of people with merchandize. The people snap their 
fingers when the caboceer drinks. 
Tuesday, 17th.-Last night we had a long conversation about 
E 2 
5ZS JOURNEY PROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
England; and the belief of my going to make peace with -the Rousa 
slaves and the king gains ground. They have been in rebellion 
these two years, and possess a large town only two days' journey 
from Katunga, called Lori. The Y ouribanis are evidently afraid 
I 
i of them; they say they have a great number of horses, and have 
" Ib een joined by many Fellatahs. I told them, that if the king 
made good friends with 'the king of England, he would send him 
every thing he wanted; that if ships could come up the Quorra 
there would be an end of the war immediately. They said that 
canoes came up the river from Chekerie or Warrie to N yffee or 
Tappa, and that they were ten days on the passage. I surprised ' 
them not a little by an account of our rivers, towers, houses, and 
especi,ally our great guns. We had a great deal of trouble in 
leaving Ensookosoo, and it was S. 45 before we got fairly started. 
The Fellatahs near the town had supplied us with plenty of milk; 
we had guards inside and outside , the house, and the war-horn r 
blowing at intervals all night. At 9. 15 halted at the town of 
Ladooli; the country is well cultivated, with numerous villages: 
,"W"e met numbers of trading men and women, and saw a range of 
hills beai'ing from ' east by south to south . After changing horses 
we left Ladooli, and halted at Aggidiba; the country well cul-
tivated as before, but the inhabitants had mostly deserted from 
,:the town on account of the rebellious Housas, who make frequeht 
inroads into this part of the country, and have burnt several towns 
and villages. I ' stopped here, as I ' was very sick, and unable to 
ride; but at 15Z.15 left Aggidiba; our road through a wood of low, 
stunted, scrubby trees, on a soil of sand and gravel; passed three 
villages, and two that had been burnt by the Fellatahs. At noon 
arrived at the town of Akkibosa: it is surrounded with trees in-
side the walls. The caboceer was very civil, and made us a pre-
sent of a goat, yams, fowls, eggs without number, and plantains. , 
These two days we have not" seen the palm-oil tree, but one of 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
them appeared to-day by the banks of a small stream in the valley. 
Mr. Houtson and I took some strong medicine, as we were both 
very unwell. I was worse than I have been since I left Badagry. 
The town of Akkibosa is large, and surrounded inside the walls 
with an impenetrable wood. 
Wednesday, 18th.-Morningdull and hazy, with alittledrizzling 
rain. At 7 A. M. left Akkibosa; the country cultivated only in 
patches here and there; the trees low and stunted; the soil gra-
velly. At 9. QO halted at A1ja, where we were obliged to stop, the 
people being at work in the fields. The caboceer seemed inclined 
to be uncivil, and did not wait on us for a considerable time: when 
he did, I would not shake hands with him, but told him I should 
report his disrespectful conduct to the king of Eyeo. He first said 
he was in the country, then that he was asleep, and no one told 
him we were come. He said, if I would forgive him, he would get 
us every thing we wanted; to which I assented, provided he would 
promise to get us every thing ready for starting at daylight. I had 
my side rubbed with a piece of cord, after some Mallageta pepper 
was chewed and spit on the part. The cord was rubbed backwards 
and forwards on the part, and gave ease; and I consider it an ex-
cellent mode of rubbing. 
Thursday, 19th.-Clear morning. Every thing was ready at 
daylight. The caboceer brought me some medicine to take; it 
was like lime-juice and pepper. I was so sick that I could not 
stand for half an hour after J had taken it; I then got suddenly 
well, both as to the pain in my side and the severe diarrhrea which 
had troubled me for some days: gave him six coral beads, and at 
6. 40 A. 1\1. left Adja, which is a walled town, having an avenue 
of trees, with a creeping plant of a briar-like appearance ascending 
to their very tops, from which hanging down, it makel! an im-
penetrable defence against any thing but a snake; and being an 
evergreen, there is no possibility of burning it. The town j . 
so JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
straggling, and may be said to contain 4.QQ0 inhabitants. At 
8 A. M. passed the town of L~o, where we changed carriers: the 
country well cultivated, and planted with corn, yams, &c., and , 
rising into gentle hills and dales. At 8. 30 left Loko, which is a 
considerable walled town; at 9. 30 halted under a tree to tighten 
my hammock; at 10 halted at the eastern town of Saloo; there 
being t~ of that name close together, and all apparently equally 
large; the western one walled, the other two not . walled. The 
country between Loko and thi~~ce but little cultivated, and .J 
thickly wooded; the soil a red clay and gravel, with some large 
pieces of clay iron-stone that looks as if it had passed through the 
fire, being full of small holes, perhaps by the water wearing away 
the soft parts. In this part of the route I obtained the flower of 
the butter tree of Mungo Park. The tree is almost bare of leaves 
when in flower, and until the rains ai·e nearly over, and is then in 
luxuriant foliage. The flower has eight petals and eight leaves, 
and of a pale yellow. At 10. 30 changed carriers and left Saloo; 
at noon, halted at the town of Laydoo. The caboceer's house 
was under repairs, but we got a good room, with plenty of pro-
VISIOns. He sent into the country for milk and honey; the latter 
we got; the former not to be had. We here saw a great number 
I of traders. 
Friday, 20th.-Morning clear. Last night we had a visit from 
the caboceer and the principal people of the town, to inquire 
what would make their town large and flourishing as it once was. 
; I told them, that to encourage people to come and settle in it 
by treating them well, and also to encourage them to come and 
trade, and plant plenty of corn and yams, and then poor people 
would make money, and get children; that no man ought to have 
one hundred wives and another none, but that every man ought 
to have only one wife. The latter part of my advice was 
laughed at, though the first was highly approved. I told them, if 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 31 
they had only one wife, more children would be born: that in 
England the people are as numerous as ants; and that I was the 
youngest of thirteen children, and as stout a man as any in their 
town; that it was no uncommon thing for one woman to have 
sixteen or seventeen children. Mr. Houtson then gave them a 
word on the riches, improvements, and happiness of Old England, 
enlarging on the general cultivation of the country, its roads, car-
riages, and modes of travelling; its canals, ships, trade, wars, &c. ; 
the bravery of the men, and the beauty of the women, with the 
richness of their dress; and that this prosperous state of things re-
sulted from its good government, the king encouraging people from 
all parts of the world to come to England and trade, and sending 
his own people to visit the most distant corners of the earth to see 
what in every country might be of use in England. It was mid-
night before we parted, and then I had to send them away, telling 
them we had to rise early in the morning. Burgho is only a day's 
journey from this, and the natives of that country often come and 
~ steal people from the neighbouring towns to sell into slavery. At 
• 7 A. M. left Laydoo; the country but little cultivated, thin woods, 
soil a red clay mixed with lumps of iron-stone, none being larger 
than three feet on each side. At 8. 30 halted at the village of 
' Leogalla, inhabited by Fellatahs, who kindly brought us sweet 
milk to drink. At 10 halted at the village of Bongbong, where the 
carriers got their breakfast of eko, or accassan, which is made of 
millet meal, first steeped in water until sour, then boiled like a thick 
paste, and then mixed with warm or cold water for a drink, or 
eaten without water for food: it is very wholesome. The village 
of Bongbong is walled. At 10. 80 started-passed a burnt village 
-the road winding-country woody, forming gentle dale and down j 
a strong harmattan, or north wind, blowing. At noon halted at 
Atepa j got quarters in the caboceer's house, where we were sup-
plied with yams, fowls, a goat, turkey, &c., also a large pig, which 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
we gave to Abaco, the king's messenger. The caboceer was very 
inquisitive about England . 
. Saturday, 21st.-Morning cold and clear. This night the ther-
tnometer has been as low as 55° in the open air. The coldest tim"e 
in this country, as, I believe, in all others, is the hour before day-
light, or rather before sunrise. The town is large and populous, 
j containing certainly above ,six thousand; it is surrounded by a belt 
of trees, rendered impenetrable' by the crossing thorny creepers, 
through which there is only a narrow pass at the gates. The 
~ country, for a couple of miles outside the gate, well cultivated. 
At 9. 15 entered the walled town of ~ah, the road now winding 
and woody; changed carriers; and at 9. 80 left N amah. The country 
plain, and a clay soil. At 10 A. M. crossed a stream called Juffee 
-fl or Moussa which runs into the Quorra at, or opposite to, Nyffee. 
At 11. 80 arrived at. the walled town of Leobadda: there is a range 
of broken rocks, like an immense wall, on the east side of which the 
town is built. 'iV e were accompanied hither by the caboceers of 
Atepa and N amah, with all their train, to guard us from the Burgho 
robbers who frequent the road, as the king of that country has his 
capital only one day's journey with a horse from this place. Passed 
two ruined villages; the road woody and winding. We gave the 
two caboceers a dram before starting, as they had been very kind 
to us. 
Sunday, 22d.-Clear and cold; north wind during the night; 
thermometer, 56°. The town of Leobadda is situated on the east I 
side of a ridge of granite, the tops of which are broken into large 
masses, some of them forming the most grotesque figures imagina-
ble; they run in a direction from north-east to south-west, and 
are from fifty to sixty feet above the plain, and join the hills to the 
south and east. Leobadda contaiIis about one hundred and fifty 
houses, with from thirty to forty souls in each; it is walled; the in-
habitants are poor, but civil; we were well supplied with provisions, 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. ss 
v as before, and in addition had milk. The caboceer told us that 
IGama, the capital of Borgho, was only one day's journey by a 
horse from his town; that these people were only a band of thieves; , 
that their country was small, but independent; that they infested ./ 
the roads of Y ouriba, and stole all they could catch. 
At 7 A. M. started, accompanied by the caboceer and a great 
number of attendants. The country well cultivated for a little way 
outside the town. We met upwards of six hundred men, women, 
and children, carrying loads; they had travelled all night, and were 
guarded by men with bows and arrows and swords, ten or twelve 
armed men marching between each fifty; the road woody, but the 
trees low and stunted. Here, for the first time, I saw the small 
stunted accacia. The soil red clay. Passed several villages that 
, had been destroyed by the Fellatahs, some very large. The shady 
I trees are now desolate, the walls covered with weeds. After closing 
with the range of rocks we entered a beautiful valley in the midst 
of them, planted with large shady trees and bananas, having green 
plots, and sheets of water running through the cehtre, where the 
dingy beauties of Tshow were washing their well-formed limbs, 
' while the sheep and goats were grazing around on the verdant 
banks. After passing this lovely valley we crossed another ridge 
of rocks, and at 9. ] 5 arrived at the town of Tshow, where, after 
getting housed, we turned to and cleaned our arms, as they say the 
road is infested with robbers. \Ye afterwards heard that the king 
of Eyeo was going to send an escort, and was quite rejoiced at our 
near approach. Got a specimen of the Tsheu fruit and leaves : the 
fruit is the size of a large pear, having a stone inside, covered with 
a pulpy cream-coloured substance, which is good to eat. The stone 
i' said to be poisonous; the outer rind of the fruit is put into their 
oup. 
After sun et a caboceer arriyed from the king of Katunga or 
Eyco. His attendant, horse and foot, were so numerous that 
F 
34 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
every corner was filled with them, and they kept drumming, blowing, 
dancing, and singing all night. The caboceer waited on us, and after 
shaking hands with us, rubbed all his face and body over, that his 
hands, by touching ours, might impart our blessing to his face, head, 
and body. They were well dressed, and said the king of Eyeo was 
mest anxious to see us: they had a great deal of natural good-
breedipg; and on my saying I had brought only a small present, they 
i replied, if! had brought nothing the king of Eyeo would be glad to 
see us. Sent them a flask of rum. They kept firing all night. 
lVIonday, ~3d.-The town of Tshow was all bustle and hubbub 
with the great men and their attendants, the large grooms and 
: their little horses. I left it early, being a poor place, with a good 
\ wall, and may contain four thousand inhabitants. Perhaps I 
• might call them poor, as they had liot fed us so well as we had 
been w~nt to be fed; but considering. the ravenous host which 
\ came to escort us to Katunga, apd who live pretty freely wherever 
they can, this deficiency on our side is easily accounted for. The 
road through which we passed was wide, though woody, and covered 
by men on hor&eback, and bowmen on foot. The horsemen armed 
with two or three long spears hurrying on as fast as they could get 
us to go; horns and country drums beating and blowing before 
and behind; some of the hors€lmen dressed in the most grotesque 
manner; others covered all over with charms. The bowmen also 
had their natty little hats and feathers, with the jebus, or leathern 
pouch, hanging by their side. These men always appeared to me 
to be the best troops in this country and' Soudan, from their light-
-.J ness and activity.. The horsemen however are but ill mounted; 
the animals are small and badly dressed, their saddles so ill secured, 
and the rider sits so clumsily on his seat, that any Englishmen, who 
ever rode a horse with an English saddle, would upset one of them 
the fh-st charge with a long stick. 
, We were also accompanied by great numbers of merchants or 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 35 
traders. At 9 A. M. halted to the southward of a village called 
Achoran, until the baggage should come up; but the heavy 
packages not coming soon, the caboceers thinking we would be 
too much exhausted before we got into Katunga, sent us off with 
a proper escort, waiting themselves for the baggage. At 9. 30 left 
the shade, and went on as hard as the horses could possibly walk; 
the road winding and woody; clay iron-stone, resembling lava, in 
the spaces between the granite, great blocks of which appeared on 
each side of the ravines and low hills. ·We had from the top of 
one of the ridges some beautiful views to the east, of fine wooded 
valleys and low rugged bare hills in the back ground. At 10. ~o 
crossed a stream running to the Quorra, which is only a journey / 
of three days distant. Here we drank and gave our horses water; 
\ passed the ruins of two towns burned by the Fellatahs. At 11. 30, 
from the top of a high ridge, on which were the ruins of a clay wall, 
we saw the city of Katunga or Eyeo. Between us and it lay a finely 
cultivated valley, extending as far as the eye could reach to the . 
westward; our view intercepted to the eastward by a high rock, 
broken into larger blocks, with a singular top; the city lying, as it 
were, below us, surrounded and studded with green shady trees, 
forming a belt round the base of a rocky mountain, composed of 
granite, of about three miles in length, forming as beautiful a view 
as I ever saw. 
At 12. 15 we entered the north gate of Katunga; there wa"sr a Y small Fetish house outside the gate, and a few others inside.  e 
halted, and went into one of the caboceer's houses until the baggage 
and escort came up. Here we got accassall; and Abaco's wife was 
cooking a little country soup for us, but the pot broke on the fire 
just as it was ready, and the house was in an uproar in an instant; 
only for my interference they would have come to blows. Abaco 
wa ready to cry that he had disappointed us. 
At ~ P.M. the baggage having all arrived, a message came from 
F Q 
36 JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 
the king to say that he wanted to see us. A band of music accom-
panied us and the escort, with an immense multitude of men, women, 
and cbildren. As there was much open and cultivated ground, the 
dust they caused almost suffocated us, though the escort tried all 
/ gentle means to keep them off. At last after riding one hour, 
which was full five miles, we came to the place where the king was 
sitting under the verandah of his house, marked by two red and blue 
cloth umbrellas, supported by large poles held by slaves, with the 
staff testing on the ground. After the head caboceers had held 
some conversation with the king, they came back to us, and I 
thought they were talking about our prostrations. I told them if 
any such thing was proposed, I should instantly go back; that all 
the ceremony I would submit to should be to take off my hat, 
make a bow, and shake hands with his majesty, if he pleased. They 
went and informed the king, and came back and said I should make 
only the ceremony I had proposed. 'iV e accordingly went forwards: 
the king's people had a great deal to do to make way amongst the 
• crowd, and allow us to go in regular order. Sticks and whips were 
used, though generally in a good-natured manner; and I cannot 
.I help remarking on this, as on all other occasions of this kind, that 
the Youribas appear .t o be a mild and ki.nd people, kind to their \ 
wives and children and to one another, and that the government, I 
though absolute, is conducted with the greatest mildness. Mter 
we got as far as the two umbrellas in front, the space was all clear 
before the king, and for about twenty yards on each side. 'iV e 
walked up to the verandah with our hats on, until we came into the 
shade, when we took off our hats, made a bow, and shook hands; he -
lifting our hands up three times, repeating" Ako; Ako," (how do you 
do?) the women behind him standing up and cheering us, calling 
out" Oh, oh, oh !" (hurrah!) the men on the outside joining. It was 
impossible to count the number of his ladies, they were so densely J 
packed and so very numerous. If I might judge by their smiles, 
JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. 37 
v they appeared as glad to see us as their master. The king was 
dressed in a white tobe, or large shirt, with a blue one under; round 
his neck some three strings oflarge blue cut-glass beads; and on his 
head the imitation of an European crown of blue cotton covered 
over pasteboard, made apparently by some European, and sent up 
to him from the coast. We waited about half an hour until all 
inquiries had been made respecting our health and the fatigues of 
our journey. We were then conducted by his chief eunuch and 
confidents to apartments in the king's house, and asked if we liked 
, them. They certainly were very good; but our servants would have 
been too far removed from us. We looked out for one in which 
we could be more comfortably stowed, and one by which both ser-
vants and baggage would be under our own eyes; which is an im-
portant matter, in this country especially, and never to be neglected, 
however good the servants may be. After this we had dinner and 
tea, to which we had good new milk; and when it got fairly dark we 
had a visit from the king in person: he was attended by his favourite 
eunuch, the ladies remaining outside. He was very plainly dressed, 
so that he would not have been known outside but as one of the 
people, with a long staff in his hand. He said he could not sleep 
until he saw us, but that we should only talk about our health, and 
not about business now. After a short stay he went away. 'Ve re-
quested before he went that we should be left undisturbed for two 
days, that we might rest from the fatigues of our journey. 
CHAPTER II. 
RESIDENCE AT EYEO, OR KATUNGA, THE CAPITAL OF YOURIBA. 
TUESDAY, January Nth.- Early this morning the king paid 
us a visit, accompanied by his favourite eunuch and Abaco the 
messenger. He had received previous information that he wished 
to have the presents intended for him this night; and such is the 
crooked policy of these petty sovereigns of Africa, that no present 
can be given, no business or transaction of importance can be 
done openly: all must be conducted under the cover of night, and 
with the greatest secrecy, from the highest to the lowest. 'Ve 
first began inquiring after his health. I then told him that I was 
the king of England's servant" sent by his majesty to beg his ac-
.ceptance' of a present, which then lay before me; that we had heard 
his (the king of Y ouriba's) name mentioned in England as a great 
king; that we now experienced the truth of the report; that three 
white men, two of them my companions, and one a servant, had died 
on the road; that another of my companions was at Dahomey, to 
ask the king of that country to allow him a passage through his 
dominions. I told him that all the Y ouriba people had behaved 
well to us; that the caboceers of the different towns thtough which 
we had passed supplied us with every thing we wanted, especially the 
chief of Jannah, his f~iend, who had shown the greatest attention 
to us, and had given us 'a good man for a messenger, who had con-
ducted us with safety and attention to his majesty's capital. Upon 
this the messenger was ordered to make his prostrations, and his 
majesty rubbed his shoulders with his hand. I then told him that 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 39 
the king of England would be glad to make him his friend, and 
that whatever he, the king of Y ouriba, might have occasion for 
would be sent from England by one of the king's ships to Badagry. 
The king then replied in assuring us that we were truly wel-
come to his country; that he had frequently heard of white men; 
but that neither himself, nor his father, nor any of his ancestors had 
ever seen one. He was glad that white men had come at this time; 
and now he trusted his country would be put right, his enemies 
brought to submission, and he would be enabled to build up his 
father's house, which war had destroyed. This he spoke in such a 
feeling and energetic manner, and repeated it so many times, that I 
could not help sympathising with him. Re then said we were 
welcome to his country, and he was glad to see us, and would have 
t 
been so, even if we had not a cowrie, instead of coming with our 
hands full, as we had done; that he wanted nothing from white 
men, but something to assist him against his enemies, and those of 
his people who had rebelled against him, so as to enable him to 
reduce them to obedience; that his slaves from Rousa had joined 
the Fellatahs, put to death the old, and sold the young; that he 
was glad to hear that all his people had behaved well to us; that 
had any of them refused us assistance, he should have sent an order 
to cut oft'their heads; that the caboceer of J annah was his slave" 
whom he put there to look after that part of his dominions; that 
Badagry, Alladah, and Dahomey all belonged to him, and paid 
custom for every ship that anchored there: and he concluded 
by a suring us he wanted nothing but assistance against his ene-
mies; feelingly deploring the civil war occasioned by his father's 
death, the state of his country, and of his capital, Katunga. He 
then asked us if we did not see the ruined towns as we came along 
the road. "All these," says he, "were destroyed and burned by 
my rebellious Rousa slaves, and their friends, the Fellatahs." 
'We now began to unfold and to deliver the presents. \Yith the 
40 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
umbrellas and gold-mounted cane he was much pleased; but for 
the red and blue cloth, which, by some mistake, was common cloth 
for soldiers' coats, we had to make an apology. With all the others 
he was highly pleased. Indeed" during our stay at Katunga he was 
- never seen without the cane. 
After the delivery of the presents, I told him that the king, 
my master, had sent me before on a mission to Bornou, in ~vhich 
country and Hausa I had passed two years; that the sultans and 
people of these countries had behaved to me with the greatest 
kindness; and that, having then understood that the path we were 
now going was the nearest way to Bornou, the king of England 
had ordered me, as I proceeded, to visit the king of Youriba, and 
to assure him of his friendship, and to request him to give me a 
safe conduct to N yffee, from whence I might proceed to Bornol!. 
He seemed to hesitate much at this request, and consulted with 
his minister what answer to give. After which, he said, that 
N yffee or Toppa was involved in civil war, caused by the death of 
the king, who had left two sons, both of whom claimed the king-
dam; that one son had more of his countrymen on his side, but the 
other had called in the assistance of the Fellatahs or Fellans, which 
made him doubt as to my safety, in the event of his putting me 
into their hands. I told him I was a servant of the king of Eng-
land, and must go where he chose to order me, and that, live or 
die, I must proceed; that I had nothing to do with either party or 
with their wars; that all I wanted was a passage over the Quorra 
into N yffee, and hoped he would not refuse me. After some further 
consultation with his counsellors, he said he would despatch a mes-
senger to open the road for me, and that he would send me safely 
over the river. 
Wednesday, Q5th.-Early this morning the king sent me a pre-
sent of a large fat cow, a sheep, yams, &c. He had before sent us 
a goat, yams, honey, and milk, night and morning. 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 41 
The atmosphere here is so dry, that most of the instruments 
are breaking and splitting. My only hygrometer was broken at 
Badagry. The late Dr. Morrison's barometers were fitted with 
ivory screws at the bottom of the tube; they are all split, and ren-
dered useless by the heat: the plain tubes are the best; those .with 
ivory or wooden scales contract, and break the glass. The micro-
scope is all in pieces, as also several other instruments. 
In the evening we had a visit from the king, to thank me for the 
presents I had given him, and again to assure me of being welcome; 
said that he wanted nothing, unless it was something that would 
speedily cause the submission of the rebels. He said that he had 
sent to his friend the king of Benin for troops to assist him in the 
war. He added that the customary f~tes or amusements would 
begin in about two months, and he would be very glad if I would 
stay and see them; that he dressed now as a common man, but 
after that, I should see' him robed as a king. I told him I must go 
on early, to get to Bornou before the rains. Mr. Houtson took this 
opportunity of observing to him that . he had been at the customs 
in Dahomey, and inquired if the king of Y ourriba put to death such 
a number of people at his customs as at those of Dahomey. He 
shook his head, shrugged up his shoulders, and exclaimed "No, no-
no king of Y ourriba could sacrifice human beings; and that if he 
so commanded, the king of Dahomey must also desist from that 
practice j that he must obey him." 
Thursday, 26th.-This morning we had a sheep from the king, 
and a hog and some plantains from one of his sons. In the evening 
I set offfive rockets, which astonished all and frightened away many. 
The king was sitting under his verandah, and we waited on him to 
inquire how he liked the rockets; he was quite delighted, and said 
they houId be kept for war.  
.Friday, 27th.-Employedin reducing the packages, and writing. 
c 
42 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
The morning dull and hazy. In the afternoon the king paid us a 
visit, when we showed him some presents intended for the three 
principal caboceers of the city. He said he did not know what to 
do or say for our great kindness, as we had given him more things 
than he would have got for the sale of one hundred slaves, and now 
we were giving more to his caboceers; that, however,'what he could 
do he would. -He said he had sent messengers in different direc-
tions to try to find a safe path to the place where I wished to go; 
that while we were in his d~minions we were perfectly safe, but Qll 
leaving them he was sorry to think we might be exposed to danger .,/ 
from the disturbed state of the countries through which I must' 
travel. He then said that the Tappa, or N yffe messengers, who 
had been here three years, were in waiting to give us every in-
formation regarding the course of" the river that I might wish to 
ask him. They were accordingly called in, and were certainly the 
most savage-looking knaves 'I ever saw; but they either could not, 
or were afraid to give any ' the least account of the river Quorra, 
and I therefore sent them off, after asking a few questions. Indeed 
there seems a great 'unwillingness in both the king and the people · 
of this place to say any thing at all about . the subject, for what 
reason I cannot yet conjecture. 
, Saturday, ~8th -This morning I set out on horseback on a 
visit to the three head 'caboceers, who dwell about three miles 
from our house. We were received with much kindness and 
attention by all of them under their respective verandahs, and 
surrounded by hundreds of their wives, who all clapped their 
hands in token of welcome. They severally presented us with 
goats, sheep, pigs, yams, eggs, honey, and ducks, inviting us to 
ldi'ink country ale with them, and to make merry; but I was very 
unwell, and anxious to get home. In the evening we paid a visit 
of ceremony to the king, when I asked him to allow Mr. Routson 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 43 
and myself to go and look at the Quorra, and return before closing 
my despatch for England. He replied, that he heard what we said, 
and that we should go. I also asked for a messenger to carry 
letters to Badagry in two days hence. Re said he would be ready. 
Sunday, Q9th.-Clear and cool. Very unwell all night with a 
bad cold, pains in the limbs, and severe headache, with vomiting 
of bile; took calomel. Richard also weak and unwell. 
Monday, soth.-Clear and fine. The harmattan seemingly 
approaching its end. Better this morning. In the early part of 
the evening we had no wind, and it is extremely h0t. 
Tuesday, 31st.-I have been very restless and unwell all night. 
The king sent twice to inquire after my health yesterday, and 
wished to come and see me; but I was too weak to sit up to 
receive him. The messenger sent to open the path to N yffe not 
yet returned. The king called to see me this evening, but I was 
asleep; he insisted, however, that 1\11'. Houtson should allow him 
to look at me with his own eye, and taking the candle, he did so, 
and observed, that having looked on me I should be quite well in 
the morning. Mr. Routson asked him for the loan of a horse, to 
take an airing in the morning. This his majesty could not com-
prehend: what could a man want to ride or walk for nothing? if 
he rode or walked, he ought to go and see one of the caboceers, 
and he would get a present of a sheep, or a pig, or some yams; that 
would be doing good; so he said he would send a horse in the 
morning, and he must go and see some of his caboceers, and he 
would send to let them know he was coming. The pain in my 
head has fallen into my left eye, with inflammation and acute 
pain, accompanied with a light delirium. Poor Pascoe very 
unwell. 
Wednesday, February l.-Strong breezes. 1\1y eye a little 
better. Pa coe much better. The king, aO'reeably to his pro-
mise, sent a hor~e and two eunuch to attend J\Ir. Routson III 
G 2 
44 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
his ride. He visited one caboceer, and ""as about to return home, 
when the whole of the,party begged he would visit another, or all 
the caboceers would make a palaver with this one. lVIr. Houtson 
- went accordingly to see the other caboceers; he was received with 
,j great kindness and attention, and came home with a supply of 
I eggs, milk, honey, two goats, a pig, two ducks, and plantains, &c. 
He objected to receiving presents, but they told him the king's 
friends could not come to their houses, and go away empty-handed. 
Sunday, 5th.-Morning clear, and a fresh breeze. In the after-
noon had a visit from his majesty. I asked him if the Nyffe 
messenger had arrived. He said, no; that he must be dead, sick, 
or taken prisoner. He said we could not go by the road of Nyffe, 
which was impassable from 'the wars: what was my hurry to go? 
He was not yet tired of me; he had many caboceers coming from 
the country to see me; he wished to put every thing right on the 
roads for me before I set off; that the king of England did not send 
me to him to run away again directly; that he wished me much to 
wait and see the customs, for then I should see him truly a king. 
I said I would do so with pleasure, but that the rains would have 
set in by that time, and I should be unable to go to Bornou. He 
asked what I was going to Bornou for. "Did not the king of Eng-
land send you to me alone 7" "No," said I, "he sent me to you to 
procure me a passage to that country, where an Englishman now 
resides who was left there when I returned from thence." I then 
told him I would consent to remain twelve days longer, and if he 
did not by that time find me a passage, I would return to England 
and say hp- would not allow me to proceed. He now informed me 
that the messenger who arrived yesterday was from one of his pro-
vinces called Yaru, five days distance; that it was divided from the 
Youri by the Quorra; that he would send me by that route, which 
was quite safe. I asked if I could not go and see the Quorra be-
fore I departed from Katunga. He said no: the Fellatahs had 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 45 
possession of the road. He gave me his gooro-nut box, carved in 
the shape of a tortoise in ebony. I promised to let him have thirty 
musquets, with powder and ball; on which he went away dancing, 
tripped and fell, but was soon picked up by his ladies. He always 
brings us some little present when he comes, and to-day he brought 
us a bottle of honey, and some fruit called agra, about the size of a 
pear, with a hard outer skin, four large black seeds, surrounded by 
a pleasant acid pulp, like tamarinds, of a cream colour. My servant 
Pascoe met in the market to-day some Fellatahs, who told him 
there was no war in Nyffe; that the king was only afraid of the 
Fellatahs; that the Fellatahs of Raka had taken nine Yourribanis, 
who had been found in a suspicious place, but were going to return 
them here on the morrow. Raka is only one day's journey north-
north-east from Katunga. 
Monday, 6th.-In the evening, at the request of the king, I 
again set off five rockets, one of which having too Iowan elevation 
ran along the ground, but fortunately only set fire to some grass. 
'Ve afterwards went and saw the king, who, with his ladies and 
principal men, was sitting outside under the verandah to see the 
rockets. He presented us with gooro nuts, and said he would come 
and see us in the morning. 
Tuesday, 7th.-In the middle of the day the king visited me, 
and brought a bottle of honey and two cock fowls. He began 
joking me as to what I was about to give him. I said I had no-
thing to give him. Says he, "I ask you to give me one of your 
s<'l'vants." "I can't do that," says I; " they are free men as well as 
myself." ""'bat," says he, " no slaves in England!" "N0 ," says 
I, "as soon as a slave sets his feet in England he is free." "Then," 
says he, "as you must go, either illr. Houtson or Richard must 
stop with me. I must have one." After a good deal of conver a-
tion of this kind I a ked him to fix a day for our departure. He 
artfully hifted the subject of conversation to that of women. 'Vould 
46 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
I not like a wife? he would give me one. Did he not give us 
plenty to eat, or did he not use me well? "All very true, and very 
good," says I, "but I am not like a black man, who has no book to 
write. I must know the day on which I am to go, as I must have 
all my books ready for the king of England. Every thing I give 
_away is in that book, every thing I get, and every thing I say." All 
my talk would not make him fix a day, but he said I should have 
a servant of his to the king of Y ouri; that that road was safe. I 
would go in four days to Yara in Bamba, which was tributary to 
him; there I would cross the river Moussa, which ran into the 
Quorra, three days distance; that the Moussa came from the north-
west, and in it were plenty of hippopotami. He is still particularly 
shy of giving any information about the Quorra, of which, perhaps, 
he ha~ none. At one time he says it runs into the sea between 
J aboo and Benin, and at another that it passes Benin; that the 
Fellatahs are in possession of Raka, only a day's journey north-
north-east, and of all the country between it and the Quqrra: he 
therefore cannot contrive to get me thither. He now shifted the 
subject of conversation; told me he did not know how many wives, 
or how many children he had got, but he was sure that his wives 
alone, hand to hand, would reach from hence to J annah. He sent 
for one of his daughters, whom he had given as wife to Abaco, the 
messenger. His daughters are allowed to take anyone they may 
choose, either as a husband or lover; but it is death to touch any 
of the king's wives. The son, at the father's d-eath, takes all the 
widows to maintain . The king had his skin rubbed over with the 
powder of a species of red wood, ground very fine, and made like 
a paste; it is used by all classes. The wood is brought from Waree 
and Benin. vVe gave him a flask of rum on his leaving us, and he 
promised to give me some of the blue stone of which his beads are 
made. He says it comes from a country between this and Benin. ,-
They are not glass, as I at first supposed. 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 47 
Thursday, 9th.-This evening I had to take the eunuch to task 
about our provisions: he had been dealing us out too small a share, 
and pocketing the rest. He pretended to be in a great rage, and 
even the milk is now bad. 
Friday, lOth.-Moderate breezes and clear. A number of cabo-
ceers from distant provinces arrived to-day, and we had nothing · 
but drumming, and whistling, the whole day. The king sent us an 
invitation to see them, and we went in the afternoon. \Ve found 
the king seated in an old easy chair covered with crimson damask. 
The caboceers at some distance in front, facing him, dressed in 
leopard skin robes, their heads well dusted, and also their cheeks, 
by rubbing their faces in the dust while making their prostrations. 
It is the court etiquette here to appear in a loose cloth, tied under 
one arm; part over the other shoulder, and hanging down to the 
feet in a graceful manner: but no tobes, no beads, no coral, or 
grandeur of any kind, must appear but on the king alone. The 
cane I made him a present of holds, on all occasions, a conspicuous 
place: when he walks, he carries it, and when he sits, it is stuck in 
the ground at some distance before him. He presented us with 
gooro nuts, and asked me to fire off some rocket.s to-night. 
The caboceers from the country were attended by their bowmen. 
They are required to wait upon, and first to prostrate themselves 
before, the chief eunuch, with dust on their heads. ,Yhen anyone 
speaks to the king, he must do it stretched at full length on the 
ground, and it must be said to him through the eunuch, who is also 
prostrated by his side. When equals meet, they kneel on one knee; 
women kneel on both knees, the elbows resting on the ground. 
Saturday, 11 th.-]Vlore caboceers arrive to-day, attended by their 
wild-looking followers, armed with swords, bow, and arrows; they 
also, covered with dust and sweat, went through their prostrations 
before the fat eunuch; the attendants dancing in a circle, while 
occasionally one came out, and danced a movement in the minuet 
48 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
style; in doing which, he would frequently throw a somerset equally . 
as expert as old Grimaldi himself in his best times. I sat for an 
hou'r and a half, during all which time the prostrations were con-
tinued without intermission, accompanied with the dancing and 
tumbling, without regard to the intense heat of the sun. I con-
cluded that they were practising before the eunuch, in order to 
be perfect when they appeared before the king. They were dressed 
in leopard skin robes, hung round with tassels and chains. At 
last the prostrations were completed, and the eunuch sent for 
, several jars of llalm wine. The caboceers were admitted to drink 
theirs in the eunuch's ~ouse, but the attendants drank their share 
under a tree. In the afternoon, the king sent for us to see him, 
but I was too unwell to go, and desired Mr. Houtson and Richard 
to attend him. 
Monday, lSth.-This morning, our friend and guardian, the fat 
eunuch, was drunk; when in that state, he begs every thing he 
sees. He got Mr. Houtson and myself into his house to see 
him dance; but independent of his want of steadiness, he was 
the most clumsy and unwieldy performer I ever saw. He begged 
we would also dine with him, but I complained of illness, and 
Houtson ran off. He followed and made Mr. Houtson hand out 
the flask, which, without waiting for a glass, he put to his mouth, 
and drank upwards of a pint of raw rum, without drawing his 
breath. He said, he had drank two quarts to-day already, and 
given away a small cask: that rum was good, and made him fat. 
The people of Katunga are fond of ornamenting their doors, 'tf 
and the posts which support their verandahs, with carvings; and 
they have also statues or figures of men and women, standing in 
their court yards. The figures carved on their posts and doors 
are various; but principally of the boa snake, with a hog or an-
telope in his mouth; frequently men taking slaves, and sometimes 
a man on horseback leading slaves. 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 49 
Theil' manner of burying the dead is to dig a deep narrow 
hole, into which the corpse is put in a sitting posture, the elbows 
between the two knees: a poor person is buried without any 
ceremony; a rich man has gunL.!ired, and rum drank over his 
grave, and in his house by his friends and retainers. When a 
king of Y ourriba dies, the caboceer of J annah, three other head 
caboceers, foul' women, and a great many favourite slaves and 
others, are obliged to swallow poison, given by fetishmen, in a 
parrot's egg: should this not take effect, the person is provided 
with a rope to hang himself in his own house. No public sacri-
vfices are used, at least no human sacrifices, and no one was allowed 
to die at the death of the last king, as he did not die a natural 
death; having been murdered by one of his own sons: not the 
present king. ",Vives are bought; and according to the circum-
stances of the bridegroom, so is the price. Three days after the 
bargain, he and his friends go and bring the wife to his own house, 
when the pitto, or country beer, is sent about freely amongst the 
guests. 
In the afternoon we waited on the king. There is a pleasant 
walk through a large enclosed park at the foot of the hills, between 
the house of the king and that of his wives, enclosed by a clay wall. 
Some parts of the park are planted with corn, yams, &c. and others 
studded with beautiful shady trees . The king was sitting under 
the shade of one of the trees. I observed to him that I had been 
here twenty-four days, and was anxious to go on my journey, as 
the rains were about to set in. He asked if all the white men were 
going. I said" Only myself and my servants." As I knew him to 
be , kilful in evasive answers, and always to have one ready at hand, 
1 said" Fix a day." His reply was, "Everyone would say, the white 
man came Lo see the king of Y ourriba, and brought him large pre-
~ent , and requested him to give them a good passage to where 
they wanted to go; he gave them a bad path; they were robbed 
H 
50 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
and killed: all peDple wDuld say that the king Df Y Durriba diu nDt 
do. gDDd to. white man." He had been busy these last fDur days with 
his peDple, but he had sent a messenger to. get a gDDd path. I 
asked him pDsitively to. fix a day, as I cDuld nDt put Dff aliy IDnger. 
After cDnsulting with his people, he said, " Nine days." I said, 
" Well-I shall remain nine days :,J withDut saying Dne wDrd that 
I had every thing ready to. go.. 
Foo-j'oo, the CDmmDn fDDd Df the rich andpDDr, is Df two. kinds 
-white and black: the white is merely bDiled yams beaten into. 
a paste with water, and sDld in balls Df abDut a pDund weight each. 
The black is made as fDllDWS :- The yam is first parbDiled, then cut 
into. small pieces and expDsed to. the rays Df the sun ' till quite dry; 
in this state it is pDunded in a large wDDden mDrtar into. a flDur, 
and sifted again and again until it is as fine as pDssible. The flDur 
will keep in this way abDut six mDnths. -When wanted for use, 
bDiling water is pDured Dver it, and stirred rDund until cDmpletely 
mixed and Df a prDper thickness; and when so. dDne it is, like the 
Dther, made into. balls Df abDut a pDund weight each. The natives 
eat it with SDUP, gravy, Di" palm Dil; Dr withDut any Dther thing. 
Wednesday, 15th.-At 3 P. M. we had a messenger frDm 
J annah, who. brDught letters; Dne frDm Captain Clavering Df the 
Redwing, with half a dozen bDttles Df pDrter and half a dDzen 'Df 
wine; the Dther two. half dDzens having either been brDken Dr 
drunk Dn the rDad. The supply was as welcDme as unexpected, 
and prDved to. us hDW very little trDuble and expense were required 
to. keep up the communicatiDn. Ry the letters Df Captain Cla-
vering, it appears that the trunks Df the late Captain Pearce and 
Dr. MDrrisDn had arrived safe. 
Thursday, 16th.-MDrning CDDI and clDudy. We had an early 
visit frDm the king, who. was anxiDus to. have a bDttle Df Dur pDrter, 
which I cDuld nDt well refuse. He also. begged my IDDking glass, 
and Dne Df the tin bDxes. In my turn I tDld him, that since we 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 51 
had finished our bullock that he gave us, we had nothing to eat. 
He replied, we must go to the caboceers. I told him I would do 
no such thing; that we did not come here to beg. He said I was 
mistaken; it was not begging; they were all his slaves, and what 
they possessed belonged to him. I requested, however, that he 
should send orders to them direct from himself. After a little 
time he left us: but the eunuch remained; and showing symptoms 
of sauciness I turned him out of the house. 
Friday, 17th.-lVIorning clear and cool, with fresh harmattan 
breezes. A great number of people arrived to-day from different 
parts of the country to pay their annual custom and visit to the 
king. 
Saturday, 18th.-Morning clear and cold; a strong harmattan 
still blowing. The religion of the people of Y ourriba, as far as I 
could comprehend it, consists in the worship of one God, to whom 
they offer sacrifices of horses, cows, sheep, goats, and fowls. At 
the yearly feast all these animals are sacrificed at the fetish house, 
in which a little of the blood is spilt on the ground. The whole of 
them are then cooked; and the king and all the people, men and 
women, attending, partake of the meat, which they are said to eat 
in a state of nakedness, and in company, drinking at the same time 
copiously of country ale, 01' pitto ; but it is also said, that the least 
attempt at indecency would be punished with death. 
It is stated, moreover, that it depends on the will of the fetish 
man or priest whether a human being, or a cow, or other animal 
is to be sacrificed. If a human being, it is always a criminal, and 
only one. The usual spot where the feast takes place is in a large 
open field before the king's house,' under wide spreading trees, 
where there are two or three fetish houses. This account I had 
from a native of Bornoll, a l\Iahometan, and a slave to the ca-
boccer of J annah. 
l\Iollday, QOth.-The morning cool. The harmattan still con-
n2 
52 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
tinues blowing. Our supply of provisions has of late been rather 
scanty, owing to the avarice of the fat eunuch, our guardian, who 
pockets as much as he can out of what the king sends us. I have 
threatened him two or three times, but I believe he trusts to iny 
patient and easy disposition. Complaining to the king would get 
him a beating, though he is a favourite, and an useful person, well-
skilled as a war-captain, and guardian of the king's women. 
Tuesday, 21st.- Cool and clear. . Harmattan continues. A 
number of caboceers of the different towns carne in to-day with 
• their forces, and the king sent for us to corne and see them. \Ve 
went accordingly, and saw about twenty of these dependents, in all 
their dirt and debasement, who vied with each other which could 
have most dust, and who could kiss the ground with the greatest 
fervour. They were stretched at full length on their bare bellies; 
no cloth being allowed on this occasion over the shoulder, the body 
being required to be bare as far as the waist. Old Pascoe calls 
them the sand-eaters. After our usual compliments to the king, 
and shaking hands with the caboceers of Eyeo and the sand-eaters, 
we returned; the king promising to visit us at our house. ' 
. At 4 P. M. he carne, attended by his women and our fat 
guardian. The women he left outside, except two; one of whom 
attends upon him on all occasions bearing a handsome carved gourd, 
having a small hole covered with a clean white cloth, to hold his 
Majesty's spittle, when he is inclined to throw it away; the other 
with a whi.te pot, used with us as a chamber utensil, containing his 
gooro nuts, since he made me a present of his black ebony box, carved 
in the shape 0fa tortoise, which he used for that purpose. After an 
end had been put to our complimentary inquiries after his majesty's 
good health, I observed that the time was now come, within a few 
days only, that he had appointed for my departure. He said, that 
the messenger he had sent to Youri was returned; that the road 
was perfectly safe; that he would have me passed from one king 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 5S 
to another; but that by the way of Nyffe he would not ensure my 
safety; and that if he suffered me to go where there was danger, it 
would cause a reflection on him. I thanked him for his kindness, 
and said that whatever he did was right. He then said that his 
messenger, and that of the cahoceer of Yarro, would attend me 
to Youri. I thought this a proper time to hint a gentle complaint 
against our fat guardian, for having for some time past appropriated 
our provisions to his own use. The old rogue swore through thick 
and thin that he had given us every thing, even some goats which 
I had actually purchased at the market, but which he swore he had 
supplied himself. I told the king it was of no use talking against 
a rogue like his eunuch, therefore I should. hold my tongue. As 
the king never comes to us empty-handed, he brought us a Muscovy 
duck, and a bag of rice; the last a scarce article, and not to be had 
in the market. 
'Vednesday, 22d.-Cold morning. Harmattan still continues. 
More caboceers came in yesterday, with their attendants. They 
waited on us this morning, and we observed that they were well 
provided with dust, as they had been to wait on the king early; it 
being the etiquette of Yourriba to hold a levee twice a-day, at six 
in the morning, and at two in the afternoon. 
It is the custom, during the time that the caboceers from the 
different towns remain on their visit to the king, to act plays or 
pantomimes, or whatever they may be called. I shall attempt a 
de cription of the one I saw to-day. The place chosen for this 
pastime is the king's park, fronting the principal door where his 
majesty usually sits. A fetish house occupies the left side ; to 
the south are two very romantic and large blocks of granite, by 
the side of which is an old withered tree. On the east are ome 
beautiful shady trees; and on the north his maje ty' hou e, froll1 
whence he views the scene. In the centre are two beautiful clump 
of tree ; in one of which is a tall fan-palm, overlooking the whole 
54 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
area, a space that may include some seven or eight hundred.) ards 
square. Under these clumps of trees were seated the actors, dressed 
in large sacks, covering every part of the body; the head most fan-
tastically decorated with strips of rags, damask silk, and cotton, of 
as many glaring colours as it was possible. The king's servants at-
tended to keep the peace, and to prevent the cr0wd from breaking 
into the square in which the actors were assembled. Musicians 
also attended with drums, horns, and whistles, which were beaten 
and blown without intermission. 
The first act consisted in dancing and tumbling in sacks, which 
they performed to admiration, considering they could not see, and 
had not the free use of their feet and hands. The second act con-
sisted in catching the boa constricto?': first, one of the sack-men 
came in front and knelt d,own on his hands and feet; then came 
out a tall majestic figure, having on a head-dress and masque 
which baffle all description: it was of a glossy black colour, some-
times like a lion couchant over the crest of a helmet; at another 
like a black head with a large wig: at every turn he made it 
changed its appearance. This figure held in its right hand a sword, 
and by its superior dress and motions appeared to be the director 
of the scene, for not a word was s·poken by the actors. The ma-
nager, as I shall call the tall figure, then came up to the man who 
was lying in the sack; another sack-dancer. was brought in his sack, 
who by a wave of the sword was laid down at the other's head or 
feet; he having unsown the end of both sacks, the two crawled into 
one. There was now great waving of the manager's sword; indeed 
I thought that heads were going to be taken off, as all the actors 
were assembled round the party lying down; but in a few minutes 
they all cleared away except the managei·, who gave two or three 
flourishes with his sword, when the representation of the boa con-
strictor began. The animal put its head out of the bag in which 
it was contained, attempting to bite the manager; but at a wave of 
RESIDE "CE AT KATUNGA. 55 
the sword it thew its head in another direction to avert the blow; 
it then began gradually to creep out of the bag, and went through 
the motions of a snake in a vcry natural manner, though it appeared 
to be rather full in the belly; opening and shutting its mouth, which 
I suspect was t.he performer's two hands, in the most natural manner 
Imaginable. The length of the creature was spun out to about 
fourteen feet; and the colour and action were well represented by 
a covering of painted cloth, imitating that of the boa. After fol-
lowing the manager round the park for some time, and attempting 
to bite him, which he averted by a wave of the sword, a sign was 
made for the body of actors to come up; when the manager ap-
proaching the tail, made flourishes with his sword as if hacking at 
that part of the body. The snake gasped, twisted up, and seemed 
as if in great torture; and when nearly dead, it was shouldered by 
the masqued actors, still gasping and making attempts to bite, but 
was carried off in triumph to the fetish house. 
The third act consisted of the white devil. The actors having 
retired to some distance in the back ground, one of them was left 
in the centre, whose sack falling gradually down, exposed a white 
head, at which all the crowd gave a shout, that rent the air; they 
appeared indeed to enjoy this sight, as the perfection of the actor's 
art. The whole body was at last cleared of the incumbrance of 
the sack, when it exhibited the appearance of a human figure 
cast in white wax, of the middle size, miserably thin, and starved 
with cold. It frequently went through the motion oftaking snuff, 
and rubbing its hands; when it walked, it was with the most 
awkward gait, treading as the most tender-footed white man would 
do in walking bare-footed, for the first time, over new frozen 
ground. The spectators often appealed to us, as to the excellence 
of the performance, and entreated I would look and be attentive 
to what was going on. I pretended to be fully as much plea cd 
with this caricature of a white man as they could be, and certainly 
56 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
the actor burlesqued the part to admiration. This being con-
cluded, the performers all retired to the fetish house. Between 
each act, we had choral songs by the king's women, in which the 
assembled crowd joined their voices. 
The kingdom of Y ourriba extends from Puka on the south, 
which is within five miles of the sea, to Lagos and Whydah in 
Nt hat line; to the north to about the 10th degree of north latitude. 
It is bounded by Dahomey to the north-west, which is reckoned a 
tributary province: Ketto and the Maha countries on the north, . 
BOl'goo on the north-east, the Quorra or Niger to the east, Ac-
coura, a province of Benin, on the south-east, five days' journey 
distant; Jaboo to the south and west. Its tributaries are Da-
homey, Alladah, Badagry, and Maha. From the sea coast to Cho-
eho in latitude 80 8' north, longitude 40 2,' east, the country rises by a 
gradual ascent; the soil of a strong red clay and mould, and where 
the woods have not been cleared, they may be considered as imper-
vious. The trees are of great size, with most luxuriant foliage . 
From Chocho to Koosoo is a range of granite hills, rmining from 
\ovest-north-west to east-south-east. These hills are of grey granite, 
bare of vegetation, and in solid masses. They are from four to 
eight hundred feet above the level of the valleys, which are narrow, 
winding, and well cultivated, and watered with innumerable small 
streams. The soil a thin black mould. From Koossoo to Eyeo, 
the country is less hilly, the hills in broken irregular ranges, and 
running principally from north-east to south-west, with here and 
there detached masses thrown up, as if by some great convulsion of 
nature. The granite of which they are composed is ofa softer kind, 
and crumbling away with the weather. The valleys between these 
hills widen into plains, as they advance to the northward. In the 
hilly region, the trees are thinly scattered, low and stunted. The 
domestic animals are horses of a very small breed, and even these 
I are scarce; the horned cattle also near the coast are of a small size: 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 57 
Jbut as we approach the capital, they are as large as those in England. 
Many of them have humps on their shoulders, the same as those in 
Abyssinia and th~ East Indies. They have sheep of the common 
kind, and also those which are found in other parts of Africa j hogs, 
Muscovy ducks, fowls, pigeons, and a few turkeys. Of the wild 
animals, and the feathered race, I can say but little, having seen none 
of the former except monkeys; but the natives report that the hyrena 
and the leopard are very common. The lion, also, is found in some 
parts of the country j yams, Indian corn, millet, and chaUots ; fruits, 
such as oranges, limes, pears, apples, &c. are plentiful throughout r 
the kingdom. The cotton plant is cultivated to a considerable 
extent, and the wool manufactured into cloth. The commerce 
of this country is almost entirely confined to slaves, though a con-
I siderable quantity of cloth is made, and bartered with the people 
of the coast for rum, tobacco, European cloth, and other articles. 
The medium of exchange throughout the interior is the cowry shell. 
A prime slave at Jannah is worth in stt;!rling money, according to 
the value set on the articles of barter, from three to four pounds. 
The governlllent of Y ourriba is hereditary, and an absolute 
despotism, every subject being considered the slave of the king j but 
its administration is mild and humane, and appears to have been 
so for a long period. The only distinction of rank that obtains is 
that of caboceer, who may be considered as the governor of a distant 
town or province j the appointment of these governors depending 
on the will of the king. The military force consists of the cabo-
ceers and their own immediate retainers, which, allowing one hun-
dred and fifty to each, will not give such immense armies as we 
have sometimes heard stated; that of Y ourriba is perhaps as nu-
merous as any of the kingdoms of Africa. I think the general ap-
pearance of the Y ourribanians has less of the characteristic features 
of the negro than any other I have yet seen j their lips are less 
thick, and their noses more inclined to the aquiline shape, than 
58 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
negroes in general. The men ar€ well made, and have an inde-
pendent carriage, that cannot fail to attract attention. The women 
are almost invariably of a more ordinary appearance than the men, 
which may arise from their being more exposed to the sun, and the 
drudgery they are obliged to undergo; all the labour of the land 
devolving on them. 
The city of Eyeo (in Houssa language, Katunga), the capital of 
Yourriba, is situated in latitude 8° 59' north, longitude 6° 12' ~ast. 
It is built on the sloping side and round the base of a small range 
of granite hills, wh.ich, as it were, forms the citadel of the town; 
they are fo~med of stupendous blocks of gray granite of the softest 
kind, some of which are seen hanging from the summits, in the 
most frightful manner, while others, restin'g on very small bases, 
appear as if the least touch would send them down into the valley 
beneath. The .soil on whi_ch the town is built is formed of clay 
and gravel, mixed with sand, which has obviously been produced 
from the crumbling granite. The appearance of these hills is that 
of a mass of rocks left bare by the tide. A belt of thick wood runs 
round the walls, which are built of clay, and about twenty feet 
high, and surrounded by a dry ditch. There are ten gates in the 
walls, which are about fifteen . miles in circumference, of an oval 
shape, about four miles in diameter one way, and six miles the other, 
the south end leaning against the rocky hills, and forming an inac-
cessible barrier in that quarter. The king's houses and those of his 
women occupy about a square mile, and are on the south side of the 
hills, having two large parks, one in front, and another facing the 
north. They are all built of clay, and have thatched roofs, similar to 
those nearer the coast. The posts supporting the verandahs and the 
doors of the king's and caboceers' houses are generally carved in 
bas relief, with figures representing the boa killing an antelope or 
a hog, or with processions of warriors attended by drummers. The 
latter are by no means meanly executed, conveying the expression 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 59 
and attitude of the principal man in the groupe with a lofty air, 
and the drummer well pleased with his own music, or rather deafen-
ing noise. There are seven different markets, which are held 
J every evening; being generally opened about three or four o'clock. 
The c~rticles exposed for sale are yams, corn, calavances, plan-
tains, and bananas; vegetable butter, seeds of the colycynth, which 
forms a great article of food, sweetmeats, goats, fowls, sheep, and 
lambs; and also cloth of the manufacture of the country, and their 
various implements of agriculture. The price of a small goat is 
from 1500 to !WOO cowries; a large sheep, 3000 to 5,000; a fowl, 
150 to 200; yams, 4000 per hundred; a horse, 80 to 100,000; and a 
cow from ~o to 30,000; a prime slave, 40 to 60,000 ;-~OOO cowries 
being equal to one Spanish dollar. Trona, or natron, is brought 
here from Bornou, and soh! to all parts of the coast, where it is 
much in request, to mix with snuff, and also as a medicine. 
Saturday, ~5th.-This afternoon we had a visit from the king; 
. he brought with him a duck, some rice, and goora nuts. I told 
him I was all ready to go, whenever he chose to give me the escort 
and messengers. He said the caboceers of the different towns 
through which I had to pass were still here, but as soon as they 
left I should go. I asked him, as I was writing to England, what 
he wanted from thence. He said, a brass crown, fine yellow and blue 
cloth, large coral, some gaudy carpeting, an English drum, and 
about half a ton of cowries. The whole of this curious catalogue 
would not cost, as I suppose, more than £200. I told him, there-
fore, that I should send the list home. 
Sunday, 26th.-l\Iorning dull and hazy, with an oppressive 
sultry heat, the wind north-north-east, causing the same depression 
of Rpirits as the siroc wind in the l\1editerranean, and which affected 
everyone of the party, and made us all sigh for a breeze, and to pro-
ceed on our journey. 
'Yednesday, 1s t .March.-On this day the weather began to clear 
up, with a fine breeze from the eastward. Our fr:iend the fat eunuch 
I 'Z 
60 RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
is evidently playing the rogue with us, as we neither can get pro-
visions, wood, nor water, but with the greatest difficulty. He sees 
he has got all I intend to give, either to the king or any body else. 
A messenger of the caboceer of Jannah went and returned from 
Rakah to-day, to buy trona. The Y ourriba name of Rakah is 
Saguda: the Quorra is only about two hours' easy walking to the 
eastward of it. The following day, in the afternoon, I had a. visit 
from the king. I asked him why I was longer detained; said I 
had waited with patience through the several times he had ap-
pointed for my starting, but it appeared I was just as far from 
getting away as ever. He hesitated, and gave me an evasive 
answer. I asked him to tell me distinctly. No, he could not do that, 
as he wished to get me a large horse to ride before I went. I said 
I would ride a small one. He then said he had only one. I asked 
him if he would allow me to hire horses from the caboceers. What," 
he replied, "will they say of me, if I allow you to go away in this way 
after your king sending me such a present?" He then begged I 
would stop for three days more, until he could get horses, and I 
should certainly go. I pointed out to him the number of times he 
had broken his word: he said the reason he would not fix a day now 
was, that he might not break his word again. 
Monday, 6th.-It was not before the 6th that the king paid 
me another visit, and told me, that the Yarro messengers were 
ready, and that I might go to-morrow or next day, and that he 
intended to give me a horse. I thanked him, and told him I was 
quite ready and determined to set off to-morrow, as delays here 
were dangerous. Accordi.ngly, the next day, when every thing 
was ready for starting, I was again visited by the king, who, after 
giving me in charge of what he calh~d the Yarro messenger, told 
me that the sultan Yarro would take the greatest care of my 
baggage, and forward me to the king of Y ouri. He then made me 
a present of a horse, for which I thanked him, and took my leave. 
CHAPTER III. 
JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS FROM KATUNGA, OR EYEO, TO BOUSA, 
ON THE NIGER, OR Q.UORRA, THE PLACE WHERE MUNGO PARK 
PERISHED. 
AT three o'clock in the afternoon I set out from Katunga, 
and passed the gates of the town, with the same escort 1 had on 
entering it, headed, as before, by the king's brother. In the evening 
we halted at the village of Assina for the night, where I got two 
fowls and some yams. -The poor people were just returning to their 
houses, from which they had been driven out by the Fellatas last 
year, who continue to infest the country, even up to the gates of 
Katunga. 
'Wednesday, 8th.-Left the village of Assina; the morning dull, 
but cool and pleasant; arrived at Tshow, where I had breakfast, 
and left it at 10 A. M., and after travelling over very bad roads, cut 
up and crossed by deep rocky ravines, reached the higher ground, 
which was well cultivated j but their villages appeared to be all in 
ruins, which my guides told me were destroyed last year by the 
Fellatas. At noon arrived at the town of Algi, which is now rising 
from its ruins j it having shared the same fate as the villages I had 
passed. The inhabitants are now returning to their ruined dwell-
ings, ome of which they have ah'eady repaired; they said they had 
nothing but a little grain, and a few yams for seed j of these they 
gave me part, and the best house in the town. The Yarro me-
'enger had not made his appearance, and I now learned, that Algi 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
no longer belonged to the king of Y om'riba, but to Yarro, the chief 
or sultan of Kiama, a petty state of the kingdom of Borgoo; that 
Kiama was the name of the province, and Yarro the name of the 
sultan, as he is called. I gave the king of Y ourriba's brother, who 
commanded the escort, a fathom of red cloth, and ten coral beads, 
as he is to return to Kat.unga as soon as he has seen me off frQm 
this place. 
Thursday, 9th.-Light airs, and clear. I was unable to get off to-
day, as they could not collect the people to carry my baggage. The 
king of Y ourriba's brother declared, that he or his people had had 
nothing to eat all night, or since he had left Assina ; yet he got the 
caboceer of the place to send me a pig, for· which I gave five coral 
beads: the man said he was ashamed to see me, as he had nothing 
to give. Algi consists of three walled villages, and before it was 
burnt down had been of considerable size: they pointed out a rock 
close to the south side of the town, from whence the Fellatas flew 
the pigeons to set fire to it. The mode of doing it was, by making 
combustibles fast to the tails of the birds, which, on being let loose 
from the hand, immediately flew to the tops of the thatched houses, 
while the Fellatas kept up a sharp fire of arrows, to prevent the 
inhabitants extinguishing the flames. There are still a number of 
Fellatas in this neighbourhood, who are nearly white, but pagans: 
they speak the Fellata language, and agree in every thing but 
their religion. 
Friday, lOth.-This morning the king's brother accompanied 
me outside the town. I sent by him a letter to Mr. Houtson, to 
tell the king of Y ourriba he had behaved very ill in not sending 
a proper messenger; that the one he had sent was not the Kiama 
messenger, but the butcher's son of Algi, and that in no one point 
had he performed his promise to me. W· e halted at the village of 
,;y atatoo, where I was lodged in one of the best houses; this village 
had also shared the fate of Algi, having been burnt down by the 
Fellatas, and the inhabitants were just returning to their homes. 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 63 
The country between Watatoo and Algi is cultivated in a number 
of places, and planted with cotton, yams, and maize, and is diver-
sified by hill and dale: the hills are low and rocky; the rocks of a 
fine-grained sand-stone. In the evening the head man of the village 
made me a present of four fowls and some yams. 
Saturday, llth.-Cool and cloudy; during the night, heavy 
storm of wind, with thunder and lightning. At daylight I had 
every thing ready for starting; the butcher's son having arrived 
last night, mounted on a little mare, with a saddle, and he without 
shoes or boot!. On leaving VV' atatoo, I gave the two head men of 
the village! fathom of blue cloth each, as they had been as good 
as their circumstances would admit, and they promised to send 
every thing after me as soon as possible. In about fifteen minutes ., 
after leaving "VVatatoo, I arrived at and crossed the river Moussa, 
which formerly divided the kingdoms of Yourriba, and BOl'gOO: it 
was dry in a great many places, with a very rocky bed; when full, 
about thirty yards in breadth; and runs apparently with a very 
strong current. They say, it is the same river I passed on the road 
to Tshow, on the north side of the hills, and enters the Quorra op-
posite N yffee, and near Rakah. After crossing, I traveJled through 
thick woods for an hour, when I halted at a few huts on the north 
side of the river, called Bori, until the baggage should arrive. A 
hut stood apart from the rest, near the banks of the river; the 
grass and weeds carefully cleared away from around it. The mes-
senger and people who were with me went one after another to 
say their prayers; which they did, by lying down, with their fore-
heads towards the door, which was secured by a mat: they ap-
peared to be very devout, and having finished their prayers, slipped 
a few cowries inside the mat. I asked if I might go and look in, 
but they would not allow me. I asked them who they prayed to : 
they 'aid, to the God that gave them plenty of water, corn, and 
yams. They ay there are great numbers of hippopotami and 
64 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
crocodiles in the river during the time that it is full. The carriers, _ 
with the baggage, came up very slowly, and the heaviest loads were 
mostly carried by old women; and I could not help noticing the 
cold~blQoded indifference of the young men, who would not give 
the poor old creatures the ieast assistance: however, I made them 
carry the heaviest loads, to the great joy of the old ladies. During 
the time I was waiting for the carriers to come up, a piece of cloth' 
was ' stolen from one of the women. The bearers flew to arms in-
stantly, the arrows laid on the strings, and the bows bent. I ex-
pected nothing but a battle; but fortunately the thief' was dis-
covered to be one of the villagers, who had pretended to be asleep, 
and drunk, all the time we were here; he had stowed the cloth 
under the thatch of the house, and I never saw a woman more 
overjoyed in my life than the poor honest creature was, when she 
recovered her cloth; she came and kneeled down to thank me, as 
she said it was by my influence the cloth was returned. On the 
tops of the huts, which are of the real Bornou coozie form, the first 
I have seen since I came to Africa this time, were stuck a number 
of crocodiles' eggs, which are considered as a protection against that J 
animal. All the baggage having now arrived, I left the village of 
13oru, with its shady trees and mud temple, at a very quick pace, 
Qver a flat country apparently not far from the river Quorra, thiCkly 
wooded with fine tall trees, and inhabited by large antelopes, nu-
merous traces of which I saw. In the evening halted in the wood, 
close to a small stream of water. 
The next morning, on leaving our encampment, a messenger 
from the chief of Kiama arriyed; he had been sent to see if I was 
on ,the road, and to return with speed and inform his master. Our 
road was through thick woods; the soil a red clay, mixed with 
gravel. At 10 A. M. halted at the town of Oblah, which has been / 
walled, and of considerable size, but now only a few huts remain, 
the re!>t having been burned, by Yarro. Here my servant Richard 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 65 
was taken very ill, and unable to ride; in consequence of which I 
remained until the afternoon, when he got better, and was able to 
proceed, by a man holding him on the bare back of the horse, for 
we had no saddles. Halted at the village of Socka, where I got 
one of the best huts, a few yams, and four fowls. 
Monday, 13th.-1\lorning cool and cloudy. At -daylight an 
escort arrived from the chief of Kiama, mounted on as fine horses v 
as I ever saw. One man had on a white cotton tobe, or shirt, writ-
ten over entirely with Arab charms, which made it look like printed 
cotton at a distance. They were a despicable, lawless set of fellows; \ 
for as soon as they had delivered their master's compliments to me, 4 
'" they began to plunder the village of the goats and fowls. One 
fellow rode in at full gallop, through the fence of matting which 
surround the huts, brandishing his spear; those on foot following 
him, and making a prize of every thing they could lay their hands 
Oll. I gave the head man of the village, out of sight of the escort, 
a fathom of blue cloth, and two knives. On leaving Sacko, I was 
now accompanied by this escort, who formed as fine and wild a 
looking troop as I ever saw. They had brought me a saddle, but 
Richard and Pascoe rode bare-backed, and our little Y ourriba 
mares made a miserable contrast with the gallant looking troop who 
were guarding us: but I consoled myself with the thought that I 
had not plundered the village. Our road lay through a country 
rough and uneven, consisting of hill and dale, with rocks of quartz 
and sandstone, a range of hills closing round to the right. Passed 
two village, at which my honest escort levied a tribute of goats and 
fowls. At nine A.M. we arrived at the city of Kiama, and rode 
in tantly up to the hou e of the chief; where, after waiting under 
the shade of a wide spreading tree for a few minutes, I paid my 
respects to the chief, or sultan, as they call him: his name is Yano. 
He wa sitting in the porch of his door, a stout, good looking man, 
past the middle age, dressed in a white tobe or large shirt, with a 
K 
66 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
red Moorish cap on his head. We shook hands; and after· telling 
him who I was, and where I wished to go; he said, Very well, I had 
better go and rest from the fatigues of my journey, in the house 
that was prepared for me; and sent his head man to conduct me 
to it. He was attended by a mob of people, who were lying on 
their bellies and their sides, talking to him in this posture. After 
taking my leave, I went with his head man to my house, which 
proved to be a very good one. It consisted of three large huts 
inside a square, in one of which I pllt the baggage; occupied the 
second myself; and the servants the . other. I had not remained 
long, before Yarro sent me a present of milk, eggs, bananas, fried 
cheese, curds, and foo-foo; and I was left alone until the heat of 
the day was over, when I received a visit from Yarro bimsel£ He 
came mounted on a beautiful red roan, attended by a number of J' 
'arm~d men, on horseback and on foot; and six young female slaves, 
naked as they weTe born, e;xcept a stripe of narrow white cloth tied I 
round their heads, about six inches of the ends flying out behind; 
each carrying a light spear in the right hand. He was dressed in 
a red silk damask tobe, and booted.· He dismounted, and came 
into my house, attended by the six girls, who laid down their .spears, 
and put .a blue cloth round their waists before they entered the 
door. After he was seated, he began by asking after the health 
of the king of Y ourriJba, who, I said, I had left very well. I then 
told him I had been sent by the king of England to visit Bornou; 
that I was the king of England's servant, and hoped he would 
assist me in proceeding on my journey; and that I intended to 
make him a suitable present; that I wanted thirty-six . men to 
carry my baggage, and two horses for my servants to ride; and that 
I wished to stay as short a time as possible, as the rains were near 
at hand, which, if overtaken by them, would prevent my travelling; 
that the season of t,he J:"ains was very ,sickly, and fatal to white men; 
that three of the white men who had left E~gland with me had 
- JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 67 
died in Y ourriba, and it was more than probable that I should die 
also, if exposed in any of these countries to the rains. He said 
I was going to stay but a short time, and that he would send me 
to Wawa; from thence I should be forwarded to Boussa; then to 
cross the river Quorra to Injaskee, and thence to Bornou. On his 
leaving me, I attended him to the door. He mounted his horse, 
the young ladies undressed, and away went the most extraordinary 
cavalcade I ever saw in my life. 
After sunset I had a visit from the taya or chief of the caravan 
belonging to Houssa, which had arrived yesterday from Gonja and 
Ashantee, and a trader of Bornou who had known me when I was 
in that country. They advised me by all means to leave this country 
as soon as possible, as they were all kaffirs; that they would plunder 
me of every thing I had; and that on no account ought I to go by 
the way of You ri, as they were now at war with the Fellatas, and 
the road entirely shut up; that, besides, the road by Y ouri was the 
most distant; and that I must urge this chief to send me away as 
soon as possible. 
Tuesday, 14th.-This morning I waited on Yarro with my 
present, which consisted of the following articles :-a large blue 
silk umbrella, one of Tatham's African swords, three fathoms of 
blue cloth, three fathoms of red, some red beads and coral, an imi-
tation gold chain, two bottles of rum, two phosphorus boxes, four 
knives, and six pair of scissars, and some prints. The cloth I had 
spread out at full length : the large mock coral beads he shook at 
the naked young females, as much as to say, ·Which of you will get 
these? On seeing the sword he could not restrain his delight, and 
drawing it, and brandishing it around his head, he called out, "Ya 
batll1'i! 1 (/ batllJ'i!" "Oh, my white lord! Oh, my white lord!" He 
was certainly more pleased than any man I ever saw with a present; 
his eyes parkled with joy, and he shook ine about a dozen times 
by the hand. I pre sed the nece ity of my departure, which he 
K '2 
68 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
said should be the day after to-morrow. I · then took my leave; 
and a short time after returning to my house he sent me some milk 
and a sheep; and in the afternoon, by his head man, Abubecker, 
an earthenware jug to look at: it was of English earthenware, re-
presenting old Toby Philpot with a flowing jug of ale in his hand. 
I have seen more European articles, such as earthenware jugs, 
brass and pewter dishes, pieces of woollen and cotton cloth, within 
these two days that I have been in Kiama, than I saw during the 
whole time I was in Y ourriba. 
In the evening I had a visit from the head man of the Houssa 
gofHe, or caravan, which is on· its way from Gonja and Ashantee: 
they consist of upwards of 1000 men and women, and as many beasts ./ 
of burthen. He offers to carryall my things to Kano for a certain 
sum. He says that they had been detained in Gonja a long time, 
twelve months, on account of the wars; that the king of Ashantee 
was dead, as also the heir, and that the Ashantees were now without 
a king. This taya, as the head man of the gofHe is called, is named 
Abdullah, a native of Kano. I heard a great many inquiries made 
after luyself, they not knowing me in my English dress, and without 
a beard. They talk to me about having seen me in Bornou and 
Soudan: I do not yet tell them that I am the same person . 
The principal part of the cargo of these Houssa merchants 
/ 
consists in gora or kolla nuts, which they receive in exchange for 
natron, red glass beads, and a few slaves, principally refractory ones if 
which they cannot manage. They carry their goods on bullocks, IJ 
mules, asses, and a number of female slaves are loaded; even some 
women hire themselves to carry loads to and from N yffe. Some 
of the merchants have no more property than they can carryon 
their own heads. The duty they pay to the chief of Kiama is ten 
kolla for each load. 
'Vednesday, 15th.-1 early visited the chief this morning, to urge 
my departure. He was surrounded by a number of his ,head men; 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 69 
and when I had finished my story, he made a .number of objections 
.... to my going off to-morrow. One of his fellows said I had given 
nothing to be allowed to go. I said I was not a merchant, possessed 
of a great quantity of goods to give away; that I had only a few 
things to give to the different sultans on the road, to afford me pro-
tection to and from Bornou, and pointed out to Yarro each separate 
place where I should be obliged to give. He said that, before I left 
Kiama, I must give a present to his governor and the head men of 
the town, whom he would send to me. I told him, if this was to 
~ be the way, I should very soon have nothing to give: that at ",Vawa, 
Boussa, and Injaskie, they would be sure to hear what I had given 
here, and that they would expect the ,same. He then said, that as 
soon as his messenger arrived from Katunga, who was a very trusty 
man, I should go to Wawa. I informed him that the chief of the 
Houssa caravan had offered to take me to Kan~ from ",Vawa, and 
that he would carry every thing for me. "Oh," says he, "you 
must not believe these stories; he would take you a day or two 011 
the road, and then leave you: where is he to get the means to carry 
your things? and besides, he has not paid his custom yet, and until 
that is paid he cannot go: you shall go to-morrow or next day." 
On which I thanked him, and took my leave. On my return I had 
a messenger from his principal wife, to say she wished to see me ; 
and she sent me five yams and a fowl. 
In the afternoon I went to visit her sable majesty. I first re-
paired to Yarro's house, where, after some conversation about my 
going away, I told him I wished to send a letter to Badagry, and 
if he wanted a tea-pot like mine I should send for one for him: he 
llaid yes, he wanted a tea-pot and a pair of gold bracelets, and some 
other thing, which he would mention to me by and by. Hi wife 
and daughter came in: the first old and ugly; the next about 
twenty-five years old, which is past the meridian in thi country. 
~\.fter paying their respects to Yarro, which is after the Yourriba 
70 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
fashion, I gave them one fathom of red cloth, one fathom of blue, 
some scissars, needles, beads, and silk. Yarro asked me if I would 
take his daughter for a wife; I said "Yes," after a great many 
.j thanks for my present. The old woman went out, and I followed 
with the king's head man, Abubecker. I went to the house of the 
daughter, which consists of several coozies separate from those of 
the father, and I was shown into a very clean one: a maJ was 
spread: I sat down; and the lady coming in and kneeling down, 
I asked her if she would live in my house, or I should come and 
live with her: she said, whatever way I wished: very well, I said, 
I would come and live with her, as she had the best house. She 
kept her kneeling posture all the time I was in the house. I took 
leave of her, and went home, when one of the great men mentioned 
by Yarro waited upon me, and I gave him a present of two knives, 
some beads, anda yard of cloth. II 
Thursday, 16th.-The king's son came to-day for my advice: a 
fat, gross, tall man. He said, on my inquiring after his diso~'der, 
that every month he had a great throbbing of blood in his head, 
attended with pain; that he lost the use of his limbs, and could 
not stand; that the pain then fell down to his breast, and remained 
altogether four days, coming on always a few days before the new 
moon. I weighed him out nine doses of calomel, of seven grains 
each, desiring him to take them one at a time when the throbbing 
came on, and if 'he could get bled in the head to have that done 
also; and, with the assistance of God, I hoped he would get well 
before he had taken the nine doses. I had a visit also from the 
princess, for the purpose of receiving a small donation of beads. 
She would not sit down on the carpet or mat, as her father had sat 
on it when he had been, in my house. Such is the custom: a 
daughter must not presume to sit where her father has sat. A wife 
of the governor of the town also came to see me. She brought me 
a present of some cowries, as she said hei' father had been a servant 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 71 
" to white men: she would sleep well and happy to-night, as the joy 
or wish of her life was accomplished-she had seen me. 
I had a present of a sheep, four fowls, and some yams, from 
a young man related to Yarro, for my advice and assistance; 'as 
I now intend my advice in the medical way shall turn to some 
account: without that I should never have a moment's peace for 
patients. This young man had nothing the matter with him: he 
was only afraid he was going to get the disorder his mother died of, 
which he described as follows :- First, swellings of the eyes and 
ears, then contracting of the toes and fingers; the skin on the body 
peeling off, and the flesh looking red and raw; then death. I gave 
him twelve papers of calomel, of two grains each, desiring him to 
take one every morning, besides giving him a strong dose of Croton 
oil (three drops), and a dose of Seidlitz to wash it down. 
Every night we have dancing and singing. Their music is the 
Bornou flute, the Arab fiddle, and the drum. There appears not 
! the least jealousy to exist in Kiama: men's wives and maidens all 
join ih the song and dance; even those of the Moorish belief seem 
to forget tha t part of their creed in Kiama. 
Friday, 17th.-This being jama, or the day Mahometans attend 
the mosque, kept by them as we keep our Sunday, the pagans also 
take advantage of the day, and spend it in showing their fine clothes, 
and paying and receiving visits. I had a visit from the governor, 
who came in state: he was attended by a great rabble, and two 
drums: he had on a turban over a European foraging cap, two or 
three tobes of Manchester cotton; the rest of his dress was of 
country-made cloth. After the governor left me I visited Yarro 
with a pre ent of six wax candles, and the remains of my red bead 
of the largest size, as he says his women are very fond of them; 
and this is to be my last present, as I am to go away to-morrow. 
He says he will give me carriers; lend me hor es; and, as I will 
haye to 'leep in the woods, he would send pleD ty of provisions: hi 
72 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
people should sleep on one side the baggage, and mine on the other, 
at night; and then, when every thing went safe, I could not but 
say Yarro was a good man. 
After 'the heat of the day was over, Yano came, attended by all 
his train. The most extraordinary persons in it were' himself and 
the bearers of his spears, which, as before, were six naked young girls, 
from fifteen to seventeen years of age. The only thing they wore 
was a white bandeau, or fillet of white cloth, round the forehead, 
about six inches of the ends flying behind, and a string of beads 
round their waists; in their right hands they carried three light 
spears each. Thei~' light form, the vivacity of their eyes, and the 
ease with which they appeared to fly over the ground, made them 
appear something more than mortal as they flew alongside of his 
horse, when he was galloping, and making his horse curvet and 
bound. A man with an immense bundle of spears remained behind 
at a little distance, apparently to serve as a magazine for the girls 
to be supplied from, when their master had expended those they 
carried in their hands. 
Yarro is a stout, good-looking man, with large eyes, a handsome 
Roman nose, a short grisly beard, sits well on horseback, and was 
dressed in a high red Moorish cap, a tobe or large shirt, boots, and 
brass stirrup-irons. His horse's neck was bedecked with small brass 
bells and charms, and was as fine a dark bay as I ever saw. The 
rest of his attendants were not worth mentioning: some on horse-
back, some on foot; and one only had an old musket, which missed 
, fire every time they snapped it. The whole of the horse in at-
ten dance might be about fifty, who filed past my door, and then 
halted, when Yarro alighted and came in. I had tea prepared for 
him, which he professed to like very much; but he would not drink 
milk with his tea, as it is forbidden by his fetish. The girls came 
into the house with him, but a cloth for the waist was first given 
them to put on. After tea he returned, and at his request I went 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 73 
to the front of his house, where there was some by no means bad 
horse-racing, in an oblong square in front of his house, formed on 
one side by tall shady trees, the end closed by the rocky ridge. The 
horses ran in pairs up this square, sometimes a large Bornou horse 
paired with the small native breed, the latter of which appeared to 
dispute the victory often with the larger horses ofBornou. Towards 
the close, young boys rode on bare backed young horses, which was 
not the worst of the sport. After the racing I went and compli-
mented Yarro on his riding, as he also was one of the racers, and of 
course won. 
Kiama, the principal city of a province of that name in the king-
dom of Borgoo, is situated in latitude go 37' 33/1 north, and longi-
tude 5° 22' 56/1 east of Greenwich. It is governed by a chief whose 
name, Yarro, signifies The Boy; and both city and provi;ce are, as 
frequently happens in Africa, sometimes called after him. The 
province is thinly inhabited, and the city straggling and ill built. 
The houses consist of circular huts, or coozies, built of clay and 
thatched: a number of these, enclosed in a square fence of matting, 
generally form but one house. The city is built on the south side 
of a rocky ridge, and is surrounded by an extensive low clay wall, 
which is broke,n down in a number of places: inside the walls are 
plantations of corn and yams. The surrounding country is thickly 
wooded, with but few plantations, and the country is said to abound 
in game of all descriptions. 
Kiama is one of the towns through which the caravan from 
Houssa and Dornou passes to and from Gonja, on the borders of 
Ashantee: it also has a direct trade with Dahomey, Y ouri, N yffe, 
and Yourriba. There is no fixed duty for the merchants to pay, but 
the chief takes just as much as can be squeezed from them. The 
inhabitants are pagans of an easy faith; never praying but when 
they are sick, or want something, and cursing their object of worship 
L 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
as fancy serves. The Houssa slaves amongst them are Mahometans, 
and are allowed to worship in their own way. 
The town (and I think -I speak within bounds) may contain 
. 30,000 inhabitants. They are looked upon by all who know them 
v as the greatest thieves and robbers in all Africa; and it is enough 
to call a man a native of Borgoo, to designate him as a thief and a 
murderer. Theil' govern~t is despotic; and it appears very little 
protection is given to the subject, as' one town will plunder another 
whenever an opportunity offers. Theil' manner of salutation to 
:superiors is by prostration at full length on the ground, but without 
throwing dust on the head or body: the women kneel on their 
knees and elbows, holding the two open hands turned up towards 
the face. They say that a country called Gomma lies eight days' 
journey to the north of them; Gonja is to the W. N. W.; and that 
a small territory called Katakolee lies between Gonja and Borgoo. 
~ They sell in the market Brazil tobacco, snuff, natron, yams, plan-
v tains, bananas, milk, vegetable butter, goranuts, and honey in great 
plenty and cheap. Sheep and bullocks are abundant: the latter 
mostly in the hands of the Fellatas, who inhabit the woods, shifting 
./ 
about from place to place as pasture is good. The Borgoo people 
will not suffer them to carry any weapons of defence. Theil' best 
r horses they get from the Bornou and Houssa merchants, who bring 
them for sale. 
On the 18th, after breakfast, being provided with carriers and 
two horses, one saddled for myself, I took leave of Yarro, and left 
Kiama. The Houssa caravan left before me, but was to halt at an-
other village, at a little distance from my route. The roau was prin-
cipally through thick woods, with a few plantations of yams, near 
some villages that We passed, inhabited by Fellatas. One deserted 
village, they said, had been abandoned last rainy season, on account 
.of sickness; but what the disease was, I could not learn. The in-
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 75 
.. habitants of these villages were mostly Fellatas, who take care 
of Yarro's cattle. The road very winding, diversified by gentle 
hill and dale; the soil red clay and gravel, with rocks and stones 
here and there, of a gritty sandstone, with large square pebbles of 
quartz. At 11. 40 A. M. halted. at the village of Bonaga, where I 
got a good house; and I found Yarro had sent forward two goats 
and a large quantity of yams, which I shared out to the carriers of 
the baggage. The day was excessively hot, and it was late before 
all the baggage came up. The head man of the village sent me 
three large bowls of foo-foo, with goats' :flesh dressed in the skin, 
which is the saving way of this country, nothing being thrown 
away but the hoofs and horns. Just as I was going to bed in the 
evening, Abubecker, who by Yarro's order had accompanied me, 
to see me safe on my journey, came running into my room in his 
shirt, apparently in a great fright, and said the men had run away 
who were engaged to carry the baggage, and he must ride into the 
town to bring them back. I thanked him, and said I hoped he 
would make haste. He waited a little; and I suspected he wanted 
to draw a present out of me, though I had given him more than 
any other person in l{iama except Yarro. 
Sunday, 19th.-At daybreak I had every thing ready for starting, 
but the manreuvring of old Abubecker kept me until 7. 20A.M. j and 
even then I had to give three yards of blue cloth and several strings 
of beads before I could get the baggage off. After starting, our road 
was through a thickly wooded country of fine tall trees, with little 
underwood, the country rising into gentle hill and dale, and the 
path very winding. At 10 we fell in with the Houssa caravans. 
They occupied a long line of march: bullocks, asses, horses, women, 
and men, to the amount of a thousand, all in a line, after one 
another, forming a ,"cry curious sight j a motley groupe, from the 
nearly nakcd girls and men carrying loads, to the ridiculously and 
gaudily dressed Gonja traders, riding on horseback, some of these 
L52 
76 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
animals being lame, and going with a halt, and all in very bad con-
dition. The poor girls, their slaves, are compelled to travel with a 
. heavy load on their heads, yet are as cheerful and good-natured as 
if they were at home grinding corn in their own native country. 
The road layover a level plairi. covered with trees; the soil a red 
clay, with gravel and ore, among rocks of clay ironston€, appearing, 
from the softer parts, to have been washed or worn away, as if it 
had undergone the action of fire. 'We halted near to a small rainy-
season stream, in which were pools of water. Here and there saw 
numerous traces of the large antelopes, buffaloes, and elephants. 
The latter, they say, the natives do not kill, because they can get 
plenty of other meat, and they can prevail on no one to buy the 
tusks. They destroy wild animals with poisoned arrows, one of 
which they pretend to say will kill an elephant in about an hour. 
They eat the flesh of the animal slain with these arrows, but cut 
out and throwaway the piece around the poisoned wound. Yarro's 
messenger has promised to show me the tree from which they get 
the poison when we arrive at W" awa: they ten a number of extra-
vagant stories about its power and effects, which are too ridiculous 
to believe. 
In the evening I went to the place where the Houssa people 
were encamped, in order to conclude my bargain with the taya, or 
head man of the caravan, and to make him sign the written agree-
ment in Arabic by which he was to be bound to carry my baggage 
and presents from Boussa to Kano; and for which I was to pay him, 
the day after my arrival at the latter place, two hundred thousand 
cowries. He had always fought off the agreement, saying, I could 
conclude the bargain when I got over the river; that I must get 
the sultan of Boussa to allow me to go, and then we should conclude 
the bargain. I never could get him to say how much he would 
take them for, or even that he would take them at all. I now said 
he must determine, as, before I knew whether he would for certain .. 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 77 
take them or not, it would be of no use asking the sultan of Boussa; 
" for if I get the sultan's leave, and you get me on the road, you may 
charge what you please: if he does not allow me to go, signing the 
agreement will do no harm, it will only be the loss of the papers. 
You are mistaken if you think I have any thing to fear from the 
sultan of Youri; I am a servant of the king of England, and will 
receive assistance and protection whichever route I take." He said 
he would send for his partner. His partner came, Malem Mohamed, 
or the learned Mohamed; a man that could not read or write, but 
could repeat a chapter or two of the Koran by heart. He was a 
palavering old rogue, who always repeated, to whatever the taya 
said, the words " madealla, madealla," -" very good, very good,"-
without giving any answer to what I asked. I told them, it did 
not require much consideration about the matter: this must be 
done, yes or no, before I see the sultan of Boussa; for if they did 
not determine whether they would take my things or not, I would 
go direct to Y ouri. The taya then said, how many loads would I 
have? I said, fifteen bullocks or asses; that I would pay him at 
Kano, the day after my arrival, as I could have what money I wanted 
from Hadji Hat Saleh on giving him a receipt, as I had no money 
here; (not wishing to let them know that I had a dollar here, as it 
might endanger my existence and that of all my property). "",V ell," 
says he, "I know you can have what money you want from the 
merchants of Kano: I and my partner will consider of the affair 
to-night, and give you an answer to-morrow." The taya returned 
with me to my encampment, and, to my surprise, told me that I 
must not let it be known that I was going to the Fellatas: "Say 
you arc going to Bornou." "So I am," I said; "I have got a letter 
for the sheikh, which I will show you to-morrow." When the taya 
left me, I began to think that what Yarro of Kiama had told me 
was true. When I asked him to go with the caravan, says he, "Are 
you a merchant? if you are, go with the caravan: if you are the 
king of England's messenger, you have nothing to do with them ; 
78 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
your way is to go from one king to another, not with caravans of 
merchants. You will find plenty of people to put evil in your head; 
if you are wise, do not believe them." 
Monday 20th.- At 6 A. M. left our encampment. Our road 
through a woody country, rising into hill and dale, with some beau-
tiful rocky mounts, perched on the heights composed of blocks of 
sandstone and clay ironstone; the soil a red clay and gravel. We 
halted at the village of Barakina, where I stopped until the carriers 
came up. As I arrived at this village, a hunter came in from the 
chase. He had a leopard's skin over his shoulder, a light spear in 
his hand, and his bow and arrows slung over his shoulder. He was 
followed by three cream-coloured dogs, a breed as if between the 
greyhound and cur: they were adorned with round collars of dif-
ferent coloured leather. The hunter and his dogs marched through 
the village as independently as ever I saw a man, without taking 
the least notice of us, or even looking at us. He was followed by 
a slave carrying a dead antelope that he had killed this morning. 
\ They say the people of Borgoo are the greatest hunters in Africa, 
and that the people of this village and of those we have passed live 
entirely by the chase; the little ground they cultivate being worked 
J by the women. 
Leaving Barakina, and travelling until noon, I came to a rocky 
ledge, formed like a wall, in some places rising into beautiful rocky 
mounts with bold precipices, shaded on the top with trees of the 
most luxuriant foliage. The road lay through a narrow pass in the 
ledge, shaded with fine tall majestic trees. Here, I said to myself, 
is the pass, or gates, leading to the Niger. The rocks of which the 
ledge is composed are of a conglomerate, formed with large square 
pieces of white quartz, imbedded in a shining dark gray substance; 
the pieces of quartz about an inch square, the strata forming an 
angle of about 40° with the zenith. At noon crossed the river Oli, 
which has a very rocky bed, and is said to be impassable, from the 
swiftness of the current, in the rainy season. At this place the 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 79 
rocks in the river were a dark clay slate: its course was from west-
north-west to east-south-east. The head man of the village at the 
ferry told me that it had its rise in the hills to the north of Niki, 
ran to the north of Kiama, and entered the Quorra above Rakah. 
At the place where I and my baggage crossed it was ciTy; but all 
other passengers, not being in the service of a king, are required 
to doss at the ferry by a canoe, where they have to pay ten cowries 
a head for each passenger, and twenty cowries for a load for goods. 
After crossing, I halted at the village of the ferry, which is called 
Billa, on the south side of the river. I encamped under a shady 
tree for the superior coolness, though I was offered the best house 
in the village. The head man brought me a present of a sheep, 
some yams, milk and honey; and, a short while after my arrival, 
the head man of the village of Barakina arrived with a sheep, yams, 
and honey, making an apology for his not being at home when I 
passed. Alligators are plenty in the river, as one of the carriers, 
in going to bring water, was chased from the river side by one: 
parrots, paroquets, and game abound near the banks of this stream. 
In the evening it was reported to me that the whole of the horses were 
lost: whether it be to extract a present or not, time will show. . 
Tuesday, 21st.-It was 8 A. M. before the horses were brought 
back. I sent all the baggage and stores off, except three boxes, 
which I gave in charge to the head man of the village, who pro-
mised. to forward. them to me at 'Yawa. I gave him and the head 
man of the village of Barakina two yards of cloth each, with a knife 
and a few beads, with which they were very well pleased. An 
e cort of four horsemen arrived to conduct me to "Tawa, and at 
8. 30 A. l\I. I left Billa and the escort, who had made the head 
man of the village provide them with a breakfast. The road. lay 
over a plain, well cultivated, and planted with cottons, yam, and 
corn in a number of place. At 10 halted under the shade of a 
tree, near the walls of 'Yawa, until the escort came up, which they 
did in a short time afterward, when I proceeded with them into the 
80 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA '}'O BOUSSA. 
town, to the gate of the governor's house, where I halted under a 
large spreading tree for upwards of an hour. I then de~ired Yarro's 
messengers to tell the governor that if I was kept longer waiting 
outside I should return to Kiama; that I was the king of England's 
messenger, and would not be kept outside of any door in this way. 
They went in and told the governor, who sent out to say he was 
dressing to receive me, and would be out immediately. In a few 
minutes a number of men came out of the house, and sat down in 
two rows outside the door; then a high stool was brought out, and 
placed in the entrance; after which the great man came slowly out 
of the gate, with a long staff in his hand, and seated himself on the 
stool. He sent for me. Until then I had not dismounted. I went 
up and shook hands with him: he kept his hand wrapped up in the 
sleeve of his tobe, for fear the touch of a white kaffir should kill 
him. I told him at once who I was, and what I wanted. He said, 
every thing I wished should be done, and as I must be fatigued 
with my journey, I should see him again to-morrow. I was shown 
to a very good house, but found it excessively hot: the thermo- -
meter in the shade was 1050 of Fahrenheit, which is higher than it 
has been since I have been in Africa this time. In the afternoon, 
the governor sent me a present of a goat, yams, honey, and eggs, 
and the same from his head man. 
I was not a little surprised, towards sunset, by a visit from the 
king of Dahomey'S messengers. I thought that all my prospects 
were now blasted; that they had been sent to detain me, and bring 
me back; but my fears were soon allayed, by their saying that they 
were on th~ir way home; that they had heard white men had 
arrived here, and they had come to pay their respects to me; that 
they had been in Y ouri, and twelve months since had left Daho-
mey; that the king of Dahomey had sent them to get a camel, but 
the war between the people of Y ouri and the Fellatas prevented 
any camels coming to Y ouri. These men brought two muskets to 
salute me with; they had been here twelve days, and were in. 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 81 
tending to leave this for their own country as soon as they coul<i 
procure an answer from the governor. 
I am lodged in the house of a widow, whose husband was one 
of the governor's head men. She is the only wife that bore children 
to the deceased, and in consequence was not taken and sold at her 
·husband's death. She wears a rope round her head, another round 
her neck, and one round her waist, until she has passed her time of 
mourning, or procures another husband; but I suspect this will be 
until she dies, as she is ugly in the extreme. I had a visit, amongst 
the number, from the daughter of an Arab, who is very fair, calls 
herself a white woman, is rich, a widow, and wants a white husband. 
She is said to be the richest person in Wawa, having the best house 
.... in the town, and a thousand slaves. She showed a great regard 
for my servant Richard, who is younger and better looking than I 
am: but she had passed her twentieth year, was fat, and a perfect 
Turkish beauty, just like a walking water-butt. All her arts were 
unavailing on Richard: she could not induce him to visit her at her 
house, though he had my permission. 
The next day I went, after sending to say I was ready to give 
the governor his present, to his house;nccompanied by his head man, 
and gave him seven yards of red cloth, seven yards of blue cloth, 
seven yards of blue silk, an umbrella, ten strings of beads, and a 
phosphorus box, after showing them off to the greatest advantage, 
a thing never to be neglected in Africa. I sat down and told him 
what I have told them all, and which has been so often repeated. 
He said there were two roads, one where there was war, the other 
peace. The one where there was war was by Y ouri; that the sultan . 
of that country was out fighting the Fellatas: the other by the 
way the merchants went, through Nyife, which was safe, and he 
would advise me to go by that road. I thanked him, and said I 
would follow his advice, for that I had nothing to do with war. Says 
he, "You are come to make peace among all people, and make the 
M 
82 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
kings leave offwar." I said, "God willing, I would do what I could." 
This opinion of my being a .peace-maker prevails strongly in all 
places that I have been in: perhaps it may arise from the people of 
the coast and t.hose of Dahomey informing them of the active part 
we take in preventing the slave trade. He said he should send to 
the sultan of Boussa, and tell him to forward me by the way of 
N yffe, with the merchants, as the other road was bad; that he had 
never had such a valuable present from anyone before; and that 
I should see every thing I pleased in his country. I told him that 
three white men who were with me had died on the road; that I 
was very anxious to get to Bornou before the rains, as being a dry 
sandy country, I considered that there I was safe: but that in this 
country or Houssa it was very unsafe and unhealthy for white men 
to be caught by the l;ains. The governor is a thin, spare, old man; 
he had on a cap in the form of a foraging cap, with some of the 
Stuart tartan riband in several folds around it, a white tobe or 
large shirt, a Moorish kaftan of Manchester cotton, and a pair of \ 
sandals on his feet. The room in which he received me had nothing 
worth note but the stool on which he sat, which had two lizards 
carved in bas l!elief on the top, and the heads of two as handles 
for carrying it. His house is inside a high square clay wall, with 
one gate on the western side, and consists of coozies, or circular 
huts, built of clay and thatched, and one square tower of clay, 
having little projections at each corner, and an ostrich egg on 
the top of each of the huts. 
After returning home I had numerous visitors, who brought 
presents of rum, palm wine, and pitto, none of which I would 
accept, nor allow to be brought into the house for the servants; 
but as for my man Ali, an Arab, whose freedom I had purchased at 
Badagry and taken as a servant, all my care could not prevent him 
, from getting drunk. He is a confirmed liar and a thief, and I have 
often regretted that I gave him his freedom, as I cannot well get rid 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 83 
of him here. The inhabitants of this place appear to be the most . 
. roaring, drinking set of any other town I have yet seen. Last 
night, until near morning, nothing was to be heard but fiddles, 
Arab guitars, castanets, and singing. 
The Kiama messenger, according to his promise, brought some of 
the leaves of the trce or bush called by them kongkonie, from the 
seeds of which the natives extract the poison for their arrows; 
from the leaves and branches exudes a resinous gum which sticks to 
the fingers; the flower is small and white, with a very long foot-
stalk; the seeds are enclosed in a long case surrounded by a silky 
substance; the seeds are small, like caraway seeds, and are boiled 
to a thick black paste before they are put on the arrows. They say 
that the seeds are a deadly poison if taken into the stomach; 
the seeds I have got in the case, but dried, and fit for use. 
The king of Dahomey's messengers came to me in the evening 
and told me they wanted to speak to me, saying they wished to 
do so privately. I sent Pascoe to one side with them, but they 
came back observing that they must say it to myself only; their 
mighty secret was this: that they had been in Youri five months 
assisting the king of that country against the F.ellatas; that,. if I 
either regarded my safety or wished to reach the end of my journey, 
I ought not to take that road, as I should never get on; that they 
had lood the brunt of all his battles, and that all their guns but 
two were burst; that they were now on their way to their own 
country, but expect to be sent back by the king of Dahomey with 
a larger force after the rains. They said that Niki was the capital of 
• BOl'gOO and not Kiama; that it is fifteen days only from Dahomey; 
that DOl'gOO and Dahomey are joined together, or two neigh bOUl'ing 
kingdom ; that there are high hills on the road between Niki and 
Dahomey; that they left the l\Iaha country on their left hand 
when they came here; that Kiama is five days di~tant from ~iki ; 
that it is from Dahomey the people of these countries receive all 
M2 
84 JOURNEY FROM KA'rUNGA TO BOUSSA, 
I their rum and EurQpean articles. This aCCQunt I believe to' be true, 
as I have seen great abundance of rum, pewter, and earthen ware. 
They begged I WQuid send a letter by them to' say I had met them, 
which I shall do tQ-mQrrQw. They are much superiQr lQQking men 
to' the people Qf Wawa, and frQm their knQwledge Qf white men in 
their Qwn cQuntry, have been very civil to' me. They seem to' en-
tertain a PQQr QpiniQn Qf the CQurage and behaviQui' Qf the peQple 
Qf Y Qmi and Qf this cQuntry, and say that with a few men they 
eQuId .take them all. 
Thursday, 23d.-I had heard variQus stQries, at different places 
Qn the rQad, cQncerning the fate Qf the late unfQrtunate and enter-
prising travellers Park and Martin, nQne Qf which I cQnsidered 
wQrth relating except. that wh~ch I nQW heard frQm the gQvernQr's 
head man; but they all with whQm I have CQnversed agr€e in asking 
me if I am nQt gQing to' take up the vessel, which they say still re-
mains. The head man's story is this: that the bQat stuck fast 
between twO' rQcks; that the peQple in it laid Qut fQur anchQrs 
a-head; that the water falls dQwn with great rapidity frQm the rQcks, 
and that the white men, in attempting to' get Qn shQre, were 
drQwned; that crQwds of peQple went to' lQQk at them, but the 
white men did nQt shQQt at them as I had heard; that the nath::es 
were tQQ much frightened either to' shQQt at them 0'1' to' assist them; 
that there were fQund a great many things in the bQat, bQQks and 
riches, which the sultan Qf BQussa has gQt; that beef cut in slices 
and salted was in great plenty in the bQat ; that the peQple Qf BQussa 
whO' had eaten Qf it all died, because it was human flesh, and that 
they knew we white men eat human flesh. I was indebted to' the 
messenger Qf YarrQ fQr a defence, whO' tQld the narratQr that I was 
much mQre nice in my eating than his cQuntrymen were. But. it 
was with SQme difficulty I eQuId persuade him t.hat. if his stQry was 
true, it was the peQple's Qwn fears that had killed them; that. the 
meat was gQQd beef 0'1' muttQn ; that I had eaten mQre gQats' flesh 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 85 
since I had been in this country than ever I had done in my life; 
that in England we eat nothing but fowls, beef, and mutton. 
The women here are marked on the body somewhat in the 
~ manner of the lace on a hussar's jacket: in some, where the skin 
has not healed properly, it looks very disgusting. 
The widow Zuma has been kind enough to send me provisions 
ready cooked, in great abundance, ever since I have been here. Now 
that she has failed with Richard, she has offered Pascoe a handsome 
female slave for a wife, if he could manage to bring about matters 
with me. Not being much afraid of myself, and wishing to see 
the interior arrangement of her house, I went and visited her. 
r found her house large, and full of male and female slaves; the 
males lying about the outer huts, the females more in the interior. 
In the centre of the huts was a square one of large dimensions 
surrounded by a verandah, with screens of matting all around ex-
cept in one place, where there was hung a tanned bullock's hide; 
to t.his spot I was led up, and, on its being drawn on one side, I 
saw the lady sitting cross-legged on a small Turkey carpet, like one 
of our hearth rugs, a large leather cushion under her left knee; 
her go ora pot, which was a large old-fashioned English pewter 
mug, by her side, and a calibash of water to wash her mouth out, 
as she alternately kept eating goora and chewing tobacco-snuff, 
the cllstom with all ranks, male or female, who can procure them: 
on her right side lay a whip. At a little distance, squatted on the 
ground, sat a dwarfish hump-backed female slave, with a wide mouth 
but good eyes: she had on no clothing, if I except a profusion of 
strings of beads and coral round her neck and wai t. This personage 
:-;ervcd the purpose of a bell in our country, and what, I suppose, 
would in old times have been called a page. The lady her elf wa. 
dres cd in a white coarse muslin turban; her neck profu ely de-
corated "ith necklace of coral and gold chain, amongst which wa. 
one of rubies and gold beads; her eyebrows and eycla he blacked, 
her hair dyed with indigo, and her hands and feet with henna ; 
86 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA 'YO BOUSSA. 
around her body she had a fine striped silk and cotton country cloth, 
which came as high as her tremendous breasts, and reached as low as' 
her ankles; in her right hand she held a fan made of stained grass, 
of a square form. She desired me to sit down on the carpet beside 
her, which I did, and she began fanning me, and sent hump-back to 
bring out her finery for me to look at; which consisted of four gold 
bracelets, two large paper dressing-cases with looking-glasses, and 
several strings of coral, silver rings, and bracelets, with a number 
of other trifling articles. After a number of compliments, and 
giving me an aec(mnt of all her wealth, I was led through one 
apartment into another, cool, clean, and ornamented with pewter 
dishes and bright brass pans. She now told me her husband had 
been dead these ten years, that she had only one son, and he was 
darker than herself; that she loved white lI!.en, .and ~ouJ.d go to 
Boussa with me; that she wOldcl. send for a malem, or man of learn-
ing, and read the fatha with me. I thought this was carrying the 
joke a little too far, and began to look very serious, on which she 
sent for the looking-glass, an.d looking at herself, then offering it 
m'e, said, to be sure she was l·ather older than me, but very little, 
and what of that? This was too much, and I made my retreat as 
soon as I could, determined never to come to such close quarters 
with her again. During the night squally, with thunder, lightning, 
i1nd rain. 
Friday, ~4th.-Amongst my numerous visitors this morning, I 
had a travelling musician, attended by two boys. His instrument 
was a violin made of a gourd, with three strings of horse hair, not 
in single· hairs, but a number for each string untwisted; the bow 
the same; the body of the violin was formed of half a long gourd; 
the bridge, two cross sticks; the top, the skin of a guana stretched 
tightly over the edges; the neck was about two feet long, orna-
mented with plates of brass, having a hollow brass knob at the end. 
To this instrument was hung a diminutive pair of sandals to denote 
his wandering occupation, a piece of natron, strings of cowries, and 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 87 
stripes of cloth. He said he would take any thing that was given 
to him. The boys had hollow gourds with stones or beans in them, 
with which they kept time by holding them in one hand and 
beating them against the other. The musician himself was past 
the middle age, his beard being tinged with gray, and neither too 
long nor too short; his face inclining more to long than oval, with 
a nose slightly hooked; his forehead high; his eyes large, bright, 
and clear, with a kind of indefinable expression of half rogue and half 
a merry fellow, and when he sang he sometimes looked sublime; 
his mouth and teeth were good; his voice clear and melodious; his 
stature about the middle size, and spare form; his dress was a 
white turban and large sky-blue tobe or shirt. He accompanied his 
instrument with his voice, the boys joining in chorus. His songs 
were extempore. I should have taken one down, but found they 
were all about myself; and a number of visitors coming in, I gave 
him fifty cowries and sent him away rejoicing. Received a present 
of a sheep, yams, milk, eggs, and a goat, from the governor. 
I went outside the town with Yarro's messenger to see the 
kongkonie tree which I have before mentioned, and from the seeds 
of which they are said to extract the poison for their arrows. The 
tree is a parasite (meaning probably a creeper), about the thickness 
of a man's thigh at the root, from which shoot up several stems, 
that ascend the large tree at the root of ,,·hich it grows, twisting 
it elf round the stcm and branche to the top of thc tree; the bark 
of thc young branchc is likc the darkest of the hazel; the stem and 
older branches smooth and whitish, like the bark of the ash; the 
flower, which is now fading, has fiyc leayes tapcring to a point, 
from which they hayc a string abollt two inchcs in length hanging; 
they are about the izc of our primrose, but of a darker yellow: 
the leave of the tree arc rough and furry, exuding a gum that 
sticks to thc finger ' ; the part which grows from the flower and 
contains the seeds is about a foot and a half in length, and one and 
n half or two inche' in circumference in the thicke t part; thc eed 
88 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA. TO BOUSSA. 
are like caraway seeds, and are surrounded by a silky substance; 
they are boiled until they turn into a paste, when they are fit for 
use, and put on the arrows. I had a present of five alligators' eggs 
sent me by the governor; they are only eaten by the principal 
people, and considered a great delicacy: they were brought from 
the banks of the Quorra. The taja called upon me, but he ap-
peared still to shuffle off coming to any arrangement~ saying he 
could not say for how much he would carry me to Kano, until he 
saw whether I was to go with him or not. I observed to him it 
was very easily said, and that until he told me how much, I would 
not ask the governor to go with him. He said he wanted half 
the money here. To which I replied, "You must go with this un-
derstanding in all future affairs between you and I, that I will not 
give you one farthing until I arrive in Kano, when, the day after I 
arrive there, you shall have every cowrie of the money. If you 
come to any .bargain with me, it must be with the understanding 
that I have no money here." " 'iV ell," says he, "I will call to-
morrow and see your things, and then come to a written agreement 
with you- half the money here." This taja must take me for a fool; 
I will sooner stay here all the rains, than let him have the money 
and leave me in the lurch . 
Saturday, ~5th.-Clear and warm. At noon the taja visited 
me, when, after a great deal of unnecessary palavering and 
manreuvring on his part, we came to the following bargain,- that -
he is to carryall my baggage and stores to Kano for 200,000 
cowries. I also found out that he does not go to BOl,lssa, 'but 
crosses the Quorra at a pla~e called Com ie, and goes to Koolfu in 
N yffe, where he stops for a few days. I am therefore to ask the 
governor here to carry my baggage to Koolfu, where the taja will 
fi nd bullocks. I must however go out of the way to visit the sultan 
of Boussa, as all this part of the country is nominally under him. 
The sultan of Niki is next to him, and equal to him in power. My 
baggage, therefore, and stores with my servants must proceed to 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 89 
Koolfu without me, as I have no other alternative but to take 
this route or that of Youri. After the taja left me, I went to the 
governor, and acquainted him with th agreement I had come to 
with the taja, who immediately promised to send a messenger with 
myself to Boussa, and another with my servants and baggage to see 
them safe to Koolfu. I would not on any acccount miss the op-
portunity of going to Boussa, being most anxious to see the spot 
where Park and Martin dietl, and perhaps get their papers. If I 
am detained, my servants go on with the taja; and I have left 
directions with them how to proceed in the event of my death or 
other accidents. 
Sunday, Q6th.- On inquiring to-day of the same person, the 
governor's head man, concerning the fate of Park and l\iartin, he 
said the natives did shoot arrows at them, but not until guns had 
been fired from the boat: in all other parts of the story he agreed 
with what he had told before, adding, that the boat was to be seen 
above water every Sunday. They all treat the affair with a great 
deal of seriousness, and look on the place where the boat was wrecked 
with awe and superstition, telling some most marvellous stories 
about her and her ill-fated crew. I also learnt from this man their 
manner of burial in Borgoo, which is as follows: they dig a deep 
round hole like a well j the corpse is put in the hole in a sitting 
posture, with the wrists bound tight round the neck, the legs bent, 
and the thighs, legs, and arms, bound tight round the body. The 
grave is made in the floor of the deceased's bouse, and his horse 
and dog, if he has any, are killed to serve him in the next world. 
The M ahometans bury in their usual fashion, and have a burying-
ground on the east side of the town, inside the walls. 
l\londay, Q7th. -Received a present of a goat, two fowls, yams, 
and milk, from the brother of the governor, who has got a sore leg, 
and wi hes m!'! to cure it. In the afternoon we had thunder, 
lightning, and rain. I took this opportunity of waiting on the 
N 
90 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BQUSSA. 
governor to press my departure, as the taja is rather too slack for 
me. I asked him if he would not send me to Koolfu to-morrow, 
as he saw now that the rains were close at hand. "Oh," says he, 
" they will not set in these two months, yet it is always thus before 
the rains." I told him that no one knew the seasons better than 
I did ; and that, if I travelled as slow as I had done of late, I 
would be caught by the rains in Houssa, and I might as well have 
a sword run into my breast. He said he would send fo~ the taja 
to-night, and give me into his charge. I said, I mut go to Boussa, 
and make a present to the sultan; that if I did not, he would say, 
a white man has passed through my country without paying his 
respects to me, or bringing a present: it would be going out of 
the country like a thief, not like the messenger of the king of 
England. " Very well," says he, " I will despatch a messenger with 
you to request he will not detain you. You must send all your 
things up to my house; I will give them and your servants in 
charge of the taja, and all will go well; my messenger shall ac-
company them to Koolfu"-(sometimes pronounced Koolfie and 
Koolfa). He then began asking me if Englishmen would come 
into the country. "Yes," says I, "if you use them as well as you 
have done me: there is now a doctor on his way to join me, from 
Dahomey." He said he would be very glad to see him, and would 
forward him on to me. I asked him if this country or Borgoo 
owed any allegiance to Y ourriba: he said, none; and laughed at ' 
the idea. He said he owed allegiance to Boussa, as Kiama, Niki, '\ 
and Y ouri did; that he was separated from Kiama by the brook I 
halted at the second day I left that place, and that the province of 
Wawa extended as far south as Rakah; that Kiama owed no alle-
giance to Y ourriba, but was a province of Borgoo, subject to the 
./ 
sultan of Borgoo, who was the head of all: he added, the sultan of 
Boussa 'could take Y ourriba whenever he chose, but, says he, the J, 
Fellatas will take it now. I asked him if he thought the sultan 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 91 
of Boussa would give me the books that were found in the boat 
./ belonging to the white men lost there. He said, if there were any, 
he would certainly give them to me, as they were of no use to him, 
he could not read; and he then related to me the same story nearly 
that his head man had told me of that affair, and asked me if the 
unfortunate people were not my countrymen, and had great riches: 
I said they were, but that they were not rich, but honest men like 
myself; that one, the head man, was a doctor. 
Tuesday, Q8th.-This morning I visited the governor's brother 
who has got the sore leg, as he had Gent a fee, and could not come 
and see me. Hisleft ankle was dreadfully ulcerated and swelled, and 
had been in the same state since the last rainy season. The leg was 
thin and wasted; and he complained of suffering much pain. He ' 
could move his toes very well; and inquiring if it was the effect of 
a hurt, he said no, that it had come on at the beginning of the last 
rains. I directed him to wash it clean night and morning with 
warm milk and water, to apply poultices night and day until the 
swelling was reduced, and on no account to drink spirits or palm 
wine: an advice which he did not at all admire, as he said when 
he drank it eased his pain and gave him sleep. I desired moreover 
that when the swelling in his leg was reduced by the poultices, he 
should put clean fat on a soft rag and layover it, and on no 
account to drink any thing stronger than water. After my return 
home he ent me a present of a sheep, four fowls, eggs, milk, and 
honey. I now began to prepare for starting to Boussa in the morn-
ing at daybreak, but the taja is working against me, and I doubt 
being able to get off, as I have just learned that he does not leave 
this until Saturday next, and wishes to detain me also, The sky 
being clear, before the moon rose I was able to get the meTidi~n 
altitude of the star Dubbe in the Great Bear, which gave the lati-
tude of my house in Wawa, 9" 53' 5.J," north. Its longitude I cal-
culate to be 5° 56' ea t. 
Nfl 
92 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
Wednesday, 29th.-Wawais the capital ofa province of the same 
name in the kingdom of Borgoo; it is in the form of a square, and 
may contain ti'-om eighteen to twenty thousand inhabitants. It is 
surrounded by a good high clay wall and dry ditch; and is one of 
the neatest, most compact, and best walled towns between this and 
Badagry. The streets are wide, spacious, and airy, the houses of 
the coozie, or circular hut form; the huts of each house being con-
nected by a wall, forms an airy and open space inside, and does not 
take away from the regular appearance of the houses. One of the 
coozies next the street has two doors, which forms an entrance into 
the interior, into which the other coozies open. .The plan of the 
one in which I lived may serve for all, except the governor's and 
that of the widow Zuma. This plan will afford a fair specimen of 
the accommodations ofWawa. The governor's house i.s surrounded 
by a clay wall, about thirty feet high, in the form ofa square, having 
large coozies, shady trees, and square clay towers inside. 
Profile of part of the west front of my house in 
Wawa. 
A. Sleeping and sitting-rooms. c. Little houses for holding grain. F. House of entrance. 
B. Stables. D. Houses of the slaves. 4. Places for cooking. 
The marriages of the Wawanies are very simple. The pagans 
i make up matters with the girl first, give the father or mother a 
present, and all is right. The Mahometans read the fatha, and 
make a present; read it again, and part, when tired of one another. 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 95 
The virtue of chastity I do not believe to exist in Wawa. Even the 
widow Zuma lets out her female slaves for hire, like the rest of the 
people of the town. Neither is sobriety held as a virtue. I never 
was in a place in my life where drunkenness was so general. Go- V 
vernor, priest, and layman, and even some of the ladies, drink to 
excess. I was pestered for three or four days by the governor's 
daughter, who used to come several times in a day, painted and 
bedizened in the highest style of Wawa fashion, but always half 
tipsy; I could only get rid of her by telling her that I prayed and 
looked at the stars all night, never drank any thing stronger than 
,·oa-in-zajit·, which they call my tea,-literally hot water: she always 
departed in a flood of tears. Notwithstanding their want of chastity, 
and drunkenness, they are a merry people, and have behaved well to . 
me. They appear to have plenty of the necessaries of life, and a 
1 great many of the luxuries, some of which they would be better 
~ without; this being the direct road from Bornou, Houssa, and 
N yife, to Gonja, Dahomey, and J annah. Since the war between 
the Fellatas and people of Y ourriba, they are able to procure 
plenty of European articles, such as pewter jugs and dishes, copper 
pans, earthenware, :Manchester cottons, &c. Their fruits are limes, 
plantains, bananas, and several wild fruits in the season. Their 
vegetables are yams, calalou, or the leaves of a plant which they 
use in their soups, as we do greens or cabbage; grain, doura, Indian 
corn, and millet. Fish they procure in great plenty from the Quorra 
and its tributary streams: those I have seen were all smoked, and 
principally a kind of catfish. Their best and largest horses come from 
Bornou: the native breed are small, like the Shetland ponies, hardy, 
active, and generally of a brown or mouse colour. Oxen are in 
great plenty, principally in the hands of the Fellatas; sheep and 
goats are also plentiful; domestic fowls plenty and cheap; honey 
and bees' wax abundant; ivory and ostrich feather they ay are 
to be procured in great plenty, but they can get no sale for them. 
94 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
The country abounds in wild animals of all the different kinds to 
be found in Africa. Slaves are numerous: the males are employed 
~ in weaving, collecting wood or grass, or on any other kind of work; 
some of the women are engaged in spinning cotton with the distaff 
and spindle, some in preparing the yarn for the loom, others in 
pounding and grinding corn, some cooking and preparing cakes, 
sweetmeats, natron, yams, and accassons, and others selling these 
articles at the markets; the older female slaves are principally the 
spinners. The mere labour is very light, and a smart English ser-
vant would accomplish their hardest day's work in one hour ~ but 
if their labour be light their food is also light, being confined to 
two meals a day, which almost inval'iably consist of paste of the 
flour of yams, or millet, in the morning about nine o'clock, and a 
thicker kind, approaching to pudding, after sunset, and this only 
in small quantities; flesh, fowl, or fish, they may occasionally get, 
but only by a very rare chance. Their owners, in fact, fare very 
little better: perhaps a little smoke-dried fish, or some meat now 
and then; principally only a little palm oil, or vegetable butter, in 
addition to their paste or pudding; but they indulge freely in 
drinking palm wine, rum, and bouza. 
Of the slaves for sale I can say but little, and a stranger sees 
very little of them. In fact when not going on a journey to some 
slave mart, or sent out to the wells or rivers in the mornings to 
wash, they are seldom seen. Even then they are fastened neck to 
neck with leather thongs; and when this duty is over, they are 
confined closely in the houses until they are marched off. When 
on their march, they are fastened night and day by the neck with 
leather thongs or a chain, and in general carry loads; the refractory 
are put in irons, in addition to the other fastening, during the 
night. They are much afraid of being sold to the sea coast, as it 
1/ is the universal belief that all those who are sold to the whites are 
eaten; retorting back on us the accusation of cannibalism, of which 
, 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 95 
they have perhaps the greatest right to blame us. The slaves sold 
to the sea coast are generally those taken in war, or refractory and 
intractable domestic slaves. N yffe at present is the place that 
produces the most slaves, owing to the civil war raging in that 
country. 
The people of vVawa would take beads in exchange for any 
articles their country might produce; also brass bracelets for the 
arms and legs; brass, copper, pewter, and earthenware dishes; Man-
chester cottons of gaudy colours, and calicoes. Their arms are 
bows and poisoned arrows, and light spears. They say they do not 
like war, but appear to be very tenacious in not permitting inter-
ference with their country; and they like the Fellatas better than 
their neighbours of Kiama, of whom they are very jealous. They 
have a good character for honesty; are cheerful, good-natured, and 
hospitable; and no people in Africa that I have met with are so 
ready to give information about the country as they are; and, what 
is very extraordinary, I have not seen a common beggar amongst 
them. They deny their Borgoo origin, and say they are descended 
from the people of N yffe and Houssa. Their language is a dialect 
of the Y ourriba: but the vVawa women are very good-looking, and 
the Y ouriba women are not: the men are strong and well made, 
but have a debauched look. Their religion is partly a loose Ma-
home tan ism, and partly pagan. The most piou8 of the former can 
only say a few prayers, or go through the necessary forms, and are 
called Malem, or learned: the latter are called Kaffirs; and what 
they worship it is hard to tell; every man choosing his own god, 
which they pray to that he may intercede with the Supreme Being 
for them; and they offer sheep, dogs, and sometimes a bullock, ac-
cording to the benefit they expect. A woman is ent to the market 
and sold, if, when she has a child at the breast, he is known to go 
with a man, and, in addition, lose her child, and is flogged. 
In this country, as well as in all others I have passed between 
96 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
this and the sea, I have met with tribes of Fellatas, some of whom 
are not Mahometans, but pagans. They certainly are the same 
people, as they speak the same language, have the same features 
and colour, except those wbo have crossed with the negro. They 
are as fair as the lower class of Portugueze or Spaniards, lead a 
pastoral life, shifting from place to place, as they find grass for their 
, horned cattle, and live in temporary huts of reeds· or long grass. 
Thursday, SOth.-Having had every thing prepared last night 
for starting this morning at day-break, I went and took leave of 
the governbr, who repeated his promises of sending my baggage 
on to Koolfu. On my return from the governor,. I met a messenger 
of the sultan of Boussa, who had been sent expressly for me. He 
said he would just wait on the governor, and deliver a message, and 
follow me. I left Wawa, mounted on an old red roan mare of the 
governor's, on a good road, leading through a woody country, with 
numerous plantations of yams, and Indian corn. At 8. SO A. M. 
passed a village about a quarter of a mile from the south sid~ of a 
range of low rocky hills, running in a direction from east-south-east 
to west-south-west by compass. The rocks were composed ofpud-
ding-stone, the white quartz pebbles of which were square, not 
rounded, and imbedded in a gray substance. At the end of an 
opening in the range was a beautiful sugar-loaf mountain, over-
looking all the rest, and bearing from the village east-south-east, 
distance half a mile. This I presumed to call Mount George, after 
his present majesty George the Fourth. After passing the village 
and entering amongst the hills, I found the valleys well cultivated, 
V and planted with yams, corn, and maize, but the road winding and 
rocky. At 1.0 A. M. came to the village of Injum, the first be-
longing to the province of Boussa. Here I halted, until t.he mes-
senger, who had joined me some time before, got his breakfast. 
This village is on the north-east side of the hills. Amongst the 
number of people who came to look at me was a woman, whose face, 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 97 
neck, right breast, and part of her right arm, were covered with a 
scurf, like a person very ill with the small pox: the borders of the 
scurf were bare, raw, and inflamed. This is the disorder the young 
man's mother died of, to whom I gave the medicines at Kiama. 
"\Vhen the disease reaches the toes and fingers, they first contract, 
and then drop off; when, in a short time after, the unfortunate 
person is relieved by death, as they have no cure for it, nor do 
they attempt any. I called the woman, and asked her if she 
suffered much pain: she said no, nor did it itch. She sent for 
80me yams, and offered them, as she said my looking at her would 
do her good. 
At 10. 30 the messenger having finished his breakfast, we left 
Injum. He gave me his horse to ride, as I could not get the old 
'Yawa mare to go on without a great deal of beating. At noon 
halted at the side of a brook, to water the horses. Here end the 
hills and the pudding-stone of which they are composed, and the 
rocks are now a dark gray slate, which moulders away with the rains, 
the soil a strong blue clay, with deep gullies formed by the rains. 
At 1 left the brook: the country thickly wooded with tall trees, 
amongst which are a number of the acacia or mimosa, many of them 
thrown down by the elephants, for the purpose of feeding on the 
upper and tender branches. The traces of elephants, buffaloes, 
and the larger kind of antelopes called in Bornou coriglllJ1, are 
numerous. At Q. 40 halted at a village of the Kum brie, or Cam-
bric, a race of Kaffirs inhabiting the woods, on both sides of the 
l'lYer. They made a great difficulty in procuring me a drink of 
water, so I mounted and left them, and at S. 30 arrrived at a branch 
of the Quorra, called the l\Ienai, close to its junction with a econd 
branch. The l\Ienai is about twenty yards in breadth, and about 
two fathoms in depth; the current hardly perceptible, and the 
water dark and muddy; that of the branch into which it runs 
being about thirty yards in breadth, with a strong current, about 
o 
98 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
three or four knots, throwing a back-water up the Menai. The 
island on the -other side of it is low and swampy, and covered with 
high reeds; the colour of both the streams red and muddy, as if in 
flood; but the messenger, on my asking if this was the case, said 
no, that the river was now at its lowest mark, and pointing to a 
place on the opposite bank of the Menai, about fifteen feet above 
the present level, said the river rose to that height during the 
rams. The trees on both banks were close down to the water's 
edge, and the branches were in the stream, and every now and 
then a branch would be broken off, and washed away by the strength 
of the current. From this, and the muddiness of the water, I con-
cluded it was rising; but certainly the inhabitants must know 
best: had I not made inquiry, I ~hould certainly have said it was 
nsmg. The canoe being on the other side of the Menai, the 
messenger stripped off his tobe, and swam over for it. After 
crossing and swimming the horses over, in about a quarter of 
an hour's ride I entered the walls of Boussa, by the western gate.  
.J' The walls appeared very extensive, and are at present under repair. 
Bands of male and female slaves, accompanied by drums and flutes, 
and singing in chorus, were passing to and from the river with water, 
to mix the clay they were building with. Each great man has his 
part of the wall to build, like the Jews when they built the walls of 
Jerusalem, everyone opposite his own house. 
I was much surprised, after entering the gate, to see only clusters 
• of huts here and there, and no regular town, as I had been led 
to expect. I remained under the shade C)f a tree until the mes-
senger went and acquainted the sultan of my arrival. On his return 
I accompanied him up to the sultan, whom I found sitting under 
a small projection of the verandah of one of his coozies: his midaki, 
~ 
or prin<;ipJ!1 wife, sitting alongside of him. To this personage I 
had been advised by the widow Zuma to pay particular attention, 
as she was every thing with the sultan. He received me very 
• 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 99 
kindly, and said the sultan of Y ouri had kept seven boats waiting 
for me for these last seven days to take me up the river to Yom'i. 
I said I was much obliged to the sultan of Y ouri, but that I did not 
intend going that way, as the war with the Fellatas had shut up 
the communication between Dornou and Y ouri; that with his per-
mission I would go by the way of Koolfu and Nyffe, where there 
was no war. He said I was right, and that it was good for me 
that I had come to see him; that I should take what path I chose. 
",Ve then parted, he ordering his head man to take me to a 
house. He would have come with me himself, but the midaki 
pulled him back; she had acted, during the time I was there, as 
prompter. The sultan is a fine looking young man, about twenty-
five or twenty-six years of age, five feet ten inches high, with a 
high forehead, large eyes, Roman nose, decent lips, good teeth, 
short chin covered with about an inch and a half of beard, more of 
a spare than robust make. He was dressed in a white tobe, striped 
Moorish kaftan, with a red Moorish cap on his head. The mi-
daki appears somewhat older, below the middle size, with nothing 
remarkable about her but her voice, and a winning womani~h way, 
itting on his left side, a little behind him, with her arm alf around 
his neck. His house does not differ from those of other people, 
except the huts being a little larger, and surmounted by ostrich 
eggs. I found my house a very good one, with three rooms or 
huts, and a shade for the heat of the day; and the sultan and 
midaki sent me a sheep, yams, fish, milk, honey, and eggs. 
Friday, 31st.-This morning I waited on the sultan with my 
present, which consisted of eight yards of red cloth, eight yards of 
blue, eight yards of silk, a blue silk umbrella, an African sword, 
three pair of white cotton stockings, three pair of gloves, two 
phosphoru boxes, three clasp-knives, and three pair of scissar , 
a mock-gold chain, beads, and coral; for the midaki, picture of the 
king, and royal family, &c. I displayed my pre ent to the best ad-
o Q 
100 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
vantage, and explained the uses of the different articles. ,The,sword 
he was delighted with, and the chain, I saw, had won the midaki's 
heart. She first put it around her own neck, then taking it off, and 
putting it around the sultan's, looked up in his face with as sweet 
an expression of countenance as ever I saw. Upon the whole, my 
present appeared to have the effect I wished. After giving me a 
great many thanks, and the 'presents were taken away, he began 
again about Y ouri: said, that YalTo of Kiama had infOl;med him 
that I was going there. I said, I meant to have gone there, but 
that I should now defer my visit 'until my return; that the rains 
were now at hand; that by the way of Y ouri there was war, and I 
could not get to Bornou before the rains; that remaining in Y ouri 
or Houssa during that season would kill me, and they had better 
put a sword through me at once than detain me. He said there 
was no sultan between Koolfu and Guari. I told him the taja had 
engaged to find me bullocks to carry my baggage to Kano. He then 
asked me when I wished to go away. I replied, "To-morrow." 
"W" ell," says he, " you shall go in the afternoon." I said I would 
prefer daybreak, as I wished to make observations at the river 
side, and see my baggage safely over. I had S~)lne apprehension 
that the king of Y ouri, should he hear that I am going by the 
way of Koolfu, might outwit me; on whi~h account I mentioned 
my preferring to travel in the morning. "Well," says he, "you 
shall go when you please." 
This point being settled, I asked him to lend me a horse and 
saddle, which he promised to do, I next inquired of him after 
some white men who were lost in the river near this place twenty 
years ago. He seemed rather uneasy at this question, and I ob-
served that he stammered in his speech. He assured me he had 
nothing belonging to them; that he was a little boy when the event 
happened. I said, I wanted nothing but the books and papers, and 
to learn from him a correct account of the manner of their death; 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 101 
and that with his permission, I would go and visit the spot where 
they were lost. He said no, I must not go; it was a very bad 
place. Having heard that part of the boat still remained, I asked 
him if it was so: he replied, that such a report was untrue; that 
she did remain on the rocks for some time after, but had gone to 
pieces and floated down the river long ago. I said if he would give 
me the books and papers it would be the greatest favour he could 
possibly confer on me. He again assured me that nothing re-
mained with him, every thing of that kind had gone into the hands 
of the learned men; but that if any were now in existence he would 
procure them and give them to me. I then asked him if he would 
allow me to inquire of the old people in the town the particulars 
of the affair, as some of them must have seen it. He appeared very 
uneasy, gave me no answer, and I did not press him further. In 
the afternoon the sultan came galloping up in front of my house, a 
man running after him, holding the umbrella I had given him: 
but the bearer could not keep up with the horse, or hold it over 
his head. 
In the evening I was visited by the sultan and midaki, and the 
king of Y om·i's messenger with them. The messenger said his 
master had sent provisions and every thing for my voyage up the 
river to Yom·i. I told him I could not but feel much obliged to 
the king of Yo uri for his kindness; but that the rains were close at 
hand, and the road between Y ouri and Dornou shut up by the war; 
that on my return, after the rains, I should certainly visit the king, 
for his kindness on this occasion. The sultan of Boussa said I 
should be making an enemy of the king of Y ouri if I went away 
without seeing him or sending him a present. I said I really had 
nothing here to give; that if the mes engel' of the king of Youri 
would accompany me to the ferry where my baggage was, I would 
!rive him as good a present as I wa able; but that I had now 
very little to give. The Yo uri messenger wa very anxiou that I 
102 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
should go with him; but the midaki, whose heart the gold chain 
has won, fairly beat him off the field, and it was decided that I am 
not to go to Yo uri. The sultan made a great many inquiries about 
England, and asked me two or three times if I had not come to 
buy slaves. I laughed in his face, and told him there Was nothing 
we so much abhorred in England as slavery; that the king of Eng-
land did every thing to prevent other nations buying slaves; that 
the slave trade was the ruin of Africa; that Y ourriba presented 
nothing but ruined towns and deserted villag€s, and all caused by 
the slave-trade; that it was very bad to buy and sell men like 
bullocks and sheep. It was now nearly dinner-time, and he said he 
would come and see me at night. 
At eight in the evehing the sultan eame, accompanied by the 
midaki, and one male slave. He began again abQut Youri; but I 
repeated what I had said before. He then asked me if the king of 
England was a great man. " Yes," I said, "the greatest of all the 
white kings." "But," says he, "you live on the water?" "Oh no," 
I said, "we have more land than there is between Boussa and Badag 
(as they call Badagry), and more than fin~ thpusand towns." " "VeIl," 
says he, "I thought, and always have heard, that you lived on the 
water. How many wives has the king?" "Only one wife," I said. 
" What!" says he, "only ~me wife?" "Yes," says I; "no man is 
allowed more than one wife, llInd they hang a man if he has two at 
one time." "That is all very gOQd for other m'en," says he ; " but the 
kihg having' only one wife is hQt good." When I told hhn, if the 
king had it daughter and no son, .she w(mld rule the kingdom at her 
father's death, he laughed immoderately, as did the midaki, who 
was apparently well pleased with the idea of only one wife, and a 
woman rnling. I asked him who were the :first people who inhabited 
this part of the conntry. He said the Cambrie; that his ancestors 
were from Bornou; that the sultan of Niki was descended from a 
younger branch of his family; that his ancestors and people had 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 103 
come into this country a long time ago; that his family were de-
scendedfrom the sultans ofBornou ; and that they had paid the latter 
tribute until, of late years, the road had been shut up; but that 
he would pay it all up whenever the road was open; that the sultans 
of Y omiba, Niki, Kiama, Wawa, and Y ouri, paid tribute to Bornou. 
I then asked him at what place the river entered the sea. He 
replied he did not know: but he had heard people say it went to 
Bini, which is the name they give to Bornou. I asked if he had ever 
seen any of the Bini people, or if they come up as far as this by the 
river. He said, no, he had never seen any of them; that he un-
derstood they never came higher up the river than Nyffe or Tappa 
(as they call Nyffe). He remained with me until near morning, 
and when he was gone, finding I could not sleep, and hearing the 
sound of sweet-toned instruments, I sent for the musician, and 
made him play and sing to me. On sending him away, I desired 
him to call in the morning and I would pay him, and to bring 
his instrument with him. 
Saturday, 1st April.-Morning cool and cloudy, with a little 
min. The Houssa musician came to his appointment, and I made 
him play and sing. I made a sketch of his instrument, which I 
asked him to sell to me ; but he said he had played on it to his 
father and mother, and they were pleased with it; they were now 
dead, and he would not part with it. My servant Ali was cooking 
a fowl for my breakfast, and having occasion to call him, he came 
with a knife in his hand ; on seeing which, the musician started, 
and ran as if he had been going to be put to death instantly. 
The women in the house, when they saw him run, rolled on the 
ground, and laughed at the poor man's fright. Mter breakfast 
I visited the sultan, and asked him to be allowed to depart, a 
my baggage was to have been at the river-side yesterday. He said 
I mu t not leave him to-day, and that when I came back I must 
' tay forty days with him. I was visited by a great number of 
104 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
people, amongst which were many Fellatas, the chief of whom 
sent me a sheep, honey, and milk. The sultan, when I inquired 
of him again to-day about the papers of my unfortunate country-
men, said that the late imam, a Fellata, had had possession of 
all the books and papers, and that he had fled from Boussa some 
time since. This was a d@ath-blow to all future inquities here; 
and the whole of the information concerning the affair of the boat, 
her crew, and cargo, which I was likely to gain here, I have already 
stated. Everyone in fact appeared uneasy when I asked for in-
formation, and said it had happened before their remembrance, or 
that they did not see it. They pointed out the place where the boat 
struck, and the . unfortunate crew perished. Even this was done 
with caution, and as if by stealth; though, in every thing un-
connected with that affair, they were most ready to give me what 
information I asked; and never in my life have I been treated with 
more hospitality or kindness. 
The place pointed out to me, where the boat and crew were 
lost, is in the eastern channel.: the river being divided into three 
branches at this place, not one of which is more than a good pistol-
shot across. A low flat island, of about a quarter of a mile in breadth, 
lies between the town of Boussa and the fatal spot, which is in a 
line, from the sultan's house, with a double-trunked tree with white 
bark, standing singly on the low flat island. The bank is not par-
ticularly high at present, being only about t.en feet above the _level 
of this branch, which here breaks over a gray slate rock, extending 
quite across to the eastern shore: this shore rises into gentle hills, 
composed of gray slate, thinly scattered with trees; and the grass 
at this season gives it a dry and withered appearance. 
The city of Boussa is situated on an island in the river Quorra, 
and is in latitude lO° 14' north, longitude 6 0 II' east. The course 
of the Quorra here is from north-north-west to south-south-east by 
compass; and, as they informed me, is full of islands and rocks as far 
- / 
JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 105 
up the river as they were acquainted with it, and the same below. 
Boussa stands nearest the westernmost branch, which is called by the 
natives the river Menai ; the other two branches have no other name 
than the Quorra. The M enai's stream is slow and sluggish; those 
of the other two strong, with eddies and whirlpools breaking over 
rocks, which in some places appear above water. Boussa island, 
as I shall call it, is about three miles in length from north to south, 
and a mile and a half in breadth at the broadest part. A ridge of 
rock, composed of gray slate, runs from one end of the island to the 
other, forming a precipice from twenty to thirty feet high on the 
eastern side, and shelving gently down on the west: below this pre-
cipice extends a beautiful holm or meadow, nearly the 'whole length 
of the island, and about three hundred yards broad, to the banks of 
the river, where there are several rocky mounds, on which villages 
to the number of four are built. The wall of Boussa is about a 
quarter of a mile from the banks of the l\Ienai, and unites with 
the two extremities of the rocky precipice, where they fall in with 
the banks of the river; and may be about three quarters of a mile 
or a mile in length. The houses are built in clusters, or forming 
small villages, inside the wall, not occupying above one-tenth of the 
ground enclosed. Outside the walls, on the same island, are several 
villages, with plantations of corn, yams, and cotton. The language 
of the people of Boussa is the same as the other states of Borgoo, 
and appears to be a dialect of the Y ourriba: but the Houssa lan-
guage is understood by all classes, even by the Cambrie. I should 
not think that the whole of the inhabitants living between the 
wall and the river amounted to more than ten or twelve thou and j 
but I wa ' informed that the state of Boussa was more populous than 
all the other provinces of Borgoo j and that, next to Houssa, the sultan 
of BOllssa, from that state alone, could raise more hor e than any 
other prince between Houssa and the sea. The inhabitants, with 
a very few exceptions, are pagans, as is the sultan, though his name 
p 
106 JOURNEY FROM KATUNGA TO BOUSSA. 
is Mohamed. Milk is his fetish, and which he, therefore, does not 
taste. This I learnt when he drank tea with me. They eat monkeys, 
dogs, cats, rats, fish, beef, and mutton; the latter only on great 
occasions, or when they sacrifice. This morning when I was with 
the sultan, his breakfast was brought in, which I was asked to par-
take of. It consisted of a large grilled water-rat with the skin on, 
some very fine boiled rice, with dried fish stewed in palm oil, and 
fried or stewed alligators' eggs, and fresh Quorra water. I eat 
some of the stewed fish and rice, and they were much amused at 
my not eating the rat and the eggs. Their arms are, the bow, 
sword, spear, and a heavy club of about two feet and a half in 
length, bent at the end and loaded with iron: their defensive 
armour is a tanned leather shield, of a circular form, and the tobe 
or large shirt gathered in folds round the body, and made fast 
round the waist with a belt. 
From the front of the Sultan's house they pointed out to me a 
high table-topped mountain, bearing by compass north-north-east, 
distant from twenty-five to thirty miles. On the south-west side of 
this mountain they say Y ouri lies; and the Quol'l'a runs past the 
west end of the mountain. 
When I went to take leave of the sultan and midaki, the latter 
made me a present of a fine young native horse; his brother, a fine 
young man,accompanied me; the head man, or, as he is called, the 
avoikin sirka and the principal people of Boussa, also accompanied 
me to the banks of the Menai, when I crossed and took leave of 
them; the messenger of the sultan of Boussa, and a messenger of 
the king of Y ouri, to whom I had promised to deliver a present 
for his master when I got to the ferry, attending me. Thus ended 
my visit to Boussa. 
CHAPTER IV. 
JOURNEY FROM DOtTSSA, ACROSS THE FERRY OF THE QUORRA, BY 
GUARRI AND ZEGZEG, TO THE CITY OF KANO. 
LEA VING the banks of that branch of the Quorra called Menai 
at 10. 30 in the morning of the 2d of April, I travelled on the 
Wawa road as far as the Cambrie villages mentioned on my way 
to Boussa. Here we turned off south-south-west t west., some-
times near the banks of the river; the road winding, woody, and 
rocky, and cut up into deep ravines, in which there were pools of 
water, and near which were the traces of numerous wild beasts, 
but few were seen, and those were of the large species of antelope. 
At 2 P. M. halted at one of the rocky ravines to water the horses. 
I heard the Quorra roaring as if there was a waterfall close at 
hand. I ascended the high rocky bank of the ravine, and the 
rocky ridge which here formed the banks of the river, where I 
saw the stream rushing around two low rocky and wooded islands 
and among several islets and rocks, when taking a sudden short 
bend to the westward, the waters dashed with great violence 
against the foot of the rock on which I sat, and which might form 
a precipice of about fifty feet high above the river. Jut below 
tlle islands, and nearly half way across, the river had a fall at this 
time of from three to four feet; the rest of the channel was 
studded with rocks, some of which were above water. It occurrid 
to me that even if Park and Martin had passed Boussa in safety, 
p2 
108 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
they would have been in imminent danger of perishing here, most 
likely uilheard of and unseen. 'V'hen I attempted to get up and 
mount my horse, after finishing a rQugh sketch of the scene, I was 
taken with 'a giddiness, and lost the use of my limbs and sight. 
They carried me under the shade of a tree, where I broke into a 
profuse perspiration; and at 3. 30 being much relieved, I mounted 
and rode half an hour, when I halted at a village of the Cam brie, 
called Songa, the inhabitants of which gave me the best hut in 
the village: but bad was the best; it was infested with rats, 
scorpions, and centipedes, and the furniture consisted of old nets, 
rotten wood, and broken gourds: I therefore left it, and remained 
on a mat in the open air all night. The head man of the village 
gave me a sheep and some yams, and at my request sent one of his 
young men to the ferry, to see if my baggage and servants had 
arrived. I gave ,t he sheep and yams to the two messengers and 
their attendants. The young Cambrie man returned about mid-
night with an answer from the taya, saying that Richard would 
be up with the baggage at the ferry in the morning. • 
Monday, Sd.-Morning clear and cool. These Cambrie appear 
to be a lazy, harmless race of negroes; and, as I was informe.d, 
in4abit the villages in the woods near the Quorra, in the states of 
Boussa, WaWa, and Y ouri . They plant a little corn and yams, and 
keep a few sheep and goats. The men employ their time in hunt-
"ing, fishing, and sleeping; the most laborious work falling on the 
women. They are apparently a mild people; in general tall ; 
more stupid-looking than wild; go with very little clothing, seldom 
any thing more than a skin round the waist. The young people 
of both sexes go entirely naked until they have ' cohabited, when 
they put on a skin, or tobe, as their circumstances will afford. 
They are, from their un warlike and mild dispositions, often very 
ill used and imposed upon. When any of their rulers has a sudden 
demand for slaves or sheep, they send and take away from the poor 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 109 
,people their children or their flocks; and any of the slaves of the 
sultans 'passing through their villages live at free quarters. They 
are pagans; and their tempre here was a platform raised about five 
feet from the ground, on which were piled the heads of the hippo-
potamus and the alligator. The upper and under jaws of the alli-
gators appeared in all to be of an equal length. I took some of 
the teeth from one that was last offered. Their language differs 
from that of the surrounding inhabitants. 
The Quorra at this village was in one whole stream, and not 
above three-fourths the breadth of the Thames at Somerset House 
at high water, with a current from about two to two and a half or 
three knots: the colour of the water red and muddy: the banks 
on each side the river rising to the height of forty-five or fifty feet ; 
in sQme places rocky: about a quarter of a mile below, it divided 
into three rocky streams. 
At 7. so A.M. left Songa: the road through a woody country, 
cut up by deep ravines with very rocky beds: the rocks mostly of 
red and gray granite. "At 9 A. M. passed between the east end of 
a rocky hill, composed of porphyry, and the river; the hills on the 
east side appearing of the same: the river running with great force 
through this natural gap, which appeared as if cut on purpose to 
let the waters through. The river between Songa and this is full 
of rocky islets and rapids. After having passed the hill about a 
mile, the western bank shelved away from the river, leaving a high 
ridge by the river side, composed of sand and clay, with occasion-
ally ridges of clay-slate, between which and the high ground it 
appeared as if it had formerly been the bed of the river, and is now 
a swamp. The ridge close to the river was studded with villages; 
the river full of small rocky islands, and occasionally rapids. At 
10. 30 arrived at the village of Cornie, or, as it is more commonly 
called, ",Yonjerque, or the king's ferry. Here the ri vel' is all in one 
stream; and this place is the great ferry of the caravans to and from 
Hous a, Nyffe, &c. The village is built on the high ground, the 
110 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
bank shelving gradually down to the river side, where there is a 
second temporary town composed of the huts of the merchants: 
here and in the village all was bustle and confusion. A caravan 
going to Gonjawas halted on the eastern bank; on the western, 
the gofHe from Gonja, with kollanuts, &c. The village was fil1ed 
with horses and men dressed out in their gayest trappings: here 
merchants were offering horses for sale; there their slaves, with 
gay glass beads, cords of silk, unwrought silk, and tobes and turka-
does for sale; some dancing and drumming; while others, more 
wicked, were drinking and rioting. 1 was provided with a good 
house, and received presents of milk,honey, eggs, ducks, sheep, and 
goats, as soon as it was known 1 had arrived; but 1 returned the 
whole of them, and said 1 would accept of nothing until my servants 
and baggage arrived. Several people came and said they had left 
Wawa early in the morning, and that my baggage was on the road. 
The widow Zuma, who is at a neighbouring village, sent me boiled 
rice and a fowl, and also an invitation to go and stop at her house 
until my things came, and 1 should cross the river; but my anxiety 
for my baggage, and my being rather unwell, prevented me accept-
ing her invitation. 1 had a visit from the taya, who declares the 
baggage will be here in the course of a short time. He has now 
changed his tone: he says I must buy bullocks and pay for them 
at once, as he will not carry my baggage: he will buy the bullocks 
for me, and find men to drive them;_ that he will sell me those 
which he has bought from the widow; and that he will trust to 
my generosity for a present when 1 arrive at Rano; that my bag-
gage, he said, would be here directly, and advised me to go and 
stop at the widow's until it came. Towards evening my anxiety 
was very great on account of my baggage, as no appearance of it, 
or any tidings that 1 could depend upon was to be learnt. The 
governor's son of Wawa, who is here, offered to go to "\"'" awa and 
see what was the reason they had not come. 
Tuesday, 4th.-l found on his return from Wawa, to my great 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO IUNO. III 
surprise, that my baggage would not be allowed to come until the 
widow Zuma went bil.Ck to Wawa. "'iVhat have I to do with the 
widow?" I asked him. " Yes, you have," says he, " and you must 
come back with me and fetch her." "Not I," I answered; "what 
have I to do with her? If I were governor ofWawa I would bring 
her back if I wanted her, but I am a stranger." "Then," says he, 
" I will go if you will send a token and a message, to say I come 
from you." I gave him my umbrella, but no message, declaring I 
would not send any. The governor's son went to the widow, and 
I went to 'iV awa, where I arrived at noon. My trusty servant 
Richard arrived at the same instant from Boussa, where he had 
been to seek me, and acquaint me of the detention of my property: 
his only guide, a boy whose language he did not understand, or any 
other but his own native English. He had seen the sultan a.nd 
midaki, who understood from the little boy who accompanied him 
what he had come for. They treated him with great kindness, 
making him remain all night; and in the morning sent him with 
two armed men to protect him and to find me, and to desire the 
governor of 'iV awa to allow my things to go instantly: a convincing 
fact that the minds of men here must be much changed for the 
better since the days of Park and Martin. He had left 'Vawa 
yesterday, to come and inform me of the detention of my baggage, 
and the cause why; which was the widow Zuma's having left'Vawa 
about half an hour after I did, with drums beating before her, and 
a train after her, first calling at my house before she waited on 
the governor; giving Pascoe a female slave for a wife, without 
the governor's permission, which I had allowed him to accept; 
and the widow's declaration before she went away, that she in-
tended following me to Kano, and come back and make war on 
the governor, as he had done once before. 
I was glad to find all my things safe; and was more amu ed 
than vexed to think that I had been 0 oddly let into the politic 
112 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
of"\iVawa, and that the old governor meant me no harm, but just 
to let me see his consequence before 1 left VVawu. I certainly never 
would have thought that the widow Zuma would have been at the 
head of the malcontents in ,,,r awa. I was nowlet into their politics 
with a vengeance; and it was believed I was taking a very great 
share in them. It would have been a fine end to my journey 
indeed, if I had deposed old Mohamed, and set up for myself, 
with a walking tun-butt for a queen. 
I sent to the governor the instant of my arrival at Wawa, to 
say I was ready to wait on him. I had tea to refresh me and 
clear up my ideas; and went, accompanied by his head mall. My 
servant Ali brought the rifle, which was loaded; but I ordered 
him back with a severe reproof, as I always make a point of going 
unarmed; as the least show of fear or distrust would most likely 
cause me to pay dearly for my unnecessary caution. The head 
man said, "Ah! dua, dua," or that I had taken medicine to keep 
me from harm. I found the governor just roused from his noon-
day nap, which was done by sound of horn. I put on as many 
smiles as I was master of, shook hands with him, and asked how he 
did, and how he had been since I last was blessed with the sight of 
him. I told him that I had seen the sultan of Boussa, and said 
what a good and generous man he was; and how well he and the 
midaki, his wife, and the governor's sister, had behaved to me. 
I then said, I was surprised that my things had not come to the 
water side, according to his promise. He asked if the widow was 
not going to take them, as he thought she was. I said, I had 
nothing to do with the widow; I was a servant of the king of 
England, and it was to him I looked; that I did not know the 
widow before I came here. "Is she not going to Houssa with 
you? if she is greater than me, let her take them." I said, no; it 
was he, and not the widow: I had nothing to say to her; and I 
would thank him to send me and my things off as soon as pos~ 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 113 
sible. "As soon as the widow comes back," says he, "you shall 
go, not until then: send for her." I said, I would not send for her; 
I had nothing to do with her. "You allowed your servant to 
take a female slave from her; send her back; and if the widow 
comes back to-night you shall go to-morrow." I said, as to the 
widow's coming or going, it was nothing to me: with respect to 
Pascoe's returning the girl, that was his affair; and that no offence 
had been meant to the governor in allowing him to accept her. 
He said, return her, and he would give him another; and if the 
widow came to-night I should go in the morning: she was his 
enemy, and was gone to stir up war against him, as she had done 
once before. I said, he might blame his head man for my acquaint-
ance with the widow: he was present when she first came to my 
house; and, as she was an enemy of the governor, he ought to have 
told me then, and I, as a stranger, and the governor's guest, 
would not have allowed her to come to my house. 'iV e parted 
after this, and in the evening he sent me a present of one fowl, 
yams, milk, and honey. 
'Vednesday, Sth.-This morning the widow arrived in town, 
",·ith a drummer beating before her, whose cap was bedecked with 
ostrich feathers; a bow-man walking on foot at the head of her 
horse; a t.rain behind, armed with bows, swords, and spears. She 
rode a-straddl~ on a fine horse, whose trappings were of the first 
order for tills country. The head of the horse was ornamented 
with brass plates, the neck with brass bells, and charms sewed in 
variou coloured leather, such as red, green, and yellow; a scarlet 
breast-piece, with a bright brass plate in the centre; scarlet saddle-
doth, trimmed with lace. She was dressed in red silk trowsers, 
and red morocco boots; on her head a ,,"hite turban, and over her 
shoulder a mantle of ilk and gold. Had she been somewhat 
younger and less corpulent, there might have been great tempta-
tion to head her party, for she has certainly been a ycry handsome 
Q 
114 JOURNEY PROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
woman, and such as would have been thought a beauty in any 
country in Europe. 
After the heat of the day was over, I went to the governor, 
Pascoe having previously sent back his wife to the widow. They 
parted without reluctance, though he declar~d that she had fallen 
in love with him at first sight. She was the second wife the old 
fellow has had since we left Badagry ~ the first he got at J annah ; 
she turned out to be a thief, a jade, and used to get drunk with 
the king's wives at Katunga, for which I was obliged to order her 
out of the house; but Pascoe, with tears in his eyes, begged me to 
forgive her, as she really loved him, and he loved her. I was not 
sorry when 1 heard, the day we left Katunga, that she had walked 
off with all the coral and other little trinkets which Mrs. Belzoni 
had given him before he left England, as I trusted it would be a 
lesson to him in future. I told the governor that the widow was 
now arrived, and I wished he would send me off according to his 
promise. He said, he did not know that she had arrived, but 
would send for her. He again repeated what he had said yesterday, 
and so did I; to which I added that I should be sorry if such a 
foolish affitir should have any effect on the good understanding 
that existed between him and me before I wen t to Boussa. The 
widow arrived, having stripped off her finery, and put on only a 
common country cloth around her, and one female slave in at-
tendance. She saluted the governor according to the custom of 
the country; that is, by kneeling down on the ground on her knees 
and elbows, with the palms of he~' hands before her face. It was 
some time before the governor spoke: he then began, and gave her 
a lecture on disobedience and vanity, and asked her where she was 
going: she said, after some slaves of hers who had run away and 
gone to N yffe: with which excuse, after his telling her she did not 
speak the truth, she was dismissed; and when she got outside the 
coozie, or hut, she shook the dust from her cloth with the greatest 
JOURN5Y FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 115 
contempt. "That," says he, " is a bad woman; none of the sultans 
like her; she will not pay duty on any thing: but you shall go to-
morrow." I went home, determined never to be caught in such a 
foolish affair in future, as my last journey ought to have taught me 
never to make friends of the opposition party in any place, for they 
'were always sure to lead to trouble, if not mischief. 
As the governor said I should go to-morrow, I took him at his 
word, and accordingly left 'Vawa the second time, determined that 
politics should never bring me back to the place again. 'Ve halted 
at a village of the Cam brie, remained here an hour, then proceeded 
an hour, and halted at another, where the gentlemen seized a sheep, 
as they had done at the former place. I gave them a severe lecture, 
which they listened to very quietly, but killed the sheep, lighted a 
fire, and roasted it with the skin on, before the poor Cambrie its 
owner. In the evening I arrived at the ferry, where I had an ex-
cellent house, and plenty of presents of sheep, eggs, and honey, 
sent to me and my friends: the carriers arriving at sunset with the 
baggage, and living at free quarters on the inhabitants, as they had 
done on the Cambrie. 
Being unwell, I remained at the ferry three days; and on the 
lOth, about noon, having got all my baggage over, I crossed the 
Quorra, which at this time was about a quarter of a mile in width, 
running at the rate of two miles an hour, and in the middle ten 
or twelve feet deep. The ferry is crossed by canoes of about 
twenty feet long and two broad. Cattle are occasionally made 
to swim over. 
The four rogues of slaves wanted to cheat me out of my horse, 
and urgently invited me to pass over first. I told them, when I 
saw the horse fairly over I would go, but not until then: at which 
they were evidently much disappointed; and as it was, they suc-
ceeded in cheatillg me out of one which the governor had lent me. 
The master of the house in 'which I lived in Cornie, a very 
Q 2 
116 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSATO KANO. 
respectable man, and formerly head man to the king of N yife, but 
who .had fled to escape the civil war, told me that the river was full 
of rocks and islands nearly the whole way to the sea, which it 
entered at the town of Fundah; that the people of that country 
visited the southern parts of N yffe; that the people of Benin came 
up by land, and had the river to cross, as they never travelled by 
water if they could avoid it, it being against their fetish; that the 
river' farther down ran more to the eastward, until joined by the 
river Kadania, flowing from the east, 'when it turned to the west, imd 
fell into the sea. 
I now proceeded on my journey towards Kano, and having 
travelled about six miles, came to a walled village called Dallu; and 
beyond that five miles to El 'Wata, which appe~red to be inhabited 
by blacksmiths. Though the village was small, I counted, on the 
way to where I was to lodge, four large blacksmiths' shops with 
five forges in each. The blacksmiths were very civil to me; they 
gave me their best house, some corn for my horses, and a goat and 
some yams. 
The natives of Borgoo, of whom I have now taken leave, and 
to whom the Arabs and their neighbouring nations give such a bad 
character for theft and robbery, always behaved honestly to me. 
I never lost the smallest article while amongst them. I have 
travelled and hunted alone with them, and myself, servants, and 
baggage, have been at their mercy. I ever found them cheerful, 
obliging, good-natured, and communicative; and the plundering of 
the sheep, goats, &c. from the villages, by the slaves of Yarro and 
Mohamed of Wawa, was not the act of natives of Borgoo, but of 
Houssa; as were the four messengers of W" awa, who had also 
formed a design to plunder me. These persons are nearly half-
starved, and possessed with the idea that it is only right their 
masters' subjects should feed them when on a journey, as they 
have no other provision but what they can catch in this manner; 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO lUNO. 117 
and therefore all they can lay their hands on is considered by them 
as good and lawful prize. They are more warlike than any of their 
neighbours; more bold and independent also: and parties of two 
or three will infest the roads of the neighbouring kingdoms, and 
carry off passengers whom they may meet, and sell them as slaves. 
The kingdom, as I have already said, is divided into the petty 
states of Niki, Kiama, Wawa, and Boussa, of which Boussa is con-
sidered the head, Niki the next. The governors are all hereditary 
as long as they can keep their place. These states sometimes make 
war upon one another, when the sultan of Boussa interferes, and 
makes both parties pay. The kingdom is bounded on the east by 
the Quorra; on the south by Y ourriba; on the west by Dahomey; 
and on the north by a large country called Gourma, which they assert 
to be inhabited by naked savages, but the Mahomedans say by a 
civilized people, and governed by a powerful sultan. The country 
is eleven days' journey from north to south, and thirty from east to 
west: its rivers are the Quorra, 'Moussa, and Oli: its mountains 
are the range which passes through Y ourriba, Y ouri, Zamfra, 
Guari, and Zegzeg. The face of the country is partly plain and 
partly mountainous, abounding in game of all the kinds common to 
Africa; and the inhabitants are said to be great hunters. Through 
Borgoo the caravans from Houssa and Bornou pass to Gonja and 
Y ourriba. They have few cattle, but plenty of corn, yams, plan-
tains, and limes. Theil' religion is paganism, but they offer nQ 
human sacrifices. 
Tuesday, 11 th.-Left El 'Vatu, the country around which is well 
cultivated. The ant-hills here are the highest I have ever seen, 
being from fifteen to twenty feet high, resembling so many Gothic 
cathedrals in miniature. Halted at another walled village to 
change carriers, which, like El ""Vata, was also full of blacksmiths. 
J In all the villages I passed through to-day there is a fetish-house, 
or pagan house of wor hip, in good repair; showing that the head 
118 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
people and the majority of the inhabitants, though pagans, have 
. a regard for religion. Figures of human beings are painted on 
these houses, as are also the boa, the alligator, and the tortoise. 
The country is well cultivated, and planted with corn, and yams, 
v and cotton. They have plenty of sheep and goats1 a few small 
hOI'ses, but no cows; and large plantations of bananas and plan-
tains are seen by the river side. The blae:ksmiths are still in great 
v numbers. They get their iron ore frQm the hills, which they smelt 
. where they dig it, and which is done witho~mining. The taya 
paid me a visit, wishing me to remain at this place to-morrow, as 
an army of the Fellatas were in Koolfu, on their return to Sockatoo. 
He still shuffi€s off his bargain, and begged hl:\,rd that I . would 
remain here until the day after to-morrow, as the Fellatas wQuld 
then be gone. I said I had nothiNg to do with the Fellatas; they 
would not hurt me: that he had put me off from day to day, always 
making a fresh bargain, different from the one he had made before. 
I offered him half the money here, on his giving me proper security; 
but he began haggling again, and went off without coming to any 
certain agreement, as he has always done. I however determin.ed 
to get to Koolfu to"mOl'rOW if possible, as these Fellatas are the 
very people . I want to meet, more particularly if they are from 
Sockatoo. 
Wednesday, l~th.-In the afternoon of this day We halted 
at a village, after crossing a wooden bridge over a stream called 
the May-yarrow. It was rudely constructed of rough branches 
covered with earth; long, a.Nd so narrow that two horses could 
not pass at one time. It is the first I have seen in Mrica. I re-
mained here only a few minutes, when I went to another village, 
where the carriers, after setting the baggage down, ran off. As 
soon as myself and servants arrived we were instantly surrounded 
by the whole male population of the village, all armed with bows 
and arrows, their kNives in their hands, and bow.-rings on their 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANa. 119 
thumbs, perfectly ready for war. I could not help being much 
amused at their uncalled for alarm; and to prove to them how 
tranquil I felt, I dismounted from my horse, and sat quietly down 
on the baggage, ordering my servants to do the same. They pre-
tended not to understand a word of the Houssa language; for that 
they did not understand it was next to impossible, as not a town or 
village between this and Badagry occurred in which we did not 
find one or more that could speak that language; and the Boussa 
messenger not having come up, we could not talk to them in the 
Nyffe tongue. For a little time silence prevailed, when all at once 
they seized on the baggage, each man taking something, until the 
whole was gone. I now re-mounted, with my servants, and fol-
lowed. They ran along as fast as it was possible for them, and we 
rode after them; at length we came to another village, where the 
people understood Houssa, and asked ·what I wanted. I said, to 
stop an night. These voluntary carriers however took up the 
baggage again, and crossing the l\!fay-yarrow by a wooden bridge, 
entered the town of Tabra, which is in fact the same town I had 
reached, the river dividing it into two parts. Having also crossed, 
I was taken with my things in front of the head man's house; where 
they questioned and cross-questioned me as to whether I was going 
to their king or not; but to none of their questions did I think 
fit to give a direct answer. 'Vhen they found I was not disposed 
to commit myself they carried my things to a house for the night. 
Here for the first time I had to buy wood, grass, and corn: they 
always asking, ""There is the money?" before they would give me 
any thing. I sent Ali off to the chief of the Fellatas, with a letter 
addressed to Bello, as I find they leave Koolfu at day-break. I 
therefore mi sed them by being detained and humbugged on the 
road, through the manreuvre of the taya, who was very anxiou I 
should not ee the F ellatas. 
Thurday, 13th.-The ·whole ofthi day was spent in expectation 
1QO JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
of my paying a visit to the queen of Nyife, who is at present re-
siding here; but in the evening I was informed she eould not re-
ceive me, as the king her husband is absent, at a town called Raba, 
two days' journey distant; but that I may see the king's mother in 
the morning, who will inform me when and how I am to-proceed 
to Kano. During the night thunder, lightning, and rain .•• 
Friday, 14th.-After breakfast I went and visited the queen-
mother, according to last night's arrangement; I took with me as 
a present a Chinese crape shawl, part of a string of coral, and a mock 
gold chain, and some silk. In the outer coozie of her house I 
found mats spread for me, and a sheep-skin for her majesty. Her 
male attendants were mostly all old men, without teeth. In this 
company I remained for near a quarter of an hour. Then came in 
a number of women past their teens, and seated themselves on the ' 
mats opposite to me. They were decently dressed, in short check 
bed-gowns, the inanufacture of the country, with a stuffing in the 
breast, which made them appeal' full-breasted. Around their loins 
they wore striped cotton cloths, which reached down to their 
ankles. Theil' woolly hail' was dressed in the crest fashion; over 
which they wore a cap flowered and ornamented with red and 
white silk; around which there was tied a piece of check, flowered 
with white silk and fringed at each end, the ends hanging down: 
this was about the breadth of a broad . riband. After sitting in 
profound silence for some time, they looking at me and I at them; 
at last her majesty made her appearance,. dressed in a large white 
tobe or shirt. On her head she wore a coarse green cloth cap with 
two flaps, and trimmed with red tape. She was old, walked with a 
staff, and had only one eye. I rose to receive her, and shook 
her by the hand. She sat down on the sheep-skin, and I on the 
mat beside her. After asking after her health, and she doing the 
same, and how I had fared on my journey, I began to display my 
pr(!sent before her, told her who I was, and where I wished to go. 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. IfZl 
She appeared much gratified with the present, particularly the 
chain; said I ought to go and see her son the king, who was only 
two or three days distant, and he would forward me to where I 
wished, alld be glad to see me. I said I would go with pleasure, 
but the rains had now set in; and that I wished to proceed on my 
journey with the taya; that I had a great number of books for 
Bello, and the Sheik of Bornou, and they would all be spoiled 
if they got wet; that this country was very sickly in the rains; and 
that three white men who accompanied me had died already. She 
said she had sent a messenger to her son the night of my arrival; 
that he would return to-night or to-morrow morning, and he 
would bring orders to say whether I was to go to Raba, or not; 
that if I went, they would detain the taya until my return. I 
:-laid, " Very well; but I must have a horse, as both mine have sore 
backs." I then took leave of her majesty, as she is called. A native 
of l\Ioorzuk, named :Mohamed Ben Ahmet, who has long resided 
in this country, served as my interpreter. He is married to one 
of the king's daughters; he is styled in N yffe EI Magia. I had 
the following account from Ben Ahmet: that this woman was the 
late king of N yffe's relation; that her son Mohamed El IHagia, 
\\'ho is a l\Iahometan, is fighting with the other, who is called Edrisi 
and a pagan, for the kingdom; that Mohamed is assisted by the 
Fellatas, and the other, who has the best right, by the people of 
'N yffe ; that Mohamed has gained every battle this summer, and that 
there i no doubt of his gaining the day; that there is a cessation 
of hostilities during the rains; that next summer will decide the 
tate of Edrisi ; that Mohamed can read and write Arabic; is a great 
drunkard, but very generous. 
Taura is on the north bank of the river May-yarrow, over which 
is a narrow wooden bridge, which will not bear a man and hor e. 
Thi ' bridge connects it to a part of the town on the other side 
the riYer, which is also surrounded on the three sides by a wall, 
n 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
The two parts may contain from eighteen to twenty thousand in-
habitants; they are the occasional residence of the Magia, who has 
a house here; and it is also the place of his birth. His mother during 
his absence is considered as governor assisted by the si1·tain fada, 
or master of the ceremonies. There appears to be plenty of sheep 
and goats, and plantations of yams, plantains, calavances, millet, 
and limes. The river is always full of water, and may be about 
twenty yards broad, shaded with large trees; the banks rise with a 
gentle ascent from the river, and are planted with yams, millet, &c. 
There are only a few blacksmiths, but a great number of weavers. 
The inhabitants, with a few exceptions, are pagans, and they all, men 
" and women, have the reputation of being great drunkards. The 
Houssa caravans pass close to the north side of the town, but seldom 
halt here. It was deserted last year, when Edrisi was driven here 
with his army; the inhabitants flying to Ingastrie in Y ouri, and to 
the province of VI! awa; but are now mostly returned. 
Sunday, 16th.-I was visited by the sirtainfada this morning, 
who had just returned from seeing the Fellatas safe out of Koolfu : 
he told me that the Benin people, before the civil war began, came 
here to trade; that the Quorra ran into the sea, behind Benin, at 
Fundah; that the N yffe people and those of Benin were the same 
people; that Benin paid tribute to Nyffe-(this is common with all 
negroes, to exalt their native country above all others, in their ac-
counts to strangers). He said they got their salt from a town called 
Affaga, near the sea: this is the Laro or Alaro of Yourr ib a, and in 
possession of the Fellatas. In the evening an eunuch, a messenger, 
arrived from the king, to take me to the Sanson, or gathering-place, 
where he was; and to stop the taya. 
Monday, 17th.-This morning a messenger of the king of Y ouri 
arrived, bringing me a present of a camel, to assist in carrying my 
baggage to Kano. He said the king, before he left Youri, had shown 
him two books, very large, and printed, that had belonged to the white 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. lQ3 
men, that were lost in the boat at Boussa ; that he had been offered 
a hundred and seventy mitgalls of gold for them, by a merchant from 
Bornou, who had been sent by a Christian on purpose for them. I 
advised him to tell the king, that he ought to have sold them; that 
I would not give five mitgalls for them; but that if he would send 
them, I would give him an additional present; and that he would be 
doing an acceptable thing to the king of England by sending them, 
and that he would not act like a king if he did not. I gave him for 
his master one of the mock-gold chains, a common sword, and ten 
yards of silk, and said I would give him a handsome gun and some 
more silk, if he would send the books. On asking him if there 
were any books like my journal, which I showed him, he said there 
was one, but' that his master had given it to an Arab merchant ten 
years ago; but the merchant was killed by the Fellatas on his way 
to Kano, and what had become of that book afterwards he did not 
know. He also told me, that the fifteen men whom) had seen at 
\Vawa belonging to Dahomey were slave-merchants; that they had 
bought a hundred slaves at Y ouri; that they also bought small 
red beads that came from Tripoli; that at 'Vawa they were to get 
a hundred more slaves, when they would return to Dahomey; that 
these people bring cloths, earthen ware, brass and pewter dishes, 
and sell them in Houssa, N yffe, and Y ouri, for slaves and beads. 
'Vedllesday, 19th.-Dull and cloudy this morning. The eunuch 
came with his horse ready saddled, but without one for me. I told 
him I was all ready, but would not go until he brought me a horse. 
He then pretended that he was going, and asked if I had no present 
to send to the king. I said I had, but sholJ.ld give it myself when I 
saw him; not until then. He then departed; when a Fellata, 
calling himself a messenger from Bello, residing with the king, 
came and said he would make the eunuch stop, and removed my 
baggage and myself to a good and quiet house, as the one I was in 
was much distUl'bed by women and children; and it is settled that 
RQ 
1924 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
I am to go with him to the king to-morrow. I have offered two 
hundred thousand cowries to have my baggage carried, but I cannot 
even get a letter conveyed to Kano; either so jealous are they of, 
me, or they hav.ean eye to my baggage, about which they have ' 
formed anxious conjectures. I had a present from the king's sister 
of a sheep, for which she modestly requested a dollar and some 
beads. My new house is very snug and comfortable. I have three 
rooms for myself and servants, with houses for my horse and mare, 
an old man .and his wife to look after it, and I can keep out all idle 
persons. 
Thursday, 920th.-Morning clear and warm. I had to remain 
to-day also, as my guide and messenger, the black eunuch, is gone 
to the Koolfu market again. At sunset he and Omar Zurmie (or 
Omar the Brave), the messenger of Bello, waited on me, and told me 
that they would leave this for the Sanson, or camp, in the course of 
the night, if I was ready, and tha! Zurmie had a horse ready for 
me. I said I was ready at a moment's notice, and had been t~e last 
four days. In the night we had a tornado, with thunder, lightning, 
and rain. 
Friday, 21st.-This morning I left Tabra in company ofOmaI' 
the Brave, a black eunuch, and Mohamed Ben Ahmet, the Morzukie, 
as my interpreter and servant; and having travelled twenty-seven 
miles, came to a village called Kitako, where we passed the night. 
Saturday, 292d.-At l. 30 A .M. left Kitako. The moon through 
the thick clouds just enabling us, by the assistance of two Amars 
(spearmen) who went a-head, to thread our way through the thick 
woods, and over some of the most ticklish wooden bridges that 
ever man and horse passed over. The morning was raw and cold, 
and the path slippery and wet. At 4. 30 I got so unwell and 
unable. to bear the motion of the horse, that I dismounted, and 
lay down on the wet ground without covering, or any thing 
underneath me; for there are times when a man, to get rid of 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 1~5 
his present sickness, will try any remedy, whatever may be the 
after consequences: this was my case, and I lay until six, when 
I rose much better of my sickness, but with severe pains in the 
bones. A short while after starting, I crossed over the wall 
of a ruined town called Jinne, or J anne, through plantations of 
inc.ligo and cotton, choked up with weeds. The morning was raw 
and cloudy. A few of the ragged inhabitants were up; two 01' 
three of the most miserable starved horses I ever saw were tied to 
stakes close to the few huts that were rebuilt, their backs dread-
fully lacerated, the skin being nearly off from the shoulder to the 
rump, and their eyes running with matter. Only for the verdure 
of the trees at this season, and a beautiful stream of clear water, 
whose banks were planted with plantain and palm-oil trees, this 
would have been one of the most miserable scenes I ever saw in 
my life. After passing the stream twice, without bridges, whose 
banks were very steep and slippery, with several deep round holes, 
as man traps, on each side the road, I ascended the plain above, 
from whence I saw the ruins of several other towns and villages 
along the banks of the ravine. At eight passed the ruins of 
another town; and at nine I met, attended by a great rabble, 
armed with pickaxes, hoes, and hatchets, Mohamed El Magia, or 
the would-be king, mounted on horseback, and halted under a tree. 
" ' hen they told me there was the l\fagia waiting to receive me, I 
rode up and shook hands with him. He asked me after my health, 
and how I had fared on the road, and then told the eunuch who 
was with me to take me to his house; he then rode past, as I was 
informed, to complete the ruin of the last, as I thought already 
ruined, town I had passed through. He was mounted on a good 
bay horse, whose· saddle was ornamented with pieces of silver and 
brass; the brca tpiece with large silver plates hanging down from 
it, like what i represented in the prints of Roman and eastern 
I.'mperors' hor es. IIe is a tall man, with a sort of tupid expre _ 
1~6 . JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
sion of countenance, having a large mouth and snagged teeth, with 
which he makes himself look worse when he attempts to smile, 
and looks indeed like any thing but a king or a soldier. He wore 
a black velvet cap, with two flaps over the ears, and trimmed with 
red silk, a blue and white striped tobe, red boots, part of leather 
and part red cloth, in rags; in his hand he had a black staff, with 
a silver head; his slaves were carrying a coast-made umbrella and 
his sword. ' I paid him every decent respect, and put on as many 
smiles as I was able, as I know that those ragged and dirty rogues, 
when they have power, have more pride than a real king, and 
expect a great deal more respect, and cannot bear a man to look 
serious. At ten I arrived at the Sanson, or camp, where I was 
lodged in the eunuchs' part, having a small unoccupied hut separated 
from the rest allotted for me to live in. Here I was left to myself 
until 3 P. M., when the eunuch came and told me the king had 
arrived, and wished to see me. I went directly, taking a present, 
which I displayed before him. When the articles were taken away 
by an eunuch, I told him who and what I was, where I was going, 
and that I wanted his assistance and protection to the governors 
of Guari or Zegzeg, in Houssa; that I had been well treated by 
every king and governor between Badagry on the sea-coast, to 
Tabra in his dominions, and I hoped for the same favourable recep-
tion from him. He said it was easy to do all that I had asked, and 
he would do it. 
Sunday, 23d.-This morning I was much better, having shut 
my little straw hut up as close as possible, so that I was as if in a 
steam bath all night. I have ever found this and fasting a good 
cure for most disorders. 
The king went through the camp, attended by a great rabble, 
a slave carrying the umbrella I had given him over his head. He 
paid me a visit, and began, as soon as he had seated himself, to 
show me his staff of authority, a black stick, about four feet long, 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 127 
with a silver head. He said I had got some of the same kind, and 
he wanted one. I said I could not indulge him with one, unless I 
gave him that intended for Bello. He then begged my travelling 
knife and fork. I said, "What, then, I am to go without, and eat 
with my fingers! he had better go to Tabra, and take all I had." 
He observed he would certainly not do that; that he would send 
me to Kano, and that I should go in five or six days after this. He 
then went home, and sent me, as a present, a small country horse, 
which will do well enough for Pascoe to ride. I have now two 
horses and a mare. 
The Sanson, or camp, is like a large square village, built of 
small bee-hive-like huts, thatched with straw, having four large 
broad streets, and with a square or clear place near the huts of 
the king. Only for the number of horses feeding, and some 
picketed near the huts, and the men all going armed, and num-
bers of drums beating, it would pass for a well-inhabited village. 
Here are to be seen weavers, taylors, women spinning cotton, others 
reeling off, some selling foo-foo and accassons, others crying yams 
and paste, little markets at every green tree, holy men counting 
their beads, and dissolute slaves drinking 1"oa burn. < 
Monday, Mth.-Morning cool and cloudy. In the early part 
of the morning I went to take leave of the king, whom I found in 
his hut, surrounded by Fellatas, one of whom was reading the 
Koran aloud for the benefit of the whole; the meaning of which 
not one of them understood, not even the reader. This may seem 
odd to an Englishman; but it is very common for a man, both in 
Bornoll and IIoussa, to be able to read the Koran fluently, and 
not understand a word in it but" Allah," or able to read any other 
book. They left off reading when I came in; and as soon as the 
compliments of the morning were over, the king begged me to 
give him my sword, which I flatly refu ed, but promi ed to give 
him the five dollar, the taff, and the pistol, whenever I was 
128 JO'URNEY FRO'M BO'USSA TO' KANO'. 
permitted to leave this for Kano, which he promised I should do, , 
and pointed out a person whom he said he would send with me 
as a messenger; and that a merchant from Koolfu would come 
and agree about the price he was to have for carrying my baggge. 
I thanked him, and took my leave. He is one of the most beggarly 
rogues I have yet met with; every thing he saw or heard that I was 
possessed of he begged, not like a person that wished to have them 
because they were scarce .or rare, but with a mean greediness that 
was disgusting. . Though I had given him a better present than 
he had ever got in his life before, he told me that I said" No, no," 
to every thing he asked for. He has been the ruin of his country 
by his unnatural ambition, and by calling in the Fellatas, who will 
remove him out of the way the moment he is of no more use to 
them; even now he dares not move without their permission. It 
is said that he has put to death his brother and two of his sons. 
Through him the greater part of the industt:ious population of 
N yffe have either been killed, sold as slaves, or fled from their 
native country. To remove him now would be charity; and the 
sooner the better for his country. 
At 8. 30 in the morning I left the Sanson, and riding on ahead 
of old Malam Fama, the Morzukie, I halted under a tree at eleven 
to let the horses feed, and the Malam to come up with the sheep. 
At noon, Mahomed having joined, I started with a plundering party 
who were going the same road. They told me they were going to 
seize some villagers who had returned to build up their ruined 
huts and sow a little millet without first praying for leave to the 
Magia. On crossing one of the small rivers and ascending the steep 
and slippery bank, the chief of this band checked his horse, and 
both horse and rider fell souse into the water. He was close be-
hind :me, but I left his companions to pick him up. On the 25th 
we once more reached Tabra~ 
I have observed more people with bad teeth and the loss of 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 129 
the front teeth in Nyffe than any other country in Africa, or indeed 
any other country. The males mostly are those who lose their 
teeth. Whether it may arise from the universal custom of 
chewing snuff mixed with natron or not, I do not pretend to 
say. The white of the eye in the black population is in general 
bilious-looking and bloodshot. There is scarcely one exception, 
unless it be in those below eighteen or twenty years of age. 
Tuesday, May 2.-This morning I left Tabra, and travelling 
along the banks of the May-yarrow, passed the walled village of 
Gonda. IIaving crossed a stream coming from the north, and 
running into the May-yarrow, I entered the walled town of Koolfu, 
the greatest market town in this portion of N yffe, and resorted to 
by trading people from all parts of the interior. I was provided 
with a good house; and the head man of the town, a plausible 
fellow, was very officious, but at the same time giving broad hints 
for a present. Mohamed Kalu, the madagoo or head man of the 
gome from Bornou, has to remain here until after the Rhamadan. 
I was visited by all the principal people in the place, as a matter 
of curiosity, though many of them had seen me at Tabra. 
l\Ionday, 8th.-Clear and cool. The house in which I live is 
one of the best in Koolfu. I have three separate coozies parted off 
from the rest of the house, and a place for my stud, which now 
amounts to two horses and a mare. :My landlady is a widow, large, 
fht, and deaf, with an only child, a daughter, about five years old; 
a spoiled child. The widow Laddie, as he is called, is considered 
to be very rich. She i a merchant; sells salt, natron, and various 
other articles: but what she is most famed for is her booza and 
roa bum, a the palm wine is called; and every night the large 
outer hut is filled with the topers of Koolfu, who are provided 
with mu. ic a well as drink, and keep it up generally until the 
dawn of morning separates them. Their music con ists of the 
drum, erbab, or guitar of the Arabs, the N yffc harp, and the "oiee. 
130 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
Their songs are mostly extempore, and allude to the company 
present, The booza is made from a mixture of doura, or Guinea 
corn, honey, Chilipepper, the root of a coarse grass on which ~he 
cattle feed, and a proportion of water: these are thrown in equal 
proportions into large earthen jars, open at top, and are allowed to 
ferment near a slow tire for four or five days, when the booza is 
fit to drink, and is put into earthen jars. It is a very fiery and 
intoxicating beverage; but, whether Mohamedan or pagan, they 
J all drink, and agree very well together when in their cups. At 
first neither I nor my servants could sleep for their noise, but now 
I have got used to it. This night the new moon was seen, and 
Mohamedan and pagan joined in the cry of joy. My landlady 
had thirteen pieces of wood, on each of which was written by the 
Bornoll malem the word "Bismillah," the only ~ord he could 
write. These boards she then washed and drank the water, and 
gave to her family to drink. She offered some of it to me; but I 
said I never drank dirty water: and I thought that if ~he and her 
servants had taken a comfortable cup of booza or bum it would 
have done them more good than drinking the washings of a board 
written over with ink; for the man was a rogue who had made her 
pay for such stuff. " What!" says she, "do you call the name of 
God dirty water? it was good to take it." These rogues, who 
call themselves malems, impose on the poor ignorant people very 
much; and the pagans are as fond of having these charms as the 
) 
Mohamedans. These dirty draughts are a cure for all evils, pre-
sent and to come, and are called by the people dua. Some of 
their fighting men will confine themselves to their houses for 
thirty or forty days, fasting during the day, and only drinking 
and washing with this dirty stuff. If a man is fortunate, or does 
any feat above the common, it is attributed to the dua, or medicine: 
neither his wit nor the grace of God gains a man any thing. 
Tuesday, 9th.-Clear and warm. The new moon having been 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 1.'31 
seen last night put an end to the fast of the Rhamadan; and 
this day is kept throughout the northern interior by Mohamedan 
and Kafir. Everyone was dressed in his best, paying and re-
ceiving visits, giving and receiving presents, parading the streets 
with horns, guitars, and flutes; groups of !flen and women seated 
under the shade at their doors, or under shady trees, drinking roa 
bum or booza. I also had my share of visitors: the head man of 
the tuwn came to drink hot water, as they call my tea. The chief 
of Ingaskie, the second town in Youri, only a day's journey di-
stant, sent me a present of a sheep, some rice, and a thousand gora 
nuts, for which he expects double the amount in return. The 
women were dressed and painted to the height of N yffe perfection; 
and the young and modest on this day would come up and salute 
the men as if old acquaintances, and bid them joy on the day; 
with the wool on their heads dressed, plaited, and dyed with in-
digo; their eyebrows painted with indigo, the eyelashes with khol, 
the lips stained yellow, the teeth red, and their feet and hands 
stained with henna; their finest and gayest clothes on; all their 
finest beads on their necks; their arms and legs adorned with 
brFlcelets of glass, brass, and silver, their fingers with rings of brass, 
pewter, silver, and copper; some had Spanish dollars soldered on 
the back of the rings. They, too, drank of the booza and roa 
bum as freely as the men, joining in their song, whether good or 
bad. In the afternoon, parties of men were seen dancing: free 
men and laves all were alike; not a clouded brow was to be seen 
in Koolfu; but at nine in the evening the scene was changed 
from joy and gladness to terror and dismay; a tornado had just 
began, and the hum of voices and the din of people putting their 
things under cover from the approaching storm had ceased at once. 
All ,,-u ilent as death, except the thunder and the wind. The 
clouded ky appeared as if on fire; each cloud rolling towards us 
as a sea of flame, and only surpassed in grandeur and brightness 
s 2 
13Q JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
by the forked lightning, which constantly seemed to ascend and 
descend from what was now evidently the town of Bali on fire, only 
a short distance outside the walls of Koolfu. When this was ex-
tinguished a new scene began, ifpossible worse than the first. The 
wind had incl'eased to a hurricane; houses were blown down; roofs 
of houses going along with the wind like chaff, the shady trees in 
the town bending and breaking; and, in the intervals between the 
roaring of the thunder, nothing heard but the war-cry of the men 
and the screams of women and children, as no one knew but that 
an enemy was at hand, and that we-)hould every instant share in 
the fate of Bali. I had the fire-arms loaded when I learned this, 
and stationed Richard and Pascoe at the door of each hut, and took 
the command of my landlady's house, securing the outer door, and 
putting all the fires out. One old woman roasting ground nuts, 
quite unconcerned, made as much noise as if she had been going 
to be put to death when the water was thrown over her fire. At 
last the rain fell: the fire in Bali had ceased by its being wholly 
burnt down. In our house we escaped with the roof blown off one 
coozie, and a shed blown down. All was now quiet; and I went 
to rest with that satisfaction every man feels when his neighbour's 
house is burnt down and his own, thank God! has escaped. 
Sunday, 14th.-Mohamed, the Fezzanie, whom I had hired at 
Tabra, and whom I had sent to the chief of Y ouri for the books 
and papers of the late Mungo Park, returned, bringing me a letter 
from that person, which contained the following account of the 
death of that unfortunate traveller: that not the least injury was 
done to him at Y ouri, or by the people of that country; that the 
people of Boussa had killed them, and taken all their riches; that 
the books in his possession were given him by the Imam of Boussa; 
that they were lying on the top of the goods in the boat when 
she was taken; that not a soul was left alive belonging to the boat; 
that the bodies of two black men were found in the boat chained 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 133 
together; that the white men jumped overboard; that the boat 
was made of two canoes joined fast together, with an awning or 
roof behind; that he, the sultan, had a gun, double-barrelled, and 
a sword, and two books that had belonged to those in the boat; 
that he would give me the books whenever I went to Youri my-
self for them, not until then. 
Monday, 15th.-I am still very weak; Richard worse. I had 
a letter from the learned Abdurahman, of Kora, a noted chief of 
banditti, and who once, with his followers, overran N yffe, and held 
possession of the capital six months. He now keeps the town of 
Kora, a day's journey to the north-east, and is much feared by 
l\lohamedan and Kafir. He is a native of N yffe. He is particularly 
anxious that I should visit him, as he wants my acquaintance, and 
begs I will give him the Psalms of David in Arabic, which he hears 
I have got. His letter was written on part of the picture of the 
frontispiece of an European book, apparently Spanish or Por-
tuguese. He says he has something to communicate to me, which 
cannot be done but by a personal interview; but unless he come to 
Koolfu I told his messenger, I could not see him . 
• Tuesday, ~3d.-Cool and cloudy. A large caravan arrived from 
Y ourriba. They had come through Borgoo, where they sold what 
natron they had remaining after they left Y ourriba. They were in 
Katunga when I was there; but were forbidden to hold any commu-
Jlication with us, on pain of having their throats cut. They told me 
that my friend the fat eunuch had endeavoured to hire a man to 
assassinate rue, but that they were all afraid. There are strong re-
ports of a war between the Sheik EI Kanami and the F ellatas. They 
:my theheik has taken the city of Hailija, and that the governor of 
Kano is gone out to meet him, as he is advancing upon Kano. 
" ' hether it is a report to please the N yffc people, who cannot bear 
the Fellnta ,or not, I do not know. 'Ve had a number of uch re-
port when in Bomou In t journey. In the evening a me engel' 
-t 
134 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
from the sultan of Boussa arrived, bringing me a present of _a beau-
tifullittle mare. The messenger of the sultan was accompanied by 
another person from ~he midaki, a female slave, bringing me rice, 
yams, and butter. He brought a message from the sultan desiring 
me to kill a she-goat, and distribute the flesh amongst the inhabit;tl)ts 
of Koolfu the ?ay before I left it; that he had distributed gora nuts 
and salt for me at Boussa, which would do for Koolfu. I was also 
desired not to eat any meat that came cooked from the west, and 
which would be sent by the Magia's. female relations from Tabra~ 
as they intend.ed to take away my lire" ~y poison. Through the 
night continual rain, thunder, and lightning. 
Thursday, Q5th.-Sent Sheeref Mohamed to Raba, a town pos-
sessed by the Fellatas, three days south of this, on the banks of the 
Quorra, with a message to the late Imam of Boussa, who, he says, 
has got some of the books belonging to the late Mungo Park: one, 
he tells me, was carried to Youl'l'iba by a Fellata, as a charm and 
preservative against musket balls. He is either to buy them, or I 
will give him Arabic books for them in exchange. 
Friday, June 17th.-This evening I was talking with a man 
that is married to one of my landlady's female slaves, called her 
daughter, about the manners of the Cumbrie and about England; 
when he gave the following account of the death of Park and his 
companions, of which he was an eye-witness: He said that when 
J I the boat came down the river, it happened unfortunately just at 
/1 the time that the Fellatas first rose in arms, and were ravaging 
Goober and Zamfra; that the sultan of Boussa, on hearing that the 
persons in the boat were white men, and that the boat was different 
7 from any that had ever been seen before, as she had a house at one 
end, called his people together from the neighbouring towns, at-
tacked and killed them, not doubting that they were the advance 
guard of the Fellata army then ravaging Soudan, under the com-
map.d of Malem Danfodio, the father of the present Bello; that 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 135 
one of the white men was a tall man with long hair; that they 
fought for three days before they were all killed; that the people 
in the neighbourhood were very much alarmed, and great numbers 
fled to N yffe and other countries, thinking that the F eHatas were 
certainly coming among them. The number of persons in the 
boat was only four, two white men and two blacks: that they 
found great treasure in the boat; but that the people had all died 
who eat of the meat that was found in her. This account I believe 
to be the most correct of all that I have yet got; and was told 
without my putting any questions, or showing any eagerness for 
him to go on with his story. I was often puzzled to think, after 
the kindness I had received at Boussa, what could have caused 
such a change in the minds of these people in the course of twenty 
years, and of their different treatment of two European travellers. 
I was even disposed at times to flatter myself that there was some-
thing in me that belonged to nobody else, to make them treat me 
and my people with so much kindness; for the friendship of the 
king of Boussa I consider as my only protection in this country. 
Koolfu, or, as it is called by many, Koolfie, is the principal town 
for trade in Nyffe at present; and at all times a central point 
for trade in this part of the interior. It is situated on the north 
bank of the river May-yarrow; and it is surrounded by a clay 
wall about twenty feet high, and has four gates. It is built in 
the form of an oblong square, havi;.g its longest diameter from 
east to west; there is a long irregular street runs through it, from 
which lead a number of smaller streets. There arc two large open 
spaces near the east and west ends of the town, in which are 
booth" and large shady trees, to protect the people from the heat 
of the sun, when attending the markets, which are daily held in 
tho e places: there are, besides the daily markets, two ·weekly markets 
011 l\fonclays and Saturdays, which are resorted to by traders and 
people inhabiting the sea coa t. Ajoolly and the other towns in 
136 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
Y ourriba, Cubbi, Y ouri, Borgoo, Sockatoo, and Zamfra on the north, 
Bornou and Houssa on the east, and, before the civil war, people 
\ from Benin, Jabbo, and the southern parts ofNyffe, used to resort 
to this town as a central point of trade, where the natives of the 
different countries were sure to get a ready sale for their goods; 
either selling them for cowries, or exchanging them for others by 
J way of barter. Those who sold their goods for cowries attend the 
market daily, and when they have completed their sale, buy at once 
the goods or wares they want, and return home. Such is the way 
of the small traders, who are nine out of ten women, and are prin-
cipally from the west part of the Quorra, even as far off as Niki: 
they carry their goods on their heads in packages, from sixty to 
eighty and a hundred pounds weight. The goods these people 
bring from the west are principally salt, and cloths worn by the 
women round their loins, of abQut six yards in length and two in 
breadth, made of the narrow striped cloth, in which red silk is ge-
nerally woven, and a great deal of blue cotton; this is called Azane,; 
and the best are worth about three thousand to five thousand cow-
ries, or two dollars :- Jabbo cloths, which are about the same length 
as the others, and· about the breadth of our sail-cloth, are worn by 
slaves, and have a stripe or two of blue in them; the poor classes 
also wear them, men and women :-Peppers, called monsoura, shitta, 
and kimba; monsoura is like our East India pepper; shitta is the 
malagetta pepper of the coast; kimba is a small thin pepper, growing 
on a bush, near the sea coast, in Y ourriba, of a red colour, like 
Chili pepper :-Red wood from Benin, which is pounded to a powder 
and made into a paste; women and children are rubbed with 
this, mixed with a little grease, every morning; and very frequently 
a woman is to be seen with a large score of it on her face, arms, or 
some part of her body, as a cure for some imaginary pain or other: -
A small quantity of calico or red cloth is sometimes brought, which 
is of European manufacture. They take back principally natron, 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 137 
beads made at Venice of various kinds, and come by the way of 
Tripoli and Ghadamis, and unwrought silk of various colours, prin-
cipally red, of about one ounce in weight, and is sold here at three 
thousand cowries; it and natron are as good as cowries. 
I The caravans from Bornou and Houssa, which always halt here 
a considerable time, bring horses, natron, unwrought silk, beads, I 
silk cords, swo ds that once belonged to Malta, exchanged for 
bullocks at Bengazie, in the regency of Tripoli, sent to Kano and 
remounted, and then sold all over the desert and the interior; 
these swords will sell for ten or twenty dollars a piece or that value, 
and sometimes more; cloths made up in the Moorish fashion; 
looking-glasses of Italian manufacture from about a penny a piece 
to a shilling in Malta; tobes or large shirts undyed, made in 
Bomon; khol or lead used as blacking for the eye-lids; a small 
quantity of ottar of roses, much adulterated; sweet smelling gum 
from Mecca; a scented wood also from the East; silks the manu-
facture of Egypt; turbans; red Moorish caps with blue silk tassels; 
and sometimes a few tunics of checked silk and linen made in 
Egypt: the last are generally brought by Arabs . A number of 
. laves are also brought from Houssa and BOl'nou, who are either 
sold here or go further on. The Bornou camvans never go 
further than this place, though generally some of their number 
accompany the Houssa merchants to Agolly in YoulTiba, Gonja, 
and 13orgoo, from "vhich they bring Kolla or Gora nuts, cloth of 
woollen, printed cottons, brass and pewter dishes, earthenware, a 
few llluskets, a little gold, and the wares mentioned before as 
brought from Y ourriba. They carry their goods 011 bullocks, a ses, 
and mule; and a great number of fine women hire themselves to 
carry load on their heads; their slaves, male and female, are aho 
loaded. The Eornou merchants, during their stay, stop in the 
town in the hou es of their friend or acquaintances, and give 
them a mall present on their arrival and departure, for the u e 
T 
138 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
of the house. The Houssa merchants stop outside the walls in 
little straw huts or leathern tents, which they erect themselves. Y 
They sell their goods and wares in their houses or tents; the 
small wares they send to the market and round to the different 
houses by their slaves to sell; there are also a number of male 
'" and female brokers in the town, whom they also intrust. The 
pedlers or western merchants always live in the houses of the 
town, and attend the markets daily, employing their spare time 
in spinning cotton, which they provide themselves with on their 
arrival, and support themselves by this kind of labour. The~e have 
been no fewer than twenty-one of these mercantile women living 
in my landlady's house at one time, all of them from Y ourriba 
and Borgoo: these women attend the markets at the different 
towns between this and their homes, buying and selling as they 
go along. The caravans from Cubbi, Y ouri, and Zamfra, bring 
I principally slaves and salt, which they exchange for natron, Gora 
nuts, beads, horses, tobes dyed of a dark blue, having a glossy 
and coppery tinge. The slaves intended for sale are confined in 
< the house, mostly in irons, and are seldom allowed to go out of 
it, except to the well or river every morning to wash; they are 
strictly guarded on a journey, and chained neck to neck; or else 
tied neck to neck in a long rope of raw hide, and carry loads on 
their heads consisting of their master's goods, or his household stuff; 
these loads generally from fifty to sixty pounds weight. A stranger 
\ may remain a long time in a town without seeing any of the slaves, 
except by accident, or making particular inquiry. The duties 
which traders pay here are collected by the people of Tabra, who 
take twenty cowries from every loaded person, forty for an ass, and 
fifty for a loaded bullock. 
The inhabitants may amount to from twelve to fifteen thousand, 
including all classes, the slave and the free; they are mostly em-
, ployed in buying and selling, though there are a great number of 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 139 
dyers, tailors, blacksmiths, and weavers, yet all these are engaged 
in buying and ' selling; few of these descriptions ever go on distant 
journeys to trade, and still fewer attend the wars, except it be to buy 
slaves from the conquerors. I have seen slaves exposed for sale 
here, the aged, infirm, and the idiot, also children at the breast, 
whose mothers had either fled, died, or been put to death. The 
domestic slaves are looked upon almost as the children of the _ 
family, and if they behave well, humanely treated: the l'uales are 
often freed, and the females given in marriage to freemen, at other 
times to the male domestic slaves of the family; when such is the 
case a house is given to them, and if he be a mechanic, he lives in 
the town, and works at his trade; if not, in the country, giving his 
owner part of the produce, if not made free; in both cases they 
always look upon the head of such owner's family as their lord, and 
call him or her father or mother. 
The food of the free and the slave is nearly the same; perhaps 
the master or mistress may have a little fat flesh, fish, or fowl, 
more than their slaves, and his meat is served in a separate place 
and dish; but the greatest man or woman in the country is not 
ashamed at times to let their slaves eat out of the same dish, but a 
woman is never allowed to eat with a man. Their food con ists 
of ground maize, made into puddings or loaves, and about half a 
pound each, sold at five cowries each in the market; of flummery, or, 
as they call it in Scotland, sowens, made from the ground millet, 
which i allowed to tand covered with water, until it gets a little 
our; it is then well stirred and strained through a strainer of basket-
work into another vessel, when it is left to settle, and the water 
being t-.trained off, it is dried in the sun; when perfectly dry, it is 
broken into lumps and kept in a ack or basket; when u ed it is put 
into boiling water, and well stirred, until of a sufficient thickne 
this make a very plea ant and healthy brcahJast with a little 
honey or alt, and is sold in the market at two cowrie a pint eyery 
TQ 
140 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
morning, and is called Koko. They have a pudding made of 
ground millet, boiled in the ley of wood ashes, which gives a red 
colour; this is always eate:rl; with fat or stewed meat, fish, or fowl. 
They always stew or grill their meat: when we have it in any 
quantity it is half grilled and smoked, to preserve until it is wanted 
to be used. Boiled beans made up in papers of a pound or a half 
pound each, and wrapped in leaves, sold for two cowries each, and 
called waki. Beans dried in the sun sold at one cowrie a handful.  
. Small balls of boiled rice, mixed with rice flower, called Dundakaria, 
a cowrie a piece, mixed with water, and serves as meat and drink. 
Small balls of rice, mixed with honey and pepper, called Bakaroo, 
sold at five cowries each. Small balls made from bean flowers, fried 
in fat, like a bunch of grapes. Their intoxicating draughts are the 
palm wine called roa bum, bouza, and aquadent, very much adul-
terated and mixed with pepper. 
At daylight _t he whole household arise: the women begin to 
clean the house, the men to wash from head to foot; the women 
and children are then washed in water, in which the leaf of a bush 
has been boiled called Bambarnia: when this is done, breakfast of 
cocoa is served out, everyone having their separate dish, the 
women and children eating together. After breakfast the women 
and children rub themselves over with the pounded red wood 
and a little grease, .which lightens the darkness of the black skin. 
A score or patch of the red powder is put on some place wnere it 
will show to the best advantage. The eyes are blacked with khol. 
The mistress and the better looking females stain their teeth and 
the inside of the lips of a yellow colour with gora, the flower of 
the tobacco -plant, and the bark of a root: the outer part of the 
lips, hair, and eye-brows, are stain~d with shuni, OJ' prepared 
indigo. Then the women who attend the market prepare their 
wares for sale, and when ready go. The elderly women prepare, 
clean, and spin cotton at home and cook the victuals; the younger 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 141 
females are generally sent round the town selling the small rice c 
balls, fried beans, &c. and bringing a supply of water for the day. 
The master of the house generally takes a walk to the market, or 
sits in the shade at the door of his house, hearing the news, or 
speaking of the price of natron or other goods. The weavers are 
daily employed at their trade; some are sent to cut wood, and 
bring it to market; others to bring grass for the horses that may 
belong to the house, or to take to the market to sell; numbers, at 
the beginning of the rainy season, are employed in clearing the 
ground for sowing the maize and millet; some are sent on distant 
journeys to buy and sell for their master or mistress, and very 
rarely betray their trust. About noon they return home, when 
. all have a mess of the pudding called waki, or boiled beans, and 
about two or three in the afternoon they return to their different 
employments, on which they remain until near sunset, when they 
count their gains to their master or mistress, who receives it, and 
puts it carefully away in their strong room. They then have a meal 
of pudding and a little fat or stew. The mistress of the house, 
when she goes to rest, has her feet put into a cold poultice of the 
pounded henna leaves . The young then go to dance and play, if it 
is moonlight, and the old to lounge and converse in the open square 
of the house, or in the outer coozie, where they remain until the 
cool of the night, or till the approach of morning drives them into 
shelter. 
Their marriages are the same amongst the Mohamedans as they 
are in other countries, where they profess that faith. The pagan 
part first agree to go together, giving the father and mother a 
present, and, if rich, the present is sent with mu ic, each separate 
article being borne on the head of a female slave. The 1I10ha-
medans bury in the same manner a they do in other parts of 
the world. The pagans dig a round hole like a well, abou t six feet 
142 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
deep, sometimes in the house, sometimes in the threshold of the 
door, and sometimes in the woods: the corpse is placed in a sitting 
posture, with the wrists tied round the neck, the hams and legs 
close to the body: a hole is left at the mouth of the grave, and 
the relations and acquaintances leave tobes, cloth, and other articles 
at the small round hole, and telling the dead persons to give this 
to so and _so: these things are always removed before the morning 
by the priest. The majority of the inhabitants of Koolfu profess ' 
to be Mahometans, the rest Pagans, whose mode of worship I never 
could learn, except that they, like the inhabitants of the other towns 
in N yffe, attended once a year in one of the southern provinces, 
where there was a high hill, on which they sacrificed a black bull, 
a black sheep, and a black dog. The figures ·on their houses of 
'worship are much the same as in Yourriba: the lizard, crocodile, 
the tortoise, and the boa-serpent, with sometimes men and women. 
Their language is a dialect of the Y ourriba, but the Houssa tongue 
is the language of the market. Their houses and court are kept 
very clean, as also the court-yard, which is sprinkled every morn- . 
ing with water, having the shell of the bean of the mitta tree 
boiled in it, which stains it of a dark brown colour; and each side 
of the doors of the coozies or huts are stained with indigo and 
ornamented with figures. The women have the stone for grinding 
the corn, pepper, &c_ raised on a clay bench inside the house, so 
that they can stand upright while they grind the corn; an im-
provement to be seen in no other part of the interior, or in Fezzan, ' 
the women having to sit on their knees when grinding corn. Their 
gourd dishes are also of the first order for cleanliness, neatness, and 
good carving and staining, as also their mats, straw bags, and baskets. 
They are civil, but the truth is not in them, and to be detected 
in a lie is not the smallest disgrace, it only causes a laugh. They 
are also great cheats. The men drink very hard, even the Maho-
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 143 
t metans; and the women are generally of easy virtue. N otwith-
standing all this against them, they are a people of a natural good 
disposition; for when it is considered that they have been twice 
burnt out of the town by the enemy within the last six years, and 
that they have had a civil war desolating the country for the last 
seven years, and been subject to the inroads of the Fellatas during 
twenty years, and having neither established law nor government 
but what a present sense of right and wrong dictates, I am surprised 
that they are as good as they are. 
I witnessed while here several acts of real kindness and good-
ness of heart to one another. 'Vhen the town of Bali was burnt 
down, every person sent next day what they could spare of their 
goods, to assist the unfortunate inhabitants. My landlady, who 
has given away a number of hel" female slaves to freemen for wives, 
looks upon them as her own children, attending them when sick; 
and one who had a child while 1 was here, at the giving it a name, 
she sent seventy different dishes of meat, corn, and clrink, to assist 
at the feast on that occasion. In all my dealings with them they 
tried and succeeded in cheating me, but they had an idea that I 
was possessed of inexhaustible riches; and besides, I differed with 
them in colour, in dress, in religion, and in my manner of living. I 
was considered therefore as a pigeon for them to pluck. Had they 
been rogues, indeed, they might have taken all I had ; but, on the 
contrary, I never had an article stolen, and was even treated with 
the most perfect respect and civility they were masters of. 
I believe it is generally considered in England, that when a 
llc!Yro slave is attached to his master, he will part with his life for 
him. Instances of this kind are not so common as they ought to 
be, when it is considered that all of these slaves are brought up from 
their childhood, and :know no other parent or protector; and if they 
were to run awny, or behave 0 ill as to cau c him to sell them, 
144 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
they would never be so well off as they were before. Those who 
are taken when grown-up men or women, and even boys and girls, 
run whenever an opportunity offers, and, whenever they can, take 
their owner's goods or cattle to assist them on their journey. In-
stances of this kind happened every night.  
..; They have very few bullocks, sheep, or goats, in the country; 
but that is owing to the desolating war. Cm:n they have in abun-
dance, as that cannot be driven away by plundering parties. The 
surrounding country is a level plain, well cultivated, and studded 
with little walled towns and villages, along the banks of the May-
yarrow, and another little river running into it from the north. It is 
subject to the Majia, but never visited by him or his people, except 
- to attend the market, or collect the duties from the traders. The 
town of Kufu, at a short distance (not a mile), has a quarrel with 
another little town about half a mile from it, called Lajo, the latter 
having taken the wife of a man, whom they thought. they had 
killed and left for dead, and selling her; hence arose a regular 
system of retaliation; and they take and sell one another whenever 
they have an opportunity. Every other night almost the war-cry 
./ was raised about stealing asses, oxen, or murder; and sometimes 
the inhabitants of Koolfu would join in the fray, always siding 
with Kufu. 
Monday, 19th.-Having been detained thus long at Koolfu, by 
my own and my servant Richard's illness, we left it this morning, 
accompanied by the head man and the principal inhabitants of 
Koolfu, who went with me as far as the walled and warlike village of 
Kufu, where I stopped for the night. Here the head man of Koolfu 
introduced me to the head man of Kufu, who provided me with a 
good house, and made me a present of a sheep and some cooked 
meat. I had also presents of meat sent me by the principal inha-
bitants. The people of Kufu, not satisfied with having frequently 
,/ 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 145 
seen me and my servants at Koolfu, are in the habit of mounting 
some trees growing on a small hill close to and overlooking my 
house and court-yard, to get another and a last look: party came 
after party until sunset, when they went away . 
./ My landlady, the widow Laddie, also accompanied me to Kufu, 
where she remained all night. I thought it had been out of a 
great regard for me; but I was soon let into the secret, by five 
of her slaves arriving with booza and bum, which she began selling 
in my court-yard to the different merchants, bullock-drivers, and 
slaves assembled here, who are going to the eastward. 
The village of Kufu is walled, and only about two musket shots 
from the other walled village, which is to the south, and with 
whom they are at heavy war. The space between is generally oc-
cupied by the caravans bound to the eastward, who usually halt 
here for a week to complete their purchases at the market of 
Koolfu before they start. The country around has a rich and clay 
soil, planted with indigo, cotton, Indian corn, and yams. 
Tuesday, 20th.-Having given the head man of Kufu thirty 
Gora nuts, with which he was well pleased, and loaded the bullocks, 
hor e, ass, and camel, at 6 A.1\1. left Kufu . The path, or road, 
through a woody country: the trees consisting mostly of the mi-
mdania, OJ." butter tree, which does not grow to a large size; the 
largest only about the size of our apple trees in Europe, and this 
only seldom: their girth is not above two or three feet. The 
path was winding; the soil a deep red clay, covered with a thin 
layer of sand. 
'Yednesday, 21st.-After passing a great number of towns and 
villages, we arrived at a walled town called Bullabulla, where we 
encamped outside. As soon a my tent was pitched, I wa ur-
rounded by the inhabitants. They were quite amused with my 
hat; and the women oon found that I was a stranger, and no 
Moslem, and charged me three times as much for any thing I 
u 
146 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
wanted to buy as they would any body else. They brought boiled 
beans, fowls, pudding, goats, sheep, wood, and water, for sale. The 
young men were dressed in a very fanciful manner, with a bandeau 
of beads, red and white; the wool cut short, and shaved in circles 
and straight lin~s; round the neck strings of red and white beads, 
with pendants of white beads attached to the lowest string, and 
reaching to the upper part of the breast; round the loins a tanned 
sheep or goat's skin, cut into thongs, to the ends of which were 
attached beads or cowrie shells. Those who pretended to be Ma-
hometans wore a tobe or large loose shirt; but these were few in 
number, not more than two or three. 
The young women wore a string of large beads round the loins; 
where they had not beads they had pieces 9f bone, round which 
was twisted a piece of narrow brown or blue cloth; the beads, ' 
bone, or cloth, showing alternately, and hanging down about a foot 
before and behind, fringed at the end, with cowries or beads at-
tached to the ends of the fringe. They appeared a good looking 
active set of people, but suspicious. Every two or three women 
had an armed man to attend them, and to see that they got paid 
for what they sold. By all accounts they are very ill used, both 
by their rulers and those who are not. Their wives and children 
are stolen and made slaves by everyone who can seize them; and 
rulers, whenever a demand is made on thew, take them by force 
;l.nd sell them as slaves. 
Thursday, !iZ!iZd.-Left Bullabulla, and travelled through planta- J 
tions of grain, indigo, and c'Otton ; the soil and clay mixed with sand, 
and here and there large blocks of sandstone, in which were nodules ' 
of iron, and veins of clay ironstone; the face of the country diver-
sified with hills and dales; some of the hills to the south rising 
into table-topped mounts; the country open and clear; every 
thing at this season looking green and gay. Halted at the walled 
town of Rajadawa, the head man of which wished me to stop in the 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 147 
town, but I preferred halting outside. He sent me a present of 
cooked meat, rice, and honey. I gave him in return three yards of 
silk, a pair of scissors, and fifty Gora nuts. At this town they take, 
for the chief of Y ouri, from every loaded bullock 500 cowries, and 
from every loaded ass 300 cowries. The inhabitants are Cumbrie 
and pagans, except the head man and about a dozen others, who 
profess to be Mahometans. They say the governor, like his master 
of Youri, is a great rogue; and invites people within his walls to 
detain them, and screw as much out of them as he can. Rajadawa 
is walled (a clay wall and ditch), and may contain from 6000 to 
7000 inhabitants. The environs are clear of wood, and planted 
with grain, yams, gaza (a kind of potatoe, yellow inside, and very 
watery, leaving an unpleasant taste in the mouth after eating), 
indigo, and cotton. ,,1 e had a plentiful market in the camp. The 
principal articles for sale were raw bullocks' flesh, fowls, millet, 
boiled yams, pudding, &c. 
At noon on the 24th, after Pilssing numerous villages, we arrived 
at the town of ,Vazo, or ,Vazawo, the first town in the province of 
Kotongkora, where the merchants had to pay 250 cowries for every 
loaded ass, bullock, horse, or mule: of course I passed free, being 
a white man, and went through the town with my baggage, and 
encamped about a mile to the eastward of the town. The town 
of ,Vazo is built on the shelving side of a rocky mount: on the 
south-east side is a wall with two gates; the steep sides of the 
mountain ~erving as a wall on the other side. The inhabitants are 
all Cumbrie and pagans; and to-day they are holding a fe tival, so 
that we can get nothing to buy. .After my tent was pitched, I 
engagcd one of the natives for a few cowries to accompany me to 
hunt. I saw very little game, except five antelope, out of gun-
shot. On my return to the tent I found the head man of 'Yazo 
had sent me one fowl, and some millet for the horses, for which he 
expect nine or ten time the value in return. The value of hi 
u 2 
148 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
present altogether, at the highest price, is not above 200 cowries. 
I had to make my dinner of raw flour, water, and an onion, re-
serving the fowl for my sick servant. During the night heavy rain, 
but without thunder or lightning. 
Monday, ~6th.-Mornjng dull and cloudy. The chief servant 
of "Vazo's head man came to my tent early in the morning in a 
great fright, saying his master was going to hang him, as he thought 
he had stole part of the present I had sent hi~. He said he wished 
that Moussa or myself would go into the town and bear witness that 
he had delivered all I gave him. I thought it was only a trick 
to cause further delay, or to catch something else ; I therefore 
sent Moussa, and on his return had the bullocks loaded; and at 
9. 30 A. M. left the place of our encampment near W azo. O~r 
path was rocky and very winding, having high rocky mounts to 
the east, with steep perpendicular sides, the tops of most occupied 
by villages and little walled towns. The inhabitants came into 
the valleys with millet, boiled beans, yams, and cashew nuts, &c. 
to sell; the sellers were all women, every two or three having all 
armed male protector. In a narrow pass in the valley, as I had 
lingered behind the caravan, I fell in with a very interestirig group, 
consisting of about a dozen of the natives, all young men, gaily 
dressed.in thei~' beads and tasselled skins, armed with bows and 
arrows and a light spear, some sitting and others standing; in the 
midst of them were three Fitakies,-and a jackass without a load. The 
north side of the pass was formed by a high mount, rising perpen-
dicular for about thirty feet above the path, over which hung trees, 
and on the top of the mount a little village, to which the young 
men belonged; the south side was formed by a large block of 
granite, on which the party were seated, the Fitakies looking as 
grave as the poor ass. At first I ·thought it was a robbery, and 
began to prepare my gun, but as I drew close and inquired what 
was the matter, before I intended to fire, it proved to be the 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. ]49 
Fitakies selling a sick jackass, which was unable to carry its load 
to the natives, to kill for food, as they consider its flesh as medicine, 
and good for coughs and pains in the chest. At noon arrived at 
the town of vVazo, which is situated in a narrow part of the 
valley, partly built on the shelving side of a mountain, which forms 
the south side of the pass and valley, the other part of the town 
and wall, on the north side; here the Fitakies had to pay ninety 
cowries for each loaded ass or bullock; I, of course, passed without 
payment. After passing ,Vorm, or vVormzou, as it is sometimes 
called, the valley opened out to the south as far as the eye could 
reach; the mountains on the left bending more to the north. At 
S P. 1\'1. crossed a small stream running to the south, whose bed, 
when covered with water, is dangerous to man and beast, owing to 
the sharp rocks in its bed, which, from the muddiness of its waters, 
are not seen. We halted at a short distance from its eastern bank. 
Our place of encampment was soon filled by the inhabitants of the 
neighbouring little towns, having raw goat's flesh, boiled beans, 
millet, and pudding for sale ; as usual all Cum brie, and every two 
or three women attended by an armed companion to see fair 
play; the men and women dressed in the same gay style as usual; 
upon the whole they were a fine, active, clean-looking people: 
most of the men had a bastard kind of greyhound following them, 
whose necks were ornamented with colours and trings of cowries. 
Every man working in the plantations, as I came along, was armed, 
owing, they say, to the frequent inroads of the Fellatas. At sun-
set all our visitors left us, and we had a severe storm of rain, 
thunder, and lightning. 
'V'ednesday, Q8th.-For the last five day we have been travel-
ling through a rich and beautiful valley and over woody hill , and 
arrived at W omba. The capital of this province is called Koton-
kora, and di tant from ,'~ omba, north, thirty miles . Before the 
150 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
Fellatas took Haussa and its dependencies, Womba belonged to 
the province of Kashna; and at the death of Bello's father, it, 
along with the rest of the Towias, threw off the yoke of the Fel-
latas, declared its independence, which it still maintains, and joined 
the Towias, or confederation, against their conquerors. All the 
caravans fro111 the east and west halt a day or two at this town, ~ 
and pay for each loaded ass or bullock five hundred cowries; be-
sides, the head man of each caravan makes a present, for which he 
receives, in return, a dish or two of cooked meat, or a sheep. The 
town is in latitude 10° 35', and longitude 7° 22'. It is situated on 
a rising ground, having a commanding rocky hill of granite to the 
east, one on the south, and another to the north, all bare of vege- ./ 
tation except a few patches here and there; to the west is an open 
valley. A small stream of water rl\ns past the western gate, from 
which the town is supplied with water. The valleys for two miles 
round are cleared, cultivated, and planted with millet, doura, y&ms, 
cotton, &c., as is likewise every spare space within the walls this 
year, as there is a scarcity of grain this season throughout the 
whole of the eastern interior, owing to last year's rains being very 
scanty, and they fear this may be the same. The town is walled J 
round; the wall is also in good repair, and has a dry ditch on the 
outside; its height between twenty and thirty feet. It has four 
_gates, which are shut every night at sunset. The inhabitants may 
amount from ten to twelve thousand souls; they possess plenty 
of sheep, oxen, and horses, the latter apparently a cross from the 
large Bornou and the small native African, and are a strong, hardy 
race, like what in Scotland are called highland ponies, but not 
quite so tall. 
Friday, June SOth.-At daylight loaded the bullocks, and at 7 
A. M. sent them off. I went to the governor's house and took leave 
of him. He gave me a messenger to the chief of Guari, and lent me 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 151 
a man to lead my camel. Mter leaving him, I rode and joined 
the caravan. Passed two towns called Gilma, the one built on 
the top of a rocky hill, the other at a few hundred yards from lts 
base. They are at hot war one with the other, and seldom a day 
passes without some one or other belonging to either town being 
killed. Yesterday we heard there were twelve of the lower town's-
people killed in a pitched battle between them. Their usual field 
of battle was pointed out to me by the messenger; it is a clear 
spot of about three hundred yards broad, between the south wall 
of the lower town and the base of the hill. Parties of women 
belonging to both towns were working in these fields, but parties 
of armed men kept walking up and down between them and the 
enemy. 
Saturduy, July 1s t.-Left our encampment, and travelled through 
a country well cleared and cultivated near the road planted with 
millet, &c.; the soil, red clay and gravel. At 10 A. M. passed 
round the south side of a town called Akingie, which was walled, 
large, and populous, the environs cleared and planted with grain 
on the east side. Found the town's-people collecting the toll 
from the Fitakies of the caravan who had preceded us in the 
morning. They had here a regular toll-gate, not painted white 
and hung on hinges like those in England, but the collectors of 
the toll were lusty rude fellows, armed with clubs and staves, the 
head man with a sword. After passing the toll of Akingie the 
country became more hilly and woody; the soil stony and gravelly, 
and little cultivated. At noon arrived at the town of Curigie, 
where I halted, the head man of which, having provided me with 
a house, made a present of two fowls, with millet for my horses 
and camel. The walls of this town are extensive, but the hou e 
arc few, partly built on a hill and part in the valley. At this 
eason both in ide and outside of the town has a beautiful appear-
152 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
ance, .f rom the large spreading and shady trees inside the town. 
The houses, some of which are built on the top of the blocks 
of granite which form the hill, are heautifully situated; green 
plats, overhung by shady trees, growing out of the clefts of the 
rocks. 
Sunday, 2d.- Morning dull and cloudy. At 7. 30 A. M. left 
Curigie. ·The path through a woody country, with small cul-
tivated spots here and there. The soil is red clay, mixed with 
sand and gravel, and diversified with gentle hill and dale. At 
one passed a town called Sabonque, apparently a favourite name 
in Kashna from the number of that name. They till the ground .j 
for a considerable distance, and plant it with doura, millet, yams, 
and sweet potatoes. Close to the east of the town runs a small 
stream, which is now full and deep. We had to unload the 
bullocks and carry the baggage over; a great many of them getting 
wet, and Pascoe lost my shot belt in the stream. In the evening 
we halted outside the walls of a town called Guber in Dushee. 
The head man, and the greater part of the inhabitants, were out 
of the town, at their plantations in the country, attending the 
growing grain; we therefore could get nothing for man or beast 
but grass. Guber in Dushee, or "the rock without an equal," is 
situated on a height, with several large blocks of granite, inside 
the walls, which are extensiye: few houses are to be seen, except 
those situated on the highest ground. 
Monday, sd.-At 7.40 A: M. left Guber in Dushee wet and 
hungry. The country woody; the path stony, wet, slippery, and 
cut up by deep ravines, through which r~n streams of water; the 
descent and ascent dangerous to man and beast. As we approached 
Guari, the country became very hilly, and the path winding; the 
valleys began to be cultivated, and the road · thronged with pas-
sengers; and on the sides of the road were th~ remains of camps 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO . 153 
of caravans; and as we drew closer to the city the camps were oc-
cupied by the merchants of the caravans bound to the west. At 
fOUl'arrived at the walls of the old city, and entering the western gate, 
rode round and over part of the hill on which the city is built, by a 
footpath, which cuts off about two miles: entered the eastern gate 
of the new city, where I was met by .forty horsemen"s ent by the 
chief to conduct me into the town. I rode up to the door of the 
chief's house or castle, who came out instantly, and received me 
very kindly, and, after exchanging compliments, he sent me with 
his chief eunuch to a house prepared for me, where shortly after 
was brought a live sheep, millet for the horses and camel, cooked 
meat for me and my servants, consisting of pudding made from 
the seeds of grass, the same as what is called tiff in Abyssinia, 
equal to any flour pudding made with milk and eggs in England: 
it is called asha in Houssa: I had also two stewed capons, the 
largest I ever saw. . 
Tuesday, 4th.-I waited on the chief, and made him a present 
of a silk umbrella and other articles. I then told him that what 
I had given him did not belong to me, but to my master, the king 
of England, who had sent me to visit Houssa and Bornou, where 
I had been two years before; that I wanted the chief of GUal'i to 
give me his assistance and protection as far as he could give it. 
He said he tha~ked me for the present I had given him from the 
king, and I should have every protection and assistance he could 
afford; that he and the Fellatas, I knew, were at war, and that his 
sending an escort of horse to Zegzeg with me would be of no ser-
vice, and only expose me to attack from the Fellatas who infested 
the road on the frontiers of the two states; but from the last town 
in his territory bowmen on foot should escort me as far as Fatika, 
the first. town in Zegzeg, and under the dominion of the Fellatas, 
and then I should be in perfect freedom to go where I pleased; 
that his horsemen should go with me as far as the last town in his 
x 
154 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
territory, and would provide every thing, and see me off, escorted 
by the bowmen, before they returned; that the bowmen were the 
best escort in the woods I had to cross between Guari and Zegzeg, . 
and, God willing, I should perform it in safety, as I had done the 
long and dangerous journey I had already come; but that . if I 
thought any other way was better, or if there was any tlimg I 
wanted, to mention it, and if it could be got in Guari I should 
have it. I thanked him; said, if there were any curious animals 
or birds, I should like to have them; and if he had any written 
account of the country, I should like that more than all. He said 
he had no written account of the country; that no one troubled 
their heads about affairs of that kind; that if I would remain with 
him in Guari some time, I should have all the curious birds and 
beasts in the country, but that at present every person that could 
be spared was out in the country attending the growing grain ; 
that they had a scarcity over all the country last year, and they 
were afraid the same thing might happen this year, as the rains as 
yet had not been y.ery abundant. After I left the chief I returned 
home, and opened all the cases, and put the things that were wet 
out to dry. 
Guari, formerly a district of the province of Kashna, was con-
quered by the Fellatas a short while after their rising, along with the 
" rest of Houssa. At the death of old Bello, this, with the greater 
part of the province of Kashna, made itself independent by joining 
in the Towia, or confederation ·and rebellion against the Fellatas. 
Bonaga, the chief of Zamfra, was the first to rise and shake the 
spear, as ·they express it. He was joined instantly by the inhabit- " 
ants of the province of Goober, whose chief, a lad, was kept as a 
slave in Sackatoo; but, by the assistance of his countrymen, had 
made his escape, and now heads his people. The northern part 
of Kashna was the next to join, under a son of their former chief J 
or governor. Guari and Katongkora, both districts of Kashna, 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 155 
and belonging to Houssa, also joined, but declared themselves 
independent of the authority of Kashna. The states of Youri 
and Cubbi have also since joined, as have Doura and the southern 
part of Zegzeg. Y ouri, they say, was forced to join by the others ' 
of the Towia, as their districts nearly surround it. The strength of 
Guari lies in the bravery of its inhabitants and the number of horse 
they can bring into the field-they say a thousand: this may be 
,all true, but I think they owe their strength to the hilly and woody 
nature of their country. The capital of this district, also called 
Guari, is situated in latitude 10° 54' north, longitude 8° I' east; 
built partly on the north-east side of a hill, and partly in a narrow 
valley, through which a muddy stream runs that is dry in the 
summer months; this stream rises only a day's journey in the 
mountains or hills south of Guari, runs through part of Zamfra, 
and divides in one part the states of Katongkora and Guari, and 
enters into the Kodonia in Nyffe. The city or town has two 
walls, the old and the new; the old in ruins ever since it was 
stormed by old Bello. At the rising of the Fellatas it surrounded 
the hill on which the city is built, and great part of another; the 
new wall runs over the ridge of the hill, cutting the town into one 
half the size it was formerly; and even now the wall is much too 
extensive for the inhabitants to defend, and appears enclosing a 
few scattered houses and villages, not a town or city. The house 
of the chief is like a walled village, with a large clay castle at one 
end: this serves as the harem of the chief, and is well filled, or, 
more properly speaking, there are a great number of women in it. 
The other houses in the enclosure are huts, or coozies, occupied 
by blacksmiths, weavers, tailors, dyers, &c. all belonging to his 
household. 
Friday, 7th.-l\lorning cloudy. At 8 A.l\I. loaded the bullock 
and camel, and sent them off. I went and took leave of the chief 
Abubuker, where I found an escort of four horsemen ready to con-
xQ 
156 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
duct me to the frontier. This was more than I expected; for both 
he and his people knew I was going to Bello: at least I told the 
chief I had a letter and present for him: at all events they knew I 
had to go, through his territory- there could be no mistake as to 
that. The road from Guari was hilly and woody, and winding and 
rocky, and filled with sharp gravel stones; the soil a deep red clay; 
the rocks a slaty sandstone: a number of what in England are called 
the Malacca cones were growing by the sides of the .streams . 
. At 1 P. M. passed the town of Makundi, where a large caravan 
from the eastward had just halted, a number of the merchants of 
which had seen me in Y ourriba and BOl'goo, and came to wish me 
joy and a blessing at being so near their country. A number of 
tongas, or camps, were around this town, some empty and some 
filled. Arrived at the walled town of Cazigie, where I remained 
for the night. . 
Saturday, 8th.-The country, as we approached Fatika, be-
came more uneven and cut up by deep ravines between the long 
ridges which the land formed. At 5. 30 P. M . passed to the south 
of Fatika, which is walled, and of considerable size. I sent to the 
head man to inform him of my arrival, and to tell him who I was, 
and t4at I was going to halt near the tonga, as the gates of the 
town were too narrow to admit loaded bullocks. At 6 A. M. halted 
near a large ca~np, or tonga. The caravan had preceded us from 
Guari, and had travelled all night through the wood. They ~aid 
they had seen the robbers, but from the numbers composing the 
caravan they were afraid to attack. A short while after halting, 
the head man of the town sent me pudding, stewed meat, and 
millet for my horses and camel. I certainly felt very light-hearted 
and comfortable, as I thought now I had entered the territories 
actually under the dominion of the Fellatas. All my cares were 
vver; not even thinking of my sick servant, or the chalwe of my 
having perhaps to-morrow as much anxiety as ever I had before. 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 157 
Sunday, 9th.-Morning dull and cloudy. At 8. 30 A. M. left 
our encampment to the eastward of Fatika, the road winding and 
very gravelly; passed through several plantations of millet, sweet 
potatoes, indigo, and dourra, the path winding to the south and 
south-east, when we came to the ruins of a large town, where we 
turned up, E. S. E. at noon. At 1 P.lVl. saw tne mount inside the 
walls of the old city of Zaria, appearing over the long ranges which 
the land forms, like islands in the midst of the sea. 
Monday, lOth.-Morning cloudy, with rain. At 7 A. M. the 
rain ceased, and we loaded our animals, and started at eight. 
Shaped our path across gentle rising and declining ridges; the soil 
a deep red clay, with now and then rocks of sandstone and clay 
ironstone, and the country woody. vVithin about four or five miles 
of Zaria the country became altogether clear of wood: except a 
patch here and there, all was in pasture, or planted with rice, 
millet, and dourra. Herds of beautiful cattle were feeding in the 
valleys, or lying chewing the cud on the higher grounds. Zaria 
was seen to the eastward, and known by its tall trees, like a long 
avenue of gigantic poplars; running across the horizon from north 
to south, stretching from the south end of one detached mount to 
the north end of another. At two, entered one of the gates on 
the west side of Zaria; but, instead of finding houses, I could just 
see their tops over the growing grain. At about a quarter of a 
mile distance all was walled fields, full of growing millet and douna, 
with here and there a horse or mare tethered in the open spaces. 
At sunset Abdulkrum, the acting governor, arrived, and waited 
on me instantly. He was very kind, offered me his own house to 
live in if I did not like the one I was in; sent for a fine fat sheep, 
with plenty of provisions for man and beast. 
Tue day, Ilth.-l\Iorning dull and cloudy. After breakfa t I 
had a visit from Abdulkrum. I told him who I \Va, and what 
I was, and where I was going; and de ired he would give me a 
158 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
messenger to Kano, as I intended going to Sackatoo by that route. 
He said he would send to the sultan, or governor, and inform him 
of my arrival; that the messenger would return in three days, and 
in the meantime I should have every assistance that he could afford 
me. I told him I wanted the loan of a horse to Kano, and should 
leave my little mare until she recovered, when she was to be sent 
to me, and I would pay all expenses. Abdulkrum appears to be a 
very good fellow, but is in great distress he tells me; and there is 
nothing in his possession but he will give me if I will only relieve 
him, for he declares I can. A number of visitors coming in put an 
end to his story, as it appears to be with him a great secret. 
The old city of Zaria was taken by the Fellatas about a month 
after they had taken the provinces of Goober and Zamfra, in or 
\ about the year 1800, as they do not care much about a year or two. 
It only stood a siege of two days; the sultan and the greater part 
of the inhabitants flying to the southern and western part of the 
province, which is hilly, and inhabited by pagans. Here they still 
!i remain, and preserve their independence, though the Fellatas 
seldom let a month pass without making an attack on them; but 
of late they 4ave suffered severely, and begin to be more cautious 
in their attacks. The old city is now only known by its ruined 
wall surrounding the before-mentioned mounts, which were in the v 
centre of the city. 
The new city built by the Fellatas, the walls of which extend 
from the south-east side of the old, about two miles to the south, 
enclosing a great space of ground, on which are huilt a number of 
little villages and detached houses, is surrounded by high clay walls. 
Abdulkrum's house, where I lived, is in latitude 10° 59' north, and 
longitude 8° 4Z' east. N ear the centre of the wall stands the prin-
cipal mosque, built of clay, having a minaret about forty or fifty 
feet high. The principal market is at the south end, inside the 
walls, and here the caravans make their tongas, or camps. One 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO . 169 
twentieth is exacted from the merchants as a duty; and they dread 
halting at Zaria, from the rapacity of the inhabitants, who are all 
Fellatas, and often keep travelling by secret paths through the 
woody country, to evade the city, until they enter the province of 
Guari. The house of the governor is north of the great mosque, 
and is surrounded by a high clay wall; inside this wall are large 
coozies, or huts, surmounted by ostrich eggs, and some single rooms 
of a square form, with a fiat roof. The houses of the principal in-
habitants are much the same. Of the number of inhabitants I can 
form no estimate: they say there are more than in Kano, which I 
should suppose to contain 4·0 or 50,000 at least. They are mostly 
all Fellatas; a great many of them from Foota Bonda and Foota 
Torra, and know the French and English well they say; but I am 
sorry to add, that they have not improved by their acquaintance. 
They rattle over the names of the towns between Sierra Leone, or 
the Senegal, and Timbuctoo, like a, b, c, then sit down, and will 
not start until they get something. These fellows are generally 
armed with French fusees. They prefer the guns of the French 
and the powder of the English. The late governor was a native 
of Foota Bonda: so that the Foulahs and the Fellatas are the 
same people. Foota Bonda, Foota Torra, &c. they call nleli. 
They now possess Jinnee, near Timbuctoo, and I think will soon 
have the whole of the interior. Inside the wall there are a 
great number of shady trees, which are pruned every year for fire-
wood; they look at a distance like immense poplars: swamps, corn 
fields, and green plats, make up the rest of the town . Date tree, 
palm oil trees, papa, melons, plantains, Indian corn, millet, dourra, 
rice, yams, sweet potatoes, &c. are in abundance, particularly rice. 
They say they raise more and better rice than all the rest of Hou a 
put together. Horse, sheep, and horned cattle abound in every 
part of the province inhabited by the Fellata. Game i also in 
abundance; such as antelopes of all the different kind. Guinea 
160 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
fowls and partridges are also in great numbers. The elephant and 
buffalo inhabit tl,le southern part of the province, 'which they say 
is t~velve days south of Zaria, and reaches close to the salt water. 
I t is bounded by the province of Kimo to the east; Jacoba to the 
south-east; by the mountains inhabited by pagans to the south, 
where they say the sea is; by N yffe to the south-west; Guari and 
Kashna to the north and west. The environs of the city are beau-
tiful, being formed of gentle ridges of land and plains; here and 
there fine large shady trees, and small streams of water; the rocky 
mounts to the north and south adding to the beauty of the scene. 
A small river, dry in summer, runs at a little distance from the 
eastward wall: its course is south. 
Friday, 14th.- Morning clear. No messenger having arrived 
. from the governor, as was expected, I had the bullocks and camel 
loaded, and told Abdulkrum I would stay no longer, and if he at-
tempted to stop me, it would be at his peril. He said there was 
not the least objection to my going; that, on the contrary, he would 
send a messenger of his own with me to Kano, and should accom-
pany me part ofthe way. It was 8 A. M. before I was able to leave 
the town, Abuulkrum proceeding with me: he has behaved very 
well to me while I remained in Zaria, and is as decent a Fellata as I J 
ever met with; and he is the only man in the place who bears a good 
name with strangers. Poor man, his secret came out at last. He 
was very earnest and rather bashful about it for a Mahometan. It 
was as usual with them who have too many wives: one, he said, 
was the governor's daughter, and he was ' convinced I had medicine 
that would be of use to him. It was too serious a matter, and lay 
too near his heart, for me to laugh at him, or to say I had none; so 
I gave him a box of Seidlitz powders, the effervescing of which sur-
prised him very much, desiring him to take one once a week. He 
was made perfectly happy, and fully believed in their virtue. It 
is the first time I have given medicine for such a disorder, generally 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 161 
laughing them out of asking me for such a thing. As he and r 
rode after the bullock, a great deal of our conversation was about 
England, which he, as well as a great many others here, declares 
to be a small island in the midst of the sea. r had hard work to 
convince him to the contrary. He then talked a great deal about 
the inferiority of the Christians to the true believers in battle. 
r told him he had never yet had Christians to deal with in battle, 
or he would tell another story. ., Oh! do not say that," says 
he; "did we not kill forty at Adamowa, and make all the rest 
run away?" I said they were all Mahometans and Arabs, not a 
Christian amongst them: but all r could say he would not be con-
vinced, until r told him he lied like a thief, and whenever r saw 
Bello r should insist. on his writing to the governors of the different 
provinces of Houssa, to inform their people of the truth of that 
affair: that it was Arabs and Mahometans, headed by Boobecker 
Bookaloom, who made the attack on Adamowa; and that they had, 
to save themselves, taken advantage of our being in Bornou at the 
time to throw it on our backs. Mr. Abdulkrum began to be a 
little alarmed at the earnestness of my language and threat, and 
begged I would think no more about it; he himself knew it was a 
lie told by the Arabs to save their credit. 'Ve parted not quite 
such good friends as we hud been. 
The country at present, on this side of Zaria, looks like some 
of the finest in England, about the latter end of the month of 
April. All around is green and beautiful, with only trees here 
and there. The soil a red clay, mixed with gravel. The cultivated 
ground continued until 11 A. M. when we entered a wood of low 
trees, which continued until noon, when we found ourselves amongst 
the cultivated grounds belonging to the town of Leokoro, which we 
passed, and hulted on the east side. It is of considerable size, 
walled round, but the wall is in very bad condition, being broken 
and falling down in several places. The houses are in good repair, 
y 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
and the inhabitants numerous. Towards sunset several large herds 
of cattle came in from grazing in the neighbouring woods, and were 
secured in thorny enclosures outside the walls for the night.  
.. Saturday, 15th.-At 4. 30 P. M. arrived and halted at a town 
called Roma, in English, Soup, whose walls are extensive; and, 
from the number of shady trees within them, must have once been 
a populous and well inhabited place. The present inhabitants do 
not amount to more than forty, poor, mean, and miserable. They 
were all collected under one of the old shady trees in the town to 
receive me, with their chief man at their head, bearing a long white 
wand, or peeled palm-tree branch in his hand, dressed in a ragged 
dirty white tobe, his skin spotted black and white like a leopard 
with disease. He conducted me to his house, which was large and 
spacious; but the courts were overgrown with weeds and grass; 
the roofs of the huts falling in; the floors wet, damp, and dirty. 
I could not amongst the whole find one fit to shelter man or beast. 
I went olit, and he accompan.ied me until, amongst the untenanted 
houses, I found one, where I put my baggage for the night. He 
brought me a little corn in a gourd for my horses, and I asked him the 
cause of the sad state in which the town was: he said, the Fellatas, 
and held his peace. ,, 'Why is your house in such a state?" I asked. 
He said he once had fifty wives, but they had all run away one after 
another, and he could not take care of it himself. Plenty of guinea 
fowls came to roost on the shady tree. Towards sunset I went out 
and shot six, which served all hands. 
Sunday, 16th.-At 12. 20 halted at the town of Aushin, where 
I was provided with as good a house as the place afforded; and 
/this being the day of the aid kebur, or great feast, they had killed 
a bullock, of which the head man of the town sent me a part, with 
Indian corn for my horses and camel. I"had not taken possession 
of my house more than ten minutes, an.d hung my watch and com-
pass up to the rafters, as was my usual custom, than, having occasion 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 163 
to go out, 1 found my watch torn forcibly from the ring; but I 
fortunately caught the thief, who was one of the bullock drivers: 
I threatened him very much, but was glad I had got my watch 
again without any serious injury. The bullocks on this day's 
journey were nearly all worn out; it was with great difficulty we 
could get two of them on with very light loads. 
Monday, 17th.-Having passed Roma and several other towns, 
at noon of this day we entered the town of Dunchow, the first to 
the westward in the province of Kano. I rode up to the head 
man's house, who was just coming out of his door to take his ride; 
a jolly looking tall Fellata, about thirty years of age. After we 
had exchanged compliments, he took me to a very good house to 
lodge in, and promised to send me every thing I wanted, which 
was food for man and beast. I got corn sent me in abundance, 
but nothing else; all his other promises proved to be nothing but 
empty words. 
Tuesday, 18th.-Clear and cool. Thermometer at sunrise 68° F . 
in the open air. After giving the head man of Dunchow a knife, 
and a lecture for not performing his promises to me, in giving 
me meat or milk, or lending me a horse, he said, they had no meat, 
because they had killed no bullock; no milk, as all the young 
women were dancing last night, as then: custom is after the aid, 
and they did not milk the cows; his horses had all been killed this 
summer at the war with the sheik of Bornou. All these excuses 
were made with as much ease as he made the promises, and I could 
not help admiring the courtier-like manner in which he behaved, 
though he has only been here a month as governor. At 7 A.l\I. 
1 left Dunchow and its polite governor, and travelled through a 
well cultivated and populous country, the inhabitants of the villages 
all out in their plantations, giving the millet and dourra the second 
hoeing, and drawing the earth up to the roots of the grain: the soil 
a fine black mould, covered with a thin layer of sand. Passed 
y,2 
164 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO; 
several plantations of rice, which was sown in beds in the low and 
swampy grounds; also beds of sweet potatoes, yams, and a root 
called goza, like a small short yam, more watery, and of a yellow 
colour inside: ~jt has a broad flat leaf. 
At 2 P. M. entered the town of Baebaegie. I rode to the house 
of the governor, whose head man gave me a part of his house to 
lodge in; and shortly after I had halted he sent me a sheep, two 
fowls, some w4eat, the first I had seen · since I left England, and 
plenty of millet for my horses and camel. I sent him.in return a 
knife, six yards of red silk, a gilt chain, and a pair of scissars. In 
the evening the governor sent me pudding, boiled rice, milk, and 
stewed meat. 
Wednesday, 19th.-The town of Baebaegie is in llltitude 110 34' 
north, and longitude go 13' east, and stands as it were in the midst 
of a large plain, having in sight, from the granite mount about It 
musket shot outside the southern gate, the hills of Nora, about ten 
miles east; to the south, the mountains of Surem, distant about 
twenty-five miles; to the west I could distinguish the tops of one or 
two of the hills of Aushin, in Zegzeg; to the north a plain bounded 
only by the horizon; to the north-east the two mounts inside the 
walls of Kano could just be distinguished above the horizontal line, 
beari~g north-east by north. One hill bore north, breaking the · 
horizontal line, twenty or twenty-two miles; the land, every where 
the eye turned, looked beautiful; the grain was just · high enough 
to wave with the wind; little towns and villages wel·e numerous ; 
the trees full of foliage, none being left hardly but such as were fi t 
for use, such as the micadania or butter-tree, the nutta or dm·ow, 
and the tamarind: h~s of fine white cattle were seen grazing on 
the fallow ground; horses and mares were tethered in the small 
spaces left between the plantations in cultivation; women, to the 
amount of a hundred, were thrashing out corn with large sticks, on 
the flat rock at the base of the mount, the wind, blowing fresh from 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 165 
the westward, serving them as a winnowing machine. The town 
was below, in the form of an oblong square, the four sides facing 
the four cardinal points; the head man's house in the centre of the 
town, and is like one of the old keeps or castles in Scotland, near 
the Borders; it is also of the Moorish form, and the general one 
for all the governor's houses in Houssa. A high clay tower, through 
which is the gate or entrance from each side, overtops a wall of 
clay about twenty feet high, in the form of a square; inside are 
huts or coozies for the women, eunuchs, domestics, and horses; 
the governor occupying the upper part of the tower in times of 
alarm and danger, and his men-slaves and armed retainers the 
lower. This, like all the others, is built of clay, and is three stories 
high, with a flat roof and battlement. In the lower story, at each 
side, and above the gate, are oblong holes, which serve for archers 
and to give light in the upper stories; the windows are like ours 
in England in form, four on each side, but no attention as to re-
gularity in placing them; the windows are either shut by a mat on 
the side next the wind, or by a number of coloured and plaited 
lines of grass strung over a small rod, which is hung across the top 
of the window; the ends falling down, admit sufficient air and 
light, and keep out flies; This plan is also used for the doors of 
inner apartments in the lower houses, and requires no opening or 
shutting. The rooms in the town are supported by pillars formed 
by lashing long poles together until sufficiently strong, and, when 
they are up, plastering them thickly over in all parts with clay, 
and then a coating of cow-dung, to prevent the white ants and 
other in ects eating away the wood; the great beams are formed 
in the same manner. The floors of the upper rooms are first laid 
with rafters of stout poles, then short diagonal pieces are laid over ab 
close as they can be laid, then a coating of clay and small gravel is 
laid six or eight inches thick. The walls are made, fir t by mixing 
clay well up with a little chopped gra s or cow-dung, and making 
166 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
it up in lumps of two handfuls, and letting it dry in the s,un ; when 
dry, they build with them as our masons would do with rougb 
stones, laying a thick layer of well-wrought soft clay between each 
layer of hardened lumps, and a good thick coat outside: their 
hand is the only trowel; and, without plumb-line or level, they 
manage to make pretty fair walls and buildings, taking these things 
into consideration. The walls outside, before the commencement 
of every rainy season, get a fresh plastering, the tops are repaired, 
and parts that may be washed down are built up. The water is con-
veyed from the tops of the houses, clear of the walls, by long, baked, 
clay funnels, like what are used on the tops of smoky chimneys 
in England, and look like great guns mounted on the tops of the 
walls. The other houses of the town are like almost all others out-
side the capital towns, a number of cll:cular huts within a high, 
square, clay wall; frequently a single room, with a flat roof, used 
by the master of the house as a safe repository for his goods. 
x Every house has two or three date trees within this wall or en-
closure, which bear fruit twice a year, like those of Kashna and 
, Kano; once before or at the commencement of the Fains, the other 
after the rains a month or forty days. They use two pieces of flat 
board or gourd, one fixed, the other moveable, to which is attached 
a line for the purpose of clapping one against the other to frighten 
the vampire-bat and a kind of jay which lodge on the trees and 
destroy a great quantity of fruit. The ibis, stork, crane, adjutant-
crane, and several other birds, build their nests in the shady trees 
, \ 
of the town. A market is held daily, which is well attended: 
grain, oxen, sheep, and all the necessaries of life, abound. A tame 
ostrich is kept in the market-place to avert the evil eye-a Bornou 
and eastern custom. There are several places of prayer in the 
town, but one principal mosque or jama, as they call them, stands 
on the right of the governor's house, forming one side of the 
square before his door. The inhabitants may amount to about 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 167 
twenty or twenty-five thousand, the greater part of whom are 
refugees from 13ornou and Wadey, and their descendants, who are 
all engaged in trade: from the little I saw of them, they appeared 
to be cl~anly, civil, and industrious. In the afternoon I went 
through a great number of these houses, shooting pigeons, of which 
there are four kinds here: the domestic or house pigeon, the large 
wood dove, a larger kind with a fleshy substance round the outside 
of the eye like the carrier pigeon, and the small dove with purple 
breast and black ring round the neck. The inhabitants offered 
not the least objections to my shooting in their court-yards, but 
were as much amused as I was, and afforded me every assistance 
in procuring the wounded birds. At sunset I took leave of the 
governor, who lent me a horse and a messenger to go with me 
early to Kano to provide a house, for I had not yet heard from 
Hadje Salah. The governor's son sent me a present of a turkey 
and some wheat, but I sent him nothing in return, as all my things 
were packed up ready for starting. 
Thursday, ~Oth.-Daylight, fresh breezes and cloudy; ther-
mometer, at sunrise, 75° Fahrenheit. Landed the bullocks, and 
saw them out of the north gate of Baebaegie, when I started 
ahead, on the horse I had borrowed from the governor, his servant 
and the messenger of Zaria accompanying me. I left the baggage 
in charge of Richard, desiring him to halt at the nearest town 
or village if it should come on to rain, and not to start in the 
morning if the weather was bad. l\Iy road was through a well-
cultivated country, the soil clay and gravel ; the villages were 
numerous, the inhabitants of which were busy in their plantation:;, 
dressing up the earth to the roots of the dourra, and hoeing away 
the weeds. The road was broad and good, thronged with passen-
gers, a es amI bullocks loaded 'with goods and grain, going to and 
returning from Kano. At 7 A. 1\1. crossed a small stream which 
runs south and falls into the Girkwa. At 8. 30 A. M. passed the 
168 JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANG, 
town of Madagie, which is walled, and appeared to be well filled 
with houses and inhabitants. At noon, arrived at the banks of the 
river which passes ' Girkwa, and which rises amongst the hills of 
Aushih. All the streams to the south of the granite ridge passing 
Roma, close to the south of Kashna, fall into this river. One con-
siderable river passing Duncomee and Fariroa, flows south of Kano 
close to the walls of Girkwa, runs east past the town and hills of 
Dushie, near Katagum, and enters the river Y oau near Hadega. 
This is the river which has .b een spoken of by ,the Arabs a~ coming 
from Timbuctoo, and contin'uing its course to the Nile of Egypt. 
It is dry for nearly the whole length of its course during six 
months: the stream, when full, is broad but shallow; at this place, 
about '100 or 1~0 yards across: its waters are now muddy with 
yesterday's rains; the depth five feet. I got wet up to the middle 
as I crossed, the horse I rode being a small one, and at times off his 
legs and swimming, I ha~ted on the other side to dry my clothes, 
and ·after an hour's rest under a tree, when my clothes were pretty 
well drained and half dry, I again started, and, about five in the 
evening, arrived at" the city of Kano. 
CHAPTER v. 
JOURNEY FROM KANO TO THE CAMP OF DELLO, AND FROM THENCE 
TO SOCCATOO. 
ON entering Kano, I immediately bent my way to the house of 
my former agent, Hadje Hat Salah Byoot ; but I soon saw that both 
he and the Arabs that were present would rather I had come from 
the eastward: they were all in fact in low spirits about the war 
with Bornou, which had shut them out, for some time past, from 
all communication with Fezzan or Tripoli. The caravan for these 
countries had left Kano twenty days ago for Kashna, to try whether 
they could not succeed to get home by way of the Tuaric desert. 
This has deprived me of the opportunity of sending home my 
journals and letters; but it would have been a great risk, as they 
have to go through the capital of the son of the former sultan of 
Kashna, who is in rebellion against the Fellatas; and the 'I'uarics 
have not allowed a caravan to pass, except those of the merchants 
of Ghadamis, for these many years past; and on these they levy a 
contribution. 
Hadje Hat Salah Byoot, my former and present agent, is the 
richest man in Kano, an Arab of the tribe of Majabra, inhabiting 
the country to the east of Augela, adjoining it. They, like the 
Augela people, are great merchants. He was formerly the agent 
and merchant of the hereditary governors of Fezzan; he was the 
cause of their being removed and dispel" ed by the bashaw of 
z 
170 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
Tripoli, who would still have continued the family in the govern-
ment, if they had not prevented his people of Tripoli, and the other 
towns on the sea-coast, from trading to the interior. They even 
prevented, all in their power, the bashaw's sending Mohamed El 
Mukni with presents and a letter to the king ofWaday; they went 
so far as to endeavour to stimulate the chiefs of the Tibbo tribes to 
cut them off, offering them a reward and protection if they would 
do so. Mukni and his people were accordingly attacked on their 
return, but by their bravery beat the Tibbos in every attack. \iVhen 
they found they could not destroy them in this manner, they bribed 
the guides, who led them astray in the desert, where all their 
slaves, and most of their camels, perished; and Mukni arrived at 
Tripoli with the remains of the mer<>~hants, who were mostly all 
ruiNed. A few years after this, the bashaw sent another mission 
under Mukni, with.jWesents to the sultan of Dornou, and was again 
accompanied by a number of merchan~s from the sea-coast. The 
governor or sultan of Fezzan did not try by open force this time 
to oppose Mukni's passing Mour2Juk, but sent again to the Tibbo 
chiefs and Hadje Salah, to Dornou, to prejudice the sultan against 
Mukni; but all without effect. Some of the Tibbo chiefs were now 
friends with Mukni, and gave him the letters the governor of 
Fezzan had sent him. The sultan of Dornou was much pleased 
with the bashaw's present, and gave every encouragement to the 
people of Tripoli to come and trade to the interior, and sent a 
large present of slaves, ivory, &c. to Mukni for the bashaw, who had 
carried him two small field-pieces, those now in possession of the 
sheikh; but the Fellatas invaded and took the capital, and all the 
presents were lost. Notwithstanding this, on MUk.ni's return to 
Tripoli empty-handed, he was followed by Hadje Salah, who did 
all he could to prevent the people of Waday from serving him, by 
selling him the provisions necessary for him and his people in 
crossing the desert. He fiTst got the people of Kanem to attack 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 171 
the Tripoli caravan; the people of the caravan of Fezzan not 
rendering them any assistance, and always encamping out of gun-
shot distance from them. N ext they were attacked in the Tibbo 
country, where the people of the Fezzan caravan assisted the 
Tibbos against them; but Mukni again overcame them, and ar-
rived at Mourzouk. Here the gates were shut against him, and 
every person was forbid to provide him or his people with pro-
visions, or hold any communication with him, on pain of death. 
Notwithstanding all these orders, they were supplied by their 
friends inside the town, principally the cadi, who used to send 
them out provisions on asses, as if laden with manure. After this, 
it was eighteen months before the bashaw would grant Mukni a 
force to depose the governor of Fezzan. 
Sunday, ~Oth.-This morning the whole city was thrown into 
considerable alarm by a merchant from Ghadamis being found 
strangled in his bed. His female slaves were suspected of being 
guilty of the murder, as two or three similar cases had happened 
before. The governor of Kano sent to Hadje Salah, as chief of the 
Arabs, to know what he would have done on the occasion; whether 
the slaves should be sold out of the country, or whether they should 
be put to death. It had been customary, in cases of this kind, to 
send the perpetrators of similar crimes to the sea-coast, to be sold 
to the slave-dealers. Hadje Salah and the principal Arabs came to 
my house before they ,,~'ent to the governor, to ask my advice on 
the occasion, and to know what we should do if such a thing were 
to happen in England. I told them, that all the slaves would be 
confined separately, and strictly examined, and that if the fact was 
proved, all those concerned ,,"ould be hanged-not one would 
e cape. They said that was the proper way, and that no man would 
be safe in Kano if they were to escape. I took this opportunity of 
asking them how many laves there were in Kano in proportion to 
free men; they said, about thirty slaves to every free man. I told 
z 9. 
17~ FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
them they had better keep a good look out, as, were the men once 
to know their own strength, they would soon take the place from 
their masters. 1 informed them in what manner the slaves in St. 
Domingo had made themselves free; and pointed out to them the 
case of the slaves in Y ourriba, who had killed their masters, and 
now formed a free people there. 
Monday, 521st.-l visited the governor, who was very civil and 
talkative. He said that the gadado was coming to Kano, but if I 
wished to go before he came, I should have a camel to carry Bell~'s 
present, and two men, as also a messenger; but he added, that it 
was very uncomfortable travelling at present, for every day ~nd . 
night the men and camels were out in the last expedition at Donna, 
that they had been exposed to very heavy rains, and that most of 
the people and animals were knocked up. I said I was all ready to 
go, and, if he had no objection, I would start the day after to-
morrow. He said, well; and sent for a messenger, to whom he 
gave strict charge to see me well used and lodged, and safe into 
the hands of the gadado. I found two of my oarometer tubes 
broken in the box, by the sudden transition from heat to cold in a 
tornado. 
Tuesday, 22d.-Foun{l I had made a mistake in the month of 
May, having given it only thirty days instead of thirty-one. 
Wednesday, Q3d.-Rain and lightning all day, so that I could 
not start in the afternoon. I waited on the governor and took 
leave. 
Thursday, Mth.-At 9 A. M., it having rained all the morning, 
I had the camels loaded, and took leave of my servants, whom I 
left, with much regret, in a land where they were perfect strangers. 
Richard was still unwell with dysentery. I left with him in-
structions how to proceed home in the event of my death, and also 
strict 'orders to Hadje Salah to afford him and Pascoe every assist-
ance, even the sa.me he would have given to me, and that he would 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 173 
be well paid by the consul at Tripoli. I also desired him to allow 
Richard one thousand cowries, to keep the house and horse; my 
poor little Boussa mare having died a few days before. I had been 
obliged to draw a bill for five hundred Spanish dollars in favour of 
Hamada ben Medoon, for which I had to take a horse at more than 
double its price, and only got 1500 cowries for each dollar-just 
one half,-such is the rate of the country. This money I left in 
the hands of Hadje Salah for the use of my servants, which 
amounted to 250,000 cowries (not 100 dollars), the price of the 
horse being 500,000 cowries. I left them with much legret, as I 
was in very bad health myself. I was accompanied as far as the 
horse gate (Coffin Dalkie) by Hadje Salah, Shereef Ali, a Tunis 
merchant, Hamada ben Medoon, and all the principal Arabs, as 
they thought that I should bring about a peace between the sheik 
of Bornou and Bello. 
After leaving the walls of Kano the country was well cultivated 
on every side, and planted with Indian corn, millet, dOUl·a, potatoes, 
indigo, and cotton; but the road was very disagreeable, all the 
hollows being full of water. At 11. 40 came to a stream of running 
water, at this season at least a quarter of a mile broad. At 1 Q. 30 
got all the people, and baggage, and the camels, across. I \Va ' 
wet up to my seat in the saddle, and once or twice the horse was 
swimming. Started again, and at four halted at the walled town 
of Toffa, the walls of which, since the death of Duntungwa, the 
rebellious governor of Dumburta, have been allowed to go to 
decay; and unless they are soon repaired and built up, the town 
will, in a year or two, be without walls. I was provided with a 
house, and had even milk and pudding-not like our puddings in 
Bl"itain, but Indian corn-flour boiled in an earthen pot, and stirred 
with a large stick, without salt or fat, and, when thick enough, it is 
made up into pieces of about two pounds each, and eaten with 
milk, if it can be got; if not, with a sauce made of the dried leaves 
- ./ 174 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
of a certain plant and a little butter. It is the general food for the 
second meal in all parts between the Quorra and Bornou, and some-
times also in the latter place, if they have millet. 
They are now gathering in the indigo, which they cut about 
two or three inches above the ground, bringing what they cut off' 
home, and strip off'the leaves, which are laid in a circular heap, and 
left to rot or ferment until the end of the rains, when it is beaten 
in the troughs or wooden mortars, and allowed to remain until dry. 
In other places they beat it in the troughs as soon as cut, and let 
it remain until dry, when what they do not want for use is carried 
to Kano and sold. 
The houses in Toff'a are few, and all the spare places in the 
town are planted with millet and doura. The inhabitants do not 
amount to more than two thousand. During the night we had 
thunder, lightning, and rain. 
Friday, Q5th.-Morning clear and fail'; gave the head man ten 
gom nuts, ar.d my landlord ten, and started at 7. 10 A. M. The 
~ country cultivated only in parts; saw several large herds of very 
, fine cattle belonging to the F ellatas. They follow the cry of the 
herdsman, which is ah /tea hay! in a soft but shrill cry, and the 
cattle, lowing, follow the sound. At ten passed a walled town called 
lGawa; and at noon another walled town called q-agai. At this 
last town the land was all in cultivation. Formerly, when Dun-
tungwa was living, they durst not stir out of their towns; now he 
is dead, and his son submitted to Bello, everyone tries who can 
plant the most. / At Q P. M. arrived and halted at a walled town 
called Gongodi, where I was provided with a house. 'I~he walls 
of this town are also falling to pieces. All the spare places 'were 
planted with millet and doura. A plentiful market was holden 
outside of the town. In the shady tree close to the house in which 
I lived were birds, a little larger than our sparrows, with a jet-black 
head, and a bright yellow in the neck, breast, belly, and under the 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 175 
wings, and the back a dusky green; chirped just like the sparrow: 
hundreds were building their nests in this and the other trees, 
which they do at the extreme branches or twigs, and are sown 
together with leaves; the nests are platted with grass, and have 
their entrance at the bottom. Both male and female work at the 
nest, and they lay about six or seven eggs. During this season 
they are very busy, and keep up a constant. chirruping and fiutter 
under their nests and about the trees. 
Saturday, 26th.-Last evening I had a long and severe fit of 
the ague, which continued on me until daylight. In the morning 
it came on to rain, thunder, and lighten, which continued until 
near noon, when it cleared up. I hlld the camels loaded, giving . 
the head man of the town twenty-seven gora nuts, as he had sent 
me a young sheep, plenty of milk, and corn for my horse. Left 
Gongodi; the path winding through plantations of millet, dOUl'a, 
cotton, and indigo here and there dispersed in the w<?ods. Crosse~ 
a small river, and several streams whose courses -were to the east-
ward. The soil a red clay mixed with sand, and only scraps of 
rock, of clay ironstone, and large blocks of granite. The water 
from the leaves of the trees made us all wet, and one time I had 
nearly lost my eye by the branch of a tree while looking at my 
compass; as it was, I got my face badly torn. At 2. 30 P.:M. it 
came on to rain, and being close to the town of Koki, I halted for 
the night. The walls of this town are also falling to decay; but I 
observe with pleasure that as the walls have fallen the houses ap-
pear to have increased. I was provided with as good a house as 
the place afforded, and was plentifully supplied with provisions . 
Sunday, Q7th.-Clear morning, with light flying clouds. At 
6.30 A.l\I. left Kohl. I gave the head man thirty gora nuts, as he 
had given me a plentiful supply of milk, and millet for my horse and 
camel. The road was excessively wet, being nearly every step mid-
leg deep, and very slippery. The decayed ant-bills not being seen. 
176 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
the camels several times sunk up to their bellies, when they had 
to be unloaded. I constantly rode behind them, both for the 
safety of myself and horse, as also to render that assistance and 
encouragement to my servants which was necessary, who certainly 
suffered much, having to wade by the side of the camels the 
whole way. Thank God! not one fell sick, or uttered the least 
complaint. I sent the Kano messenger on a.head, as I heard the 
gadado was on his way to Kano, and only a day or two distant 
from me, to request he would detain the governor of Adamowa 
until my arrival, as that person had only left Kano a few days be-
fore me with his retinue; and, in the event of my joining him, I 
should not have any occasion to wait at the town of Torri for an 
escort to conduct me th;ough the woods of Goudami. At 11. 30 
passed the town of Duncamie; after which the roads were the worst 
I have ever seen, or rather, in fact, there were no roads at all. Every 
where the surface was a swamp, the men sometimes up to their 
middles in water for half an hour at a time; the path leading through 
fields of millet and doura. Thus the road continued until 5. 30, when 
it came on to rain, thunder, and lighten. My servants stripped to 
the buff, and put their shirts under the hides that covered the bag-
gage, to preserve them dry until they halted. I got wet to the skin, 
yet had a burning thirst-at times hardly able to sit on horseback, 
until relieved by vomiting. I would gladly have lain down any 
·where, but there was not a spot clear of water. In this condition 
myself, my men, and animals continued until 6.80 P. M. when I 
arrived, and halted at the town of Jaza, in the province of Kashna, 
where I lay down by a fire in the house of t.he head man of the 
town, after being assisted off my horse. At no time am I possessed 
of a sweet and passive temper, and when the ague is coming on me 
it is a little worse. The head man made a great many difficulties; 
I gave it to him in all the Houssa language I possessed; but it was all 
lost on him. These Kashna bears are rude, and though they pride 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 177 
themselves on being the most polite and the best in Houssa, calling 
all the rest infidels. He, to make up the peace, left me in pos-
session of the house, and ordered his servants to get food for my 
people, horse, -and camels. I suffered severely during the night 
with ague and cramp. 
Monday, 28th.-Morning clear. As I did not intend starting 
early, on account of last night's illness and the people getting the 
wet things dry, at ten the governor of Kano's messenger arrived, 
whom I had sent to the Gadado, with a request from him that I 
would stop for the day and he would meet me, as he intended halting 
at J aza. At 11 A. M. the Gadado arrived, with a numerous train of 
attendants on horseback and on foot. The horsemen armed with 
spears, swords, and shields; the foot with swords, bows, and arrows. 
The women were behind; some riding on horseback a-straddle, some 
on camels, others, less fortunate, were walking, and carrying the 
gourds and kitchen utensils. As he passed my house I went out 
to see him: he had four long trumpets and a pipe, like the pipe 
of a bagpipe, and two drums before him. When he came up he 
dismounted, and taking me by the hand, we walked, hand in hand, 
to the house prepared for him. He inquired kindly after my health, 
and how I had found my friends in England; said Bello had received 
my letter from Koolfu, in Nyffe, and had sent a messenger there to 
bring me up: he said he had never received my letter from Bornou 
appointing where his messengers were to meet me on the coast, 
neither had he received the one sent from Katagum. The Gadado 
advised me to return to Kano with him, as the roads were so very 
bad ahead; that to uch a small party as mine it would be impoE-
'ible to get through; that he would have sent to the governor of 
Adamowa, but he was already five days' journey ahead of me, and 
nO mes engel' could overtake him before he got to Soccatoo; that 
it would be better both for my health and comfort to go and re-
turn with him after the rains, and that I should want for nothing. 
Aa 
178 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
I said I would take his advice, as, from my own ill health and the 
badness of t~e roads, I saw we should soon be all knocked up, both 
man and beast. I had a plentiful supply of every thing. 
Wednesday, Oct. 1 1t h.-Last night my horse died, and this morn-
ing! lost my pocket journal and remark book*", spectacles, inkhorn, 
and pens, &c., which my servant had laid on the saddle outside the 
door of my hut, ready for me when I came out. The person in 
whose house I had lodged while at 'Baebaegie I had permitted 
to remain in the same e~closure; and my servant at once accused 
him and his men of the theft. I was desirous of searching them, 
but they made off the moment that the theft was discovered. 
At 7 A. M. I proceeded on my journey, passed through a large 
village, and several times crossed the river which I have frequently 
before mentioned as coming from the granite hills, to the south of 
Kashna ;-it here winds beautifully, with steep and high-~ooded 
banks, sometimes composed of rock, and sometimes a mixture of 
clay and rock. My camels I could hardly get along, as they were 
neatly worn out with sores and fatigue. The country around Zur-
mie is well cultivated, and planted with millet, Indian corn, and 
douna. The villages are numerous, the soil a light red clay, mixed 
with small crumbling rocks scattered over the surface, which is 
generally covered with a thin layer of sand. 
The army has now increased to a large size, the forces of 
Zurmie and Jaroba having joined, the roads on every side crowded 
with horse and foot, camels, bullocks, and 'asses, all striving who 
shall get foremost. Some of the people of Zurmie are entirely 
naked, save only tanned sheep skin bound round the loins, cut into 
tassels, and ornamented with cowries, their woolly hair cut in parts , 
or shaved, the .rest plaited and formed into crests, circles, &c, Some 
have it drawn out, and hanging in' shaggy ringlets, which gives 
them a wild and savage appearance. 
* It does not appear that he ever recovered them-hence the kiatlls in the journal. 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 179 
About noon, arrived and halted at Quarrie, and immediately 
waited on the Gadado, to inform him of the robbery, and by whom 
I had every reason to suspect it was committed. He 'promised to 
send off to the governor of Kano, and to desire him to have the 
people of Baebaegie searched; and there was little doubt but that 
I would have my books restored. 
By the assistance of one of the Gadado's principal officers and 
a near relation, I hired a bullock to carry my baggage to Soccatoo 
for 5000 cowries; as, after the load had been removed from the 
back of the camel that was worn out, the poor creature was unable 
to rise, and was in consequence killed, and the carcass distributed 
among the poor. 
Thursday, 12th.-Morning clear. Having waited in vain for 
the stolen property until mid-day, I then started, and found that 
the bullock which had been hired for me was miserably thin, and 
had the itch very bad; and that if offered for sale, it would not 
have brought me more than 3 or 4000 cowries. 
After leaving Quarrie, the road lay through plantations of mil-
let and dourra. Passed through several villages and one walled 
town, also called Quarrie; crossed the river Foutchir, at a ford 
about four feet deep. The river was upwards of one hundred yards 
broad, and full of water, with a current of about two and a half or 
three miles an hour; the banks low, sandy, and woody; and here 
it is close to its junction with the river Quarrie, which is OIl our 
right, running to the north. 'Ve travelled along its banks for an 
hour; and after leaving it, the country became a succession of sandy 
ridges and swamps, and thick woods, the principal trees of which 
were the acacia and a mimosa. Both my bullocks and camel were 
fairl) exhausted; and I had to wait until these animals had got 
some rest, and until the heat of the day was over: the poor camel 
\Va unable to move. 
At sunset, no assistance arriving from the Gadado, and no mes-
AAQ 
180 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
senger with my lost books, I hired five of the footmen belonging 
to Zamfra, to carry the camel's load for ~woo cowries, as far as the 
camp; and the exhausted camel I left to its fate. We had not 
proceeded far, however, before a messenger arrived from the Gadado 
with a camel, when the loads were taken from the bearers by force, 
by the Gadado's messenger; but I gave them 500 cowries for their 
assistance, and they were well pleased, and returned me many 
thanks. My servants had carried the greater part of the bullock's 
load on their heads all day; and I could not but admire their 
patience, as their only food in the morning was a little ground 
dourra and water; and of this I was also obliged to partake. 
It was 9 P. M. before we arrived at the camp, which was by 
the side of a lake. I sent my present to . the Gadado, to carryon 
his camels, as all that was now left me was a bullock with the itch, 
which we could hardly drive along, with only the tent, my servants 
carrying the rest. All that I had to eat was a little ground Indian 
corn, boiled with salt and water; and I slept in the open air. 
The governors of the several provinces had each a singing or 
crying man, in addition to the drums and horses. The one of 
Zegzeg was the most disgusting, being a large black man, mounted 
on horseback, with an unshaven head, roaring out like a person in 
great agony, and every now and then screaming out as loud as he 
could bawl, and calling me a Kaffir, threatening to eat me. In the 
morning, at an early hour, I left our place of encampment; and 
ascending a gravelly ridge, I had an extensive view to the west 
and south-west, over the extensive plains and swamps ofGondamie. 
The soil on the ridge was a red clay and gravel, the trees low and 
stunted. At noon, halted for the bullock to rest; and at 1 P. M. 
got him to move on again. At 5 P. M. halted on the borders of 
a large lake, which is formed by the rivers Zurmie and Zal'l'ie-or, 
more properly speaking, a chain of lakes and swamps, extending 
through all, or the greater part of, the plains of Gondamie, ap-
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 181 
proaching nearly to Soccatoo. The borders of these lakes are the 
resort of numbers of elephants and other wild beasts. The appear-
ance at this season, and at the spot where I saw it, was very beau-
tiful; all the acacia trees were in blossom, some with white flowers, 
others with yellow, forming a contrast with the small dusky leaves, 
like gold and silver tassels on a cloak of dark green velvet. I ob-
served some fine large fish leaping in the lake. Some of the troops 
were bathing; others watering their horses, bullocks, camels, and 
asses: the lake as smooth as glass, and flowing around the roots of' 
the trees. The sun, on its approach to the horizon, throws the 
shadows of the flowery acacias along its surface, like sheets of bur-
nished gold and silver. The smoking fires on its banks, the sound-
ing of horns, the beating of their gongs or drums, the braying of 
their brass and tin trumpets, the rude huts of grass or branches of 
trees rising as if by magic, every where the calls on the names of 
Mahomed, Abdo, Mustafa, &c., with the neighing of horses and the 
braying of asses, gave animation to the beautiful scenery of the lake, 
and its sloping green and woody banks . 
. The only regulation that appears in these rude feudal armies 
is, that they take up their ground according to the situation of the 
provinces, east, west, north, or south; but all are otherwise huddled 
together, without the least regularity. The man next in rank to 
the governor of each province has his tent placed nearest to him, 
and so on. I always found out my quarters, which were close to 
the Gadado, by inquiring what province the people belonged to. 
In the evening, the governor sent me a present of a sheep, and 
directly afterwards ordered a musquet to be brought to me, that I 
might put a screw to its lock; and on my declaring that I had no 
screws,and could not make one, his people went ofI'rather dissatisfied, 
and shortly afterwards I mi sed my powder horn, which was hang-
ing, with my gun and sword, to the branch of a tree: the rascals 
had tolen it. 
182 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
I now was informed, for the first time, by the Gadado, that 
before we went to Soccatoo, we should have to go by Coonia, the 
capital of Goobur, neal' which the sultan Bello was then encamped, 
with the forces from Soccatoo; and which place they intended to 
take before they returned to Soccatoo. The Kano troops are 
considered to be the best, and found to be more orderly than any 
of the others, but, on the whole, they are the poorest, and the most 
inefficiept I ever saw, or could have imagined. 
Saturday, 14th.- Morning cool and clear, but a heavy dew had 
made me quite wet and chilly. At 5. 40 A. M. left our encamp-
ment, the path generally skirting along the banks of the lake. 
Saw the traces of elephants every where,and last night the lions were . 
roaring close to the camp. The heat of the sun from nine in the 
morning to three in the afternoon was the most oppressive I had 
ever felt it; and the dust raised by the number of men, and animals 
all pressing forward as hard as they could, made the air at times 
quite suffocating; and now that we are supposed to be surrounded 
by enemies, it is who shall be foremost : no halting is allowed. My 
servant, with a load on his head, was obliged to lead on the fatigued 
bullock; and I, with another servant, managed to drive it along at 
a quick pace, but not without incessant beating, which, in a country 
like ours, famed for its humanity, would have appeared extreme 
cruelty; but a man will do many things here in Africa, that his 
humanity would revolt at in our more happy country. 
At 4. 40 P. M. halted along with the camp, fatigued and low-
_spirited; for what with the loss of my horse and camel, and what 
is still worse than all, my books and journal, leaving me only some 
loose paper and a pencil; when I beheld my servants carrying 
loads on their heads, and myself assisting and encouraging them to 
drive beyond its speed a poor scabbed and worn out bullock along 
the road; and when I have no prospect before me, but to subsist 
on water and boiled Indian corn, I cannot but feel a disposition to 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 183 
despond; but I trust things are now at the worst. Our place of 
halting was on the banks of a creek branching from the lake, very 
low and wet. My consolation is, that Bello is not at a great 
distance from us, and has sent to-day to ask after my health, and 
how I stood the fatigues of the journey. 
Sunday, 15th.-Morning clear. At 5. 45 left our encampment, 
and at 9 arrived at a spot in the swampy wood where a stream of 
water was running through it. W' e had to cross this stream, which 
was about twenty yards in width, the banks steep, and water deep, 
appearing as if it had been artificially cut for a canal. 'Ve crossed 
it without accident, though many of the party, with their camels, 
bullocks, horses, and baggage, crowding together, were seen sticking 
in groups in the boggy swamp. I had not gone many paces on the 
other side before my horse sunk to the belly; and as I did not im-
mediately dismount, thinking to ride him through, I got severely 
hurt on the pommel of the saddle, by his plunging. At last I got 
off, put the saddle on my head, and got him to a firmer spot under 
a tree; close to which, I found my servants endeavo'uring to drag 
the bullock out of the place where he also had sunk. I sat as a 
guard over my baggage; but all the exertions of my people could 
not get the poor ox out, and I called them off to rest, sending one 
to the cam p for assistance. 
In the mean time, some of the people of Zamfra, coming post 
without loads or arms, were on their way to assist their friends, 
who were sticking in the mud, and to drag the governor's baggage 
out of the swamp. I asked them, in a good-natured way, to lend a 
hand to help out my bullock, that was still sticking in the bog. 
"'Ve ll," say they, "christian, give us that meat you have got in 
your dish, and we will assist you." "Take it," said I, "my lads ;" and 
giving them the sheep' heart, which was boiled and covered with 
fat, they divided it among them j and going to the spot where the 
unfortunate bullock was, had him out in an instant. 
After letting the bullock breathe a little, \\e tar ted again, but 
184 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
had new difficulties to encounter. There was a second stream to 
cross, worse than the former: I stripped, and waded over, leading 
my horse. On the other side, under a tree, I found a sick Fellata 
unable to move, with a burning fever, a native of one of the neigh-
bouring villages; his friends, he said, had taken away his horse, 
and left him there, to the mercy of whoever might choose to assist 
him. 
About mid-day arrived at the court of Bello; the Gadado saw 
me passing to my quarters, and sent to request I would halt, and 
to say I must go to the sultan, who would excuse every thing about 
my dre~s, as he was so anxious to see me.' I accordingly dismounted, 
and accompanying the Gadado, we were instantly shown into the 
residence of Bello, which was formed ()f a number of huts, screened 
off by cloth fixed to poles, making quite a little village of itself. 
His reception of me was most kind and gratifying; he asked after 
the health of the king of England, and if we were still at peace, 
. and how I had found all my friends. He was surprised when I 
said I had not seen them, and that I had remained only four months 
in England. He said, he had not received either of my letters, the 
one from Bornou, or that which had been sent by the way of Gha-
dam is from Tripoli. He asked me if I had not experienced a great 
many difficulties in getting through Yourriba; said he had heard 
of me when I was at Eyeo or Katunga, and that he had sent a 
messenger to that place, to assist me in getting through; and had 
also sent another to Koolfu; but neither of whom, as I told him, 
had I seen. 
During this interview, it began to rain, thunder, and lighten 
very heavily; but as he and the old Gadado remained exposed to it, 
I was of course obliged to do so too. He had heard, he observed, 
that our camels had died on the road, but said he would send one 
of his men with a camel this evening, and who would take care 
that all my baggage should arrive safely at Soccatoo; but that it 
would be better that every thing should remain with me, until my 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 185 
setting out for the capital, where I could then deliver to him the 
present, and the king of England's letter, as he intended making 
an attack on the capital of Goobur on the morrow. The rain having 
now ceased, I was permitted to take leave, and made the best of my 
way to that part of the camp assigned to me, which was not far 
distant from the sultan's abode. 
During the night, a pretty strict guard was kept, by horsemen 
in quilted armour; and all the horses in the camp were saddled at 
sunset, and remained so during the night. 
Bello's appearance was very little altered from what it was when 
I saw him last, except that he had got a little lustier, and dressed 
somewhat better. He was dressed to-day in a white striped muslin 
shirt and turban, and the finest tobes that the country produces. 
Monday, 16th.-Morning clear, with a heavy dew. At 4 A.M. 
all was ready for commencing the war; but it was six before they 
started; the intermediate time being spent mostly in praying. I 
kept close to the Gadado, as it was his wish I should do so. Our 
path was through the plantations of millet and dourra of the enemy. 
At 8, the sultan halted under a tree, and gave orders for a camp to 
be formed, which was speedily done by the troops, cutt.ing or pulling 
up the millet and dourra, and making huts, fences, and screens of 
the stalks. I waited on the sultan, who was dismounted, and sitting 
under the shade of the tree, near which he had halted. He was 
l-1urrounded by the governors of the different provinces, who were 
all, with the exception of the governor of Adamawa, better dressed 
than himsclf. 
After the midday prayer, all, except the eunuchs, camel 
drivel' , and such other servants as were of use only to prevent 
theft, whether mounted or on foot, marched toward the object 
of attack; and soon arrived before the walls of the city. I 
also accompanied them, and took up my station close to the 
Gadado. The march had been the most disorderly that can be 
BB 
186 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
imagined; horse and foot intermingling in the greatest confusrtm, 
all rushing to get forward; sometimes the followers of one chief 
tumbling amongst those of another, when swords were half un-
sheathed, but all ended in making a face, or putting on a threaten-
ing aspect. We soon arrived before Coonia, the capital of the 
rebels of Goobur, which was not above half a mile in diameter, 
being nearly circular, and built on the bank of one of the branches of 
the river, or lakes, which I have mentioned. Each chief, as he came 
up, took his station, which, I suppose, had previously been assigned 
to him. The number of fighting men br.ought before the tmm 
could not, I think, be less than fifty or sixty thousand, horse and 
foot, of which the foot amounted to more than nine-tenths. For 
the depth of two hundred yards, all round the walls was a dense 
circle of men and horses. The horse kept out of bow-shot, while 
the foot went up as they felt courage or inclination, and kept up 
a straggling fire with about thirty muskets, and the shooting 
of arrows. In front of the sultan, the Zegzeg troops had one 
French fusil: the Kano forces had forty-one muskets. These 
fellows, whenever they fired their pieces, ran out of bow-shot to 
load; all of them were slaves; not a single Fellata had a musket. The 
enemy kept up a sure and slow fight, seldom throwing away their 
arrows until they saw an opportunity ofletting fly with effect. Now 
and then a single horse would gallop up to the ditch, and brandish 
his spear, the rider taking care to cover himself with his large 
leathern shield, and return as fast as he went, generally calling out 
lustily, when he got among his own party, " Shields to the wall!" 
" You people of the Gadado, or Atego," &c., "why don't you 
hasten to the wall ?" To which some voices would call out, "Oh! 
you have a good large shield to cover you!" The cry of " Shields 
,to the wall" was constantly heard from the several chiefs to their 
troops; but they disregarded the cali, and neither chiefs nor vassals 
moved from the spot. At length the men in quilted armour went 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 187 
up "per order." They certainly cut not a bad figure at a distance, 
as their helmets were ornamented with black and white ostrich 
feathers, and the sides of the helmets with pieces of tin, which 
glittered in the sun, their long quilted cloaks of gaudy colours 
reaching over part of the horses' tails, and hanging over the flanks. 
On the neck, even the horse's armour was notched, or vandyked, to 
look like a mane; on his forehead and over his nose was a brass or 
tin plate, as also a semicircular piece on each side. The rider was 
armed with a large spear; and he had to be assisted to mount his 
horse, as his quilted cloak was too heavy; it required two men to 
lift him on; and there were six of them belonging to each governor, 
and six to the sultan. I at first thought the foot would take 
advantage of going under cover of these unwieldy machines; but 
no, they went alone, as fast as the poor horses could bear them, 
which was but a slow pace. They had one musket in Coonia, and 
it did wonderful execution, for it brought down the van of the 
quilted men, who fell from his horse like a sack of corn thrown 
from a horse's back at a miller's door; but both horse and man were 
brought offby two or three footmen. He had got two balls through 
hi breast; one went through his body and both sides of the tobe; 
the othpr went through and lodged in the quilted armour opposite 
the shoulUers. 
The cry of" Allahu Akber," or, " God is great," was resounded 
through the whole army every quarter of an hour at least (this is 
the war· cry of the Fellatas); but neither this, nor" Shield to the 
wall," nor" 'Yhy don't the Gadado's people go up," had any 
effect, except to produce a scuffle among themselve. , when the 
chiefs would have to ride up and part their followers, who, instead 
offightinr' against the enemy, were more likely to fight with one 
another. There were three Arabs ofGhadamis in the army, armed 
at all points. Hameda, the sultan's merchant, was one. He wa 
mounted on a fine black Tuarick horse, armed with a pear and 
B B 2 
188 . FROM KANO TO SOCCATO'O. 
shield, an Arab musket, brace of pistols, blunderbuss, sword and 
dagger. The other two, Abdelkrim, and Beni Omar, armed ~ith 
musket, pistols, sword, and dagger. Abdelkrim was mQunted; 
Omar on foot, who received a ball from the Coonia musket, which 
carried away his cartouche box, with all his ammunition, early in 
the attack. The other two, Hameda and Abdelkrim, kept behind 
the sultan and Gadado the whole of the action, and always joined 
lustily in the cry of " Allahu Akber." Once Hameda asked me, 
when I was near him, why I did not j.oin in the cry: was it not a 
good place? I told him to hold his peace for a fool: my God 
understood English as well as Arabic. 
{The most useful, and as brave as anyone of us, was an old 
female slave of the sultan's, a native of Zamfra, five of whose 
former governors she said she had nursed. She was of a dark 
copper colour. In dress and countenance very like on·e of 
Captain Lyon's female Esquimaux. She was mounted on a 
long-backed bright bay horse, with a scraggy tail, crop-eared, 
and the . mane as if the rats had eaten part of it; and he was 
not in high condition. She rode a-straddle; had on a conical 
straw dish-cover for a hat, or to shade her face from the suq, a 
short dirty white bedgown, a pair of dirty white loose and wide 
tl'owsers, a pair of Houssa boots, which are wide, and came up 
over the knee, fastened with a string round the waist. She had also a 
whip and spurs. At her saddle-bow hung about haIfa dozen gourds, 
filled with water, and a brass basin to drink out of; and with this 
she supplied the wounded and the thirsty~ I certainly was much 
obliged to her, for she twice gave me a basin of water. The heat and 
dust made thirst almost intolerable. Numbers went into the shade 
as they got tired, and also to drink at the river. When it drew 
near ~unset the sultan dismounted, and his shield was held over 
him for a shade. In this way we continued until sunset, when 
the sultan mounted. We left the walls of Coonia for the camp4 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 189 
Upon the whole, it was as poor a fight as can possibly be imagined; 
and, though the doctrine of predestination is professed by Ma-
homedans, in no one instance have I seen them act as men believing 
such a doctrine. The feudal forces are most contemptible; ever ' 
more ready to fight with one another than they are with the enemy 
of their king and country, and rarely acting in concert. During the 
night we were cut offfrom water by the inhabitants of Coonia, and 
a cry was raised that they had come out to attack us, when the 
whole of the forces of Zamfra, horse and foot, were tumbling over us 
in our quarter, pell-mell, who should get the soonest out of danger. 
I had not undressed, but had my horse saddled, and the camels 
loaded. My servants would have run too, but I made them stop 
and load the camels, when I sent them off with those of the Gadado, 
which now only remained. 
The flags of the Fellatas are white, like the French, and their 
staff is a branch of a palm. They are not borne by men of honour, 
but by their slaves. The sultan had six borne before him; each of the 
governors had two. They also aU dress in white tobes and trowsers, 
as an emblem of their purity in faith and intentions. 
Tuesday, 17th.-Morning clear, with a heavy dew. 'Ve were 
last night disturbed several times by reports of the enemy's ap-
proach; and at one time so great was the confusion, that most of 
the people and animals of the camp were tumbling over each 
other, and rushing together to save what they could by flight. 
The forces of Zurmie, who were encamped nearest the town, fled 
through the general camp, upsetting every thing in their way. My 
servants would have followed, but I declared, if they started with-
out the baggage, I would shoot them. This threat, and my seizing 
the rifle to put it in execution, had the desired effect. I ordered 
them, however, to load the camels, after which I allowed them to 
go off, along with the camels of the Gadado. They begged hard 
190 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
that I would go with them; but I remained until the Gadauo and 
the sultan departed; and thus ended this harmless campaign, for 
at five in the ' morning both he and the Gadado set out, and at 
seven halted where we had suffered so much fatigue in getting 
through the swamps two days before. Here the south and eastern 
governors took leave of the sultan, and pursued the road we had 
come with them the other day, while I remained with the Soccatoo 
party. Our road lay once more along the banks of the lake. 
Numerous tracks of elephants, and other wild beasts, were every 
. where seen. The face of the country, on the higher grounds, was 
but thinly wooded, and the trees low and stunted, except in the 
ruins of towns, where they usually grow to a large size, and very 
luxuriant in foliage. No traces whatever of inhabitants. The 
sun was excessively hot; and only for the plentiful supply of water 
the lake afforded, we certainly must have died of thirst. At 7 
A. M. halted at an old encampment of the sultan. 
I now, for the first time, learnt t.he cause of our rapid flight, 
which was the desertion of the Zurmie forces, and all the foot; who 
had started on the first alarm, as they were all aware that the horse 
would not wait for them. I passed a number of the foot who were 
wounded, a very few of whom had been fortunate enough to pro-
cure bullocks to ride on. The rest were poor slaves, and were 
obliged to walk. One poor fellow had been wounded in the night, 
attempting to get water, for they had been cut offfrom the supply 
of that necessary article. The night we attacked the town, his 
face had been laid open by a sword, and he had received a severe 
wound in the arm. . His wounds were much swollen, as they were 
exposed both to the sun, and the cold of the night; and only tied 
up with a bandage or slip from the inner bark of a tree, whIch did 
not cover one half, or a third of the wound. 
Wednesday, 18th.-A t Q. 30 we left our encampment, ' and, 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 191 
half running, half walking along the Soccatoo road, which still 
skirts the banks of the river or lake, no appearance of inhabitants 
to be seen, passed the ruins of three towers; and the traces of ele-
phants and other wild beasts were numerous: the soil a deep red 
clay, mixed and covered with a thin layer of sand. At Q saw a 
range of hills extending from south-west to north-east, not of great 
elevation; as we approached them, the lakes and swamps took a di-
rection to the southward; the soil became clay and gravel, with 
rocks of clay iron-stone on the surface. At 5 we got amongst the 
ravines, and beds of torrents at the foot of the hills, and turning 
to a bend in the hills south, kept winding amongst them, fatigued 
and tired, until 10 the next morning, when I halted at one of the 
Fellata's former encampments. I passed many walking on foot, 
driving their horses before them, and for several miles before I 
came to the camp, the foot, some of whom we had now come up 
with, were lying along the road, unable to move further. My 
camels, which had got amongst the first, had halted two hours before. 
Thursday, 19th.-The road still lay over hills of clay iron-stone, 
imbedded in a dark red clay, for about four hours, when we arrived 
on their south-west side, where we had to pass about a mile and a 
half of low swampy ground, before we came to the ZUl'mie river, 
which was here broad, full, and running with a CUl'rent of about two 
miles and a half an hour to the westward; its depth at the ford 
about five feet, its breadth about sixty yards. As usual, there was 
a great. assemblage of horses, camels, bullocks, and asses, and of 
course great confusion, everyone striving to drive before the others. 
I stripped, and taking the bridle of my horse, plunged in, and drove 
him on before me. I got a severe head-ache, as the water was very 
cool, and I wa" warm. I lay down, after I had dressed, under a tree 
OR the other bank, until the camels had fed a little, when I started 
again. The river below forms a chain of lakes and swamp", kirting 
192 FROM KANO TOSOCCATOO. 
the south-west sides of the hills. Our road lay through plantations 
of cotton and millet. The sides of the road were crowded by the 
foot, with whom we were now come up. They looked miserable 
in the extreme from hunger and fatigue: a great many of the 
horsemen were walking, driving their poor goaded animals along. 
A t noon I arrived and halted at Magaria, a straggling town built 
among the hills, which was now a second range closing in to the 
north. This town is the sansan, or gathering place for their 
"armies, and is mostly inhabited by the slaves of the great in Soccatoo, 
who have all houses here, and their slaves, who are employed in 
raising grain, and tending the cattle, mostly reside here, and in 
the villages around . . The swampy plain, the river, and the lakes, 
extend about six miles to the westward, below Magaria; and from 
its situation in the gap of the hills must be verY ,unhealthy, from 
the north-east winds driving the vapoul's right through the town, 
which, in fact, is situated on the borders of the swamp. 
Morning clear. At 7 left Magaria, the Gadado and sultan having 
sent to me the evening before, to say, if I wished to go to Soccatoo 
and remain there, until they joined me, I might do so; as they in-
tended to stay for some days in Magaria, to see if the enemy was 
disposed to make an attack on them. I availed myself of this per-
mission; indeed I had met with nothing but losses and difficulties 
since I had joined the Fellata army. I therefore set out, and passed 
over a fertile country. Every spot capable of cultivation was 
planted with millet and dourra, which was in fine condition. In 
this district, they had a scarcity last year, and the year before, and 
many of the people had perished for want. 
After crossing the hills, which were composed of loose pieces 
of iron clay-stone, covered with sand, to the depth of a foot, I arrived 
at the river which runs close to the foot of the ridge or hill on 
which Soccatoo stands. The banks were crowded with people 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 193 
fishing. Their nets were formed like a bag, having a border of two 
small wands, which they held on each hand, to open the bag. The 
fish they caught were small white ones, which are usually carried 
to the market fried in butter, and sold at two cowries a-piece. 
At 3 I entered Soccatoo, and took possession of the same house 
I formerly inhabited; the Gadado having sent a messenger before 
me, to make every thing ready for my reception, and to provide for 
all my wants. 
c c 
CHAPTER VI. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO, TILL THE DEATH OF THE AUTHOR. 
SHORTLY after my arrival at Soccatoo, I was visited by all the 
Arabs of the place, who began to pay me a great many compliments, 
and after that, to beg every thing they saw in my possession. They 
immediately recollected my servant, Mahomed EI Siekis, who was 
formerly a slave of Bukhaloom, and the only one of his army who 
brought off the flag of the bashaw of Tripoli, at the battle with the 
Fellatas at Musfeia; and the same man who restored Major Denham 
his horse, when he thought he had lost it in that action. I had 
found this man a slave to a Fellata, in the town of Korfu, and 
bought him for 25,700 cowries, and gave him his liberty. These 
villains of Arabs now advised him to leave me, because I was a 
Christian; telling him that they would maintain him. I told him 
he was at full liberty to go, when and where he pleased; that he 
was now free, and no longer a slave: but I advised him 'hot to go 
:::~'away like a thief and abscond, but to leave me boldly and openly; 
at the same time I desired him only to look at the dirty and ragged 
tobes of his advisers, poor rascals, who were not able to buy soap 
to wash themselves or keep their clothes clean, still less to give him 
food, wages, and clothes as I did. 
On taking a survey of Soccatoo, I was not able to see much, if 
any, alteration in its buildings, though I understand it was nearly 
consumed by fire last winter, said to be the work of the rebels of 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 195 
Goobur; who, as the morning breezes at day-break come strong 
from the north-east, set fire to one house in that quarter, which 
spread rapidly, and consumed nearly two-thirds of the town before 
it could be stopped. It is now rebuilt just as it .was before. There 
are at present eleven gates into Soccatoo ; seven having been built 
up since the breaking out of the rebellion. 
There are ten cadies or judges, who, with old Ben Gumso, an 
Arab living here, whenever the sultan leaves the city, keep 'watch 
at the gates day and night, with their people, until his return. 
Each takes a gate, and has a temporary house of matting, built 
close inside to live in. Ben Gumso, on my arrival, sent to tell 
me where he was stationed, and that he could not come and see 
me, until the sultan should return, as the punishment for leaving 
his post would be death. I accordingly went to see him. He 
was standing at the door of his house; he had seven crazy Arab 
muskets, some of them without flint or ramrod; but, notwith-
standing all this, his post, on account of the muskets, was con-
sidered impregnable. 
Tuesday, ~4th.-In the afternoon a messenger arrived from the 
ultan and the Gadado, to inform me that, as the rebels were daily 
expected near Magaria, they did not know when they would be 
able to return to Soccatoo. They theretore wished me to return 
to that place, and remain with them, and sent two camels to carry 
my baggagc, and a horse for mysel£ The report here is, that the 
inhabitants of the neighbouring villages near Magaria have all 
Hed, and taken up their quarters there. 
'Vednesday, ~5th.-I did not start for Magaria to-day, as I had 
to lay in a stock of rice, bread, dried meat, and flour, as these arti-
cles are much dearer in Magaria, and bread not known. ::\Iagaria 
is in the province of Adir, which is also called Tadela, containing 
a great number of town. The inhabitants are for the greate t 
part negroes. The re t arc a half breed between the Tuaric and 
c c £ 
196 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
their slaves. The country is full of low rocky hills, and is well 
watered by lakes and streams. 
Thursday, 26th.-.-Morning cool and clear. At 8 A. M. I left 
Soccat00 for rMagaria. I was ill with a severe. cold, caught by my 
own carelessness, in throwing off my cloth trousers and worsted 
stockings on my arrival at Soccatoo. The sun being very hot, I 
was quite feverish. I halted at a village tills P. M., when I started 
agairi, and arrived at Magaria at 6 P. M., where a house had been 
prepared for me. I had messages from the sultan and Gadado, 
to inquire after my health. My spleen was considerably increased 
in one day; but I went to bed without tasting food: had a fire 
made at my bed-side, which procured me a good sweat, and I 
soon found myself better; though not lessening the swelling in my 
side, it eased the pain, as also the pain in my head and bones. 
Friday, ~7th.-Cool and clear. I found myself much relieved ; 
and the Gadado, paying me an early visit, said, if I was able, the 
sultan would receive his majesty's letters and presents. I imme-
diately dressed in my uniform, and the presents being ready packed 
in separate parcels, the time-piece, watch, &c. taken out of the tin 
cases, and all just as they had left the maker's hands, I went, ac-
companied by the Gadado, ,my servants and the servants of the 
Gadado carrying the presents, consisting of red silk umbrella, silver 
mounted; a message cane, silver mounted; twelve yards red damask; 
twelve yards sky blue; tweh:e yards red silk; twelve yards blue 
silk; twenty-four yards cambric; two pounds cloves; a fowling-
piece, brass mountings, single barrel; a plain fowling-piece, double 
barrel; a pair of pistols for his eldest son; two short swords; two 
boxes of rockets; a quantity of powder, balls, flints, and small shot; 
one ream of English foolscap paper; two bundles of black lead 
pencils; coloured prints of the royal family, battles, and a plain 
journal book; a small ditto; a dozen pair white cotton stock-
ings; a dozen pair white cotton gloves; a time-piece by Rigby; 
I 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 197 
gold watch by ditto; a Bramah pen; a pistol, detonating lock; 
two gilt chains; four clasp knives; a dressing-case complete; a 
magnifying looking-glass; two English bridles; a quantity of me-
dicines; two empty trunks; the New Testament in Arabic; that 
part of the Old Testament which was translated; the Koran in 
Arabic; Euclid's Elements in ditto; Ebn Senna in ditto; History 
of the Tartars under Tamerlane ; Psalms of David; several chapters 
of the Bible, with a number of other books in Arabic. To the 
Gadado a smaller collection of the same kind of articles. 
Saturday, 28th.-1 was visited this morning by Sidi Sheik, 
Bello's doctor, and one of his secretaries, who said he had a mes-
sage from the sultan for me, which, on his delivery, certainly sur-
prised 'me not a little, though 1 was cautious not to show him that 
I considered it as any thing but a thing of course. It was this, 
that the sultan had sent him to inform me that, by whatever road 
I might choose to return to England, he would send me, were it 
even by Bornou, if I should prefer that road; but that 1 should 
comider well before I decided upon that road, as he had to inform 
me that, when I was here two years ago, the Sheik of Bornou had 
written to him, advising him to put me to death; as, if the English 
should meet with too great encouragement, they would come into 
Soudan, one after another, until they got strong enough to seize 
on the country, and dispossess him, as they had done with regard 
to India, which they had wrested from the hands of the Maho-
metans: that Bello, however, had said, in reply, it would be a most 
£Ii,graceful thing in him to cau e an unprotected man to be put to 
death, and could only account for such conduct, on the part of the 
Sheik, after he himself had placed me under Bello's protection, to 
'eek a quarrel between hini and the Sultan Bello. 
J ob erved to Sidi Sheik, that it wa certainl), very extraordi-
nary to me, that the Sheik El Kanemi should have written in uch 
a manner; as he had ever behaved to me with the greatest kind-
198 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
ness, both b€fore I came to Soudan and on my return; and that, 
when I left Bomou for England, he had dismissed me with a 
handsome present, and the strongest expressions of friendship and 
.r egard. r added, that I must insist on seeing this extraordinary 
letteJ!, and ~Ilve l.copy of it; b~t he said that Bello had sent the 
lett€r to Gb'iia(;'; ' to his cousin Abdallah. I must positively see 
it, I rejoined; and also be allowed to take a copy of it before I leave 
this place; for I had a letter and presents from the king of Eng-· 
land for the Sheik. r then asked him what other path the sultan 
proposed. He replied that he would place me under the pro-
tection of a maraboot, or holy man, who would safely conduct me 
to the sultan of Borgoo, and from thence I might pass to the north-
ward, as far as the borders of the desert, and proceed along it until 
I came near to Foutoo Tora, from whence r could turn to the south-
ward into a country that belonged to Bello, and which was inha-
bited by Fellatas, and not far ft'om one of the English settlements. 
r told him it was a matter of serious consider,ation to me, as I had 
a sick servant at Kano, who was unable to travel; but, at all events, 
I must have the letter the Sheik of Bornou had sent to Bello. 
r was very ill all day; but in the afternoon I paid a visit to 
Atego, Bello's brother, and made him a present of a gilt chain and 
a pair of scissors, and a few ,c loves. His house being at some 
distance, r was so much fatigued I thought I should not live until 
the morning. 
Sunday, 29th.-Saw the :;mltan. this morning, who was sitting in 
the inner apartment of his house, with the Arabic copy of Euclid 
before him, which r had given to him as a present. He said that 
his family had a copy of Euclid brought by one of their relations, 
who had procured it in Mecca; that it was destroyed when part of 
his house was burnt down last year; and he observed, that he could 
not but feel very muoh obliged to the king of England for sending 
him so valuable a piJ:'esent. After a few general questions, I retired 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 199 
with the Gadado; and when we arrived at his house, and were 
seated, I again expressed my anxious desire that he would give me 
a copy of the letter which had been sent from the Sheik of Bornou, 
as it was of some importance to me to be guided as to my choice 
of the road I was to take on my return home. The Gadado said 
he was not aware of any letter having been sent; that it was very 
wrong in Sidi Sheik to have told me such a story; said he must 
have made a mistake; but, to relieve me from any uneasiness on that 
score, he would inquire into the truth, and let me know to-morrow. 
Monday, SOth.-I had been so ill all night with the pain in my 
side that I had no rest whatever. At noon the Gadado came to 
say that he would go with me to the sultan. Though very ill, 
I went; and we were immediately shown into the apartment of 
the sultan, who was reading: but when we entered, he laid down 
his book, and began of his own accord about the letter. He ob-
served, that a letter had certainly come to him, but not with the 
S:leik's signature; that it appeared, however, the letter had been 
written, with the Sheik's sanction, by that holy man Hadgi Moha-
med Bootabli; and that he was desired to say I was a spy, and 
that he would not allow me to go beyond Soccatoo; hinting, at 
the same time, that it would. be better I should. die, as the English 
had. taken possession of all India by first going there by ones and 
t,,·os, until we got strong enough to seire upon the whole country.  
•\ nd thus ended. our interview. 
Tuesday, 31st.-I wa much better this morning, and the swell-
ing and pain in my side much less, a dose of calomel I took having 
done it duty; but I thought it ad.visable not to stir out all day. 
The 8ultan and Gadado sent to me to know how I wa . 
"'''c dne day, T ov. Ist. - Clear. :Magaria is now increa ing to a 
town of con 'iderable size. Before, it wa without shape or form ; 
now, all the people from the villages, for a con iderable di tance 
around, have been ordered to live here; and the hou es being pro-
~oo RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
perlyarranged, each man's cluster of huts being fenced round with 
matting, nearly all . the vacant places are filled up with houses or 
enclosures for cattle. A new wall has been built, according to the 
present Goobur mode of fortifying a town; which is, to build a low 
wall, with a deep ditch outside, and to erect on the wall a stockade 
of rough stakes, firmly fixed in an upright posture, through the 
openings of which the people inside are enabled to shoot their arrows 
and fire muskets, when they have any. This new wall was not quite 
completed when I arrived; but as every man having a house in the 
town was to bear his part in the work, and every man of consider-
ation who held office under the sultan was to superintend that part 
of it next to his reSidence, as well as to employ his slaves and 
servants in bringing wood and materials, the progress advanced 
rapidly . 
.. .J. This evening we had a courier from the nearest town in the pro-
vince of Zamfra, bringing intelligence that Aleva, the rebel sultan 
of Goobur, had died .b y an arrow wound in his side, which he re-
ceived when we made the attack. Whether this will have any 
effect in bringing about a reconciliation with Bello and them I 
know not. 
Thursday, 2d.-Warm, with light flying clouds. The J uma, 
or place of worship, in Magaria, is only a temporary ' one. I have 
had several opportunities of seeing them at prayers, being only a 
square enclosure of matting, supported by stakes, and open on one 
side, which is to the east. The Iman, or priest, a head. man, stands 
at a little distance in front, on his mat; the rest of the people in 
rows behind him. He repeats the prayer, and those behind him also 
repeating inwardly at the same time, and with the greatest regu-
larity, in a kneeling posture, with their heads inclined. 
I had a long visit from Prince Atego this morning, who was 
amazingly civil: at last it came out that he was afflicted with a dis-
order which he represented as being very common in this country. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 201 
I recommended him to drink rice water in plenty, to refrain from 
pepper and strong spices, and not to visit his ladies too often, and 
to wear a hat when he rode out. I also gave ~im a: dose of calomel, 
recommending him to use natron in his food. 
The henna or salli, with whose leaves they stain their hands 
and toes, is made of pounded leaves, mixed with water to the con-
sistence of a poultice, which is laid on thick, and bound with gourd 
leaves to keep it on. To see a person in this state, without know-
ing that he was sacrificing comfort to make himselflook beautiful, 
would be apt to excite pity for the poor man, and to imagine that he 
had fallen from some height, and bruised his hands and feet so badly 
as to require their being poulticed to reduce the inflammation. 
Some great people go so far as to have themselves stained every 
three nights. 
Friday, 3d.-The negroes and most of the Arabs are great gam-
blers, though it is strictly prohibited by the Fellata laws. Their 
principal game is called cha-cha, and is played by any number 
of persons at a time, with cowries. Night is the usual time for 
this game j and so eager are they in it, that they will frequ ently 
stake their breeches and every part of their dress. I should never 
have known of its existence, had not one of my servants, named 
l\Iicama, a native of Zinder in Bornou, r,ome home last night with 
the loss of his tobe j and on my insisting this morning that he 
should not enter the house in such a state, he pleaded the heat of 
the weather, and made other excuses, which I could not allow: the 
other servants then told me what he had been at, and said he was 
an expert hand, and could not refrain from playing when he saw 
other play. I advanced him money to buy another tobe, telling 
him if I ever knew him to play again, I should give him up to the 
Fellata , who punish all caught at such a game with death, or some-
thing approaching it. In the afternoon I took leave of the sultan, 
who breaks up in the night, and proceeds to Soccatoo. 
DD 
202 .RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO ANDMAGARIA. 
Saturday, 4th.-,-Morning cool and cleat. The sultan did not 
leave last night, but to-day at 3 P. M. I had to go and see the 
chronometer carefully put up to bear carriage without injmy: it 
is considered the most valuable part of his property, and numbers 
come from a great distance to hear it strike. One of the gold 
watChes he has ah-eady spoiled, and I have had to give his brother 
At€gp my silver watch for it in retmn, but I have got the worse 
bargain. If the sultan had not asked me I should never have done it, 
as it has the new patent key, and kept a regular rate from England. 
Sunday,5th.-1 did not start this morning, as I had been very 
unwell all night: got a new camel, and employed a Tuarick to buy 
me another, as they are nearly 52000 cowries cheaper here than 
they are at Kano. 
Monday, 6th,-Cool and clear. At 6 A. M. left Magaria. 1 
rode my new camel, as his load was light, and I had no horse. At 
11 A. M. halted at a"spring for an hour, and started again at f!. 
Arrived at·Soccatoo. 
Tuesday, 7th.-This day I visited the sultan about noon, and, at 
his request, taught a man, one of his servants, how to wind up the 
time-piece, which is one of eight days. In the afternoon I was 
visited by three Fellatas, Hadji Omer from Foota Tora, Malem 
Mahomed from Timbuctoo, and the third from a neighboming town 
to Timbuctoo. Malem Mahomed says the whole of the district 
called Timbuctoo is at present under the authority of the Tuaricks ; 
that the prindpal town is called Timbuctoo; and that their gold: 
comes from Ashantee, Gonga, and Bambarra, where they exchange 
it for salt to the Tuaricks, and cloths to the inhabitants of Fez, 
Ghadarnis, and Tripoli; that Timbuctoo produces no gold, it being 
/ only the great market where all the gafRes from the north and east 
meet those of the south and west; that few Arabs now come from 
Fez and Morocco, owing, he says, to the Arabs, called 'iV aled Dleim, 
cutting off the caravans. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. ~03 
Hadji Omar, who was an intelligent man, told me that forty men 
arrived at Sego with the late Mungo Park. That, out of the forty, 
thirty-five had died of sickness, and that five only embarked in the 
canoe given to him by the sultan of Sego. That they were re-
peatedly attacked by the Tuaricks, of whom they killed a great 
number. Whether any, or how many, of those belonging to the 
canoe were killed, he could not say. The Hadjihad just returned 
from Mecca, and wished to go there again, if he could get an op-
portunity; but, as he said the sultan of Baghermi and his sub-
jects had been driven into the mountains to the south of that 
kingdom by the Sheik el Kanemi, there was no passing through 
that country, as it was now only inhabited by wandering Arabs, 
who plunder aU that fall into their hands, otherwise it was the best 
road to the east from Adamowa, by the way of Baghermi. 
Friday, lOth.-For the two last days I have found myself very 
ill, with an enlargement of the spleen. Soccatoo was built by 
Sheik Othman, usually known by the name of Danfodio, or the 
learned son of Fodio. He was a good linguist; and knew most of 
the languages of the interior, which he spoke fluently, and also all 
the dialects of the Arabic. He knew aU the learning of the Arabs; 
and, what was of the greatest importance to him, was firmly be-
lieved to be a prophet; and the belief continues, getting stronger 
a. the Fellatas get stronger. He came out of the woods of Ader, 
or Tadela, and settled, and built a town in the province of Goobur, 
where the Fellatas began to gather around him; he soon began to 
interfere with the affairs of the sultan of Goobur, saying this was 
proper to be done, and such a thing was improper. This not pleasing 
either the people of Goobur or the sultan, he was ordered out of the 
country, he and hi people. Thi order he did not obey; and the 
people of Goobur 1'0 e and drove them out; when he again settled in 
Ader,not in the woods,as formerly, but built a town. Fellata gather-
ing round him from all the different countries,he divided them under 
D D 52 
204 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
different cliiefs, giving each chief a white flag, telling them to go and 
conquer in the name of God and th~ prophet, as God had given the 
Fellatas the lands and the riches of all the Kaffirs, as they, the 
Fellatas, were the only true believers. Inadditioll to the white 
flag, the Fellatas were to wear a white tobe, as an emblt;lm of their 
purity, and their war-cry was to be Allahu Akb€r ! 01'1 God is great! 
That everyone who was wounded~ or fell in battle, was sure to 
gain paradise. Their belief in him as a prophet, their own poverty, 
numbers, and the apparent wealth of the blacks, who had been 
lulled into .a fatal security, made the latter fall an easy prey to their 
conquerors. Kano submitted without . a blow. ~ The next was 
j Goobur; the people of which had taken the alarm, and attempted 
to turn Danfodio Gut of his town in Ader, but they were driven 
back, and the wily old chref then attacked them, overran their 
,; 'country, and killed the sultan. After this the whole of Houssa, with 
I 
Cubbe, Y ouri, and part of N yffe, fell under their dominion. The 
whole of the int~rior, from east to west, was terror-struck. BOl'nou, 
in the east, was attacked with success, as was also Y ourriba, in the 
v west. Here they found more resistance than any where ' else, as 
they (the people of Y ourriba) eould not be made to believe in his 
doctrine or prophecy, as they were confirmed Kaffers, who, on 
the invasion of the Fellatas, put all the Mahometans to death, 
'v whether natives, or in caravans trafficking; quite denying the plea 
that God had given to the faithful their lands and houses, and 
their wives and children to be slaves. Notwithstanding, they took 
Rakah, Elora or Affaga, besides a great number of other towns, 
reaching to the sea coast, in their expeditions; and once entered 
'v Eyeo, or Katunga, the capital, a great part of which they burnt 
down, giving liberty to all the Mahometan slaves, and encouraging 
others to kill their pagan masters and join them. After they 
had fairly settled themselves, the Arabs from the east and west 
, came to congratulate Danfodio on his newly acquired territory. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 205 
N umbers of his countrymen came from the west to settle in 
Houssa. These he located principally in the province of Zegzeg, 
where he gave the lands and houses of the negroes who had fled 
to the mountains and inaccessible parts of that province lying to 
the south. To the Arabs of Tripoli and Fezzan he made large 
presents of slaves and camels, sending none away empty-handed. 
The news of his fame spread every way. A rabs, in shoals, came 
and passed with him as sherifs, and would seldom go away under 
a hundred slaves, with camels and provisions. 
Before he gathered the Foulahs, or Fellatas, under his govern-
ment, they did not live in towns, but were scattered over the greater 
part of Soudan, attending to their herds and flocks, living in tem-
porary huts, generally in the midst of unfrequented woods, seldom 
visiting the towns. This business they left to the women, who 
attended the markets, and sold the produce of their cattle. The men 
were reported to live a religious and harmless life, spending a great 
part of their time in reading the Koran and other religious books. 
Now and then a few of their learned men would come forth, and 
engage themselves for a few years with the l\Iahometan sultans 
and governors, until they had collected a little money, with which 
they purchased a few cattle, and then returned to the woods to their 
countrymen, who movcd about from one province to another, 
according to the seasons, and the nature and quantity of pasture 
and water; contented with building temporary huts of straw and 
rushes, and to be left in peace. Noone indeed thought of dis-
turbing them, or interfering with their pursuits, they being probably 
considered as too contemptible and insignificant to excite any fear. 
Thus dispersed, no one but themselves knew or could guess at their 
numbers. Melli, or the petty kingdoms of Foota-Torra, Foota-
Bonda, and Foota-Jella, were the places from whence they spread 
themse}yc ea tward, until they became very considerable, in poin t 
of numbers, in all the countrics between the above-mentioned 
206 'RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
places and "'\iV ady. Many of them had performed their pilgrimage 
to Mecca, and others had visited the empires of Turkey and Mo-
rocco, as also Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, bringing back with them 
all the Arabic books they were able to beg or buy. 
~n the year of the Hegira 1~18, the old Mallem Sheik Othman 
Danfodio, Sheik of the Koran, became religiously mad, and is said 
to have died some years afterwards in that state. This Foulah 01' 
Fellata conqueror was styled Sheik of the K(~ran from his being 
perfect master of that book, not only being able to read it, and all 
the commentaries upon it, but ,also to repeat any part, and explain 
it, from memory. The laws of the Koran were in his time, and in-
deed continue to be, so strictly put in force, not only among the 
Fellatas, but the negroes and Arabs, and the whole country, when 
not in a state of war, was so well regulated, that it was a common 
i saying, that a woman might travel with a casket of gold upon her 
head from one end of the Fellata dominions to the other. •,  
His madness took a very unhappy turn. In the midst of a 
paroxysm, he would constantly call out that he should go to hell, 
for having put so many good Mussulmen to death. The Arabs used 
to take advantage of this, and tell him he was sure to be damned, 
unless he made a,mends by giving them presents to assuage the 
manes of their friends. Not so with the Fellatas. These people 
had so great a veneration for their chief that, when his head was 
shaving, the hairs were carefully collected, and preserved by them 
in cases of gold and silver, and they used to come from all parts of 
,j t he interior to get a sight of him, negroes as well as Fellatas. 
After his death, his son Mohamed Bello, the present sultan, 
governed the kingdom which his father had conquered ; but that 
part of the country to the westward of Houssa he left to his bro-
ther's son, Mohamed Ben Abdallah, while the eldest, Mohammed 
Bello, had Haussa, with all the countries to the south and east. 
A tego, the brother of Mohammed Bello, both by father and 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARI;Y Q07 
;' 
mother, attempted to usurp the government of t)(e latter, at the 
death of the Sheik Othman; but his brother plit him down, and 
confined him to his house for twelve months; and they are now as 
good friends as before. , 
I Bello extended the walls of Soccatoo, . which is now the largest 
·and most populous town in the interior that I have seen. Within 
these walls live all the children which Danfodio had by his dif-
ferent wives and concubines, very quietly and without splendour, 
except Atego, who is a mean fellow, but keeps a large establishment. 
At the death of Danfodio, in the year of the Hegira Hl3Q (in 1816 
of ours), the province of the Goobul', Zamfl'a, part of Kashna, and 
Zegzeg, threw off the yoke of the Fellatas, and put the whole of 
them to death that they could lay their hands on. Since that 
time, Bello has retaken the greater part of Goobur; part of Zamfra, 
and Guari, the southern part of Kashna, have made their peace, 
as also part of Cubhe; but on this condition, that they shall be ruled 
by their native chiefs, and the Fellatas not to interfere with them. 
Since my arrival, he has also got back the greater part of N yffe. 
Y ouri has, since lSQ2, joined in the rebellion, being forced by the 
people of Zamfra, who at all times can command that province, if 
not supported by Cubb6 or Soccatoo. The governor is to be he-
reditary, not like most of the other provinces and kingdoms in 
the interior, where the oldest relation always succeeds .• 
The city of Soccatoo stands on the top of a low hill, or rising 
ground, having a river passing at a short distance from the northern 
wall . It is formed of the united branches of the several streams, which 
take their rise to the south of Kashl1a, and flow past Zirmie. 
Having passed Soccatoo, it crosses the district of Cubbe in a south-
'wcsterly direction, and at the distance of four days' journey enter ' 
the Quorra. It i well stored with fish, which afford the poor 
people of Soccatoo a very considerable part of their food. The 
city i urrounded by a wall, about twenty-four feet high, and a dry 
208 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND· MAGARIA. 
ditch. . The wall is kept in good repair, and there are eleven 
gates; seven h~ving been built up at the breaking out of the re-
bellion. The clay walls which surround all African towns, clusters 
of huts, and even single coozies, give a deadly dull appearance to 
them all, whether negro or Mahometan. The only appearance 
of animation is given by the great number of slaves and others 
moving to and fro, or lounging, or lying in the shade at the doors 
of great men. A great part of the town within the walls might 
be taken for a number of ill-enclosed gardens. 
The house of the sultan is surrounded by a clay wall, ~bout 
twenty feet high, having two low tower-like entrances, one on the 
east, the other on the west. The eastern one is entirely guarded 
by eunuchs, of whom he has a great num'ber, I suppose because 
the harem is on the eastern side. The whole of his house forms, 
as it were, a little town of itself; for in it there are five square 
towers, a small mosque, a great number of huts, and a garden, be-
sides a house, which consists of one single room, used as the place 
for his receiving and ' hearing complaints, receiving visitors, and 
giving audiences to strangers. This room or house is nothing 
more than what we should call in our country a shed. Two large 
pillars support a beam, or bundle of long rods, plastered over with 
clay. These support the rafters, which are of the branches of the 
palm-tree; on the back part is an imitation of a fire-place, with 
a fire-screen before it; and on each side are two chairs, which are 
also plastered with clay, and coloured like mahogany. The orna-
ment or figure on the back of these is the same as those seen on a 
number of chairs in England, and corresponds with that on the fire-
screen. The walls are ornamented partly "in the European and 
partly in the African fashion. There are two doors, one in the 
front towards the right, and the other in the left end of the house, 
and which leads through a small street of huts to a large hut, with 
two doors: passing through and within a few yards of it stands 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 209 
a large square clay tower, with an entrance in the west side. The 
interior of this is common in most of the great men's houses in 
Houssa. It is in the shape of a dome, formed of eight arches 
springing from the ground; in the centre of which is a large bright 
brass basin, acting as it were in the place of a key-stone to the 
arches, which are turned by branches plastered over with clay. If 
I had not seen them constructing the arches and pillars of a mosque, 
I should have supposed them to be formed entirely of clay, as the 
wood in no part appears. The clay serves to keep the white ants 
from destroying the wood; they are ornamented in their fashion 
while the clay is wet, an operation performed with the fingers 
and a small square stick. From the arches, about one-third up, 
runs a gallery quite round the interior building, having a railing 
with pillars of wood, covered and ornamented with clay. There 
are three steps leading up to this gallery, from which every thing 
in the dome may be seen or heard. Passages also lead from it 
into small rooms, having each one small window, or square hole, 
some appearing to be used as store-rooms, and others as sleep-
ing-rooms. The floor of the dome was covered with clean white 
sand. The height might be, from the floor to the brass basin 
in the centre of the arches, from thirty-five to forty feet. The 
air inside of this dome was cool and pleasant; and Bello told 
me he often used it as a place to read in during the heat of the 
day. The e two apartment are the only two I have seen deserving 
remark within his enclosure. One night that he sent for me, 
when it was rather late, I was led by the hand by an old woman 
through several apartments before I arrived at the one in which he 
wm;. As there was no light, I could only judge by the stooping, 
and a cending and de cending through doors and galleries, that I 
passed through some large rooms, out of OIle into another. 
The houses of the other great men, and those of his brothers, are 
nearly the arne, but on a much smaller scale. A great number of the 
E E 
210 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
poorer sort are fenced round with matting, or the stalk of dcrurra 
or millet. Before the west front of the sultan's enclosure is a 
large open space, of an irregular form, on the west side of which 
stands the principal mosque. In this space is also the prison, a 
. building of' about eighty feet long, and nearly the same in breadth, 
covered at top with a flat clay roof, overlaid with boughs. Inside 
is a deep pit, where those who have committed the greatest crimes 
are confined. No person is put in prison for debt; only thieves, 
prisoners of' war (taken singly), such as spies, and disobedient 
slaves, who, on a complaint to the sultan that they will not work, 
are sent to prison. Their only food is the bran or husks of millet 
and dourra, with water; but their friends are allowed to give them 
food, if they have any. It is a filthy place, and the terror of the 
men-slaves of Soccatoo. The prisoners are taken out, two and 
two, every day to work at the walls, or any laborious work which 
may occur. 
Another house and the tomb of the sultan is further to the 
west of the mosque, on the north side of a broad street, which 
leads to the western gate. It is occupied by his widows, con-
cubines, and youngest son, called Abedelgader, who is not arrived 
at a proper age to have a house for himself. The sheik's tent is 
inside of the square enclosure, behind the room he generally 
occupied when living. It is visited as a holy place by all Maho-
metan strangers, from which they afterwards hope to .e njoy the 
good things oft his world, and that of their world to corne. 
The ordinary occupations of the higher, and indeed I may say 
of all classes of the Fellatas is, they rise at day-break, wash and say 
their prayel,'s, count their beads for about half an hour, and then 
chew a gora nut, if they have any; which done, they sip a quan-
tity of senkie, or furro-furrocoo. These articles are a preparation 
of half-boiled dourra flowers, made into balls of about one pound, 
mixed up with dry flour. Senkie is one of these balls, bruised 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 211 
and mixed with milk; furro-furrocoo is the same kind of ball 
mixed with water. About 10 A. M. they have rice boiled, which 
they eat with a little melted butter. After this they pay visits, or 
lounge in the shade, hear the news, say prayers, count their beads, 
which employ them till sunset, when they have a meal of pudding, 
with a little stewed meat and gravy, or a few small fish; they 
then retire to rest. 
During the spring and harvest the proprietors of estates ride 
out to their different slave villages to look after their grain, cotton, 
indigo, &c.; or to the place where they have their cattle. The 
occupations of the poorer class, who are not engaged in trade, are 
much the same as those of their superiors; their food is somewhat 
different, being principally confined to furro-furrocoo. The wives 
of the principal people, of whom they all appear to keep up the 
number allowed by the Koran, which is four, with concubines as 
many as they can get or are able to keep, are occupied in directing 
the female slaves in their work, cooking their husband's food, 
cleaning and spinning cotton, and dressing their hair, teeth, eye-
brows and eye-lashes, which take up no little time. They also 
take charge of sending the female slaves to market to sell their 
spare cotton, grain, furro-furrocoo, millet, cakes fried in butter, fried 
fish, which are usually caught by the younger male slaves j in re-
ceiving or paying visits, for they are great gossips. They are 
allowcd more liberty than the generality of Mahometan women. 
The dress of the men is a red cap, with a blue tassel of silk, 
a white turban, part of which, or a fold, shades the brow and eyes ; 
another fold is taken over the nose, which covers mouth and chin, 
hanginO' down on the breast; a white shirt, close at the brea t and 
short in the skirts, a large white tobe, and white trousers, trimmed 
with rcd or green silk, and a pair of sandals or boots: tIli is 
the dress of the greatcr part of the wealthy inhabitants. When 
travelling, they wear, over the turban, a broad-brimmed straw hat, 
EE2 
212 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARJA. 
with a round low crown. Some who do not affect great sanctity 
or learning wear check tobes and blue turbans over the fore-
head, with the end hanging down behind; the poorer, a white 
check tobe, white cap and trousers, and sandals. Some are con-
tent with the straw hat only, but all wear a sword, which is carried l 
over the left shoulder. The women have a cloth striped with blue, 
white, and red, falling as low as the ankles; silver rings i~ the ear, 
about an inch and a half in diameter, bracelets of horn, glass, 
brass, copper, and silver, according to the quality of the wearer; 
round the neck, beads, and strings of glass, or coral; round the 
ankles, brass, copper, or silver, and sometimes rings on the toes as 
well as fingers. The fashionable ornament is a Spanish dollar 
soldered fast to a ring. The poor women have p~er, brass, and 
copper rings. The hair is generally turned up like a crest on the 
top of the head, with something like a pig's tail hanging down from 
each extremity, a little before the ears. • 
Some of the Fellata women have the hair frizzed out at the 
ends, all round the head; others have the hair plaited in four small 
plaits, going round the head like a riband or bandeau. This, and 
all the plaited parts, are well smeared over with indigo or shumri. 
The razor is applied to smooth all uneven places, and give a high 
and fine arch to the forehead; they thin the eye-brows to a fine 
line, which, with the eye-lashes, are rubbed over with pounded 
lead ore, and done by drawing a small pen that has been dipped 
in this ore. The teeth are then dyed with the gora nut, and 
a root of a shining red colour; the hands and feet, the toe and 
finger nails, are stained red with henna. A lady thus equipped 
is fit to appear in the best society. The looking-glass is a circular 
piece of metal, about an inch and a half in diameter, set in a small 
skin box, and is often applied to. The young girls of the better 
,sort of people dress much in the same manner as their mothers, 
after they arrive at the ag~ of nine or ten; before that, they have 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. .213· 
very little dress, except the binta or apron, scolloped or vandyked 
round with red cloth, with two long broad strings vandyked round 
in the same manner, hanging down as low as the heels behind. This 
is the dress of the poorer sort of people, until fit for marriage, as 
also of a great many of the virgin female slaves. 
Their marriages are celebrated without any pomp or noise. 
The bride, as far as I was informed, is always consulted by her 
parents; but a refusal on her part is unknown. The poorer class 
of people make up matters much in the same way; that is, after 
having got the consent of one another, they ask their father and 
mother. The dowry given by a man of good condition, with re-
gard to riches, may be said to consist of young female slaves, carved 
and ~ounted calabashe~ or gourds, filled with millet, dourra and 
rice, cloths for the loins, bracelets, and the equipage of her toilet, 
and one or two large wooden mortars for heating corn, &c. and 
stones for grinding, &c.; even these are carried in procession on 
the heads of her female slaves, when she first goes to her husband's 
house. 
It is said that, in the event of the husband sleeping or having 
connexion with any of the female slaves given as dower to the 
wife, he must give her in lieu a virgin slave of equal value the next 
day. This never causes any dispute between the parties. 
Their mode of burial I have never seen; but I understand they 
always bury their dead behind the house which the deceased occu-
pied while living. The following day all the friends and relation 
of the deceased visit the head of the family, and sit a while with 
him or her. If the husband dies, the widow returns to the house 
of her parents, with the property she brought with her. 
The domestic slaves are generally well treated. The males 
who have arrived at the age of eighteen or nineteen are given a 
wife, and sent to live at their villages and farms in the country, 
where they build a hut, and until the harvest are fed by their 
214 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
owners. When the time for cultivating the ground and sowing 
the seed comes on, the owner points out what he requires, and 
what is to be sown on it. The slave is then allowed to enclose a 
part for himself ,and family. The hours of laboNr, for his master, 
are from daylight till mid-day; the remainder of the day is em! 
ployed on his own, or in any other way he may think proper. 
At the time of harvest, when they cut and tie up the grain, 
each slave gets a bundle of the different sorts of grain,about a 
bushel of our measure, for himself. The grain on his own ground 
is entirely left for his own use, and he may dispose of it as he 
thinks proper. At the vacant seasons of the year he must attend 
to the calls of his master, whether to accompany him on a journey, 
or go to war, if so ordered. 
The children of a slave are also slaves, and when able are usually 
sent out to attend the goats and sheep, and, at a more advanced age, 
the bullocks and larger cattle; they are soon afterwards taken home 
to the master's house, to look after his horse or his domestic con-
cerns, as long as they remain single. The domestic slaves are fed 
the same as the rest of the family, with whom they appear to be 
on an equality of footing. 
The children of slaves, whether dwelling in the house or on the 
farm, are never sold, unless their behaviour is such that, after re-
peated punishment, they continue unmanageable, so that the m~ster 
is compelled to part with them. The slaves that are sold are those 
taken from the enemy, or newly purchased, who, on trial, do not I 
suit the purchaser. When a male or female slave dies unmarried, 
his property goes to the owner. The children of the slaves are 
sometimes educated with those of the owner, but this is not gene- ' 
rally the case. . 
The male and female children of the better sort of the Fellatas 
are all taught to read and write Arabic, but are instructed sepa-
rately. The male children of the great are generally sent to another 
/ 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 215 
town, at some distance from that where their parents reside, to re-
ceive their education; in which case they usually reside in the house 
of a friend, and a malem or man of learning attends them. Those 
of the middle and lower classes generally send their children to the 
schools, which they attend for an hour at day-break, and another 
at sunset, reading their Arabic lessons aloud and simultaneously. 
They are required to get their lessons by heart before the writing 
is washed off the board on which it is written. The ink thus di-
luted is drank by the scholars, when their master writes a new 
lesson on the board. 
The government of the Fellatas in Soudan is in its infancy ; 
but, as it now exists, and is likely to continue, is a perfect despot-
ism. It was left by will to Mahomed Bello, who was the eldest of 
Sheik Othman's sons, and is meant to descend to his eldest son 
at his death. The governors of the different provinces are ap-
pointed during pleasure, as, in the event of any improper conduct, 
they are displaced; and all their property, at their death or re- J 
moval, falls to the sultan. The appointment to a vacancy is then 
sold to the highest bidder, who is generally a near relation, pro-
vided his property is sufficient to bid up to the mark. All the 
inferior offices in the towns of the provinces are sold in like manner 
by the governors, who also succeed to the property of those petty 
officers at their death or removal. 
Of their revenues I can say very little. I only know that in 
the province of Kano they have no regular system of taxation. A 
great deal of marketable property is claimed by the governor, such 
as two-thirds of the produce of all the date and other fruit trees, 
the proprietor being allowed only the remaining third. A small 
duty is also levied on every article sold in the market; or, in lieu 
thereof, a certain rent is paid for the stall or shed: a duty is also 
fixed on every to be that i dyed blue and sold. On grain there is 
no duty. Kano produces the greate t revenue which the ultan 
216 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA . 
• receives, and is paid monthly in horses, cowries, and cloth. Ada-
mawa pays yearly in slaves; Jackoba, in slaves and lead ore; Zeg-
zeg, in slaves and cowries; Zamfra, the same; Hadiga andKatagum, 
and Zaonima, in horses, bullocks, and slaves; Kashna, in slaves, 
cowries, and cloth; Ader or Tadela, in bullocks, sheep, camels, and 
a coarse kind of cloth of cotton, like what is called by us a counter-
pane. Every town, on being visited by the governor or other public 
functionaries, must contribute to the support of these officers, and 
bear the expense of travelling, and feed all his servants and his 
cattle. 
Their agriculture is simple enough. They begin clearing the 
ground of weeds, and burning them.after the first fall of rain, which 
in Houssa is in the month of May; and when a person wishes to 
enclose a piece of ground for his own use, he first gets permission 
from the governor. He then sets his slaves, if he has any, to cut 
down the smaller trees and brushwood, leaving the micadonia or 
butter trees, if there be any, standing on the ground: the wood, 
brushwood, and weeds are then gathered together in heaps and 
burnt. After the first rains have fallen, the male and female slaves 
go to work, each male having a hoe with a long handle, and each 
female a basket, dish, or gourd, filled with the grain intended to be 
sown: the male goes on in a straight line crossing the field, striking 
as it were with hi~ hoe on each side, and raising a little earth each 
blow in the line about two or three feet, or broad enough for a man 
to walk; the females follow with their ~>askets of grain, dropping 
the seeds into the holes made by the hoe, which they then cover 
over with earth, and give it a slight pressure with the foot. When 
the dourra or other gra~n has risen above the ground three or four 
inches, the weeds are hoed off, arid the earth loosened around the 
stalks; when the dourra has got to the height of three or four feet, 
they hoe around it a second time, leaving the weeds in the middle 
of the rows. This is cleared away, when small millet or calavanees 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. ~17 
are to be sown between the rows of doura, which is frequently the 
case. The third operation is to draw the weeds and earth towards 
the roots of the doura a little before it ripens. When ripe, the 
slaves go into the field or plantation, pull it up by the roots, and 
lay it in rows between each row of millet which is left to ripen: 
it lies in this state four or five days, when they cut the heads off, 
tie them up in bundles, and carry it home; where, after lying 
upon sheds made of the branches of trees for a few days to dry, 
what is not wanted for use is stowed away in their granary. As 
the seeds of the doura begin to ripen, it must be constantly watched 
by the slaves, who are perched on trees, or on raised platforms, 1"ith 
dried gourds, which they shake to make a noise, at the same time 
shouting and hallooing to frighten away the flocks of small birds 
which come to devour the grain, and which at this season fly in 
myriads, making a whirring noise with their wings when they rise. 
The doura is very subject to blight, caused by a kind of wi.nged 
insect, of a black colour, something like the bugs on a camel; its 
smell is most offensive, and if killed by the fingers, the stench can 
hardly be borne, and is not easily washed off. The millet and 
calavances remain a month on the ground after the doura. 
The stalks of the doura grow to the height of nine and ten feet; 
the thunder storms, accompanied with rain and wind, often bend 
these stalks when near ripe, so that the roots are raised above 
ground. and the plant dies if the slaves the next day are not sent 
in to hoe the earth up to the root of such as are broken down. 
The stalks of this grain are frequently used for fences and the 
rafter of their houses. Sometimes they tie the bean and millet 
traw into bundle, and carry them home for their camels. Their 
granarie al·e made in the form of a large urn or pitcher, rai ed 
from the ground about three feet by stones. They are made of 
clay and chopped traw, and are raised to the height of eleven or 
FF 
~18 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
twelve feet. The thickness of the sides is not above 'four inches, 
though in any part it will bear a man's weight: the diameter in 
tpe widest part may be from seven to eight feet, at the top about 
three or f01.1r feet, an~ is overlapped at the mouth like a wide-
mouthed earthen jar. When the grain is put in, a conical cap of 
thatch is put over to keep out birds, insects, wet and moisture. 
The doura and millet will keep well in these jars for two or three 
years; after that period it perishes, and is destroyed by worms and 
insects. The jar itself will last seven or eight years, if taken care 
of, by matting round the lower part with straw during the rainy 
season; if not, two or three years is the period it will stand un-
impaired . 
. The time of putting the sweet potatoes in the ground is at the 
. commencement of the rains, the ground being first well cleared of 
weeds, well hoed into furrows, the clods all broken, and the soil a 
good strong clay or mould. The branches or stems, in slips, are 
then planted by the dibble, and are two months before they have 
potatoes at the roots. 
The gaza, though differing in taste, shape, name, and size, is not 
unlike a small quince: it is more watery than a gourd, of a reddish 
white inside, and by no means a pleasant taste; its stem is as thick 
as that of a gourd, with large rough leaves like those of a gourd. 
It is planted like the sweet potatoes, and is perpetuated in the 
same manner, by joints, and sown in furrows, at the same time, in 
a good soil of clay or mould. 
Wheat, of which they raise enough to supply all who make use 
of it in this country, is sown after the rains, when the cold weather 
has set in. It is always met with by the side of a small lake or river, 
where they are able to water it by irrigation every day. It is ripe 
in three months after it is put into the ground: the grain is small. 
It is not much relished by the Arabs, who say that it injures the' 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. ~19 
spleen, in whatever shape it may be eaten. The bread made of it 
is black and coarse; but that may arise from the imperfect manner 
in which it is ground and cleaned. Barley they also have; but this 
grain is only used in very small quantity. The rice is sown in long 
beds; and they have it in great abundance from the Surano, near 
Magaria: the rice of Soccatoo is considered the best in Houssa. ' I 
Melons, pappa apples, the great. . . . ., a few fig and pomegranate 
trees are grown in gardens. They have not been able to make the 
date tree grow at Soccatoo; whenever it gets a little above ground 
it rots and dies. 
They have a great many wild fruit trees, the principal of which 
is the butter tree. Onions are brought forth at the side of the 
rivers or lakes, and the place on which they are growing is watered 
afternoon and morning, the water being drawn by a bucket and 
a rope fixed to a long pole, over an upright post which serves 
as a pivot; the water being poured into hollowed trees, con-
ducts it to the entrance of the little squares where the onions 
are growing. The onions are large and good, much like the Portu-
guese onion. The leaves of the kuka tree, or adansonia, are care-
fully gathered after the rains, dried, and used in all their soups and 
gravies, giving to them a slimy gelatinous consistence. The sauce, 
or cake which makes a sauce, from the beans of the nitta tree, is in 
great request. The beans, when taken out of the shell, are then 
broken in a wooden mortar, and put into a pot with water, and 
kept on a good fire from sunrise to sunset, when the pot is taken 
off': they are allowed to stand in it until they begin to ferment 
and smell. They are then taken to the river, pond, or well, where 
the) arc washed thoroughly with clean water: when they are con-
sidered as perfectly clean, they are spread on mats in the un, 
and carefully covered up at night. When a second fermentation 
takes place, or they begin to smell, they are taken and brui ed 
F F Q 
~20, RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
fine in their mortars, until it becomes like paste. It is then made 
into small circular cakes, which are dried in the sun before they are 
put by for use. This, when prepared, looks like chocolate. To me 
it had always a very disagreeable smell; but the taste was rather 
pleasant than otherwise when put on roast meat or fowls. Of this 
the people are very fond, and go so far as to eat it alone, and with-
out being cooked. 
1-'\ When they wish to plant indigo, the place chosen is one of a 
good strong clay or mould, and in a situation where there is 
moisture through the heat of the summer. After enclosing the 
ground, they clear it entirely of weeds, and burn them. The 
ground is well worked up by the hoe (they have no spade or pick-
axe), and laid out in furrows, with a flat top, about a foot high, two 
broad, and six or seven inches between each furrow. The indigo 
seeds are then planted by the dibble, and just as the rains have 
begun: they cut it every year during the rainy season. A planta-
tion will last four or five years without renewing the seeds. They 
crop it about three or four inches above the ground. The leaves 
are then stripped from the stems, and laid in a heap, exposed to 
the rains and weather for a month, until they ferment, when they 
are beaten in wooden troughs of a round form, and about two feet 
deep, and two feet in diameter; here they remain until dry, and 
are then considered as fit for use. One of these troughs of indigo, 
in the spring, costs three hundred cowries; in the summer, the 
price rises to six or seven hundred. 
The cotton is here planted in low situations, where the ground 
is partially covered with water during the rains, or else in a good 
clay that has moisture in it through the dry season. The ground, 
or plantation, is generally only surrounded by thorny branches 
stuck in the ground as a fence, then hoed well, and the clods, if 
any remain, broken. A hole is made with the hoe, and the seed is 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 2~1 
put in and lightly covered. If the season be abundant in rain, the 
cotton is plenty; if not, the crop is bad. The time of pulling is in 
the months of December and January. When worked, it is done by 
the women, clearing it of the seeds by two small iron pins, between 
which the cotton passes over a flat stone lying on the ground; the 
seeds are thrown behind them, the cotton before. The seeds they 
give to bullocks and camels, and are considered as very fattening. 
The cotton being prepared, is put on a distaff, which is short, light, 
neat, and small, great pains being taken in shaping and ornament-
ing it. The females who spin it have generally small looking-
glasses in their baskets of cotton, with which they <1ften survey their 
teeth and eyes. A piece of chalk, or pipe-clay, is in constant use, 
to rub the spinning thumb and finger. The occupation of spinning 
is generally assigned to married women, or some old female slave 
that is a favourite: weaving and sowing is left to the men. They 
have three different kinds of hoes: one with a handle of about five 
feet in length, and a small head stuck into the end of the staff; 
this is used in sowing the grain: one with a handle of about three 
feet in length, with a small iron head stuck into the end of the 
taft': the third, called gilma, has a short bent handle, with a large 
head, and is used in all the heavy work instead of a spade. 
Their manufactures are confined to a very few articles, the 
principal of which is the dying of tanned goat skins red and yellow. 
The red skins are dyed with the leaves of a red millet, which i 
pounded in water mixed with natron ; when thick enough, the skill 
is put 011 the stretch, and the dye rubbed in. The yellow is with 
the root of a tree called raurya, which is also pounded in water 
mixed with natron, and laid on the kin in the same manner as the 
red. The latter are COD idered as uperior to all the other skin. 
dyed of the same colour in any part of Houssa. 1\ number both of 
the red and yellow skins are carried to Kano and Ka hna almo. t 
222' RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA; 
monthly, where they are made into c.ushions, bags, boots, and 
shoes, &c. 
The . next article is the white cotton cloth of the country, of 
which they make a considerable quantity, both for the home con-' 
J sumption and for exportation to Kano and N yffe: what they ex-, 
port is principally made into tobes ,and large shirts before it leaves 
Soccatoo. They have also a cloth called naroo, which is something 
like our counterpanes; a few checked and red striped cloths, ' 
used as tobes, and some as wrappers or zinnies for the women. 
The weavers of the latter are mostly natives of N yffe, as are also 
all their blacksmiths. They have shoe, boot, saddle, and bridle-
makers. Another article of export is the civet; the animals that pro~ 
duceitare kept in wooden cages,and fed on pounded fish and corn. A 
, few slaves are also sold out of the province to the merchants of Kano, 
Kashna, Ghadamis, and Tripoli. A young male slave, from thirteen 
to twenty years of age, will bring from 10,000 to 20,000 cowries; a 
female slave, if very handsome, from 40,000 to 50,000; the common 
price is about 30,000 for a virgin about fourteen or fifteen. The 
articles brought to Soccatoo for sale by the Arabs are the same as 
what are brought to other parts of Houssa, and are mentioned in 
another place. Salt is brought by the TUiLricks from B~llma, and 
also by the Tauricks of the west. The salt from the latter quarter 
is much better, being more pure, and in large pieces like ice. 
Ostriches alive and ostrich skins are brought by these people, but 
little is given for a skin, only from 4000 to 5000 cowries for the 
finest. They also bring horses which fetch a good price here; dates 
from Billma, and a small quantity of goods which they buy from the 
Arabs at Aghadiz. The articles they could export in considerable 
quantities, if there were buyers, would be elephants' teeth, bullocks' 
hides, which, when tanned, only cost five hundred cowries, equal to 
sixpence of our money. Goat skins, and the skins ofantelopes, and 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 223 
other wild animals, might be procured in abundance, but, of course, 
would rise much in price if there was a great demand. Gum-arabic 
might also be procured in abundance. What they would take ~ 
from us in exchange would be coarse scarlet cloths, which in aU 
parts of the interior bring a good price, say 10,000 cowries a yard; 
coarse yellow and green cloth; red tape; unwrought silk, of 
glowing colours; sewing needles, of the commonest kind; looking-
glasses, no matter however small, at a penny or twopence each in 
England; earthenware with figures, plain ware would not pay; 
the coarsest kind of red camlet scarfs; jugs and hardware of the 
most common description, but stout; foolscap paper of the coarsest 
kind, if it did not let the ink through: beads, I think, are sold as 
cheap here by the Arabs as they are in England; sheets of tin; tin 
pots and cups; brass gilt rings for the fingers, arms, and ankles; as 
also ear-rings; copper and brass pots, the more figures the better; 
paper and wooden snuff-boxes of the commonest sort. 
These Mricans keep up the appearance of religion. They 
pray five times a day. They seldom take the trouble to wash 
before prayers, except in the morning; but they go through the 
motions of washing, clapping their hands on the ground as if in 
water, and muttering a prayer. This done, as if they had washed, 
they untie their breeches and let them fall off; then, facing the 
east, let the sleeves of their larger shirt, or tobe, fall over their 
hands, and assuming at the same time a grave countenance, begin 
by calling out, in an audible voice, " Allahu Akber)" &c. kneeling 
down and touching the ground with the forehead. 1V11en they 
have finished repeating this prayer, they sit down, leaning over 
on the left thigh and leg, and count or pass the beads through 
their finger. All their prayers and religious expre sions are in 
Arabic; and I may ay without exaggeration, takil1g N egroe 
and F ellata together, that not one in a thousand know what they 
224 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND lVIAGARIA. 
are saying. All they know of their religion is to repeat their 
prayers by rote in Arabic, first from sunrise to sunset in the 
Rhamadan, and a firm belief that the goods and chattels, wives and 
children of all people differing with them in faith, belong to them; 
and that it is quite lawful in any way to abuse, rob, or kill an un-
believer. Of the Fellatas, I should suppose about one in ten are 
able to read and write. They believe, they say, in predestination; 
but it is all a farce; they show not the least of such belief in any 
of .their actions. 
They believe, however, in divination by the book, in dreams, 
and in good and bad omens. 
Wednesday, Nov. 29th.-This morning the Gadado sent to 
inform me that in the course of two days the sultan was going 
a short distance to the south of Soccatoo, to found a new town, 
and asked me to accompany him . At noon a fire broke out in the 
west quarter of the town, which consumed nearly ~oo houses, and 
a great quantity of grain. At 3 P. M. another fire broke out in th,e 
adjoining house to that in which I was living. I had my baggage 
put out in the open square, in my enclosure, and placed a servant 
ov~r it as sentry, and went with my tWQ other servants to assist 
the wives and concubines of my friend Malam Moodie, who was 
out of town. They were busy in removing the household goods 
into the street. This I stopped, and had them put into my square; 
as I saw that the fire was nearly put down by the removal of the 
roofs of the huts in the adjoining house, and by applying wet mats. 
Thieves were in abundance, and a great quantity of articles were 
stolen belonging to the people whose house was on fire. There was 
fortunately little wind, or several other houses would have been 
burnt. As it was, the light and burning thatch was carried to a 
great distance. My servant, Mohamed Allah Sirkie, got great 
praise from the Gadado for his activity in putting a stop to the 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. ~25 
flames: after all was over, the principal wife of Malam Moodie 
sent her compliments and thanks to me for taking care of her 
husband's house and property. There have been three fires in the 
town in the course of the day; they say they were done by the 
agents of the rebels, who tie a burning cotton thread to the tail of 
a large species of buzzard, with yellow head and reddish-yellow 
tail, and blue body, common in this country, which flies to the 
thatch of the house when set adrift. 
Friday, Dec. Ist.-At 4 P. M. left Soccatoo by the southern 
gate, with a camel carrying my tent and bed, with a small quantity 
of provisions. After leaving the gate, the road was over what had 
been plantations of millet, doura, and beans; the soil a stiff red 
clay, covered with a thin layer of sand, with blocks of clay iron-
stone, which is often mixed with white pebbles; sometimes it . 
would cover a space of a quarter of a mile, like a crust, of about 
from two feet to two and a half feet in thickness; the face of the 
country almost bare of trees, but studded with villages; the herds 
of horned cattle were to be seen in great numbers every where, 
returning to their night's quarters, feeding as they went along. 
The country hilly, with very steep and slippery ravines in many 
places. 
At 8 P. M. halted at the camp of the sultan, which was in a 
valley of about three miles wide, and close to the bed of a small 
stream passing the east of Soccatoo, which was distant about two 
miles and a half to the north-east. After my tent was pitched, 
the Gadado sent me a sheep, and I had my share of a bullock 
that was killed. There were very few people with the sultan, and 
the Gadado had only three servant with him. 
Saturday, 2d.-Morning clear and cool at day-light. Rode 
out with the sultan and Gadado to mark out the site of the new 
town. I took my gun with me, intending to shoot: we rode to the 
GG 
226 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO ANDMAGARIA. 
eastward about two miles, and halted within a short distance of the 
river, on the side of a low hill, sloping to the river by a gradual 
and easy descent. This was the place fixed on for the new town, 
which I left them to settle, and went to shoot; but was never 
more unsu€cessful. I saw several antelopes and some bustards, 
but could Rot get within. shot. At noon I returned to the camp. 
The reason of founding this town is, that the woods on the banks 
of the river are the resort and hiding-place of the rebels, who 
come and plunder the herds, and set fire to the villages before 
they can have information; and in Soccatoo the rebels are hid with 
their prey in the woods. In the evening, as it was also last n.ight, 
the cryer went round the camp, calling everyone to look well 
after their horses, camels, and baggage; to ' pretend to sleep, but 
not to sleep, as the place was full of robbers; and that everyone 
seen outside . the camp after this notice, whether F ellata or not, 
was to be secured. I set off three rockets at the request of the 
sultan; for though I have shown them several -times, they are still 
afraid to try them, and the wonder and alarm is still as strong in 
their favour as ever. 
At 11 P. M. a courier arrived from Magaria, bringing informa-
tion that the rebels of Goobur had encamped a little to the east-
ward of that place in great force. The order to march was given, 
and the camp was cleared in a few minutes. I first saw my camel 
and baggage well forward on the road to Soccatoo. Before I took 
the road for Magaria, which. was across the. country, the alarm was 
spread from village to village, ·by a cry not unlike the Indian war-
whoop, with a clear shrill voice; and bands of horse and foot were 
pressing forward every where at day-break. Wernet large parties 
of women, children, old men, bullocks, sheep, and asses, all flying 
towards Soccatoo. 
At 10 A. M. I arrived at Magaria, where all was now quiet; 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 2.27 
and put up at the house of my friend the Gadado, who had gone 
to rest, having arrived an hour before me. Maalem Moodie, his 
brother, told me that all the rebel army turned out to be only a 
few robbers come to steal bullocks, one of which, on their not being 
~ble to drive them away, they had killed, carried away its flesh, 
and fled. On my asking one of his female slaves, who had the 
charge of his house at Magaria, why they had been so much 
frightened by only a few thieves, she replied, "What could we 
do? only a parcel of women to be seen: there were two or three 
fellows within hearing of the noises, but they were good for 
nothing; they were just as much afraid as we were. All night 
(pointing to the highest point of ground in the town, which is un-
occupied, and kept for a market-place) did we stand there with 
what things we could carryon our heads, our mouths open, no one 
thought of eating or sitting down until the men came from Socca-
too and the camp. This world," continued she, "is nothing without 
the men after all. If three of the thieves had only come, they might 
have taken the town and all that was in it, for the gates werfil all 
open, and we had not sense to shut them."-After breakfast and 
a good sleep, I waited on the Gadado, and told him that, as all wa 
happily quiet, I should return to Soccatoo at day-hreak to-morrow, 
as I had neither bed nor baggage with me. He thanked me very 
much for coming to their assistance, and said he should also return 
to the capital in the course of the next day, and the sultan in-
tended returning to the camp. 
Sunday, 3d.-At day-break mounted and rode to Soccatoo, ac-
companied by my freedman, l\Iohamed Allah Sirkie, who aCCOffi-
panic me on all enterprises of danger. At noon arrived at Soc-
catoo, and the Gadado arrived at midnight. 
Wednesday, 6th.-The eunuchs of the sultan came to-day, 
wishing me to go to the sultan's house to wind up the time-pi~e . 
ceQ 
~!2:8 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
Though I taught a man how it should be done, and to do it every 
eight days, they have always neglected to do it: only for such an ex-
cellent time-piece, the present of his. majesty, and my having brought 
it so far without injury, I would not have put a finge!' to it again; 
but the Gadado coming, and asking me to go with him, I showed 
another how to wind it up. 
Saturday,. 9th.-Ne ws from Magaria this day arrived, that the 
people of Goobur had foimed a camp outside the walls of theil' 
capital, and there elected a new sultan or chief, in the room of the 
one killed at our attack on Coonia; that he must go on some ex-
pedition against their enemies before he returns to· his· house, such 
being their custom: but at what part he is going against they do 
not as yet know. The custom of the Gooburites. is at first that, 
when they elect a chief, which they do outside the walls of the 
capital, where they sacrifice a bu.l1ock, a sheep, and a goat, under a 
tree, they must go on some expedition against their enemies before 
they return to their house. 
Tuesday, 12th.-Part of the tribe of Killgris, Tuaricks, or 
Berbers, who inhabit that part of the desert between Timbuctoo 
and Tuat, and to the north of Tadela, and Ader, come @n their 
annual summer or dry season visit to Soccatoo; also part of the 
tribe of Etassan, from that paFt called Anbur, which lies to the 
north of Kashna and Zinder in Bornou. The latter brought the 
sultan a present of a fine Tuarick horse fr<:>m their sultan, who has 
not come this year to pay his yearly respects to Bello, as is the 
custom. The Tuaricks, or Berbers, inhabiting the south part of the 
desert, consist of the tribes of Etassan, Killgris, Killaway, and 
Timsgeda. Ajudiz is the capital, and they jointly depose their 
\ sultan and elect another when they think fit, which is generally; 
once every two or three years. They do not kill the old one; he 
only retires from his office, and remains as a common man. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. fZ29 
They yearly, after the grain has been cut and got in, arrive in 
Houssa with salt, which they visit in the latter end of harvest, or 
in the months of October or November, to exchange for grain, 
blue tobes or large shirts, mugabs or blue turban dresses for their 
women, and swords; they also lay in a sufficient quantity of millet 
and doura to last them through the season, until they return to 
their own country, as they neither sow nor reap. During the whole 
of the dry season they remain in Houssa, principally in the pro-
vinces of Kano, Kashna, Zamfra, and Soccatoo. The latter mostly ! I 
Killgris; and Kashna and Kano are the principal resort of the 
Etassan and Killaway: they do not live, except a few, in houses in 
the town; but build temporary huts in the woods, not far distant 
from them, where they have their wives, their bullocks, horses, and 
camels, the men only visiting the town: in this way they live 
until the month in which the rains commence, when they retire 
north to the desert. They are a fine manly looking race of men, 
but extremely dirty in their persons, not even washing before 
prayers, but going through the form with sand, as if washing. 
The poorest amongst them are armed ·with a sword and spear, 
which are their constant companions. 
'Vednesday, 13th.-The ultan sent me a present of a sheep 
and four Guinea fowls and some rice, from the Sanson, apologizing 
for hi long absence in the camp, as the Tuaricks were very un-
'cttlcd, and they had not as yet detcrmined what party to side 
with. 
Thursday, 14th.-I to·day employed Hadji Omar and Malam 
Mohamed, the lattcr to give me a route, noting the northing and 
southing of the road, between l\Ia sina, the country in which he 
was born, to Soccatoo; the other, who has just returned from 
:i\Iecca, to givc me an account between this and Sen nat', with a de-
'cription of the countrie , town, and rivers: hi route is from Kallo 
280 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
to Adaniowa, Bagermie, Runza, Kaffiils, Darfoor, and Kordofan: he 
says the Bahr-el-Abiad is only about four feet deep in the summer, 
as is also the Shari above Logan, before it is joined by the river 
Asha, which comes from the south-east, through Bagerniie, and 
falls into the Shari above Logan. This is the only river not ford-
able in the summer between the Quorra and the Bahr-el Azrek. 
j Monday, 18th.-1 was not a little surprised to-day with the 
arrival ofa messenger from Kano, who had left, he said, my servants . 
and baggage at the border town, 01', as they call it, the Sanson, of 
Zamfra, with Hadji Salah, my agent; all of which he said had been 
sent for by the sultan's order: he also said that Pascoe had been 
taken and brought back by Richard, after his having got as far as 
Roma, in Zegzeg, and that he had twice run away since, and had been 
taken, committing a fresh robbery each time; the last time was at 
the Sanson The only construction I put on this strange pro-
ceeding was, that the sultan had done it, thinking that my things 
would be safer with me than at Kano; and, as my health was not 
very good, the account of Pascoe's repeated robberies would make 
me worse; and he, I thought, had judged that it would be time 
enough to tell me when all my things had arrived. 
Tuesday, 19th.-1 was visited by Sidi Sheik, who is one of the · 
sultan's Arab secretaries and confidential friends, who, after a little 
conversation on the affairs of other people, asked me if I was not 
glad my things were coming, and my servants. I said it would 
put me to an expense I could ill afford, and I thought it a very 
strange proceeding of the sultan. 
J Wednesday, ~Oth.-I was very ill all day, and in the evening 
I had a visit from Mohamed Ben Raja Gumso and Sidi Sheik, who 
said they had been sent to me by the sultan, to tell me not to 
consider it strange that De had sent for my servants and baggage; 
and to tell me, that there were t1nee roads by which I could 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 231 
return, one of which I must choose; also to speak the truth, 
had I come as a messenger from the king of England to Bello, or 
only to seek out a road? that one of the paths was through Your-
riba, the way I had come; the other by Timbuctoo; and another 
by way of Aghadez, Tuat, and Morzuk. I said that, after such a 
message, and such unwarranted proceeding on the part of the 
sultan, I could have no further communication with them; that 
they might act as they thought fit, all was the same to me. They 
went off, saying I was a very difficult man; had I nothing to say to 
the sultan? I said that my business with the sultan was now 
finished, and I would have no more to say. 
Thursday, 21st.-In the morning I sent to the sultan to take 
possession of my baggage, as it now appeared from Sidi Sheik, who 
early visited me, that they considered I was conveying guns and 
warlike stores to the sheik of Bornou. He sent to say that no one 
should touch my baggage; he only wanted to see the letter of Lord 
Bathurst to the sheik. I answered, they must take it if they pleased, 
but that I would not give it. At noon the Gadado arrived, and a 
short while after Hadji Hat Salah; the latter called on me as he 
went to his house. He declared that he knew not on what 
business they had sent for him; that he did not fear them, he had 
done nothing amiss. As there were too many persons around, I 
did not ask him any further questions, and instantly went to the 
Gadado, whom I found alone, sitting by a warm fire. After the 
usual compliments were over, I aS,ked him for what reason the 
sultan had sent for my baggage. He said of that he had not the 
least knowledge, until my servants and baggage had arrived at 
Magaria; but the sultan had told him, Mnce his return, that all he 
wanted was to see the letter to the sheik of Bornou. I told him 
that to give up the letter was more than my head was worth. He 
said they did not want to open the letter, they only wanted to see 
232 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
the direction, and if it was really from Lord Bathurst. I told 
him of the strange conversation of Ben Gumso and Sidi Sheik. 
He said, certainly such was not the message of the sultan, but an 
addition of their own; the sultan never sent to ask if I was really 
a messenger of the king of England. 
At 3 P. M. my servant Richard arrived with my baggage and 
Pascoe. Richard had .been very ill on the road, but had re-
ceived every attention from the people in the different towns in 
which he had halted, and also from the messenger which the sultan 
of Kano had sen.t to accompany him, who had also given him five 
bullocks, and four men to accompany him and carry the baggage, 
and a camel which Hadji Salah had bought for me, for 60,000 
cowries. The price of the bullocks was 12,000 each, and the 
pay of the men 4,000 cowries each. Richard's account of Pascoe 
was as follows:- The second day after Pascoe's first desertion, he, 
though very ill, secured all my baggage and goods in a secure room 
in the house, and went and gave Hadji Salah the key, declaring 
he must be answerable to me if any thing was lost, as he was going 
to bring Pascoe back. Hadji Salah advised him much not to go; 
but Richard, with the Al'ab servant whom I had left sick, and who 
was now recovered, mounting the two horses, took the road to 
Quorra, the capital of Zegzeg. \iVhen they arrived at the town of 
Aushur, in Zegzeg, they were informed by a person who had just 
arrived that Pascoe had been firing a pistol in the market-place in 
. the town of Roma, a day's journey ahead. .They arrived at Roma, 
where the people informed them that Pascoe had been there, but 
had gone away. Richard stopped there that night, as the horses 
were unable to proceed. A short time after halting, some people 
came and informed him that he (Pascoe) was stopping in a woman's 
house .near the market-place. Richard immediately sent people to 
the gates of the town to stop him, if he attempted to depart. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 233 
Richard was too ill to go to the house, but sent Abdulfitha, the 
Arab, and some other people to secure him, and bring him to the 
house, which they did, and he promised faithfully to behave well 
for the future j and Richard had him put inside of the hut, he and 
the Arab sleeping at the door. Next day they departed with their 
prisoner for Kano j but when within half a day's journey of Kano, 
where they halted for the night, during the time Richard was asleep, 
Pascoe slipped out of the hut, taking with him all the arms and 
money Richard had. He immediately mounted, and as he had 
now neither money nor arms, he started for Kano, where he arrived 
early in the morning, and told Hadji Salah to send instantly after 
him, which he did, and Pascoe was brought back in two days 
after, and put in irons in a house in Richard's charge until the 
arrival of the gover.nor of Kano, when Richard set him at large, 
after his taking an oath before the governor that he would not 
run away, or misbehave, until he joined me: tIllS was the day be-
fore Richard's departure from Kano. After leaving Kano, Richard 
was nearly dead with fatigue, weakness, and watching j but the 
fourth day he got better. Ten days after Richard arrived at the 
Sanson, or town, called Fofin Birnee, bordering on Goobur and the 
territory of the rebels of Zamfra. Here he was waiting for an escort 
to take him through the part of the road infested by the rebels of 
Goobur and Zamfra, when Pascoe, the third night after their arrival 
at the Sanson, took an opportunity, when Richard was a leep, of 
breaking open one of my trunks and a gun-box, taking a double-
barrelled gun, five gilt chains, two dozen and a half pairs of cis ors, 
all my money, a brace of pistols, seven hundred needles, one dozen 
of penknive , and a large quantity of beads. Richard immediately 
gave the alarm, and the people of the town were sent after him 
directly: they returned with him the next night. He having taken 
the road towards Goobur, and the hyrenas being numerou , and 
HH 
234 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
following him, he got up into a tree, and fired his newly-acquired 
gun at them, the report of which brought those in search of him 
to the place, when they brought him back, and pinioned him to the-
ground, and abused him very much. When Richard asked what 
the Fellatas were saying, he said they were cursing Richard for 
having him pinioned to the ground, but Richard would not have 
him let loose. On his arrival here, the Gadado asked me to for-
give him: I told him that was impossible. They allow him to go 
at large, and he stops in the -house of the Gadado's master of the 
camels. When I saw him, he appeatred as ·if nothing had been the 
matter. I forbad my servants holding any communication with 
him . 
. Friday, 22d.- In the morning the Gadado sent for Allah Sirkie 
to tell me the sultan wished to see Richard my servant, as he had 
never seen another Christian besides myself; and he also wished to 
see me, and I was to bring the sheik's letter, which he by no means 
wished to take from me, or to open; he only wished to see how 
we addressed him, and if it was in a tin case like his. I went after 
the mid-day prayers with the Gadado, taking with me my servant 
Richard, whom they all called Insurah Coramina, or the little 
Christian, and Allah Sirkie, to the sultan's, where we found him 
sitting in an inner room, better dressed than usual, and Mohamed 
Ben Hadji Gumso and Sidi Sheik sitting on his left: the Gadado 
sat down on his right, I with my servants in front. After his ask-
ing Richard and I how we were, and a few other questions, he then 
said he had sent Ben Hadji Gumso and Sidi Sheik to me, to inform 
me that he had sent for my people and baggage. Before he had 
not informed me, but now he would tell me how matters stood. 
The king of England had sent me to him, but I wished 'to go to 
the Sheik of Bornou: that between him and the sheik there was 
war; and therefore, though I had come from the king of England, 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND lVIAGARIA. .235 
he would not allow me to go: that there were three roads, out of 
which I must choose one; and he would send people with me; one 
road was the way I had come, the second by way of Ti~buctoo, and 
the third by way of Aghadiz and Fezzan. I answered, that by the 
way I had come he could not send me, nor was it safe I should 
attempt it, as all Y ourriba and the other countries at war with the 
Fellatas were now well acquainted with my having come here as a 
messenger, with presents from the king of England to him, for the 
purpose of putting a stop to the slave trade. That the way by 
Timbuctoo was almost impassable, for the Fellatas from Foota-
Torra and Foota-Bonda, &c. who had arrived here a short while 
ago, had with the greatest difficulty been allowed to come here with 
nothing but a staff and a shirt, and had been twelve months on the 
road, owing to the war; and that, were I to go, all the country 
would hear of me, and his enemies would have me and all my 
baggage before I had been two months on the road. That the 
road by Aghadiz would require a number of camels, more than I 
could afford to buy at present, also a great deal of provisions, water-
skins, &c. as there was no place for seven days' journey that supplied 
either wood or water: that the Tuaricks were a people without 
either law or government; and if they did allow me to go, I should 
have to pay "ery dear for their permission, at least two camel-
loads of blue tobes and turbans; but if he would allow me to go 
by the way of Baghermi, Darfoor, and Egypt, I would go at all 
risks. He replied that wa just going by way of Bornou, a I 
mm,t pass through from Adamawa to Logan. "'Vith truth," said 
old Ben Gu mo with great earnestness to Sidi Sheik, and loud 
enough for the ultan to hear, "do you hear how that man talk 
before the prince of the faithful ?" He, the sultan, then a ked to 
ee the 'hcik' letter; I showed it to him, as al 0 the Arabic Ii t of 
medicines which I had brought a far as Badagry for the sheik, but 
IIHQ 
286 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
had sent them back. He asked me to open the sheik's letter, after he 
had read the list of medicines. I said, it was more than my head 
was worth to do such a thing; that I had come to him with a letter 
and presents from the king of England, on the faith of his own 
letter the preceding year, and I hoped he would not break his pro-
mises and his word for the sake of seeing the contents of that letter 
which he had now lying beside him. He then made a motion with 
his hand for 'me to go, and I accordingly rose, made my bow, and 
went out: I saw Pascoe at the door, ready to have his audience, 
the Gadado accompanying me as far as the door. Instead of going 
to my house, I went to see Hadji Salah, who certainly was but poorly 
lodged by the Fellatas. I asked him, as there was none present 
but the son of the former sultan of Fezzan, and whom he had 
brought from Kano with him, what had brought him to Soccatoo? 
He said, they had not yet told him, but he did not care for them. 
The house, . as soon as it was known that I was there, was soon 
filled with Fellatas, and I left him. 
Saturday, ~3d.-Hadji Salah to-day saw the sultan, and I was 
informed by the master of my house that he was to return to Kano 
in four days after this. In the evening, Hadji Salah, having asked 
the Gadado's permission to pay me a visit, came about eight P. M.: 
he was not watched, that I could see. He informed me .that he 
had seen the sultan to-day, who had desired him to tell the truth, 
whether I had given him the sheik's present, or any thing for the 
sheik before I left Kano. He said he certainly never received any 
thing from me for the sheik, neither letter, nor goods, nor any thing 
else. After answering to this effect, as also the two friends that 
had come with him, the sultan told him it was well; he would allow 
him to return to his family in four days. He said, with respect 
to me, he would advise me, as a friend and a man of peace, to give 
up to them the present I had . for the sheik, and return home by 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 237 
the way of Aghadiz, which they had proposed to me; that there 
was not a Fellata, from the sultan to the meanest man amongst 
them, that could bear the sheik of Bornou, or anyone who had 
ever been friends with him; that, thank God! I had put nothing 
into his hands for the sheik, or he would have lost his head j that 
he would (most earnestly repeating it again) advise me to give up 
the sheik's present to them, as I could not keep it. I observed 
that it was the same thing as forcing the letter from me; it would 
be the last injury they could do me; that they had broken all faith 
with me; I could have no more to say to them: after their cheating 
or robbing me of the letter, they might take what they pleased. 
I was only one man, I could not fight against a nation: they could 
not, even by taking away my life, do worse with me than they had 
done. 
Sunday, 24th.-I saw the Gadado this morning, who com-
plained that he had got a bad cold: I recommended him to take a 
dose of senna. He said he had to ride out oftown a short distance, 
to meet Mohamed Ben Abdullahir, Bello's first cousin by the 
father's side: he is the F ellata king or sultan of N yffe, and is 
coming here to get permission to go down this year, as before he 
had sent only a relation or head chief to command there, which 
was Omar Zurmie, whom I had seen when there. He a ked me to 
go with him to meet Abdullahir. I told him no; my affairs with 
them were now at an end: after the manner iJ:' '~hich the sultan 
had behaved to me, it was impossible for them to put a greater 
affront on me than what they had done. He said that when 1 
came here before, I had come with letters from the Bashaw of 
Tripoli and the Sheik of Bornou, and that at that time they were 
all at peace; now they were at war, and the sultan neither held, nor 
allowed others to hold, any communication with the sheik or hi 
people: that I had come then with a letter and pre cuts from the 
238 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
king, and delivered them; that I had a letter and presents from 
the king of England's vizier; that when I sent the sword from 
Katagum to Bello, from the king of England, the ' Sheik of Bor-
nOll had seized the letter that came with it, and they had now done 
the same by him; and that, if I would give up the present, they 
would send it by Hadji Salah. I said there was no letter whatever 
came with the sword and box I had sent from Katagum. I ob-
served to him, that the conduct of Bello was not like that of a 
prince of the faithful, who, in defiance of his letter requesting the 
king of England to send a consul out, had broken all faith between 
us; that they had done every evil to me they could. J'he Gadado 
pleaded the letters sent from the Sheik and the two Hadjis of 
Tripoli, saying that I was a spy, and that we wanted to take this 
country, as we had done India. He was very sorry for what the 
sultan had done, he said-as sore at heart as I could be: that they 
had sent for Hadji Salah, who had been fourteen ' years in this 
country, and all that time transacting the business of the Sheik, to 
tell him, if he chose to go to Bomou, to go; if he remained, he 
must not interfere anv more for the Sheik. I said, what had I to 
do with the Sheik or H" adji Salah's affairs? he was my agent before, 
and that was the reason I had employed him a second time. I 
then took leave of the Gadado, after repeating to him what I had 
said above, two or three times, till he perfectly understood what I 
had said; and adding, that I never wished to see the sultan again, 
and I must insist on the Gadado to repeat to him what I had said ; 
and also that I must for the future consider every part of his domi-
nions as a prison, for he had broken his word in every thing. N ot-
withstanding all this, the Gadado and his brother Moodie still send 
me milk and food the same as usual; there is not the least difference 
in their conduct. The common conversation of the town now is, 
( that the English intend to take Houssa. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND lVIAGARIA. 239 
Monday, 25th.-BeingChristmas-day, I gave my servant Richard 
one sovereign out of six I have left, as a Christmas gift; for he is 
well deserving, and has never once shown a want of courage or 
enterprise unworthy an Englishman. The Gadado early sent to 
know how I was, and desired my servant to tell me he had ac-
quainted the sultan with all I had said; and he inquired if my 
heart was difficult as ever, which is their way of asking if I meant 
to talk in the same strong language. Pascoe was to-day sent to the 
house of Ben Hadji Gumso, from that of the Gadado's servant, with 
all his baggage; whether for the purpose of fishing him or making 
him say what they want, or to make him a slave, I do not know. 
He made a fail' recantation of his faith to-day before an Imam and 
the Gadado : the latter told him, when he had done, to go and wash 
himself from head to foot-that yesterday he was a Kaffir, but now 
he was friends with the prophet. I had provisions sent as usual 
in the evening. 
Tuesday, 26th.-Early this morning I was visited by Hadgi 
Salah and Malem Moodie, the Gadado's brothel'. They said they 
had been sent by the sultan, who had read the letter addressed to 
the Sheik, in which it was said that I had six guns for the Sheik, 
two boxes of balls and one box of powder, and one chest of goods 
as presents, and they were come to demand them. I said it was 
untruc; no such thing could have been put in the letter, for that 
the guns belonged to myself and servants, except those of the 
gentlemen who accompanied me, and who had died in Y oUlTiba, 
and two others as presents: this falsehood they must have had 
from their friend Pascoe. The present I had intended to give the 
heik I had alll'eady prcpared, and the Gadado entering, I ordered 
my 'ervants to bring it forth: the Gadado, looking over the articles, 
said he did not want any thing of mine ; whatever belonged to the 
Sheik they would take, for he was making a very unjust war upon 
5240 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
them; and they would not allow anyone to carry arms or warlike 
stores to him. I told the Gadado that they were acting like robbers 
towards me, in defiance of all good faith; that no people in the 
world would act the same, and they had far better have cut my 
head off than done such an act; but I supposed they would do that 
also when ·they had taken every thing from me. The Gadado flew 
off in a great passion, and the rest followed, carrying the present 
for the Sheik with them. Hadji Salah said he was afraid they 
would cut his head off, and he was a man with a large family; he 
'would from this time forward have no further concern with me or 
my affairs. A short while after this, Hadji Salah and his attendants ' 
came with a message from the sultan, to say the sultan had ordered 
them to tell me that he did not wish to do any thing or say any 
thing unpl~asant to me; all he wanted was to know if I had any 
arms or warlike stores for the Sheik- if I had, to give them up: 
I told him all I had for the Sheik they had already taken. Hadji 
Salah wanted me to give up all my own arms: I told him I would 
not give one. He said, I was once, he thought, a wise man, now I 
acted like an unwise one, not to give up all to save my head: I told 
him I would not give them a charge of powder to save my head. 
They went off displeased again. 
My servants and all my visitors fell off at this time. My ser-
vants said they were afraid to remain, even Allah Sirkie. This 
cowardice and ingratitude I did not expect from one I had found 
a slave, with only a leather skin about his middle, and whom I had 
clothed, fed, given him wages the same as my other servants from 
the day I bought him, and made him free. I told them they were 
at perfect liberty to go where they thought proper; that I could 
soon get others who, after the manner in which I had behaved to 
them, could not behave worse: they however returned in the even-
ing, and begged I would take them back, which I did; as lies, and 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. ~41 
ingratitude, and petty robbery, no servant who is a native of Houssa, 
Fezzan, or Bornou, is free from. 
Thursday, 28th.-The Gadado left to-day for Magaria: before 
he went, he told me he should not stay long away; that if any thing 
unpleasant happened to me during his absence, to send an express 
off to him directly. In the afternoon the sultan left for the Sansan 
or new town, which he is building. He sent, by Sidi Sheik, to 
ask me to go and show him the way to build a house and fortifY 
it; but as I did not believ-e what he said, I took no notice of the 
message. It 'afterwards turned out that Sidi Sheik had a relation 
who had lately arrived, who was a builder, and he wanted to in-
troduce him to the sultan. 
Friday, ~9th.-I applied a large blister to my side, as, from the 
enlargement of the spleen, it gave me great pain, having increased 
to such a size that I was unable to eat, and had little or no rest. 
Sunday, 14th January, 1827.-No news from Magaria. After 
sunset, a messenger with a horse for me arrived from the Gadado 
at Magaria, wishing me to go there. 
Monday, 15th.-Started at sunrise for Magaria; but I was so 
ill on the road that I did not arrive there before 5 P. M. All the 
reports of the enemy being near proved untrue. 
Tuesday, 16th.-"Taited on the Gadado and sultan. The latter 
told me, as soon as the reports of the rebels being out were found 
to be true or false, I should go; that he intended I should go by 
the way of Asbur, and that I should visit the country of Jacoba 
during the interval; that he should send a Fellata to Tripoli with 
me. I returned in the afternoon, and arrived at Soccatoo a little 
after sunset. 
'" ednesday, 17th.-A small gaffie of Arabs arrived to-day from 
Timbu,ctoo, one of whom had seen :l\fajor Laing, who, he said, had 
10 t his hand in an attack which the Tuaricks had made on him 
It 
242 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
and his servants during the night, and that his servants, a Jew and 
a Christian, had got severely wounded. 
Saturday, 20th.-Sent Richard to Magaria with a letter to the 
Gadado, urging him to apply to the sultan for permission to visit 
Jacoba and the southern parts of Houssa, that I might be able to 
ascertain whether and where the Quorra fell into the sea. 
Friday, 26th.-Light airs, with a slight haze; at 8 strong breezes 
from the E. N. E. The sultan sent to inform me that a courier 
had arrived from the sultan of Kano, informing him of the sheik 
being only a day'sjourney to the south of that place; and the Sultan 
Bello wished to know if, after such intelligence, I wished to go to 
Kashna. Sidi Sheik was the bearer of the message. I, of course, 
said I should remain where I was at present, without making any 
observations, as the news might be untrue, and it was only a catch 
to, get at my intentions. 
Saturday, 27th.-Cool and clear. At day-break the Gadado 
arrived from Magaria. In the forenoon I visited him, when he 
told me he was going to Kano : he said that as soon as every thing 
was settled he would write for me to come; but that I had better 
remain where" I was until the sheik had returned, who was at 
Sangia, on his way to Kano. It seems the sheik, before he entered 
the territory of Houssa, had sent to the governors of Katagum, 
Hadiga, Lamema, and Kano, to say he was not at war with Bello 
or his people, but at peace; 'that he had only come to take Moha-
med Mungo and Mohamed N ema, two of the Fellata chiefs on the 
frontiers, who were constantly invading Bornou, and carrying off 
the inhabitants and cattle. Instead however of looking after these -
chiefs, he entered the province of Shena, took all the people and 
cattle he could lay his hands on, and was now on his march to Kano, 
trying to cut off the sultan, who was at Dushie, the frontier town, 
to assist Hadgi Katagum in case of attack' ; but on hearing that the 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 243 
sheik was on his march to Kano, he had returned to secure that 
important city. 
Sunday, 28th.-Clear and cloudless sky. Took leave of the Ga-
dado, as he goes to Kano to-morrow to take command of the forces. 
The whole of the Fellatas are in the greatest state of alarm, as they 
expect the whole of the blacks will join the sheik, as also the Tua-
ricks: they are now busily employed in getting their grain into 
Soccatoo, expecting an attack here. 
Monday, 29th.-The Gadado did not leave until the afternoon. 
The sultan, and everyone that could muster a horse, besides a num-
ber on foot, accompanied him as far as the river side, which runs to 
the north, on the east of Soccatoo: here they repeated the fatha, 
after which all those not going to accompany him returned. 
Thursday, February 8th.-Having taken leave of the sultan, 
I put all my baggage, except one trunk and the canteen, into the 
Gadado's house, as well to prevent robbery as to guard against fires, 
which are very common in Soccatoo; taking my two camels and all 
my servants for Magaria. At 8 A. M. one of my camels being sickly 
and weak, we travelled very slowly until 3 P. M., when I halted at 
a vil1age near the road-side, where the head n1an gave me a hut to 
sleep in; and the river being about two miles distant to the north, 
we sent the camels out to feed, and left Richard and Allah Sirkie 
to pitch the tent and take care of the horses. I went down to the 
river side with the gun, to look at the hunting ground: I wa 
attended by l\Ialem Moodie, the owner of the village, on horseback, 
and about twenty of his slaves. He is the only free man in the 
village, which consists of about seventy men, women, and children. 
After descending the rocky and gravelly side of the hill over which 
the road lies, I came upon the fiat, which spreads out about four 
miles to the foot of the high ground or low hill . On the north 
.,ide, the river overflow all the fiat during the rain ; and the former 
I I 2 
~44 . RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
course of the river has left several pools and beautiful lakes of water. 
The soil in the flat is generally a blue clay and mould to a depth 
of from three to four feet; in the upper parts planted with cotton 
and gourds, and the other parts, during the rains, with rice, which . 
is of a very good qua~ty. The river rum; at this place in a narrow 
winding bed, about twelve feet deep; the banks sandy below the 
strata of clay and mould; and the falling of trees, and the looseness 
of the soil, cause it often to shift its bed through the flats or swamps 
in the rainy season. The acacia trees were in blossom, and the 
traces of elephants were numerous. I saw only three antelopes, 
but great numbers of guinea-fowl, which were too wild to come 
near, as they are. so much hunted by the young Fellatas; so I re-
turned without any thing: I was very anxious to h.ave shot a wild 
boar, of which there wet'e great numbers; but Malem Moodie was 
quite shocked at the thought of my wanting the skin, so that he 
would not, I suppose, have let me or my people have any supper if 
I had touched it; though he had no objection to my shooting as 
many as I pleased of their Kaffirs and Eblis. I returned to my 
hut in the village, when the Malem, at meal-time, sent me a large 
store-pudding, and gravy made of butter and the leaves of the 
adansonia, with corn for my horses. 
Friday, 9th.-After day-light, left the village of Male m Moodie, 
having given his female slaves who brought the pudding and millet 
the full price in cowries, and the old Malem two gora nuts: the 
old man was quite pleased with the present, and accompanied me 
a little distance on the road, calling at two other villages on the 
road-side to show his guest to the people. Though they have seen 
me fifty times, every man and woman, for twe~ty miles round Soc-
catoo, still their curiosity is as great as ever, examining my dress, and 
the dress of my s,ervant Richard; the buttons of brass they always 
call gold: also my English bridles, and the clbth of my trousers, 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. Q4·5 
and my coat, which is a striped printed dressing-gown, draw the 
attention of all the women, young and old, who beg always a piece 
of the same to tie round their heads: all good things, they say, we 
have got. They call me the big Christian, and my servant Richard 
the little Christian: myoId name of Abdulla is seldom used, ex-
cept by those who knew me when I was here before, and that 
only to my face. At 10 A. M. arrived at Magaria. My friend 
Malem Moodie was not at home; but I took up my quarters at 
myoid house; and Moodie's wife, the one that lives here (for he 
has four wives and sixteen concubines), sent me plenty of milk 
and doura. l\l[oodie arriving, I told him'l had come to remain a 
few days to shoot, and I wanted a man to show me the ground: 
he soon got me one, and I had every thing ready to start next 
morning. 
Saturday, 1Oth.-A little after day-light left Magaria, amI 
riding through between a number of plantations of cotton on the 
low ground, which had been covered during the rains, we came on 
to the rice ground, which is now covered with fine green grass, 
and has several small lakes and pools of water formed by the 
ancient beds of the river. The sides of the lakes and pools were 
swampy for a considerable distance, so that there was no getting 
within reach of the birds with small shot. They consisted of the 
white and gray pelican, the Muscovy duck, Egyptian goose, duck$, 
widgeons, and snipes; the heron, adjutant, ibis, and a small white 
crane were numerous. On the low flat were feeding, amongst the 
herds of bullocks, five or six of the large red antelopes, between the 
size of the common antelope and the nylghau, of a red colour, about 
as high as a small ass, with large thick horns, called by the Arabs 
the hamoria, and by the people marea. I did not look after them, 
as there was little cover, but rode over to the north side of the flat, 
where the river lies, expecting to find plenty of game and plenty 
of cover. On approaching through the flats, and within about a 
Q46 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARJA. 
mile of the river, the woods were almost impenetrable, abounding in 
wild hogs and guinea-fowl: of the latter 1 shot some, but the hogs 
were forbidden fruits. I had no wish to kill them, except to eat, or 
to have their skins; and my own servants would have been the first 
to have held me up to abomination if 1 had done so, as the less 
these rogues know about their religion, .the more they adhere to 
the less scrupulous points of it; the whole they know being to 
repeat theil' prayers in Arabic, not a word of which they un-
derstand; abhor a Christian, a Kaffir, and a poor harmless pig. I 
saw five elephants, and the traces of .a great many more. They 
hunt them, or set watch for them in their regular paths, sit-
ting on the branch of some high tree which overhangs the 
path. Their weapon is a harpoon, with two moveable barbs, 
like our whale harpoons, but a shorter shaft, which is stuck into 
the end of the large wooden pestle with which the women beat 
the husks of the rice and millet in their mortars. The iron head 
is poisoned, and night being the time, they strike on the back as 
the animal passes under the branch. The hunter traces him for 
a little distance; the wood of the harpoon drops off, and if the 
atiimal does not soon fall, the hunter returns home until next 
morning, when he is sure to find him dead near to where he had 
left him. They eat the flesh, and sometimes sell the tusks for a 
few cowries, or they are oftener brought to the sultan or Gadado, 
along with the trunk, as a proof of their victory; the tusks they 
always give to the Arabs. Three have been killed since I have 
been here: they watch only in the evening. At sunset we re-
t urned to :jY.[agaria, all very tired, and 1 with myoId dressing-gown 
torn to ribands. 
Monday, 12th.-l went out to hunt on the flats on foot, with 
a Fellata to drive in the game, my servants being all knocked up, 
and too tired to accompany me. After getting on the ground, I 
lay down amongst the long grass, and sent out the Fellata, who 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 247 
twice drove the game close to where I was lying, but on both oc-
casions I was sound asleep, being overcome with fatigue, and I 
got up and returned home. As I was returning I fell in with an old 
sow and five pigs: I let fly at her, as she with her whole family 
were coming up to take a look at me. This, as I did not hit any of 
them, did not at all disturb her or her brood, who, by their size, 
might be about nine months old; she, with four of the young ones, 
only turned on one side, and walked slowly amongst the long 
grass. As I came nearer, the fifth, a young boar, came snorting 
up, with his tail erect, to within ' pistol shot; I presented the gun 
to him, but he seemed to care very little for me, and I did not 
like to kill him. After both had satisfied ourselves with looking 
at one another, he, seeing the whole of his relations in safety, 
turned round with a grunt, and strutted after them, with as little 
fear in his gesture as if he had been lord of the soil. The wild hogs 
of Africa, both in Borgo, Houssa, and Bornou, are the same in ap-
pearance, having a head much larger in proportion to their bodies 
than the domestic hog of Europe. In Y ourriba and N yffe the 
snout is very broad and round, with two large tusks on each 
side, one in each jaw, both upper and lower turning up, the lower 
fitting also the upper and outside; the back of the neck covered 
with a mane of upright bristles of a snuff-brown colour, no other 
hair appearing on any other part, except at the tip of the tail: they 
are universally of the same colour, a dark mouse or lead colour: 
the height of a full grown boar i about three and a half or four 
feet, and from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail about five 
feet. They have also two warts Oil each side of the head, on 
a line with the nose, the large t below the car, two inches and 
a half, the other about an inch lower down, upon the end of the 
upper tu k, which look like two horns. 
Tuesday, 13th.-I did not go out until nearly mid-day, and then 
went to the outh of the town, amongst the hill and woods, but 
2413 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
again was unsuccessful. Though the traces of game of all kinds were 
numetous, yet I saw nothing but" one flock of antelopes, which 1 
could not get near ; guinea-fowl were in plenty, but as shy as be..: 
fore. The hills were composed ofloose clay, iron-stone rocks on the 
surface, and a red clay and sand for the 'depth of about four or five 
fee"t, then a dull whitish or rather bluish clay, containing shining 
particles of mica underneath. Several of the stones had rounded 
pebbles imbedded in them; others were, on breaking, like yellow 
ochre; the outer surfaces of all as if they had been burnt in the 
fire. This is owing to the weathei' I "s uppose, as well as the ap-
pearance of having been melted from the rains and sand beating on 
them, and wearing away the soft parts. The blocks of rock never 
exceed six feet square when loose, and when covering a flat., never 
above three or four feet thick over the clay soil. I forgot to men-
tion that the greater number, when broke, present a glistening or 
shining appearance, like iron-ore, and that they are much heavier 
than pieces of sandstone of the same bulk. After · tiring myself 
amongst the hills to no purpose, and 1 and my guides being very 
thirsty, we went across to the north, to a small lake on the flat 01' 
plain, to drink. Here 1 fell in with a party of F ella ta girls washing 
their gourds, from which their people, who had a temporary bullock 
or cattle village close at hand, under the shade of some large 
adansonia (kouka trees), had just gone out on the flats with their 
cattle. They gave me curdled milk and water to drink; after which 
1 lay down by the side of the lake, and took the bridle off my horse, 
to let him enjoy himself also amongst the fine green grass. 
WTednesday, 14th.- 1 did not go out to-day, as I had had such 
bad success, and was too much fatigued. A courier arrived from 
the Gadado, bringing intelligence of the Sheik El Kanemi being 
defeated with great loss, and that he had fled towards Bornou; the 
governors of Fridba -and Zegzeg had beaten him; and that the go-
vernor qf Kano had joined them; with all his forces, in the rear, 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. M9 
Duncoroa, governor of Katagum, Ben Gumso of Hadiga, &c. were in 
front of the sheik, so that he will not be able to return to Bornou 
if they manreuvre right. The Fellatas are all in great glee on t.he 
occasion, and they do not spare him the name of Dan Caria, or son 
ofa b-h. 
Thursday, 15th.-Took leave of Moodie, and left Magaria after 
6 A. M., sending two camels with Richard and Moodie to the village 
where I had halted on my way to Magaria. I proceeded along 
the foot of the hills, skirting the river, the bed of which is now dry 
in a number of places. I shot one duck and two guinea-fowls, the 
latter of which were very numerous; but the boys had that morn-
ing been hunting them, and they were very wild. I also saw one 
elephant, a number of hogs, seven of what the Arabs call the red 
bullock, and the people of Bornou the corigum. I take them to 
be the nylghau, but only a variety in colour. In Bornou they are 
ofa dark brown; here they are ofa cream colour. I shot several; 
they are of the antelope tribe, very fierce when wounded, and will 
give battle when attacked. At sunset I returned, and had a plen-
tiful supply of pudding from the old malem; and the guinea-fowls 
and duck feasted all hands. 
Friday, ·16th.-At daylight started, and rode on to the Sanson, 
where I arrived at 10 A. M. The sultan sent, as soon as I arrived, 
to ask how I was, and to tell me he wished to see me next day. 
The messenger between him and me, since the Gadado is gone, is 
old Yargoorma, who acts in that capacity when the Gadado is here. 
She also sits up all night in the room he sleeps in, and keeps his fire 
alight. She is a shrewd old woman, of strong natural sense; and has 
apartments in the Gadado's house, and also in the sultan's, and 
po ses es upwards of forty male and female slaves, though herself a 
slave. This posse sing slaves and property is not uncommon for 
-laves here, which, if they have no children, go at their death to 
their master. 
KK 
250 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
Saturday, 17th.-Clear and warm. At:3 A. M. old Yargoorma 
came and told me the sultan wished to see me. I went, and found 
him alone. He asked after my health, and if my exercise in hunt-
ing had,cured me of the spleen, which is ,considerably reduced, and 
I am now free from pain. He also asked after Richard, my servant; 
if his legs and feet had got better; a disorder of which he is also 
cured. The feet and ankles first swell, and cause great pain, not 
being able to walk; then it proceeds to the calves of the legs, knees, 
and thigh-joints. Purgative medicines are of little service; and the 
soles and ankles are so painful the patient can walk but with great 
difficulty, and great pain afterwards. The swelling is not like the 
scurvy, as on pressing the finger on the part it is attended with great 
pain, and does not leave a hollow after the finger is taken off. 
I told him of the difficulty and the impossibility it was for 
me to get the skin, head, and feet-bones of two wild hogs, as he 
wished, because my servants would not touch them ifI killed them. 
He said he would send for two, and I might either have them 
skinned myself, or they would bring the skins for me. I thanked 
him, and said I would prefer them skinned in the woods, as, were 
they brought to me alive, my house would 'be filled with idle people, 
and the whole town would never leave off talking about it whenever 
they saw me. Good, he said, and ordered a eunuch to give orders 
to the hunters to bring two as soon as possible. He asked me if 
we eat pork? I said yes, and the flesh was very good when they 
were well fed; we only eat it sparingly; the fat, I said, was always 
used for salves. I said it was much better to eat than dogs' flesh, 
which they sold publicly in the market at Tripoli; and all the great 
in Fezzan eat dogs' flesh whenever they could procure it. This 
account Sidi Sheik, who had just come in, confirmed. The sultan 
said, it was strange what people would eat: in the district of U m-
burm, belonging to Jacoba, they eat human flesh. I said I did not 
think any people existed on the face of the earth that eat their own 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. ~51 
kind as food; that certainly there were some savages in different 
parts of the world who eat their enemies. The sultan said he had 
seen them eat human flesh; that on the governor of Jacoba telling 
him of these people, he could hardly believe it himself; but on a 
Taurick being hanged for theft, he saw five of these people eat a 
part, with which he was so disgusted that he sent them back to 
Jacoba soon after. He said that whenever a person complained of 
sickness amongst these men, even though only a slight headach, 
they are killed instantly, for fear they should be lost by death, as 
they will not eat a person that has died by sickness; that the person 
falling sick is requested by some other family, and repaid when 
they had a sick relation; that universally when they went to war, 
the dead and wounded were always eaten; that the hearts were 
claimed by the head men; and that, on asking them why they eat 
human flesh, they said it was better than any other; that the heart 
and breasts of a woman were the best part of the body; and that 
they had no want of food, as an excuse for eating one another. 
Indian corn, millet, doura, and sweet potatoes were in plenty; that 
both men and women went naked, though their houses were much 
neater and cleaner than those of the common people of Soccatoo ; 
that, excepting this bad custom, they were very cleanly, and other-
wise not bad people, except that they were Kaffirs; that he would 
make me a present of some of them to let the king of England see 
that such was the fact. I said, I would rather be excused taking them, 
as both the king and the people of England would be too much dis-
gusted at seeing such a sight. You will see them, he said, when 
you go to Jacoba: he would write to the governor to show them to 
me when I went. I then told him I wished as soon as possible to 
go to Jacoba, as I had been here now five months very idle. He ' 
said that the rebels of Zamfra had sent to beg for peace, and 
that, as soon as their sultan or chief arrived, he would send me 
through that part of Zamfra which I had not seen, and I should 
KK2 
252 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
, see the gold ores, said to be there; that I ' should also see Adamawa 
and the Shari; and that he would send me afterwards to the sea, 
by the way of a country called Kano, bordering on the sea, and 
going to the south of. the province of Zegzeg, and whose sultan 
had sen~ a messenger a short while after I left Soccatoo on my 
former journey, wishing to open a trade with Houssa. I said that 
_t he sooner he could send me the better, as he would have eve~y 
thing that he could wish from England much cheaper than he 
could have by the way of the desert. He asked me again who ,the 
eleven slave-dealers were that his cousin, Mohamed Ben Abdullah, 
had taken at ' his camp ' at N yffe; and if I knew that they were 
Christians. He said they were black; and had come from, or by 
the way of Borgoo; and what ought to be done with them; for 
Abdullah had 'seized them, and written to know what he should' do 
with them. I said, he had better either take their goods, and send 
them ' away home, or have them brought up here; that they were 
not Christians, but I thought natives of Dahomey, and part of the 
same gang I had seen at Wawa in Borgoo ; as it was common for the 
Mahomedans to call all persons, not agreeing with them in faith, 
Christians or Jews. Mter this I took leave; and in the evening 
he sent me a fine fat sheep, and two pomegranates from his garden. 
Monday, 19th.-A courier from the Gadado arrived at Kano 
with a letter to, the sultan, informing him of the defeat of the 
sheik Qf Bornou, and his retreat, with the loss of all his baggage, 
camels, and tents, two hundred and nine horses, and ' a number I of 
slaves. -The sultan sent me the letter to read, and the sheik's water-
pot, made of copper. This is an article of the first importance to a 
Mahomedan great man; he never travels without one. It had been 
cut in three different places by a sword, not in taking it, as it was 
found in the tent, but hacked by some of them to vent their rage 
on the poor pot, as they could not do it on the sheik. 
Saturday, 24th.- Atday-break the pagans whom the sultan had 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 253 
sent to kill and skin a wild boar for me arrived with the skins of a 
boar, a sow, and one of their young ones. All the idle people in 
the neighbourhood had come to have a peep, as did several of the 
better sort of people, some of whom sat down to see me and the poor 
pagan, whose name is 'iVhidah, and his sons go through the opera-
tion of salting and packing the skins. They asked Whidah if he 
eat the flesh? He answered, Yes, and very good it is too. It is 
quite ridiculous to see how much those people dread even to touch 
any part of the animal's skin, and know not for what reason, only 
because they have heard others say so. I told them it was better 
meat than dogs' flesh, which the people of F ezzan and those of Tri-
poli eat; and at Tripoli dogs' flesh was publicly sold in the market; 
true they were Moslem, and had not a pig, which was more cleanly 
in its eating, and better to be eaten than a dog. My servants, the 
ignorant rascals, would not come near, and if there had been others 
to be hired, I would have paid them off. I first strewed the poison 
slightly over the inner part of the hides, then plenty offinely pounded 
salt, and made Whidah and his sons rub all well in, strewed them 
over with dried grass, and packed each separately in a mat, and gave 
them in charge to Whidah, to have them properly dried, and to 
take the flesh off the bones of the heads. The news soon got to the 
market that I had such things in my house; and on sending to the 
market to buy three new mats, the owner said he would sell them 
to me, but would not bring them to my house; and now the pigs 
and I are the whole talk of Soccatoo. 
Sunday, 25th.-Divine service. Nothing worth remarking has 
happened since the 25th, except that I was laid up for the last 
four days with ague. 
\\T edne day, 28th.-Paid Malem Mohamed 20,000 cowries for 
his writing me an account of the country between Soccatoo and 
:JIa 'ina, and Kano and Sennar, and making a chart of the river 
Quorra, between Cubbie and ~J a ina. 
254 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAGARIA. 
Sunday, 11 th March, nothing worth noting ·down, until the 
l~th, when a messenger of the governor ofBoushi arrived, bringing 
with him part of the spoil taken from the sheik of Bornou, which 
consisted of an old Bornou tent, a horse, and two mares, with two 
drums. The tent was erected in the square in the front of the 
sultan's house, and two slaves set to beat the drums; the whole 
population of Soccatoo came to see them, and they continued beat-
ing all night. The sultan sent for me. I went, and found him 
alone, and appearing very good humoured with the news that had 
arrived. After my asking after his health, and just beginning to 
ask if he would send me as soon as convenient to Adamowa, and to 
write to the governor to allow me to proceed up the Shari as far as 
possible, and show me every thing worth seeing in that province; 
and after that, if the governor of Adamowa thought it safe, he would 
send me to Boushi, without coming back to Kano; and that from 
Boushi I would proceed to Zari, and wait until after the rains, and 
then proceed with his messenger to the other Kano and the sea-. 
before he could give me an answer, a number of the principal people 
of Soccatoo came in, and interrupted the conversation; so I took 
my leave, he appointing another day to give me the information I 
requested. 
(Note.-Here Clapperton's Journal finishes, and no notices of any kind appear 
among his papers subsequent to the above-mentioned date; but the following Journal, 
kept by his faithful servant, Richard Lander, amply supplies the deficiency.) 
JOURNAL 
O}' 
RICHARD LANDER, 
SERvANT ... 0 'J'UE LA'fJo'; 
CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON. 

JOURNAL, &c. 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
NOVEMBER 20, 1826.-The sultan sent a messenger for me this 
morning, and after waiting in a coozie an hour, I was introduced 
to him. He informed me of his having received a letter from my 
father (after the death of Dr. Morrison I always passed for my 
master's son), desiring him to send me to Soccatoo, with the whole 
of the property intrusted to my care. I had myself received a 
letter from my master only two days previously, in which he ex-
pressed no such intention; but, on the contrary, said he should be 
with me shortly. In that letter he complained of a violent pain in 
his side, to which he had been for some time subject; and 1 fancied, 
hy his not writing me to-day, he had died; and that, from motives 
of delicacy, the king had withheld the news from me. 
22d.-The sultan again sent for me, and said he would make my 
father a present of five pack bullocks to convey the goods to Soc-
catoo, and send four men to take charge of them on the road; at 
the same time wished me to leave on the 25th. 
24th.-Paid my respects to the sultan in the morning; remained 
with him upwards of an hour; and on leaving, he said in a feeling 
tone, shaking hands with me at the same time, " Good bye, little 
Chrdiall; God take you safe to Soccatoo." He sent a letter by 
me to my master, and desired me to give his compliments to the 
king of the Mu sulmans ( ultan Bello, who was invariably desig-
nated by that appellation). On returning to my hou e, found 
Hadji Hat Sallah waiting for me. He told me it was nece sary I 
LL 
£58 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
should take the whole of my master's money, which consisted of 
7l1£,OOO cowries, to him. As this could not be done conveniently 
without a camel, I purchased one for 671,OOO cowries. 
25th.-At half-past seven in the morning, left my house, accom-
panied by old Pascoe, a messenger from sultan Bello, and one from 
the king of Kano. Could not, however, get without the gates of 
the city till ten, the bullocks being very restive, and throwing off 
their burdens repeatedly. At one o'clock halted at Zungugwa: 
the Gamel, in endeavouring to enter the gate, unfortunately broke 
two boxes in which was stationery, &c. This accident detained us 
an hour outside the walls, and the men were ultimately obliged to 
carry the goods on their heads to the residence of the chief, which 
was a quarter of a mile's distance. I waited on him, and gave him 
a p~ir of scissors, fifty needles, and a small paper of cloves, which 
pleased him highly. The chief showed me into 'one of his best 
huts, where, he told me, I might remain till I thought proper to 
leave the place ; and shortly afterwards sent me butter, sour milk, 
a couple of fine fowls, and tuah and corn. 
26th.-At six in the morning left the hut of this hospitable chief; 
and, after a ride of six hours, came to Markee, a large, but rather 
thinly inhabited :village. The chief, a kind-hearted old man, upwards, 
I should suppose, of ninety years of age, and very feeble, was de-
lighted to see me, and testified the pleasure he felt by shaking 
hands with me repeatedly, and by doing me many acts of kindness. 
He presented me with fowls, rice, corn, and tuah. After a little 
conversation, he took me into an inner apartment, and bidding me 
to sit, took from a calabash, which was suspended to a piece of 
wood attached to the roof, a small box made of skin, round which 
was wound, with the greatest care, upwards of five hundred yards 
of thread, which occupied him twenty minutes in taking off. In 
.this box he showed me four bits of tin, about the size of swan and 
common shot, which he told me were silver. The old chief gave 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 259 
me to understand, with much seriousness and earnestness of manner, 
that they had been given by an Arab fifteen years before, who told 
him they were possessed of life. The larger pieces, he continued, 
were males, and the smaller females; and were to produce young at 
the end of every twelve years, before which time they were by no 
means to be looked at. He had enveloped them in a quantity of 
cotton-wool, in order to impart warmth to them; and the thread was 
tied round the box that the offspring might have no opportunity 
of escaping! "But," said the old man, with a disappointed air, 
" though I kept them with the greatest care for twelve years, suf-
fering no one to approach them, I. found, to my sorrow, at the ex-
piration of that time, they had made no increase; and I begin to 
fear they never will :" in saying which the old man was so grievously 
affected that he burst into tears. It was with considerable difficulty 
I could refrain from laughing aloud in his face. I succeeded, how. 
ever, in subduing the great inclination I had to be merry; and told 
him, with all the solemnity the occasion deserved, that the Arab 
was a rogue, and had deceived him; that the articles were bits of 
tin, and not of silver; that they were without life, and therefore 
could not produce young. I consoled the old gentleman on the 
hoax that had been played off upon him, and sympathized with him 
in his sorrow. He soon afterwards became more composed, al. 
though at times he could not help sobbing audibly. After answer-
ing the numerous questions he put to me about my country, &c. I 
complained of fatigue, and retired to rest. III with dysentery all 
day. 
~7th.-Passing a very restless night, got up at SLX in the morn-
ing and proceeded on my journey. At 10 A. 1\1. passed close 
to a large F eHata town, called Kaowah, in the neighbourhood of 
which were numerous herds of cattle grazing. Here, as in other 
part of Hous a, the cows are mostly white; and the sheep gene-
L L '2 
260 "FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
rally white, with black and red spots, which had a very agreeable 
appearance at a distance, and put me strongly in remem!Jrance of 
Jacob's spotted sheep, mentioned in Scripture. A ride of four 
hours brought us to Goguay, a large walled town. The beasts 
were unable to enter the gate with their loads, by I'eason of its ex-
treme narrowness; and being ill, and much in want of rest, I was 
unwilling for so much time to be consumed in conveying them into 
the town on men's heads: I accordingly reposed for the night un-
derneath the branches of a large tree. On learning of my arrival, 
the chief came to see me, seated himself by my sider and entered 
familiarly into conversation. He observed that tigers abounded in 
the neighbourhood, and advised me by all means to keep fires 
burning the whole of the night round my attendants and cattle, 
to prevent their being attacked by those rapacious animals, which 
would very likely be the case if that precaution were not used. 
The chief told me that about two years before the Gooberites took 
and plundered his town, and put to the sword nearly the whole of 
its inhabitants, he himself very narrowly escaping with his life. 
This was no doubt the reason of the scantiness of the population, 
and the poverty of the chief and his remaining subjects. As soon 
as the chief left me, a new married couple paid me a visit. I gave 
the bride, a very pretty girl of eighteen, guinea nuts to the value 
of one hundred cowries, for which she dropped 011 one knee, and 
thanked me in a graceful and becoming manner. I shortlyafter-
wards received some butter-milk from her, which was a welcome 
present. 
28th.- Left Goguay at half-past six in the morning, and halted 
at Kookay, a small wretched looking village, at twelve at noon. The 
chief sent provisions for myself and people, and provender for the 
cattle; and the inhabitants complained sadly of the mischief done 
to their crops by wild pigs, a great part of which was completely 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 261 
destroyed. They were miserably clad, and exhibited signs of ex-
treme poverty. This night slept a little, which is a comfort I 
seldom enjoy. 
29th.-At half-past six in the morning proceeded on our jour-
ney, and at twelve stopped atDuncammee, a moderately sized walled 
town. I was both surprised and pleased to observe the neatness 
of this town, and the cleanliness of its inhabitants. Every inch 
of spare ground was planted with tobacco, and very tastefully 
fenced round with dried tobacco stalks. The natives manufacture 
large quantities of cotton cloths, which are neat and durable; and 
at the north end of the town are several dye-pits. The wall sur-
rounding the town is in rather a ruinous state. The chief wel-
comed me to his house, and offered me the best apartment in 
it. Provisions were plentiful, and we fared exceedingly well. In 
return for his kindness, I gave him a clasp knife, and a hundred 
needles. 
SOth.-A t six in the morning 'were again on our route, and halted 
at Gaza at one at noon. The chief was happy to see me, lodged me 
in his own house, and seemed to take pleasure in obliging me. 
SIst.-Continued our journey at the usual hour, and halted at 
Rayoo at one o'clock. In this town I was considerably 'Worse, became 
debilitated in a surprising manner, lost my sight, and could not rise 
in bed. Fancying I should not be able to proceed any further, and 
that my life was drawing to a close, I called Pascoe to my bed-side, 
and advised him, after he had buried me, to make all haste to my 
master at Soccatoo; to take particular care o?the property he would 
have the charge of, and I had no doubt my master would reward him. 
December !st.-This day was dreadfully ill-unable to taste 
any kind of food, and expecting every moment would be my la t. 
2d.-Did not find myself at all better this morning, and was 
surprised I had lived so long. At 2 P. M., finding myself a little 
revived, but unable to it up, I determined to sec my dear ma tel', 
262 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
if I could, before I died. For this purpose ordered my pe<?ple to 
make a couch on the back of the camel -; after which they gently 
lifted me into it, and I almost im~ediately ordered them to pro-
ceed. The chief of Rayoo, who was one of Bello's principal fighting. 
men, behaved particularly kind to me, and, I really believe, sincerely 
sympathized in my distress. lie expressed much sorrow on parting, 
and hinted it would be dangerous to proceed, but did not oppose my 
determination. The path, the greater part of the way, being very 
narrow, and thickly lined on each side with a species of thorn, I was 
annoyed greatly, by reason of the thorns frequently tearing the 
covering from my bed, and exposing me to the intense heat of a 
burning sun. The sultan of Kano's messenger, however, seeing me 
in this statel rode before the camel, and dexterously lopped off the 
overhanging branches with his cutlass: this proved of the utmost 
advantage. The violent shaking of the camel caused me to be faint 
several times on the road; on which occasions my party uniformly 
halted until I revived. In this manner we journeyed till seven in the 
evening, when we entered a walled town called Koolefee. The 
chief, a very fine old man, never having seen a white man before, 
"vas in raptures when he learned of my being in the town; and 
running to the camel, took me from its back, and carried me in his 
arms into an apartment which had been hastily prepared for my 
reception. Placing me on a bed, he took a gora nut from his pocket, 
and holdi~g it betwixt his finger and thumb, wished me to chew 
one end of it, that he might have the pleasure of eating with a 
Christian. I did it after some difficulty, when he immediately ate 
the remainder with much apparent satisfaction. His great men, 
who surrounded me, reproved him sharply for doing this. He 
quickly answered them, in a pleasant but firm tone, that he be-
lieved the " little Christian" was as good a man as himself or any 
of them; which effectually silenced their remarks. He shortly 
afterwards went out, and Jeturned with a bowl, containing six 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 263 
quarts of new milk, with which a little flour and some honey had 
been mixed. He told me he was determined to see me eat the 
whole of it before he left the apartment. I partook sparingly of 
it at first, but in the night tasted it several times, which refreshed 
and invigorated me. 
3d.- Finding myself considerably better this morning, I ordered 
a pillow to be laid across my horse's saddle, that I might travel for 
a short distance on his back. Entered a miserable village named 
Zunko, and slept there for the night. 
4th.-Arose at sun-rise, and after a fatiguing journey reached 
Roma at two in the afternoon. This town is built on an eminence, 
and commands a delightful view of the country for miles round. 
Proceeded to the house of the chief, and slept there. He made me 
the accustomed presents of provisions, &c. and received in return 
a pair of scissors, a hundred needles, and a paper of cloves. Several 
Fellata girls came to me this evening, of a bright copper colour, 
and extremely beautiful, with delicate and graceful forms. vVith 
a curiosity so natural to their sex, they were -all eager to catch a 
glance of the" little Christian," having seen the" great Christian," 
as they termed my master, before. In the course of the afternoon 
and evening they brought me a little milk and butter, for which I 
recompensed them with a few beads. Here, I am happy to say, 
the dysentery quite left me, and my health wonderfully improved. 
5th.-Left Roma for Bogell early in the morning, and arrived 
there at half-past four in the afternoon. Found myself so well to-
day that I was enabled to ride on horseback the whole of the jour-
ney. As usual, went to the residence of the chief, who gave me a 
little corn for the horses only. In the night slept profoundly, and 
next morning was completely recovered. 
Gt.h.-At six in the morning left for Zulamee, where we arrived 
at two in the afternoon. The chief was oveljoyed to see me, and 
ordered four armed men to guard the beasts and property. A band 
264 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
of robbers having infested the town for some time, and committed 
numerous .depredations, he was fearful some of my goods or cattle 
would be stolen, and desired me to fire a gun morning and evening, 
that the brigands might not think I was unprepared to meet them. 
They did not, however, molest me; but the king of Kashna was 
not quite so fortunate: he had a fine horse· stolen from him yes-
terday, which he never afterwards recovered. Rested here two 
days, in order to recruit the spirits of my followers, and refresh the 
animals under their charge. 
9th.- At six in the morning, having got every thing in readi-
ness, left Zulamee. Both men and beasts seemed much invigorated 
with the rest they had enjoyed, and at two in the afternoon reached 
Gundumowah, a small but neat Fellata village. The chief sent me 
a little milk. 
lOth. - Early in the morning started for Sansanee. The country 
traversed was thickly wooded, and the path lay for three hours 
through a large bush, which, having recently been visited by a horde 
of elephants, the prints of whose feet were very perceptible, ren-
dered travelling extremely unpleasant, and even dangerous. Reached 
Sansanee at one at noon. The site on which the town is built not 
being long cleared, none of the houses were quite finished. On 
our arrival, the chief had an open shed, occupied by fifteen calves, 
cleaned out for our reception. In the evening, putting the goods 
in the centre, I ordered the men to lie around them, whilst I placed 
myself near the most valuable articles. Not deeming them suffi-
ciently secure, my sleep was rather disturbed; and awaking about 
ten o'clock, I found my camel had strayed from outside the hut, and 
being unwilling to arouse my drowsy companions, went myself in 
search of him. On my return, to my infinite surprise and alarm, 
discovered Pascoe had decamped, taking with him a valuable gun, 
two pistols, a cutlass, six sovereigns, nineteen dollars, ten large ami 
ten small knives, and several other articles, which he had contrived 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 265 
to take from the boxes in which they had been placed. To deceive 
me, the artful old villain had put a pillow into a sack, which he had 
laid along on his own mat. On the discovery, I immediately made 
an alarm, and sent to the chief for twelve horsemen to go in pur-
suit of him. 
] 1 th. - About three o'clock in the afternoon, as I was standing in 
my shed, I perceived a party of horsemen coming towards me in full 
gallop. On coming within a few yards of me, they suddenly checked 
their horses, and flourishing their spears over their heads, exclaimed, 
" N asarah, acqui de moogoo!" (Christian, we have the rogue!) They 
informed me that a little before day-break in the morning they 
heard the report of a gun, and going towards the place whence the 
sound seemed to proceed, saw Pascoe perched on the top of a high 
tree, and the stolen goods lying at the root of it. They threatened to 
shoot him with their poisoned arrows unless he immediately came 
down. This had the desired effect. He hastily descended, and de-
livered himself into their hands. One of the soldiers took the 
trembling scoundrel behind him on his horse, when the whole 
party immediately clapped spurs to their horses, and made all the 
haste they cou1d to the village. I asked Pascoe what could have 
induced him to leave me in so disgraceful a manner. He replied 
that his countrymen (the Gooburites) were at' war with the Fel-
latas, who would cut off his head on arriving at Soccatoo. The 
chief coming up at the instant, cried out, "A blessing, a blessing; 
you have taken the thief, let me take off his head I"~ This was 
Pa coe's third offence; and I ordered him to be heavily ironed and 
pinioned in the town dungeon. 
1 ~th.-Pascoe having expressed a wish to see me, I ent for 
him. Hc begged mo t piteously to be forgiven, and holding up 
his naked arms, which were swollen to thrice their natural size, 
implored me at least not to have him pinioned again. Thi I freely 
MlI! 
266 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
consented to, but he was not freed from his irons till the morning 
we left the town . . 
13th.-This day 500 camels laden with salt, obtained from the 
borders of the Great Desert, arrived at the town. They were pre-
ceded by a party of twenty Tuarick salt-merchants, whose appear-
ance was grand and imposing. They entered at full trot, riding 
on handsome camels, some of them red and white, and others black 
and white. All the party were dressed exactly alike. They wore 
black cotton tobes and trousers, and white caps with black turbans, 
which hid every part of the face but the nose and eyes. In their 
right hand they held a long and highly-polished spear, whilst the 
left was occupied in holding their shields, and retaining the reins 
of their camels. The shields were made of white leather, with a 
piece of silver in the centre. As they passed me, their spears glit-
tering in the sun, and their whole bearing bold and warlike, they 
had a novel and singular effect, which delighted me. They stopped 
suddenly before the residence of the chief, and all of them exclaim-
ing, " Choir!" each of the camels dropped on its knees, as if by in-
stinct, whilst their riders dismounted to pay their respects. They 
came in a body to see me just after, and notwithstanding their ap-
parent respectability, felt not·the least repugnance to beg money 
in a most importunate manner. One of them, in the hope of ob-
taining some, described himself as "God's own slave." I refused 
to accede to his request, observing, that God always loved his ser-
vants, and made them prosperous and happy, and could not believe 
what he had told me. Becoming at length very troublesome, I 
was under the necessity of turning him out: as he went away, he 
muttered something I did not understand, and said, I was the first 
person that ever refused to give him money. Like thousands of 
others, these merchants were very inquisitive, and amongst other 
questions asked whether any of my countrymen had tails like 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 267 
monkeys? I assured them none of them had that elegant appen-
dage, but they would not believe me. Mter remaining an hour, 
they went to look after their wives and children, who were on the 
camels on the road, and not yet arrived. 
14th.-The goods being properly secured, I took my gun this 
morning and shot enough of pigeons for dinner. The Tuarick men, 
women, and children, surrounded me in great numbers on hearing 
the report of my gun, and were amazed to see the birds falling dead 
at my feet from the tops of the high trees. They examined them 
with great attention, declaring I was a beautiful man, too good for 
a Kafer, and ought to be a worshipper of the true faith. 
IGth.-In the afterboon an escort, consisting of fifty armed 
horsemen sent by Bello, arrived, to conduct me to Soccatoo. They 
brought 'with them my master's two camels, to carry the goods, 
which, as I afterwards learnt, the Gadado had borrowed under false 
pretences. A messenger belonging to the sultan of Kano brought 
a letter from my master, unkno'wn to the escort, and was on his 
way to Kano with it. The letter informs me of the total igno-
rance of my master of my having left Kano, and his expectations 
of seeing me there in a week or two. It struck me forcibly at the 
time that Bello wished to get me in his power, in order to put us 
out of the way, to become the sole possessor of the sheik of Bor-
nou's pr(>sents, &c. As soon as I had read the letter, I asked the 
Gadado's brother, who commanded the escort, if it was the sultan's 
intention to murder us on my arrival at Soccatoo, as my master 
kne,,: nothing of the transaction. He answered, "Fear nothing, 
the king will not hurt you; as he has neyer seen but one Christian, 
he wishes to view a second." 
17th and 18th.-The Gadado's brother came to me several 
time for money to buy go ora nuts. I at length told him the 
money in my posse ,ion belonged to my father, who would not 
lIIM2 
268 FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
permit me to part with any, unless I had previously obtained his 
consent. This answer by no means pleased him: but on my telling 
him he should be handsomely rewarded on our safe arrival at Soc-
catoo, he became a little appeased. 
19th.- Liberated old Pascoe in the morning, who had behaved 
peaceably since his imprisonment, and seemed truly sorry for the 
offence he had committed; and at two in the afternoon went out 
of the town, but was obliged to leave a bullock behInd, being lamed 
and unable to proceed. Travelled till eleve~ o'clock the next 
night, when we arrived much fatigued at Magaria. The poor 
camels and horses could hardly stand, and suffered dreadfully from 
thirst, not having drank during this long journey. 
21st and 22d.- The horses and camels not being sufficiently 
recovered to continue the journey, staid at Magaria both these 
days. Resided at a house belonging to the Gadado, who supplied 
me with abundance of provisions. Received a message from him 
to come to see him, with my gun, in order to show the head men 
of the town the mannel' in which birds were shot in my country. 
I soon gratified their curiosity by firing at a small bird, at a distance 
of fifty yards. The whole of them testified the greatest astonish-
ment on taking it up, and would not for a long time believe it was 
really dead. 
2sd.- To my great joy I entered the gates of Soccatoo in the 
afternoon, about two o'clock, after a tedious and wearisome jour-
ney of nearly a month. Not having seen my master for three 
months, I hastened to his house; but not finding him at home, I 
went to the Gadado's, where, I was told, he had gone. My master 
was in earnest conversation with the Gadado and an old Arab, and 
was much surprised when informed of the reason of my leaving 
Kano: he spoke with warmth of the artful and unhandsome con-
duct of the sultan; and after this act of duplicity on the part of 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. ~69 
Bello, to the hour of his death, I never observed him to smile. 
My master had been ill of dysentery before my arrival, but was 
then much better. 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO-MY MASTER'S DEATH-BURIAL. 
On the 13th December, the day after my arrival, Sultan Bello 
sent for my master and myself to repair to his residence. As soon 
as we entered, he began to make inquiries of the nature of the pre-
sents I had with me, and was extremely' desirous to know if I 
had left any with Hadji Ben Sallah for the sheik of Bornou. I 
replied, I had not. " Are you sure you have not?" said he. I 
again answered with firmness in the negative. The sultan then 
demanded the king of England's letters to the sheik of Bornou, 
which my master reluctantly produced j but refused to accede to 
the sultan's request to open and read them, observing that, when 
his king discovered, on his return to his country, he had so unfaith-
fully broken his trust, he would immediately be beheaded. The 
sultan himselftook the letters, and waving his hand for us to with-
draw, we left the apartment. \Ye had not been in our hut more 
than a couple of hours when the Gadado, his brother, Hadji Ben 
Sallah, and several of the principal inhabitants of Soccatoo, entered, 
and demanded, in the name of Bello, the presents intended for the 
sheik of Bornou, together with all the arms and ammunition we 
did not want ourselves. l\Iy master became deeply agitated when 
he had heard their errand, and rising up from his couch, exclaimed 
with much energy and bitterness-" There is no faith in any of 
you; you are an unjust people; you are worse than highway rob-
bers." They cautioned him to be more guarded in his expre sion , 
or it might cost him his head. " If I 10 e my head," rejoined my 
270 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
master in the same determined manner, " I lose it for speaking for 
the just rights of my country only." Ben Sallah and others en-
treated him to moderate his anger, or it might indeed be fatal to 
him. I also implored him to accede to the demands of the sultan, 
how unjust and tyrannic soever they might "be, observing, that two 
debilitated white men stood no chance in holding out against the 
united force of so many Fellatas, who only waited the command 
of their sovereign to assassinate them. After much entreaty, and 
not without considerable reluctance, my master desired that they 
should be given to them; and said to the Gadado, on his leaving 
the hut, "Tell your sovereign I never wish to see him again; my 
business with him is now at an end." A short time after Mallam 
.l\ludey returned with a message from the sultan, acquainting my 
master of his intention of writing to the king of England in ex- " 
planation of his conduct. He desired Mallam Mudey to tell Bello 
that the king of England would not even look at a letter from him, 
after the treatment his subjects had received. 
I took an opportunity one day of acquainting my master of 
Pascoe's villany, who immediately dismissed him, without paying 
his wages. The old man went to a native lawyer to obtain advice 
in what manner he was to act; but instead of holding out the 
hope of obtaining the sum due to him, the learned Fellata ex-
pressed his astonishment that Abdullah had not cut off his head. 
Pascoe then turned snuff-merchant; but having given too extensive 
credit, soon became a bankrupt, and was finally obliged to cut wood 
from the adjoining country, and sell it in the market at Soccatoo, 
by which means he contrived to procure a precarious subsistence. 
One day the Gadado came and begged me to lend him my 
camel to go to the War against the sheik of Bornou: knowing it 
would be impolitic to refuse, I let him have it. The animal was re-
turned to me, about six weeks after, in a most shameful state, reduced 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
to a mere skeleton, and having two immense holes in its back. I 
wished the Gadado to give me another in its stead, but he would 
not listen to me. 
My master and myself enjoyed pretty good health for some 
time after my arrival at Soccatoo, and amused ourselves with going 
a shooting almost every day. At one shot my master brought 
down thirteen wild ducks, about two miles to the north-east of the 
city, ten of which were secured. We remained at Soccatoo much 
longer than was intended, believing the sultan would consent to 
our proceeding to Bornou when the war had become somewhat 
abated; but this he never granted. 
On the l~th of March, 1827, I was greatly alarmed on finding 
my dear master attacked with dysentery. He had been complain-
ing a day or two previously of a burning heat in his stomach, unac-
companied, however, by any other kind of pain. From the moment 
he was taken ill he perspired freely, and big drops of sweat were 
continually rolling over every part of his body, which weakened him 
exceedingly. It being the fast of Rhamadan, I could get no one, 
not even our own servants, to render me the least assistance. I 
washed the clothes, which was an arduous employment, and obliged 
to be done eight or nine times each day, lit and kept in the fire, 
and prepared the victuals myself; and the intermediate time was 
occupied in fanning my poor master, which was also a tedious em-
ployment. Finding myself unable to pay proper attention to his 
wants in these various avocations, I sent to i\Iallam Mudey, on the 
13th, entreating him to send me a female slave to perform the ope-
ration of fanning. On her arrival I gave her a few beads, and she 
immediately began her work with spirit; but she soon relaxed in 
her exertions, and becoming tired, ran away, on pretence of going 
out for a minute, and never returned. Alia Sellakee, a young man 
my master had purchased on the road from Kano to take care of 
the cn.mels, and whom he had invariably treated with his u ual 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
kindness, and given him his freedom, no sooner was made acquainted 
with his master's illness than he became careless and idle, and in-
stead of leading the camels to the rich pasturage in the vicinity of 
Soccatoo, let them stray wherever they pleased, whilst he himself 
either loitered about the city, or mixed with the most degraded 
people in it: by this means the camels became quite lean; and 
being informed of the reason, I told my master, who instantly dis-
charged him from his service. 
My master grew weaker daily, and the weather was insuffer-
ably hot, the thermometer being, in the coolest place, 107 at twelve 
in the morning, and 109 at three in the afternoon. At his own 
suggestion I made a couch for him outside the hut, in the shade, 
and placed a mat for myself by its side. For five successive days 
I took him in my arms from his bed in the hut to the ,couch out-
side, a~d back again at sunset, after which time he was too much 
debilitated to be lifted from the bed on which he lay. He at-
tempted to write once, and but once, during his illness; but before 
paper and ink could be brought him, he had sunk back on his 
pillow, completely exhausted by his ineffectual attempt t? sit up in 
his bed. Fancying by various symptoms he had been poisoned, I 
asked him one day whether he thought that, in any of his visits to 
the Arabs or Tuaricks, any poisonous ingredients had been put 
into the camel's milk they had given him, of which he was par-
ticularly fond . He replied, " No, my dear boy; no such thing has 
been done, I assure you, Do you remember," he continued, "that 
when on a shooting excursion at Magaria, in the early part of Fe-
bruary, after walking the whole of the day, exposed to the scorching 
rays of the sun, I was fatigued, and lay down under the branches 
of a tree for some time? The earth was soft and wet, and from 
that hqur to the present I have not been free from cold: this has 
'brought on my present disorder, from which, I believe, I shall 
never recover," 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
For twenty days my poor master remained in a low and dis-
tressed state. He told me he felt no pain; but this was spoken 
only to comfort me, for he saw I was dispirited. His sufferings 
must have been acute. During this time he was gradually, but 
perceptibly, declining; his body, from being robust and vigorous, 
became weak and emaciated, and indeed was little better than a 
skeleton. I was the only person, with one exception, he saw in 
his sickness. Abderachman, an Arab from Fezzan, came to him 
one day, and wished to pray with him, after the manner of his coun-
trymen, but was desired to leave the apartment instantly. His 
sleep was uniformly short and disturbed, and troubled with fright-
ful dreams. In them he frequently reproached the Arabs aloud 
with much bitterness; but being an utter stranger to the language, 
I did not understand the tenor of his remarks. I read to him 
daily some portions of the New Testament, and the ninety-fifth 
Psalm, which he was never weary of listening to, and on Sundays 
added the church service, to which he invariably paid the pro-
foundest attention. The constant agitation of mind and exertions 
of body I had myself undergone for so long a time, never having 
in a single instance slept out of my clothes, weakened me exceed-
ingly, and a fever came on not long before my master's death, which 
hung upon me for fifteen days, and ultimately brought me to the 
,ery verge of the grave. }'indillg myself unequal to pay that 
attention to my master's wants which his situation so particularly 
required, I solicited and obtained his consent to have old Pascoe 
once more to assist me. On entering the hut, he fell on his knee, 
and prayed to be forgiven, promising to be faithful to my master's 
(,rYice. l\Iaster immediately pardoned him, and said he would 
forget aU that had passed, if he conducted himself well: by this 
nwam; the \Va hing and all the drudgery was taken from my shoul-
ders, and I was enabled to devote aU my time and attention to my 
ma ter's person. I fanned him foJ' hours together, and thi eemed 
NN 
274 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
to cool the burning heat of his body, of which he repeatedly com-
plained. Almost the whole of his conversation turned upon his 
country and friends, but I never heard him regret his leaving them; 
indeed he was patient and resigned to the last, and a murmur of 
disappointment never escaped his lips. 
On the 1 st of April, he became considerably worse, and though 
evidently in want of repose, his sleep became more and more dis-
turbed. He swallowed eight drops of laudanum, four times a d~y, 
for three days; but finding it did him not the least benefit, he dis-
continued taking it altogHher: this, with the exception of two 
papers ofSeidlitz powders and four ounces of Epsom salts, was the 
only medicine he had during his illness. On the 9th, Maddie, 
a native of Bornou, whom master had retained in his service, 
brought him about twelve ounces of green bark from the butter 
tree, and said it would do him much good. Notwithstanding all 
my remonstrances, master immediately ordere<!l a decoction of it to 
be prepared, observing, "No man will injure me." Accordingly 
Maddie himself boiled two basins-full, the whole of which he drank 
in less than an hour. Next morni.ng he was much altered for the 
worse, and regretted his not having followed my advice. About 
twelve o'clock of the same day, he said, " Richard, I shall shortly 
be no more; I feel myself dying. " Almost choked with grief, I 
replied, " God forbid, my dear master: you will live many years yet." 
" Don't be so much affected,?lY dear boy, I entreat you," said he : 
" it is the will of the Almighty; it cannot be helped. Take care 
of my journal and papers after my death; and when you arrive in 
London, go immediately to my agents, send for my uncle, who will 
accompany you to the Colonial Office, and let him see you deposit 
them safely into the hands of the secretary. Mter I am buried, 
apply to Bello, and borrow money to purchase camels and pro-
visions for your journey over the desert, and go in the train of the 
Arab inerchants to Fezzan. On your arl'ival there, should your 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO • <:l75 
. money be exhausted, send a messenger to Mr. "Varrington, our 
consul at Tripoli, and wait till he returns with a remittance. On 
reaching Tripoli, that gentleman will advance what money you may 
require, and send you to England the first opportunity. Do not 
lumber yourself with my books; leave them behind, as well. as the 
barometer, boxes, and sticks, and indeed every heavy article you 
can conveniently part with; give them to Malam Mudey, who 
will take care of them. The wages I agreed to give you my agents 
will pay, as well as the sum government allowed me for a servant; 
you will of course receive it, as Columbus has never served me. 
Remark what towns or villages you pass through; pay attention to 
whatever the chiefs may say to you, and put it on paper. The 
little money I have, and all my clothes, I leave you: sell the latter, 
and put what you may receive for them into your pocket; and if, 
on your journey, you should be obliged to expend it, government 
will repay you on your return." I said, as well as my agitation 
would permit me, " If it be the will of God to take you, you may 
rely on my faithfully performing, as far as I am able, all that you 
have desired; but I trust the Almighty will spare you, and you 
will yet live to see your country." "I thought I should at one 
time, Richard," continued he; " but all is now over; I shall not be 
long for this world: but God's will be done." He then took my 
hand betwixt his, and looking me full in the face, while a tear stood 
glistening in his eye, said, in a low but deeply affecting tone, " My 
dear Richard, if you had not been with me, I should have died long 
ago; I can only thank you, with my latest breath, for your kind-
ness and attachment to me, and if I could have lived to return with 
you, you should have been placed beyond the reach of want; but 
God will reward you." This conversation occupied nearly two 
hours, in the course of which my master fainted several times, and 
was distressed beyond measure. The same evening he fell into a 
slumber, from which he awoke in much perturbation, and said he 
NNZ 
276 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
had heard with much distinctness the tolling of an English funeral 
bell: I entreated him to be composed, and observed that sick people 
frequently fancy they hear and see things which can possibly have 
no existence. He made no reply. 
About six o'clock in the morning of the 11 th, on asking how he 
did, my master answered he was much better, and requested me to 
shave him. He had not sufficient strength to lift his head from 
the pillow; and after finishing one side of the face, I was obliged 
to turn his head, in order to shave the other. As soon as it was 
done, he desired me to fetch him a looking-glass which hung on the 
other side of the hut. On seeing himself in it, he observed that 
he looked quite as ill at BornoH, on his former journey; and as he 
had borne his disorder so long a time, he might yet recover. On · 
the following day he still fancied himself getting better. I began 
to flatter myself, also, that he was considerably improved. He eat 
a bit of hashed guinea-fowl in the day, which he had not done be-
fore since his illness, deriving his sole sustenance from a little fowl-
soup and milk and water. On the morning of the 13th, however, 
being awake, I was much alarmed by a peculiar rattling noise, pro-
ceeding from my master's throat, and his breathing was loud and 
difficult; at the same instant he called out" Richard !" in a low and 
hurried tone. I was immediately at his side, and was astonished 
at seeing him sitting upright in his bed, and staring wildly around. 
I held him in my arms, and placing his head gently on my left 
shoulder, gazed a moment on his pale and altered features: some 
indistinct expressions quivered on his lips; he strove, but inef-
fectually, to give them utterance, and expired without a struggle or 
a sigh. ~Then I found my poor master so very ill, I called out with 
all my strength, " 0 God, my master is dying !" which brought 
Pascoe and Mudey into the apartment. Shortly after the breath 
had left his body, I desired Pascoe to fetch some water, with which 
I washed the corpse. I then got Pascoe and Mudey to assist me in 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 277 
taking it outside of the hut, laid it on a clean mat, and wrapped it 
in a sheet and blanket. Leaving it in this state two hours, I put 
a large clean mat over the whole, and sent a messenger to Sultan 
Bello, to acquaint him of the mournful event, and ask his permission 
to bury the body after the manner of my own country, and also to 
know in what particular place his remains were to be interred. The 
messenger soon returned with the sultan's consent to the former 
part of my request; and about 12 o'clock at noon of the same day 
a person came into my hut, accompanied by four slaves, sent by 
Bello to dig the grave. I was desired to follo·w them with the 
corpse. Accordingly I saddled my camel, and putting the body 
on its back, and throwing an union-jack over it, I bade them pro-
ceed. Travelling at a slow pace, we halted at J ungavie, a small 
village, built on a rising ground, about five miles to the south-east 
of Soccatoo. The body was then taken from the camel's back, and 
placed i.ll a shed, whilst the slaves were digging the grave; which 
being quickly done, it was conveyed close to it. I then opened a 
~,. prayer-book, and, amid showers of teal·s, read the funeral service 
over the remains of my valued master. Not a single person listened 
to this peculiarly distressing ceremony, the slaves being at some 
distance, quarrelling and making a most indecent noise the whole 
of the time it lasted. This being done, the union-jack was taken 
off; and the body was slowly lo\""ercd into the earth, and I wept 
bitterly as I gazed for the last time upon all that remained of my 
generous and intrepid master. The pit was speedily filled, and I 
returned to the village about thirty yards to the east of the grave, 
and giving the most respectable inhabitants, both male and female, 
a few trifling presents, entreatcd them to let no one disturb its 
sacred contents. I also gave them ~,OOO cowries to build a hon e, 
rolll' fcet high, over the spot, which they promised to do. I then 
retul'llcd, disconsolate and oppre sed, to my solitary habitation, and 
lcanino- my head on my hand, could not help being deeply affected 
278 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
with my lonesome and dangerous situation; a hundred and fifteen 
days' journey from the sea-coast, surrounded by a selfish and cruel 
race of strangers, my only friend and protector mouldering in his 
grave, and myself suffering dreadfully from fever. I felt, indeed, 
as if I stood alone in the world, and earnestly wished I had been 
laid by the side of my dear master: all the trying evils I had en-
dured never affected me half so much as the bitter reflections of 
that distressing period. After a sleepless night, I went alone to 
the grave, and found that nothing had been done, nor did -there 
seem the least inclination O{l the part of the inhabitants of the 
village to perform their agreement. Knowing it would be useless 
to remonstrate with them, I hired two slaves at Soccatoo the next 
, day, who went immediately to work, and the house over the grave 
WaS finished on the 15th. 
One instance, out of many, of the kindness and affection with 
, which my departed master uniformly treated me, occurred at J enna, 
on our journey into tae interior. I was dangerously ill with fever in 
that place, when he generously gave up his own bed to me, and slept 
himself on my mat, watched ovel! me with parental assiduity and 
tenderness, and ministered to all my wants. Noone can express 
the joy he felt on my recovery: and who, possessing a spark of 
gratitude, could help returning it but by the most inviolable attach-
ment and devoted zeal? It was his sympathy for me in all my suf-
ferings that had so powerful a claim on my feelings and affections, 
and taught me to be grateful to him in hours of darkness and dis-
tress, when pecuniary recompense was entirely out of the question. 
The great sufferings, both mental and bodily, I had undergone 
at the deat~ and burial of my master, and the constant agitation in 
which I was kept, occasioned a rapid increase in my disorder; and on 
the 16th I could with difficulty crawl round my hut, and was obliged 
to lay myself on my mat, from which I had not strength to arise 
till the ~7th; old Pascoe, during that period, being very kind and 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. ~79 
attentive to me. The Arabs in the city visited me daily, and did 
all in their power to raise my spirits; telling me not to be dis-
heartened at the death of my father, and that no injury would 
happen to me. But I plainly saw these visits of condolence did not 
proceed from a charitable spirit; they came more for the purpose of 
obtaining presents than any thing else: but I did not give them 
any. The sultan also sent messengers to inquire after my health 
nearly as often. The weather was dreadfully warm; and I was 
obliged to have a tub of water close at my side, into which I fre-
quently plunged my hands and arms, and occasionally sprinkled my 
head and body. This much refreshed me; indeed it was the only 
means by which I was enabled to obtain a little sleep. I had 
given up all hopes of life, when on the 26th I found my health im-
prove in a wonderful manner; the next day I was able to sit up on 
my mat. In the course of this day (~7th) the Gadado, Malem 
Moodie, and Sidi Sheik, came with a commission from the sultan 
to search my boxes, as he had been informed they were filled with 
gold and silver; but, to their great amazement, found I had not 
sufficient money to defray my expenses to the sea-coast. They, 
however, took an inventory of all my articles, and carried it to 
Bello. The gold watch intended for him, and the private watches 
of Captains Clapper ton and Pearce, I had taken the precaution to 
conceal about my person. In a short time the Gadado and his 
companions returned with a message from the sultan, commanding 
me to deliver to them the following articles, viz. a rifle-gun, double-
barrelled ditto, two bags of ball, a canister of powder, a bag of flints, 
a ream and a half of paper, and ix gilt chains, for which he pro-
mised to give me whatever I might ask. I consequently charged 
him 245,000 cowrie, 'which I was to receive from Hadji Hat 
Sallah, at Kano; and an order was given me to receive this sum, 
and what more I might require in my journey over the Great 
Desert. A letter was also sent by me to Hadji Hat Sallah. 
280 RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
On the 28th I made Ben Gumso a present of four yards of blue, 
and the same quantity of scarlet damask, an unwritten journal-
book, two pairs of scissors, and two knives: with these articles I 
endeavoured to get into the good graces of this old Arab. By a 
singular piece of good fortune he had just begun to exercise a 
powerful influence over the mind and opinions of the sultan. Bello, 
in an excursion into the Gooberite country, had come to an en-
gagement with a large party of the natives; and in the midst of the 
fight was shot ill the neck with a poisoned arrow, which turned the 
tide of victory in favour of his enemies. On his return to Soccatoo, 
Ben Gumso wrote a charm on a bi~ of wood, which was washed off 
into a calabash of water, and drank immediately by the sultan; who, 
shortly after recovering, attributed it solely to the virtues of this 
charm, and he was advanced accordingly. I begged Ben Gumso 
to use his influence with the sultan to obtain leave for my departure 
from his capital, and make the best of my way homewards. He 
accordingly represented to Bello the impolicy and injustice of de-
taining any longer a subject of the king of England; advised him 
to allow me to quit Soccatoo as soon as possible; and insinuated 
that, if I were to die in his dominions, a report would be circulated 
and believed that he had murdered both my father and me, by 
which he would get a bad name. The sultan approved of these 
weighty arguments of Ben Gumso; and word was sent me, almost 
immediately, to appear before him . After a little preliminary 
cOl~versation, Bello asked me which route I should prefer. Al-
though my master had advised me to proceed with the Arabs to 
Fezzan, just before his death, I much feared that the papers in-
trusted to my care would be stolen, and myself murdered, by that 
wily and treacherous race, whose behaviour to my mastel', from the 
time of his arrival in Houssa, I very much disliked; and would 
rather cast myself, unarmed and unprotected, upon the good faith 
of the natives, than go with them. Under these impressions I an-
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 281 
swered the sultan that, as I wished to get to England in as short a 
time as possible, the route to Kubbi, through Boussa, was most 
likely to answer that end. "It is impossible," he continued, " to 
travel that way: the rainy season is commenced; the rivers are 
overflowed; the country is inundated; and you will not be able to 
reach the sea-coast in safety. It will be much better for you to go 
over the desert; and, to facilitate your progress, I will write Hat 
Sallah to get a trustworthy person to accompany you; he will 
also furnish you with camels and provisions, and advance you what 
moncy it is likely you will want." I only replied, "Very well, 
ultan." He then asked if Abdullah had forgiven Pascoe in his 
book, for the roguery he had ·committed. I said, " He had not 
been able to write during the whole of his sickness; . and therefore 
nothing was stated about the matter."-" If Abdullah has not par-
doned him in his book," rejoined the sultan, " your king will cer-
tainly cut off his head on his arrival in England." I assured him 
Pascoe would not be punished by anyone, if his future conduct 
was good; but this the sultan was in no haste to believe; and ob-
served, " I cannot suffer him to go with you; he shall stay here to 
clean and 7'epaiJ' my guns /" this latter consideration having evidently 
more influence with the sultan than Pascoe's safety, which he cared 
nothing at all about. I then besought Bello to permit him to ac-
company me as far as Kano, as an interpreter; to which he rather 
reluctantly consented, on condition that I should procure him a 
horse to return, and pay him wages, on my arrival at Kano, to the 
amount of 15,000 cowries, which of course I agreed to do; and 
finding the sultan had nothing more to say, I bowed profoundly 
find retired. I never aw him again. 
00 
282 PROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 
FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 
On the evening of the 3d of May, a messenger came from the 
sultan, and told me to get every thing in readiness to depart on 
the following morning, with a promise of a camel and provisions, 
which I never received. Early next day, therefore, I left Soccatoo, 
where I had suffered -so much, heartily tired of the place and its 
.'inhabitants; and, accompanied with a messenger from the kind 
old Gadado, Pascoe and Mudey, with our three camels and two 
horses, proceeded to a fiat, five miles to the east of Magaria, where 
we arrived in the afternoon, and rested for the night under the 
branches of a large tree, near to a small lake. Mosquitoes were 
numerous and troublesome, and consequently could not sleep till 
morning, when a refreshing breeze springing up, it drove them 
away. At this flat we joined a party of above 4,000 people, con-
sisting of Tual'ick salt-merchants returning to Kilgris, pilgrims on 
their way to Mecca, Gool'a merchants returning to Kano and 
N yffe, &c. &c.; all travelling in company, for mutual protection, 
with an immense number of camels, horses, and bullocks. The 
merchants invariably meet at Kashna, where they disperse for their 
different destinations. In the same train was the king of Jacoba, 
with fifty slaves, which he had driven to Soccatoo, as a present to 
the sultan, who, having leal'llt the dreadful losses he had sustained 
in men and cattle in his wars with the sheik of Bornou, and the 
number of his villages which had been plundered and burnt by the 
soldiers of the sheik, would not accept of them, and desired the 
king of Jacoba to l'e:..conduct them to his own dominions. 
At eleven o'clock in the morning of the 4th of May, a signal to 
prepare to depart was made with the horns and drums of the party, 
which made a loud and most discordant noise; and, about an hour 
after, the whole body was in motion.\Ve travelled in great haste 
PROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. ~83 
till three o'clock in the afternoon of the 5th, when Boussa Jack, 
the horse on which I rode, and which was made a present of by 
the king of Boussa to my late master, became much fatigued, and 
began to lag. The weather was at this time intolerably hot, and 
the dust was rolling in thick clouds in every direction, entering my 
eyes and nostrils, and penetrating into the very pores of the skin. 
I felt nearly suffocated, and was faint and exhausted. Finding I 
was unable to proceed, I ordered Pascoe to overtake the camels, 
his horse being fresh and vigorous, and bring me some water. I . 
then dismounted, and sat under a tree by the road-side, whose 
branches afforded but an indifferent shelter against the scorching 
rays of an African sun, and holding the bridle of my poor horse in 
my hand, I implored the hundreds of Fellatas and Tuaricks who 
were passing to sell me a drop of water; but the cold-hearted 
wretches refused my earnest request, observing one to another, 
"He is a KaRl'; let him die." At length a young Fellata, from 
Footatoora, accidentally seeing me, came to the spot, exclaiming, 
" N asarah, N asarah, trim manora !" (Christian, Christian, go on !) 
I answered, "I am faint and sick for want of water; no one will 
give me any; and I am so weary that I cannot proceed." On hear-
ing which the young man kindly gave me a small calabash full; 
part of which I drank, and with the remainder washed the nostrils 
of Boussa Jack, and sprinkled a little into his mouth. The people, 
who observed the Fellata performing this generous action, up-
braided him in strong language for giving water to the Christian; 
but he, showing them a double-barrelled gun, remarked that he had 
obtained it of my countrymen, who were all good men, and would 
do no harm. This somewhat appeased them. On examining the 
gun hortly afterward, I found it to be of English manufacture, 
with" ~\rnold, maker, London," on its lock. I, as ,vell as the horse, 
,,-as greatly refreshed ,yith the sman quantity of water I had taken; 
butoon becoming again weak and di pirited, I wa almost in as 
002 
284 FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 
bad a state as on the former occasion; my legs were swollen pro-
digiously, and I felt the most acute pains in every part of my body. 
At length I perceived Pascoe, whom I had sent for water three or 
four hours previously, comfortably seated under a tree, and seem-
ing to be enjoying himself much with Mudey,- the camels feeding 
at a short distance. I had half an inclination to shoot the heart-
less old scoundrel, knowing as he did how keen my sufferings must 
have been. Reflecting, however, that the safety of my papers, and 
even-my own life, was placed in some measure in his hands, I re-
strained myself, and merely asked why he did not return with the 
water, on which he answered, very composedly, "I was tired." 
The young Fellata who had so generously saved.my life came to 
me on the 7th, and informed me that the whole of the slaves of the 
king of Jacoba being missing, a party of horsemen had been sent in 
quest of them, and had just returned with the dreadful ac~ount of 
having seen thirty-five of their dead bodies exposed on the road; 
the remaining fifteen could not be found, but were strongly sus-
pected of having met a similar fate. These unfortunate creatures 
had to carry heavy burdens on their heads the day before; and 
being unable to keep up with the rapid pace of the camels, were 
necessarily obliged to be left behind, and thus miserably perished 
of thirst. I congratulated myself on my own good fortune in 
having so narrowly escaped so horrid a death; and thanked the 
Almighty for having so providentially rescued me. On leaving 
me, I gave the Fellata a pail' of scissors, and twenty flints for his 
gun, which pleased him highly. On our road to Kano, the king of 
Jacoba became very sociable with me, and was my constant com-
panion. He pressed me very much to visit his country, where he 
would do all in his power to make my stay agreeable. He told me 
that his neighbours, the Yam yam people, who had assisted him in 
his war against the sheik of Bornou, were surrounded, with some 
of his own people, on a plain near Jacoba, by the sheik's soldiers~ 
FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. £85 
who made a dreadful slaughter of them. The fight lasted a whole 
day, when the Yamyams and people of Jacoba were entirely routed; 
he himself narrowly escaping being taken prisoner. The morning 
after, the surviving Yam yams repaired to the field of action, and 
bearing off a great number of the dead bodies of their enemies, 
made a fire, roasted, and ate them! 
Soon after our arrival at Markee, on the 19th, the spouse of the 
chief, a finely formed and intelligent looking woman, aged about 
22 years, came to me with tears in her eyes, and implored me to 
give her some magarie, as she had no child. I accordingly pre-
sented her with a couple of tea-spoonfuls of oil of cinnamon, and 
ordered her to put two drops of it into a pint of cow's milk, which 
hould be taken three times a day till the whole was consumed. 
I told her that on my return to Markee I had not the least doubt 
I shouid have the pleasure of seeing her the happy mother of a 
numerous progeny. On her husband being made acquainted with 
the circumstance, he came and thanked me in the heartiest manner 
for my kindness, gave me abundance of fresh milk, fowls, rice, &c. ; 
telli.ng me at the same time, that on my return from England he 
would give me a large sum of money, whict, no doubt, he will do. 
Bidding them adieu the next morning, they said to me, " Christian! 
God send you safely to your country, and may you speedily come 
back to Markee." 
On my arrival at Kano on the 25th of l\Iay, I delivered Sultan 
Bello's order and letter to Hadji Hat Sallah; but he declared, 
after perusing the letter, he would have nothing to do with it: he 
. had nearly lost his head on my father's account at Soccatoo, and 
therefore positively refused to lend me a single co,vrie. He had 110 
objection to give, in goods and a slave, the amount of my demands 
on Bello, but refused to let me have any money. I accordingly 
received from him a strong female slave, a quantity of unwrought 
ilk, and carIet caps and beads. I sold my weakened and di ea ed 
~86 FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 
ca.mels for 15,000 cowries each, and discharged their keeper, Maddie. 
Not having sufficient money to purchase fresh camels, provisions, 
and presents for the chiefs on my way to Fezzan, I was necessitated 
to take a different route; and for that purpose purchased a horse 
and two asses. Bello had not forgotten to mention in his letter for 
Hadji Hat Sallah to send back Pascoe to Soccatoo, on his arrival at 
Kano. I begged of him, however, to let me take him as far as 
Coulfo, in N yffe, which he at first refused; but giving him two 
yards of scarlet damask, two pairs of scissors, two dollars, a large 
knife, and two yards of blue damask, the old Arab seemed to relax 
in his determination; and calling-Pascoe to him, gave him leave 
to accompany me to Coulfo, but cautioned him to return the mo-
ment he arrived, on pain of having JeTTub (the devil) sent after him. 
The old man came to me just after in great trepidation, every mem-
ber of his bOdy trembling like an aspen leaf, and gave me to under-
stand, as well as he was able, the conversation he had had with 
Hadji Hat Sallah, and in consequence thereof, his great reluctance 
to quit Kano with me. I did all I could to laugh him out of his 
superstitious fears, but it utterly failed of the desired effect; the 
name of JeT7'ub being enough to put him in a fever. I had given 
the slave that Hadji H at Salah had sold me to Pascoe as a wife. 
I told him: that, unless he accompanied me, he should not have her. 
As soon as he learnt he was to be parted from the girl, all his 
scruples vanished, and he consented to go to Coulfo, but no farther, 
he having left a wife at Soccatoo, where he much wished to go. 
This woman, whom I had seen several times as Ben Gumso's slave, 
was remarkably ugly, and had had before marriage a male child, by 
a blind fiddler belonging to Sultan Bello's band at Soccatoo. On 
my asking what had induced him to marry so frightful an object, 
he replied, in a . tone full of tenderness, it was because she loved 
him very much, and made the best tuah he had ever tasted: these 
powerful recom, mendations were irresistible to a man of Pascoe's 
FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNIWRA. ~87 
tamp; and a very short time after he had first tasted her tuah, 
Ben Gumso's ugly slave became the wife of Abbou Boukir (Pascoe's 
native name). 
On the 29th, Hadji Hat Sallah desired me to pay my respects 
to the king of Kano, who was then at Faniso, his country residence. 
I complied with his wishes, and on my leaving his majesty he said, 
" When you return to yom own country, Christian, give the Fel-
latas a good name." He was not, however, kind enough to send 
a messenger with me, so I hired two men to accompany me as far 
as Funda, paying them 8,000 cowries each for their journey. The 
same day at one left Kano, and travelling at a quick pace, halted 
on the banks of the river Kogie, four hours' journey from that place; 
but being much swollen, did not dare to pass. To our great regret 
we found that the tent-poles had been left behind; I was conse-
quently obliged to send back one of the hired servants after them, 
giving him a sword as a proof that he was sent by me; but the 
scoundrel never returned. It being necessary for us to rest on the 
banks of the river that night, I slung the tent to the branch of a 
tree, and fastened the lower part to the earth. At seven in the 
evening it came to fall heavy rain) accompanied with the loudest 
thunder I ever recollect to have heard, and lightning, which con-
tinued with great violence till nine next morning. In the night, 
our tent becoming completely drenched and heavy, the bough to 
which it was attached gave way, and it fell on us as we were sitting 
on our mats, it being utterly impossible to sleep. ,Ve remained in 
this miserable plight till day-light, for no one could venture out in 
·that dreadful weather. 
SOth.-As soon as things were put to rights this morning, I sent 
Fa coc to Kano to endeavour to bring back the fellow that had 
cheated me yesterday, but he had not been seen near the place; 
and Pa coe returned in the afternoon with the poles. The ri\'er 
was now become fordable, but, o\ring to the strength and rapidity 
Q88 FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 
of the current, we crossed with extreme difficulty. We had no sooner 
landed on the opposite side than four armed slaves from Soccatoo 
came up to us, and demanded 4,000 cowries of Pascoe, which Ben 
Gumso had lent him to defray the expenses of the marriage ceremony 
with his slave, the celebrated maker of tuah; and if Pascoe were 
unable to pay that sum, they were to take him back to Soccatoo. 
Pascoe informed them he had left English clothes and money in that 
capital worth 50,000 cowries, out of which Ben Gumso might pay 
himself. This answer by no means satisfied the slaves, who were 
about to take him away by force, when I myself paid the money 
demanded. This little affair being settled to the complete gra-
tification of Pascoe, we stopped till morning on the spot. The 
weather during the whole of the night was just as bad as yesterday. 
In the evening sent Mohamed, the other hired -servant, to a neigh-
bouring village to purchase provisions; but he brought with him 
a little corn only .. 
Slst.-The weather clearing up this morning about eight, we 
proceeded on our journey, and at two P. M. arrived at Madubie, 
a sl1)all walled town. The chief invited me to remain at his house, 
but I preferred staying in my tent, which I had fixed within the 
walls, close to the gate. In the evening the chief's daughter came 
to see me, bringing milk, a bowl of stewed beef, and tuah, sufficient 
for the whole of us for supper. I afterwards made her a trifling 
present. The weather as usual 
June Ist.- Having dried our tent, at 9 A. M. journeyed till we 
came to the banks of the Gora, a narrow but deep and rapid river. 
I was much afraid the m·en would be washed down the stream in ' 
crossing; but at length every thing was landed on the opposite 
side. Passed the walled town of Bebajie at one at noon; and 
ordering the men to proceed ahead, I followed at some distance, 
being afraid the inhabitants would detain me if recognised. Half 
an hour after, came to a spot where are two roads, one leading to 
PROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 289 
Nyffe, and the other to Funda. My master had said, before his 
death, at Soccatoo, that if I returned through N yffe and Y ouriba, 
the inhabitants, who must have heard of our having taken presents 
to Sultan Bello, with whom they were at war, would certainly 
assassinate me; and feeling an earnest and irrepressible desire to 
visit Funda, on the banks of the Niger, and trace, in a canoe, that 
river to Benin, without hesitation I chose the Funda road. We 
therefore proceeded, and at 6 A. M. pitched our tent within half 
a mile of the walled town of Koufa. Sent Pascoe to the town for 
provisions; who shortly afterwards returned with some of the in-
habitants to look at the tent. The chief did not visit me, thinking 
I was an Arab on his way to Funda. I was fortunate enough to 
obtain a little sleep this night, for the first time since leaving Kano. 
The town is situated at the foot of an immense rock, on which there 
is not the slightest trace of vegetation, is about two miles in cir-
cumference, and pretty thickly inhabited. To the east of the town 
is a range of high hills, stretching from north to south as far as the 
eye can reach. Their sides had a most pleasing appearance, and 
vegetation looked green and luxUl~ant. Travelled in a south-east 
direction till ten in the morning, when our course lay more westerly. 
2d.-Left Koufa at 6 A . 1\1., the weather being rainy, and 
halted at the small walled town of Cookie at twelve at noon. 
3d.-It began to rain at day-break, and continued without in-
termission till ten in the morning, when, brightening a little, we 
struck our tent, and started at eleven. 
At 5 P. ]\<1. came neal' Carifo, a small walled town, similar in 
. extent and form to those we had seen yesterday and the day be-
fore. In the course of the day crossed a large river and two smaller 
one:;, all running in a westerly direction, but no one could tell me 
their names. The hills seen yesterday still on our left, and ex-
tending to the hori.zon. 
At 9 A. 1\1. a dreadful thunder-storm came on, with lightning 
p p 
!i:l90 .FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. · 
and torrents of rain, which threatened to wash down our tent. The 
country traversed to-day and yesterday, though level, is picturesque 
and beautiful; all nature · wears a gay and lively aspect: the soil 
rich, and of a deep red colour. 
4th.- At eight this morning, after drying the tent, proceeded; 
and <;i,t eleven reached the foot of a high and craggy mountain, 
called Almena, consisting of gigantic blocks of granite, fearfully 
piled on each other, and seeming ready to fall to the ground below. 
They much resemble the rocks near the Logan-stone, in Cornwall, 
but infinitely larger. Mahomet, my servant, who is acquainted with 
the traditions of the natives of every part of this country, and had 
travelled far and near, gave me the following story :- " About 500 
years ago a queen of the Fantee nation, having quarrelled with her 
. husband about a golden stool, fled from her dominions with a great 
number of her subjects, and built a large town at the foot of this 
mountain, which ~he called Almena, from which it took its name." 
The town was surrounded with a stone wall, as the ruins which 
now remain plainly attest. Crossed three small streams in the 
day, flowing in a north-westerly direction. At 3 P. M. passed a 
small walled town called Gowgee; and at four halted at Gatas, 
which it exactly resembled. Here I met with some Kano mer-
chants from Cuttup. The inhabitants of Gatas, discovering by 
some means my being a Christian, came in crowds to see me; but 
behaved in a quiet and orderly manner. I invited some of the 
most respectable of the females into my tent, which they greatly 
admired, and shortly afterwards presented me with milk and foorah. 
The natives of this, as well as every o'ther town I have seen in this ' 
direction, are of Houssa, but tributary to the Fellatas. 
5th.- A tfive in the morning were again on the road, and 
halted at the south side of Damoy, a small walled town, at !i:l P. M. 
The inhabitants of this town informed me that the range of hills 
I have mentioned extended to the salt water, and are inhabited 
FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. ~91 
by the ferocious Yam yams, whom they all declare, as did everyone 
I had questioned on the road, to be cannibals. The Yamyams 
formerly carried on an extensive traffic with the Houssa men, in 
red cloth, beads, &c. which they took in exchange for elephant's 
teeth: but five years before they assassinated a gaffie of mer-
chants, and had afterwards eaten them j since which time the 
Houssa people have been shy in dealing with them. 
6th.-Started at eight in the morning, and traversing a 
hilly and steril country, covered with small loose stones, reached 
the south side of a large river called by the natives Accra, at 
3 P. M., running to the north-west. I was in hopes of getting into 
a town this day j but having a burning fever on me, and the nearest 
village being at some distance, we were obliged to fix the tent on 
the banks of the river, and remain there till morning without food 
of any kind. 
7th.-Left at six in the morning, and proceeding in a south-
west cocrse, arrived at a 'walled town called N ammaleek, at twelve 
at noon j the north-east part of which is defended by a mountain, 
and the remaining parts by a high mud wall. The mountain is 
nearly perpendicular, and thickly covered with wood. Thousands of 
hyenas, tiger-cats, jackals, monkeys, &c. inhabit it; and the terrific 
noise they made during the night prevented me from closing my 
eyes. These animals are so rapacious, that the poor inhabitants 
cannot keep a single bullock, sheep, or goat; in consequence of 
which no animal food could be obtained in the place. The chief 
put us into a hut, and gave us tuah, with a sauce made from the 
. monkey's bread-fruit tree, which is most unpalatable stuff. I in-
.tended to stop a short time here, and take medicine; but the people 
coming in core to see me, I had no opportunity of opening my 
box but in their pre ence, which I did not choose to do. Thi 
day, two F ellata , me sengers of the ultan of Zegzeg, unfortunately 
saw roe, and a ked where I wa going. On roy acquainting them, 
p p Q 
FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA: 
they immediately rode off, and, as I subsequently learnt, returned 
to Zegzeg, and informed the king that I was on my way to Funda 
with two asses, loaded with riches, and a beautiful horse, as pre-
sents to the king of that place. 
8th.-At eight in the morning left Nammaleek, and keeping in 
a south-west direction, at the fQQt Qf a range Qf mountains, per-
ceived an opening, and went through it at about twelve. Our 
CQurse then lay more easterly, and crossing Qne large and three 
small rivers, whose names I could not learn, arrived at Fullindushie, 
the frontier town in Catica. On our journey to-day, we met, on 
their way to. Zegzeg, as a tax to sultan Bello, from a neighbQuring 
country, thirty slaves, men, women, and children, all apparently ill 
with the small-pox. The men were tied to each other by the neck 
with twisted bullocks' hide; but the women and children were at 
liberty. The inhabitants of Fullindushie were the first people I 
had seen in Africa who disdained to make use of any kind of dress. 
They laughed immQderately Qn seeing me; whilst I, on my part, 
m(lde myself quite merry at their expense. They were soon on 
the most familial' fOQting with me, and seem an artless and good-
humQured peQple; but disgusting in their manners, and filthy in 
their pe~'SQns: their sheep, gQats, and poultry eat and sleep in the 
same hut with them, and a mQst intolerable stench is exhaled from 
all their dwellings. They do not appear to have the least affection 
for their Qffspring: a parent will sell his child for the merest trifle 
in the world, with no more remorse or repugnance than he WQuid 
a chicken. They invariably wear a large piece Qf blue glass, in the 
shape Qf a semicircle, in their upper and IQwer lip; and a piece Qf ' 
red wood, about the size Qf a man's thumb, dangles from their ears. 
They rub red clay, softened with an oil extracted from the guinea-
nut, Qver their heads and bodies, which by no means improves their 
appearance. Their features do not resemble in any way those Qf 
the Negro, but are fine and handsome, and bear great similitude to. 
FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 293 
the European. The inhabitants make fetishes, like the natives of 
Yariba. 
9th.-Leaving at seven in the morning, did not halt till 
we arrived at La Zumee, a small town, with a good population, at 
three in the afternoon. On my entering, perceived two men sit-
ting under the date-tree, one of whom having a tobe on, I saluted, 
thinking him to be the chief; but was surprised at his telling me 
he was a Kano merchant, and that the person by his side was that 
individual. The chief is a mean and dirty looking old man, and 
had a sheep-skin covered with filth tied round his waist. After 
showing me a hut, and staying away two hours, he came back, and 
apologized for not sending me provisions, saying his wives were at 
work in the gardens, but that on their return I should have some: 
accordingly, about three hours after, they brought me a couple of 
fowls, and some tuah and rice; for which I gave them a pair of 
scissors and fifty needles. Surrounding the town is a remarkably 
broad and deep ditch, which appeared to have been formerly filled 
with water. The country in the vicinity of the town is well culti-
vated. The Catica or Bowchee people do not possess a single 
bullock. 
lOth.-Arose at six in the morning, and pursuing a S. "'V. di-
rection, over a fine and rich country, arrived at Coorokoo, a small 
walled town, envil'oned with hills, at twelve. 
lIth.-Started at half-past seven in the morning, and halted 
at twelve at noon on the north-east side of the banks of a large 
river, rolling to the north-west, called Coodoonia, which empties 
. itself into the Nigel', neal' Funda. Finding it too deep to cro s, 
we were obliged to remain till next day without food. 
l'2th.-Crossed the river at nine o'clock this morning, the water 
reaching to our chins; and inimediately proceeded towards Cuttup, 
where we arrived after three hours'travelling. Having heard, on 
my l'oute, so many different reports of Cuttup, its wealth, popula-
~94 FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 
tion, and celebrated market, I was rather surprised on finding it 
to consist of nearly five hundred small villages, almost adjoining 
each other; nearly the whole of which occupy a vast and beautiful 
plain, adorned with the finest trees. Here, for the first time since 
leaving the coast, I saw plantain, palm, and cocoa-nut trees, in great 
abundance, and in a flourishing condition; the country resembling, 
in a striking manner, some parts of Yariba. A considerable traffic 
is carried on here in slaves and bullocks; the latter ar~ bred by 
Fellatas, a great number of whom reside here for no other purpose. 
Slaves, as well as bullocks and sheep, are exposed in the market, 
which is held daily; and also red cloth, gum, salt, goora nuts, trona, 
beads, tobacco, country cloth~ rings, needles, cutlery articles, and 
honey, rice, milk, &c. People from the most distant parts of the 
.c oun,try resort here in vast numbers, to purchase these various 
articles. The sultan being a very great man, I thought it necessary 
to make him a present worthy the representative (however humble) 
of the king of England. I accordingly gave him four yards of blue 
damask, the same quantity of scarlet ditto, a print of my own gra-
cious sovereign! and one of his royal highness the Duke of York, 
with several more trifling articles. In return, I r~ceived from him 
a sheep, the humps of two bullocks, and stewed rice sufficient for 
fifty men. Ten of the king's wives, on paying me a visit a day or 
two after my arrival, t90k a fancy to the gilt buttons on my jacket, 
which I cut off and presented to their sable majesties. Thinking 
them to be gold, they immediately stuck them in their ears. In 
this belief I took care not to undeceive them. 
During my stay at Cuttup I was never in want of a bullock's' 
hump (by far the best part of the animal, weighirig from twelve to 
fifteen pounds), for the king invariably receives, as a tax from the 
butchers, the hump of every bullock they slaughtered; and one or 
two was sent me by his wives each day. Being in want of money, 
I sent to the market and informed the people I had needles and 
FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 295 
beads to sell; on which several buyers came into my hut and pur-
chased freely, giving me fifteen or twenty cowries each for the 
needles, whilst the Arabs could only get ten at most for theirs; 
but whether they conceived my needles to be superior, or whether 
it was the desire of obtaining something of a white man, I did not 
learn. Unlike the princes of Houssa, BOl'gOO, Nyffe, Cuttum-
kora, and other places in the interior, the sultan of Cuttup gives 
his wives unrestricted liberty. 
'An old woman came to me one afternoon, full of grief, informing 
me of her having frequently been robbed of the little money she 
had saved from her earnings, from holes in her hut, where she had 
hid it, by some of her neighboW's and acquaintances. She entreated 
me to let her have a charm to prevent such dishonest acts in future. 
Being ever willing to oblige the simple-hearted Africans, I gave 
her a tea-spoonful of common sweet oil, in a small phial, telling her 
that she must, on her return to her hut, pour it into the hole in 
which she intended concealing her money; and that if anyone but 
herself touched the money while there, without her permission, he 
would not long sW'vive. I advised her by all means to give the 
virtues of this charm as extensive a circulation as possible, and I 
had no doubt she would not be robbed again. The poor old woman 
could not express the gratitude she felt for my kindness; she 
dropped on her knees before me, thanked me in the warmest terms, 
and pressed me to accept of forty cowries, the only money she had 
then in the world. Of course I refused to deprive the old woman 
of her substance, and sent her away highly pleased with the treat-
ment she had received. . 
IGth.-lJaving paid my respects to the king and hi wi,'es la t 
evening, left Cuttup at six in the morning; and pursuing a south-
west direction till half-past one, when we proceeded due south, 
arrived at Coogie, a small town, at half-past three in the afternoon. 
Owing to the bites and tings of myriads of flies, the asse , for the 
296 FROM SOCCATOO TO DUNRORA. 
whole of the journey, were restive and unmanageable, frequently 
throwing off their loads, and detaining us on the way by their 
. wanton pranks. The roads were of the very worst description; at 
one moment obliged to carry the loads ourselves over dangerous 
precipices, and at the next up to our waist in mud and water on 
the low grounds. Two Fellatas came to see me this day, but made 
no observations. 
17th.-Pursuing our journey at half~past five in the morning, 
arrived at a town called Dungoora at two in the afternoon. It 
rained heavily during this day's journey, and consequently got wet 
to the skin on halting. The water rushed iIi torrents through 
the valleys, and in some places on the hills the beasts sank to 
their knees in mud and dirt. Crossed a large river to-day, named 
Rary, flowing to the south-east, our course being to the'south-south-
west. The country traversed is hilly and thickly wooded; the soil 
rich and fertile. Not being able to obtain provisions, and every 
article being wet through, obliged to remain in our wet clothes all 
night, without fire or food. 
lSth.-At 6 A. M. proceeded on our journey, and arrived at 
Dunrora at 6 P. M. Our route, some parts of the day, layover 
steep and craggy precipices, some of them being of a most awful 
height. On the summit of one of these places the path was barely 
wide enough for a single beast to pass. The horse that carried 
the portmanteaus, in which were the journal, papers, watches, &c. 
struck himself against a piece of rock projecting over the road, and 
was precipitated a distance of eighty yards, the ropes which were 
bound round the portmanteaus arresting his further progi·ess. 1 
was horror-struck on observing the poor little animal tumbling 
head over heels down the frightful declivity, and was much afbid 
he would be dashed to pieces, the portmanteaus broken, and their 
contents destroyed; but was most happy to see him entangled in 
some stunted trees which fort\lnately grew on the side of the pre-
FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. 297 
clplCe, which is seven hundred yards in height. This accident 
occasioned us two hours' delay; but the horse was not materially 
hurt. We had been travelling about half an hour after leaving 
this spot, when we came to a place from which there was an exten-
sive and beautiful prospect of the surrounding country; and eight 
days' journey might plainly be seen before us. I halted for a mo-
ment to gaze upon the fine and noble scene around me. About 
half a day's journey to the east stood a lofty hill, at the foot of 
which lay the large city of Jacoba. Mahomet affirmed that there 
is a river called Shar, or Sharry, about half a mile from that place, 
which derives its source from the lake Tchad; and that canoes can 
go from the lake to the Niger at any season of the year. The 
Sharry empties itself into the Niger at Funda; and the Niger, 
after leaving the towns of Cuttum Currijee, Gattoo, and Jibboo, 
joins the salt water, but at what particular place Mahomet could 
not rightly inform me, never having heard the word" Benin" men-
tioned before. Funda lies due west of Dunrora. Not being aware 
that the chief of Dunrora was so very great a man, I this day sent 
him only a . pair of scissors and fifty needles, which were shortly 
afterwards returned to me with a request that I would give them 
to a less exalted personage. On asking the reason of this conduct, 
the people informed me I had insulted the dignity of their chief by 
offering so triAing a present, he being a mighty man. Not feeling 
dispo ed, however, to add any thing else to it, I sent back the mes-
senger empty-handed. Dunrora contains 4000 inhabitants. 
FROM DUNRORA BACK TO ZEGZEG. 
19th.-Thi morning as I was loading my beasts, and preparing 
to depart, I perceived four al'med men ride up at full gallop to the 
QQ 
~98 FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. 
residence of the chief, their horses covered with foam and perspira-
tion. The chief had no sooner been made acquainted with their 
errand than he came to me, followed by an immense multitude~of 
people, and gave me to understand that I must immediately return 
with the messengers, who had just arrived, to the king of Zegzeg, 
who much wished to see me. I remonstrated with him on the 
injustice of the command, telling him it was a hard case I should 
go back to Zegzeg, having proceeded so far on my way unmo-
lested: his only reply was, that if he suffered me to depart he 
should lose his head. Finding entreaty and persuasion useless, I 
consented, with a bad grace, to return with the messengers. Thus, 
after seventeen days' perilous travelling from Kano, with a fair pro-
spect of reaching Funda in twelve or thirteen more, from whence 
four days' sail would bring me to the salt water, a new country 
opening before me, and filled with the most lively anticipations of 
solving the geographical problem which had for so long a time 
puzzled Europeans, of ascertaining whether the Niger actually joins 
the sea in that direction, was I obliged to abandon my fondest 
and long cherished hopes, and return to Zegzeg; from thence to be 
transported the Lord knew whither. I felt depressed and unhappy 
at this sudden turn in my affairs, and cared not much whether I 
lived or died. We left the town in the course of the day, and en-
tered Cuttup by the same route I had taken on the 21st. 
I was attacked with dysentery on my arrival, and remained at 
Cuttup four days, much against the inclination of my guards; suf-
fering during that period, and indeed for several days after, more 
dreadfully than I can describe. '-
25th.- Left Cuttup by another route at eight in the morning, 
accompanied by two messengers on foot, in lieu of the horsemen, 
who, on finding me very tractable, and too ill to make the least 
€xertion, had thought them strong enough ' to guard me. After 
FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. ~99 
proceeding in a northerly direction till twelve, reached an insigni-
ficant village, forming part of Cuttup. The country traversed level, 
but thickly wooded, and fertile. 
~6th.-Arose at 6 A. M., and did not halt till ten at night, 
when we fixed our tent on a clear space in the midst of a large 
wood; vast quantities of bamboo, palm, and cocoa-nut trees growing 
in every direction. The asses were very troublesome to-day, having 
been annoyed by the forest flies; myriads of which swarm in the 
woods, and alight in great numbers on men and animals. These 
insects bit the asses so severely that the blood streamed copiously 
from their sides and legs, and made them so restive that they fre-
quently flung off their loads, and rolled themselves on the ground. 
Being unable to procure any better provisions, we contented our-
selves with a little boiled corn. Although still very ill, found 
myself greatly improved. 
~7th.-At seven in the morning proceeded, and after a fatiguing 
journey, reached a Bowchee village, named Cokalo, at 5Z P.M. The 
inhabitants being very poor, could procure nothing but corn. The 
chief of the village had made a fetish, and having roasted a dog, 
stewed a large snake in oil and water, and boiled a good deal of 
corn, invited his people to a feast, of which they partook freely. A 
small bowl of boiled corn, enriched with a portion of the reptile, 
and the liquid in which it had been dressed, was sent me from the 
chief's table. Supposing it to be fi sh on the boiled corn, I ate a 
mouthful or two, but there being a peculiar, and not disagreeable 
flavour 'with it, I cursorily asked a per on, who stood by my side, 
. what kind of fish I was eating ; but on his telling me it was part of 
the snake, I could eat no more. Pascoe, however, was not quite 
o fa ' tidiou , and consumed the remainder with great relish, de-
claring that, in hi opinion, it was much superior to dried ling. 
Q8th.-Proceeding thi morning at eight, arri"ed an hour after 
on the banks of the Coodoonia; but here it wa broader, deeper, 
QQ 2 
300 .FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. 
and more rapid than at Cutttlp. In attempting to convey, on a 
small bamboo raft, one of my portmanteaus to the opposite side, 
found it would not bear its weight, and snatched it from the raft 
justin time to save it from sinking. Finding it, therefore, dan-
gerous to cross, till the river became more shallow, I strenuously 
refused to accede to the wishes of the messengers, who strongly 
urged the necessity of my reaching Zegzeg as quickly as possible; 
observing, that I would neither risk my property nor person on so 
weak and dangerous a conveyance: They abused me in the most 
insolent terms, and threatened to go immediately and inform their 
king of my refusal to proceed. I desired them to give my best 
respects to his Zegzeg majesty, and told them they were at liberty 
to go as soon as they pleased. They left me in great anger, cursing 
me as they went; whilst I slowly proceeded with my horses and 
asses to the village we had left in the morning. 
·Whether the rp.essengers did or did not go to Zegzeg I cannot 
tell, but they did not return till the 11 th July following. I re-
mained all that time in the village, very ill, with nothing to eat but 
boiled corn, not by any means relishing their roasted dogs. The 
inhabitants, wbo came by hundreds each day to visit me, were 
destitute of apparel of any kind, but, nevertheless, behaved in a 
modest and becoming manner. The men did not appeal' to have 
any occupation or employment whatever, and spent their time in 
loitering about the village. The women were generally engaged 
most of the day in manufacturing an oil from a small black seed 
and the guinea nut. 
oJ uly  11th. - The messengers being returned, came to me, and, • 
in a very submissive tone, requested me to accompany them, as the 
king did not think it proper to permit me to go any where until I 
had first seen him. Accordingly I loaded my beasts, and followed 
them a second time to the river, but found it still much too deep 
to walk through; and one bamboo raft being too small to bear.a 
FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. 301 
heavy article, I caused two 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 ferried 
across by the two messengers, who swam behind, and dexterously 
propelled it forward with their hands. The horses and asses were 
not quite so fortunate; the current being strong and rapid, they 
were borne by it nearly a quarter of a mile from the place at which 
they entered the water. Every thing being at length safely landed 
on the opposite side, at 11 P. lVI. left the banks of the river, and 
pursuing a north-east course till sunset, pitohed our tent on a rising 
ground near a small stream. The asses have been again trouble-
some the whole of the way. 
12th.-Leaving at half-past six in the morning, pitched our 
tent outside a small walled town called Accoran, the first I had 
seen since leaving N ammaleek, at two in the afternoon. The west 
end of the town is defended by an immense naked rock, and the 
other parts by a mud wall and a deep ditch. It is inhabited by 
Bowchee people, miserably poor, who could not sell us even a single 
goat or fowl. A thunder-storm came on this afternoon, with its 
usual violence, accompanied with vivid lightning and floods of rain, 
which continued the whole of the night. 
13th.-Started at eight in the morning, and reached Cowroo at 
three in the afternoon. The country traversed differed but little 
from that previously mentioned . The palm and cocoa-nut trees, 
however, which had been so plentiful since leaving Cuttup, sud-
denly disappeared, and I saw no more of them till our arrival near 
'the ea-coast in Yariba. Crossed several streams in the day, and 
numerous steep and craggy but low mountains lay on our left and 
right, on the yery summits of which small villages are buil t; the 
roads leading to them must be extremely dangerous. Remained 
here tluee days, in order to refresh my men and beasts. The chief 
is a fine looking man, and was very neatly dressed in a plain white 
- 30Z FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. 
tobe and trousers, his feet bare, and stained red. I gave him an 
old piece of carpeting, a scarlet cap, white turban, and a gilt chain, 
in return for abundance of excellent provisions, &c. The inhabit. 
ants of the town are principally Houssa people. 
17th.-Started at seven in the morning, and keeping a north-east 
course, reached a large river called Makammee, running southerly, 
which derives its name from a town at a short distance. Were 
ferried across in a canoe, which cost one hundred needles and sixty 
cowries. On landing on the opposite side, suddenly altered our 
route to due east, and arrived at the town of Makammee, at two 
in the afternoon. Sent the chief a paper of unwrought silk, fifty 
needles, and a pair of scissors, which he was very grateful for, and 
returned me two fish, weighing seven or eight pounds each, and 
plenty of other provisions. 
18th.-At six in the morning proceeded, and travelling north by 
east till twelve at. noon, halted at Wautorah, another walled town. 
The chiefsent me some tuah and corn; but there being no poultry 
to be had, shot a few pigeons, which surprised and terrified the in-
habitants to an alarming degree. Gave the chief a pair of scissors 
and a hundred needles. 
19th.-This morningLit being damp and foggy, Mahomet and 
the two messengers refused to proceed, and told me I might go 
alone, thinking to detain me in the town till it would be too late 
to leave this day; but ordering Pascoe and his wife to assist me, 
loaded the beasts, and went on without them. Unfortunately the 
path leading to some gardens belonging to the inhabitants of Wau-
torah misled me. I had gone some distance when, discovering my • 
mistake, instead of returning to the beaten track the way I came, 
crossed the country in order to save time; but owing to the marshy 
nature of the ground, and the swamps, which were numerous, did 
not get into the proper path till four in the afternoon; when, after 
travelling two hours on it, the beast became fatigued and exhausted, 
• 
FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. 303 
in consequence of which fixed the tent by the road-side; and being 
much distressed for water, luckily slaked my thirst from some which, 
oozing from the fissures of a neighbouring rock, I was enabled to 
obtain in small quantities. 
20th.-At six in the morning proceeded on the path, and cross-
ing a large river running to the south at one, entered a spacious 
town named Eggebee at two in the afternoon; the chief of which 
is one of the king of Zegzeg's principal fighting men. Eggebee is 
an extremely neat as well as large town, surrounded with a high 
wall, and situated in the centre of a fine and highly-cultivated 
plain. Nothing can be more beautiful than the appearance of the 
country for miles round. Lofty trees, covered with the most beauti-
ful foliage, casting their welcome shade along the earth; plots of 
ground, planted with corn, every here and there enriching the 
landscape, and vegetation springing up at every step in the richest 
luxuriance, afforded a gratifying and delightful relief to the same-
ness of African scenery, which is welcomed with emotions of plea-
sure that a person who has never wandered in these regions can 
never know. The town contains six or seven thousand inhabitants, 
who are all dressed 'with peculiar neatness; while the cleanliness 
they display, both in their huts and perSOl?S, strongly reminded me 
of my own far-distant country. 
21st.-Left Eggebee at six in the morning, and travelling till 
two in the afternoon, were obliged to fix our tent in the midst of 
a wood, the asses being completely exhausted. No village being 
near, could obtain no provisions. Our course this day was northerly. 
• £2d.-Started at five in the morning, and entered Zegzeg at 
twelve at noon. The country the whole of the way from the 
"bu h" is rich and fertile, principally laid out in gardens. The 
king of Zegzcg did not see me thi day, but ordered me to lodge 
at the house of Abbe! Creme, in "hich my late ma~ter and myself 
304 FROM DUNRORA TO ZEGZEG. 
stopped on our way to Kano. In the evening plenty of provisions 
were sent by the king. 
23d.-Visited the king this morning, taking with-me four yards 
of blue, and the same quantity of scarlet damask; four yards of 
blue and scarlet silk, a gilt chain, six prints, among which is one of 
his majesty, and another of the duke of York, two pair of scissors, 
a quire of paper, a scarlet cap, six yards of white muslin, and a 
blank drawing book. This present pleased him highly; and not 
long after my return to my lodgings, he sent. me two fine bullocks. 
The chief subsequently told me that the reason for his ordering 
me to be brought back to Zegzeg was on account of the war be-
tween Sultan Bello and the king of Funda, who would murder me 
as soon as he had me in his power, for having taken presents to his 
powerful enemy: it was therefore doing me a great act of favour . 
. Abbel Creme, my host, thought it necessary for me to give some-
thing to the king's eldest son: I accordingly presented him, shortly 
afterwards, with two yards of blue and scarlet damask, an unwritten 
journal-book, half a . canister ,of powder, a quire of paper, and a 
gilt chain. The prince i~ a remarkably fine and handsome young 
man, about twenty-two years of age, and was particularly kind to 
me. As an especial mark of favour, he took me into his inner 
apartments to see his wives, fifty in number, who, on my entrance, 
were all sitting in the shade outside their huts, and industriously 
occupied in preparing cotton, making thread, and weaving it into 
cloth. The prince said, "I. have brought the Christian to see 
you." They no sooner looked up than they all instantly dropped 
their work, and ran, or rather flew, into their coozies, and I saw no 
more of them. Four of these ladies reside together in one coozie. 
In the course of the _d ay the prince offered me a young female 
slave, named Aboudah, for a wife! I accepted of her -with grati-
tude, as I knew she would be serviceable to me on my journey, 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 305" 
and I should also have the satisfaction of giving her her freedom 
on arriving at the sea-coast. Mahomet came to me to-day, having 
just returned from Wan torah ; but he had used me so ill that I 
immediately discharged him. I had seen enough to convince me 
that no dependence could be placed on the fidelity of hired do-
mestics; I therefore purchased a young slave named J owdie for 
seven dollars, to supply Mahomet's place. The asses being nearly 
worn out with our long and fatiguing journey, and wanting at 
least twenty days to recruit their strength, I thought it better to 
exchange them for a strong Yariba pony that remained in Zegzeg 
for so long a time. This pony, with the pack bullock the king had 
given me, were fully equal to supply the place of the asses. Pre-
sented Abbel Creme with an unwrought journal-book, a turban, 
and a scarlet cloth cap. Both the king and his son were at the 
wars 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 my journey to Funda. Asked 
and obtained permission of the king to proceed to-morrow. 
FlWM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
24th.-Left at 6 A. M., and halted at Wauree at.3 P. M., fixing 
the tent within the walls. 
Q5th.-Arose at the same hour, and entered Fatica at four in 
the afternoon. The king of Zegzeg had sent a messenger to the 
• chief of this town, desiring him to provide us with an escort to 
conduct us through a wood which was infested with robbers. 
26th.-Rested at Fatica to-day, the chief supplying us with 
abundance of provisions, &c. Gave him two yards of scarlet silk, 
a cloth cap of the same colour, two pair of scissors, and a hundred 
needles. 
RR 
306 'FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
27th.-Left at eight o'clock in the morning, escorted by eight; 
armed men on horseback and four on foot, passed unmolested 
through the wood, and pitched our tent near Kazigee, at 7 P. M. 
Giving the men fifty needles each for their trouble, I ordered them 
to return to Fatica. We had now left the Houssa country, and 
entered Guarie. 
28th.-Previous to leaving Kazigee, a tax of 600 cowries, or a 
present was demanded, before we could go on: preferred paying 
the money; and, travelling till three in the afternoon, halted near 
Maccondie, a small walled town. Here I fell in with a game of 
merchants on their way to Coulfo. Purchased a small goat of them 
fOJ' 1800 cowries. 
29th.-Left the town at six in the morning, and at twelve ,at 
noon fixed our tent outside the walls of the city of Guarie, the 
king of which sent me a quantity of stewed beef, a calabash of 
honey, and milk and tuah. 
sOth.-Unable to cross the river to-day. 
S1 st.,- Waited on the king this morning, arid ga:ve him three. 
yards of light blue damask, the same quantity of blue and scarlet 
silk, an unwritten journal-book, and a red cap. To one of the chief 
men a red cap and a hundred needles. The old king asked the 
reason of my having been so long on the road from Kano, as mer-
chants had told him I had left a 'great while ago. I answered I 
had attempted the route to Funda, it being much nearer to my 
country than any other. He observed, in reply, that if! wished to 
go that way then, he would send a messenger with me, and had no 
·doubt of my reaching Funda in safety, the king of that place being • 
his particular friend. I expressed much regret at not being able 
to embrace his kind offer, telling him my presents were nearly ex-
hausted, and I had nothing good enough to· give the king: on this 
account I felt no inclination to pass through his dominions. The 
king of Guarie had a eunuch in his service who was born !l-ot far 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 307 
from Funda. This man, at the instigation of his sovereign, came 
to see me, and I had a long conversation with him, in the course of 
which he stated his native place was Gibboo, on the banks of the 
Niger, four or five days' journey from Funda. He was given as a 
slave to the king of the latter place, who had sent him to his present 
master. He had gone by water from Gibboo to Funda in eight 
days, the river running five knots an hour against him. The 
voyage from Funda to Gibboo might easily be done in three or at 
most four days. Fell in with a party ofmerchants in the town to-
day, so far on their journey to Couifo, who begged me to accom-
pany them, observing that the road to that place was . rendered 
dangerous by banditti, who had lately committed many excesses. 
Fearing there might be some truth in these reports, I waited 
for them three days; but not having then paid the accustomed 
duty, and not seeming to have the least inclination to depart, I pre-
ferred risking the dangers of the route to remaining any longer in 
Guarie. 
August 2d.-Paid my respects to the king this evening, who 
wished me to take a messenger as far as \Vomba; but declined his 
generous offer, observing I was not afraid to proceed with my own 
small party, and would not put him to any trouble or inconvenience. 
Sd.-At half-past five in the morning left Guarie, and reached 
Fullindushie at two in the afternoon. 
4th.-Heavy rain the whole of the day, which disabled us from 
taking down the tent. 
5th.-Leaving Fullindushie at six in the morning, pitched our 
• tent outside the walled town of Kazzagebubba at four in the after-
noon. The chief sent tuah and corn to us; but not being market-
day, apologized" for having nothing better. A red cap and a pair 
of scissors made him quite proud. 
6th.-Started at the same hour as yesterday, and crossing a large 
river in a canoe at three in the afternoon, pitched our tent in the 
R R 2 
308 FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
'midst of about fifty small uninhabited grass huts, erected by a party 
of merchants, as a temporary abode, some months before. In the 
'night, the mosquitoes were so numerous and troublesome that we 
were obliged to set fire to the huts to drive them away. 
7th.-Took down our tent at six in the morning, and travelling 
till six in the evening, arrived at W omba, a large town, surrounded 
by a 'high wall. The chief sent us fowls, rice, milk, and a bowl of 
honey, with corn, &c. for the horses. Being in want of money, sent 
needles to the market to sell, which fetched fifteen cowries. each, and 
brought me in the whole 3,400 cowries. Presented the chief with 
two yards of scarlet and blue silk, a scarlet cap, and a pair of scissors. 
8th.-This day paid my respects to the king, who insisted on 
sending a messenger with me, declaring the roads to be dangerous 
and unsafe without a guide. . 
9th.-At six in the morning left W omba, accompanied by the 
messenger; and at six in the evening, crossing a large river, halted 
on the south side, and fixed our tent amidst a number of grass huts, 
similar to those mentioned on the sixth. In the night burnt them 
to the ground, in order to destroy the mosquitoes and vermin, which 
annoyed us exceedingly. 
10th.-Started at the same hour as yesterday, and halted in 
the town of Beari at 2 P. M. Instead of journeying in a south-
west direction to Y ouri, took another road, and kept due south, 
having been informed that a party of merchants had been plundered, 
and many of them murdered, on the road I intended taking. The 
chief sent me a sheep, a Muscovy duck, a quantity of yams, and 
some beer made from Indian corn. Returned him one yard of ' 
scarlet and blue silk, a scarlet cap, and four prints, which much 
delighted him. As soon as one of the head men was aware of my 
approach to' the king's residence, he blew a shrill and loud blast 
through a long brass trumpet, the noise of which brought all the 
principal male inhabitants to the spot, who entered the hut, and 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 309 
seated themselves in a circle round their sovereign and myself. 
The chief is a fine looking man, apparently about fifty yea~'s of age, 
with a noble expression of countenance, and a commanding air. 
The coozie into which I was introduced is the largest I had ever 
seen in Africa, being not less, I should think, than eighty yards in 
circumference. A man stood by the side of the chief whIle I re-
mained, who repeated to him what I had to say, and the answers 
were returned to me by the same individual: this singular custom 
is, I believe, peculiar to Beari, as I never observed it in any other 
town in Africa. The chief asked the usual questions about my 
king and country. The town is surrounded by a high wall and a 
deep ditch, and contains about four thousand inhabitants, some of 
whom had seen us before at W ~mba. 
1 Ith.-At six in the morning continued our journey, and ar-
rived at Ragada at two in the afternoon. Remained outside the 
walls, in order that the horses might feed on the rich grass which 
grew in abundance on the spot. The chief wished me to lodge 
with him in the town; but, for the reason above stated, did not 
accept his invitation. The walls of the town are abollt three miles 
in circumference. 
12th.-1n passing through the town this morning, at 6 A. M., 
waited on the chief, who was delighted to see me, and gave me a 
sheep, some fowls, and a jar of gear (a beer made from Indian corn), 
and offered me a messenger, which I declined. Journeyed onwards 
without halting, till we pitched our tent . a little to the west of 
'Vittesa, at three in the afternoon. It began to rain about an hour 
'after leaving Ragada, and continued with great violence till after 
sunset. Although the portmanteaus were defended by a thick 
bullock's hide, every thing in them, with the exception of the 
papers, became completely soaked. Here I met "vith a party of 
merchants going to Koulfa. . 
l3th.-Remained here to-day to dry our tent,clothes, &c. Boussa 
310 FROMZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
Jack, the horse 'which was presented to my late master by the king 
of Boussa, became dangerously ill. I bled him profusely, and in 
the evening he was much revived. Sold an unwritten journal-book 
and a few needles for 2000 cowries. 
A man from the town in a state of intoxication came to my tent 
this evening, with a calabash of bum, and insisted, 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 did not choose to oblige him so far. When he found I had no in-
clination to leave the tent, he said he was determined to come in. 
Wishing to intimidate the fellow, I took a loaded pistol, and went 
.t o him, threatening to shoot him unless he immediately left the 
place; but this, instead of having the desired effect, only exasperated 
. him the more; and flourishing a long spear he had with him over 
his head, as quick as lightning he made a desperate thrust at me. 
Slipping a little. on one side, I caught the weapon in my hands, 
within an inch of my breast, which saved my life. I was highly 
incensed at this violent act, and told the people who stood by, and 
were spectators of the whole affair, that if they did not that mo-
ment take him from the tent, I would shoot him in earnest: half 
a dozen of them accordingly dragged him away. Next morning 
the fellow returned, and throwing himself at my feet, begged I 
would not inform Sultan Magie of his conduct; for if it came to 
his ears he would lose his head. I forgave him, on condition that 
he should never get tipsy again. 
14th.-Stl'uck our tent at six in the morning, and passing 
through the ruins of a large town called Kabojie at twelve af 
noon, reached Dogo at three in the afternoon; but stopping only 
to pay the accustomed duty, halted a little to the westward of it. 
In the evening several respectable females of the town came to the 
tent, with tuah and stewed beef, for which I gave them a few beads. 
15th.-At seven in the morning proceeded on our route, and 
fROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 311 
arrived at Coulfo at two in the afternoon. - I was met at the gates 
by the female in whose house we lodged on our way to Kano, 
accompanied by .the most respectable of her sex in the town. They 
expressed the most lively joy at seeing me; but when I told them 
that my father was dead, they were deeply affected, and made loud 
lamentations. Although the town was full of merchants, and her 
own house occupied with some of them, this kind old woman turned 
out her lodgers, and gave me the best apartment in it. These mer-
chants came from Cuttum Kora, Youri, Kano, Soccatoo, Borgou, 
and Yariba, to purchase Nyffe cloth, which is the best in central 
Africa, iron bits and stirrups, brass ornaments for saddles and bridles, 
and brass ear and common rings: this traffic is carried on to a con-
siderable 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 sent me provisions daily. 
Remained at Coulfo five days, and finding my Yariba pony, and 
the bullock the king of Zegzeg had given me, unfit to bear the fa-
tigues of a journey to the sea-coast, exchanged the bullock and an 
old Turkish jacket for a couple of asses ; but could not dispose of 
the pony, although I offered to sell him for a dollar. The morning 
before my departure found poor little Boussa Jack dead outside my 
hut. It was with the utmost reluctance my hostess would part with 
me; and I left her with a promise of returning in two years. She 
gave me an order to purchase looking-glasses, &c. for her on my 
arrival in England, wHich I was to bring with me; all which I pro-
mised to do. Gave her a dollar to make a ring, and half a yard of 
-'carlet damask. I took to the old chief a scarlet cap and one of 
my late master's turbans, and begged he would not compel me to 
visit Sultan l\Iagie at Sanson, as I had nothing to give him. H e 
replied, if I did not wi~h to visit the sultan, to leave as 0011 as po-;-
ible, or he might send messengers for me. Sold 5000 cowries worth 
of needles to as ist me on my journey. 
312 FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGity; 
20th.-Having paid my respects to the king last evening, feft 
Coulfo, in high spirits and good health, at six in the morning, and 
halted outside Makonja at five in the afternoon. Here I found a 
party of merchants going to Gonja, near Ashantee, for gora nuts. 
Unable to procure any kilid of provisions in the town, I took my 
gun and shot a heron; not being aware that this, being a fetish 
bird, is allowed to be eaten only by the chiefs. On being made 
acquainted with the circumstance, one of the principal inhabitants 
came with a loaded gun, and threatened to shoot me, making use 
of the most abusive language. I dared him to fire, and said I should 
complain to Sultan Magie of his conduct. 
~lst.-Early this morning, the person who had threatened to 
shoot me yesterday came to beg my pardon, excusing his conduct 
on the plea of being intoxicated with drinking too much bum. At 
six in the morning continued our route, and at twelve at noon 
halted at Dalho, 0n the banks of the river Quontakora. At 3 P. M. 
every thing was safely landed on the opposite side; and journeying 
till sunset, reached the foot of a hill five miles to the east of the 
Niger, and rested there for the night. The country traversed 
to-day was · one continued swamp, the mud and water frequently 
reaching up to the asses' side. Rained continually throughout the 
d~. . 
22d.- At nine in the morning left the hill, and at eleven at 
noon came to the river Nigel', which was full one hundred yards 
wider than we found it on our way to Soccatoo. After waiting an 
hour, a canoe came to fetch us; but we did not get over till two 
in the afternoon, the horses, &c. being obliged, by reason of the" 
rapidity of the current, to be ferried across in the canoe. My poor 
slave Jowdie, never having in all his life seen sci large a body of 
water before, became greatly agitated, and was afraid to cross. 
Getting him at length, after much persuasion, into the canoe, he 
reached the other side, but fainted the moment he put his foot on 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 313 
terra firma. We landed at Inguazhilligee, where the principal 
inhabitants pressed us to remain; but having no presents to offer, 
declined stopping. Expecting to reach a village in the evening, 
made all possible haste to get out of the town; but at six o'clock, 
P. M. the asses being quite spent, were obliged to fix our tent on 
a marshy spot in the midst of a bush. The roads were horribly bad, 
through swampy ground, and could only travel two miles an hour. 
This evening, as well as the two former ones, went to rest without 
food. 
~3rd.-At six in the morning, proceeding on similar roads, and 
having heavy rain, reached a small village at one, and were obliged 
to remain there for the day to give the asses a little rest. The 
poor animals had stuck in bogs seven times in the morning, each 
of which times the loads were taken from their backs, and they 
themselves dragged with much difficulty and loss of time out of 
their unpleasant situation. N one of the poor inhabitants of the 
village understanding the Houssa language, I entered a hut, the 
door of which was open, and giving the inmates a few beads, made 
signs with my hands that we stood in need of provisions and rest. 
One small lean fowl, however, was all that could be procured from 
them ; but having the good fortune to shoot a guinea-fowl, made 
a tolerable meal, and slept soundly. 
24th.-At seven in the morning left the village, and journeying 
till 3 P. 1\1., halted at the pleasant town oC\Vo wow, one of the 
handsomest, if not the handsome8t, in the interior of Ml'ica. It 
had taken us two days and a half on the road from Inguazhil-
'ligee, while in the dry season we did it with ease in one. 
25th.-Took the old king a present, consisting offour yards of 
scarlet and four yards of blue damask, four yards of scarlet silk, a 
cap of the same colour, and a white turban. Though oveljoyed to 
see me at first, he was much distressed on mentioning the death of 
s s 
314 FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
Captain Clapperton at Soccatoo. He wondered at my being alive, 
after visiting the Fellata country, the inh~bitants of which he de-
scribed as the most barbarous in the world; said my preservation 
was miraculous, and that I 1¥as certainly one of God's favourites. 
I was obliged to comply with his request,which was tantamount to 
a command, to remain with him a few days to clean seven muskets 
and three pistols, which he afterwards told me belonged to the 
white men who were drowned at Boussa. They have the Tower 
mark on them. 
26th.-Solicited and obtained permission to visit Boussa, to pay 
my respects to its king. 
27th.-At five in the morning, accompanied by Pascoe, pro-
ceeded on the road to Boussa; but, after journeying till six in the 
evening, had only got half way. The country is full of bogs and 
swamps, which in some places took the horses up to their saddles 
in mud and wet; and Pascoe being the worst rider I ever saw, was. 
soused in them more than a hundred times. The remaining part 
of the road appearing still more difficult and dangerous, found it 
impossible to proceed any further. 
~8th. - Returned to W owow. 
~9th.-The king sent me a goat, cut up into small pieces, and 
a large bowl of tuah, to make a sadacco for my poor master; a cere-
mony common in maNY places in the interior, on the decease of any 
person of consequence. The pieces of goat and the bowl of tuah 
are sent to the mallam or priest, who repeats a short prayer over 
them: it is however necessary, before this can be performed, to place 
a gold or silver coin, or at least an article made of either of those. 
metals, on the top of the bowl. Having no coin I could part with, 
I put: a silver pencil-case in its stead, which was never returned me. 
After the prayer has been pronounced over the tuah and goat's 
flesh, they are sent back to the person to whom they belong; and 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 315 
anyone who is disposed comes and eats; each person, before tasting, 
repeating this pious ejaculation, "God send him safe to heaven !" 
The goat's flesh and tuah sent to me were soon consumed. 
SOth.- Having finished cleaning the muskets and pistols, asked 
the chief permission to leave W owow. The old man, smiling, told 
me not half my business was done; he wanted six charms, which I 
alone could write. These charms were to be worn on his person, 
and to possess the following virtues: 1st charm. If his enemies 
thought of making war on him, it would cause them to forget to 
put it in practice. 2d. If they should be on their way to his city, 
for the purpose of warring, it would turn them back. 3d. If they 
should discharge their arrows at his people, when close to the city 
walls, it would cause them to rebound in their own faces, and wound 
them. 4th. It was the province of this charm to prevent his guns 
from bursting. 5th, was to preserve the person who might hold 
the gun from receiving any injury, should it unfortunately ex-
plode. The 6th and last charm was to make him the happiest and 
most successful of men. 
3Ist.-Carried the charms to the king, on which I had written 
scraps of old English ballads, which made him in the best humour 
in the world. 
September 1st.-The king still wished to detain me longer, and 
insisted on my selling or giving him my gun and pistols, the only 
arms I had left. I endeavoured to soften him by every means in 
my power; but finding him firm in his determination of having 
the gun, and at least one of the pistols, and knowing resistance 
.would be ridiculous, I sent them to him, leaving it entirely to his 
generosity to give what he thought proper. The liberal-minded 
chief shortly afterwards returned 4,000 cowries (worth little more 
than a dollar), as a sufficient remuneration for the gun and pistol, 
but made me a present the next day of a beautiful little mare. 
Sd.-Early in the morning the old chief desired to see me before 
s s 2 
316 FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
I left, and obtained from me a promise to return to him after having 
. visited my own country. He showed me various patterns of silk 
for a tobe I was to bring from England for him; and said, as I 
was' going out of the apartment, "Your countrymen may come 
here, and build a town, and trade up and down the Niger: we 
know now that they are good men, but we did not think so when 
the white men who were drowned at Boussa were in the country." 
lie kept me with him Jill nine o'clock in the morning, when, on 
going to my hut, I found a party of merchants waiting for me, whom 
the kind old chiefhad detained on purpose that they might accom-
pany me to Khiama (which had been concealed from me entirely), 
the roads to that city being infested with bands of robbers. Crossed 
the river Auli at twelve at noon. The current being very rapid, 
we had extreme difficulty in getting over; but no accident oc-
curred, and we fixed our tent on the south bank of the river. In 
. the evening the mallam, or priest of the merchants, came to my 
tent, and gave me the following account of Mungo Park and his 
unfortunate companions: 
" You are not, Christian, the first white man I have seen. I 
knew three of your countrymen very well. They arrived at Y ouri 
at the fast of the Rhamadan (April). I .went with two of them three 
times to the sultan. The person that appeared to be the head of 
the party made the sultan a valuable present on one of his visits, 
which consisted of a handsome gun, a cutlass, a large piece of scarlet 
cloth, a .great quantity of beads, several knives, and a looking-glass. 
He was a very tall and powerful man, with long arms and large 
hands, on which he wore leather gloves reaching above the elbows. , 
Wore a white straw hat, long coat, full white trousers, and red 
leather boots. Had black hair and eyes, with a bushy beard and 
mustachios of the same colour. The sultan of Y ouri advised your 
countrymen to proceed the remainder of the way on land, as the 
passage by water was rendered dangerous by numerous sunken rocks 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 317 
in the Niger, and a cruel race of people inhabiting the towns on its 
banks. They refused. however, to accede to this, observing that 
they were bound to proceed down the Niger to the Salt Water." 
The old mallam further observed that, " as soon as the sultan of 
Youri heard of their death, he was much affected; but it was out 
of his power to punish the people who had driven them into the 
water. A pestilence reaching Boussa at the time, swept off the 
king and most of the inhabitants, particularly those who were con-
cerned in the transaction. The remainder, fancying it was a judg-
ment of the white man's God, placed every thing belonging to the 
Christians in a hut, and set it on fire." It is not a little re-
markable that it is now a common saying, all through the interior 
of Mrica, " Do not hurt a Christian, for if you do, you will die like 
the people of Boussa." The old man left me shortly afterwards; 
and I thanked him for his information thus voluntarily giveu. 
4th.-At nine in the morning left the bank of the river, and at 
two in the afternoon fixed our tent in a bush. Proceeded this day 
by ourselves, the merchants not being ready to start in time. N ot-
withstanding the account the king of W owow had given me of 
the dangers of the road, we were not molested in our journey. 
5th.-At six in the morning were again in motion, and halted 
at four in the afternoon in a small town called Gorkie. This day 
one of the asses was taken suddenly ill on the road, and it was with 
the utmost difficulty we could drag him to the halting place. The 
chief of the town, at the instigation of the king of W owow, sup-
plied us abundantly with fowls, rice, yams, &c. Gave him a pair of 
• scissors and a few needles. 
6th.-Finding the ass that was taken ill yesterday unable to 
proceed any farther, was obliged to leave him behind. On seeing 
his companion going away, the poor animal brayed most piteou ly, 
and made many ineffectual attempts to rise. At six in the morning 
left the town, and after sunset came to a number of grass huts, 
318 FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
similar to those mentioned before; in the largest · of which we 
rested for the night, and did not ~x the tent. On crossing a river, 
apparently very narrow, to-day, my horse unexpectedly sunk several 
feet in mud and sand, and his legs becoming entangled in the roots 
of some trees lying at the bottom, fell on his side, and plunging 
'violently, threw me off his back; but not being able to get one of 
my feet from the stirrup, lay several seconds under water, in a most 
perilous and distressed state. Freeing myself at length from the 
stirrup, I got out much exhausted, and su~ceeded in extricating the 
horse also from his no less unpleasant situation. Some merchants 
told me afterwards at Khiama, that I might think myself highly 
fortunate in escaping so easily, the river being filled with large 
crocodiles. 
7th.- Started at six in the morning, and arrived at Yaro after 
suns~t. The chief made us the usual presents of provisions, &c. 
A dreadful hurricane came on about nine o'clock in the' evening, 
which lasted three hours, when it became awfully still and calm. 
The storm was unusually violent, and tore up large trees by the 
Toots; the peals of thunder were fearfully loud, and shook the 
ground on which our tent was fixed; while large masses of fire, 
falling from the heavens, added not a little to this scene of de-
vastation and terror. 
8th.- Heavy rain all day; unable to proceed. 
9th.-At half-past six in the morning continued our journey, 
and at noon entered the city of Khiama. Went immediately to 
the king's residence, who, as soon as he saw me, asked how I dared 
to come into his town without having previously sent him a mes- , 
senger to inform him of my approach. I answered I had sent one 
of his own men, three or four days before, to acquaint him of it. 
" That is of,no consequence," he continued; "you should have sent 
another this morning. Get on horseback directly, and return an 
hour and a half's journey the way you came: on arriving there, 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 319 
send me a messenger, and I will order a sufficient escort to conduct 
you into the city, in a manner deserving your rank and respecta-
bility." I was in the act of obeying this odd mandate, when he 
bawled after me: " I forgive you this time, Christian; but never be 
so remiss again." The chief is an eccentric but friendly kind of 
man, and regretted very much my father's death, which had been 
told him some days before by a merchant. He had heard the 
Fellatas had behaved very roughly to us, and had robbed us; but 
asked what business we had at Soccatoo? I told him we were at 
Kano, on our road to Bornou, when Sultan Bello sent for us, and 
we were obliged in consequence to visit him. He offered to send 
me safely to Bornou, and said he was tributary to the sheik. I 
repliecl, that Bello had taken the presents intended for him, and 
that I had none left worthy so great a prince, therefore could not 
accept his kind offer. My present to the chief consisted of a 
silk sword-sash, three yards of scarlet and blue damask, the same 
quantity of blue silk, a red cap, two pairs of scissors, and a hundred 
needles. I likewise gave him myoId tent, which was full of holes, 
and quite useless. 
Remained at Khiama five days, during which time the queen's 
treatment was kind and generous, supplying us every day with ex-
cellent provisions in great abundance. The day before my departure 
the king gave me a strong pony; and observed that, " if my king 
wished, at any future period, to send anyone to Bornou, he would 
conduct him there by a safe route, without the necessity of going 
through the Fellata country. The king of Khiama is, without 
.exception, the finest and handsomest man we had seen in Africa 
(far superior to Bello) j and, with the exception of the king of 
Yariba, was most respectably dressed. 
14th.-At six in the morning left Khiama, and halted in Subia 
at one at noon. The country traversed is full of bogs, which caused 
the horses to fall repeatedly with their riders. The chief of thi 
320 -FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
town gave me a goat and some yams, by 'command of the king of 
Khiama's messenger. . 
15th.-Started at six in the morning, and travelled the whole 
of the day, till ten at night, when we rested in a bush. 
16th.-Crossing a creek at 6 A. M. arrived at Mossa, a town 
situated on the banks of a river of the same name, which divides 
Yariba from Borgoo. The river was overflown, and the current 
strong and rapid; in consequence of which the people of the town 
were afraid to ferry us over. No food of any kind this day. 
17th.-Asked the king of Khiama's messenger why he was so 
much afraid of crossing the water, observing that I had myself swam 
across many larger and more rapid rivers; and among others men:. 
tioned the Niger. The man, in great trepidation, begged me, as I 
valued my life, not to mention the names of rivers in the hearing 
of the Mossa, who was a female river, and had many rivals in the af-
fections of the Niger, who was her husband. . She had a capricious, 
jealous, and cruel disposition; and if I ventured to place myself 
in her power, she would certainly swallow me up, as I had spoken 
slightingly of her. She was continually quarrelling with her hus-
band, thinking he was too familiar with other rivers; and where 
they met they made the" devil's own noise" with their disputes. I 
roared with laughter when the man had done speaking, at the loves 
of the Niger, which made him very angry, and I had much to do 
to pacify him. Being unable to procure provisions of any kind in 
the village, went to the chief, and wished to know whether he in-
tended to starve us. . The old scoundrel had a garden in which he 
grew a quantity of yams; but he refused to sell me any, asserting, 
that he had none for himself. I then asked leave for Pascoe to cut 
grass in his garden for the horses, suspecting his yams might be 
hid in some part of it: this he sulkily granted. In the evening 
Pascoe returned with a bundle of grass, concealed in which were 
several yams he had had the good fortune to discover. If this 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 321 
had not been the case, I really believe we should all have died of 
hunger. 
18th.-Went again to the chief in the morning, and demanded 
something to eat. He solemnly declared he was himself starving, 
and could get nothing to eat. I then pressed him to send his 
canoe to the opposite side for provisions: after much in treaty he 
consented to do so, but first made a charm that it might not be 
injured in its perilous voyage. For this purpose he killed a fetish 
fowl, sprinkled its blood in the river, placed some of the entrails in 
the bow of the canoe, and in the stern put a broken egg: he then 
muttered several expressions I did not understand; and a man was 
sent over with the boat, which arrived there in safety; but in re-
turning loaded with poultry and yams, it ran foul of a tree which 
unluckily lay in the middle of the stream, and sunk immediately, in 
consequ.ence of which the whole cargo was lost. The chief informed 
me of the accident, and said that the river could not be crossed in 
safety for three or four days. Pascoe returned in the evening with 
more of the chief's yams and grass. 
19th, ~Oth, and 21st.-Nothing to eat on these days but the 
yams Pascoe stole from the king's garden. 
~~d.-Attempted to cross the river at noon; but did not suc-
ceed in getting every thing on the opposite side till five in the 
evening. The horses and asses were borne a quarter of a mile 
down the stream, and had nearly perished. Halted l:J,t ,Vantatah, 
the first town in Yariba, about two hours after. 
2Sd.-At seven in the morning pursued our journey, and at 
Heven entered Hogie, where we remained for the day. The chief 
gave me a pig, yams, corn, &c. A red cap and fifty needles fully 
satisfied him. 
24th.-Rested at Hogie to-day. 
Q5th.-Left at six in the morning, and arrived at Katunga, the 
capital of Yariba, at.§f:vEm in the evening. The low ground were 
T T 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
rendered almost impassable by reason of the rain, which fell in 
torrents. On our arrival I was put into the same house we occu-
pied on our journey into the interior.  
.26th.- The king would not let me wait on him, fearing it might 
wet my feet; and accordingly he visited me with five hundred of 
his wives (out of two thousand), and the principal inhabitants of 
the city. The wives welcomed my return by singing a simple and 
plaintive air, with much pathos and feeling: their voices were 
sweet and musical; and the whole had a novel and pleasing effect. 
Nothing could be heard but their strains, to which everyone 
listened with the profoundest attention until the conclusion of the 
performance. THe king expressed his sorrow for my master's 
-death; and questioned me very' minutely on the motives that in-
duced us to go into the interior. On telling him it was to see if 
-there was any thing worth trading for in the country, he appeared 
satisfied. He was richly dressed in a scarlet damask tobe, and 
a pair of trowsers made of country cloth, scarlet ground with a blue 
stripe; the former ornamented with coral beads; his legs, as far as 
the knee, were stained red with hennah; and on his feet he wore 
red leather sandals. A cap made of blue damask, thickly studded 
with coral beads, was on his head; and silver ri'ngs hung round his 
neck, arms, and legs. I offered him the horse I had purchased at 
Kano, a fine animal, that had carried me the whole of the way from 
that city: and regretted my inability to make him a more valuable 
present; but promised, if he permitted two messengers to accom-
pany me to the sea-coast, I would send him something else. In 
the evening I received a goat and a great quantity of yams frolh 
the king . 
.27th.--The king hav~ng desired me to call on some of his head 
men, I waited on the master of the horse, and two others. The 
former gave me a goat and a bottle of honey. I remarked I was 
very poor, and could make him no return_ 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 323 
30th.-I informed the king I was short of money, on which he 
generously sent me a duck and four thousand cowries (little more 
than a dollar). The eunuch, the king's head man, begged of me 
my remaining pistol, two dollars, and a scarlet cap, which I was 
necessitated to give him. He also wanted my ass to make a fetish, 
but this I refused to let him have. This evening I sent for the 
ass from a neighbouring pasture, when I found the poor animal 
had been shot in the side with two poisoned arrows. I have no 
doubt but this cruel action was performed at the instigation of the 
disappointed eunuch. The beast became a complete skeleton, and 
after languishing for six days in great agony, I desired Pascoe and . 
.J owdie to take him to a short distance, and cut his throat. 'When 
the king heard of the circumstance, he immediately ordered the 
carcass to be cut into quarters, and conveyed to his house. Mter 
which he ordered the meat to be dressed, and having assembled 
his wives and head men, they regaled themselves on it with pecu-
liar satisfaction. \iVishing to pay for so delicious a treat, the king 
sent me a goat and a thousand cowries for the dead ass. 
The people of Yal'iba are not very delicate in the choice of 
their food; they eat frogs, monkeys, dogs, cats, rats, mice, and va-
rious other kinds of vermin. A fat dog will always fetch a better 
price than a goat. Locusts and black ants, just as they are able to 
take wing, are a great luxury. Caterpillars also are held in very 
high estimation. The caterpillars are stewed, and eat with yams 
and tuah. Ants and locusts are fried in butter, and are said to be 
delicious. I could never make up my mind to taste any of these 
,rich insects; Pascoe, however, is particularly fond of them, and 
calls them land-shrimps. 
It is a custom in Katunga, when the king dies, for his eldest 
son, first wife, and all the head men of the kingdom, to drink poison 
oyer his grave, and arc afterwards buried with him. None of the 
TT£ 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
king's sons ever come to the throne. After the kingJs death; his 
successor is chosen from among the wisest persons of the country; 
an elderly man is generally preferred. 
Remained at Katunga till the 21st of October, when the king 
gave me 4,000 cowries, and some trona to sell on the road. He 
ordered his head messengers to accompany me, with a desire they 
should command the chiefs of every town through which we were 
to pass, to contribute, according to their means, to our support. 
On the z2d of October I left Katunga, and after a rapid and 
hasty journey, during which nothing of consequence occurred, ar-
rived at Engwa on the 9th of November following. I found the 
railing which had been placed round the grave of poor captain 
Pearce washed away by the rains, and the piece of wood on which 
I had myself cut out his name, age, &c. and the day on which he 
died, either taken off by the natives, or also washed away by the 
rains. The only means by which I recognized the spot was the 
appearanee of the eal,th, on which there was no vegetation, and its 
having sunk five or six inches. I went to the chief, and giving 
him half a yard of blue damask, and .a pair of scissors, entreated 
him to build a house over the spot, and have it thatched, pro-
mising to send him a present from England in a short time, if he 
did it. He promised faithfully to erect a house as. soon as the 
rams were over. 
Nov. 12th.-Arrived at Jennah this afternoon; and found the 
grave of Dr. Morrison to be in a perfect condition. The king had 
had it kept in excellent order, and was to have been rewarded by 
Mr. Houston, wh~ himself died shortly afterwards at Accra. In this' 
city the horses the kings of W owwow and Khiama had given me, 
unfortunately died. 
Remained two days a~ J ennah, when we proceeded, and on the 
21st entered Badagry; all the natives on the road from KaIlQ 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 3~5 
having behaved remarkably well to us. The country traversed 
was swampy, and full of water the greatest part of the way, which 
rendered travelling tedious and unpleasant. 
The king was gla4 to see me, gave me his own house, con-
structed of bamboo, whilst he himself, much against my inclination, 
resided in a small miserable mud hut. Like every other prince 
on the road, he was grieved to learn the decease of my master. I 
gave him my little horse, which I had brought the whole of the 
way from Soccatoo, and all the articles for presents that were left, 
consisting of two yards of light blue damask, and the same quantity 
of scarlet ditto, two yards of scarlet and blue silk, and two dozen 
pair of stockings . 
On the ~8th I waited on captain Morrison, a Portuguese slave-
merchant, and obtained from him goods amounting to ninety-foul' 
dollal's; and a barrel of gunpowder, which cost a doubloon, I paid 
for myself. 
'rhree of the Portuguese slave-merchants residing at Badagry, 
went to the king one day, and told him and his principal men that 
I was a spy sent by the English government, and if suffered to 
leave, would soon return with an army and conquer their country. 
This the credulous people believed, and I was treated with cold-
ness and distrust by the king and his subjects, who seldom came to 
see me. All the chief men at length assembled at the fetish hut, 
and having come to a resolution that I was to drink a fetish, sent 
for me to appear before them. On my way five or six hundred 
people gathered round me, and I could proceed with difficulty. A 
• great number of them were armed with hatchets, bows and arrows, 
and spcars; and waited outside the hut till I came out. On en-
tering one of the men presenting me with a bowl, in which was 
about a quart of a liquid much resembling watcr, commanded me 
to drink it, aying," If you come to do bau, it will kill you; but if 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 
not, it cannot hurt you." There being no resource, I immediately, 
and without hesitation, swallowed the contents of the bowl, and 
walked hastily out of the hut, through the armed men, to my own 
lodgings, took powerful medicine and plenty of warm water, which 
instantly ejected the whole from my stomach, and I felt no ill 
effects from the fetish. It had a bitter and disagreeable taste, and 
I was told almost always proved fatal. 
When the king and chief men found, after five days, that the 
fetish had not hurt me, they became extremely kind, and sent me 
presents of provisions, &c. daily, and frequently said I was protected 
by God, and that it was out of the power of man to do me an 
InJury. 
I remained at Badagry two months, but was advised by the 
king never to go out unarmed, as the Portuguese took no pains to 
conceal their inveterate dislike to me; and would no doubt assas-
sinate me the first opportunity that might present itself. Several 
persons in canoes passed repeatedly from Badagry to Cape Coast, 
but although I offered to reward them, I could never get them to 
take a note for me to the latter place, so active had been the exer-
tions of the Portuguese to debar me from every means of commu-
nicating with my countrymen. 
There were five factories at Badagry, in which were upwards 
of one thousand slaves of both sexes, chained by the neck to each 
other, waiting for vessels to take them away. 
Captain Morris, of the brig Maria, of London, hearing of my 
being at Badagry, kindly came from vVhydah to fetch me, and on 
the ZOth of January I went on board, and arrived at Cape Coast ont 
the 31st of the same month. Here I gave my faithful slaves, 
Aboudah, Jowdie, and Pascoe's wife their freedom, who testified 
their sorrow on my departure by heaping sand on their heads, and 
other marks of grief peculiar to the African race. Colonel Lumley 
FROM ZEGZEG TO BADAGRY. 3~7 
generously promised to give them pieces of ground and a smal1 
sum of money, and I have no doubt they will do well. 
Sailed from Cape Coast in the Esk sloop of war February 3d, 
and arrived in England the 30th of April following. 
T H E E ND. 
A P PEN D I X. 
A LIST, OR SUMMARY ACCOUNT, OF THE LATE CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON'S 
ARABIC PAPERS, TRANSLATED BY MR. A. V. SALAME. 
1. A GEOGRAPHICAL description of the course of the river C6wara, the road from 
Soccatoo to Masena, from Timbuctoo to Soccatoo, and the countries thereabouts, with 
their inhabitants, produce, &c. &c. as delineated in the chart annexed. 
!'l. An account of an expedition of discovery, made some years ago, by forty 
Christians, who had built a ship or vessel in the interior of Africa, and proceeded down 
the river COwara. 
3. A geographical account of the country, rivers, l~kes, &c. from Bornou to Egypt, 
Nubia, Sennar, the Nile, its sources, &c. &c. 
4. A traditional account of the people and country of Mall, &c. &c. 
5. A traditional account of the origin of the Felan tribe, whom we have hitherto 
erroneously called" Fellatahs." 
6. A traditional account of the people and country of Bargho, &c. &c. 
7. An Itinerary, or the road from Sera to Nubia, Sennar, and Egypt. 
8. A traditional account of the people and country of Neff, &c. &c. 
9. A traditional account of the people and country of Noofy, &c. &c. 
No. 1. 
The following is a translation of the Arabic which was written on the original chart (as 
Clapperton calls it), and of which the annexed is a reduced copy, professing to describe 
the course of the C6wara river, the road from Soccatoo to Masena, and from Timbuctoo, 
with the names and geographical description of the towns and countries adjoining. 
A. " Representation of the city of Soccatoo, metropolis of the Prince of the Be-
lievers (Sultan Bello)." 
u u 
330 APPENDIX. 
B. "The island and town of Dodel or Goodel, together with the branch of the 
river which surrounds them." 
C. "The town of Boory, two days' journey from Bagr8.-foogal." 
D. "The town of Bagra-foogal, one day's journey from Ghagr6." 
E. "The town of Ghagr6, three days' journey from Toondebi." 
F. "The town of Toondebi, one day's journey from Sharif." 
G. "The town of Sharif, three days' journey from Kasbi, or Kasb." 
H. "The town of Kasbi, two days' journey from Seegho, or Sheegh6." 
I. "The town of Seegho, or Sheegh6, one day's journey from Kabara." 
J. "The town of Kabara, -half a day's journey from Timbuctoo." 
K. "The city of Timbuctoo, ten days' journey from Jeri." 
L. "Representation of the city of Timbuctoo." 
M. "The island and town of Jeri, together with the branch of the river that sur-
rounds them. This island is in the middle of the territory of Masena, or Masera, and 
between it and Sego is seven days' journey." 
N. "This branch of the river is called, in the language of the Felan people, Bali6, 
and in Arabic the Black Sea or River. It extends from Jeri to Foota-Jal6." 
O. "This branch is called by the Felans Ranioo, and in Arabic the White Sea or 
River, It extends from Masena to Sego, Foota-toroo, and to Darhoz (perhaps San 
Salvador), one of the towns of the French Christians." 
p, "The road from Soccatoo to Masena, which is frequented in these days, across 
the river and the island of Dodel, with the names and description of the towns and 
countries that are on it, between the river and Masena. 
," On the west bank of the river the country of Bitenkoobi lies. Its inhabitants 
are of the tribe of Felan; it abounds with mountains, rocks, plains, elephants, and buf-
faloes; and has along the bank of the river many white hills. Some of the people drink 
their water from the river, and others have shallow wells, 
" Next to this, at one day's journey through an inhabited country, the territory of 
Maazo-moudi lies, whose inhabitants are of the tribe of Tooroodi. It is a low moun. 
tainous country, and abounds with thorny trees and.wells. Its prince is a tall and ex-
tremely strong man, and renowned for his courage and wars," 
Q. "Is the country of Yaghra; between it and Maazo-moudi is about three days' 
journey, through desert and stony plains, with a few trees and some mountains. In thEl 
midst of the plains, however, there is a well-known river, called Sirba. Yaghra is now 
possessed by-a prince of the Felans, named Ibrahim (Abraham) Boonti, It contains 
woods, small mountains, and a well-known deep river, called Yali, from which the people 
get their watcr." 
R. "Is the coootry of Lebtak6; between it and Yaghra is two days' journey, 
through woody plains and low ground. Its inhabitants are Felans, and its prince is 
APPENDIX. 331 
named Saleh. They are a great warlike people, possessing fine swift horses and many 
cattle. They subsist upon the corn called dokhun (millet); and their country is hilly 
and sandy, and has a large lake, called Dury." 
S. "Is the country of J elghooji; between it and Lebtak6 is two days' journey, one 
of which is through villages, and the other through desert plains, in the midst of which 
there is a large lake, called Bookma. The king of this country is named Hamarkoli, 
and the people are Felans, and well known as great warriors. They possess abundance 
of swift horses, oxen, and other cattle. TIle country is mountainous, woody, and has a 
well-known lake, called Jeboo, besides a great many wells." 
T. "Is the territory of Hajd, one day's journey from J~lghooji. It is exten-
sivE', but very rocky, stony, and mountainous; has a great many sandy hills and a few 
vales; water in it is very scarce, and it has but few wells, so much so, that its inhabit-
ants are obliged to store their water, during the rainy season, within the trunks of trees. 
The inhabitants of the vales are the Felans, who originally conquered these countries; 
but the mountains are inhabited by a people called Benoa-Hami (the children of Ham), 
of the tribe of Sokai. They are great warriors, subsist upon the dokhun, and have 
abundance of swift horses and oxen. In the middle of this country there is a very great 
and lofty mountain, equal to which is not known in tbose parts, and here is its represent-
ation. [See I:::,. in the chart.] Upon it there is a town called Oonbori, wbose king is 
named Noohoa-ghaloa-farma, of the tribe of Sokai, and is renowned for his generosity 
and munificence. 
" All these countries, except Oonbori, are subject to .our Lord the Prince of the 
Believers, Mohammed Bello, whom may God cause to be ever victorious, for the glory 
of the faithful, and the annihilation of the infidels." 
U. "Is the territory of Masena, seven days' journey from Hajrl: it is very extensive, 
fertile, and abounds with rivers and lakes. Its villages join both the old and modern 
ones of the Felans. Its inhabitants are powerful warriors, since ancient times possessing 
abundance of oxen and sheep, and are blessed with every comfort of food and living; 
most of them subsist upon rice, butter, fi sh, and meat. In the middle of the country 
there are two lofty mountains, called Soroba and Goran, and its cattle feed, throughout 
the four seasons of the year, upon grass; and as the lands are almost continually covered 
with water, the shepherds and herdsmen gather the grass, heap it up in large stacks, 
.and, while the cattle are grazing, live upon the tops thereof till the waters al"e dried up. 
Though this may appear marvellous, it is the fact with these people." 
Nos. 1,2,3, and 4. "Are four ri:vers (perhaps canals) belonging to Masena." 
"The present Sultan of Masena is Ahmad Hamad Labo, who rules over Tim-
buctoo, Jeri, and Oonbori, and indeed he may be called the sovereign of the Gharb 
(\V est) in Soodan. He is now at war with Sego. 
" From Soccatoo to Benji is one day's journey through Sisilbi, which is the me-
uu~ 
332 APPENDIX. 
tropolis of Ghalooji. This country is level and fertile, and contains rivers, woods, gar-
dens, and wells. On the east side of it there are two rocky, rugged mountains; on the 
right there is a river, and on the left there are plains and barren deserts. In the en-
virons of the capital of Benji there are, however, several villages or towns belonging to 
tl~e Mohammedans. Between the territory of Benji and that of Mouri is three days' 
and nights' journey, through barren and sandy deserts. Mouri contains small moun-
tains, woods, and has two roads on the left; on one of which there is a deep stream, 
and on the other are two lakes, surrounded with flowering and fruitful trees. This 
country originally belonged to the Sultan of Kabi, and its inhabitants are infidels. Its 
, present sultan is named Ghagara, a~d has a city for his residence named Lukoo-you, 
which has a great lake near it, The chief towns of this country are Dogoruoosi, 
,Myzani, Toonsubi, and Tabada. There are many smaller ones, which need not be 
mentioned for brevity's sake. The lands are mostly stony, sandy, and hilly. There are 
,a great many deep wells, well supplied with water; but the country alt0gether has but 
few trees, though it abounds with reptiles. 
" Next to it, at two days' journey through dry deserts, with one track of road only, 
though woody and hilly, the country of Emanoo lies, the first town of which is Baken-
,doosi, which is of a moderate size; and has, on the east, a lake surrounded with trees; 
and, on the west, a well-known great and very tall tree. Between this town and the 
metropolis of the sultah, whose name is Aghmarak, is half ~ day's journey. Emanoo is 
part of the countries of the Tuaricks, and contains lakes, wells, mountains, hills, and 
sands. Its people live upon the dokhun, and possess a great many cattle. 
" Next to tbis, at one day's journey, is the territory of Taghzar, which also belongs 
to the Tuaricks, and contains hills, wells, and natron lakes, which is called in our lan-
,guage kawa, or salt. ' East and west of this country there are mountains well stocked 
with cattle. The people are the worst and most iII-disposed of the tribes of Tuarick ; 
and their chief Jiving is peas and dokhun. Their sultan is named Hama-rawad6, and 
a lso Hama-zanzama, which means in our language Dog. 
" On the right of this country the territory of J erma lies; it is a narrow vale, be-
tween high hills and hillocks of sand; and on the east it has a lofty mountain; it con-
tains natron and other deep lakes. It is inhabited by the tribe of Benoo-Hami, who 
are great warriors, possessing swift and well-trained horses, and their spears are ex-
tremely long and well-ironed with sharp blades. They are ill-disposed people, and hav,e , 
no lawful sultan, but their chief is one chosen out of the tribe. They subsist mostly 
upon' dokhun, and their country abuts on the great sea or river C6wara. 
" On the left of the before-mentioned country (Taghzar) that of Azwa lies, which 
is inhabited both by the Tuarick and by BenoO-Hami. It contains plains, vales, moun-
tains, hills, and sands; and has deep streams. They possess abundance of cattle, and 
most of their living is the dokhu'n. , 
APPENDIX. 333 
" Between Taghzar and the river C6wara is three days' journey, through a barren 
desert, without any human being in it, inhabited only by wild beasts; and it has a long 
and deep stream running through sandy hills. From this stream the people of Taghzar 
provide themselves with water when they go to the chase of the giraffe in the winter 
ieason. The distance between their town and this stream is half a day's journey, 
through some woody plains, a few small mountains, and sandy hills. On the road, 
however, there is a small lake, surrounded with shrubs and trees, in which water is found 
only in the autumn. 
" Near the river there are a great many white hills, without any trees upon them; 
but on the banks there are very large tall trees of tamarinds, under the shade of which 
travellers rest themselves. 
W. " Now the great river C6wara comes, and here is its representation. This 
great river is the largest in all the territories of Houssa; we know not of its source, 
nor of anyone who has seen it. It rushes and precipitates itself through the country 
from left to right, and contains many islands inhabited by fishermen, herdsmen, hus-
bandmen, and settlers. As to the variety of its animals, birds, and fish, it is only 
known to the Lord Creator; it has rocks and monntains, which break and shatter to 
pieces all vessels that are driven against them; and its great roaring and noise, with the 
agitation of its waves, astonish the hearer and terrify the beholder; and, at the same 
time, exhibit the wonderful power of the Omnipotent Creator. 
X. "Is an undescribed branch of the river. 
Y. "The writing of this copy ended on Thursday afternoon, the 5th of Rajab, 
1242, of Hegira-(January 31, 1827, A. D.), in the city of Soccatoo, residence of the 
Prince of the Faithful Sultan Mohammed Bello, by his special command to me, Mo-
hammed, son of Ahmad Masane-(i. c. native of Masena)-for Abdallah the English 
Christian ." 
A. V. SALAl\lE. 
No. II. 
Translation iflhe Account iflhe "Expedition if Forty Christians," &c. 4·c. 
" In past years a company of Christians came from the side of Dar\\'adar " , a to\YO 
belonging to the Christians, following the river to Foota-tooro, and from thence they pro-
• It is perhaps S.lvador.-A. S. 
334 ,APPENDIX. 
J:eeded ,to Sego. They. were forty men, and, on their arrival, the Sultan of Sego re-
ceived them hospi:tably, gave them presents, and lodged them in one of his towns called 
Sansani (Sansanding of Park). They then acquainted him that they wished to build 
a ship; to do which he gave them leave. During their residence there, and the build-
ing of the ship, most of them died, and by the time the ship was finished, five only were 
alive. These five men embarked, on board the vessel, and proceeded eastwards till they 
arrived at Jeris, where they resided,aslongas God was pleased. They thence went on 
to Masena, following the river till they came to one of our towns called Seebi *, between 
Jeri and Timbuctoo, that they might cross the way of the rivert. They sojourned 
there with the prince, who was one of the sons of the Sultan of Timbuctoo, and whose 
name was Babal-kydiali. He entertained them, and gave them leave to proceed to 
Timbuctoo. They continued their voyage till they arrived in safety, five as they 
were, at the city of Timbuctoo, where they resided as long as God was pleased. Thence 
they went on towards. the country of Soghy till they came to one of its towns called 
Gharwal-gaoo. There the Tuaricks met, and fought them severely till three were 
. killed, and two only of them escaped with the vessel. 
" They proceeded towards the east till they arrived at Boussa; but the inhabitants 
fought and killed them, and their shlp is to this moment there. This is the substance 
and the truth of the case." 
OBSERVATlON.- From the melancholy termination of this adventure, and the place 
where the boat now exists, no one can doubt that this account relates to Mungo 
Park and his paz;ty; and that it is the most authentic and circumstantial that can be 
had. As to their number being" forty Christians," it is easily accounted for, when we 
know that those people call anyone w.bo might b~ in the service of an European " a 
Christian." So that it is not improbable that all those who were employed by Mungo 
Park were considered" Christians," and thus formed the number of forty. 
A. V. S. 
• It should here be observed that the writer" who is the secretary of Sultan Bello, and wrote this 
by his order out of their records, is a native of Masella.-A. S. 
t Whether, this means the course, the current, or a reach of the river, I cannot make out.-A. S. 
APPENDIX. 335 
No. III. 
A Geographical Acccnvnt oftM Country, Rivers, Lakes, /!rc.f?·om Borncn~ to Eg,ljpt, /!rc. 
" The tenitory of Bornou is very extensive, and contains mountains, sands, and 
lakes: it has also two well known cities; one is called Sira, the other Kataghoon, whose 
prince is named Dankawa. To the name of Bornou that of Ghoodri is sometimes 
added. 
"At twenty days'journey from Bornou the territory of Adamawa lies, which is moun. 
tainous, and contains vales, hills, and rivers. Two-thirds of its inhabitants are infidels, 
and one-third Felan Mahomedans. The metropolis of their sultan is called Ghorin. 
They possess plenty of horses and oxen, and subsist upon the dura (Indian corn). To 
the name of Adamawa the word Foobina is often added. 
" Next to Adamaw3, at two days' journey through a mountainous desert abounding 
with rivers, the country ofLllghwl (Loggun of Denham) lies; it contains a great many 
rivers, lakes, forests, and trees. Its inhabitants are Soodan Mahomedans; but the 
desert between it and Adamawa is infested with infidel robbers, who ride their horses 
without saddles, fight most desperately, often interrupt traffic on the road, and kill any 
one who falls into their hands. 
" From Lllghwl to the territory of Bagh:1l'my, which comes next to it, is two days' 
journey through a desert containing a great and extensive fresh-water sea, called Asoor 
or Ashoo *. This country is hilly, sandy, and has small mountains; its width is a distance 
of ten days, and its length is much more. Its inhabitants are Soodan, Kahlans, and 
Arab, who are robbers, and a treacherous set of people. Their sultan, whose name is 
Borkoomada, is as cruel as themselves, and even slays sheiks and Mahomedans. They 
possess abundance of hOl"cs and oxen, get their water from wells, and subsist upon the 
dokhun. 
" Next to Bagharmy the country of Rooga lies, which is stony, abounding with 
rivers, and inhabited by infidels. 
" At three days' journey through places inhabited by Arabs is the territory of 
'Vadal; it is very extensive, hilly, sandy, mountainous, and contains vales, lakes, and 
cleep wells. Its sl,ltan is named Yousuf, and his capital, which is situated uncler high 
mountains, i called Hoowarat; the inhabitants are a mixture of Arabs and Persian; 
they are renowned for courage in war, swift horses, and the abundance of their camels, 
oxen, nnd sheep. They haye a great many market places or towns, and their liying i 
the dokhun and durn . 
• This must be another nrun. for tbe gr.at lake Sh3l1 or Tebad.-A. S.-Perhaps rather the Asu 
river of Land.r.-ED. 
t The crowll prince of "'.daj, jf we can caU him so, was last year in Egypt; and, upon his autho-
rity, tllis country lies under, or at tbe foot of, the Mountains of the Moon.-A. S. 
336 APPENDIX. 
" Next to Wadai the country of Fool' (Dar-foor) lies, at two days' journey through 
mountains and woody deserts, in the midst of which there is a vale containing dom trees. 
The territory of Foor is very extensive, hilly, sandy, and droughty, so much so, that, 
notwithstanding the great many deep wells they have, the people are obliged to preserve 
their water within the tmnks of trees. They are a mixture of Felans, Arabs, and 
Kahlans; they possess plenty of swift horses, camels, oxen, and sheep; they have all 
sorts of warlike weapGns, as shields, spears, armour, and so forth *, and are great warriors. 
Their sultan is named Mohammed Fadlu, who is a genteel, handsome, black man, and 
renowned for his munificence and generosity. His capital is called Nantalti, through 
which a river runs during the rainy season; but in winter the people are obliged to dig 
wells in the bed of that river for water. They live upon the dokhun and dura, and 
hav& some date gardens. 
"At ten days' journey from Foor, through a mountainous, hilly, sandy, and droughty 
desert, is the country of the Kordofal, which extends seven days in length, and is inha-
bited by Arabs and Kahlans; it is however possessed now by the Turks t. It is very 
fertile, and has small mountains, hills, and sands; as also it contains fine horses, and 
plenty of cattle and asses. The capital of its sultan is called Loobi, and the living of 
the people is the dokhun. 
" Next to Kordofal is Sonnar, which is a very extensive and fertile country; and its 
inhabitants, who are Arabs, are blessed with every sort of comfort by being able to cul-
tivate the lands at all seasons of the year. This fertility is owing to the situation of the 
country being between two branches of the Nile; one of which, it is said, runs from the 
eastward, and the other, which is called the White river, runs from the westward; so 
that Sonnar is an island between the two rivera. It is, however, now in possession of the 
Turks t. It is a very cheap country, and its inhabitants possess plenty of oxen and asses, 
and subsist upon the dokhun. 
" The White river becomes very ful~ of water during the rainy season, which brings 
with it, from the Blue river, the animal called Anghorotu §; but during the summer it 
becomes so shallow as to be waded, the water not reaching above the thighs of people. 
" Between Sonnar and Sawaken, which is on the Salt Sea coast (the Red Sea), is a 
distance of forty days." 
A. S. 
I 
'" When the present Pasha of Egypt sent his army to these countries, a few years ago, some of these 
pieces of ann our and helmets were brought over to Cairo; and it was surprising to see them resembling, 
in every respect, those of the ancien t Romans and Greeks.-A. S. 
t Mohammed Ali, the present Pasha of Egypt.-A. S. 
t See last Note. 
§ Whether this name is meant for the crocodile or hippopotamus I cannot say.-A. S. 
APPENDIX. 337 
Nos. IV. V. VI. VII. VIIT. AND IX. 
Traditional Acco~bnl 0/ diffe?·ent Nations 0/ Africa, <S-c. 
1. " The territory of Malee is extensive, contains a gold mine, and is inhabited by 
Soodans, whose origin is said to be from the remnants of the Copts. Among its inha-
bitants are also Towroods, Felans, Arabs, Jews, and Christians. These last are subject 
to two Christian sovereigns, who send their ships to the harbour of this place; and it is 
said that this country was formerly possessed by a people called Sarankali, who, it is 
presumed, were Persians. 
" The kingdom of Malee is an ancient and flourishing country, and comprises two 
other provinces: one is Banbara, which contains rivers, woods, and, a gold mine, and 
is occupied by the Soodan, who are still infidels, and possess great power; the other, on 
the wcst of it, is Foota, which is inhabited by the Towrood, and the Sarankali, or Per-
sians. The Towrood people, it is said, were originally Jews, others say Christians; 
that they came from the land brtween the two rivers, the Nile" and the Euphrates, and 
e tablished thcmselves next to the Jews who inhabited the island; and that whenever they 
oppressed or encroached upon the Jews, the lattel' had always recourse to the protection 
of' the officers of theSehabat (the immediate friends or companiolls of Mohammed), who 
then ruled over them; that they (the Jews) used to say to them: 'We came to Iive;'1 
these islands to wait the coming of a prophet (after whom there will be no other); after 
whose coming and death a relation of his, named Aboo-Bakr, will sllcceed him; and 
Aboo-Bakl"s successor will be Amroo, who e troops will come upon the surface of tlus 
water (by which they meant Termes), protect us against you, and enable us to conquer 
),our country t.' 
" This is what we found written in our books." 
N. B.-The above account, wiT.h the exception of the latter part, and a few small 
variation>, has been already given to us in Sultan Bello's Geographical Account. (See 
Appendix, p. 166, First Journey.) A. S. 
5. " The origin of the Felan tribe is stated to be as follows: 'Vhen the army of 
the ehabat, during the reign of Omar Ben El-khattab, penetrated into the Gharb, they 
al'riYcdlir.t at Termes; the Towrood people haying seen them, went immediately under 
• This is a mistake : it should be th e Tigris.-A. S. 
t The im-entor 0 tbis story had, there is no doubt, meant it to be as a prophecy for the coming of 
!\Iahomed, and that to show that Cl'CI! the Christians themselyes had foretold his coming; for all tb ese 
words which he puts into the mouth of these Christians are the wry result of ;\Iahomed's career, .. 
recorded by the Mahomedan historinns.-A. S. 
xx 
338 APPENDIX. 
their prOtection, and became Mooslemeens, before the Jews who were waiting for them * ; 
in consequence of which they were enabled to £ght and subdue the Jews and Satankali 
(Persians). When the Sehabat wished their troops to retire from the Gharb, the prince 
of the Towrood said to them: ' You came to us with a faith of which we were ignorant, 
and you are now going away without leaving anyone to instruct us in it and its laws.' 
The Sehabat, hearing this appeal, left behind -them, for their instruction, Okbat Ben 
Aamer. He married a daughter of the prince, named Gajmaa, and begot by her four 
sons, Dyta, Naser, Wityii, and Rerebi. He afterwards returned to Egypt., and left his 
four sons behind with their mother. They grew up, and spoke a different language from 
that of their father, which was the Arabic, as well as from that of their mother, which 
was the old Towrood, called Witkoori. They married, and had sons and daughters, 
from whom the Felans descended; so that the father of the Felans was an Arabian, and 
their mother a Towrood. 
" This we found recorded in our books-t." 
6_ " The country of Rarghoo is situated on the right side of the river; it is woody 
and sandy, and inhabited by tribes of the Soodan, who, it is said, are descended from 
the slaves of the Felans, who were left behind when their masters crossed the river; and 
thus they peopled those countries. They are insubordinate and stubborn, as also very 
powerful in magic; and it is recorded that, when the equitable Prince Hadgi Mohamed 
Allah-kaja ruled over this province, he could gain no advantage over them. 
" Next to Barghoo, the province of Ghoorma lies; it is extensive, mountainous, 
woody, sandy, and has various rivers. Its sultan is named Boojuju, and the inhabitants 
are almost of the same description as those of Barghoo, robbers, and depraved. 
" On the west of Ghoorma, the country of Mooshier, or Mooshee, is situated. It 
is extensive, and contains a gold mine, rivers, woods, and mountains. It is inhabited 
by tribes of the Soodan, who possess plenty of swift horses, very tall asses, and arc very 
powerful in war. Their sultan is named Wagadoogo, and their asses are imported to 
Ghoonja to carry the drums of the army. 
" On the right of Moosher the territory of Asanti lies, which is very extensive." 
N. B.-The above account, with the exception of a few small variations, has also 
been given to us in Sultan Bello's geographical account. (See Appendix, p. 165-6, 
First Journey.) 
• See No.4. 
t Egypt was conquered by the Mahomedans in the 20th year of Hegira, or the lOth after Ma-
home,l's death, under the Khalifat of Omar Eben Elkattab, who, by the instigation of an intrepid 
officer named Amrli Ben El-Aass (who, under some very singular circumstances, happened to visit Egypt 
and see its splendour a few years previous), sent an army, consisting of no more than 4000 men, to subdue 
that mighty and rich country. Amru succeeded in his enterprise, and pushe,l on his conquest to the 
Gharb; but Okbat Ben Amer's name appears only as a witness to the treaties concluded between the 
conqueror and the people of Alexandria; though he was considered an officer of rank and valour.-A. S. 
APPENDIX. 339 
7. Itmerwry. 
" From Si.ra to Boogho is a distance of twenty days; thence to Mooshkoom-Foosh, 
to Sary, to Sarwa, to Indam or Indag, to Warshii, to Booshrii, to the mountain called 
Kaghoom, to Mount Kingha, to Mount Dooziyat, to Mount Aboo-Talfan, to Mount 
Aboo-Zarafat; then to Rooga, to Dygo, to Kaja, to Katoonll; then to the mountain of 
Nubia, to the gold mine called Tagly, which has no less than ninety-nine mountains, 
the name of each of which begins with F; but three only of these mountains are known, 
whose names are as follow: Fazooglu, Fafaklu, and FoondooBu. In two days from 
this place, you will get to the Nile of Sonnar; but from Tagly to Egypt, or Cairo, 
which lies northward on the left side of it, is a journey of forty days, travelling con-
tinually by the bank of the Nile; while from Tagly to Sawaken, which is on the sea 
coast (the Red Sea), is a distance of thirty days only." 
N. B.-This is the last of the seven papers which, it appears, were written in Captain 
Clapperton's memorandum book, by order of Sultan Bello, and are dated" the 5th of 
ShM.ban, 19l4~, A. H;" about the 3d of March, 189l7, A. D. 
A. V. S. 
8. " The people of Nefe came originally from Kashna, and their prince, Thoodyar, 
from AUigher. He £rst conquered the territory of Beni, from the river called Bakoo to 
that which is named Kaduna; then the territories of Booduor Boodi, and of Bassa or 
Boosa. He thence embarked on the river Kowara, and subdued the people on its bank, 
called Abagha; after which he conquered the country of Abbi (in which we now are·), 
and that of Kanbari, in conjunction with the Prince of Yaouri. The river of these 
countries is called Kantagoora. From Yaouri he proceeded to the great mountain, or 
mountains, where Neff, Beni, and Fatti-attu are: he then went to the river Katha, or 
Kasha, and conquered the countries thereabouts; which are, Ghoor-noofu, Koogra, 
J emma, Doonfee, Taboo, and Aza, or Azai. This prince w~ succeeded by Ithshab, 
whose successor was Ithkootoo; and the whole number of princes who ruled over this 
kingdom werc thirteen. The rest of the eastern parts, as far as Katana, are in possession 
of a prince named Bakoo. 
" About the right of Attlgher the country called Nafry lies, by the side of a river 
larger than that of Kowara. 
• " The people ofBeni are now extremely poor. They are submissive to their princes, 
till and cultivate the lands of others, and pay capitation tax. Sheep, goats, oxen, horses, 
and fowls, arc scarce in their country; and as to asses, there are none, except what are 
imported from other countries. They have, however, plenty of elephants. 
" The river in the territory of Kowara lies west, on the right hand side; and that 
of Kadun{l is in the centre; while the river Bakoo, or Gakoo, is in the east." 
• The writer or this account, it scems, w.s in Captain Clapperton's company, or attached to his 
••r vice.-A. S. 
x X 52 
3.40 APPENDIX. 
9. "The tribes who inhabit Noofee, it is said, were originally from Beni ; others say 
from Takra; and some assert that they came from the ~iddle of the river, perhaps an 
island. Their first town was J emma; but. afterwards they inhabited Kafath or Kifath, 
Ayaki, Karkena, and the eastern Kowal'S., by a river called Matny. They had also 
Kasoo or Kashoo, Zeer, the west of Malee or Moulee, Abyou, and WiIdil. 
" The river of Kowara runs through mountains, and a great many woods and 
forests; and has mountains on the north and the east. This great river issues from 
the Mountain of the Moon; and what we know of it is, that it comes from Sookan to 
Kiya, to Kabi, to Yaouri, to Boossa, to W iI-wa, and to Noofee; but in that place there 
is another river which springs from Zirma, to Ghoober, to Zeffra, to Kory or Koom, 
and then enters Noofee; its name is Kaduna. On the north of it Kanbari lies ; on the 
east is Kory; on the south are Cankan and Kafath ; and on the west js Bassoa, or Bashw3. . 
About the centre of it is the kingdom of Noofee, with that of Abyou. 
" Noofee was once subj ect to the Felans; but when Edrees, a prince of the Felans, 
ruled over it, and committed so many excesses as even to violate its virgins, the people 
rose .up against him, sword in hand, and freed themselves; and thus they are now at 
war with the Felans. Amongst them there are Mahomedans; but the greater part are 
infidels, without either religion or law: they are drunkards and oppressOl:s; they neither 
pray, nor worship any god. They walk with you during an hour as fri ends, while in 
the next they do not hesitate to kill you. W hen one of them dies, they fasten the arms 
across the chest, place the body in a sitting positIon in the grave, and one of them lies 
by it, while another sits at the entrance. They have a large and extensive cavern, in 
which they place their dead; but those who guard this cavern, though they are some-
thing like priests, are the most depraved persons. They sometimes send messengers to 
call the relatives of the dead , enjoining them to bring with them the best of every thing 
they have; and when these innocent people arrive at the cavern, they are immediately 
plundered of what they take there; and if they be females, their chastity is violated. 
" This is the life and habits of these infidel Pagans; and consequently the roads 
about Noofee are very dangerous and peri lous. 
" When their king dies, they enter his house, and live in it. " 
N. B.-It is proper here to observe, that the above two papers, Nos. 8 and 9, are 
wTitten, ur rather scrawl ed out, unorthographically and ungrammatically, and their com- ( 
position is no more than a sort of incoherentja;rgon. The translation, therefore, I have 
given of them is mostly made out by conj ecture. There is no doubt, however, that 
Clapperton, who made some residence among these people, has given some further 
account of them. 
A. S. 
APPENDIX. 341 
A VOCABULARY OF rl'l-IE YOURRIBA TONGUE. 
Fowl, Adea Mouth, En'oo 
Goat, Aoor'ey Teeth, E'hee 
Sheep, Agon'ta Ears, Eff'ee 
Pig, Ale'day Chin, Ebb'ee 
Salt, Eeyo Neck, Enaff"oo 
Corn, Agbad'doo Shoulders, Edgeookah 
Millet, Ok'kablebba Arm, Epk'wa 
Grass, Cdco Elbow, Ebah'wa 
Beads, Le'key Wrist, Onawa'wa 
Gold, Sic'ca Hand, A'wa 
Coral, In'yoh Thumb, Atang'pako 
Silver, Patak'ka Fingers, Ama'wa 
Cloth, Atchio The body, Agwid'demodgu 
Man, Okon'a Belly, Inn'oh 
'Voman, Obin'a Thigh, E'tah 
King, Ob'bah Knee, Okk'oo 
Horse, Ep'pee L eg, Ajodgoo 
Saddle, Gar'ree Ankle, Cocdsey 
Bridle, Ja!noo Foot, A tali s'scy 
P epper, Att'ah Toes, Amalis/sa 
Shallots, Allabous/sa Boot, Sa'labattoo 
Yams, I sh/oo Sandals, Battoo 
Plantains, Ayid/dey Fan, Abab'bey 
Fire, ,Jun/ah Cow, Mall'oo 
Water, Om'mee Dog, Aj'ah 
"Vood, Iggie Cub, Aloghin/ne 
A pot, Coc'co i\louse, Acoo'fu 
A calabash, E'bah Tiger, Ek'ka 
Duck, Pap/ayeh Hyena, Eco'co 
Soup, Ob'eh Vulture, .\wood'cc 
H ouse, Ill'eh Jacket, Kook/oomah 
Mug, Tank'ora Trousers, Shock'ootoo 
Plate, ,\ 'wo Turkey, Fu'lutu'loo 
Knife, O'beh Elephant, Gen'acoo 
H ead, Or/rce Hippopotamu" En/em.\' 
Eye-, OJ'oo Cotton wool, O/woo 
ose, Em'oo Palm oil, Ep/ch 
342 APPENDIX. 
Cocoa-nut, Ay'ba Five, Mall'oo 
Tornado, OJ'uma'ri Six, Mai'ffa mai'fa 
A mule, Barak'ka Seven, Ma!gee 
A jackass, Ketteketteh Eight, Ma!jo 
A mat, Enn'ee Nine, Mai'ssLl 
A bag, Ok'key Ten, May'wah 
A gun, E'bah Twenty, Ok'ko 
A cutlass, Jom'ma Thirty, Agboug 
Silk, Ce'dah Forty, Ogojee 
Damask Ala'ri Fifty, Adett'a 
Scarlet cloth, Doh'do Sixty, Ogotta 
Blue ditto, Iss'ado'doh Seventy, A{lo'nee 
Green ditto, Alar'ooya!goo Eighty, Ogonee 
Yellow ditto, Ninety, Ado'noo 
Tree, E'wajass'kway One hundred, Ogo'noo 
Sun, O'noo Two hundred, Egbe'o 
Moon, Ajoo'pa Three ditto, Oa'doo 
Star, Era'wo Four ditto, In'ee 
God, Ala'noo Five ditto, Edag'bett'a 
Thunder, Ar'oo . Six ditto, Eg'bett'a 
Lightning, Mannumanu Seven ditto, Edag'be'ne 
Rain, Odigoo Eigh t ditto, Eg'be'ne 
Wind, Avoo'voo Nine ditto, Edegba'noo 
Cap, Fill'ah One thousand Eggbainoo 
Hat, Atte' Ebo Two ditto Ebah 
Hair, 01100 Three ditto Egba'dagoo 
Beard, Eg'bee Four ditto Egbagie 
Skin, All'ah Five ditto Egbe'dogmoo 
Nail, Eff'eh Six ditto Egbaa'ta 
One, Ok'ka Seven ditto Edegbaainee 
Two, Ma!jee Eight ditto, Egba'nee 
Three, Mai'ta Nine ditto, Edegbaa'noo 
Foul', Me'ne Ten ditto; Ebaa'noo 
FELLATAH. 
One, Go Five, Jowie 
Two, Diddie Six, Jowego 
Three, Tattie Seven, Jowaddie 
Four, Ni Ejght, Jowatittie 
APPENDIX. 343 
Nine, Jowanie One hundred 
Ten, Sapo and one, Hernrigo 
Eleven, Sapoago One hundred 
Twelve, Sapodiddie and two, Hemrididdie 
Thirteen, Sapoatittie One hundred 
Fourteen, Sapoani and three, Hernritittie 
Fifteen, Sapoaji One hundred 
Sixteen, Sapoajego and four, Hernrini 
Seventeen, Sapoaj  addide One hundred 
Eighteen, Sapoajatittie and five, Hernrijoie 
Nineteen, Sapoajanie Two hundred, Kamididdie 
Twenty, Nogi Three ditto, Karnitittie 
Twenty-one, Nogiago Four ditto, Kamini 
Twenty-two, Nogiadiddie Five ditto, Karnijoie 
Twenty-three, Nogiatittie One thousand, Koojuna 
Twenty-four, Nogiani Two ditto, Kooj unadiddie 
Twenty-five, Nogiajowie Twenty ditto, Kooj unaginogi 
Twenty-six, Nogiajego What is this? Konindadoorn 
Twenty-seven, Nogiajadidde Man, Gorko 
Twenty-eight, Nogiajattitie Men, Worbaa 
Twenty-nine, Nogiajanie Woman, Debo 
Thirty, Shapandatittie Women, Reuba 
Thirty-one, ago Boy, Beedo 
Forty, Dabi Boys, Beepba 
Fifty, Dabisapo Girl, Surba 
ixty, Chapandijago Girls, Surbaba 
eventy, Chapandajadidie Horse, Putcha 
Eighty, Chapandagatittee Horses, Putche 
inety, Chapandajani Cow, Cows, agea. 
One hundred, Hernri 
344 APPENDIX. 
METEOROLOGICAL TABLE. 
Date. Hours. F.h'. Bar. 
--- -
189l5. BADAGRY. 
Dec.9l 6A.M. 80°. !Z9o.813 Calm and hazy. 
Noon. 91 . 705 South-west winds . 
3 P.M. 91f .653 
3 6A.M. 78 . 91~ Cloudy and calm . 
Noon. 99l .6 31 South, fine breezes . 
3 P.M. 91 .515 -
4 6A.M. 77 .854 Calm. 
Noon. 90 .5 68 South, fine breeze . 
3 P.M. 90 •5 39l Moderate . 
S 6 A.M. 79 . 786 Thin showers . 
Noon. 89 .6~3 South-east, fine breezes. 
3 P.M. 86 . 578 Cloudy, thick weather.  
6 6A.M. 76 .8 ~9 
Noon. . 90 .59l4 } Thin rain, light breezes, and cloudy . 
18~6. CHIADO. 
Jan. 10 3 P.M. 89 ~8.700 Hazl;' 
6 &5 .700 Sout 1 south-west light air. 
11 6A.M. 75 .750 Calm and clear. 
9 8~ .750 Same. 
Noon. 90 . 695 Light airs . 
3 P.M. 94 . 675 Ditto and clear . 
5 90 .675 
Koosoo. 
14 6 P.M. 89 .800 Caim. 
15 6 A.M. 75 Strong breezes, east by north Harmattan. 
Noon. 89 
3 P.M. 90 .709 
ATEPA . 
9.0 1 P.M. 91 .6 96 
9l 91 
3 93 .646 ~ No"h """h-~' ",,"0, Hmm"~". 
4 99l 
5 84 
KATUNGA OR EYEO. 
~5 6A.M. 83 9.8.640 North north-west, clear. 
Noon. 89-i .580 Strong breeze, fine, north-east. 
SP.M. 90 .549 East. 
916 BA.M. 70 Clear, light breezes, and cooL 
9 83 .587 Fresh breezes, north north-east. 
Noon. 89 .59.4 Lilfh t ditto. 
SP.M. 90 .519 Mi d ditto. 
917 Noon. 81 .55~ Tube broke. 
Feb. 3 6A.M 74 .560 Dull and hazy . 
9 89. .516 
Noon. 88 .606 
APPENDIX._ 345 
Date. Hours. Fah'. Bar. 
1826. K ATUNGA OR EYEO. 
Feb. 4 6A.M. 79° 28".510 
9 89 .510 
Noon. 89 .458 
3 P .M. 77 .4.58 Thunder storm. 
5 6A.M. 7'1 .510 Cloudy, and strong breeze. 
6 6 77 .458 Fresh breeze and clear. 
9 89 .558 
Noon. 91 .500 Moderate breezes. 
3 P.M. 91~ . 488 Calm and clear.  
7 6A .M. 78 .500 Fresh breeze during the rught. 
9 88 .!i55 Moderate, north-east. 
Noon. 94 .517 Calm. 
3 P.M. 91 .480 Light airs. 
8 6A.M. 75 .552 L ight airs and hazy. 
9 84 .611 Ditto and flyin~ clouds. 
Noon. 89 .568 Mild" east-nort -east. 
3 P.M. 90 .484. 
9 6 A.M. 72 .497 Fresh breeze, clear and cool, south-west. 
9 87 .521 West-north-west. 
Noon. 91 Li~ht airs. 
3P.M. 89 .449 Cam. 
10 6 A.M. 76 .524 Moderate and clear. 
9 82 .568 vVest-north-west, flying clouds. 
Noon. 92 .515 Light airs, east-north-east. 
3P.M. 88 .475 
11 6A.M. 75 .535 Light breezes and clear. 
9 85 .543 
Noon. 90 .472 
3 P.M. 93 .455 Calm. 
12 6 A.M. 76 .506 Fresh breezes, north-west. 
9 86 .54.J. Light a,ir s. Noon. 92 .509 Squall north-east. 
3 P.M. 94 .420 Fresh breeze. 
13 6 A.M. 78 .4.72 Strong breeze and cloudy. 
9 86 .510 Moderate and cloudy, north-east. 
oon. 97 .475 Light airs and clear. 
3 P.M. 94 .4,35 Ditto and cloudy. 
H 6A.M. 80 .505 Strong breeze and cloudy. 
9 84 .550 J\[oderate breeze. 
oon. 91 .50'1 Light airs. 
3 P.M. 94} .4-10 } Cloudy-midnight, fresh breeze and 
15 6A.M. 75 .537 cloudy. 
9 8-t .591 Clear and moderate. 
oon. 91 .539 
3 P .M. 9l} . '~20 
16 6A. I . 80 .590 
S P.M. 91 .537 } IIarmattan from north-east all day. 
17 6A.M. 74 .612 St\'on~ ditto from north-east. 
yy 
346 APP ENDIX. 
~ ~ ~ ~ 
_Date. Hours. , F ob'. Bar. 
-
1826. KAT UNGA OR E yEo. 1 -
F eb. 17 9 A.M. 830 280 .696 
Noon. 89 .628 
3 P .M. 89i .568 
18 6 A.M. 75 .600 Narmattan from north~east. 
9 84 .7013 
Noon. 89 .635 
3 P.M. 92 .515 
19 6 A.M. 70 .5,00 
Noon. 84 .-534 ~ S,ro •• H",m,,,,,. 'rom no"h~"", with 
3 P .M. BS .426. tl~ick fog. ' 
20 6A.M. 70 .510 
9 82 .580 
Noon. 88 .53(i) ~ Harmattan continued. 
3 P.M. SS .475 
21 6A.M. '70 .568 
Noon. 80 .(>l(i)2 }The 'same. 
3 P.M. 89 .572 
22 ~ 6 A.M. 70 .520 
9 80 .580 
Noon. 85 .534 }The ~';e 
3 P.M. 86 .460 
23 6 A.M. ~ 70 .535 
9 79 .5 52 
Noon. S'4 .520 ~Th",~e . 
3P.M. 86 .482 
24 6A.M. 69 .545 
9 78 .571 }The s(tme. 
Noon. 88 .500 
25 6 A.M. 72 .442 
9 SO .571 
Noon. 88 .510 1The  "me. 
3 P .M . 89 .43(i)· 
AT VARIOUS PLACES ON THE ROUTE. 
~ 
Week, Mo. Time of Therni. 
Days. observation. Fah,. Barometer. REnIARKS, &c, 
< ~ 
! lS26. 
March 14 Noon . 94 0 280 .420 {City of Kiama in Borgoo. Fresh breezes anB 
3 P.M. !l4 .529 clear, wind north-east. 
6 91 
6A.M . 78 .580 Fresh breezes, wind east-north-east. 
9 88 .634 Fresh breezes, with light flying cloNds. 
15 Noon . 91 .604 The same. 
3P.M. 94 .510 
6 91 .548 Calm and cloudy. 
6A.M. 74 .5S6 Calm, with light clouds. 
APPENDIX. 347 
'Week, Mo. Time of Tberm. Barometer. REMARKS, &c. 
Day• . observation. Fab'. 
---- .- - - ---
1826. 
March 1 5 gA.M. 850 28°.651 Light breezes from the east-north-east. 
16 Noon . 91 . 610 The same, with light flying clouds . 
8P.M. 98 .550 The same. 
6 91 .540 The same. 
6A.M. 74 .595 Light airs and clear, wind-north-east. 
9 82 .696 { Freshening breezes, with a slight haze, wind north-east. 
17 Noon . 89 .6Q5 Moderate and hazy. 
8P.M. 91 .575 Hazy and suItry, with little wind. 
{ Village of Com ie, in 'iVa waw province, and king-
April 7 8A.M. 86 .411 dom of Borgoo, about 50 feet above the river 
Quorra, on the west bank. 
9 il9 .877 { Fresh breezes from the eastward, with a slight haze. 
10 89~ .400 Cloudy, with fresh breezes. 
Noon. 93 .875 The same. 
3P.M. 90 Strong breezes, and dark cloudy weather. 
5 89 .300 Moderate breezes, with dark cloudy weather. 
6A.M. 79 29.320 { Dull cloudy weather, with little wind from the south-west. 
9 82 .S68 The same. 
8 Noon. 90 .875 The same. 
SP.M. 99 .320 Clear, with light airs from the south-west. 
6 9:J .280 Calm and clear. 
10 A.M. 89 29.85 {Town of Tabra in Nyffe. Cloudy, with mode-rate breezes, wind south-west. 
17 Noon. 95 .60 The same, with light flying clouds. 
3P.M. 98 .45 Moderate breezes. 
5 91 28.992 Calm, with li~ht clouds. 
6A.M. 74 .967 City of Tabra 111 N~ffe. Calm with light clouds. 
9 86 29.80 Light breezes, fly111g clouds, wind south-west. 
18 Noon. 96 28.920 Moderate breezes, with light clouds. 
SP.M. 97~ .866 Light airs, wind south-west. 
6 95 Light breezes and clear, wind south-west. 
6A.M. 80 .943 Dull and cloudy, with fresh breezes. 
9 88 29.11 Fresh breezes, wind south-west. 
19 Toon. 
3 P.M. 97 28.953 Moderate and clear. 
July 5 4P.M. 80 27.862 { Light airs and cloudy, with thunder and light-n1l1g. Cit of Guarl. During night a tornado. 
6 A.M. 78 .986 {Moderate bre ezes, with dark cloudy weather, wind south-west. 
9 78 .9 1.2 Light airs and cloudy. 
6 Noon. 85 .985 The same, with lilfht flying clouds. 
3 P;i\I. 85 .9lD Light breezes, wit 1 thunder clouds to eastward. 
6 84- .952 Light airs and cloudy. 
6 A.M. 75 28.011 { Dull and cloudy, with light breezes from the south-west. 
1'1'2 
348 AP P E NDIX. 
- . - - > . • - .. -
Week,Mo. . Time of Therm. 
observation. Barometer. Days. REMA&KS, &c. Fah" 
' - --
1826. 
J uly 6 9A..M. 770 280 .067 A little rain, with light airs from the south. 
7 Noon. 85 .124 Moderate, with thick clouds. 
SP.M. ~8. T he same, wind south-west. 
{City of Zaria, the capital of the I:l'ovince of 
10 A.M. 79 27.917 Zegzeg. D ull and cloudy, with lig t airs from 
the south. 
12 Noon. 81 .888 Light airs, with dull cloudy weather. 
SP.M. 8S .858 The same, wind south-west. 
6 81 .785 Cloudy. . 
6A.M . 75 28 .820 Cloudy, with a fresh breeze. 
9 77 .8 20 T he same . 
IS Noon . 84 .815 Cloudy, with light dull airs from the south. 
~ sP.M. .'180 { Moderate breezes and cloudy, thunder clouds 85 to the south-east. . 
6 80 .785 Calm. . ., 
~~.A.M. .805 {Fresh breezes and d oudy from the east, with 75 low clouds. 
- 9 '- 77 .842 Fresh breezes,. and dark cloudy weather. 
14 Noon. .771 { Strong breezes and squally, with thick cloudy 80 weather, wind west. 
SP.M. 8,2 .'751 Thick cloudy weather. . 
. _. , 6 80 .735 I{M oderate breezes, with dull cloudy weather, wind soutn-west . A "'gle ob=.t~n """n '" th, tnwn of 
17 27.765 A ushin, province of Zegzeg. Dull cloudy 6 P.M. 74 weather, with a fresh breeze from the west-
- south-west. . . 
. 20 '438 { Town of Baebaegie, province of Kano. Calm 10A.M . 75 and cloudy, with a little rain. 
Noon. 78 .3 54 Fresh breezes ·and cloudy, wind south-west . 
SP.M. 80 .2 89 Li~ht airs and climdy . 
6 80 .2 60 Ca m and cloudy.  
3P.M, {Ch,r of K:;no. Fresh breezes and cloudy, threat-Aug. 9 85';;- 28.252 emno' ram. . 
6 81 .2 37 . lViode~ate breezes and cloudy, wind south-east . 
.6 A.M. 76 .2 69 Light breezes with rain . 
9 78} .2 69 Fair; at 10 A .M. rain . 
.251 {Fresh breezes from the south-west, with rain; 10 Noon . 79 at 1 P.M. fair. 
- SP.M. 79 .199 Fresh gales and cloudy, wind west-south-west. 
6 78 .191 Moderate and cloudy. > 
6A.M. 76 .192 t Moderate and cloudy, wind south ; it had rained all night. . 
9 79} .234 Fresh breezes and ckiudy, wind south-west. 
Noon. 81 .212 { Fresh .gales, with flying clouds, and a few drops 11 of ram. , . . -
{Fresh gales and cloudy, rain, pel\vy thunder 
3P.M. 84 .202 clouds. 
APPEXDIX. 349 
Week. Mo. T ime of Them, . Barometer. 
Days. observation. Fah'. REMARKS, &c. 
------------------------
1826. 
A ug. 11 6P.M. . 80~ 28~.227 Moderate breezes, with light clouds. 
6 A.M. 76 .320 { L ight airs, with light clouds; during the nig ht, cloudy. 
9 79 .3 71 Fresh breezes and cloudy, wind west-south-west . 
I I! Noon. 83 .346 { F resh breezes and cloudy, thunder and rain, wind south-west. 
3 P .M. 82i .305 Fresh breezes and cloudy, with a light haze. 
6 81 . 280 L ight airs and light clouds . 
6 A.M. 78} .3 44 Light breezes, cloudy, wind south-south-west . 
9 81 .375 { Moderate and cloudy, with slight rain at times; at 11 A.M. heavy rain. 
13 Noon. 76 .318 Heavy rain, thunder and l ightnir~f 
3P.M. 77 .273 Light winds and heavy rain, win south. 
6 79 .2 40 Moderate breezes and cloudy . 
6A.M. 75 .291 { Moderate and clear, with light flying clouds; during nigh t, cloudy, with a few drops of rain. 
9 79 .3 68 Fresh breezes and cloud v, threatening rain . 
14 Noon. 82t .311 Moderate breezes, with clouds and sunshine. 
3 P .M. 86i .220 Moderate and fine, wind south-west. 
6 8,t .270 { Variable, with dark cloudy weather, thunder 
and lightning. 
9A.M. 78 .364 Fresh breezes and cloudy, wind south-west. 
15 Noon. 83 .344 { Moderate breezes, with light white clouds, wind west-south·west. 
3 P.M. 85 .270 The same. 
6 86 .2 4.6 {DLUiglhl t airs aud fine . and cloudy, wind south by south-west, 
6A.M. 73 .325 with thunder, lightning, and rain; during the 
night a tornado. 
9 79 .337 {Moderate and cloudy, with a light haze, wind outh.west. 
16 Noon. 83~ .32D Fresh breezes and cloudy from the south·west. 
3P.M. 85 .269 Moderate, with a light haze. 
6 83t .3 29 Moderate breezes, with light flying clouds . 
HEIGHT OF THERMOMETER IN KANO, AS OBSERVED BY 
RICHARD LANDER, AUGUST 25, 1826. 
.A ug. 6A.M . ;"\oon. 3P.  .u. 
~5. Dull morning, 6 A.1\[. ; 12 noon, clear; 3 P .M. clear 76° 8*° 85° 
26. .A. thunder storm and heavy rain; 12 noon, dull; 3 P .:\1. do. 7.5 79 79 
27. 6 A.M. clear light air; 12 noon, clear; 3 P.:\I. clear 76 81 84 
!lB. Clear at 6 A.M. j 12 noon, calm and cloudy; 3 P.:\1. light airs 77 81 85 
29. 6 A .n1. heavy rain ; 12 noon, clear lind calm; 3 P .M . clear and calm 73 82 83 
30. G A. 1. clear j 12 noon, a thunder storm and heavy rain 72 79 79 
31. Clear and cold j 12 noon, clear and cold 73 80 84 
350 APPENDIX. 
Sept. 6A.lIf. Noon. 8P.M. 
1. Dull morning; 19l noon, dull; 3 P.M. dull and cloudy 77' 81 0 800 
8. Dull morning; 19l noon, clear; 3 P.M. clear 76 83 82 
10. Dull morning; 12 noon, dull; 3 P .M. -heavy rain 77 80 79 
11. Clear and calm 77 85 86 
12. Clear and calm 80 85 86 
13. Clear and light ail' 79 84 83 
14. Clear and light air 77 86 85 
15. Clear and light air 80 85 86 
16. Clear and light air 75 85 86 
17. Clear and light air 77 85 84 
18. Clear until noon; 3 P.M. a thunder storm and rain 79 86 83 
19· Clear and calm 78 84 88 
~O. Clear and calm until 3 P.M. and light air 78 84 87 
9l1. Clear and calm 77 84 88 
9l9l. Clear and calm until 12 noon, light air 76 85 88 
~3. Clear, light air 79 90 90 
!e4. Clear and calm; 19l noon, and light air 80 89 89 
9l5. Clear and-calm 79 86 88 
£6. Clear; 19l noon, light breezes 79 86 89 
9l7. Clear, light air 79 86 89 
~8. Clear; 19l noon, light rain 80 86 90 
!e9. Clear; 3 P.M. heavy rain 79 86 89 
30. Dull and foggy; 3 P.M, heavy rain and wind 79 85 87 
Oct. 
1. H~avy rain and a thunder storm 70 76 79 
9l. Clear and cold, light breezes 70 80 80 
3. Clear and cold, light breezes 70 83 85 
4. Clear, light air, and cold 71 84 84, 
5. Clear and light breezes 70 83 85 
6. Clear and calm 80 88 88 
7. Clear, light air 80 87 87 
8. Clear and calm 75 89 89 
9. Clear and light breezes 80 87 88 
10. Clear and light breezes 75 88 88 
11. Clear and calm 75 87 87 
19l. Clear and fine breezes 75 88 88 
13. Clear, light air 7.6 89 89 
14. Clear, light breezes 76 87 87 
!e4. Clear and cold 75 86 86 
U. Clear light breezes 75 83 87 
APPENDIX. 351 
Oct. GA.M. Noon. 3P.lII. 
26. Clear and cold, light air 7.5
0 84° 8So 
27. Clear and cold, light air 75 87 86 
!t8. Clear and cold, light breezes 75 85 ·85 
~. Clear and light breezes 75 86 85 
SO. Clear; 12 at noon, light breeze from east 75 84 85 
3l. Clear; 12 noon, light breeze 76 85 86 
Nov. 
1. Clear and calm 76 84 85 
2. Clear; 12 noon, light air 76 88 88 
3. Clear; 12 noon, light breeze 76 85 86 
4. Dull and hazy 76 86 86 
5. Clear; 12 noon, a light breeze 75 87 86 
6. Clear; 12 noon, light breeze 75 85 86 
7. Clear; 12 noon, light breeze 75 85 86 
8. Clear at 8; 12 noon, hazy and light breeze 75 85 86 
9. Clear at 9; 12 noon, cloudy, and light breeze 75 86 87 
10. Clear at 8; 12, light breezes 75 88 88 
11. Clear at 9; HI, light breezes 75 85 86 
12. Clear at 8; 12, light breezes 77 86 87 
]3. Clear at 9; 12, light air 76 85 86 
14. Clear; 12, light breezes 75 85 87 
15. Clear; 12 at noon, a light breeze 75 86 86 
16. Clear; 12, light breezes 76 84 85 
17. Clear; 12 noon, a light breeze 77 85 87 
18. Clear; 12 noon, a light air 76 86 86 
19. Clear; 1~ noon, a light breeze 76 85 85 
20. Clear, strong breeze, wind east 75 85 85 
21. Clear, light breezes 75 89 89 
SOCKATOO, JANUARY 7, 1827. 
Jan. 
7. Strong breeze from east-north-east, clear 70 90 92 
8. l\Ionday,6A.M. light breeze, hazy; l!llnoon, wind east-north-east 70 90 92 
9. 6 A.M. cold and clear, a strong wind east-north-east; 12, clear, 
light air 65 89 90 
10. 6 A.M. cold and hazy; 12, strong breezes, clear, north-cast wind; 
3 P .M. clear 60 90 90 
II. Cold and hazy; 12, a fine breeze, wind north-east,clcar,light breeze 62 89 90 
352 APPENDIX. 
Jan. 6 A.lII. Noon. 3 P.M. 
U. 6 A.M. cold and hazy; 1~, light breeze, wind north-east, clear; 
:3 P.M. clear 64° .860 85° 
13. Clear and cold, wind north-east; 1~ at noon, clear and cold; :3 
P.M. clear 6~ 89 89 
14. 6A.M. hazy, calm; 1~,strong breezes,windnorth-east;:3P.M.clear6~ 88 88 
15. Clear, cold, wind north-east; 1~, strong breezes; :3 P.M. clear 6~ 86 86 
16. Clear and cold, wind north-east, strong breeze, clear; :3 P.M. clear 60 8080 
17. Hazy calm; 1~ noon, strong breeze and clear, wind north-east 6~ 80 80 
18. Thur~day, clear and cold, wind north-east; l~noon,clear, strong 
breeze, wind north-east 6~ 81 83 
19. Clear and cold, a strong breeze from north-east 65 84 86 
~O. Clear; 12 at noon, strong breeze, wind east, 3 P.M. clear 64 88 89 
~1. Sunday, clear and calm; 1~ noon, light breeze, wind east; :3 
P.M. clear 64 88 89 
~~. Morning hazy, a light air; 12 noon, clear, light breeze, wind east 6~ 89 90 
!e3. Morning hazy; 1~ noon, light breeze and clear, wind north-east 65 90 93 
~4. ,¥e dnesday, morning hazy, calm; 1~ noon, clear, fine breeze, 
east; :3 P .M. clear 7~ 96 98 
~5. Morning hazy, calm; 1~ noon, clear, a light breeze, wind east; 
:3 P.M. clear 70 96 98 
26. Hazy, ' calm; 1~ noon, clear, a light breeze, wind north-east; 
:3 P.M. clear 7~ 94 95 
~7. Morning hazy and calm; 1~ noon, light breezes, clear, wind 
north-east; :3 P.M. clear 6~ 83 90 
28. Morning hazy and calm; 12 noon, light breeze;:3 P.M. clear, wind 
east 65 93 96 
!e!). Morning clear, a light air; 12 noon, light breeze, clear, wind 
east; g P.M. clear 75 99 100 
30. Hazy and a light air; 12noon,clear, light breeze, wind north-east; 
g P.M. clear 74 98 99 
g I. Wednesday, clear; 12 noon, clear, light breeze, wind south-east; 
:3 P.M. clear 75 98 99 
}'eb. 
1. Thursday, morning hazy and calm; 12 noon, light breeze, wind 
south-east, clear; g P.M. clear. 75 98 100 
2. Morning hazy and calm; 1~ noon, a light breeze, wind north-
east; g P.M. clear 75 99 100 
3. Morning hazy and calm; 12 noon, light breeze, wind north-east; 
3 P.M. clear 75 97 99 
APPENDIX. 853 
Feb. 6 A.M. Noon. 3 P.M. 
4. Sunday, morning hazy and calm; 1~ noon, light breeze and clear, 
wind north-east 750 980 990 
5. Morning hazy and calm ; 1~noon, light breeze, clear, wind north-east 75 100 104 
~O. Morning hazy and calm; 1~ noon, light breeze, clear, wind ditto 75 95 100 
21. Morning hazy; 1~ noon, light breeze and clear, wind north-east 75 100 100 
9.~. Thursday, morning hazy; 1~ noon, light breeze and clear, wind 
north-east 75 '100 100 
~g. Morning hazy; 12 noon, light breeze and clear, wind north-east 77 100 100 
24. Saturday, morning hazy; 12 noon, light breeze, clear, wind 
north-east 75 95 100 
~5. Morning hazy; 1~ noon, a fine breeze, wind north-east 75 100 100 
~6. Morning hazy, calm; 1~ noon, light breeze, wind north-east; 
g P.M. clear 75 100 100 
~7. Tuesday, morning hazy, calm; 12 noon, light breeze, clear, 
north-east wind 65 85 85 
~8. Strong gales, hazy; 1~ noon, strong gales; 3 P.M. strong gales, 
north-east wind 65 85 85 
During a whirlwind at ~ P.M. the thermometer fell from 
100~ to 98, and at :3 P.M. rose to 101. 
~lalch. 
1. Strong gales during the day, and hazy, north-east wind 85 85 100 
~. Strong gales and hazy during the day, north-east wind 65 85 85 
3. Strong gales and cloudy during the day, north-east wind 65 85 85 
4·. Sundry light breezes during the day, north-east wind 74 89 90 
5. Morning hazy; 12 noon, light breeze, north-east 7~ 95 98 
6. Calm nnd hazy; 12 noon, clear, east wind; g P.M. hazy, light air 71 96 9{j 
7. 6 A.M. hazy, calm; 1~ noon, cloudy, a light breeze, east wind; 
:3 P.M. cloudy 72 95 96 
8. Hazy, calm; 12noon, hazy, alight breeze; 3 P.M. hazy, light air 70 96 95 
9. Friday, 6 A.M. hazy, calm; 12 noon, light breeze, clear, east 
\-, winel , 70 95 D6 oJ 
'" r 10. 6 A.M. hazy and calm; 1~ noon, strong breeze, clear; g P.M. 
clear 70 99 96 
11. Hazy and calm; 12 noon, a light breeze, clear; 3 P.M. clear, 
east winel 70 98 96 
1Q. Hazy anel calm; 12 noon, fine breeze and clear, east wind 70 95 9(; 
13. G A.J\I. trong breeze, outh-by-east wind; 12 noon, trong 
breeze, south-by-ca t winel ; 3 l'.M. 11 fine breeze 70 99 97 
H. lIazy, light ail' j 12 noon, strong breeze, south-by-ea t wind, clear 70 95 96 
z z 
354 APPENDIX. 
March: 6A.M. Noon. 3P.nI. 
15. Hazy and calm; 1!2 noon, strong breezes, south-by-easf wind, 
clear; 3 P.M. clear 700 96° 95° 
i6. Light breeze and hazy; 1~ noon, light breeze and olear; 3 P.M. 
clear 70 100 98 
17. Hazy and calm; a noon, a light breeze, clear, east-north-east 
wind; 3 P.M: clear 70 98 99 
18. Sunday, calm and hazy; 1~ noon, light breeze and clear, east . 
wind 70 100 100 
19. 6 A.M. calm and clear; 1~ noon, calm and clear; 3 P.M. light 
wind 73 101 101 
20. Calm and clear; 3 P.M. a light breeze, west wind 71 ]O~ 102 
~l. Calm and clear until 13 P.M., a fine breeze, west wind 75 10~ 103 
~~. 6 A.M. calm and clear; 1~ noon, a strong breeze, east wind 75 104 105 
"23. 6 A.M. calm and clear; 1~ noon, light breeze; 3 P.M. light 
breeze, clear 74 101 ]00 
Q4. 6-A.M. calm and hazy; U noon, light breeze, hazy; 3 P.M. 
light air, east wind 74 /l00 100 
~5. Sunday, 6 A.M. calm and hazy; 1~ noon, hazy, light breeze, 
east wind 71< 104 103 
26. 6 A.M. a clear light breeze; 1~ noon, hazy, a light breeze, east 
wind; 3 P.M. a light breeze 74 101 100 
~7. 6 A.M. a light breeze; 15e noon, hazy, a light breeze, east wind; 
g P.M. light breeze 73 104 101 
28. 6 A.M. light breeze; 1~  noon, a light breeze, clear, south-east 
wind; 3 P.M. clear 7~ 100 100 
!'29. - 6 A.M. strong breeze, clear, south-east wind; 1~ noon, light 
air; 3 P.M. light air 7~ 99 100 
30. 6 A.M. hazy, a light air; 1~  noon, hazy, a ligh t breeze, east 
wind; 3 P.M. a light air 7~ ]01 100 
31. 6 A.M. hazy, a light south-east wind; 12 noon, hazy, light 
south-east wind;. 3 P.M. hazy, light air 57 106 105 
April. e. 
1. Sunday, sultry and hazy, calm; 12 noon, sultry and hazy 74 101 10!e ( 
2. Hazy during the day, light air 70 101 105 
3. Hazy and calm; 1 ~ noon, light breeze, south-east wind, light air 7<) 103 107 
4. Calm and hazy; 12 noon, light breeze, south-west wind; 3 P.M. 
hazy, light breeze 78 104 104 
5. A dull hazy day, light breezes 78 110 108 
6. Dull and hazy; 3 P.M. a light breeze from west 77 ioo 100 
APPENDIX. 355 
April. G A.M. Noon. 3 P.M. 
7. Dull and hazy; 3 P.M. light breezes, south-west wind 790 100· 100· 
8. Sunday, dull and hazy, light air during the day 77 10~ 103 
9. Clear day and light breezes, south-west wind 77 103 104 
10. Tuesday, clear day and light breezes, south-west wind 77 104 107 
11 . Clear, and light breezes from the south-west 77 104 103 
12. Clear morning, and light breezes 3 P.M. 77 104 104 
14. Clear morning, calm; 1 ~ noon, light breezes, south-west wind 77 105 106 
15. Clear morning, calm; 3 P.M. light breezes, south-west wind, clear 80 105 106 
16. 6 A.M. misty and calm; 1Q noon, light breezes, south-west 
wind; 3 P.M. light breeze~, south-west wind . 79 106 ]06 
17. 6 A .M. misty, west wind; 1Q noon, light air; 3 P.M. calm and 
misty 80 109 108 
23. 6 A.M. clear morning, a fine breeze from the west; 3 P .M. 
calm 76 ]05 106 
!'l4. Cloudy day, a fine breeze from the west 77 10~ 103 
!'l5. Cloudy and calm; 1Q noon, a strong breeze from tile west ; 
3 P.M. calm and cle~; 6 P.M. a thunder storm 78 102 104 
!'l6. Cleat· and calm; 12 noon, light breeze from the west, and clear; 
3 P.M. calm and misty 77 103 105 
9.7. Clear and calm; lQ noon, light breeze from the west; 3 P. M . 
clear . 78 105 106 
:.18. Clear morning, light air; 1~ noon , a fin e breeze from the west; 
3 P .M. fine breeze 77 103 105 
Q9. Sunday, morning clear and calm; IQn oon, cloudy, light breeze; 
3 P.M. a gale of wind, with thunder storm 7G 100 90 
30. Morning calm and clear; 1Q noon, light breeze from the west; 
3 P.M. light breezes and clear 78 100 ]00 
~1ay. 
1. Tue day, cloudy during the day, light breeze from the west 77 100 102 
THE EXD. 
; 
LONDON: 
i' RI Nl'ED B 1" T HOMAS DAVfSON , WIUl'EFRIARS.