Chapter XXI: Section III (1)

FROM KANO TO SACKATOO, AND RESIDENCE THERE.

Feb. 23.—At day-break all the Arab merchants of my acquaintance waited upon me to wish me a prosperous journey. Hadje Hat Salah and Hadje Ben Hamed accompanied me four miles beyond the gate Kooffe. Before they left me I had a return of fever, and lay down under the shade of a tree to wait for Mohammed Jollie, as my conductor was named. My two camels being evidently overladen, and my servant Abraham unable to walk from sickness, I requested Hat Salah to buy another camel and send it after me.

At one in the afternoon, Mohammed Jollie, with two loaded camels and a handsome led horse of Tuarick breed, sent as the weekly present or tribute from Kano to the sultan, joined me. He also brought with him a beautiful Felatah girl for his travelling chere amie, who was placed astride on a light dromedary, according to the custom of the country. My fever having abated, we proceeded on our journey, and by sunset reached the village of Yaromba; where I was provided with a house for myself and another for my servants, and with food and provender in abundance. The country had much the same appearance as on the other side of Kano, but was not quite so well cultivated.

Feb. 24.—We traversed a woody country, and crossed the dry beds of several small streams, the course of each being to the eastward. In the afternoon we passed a walled town called Toffa, when the country became still more thickly wooded. There were many villages in ruins which had been destroyed by the rebel Duntungua, and the inhabitants sold as slaves. A little after mid-day, we halted at the town of Roma or Soup; where we found the inhabitants very civil, and were furnished with houses and provisions. I was here joined by a she-camel, which Hat Salah had sent by a native of Kano, of the name of Nouzama, whom I also engaged as a servant.

Feb. 25.—The country very woody, the road zigzag, and crossed sometimes by dikes, or ridges of white quartz, running north and south, sometimes by ravines and the dry channels of rivers. We saw many Felatah villages, and numerous herds of horned cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats. The cattle are remarkably fine, and of a white or whitish grey colour; the horns are not disproportionately large in size, in which circumstance they differ from the cattle of Bornou: they have also a hump on the shoulders. The bull is very fierce, and, as in England, the king of the herd; while in Bornou he is tamer, and generally weaker than the cow. The shepherd with his crook usually goes before the flock, and leads them to fresh pasture, by merely calling with a loud but slow voice, “Hot, hot;” while the sheep keep nibbling as they follow. I was well supplied with milk, but only got it fresh from the cow when they understood I was a stranger going to visit the sultan; for, as I have already mentioned, they hold it unlucky to drink or sell milk before it has been churned.

We stopped at the town of Gadania or Kadania, which is surrounded by a wall and dry ditch. The governor was out warring with Duntungua, who had committed dreadful havoc in this neighbourhood. I was accommodated with an excellent house; so were also El Wordee and a shreef named Hassan, a native of Houn in the regency of Tripoli, who had joined my party, and was going a begging to the sultan. This is a very common custom with the shreefs, who sometimes realize a little fortune by visiting all the governors and sultans within their reach. Hassan was blind, but a great rogue, and gifted with a ready wit. He frequently amused us on the road with stories of his younger days, when he had his eyesight. I had another attack of fever to-day, and could not walk three paces without assistance.

Feb. 26.—I was detained to-day on account of the disappearance of El Wordee and Shreef Hassan’s camels: we did not know whether they had been stolen, or had only strayed during the night. I availed myself of this opportunity of taking a large dose of calomel, and administered another to my servant.

Feb. 27.—The camels were still missing; and had it been otherwise, I could not have continued my journey, for I found myself excessively weak. In the evening El Wordee offered a reward of two dollars to a Tuarick to bring back the camels, to which I added two dollars more. Kadania is very thinly peopled, the inhabitants, as in most other captured towns, having been sold by the Felatahs. The houses are scattered up and down; but there is a good daily market, supplied by the people of the adjoining country. The soil around is a strong red clay. The trees were higher here than in Bornou; and the fields of Indian corn, gussub, cotton, and indigo, were neatly enclosed with fences, and kept free of weeds.

Feb. 18.—No news of the lost camels. I determined to proceed, and had my camels loaded with the baggage of El Wordee and the shreef; the former remaining behind, to await the return of the Tuarick. The country was still thickly wooded, with a few cultivated patches of land. The soil was a red and white clay, mixed with gravel, and traversed by ridges of schistus. We crossed the dry beds of several rainy-season streams, whose banks were lined with rocks, and covered with majestic trees. In the little glens and nooks, there were small plots of onions and tobacco; which the inhabitants water from holes dug in the dry channel of the river, by means of a bucket and long bar or lever. At noon we halted at the walled town of Faniroce or “White Water,” the walls of which are extensive, but the houses few and mean. I was shown into one of the best of them; but my servants had much ado to render it habitable. Soon after El Wordee arrived, but without the camels. In the evening I was visited by the governor, a very good-natured fellow, who, when he saw that I was ill, went and brought some fine trona, of which he recommended me to take a little every evening. On inquiring about the course of the streams whose dry channels I had passed, he informed me that all between this place and Kano run eastward; but that to-morrow I should cross the first that runs to the west, and divides the provinces of Kano and Kashna. At eight in the evening, the Tuarick brought back the camels of El Wordee and the shreef.

Feb. 29.—The governor and some of his friends accompanied us a short distance out of the town. The country was still very woody, and the road extremely crooked. At eleven in the forenoon we crossed the bed of the stream that separates Kano from Kashna, the channel being here about twenty feet broad, and perfectly dry; and at noon we halted at the town of Duncamee. The stream near this town assumes the same name, and, after passing Zirmie, the capital of Zamfra, it bends northward, and traverses the province of Goobeer; then, turning again to the west, it washes the city of Sackatoo, and, at the distance of four days’ journey, is said to enter the Quarra at Kubby.

March 1.—At six in the morning we left Duncamee, and travelled through a thickly wooded country; and at noon we passed a walled town, of considerable size, called Geoza, after which we came to ridges of granite, running in a north-easterly direction. At three in the afternoon we halted at the town of Ratah, whose site is very remarkable. It is built amidst large blocks of granite, which rise out of the earth like towers, and form its only defence on the northern side, some of the houses being perched like bird-cages on the top of the rocks. The south side is enclosed by a wall about twenty feet high, but in bad repair. The inhabitants are numerous, and the women are the tallest and fattest I ever saw.

March 2.—We rode through a beautiful and well cultivated country, rendered extremely romantic by ledges of rocks, and clumps of large shady trees. We passed a number of villages, the inhabitants of which are mostly Felatahs, who, when they knew I was going to visit the sultan, presented me with new milk. At noon we halted at the town of Bershee, which is situate amongst large blocks of granite, and is the first town with suburbs I had seen in Haussa, although, from the ruinous state of the walls, this was no very important distinction. The governor of Ongooroo was here, on his way from Sackatoo to his province; but, through the care of my guide, Mohammed Jollie, this circumstance did not prevent me from obtaining the best house in the town, and abundance of provisions for myself and servants.

March 3.—The weather clear and fine: we rode to-day through little valleys, delightfully green, lying between high ridges of granite; and, to add to the beauty of the scenery, there were many clear springs issuing out of the rocks, where young women were employed drawing water. I asked several times for a gourd of water, by way of excuse to enter into conversation with them. Bending gracefully on one knee, and displaying at the same time teeth of pearly whiteness, and eyes of the blackest lustre, they presented it to me on horseback, and appeared highly delighted when I thanked them for their civility: remarking to one another, “Did you hear the white man thank me?” After leaving this beautiful spot, the land rose gently into hill and dale, and we had to cross the dry bed of the same rainy-season stream no less than four times in the course of three hours. The country also became more wooded, and worse cultivated; and the soil in most places was of a strong red and blue clay. There were numerous herds of cattle. At two in the afternoon we halted at the village of Kagaria, situate on the brow of a sloping hill, and inhabited by Felatahs. Here, for the first time, I found some difficulty in procuring lodgings. The chief of the village, an old venerable-looking Felatah, told my guide, that when they went to Kano, the governor turned up his nose at them, and, if ever he came there, they were determined not to receive him. Then, addressing me, he said, “You are a stranger, from a far distant country; you and your servants shall have a house, but none of the others.” I was accordingly conducted to a very excellent house, but took my fellow travellers with me; and, in due time, provisions were sent, with the usual attention.

March 4.—At six in the morning left Kagaria, but not without giving the old Felatah a present of a turkadee, of which he was very proud. Our road lay through a beautiful country, highly cultivated. At nine o’clock we passed through many villages, romantically situate amongst ridges of granite. From the fertility and beauty of the country, it appeared like an ornamental park in England, shaded with luxuriant trees. We now entered a forest, where the road became both difficult and dreary. Here our guide enjoined my servants not to stray from the caravan, as the woods were infested with banditti, who murdered every one they seized too old for the slave market. The soil was composed of clay and gravel: in the hollows I frequently saw rocks of granite, and mica slate. The trees upon the high grounds were low and stunted, amongst which I remarked several wild mangoes. We halted at the Felatah village of Bobaginn, where the country is again open. The inhabitants were kind and attentive in procuring me a house and provisions.

Mar. 5.—The country was now highly cultivated. The road was crowded with passengers and loaded bullocks, going to the market of Zirmie; which town we passed a little to the southward, about noon, when the country became more woody. At two in the afternoon we entered an opening in a range of low hills; this proved to be the dry bed of the river we had crossed at Duncamee, which is here joined by another watercourse from the southward. The land rises into hills on each side, and, as our road lay at some distance to the west, we had a beautiful view along the red sandy bed of the river, which formed a striking contrast with the green hills on each side. The banks were planted with onions, melons, cotton, indigo, and some wheat; and watered, by means of a basket and lever, out of holes dug about two feet deep in the bed of the river, in which water is always found in abundance. On the eastern bank there is a town called Kutri, apparently large and populous, with a number of dye-pots in its outskirts. At four in the afternoon we crossed the bed of another small river, coming from the south-west, and falling into the forementioned river, a mile and a half to the east of a town, on its northern bank, called Quari, or Quoli, where we halted. I waited on the governor, who was an aged Felatah: after the usual compliments, he anxiously inquired for Dr. Oudney, and was much disappointed when I informed him of his death. He complained of being grievously afflicted with rheumatic pains; and said he had already outlived most of the people of this country, having attained the age of seventy-two years. We remained with him until houses were prepared for us; and he told me that the river, which flows to the eastward (mentioned before as dividing the provinces of Kano and Kashna), after the junction of some other streams, takes the name of Quarrama.

March 6 and 7.—The weather clear and warm. This morning I exchanged a turkadee, worth about two dollars and a quarter, for a sheep, and gave a feast to El Wordee and the shreef, along with all our servants. About a hundred Tuaricks came to see me, having learned I had visited Ghraat, and was acquainted with their countrymen. The women and children of the town every where peeped at me through the matting of their houses, with eager curiosity: although some of the Tuaricks were nearly as white as myself. The Tuaricks here have a beautiful breed of horses, full of fire; but they do not stand so high as the barbs of Tripoli. In the evening I despatched a courier with a letter to Sultan Bello, as I had been recommended by the governor of Kano to remain here until a guard was sent from Sackatoo to conduct me through the provinces of Goober and Zamfra, which were in a state of insurrection. I found by observation the town of Quarro to be in lat. 13° 7′ 14″ north.

I was unluckily taken for a fighi, or teacher, and was pestered, at all hours of the day, to write out prayers by the people. My servants hit upon a scheme to get rid of their importunities, by acquainting them if I did such things, they must be paid the perquisites usually given to the servants of other fighis. To-day my washerwoman positively insisted on being paid with a charm, in writing, that would entice people to buy earthen-ware of her; and no persuasions of mine could either induce her to accept of money for her service, or make her believe that the request was beyond human power. In the cool of the afternoon, I was visited by three of the governor’s wives, who, after examining my skin with much attention, remarked, compassionately, it was a thousand pities I was not black, for I had then been tolerably good-looking. I asked one of them, a buxom young girl of fifteen, if she would accept of me for a husband, provided I could obtain the permission of her master the governor. She immediately began to whimper; and on urging her to explain the cause, she frankly avowed she did not know how to dispose of my white legs. I gave each of them a snuff-box, with a string of white beads in addition, to the coy maiden. They were attended by an old woman, and two little female slaves, and during their stay made very merry, but I fear their gaiety soon fled on returning to the close custody of their old gaoler.

Mar. 8 and 9.—Thermometer in the shade 91°. To-day I was visited by several females, who evinced much discernment in their curious manipulation of my person. One of them, from Zirmee, the capital of Zamfra, was with difficulty prevailed on to leave me.

Mar. 10.—We had a shower of rain during the night. Two messengers arrived from Sackatoo, going their rounds with orders for all Felatahs to repair to the capital, as the sultan was going on an expedition, but where they did not know.—Both myself and servants have had a return of the same fever we had at Koka. This was almost always the case whenever we remained two or three days together in any town. In vain I tried every thing in my power to induce my guide to proceed without waiting for the escort; but El Wordee and the shreef, who were the most pusillanimous rascals I ever met with, effectually dissuaded him from it.

I was much amused with a conversation I overheard between the blind shreef and his servant, respecting myself and my intended journey. “That Abdullah,” says the servant, “is a very bad man; he has no more sense than an ass, and is now going to lead us all to the devil, if we will accompany him: I hope, master, you are not such a fool.” “Yes!” ejaculates the shreef, “it was a black day when I joined that Kafir, but if I don’t go with him I shall never see the sultan, and when I return to Kano without any thing, the people will laugh at me for my pains.” Says the servant, “Why do you not talk to him about the dangers of the road?” “Damn his father!” replies the shreef, “I have talked to him, but these infidels have no prudence.” I now called out,—“A thousand thanks to you, my lord shreef.” “May the blessing of God be upon you!” he exclaimed. “Oh! Rais Abdullah, you are a beautiful man; I will go with you wherever you go. I was only speaking in jest to this dog.” “My lord shreef, I was aware of it from the first; it is of no importance, but if the escort does not arrive to-morrow, I may merely mention to you I shall certainly proceed, without further delay, to Kashna.” This I said by way of alarming the shreef, who liked his present quarters too well, from the number of pious females who sought edification from the lips of a true descendant of the Prophet: besides the chance such visits afforded of transmitting to their offspring the honour of so holy a descent.

March 11.—Small-pox is at present very prevalent. The patient is treated in the following manner:—When the disease makes its appearance, they anoint the whole body with honey, and the patient lies down on the floor, previously strewed with warm sand, some of which is also sprinkled upon him. If the patient is very ill, he is bathed in cold water early every morning, and is afterwards anointed with honey, and replaced on the warm sand. This is their only mode of treatment; but numbers died every day of this loathsome disease, which had now been raging for the last six months.

I had my baggage packed up for my journey to Kashna; to the great terror of El Wordee, the shreef, and all my servants, who earnestly begged me to remain only one day longer.—A party of horse and foot arrived from Zirmee last night. It was the retinue of a Felatah captain, who was bringing back a young wife from her father’s, where she had made her escape. The fair fugitive bestrode a very handsome palfrey, amid a group of female attendants on foot. I was introduced to her this morning, when she politely joined her husband in requesting me to delay my journey another day, in which case they kindly proposed we should travel together. Of course it was impossible to refuse so agreeable an invitation, to which I seemed to yield with all possible courtesy; indeed I had no serious intention of setting out that day. The figure of the lady was small, but finely formed, and her complexion of a clear copper colour; while, unlike most beautiful women, she was mild and unobtrusive in her manners. Her husband, too, whom she had deserted, was one of the finest-looking men I ever saw, and had also the reputation of being one of the bravest of his nation.

A hump-backed lad, in the service of the gadado, or vizier, of Bello, who, on his way from Sackatoo, had his hand dreadfully wounded by the people of Goober, was in the habit of coming every evening to my servants to have the wound dressed. Last night he told me he had formerly been on an expedition under Abderachman, a Felatah chief. They started from the town of Labojee in Nyffee, and crossing the Quarra, travelled south fourteen days along the banks of the river, until they were within four days’ journey of the sea, where, according to his literal expression, “the river was one, and the sea was one but at what precise point the river actually entered the sea he had no distinct notion.

March 12.—The weather clear and warm. The Felatah chief again waited upon me to-day, and handsomely offered to conduct me himself to Sackatoo, if my escort did not arrive in time. The town of Quarra is surrounded by a clay wall about twenty feet high, and may contain from 5000 to 6000 inhabitants, who are principally Felatahs. It lies in a valley environed by low hills, the river Quarrama flowing a little to the south of the town, and two or three miles lower down joining the river before-mentioned that passes Kutri. During the dry season, a number of Tuaricks, who come with salt from Bilma, lodge in huts outside the walls.

March 13.—At half-past six o’clock I commenced my journey, in company with the Felatah chief. El Wordee and the shreef were evidently in much trepidation, as they did not consider our present party sufficiently strong in case of attack. Our road lay through a level country, clear of wood, with large fields of indigo, cotton, and grain. At nine in the morning, we were agreeably surprised by meeting the escort I expected. It consisted of 150 horsemen, with drums and trumpets. Their leader, with his attendants, advanced to me at full gallop, and bade me welcome to the country in the name of his master, the sultan; who, he said, was rejoiced to hear I was so near, and had sent him to conduct me to his capital. Nothing could now equal the joy of El Wordee and the shreef, who had both been cursing my temerity the whole morning. During the time we halted with the escort, a party of boxers from a neighbouring village passed us, on their way to challenge “the fancy” of Quarra. They were fine looking men, carrying muffles for the hands over their shoulders, and were attended by drummers and a large posse of women. They offered to exhibit before me, but I declined, and we proceeded to a village called Burdarawa, where the commander of the escort begged me to halt for one day, as both his men and horses were much fatigued by their journey from Sackatoo. I was provided with the best house in the village, and supplied with every thing the place afforded. El Wordee, the shreef, and my people, fared equally well. There is a ridge of low hills to the north-east.

March. 14.—At six in the morning left Burderawa, and traversing a thickly wooded country we arrived at the bed of the river Fulche, which in many places was quite dry. The channel was only thirty or forty yards wide where we crossed. We halted on the opposite bank, and sent the camels out to graze. The servants here filled our water-skins. This river joins the river of Zirmee, half a day’s journey to the north. Several people were very busy fishing in the pools left by the river; while assistants, floating on a stick buoyed up at each end with gourds, were splashing in the water with spears to drive fish into the nets. I treated the chief of the escort and his friends with tea, of which they had heard many exaggerated reports from people that had been at Kano.

At two in the afternoon we left the banks of the river Fulche, at the quickest pace it was possible to make the camels travel. We were previously joined by an immense number of people, some bearing burdens on their heads, others with loaded asses and bullocks. Our road, for two or three miles, lay through an open country; we then entered a thick wood, by a narrow winding path, where the shreef, and others who rode on camels, suffered severely from the overhanging branches. Bullocks, asses, and camels; men, women, and children, were now all struggling to be foremost; every person exclaiming, “Wo to the wretch who falls behind; he is sure to meet an unhappy end at the hands of the Gooberites.” Had it not been for the care of my escort, I must have run great risk of being thrown down, and trampled to death, by the bullocks which frequently rushed furiously past me on the narrow path. The horsemen, however, rode on each side of me, to protect my person. We were now on the confines of the provinces of Goober and Zamfra; and a place better adapted for land pirates, as the Arabs name robbers, is scarcely to be conceived. Till sunset we continued to thread a thick wood, the road being overrun with long grass, and apparently covered with water during the rainy season. The soil now became more gravelly, the trees stunted, and the country altogether more open. The pebbles were of clay ironstone, which in some places was seen in large masses. There were numerous tracks of elephants, and other wild animals. From the great care the escort took of me, I was often almost suffocated with dust in riding over dry clay grounds, for I had horsemen continually on each side of me; while from time to time a reconnoitring party would pass at full speed, then halt, and say prayers, and so skirr past me again and again. During the day a drum was beat every ten minutes, in the rear of our line of march, and at night this was repeated every two or three minutes, and also answered by the trumpets in front.

At half-past two in the morning we stopped at the lake Gondamee, to water our horses and beasts of burden, and to give the foot passengers and slaves time to fill their gourds and water-skins. The place is reckoned the most dangerous in the whole road, as it is only one day’s journey to the north of Kalawawa, the capital of the province of Goober, which has been for some time in a state of open rebellion.

The appearance of the country was much the same as before. At four in the morning we came to a large lawn in the woods, where we again halted for an hour. I felt quite refreshed by this short rest. The country to the westward of the lake of Gondamee rises into ridges, running north-north-east, with loose gravelly stones and clay on the surface. We continued to travel with the utmost speed, but the people soon began to fag; and the lady of the Felatah chief, who rode not far distant from me, began to complain of fatigue. At noon we halted at the side of a hollow, said to be the haunt of lions, where water is generally found, but this year it was dry. Tracks of elephants were every where visible, but I perceived no marks of lions. We stopped here only half an hour, and set off again, through a country rising into low hills, composed of red clay and loose stones, the descent of some of which proved both difficult and dangerous to the loaded camels. At eight in the evening we halted at the wells of Kamoon, all extremely fatigued. I ordered a little kouskousoo for supper, but fell asleep before it was ready. When I awoke at midnight, I found it by my side; never in my whole life did I make a more delicious repast.

March 16.—At day-break I discovered our camels had strayed in quest of food, nor could I be angry with their keepers, feeling so tired myself from our rapid journey. Indeed my ankles were considerably swelled and inflamed. Here again I experienced the civility of the escort, as all the horsemen were immediately despatched after the camels, with which they returned about eight o’clock. I gave the man who found them a Spanish dollar, and to the commander of the escort, and his two principal officers, I made each a present of a cotton kaftan, or loose gown, a knife, looking-glass, snuff-box, razor, and some spices.

I now left the wells of Kamoon, followed by my escort and a numerous retinue, amid a loud flourish of horns and trumpets. Of course this extraordinary respect was paid to me as the servant of the king of England, as I was styled in the sheikh of Bornou’s letter. To impress them further with my official importance, I arrayed myself in my lieutenant’s coat, trimmed with gold lace, white trowsers, and silk stockings, and, to complete my finery, I wore Turkish slippers and a turban. Although my limbs pained me extremely, in consequence of our recent forced march, I constrained myself to assume the utmost serenity of countenance, in order to meet with befitting dignity the honours they lavished on me, the humble representative of my country.

Near Kamoon the country is hilly, but seemed to yield much grain. The soil is red clay, mixed with gravel, the stones of which looked as if covered with iron rust. We passed some beautiful springs on the sloping declivities of the hills, which in general are low, and run in broken ridges in a north-east direction. The valleys between the hills became wider as we approached Sackatoo, which capital we at length saw from the top of the second hill after we left Kamoon. A messenger from the sultan met us here, to bid me welcome, and to acquaint us that his master was at a neighbouring town, on his return from a ghrazie, or expedition, but intended to be in Sackatoo in the evening. Crowds of people were thronging to market with wood, straw, onions, indigo, &c. At noon we arrived at Sackatoo, where a great multitude of people was assembled to look at me, and I entered the city amid the hearty welcomes of young and old. I was conducted to the house of the gadado, or vizier, where apartments were provided for me and my servants. After being supplied with plenty of milk, I was left to repose myself. The gadado, an elderly man named Simnou Bona Lima, arrived near midnight, and came instantly to see me. He was excessively polite, but would on no account drink tea with me, as he said I was a stranger in their land, and had not yet eaten of his bread. He told me the sultan wished to see me in the morning, and repeatedly assured me of experiencing the most cordial reception. He spoke Arabic extremely well, which he said he learned solely from the Koran.

March 17.—After breakfast the sultan sent for me; his residence was at no great distance. In front of it there is a large quadrangle, into which several of the principal streets of the city lead. We passed through three coozees, as guardhouses, without the least detention, and were immediately ushered into the presence of Bello, the second sultan of the Felatahs. He was seated on a small carpet, between two pillars supporting the roof of a thatched house, not unlike one of our cottages. The walls and pillars were painted blue and white, in the Moorish taste; and on the back wall was sketched a fire-screen, ornamented with a coarse painting of a flower-pot. An arm-chair, with an iron lamp standing on it, was placed on each side of the screen. The sultan bade me many hearty welcomes, and asked me if I was not much tired with my journey from Burderawa. I told him it was the most severe travelling I had experienced between Tripoli and Sackatoo, and thanked him for the guard, the conduct of which I did not fail to commend in the strongest terms.

He asked me a great many questions about Europe, and our religious distinctions. He was acquainted with the names of some of the more ancient sects, and asked whether we were Nestorians or Socinians. To extricate myself from the embarrassment occasioned by this question, I bluntly replied we were called Protestants. “What are Protestants?” says he. I attempted to explain to him, as well as I was able, that having protested, more than two centuries and a half ago, against the superstition, absurdities, and abuses practised in those days, we had ever since professed to follow simply what was written “in the book of our Lord Jesus,” as they call the New Testament, and thence received the name of Protestants. He continued to ask several other theological questions, until I was obliged to confess myself not sufficiently versed in religious subtleties to resolve these knotty points, having always left that task to others more learned than myself. He now ordered some books to be produced which belonged to Major Denham, and began to speak with great bitterness of the late Boo Khaloom, for making a predatory inroad into his territories; adding, in his own words, “I am sure the bashaw of Tripoli never meant to strike me with one hand, while he offers a present with the other: at least it is a strange way for friends to act. But what was your friend doing there?” he asked abruptly. I assured the sultan, that Major Denham had no other object than to make a short excursion into the country. The books being brought in, proved to be the Nautical Almanack, two Reviews, Lord Bacon’s Essays, and Major Denham’s Journal; all which the sultan returned to me in the most handsome manner. Before taking leave, however, I had to explain the contents of each, and was set to read them, in order to give him an opportunity of hearing the sound of our language, which he thought very beautiful. The sultan is a noble-looking man, forty-four years of age, although much younger in appearance, five feet ten inches high, portly in person, with a short curling black beard, a small mouth, a fine forehead, a Grecian nose, and large black eyes. He was dressed in a light blue cotton tobe, with a white muslin turban, the shawl of which he wore over the nose and mouth in the Tuarick fashion.

In the afternoon I repeated my visit, accompanied by the gadado, Mahomed El Wordee, and Mahomed Gumsoo, the principal Arab of the city, to whom I had a letter of introduction from Hat Salah at Kano. The sultan was sitting in the same apartment in which he received me in the morning. I now laid before him a present, in the name of His Majesty the King of England, consisting of two new blunderbusses highly ornamented with silver, the double-barrelled pistols, pocket-compass, and embroidered jacket of the late Dr. Oudney; a scarlet bornouse trimmed with silver lace, a pair of scarlet breeches, thirty yards of red silk, two white, two red, and two Egyptian turban shawls, the latter trimmed with gold; four pounds each of cloves and cinnamon; three cases of gunpowder, with shot and balls; three razors, three clasp-knives, three looking-glasses; six snuff-boxes, three of paper, and three of tin; a spy-glass, and a large English tea-tray, on which the smaller articles were arranged. He took them up one by one. The compass and spy-glass excited great interest; and he seemed much gratified when I pointed out that by means of the former, he could at any time find out the east to address himself in his daily prayers. He said, “Every thing is wonderful; but you are the greatest curiosity of all!” and then added, “What can I give that is most acceptable to the King of England?” I replied, “The most acceptable service you can render to the King of England, is to co-operate with His Majesty in putting a stop to the slave trade on the coast: as the King of England sends every year large ships to cruise there, for the sole purpose of seizing all vessels engaged in this trade, whose crews are thrown into prison; and of liberating the unfortunate slaves, on whom lands and houses are conferred, at one of our settlements in Africa. “What!” said he, “have you no slaves in England?” “No. Whenever a slave sets his foot in England, he is from that moment free.”—“What do you then do for servants?” “We hire them for a stated period, and give them regular wages: nor is any person in England allowed to strike another; and the very soldiers are fed, clothed, and paid by Government.” “God is great!” he exclaimed; “You are a beautiful people.” I next presented the sheikh of Bornou’s letter. On perusing it, he assured me I should see all that was to be seen within his dominions, as well as in Youri and Nyffee, both of which, I informed him, I was anxious to visit. He expressed great regret at the death of Dr. Oudney, as he wished particularly to see an English physician, who might instruct his people in the healing art. In the evening I made a present to the gadado of a scarlet bornouse, a pair of scarlet breeches, a red Turkish jacket, two white, and one red turban shawls, three razors, three knives, three paper snuff-boxes, and three of tin, three looking-glasses, two pounds of cloves, and two pounds of cinnamon. The gadado is an excellent man, and has unbounded influence with the sultan, to whose sister he is married.

March 18.—Weather clear and warm. Although I was very ill all day, the courtyard of my house was crowded with people, from sunrise to sunset; all of whom I had to see with the greatest patience, and to answer their numberless questions, such as, “Have you rain in your country?” “Have you wheat?” “Have you goats, sheep, and horses?” But the obvious and favourite interrogatory was, “What are you come for?” This I always attempted to explain to their satisfaction; telling them, “I came to see the country, its rivers, mountains, and inhabitants, its flowers, fruits, minerals, and animals, and to ascertain wherein they differed from those in other parts of the world. When their friends travelled among strange nations, did they not on their return ask them what they had seen? The people of England could all read and write, and were acquainted with most other regions of the earth; but of this country alone they hitherto knew scarcely any thing, and erroneously regarded the inhabitants as naked savages, devoid of religion, and not far removed from the condition of wild beasts: whereas I found them, from my personal observation, to be civilized, learned, humane, and pious.”

March 19.—I was sent for by the sultan, and desired to bring with me the “looking-glass of the sun,” the name they gave to my sextant. I was conducted farther into the interior of his residence than on my two former visits. This part consisted of coozees, pretty far apart from each other. I first exhibited a planisphere of the heavenly bodies. The sultan knew all the signs of the Zodiac, some of the constellations, and many of the stars, by their Arabic names. The “looking-glass of the sun” was then brought forward, and occasioned much surprise. I had to explain all its appendages. The inverting telescope was an object of intense astonishment; and I had to stand at some little distance, to let the sultan look at me through it; for his people were all afraid of placing themselves within its magical influence. I had next to show him how to take an observation of the sun. The case of the artificial horizon, of which I had lost the key, was sometimes very difficult to open, as happened on this occasion: I asked one of the people near me for a knife to press up the lid. He handed me one much too small, and I quite inadvertently asked for a dagger for the same purpose. The sultan was instantly thrown into a fright: he seized his sword, and half drawing it from the scabbard, placed it before him, trembling all the time like an aspen leaf. I did not deem it prudent to take the least notice of his alarm, although it was I who had in reality most cause of fear; and on receiving the dagger, I calmly opened the case, and returned the weapon to its owner with apparent unconcern. When the artificial horizon was arranged, the sultan and all his attendants had a peep at the sun; and my breach of etiquette seemed entirely forgotten. After the curiosity of all was satisfied, I returned to my house. I had now a severe headach, and was seized with violent vomiting. In the evening the sultan sent me two sheep, a camel-load of wheat and rice, some plantains, and some of the finest figs I had ever tasted in Africa.

March 20.—I returned the visit of Mahomed Gomsoo, the chief of the Arabs; taking him a present of a scarlet bornouse, jacket and breeches, two white turbans, two razors, two knives, two snuff-boxes of paper, and two of tin, a pound of cinnamon, and two cases of gunpowder, with some balls and flints. I was warned at Kano of his excessive greediness; but at the same time recommended to make him a handsome present, and to endeavour by all means to keep him in good humour, on account of his great influence. On receiving the presents, Gomsoo promised to give me a letter to the sultan of Youri, who was his particular friend, and with whom he had lived many years. He also said he was there when the English came down in a boat from Timbuctoo, and were lost; which circumstance he related in the following manner:—They had arrived off a town called Boosa, and having sent a gun and some other articles as presents to the sultan of Youri, they sent to purchase a supply of onions in the market. The sultan apprised them of his intention to pay them a visit, and offered to send people to guide them through the ledges of rock which run quite across the channel of the river a little below the town, where the banks rise into high hills on both sides. Instead of waiting for the sultan, however, they set off at night, and by day-break next morning, a horseman arrived at Youri, to inform the sultan that the boat had struck on the rocks. The people on both sides of the river then began to assail them with arrows, upon which they threw overboard all their effects; and two white men arm in arm jumped into the water, two slaves only remaining in the boat, with some books and papers and several guns: one of the books was covered with wax-cloth, and still remained in the hands of the sultan of Youri. He also told me, and his account was confirmed by others, that the sultan of Youri was a native of Sockna in the regency of Tripoli, and prided himself extremely on his birth; but that he was such a drunkard, whenever any person of consequence came to visit him, that nothing proved so acceptable a present as a bottle of rum.

I learned, besides, from Gomsoo, that he had been detained a prisoner three years, in a country called Yoriba, on the west side of the Quarra; which, he said, entered the sea at Fundah, a little below the town of Rakah. The latter is opposite to Nyffee; is a place of great trade between the interior and the coast, and all kinds of European goods, such as beads, woollen and cotton cloth, pewter and copper dishes, gunpowder, rum, &c., are to be had there in exchange for slaves. The inhabitants of Yoriba he represented to be extremely ill disposed. I may here mention, that during my stay in Sackatoo, provisions were regularly sent me from the sultan’s table on pewter dishes, with the London stamp; and one day I even had a piece of meat served up in a white wash-hand basin, of English manufacture.

On my return home from Gomsoo’s, I found a message had been left for me to wait on the sultan, with which I complied immediately after breakfast. He received me in an inner apartment, attended only by a few slaves: after asking me how I did, and several other chit-chat questions, I was not a little surprised when he observed, without a single question being put by me on the subject, that if I wished to go to Nyffee, there were two roads leading to it—the one direct, but beset by enemies; the other safer, but more circuitous: that by either route I should be detained, during the rains, in a country at present in a state of open rebellion, and therefore that I ought to think seriously of these difficulties. I assured him I had already taken the matter into consideration, and that I was neither afraid of the dangers of the road nor of the rains. “Think of it with prudence,” he replied, and we parted. From the tone and manner with which this was spoken, I felt a foreboding that my intended visit to Youri and Nyffee was at an end. I could not help suspecting the intrigues of the Arabs to be the cause; as, they know well, if the native Africans were once acquainted with English commerce by the way of the sea, their own lucrative inland trade would from that moment cease. I was much perplexed the whole day how to act, and went after sunset to consult Mohamed Gomsoo: I met him at the door of his house on his way to the sultan, and stopped him, to mention what had passed, and how unaccountably strange it appeared to me that the sultan, after having repeatedly assured me of being at liberty to visit every part of his dominions, should now, for the first time, seem inclined to withdraw that permission; adding, that before I came to Sackatoo, I never heard of a king making a promise one day, and breaking it the next. All this, I knew, would find its way to the sultan. Gomsoo told me I was quite mistaken; for the sultan, the gadado, and all the principal people, entertained the highest opinion of me, and wished for nothing so much as to cultivate the friendship of the English nation. “But it is necessary for me to visit those places,” I remarked, on leaving him; “or how else can the English get here?” As I anticipated, he repeated to the sultan every word I had said; for I was no sooner at home than I was sent for by the sultan, whom I found seated with Mahomed Gomsoo, and two others. He received me with great kindness, and Mahomed Gomsoo said he had made the sultan acquainted with our conversation. I thanked him, and expressed my earnest hope I had neither said nor done any thing to offend him. The sultan assured me that my conduct had always met with his approbation, and that, although he was freely disposed to show me all the country, still he wished to do so with safety to myself. An army, he added, was at this moment ravaging the country through which I had to pass, and, until he heard from it, it would be unsafe to go; but he expected farther information in three or four days. He drew on the sand the course of the river Quarra, which he also informed me entered the sea at Fundah. By his account the river ran parallel to the sea coast for several days’ journey, being in some places only a few hours’, in others a day’s journey, distant from it. Two or three years ago the sea, he said, closed up the mouth of the river, and its mouth was at present a day or two farther south; but, during the rains, when the river was high, it still ran into the sea by the old channel. He asked me if the King of England would send him a consul and a physician, to reside in Soudan, and merchants to trade with his people; and what I had seen among them, which I thought the English would buy? Here again I enforced the discontinuance of the slave trade on the coast, as the only effectual method of inducing the King of England to establish a consul and a physician at Sackatoo; and that, as the sultan could easily prevent all slaves from the eastward passing through Haussa and Nyffee, it would be the consul’s duty to see that engagement faithfully fulfilled. With respect to what English merchants were disposed to buy, I particularized senna, gum-arabic, bees’ wax, untanned hides, indigo, and ivory. I also endeavoured to impress on his mind that Soudan was the country best situate in all Central Africa for such a trade, which would not only be the means of enriching himself, but, likewise, all his subjects; and that all the merchandise from the east and from the west would be conveyed through his territories to the sea. “I will give the King of England,” says he, “a place on the coast to build a town: only I wish a road to be cut to Rakah, if vessels should not be able to navigate the river.” I asked him if the country he promised to give belonged to him? “Yes:” said he, “God has given me all the land of the infidels.” This was an answer that admitted of no contradiction.

He then spoke of Mungo Park, and said, that had he come in the rainy season, he would have passed the rocks; but that the river fell so low in the dry season, boats could only pass at a certain point. He told me, that some timbers of the boat, fastened together with nails, remained a long time on the rocks; and that a double-barrelled gun, taken in the boat, was once in his possession; but it had lately burst. His cousin, Abderachman, however, had a small printed book taken out of the boat; but he was now absent on an expedition to Nyffee. The other books were in the hands of the sultan of Youri, who was tributary to him. I told the sultan, if he could procure these articles for the King of England, they would prove a most acceptable present, and he promised to make every exertion in his power.

March 21.—Confined to my bed all day with headach and bilious vomiting. In the afternoon I was visited by Mahomed Gomsoo, who was going on a journey to Kano. He casually mentioned, that it was a fortunate circumstance we did not accompany Hadje Ali Boo Khaloom, when he brought the bashaw’s present last year; as the rogue had opened the bashaw’s letter before presenting it to Bello, and erased out of the list several of the presents named in it, which he embezzled, and substituted for them some of inferior quality. The news of his brother’s wanton inroad into the sultan’s territories, with the bashaw’s forces arriving at the same time, Bello sent Hadje Ali back without any present, and would not even admit him into his presence. His conduct, he assured me, had exasperated the sultan against all the Arabs in the bashaw’s dominions. Both Bello and his father have, it seems, been much cheated by the Arabs in all their dealings, twenty sometimes coming at a time on a begging excursion, with the story of being poor shreefs; and, if not presented with thirty or forty slaves, besides food and camels, they were sure to bully the Felatahs, telling them they were not Mussulmans, and would never see paradise, on account of the number of the faithful they had put to death in the conquest of Soudan.

March 22.—Clear and warm. My fever a little abated. In the afternoon the sultan sent for me again, to discuss the advantages and best method of establishing a permanent intercourse with England. I expressed myself exactly in the same terms I had done before, carefully avoiding the mention of any thing which might awaken the jealousy of the Arabs.