Chapter II: Introduction

On my return from Africa in the summer of 1828, I was so ill with fever and debility, that I had neither spirit nor inclination to devote much time to the compilation and arrangement of my notes, and of the short sketches of character taken by stealth in the heart of that continent. My duty and sole design, in laying my Journal before the British Government, were to satisfy Ministers with regard to my conduct after the decease of Captain Clapperton, my lamented master; and to make them acquainted with the manner in which the property left in my charge at Soccatoo had been disposed of, in my hazardous journey back to the sea- coast. Besides, I had not seen my friends in Cornwall for a period little short of thirteen years; and it is quite natural to suppose that I should have felt a longing to re-visit the place of my nativity, after so protracted and painful an absence. It is not to be wondered at, when all this is considered, that my printed Narrative, drawn up in haste, and without having received the benefit of even the slightest assistance, except from a younger brother, should be incomplete, and in many instances carelessly expressed.

To remedy, if possible, these defects, and to insert the relation of a thousand amusing incidents which had been overlooked, I have in the following pages given my Narrative a new and a more complete dress; and I sincerely hope that my countrymen will not be displeased at my humble but persevering attempts to depict, in true colours, the customs and ceremonies of the powerful nations or tribes inhabiting that vast tract of country lying between Badagry and the beautiful kingdom of Houssa.

The natives of the regions traversed by Captain Clapperton and myself ever regarded our writing apparatus with mingled sensations of alarm and jealousy; and fancied, when they observed us using them, that we were making _fetishes_ (charms) and enchantments prejudicial to their lives and interests. To this cause is attributable the absence of many particulars, both in my master’s Journal and my own, which, though unimportant in themselves, serve to pourtray, and to place in a natural and lively point of view, the most conspicuous touches in the character of the African, and gradually to develope his passions, prejudices, and remarkable superstitions. We were unwilling to raise up enemies against us in a strange land, by continuing, in presence of the people, a practice which awakened their jealousy, and served only to make us objects of distrust and hatred to them all. Hence we were obliged to cherish in our memory various particulars which we were unable, at that period, to put on paper; contenting ourselves with the hope that, on our return to England, we should have ample leisure to devote to the accomplishment of that object; this was, however, unfortunately frustrated by the decease of Captain Clapperton. I myself have consequently taken the liberty, in the following pages, of attempting to carry into execution the project which that intrepid officer had in view—when alive, and in the full hope of returning to his native land.

The recreations and songs of the people, as well as their wars, laws, religion and government, I have endeavoured faithfully to describe. Of course it cannot be expected that a person in my humble situation of life should have powers of language sufficient to give these descriptions the fullest charm of which they may be susceptible: yet I have done the best my poor abilities would allow me. I have translated several songs from the figurative language of the natives into the English tongue, adopting the similes, and copying the mode of expression, as nearly as the idiom of the former would permit; while, in the absence of technical terms relative to law, &c., I have chosen words which have appeared to me the simplest, and which indeed occur most easily to me.

The engagements of the Falatahs with their sable neighbours can scarcely fail of being interesting in many points of view; and their manner of making war is characteristic of African customs. That aggrandizing power, like the government of Russia in Europe, is making rapid and gigantic strides towards an enormous despotism; and should it hereafter possess so martial and enterprising a ruler as its founder, Dandfodio, in the course of a very few years the whole of Central and Northern, if not of Western Africa, will be under the _surveillance_ of the restless Falatah; and the worship of snakes and idols be supplanted by the fanatical tenets of Islamism.

The history of the far-famed Borghoo-Arabian lady, widow Zuma, is correct in every particular; the elopement of that most bulky individual will, it is trusted, be found amusing in the extreme; and the whole train of her adventures—her passionate fondness for white men—the marvel of her extraordinary plumpness—her excessive hospitality—the splendour of her retinue and domestic establishment—her inordinate ambition in attempting to dethrone her lawful sovereign, the innocent and facetious Mohammed—her mournful reverse of fortune—her confinement—the song of her maidens—and her last request,—are singularly remarkable, and strongly pourtray the disposition and habits of an eminent African belle.

The narrative of Pasko, or rather, I should say, of _Abbu Becr_, our Houssa interpreter, contrasted with that of the amiable and accomplished Zuma, will not be found to be altogether destitute of attraction, insomuch as it shows the manners and superstitions of his countrymen much more pleasingly than a laboured description of them would do; while the archness, drollery, and dishonesty of the old scoundrel, together with his warm and deep attachment to the gentler sex, and his entire devotedness to their service, are accurately related, as the circumstances which called those various passions into action took place.

After the decease of Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison, when my late valued master and myself were the only Europeans left of the mission, Captain Clapperton for various reasons thought proper to style me his son, and the natives ever after regarded that gallant officer as my father. Surrounded as we were by strange faces and strange scenes, cut off from all communication with civilized society, and wandering, far from our native country, and all that was truly dear to us, in barbarous regions, and oftentimes through long dismal woods, and awful solitudes; we became linked to each other by the strongest of all ties. Ours, if I may so express myself, were kindred spirits; we entered into each other’s views, shared each other’s gladness and melancholy, hope and despair, and participated in each other’s feelings and amusements. It was for the interest of both to do so. It would not have been well for any haughtiness or reserve to be manifested towards me under such circumstances, merely because accident had thrown me into a lower rank in life than my master; and it would have been unfeeling, nay unmanly, when bowed down by pain and wretchedness in the heart of Africa, for a British officer to refuse, for no other reason, to the humble companion of his wanderings that confidence and friendship which he had in some measure a right to expect. Such, happily, was not the disposition of Captain Clapperton; the difference in our respective conditions was willingly levelled, as it certainly ought to have been, by that gentleman; and for my part I may justly say, that my attachment for him was so great that I would cheerfully have undergone any privation rather than that he should have been a sufferer; or, if necessity required it, would even have laid down my life with pleasure for the preservation of his.

To Capt. Clapperton I owe the existence I enjoy at the present moment; and for him I would have sacrificed, and perhaps I _did_ sacrifice on particular occasions, every consideration of personal comfort or convenience. To “smooth down his lonely pillow;” to mingle my hopes, and fears, and distresses, with his; and to render the transition from life to eternity as easy as possible, were my employments when the unfortunate Captain was stretched out upon his death-bed, in a dismal solitary hut in Soccatoo; and these services themselves, Heaven knows, carried their own reward along with them. The affectionate grasp of the hand—the trembling eye—the _look_ of approbation and thankfulness—expressed more eloquently and feelingly than words could have done the gratitude of my heroic master and preserver for my humble endeavours to serve him, when his cup of pain, disappointment, and sorrow, was foaming to the brim; and the readers of my “Wanderings” will excuse me for dwelling on this subject in the chapter devoted to the illness and decease of Capt. Clapperton, &c. At this distance of time and place even, I reflect on that gloomy and distressing period with emotion; I recall to my remembrance all that passed there—disease, suffering, loneliness, and death; yet do I often wish that my latter end may be as gentle as was my master’s; more calm I do not expect it to be—less free from pain it cannot be.

After all that I have said on this subject, the charge of having assumed too much consequence in speaking so familiarly of Capt. Clapperton, will not surely be brought against me; yet in conversation I have heard it asserted that this sin was committed in my printed journal; but the remark needs no refutation. I have not chosen to alter this imputed consequence in the following narrative, simply because there is no apparent necessity for doing so; and in this opinion the generality of my countrymen will, I am confident, agree with me.

My description of the savage manners and horrid barbarities of the people of Badagry, at the celebration of their monthly sacrifices, &c. is by no means exaggerated. At present these seem unknown to Englishmen; and my reasons for not relating them before are already given. I had no intention of having my Journal printed, and therefore did not study to render the perusal of it interesting by inserting in it observations that did not come strictly within the compass of the plan which I had originally laid down for myself.

In the composition of the following pages I must acknowledge my obligations to a younger brother, and (with the exception of the customary revision of the printed sheets) to him alone. I should feel both pleasure and pride in expressing, in this place, my gratitude for even a hint received from any other quarter; but as this has not, even in a solitary instance, been the case, I have no such thanks to offer. Although unused to composition, my brother devoted, during the past summer, the little leisure which relaxation from his daily labour afforded him, to the office of copying my notes and observations, and putting them into something like arrangement. Having become impressed with my thoughts, he has “turned them to shape,” and, entering warmly into my feelings, he has depicted my emotions, even as I felt them; and the public will best discern whether they are true to nature or not.

I beg to introduce this little Work to the notice of my countrymen with the greatest humility. They will not judge of it by too severe a standard; they will not—I am sure they will not—accuse me of presumption in my feeble attempts to portray the manners and peculiarities of a strange people. I have done the utmost to render the perusal of my Narrative agreeable; and to give the reader a correct idea of the state of society in the interior of Africa. It were unreasonable to expect that my limited knowledge should permit me to give a learned or laboured description of regions which had never before been visited by Europeans; yet I repeat I have done the best my power would allow; and no one will, I think, feel any disposition to question the truth of this declaration.

THE AUTHOR.

TRURO,
_October_, 1829.

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Since the preceding introductory remarks were written, His Majesty’s Government have engaged me to proceed to Fundah, and trace the river from thence to Benin; so that before the public will be put in possession of the following Narrative, in all probability, I shall be on my way to the Western Coast of Africa. In this new undertaking I shall be accompanied only by my brother (John Lander), whose assistance in the composition of this work I have already acknowledged; and if energy and perseverance can avail us any thing, I have the best reasons for believing that it will prove as successful as my most sanguine expectations lead me to hope that it will. At all events, nothing shall be wanting on our parts to accomplish the object in view. If we be so unfortunate as to fail in the object, I may say with confidence and without vanity, that it shall not be attributed to a want of proper spirit and enterprise; since we have made the fixed determination to risk every thing, even life itself, towards its final accomplishment. We shall endeavour to conform ourselves, as nearly as possible, to the manners and habits of the natives; we will not mock their blind superstition, but respect it; we will not scoff at their institutions, but bow to them; we will not condemn their prejudices, but pity them. In fine, we shall do all in our power to ward off suspicion as to the integrity of our motives, and the innocency of our intentions; and this cannot be done more effectually than by mingling with the people in their general amusements and diversions. Confidence in ourselves, and in them, will be our best panoply; and an English Testament our safest _fetish_. Clothed in _this_ armour, by the blessing of God, we have not much to fear; but if, by any casualty or unforeseen misfortune, we perish in Africa, and are seen no more, even then our fate will not be more dismal than that of many of our predecessors in the same pursuit, whose gallant enterprising spirits have sunk into darkness, without a voice to record their melancholy end. If _this_ should be our case, our countrymen may, perhaps, be moved to respect our memory; and, at all events, it is some consolation to know that the gap we may make in society will scarcely be observed at all; or, if observed, soon filled up:

“For we to the world are like a drop of water

That in the ocean falls.”

_London_,
_Dec._ 1829.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Portrait of Richard Lander Frontispiece.

Pelicans feeding their young vol. II. p. 16

Funeral of Captain Clapperton 78

Fainting Scene 93

Crossing the streams at Yariba 215

Heads of Natives with Tattoo marks 218

Ordeal by Poison 257

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ERRATA.

Page 89, for Kang read _Kong_.

Page 156, omit the preposition “_to_” after “lead me.”

From p. 134 to p. 269, for Soccasoo read _Soccatoo_.

At the head of chap. II. p. 29, for Cape Coast read _Papoe_.

SKETCH
OF THE
AUTHOR’S LIFE.

* * * * *

Many allusions to my earlier history occurring in the following pages, it may not, perhaps, be deemed impertinent on my part, if I should attempt to give a short and hasty sketch of my life, devoted as it has been to perpetual wandering, and chequered by a thousand misfortunes.

My family is as ancient, I dare say, as that of any upon the face of the earth, although, notwithstanding the profoundest research, I have been unable to trace its descent, with genealogical accuracy and precision, to a more remote era than the period of my grandfather’s nonage; the history of all my ancestors previous to him, being either mixed with fable, or involved in doubt and uncertainty. If the ancient saying of the people of Cornwall, that,

“By Tre, Pol, _Lan_, and _Pen_,

You may know most Cornishmen,”

be entitled to credit, then undoubtedly my family is of pure Cornish extraction; and I would respectfully suggest that it has a double claim, in the present generation, to the enviable distinction of antiquity, my mother’s maiden name being _Pen_-rose, and my father’s name _Lan_-der. Thus much for my pedigree; and I have the solitary satisfaction of boasting of at least one celebrated character in its humble records, my grandfather, by my mother’s side, who was a noted wrestler in his day, and lived some fifty years since near the Land’s End.

I am the fourth of six children, and was born at Truro, in Cornwall, in 1804, on the very day on which Colonel Lemon was elected Member of Parliament for the Borough. Owing to this striking coincidence, singular as it may seem, my father, who was fond of sounding appellations, at the simple suggestion of the doctor who attended the family, added _Lemon_ to my baptismal name of Richard: an example of the trivial means by which people are oftentimes accommodated with an extra name. As nothing remarkable occurred for the first five or six years after I came into the world, I shall pass them over in silence, simply observing, that when yet in infancy, whilst I was in the act of gazing one morning at something attached to the ceiling of my father’s stable, a piece of iron, having a sharpened edge, fell and entered my forehead; which accident was of so serious a nature that I was ill for several weeks, and narrowly escaped with life.

My rambling inclinations began to display themselves in early youth. I was never easy a great while together in one place, and used to be delighted to play truant and stroll from town to town, and from village to village, whenever I could steal an opportunity as well; as to mix in the society of boys possessing restless habits and inclinations similar to my own. I used also to listen with unmixed attention to old women’s tales about the manners and ceremonies of the natives of distant regions of the earth, and never felt greater pleasure than when, dangling me on their knees, or stroking down my face with their aged hands, they used to say, “you will be sure to see two kingdoms, Richard, for you have two _crowns upon your head_!” Their marvellous descriptions of monsters existing, they affirmed, in remote lands, likewise conspired to raise in me a longing to be a traveller; for the venerable matrons of my native county, moving in the humbler walks of life, like those of most other counties and nations, are fond of the wonderful, and endeavour to stamp a love of it in the tender mind of youth with all the solemnity and earnestness of age and belief. These tales, how incredible soever they might have been, made a deep and permanent impression on my thoughts; and though so very young, I formed a resolution, or rather felt a strong and violent inclination to become a wanderer, in order that the story of _my_ adventures might one day rival in interest those to which I had listened with so devout an attention; perhaps also a childish feeling of pride entered my bosom as I used to say to myself: “And when I shall have returned from such and such a place, and seen all the strange sights in them, my former companions will look upon me with a mixture of wonder and admiration, and I shall excite the envy of the other boys.”

Thus the first period of my life flew swiftly away; and I was no more than nine years of age, as nearly as my memory, at this distance of time, will allow me to guess, when owing to a series of domestic misfortunes, which it would be a tedious and unpleasant task here to particularise, I left the paternal roof, and have ever since been almost a stranger in the place of my nativity.

The frequent observation of my lamented mother, “Remember, my poor child, the old proverb, ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss,’” has been entirely thrown away upon me, for between necessity and choice I have ever been in motion; and with respect to “_moss_,” taken in its figurative signification, I have certainly, in my own person, verified the truth of the homely adage above alluded to, scarcely ever having been able to retain a single handful in my grasp for any length of time together.

At the early age of eleven years I accompanied a mercantile gentleman to the West Indies, and whilst in St. Domingo was attacked with the fever of the country, suffering so severely under its influence that my life was despaired of; but, owing chiefly to the kindness and attention I experienced from some benevolent and sympathizing Negro females, joined to my youth and a naturally vigorous constitution, I recovered my wonted health, and after an absence of three years returned to my native country in 1818. From that period till the attainment of my 19th year, I lived in the service of various noblemen and gentlemen, one of whom I accompanied to France, and other countries on the Continent; when, hearing on my return to London, that Major Colebrook, one of His Majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of the British Colonies, was in want of an individual to proceed with him in the capacity of servant, I quitted the office I then held, and procured the vacant situation with little difficulty. With this gentleman I embarked from Portsmouth on board the Lady Campbell, which weighed anchor on the thirteenth of February, 1823, and after a stormy and hazardous voyage of nearly five months, arrived in Simmons’s Bay, South Africa, on the 13th of July following. During the passage our unfortunate vessel, in which were upwards of forty ladies and gentlemen (passengers) with twenty servants, very nearly escaped destruction no less than three times. In the first instance, she encountered a heavy gale on the 8th of March, in which she lost her rudder, and leaked four feet of water in the hold. After being buffeted about by the wind and waves for four or five days, her distressed condition was observed by a small French brig belonging to L’Orient, which towed her into that port. There she was laid up for six weeks, in order that the serious damage she had sustained might be repaired; when, on the 1st of May, she again set sail. On the 10th of June following, a lady, passing near the gun-room, discovered it to be on fire, and immediately gave the alarm. After incredible exertions, and still greater noise, hurry, bustle, and confusion, the progress of the flames was arrested, and the fire finally extinguished, to the no small gratification of every one on board, who feared, and with justice, that from the proximity of the gun-room to the powder-magazine the most imminent danger was to be apprehended. This was not the last fright we experienced, for on the night of entering Simmons’s Bay the vessel unfortunately struck on a rock called by seamen “The Noah’s Ark,” but was happily lifted by the swell of the sea from her perilous situation, without being materially damaged by the shock; and nothing worthy of notice occurred till her arrival before Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, as above mentioned.

After accompanying Major Colebrook in his journeyings from one extremity of that important colony to the other,—for a reason which it would be superfluous in this place to adduce, I left his service, and sailing from Cape Town, arrived in England in 1824. I had not been many weeks in the metropolis before I accepted of a situation in the establishment of a kinsman to the Duke of Northumberland, where my time passed away pleasantly and thoughtlessly enough; till the return of Captain Clapperton and Major Denham from the interior of Africa, in the following year, again aroused my rambling propensities, and I could not help reproaching myself for having remained so long a time in a state of comparative indolence. Determined from that hour to embrace the first favourable chance of once more quitting my native shores, to whichever part of the globe fate or fortune might destine me, I waited impatiently for something to take place in furtherance of the object I had most at heart; and an opportunity soon offered itself that promised to gratify my fondest and warmest inclinations, as well as amply to satisfy the inordinate desire I could not suppress of visiting foreign countries.

Having heard that it was the intention of the British Government to send out another expedition for the purpose of exploring the yet undiscovered parts of central Africa, and of endeavouring to ascertain the source, progress, and termination, of the mysterious Niger; and the attempt coinciding exactly with my long-cherished wishes, I instantly waited upon the late Captain Clapperton, who I was told was to be placed at its head, and expressed to that brave and spirited officer the great eagerness I felt to become a party, however humble, to the novel and hazardous undertaking into which he was about to enter. The Captain listened to me with attention, and after I had answered a few interrogations, willingly engaged me to be his confidential servant. In this interview the keen, penetrating eye of the African traveller, did not escape my observation; and by its fire, energy, and quickness, denoted, in my own opinion at least, the very soul of enterprize and adventure.

Having made the necessary arrangements, I entered with a light heart upon my new duties, and enjoyed the thoughts of following the bias of my own inclination with as great a zest as if the path of my future life had been strewed with flowers.

I had not, however, adopted this line of conduct without deep reflection on the difficulties that would, in all probability, accompany it. The destruction that had overwhelmed former travellers, engaged in the same pursuit, was by no means unfamiliar to me; and the melancholy story of Mungo Park and his companions in misfortune, in particular, had often crossed my thoughts. I felt a degree of shuddering sympathy for those enterprizing individuals, (heightened perhaps by the cloud of darkness in which their latter end was shrouded,) which no fictitious tale of woe had been ever able to excite in my bosom; yet even this failed in staggering my resolution, or overcoming my early and deeply-rooted prejudices.

There was a charm in the very sound of Africa, that always made my heart flutter on hearing it mentioned: whilst its boundless deserts of sand; the awful obscurity in which many of the interior regions were enveloped; the strange and wild aspect of countries that had never been trodden by the foot of a European, and even the very failure of all former undertakings to explore its hidden wonders, united to strengthen the determination I had come to, of embracing the earliest opportunity of penetrating into the interior of that immense Continent.

In vain my London acquaintances urged upon me the risk I should incur of finding a grave in Africa; and equally vain were the kind representations of a medical gentleman of the metropolis, who painted to me in lively colours the imminent danger to which my life would be exposed, by reason of my youth, inexperience, and habit of body. I disregarded all the counsel that the world could give me, and perhaps secretly depended on the strength of an unimpaired constitution to support me in sickness, and bring me out of every difficulty; so prone are we to indulge the belief that there is a something different, a latent excellence within us, which does not belong to the persons or characters of the rest of the world; and so just is the observation of the poet, that

“All men think all men mortal but themselves.”

As soon as my relatives in Cornwall were made acquainted with the step I was about to take, they expressed the deepest concern and sorrow, and sent me numbers of letters, couched in the simple and affectionate language of nature, expressive of their feelings, and endeavouring to dissuade me from proceeding to a region they all so greatly and justly dreaded. George Croker Fox, Esq. a highly respectable gentleman, residing at Grove Hill, near Falmouth, with the spirit of amiable benevolence by which he is so peculiarly distinguished, also exerted himself in the same object, promising that if my determination to leave England was fixed, rather than that I should expose myself to the dangers to be apprehended from African exploration, he would procure me a more lucrative situation in one of the South American republics. But no inducement under the sun could make me swerve, even in thought, from the line of duty I had laid down for myself; or cool the ardour that warned me to attempt, at least, the accomplishment of the great object towards which my earliest thoughts had been intently directed. Indeed, I had already gone too far to recede; and leaving the metropolis with Captain Clapperton, I arrived at Portsmouth, in order to embark in the Brazen sloop of war, Captain Willis, on the 24th of August, 1825, being then in the 21st year of my age.

WANDERINGS
IN
AFRICA.

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