Chapter III

The Travellers reach Badagry, and leave that city on the 7th of December — Dr. Morrison’s illness — Arrival at Latoo — Captain Pearce and the Author attacked with fever — Enter Jannah — Continued and alarming illness of the party — Their progress — Dr. Morrison returns to Jannah.

At the distance of about half a mile from the beach we came to a small creek, near the mouth of which was a solitary fetish-hut, ornamented in front with a species of small shining stone, which abounds in the country. Near this sacred spot were deposited several bundles of wood, and various articles of earthenware of rude manufacture; but not a single individual could any where be seen. In such reverence are these pagan temples held by the natives, that property, how valuable soever it may be, placed within a certain distance of them, is considered as being under the special protection of their gods; in consequence of which, though it may remain unclaimed for any length of time, it is rarely known to be damaged or stolen.

After crossing the river Formosa, which is about a mile in width, we arrived at Badagry at five o’clock in the afternoon, and were comfortably accommodated in the dwelling of Mr. Houtson who had previously resided at that place. The house, like every other in the town, except the king’s, is constructed of bamboo cane, and has but one story. On Friday, the 2d of December, the King, Adólee, sent us a present of a bullock, a fine pig, and some fowls; and on the following day honoured us with a visit, in all the pomp and barbarous magnificence of African royalty. He was mounted on a diminutive black horse, and followed by about one hundred and fifty of his subjects, who danced and capered before and behind him; whilst a number of musicians, performing on native instruments of the rudest description, promoted considerably the animation and vivacity of their motions and gestures. He was gorgeously arrayed in a scarlet cloak, literally covered with gold lace, and white kerseymere trowsers similarly embroidered. His hat was turned up in front with rich bands of gold lace, and decorated with a splendid plume of white ostrich feathers, which, waving gracefully over his head, added not a little to the imposing dignity of his appearance! Close to the horse’s head marched two boys, each carrying a musket in his right hand; they wore plain scarlet coats, with white collars and large cocked hats, tastefully trimmed with gold lace, which costly material all classes excessively admire. Two fighting chiefs accompanied their sovereign on foot, and familiarly chatted with him as he advanced. On approaching within a short distance of us, the monarch dismounted, and squatting himself on the ground outside our house, an umbrella was unfurled and held over his head, whilst a dozen of his wives stood round their lord and master

“With diverse-colour’d fans, whose wind did seem

To glow the _delicate_ cheeks which they did cool!”

for the atmosphere was sultry and the heat oppressive. After paying our respects to our august visitor,—to do him honour, I was desired to hoist an English union-jack over him. This was the climax of his glory and his pride; he was sensibly delighted, and looked as childishly vain as a girl when she first puts on a new dress. All hands now began to drink rum, and the spectacle became highly and singularly grotesque. Laying aside all pretensions to superiority of rank, his Badagrian majesty forgot his illustrious birth, and was as cheerful and merry as the meanest and most jovial of his subjects. Seated on the ground, his splendid dress glittering in the rays of the sun, surrounded by his generals, pages, and wives, with a British flag held by a white floating over his princely head,—his soul softened by the most inspiring and delicious music! and his animal spirits exhilarated by large and repeated draughts of his favourite cordial,—he was in a transport of joy, and looked and spoke as if he had been the happiest man in the universe; while the shouts and bustle of the people, the cracking of fingers and clapping of hands, the singing, and dancing, and capering, all was so novel, and so African, that it made an impression on my memory which will never be erased from it. This debauch continued for a couple of hours; when all the rum being consumed, and Adólee becoming rather tipsy, his majesty begged me to favour him, before his departure, with a tune on my bugle horn, of which he had formed the most extravagant notions. To this modest request I cheerfully acceded, and played several English and Scotch airs, until I became so completely exhausted that my breath was entirely spent, the king not permitting me to drop the instrument till then. Owing either to the effects of the liquor Adólee had partaken of so freely, or to the sound of the music, &c. he was quite in an extasy, and shook hands and thanked me at the close of every tune. The king then remounted, and the procession returned in the same order, and performed the same anticks as when it came. Captain Clapperton and his associates accompanied the monarch to his palace; whilst I and my companions repaired to our peaceful habitation.

Adólee, recovered from the fatigue and revelry of the preceding day, visited us again on the third, and minutely examined every article belonging to the mission, without, however, expressing the slightest inclination to reserve any thing for himself. When the use of the telescope was explained to him, he could not conceal his astonishment, and fancied its maker to be more than mortal; the medicine-chest also, and its contents, excited his curiosity and attention, and he quitted us with an exalted opinion of the knowledge and ingenuity of the English people.

His majesty, without pomp or ceremony, visited us daily till the period of our departure from his capital; he had the reputation of being a friendly, good sort of man, and was apparently about forty or forty-five years of age, five feet nine inches in height, and rather inclining to corpulency.

The market, which is held daily, is tolerably supplied with poultry, yams, maize, palm wine, country cloth, &c. &c. The cattle are no better, either in size or condition, than those at Sierra Leone, and on other parts of the coast.

On Wednesday, the 7th, after a drinking revel with the Badagrian great men, we embarked in canoes on a branch of the Lagos river, accompanied by Adólee and many of his chiefs, in separate canoes, and people in armed boats for our mutual protection, in case of surprise or attack. Landing about a mile and a half from the junction of the Gazie creek, Adólee and some of his people returned to Badagry, and we slept in the evening on the western bank, in the open air, without even the shelter of a single tree. The moon shone brightly and beautifully in the night, and not a sound disturbed the solemn tranquillity of the place, all being as still and quiet as the grave. Next morning we found ourselves wet to the skin with the heavy dew that had fallen in our sleep; and in all probability were thus sown the seeds of those disorders which subsequently broke out with such fatal virulence, and produced suffering, disease, and death, in our little party. In the forenoon I accompanied my master and Mr. Houtson to Bookhar, a neighbouring town, and the stores and baggage were ordered to be sent after us. On arriving at that place we seated ourselves under the branches of a large tree, and were quickly visited by hundreds of the inhabitants, who came in large companies to view us, and as soon as their curiosity was satisfied, made way for their impatient countrymen. The children, who were not tall enough to catch a glimpse of us through the crowd, were perched on the shoulders of their parents or relatives, who pointed us out to them, observing, “There they are!” as if we had been wild beasts, or monsters of some sort. All, however, behaved with the strictest propriety, and although they repeatedly laughed to each other on making observations on the singularity of our appearance or the whiteness of our skin, not a single word of derision or disrespect was uttered against the strangers.

Whilst we were stared at in this manner, the crowd suddenly divided in order to make way for a fighting chief belonging to the army of the king of Katunga, who came in full state to visit us, riding on a small horse, and followed by a large retinue, two of whom were also mounted. On his head he wore a cap and feathers, evidently of European manufacture, and he was clad in a scarlet jacket, fluttering in rags, with dirty yellow facings, and loose trousers of faded nankeen—a dress of which he was extravagantly vain. The king’s messengers having had a consultation with the chief, the latter dismounted, and sat himself down at the distance of about a stone’s-throw from our tree. Captain Clapperton then sent him an umbrella as a token that we were amicably disposed towards him, and wished him well; on receipt of which his attendants set up so terrific a noise, with drums, clapping of hands, &c. that it was utterly impossible to hear ourselves speak while it lasted. As soon as this clamour had subsided the chief arose, and coming up to us, shook hands with each, very complacently seating himself by our sides. He expressed himself overjoyed at seeing white men, and complimented the English, in no measured language, for the good they had done in trading with the people of the country. A glass or two of rum, which he swallowed with peculiar delight, set the warrior-chief in better humour than ever, and he repeated his encomiums in so loud a key that they were heard by his attendants, who, out of respect, had retreated several yards from the spot, when the music of the drum was revived with greater spirit than before, interrupted only by immense clapping of hands, and other demonstrations of joy. This “harmony of sweet sounds” continued till the mighty chief left us, which took place the moment he perceived that no more spirits were forthcoming.

As soon as we had fairly got rid of our garrulous visitor, we rose to pay a visit to the caboceer, or chief of the town, whom we found in earnest conversation with his elders, and a few of his old grey-headed wives, altogether forming the most venerable looking group of human beings I ever saw. The profoundest silence prevailed as we drew near, and every eye was anxiously fixed upon us. The chief was a tall thin man, well stricken in years, and respectably dressed in a silk tobe and trousers of country cloth. On his head he wore a cap so thickly studded with various coloured glass beads that the material of which it was composed could with difficulty be distinguished; and small gold colored tassels of beads hung from it to the shoulders. The cap was neatly and fancifully made, and set off the black ill-natured face of its owner to great advantage. After paying the usual compliments, goora nuts and water were presented, and my master explaining to the chief who and what we were, and what motives had induced us to visit the country, with which he expressed himself perfectly well satisfied, we were conducted to his residence; receiving shortly afterwards a present of a sheep, some yams, and fire-wood. Many of the chief’s young wives stole every opportunity to peep through holes in the walls at the white men, but when detected gratifying their curiosity in this manner, they were excessively confused, and ran off and hid themselves.

In the evening Captain Pearce arrived with the baggage from the banks of the river; and in the night it was guarded by the soldiers of the king of Badagry, who serenaded us till the next morning with a most astounding concert of drums, &c. in order, as they asserted, to deter thieves from plundering the goods.

Near the entrance of the town, on the left side of the road, stands a solitary fetish-hut, of large dimensions, with a number of wooden figures, carved in bas-relief, some in a kneeling and some in a recumbent posture, placed outside the walls; these idols the inhabitants worship, and ascribe miraculous powers to their agency.

We arose at an early hour on Thursday: but the old hypocritical chief, alleging that he had not received a present proportionate to his respectability or expectations, would neither exert himself in any way to procure a single individual to convey the baggage, nor appeared willing for us to leave till he had finished a long-winded harangue, which had already occupied three hours, and threatened to last at least as many more, when his tongue was fortunately stopped by the two Badagrian Generals clapping their hands on his lips. Owing to this circumstance a few individuals only volunteered to assist us, amongst whom was one of the chief’s daughters, a bouncing woman of five-and- twenty, who carried the canteen,—so that our Badagrian escort were obliged to undertake that office themselves. We were equally unfortunate in our inquiries for hammock-men, not a single individual in the town being willing to engage himself in what all ranks conceive to be an occupation fit only for horses; but Captain Clapperton having borrowed the horse of a Badagrian chief, he and Mr. Houtson agreed to ride him in turns. We took a short route across the country, whilst Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison proceeded to Dagnoo by a safer but more circuitous road.

It was evening when we left Bookhar, and it soon becoming dark, we had to grope our way on a narrow foot path, winding through a gloomy dismal forest, and rendered almost impervious to man or beast, except on the beaten track, by reason of thick entangling underwood. To add to our misery, Captain Clapperton became so painfully galled in consequence of riding on the back of a lean horse without a saddle, that he preferred walking the remainder of the way, although wearing only slippers; these were soon lost, and he was obliged to limp a considerable distance barefooted, so that his feet were swollen, and blistered dreadfully, and before reaching Isako were literally bathed in blood.

We were informed in the village that the party with the baggage had left that place some time before for Dagnoo, whither we were obliged to follow it, preceded by a number of the kind inhabitants with burning torches to show us the intricate path, which did not, however, prevent our stumbling at every step. We arrived at Dagnoo about midnight, our clothes being torn to ribbons, and all of us excessively fatigued from the effects of so long and unpleasant a walk; and on finding that the beds had been sent still further on, we were again under the necessity of sleeping in the open air, exposed to a heavy dew, which completely saturated the remnant of our dress before morning.

We arose early, and after crossing a small creek in the vicinity of Dagnoo, continued our journey, through a vast primeval forest, sometimes broken by a grove of palm-trees, a field of Indian corn, and even a whole village in large open places. We were met in the path by numbers of the natives of both sexes, with bundles of palm-leaves on their heads, used for the purpose of thatching their huts; and the wild shrill cry of the grey parrot resounded from the huge branches of the trees.

On arriving at Humba, we found Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison at the chief’s residence, waiting to receive us; and shortly afterward Captain Clapperton was taken very unwell with fever, having had a slight attack of ague in the course of the day. The town was in ruins, and its inhabitants appeared in a truly pitiable state; nevertheless singing and dancing, and music-playing, were kept up during the whole of the night, with as much spirit and good humour as if the people had been the happiest in the world.

On the morning of the 11th the baggage was sent on, and we walked to another village at no great distance from Humba, although my master was so extremely weak that he was barely able to undertake even so short a journey on foot. When we entered the place, we found the carriers detained by command of the chief, until a flask of rum, by way of tribute, was given him. He came up as soon as he saw us, with a leopard’s skin thrown carelessly over his shoulders, and repeated his determination not to let the men proceed till his request was complied with. The old man was however satisfied with a strong glass of grog, prepared for him by Mr. Houtson, each mouthful of which, instead of swallowing, he adroitly squirted into the mouths of his longing attendants, who stood gaping, with glistering eyes, to receive the liquor thus deliciously refined, and which was relished by the whole party with peculiar satisfaction! The carriers were then allowed to go on with the baggage without further molestation, and Captain Clapperton got into a hammock; but the bearers had proceeded only a few paces, when it was for some unaccountable reason suddenly let down, and the fellows scampered away as fast as their legs could carry them. It was afterwards taken up by our own party, and conveyed through Ackongujie, a pleasant village surrounded by fertile land, to a town called Eto, in which the bearers were changed, and we proceeded through thick woods till we arrived at Sattoo, where we slept, after having made an excellent supper on a goat the chief had sent us. Next morning we pursued our journey early, and at noon reached the pleasant town of Bidgie, near to which were extensive plantations of corn and plantains. The chief, a fine young man named Lollakelli, who was perpetually smiling, pressed us to stay with him the remainder of the day; and the inhabitants, who came in crowds to see us, passing the same compliment, after a little hesitation it was accepted, and we slept there.

Dr. Morrison felt himself indisposed in the evening, with slight symptoms of fever, and swelling of the legs; but next morning being partially recovered, we proceeded in good spirits to the borders of a river we had to cross, Lollakelli, with several of his people accompanying us. Mr. Houtson and myself embarked in the first canoe, but we were an hour and half on the water before we could reach the landing- place, situated on the eastern bank: nor did the other canoes meet with better success. All being at length safely over, we pursued our journey, and our road lying nearly the whole of the way through a dried swamp overgrown with rushes, travelling was thereby rendered extremely uncomfortable. About mid-day my master became exhausted, in consequence of fatigue and the excessive heat; and resting himself in the shade of some diminutive trees for a few minutes, a person on horseback passed by, who seeing him reposing on the earth, dismounted, and offered him the use of his horse. This being gratefully accepted, the party was immediately in motion, and the generous black walked with us to Atalabora. On entering that village we found the baggage detained for want of carriers, who had been sent for from an adjoining town, and had not then arrived; so that Captain Pearce, who felt seriously indisposed, and Dr. Morrison, the other invalid, thought it necessary to refresh themselves with an hour or two’s sleep, in the principal hut in the town; whilst Mr. Houtson, my master, and myself, took the opportunity of stretching ourselves at full length underneath the branches of a spreading tree, the heat being oppressive, and unrelieved by a single zephyr. The expected carriers having arrived, and the sick expressing themselves somewhat strengthened with the short nap they had enjoyed, they were first sent forwards, and the other gentlemen, with myself, followed them. The road was quite level, and lay through a small town called Funnie, across rich plantations of yams. Towards evening we were met by a person from the chief of Laboo, with horses for our accommodation. We immediately mounted the beasts, and journeying at an easy rate, entered Laboo by moonlight.

The town is delightfully situated on a rising ground, commanding an extensive and noble prospect; the approach to it is through a beautiful walk of trees, between which at certain measured distances, fetish- houses are erected, which are held in the greatest veneration by the inhabitants. Immediately on our arrival we were conducted to the chief, whom we found sitting under the verandah of his dwelling, and who politely welcomed us to Laboo, observing that he had been anxiously expecting us for some hours before. Goora nuts, as usual, were presented, with water in a certain chamber utensil which shall be nameless, the odd service to which it was applied causing us to laugh heartily; and the chief became as sociable after we had been in his company a few minutes only, as if he had been acquainted with us for years. Dr. Morrison was brought into the town about two hours after, in a weak and helpless state; and on Wednesday the 14th, I was myself taken extremely unwell with _coup-de-soleil_, or sun-stroke, having incautiously left my head uncovered for some time on the preceding day. Captain Pearce also felt much worse towards the evening of the 14th, so that the day after that gentleman, and Dr. Morrison and myself, were obliged to be conveyed in hammocks on men’s heads, to Jannah, where we arrived an hour before the rest of the party.

The inhabitants quickly surrounded the tree under which we had been placed, and teazed us with a thousand questions which we were unable to answer. Meantime a dense crowd had collected in front of us, and welcomed the _red_ men as we were termed, (our skin being at that time much blistered by the rays of the sun,) by drumming, and singing and dancing. In our languid state, we were ill able to bear this eternal din, and entreated the people to conduct us to a hut, for that we were very ill; but they answered with the greatest unconcern, that the king, whose house was directly opposite, must of necessity see us before we ventured to stir from the spot; that he was the greatest man between Badagry and Katunga; and that it would not be well for us to offend him by being too importunate in our solicitations. We at length lost all patience, and observing a large empty shed in the centre of the square, which we found to be the palaver-house or hall of council, we ventured to crawl into it as well as we could, being only a few yards from the tree. Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison had then their beds made; but mine being rolled up, I was too weak to spread it, and so I lay along the bare ground. As soon as Captain Clapperton and Mr. Houtson had made their appearance, the noise was hushed for a moment, and shortly afterwards the chief himself, accompanied by about fifty of his wives, approached, and, whilst they stationed themselves at a short distance from us, the latter struck up a native tune, which they sang loudly, and with much feeling; indeed there was a solemnity and pathos about it that reminded me of the most impressive church-music of my own country. As soon as the sound of the ladies’ voices had ceased, the band played a lively air, in which the singers occasionally joined; and at the conclusion of the concert a message was sent from the king to the palaver-house, for the _red men_ that were well to make their appearance. Accordingly Captain Clapperton and Mr. Houtson went to the chief, who, at the opening of the conference, I could perceive, as I lay on the earth, to be violently agitated speaking with great apparent anger, and pointing several times to a silver knife that was stuck in his girdle. After kniting his brows, and frowning for a minute or two, his features suddenly relaxed into a gentler expression, and graciously smiling, he shook hands cordially with the gentlemen, and entering the palaver-house, extended his royal hand to us for the like purpose. He was attired in a loose yellow silk tobe, and trousers of country cloth; and his cap of red velvet had a purple silk tassel appended to the crown. Like most of his countrymen, the chief or king of Jannah was fond of displaying his conversational powers, and when answering any questions that were put to him, or making observations on what struck him as being singular or remarkable in our appearance, he rattled a child’s silver whistle and bells (of English manufacture), which he held in his left hand, by way of accompaniment to his voice, which was certainly not the most harmonious in the world.

We were subsequently conducted to a house which was partly occupied, and too small for our accommodation; so that my master, Mr. Houtson, and Dawson were obliged to remain under the verandah, neither of the others being well enough to follow their example. In the evening the king came alone, and plainly dressed, to visit us, and in this instance was very inquisitive and communicative. He wished particularly to understand our business with the sultan of Yariba, for, as we afterwards learnt, a messenger from the coast had informed him that the white men’s object was expressly and solely to make war upon that monarch and dethrone him; but the sorry plight in which we then were disproved the assertion; and the chief himself acknowledged that he did not place the slightest confidence in the unfounded rumour.

On Friday I became considerably worse, and on the following day my life was despaired of. In the evening I was bled in the temple; but the doctor, who was himself suffering from fever, being unable to hold the instrument steadily, inadvertently thrust it into my skull. This accident occasioned the most excruciating agony, and made me shriek with pain. I passed the night in a manner that cannot be described, but next morning felt much easier and better. On Monday, however, the fever returned with more violence than ever, attended by a severe head-ache that almost drove me distracted, and at my own suggestion Dr. Morrison ordered my head to be shaved. To perform this delicate operation a native barber was at length found, who came wielding a tremendous knife curved like a reap-hook, instead of a razor, and began his avocation in a most brutal manner, just like a clumsy English butcher shaving a slaughtered pig; insomuch, that when his labour was finished, my skull was scalped almost as effectually as if it had been done by the tomahawk of a North American Indian. Although my head was thus miserably excoriated, a large blister, covering the whole of it, was applied; and my suffering was heightened to the utmost degree of intensity; so that I lost my reason, and in the evening was completely delirious. In this state, as I subsequently learnt, I sprang from my couch, and being animated with the fury of a maniac, knocked down the doctor and my master, broke and destroyed every thing within my reach, and when in the act of escaping in my night-dress from the door, was forcibly dragged back to my bed by the united strength of the whole party, who had been alarmed with the noise I had made. Weakened and exhausted by this mad prank, the phrenzy left me, and reason returned, but with it came the loss of speech. About an hour afterwards a consultation was held by my bed-side; and the doctor having carefully felt my pulse, I was comforted by the expressed opinion, that it would be impossible for me to live throughout the night. Much to the astonishment of all, however, on Tuesday the disorder had abated so greatly, that I was enabled to sit up and converse rationally with those around me: my health, in fact, seemed to return almost as rapidly as I had lost it.

Dr. Morrison and Captain Pearce, in the meantime, continued alarmingly ill, and evidently getting worse. Their hollow eyes, sunk deeply in their sockets, and their skin exhibiting a sallow and cadaverous hue, they looked more like walking spectres than living human beings; insomuch, that Captain Clapperton, distressed at their altered appearance, urged upon each of them the necessity of their either remaining at Jannah, or returning, under the care of Mr. Houtson, to the Brazen. Both gentlemen, however, declared their invincible repugnance to the measure, and on the contrary expressed themselves resolutely bent to proceed at all risks: Captain Pearce, in particular, felt greatly hurt at the suggestion of his friend, and asserted, in a decided tone, that he would infinitely prefer being buried in the country, remote as it was from his native land, than suffer Captain Clapperton to pursue his journey alone, while he had life to accompany him. The Captain, affectionately pressing the hand of the disinterested invalid, thanked him for the lively interest he felt in his welfare, but repeated his unwillingness for either him or Dr. Morrison to proceed further, in their present emaciated and languid state: to this, however, no attention was paid.

Things being thus amicably adjusted, to the complete satisfaction at least of the invalids, we left Jannah early on the morning of Thursday the 22d, (the sick, myself amongst the number, travelling in hammocks, as on former occasions,) and slept at Beechy that night. At ten the next morning we arrived at Tschow, in which town we received much hospitality from the natives; and in the afternoon Dr. Morrison, fancying that the sea air would restore his health, which was hourly declining, at his own suggestion was sent back to the ship, under the protection of Mr. Houtson.