Part 19 (1/2)

On Clapperton's return home from Gomsoo's, he found a message had been left for him to wait upon the sultan, which he complied with immediately after breakfast. He received him in an inner apartment, attended only by a few slaves. After asking Clapperton how he did, and several other chit chat questions, he was not a little surprised, without a single question being put to him on the subject, to hear, that if he 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 he would be detained during the rains, in a country at present in a state of rebellion, and therefore that he ought to think seriously of these difficulties. Clapperton a.s.sured the sultan that he had already taken the matter into consideration, and that he was neither afraid of the dangers of the roads nor of the rains. ”Think of it with prudence,” the sultan replied, and they parted.

From the tone and manner in which the sultan p.r.o.nounced the latter sentence, Clapperton felt a foreboding that his intended visit to Youri and Nyffee was at an end. He could not help suspecting the intrigues of the Arabs to be the cause, as they knew 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. He was much perplexed during the whole of the day, to know how to act, and went after sunset to consult Mahomed Gomsoo. Clapperton met him at the door of his house, on his way to the sultan, and stopped him to mention what had pa.s.sed, and how unaccountably strange it appeared to him, that the sultan, after having repeatedly a.s.sured him 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 he came to Sockna, he never heard of a king making a promise one day and breaking it the next. All this, he knew, would find its way to the sultan. Gomsoo told Clapperton that he was quite mistaken; for that the sultan, the gadado, and all the princ.i.p.al people, entertained the highest opinion of him, and wished for nothing so much as to cultivate the friends.h.i.+p of the English nation. But, said Clapperton, on leaving him, it is necessary for me to visit those places, or else how can the English get here? As Clapperton antic.i.p.ated, Gomsoo repeated to the sultan every word he had said, for he was no sooner at home, than he was sent for by the sultan, whom he found seated with Gomsoo and two others. He was received with great kindness, and Gomsoo said he had made the sultan acquainted with their conversation. Clapperton thanked him, and expressed his earnest hope, that he had neither done nor said any thing to offend him. The sultan a.s.sured him that his conduct had always met with his approbation, and although he was freely disposed to show him all the country, still he wished to do so with safety to him. An army, he added, was at this moment ravaging the country, through which he had to pa.s.s, and until he heard from it, it would be unsafe to go, he expected, however, further information in three or four days. He drew on the sand the course of the river Quarra, which he informed Clapperton 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. After questioning Clapperton on some points connected with the English trade, the sultan said, ”I will give the king of England 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.”

Clapperton asked him, if the country which he had promised, belonged to him. ”Yes,” said he, ”G.o.d has given me all the lands of the infidels.” This was an answer that admitted of no contradiction.

The sultan informed Clapperton, that some timbers of Park's boat, fastened together with nails, remained a long time on the rocks of the river, 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. Clapperton 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.

The direct road to Youri is only five days' journey; but on account of the rebellious state of the country, it was necessary to take a circuitous route of twelve days. Numbers of the princ.i.p.al people of Sockatoo came to Clapperton, to advise him to give up the idea of going, all alleging that the rains had already commenced it Youri, and that the road was in the hands of their enemies. They repeated the same tales to the servants who were to accompany him, and threw them all into a panic at the prospect of so dangerous a journey.

Clapperton discovered also, that the Arabs were tampering with his servants, and some of them absolutely refused to go, from some information that was given to them, that, if they met with no disasters on the route to Youri, the sultan there would a.s.suredly sell them, and that they would never be allowed to return.

The journey to Youri now appeared to engross the whole of Clapperton's attention, and the sultan sent for him, to consult with him about the guide, who was to accompany him to that place. One man had already refused, and he had to tempt another with a promise of forty thousand kowries unknown to the sultan, who kindly took much pains to impress upon Clapperton the necessity of his return within twenty-six days, on account of the capricious character of the people of the place.

Clapperton now began to see that no chance existed of his prosecuting his journey to Youri; but it must be admitted, that some of the suspicions which he entertained were groundless, for the state of the country was afterwards found to be, if possible, worse than had been described; and the ravages of the Fellatas so terrible, that any one coming from amongst them was likely to experience a very disagreeable reception. Indeed it may be suspected, that the sultan must have been a good deal embarra.s.sed by the simplicity with which his guest listened to his pompous boasting as to the extent of his empire, and by the earnestness with which he entreated him to name one of his seaports, where the English might land, when it was certain that he had not a town which was not some hundred miles distant from the coast. To prevent the disclosure of this fact, which must have taken place, had Clapperton proceeded in that direction, might be an additional motive for refusing his sanction. In short, it was finally announced to Clapperton, that no escort could be found to accompany him on so rash an enterprise, and that he could return to England only by retracing his steps.

One morning, Clapperton was surprised at a visit from Ateeko, the brother of the sultan, to whom he had sent a present of a scarlet jacket, breeches, and bornouse. When he was seated, and the usual compliments were over, Clapperton apologized, on the score of ill health, for not having already paid him a visit. He now told him he had a few things belonging to the Englishman who was at Musfeia with the late Boo Khaloom, but as no person knew what they were, he would gladly sell them to him, ordering his servant, at the same time, to produce a bundle he held under his arm. The servant took from the bundle a s.h.i.+rt, two pair of trousers, and two pieces of parchment used for sketching by Major Denham. The only other articles, Ateeko said, were a trunk, a broken s.e.xtant, and a watch; the latter had been destroyed, as he alleged, in their ignorant eagerness to examine its structure. He then invited Clapperton to visit him on the following morning, when they might fix the price of what he wished to buy, to which Clapperton a.s.sented; but on reconsidering the matter, he thought it prudent first to consult the gadado, particularly as the sultan had gone on an expedition, and was not expected to return for five days. Clapperton began to fear lest a bad construction might be put upon his visit to this mean prince, who, on the death of his father, Bello the First, had aspired to the throne, and even had himself proclaimed sultan in Sockatoo; from the mere circ.u.mstance of his brother Bello, the present sultan, having expressed the intention, during his father's lifetime, of resigning the splendour of royalty for the tranquillity of a holy and learned life. Ateeko had even the audacity to enter his brother's house, preceded by drums and trumpets; and when Bello inquired the cause of the tumult, he received the first intimation of his brother's perfidy in the answer, ”The sultan Ateeko is come.” Bello, nowise disconcerted, immediately ordered the usurper into his presence, when Ateeko pleaded, in vindication of his conduct, his brother's proposed disinclination to reign; to which the sultan only deigned to reply, ”Go and take off these trappings, or I will take off your head.” Ateeko, with characteristic abjectness of spirit, began to wring his hands, as if was.h.i.+ng them in water, and called G.o.d and the prophet to witness that his motives were innocent and upright, since which time he has remained in the utmost obscurity. According, however, to another authority, Bello confined him to the house for twelve months, and then a reconciliation took place between them. We are apt to speak of the sovereigns of barbarous and uncivilized nations as deficient in those virtues for which civilized sovereigns are or ought to be distinguished; but we suspect that few of the latter would have acted towards the usurper of his throne with the same magnanimity as was displayed by the Fellata sovereign.

On visiting the gadado, he told Clapperton by no means to go to Ateeko whilst the sultan was absent, as his visit at this juncture might be regarded with a very jealous eye by the people, who would not hesitate to charge him with a plot to place Ateeko on the throne, by the a.s.sistance of England. The gadado undisguisedly expressed his contempt at Ateeko's conduct, and a.s.sured him that it was entirely without the sanction of the sultan.

On the return of the sultan from the army, permission was given to Clapperton to purchase from Ateeko the sorry remains of Major Denham's baggage; accompanied, therefore, by El Wordee, he went to the prince's house, and after waiting for some time in the porch of a square tower, they were introduced into an inner coozee, hung round with blue and yellow silk, in sharp-pointed festoons, not unlike gothic arches. Ateeko soon made his appearance, and after a few compliments, they proceeded to business. He brought out a damaged leathern trunk, with two or three s.h.i.+rts, and other articles of dress, much the worse for wear, and the s.e.xtant and parchment already mentioned. The former was completely demolished, the whole of the gla.s.ses being taken out, or, where they could not unscrew them, broken off the frame, which remained a mere skeleton. Ateeko seemed to fancy that the s.e.xtant was gold, in which Clapperton soon undeceived him; and selecting it, with the parchment and one or two flannel waistcoats and towels, likely to be useful to Major Denham, he offered the prince five thousand kowries, at which he appeared much surprised and mortified. El Wordee whispered into Clapperton's ear, ”Remember he is a prince, and not a merchant.” But Clapperton said, loud enough for his highness to hear, ”Remember, that when a prince turns merchant, he must expect no more than another man; and as that is the value of the articles, it is a matter of indifference to me whether I buy them or not.” Ateeko frequently repeated his belief of the s.e.xtant being gold; but at length the bargain seemed to be concluded, and Clapperton requested the prince to send a slave to his house with the articles he had picked out, to whom also he would pay the money. The slave, however, was recalled before he got half-way, and his suspicious master took back the s.e.xtant-frame, in dread of being overreached by the purchaser in its value, which Clapperton did not fail to deduct from the price agreed on.

The prince stated, that he kept two hundred civet cats, two of which he showed Clapperton. These animals were extremely savage, and were confined in separate wooden cages. They were about four feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail, and, with the exception of a greater length of body and a longer tail, they very much resembled diminutive hyenas. They are fed with pounded guinea corn and dried fish made into b.a.l.l.s. The civet is sc.r.a.ped off with a kind of muscle sh.e.l.l every other morning, the animal being forced into a corner of the cage, and its head held down with a stick during the operation.

The prince offered to sell any number of them which Clapperton might wish to have; but he did not look upon them as very desirable travelling companions. Ateeko was a little spare man, with a full face, of monkey-like expression. He spoke in a slow and subdued tone of voice, and the Fellatas acknowledge him to be extremely brave, but at the same time avaricious and cruel. ”Were he sultan,” say they, ”heads would fly about in Soudan.”

One evening, on paying the gadado a visit, Clapperton found him alone, reading an Arabic book, one of a small collection he possessed. ”Abdallah,” said he, ”I had a dream last night, and am perusing this book to find out what it meant. Do you believe in such things?”

”No, my lord gadado. I consider books of dreams to be full of idle conceits. G.o.d gives a man wisdom to guide his conduct, while dreams are occasioned by the accidental circ.u.mstances of sleeping with the head low, excess of food, or uneasiness of mind.”

”Abdallah,” he replied, smiling, ”this book tells me differently.” He then mentioned, that, in a few days, the sultan was going on another expedition, and wished him to join it; but that he preferred remaining, in order to have a mosque, which was then building, finished before the Rhamadan, lest the workmen should idle away their time in his absence.

Previously to the sultan's departure, he sent Clapperton a present of two large baskets of wheat, who now began to think seriously of retracing his steps to Kano. He was sitting in the shade before his door, with Sidi Sheik, the sultan's fighi, when an ill-looking wretch, with a fiend-like grin on his countenance, came and placed himself directly before Clapperton, who immediately asked Sidi Sheik who he was. He immediately answered, ”The executioner.” Clapperton instantly ordered his servants to turn him out. ”Be patient,” said Sidi Sheik, laying his hand upon that of Clapperton; ”he visits the first people in Sockatoo, and they never allow him to go away without giving him a few goora nuts, or money to buy them.” In compliance with this hint, Clapperton requested forty kowries to be given to the fellow, with strict orders never again to cross his threshold. Sidi Sheik now related a professional anecdote of Clapperton's uninvited visitor. Being brother of the executioner of Yacoba, of which place he was a native, he applied to the governor for his brother's situation, boasting of superior adroitness in the family vocation.

The governor coolly remarked, ”We will try; go and fetch your brother's head.” He instantly went in quest of his brother, and finding him seated at the door of his house, without noise or warning, he struck off his head with a sword at one blow; then carrying the bleeding head to the governor, and claiming the reward of such transcendent atrocity, he was appointed to the vacant office.

The sultan being afterwards in want of an expert headsman, sent for him to Sockatoo, where, a short time after his arrival, he had to officiate at the execution of two thousand Tuaricks, who, in conjunction with the rebels at Goober, had attempted to plunder the country, but were all made prisoners. It may be added, that the capital punishments inflicted in Soudan are beheading, impaling, and crucifixion; the first being reserved for Mahometans, and the other two practised on pagans. Clapperton was told, that wretches on the cross generally linger three days before death puts an end to their sufferings. Clapperton was for some time delayed in completing his arrangements for his departure from Sockatoo, on account of the fast of the Rhamadan, which the Fellatas keep with extreme rigour. The chief people never leave their houses, except in the evening to prayer; and the women frequently pour cold water over their backs and necks. Under the idea, that the greater the thirst they appear to endure, the better ent.i.tled they become to paradise; though Clapperton was inclined to believe that they made a parade of these privations, in a great measure, to obtain the reputation of extraordinary sanct.i.ty.

On the 2nd May, Clapperton sent for the steward of the gadado's household, and all the female slaves, who had daily performed the duty of bringing him provisions from the time of his arrival. These provisions were about a gallon of new milk every morning, in a large bowl, for himself, and two gallons of sour milk and siccory for his servants at noon, in return for which he always gave fifty kowries; at three o'clock three roast fowls, with doura or nutta sauce, for which he sent fifty kowries; again after sunset two bowls of bozeen were brought by two female slaves, to whom he gave one hundred kowries; and about two quarts of new milk afterwards, for which he gave fifty kowries more. As an acknowledgment for their attention during his residence in Sockatoo, he now presented the steward of the household with ten thousand kowries, and the slaves with two thousand each. The poor creatures were extremely grateful for his bounty, and many of them even shed tears. In the afternoon he waited upon the sultan, who told him that he had appointed the same escort which he had before, under the command of the gadado's brother, to conduct him through the provinces of Goober and Zamfra, and that an officer of the gadado, after the escort left him, should accompany him to Zirmee, Kashna, Kano, and Katagun; the governor of which would receive orders to furnish him with a strong escort through the Bedite territory, and to deliver him safely into the hands of the sheik of Bornou. He also mentioned that the letter for the king of England would be ready the next day.

On the following day, Clapperton was visited by all the princ.i.p.al people of Sockatoo, to bid him farewell, and in the evening he went to take his leave of the sultan. He was, however, at the mosque, and he had to wait about two hours before he came out. Clapperton followed him at a little distance to the door of his residence, where an old female slave took Clapperton by the hand and led him through a number of dark pa.s.sages, in which, at the bidding of his conductress, he had often to stoop, or at times to tread with great caution, as they approached flights of steps, whilst a faint glimmering light twinkled from a distant room. He could not imagine where the old woman was conducting him, who, on her part, was highly diverted at his importunate inquiries. After much turning and winding, he was at last brought into the presence of Bello, who was sitting alone, and immediately delivered into his hands a letter for the king of England. He had previously sent to Clapperton to know what were his majesty's name, style, and t.i.tle. He again expressed with much earnestness of manner, his anxiety to enter into permanent relations of trade and friends.h.i.+p with England, and reminded Clapperton to apprise him by letter, at what time the English expedition would be upon the coast. After repeating the fatah, and praying for his safe arrival in England, and speedy return to Sockatoo, he affectionately bade him farewell.

Clapperton went next to take his leave of his good old friend the gadado, for whom he felt the same regard, as if he had been one of his oldest friends in England, and he was certain it was equally sincere on his side. The poor old man prayed very devoutly for his safety, and gave strict charge to his brother, who was to accompany Clapperton, to take especial care of him in their journey through the disturbed provinces.

The town of Sockatoo lies in lat.i.tude 13 4' 52” north, and longitude 6 12' east, and is situated near the junction of an inconsiderable stream, with the same river which flows past Zirmee, and which taking its rise between Kashna and Kano, is said to fall into the Quarra four days' journey to the west. The name in their language signifies, a halting place, the city being built by the Fellatas, after the conquest of Goober and Zamfra, as near as Clapperton could learn about the year 1805. It occupies a long ridge, which slopes gently towards the north, and appeared to Clapperton the most populous town he had visited in the interior of Africa, for unlike most other towns in Houssa, where the houses are thinly scattered, it is laid out in regular well-built streets. The houses approach close to the walls, which were built by the present sultan in 1818, after the death of his father; the old walls being too confined for the increasing population. This wall is between twenty and thirty feet high, and has twelve gates, which are regularly closed at sunset. There are two large mosques, including the new one which was then building by the gadado, besides several other places for prayer. There is a s.p.a.cious market-place in the centre of the city, and another large square in front of the sultan's residence. The inhabitants are princ.i.p.ally Fellatas, possessing numerous slaves. Such of the latter as are not employed in domestic duties, reside in houses by themselves, where they follow various trades; the master of course reaping the profit.

Their usual employments are weaving, house-building, shoemaking, and iron work, many bring firewood to the market for sale. Those employed in raising grain and tending cattle, of which the Fellatas have immense herds, reside in villages without the city. It is customary for private individuals to emanc.i.p.ate a number of slaves every year, according to their means, during the great feast after the Rhamadan.

The enfranchised seldom return to their native country, but continue to reside near their old masters, still acknowledging them as their superiors, but presenting them yearly with a portion of their earnings. The trade at Sockatoo is at present inconsiderable, owing to the disturbed state of the surrounding country. The necessaries of life are very cheap, butchers' meat is in great plenty and very good.

The exports are princ.i.p.ally civet, and blue check tobes called sharie, which are manufactured by the slaves from Nyffee, of whom the men are considered the most expert weavers in Soudan, and the women the best spinners. The common imports are goora nuts, brought from the borders of Ashantee, and coa.r.s.e calico and woollen cloth in small quant.i.ties, with bra.s.s and pewter dishes, and some few spices from Nyffee.

The Arabs from Tripoli and Ghadamis bring unwrought silk, attar of roses, spices and beads; slaves are both exported and imported. A great quant.i.ty of guinea coin is taken every year by the Tuaricks, in exchange for salt. The market is extremely well supplied, and is held daily from sunrise to sunset.

After encountering several difficulties, and experiencing some very hair-breadth escapes, Clapperton arrived at Zirmee the capital of Zamfra, a kind of outlawed city, the inhabitants of which are esteemed the greatest rogues in Houssa, and where all the runaway slaves find protection. He pa.s.sed also through Kashna or Ca.s.sina, the metropolis of a kingdom, which, till the rise of the Fellata power, ruled over all Africa from Bornou to the Niger. In its present subject and fallen state, the inhabited part does not cover a tenth of the wide circuit enclosed by its walls, yet a considerable trade is still carried on with the Tuaricks, or with caravans coming across the desert by the route of Ghadamis and Suat. Here Clapperton met with much kindness from Hadgi Ahmet, a powerful and wealthy Arab chief, who even took him into his seraglio, and desired him, out of fifty black damsels to make his choice, a complaisance, nothing resembling which had ever before been shown by a Mussulman. The Arab was so importunate, and appeared so determined that Clapperton should have one of his ladies, that to satisfy him, he at length selected the oldest of the groupe, who made him an excellent nurse in his illness.