Part 23 (1/2)

The widow Laddie, although huge, fat, and deaf, was by no means of a cold, phlegmatic or saturnine disposition--many a wistful look she cast towards Lander, but he either would not or could not comprehend their meaning, and to punish him for his stupidity, she took care that he should not comprehend any of the significant glances, which were cast towards him by the more juvenile portion of the community.

To protect him from this danger, the kind widow attended him whithersoever he went, to the great annoyance of Lander, who, in order to escape from such a living torment, betook himself to a more distant part of the town, or explored its vicinity, although very little presented itself to attract his immediate attention.

The following is the manner in which the good people of Koolfu fill up the twenty-four hours. At daylight, the whole household rise. The women begin to clean the house, the men to wash from head to foot; the women and children are then washed in water, in which has been boiled the leaf of a bush called _bambarnia._ When this is done, breakfast of cocoa is served out, every one having their separate dish, the women and children eating together. After breakfast, the women and children rub themselves over with the pounded red wood and a little grease, which lightens the darkness of the black skin. A score or patch of the red powder is put on some place, where it will show to the best advantage. The eyes are blacked with khol. The mistress and the better-looking females stain their teeth, and the inside of the lips, of a yellow colour, with goora, the flower of the tobacco plant, and the bark of a root; the outer parts of the lips, hair, and eyebrows are stained with _shunt,_ or prepared indigo. Then the women, who attend the market, prepare their wares for sale, and when ready, set off, ten or twelve in a party, and following each at a stated distance. Many of these trains are seen, and their step is, so regular, that if they had been drilled by a sergeant of the foot-guards in England, they could not perform their motions with greater exact.i.tude. The elderly women prepare, clean, and spin cotton at home, and cook the victuals; the younger females are generally sent round the town, selling the small rice b.a.l.l.s, fried beans, &c., and bringing back a supply of water for the day. The master of the house generally takes a walk to the market, or sits in the shade at the door of his hut, hearing the news, or speaking of the price of natron or other goods. The weavers are daily employed at their trade; some are sent to cut wood, and bring it to market; others to bring gra.s.s for the horses that may belong to the house, or to take to the market to sell. A number of people at the commencement of the rainy season, are employed in clearing the ground for sowing the maize and millet, some are sent on distant journeys to buy and sell for their master or mistress, and they very rarely betray their trust. About noon, they return home, when all have a mess of the pudding called _tvaki,_ or boiled beans. About two or three in the afternoon, they return to their different employments, on which they remain until near sunset, when they count their gains to their master or mistress, who receives it, and puts it carefully away in their strong room.

They then have a meal of pudding, and a little fat or stew. The mistress of the house, when she goes to rest, has her feet put into a cold poultice of the pounded henna leaves. The young then go to dance and play, if it be moonlight, and the old to lounge and converse in the open square of the house, or in the outer _coozie,_ where they remain until the cool of the night, or till the approach of morning drives them into shelter.

The majority of the inhabitants of Koolfu are professedly Mahommedans; the rest are pagans, who once a year, in common with the other people of Nyffee, repair to a high hill in one of the southern provinces, on which they sacrifice a black bull, a black sheep, and a black dog. On their fetish houses are sculptured, as in Youriba, the lizard, the crocodile, the tortoise, and the boa, with sometimes human figures. Their language is a dialect of the Youribanee, but the Houssa is that of the market. They are civil, but the truth is not in them; and to be detected in a lie is not the smallest disgrace; it only causes a laugh. The men drink very hard, even the Mahommedans and the women are not particularly celebrated for their chast.i.ty, although they succeeded in cheating both Clapperton and Lander; they were not, however, robbed of a single article, and they were uniformly treated with perfect respect. The people seem, indeed, by no means devoid of kindness of disposition. When the town of Bali was burned down, every person sent next day what they could spare of their goods, to a.s.sist the unfortunate inhabitants. In civilized England, when a fire takes place, thieving and robbery are the order of the day, but during the conflagration at Bali, not an article was stolen.

To their domestic slaves, they behave with the greatest humanity, looking upon them almost as children of the family. The males are often freed, and the females given in marriage to free men, or to other domestic slaves. The food of the slave and the free is nearly the same. The greatest man or woman in the country is not ashamed, at times, to let the slaves eat of the same dish; but a woman is never allowed to eat with a man. With a people, who have neither established law nor government, it is surprising that they are so good and moral as they are; it is true, they will cheat if they can, but amongst the civilized nations, who have both laws and government, cheating is by no means a rare occurrence, and by those too, who are the loudest in the professions of their honesty and integrity.

The country round Koolfu is a level plain, well cultivated, and studded with little walled towns and villages along the banks of the May Yarrow, and of a little river running into it from the north.

Between the walled towns of Bullabulla and Rajadawa, the route pa.s.sed through plantations of grain, indigo, and cotton; the soil clay mixed with sand, with here and there large blocks of sandstone, containing nodules of iron and veins of iron-stone.

At five days from Koolfu, the route entered at the town of Wazo, or Wazawo, the district of Koteng Koro, formerly included in Kashna; and for another five days' journey through a rich and beautiful valley, and over woody hills, the travellers reached Womba, a large walled town, where the caravans both from the east and the west generally halt a day or two, and where, as at Wazo, a toll is levied on merchandise. The town stands on a rising ground, at the eastern head of a valley watered by a small stream, having three bare rocky hills of granite to the north, east, and south. The inhabitants may amount to between ten and twelve thousand souls. The travellers were here objects of much kindness; the princ.i.p.al people of the place sent presents, and the lower ranks sought to obtain a sight of them by mounting the trees which overlooked their residence. The Koran does not seem to have much embarra.s.sed these people; their only mode of studying it was to have the characters written with a black substance on a piece of board, then to wash them off and drink the water; and when asked what spiritual benefit could be derived from the mere swallowing of dirty water, they indignantly retorted, ”What! do you call the name of G.o.d dirty water?” This mode of imbibing sacred truth is indeed extensively pursued throughout the interior of the African continent.

On the second day from Womba, the travellers pa.s.sed through another large and populous town, called Akinjie, where also kafilas pay toll; beyond which, the route lay for two days over a very hilly country, for the most part covered with wood, and but little cultivated, till they approached Guari.

This town, the capital of a district of the same name, formerly included in Kashna, is built partly on a hill, and partly in a narrow valley, through which runs a muddy stream, that is dry in summer; this stream, the source of which is only a day's journey distant, divides in one part the states of Kotong Kora and Guari, and falls into the Kodonia in Nyffee. The district of Guari was conquered by the Fellatas, in a short time after their rising, together with the rest of Houssa. On the death of old Bello, the father of the then reigning sovereign, these districts, with the greater part of Kashna, joined in the towia, or confederacy, against the Fellatas. The chief of Zamfra was the first to shake the spear of rebellion, and he was soon joined by the natives of Goober, and the northern parts of Kashna, by Guari and Kotong Kora, and at length by the states of Youri, Cubbi, Doura, and the southern part of Zeg Zeg. The strength of Youri is said to lie in the bravery of its inhabitants, and the number of horse they can bring into the field, amounting to a thousand. Clapperton was, however, disposed to place their real strength in the hilly and woody nature of their country.

Futika, the frontier town of Zeg Zeg, was reached on the second day from Guari; and at Zaria, where the travellers arrived on the fourth, they found themselves in a city almost wholly peopled by Fellatas, who have mosques with minarets, and live in flat-roofed houses. The population is said to exceed that of Kano, and must contain above fifty thousand inhabitants. A great number of the inhabitants are from Foota Ronda and Foota Torra, the Foulahs and Fellatas being, in fact, the same people. The people from the west professed to be well acquainted with both the English and the French, and they rattled over the names of the towns between Sierra Leone and the Senegal and Timbuctoo. They were armed with French fusees, preferring the guns of the French and the powder of the English.

The old city of Zaria was taken by the Fellatas, within a month after they had made themselves masters of the provinces of Goober and Zamfra, about thirty years ago. It took a siege of two days, when it was evacuated by the sultan and the greater part of the inhabitants, who took refuge in hills south and west, where they still maintain their independence, though subject to the continual attacks of the Fellatas. The old city is now known only by its ruined walls, surrounding some high mounds, which were in the centre of the enclosed area. The new city, built by the Fellatas, to the south-east of the old, consists of a number of little villages and detached houses, scattered over an extensive area, surrounded with high clay walls. Near the centre of the wall stands the princ.i.p.al mosque, built of clay, with a minaret nearly fifty feet high. On entering one of the western gates, instead of finding houses, the travellers could but just see the tops of some of them over the growing grain, at about a quarter of a mile distance; all was walled fields full of dhourra, with here and there a horse tethered in the open s.p.a.ce.

The province of Zeg Zeg is the most extensive in the kingdom of Houssa, and both Kashna and Kano were at one time tributary to its sovereigns. The name of the country appears to be also given to the capital, and is possibly derived from it. It must, however, be observed that Lander mentions Zaria only by the name of Zeg Zeg.

Prior to the Fellata conquest, Islamism is said to have been unknown in Zeg Zeg, and the southern part is still in the possession of various pagan tribes, whose country is called Bous.h.i.+r or Bous.h.i.+, that is, the infidel country, and is said to extend to the ocean.

The country in the vicinity of the capital, Zaria, is clear of wood, and is all either in pasture or under cultivation. Its appearance at this season resembled some of the finest counties in England at the latter end of April. It was beautifully variegated with hill and dale, like the most romantic parts of England; was covered with luxuriant crops and rich pastures, and produced the best rice grown in any part of that continent. Rows of tall trees, resembling gigantic avenues of poplar, extended from hill to hill. Zaria, like many other African cities, might be considered as a district of country surrounded with walls.

After pa.s.sing several towns at the distance of short stages, the travellers, on the fourth day from Zaria, entered, at the town of Dunchow, the province of Kano. A highly cultivated and populous country extends from this place to Baebaejie, the next stage. This town stands in an extensive plain, stretching towards the north till lost in the horizon. The two mounts inside the walls of Kano are just distinguishable above the horizontal line, bearing north-east by north. The hills of Nora are seen about ten miles east; to the south are the mountains of Surem, distant about twenty-five miles, while to the westward appear the tops of the hills of Aus.h.i.+n, in Zeg Zeg, over which the route had pa.s.sed. Small towns and villages are scattered over the plain, and herds of fine white cattle were seen grazing on the fallow ground. The inhabitants of Baebaejie, amounting to about twenty or twenty-five thousand, are chiefly refugees from Bornou and Waday, and their descendants, all engaged in trade. They appeared cleanly, civil, and industrious. A broad and good road thronged with pa.s.sengers and loaded animals, led in another day's journey to Kano.

CHAPTER XXVII.

The travellers found the city of Kano in a state of dreadful agitation. There was war on every side. Hostilities had been declared between the king of Bornou and the Fellatas; the provinces of Zamfra and Goober were in open insurrection; the Tuaricks threatened an inroad; in short, there was not a quarter to which the merchants durst send a caravan. Kano being nearly mid-way between Bornou and Sockatoo, Clapperton left his baggage there, to be conveyed to the former place on his return, and set out for the capital of the sultan Bello, bearing only the presents destined for that prince. On his way he found numerous bands mustering to form an army for the attack of c.o.o.nia, the rebel metropolis of Ghoober. The appearance of these troops was very striking, as they pa.s.sed along the borders of some beautiful little lakes, formed by the river Zirmie.

The appearance of the country at this season was very beautiful; all the acacia trees were in blossom, some with white flowers, others with yellow, forming a contrast with the small dusky leaves, like gold and silver ta.s.sels on a cloak of dark green velvet. Some of the troops were bathing; others watering their horses, bullocks, camels, and a.s.ses; the lake Gondamee as smooth as gla.s.s, and flowing around the roots of the trees. The sun, in its approach to the horizon, threw the shadows of the flowering acacias along its surface, like sheets of burnished gold and silver. The smoking fires on its banks, the sounding of horns, the beating of their gongs and drums, the blowing of their bra.s.s and tin trumpets; the rude huts of gra.s.s or branches of trees, rising as if by magic, everywhere the calls on the names Mahomed, Abdo, Mustafa, &c., with the neighing of horses, and the braying of a.s.ses, gave animation to the beautiful scenery of the lake, and its sloping, green, and woody banks. The only regulation that appears in these rude feudal armies is, that they take up their ground according to the situation of the provinces, east, west, north, or south; but all are otherwise huddled together, without the least regularity.

The sultan was himself encamped with the forces from Sockatoo, whither the travellers repaired to join him, and they arrived just in time to be eye-witnesses of a specimen of the military tactics and conduct of these much-dreaded Fellatas. This curious scene is thus described:--

After the mid-day prayers, all except the eunuchs, camel-drivers, and such other servants as were of use only to prevent theft, whether mounted or on foot, marched towards the object of attack, and soon arrived before the walls of the city. Clapperton accompanied them, and took up his station close to the gadado. The march had been the most disorderly that could be imagined; horse and foot intermingling in the greatest confusion, all rus.h.i.+ng to get forward; sometimes the followers of one chief tumbling amongst those of another, when swords were half unsheathed, but all ended in making a face, or putting on a threatening aspect. They soon arrived before c.o.o.nia, the town not being above half a mile in diameter, nearly circular, and built on the banks of one of the branches of the liver, or lakes. Each chief, as he came, took his station, which, it was supposed, had been previously a.s.signed to him. The number of fighting men brought before the town could not be less than fifty or sixty thousand, horse and foot, of which the latter amounted to more than nine-tenths. For the depth of two hundred yards, all round the walls, was a dense circle of men and horses. The horse kept out of bow-shot, while the foot went up as they felt courage or inclination, and kept up a straggling fire with about thirty muskets and the shooting of arrows. In front of the sultan, the Zeg Zeg troops had one French fusee; the Kano forces had forty-one muskets. These fellows, whenever they fired their muskets, ran out of bow-shot to load; all of them were slaves; not a single Fellata had a musket. The enemy kept up a slow and sure fight, seldom throwing away their arrows, until they saw an opportunity of letting fly with effect. Now and then a single horseman would gallop up to the ditch, and brandish his spear, the rider taking care to cover himself with his large leathern s.h.i.+eld, and return as fast as he went, generally calling out l.u.s.tily, when he got amongst his own party, ”s.h.i.+elds to the walls! You people of the gadado, (or atego, &c.) why do you not hasten to the wall?” To which some voices would call out, ”Oh, you have a good large s.h.i.+eld to cover you.” The cry of ”s.h.i.+elds to the wall!” was constantly heard from the several chiefs to their troops; but they disregarded the call, and neither chiefs nor va.s.sals moved from the spot. At length the men in quilted armour went up ”per order.” They certainly cut not a bad figure at a distance, as their helmets were ornamented with black and white ostrich feathers, and the sides of the helmets with pieces of tin, which glittered in the sun; their long quilted cloaks of gaudy colours reaching over part of their horses' tails, and hanging over the flanks. On the neck, even the horses' armour was notched or vand.y.k.ed, to look like a mane; on his forehead, and over his nose, was a bra.s.s or tin plate, also a semicircular piece on each side. The rider was armed with a large spear, and he had to be a.s.sisted to mount his horse, as his quilted cloak was too heavy; it required two men to lift him on. There were six of them belonged to each governor, and six to the sultan. It was at first supposed, that the foot would take advantage of going under cover of these unwieldy machines; but no, they went alone, as fast as the poor horses could bear them, which was but a slow pace. They had one musket in c.o.o.nia, and it did wonderful execution; for it brought down the van of the quilted men, who fell from his horse like a sack of corn thrown from a horse's back at a miller's door, but both horse and man were brought off by two or three footmen. He got two b.a.l.l.s through his breast; one went through his body and both sides of the tobe; the other went through and lodged in the quilted armour opposite the shoulders.

The cry of ”Allahu akber!” (G.o.d is great), the cry of the Fellatas, was resounded through the whole army every quarter of an hour; but neither this nor ”s.h.i.+elds to the walls!” nor ”Why do not the gadado's people go up?” had any effect, except to produce a scuffle amongst themselves, when the chiefs would have to ride up and part their followers, who, instead of fighting against the enemy, were more likely to fight with one another. At sunset, the besiegers drew off, and the harmless campaign terminated in a desertion on the part of the Zirmee troops, followed by a general retreat.

The flags of the Fellatas are white, like the French, and their staff is a palm branch. They are not borne by men of honour, but by their slaves. The sultan had six borne before him; each of the governors had two. They also dress in white tobes and trousers, as an emblem of their purity in faith and intention. The most useful personage in the army, and as brave as any of them, was an old female slave of the sultan's, a native of Zamfra, five of whose former governors, she said, she had nursed. She was of a dark copper colour, in dress and countenance very much like a female esquimaux. She was mounted on a long-backed bright bay horse, with a scraggy tail, crop-eared, and the mane, as if the rats had eaten part of it, nor was it very high in condition. She rode a-straddle, had on a conical straw dish-cover for a hat, or to shade her face from the sun; a short, dirty, white bed-gown, a pair of dirty white loose and wide trousers, a pair of Houssa boots, which are wide, and come over the knee, fastened with a string round the waist. She had also a whip and spurs. At her saddle-bow hung about half a dozen gourds filled with water, and a bra.s.s basin to drink out of, and with this she supplied the wounded and the thirsty.

The army being disbanded, Clapperton obtained permission of the sultan to proceed to Sockatoo, where he found every thing ready for his reception, in the house, which he had occupied on his former visit. The traveller, however, found an entire change in the feelings of kindness and cordiality towards himself, which had been so remarkably displayed in the previous journey. Jealousy had began to fester in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of the African princes. They dreaded some ambitious design in these repeated expeditions sent out by England, without any conceivable motive; for that men should undertake such long journeys, out of mere curiosity, they could never imagine. The sultan Bello had accordingly received a letter from the court of Bornou, warning him that by this very mode of sending emba.s.sies and presents, which the English were now following towards the states of central Africa, they had made themselves masters of India, and trampled on all its native princes. The writer therefore gave it as his opinion, that the European travellers should immediately be put to death. An alarm indeed had been spread through Sockatoo, that the English were coming to invade Houssa. The sultan irritated doubtless at the shameful result of his grand expedition against c.o.o.nia, felt also another and more pressing fear. War had just broken out between himself and the king of Bornou. Clapperton was on his way to visit that prince, and had left six muskets at Kano, supposed to be intended as presents to him; and six muskets in central Africa, where the whole Fellata empire could scarcely muster forty, were almost enough to turn the scale between those two great military powers.

Under the impulse of these feelings, Bello proceeded to steps not exactly consistent with the character of a prince and a man of honour. He demanded a sight of the letter which Clapperton was conveying to the king of Bornou, and when this was, of course, refused, he seized it by violence. Lander was induced by false pretences to bring the baggage from Kano to Sockatoo, when forcible possession was taken of the muskets. Clapperton loudly exclaimed against these proceedings, declaring them to amount to the basest robbery, to a breach of all faith, and to be the worst actions, of which any man could be guilty. This was rather strong language to be used to a sovereign, especially to one, who could at any moment have cut off his head, and the prime ministers of the sultan dropped some unpleasant hints, as if matters might come to that issue, though in point of fact, the government did not proceed to any personal outrage. On the contrary, Bello discovered an honourable anxiety to explain his conduct, and to soothe the irritated feelings of the traveller. He even wrote to him the following letter, which it must be confessed, places the character of Bello in a very favourable light.

”In the name of G.o.d, and praise be to G.o.d, &c. &c. To Abdallah Clapperton, salutation and esteem. You are now our guest, and a guest is always welcomed by us; you are the messenger of a king, and a king's messenger is always honoured by us. You come to us under our honour as an amba.s.sador, and an amba.s.sador is always protected by us.