Part 26 (2/2)

Public schools are established in the town of Larro, for the avowed purpose of teaching the rising generation the rudiments of the mahommedan religion.

A singular custom prevails in the town, of compelling children at the breast to swallow a quant.i.ty of cold water from a calabash. An infant was nearly choked on this morning by the injection of more than a pint of water down its throat. Whether the mothers follow this custom for the purpose of curing the children of any imaginary complaints, or, as is more probable, in the hope of rendering them less eager for their natural food, was not exactly to be ascertained.

The inhabitants possess horses, a.s.ses, and mules, though not in any considerable numbers, they have, however, great abundance of sheep and goats, which are bred in the town; and their yards and huts are the common place of resort for those animals, indeed they may be said to grow up and live with the children of their owners. The Landers amused themselves during the greater part of the day, in looking at the gambols of some very handsome goats, which had strayed into their abode, but the sheep were not near so tame or frolicsome, repelling all the advances towards a more familiar acquaintance, by timidity and ill nature. Shrimps and fish, which are caught in the streams in the vicinity of the town, are daily exposed for sale, and the inhabitants appear to be in possession of a greater share of the necessaries and comforts of life, than their neighbours of the sea coast.

They this day observed the country to be sensibly rising, and agriculture appeared to be conducted on a regular system, which was an evident proof of the active and industrious habits of the people.

The gloomy fastnesses and wildnesses of nature, such as they pa.s.sed on the first day or two of their journey from Badagry, were less common as they advanced, and open glades with plantations of bananas, fields of yams and Indian corn, all neatly fenced, met their view from the path of yesterday as well as on the present day. The inhabitants of Larro also exhibit greater cleanliness of person and tidiness of apparel than the tribes nearer the sea-sh.o.r.e. Those pests also, the unfortunate beggars, entirely disappeared, for the inhabitants of Larro appeared to possess too much pride to beg.

It was at Larro that the two brothers began to feel the relaxing influence of the climate, but still their hearts were good, and they hoped, by the blessing of Heaven, that their progress through the country might not be impeded by sickness.

On Tuesday, April 6th, the sun had scarcely risen above the horizon, and the mists of the morning yet hung upon the hills, than they quitted the town of Larro, and pursued their journey on horseback.

Three hors.e.m.e.n from Jenna followed them on the path, and they were enlivened by the wild jingling of their animals' bells, till they got within a mile of that town, where they alighted at a kind of turnpike, and fired a salute of two muskets. Here they were met by a number of fellows with horns, who blew on them with the accustomed energy of the natives; these men preceded them over a bridge, which was thrown across a moat that surrounds Jenna into the centre of the town, where they again alighted, and waited the chief's pleasure in an open shed. They had not been seated many seconds before an immense crowd of people pressed in upon them on every side, subjecting them to the accustomed inconvenience of want of air, strong unwholesome smells, and a confused hubbub, that defies description. Never were the people more eager to behold a white man; the little ones formed themselves into a ring close to the shed, then followed those of maturer age, after them came a still older cla.s.s, and the last circle consisted of people as tall as steeples; most of whom held infants in their arms. Altogether a large amphitheatre was formed of black woolly heads, and white teeth set in jetty faces, and although the Landers felt rather amazed at their innocent curiosity, and were obliged to wait a considerable time for the new chief, they could not help being highly diverted with the spectacle around them; at length, to their great relief and joy, intelligence was brought that the chief was ready to receive them. It appears that the principles of etiquette at the royal courts, whether of Europe or of Africa, are not definitively settled, for that which at the court of a William the fourth, would be considered as the extreme of rudeness and disrespect, is at the African courts construed into the most decisive testimony of good breeding and politeness. It may be difficult to determine to which the preference ought to be given, but as etiquette is an essential in all courts, no matter how far it departs from common sense and reason, we do not see why, as amongst the many fooleries which are enacted at courts, the African system should not be introduced. It happens, however, that the etiquette of the European and African are decidedly dissimilar: to make an individual wait is certainly considered in the former, as a breach of good manners, whereas in the latter, the longer a person is made to wait before the introduction takes place, the greater is the honour done him, and the higher is the rank of that person supposed to be, who exacts that ungracious duty. They discovered the chief, or rather governor, sitting on a piece of leather, under a large verandah at one end of a commodious square yard. He was clad in the prevailing finery of crimson velvet tobe and cap, both edged with gold lace. At his right hand sat his wives and women, and the brothers were desired to place themselves on his loft. The women sang the praises of their master in a loud unpleasant voice, in which they were a.s.sisted by the music, equally inharmonious, of drums, fifes, clarionets, and horns.

On their wis.h.i.+ng the chief all the happiness in the world, all the people who had flocked into the yard after them, and every one near the chief, prostrated themselves on the ground, and clapped their hands. Goora nuts were now presented to them in water, and a profusion of compliments pa.s.sed on both sides; but the dignity of the newly-made governor seemed to sit rather awkwardly upon him for he was as shy and bashful as a maiden, and really appeared agitated, and afraid of his white-faced visitants. Strange as it may appear, the patience of the most patient people in the world was completely exhausted, as might be seen by the desertion of the premises before the travellers quitted them, notwithstanding the few words that had pa.s.sed between them and the chief. The ceremony being over, they bade adieu to the chief, and having visited the grave of Dr. Morrison on their way, they repaired to a hut which had been got ready for their reception.

The former governor of Jenna, who it will be recollected treated the gentlemen composing the last mission so handsomely, died about fifteen months before the arrival of the Landers, and the king of Youriba chose one of the meanest of his slaves as his successor. This appears, however, to be an invariable rule with the sovereigns of that country, of which Jenna is a province; for they fear as its distance from the capital is very great, that a person of higher rank, if possessed of talents and spirit, could easily influence the natives to throw off the yoke, and declare themselves independent of Youriba. The then governor was a Houssa man, and was raised to the dignity he then held, in all probability, on account of his childish simplicity, and artlessness, for a person with a countenance more indicative of innocence, and perhaps stupidity also, they never recollected to have seen. The qualities of his heart were, however, said to be excellent, and his manners were mild and amiable. He had been twelve months in coming from Katunga to Jenna; being under the necessity of stopping at every town between that place and the capital, to receive the applause and congratulations of the inhabitants, and to join in their festivities and amus.e.m.e.nts.

The showers were now becoming heavier, and fell more frequently than heretofore, indeed the rainy season may be said fairly to have commenced, the thermometer, on the 6th of April, fell suddenly from 94 to 78”, and remained stationary there for the whole of the day.

On the 7th April they carried a present to the governor, which he received with every mark of satisfaction and grat.i.tude; but he declared with sorrow that he should be obliged to send some of it to the king of Katunga, who would not allow him to wear red cloth, till he had been a longer time established in his new situation.

It is related in Captain Clapperton's journal, that one of old Pascoe's wives eloped from him in Katunga, whilst he was asleep, taking with her the trinkets Mr. Belzoni had given him, and said that she was never afterwards heard of. This woman had the effrontery to introduce herself into the house of the Landers with an infant, whereof she a.s.serted with warmth that Pascoe was the father, and that she was determined to leave it upon his hands. She had prevailed upon a number of Houssa women to accompany her, that they might endeavour to induce her quondam husband, who was a countryman of theirs, to receive the child, and make up the breach between them; but the infant not being more than nine or at most twelve months old, and three or four years having elapsed since the elopement took place, they were convinced that, independently of the age and infirmities of Pascoe, it could not by any rule or law be his. Accordingly, notwithstanding the uproar occasioned by the women's tongues, which, whether in Africa or elsewhere, is a very serious matter, the mother with her spurious offspring, and the ladies who came to aid and abet her imposition, were turned out of the yard without any ceremony, to the great relief of Pascoe, and his present wife, who felt rather uncomfortable, whilst the palaver was carrying on.

The fetish priest of the town came dancing into the hut, shortly after the ladies had retired, looking exceedingly wild, and roaring as if possessed by an evil spirit. They paid little attention to the fellow's fooleries, who, not liking his reception, left the hut, after he had received the accustomed fee of a few kowries. The person and dress of the man, together with his whimsical ornaments, were admirably adapted to impose on the credulity and superst.i.tion of the inhabitants; although many people of the town, influenced perhaps by the spreading doctrines of Mahomet, spoke their minds pretty freely, calling him a scoundrel and a devil. There was something peculiar in this priest's countenance, which could not be defined. On his shoulders he bore a large club, carved at one end with the figure of a man's head. A vast number of strings of kowries were suspended on this weapon, which were intermixed with sh.e.l.ls, broken combs, small pieces of wood with rude imitations of men's faces cut on them, large sea-sh.e.l.ls, bits of iron and bra.s.s, nut sh.e.l.ls, &c. &c. Perhaps, the number of kosries on his person did not fall far short of twenty thousand, and the weight of his various ornaments almost pressed him to the ground. After this fellow had left their apartment, three or four others came to torment them with drums, whistles, and horns, and began and ended the evening's serenade to their own infinite delight and satisfaction. The native drum answers the purpose of a tambourine, and bagpipe as well, and is of peculiar formation. Its top is encircled with little bra.s.s bells, and is played upon with one hand, whilst the fingers of the other were employed at the same time in tapping on its surface. The instrument itself was held under the left arm, but instead of an outer wooden case, strings alone were used from end to end, which being pressed against the musician's side, sounds somewhat similar to those of a Scotch bagpipe, but very inferior, are produced. The drummers, with their companions of the horns and whistles, subsist entirely on the charity of the public, who require their services on all occasions of general merriment and jollity.

On the morning of the 8th of April, the two messengers who arrived at Badagry whilst the Landers were there, and stated that they had been employed for the purpose by the governor of Jenna, were discovered to be impostors, and put in irons accordingly. But as the poor fellows had really been of essential service to them, inasmuch as by their representations, they had prevailed upon Adooley to give them leave to proceed on their journey much sooner than they themselves could have done; they thought proper to intercede, in their behalf, and although they were to have been sold for their deception, they were set at liberty. The person also who had met them with a horse after crossing the river Yow near Bidjie, proceeded thither on his own account, without the knowledge or consent of the governor, but as he was a Fellata and a respectable man, little was said or done about that matter. The only motive, which could have influenced these three men in their projects of a.s.sisting the travellers, had been without doubt in the expectation of receiving a trifling remuneration, and of this, notwithstanding an injunction to the contrary from the governor, they did not disappoint them, their services were well timed and very acceptable, and amply deserved the reward of a few needles and scissors.

The travellers were this morning witnesses to a specimen of native tumbling and dancing, with the usual accompaniments of vocal and instrumental music; by far the most diverting part of the entertainment was the dancing, but even this did not at all answer the expectations they had formed of it. The dancers were liberally supplied with country beer, and like most amus.e.m.e.nts of the kind, this one ended in wrangling and intoxication.

The fellows who accompanied them as guides from Badagry, and who, in their native place would sell their birthright for a gla.s.s of rum, had now washed themselves, and thrown aside their rags, appearing in all public places in borrowed finery. They now never left their habitations without Adooley's sword, which they had with them, and a host of followers. On this morning, they attended the celebration of the games in showy apparel, with silk umbrellas held over their heads; and amongst other articles of dress, the princ.i.p.al of them wore an immense drab-coloured quaker's hat of the coa.r.s.est quality.

So great were their ostentation and pride, that they would scarcely deign to speak to a poor man.

It was now they learned with great regret, that all the horses of the late governor of Jenna, had been interred according to custom with the corpse of their master, and they consequently began to be apprehensive that they should be obliged to walk the whole of the way to Katunga, as the present ruler was not the owner of a single beast of burthen. This piece of ill news was carefully withheld from the travellers, until the presents had been all duly delivered to the governor and his head men; but in this instance, the latter alone were to blame. Matters being thus unpleasantly situated, they sent a messenger to the chief of Larro, informing him of the circ.u.mstance, and entreating him to redeem his promise of lending them a horse and mule; and another messenger was sent to Adooley, requesting him to despatch immediately, at least one of their horses from Badagry, for they had found it impossible to proceed without them. It was not supposed that he would pay any attention to the request; and yet on the other hand, it was scarcely to be imagined that he would carry his chicanery so far, because he must fear that the variety of orders they had given him, to receive valuable presents from England, would never be honoured by their countrymen, if he refused to fulfil his engagements with them.

Since the demise of the late governor, it was calculated that Jenna had lost more than five hundred of its population, chiefly by wars, intestine broils, &c. and all for want of a ruler. It must not, however, be imagined, that because the people of this country are almost perpetually engaged in conflicts with their neighbours, the slaughter of human beings is therefore very great. They pursue war, as it is called, partly as an amus.e.m.e.nt, or ”to keep their hands in it,” and partly to benefit themselves by the capture of slaves. As they were sailing down the coast, they were informed that the natives of La Hoo, and Jack-a-jack, had been warring for three years previously, and were still at variance, but during that long period only one single decrepit old woman, who found it no easy matter to run as fast as her countrymen, was left behind, and became the solitary victim of a hundred engagements. Much after the same fas.h.i.+on are the bloodless wars of Jenna. Success depends much more on the cunning and address of the parties, than on any extraordinary display of intrepidity, and living not dead subjects are sought after, so that it is their interest to avoid hard blows, and enrich themselves by the sale of their prisoners. Perhaps the extraordinary decrease in the population of Jenna, has arisen princ.i.p.ally from the desertion of slaves, who embrace the opportunity, whilst their masters are from home, engaged in predatory excursions, of running away; and thus the latter often become losers instead of gainers by their unnatural pa.s.sion for stealing their fellow creatures. The individuals captured are sent to the coast, and the chiefs of those unsettled and barbarous tribes that inhabit it, are appointed agents to regulate the sale of them, for which they receive half the profits.

Late in the evening, the young Fellata already mentioned, paid them a visit, and offered his horse for sale. He was a mahommedan priest, and was accompanied by a countryman of the same persuasion, but neither of the holy men appeared in their dealing to understand the meaning of truth or justice. An agreement was made and thirty dollars paid. The merchant implored them not to tell his father, who was the real owner of the horse, that he had sold him for less money than he had received, and in this request, he was seconded by his more venerable friend, because he said he wanted a small sum for his private use, which he knew his parent would refuse him. The words were hardly out of their mouths, before the two Mussulmans publicly went through their ablutions in front of the house, where, turning their faces to the east, they seemed to pray very devoutly to the founder of their faith. When this was concluded, they sang an Arabic hymn with great solemnity, and the whole had a wonderful and immediate effect on the feelings of many of their followers in the yard, who, mistaking loudness of voice for fervour, and hypocritical seriousness for piety, made the two wors.h.i.+ppers a present of money.

The Fellatas are generally supposed to be spies from Soccatoo, but although this is a very prevalent opinion, no measures whatever have yet been taken either to watch their motions, or question them as to their intentions.

The women of Jenna employ themselves generally either in spinning cotton, or preparing Indian corn for food. Much of the former material grows in the vicinity of the town, but the cultivation of the plant is not carried on with that spirit which it deserves. Silk, which is brought over land from Tripoli, the inhabitants sometimes interweave in their cotton garments, but such being very expensive, are only worn by the higher cla.s.s of people. They have abundance of sheep, bullocks, pigs, goats, and poultry, but they prefer vegetable food to animal; their diet, indeed, is what we should term poor and watery, consisting chiefly of preparations of the yam and Indian corn, notwithstanding which a stronger or more athletic race of people is nowhere to be met with. Burdens with them, as with the natives of many parts of the continent, are invariably carried on the head, which, it is more than likely, occasions that dignified uprightness of form, and stateliness of walk, so often spoken of by those acquainted with the pleasing peculiarities, of the African female. The weight of a feather is borne on the head in preference to its being carried in the hand; and it not infrequently requires the united strength of three men to lift a calabash of goods from the ground to the shoulder of one, and then, and not till then, does the amazing strength of the African appear. The greater part of the inhabitants of Jenna have the hair of their head and their eyebrows shaven. But the governor's ministers and servants wear their hair in the shape of a horse shoe as a mark of distinction. It is confined to the crown of the head by large daubs of indigo, and none of the people presuming to imitate it, it answers the purpose of a livery.

The early part of the morning of April 10th, was obscured by a mist or haze, which was as thick, and at least as unwholesome, as a London fog in November, but between nine and ten o'clock it dispersed; and the sun shone out with uncommon l.u.s.tre. The hut which they occupied was in a large square yard, and was the property of the late governor's wife, whose story is rather romantic. Each of its sides was formed by huts, which had all at one time been inhabited, but a fire having broken out in one of them by some accident, the greater part perished. A few huts were only then standing, together with black, naked walls, and stakes, which supported the verandahs, the latter reduced to charcoal. The tenantable buildings were inhabited by the female slaves of the owner of the square, and the travellers and their suite.

It is the custom in this place, when a governor dies, for two of his favourite wives to quit the world on the same day, in order that he may have a little, pleasant, social company in a future state; but the late governor's devoted wives had neither ambition nor inclination to follow their venerable husband to the grave, not having had or got, according to their opinion, enough of the good things of this world; they therefore went, and hid themselves before the funeral ceremonies were performed, and had remained concealed ever since with the remainder of their women. On this, day, however, one of these unfortunates, the individual to whom the house belonged, which the travellers resided, was discovered in her hiding place at the present governor's, and the alternative of a poisoned chalice, or to have her head broken by the club of a fetish priest, was offered her. She chose the former mode of dying, as being the less terrible of the two; and she, on this morning, came to their yard, to spend her last hours in the society of her faithful slaves, by whom she was addressed by the endearing name of mother. Poor creatures! as soon as they learnt her misfortune, they dropped their spinning; the grinding of corn was also relinquished; their sheep, goats, and poultry were suffered to roam at large without restraint, and they abandoned themselves to the most excessive and poignant grief; but now, on the arrival of their mistress, their affliction seemed to know no bounds.

There is not to be found in the world perhaps, an object more truly sorrowful, than a lonely defenceless woman in tears; and on such an occasion as this, it may very easily be conceived that the distress was more peculiarly cutting. A heart that could not be touched at a scene of this nature, must be unfeeling indeed. Females were arriving the whole day, to condole with the old lady, and to weep with her, so that the travellers neither heard nor saw any thing but sobbing and crying from morning to the setting of the sun. The princ.i.p.al males in the town likewise came to pay their last respects to their mistress, as well as her grave-digger, who prostrated himself on the ground before her. Notwithstanding the representations and remonstrances of the priest, and the prayers of the venerable victim to her G.o.ds, for fort.i.tude to undergo the dreadful ordeal, her resolution forsook her more than once. She entered the yard twice to expire in the arms of her women, and twice did she lay aside the fatal draught, in order to take another walk, and gaze once more on the splendour of the sun and the glory of the heavens, for she could not bear the idea of losing sight of them forever. She was for some time restless and uneasy, and would gladly have run away from death, if she durst; for that imaginary being appeared to her in a more terrible light, than our pictures represent him with his shadowy form and fatal dart. Die she must, and she knew it; nevertheless she tenaciously clung to life till the very last moment. In the mean time her grave was preparing, and preparations were making for a wake at her funeral. She was to be buried in one of her own huts, the moment after the spirit had quitted the body, which was to be ascertained by striking the ground near which it might be lying at the time, when, if no motion or struggle ensued, the old woman was to be considered as dead. The poison used by the natives on these occasions, destroys life, it is reported, in fifteen minutes.

The reason of the travellers not meeting with a better reception when they slept at Laatoo, was the want of a chief to that town, the last having followed the old governor of Jenna, to the eternal shades, for he was his slave. Widows are burnt in India, just as they are poisoned or _clubbed_ at Jenna, but in the former country no male victims are destroyed on such occasions. The original of the abominable custom at Jenna, of immolating the favourite wives, is understood to have arisen from the dread on the part of the chiefs of the country in olden times, that their princ.i.p.al wives, who alone were in possession of their confidence, and knew where their money was concealed, might secretly attempt their life, in order at once to establish their own freedom, and become possessed of the property; that, so far from entertaining any motive to destroy her husband, a woman might on the contrary have a strong inducement to cherish him as long as possible, the existence of the wife was made to depend entirely on that of her lord, and this custom has been handed down from father to son even to the present time. But why men also, who can have no interest to gain on the death of their prince, should be obliged to conform to the same rite, is not to be so easily accounted for. The individual, who was governor of Jenna at the time of the visit of the Landers, must of necessity go down to the grave on the first intelligence of the demise of the king of Youriba, and as that monarch was a very aged man, the situation of the former was not the most enviable in the world.

Previously to her swallowing the poison, the favourite wife of a deceased chief or ruler destroys privately all the wealth, or rather money of her former partner, in order that it may not fall into the hands of her successor. The same custom is observed at Badagry also, and although the king's son may be of age at the period of his father's death, he inherits his authority and influence only. He is left to his own sagacity and exertions to procure wealth, which can seldom be obtained without rapine, enslavement, and bloodshed.

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