Part 34 (1/2)
CHAPTER x.x.xVII.
According to their announcement on the preceding day, the messengers from the chiefs arrived, bringing with them two fine sheep and a great quant.i.ty of rice, and it appeared that they would be required to give presents to nine people, before they should be able to get away from the place.
Having prepared the presents, the messengers were collected, and Richard Lander laid before each of them those that were intended for their masters, and in order to make them some reward, and secure their good will, he gave something to each of them, and dismissed them.
On the following morning they were visited by two young men, Arabs, from Rabba, one of whom was very eager to claim acquaintance with Richard Lander, and to bring to his memory certain scenes which had taken place on his former journey to Houssa. Having in some degree recovered from his surprise at his salutation, on looking at him more attentively, he recognized in him the very same individual, that had been employed by Captain Clapperton, whom he had abused and cheated, and who was subsequently engaged by Lander himself as a guide from Kano. He was the same person also, who decamped with Captain Pearce's sword, and a large sum of money in kowries. The fellow, however, on being taxed with his dishonesty, made very light of his offence, and with the utmost effrontery begged every thing that he saw, so that the Landers lost their temper with the scoundrel, and turned him out of the hut in disgust. He, however, could not believe that they were in earnest with him, ”Oh, it must be all sport,” said he, but at last they threatened to shoot him, if ho did not go about his business, and being apprehensive that they would put their threats into execution, he ran off as fast as he could.
The market at Rabba is very celebrated, and considered by traders as one of the largest and best in the whole country, of which it may be styled the emporium. On one market day, between one and two hundred men, women, and children were exposed for sale in ranks and lines, like the oxen at Smithfield. These poor creatures had for the most part been captured in war. The price of a strong healthy lad was about forty thousand kowries, (8 sterling,) a girl fetches about fifty thousand, and perhaps more, if she be at all interesting. The value of men and women varies according to their age, and abilities.
The situation of the travellers now a.s.sumed a critical aspect, for early one morning, Mallam Dendo, the old king of Rabba sent for Pascoe in a great hurry, with a message that he was waiting impatiently his arrival at Rabba, having something of the utmost consequence to communicate. As may be easily conjectured, the Landers were rather surprised at this unexpected summons, and waited Pascoe's return with much anxiety, for they had no doubt whatever, that themselves were princ.i.p.ally concerned in it. When, however, he _did_ come back, and entered the hut, he looked very wistfully, and informed them with considerable agitation both of voice and manner, that Mallam Dendo had expressed to him the greatest dissatisfaction at the things which he had received from them as presents, declaring them to be perfectly worthless, and with the exception of the looking-gla.s.s, ”fit only for a child,” that he well knew they could have sent him something more useful and of greater value, if they had thought proper; but that if they persisted in their refusal to do so, he should demand of them their guns, pistols, and powder, before he would consent or permit them to leave Zagozhi.
This news made them very uneasy and unhappy, and they sat down in gloom and thoughtfulness without uttering a word, for they believed this to be a death-blow to all their hones. To part with the only defensive weapons in their possession, they felt determined not to do, for they knew if they were to be deprived of them, they should be entirely in the power of a set of fellows remarkable neither for generosity nor n.o.bleness of principle, without the means of helping themselves, and they resolved never to part with their guns, unless compelled to do so by the most urgent necessity. Having reflected deliberately on their situation, they felt convinced that something on their part must be done by way of conciliation, if they had any intention of quitting the country, and of prosecuting their enterprise. On a sudden, they thought of Mr. Park's tobe, which was given to them by the king of Boossa, and they hoped that in consequence of the splendour of its appearance, and its intrinsic value, it might prove an acceptable present to the covetous prince, and be the means of effecting a perfect reconciliation between them.
They therefore immediately despatched Ibrahim with it to Rabba, although their hearts misgave them at the time, that it would, after all, be thought lightly of, as an excuse for further extortions.
In this, however, they were agreeably disappointed, for in less than two hours after his departure, Ibrahim returned from his errand with a quick step and cheerful looks, and informed them that the tobe was accepted by the prince with rapturous admiration. By this present they had made him their friend for ever. ”Ask the white men,” said he, ”what they would desire, and if Rabba can supply them with it, tell them they shall always have it. Well,” he continued, ”I must purchase this tobe, I will not accept it as a gift; that would be against my principles, and besides, it would be wrong for me to be guilty of such injustice. Now I shall be something like a king,” he added, turning the tobe inside and out; ”let no man know of it, my neighbours will behold me with envy, and as for my own people, I will surprise them some morning by putting it on when they are going to war: it will dazzle their eyes. How great will be their astonishment?” In this manner the king of the Fellatas talked to Ibrahim.
On the following day, Pascoe was sent to Rabba, well tutored by his masters, and in consequence of the offer made by the king to make them any compensation for the handsome tobe, Pascoe informed him, that the first wish of the white men was to obtain a large canoe, and to pursue their journey on the Niger as fast as possible. He promised to settle the business of the canoe, and sent some presents to the Landers, which at the time were very acceptable.
They had, however, scarcely got over the dilemma with the king of Rabba, than a messenger arrived to that monarch from the king of Nouffie, who had despatched him privately to Mallam Dendo, with an intimation to him, that if it met with his approbation, he (the magia) would order the white men to be detained at Zagozhi, until they would consent to make him a present of a certain number of dollars, or something equivalent to them in value; that he disbelieved the story of their poverty altogether, and would therefore search their luggage, in order to discover whether their a.s.sertion were true or false, that they had no greater presents to make.
So much dissimulation, meanness, and rapacity, which this trait in his character exhibited, they had little reason to expect from the king of Nouffie, after expressing for them so warmly and repeatedly as he had done, protestations of the most cordial, candid, and lasting friends.h.i.+p. They could not forbear feeling very indignant at this foul breach of the laws of hospitality and good faith, which previously to this act, they had experienced in every part of the country. Perhaps it was well that they had presented the prince of Rabba with Mr. Park's tobe, for he treated the message and its bearer with contempt, and answered energetically, ”Tell the magia, your sovereign, that I would rebuke him for this expression of his sentiments, and that I detest his base insinuations; that I will never consent to his wishes, and that I reject his proposal with disdain. What! shall the white men, who have come from such distant lands to visit our country, who have spent their substance amongst us, and made us presents before we had leisure to do any good for them, shall they be treated so inhumanly? never! They have worn their shoes from their feet, and their clothes from their persons, by the length and tediousness of their journeys; they have thrown themselves into our hands, to claim our protection and partake of our hospitality; shall we treat them as robbers, and cast them from us like dogs? Surely not. What would our neighbours, what would our friends--our foes say to this? What could be a greater reproach than the infamy, which would attach itself to our characters, and to our name, should we treat these poor, unprotected, wandering strangers, and white men too, in the manner your monarch, the king of Nouffie proposes? After they have been received and entertained with so much hospitality and honour in Yarriba, at Wowow, and at Boossa, shall it be said that Rabba treated them badly? that she shut her doors upon them and plundered them? No, never! I have already given my word to protect them, and I will not forfeit that sacred pledge for all the guns and swords in the world.” Such was the answer of a man whom we call a savage--it was worthy of a prince and a Christian.
It was now high time that their journey should be completed, for their goods were very nearly exhausted, and so far from being in a condition to make further presents, their means were scarcely adequate to procure the bare necessaries of life. Their stock of cloth, looking-gla.s.ses, snuff-boxes, knives, scissors, razors, and tobacco pipes, had been already given away, and they had only needles and a few silver bracelets left, to present to the chiefs whom they might reasonably expect to fall in with on their voyage down the Niger.
The population of Zagozhi cannot well be estimated on account of its lowness, and the prevailing flatness of the country round, on which neither a hillock nor eminence of any kind can be discerned. However, it must be immense, and the Landers considered it to be one of the most extensive and thickly inhabited towns, as well as one of the most important trading places in the whole kingdom of Nouffie, not excepting even Coulfoo.
Having at length received permission to quit Zagozhi on the following day, to pursue their journey down the Niger, they made the necessary preparations for their departure. They were in hope of obtaining a canoe capable of holding the whole of their party, as it would be a much more satisfactory arrangement for them, and more convenient than two small ones. The chief of the island promised to send a messenger with them as far as Egga, which was the last town down the river belonging to the Nouffie territory. The chief was, however, unwilling to part with a canoe under any consideration, yet as a token of his friends.h.i.+p and regard, he offered to spare them one for twenty thousand kowries, in addition to their own canoe, which they had brought from Patas.h.i.+e. A messenger from the prince of Rabba arrived just after this proposal had been made to them, with full powers to treat with the ”King of the dark water” for the canoe. In a short time, he returned from his errand, with the pleasing intelligence of his having succeeded in obtaining the long-talked-of canoe, and which was to be in readiness to receive them on board at an early hour on the following morning.
On Friday, October 16th, they rose at an early hour, to pack up their clothes, and to get their luggage ready for embarkation. But when this was all done, they met with a sudden and unforeseen embarra.s.sment, for the sable king of the dark water laughed at the idea of giving them a canoe on the faith of receiving payment from the prince of the Fellatas, and at first, he even refused to deliver up their own canoe, which they had brought from Patas.h.i.+e, and which they had kept with so much anxiety and trouble. At length, however, he consented to restore to them all their property, and the whole of the articles were accordingly moved into the canoes.
When all this was done, and they were quite ready to start, the old chief came down to the water side to bid them farewell, according to his avowed purpose, but in reality to offer them a commodious canoe in exchange for their own, if they would consent to give him ten thousand kowries in addition to them. They had fortunately realized a sufficient number of kowries from the sale of needles at Rabba, and while Richard Lander was s.h.i.+fting the things from their own canoe into another, John Lander walked back with the old chief to his residence, where he found all the people of the house gathered round the trunk of a large tree, which was burning in the hut. Here he paid the chief ten thousand kowries for the canoe, which having done, he rejoined his brother at the water side.
The canoes made here are of a particular description, very much resembling what are called punts in England, but are perfectly straight and flat bottomed. They are generally formed out of one log of wood, and are of an immense size; that which the Landers purchased, was about fifteen feet in length and four in breadth, but they are sometimes made nearly as large again. To this offer the Landers most willingly acceded, and as soon as all the goods were transferred into the purchased canoe, they found, after all, that it was not nearly large enough for their purpose, independently of its being extremely leaky, and patched up in a thousand places; they had been prevented from perceiving the canoe's defect before, by the excitement of preparation, and the hurry of departure. They now saw that they had been cheated by the artful king of the dark water, but rather than enter into an interminable dispute on the subject, which might involve them in further difficulties, they held their peace and put up with the imposition without a murmur; after, getting all their luggage into her, they waited for the arrival of a messenger, who was to have accompanied them a little way on their journey, but as he did not come, they resolved to depart without him, so bidding farewell to the king of the dark water, and hundreds of spectators who were gazing at them, they fired two muskets, and launching out into the river, they were soon out of sight of Zagozhi.
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.
They paddled along the banks at a distance of not less than thirty miles, every inch of which they had attentively examined, but not a bit of dry land could anywhere be discovered, which was firm enough to bear their weight. Therefore, they resigned themselves to circ.u.mstances, and all of them having been refreshed with a little cold rice and honey, and water from the stream, they permitted the canoe to drive down with the current, for their men were too much fatigued with the labours of the day to work any longer. But here a fresh evil arose, which they were unprepared to meet. An incredible number of hippopotami arose very near them, and came plas.h.i.+ng and snorting and plunging all round the canoe, and placed them in imminent danger. Thinking to frighten them off, they fired a shot or two at them, but the noise only called up from the water, and out of the fens, about as many more of their unwieldy companions, and they were more closely beset than before. Their people, who had never in all their lives been exposed in a canoe to such huge and formidable beasts, trembled with fear and apprehension, and absolutely wept aloud; their terror was not a little increased by the dreadful peals of thunder, which rattled over their heads, and by the awful darkness which prevailed, broken at intervals by flashes of lightning, whose powerful glare was truly awful.
However, the hippopotami did them no kind of mischief whatever; no doubt at first when they interrupted them, they were only sporting and wallowing in the river for their own amus.e.m.e.nt, but had they upset the canoe, the travellers would have paid dearly for it.
Having travelled, according to their own computation, a distance little short of a hundred miles, they stopped at a small insignificant fis.h.i.+ng village called _Dacannie_, where they were very glad to land. The Niger here presented a very magnificent appearance; and was reckoned to be nearly eight miles in breadth.
Whilst they were at breakfast, under the shelter of a tree, the promised messenger from Zagozhi arrived, and introduced himself to them. He said that he had followed their track during the night, and had heard the report of their guns, but though he strove to come up with them, yet he had not been able.
It was between nine and ten in the morning, that the guide desired them to proceed onwards, promising to follow them in a few minutes.
With this arrangement they cheerfully complied, and instantly pushed off the sh.o.r.e, for of all persons, a messenger is the most unpleasant companion; he is fond of procrastination, sullen when rebuked, and stops at every paltry village wherein he fancies that he can levy his contributions without the fear of interruption.
The messenger, whom they had left at Dacannie, soon overtook them, and kept company with them till they drew near to two cities of prodigious extent, one on each side of the river, and directly opposite each other. To that lying on the right, the guide expressed his intention of going, and endeavoured to entice the Landers with many promises to accompany him there, but they refused, for they had formed a resolution to husband their resources to the utmost of their ability, and consequently to land at little hamlets only, where they might do just as they pleased, without being amenable for their actions to those powerful beings, who are styled ”the mighty” of the earth.
They now took leave of the Zagozhi messenger, who promised to follow them as before, and in an hour afterwards they put into a small village, situated on an island called Gungo, the natives of which appeared to be a mild, inoffensive, quiet, and good-natured people.