Chapter II

Departure from Badágry — Pass through Wow — Sagbú — Básha — Soató —
Bídjie — Lāatoo — Lárro to Jenna.

_Tuesday, March 31st._—We bade adieu to the Chief of Badágry in good time this morning, and during the day packed up all our things ready for our departure. We repaired to the banks of the river at sun-set, expecting to find a canoe which Adooley had promised should be sent there for our use; but having waited above two hours, and finding it did not arrive, we placed the goods in two smaller canoes, which were lying on the beach. These soon proved to be leaky, and as no other resource was at hand, we were fain to wait as patiently as we could for the canoe promised us. Everything betrayed the lukewarmness and indifference of the chief who had received so much from us, and who expected so much more; but we had answered his purpose, and now he took no further notice of us. In two more hours Hooper made his appearance in Adooley’s war canoe, which he had prevailed on him to lend us. This was placed directly between the two others, and their contents speedily transferred into it. It was between ten and eleven o’clock at night when we were fairly launched out into the body of the river. The canoe was above forty feet in length; it was propelled through the water by poles instead of paddles, and moved slowly and silently along. It was a clear and lovely night; the moon shone glorious ‘as a silver shield;’ and, reflecting the starry firmament on the unruffled surface of the water, the real concave of heaven, with its reflection, seemed to form a perfect world. The scenery on the borders of the river appeared wild and striking, though not magnificent. In the delicious moonshine it was far from uninteresting. The banks were low, and partially covered with stunted trees; but a slave factory and a fetísh hut were the only buildings we observed on them. We could not help admiring at some distance ahead of our canoe, when the windings of the river would permit, a noble and solitary palm-tree, with its lofty branches bending over the water’s edge; to us it was not unlike a majestical plume of feathers, nodding over the head of a beautiful lady.

Proceeding about ten miles in a westerly direction, we suddenly turned up a branch joining the river from the northward, passing on our left the village of Bawie, at which Captain Clapperton landed. We saw several small islands, covered with rank grass, interspersed in different parts of the river. They are inhabited by myriads of frogs, whose noise is more hoarse and stunning than ever proceeded from any rookery in Christendom. As we went up the river, our canoe-men spoke to their priests, who were invisible to us, in a most sepulchral tone of voice, and were answered in the same unearthly and doleful manner. These sounds formed our night’s serenade. Notwithstanding the novelty of our situation and the interest we took in the objects which surrounded us, I was overcome by fatigue, and wrapping a flannel dress round my person, fell fast asleep.

_Thursday, April 1st._—The hard and uncomfortable couch whereon we had reposed last night made our bodies quite sore; and occasioned us to awake at a very early hour this morning. At six A.M. we found ourselves still on the river, and our canoe gliding almost imperceptibly along. From half a mile in width, and in many places much more, the river had narrowed to about twenty paces; marine plants nearly covered its surface, and marsh miasma, loaded with other vapours of the most deleterious quality, ascended from its borders like a thick cloud. Its smell was peculiarly offensive. An hour afterwards we arrived at the extremity of the river, into which flowed a stream of clear water. Here our canoe was dragged over a morass into a deep but narrow rivulet, so narrow indeed that it was barely possible for our canoe to float, without being entangled in the branches of abundance of trees, which were shooting up out of the water. Shortly afterwards we found it to widen a little; the marine plants and shrubs disappeared altogether; and the boughs of beautiful trees which hung over the banks overshadowed us in their stead, forming an arch-like canopy, impervious to the sun’s rays. The river and this lesser stream abound with alligators and hippopotami; and wild ducks, and a variety of other aquatic birds, resort to them in considerable quantities. Monkeys and parrots inhabit the branches of the trees, and make an abominable chattering and noise between them all the day long. We landed about half-past eight in the morning, in the sight of a great multitude, that had assembled to gaze at us.

Passing through a place where a large fair or market is held, and where many thousands of people had congregated for the purposes of trade, we entered an extensive and romantic town called _Wow_, which is situated in a valley. The major part of the inhabitants had never before had an opportunity of seeing white men, so that their curiosity, as may be supposed, was excessive. Two of the principal persons came out to meet us, preceded by men bearing large silk umbrellas, and another playing a horn, which produced such terrible sounds, that we gladly took refuge, as soon as we could, in the chief’s house. The apartment into which we were introduced, is furnished with a roof precisely like the roof of a common English barn, inverted. In the middle of it, which reached to within a few inches of the floor, a large square hole had been made, to admit air and water to a shrub that was growing directly under it. The most remarkable, if not the only ornament in the room, was a quantity of human jaw-bones, hung up on the side of the wall like a string of onions. After a formal and most ceremonious introduction, we were liberally regaled with water from a calabash, which is a compliment the natives pay to all strangers, and then shown into a very small apartment. Here my brother endeavoured to procure a little sleep, having remained awake last night; but we were so annoyed by perpetual interruptions and intrusions, the firing of muskets, the garrulity of women, the unceasing squall of children, the drunken petitions of men and boys; and a laugh, (but it is quite out of my power to describe it—one that approximates more to the nature of a horse-laugh, than anything I know)—so that it was found impossible to close one’s eyes.

The market of this place is supplied abundantly with Indian corn, palm oil, &c.; together with _trona_[5], and other articles brought hither from the borders of the desert of Zaarha, through the medium of the wandering Arabs. By the regulations of the fetísh, neither a white man nor a horse is permitted to sleep at Wow during the night season. We know not what is become of the horses; they were to have preceded us to this place by land, but are not yet arrived. With respect to ourselves, we shall be obliged to walk to a neighbouring village, and spend the night there. Our course to this town, through this creek, was N.b.E., and Badágry is distant from it about thirty miles, by the route we have come.

A violent thunder-storm, which is called a tornado on the coast, visited us this afternoon, and confined us to the ‘worst hut’s worse room,’ till it had subsided, and the weather became finer. At three P.M. we sallied forth, and were presently saluted by hootings, groans, and hallooings, from a multitude of people of all ages—from a child to its grandmother, and they followed close at our heels as we went along, filling the air with their laughter and raillery. A Merry-Andrew at a country town in England, during the Whitsun holidays, never excited so great a stir, as did our departure from Wow this afternoon. But it is ‘fool’s day,’ and some allowance ought to be made for that, no doubt. We had not proceeded more than a dozen paces from the outskirts of the town, when we were visited by a pelting shower, which wetted us to the skin in a moment. A gutter or hollow, misnamed a pathway, was soon overflowed; and we had to wade in it up to our knees in water, and through a most melancholy- looking forest, before we entered a village. It is called _Ságbu_, and is about eight miles from Wow. We were dripping wet on our arrival, and the weather still continuing unpleasant, it was some time before any one made his appearance to invite us into a hut. At length the chief came out to welcome us to his village, and immediately introduced us into a long narrow apartment, wherein we are to take up our quarters for the night. It is built of clay, and is furnished with two apertures to admit light and air into the room. One end of it was occupied with a number of noisy goats, whilst we took possession of the other. Paskoe and his wife are lying on mats at our feet; and a Toby Philpot, with his ruddy cheek and jug of ale, belonging to the chief, separate them from the goats. The remainder of our people have no where to sleep. The walls of our apartment are ornamented with strings of dry, rattling human bones, written charms, or fetíshes, sheep-skins, and bows and arrows. We did not repose near so comfortably as could have been desired, owing to the swarms of mosquitoes and black ants, which treated us very despitefully till morning.

_Friday, April 2d._—Between six and seven o’clock A.M., we continued our route through woods, and large open patches of ground, and at about eleven in the forenoon, arrived at the borders of a deep glen, more wild, romantic, and picturesque, than can be conceived. It is enclosed and overhung on all sides by trees of amazing height and dimensions, which hid it in deep shadow. Fancy might picture a spot, so silent and solemn as this, as the abode of genii and fairies; everything conducing to render it grand, melancholy, and venerable; and the glen only wants an old dilapidated castle, a rock with a cave in it, or something of the kind, to render it the most interesting place in the universe. There was one beautiful sight, however, which we would not omit mentioning for the world;—it was that of an incredible number of butterflies, fluttering about us like a swarm of bees; they had chosen this, no doubt, as a place of refuge against the fury of the elements. They were variegated by the most brilliant tints and colourings imaginable—the wings of some were of a shining green, edged and sprinkled with gold; others were of sky-blue and silver; others of purple and gold delightfully blending into each other; and the wings of some were like dark silk velvet, trimmed and braided with lace.

To revert from insects to men: our followers formed a group at once savage and imposing. As they winded down the paths of the glen, with their grotesque clothing and arms, bundles, and fierce black countenances, they might be mistaken for a strange band of ruffians, of the most fearful character. Besides our own, we had hired twenty men of Adooley to carry the luggage, as there are no beasts of burden in the country[6]. Being all assembled at the bottom of the glen, we found that a long and dangerous bog or swamp, filled with putrid water, and the decaying remains of vegetable substances, intersected our path, and must necessarily be crossed. Boughs of trees had been thrown into the swamp by some good-natured people to assist travellers in the attempt, so that our men, furnishing themselves with long poles, which they used as walking-sticks, with much difficulty and exertion succeeded in getting over, and fewer accidents occurred to them than could have been supposed possible from the nature of the slough. For my own part, I was taken on the back of a large and powerful man, of amazing strength. His brawny shoulders supported me without any apparent fatigue on his part; and he carried me through bog and water, and over branches of trees, no bigger than a man’s leg, rendered slippery with mud, in safety to the opposite side. Although he walked as fast and with as much ease as his companions, he did not lay me down for twenty minutes, the swamp being, as nearly as we could guess, a full quarter of a mile in length. We then walked to a small village called _Bàsha_; whence without stopping we continued our journey, and about four in the afternoon passed through another village, somewhat larger than the former, which is called _Soató_. Here we found ourselves so much exhausted with over-fatigue and want of food, that we were compelled to sit down and rest awhile, and here—

‘Naked youths and painted chiefs admire

Our speech, our colour, and our strange attire.’

But they are a very uncourteous and clownish race, and teased us so much with their rudeness and begging propensities, that we were glad to be rid of them by setting out again. Having passed two other swamps in the same manner as we had done before, we were completely tired, and could go no further, for we had been walking all day, in an intricate, miserable path, sometimes exposed to the sun, and sometimes threading our way through a tangled wood. It is now six o’clock in the evening—our people are gone to the next town to fetch the horses, which Adooley promised should meet us yesterday; and my brother and I are resting by ourselves under a grove of trees, which is in the neighbourhood of a body of stagnant water, wherein women are bathing and casting side-long glances at us. It is a low, marshy, and unwholesome spot, and it is extremely probable that we shall be obliged to sleep here on the grass all night; but what can we do? The village, it is true, is not many miles a-head, but then we are unable to walk.

_Saturday, April 3d._—We had made fires of dried wood and fallen leaves last evening, and had prepared to repose for the night under a canopy of trees, and were in fact actually stretched at full length on the turf for that purpose, when we were agreeably surprised by the arrival of four of our men from the village with hammocks; for though sleeping in the open air, with ‘heaven for one’s canopy,’ in a dark wood, and all that, may be very pretty in description, yet in reality nothing can be more disagreeable, for the crawling of ants, black worms, &c., over one’s face, disperses the most enchanting reverie. These hammocks were highly acceptable, and we were lifted into them with very grateful feelings. It is pleasant, too, after a long day’s journey on foot, to be carried along so easily on one’s back, to see parrots and other solemn birds perched on the branches of very tall trees, whilst the trees themselves seem capering away from one most surprisingly; as well as to gaze on the cheerful moon, and admire all the host of heaven.

After a charming journey of eight or ten miles, we entered the large and populous town of _Bídjie_[7], wherein Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison fell sick on the last expedition. About a quarter of a mile from the town we were met by a fellow with a cow’s horn, who chiming in with a trumpeter that had accompanied us from Wow, produced a harmony surpassing all that had preceded it. Two men followed the Bídjie musician with umbrellas of variegated silk, and thus honoured and escorted, we were set down, amidst a crowd of people, in the centre of the town. As usual the natives testified the wild delight they felt at our visit by clapping of hands and loud bursts of laughter. Presently, at the noise of three or four drums, which was a signal that the chief was prepared to receive us, the multitude quitted us simultaneously, and rushed to the spot where he was sitting, and to which we also were desired to proceed. The chief shook hands with us in great good humour, and we remarked with pleasure, or fancied we could, that not only his laugh, but that of his people, was a more social and civilized kind of sound than what of late we had been accustomed to hear. Nevertheless when I shook hands with the chief’s son, which act is not very diverting in itself, the bystanders set up so general a roar of laughter, that the town rang with the noise; and when I ventured further to place my hand on his head, they were yet more amazingly tickled, and actually

‘Shriek’d like mandrakes torn out of the earth.’

As soon as the ceremony of introduction was over, and the admiration of the people was confined within rational bounds, we wished the chief a pleasant night’s rest, and were conducted into a comfortable, airy hut, which had a verandah in front. Shortly afterwards he sent us a goat for supper.

We were in momentary expectation of hearing some account of our horses from Badágry the whole of the morning and afternoon, and have indeed waited here at Bídjie to-day for that purpose, and in order that the men with the luggage may have time to overtake us, for they have been hindered by the swamps and quagmires which we ourselves found so much difficulty in crossing. But just about sun-set two fellows arrived from Badágry, with the mortifying intelligence that our horses would not remain on the water in canoes, but having upset one of them, and kicked out the bottom of another, had swam on shore and been led back to Badágry. We are persuaded that this story has been made up for the occasion, and thus by the bad faith of Adooley are we deprived of our horses; we have put ourselves in a fever by walking a journey of two days in one, and are likely to walk the remainder of the way to Jenna, in the glare and heat of the sun, for we have no umbrellas to screen ourselves from his rays. My brother paid eighty dollars for one of the animals, but Adooley has forgotten to return the coin, and has likewise kept for his own use a couple of saddles which we purchased at Accrá.

Late in the evening our expected carriers arrived with the luggage, some of which has been wetted and damaged in the marshes. We are informed that horses will be sent us from Jenna to-morrow. My brother has been amusing himself the greater part of this afternoon in teaching the simple-hearted chief to play on a child’s penny Jew’s-harp, many of which we have brought with us as presents; but his proficiency, owing to a wonderfully capacious mouth, and teeth of extraordinary size, has not been near so flattering as could have been wished. His people, however, who had assembled in great numbers, were of a different opinion, and when they heard their chief draw the first sound from the little instrument,

‘Shouts of applause ran rattling to the skies.’

Turnpikes are as common from Badágry to this place as on any public road in England. Instead of horses, carriages, &c., people carrying burdens alone are taxed; but as we are under protection of the government, no duty has been exacted for any of our things.

_Sunday, April 4th._—We arose at sunrise this morning to make arrangements for leaving this place, which is no easy task; and sent to signify our intention to the chief shortly after. He expressed a desire to see us as soon as we could conveniently come, and accordingly after breakfast we repaired to his habitation, which is adjoining ours. Led through a number of yards and huts, inhabited only by goats and sheep, which were tethered to posts, and a quantity of tame pigeons, we perceived the object of our visit squatting on a leopard’s skin under a decent-looking verandah. He was surrounded by his drummers and other distinguished persons, who made room for us when we drew near. But the chief arose as soon as he saw us, and beckoning to us to follow him, we were ushered through a labyrinth of low huts, and still lower doors, till at last we entered the innermost apartment of the whole suite, and here we were requested to sit down and drink rum. The doors we had seen were carved with figures of men, which exactly resembled certain rude attempts at pourtraying the human body which may still be observed in several old churches and chapels in the West of England. The chief informed us that we were at liberty to quit Bídjie as soon as the heat of the sun should have somewhat abated, but previous to our departure he promised to return our visit. On leaving the place he followed us, though without our knowledge; but finding that we walked faster than he, and that he could not keep pace with us (for he is a bulky man), he hastily despatched a messenger to inform us that kings always walk with a slow and measured step, and that our strides being long and vulgar, he would thank us to lessen our speed, and stop awhile to enable him to come up with us, which of course we agreed to with great good will. A few minutes after this he reached our house, dressed in a tobe of green silk damask, very rich and showy, and a skull-cap made of purple and crimson velvet. With the exception of strings of white beads, which encircled his arms, he used no personal ornaments. He remained chatting with us a long time.

Many of the women of Bídjie have the flesh on their foreheads risen in the shape of marbles, and their cheeks similarly cut up and deformed. The lobes of their ears are likewise pierced, and the holes made surprisingly large, for the insertion of pieces of ivory and wood into them, which is a prevailing fashion with all ranks. We read the church service this morning, agreeably to our general custom. The natives, of whose society we have never been able to rid ourselves, seemed to attach great awe and reverence to our form of worship, for we had made them understand what we were going about, which induced them to pay a high degree of silent attention to the ceremony, and set at rest, for the time, that peculiar continuous laugh by which they are distinguished from their neighbours. In the afternoon, or as the natives express it, ‘when the sun had lost his strength,’ we departed from the town of Bídjie, accompanied by its good-natured, happy governor, and reached the banks of a rivulet called _Yow_ in a very few minutes. Butterflies were here more numerous than can be imagined; millions of them fluttered round us, and literally hid from our sight everything but their own variegated and beautiful wings.

Here, on the banks of the Yow, we took a last farewell of the affectionate old chief, who implored the ‘Great God’ to bless us; and as the canoes in which we had embarked moved from the spot, a loud long laugh, with clapping of hands from the lower classes, evinced the satisfaction they felt at having seen us, and their hearty wishes for our welfare. The Yow is an extremely narrow rivulet, not more than a few feet in breadth; and flows in a serpentine direction through a flat country, covered with rushes, and tall, rank grass. Crocodiles are said to resort here in great numbers; the low bark or growl of these rapacious animals we heard distinctly, and almost close to us. After we had been pushed along against the stream by poles for five or six miles, between four and five o’clock in the afternoon we landed at a narrow creek, which ran a little way into a thick and gloomy forest. We had not proceeded more than two hundred yards on the pathway, when we were met by a messenger from Jenna, who informed us that the owners of all the horses in the town had rode out to welcome their chief, and escort him to his residence, so that we should be obliged to walk the remainder of the way. A few minutes only had elapsed, however, from this time, before we descried a horse approaching us in the path. This was a goodly sight to us, who were already becoming wearied and sore with the exertions we had made during the day, for we did not reflect a moment that the animal might not, after all, be for our use. However, we soon met, and the rider immediately declared that he had left Jenna purposely on our account. The horse’s head was loaded with charms and fetíshes, enveloped in pieces of red and blue cloth. His saddle was of Háussa manufacture, and uncommonly neat; in the interior such an article is used only by the principal people; and his bridle also was of curious workmanship. The horseman had an extravagant idea of his own consequence, and seemed a prodigious boaster. He wore abundance of clothing, most of which was superfluous, but it made him excessively vain. He informed us that he had been despatched by the King of Jenna to meet us in the path, and to escort us to the capital; but understanding that Adooley had supplied us with horses, he did not conceive it necessary to send others. The messenger, however, dismounted and offered us his horse; and my brother and self agreed to ride him in turns. We therefore immediately proceeded, and traversed a rich and varied country, abounding plentifully with wood and water. A fine red sand covered the pathway, which we found to be in much better condition than any we had before seen. Sometimes it winded through an open, level tract of fine grazing land; and then again it diverged through forests so thick and deep, that the light of the moon, which had arisen, was unable to penetrate the gloom, and we were frequently left in midnight darkness. It would require greater powers than we are in possession of to give an adequate description of the magnificence, solemnity, and desolate repose, of the awful solitudes through which we passed this evening. They were enlightened, however, at times by the appearance of glowworms, which were so luminous that one could almost see to read by their golden splendour; and sometimes by the moonbeams, which trembled upon the leaves and branches of the trees. A fragrance also was exhaled from the forest, more odoriferous than the perfume of primroses or violets; and one might almost fancy, when threading his way through scenery which perhaps cannot be surpassed for beauty in any part of the world, that he was approaching those eternal shades where, in ancient time, the souls of good men were supposed to wander. The woods rang with the song of insects and night-birds, which saluted us with little intermission till about ten o’clock at night, when we entered _Lāatoo_, a large and pleasant town. Here we were informed that no house would be offered us, the fetísh-priest having declared that the moment a white man should enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, they would be seized by their enemies and enslaved. We arrived thirsty and exhausted, but for a long time could not procure even a drop of water. Our tent had been left on the road for want of carriers, and we had made up our minds to rest under a tree, when about two hours afterwards it was fortunately brought into the town. We fixed it immediately, and having succeeded in procuring wood from the unkind inhabitants, we kindled a fire in front of it, and our people laid themselves in groups outside, whilst we entered, and attempted vainly to sleep.

_Monday, April 5th._—Before sunrise this morning, we were all on the alert, and struck the tent at a very early hour. We then sent the carriers onward with the luggage, and hastily left the town after them, without bidding adieu either to the chief or any of his people, on account of their inhospitality; and in an hour’s time reached the extensive and important town of _Larro_. On dismounting, we were first led to a large, cleanly-swept square, wherein is preserved the fetísh of the place, which is the model of a canoe, having three wooden figures with paddles in it. After waiting in the shade for an hour, surrounded by an immense multitude of people of all ages, the chief’s approach was announced by a general rush from our quarters to the other end of the square, where he was walking. We went towards him in order to pay him the accustomed salutation of shaking of hands, &c.; but one of his followers, fancying that I kept his master’s hand clasped in mine longer than the occasion might warrant, looked fiercely in my face, and snatched away my hand eagerly and roughly, without, however, uttering a word. I could have pulled the fellow’s ears with the greatest good will in the world, had not the fear of secret revenge deterred me. As it was, I smothered my rising choler, and with my brother quietly followed the chief to his principal hut, under whose verandah we were served with goora nuts in a huge pewter platter. Presently the chief squatted himself down on a handsome rush mat of native manufacture, and we were desired to sit by him on an elegant Turkey carpet, which had been laid there for the purpose. He was rather fancifully dressed; and wore two tobes, that nearest the skin being of black silk velvet, and the other of crimson velvet, lined with sarsenet. His boots were of yellow leather, neatly worked; and his wrists were loaded with bracelets of silver and copper. The chiefs countenance betrayed much seriousness and solidity; and the diverting laugh of his countrymen was superseded by a sober cheerfulness. Many of his wives sat behind him in lines—some of whom were of a bright copper colour; indeed great numbers of the inhabitants of Larro have fairer complexions than mulattoes. The yard of the hut was crammed full of curious and inquisitive people, who stood with open mouth during the whole of the audience. The chief wished to impress strongly on our minds his own dignity and power; he said he was greater than the Governor of Jenna, inasmuch as the latter was a slave to the King of Katunga, but himself was a free man. He would give us permission to depart to-morrow, he continued; and in the meantime would supply us with provisions. The chief was as good as his word, for shortly after we had quitted the hut, we received a goat and some yams; and he returned our visit in the cool of the evening. It appears that it is not his general practice to drink spirituous liquors in presence of his people, or it may be against the law to do so; for having carefully excluded all prying eyes from our dwelling, and ordered a mat to be hung over the door-way, he even then turned his face to the wall, whenever he attempted to swallow the brandy we offered him. He remained with us rather better than an hour. We have forgotten to mention that, on our presentation to the chief in the morning, a chapter from the Koran was repeated to him by a Mohammedan priest, to which both he and his people seemed to pay great respect and attention.

Public schools are established here for the avowed purpose of teaching the rising generation the rudiments of the Mohammedan religion.

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

The inhabitants possess horses, asses, 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 these animals—indeed they may be said to grow up and live with the children of their owners. We have been amusing ourselves during the greater part of to-day in looking at the playful gambols of some very handsome goats, which had strayed into our abode; but the sheep are not near so tame or frolicsome, repelling all our 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.

We have observed the country to be sensibly rising to-day; and agriculture appears to be conducted on a regular system, which is an evident proof of the active and industrious habits of the people. The gloomy fastnesses and wildnesses of nature such as we passed on the first day or two of our journey from Badágry are less common as we advance; and open glades, with plantations of bananas, and fields of yams and Indian corn, all neatly fenced, met our view from the path yesterday and this morning. The inhabitants of Larro also exhibit greater cleanliness of person and tidiness of apparel than the tribes nearer the sea; and importunate beggars have disappeared entirely.

My brother and I begin already to feel the relaxing influence of the climate, but by the blessing of Heaven we hope that our progress through the country may not yet be impeded by sickness.

_Tuesday, April 6th._—The Chief of Larro requested my brother this morning to repair a sword of his which was broken, but the latter having expressed his ignorance of the art of cutlery, we were permitted to take our leave.

The sun had scarcely arisen above the horizon, and the mists of the morning yet hung upon the hills, when we quitted the town of Larro, and pursued our journey on horseback. Three horsemen from Jenna followed us on the path, and we were enlivened by the wild jingling of their animals’ bells, till we got within a mile of that town, where we alighted at a kind of turnpike, and fired a salute of two muskets. Here we were met by a parcel of fellows with horns, who blew on them with the accustomed energy of the natives: these men preceded us over a bridge, which is thrown across a moat that surrounds Jenna, into the centre of the town, where we again alighted, and awaited the chief’s pleasure in an open shed. We had not been seated many seconds before an immense crowd of people pressed in upon us on every side, subjecting us to the accustomed inconveniences of want of air, strong, unwholesome smells, and a confused hubbub that defies description. Never were people more eager to behold us. The little ones formed themselves into a ring close to the shed, then followed those of maturer age, after them came a still older class, and the last circle consisted of people as tall as steeples, most of whom held infants in their arms. Altogether was formed a large amphitheatre of black woolly heads, and teeth set in jetty faces; and although we felt rather annoyed at their innocent curiosity, and were obliged to wait a considerable time for the new chief, we could not help being highly diverted with the spectacle around us. At length, to our great relief and joy, news was brought that he was ready to receive us. Such is the etiquette here, that the longer a stranger is compelled to wait to be introduced, the greater is the honour done him, and the higher is the rank of that person supposed to be, who exacts this unpleasant delay. We 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 we were desired to place ourselves on his left. The women sang the praises of their master in a loud unpleasant voice, in which they were assisted by the music (equally unharmonious) of drums, fifes, clarionets, and horns. On our wishing the chief all the happiness in the world, those that had flocked into the yard after us, and every one near him, prostrated themselves on the ground and clapped their hands. Goora nuts were presented us in water, and a profusion of compliments passed on both sides; but the dignity of the newly-made governor seemed to sit rather awkwardly upon him, for he was shy and bashful as a maiden, and really appeared agitated and afraid of his white-faced visitants. Strange as it may seem, the patience of the most patient people in the world was completely exhausted, as might be seen by their desertion of the premises, before we quitted them, notwithstanding the few words that had passed between the chief and ourselves. The ceremony of introduction being over, we bade adieu to the chief, and having visited the grave of Dr. Morrison in our way, repaired to a hut which had been got ready for our reception.

The former governor of Jenna, who it will be recollected treated the gentlemen composing the last mission so handsomely, died about fifteen months ago, and the King of Yarriba chose one of the meanest of his slaves as his successor. This is an invariable rule with the sovereigns of that country, of which Jenna is a province, for they fear that its distance from the capital being very great, 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 Yarriba. The present governor is a Hàussa man, and was raised to the dignity he now holds, 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, we never recollect to have seen. The qualities of his heart, however, are said to be excellent, and his manners are mild and amiable. He had been twelve months in coming from Katunga to this place, being under the necessity of stopping at every town between Jenna and his capital to receive the applauses and congratulations of the inhabitants, and to join in their festivities and amusements. He did not make his entry here till yesterday.

Showers are becoming heavier and fall more frequently than they did; and the rainy season may fairly be said to have commenced. The thermometer fell suddenly to-day from 94° to 78°, and remained stationary there for the whole of the afternoon.

The chief sent us this evening a goat, and yams, milk, and honey.

_Wednesday, April 7th._—We carried a present to the governor this morning, which he received with every mark of satisfaction and gratitude; but he declared with sorrow that he should be obliged to send some of it to the King of Katunga, who would not let him 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 Mrs. Belzoni had given him, and that she was never afterwards heard of. This woman had the effrontery to introduce herself into our house to-day with an infant, whereof she asserted 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 Hàussa females to accompany her, that they might endeavour to induce her _quondam_ husband, who is 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, we were convinced, independently of the age and infirmities of Pascoe, that it could by no rule or law be his. Accordingly, notwithstanding the uproar occasioned by the women’s tongues, (which is no small matter in any part of the world,) the mother with her spurious offspring, and the ladies that 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 rib, who felt rather uncomfortable whilst the palàver was carrying on.

The fetísh priest of the town came dancing into our hut this afternoon, looking exceedingly wild, and roaring as if possessed of an evil spirit. We paid little attention to the fellow’s fooleries, who, not liking his reception, left the hut, after we had given him the accustomed fee of a few cowries. The man’s person and dress, together with its whimsical ornaments, were admirably fitted to impose on the credulity and superstition of the inhabitants, although many of the town’s people, 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 the priest’s countenance that we could not define. 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 cowries were suspended on this weapon, which were intermixed with bells, broken combs, small pieces of wood, with rude imitations of men’s faces cut on them, large sea-shells, bits of iron and brass, nut shells, &c. &c. Perhaps the number of cowries 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 our apartment, three or four others came to torment us 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 brass bells, and is played upon with one hand, whilst the fingers of the other are employed at the same time in tapping on its surface. The instrument itself is held under the left arm, but instead of an outer wooden case, strings alone are used from end to end, which being pressed against the musician’s side, sounds somewhat similar to those of a Scotch bag-pipe, 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.

_Tuesday, April 8th._—The two messengers that arrived at Badágry whilst we were there, and stated that they had been employed for the purpose by the Governor of Jenna, were this morning discovered to be impostors, and put in irons accordingly. But as the poor fellows had really been of essential service to us, inasmuch as by their representations they prevailed upon Adooley to give us leave to proceed on our journey much sooner than we ourselves could have done, we thought proper to intercede in their behalf, and although they were to have been sold as a punishment for their deception, they are now set at liberty. The person also that met us with a horse after crossing the river Yow, near Bídjie, proceeded thither on his own account, without the knowledge or consent of the governor; but as he is a Falàtah, and a respectable man, little has been said or done about that matter. The only motive which could have influenced these three men in their projects of assisting us, had been without doubt the expectation of receiving a trifling remuneration, and of this, notwithstanding an injunction to the contrary from the governor, we have not disappointed them. Their services were well-timed and very acceptable, and amply deserved a few needles and scissors.

We were witnesses this morning 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 we had formed of it. The performers were liberally supplied with country beer, and like most amusements of the kind, they ended this with wrangling and intoxication. The fellows that accompanied us as guides from Badágry, who in their native place would sell their birthright for a glass of rum, have now washed themselves and thrown aside their rags, appearing at all public places in borrowed finery. They now never leave their habitations without Adooley’s sword, which they have with them, and a host of followers. 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 principal of them wore an immense drab- coloured quaker’s hat, of the coarsest quality. They will scarcely deign to speak to a poor man.

We learn with regret that all the horses of the late governor of Jenna, were interred, according to custom, with the corpse of their master, and we begin to be apprehensive that we shall be obliged to walk the whole of the way to Katunga, as the present ruler is not the owner of a single beast of burden. This piece of ill news was carefully withheld from us till after the presents had all been duly delivered to the Governor and his head men; but the latter alone are to blame in this instance. Matters being in this unpleasant state, we have sent a messenger to the chief of Larro to inform him of the circumstance, and entreat him to redeem his promise of lending us a horse or a mule; and another to Adooley, requesting him to despatch immediately one of our horses at least from Badágry, for that we had found it impossible to do without him. But whether the latter will accede to it or not remains to be seen. We do not think that he will; and yet we can hardly imagine he will carry his chicanery so far, because he _must_ fear that the variety of orders we have given him to receive valuable presents from England will never be honoured by our countrymen if he refuses to fulfil his engagements to us.

This evening a corpse was interred at a short distance from our dwelling, and the friends of the deceased have been employed more than an hour in bewailing their loss. The low, plaintive noise they make sounds dolefully in our hut, and it has a very sorrowful and depressing effect on our spirits.

We have been pretty busily engaged during the whole of the afternoon in writing letters and despatches for England. They will be forwarded by Adooley as soon as possible to Cape Coast Castle. The Badágrian guides and carriers will return home to-morrow to our very great relief, for they have been a constant trouble, and have harassed us from morning till night.

_Friday, April 9th._—Since the demise of the late governor, it is calculated that Jenna has lost more than five hundred of its population, chiefly by wars, intestine broils, &c., and for want of a ruler. It must not be imagined, however, 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 amusement, or to ‘keep their hands in it;’ and partly to benefit themselves by the capture of slaves. As we were sailing down the coast, we were told that the natives of Cape 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 fashion 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 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 frequently become losers, instead of gainers by their unnatural passion 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 Falàtah mentioned in yesterday’s journal, paid us a visit, and offered his horse for sale. He is a Mohammedan 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 we paid thirty dollars. The merchant implored us 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 Mussulmen publicly went through their ablutions in front of our 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 us an Arabic hymn with very great solemnity, and the whole had an immediate and wonderful 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 worshippers a present of money. The Falàtahs are 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 the spirit 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 class of people. They have abundance of bullocks, pigs, goats, sheep, 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 of 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 unfrequently 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, answers the purpose of a livery.

_Saturday, April 10th._—The earlier part of this morning 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 lustre. The hut which we occupy is in a large square yard, and is the property of the late governor’s principal 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 broke out in one of them by some accident, the greater part perished. A few huts only are at present standing, together with black naked walls, and stakes which supported the verandahs, the latter reduced to charcoal. The tenantable buildings are inhabited by the female slaves of the owner of the square and ourselves. It is the custom here, 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 no ambition or inclination to follow their venerable husband to the grave, and went and hid themselves before the funeral ceremonies were performed, and have remained concealed ever since with the remainder of his women. To-day, however, one of these unfortunates,—she to whom our house belongs,—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 the fetísh-priest, was offered her. She has chosen the former mode of dying, as being the less terrible of the two, and has come to our yard to spend her last hours in the society of her faithful slaves. These address their mistress 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, most poignant grief; but now the arrival of their mistress has added, if possible, to their affliction. 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 easily be conceived, the distress is more peculiarly cutting. A heart that could not be touched at a scene of this nature must be unfeeling indeed. Females have been coming all day to condole with the old lady, and to weep with her; so that we have heard and seen nothing but sobbing and crying from morning till the setting of the sun. The principal males in the town have likewise been here to pay their last respects to their mistress; and so has her gravedigger, who has just risen from prostrating himself on the ground before her. Notwithstanding the representations and remonstrances of the priest, and the prayers of the venerable victim to her gods for fortitude to undergo the dreadful ordeal, her resolution has forsaken her more than once. She has entered our yard twice to expire in the arms of her women, and twice has she laid aside the fatal poison, in order to take another walk, and gaze once more on the splendour of the sun and the glory of the heavens, for she cannot bear the idea of losing sight of them for ever. She is still restless and uneasy, and would gladly run away from Death, if she durst, for that imaginary being appears to her in a more terrible light than our pictures represent him, with his shadowy form and fatal dart. Die she must, and she knows it; nevertheless she will tenaciously cling to life till the very last moment. Meanwhile her grave is preparing, and preparations are making for a wake at her funeral. She is to be buried here in one of her own huts the moment after the spirit has quitted the body, which will be ascertained by striking the ground near which it may be lying at the time, when, if no motion or struggle ensues, the old woman will be considered as dead. The poison used by the natives on this occasion destroys life, it is said, in fifteen minutes.

The reason of our not meeting with a better reception at Lāatoo when we slept there, 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_ here; but in the former country, I believe, no male victims are destroyed on such occasions. The _origin_ of this abominable custom is understood to have arisen from a dread on the part of the chiefs of the country in olden time, that their principal 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 far from having any motives 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 near so easily accounted for. The present governor of Jenna must of necessity go down to the grave on the first intelligence of the demise of the king of Yarriba; and as that monarch is a very aged man, the situation of the former is not the most enviable in the world.

Previous 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 his successor. The same custom is observed at Badágry 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.

Whenever a town is deprived of its chief, the inhabitants acknowledge no law—anarchy, troubles, and confusion immediately prevail, and till a successor is appointed all labour is at an end. The stronger oppress the weak, and consummate every species of crime, without being amenable to any tribunal for their actions. Private property is no longer respected; and thus before a person arrives to curb its licentiousness, a town is not unfrequently reduced from a flourishing state of prosperity and of happiness, to all the horrors of desolation.

_Sunday, April 11th._—This being Easter-day, we have devoted it exclusively to religious purposes. The messenger whom we sent to Badágry for our horse is not yet returned, although he promised to be back in four days from the time of his departure. He has exceeded the given time by a whole day, and as the man is a native of Badágry, we have given up all hopes of again seeing either him, or the horse, or the message-sword we lent him as a token that he had been sent by us. We have received positive assurances that leave will be granted us to depart hence on Tuesday next; but as we have one horse only, we shall be obliged to take it in turns to ride, or procure a hammock, which will be a difficult thing to get, and very expensive.

The old queen-dowager, like Prior’s thief,

‘Often takes leave, but seems loth to depart;’

although her doom is inevitably sealed, she has been more cheerful to- day than yesterday, and seems determined to spin out her thread of life to its utmost limit. Spies are now set over her, and she is not permitted to go out of the yard.

_Monday, April 12th._—Nothing deserving particular notice has occurred to-day. We have had the customary visit to our yard of a long line of women, who come every morning, with rueful countenances and streaming eyes, to lament the approaching death of the old widow. They weep, they beat their breasts and tear their hair, they moan, and exhibit all manner of violent affliction at the expected deprivation. Perhaps their sorrow is sincere, perhaps it is feigned. At all events their transports are ungoverned and outrageous; the first woman in the line begins the cry, and is instantly followed by the other voices; the opening notes of the lamentation are rather low and mournful,—the last wild and piercing.

The principal people of the place, finding the old lady still obstinately bent on deferring her _exit_, have sent a messenger to her native village to make known to her relatives that should she make her escape, they will take all of them into slavery, and burn their town to ashes, in conformity to an established and very ancient law. They would therefore strongly advise the relatives of the old woman, for their own sakes, and for the sake of the public, to use all their endeavours to prevail upon her to meet her fate honourably and with fortitude. A deputation is expected from the village to-morrow, when, no doubt, after a good deal of crying and condoling, and talking and persuading, the matter will eventually be decided against the old lady. It is understood that she has bribed a few of the most opulent and influential inhabitants of Jenna with large sums of money, to induce them to overlook her dereliction from the path of duty, and that by their representations she has obtained the tacit consent of the King of Katunga to live out the full term of her natural life. But the people for many miles round, horror-struck at such impiety and contempt for ancient customs, have risen to enforce the laws of the country against her.