The
Palace Was Merely A Large Enclosure, Consisting Of A Multitude Of Straw
Huts Separated From Each Other.
The sultan was away on a _ghrazzie_ or
slave-hunt, but returned next day, and sent for the English traveller.
After being conducted through three huts, which served as guard-houses,
Clapperton was ushered into a fourth, somewhat larger than the rest,
supported on pillars painted blue and white.
Sultan Bello had a
prepossessing and noble appearance, with a fine forehead, and large black
eyes. He appeared to be much pleased with the various presents laid
before him, expressing particular satisfaction at the sight of a compass
and spy-glass. He evidently possessed an enlarged and inquisitive mind;
was acquainted with the use of the telescope, named the planets and many
of the constellations, and was much struck with the quadrant, which he
called the "looking-glass of the sun." He desired that some of the
English books should be read to him, that he might hear the sound of the
language, which he admired much.
Sockatoo is surrounded by a wall about twenty-five feet high, with twelve
gates, which are closed at sunset. There are two large mosques, one of
which is about 800 feet long, built in rather a handsome style, and
adorned with wooden pillars. There is a spacious market-place. The
principal inhabitants live in clusters of flat-roofed cottages, built in
the Moorish style, and surrounded by high walls.
The sultan dissuaded Clapperton from his intention of journeying to the
western countries and the Gulf of Benin; giving him an account of the
dangerous and indeed almost impracticable nature of the route.
Clapperton, therefore, resolved to return. Before he departed, he
received an account of Park's death, which nearly coincided with the
statement of Amadi Fatouma. He passed through Kashna, which before the
rise of the Fellatahs, had been the most powerful kingdom in Africa its
power having extended from Bornou to the Niger. It still carries on a
considerable traffic with the Tuaricks. On the 8th July, he reached
Kouka, where he was joined by Major Denham, and both returned in safety,
after having suffered much in their harassing march across the desert.
CHAPTER XXXIII
_Clapperton's Second Journey_.
Encouraged by the discoveries made by Denham and Clapperton, and by the
safe return of two members of the mission, government resolved to send
out another expedition. Captain Clapperton, Captain Pearce, a good
draftsman, and Mr. Morrison, a naval surgeon, were the gentlemen selected
for this enterprize. They landed at Badagry about the beginning of
December 1825, and set out on their journey on the 7th. At the outset,
they were so imprudent as to sleep in the open air, in consequence of
which Morrison and Pearce were attacked with fever, and Clapperton with
ague. On the 23d, Morrison set out on his return to the ship, but died
before he reached it. On the 27th, Captain Pearce died; and Clapperton
was left to pursue his journey, attended only by Richard Lander, his
faithful and attached servant (whose name has been since associated with
the discovery of the Niger's termination), and Pascoe, an African.
After proceeding sixty miles into the interior, they reached the kingdom
of Yarriba or Eyeo. The soil is fertile, and well cultivated, yielding
abundant harvests of Indian corn, millet, yams, and cotton. The females
are industrious, and were frequently seen carrying burdens, spinning
cloths, and dyeing them with indigo. Here they met with a much better
reception than at Houssa, where they had been looked upon as Caffres, and
enemies of the Prophet; the negroes of Eyeo, on the contrary, regarded
them as beings of almost a superior order. At the entrance to each town,
they were greeted by thousands, with every demonstration of respect, and
the night of their arrival was sometimes spent by the natives in
festivity.
Their route now lay through a romantic range of hills, "the passes of
which were peculiarly narrow and rugged, hemmed in by gigantic blocks of
granite six or seven hundred feet high, sometimes fearfully overhanging
the road." Every level spot along the bottom, and even in the cliffs of
the mountains, bore crops of yams, millet, and cotton. Lander describes
one of the lovely spots that so beautifully relieved the sterner
magnificence of the rocks. "At noon we descended into a delightful
valley, situated in the bottom of a ridge of rocks, which effectually hid
it from observation till one approached almost close to it. It was
intersected with streams and rills, the elegant palm, and the
broad-leaved banana, covered with foliage, embellishing the sheltered and
beautifully romantic spot. In the centre was a sheet of water, resembling
an artificial pond, in which were numbers of young maidens from the
neighbouring town of Tschow, some of them reposing at full length on its
verdant banks, and some frisking and basking in the sun-beams, whilst
others were bathing in the cool waters." After leaving the mountains, the
travellers came to Tschow, a walled town of considerable size. As the
road was infested with robbers, they here procured an escort from the
king of Yarriba, consisting of 200 horsemen, and 400 warriors on foot,
armed with spears, bows, and arrows. The troops were dressed in a
grotesque fashion, some wearing gaudy robes, while others were in rags.
The whole cavalcade had a wild and romantic appearance as it wound along
the narrow and crooked paths, to the sound of rude instruments of music.
At noon, they came in sight of the city of Kakunda, picturesquely
situated at the foot of a mountain, and surrounded with trees. After
riding nearly five miles through the streets, pressed upon by the escort,
and almost stunned by the noise of the musicians, the weary travellers at
length reached the palace. The king sat under a verandah, with two
umbrellas spread above him, surrounded by above 400 of his wives, and
many of his chief men. He was dressed in two long cotton robes, decorated
with strings of glass beads, with a pasteboard crown, covered with
cotton, upon his head.
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