The Account Which Clapperton Gives Of The Action
Which Then Took Place Is Curious, "After The Midday Prayers, All Except
The eunuchs, camel drivers, and such other servants as were of use only
to prevent theft, whether mounted or on
Foot, marched towards the object
of attack, and soon arrived before the walls of the city. I also
accompanied them, and took up my station close to the Gadado. The march
had been the most disorderly that can be imagined; horse and foot
intermingling in the greatest confusion, all rushing to get forward;
sometimes the followers of one chief tumbling amongst those of another,
when swords were half unsheathed, but all ending in making a face, or
putting on a threatening aspect. We soon arrived before Coonia, the
capital of the rebels of Goobur, which was not above half a mile in
diameter, being nearly circular, and built on the bank of one of the
branches of the rivers or lakes, which I have mentioned. Each chief, as
he came up, took his station, which, I suppose, had previously been
assigned to him. The number of fighting men brought before the town could
not, I think, be less than fifty or sixty thousand, horse and foot, of
which the foot amounted to more than nine-tenths. For the depth of two
hundred yards all round the walls, was a dense circle of men and horses.
The horse kept out of bow-shot, while the foot went up as they felt
courage or inclination, and kept up a straggling fire, with about thirty
muskets and the shooting of arrows. In the front of the Sulfcaa, the
Zeg-Zeg troops had one French fusil: the Kano forces had forty-one
muskets. These fellows, whenever they fired their pieces, ran out of
bow-shot to load; all of them were slaves: not a single Fellatah had a
musket. The enemy kept up a sure and slow fight, seldom throwing away
their arrows, until they saw an opportunity of letting fly with effect.
Now and then a single horseman would gallop up to the ditch, taking care
to cover himself with his large leather shield, and return as fast as he
went, generally calling out lustily when he got among his own party,
'Shields to the wall!' 'You people of the Gadado or Atego,' &c, 'why
don't you hasten to the wall?' To which some voices would call out, 'Oh!
you have a good large shield to cover you!' The cry of 'Shields to the
wall!' was constantly heard from the several chiefs to their troops; but
they disregarded the call, and neither chiefs nor vassals moved from the
spot. At length the men in quilted armour went up. They certainly cut not
a bad figure at a distance, as their helmets were ornamented with black
and white ostrich feathers, and the sides of the helmets with pieces of
tin, which glittered in the sun, their long quilted cloaks of gaudy
colours, reaching over part of the horses' tails, and hanging over their
flanks.
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