He Rode
Upon A Handsome Steed, Followed By An Admiring Crowd; Six Young Girls,
Each Flourishing Spears, And Who Had Only A Fillet On Their Heads, Ran By
His Side As He Galloped On.
"Their light form, the vivacity of their
eyes, and the ease with which they appeared to fly over the
Ground, made
them appear something more than mortal." When the king entered the hut in
which the travellers sat, these damsels, having deposited their weapons
at; the door, and attired themselves in blue mantles, came in and waited
upon him.
They now crossed a river which was said to have its source in Nyffe, and
to flow into the Niger above Rakah. It abounded in alligators. The
scenery in the neighbourhood is said to be very fine. "Our ears," says
Lander, "were ravished by the warbling of hundreds of small birds, which,
with parrots and parroquets, peopled the branches of the trees in the
vicinity of the stream, whose delightful banks were thereby overshadowed;
and the eye met a variety of beautiful objects, - groves of noble trees,
verdant hills, and smiling plains, through which the river winded,
carrying fertility and beauty in its course, and altogether forming a
rich and charming landscape." They then arrived at Wa-wa, a large city,
through which the Houssa caravans pass, and which has a population of
15,000. The inhabitants are dissolute and extravagant, spending all their
money in drinking and festivity. The ladies were very attentive to the
English, especially a fat widow called Zuma, who even pressed marriage
upon Clapperton, after she had exhibited to him all her wealth.
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