On The 14th, Captain Pearce And Richard Lander Were Taken Ill.

They had by this, time reached Laboo, a town situated on a rising ground, where the country begins to undulate in hill and dale.

Its distance from the coast is not specified, but it can hardly be so much as fifty miles, as Lagos can be reached in one day by a messenger, yet the journey had occupied the travellers no fewer than seven days. The delay seems partly to have been occasioned by the heavy baggage and stores, and by the difficulty of obtaining bearers. The Eyeo people, as they were afterwards told, are unaccustomed to carry hammocks, and they ought to have proceeded on horseback, in fact, Lander did not hesitate to express himself in rather severe terms, in regard to the manner in which the early part of the expedition was conducted; for, had the plan been adopted of making use of horses for the conveyance of the baggage, and not have allowed themselves to be delayed by the difficulty of procuring human assistance; had the whole party pressed forward to Laboo, and there attempted to recruit their strength, it is highly probable that they would have altogether escaped the poisonous effects of the miasmata.

The country thus far appears to have been an almost perfect level; in some places swampy, for the most part covered with dense forests, but partially cultivated, and very populous. Towns and villages were numerous, and everywhere on the road they were met by numbers of people, chiefly women, bearing loads of produce on their heads, always cheerful and obliging, and delighted to see white men. At Humba, the inhabitants kept up singing and dancing all night, in the true negro style, round the house allotted to the white men. Their songs were in chorus, and, as Lander expressed himself, "not unlike some church-music that I have heard."

On leaving Laboo, they were attended for some distance by the caboceer of the town, at the head of the whole population, the women singing in chorus, and holding up both hands as they passed, while groupes of people were seen kneeling down, and apparently wishing them a good journey. The road now lay over an undulating country, through plantations of millet, yams, and maize, and at three hours from Laboo, led to Jannah, which was once a walled town, but the gate and fosse are all that remain of the fortifications. It is situated on a gentle declivity, commanding an extensive prospect to the westward; to the eastward the view is interrupted by thick woods. The inhabitants may amount to from eight hundred to a thousand souls. The account which Lander gave us of the natives of this district was highly favourable. He had only to complain of the eternal loquacity of the women, by which he was exceedingly annoyed; in addition to which, they appeared sometimes to be highly offended because, as he was ignorant of their language, he very often committed the most extraordinary blunders, in the answers which he gave by signs, and which were wholly opposite to what they had every reason to expect, from the significant language which they made use of. The women here are, however, not much better treated than in more central Africa; not only the domestic duties are performed by them, but in all matters of industry the labour appears to be imposed upon them, whilst their husbands or owners are loitering away their time, telling unaccountable stories to each other, or sleeping under the shade of some of the beautiful trees which adorn this part of the country.

Very differently is it constituted with the canine species; for here the dog is treated with respect, and made the companion of man; here he has collars round his neck, of various colours, and ornamented with kowries; he sits by his master, and follows him in all his journeys and visits. The great man is never without one; and it appeared to Lander that a boy was appointed to take care of him. In no other country in Africa is this faithful animal treated with common humanity.

The general character of the people of Eyeo appears to be good and amiable, and, as a proof of their honesty, to which all the travellers bore ample testimony, they had now travelled sixty miles in eight days, with a numerous and heavy baggage, and about ten different relays of carriers, without losing so much as the value of a shilling, public or private; a circumstance evincing not only somewhat more than common honesty in the inhabitants, but a degree of subordination and regular government, which could not have been supposed to exist among a people hitherto considered as barbarous. It appears, however, that the Eyeo captain, Adamooli, had not quite so high an opinion of their spontaneous honesty; for he told the travellers, at Puka, to keep a good look-out after their things, as the people there were great thieves.

In some branches of the arts they possess an extraordinary skill. They are great carvers; their doors, drums, and every thing of wood being carved. In the weaving of cloth and linen they also evinced considerable skill. Eight or ten looms were seen at work in one house; in fact it was a regular manufactory. Captain Clapperton visited several cloth manufactories, and three dye-houses, with upwards of twenty vats in each, all in full work. The indigo is of excellent quality, and the cloth of a good texture; some of it very fine. The women are the dyers, the boys the weavers, the men, in general, lookers on. The loom and shuttles are on the same principle as the common English loom, but the warp is only four inches wide. They also manufacture earthen-ware, but prefer that of Europe, which they obtain from Badagry. In walking through the town, the strangers were followed by an immense crowd, but met with not a word nor a look of disrespect.

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