Do You Call The Name Of God Dirty Water?" This Mode Of Imbibing Sacred Truth Is Indeed Extensively Pursued Throughout The Interior Of The African Continent.

On the second day from Womba, the travellers passed through another large and populous town, called Akinjie, where also kafilas pay toll; beyond which, the route lay for two days over a very hilly country, for the most part covered with wood, and but little cultivated, till they approached Guari.

This town, the capital of a district of the same name, formerly included in Kashna, is built partly on a hill, and partly in a narrow valley, through which runs a muddy stream, that is dry in summer; this stream, the source of which is only a day's journey distant, divides in one part the states of Kotong Kora and Guari, and falls into the Kodonia in Nyffee. The district of Guari was conquered by the Fellatas, in a short time after their rising, together with the rest of Houssa. On the death of old Bello, the father of the then reigning sovereign, these districts, with the greater part of Kashna, joined in the towia, or confederacy, against the Fellatas. The chief of Zamfra was the first to shake the spear of rebellion, and he was soon joined by the natives of Goober, and the northern parts of Kashna, by Guari and Kotong Kora, and at length by the states of Youri, Cubbi, Doura, and the southern part of Zeg Zeg. The strength of Youri is said to lie in the bravery of its inhabitants, and the number of horse they can bring into the field, amounting to a thousand. Clapperton was, however, disposed to place their real strength in the hilly and woody nature of their country.

Futika, the frontier town of Zeg Zeg, was reached on the second day from Guari; and at Zaria, where the travellers arrived on the fourth, they found themselves in a city almost wholly peopled by Fellatas, who have mosques with minarets, and live in flat-roofed houses. The population is said to exceed that of Kano, and must contain above fifty thousand inhabitants. A great number of the inhabitants are from Foota Ronda and Foota Torra, the Foulahs and Fellatas being, in fact, the same people. The people from the west professed to be well acquainted with both the English and the French, and they rattled over the names of the towns between Sierra Leone and the Senegal and Timbuctoo. They were armed with French fusees, preferring the guns of the French and the powder of the English.

The old city of Zaria was taken by the Fellatas, within a month after they had made themselves masters of the provinces of Goober and Zamfra, about thirty years ago. It took a siege of two days, when it was evacuated by the sultan and the greater part of the inhabitants, who took refuge in hills south and west, where they still maintain their independence, though subject to the continual attacks of the Fellatas. The old city is now known only by its ruined walls, surrounding some high mounds, which were in the centre of the enclosed area. The new city, built by the Fellatas, to the south-east of the old, consists of a number of little villages and detached houses, scattered over an extensive area, surrounded with high clay walls. Near the centre of the wall stands the principal mosque, built of clay, with a minaret nearly fifty feet high. On entering one of the western gates, instead of finding houses, the travellers could but just see the tops of some of them over the growing grain, at about a quarter of a mile distance; all was walled fields full of dhourra, with here and there a horse tethered in the open space.

The province of Zeg Zeg is the most extensive in the kingdom of Houssa, and both Kashna and Kano were at one time tributary to its sovereigns. The name of the country appears to be also given to the capital, and is possibly derived from it. It must, however, be observed that Lander mentions Zaria only by the name of Zeg Zeg. Prior to the Fellata conquest, Islamism is said to have been unknown in Zeg Zeg, and the southern part is still in the possession of various pagan tribes, whose country is called Boushir or Boushi, that is, the infidel country, and is said to extend to the ocean.

The country in the vicinity of the capital, Zaria, is clear of wood, and is all either in pasture or under cultivation. Its appearance at this season resembled some of the finest counties in England at the latter end of April. It was beautifully variegated with hill and dale, like the most romantic parts of England; was covered with luxuriant crops and rich pastures, and produced the best rice grown in any part of that continent. Rows of tall trees, resembling gigantic avenues of poplar, extended from hill to hill. Zaria, like many other African cities, might be considered as a district of country surrounded with walls.

After passing several towns at the distance of short stages, the travellers, on the fourth day from Zaria, entered, at the town of Dunchow, the province of Kano. A highly cultivated and populous country extends from this place to Baebaejie, the next stage. This town stands in an extensive plain, stretching towards the north till lost in the horizon. The two mounts inside the walls of Kano are just distinguishable above the horizontal line, bearing north-east by north. The hills of Nora are seen about ten miles east; to the south are the mountains of Surem, distant about twenty-five miles, while to the westward appear the tops of the hills of Aushin, in Zeg Zeg, over which the route had passed. Small towns and villages are scattered over the plain, and herds of fine white cattle were seen grazing on the fallow ground. The inhabitants of Baebaejie, amounting to about twenty or twenty-five thousand, are chiefly refugees from Bornou and Waday, and their descendants, all engaged in trade.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 160 of 302
Words from 162845 to 163869 of 309561