On the 21st of January, 1825, they reached Tripoli, and soon after embarked for Leghorn. Before leaving, however, Major Denham obtained the freedom of a Mandara boy, whose liberation from slavery he had paid for some months before. He now got the pacha to put his seal on the necessary document, the only way in which a Christian can give freedom to a slave in a Mahommedan country.
The travellers were long detained by quarantine at Leghorn, so that the three survivors of the expedition did not teach England till the 1st of June.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON'S SECOND JOURNEY.
CAPTAIN CLAPPERTON'S SECOND JOURNEY, ACCOMPANIED BY RICHARD LANDER-- JOINED BY CAPTAIN PEARCE--MESSRS. MORRISON AND DICKSON--REACHES BENIN-- JOURNEY OF DICKSON AND COLUMBUS--THEIR DISAPPEARANCE--CLAPPERTON STARTS FROM BADAGARRY--JOINED BY MR. HOUTSON--EXPEDITION REACHES JANNAH-- ATTACKED BY FEVER--WELL RECEIVED--FONDNESS OF PEOPLE FOR DOGS--DEATH OF CAPTAIN PEARCE AND DR. MORRISON--THE KING OF EYEO AND HIS WIVES-- BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY--FELATAH VILLAGES--ENTER YOURIBA--THE KING'S COURT-- ENTERTAINED WITH A PLAY--MR. HOUTSON RETURNS AND DIES--CLAPPERTON, WITH LANDER AND PASCO, PROCEEDS ALONE--REACHES WAWA, NEAR THE NIGER--THE WIDOW ZUMA--INQUIRIES ABOUT PARK--VISITS THE SCENE OF HIS DEATH--WELL TREATED BY KING OF WAWA--ENTERS KINGDOM OF NYFFE--LAX MAHOMMEDANS-- DESOLATED BY WARFARE--REACHES KANO--LEAVES LANDER WITH THE BAGGAGE, AND PROCEEDS TO SACKATOO ALONE--TRYING JOURNEY--WELL RECEIVED BY BELLO-- SIEGE OF ZEG-ZEG--ABSURD STYLE OF FIGHTING--BELLO SEIZES HIS PROPERTY-- LANDER ARRIVES AT SACKATOO--ILLNESS AND DEATH OF CLAPPERTON--BURIED BY LANDER--LANDER SETS OUT WITH INTENTION OF EXPLORING THE NIGER--WARNED NOT TO PROCEED SOUTH--LEAVES KANO FOR THE WEST--TAKEN TO ZARIA--ALLOWED TO PROCEED--CONTINUES JOURNEY ALONE TO BADAGARRY, AND ARRIVES IN ENGLAND.
From the favourable report which Clapperton on his return home brought of the Sultan Bello of Sackatoo, and his wish to open up a commercial intercourse with the English, the Government determined at once to send out another expedition, in the hopes that that object might be carried out, and that means might be found for putting a check on the slave trade in that part of Africa.
Clapperton, now raised to the rank of commander, was placed at the head of the expedition. Captain Pearce and a Mr Morrison, a naval surgeon, were appointed to serve under him. He also engaged the services of Mr Dickson, another surgeon, and of a very intelligent young man, Richard Lander, who was to act as his servant.
As Sultan Bello stated that two large towns under his government existed near the coast, called Funda and Raka, and that he would send down messengers, whom his friends would meet on their arrival, it was settled that the expedition should proceed to the Bight of Benin, and thence make their way to Sackatoo. Losing no time, the very year after his return Clapperton sailed from Portsmouth on board HM sloop "Brazen,"
and, touching at Sierra Leone, arrived at Benin on the 26th of November.
Mr Dickson, wishing to make his way alone to Sackatoo, was landed at Whidah, taking with him Columbus, Denham's former servant, and from thence, in company with a Portuguese of the name of De Sousa, he set off for Dahomey. Here he was well received and was sent forward to a place called Shar, seventeen days' journey from Dahomey. From thence he was known to have set forward with another escort, but from that time nothing whatever was heard of him or his attendant, Columbus.
At Benin Clapperton met an English merchant of the name of Houtson, who advised him not to ascend the river, but to take a route from Badagarry across the country to Katunga, the capital of Youriba.
Under the sanction of the King of Badagarry, the mission set out on its long and perilous journey on the 7th of December, accompanied by Mr Houtson.
At Badagarry Clapperton had engaged an old negro, who had been a sailor, named Pasco, and who, speaking English, was likely to prove useful as an interpreter.
Travelling on sixty miles, the mission entered the town of Jannah. By this time all its members were suffering greatly from the climate; Captain Pearce and Dr Morrison especially were very ill, and Richard Lander was also suffering. Those who were able had ridden on horseback, but the sick were carried in hammocks.
They halted in the palaver-house, an open shed, which was soon surrounded by thousands of people making a great noise. Here they waited till the caboceer, or chief man, made his appearance. He came gorgeously attired in a large yellow silk shirt and red velvet cap, with a silver-mounted whip ornamented with beads in one hand, and a stick covered with bells in the other, which he rattled whenever he spoke. He took his seat on a large leathern cushion, placed on a scarlet cloth.
When Captain Clapperton was going to sit down on the cloth, the attendant ladies pulled it from under him; so he took his seat on a mat.
The females then sang in chorus very beautifully. The members of the commission then shook hands with the caboceer, who said he was glad to see them, and that whatever they had to say to the King of Eyeo must first be delivered to him. Their reply was that they had nothing to say, except to request that the king would grant them a passage through his country. His answer was that he was glad, that they should see the King of Eyeo's face, and that he would give them a good path and forward them on without trouble; but that they must ride on horseback, as his people were unaccustomed to carry hammocks. They were then shown to a house, where they remained during their stay.
As Captain Clapperton and Mr Houtson walked through the town, they were followed by an immense crowd, who rushed over the baskets in the market-place, the boys darting under the stalls, the women bawling after those who had scattered their goods; yet not a word of disrespect was uttered to the strangers. They remarked the kind way in which the dogs in this place were treated, their necks ornamented with collars of different colours, and cowries. No great man was without one, which always has a boy to take care of it.
The people, hearing that a Brazilian brig had arrived at Badagarry, were preparing to set out on a slaving expedition to a place to the eastward.
Slave-dealers as the people were, they deserve to be commended for their honesty; for during the whole journey hitherto, although the mission had had ten relays of carriers, not a single article had been stolen.
A few days after, Dr Morrison, who continued to get worse, requested to return, hoping that the sea air would restore him. Mr Houtson accompanied him back to Jannah. The next day Dawson, a seaman, who, while suffering from ague caught at Jannah, had fallen off into the water in the morning, died in the evening. Three days afterwards Captain Pearce, who, supported by his wonderful spirits, insisted upon coming on, grew much morse, and at nine in the evening he breathed his last.
The death of his friend was a serious loss to Clapperton, for he was eminently qualified by his talents and perseverance to render essential service to the mission.
Another three days passed, when Mr Houtson returned with the sad news that Dr Morrison had died at Jannah on the same day as Captain Pearce.
Mr Houtson, though unwell, still insisted on accompanying Clapperton.
Powerful as the king of Eyeo pretended to be, he employed his wives in every place to trade for him, and, like women of the common class, they were seen carrying large loads on their heads from town to town.
On the 6th of January, 1826, the travellers entered the town of Chocho, beyond which their road lay through beautiful rocky valleys, cultivated in many places, and planted with cotton, corn, yarns, and bananas, and many watered by little streams. Numbers of little huts were seen perched on the tops and in the hollows of the hills. Beautiful as the country was, it was the scene of the miserable devastating wars carried on in all parts of Africa for the purpose of obtaining slaves to be sold on the coast.
On the 8th they entered Duffo, a town containing fifteen thousand people. The crowd which came to see them in the house where they were lodged was immense. When the people were told to go away, they said: "No; if white man would not come out, they would come in to see him."
They passed numerous other large towns, and were received in a friendly manner by the caboceers, and were well supplied with fowls, sheep, and goats. Yet the people, though kind, were exceedingly curious, and allowed them but little rest.
Further eastward they passed a number of Felatah villages, whose inhabitants live there as they do in most other parts of Africa, attending to the pasturage of their cattle, without interfering in the customs of the country, or receiving any annoyance from the natives.
Some of them, as they passed, brought them milk to drink.
Further on, however, they came to a number of villages, some of which had been destroyed by the Felatahs, their walls being already covered with weeds.
As they approached Katunga, the capital of Youriba, the caboceer, with an enormous escort, came out to meet them. His musicians kept drumming, playing, dancing, and singing all night.
The country round was well-cultivated. The city, as they saw it lying below them, appeared surrounded and studded with green, shady trees, forming a belt round the base of a granite mountain.
The king was found seated under the verandah of his house, with two red and blue umbrellas, raised on large poles, held over him by slaves.
The crowd, as they advanced, had to be kept back with sticks and whips; but they were used in a good-natured manner.
Clapperton was told that he must prostrate himself before the king; but this he declined doing, saying that he would turn back unless he was allowed to act as he would do before his own sovereign; that he would only take off his hat, and bow, and shake hands with his majesty, if he pleased. The king agreed to this, and the English were introduced in due form.
Behind the king were an immense number of ladies, so closely packed that it was impossible to count them. They stood up as the strangers approached, and cheered them, shouting "Oh, oh, oh!" equivalent to "Hurra!" while the men outside joined them.
The king had on a large white shirt, with a blue one under it, and a pasteboard crown, covered with blue cotton, made apparently by some European on the coast, and sent up to him as a present.
Comfortable apartments were provided for them, and in the evening the king himself made his appearance, plainly dressed, with a long staff in his hand, saying that he could not sleep till he had personally ascertained how they were.
They spent two very pleasant days here, resting after the fatigues of their journey. The king pressed them to remain to see the national amusements, which would begin in about two months. On this, Mr Houtson enquired whether they were such as took place at Dahomey, on which the king declared that no human beings were ever sacrificed in Youriba, and that if he ordered the King of Dahomey to desist from such a practice he must obey him.
The king had sent forward a messenger to open the way to Nyffe, and till he returned they were compelled to remain at the capital.
They were entertained here with a pantomime, the stage being the open ground before his majesty's residences, the characters appearing in masks. One of them presented an enormous snake, which crept out of a huge bag and followed the manager round the park while he defended himself with a sword. Out of another sack came a man covered apparently with white wax, to look like a European, miserably thin and starved with cold. He went through the ceremony of taking snuff and rubbing his nose. When he walked it was with an awkward gait, treading as the most tender-footed white man would do in walking with bare soles over rough ground.
Clapperton pretended to be as much pleased with this caricature of a white man as the natives were.
Between each act the king's women sang a number of choral songs, joined by the crowd outside.
They thankfully heard, on the 6th of March, that the messengers had returned, and that they might set out the next day, when the king presented Clapperton with a horse and bade him farewell.
Mr Houtson, who had been for some time suffering from illness, was compelled to return, and he, too, died on reaching the coast.
Clapperton, with his faithful attendant, Richard Lander, and the black, Pasco, proceeded alone. They had evidence as they advanced of the destruction caused by the Felatahs, in the number of villages which had been burnt down, while the inhabitants of others, who had taken to flight, were seen returning to their homes.
A few days after starting they overtook a large caravan belonging to Haussa, on its way from Gonga and Ashantee. It consisted of upwards of a thousand men and women, and as many beasts of burden. The head man offered to carry Clapperton's baggage to Kano for a certain sum. He said that he had been detained in Gonga twelve months on account of the wars. Their goods were carried on bullocks, mules, asses, and also by a number of female slaves. Some of the merchants had no more property than they could carry on their own heads. The chief of the town, however, advised Clapperton not to trust the caravan leader, for, as he had no means of conveying his luggage, he would undoubtedly leave him in the lurch. He therefore proceeded as he intended, alone.
On the 20th of March Clapperton entered the village of Barakina, the inhabitants of which were noted as the best hunters in the country. As he entered, a hunter came in from the chase. He wore a leopard-skin over his shoulder, carrying a light spear in his hand, and his bow and arrows slung over his shoulder. He was followed by three cream-coloured dogs, their necks adorned with collars of different-coloured leather.
He was followed by a slave carrying a dead antelope.
On leaving this village he passed through a narrow gorge, shaded by tall majestic trees. "Here," he thought to himself, "are the gates leading to the Niger."