At half-past two in the morning we stopped at the lake Gondamee, to water our horses and beasts of burden, and to give the foot passengers and slaves time to fill their gourds and water-skins. The place is reckoned the most dangerous in the whole road, as it is only one day’s journey to the north of Kalawawa, the capital of the province of Goober, which has been for some time in a state of open rebellion.
The appearance of the country was much the same as before. At four in the morning we came to a large lawn in the woods, where we again halted for an hour. I felt quite refreshed by this short rest. The country to the westward of the lake of Gondamee rises into ridges, running north-north-east, with loose gravelly stones and clay on the surface. We continued to travel with the utmost speed, but the people soon began to fag; and the lady of the Felatah chief, who rode not far distant from me, began to complain of fatigue. At noon we halted at the side of a hollow, said to be the haunt of lions, where water is generally found, but this year it was dry. Tracks of elephants were every where visible, but I perceived no marks of lions. We stopped here only half an hour, and set off again, through a country rising into low hills, composed of red clay and loose stones, the descent of some of which proved both difficult and dangerous to the loaded camels. At eight in the evening we halted at the wells of Kamoon, all extremely fatigued. I ordered a little kouskousoo for supper, but fell asleep before it was ready. When I awoke at midnight, I found it by my side; never in my whole life did I make a more delicious repast.
March 16.—At day-break I discovered our camels had strayed in quest of food, nor could I be angry with their keepers, feeling so tired myself from our rapid journey. Indeed my ankles were considerably swelled and inflamed. Here again I experienced the civility of the escort, as all the horsemen were immediately despatched after the camels, with which they returned about eight o’clock. I gave the man who found them a Spanish dollar, and to the commander of the escort, and his two principal officers, I made each a present of a cotton kaftan, or loose gown, a knife, looking-glass, snuff-box, razor, and some spices.
I now left the wells of Kamoon, followed by my escort and a numerous retinue, amid a loud flourish of horns and trumpets. Of course this extraordinary respect was paid to me as the servant of the king of England, as I was styled in the sheikh of Bornou’s letter. To impress them further with my official importance, I arrayed myself in my lieutenant’s coat, trimmed with gold lace, white trowsers, and silk stockings, and, to complete my finery, I wore Turkish slippers and a turban. Although my limbs pained me extremely, in consequence of our recent forced march, I constrained myself to assume the utmost serenity of countenance, in order to meet with befitting dignity the honours they lavished on me, the humble representative of my country.
Near Kamoon the country is hilly, but seemed to yield much grain. The soil is red clay, mixed with gravel, the stones of which looked as if covered with iron rust. We passed some beautiful springs on the sloping declivities of the hills, which in general are low, and run in broken ridges in a north-east direction. The valleys between the hills became wider as we approached Sackatoo, which capital we at length saw from the top of the second hill after we left Kamoon. A messenger from the sultan met us here, to bid me welcome, and to acquaint us that his master was at a neighbouring town, on his return from a ghrazie, or expedition, but intended to be in Sackatoo in the evening. Crowds of people were thronging to market with wood, straw, onions, indigo, &c. At noon we arrived at Sackatoo, where a great multitude of people was assembled to look at me, and I entered the city amid the hearty welcomes of young and old. I was conducted to the house of the gadado, or vizier, where apartments were provided for me and my servants. After being supplied with plenty of milk, I was left to repose myself. The gadado, an elderly man named Simnou Bona Lima, arrived near midnight, and came instantly to see me. He was excessively polite, but would on no account drink tea with me, as he said I was a stranger in their land, and had not yet eaten of his bread. He told me the sultan wished to see me in the morning, and repeatedly assured me of experiencing the most cordial reception. He spoke Arabic extremely well, which he said he learned solely from the Koran.
March 17.—After breakfast the sultan sent for me; his residence was at no great distance. In front of it there is a large quadrangle, into which several of the principal streets of the city lead. We passed through three coozees, as guardhouses, without the least detention, and were immediately ushered into the presence of Bello, the second sultan of the Felatahs. He was seated on a small carpet, between two pillars supporting the roof of a thatched house, not unlike one of our cottages. The walls and pillars were painted blue and white, in the Moorish taste; and on the back wall was sketched a fire-screen, ornamented with a coarse painting of a flower-pot. An arm-chair, with an iron lamp standing on it, was placed on each side of the screen. The sultan bade me many hearty welcomes, and asked me if I was not much tired with my journey from Burderawa. I told him it was the most severe travelling I had experienced between Tripoli and Sackatoo, and thanked him for the guard, the conduct of which I did not fail to commend in the strongest terms.
He asked me a great many questions about Europe, and our religious distinctions. He was acquainted with the names of some of the more ancient sects, and asked whether we were Nestorians or Socinians. To extricate myself from the embarrassment occasioned by this question, I bluntly replied we were called Protestants. “What are Protestants?” says he. I attempted to explain to him, as well as I was able, that having protested, more than two centuries and a half ago, against the superstition, absurdities, and abuses practised in those days, we had ever since professed to follow simply what was written “in the book of our Lord Jesus,” as they call the New Testament, and thence received the name of Protestants. He continued to ask several other theological questions, until I was obliged to confess myself not sufficiently versed in religious subtleties to resolve these knotty points, having always left that task to others more learned than myself. He now ordered some books to be produced which belonged to Major Denham, and began to speak with great bitterness of the late Boo Khaloom, for making a predatory inroad into his territories; adding, in his own words, “I am sure the bashaw of Tripoli never meant to strike me with one hand, while he offers a present with the other: at least it is a strange way for friends to act. But what was your friend doing there?” he asked abruptly. I assured the sultan, that Major Denham had no other object than to make a short excursion into the country. The books being brought in, proved to be the Nautical Almanack, two Reviews, Lord Bacon’s Essays, and Major Denham’s Journal; all which the sultan returned to me in the most handsome manner. Before taking leave, however, I had to explain the contents of each, and was set to read them, in order to give him an opportunity of hearing the sound of our language, which he thought very beautiful. The sultan is a noble-looking man, forty-four years of age, although much younger in appearance, five feet ten inches high, portly in person, with a short curling black beard, a small mouth, a fine forehead, a Grecian nose, and large black eyes. He was dressed in a light blue cotton tobe, with a white muslin turban, the shawl of which he wore over the nose and mouth in the Tuarick fashion.
In the afternoon I repeated my visit, accompanied by the gadado, Mahomed El Wordee, and Mahomed Gumsoo, the principal Arab of the city, to whom I had a letter of introduction from Hat Salah at Kano. The sultan was sitting in the same apartment in which he received me in the morning. I now laid before him a present, in the name of His Majesty the King of England, consisting of two new blunderbusses highly ornamented with silver, the double-barrelled pistols, pocket-compass, and embroidered jacket of the late Dr. Oudney; a scarlet bornouse trimmed with silver lace, a pair of scarlet breeches, thirty yards of red silk, two white, two red, and two Egyptian turban shawls, the latter trimmed with gold; four pounds each of cloves and cinnamon; three cases of gunpowder, with shot and balls; three razors, three clasp-knives, three looking-glasses; six snuff-boxes, three of paper, and three of tin; a spy-glass, and a large English tea-tray, on which the smaller articles were arranged. He took them up one by one. The compass and spy-glass excited great interest; and he seemed much gratified when I pointed out that by means of the former, he could at any time find out the east to address himself in his daily prayers. He said, “Every thing is wonderful; but you are the greatest curiosity of all!” and then added, “What can I give that is most acceptable to the King of England?” I replied, “The most acceptable service you can render to the King of England, is to co-operate with His Majesty in putting a stop to the slave trade on the coast: as the King of England sends every year large ships to cruise there, for the sole purpose of seizing all vessels engaged in this trade, whose crews are thrown into prison; and of liberating the unfortunate slaves, on whom lands and houses are conferred, at one of our settlements in Africa. “What!” said he, “have you no slaves in England?” “No. Whenever a slave sets his foot in England, he is from that moment free.”—“What do you then do for servants?” “We hire them for a stated period, and give them regular wages: nor is any person in England allowed to strike another; and the very soldiers are fed, clothed, and paid by Government.” “God is great!” he exclaimed; “You are a beautiful people.” I next presented the sheikh of Bornou’s letter. On perusing it, he assured me I should see all that was to be seen within his dominions, as well as in Youri and Nyffee, both of which, I informed him, I was anxious to visit. He expressed great regret at the death of Dr. Oudney, as he wished particularly to see an English physician, who might instruct his people in the healing art. In the evening I made a present to the gadado of a scarlet bornouse, a pair of scarlet breeches, a red Turkish jacket, two white, and one red turban shawls, three razors, three knives, three paper snuff-boxes, and three of tin, three looking-glasses, two pounds of cloves, and two pounds of cinnamon. The gadado is an excellent man, and has unbounded influence with the sultan, to whose sister he is married.
March 18.—Weather clear and warm. Although I was very ill all day, the courtyard of my house was crowded with people, from sunrise to sunset; all of whom I had to see with the greatest patience, and to answer their numberless questions, such as, “Have you rain in your country?” “Have you wheat?” “Have you goats, sheep, and horses?” But the obvious and favourite interrogatory was, “What are you come for?” This I always attempted to explain to their satisfaction; telling them, “I came to see the country, its rivers, mountains, and inhabitants, its flowers, fruits, minerals, and animals, and to ascertain wherein they differed from those in other parts of the world. When their friends travelled among strange nations, did they not on their return ask them what they had seen? The people of England could all read and write, and were acquainted with most other regions of the earth; but of this country alone they hitherto knew scarcely any thing, and erroneously regarded the inhabitants as naked savages, devoid of religion, and not far removed from the condition of wild beasts: whereas I found them, from my personal observation, to be civilized, learned, humane, and pious.”
March 19.—I was sent for by the sultan, and desired to bring with me the “looking-glass of the sun,” the name they gave to my sextant. I was conducted farther into the interior of his residence than on my two former visits. This part consisted of coozees, pretty far apart from each other. I first exhibited a planisphere of the heavenly bodies. The sultan knew all the signs of the Zodiac, some of the constellations, and many of the stars, by their Arabic names. The “looking-glass of the sun” was then brought forward, and occasioned much surprise. I had to explain all its appendages. The inverting telescope was an object of intense astonishment; and I had to stand at some little distance, to let the sultan look at me through it; for his people were all afraid of placing themselves within its magical influence. I had next to show him how to take an observation of the sun. The case of the artificial horizon, of which I had lost the key, was sometimes very difficult to open, as happened on this occasion: I asked one of the people near me for a knife to press up the lid. He handed me one much too small, and I quite inadvertently asked for a dagger for the same purpose. The sultan was instantly thrown into a fright: he seized his sword, and half drawing it from the scabbard, placed it before him, trembling all the time like an aspen leaf. I did not deem it prudent to take the least notice of his alarm, although it was I who had in reality most cause of fear; and on receiving the dagger, I calmly opened the case, and returned the weapon to its owner with apparent unconcern. When the artificial horizon was arranged, the sultan and all his attendants had a peep at the sun; and my breach of etiquette seemed entirely forgotten. After the curiosity of all was satisfied, I returned to my house. I had now a severe headach, and was seized with violent vomiting. In the evening the sultan sent me two sheep, a camel-load of wheat and rice, some plantains, and some of the finest figs I had ever tasted in Africa.