Loggun, the capital of which country (Kernuk) is on the banks of the Shary, and in 11° 7′ north latitude, is a very populous country. Kernuk has fifteen thousand inhabitants at least. They speak a language nearly Begharmi. The Shouaas are all round them, and to them they are indebted for the plentiful supply of bullocks, milk, and fat, with which the market abounds: these necessaries are paid for by tobes, and blue cotton in stripes, which the Loggun people make and dye of a very beautiful colour. They have, also, a metal currency in Loggun, the first I had seen in Negroland: it consists of thin plates of iron, something in the shape of the tip with which they shoe race-horses: these are made into parcels of ten and twelve, according to the weight, and thirty of these parcels are equal in value to ten rottola, or a dollar.
The money market, however, of Loggun, has its fluctuations: the value of this “circulating medium” is settled by proclamation, at the commencement of the weekly market, every Wednesday; and speculations are made, by the bulls and bears, according to their belief of its rise or fall. Previous to the sultan’s receiving tribute or duty on bullocks or indigo, the delatoo generally proclaims the currency to be below par; while, on the contrary, when he has purchases to make for his household, preparatory to one of their feasts, the value of the metal is invariably increased. The proclamation of the value of the metal always excites an amazing disturbance, as if some were losers and some gainers by the variation.
They are a much handsomer race than the Bornouese, and far more intelligent—the women particularly so; and they possess a superior carriage and manner to any negro nation I had seen. The ladies of the principal persons of the country visited me, accompanied by one or more female slaves. They examined every thing, even to the pockets of my trowsers; and more inquisitive ladies I never saw in any country: they begged for every thing, and nearly all attempted to steal something; when found out, they only laughed heartily, clapped their hands together, and exclaimed, “Why, how sharp he is! Only think! Why he caught us!” If they may be said to excel my Bornou friends in accomplishments, they fall far behind them in modesty. They are passionately fond of cloves, which, when pounded and mixed with fat, they rub over their hair and skin. To give them their due, they are the cleverest and the most immoral race I had met with in the Black country.
I was not a little surprised the next day at hearing that there were two sultans, father and son, both at the head of strong parties, and both equally fearing and hating each other: that I had seen the son, but that it was absolutely necessary to give the elder at least as much as I had given the younger one. I remonstrated; but Bellal assured me that his slaves were the most expert thieves in the kingdom—that no walls could stop them if the sultan once gave the word “Forage.” There was no alternative; so putting ten dollars in a stocking, and tying up in a French silk handkerchief two strings of coral, and a few cloves, with six gilt basket-buttons, I presented him with them, and had the pleasure of hearing that his majesty was highly gratified by the present. Of the bad terms on which these rival sultans were, notwithstanding their consanguinity, I had pretty good proofs, by their both sending to me for poison in secret; “that would not lie,” to use their own expression. The mai n’bussa, the young sultan, as the son was called, sent me three female slaves, under fifteen years of age, as an inducement; whom I returned, explaining, in pretty strong terms, our abhorrence of such proceedings; for which I had the satisfaction of hearing myself, and all my countrymen, pronounced fools a hundred times over.
On the 19th, my poor colleague seemed a little better: he had slept, and was more calm and easier. I left him in the morning for the purpose of proceeding up the river, and returning the next day, or the day after that. The Shary, after leaving Kussery, makes a sweep nearly due south, when it winds to the south-west; and nearly on the apex of the sinuosity, if I may so express myself, stands the capital of Loggun. The river is here not more that 400 yards in breadth. The canoes are different from those of Showy, measuring nearly fifty feet in length, and capable of carrying twenty or twenty-five persons: they are built of two fine-grained woods, called kagam and birgam, which grow in abundance along the banks from Williky to Loggun: the planks are often from two to three feet wide.
It was near noon, when we had ascended but a few miles, that a canoe was seen following our track, with a speed denoting some extraordinary occurrence; and on their reaching us, and reporting the cause of this haste, such confusion took place amongst my party, that out of seven canoes which accompanied me, not one remained; all made for the shore; and it was with some difficulty that we could persuade our own to return with us to Loggun. We now found that the Begharmis were again on the Medba, and coming towards Loggun. The sultan, on our return, sent for us, and desired the sheikh’s people to quit his dominions instanter. I told him that I came expressly to remain some time; that Bellal might return; but that for myself, I was his subject, and must remain under his protection; added to which I had a sick friend, and a sick servant, and that I could not move. This, however, he would not hear of. Bellal was desired to quit Loggun, and to take all of us with him. “More than half my people are Begharmi,” said the sultan; “I have no protection to give—go, go! while you can.” Obliged to obey, I raised my suffering friend, who was unable to assist himself in any way: we set him on a horse, and with no provisions but a sack of parched corn, which the sultan gave us, at four o’clock the same day we quitted the walls, when the three gates were shut upon us, one after the other, with great satisfaction, by an immense crowd of people.
It was late at night when we halted near some deserted cattle sheds, of the Shouaa Arabs, who had fled; and in one of which we laid my exhausted companion, while I kept watch on the outside. From this time, until the night of the 21st, when we came to a small village called Tilley, on the banks of Gambalarum, we had scarcely any rest, and but little food. Bellal and his slaves becoming impatient, I had ridden on with him in front, for the purpose of keeping him always in sight, while I left Mr. Toole in charge of Columbus, who was sufficiently recovered to attend to all his wants; occasionally, however, going back myself, and urging them to keep up as much as possible. It had now been dark for four hours, and the road was winding, thickly wooded, and intricate. Bellal proceeded to search for the ford, preparatory to crossing the stream: to this I decidedly objected, until our companions and baggage came up; knowing that our doing so must depend on the state of my patient. He made various objections, but as I dismounted, and began gathering wood for a signal-fire, he gave up the point: they answered immediately the glare of the flame, and curling smoke, by a shot; and Bellal and I proceeded in the direction of the sound, for the purpose of conducting them to the spot we had rested on: a second and a third shot, however, were necessary before we could meet, so intricate were the paths. I found Mr. Toole perfectly senseless, and we laid him on a bed of unripe indigo, near our fire, wrapped up in his blanket, while a little warm tea was prepared for him, and he soon after fell into a sound sleep. Bellal now recommenced searching for the ford, which I allowed him to do; fully determined, however, not to disturb my companion until morning, unless the danger of our situation should increase: he returned soon after midnight, and pronounced the river not fordable, either above or below the town. We were obliged, therefore, to load instantly, and proceed by a more northerly route, where our danger was greater. My companion allowed himself to be moved, with great patience; and Bellal, of whose bravery and kind-heartedness I had seen many proofs, shed tears on observing the sad change, which disease had effected in my once lively and active comrade. He declared that his anxiety was more on our account than on his own, as he never would see the sheikh’s face, or Kouka, if any thing happened to us. We passed the walls of Affadai soon after daylight, from whence the people were flying in all directions, and rested for the night at Yrun, after fording the river at Solon: here the natives had determined on making a stand; and three of the four gates were built up, while the fourth had only space sufficient left for a man to force himself through. The kaid sent to invite us to remain; and furnished us with milk, and fresh fish, as well as with corn for our half-famished animals. We raised a tent over Mr. Toole, where he lay on the ground, and twice, during the night, gave him rice and tea; after which, to my inexpressible delight, he slept. On the following day we reached Angala, a place of comparative safety, and where we were sure of protection. On passing over the plain which leads to this city, I shot a very large korrigum, a species of antelope, with long annulated horns, nearly as large as a red deer. At Angala we took up our old quarters, at the house of the delatoo; and Mr. Toole, on being told where he was, exclaimed “Thank God! then I shall not die!” And so much better was he for the two following days, that I had great hopes of his recovery: about four o’clock, however, on the morning of the 26th of February, those hopes were at an end. A cold shivering had seized him, and his extremities were like ice. I gave him both tea and rice-water; and there was but little alteration in him, until just before noon, when, without a struggle or a groan, he expired, completely worn out and exhausted.
The same afternoon, just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, I followed his remains to their last resting-place, a deep grave, which six of the sultan of Angala’s slaves had prepared, under my direction, to the north-west of the town, overhung by a clump of mimosas in full blossom. The delatoo, or prime minister, attended the procession with his staff of office, and a silent prayer breathed over all that remained of my departed friend, was the best funeral service circumstances allowed me to perform. After raising over the grave a pile of thorns and branches of the prickly tulloh, several feet high, as a protection against the flocks of hyænas, who nightly infest the burying-places in this country, I returned to the town. In the course of my life, I had seen many of my less fortunate companions pay the great debt of nature—their deaths generally caused by severe and painful battle wounds; but the recollections left on my mind by the calm departure of my amiable and suffering companion exceeded all former ones in acuteness—proving, that in grief, as in pleasure, sensations of the more quiet and gentle kind often make a deeper impression on the heart than those of a fiercer or more violent nature. Not by me alone, however, was he lamented even here; so pleasing were his manners, and so various his acquirements, that his friends and relations have much to regret in his loss; but they may also be proud of having had him for a connexion.
Mr. Toole possessed qualifications which rendered him particularly useful on a service of this nature. He was persevering and intrepid, and of a most obliging, cheerful, and kind disposition: only once did he declare his incapability to proceed, and refused to be lashed on the camel; but when I sat down on the ground beside him, and Bellal and the sheikh’s people prepared to leave us, he cried out, “No! no! heed me not: tie me on once more; but, pray, gently: you will not leave me alone! and I shall be the cause of others falling into unnecessary peril.”