It was a sign of warm hospitality that, although the whole caravan had fallen to the charge of a single household, sufficient quantities not only of “nyíro,” the common dish of Indian corn, but even of meat, were brought to us in the evening. While passing the village, I had observed that all the corn on the fields was “geróri,” or Pennisetum (millet—dukhn), a kind of grain originally, it would seem, so strange to the Fúlbe, that they have not even a word of their own for it, having only modified a little the Háusa word “géro”; not a single blade of “baíri,” or sorghum, was to be seen. The scarcity was less felt here than in the northern districts of the country, and we brought some grain for our horses as a supply for the next day.
Thursday, June 19.—We started early in the morning, continuing along the straggling hamlets and rich cornfields of Chabajáule for a mile and a half; when we passed two slave villages, or “rúmde,” belonging to a rich Púllo, of the name of Hanúri. All the meadows were beautifully adorned with white violet-striped lilies. We then entered a wooded tract, ascending at the same time considerably on the hilly ground which juts out from the foot of Mount Bágelé, and which allowed us a clearer view of the geological character of the mountain. Having again emerged from the forest upon an open, cultivated, and populous district, we passed the large village of Dulí, and, having descended and reascended again we obtained a most beautiful view near the village Gúroré, which lies on rising ground, surrounded by a good many large monkey-bread-trees, or bodóje (sing. bokki). For from this elevated spot we enjoyed a prospect over the beautiful meadow-lands sloping gently down towards the river, which from this spot is not much more than five miles distant, taking its course between Mounts Bengo and Bágelé, and washing the foot of the latter, but not visible to us. The country continued beautiful and pleasant, and was here enlivened by numerous herds of cattle, while in the villages which we had passed I had seen none, as the Fúlbe drive their cattle frequently to very distant grazing grounds.
While marching along at a good pace, Mohámmedu walked up to me, and with a certain feeling of pride showed me his fields, “gashí gonakína.” Though a poor man, he was master of three slaves, a very small fortune in a conquered and newly colonized country, like Ádamáwa, based entirely upon slavery, where many individuals have each more than a thousand slaves. I was greatly surprised to see here a remarkable specimen of a bokki or monkey-bread-tree, branching off from the ground into three separate trunks; at least, I never remember to have seen anything like it, although the tree is the most common representative of the vegetable kingdom through the whole breadth of Central Africa. All the ground to the right of the path is inundated during the height of the flood.
We had now closely approached the Bágelé, the summit of which, though not very high, is generally enveloped in clouds, a fact which, when conveyed to me in the obscure language of the natives, had led me to the misconception, while writing in Kúkawa my report of the provisional information I had obtained of the country whither I was about to proceed, that this mountain was of volcanic character. It seems to consist chiefly of granite, and has a very rugged surface, strewn with great irregular blocks, from between which trees shoot up. Nevertheless, stretching out to a length of several miles from south-south-east to north-north-west, it contains a good many spots of arable land, which support eighteen little hamlets of independent pagans. These, protected by the inaccessible character of their strongholds, and their formidable double spears, have not only been able hitherto to repulse all the attacks which the proud Mohammedans, the centre of whose government is only a few miles distant, have made against them, but, descending from their haunts, commit almost daily depredations upon the cattle of their enemies.[65] One of their little hamlets, perched on the top of steep cliffs, we could plainly distinguish by the recently thatched roofs of the huts, the snow-white colour of which very conspicuously shone forth from the dark masses of the rock. The country was always gaining in interest as we advanced, the meadow-lands being covered with living creatures of every description, such as cattle, horses, asses, goats, and sheep, and we reached the easternmost cluster of huts of the large straggling village or district of Ribáwo or Ribágo,[66] stretching out on our left on a little rising ground. The district is not only rich in corn and pasturage, but also in fish, which are most plentiful in a large inlet or backwater, “illágul,” as it is called by the Fúlbe, branching off from the river along the north-east foot of the Bágelé, and closely approaching the village. In this shallow water the fish are easily caught.
Numbers of inquisitive people of every age and sex gathered round us from the neighbouring hamlets; but while hovering round me and the camels with great delight, they behaved very decently and quietly. They followed us till we took up our quarters a little before ten o’clock, with a friend of Bíllama’s, in a large group of huts lying close to the path, and shaded by most luxuriant trees. Although there were several clean huts, I preferred the cool and ventilated entrance hall of the same description as I have mentioned above, and remained here even during the night, although a most terrible storm, which broke out at six o’clock in the evening, and lasted full four hours, flooded the whole ground, and rendered my resting-place rather too cool. I would advise other travellers not to follow my example during the rainy season, but rather to make themselves comfortable in the warm interior of a well-protected hut.
In our last march through these rich low grounds, which are every year flooded by the river, I had not observed the least traces of the cultivation of rice, for which they seem to be so marvellously adapted, the cultivation round Ribágo being almost exclusively limited to maiwa or maiwári, a peculiar species of sorghum called “matëa” in Kanúri. On inquiring why these people did not grow rice, I learnt that the Fúlbe hereabouts had all migrated from Bórnu after the downfall of their jemmára and dominion in that country, when not only were the new political intruders repulsed, but even the old settlers, who had been established in that country from very ancient times, were obliged to emigrate. In Bórnu, however, as I have had occasion to mention before, no rice is cultivated, so that these people, although at present established in regions where rice would probably succeed much better than millet and Indian corn, abstain entirely from its cultivation. On the other hand, in the western parts of Adamáwa and in Hamárruwa, whither the Fúlbe had migrated from Háusa, rice is cultivated to a considerable extent. On a former occasion I have already touched on the question, whether rice be indigenous in Negroland or not. It has evidently been cultivated from time immemorial in the countries along the middle course of the Ísa, or Kwára, from Kébbi up to Gágho, or Gógó; but this might seem to be in consequence of a very ancient intercourse between those regions and Egypt, which I hope to be able to establish in the course of my narrative. It grows, however, wild in many parts, from the southern provinces of Bórnu, Bagírmi, and Wadáy, as far north as el Haúdh and Bághena, on the border of the western desert.
Another important point of which I here became aware was, that the Bátta language, which, among the numerous languages of Ádamáwa, or rather Fúmbiná, is the most extensively spoken, has two very different dialects; for, being anxious to finish my small vocabulary of this language, which I had commenced in Kúkawa with the assistance of Mohámmedu, I soon found that the dialect spoken here differed considerably from that of which I had previously written specimens. The Bátta language, as I have stated above, is intimately related to the Marghí and Záni idiom, and bears several points of resemblance to the Músgu language, which is itself related to the various dialects of Kótoko. All these languages have some general points of affinity to the South African languages.
At present, however, the indigenous population is almost totally extinct in this district, which is exclusively inhabited by the conquerors, who have here found an abode remarkably suited to their mode of living. The whole place has not less than six thousand inhabitants.
Friday, June 20.—We started early in order to reach the capital, if possible, before noon, and passed through several hamlets, all belonging to the extensive village or district of Ribágo, and interrupted here and there by projecting masses of schistose rock, while the concavity between this rising ground and Mount Bágelé was fast filling with the flood from the river, and presented already a considerable sheet of water. The country, after we had passed this populous district, became thickly wooded, which I had not expected to find so near the capital; and, on account of some ravines which intersect it, and of the neighbourhood of the inlet of the river, it certainly cannot afford a very easy passage towards the end of the rainy season. Here also the rock projects above the plain in many places.
About eight o’clock, when we had travelled round the south-western foot of Mount Bágelé, we passed through a number of small hamlets, which however did not exhibit any traces of cultivation, and then again entered upon a wild tract, while we obtained a glance at a picturesquely seated place before us, which I unhesitatingly took for Yóla, but which proved to be a small village situated at a considerable distance from the capital. Before we reached it, we had to cross a sheet of water nearly five feet deep, and called by my companions “Máyo Bínti,” which caused us a great deal of trouble and delay, and wetted almost all my luggage. The water, which at present had no current, skirts the foot of the rocky slope on which the village is situated, the name of which is Yebbórewó. Here our camels created an extraordinary interest, and a great many women, although we did not attend to their wish to stop, managed to pass under the bellies of these tall creatures, in the hope of obtaining their blessing, as they thought them sacred animals.