The hut, measuring about twelve feet in diameter, was built in the manner most usual in these regions—namely, of clay walls, with a thatched roof. The door, a little elevated above the floor, was three feet high, and fifteen inches wide, and not at all adapted for very stout persons. From the wall at the right of the door (a) ran another wall, “gáruwel súdo,” of the same height, but unconnected with the roof, right across the hut in an oblique line, to the length of about six feet, separating one part of the dwelling, and securing to it more privacy. In this compartment was the bed (c), consisting of a frame made of branches, and spread over pilasters of clay about three feet high. In the most sequestered part of the hut, in the corner formed by the round enclosing wall and the oblique one, at the top of the bed—“kéla kagá,” as the Kanúri say—stood the corn-urn (a), about six feet high, and, in its largest part, two feet wide, destined to keep a certain provision of corn always at hand; besides this, there was a smaller one (fe) at the foot of the bed—“shí kagá.” At the side of this smaller urn were two small pedestals of clay (g), serving the purpose of a sideboard, in order to place upon them pots or other articles. Then followed the kitchen, “defforíde” (h), still under cover of the oblique wall, but exactly on a line with it, so that the smoke might more easily find its way through the door, and consisting of a narrow place enclosed on each side by a low wall, to protect the fire, between which three stones, or rather small clay mounds like fire-bricks, supported the cooking-pot, while a small wooden footstool (i) accommodated the industrious landlady when busy with her most important culinary employment. While to all this part of the hut a certain degree of privacy was secured by the oblique wall, a considerable space to the left of the door remained unprotected; and here stood the large water-urn (j), which, always remaining in its place, is filled by means of smaller portable urns or pitchers.
Tuesday, July 8.—It seemed almost as if we were destined to stay another day in this place; for just when we were about to start, a most violent shower came down, and lasted full two hours. When at length we were able to set out on our road to Úba, it was excessively wet, the streams greatly swollen, and the weather still anything but bright and clear. At Úba, again, we remained much longer than I wished. In the evening, after our arrival, the governor went on an expedition against the Kílba-Gáya. Falling suddenly upon the poor pagans at early dawn, he captured a good many slaves; but the persecuted natives rallied, and, taking advantage of a defile through which he had to pass on his return to his residence, suddenly attacked him, and succeeded in rescuing all their countrymen from the hands of their relentless enemies. During my absence the corn had almost ripened; and the fields afforded a spectacle of the utmost exuberance. Almost all the grain here is sorghum, and mostly of the white kind; the average height of the stalks was from nine to ten feet. The whole area of the town was clothed in the richest vegetation, of great variety, where a botanist might have made a numerous collection.
Thursday, July 10.—Íbrahíma, the principal of the two men whom Mohammed Láwl had appointed to escort me to the frontier of his province, accompanied me a short distance when we left Úba. This man, who, perhaps because he was not well treated in Kúkawa, behaved rather sullenly on our journey to Ádamáwa, had become infinitely more amiable after the governor of that country had sent me back. He not only manifested on every occasion his heartfelt sorrow on account of my having been disappointed in the expectation of travelling over that interesting country in every direction, but he still more lamented that his countrymen had been deprived, by the imprudence of their ruler, of the advantage of my presence in the country. I have had occasion to observe repeatedly, that there is a great deal of republican spirit in Fúlbe, and that they have in general the air and manners of freeborn men, though I shall have to dwell upon the deterioration of this original character in the case of the inhabitants of Sókoto.
The commencement of our march through the unsafe and infested boundary-district from Úba northward was not very auspicious; and I was almost afraid lest, after having been allowed to reach the frontier unmolested, we were doomed to some insidious treachery in these lawless lands. The original arrangement was, that some other people should succeed to Íbrahíma, in order to see me safe to Íssege; but they never made their appearance, and we had scarcely parted from Íbrahíma when all sorts of alarms frightened and disturbed our little band. First a dreadful noise was heard from above the rocks at the foot of which lay our road; but it was found to proceed only from a countless multitude of birds of prey enjoying their liberty in noisy mirth. Then, when we reached the fields of corn within this rocky passage, which on our outward journey we had seen under cultivation, we were prevented by armed men from passing through them, and were obliged to make a long circuit. A little further on, people came running after us, and attempted to take away by force two of the slaves whom some of our companions were leading along; and when resisted, they raised a dismal cry for help, which was heard resounding to a great distance through the wild country. Serious quarrels seemed imminent; but fortunately no one came to their assistance.
About thirty travellers, all of them armed either with spears or with bows and arrows, had attached themselves to our troop. I got ready all my cartridges; and we were well on our guard. We had advanced about five miles from Úba, and were in the middle of the forest, when a more serious alarm arose, several people being seen lurking among the trees,—an unmistakable proof that they meditated an attack, if we should exhibit any signs of weakness. We therefore rallied a moment, and formed in front, the most sturdy of our spearmen gathering round me, and begging me to take steady aim when they should point out to me the chief men. But the natives, belonging most probably to the tribe of the Báza, who always infest this road, seeing that we were prepared to receive them, did not dare to quit their ambush; and having continued awhile along the path, we thought it wiser to leave it, and struck off to the west into the thickest covert of the wood, where the camels with their luggage had some difficulty in passing through, especially as the soil was cracked and rent in all directions. Having trudged on in this way for about two hours, and feeling sure that we were not pursued, we returned to the path, but left it again about noon, and, pursuing another track, reached Laháula, a village of unlucky memory, on the western side. But this time we were well received, not only by ʿAisha, but also by his wild and passionate son, who became a great friend of mine, and, having received from me a present of a knife, brought me three fowls in return, while his father sent túwo for all my people. I sketched the danísko, or handbill of my friend, which was of a peculiarly regular shape.
Friday, July 11.—On leaving Laháula in the morning, we again preferred the covert to the beaten path; but after we had gone round Kófa, which Bíllama thought it better to avoid, we returned to our well-known road parallel to the river and the mountain-chain beyond, and reached Íssege without any accident, early in the afternoon. There, too, my reception was very different from that which I had experienced on my going; and I was received with the utmost kindness and hospitality into the house of a wealthy family at the northern end of the village, and quartered in a neat little hut, the walls of which consisted of thatch, like the roof, but were plastered over with clay. The little hut, which scarcely measured seven feet in diameter, contained two couches, one raised above the ground to the right, and the other on the level of the ground on the left of the entrance. Three spears, a common shield, and a large shield called “chággo” by the Marghí, “kutufáni” by the Kanúri, consisting of a thick texture of reed, and big enough to protect two or three persons, a basket and a net, “úturu,” hanging from the roof, formed the furniture of this little dwelling, which was the apartment of the youngest son of the family, a fine, tall, and slender young man, with a very pleasant expression of countenance. Except that he wore the “funó,” a small leathern apron, round his waist, he was quite naked, but loaded with coquettish ornaments. Round his neck he wore a double string of red beads, a little lower another set of three strings of corals, and still lower again a set of two strings of iron beads; on his left shoulder he wore four broad iron rings, or “kégelá;” on his elbow two other narrow iron rings (barachággo) very neatly worked like beads; on his wrist six narrow and one broad iron ring, or “únzo,” and above them an ivory ring, or “yécho.” The right arm was not so richly endowed with ornaments, having only four iron rings at the upper part, and two on the wrist. Below his knee he wore a chain of cotton very neatly twisted—this is called “shishídderi,”[80]—and on his foot-joint a narrow iron ring called “míltedo.” However, I observed afterwards, that this young man did not wear all the national ornaments of his tribe; for I saw others who wore in addition an iron chain round their loins, which is called “shushú.” All these iron articles are very neatly made by the people of Wándalá, Morá being only two days’ march from this; and I only regret that I was not able to bring some of these articles home as specimens of the industry of the natives, as well as of the excellent quality of iron which they possess. This young man did not wear the “sér,” as they call it, a small reed or feather in the left ear.
I delighted my youthful host by the present of a mirror; and I gave a knife to his father, when he returned from the labour of the field. My little hut was not without a crowd of visitors the whole of the afternoon, all the friends of my host coming to see me. They were admitted in a regular way, five at a time, and behaved very decently, while they admired the few curious things which I had to show them. I was greatly amused by the simplicity of my young host and one of his brothers, who, when I presented them with small bits of sugar, gradually nibbled them away, and at the same time compared their size continually, till they were reduced to very diminutive morsels, when they agreed between them to give the remnants to a sister.
The language of these people, which, as I have stated, is intimately related to that of the Bátta, seems to show that they belong rather to the family of South African tribes, than to the group of neighbouring tribes of Central Negroland.