It seems remarkable that the Músgu, as well as the Marghí, and several divisions of the kindred Kótoko, call the cattle by a name which closely approaches that given to it by the Háusa people, while the Bátta call it by a name which is certainly derived from the Fulfúlde, or the language of the Fúlbe. Such linguistic relations are not without interest, as they afford some little insight into the history of the civilization of these regions. A little variety was given to the monotonous proceedings of our rather inglorious expedition, by the fact of one of the Shúwa, who was supposed to have been killed a few days previously, being found under a tree in the forest, severely wounded, but still alive, after having undergone great hardships and privations.
Friday, Jan. 9.—The whole district in which we had been roving about since the 30th December belongs to Wúliya, which is decidedly one of the most fertile and best-irrigated regions in the world.
A desolate border-district, consisting at times of green swampy ground uprooted by the footprints of the elephant, and on this account affording a very difficult passage for cavalry, at others of dense forest, the one following the other in rapid succession, separated Wúliya from another principality, of the name of Bárea, and inhabited by a tribe of the Músgu of the name of Ábare. It was characteristic of the little peaceful intercourse which exists among these various petty tribes, that the Ábare did not seem to have had the slightest information of the approach of the expedition, till we suddenly came upon them through the dense forest, so that they had scarcely time to escape with their families from the village, and endeavour to hide themselves in the dense covert of the forest towards the east. They were pursued and overpowered, after a short resistance, by the continually increasing numbers of the enemy; and the booty of that day, chiefly in cattle, was rather considerable. Slaves were also brought in in considerable numbers, principally young boys and girls. The distance of the field of battle spared us the sight of the slaughter of the full-grown men.
We chose our camping-ground on the stubble-fields between the straggling groups of the village, which were beautifully adorned by some fine specimens of the deléb-palm; and I took the opportunity of making a sketch of this scene of natural fertility, and wanton destruction of human happiness. The huts in general were of the same construction and arrangement as those described above; but in one of them I found a kind of three-pointed harpoon or spear very similar to a hay-fork, with this difference, that the middle point was rather longer. The handle also was rather long, measuring about eight feet. It probably was used for catching fish, rather than as a weapon, otherwise it would scarcely have been left behind; but it may easily have served both purposes.
Thus by very short marches we again approached Bórnu, keeping mostly at a short distance eastward from our former route, and encamped the following day in the midst of another straggling village, the fields of which were especially shaded by fine bíto-trees (Balanites Ægyptiaca), the soil being as hard as iron. I had scarcely pitched my tent when Hámed, the son of Íbrahím Wádáy, one of the courtiers with whom I was on friendly terms, sent to me, begging I would pay him a visit; and, upon complying with his wish, he introduced into my presence a female slave who had been taken the day before, telling me that I might make a drawing of her; for he knew that I was making strict inquiries after the origin and customs of these tribes, and that I was making occasional sketches. This female slave was certainly worthy of a sketch, as she was one of the most stately women I saw here. But I entertained some suspicion that she was not of Músgu origin, but belonged to the Marghí; for in the whole of the Músgu country I had not observed a single individual of red colour, but all were of the same dirty black, approaching to what the French call café-au-lait, while this woman was of a red complexion. She certainly wore in her under lip the large bone, the national emblem of the Músgu females; but this custom she might have adopted. As for herself, she would neither give me any information with respect to her origin, nor sit still in order to allow me to finish my sketch. She was tall and well grown, with the exception of the legs, which were rather crooked; and being still a young woman, her breasts had not attained that bag-like shape which is so disgusting in the elder females of this country. Her features were only a little disfigured by the bone in the under lip. Her neck was richly ornamented with strings of beads; but these were as little peculiar to her as the cotton cloth round her loins, having been given her by the new master into whose hands she had fallen. The national dress of the Músgu females consists of nothing but a narrow bandage, formed of bast, twisted like a rope, which is fastened between the legs and round the waist like a T bandage.
A circumstance happened here which caused a great sensation, particularly among the courtiers. The last messengers who had been sent from Kúkawa with despatches for the commander-in-chief, as I have observed, had been destroyed by the pagans; and it was on this day, and in this place, that, while all the cottages were being pillaged and ransacked, three of the letters of which those messengers had been the bearers, were found in the pocket of a shirt which had been hid in a clay jar. This was evidently the shirt of the messenger himself; and the blood with which it had been stained had been washed out without taking the letters out of the pocket. Devoid as the expedition was of feats of valour and interest, the greatest importance was attached to this little incident.
Sunday, Jan. 11.—When we left this place our friends just barely escaped punishment for their barbarous proceeding of burning the villages, in which we had encamped, as soon as we left them; for the conflagration spread before we had gained the open country, and a most horrible crushing took place among the burning huts. Had there been any wind, great part of the army might have been severely scorched. The country which we passed to-day was intersected by numerous watercourses; and we had to cross and recross them several times. Here we passed a place where the poor natives, in the consciousness of their weakness, seemed to have been aroused to new and unwonted energy for building a large fortification, but had been obliged to leave it half finished. Our march was extremely short, and scarcely extended to three miles, when we encamped in a village which seemed to have been ransacked at a former period. It lay straggling over a wide extent of ground, in separate groups of cottages, which were surrounded by stubble-fields shaded by karáge-trees of a richness and exuberance which I had not seen before, and surpassing even those fine trees of the same species which I have described near the village Kadé.
Of course every one was desirous of having his tent pitched in the shade of one of these beautiful trees, when suddenly the intruders were attacked by swarms of large bees, which, settling behind their ears, tormented them to the utmost, as if they wanted to take revenge for the mischief that had been done to their masters, and to defend their favourite resting-places, against these cruel intruders. It is well known that swarms of bees had almost caused the destruction of Mungo Park’s, as well as Major Gray’s expedition; but here a whole army was running away from these little creatures. Even those who had encamped at a greater distance were only able to protect themselves by the large volumes of smoke which issued from the fires they had lighted. Before this, we had not observed the rearing of bees in this country; but here the larger trees were full of beehives, made of large-sized blocks. Even flocks of turtle-doves were not wanting in this fertile region so rich in water and vegetation.