In the afternoon I went to visit her sable majesty. I first repaired to Yarro’s house, where, after some conversation about my going away, I told him I wished to send a letter to Badagry, and if he wanted a tea-pot like mine I should send for one for him: he said yes, he wanted a tea-pot and a pair of gold bracelets, and some other things, which he would mention to me by and by. His wife and daughter came in: the first old and ugly; the next about twenty-five years old, which is past the meridian in this country. After paying their respects to Yarro, which is after the Yourriba fashion, I gave them one fathom of red cloth, one fathom of blue, some scissars, needles, beads, and silk. Yarro asked me if I would take his daughter for a wife; I said “Yes,” after a great many thanks for my present. The old woman went out, and I followed with the king’s head man, Abubecker. I went to the house of the daughter, which consists of several coozies separate from those of the father, and I was shown into a very clean one: a mat was spread: I sat down; and the lady coming in and kneeling down, I asked her if she would live in my house, or I should come and live with her: she said, whatever way I wished: very well, I said, I would come and live with her, as she had the best house. She kept her kneeling posture all the time I was in the house. I took leave of her, and went home, when one of the great men mentioned by Yarro waited upon me, and I gave him a present of two knives, some beads, and a yard of cloth.
Thursday, 16th.—The king’s son came to-day for my advice: a fat, gross, tall man. He said, on my inquiring after his disorder, that every month he had a great throbbing of blood in his head, attended with pain; that he lost the use of his limbs, and could not stand; that the pain then fell down to his breast, and remained altogether four days, coming on always a few days before the new moon. I weighed him out nine doses of calomel, of seven grains each, desiring him to take them one at a time when the throbbing came on, and if he could get bled in the head to have that done also; and, with the assistance of God, I hoped he would get well before he had taken the nine doses. I had a visit also from the princess, for the purpose of receiving a small donation of beads. She would not sit down on the carpet or mat, as her father had sat on it when he had been in my house. Such is the custom: a daughter must not presume to sit where her father has sat. A wife of the governor of the town also came to see me. She brought me a present of some cowries, as she said her father had been a servant to white men: she would sleep well and happy to-night, as the joy or wish of her life was accomplished—she had seen me.
I had a present of a sheep, four fowls, and some yams, from a young man related to Yarro, for my advice and assistance; as I now intend my advice in the medical way shall turn to some account: without that I should never have a moment’s peace for patients. This young man had nothing the matter with him: he was only afraid he was going to get the disorder his mother died of, which he described as follows:—First, swellings of the eyes and ears, then contracting of the toes and fingers; the skin on the body peeling off, and the flesh looking red and raw; then death. I gave him twelve papers of calomel, of two grains each, desiring him to take one every morning, besides giving him a strong dose of Croton oil (three drops), and a dose of Seidlitz to wash it down.
Every night we have dancing and singing. Their music is the Bornou flute, the Arab fiddle, and the drum. There appears not the least jealousy to exist in Kiama: men’s wives and maidens all join in the song and dance; even those of the Moorish belief seem to forget that part of their creed in Kiama.
Friday, 17th.—This being jama, or the day Mahometans attend the mosque, kept by them as we keep our Sunday, the pagans also take advantage of the day, and spend it in showing their fine clothes, and paying and receiving visits. I had a visit from the governor, who came in state: he was attended by a great rabble, and two drums: he had on a turban over a European foraging cap, two or three tobes of Manchester cotton; the rest of his dress was of country-made cloth. After the governor left me I visited Yarro with a present of six wax candles, and the remains of my red beads of the largest size, as he says his women are very fond of them; and this is to be my last present, as I am to go away to-morrow. He says he will give me carriers; lend me horses; and, as I will have to sleep in the woods, he would send plenty of provisions: his people should sleep on one side the baggage, and mine on the other, at night; and then, when every thing went safe, I could not but say Yarro was a good man.
After the heat of the day was over, Yarro came, attended by all his train. The most extraordinary persons in it were himself and the bearers of his spears, which, as before, were six naked young girls, from fifteen to seventeen years of age. The only thing they wore was a white bandeau, or fillet of white cloth, round the forehead, about six inches of the ends flying behind, and a string of beads round their waists; in their right hands they carried three light spears each. Their light form, the vivacity of their eyes, and the ease with which they appeared to fly over the ground, made them appear something more than mortal as they flew alongside of his horse, when he was galloping, and making his horse curvet and bound. A man with an immense bundle of spears remained behind at a little distance, apparently to serve as a magazine for the girls to be supplied from, when their master had expended those they carried in their hands.
Yarro is a stout, good-looking man, with large eyes, a handsome Roman nose, a short grisly beard, sits well on horseback, and was dressed in a high red Moorish cap, a tobe or large shirt, boots, and brass stirrup-irons. His horse’s neck was bedecked with small brass bells and charms, and was as fine a dark bay as I ever saw. The rest of his attendants were not worth mentioning: some on horseback, some on foot; and one only had an old musket, which missed fire every time they snapped it. The whole of the horse in attendance might be about fifty, who filed past my door, and then halted, when Yarro alighted and came in. I had tea prepared for him, which he professed to like very much; but he would not drink milk with his tea, as it is forbidden by his fetish. The girls came into the house with him, but a cloth for the waist was first given them to put on. After tea he returned, and at his request I went to the front of his house, where there was some by no means bad horse-racing, in an oblong square in front of his house, formed on one side by tall shady trees, the end closed by the rocky ridge. The horses ran in pairs up this square, sometimes a large Bornou horse paired with the small native breed, the latter of which appeared to dispute the victory often with the larger horses of Bornou. Towards the close, young boys rode on bare backed young horses, which was not the worst of the sport. After the racing I went and complimented Yarro on his riding, as he also was one of the racers, and of course won.
Kiama, the principal city of a province of that name in the kingdom of Borgoo, is situated in latitude 9° 37′ 33″ north, and longitude 5° 22′ 56″ east of Greenwich. It is governed by a chief whose name, Yarro, signifies The Boy; and both city and province are, as frequently happens in Africa, sometimes called after him. The province is thinly inhabited, and the city straggling and ill built. The houses consist of circular huts, or coozies, built of clay and thatched: a number of these, enclosed in a square fence of matting, generally form but one house. The city is built on the south side of a rocky ridge, and is surrounded by an extensive low clay wall, which is broken down in a number of places: inside the walls are plantations of corn and yams. The surrounding country is thickly wooded, with but few plantations, and the country is said to abound in game of all descriptions.
Kiama is one of the towns through which the caravan from Houssa and Bornou passes to and from Gonja, on the borders of Ashantee: it also has a direct trade with Dahomey, Youri, Nyffé, and Yourriba. There is no fixed duty for the merchants to pay, but the chief takes just as much as can be squeezed from them. The inhabitants are pagans of an easy faith; never praying but when they are sick, or want something, and cursing their object of worship as fancy serves. The Houssa slaves amongst them are Mahometans, and are allowed to worship in their own way.
The town (and I think I speak within bounds) may contain 30,000 inhabitants. They are looked upon by all who know them as the greatest thieves and robbers in all Africa; and it is enough to call a man a native of Borgoo, to designate him as a thief and a murderer. Their government is despotic; and it appears very little protection is given to the subject, as one town will plunder another whenever an opportunity offers. Their manner of salutation to superiors is by prostration at full length on the ground, but without throwing dust on the head or body: the women kneel on their knees and elbows, holding the two open hands turned up towards the face. They say that a country called Gourma lies eight days’ journey to the north of them; Gonja is to the W.N.W.; and that a small territory called Katakolee lies between Gonja and Borgoo. They sell in the market Brazil tobacco, snuff, natron, yams, plantains, bananas, milk, vegetable butter, gora nuts, and honey in great plenty and cheap. Sheep and bullocks are abundant: the latter mostly in the hands of the Fellatas, who inhabit the woods, shifting about from place to place as pasture is good. The Borgoo people will not suffer them to carry any weapons of defence. Their best horses they get from the Bornou and Houssa merchants, who bring them for sale.