The Kiama messenger, according to his promise, brought some of the leaves of the tree or bush called by them kongkonie, from the seeds of which the natives extract the poison for their arrows; from the leaves and branches exudes a resinous gum which sticks to the fingers; the flower is small and white, with a very long foot-stalk; the seeds are enclosed in a long case surrounded by a silky substance; the seeds are small, like caraway seeds, and are boiled to a thick black paste before they are put on the arrows. They say that the seeds are a deadly poison if taken into the stomach; the seeds I have got in the case, but dried, and fit for use.
The king of Dahomey’s messengers came to me in the evening and told me they wanted to speak to me, saying they wished to do so privately. I sent Pascoe to one side with them, but they came back observing that they must say it to myself only; their mighty secret was this: that they had been in Youri five months assisting the king of that country against the Fellatas; that, if I either regarded my safety or wished to reach the end of my journey, I ought not to take that road, as I should never get on; that they had stood the brunt of all his battles, and that all their guns but two were burst; that they were now on their way to their own country, but expect to be sent back by the king of Dahomey with a larger force after the rains. They said that Niki was the capital of Borgoo and not Kiama; that it is fifteen days only from Dahomey; that Borgoo and Dahomey are joined together, or two neighbouring kingdoms; that there are high hills on the road between Niki and Dahomey; that they left the Maha country on their left hand when they came here; that Kiama is five days distant from Niki; that it is from Dahomey the people of these countries receive all their rum and European articles. This account I believe to be true, as I have seen great abundance of rum, pewter, and earthen ware. They begged I would send a letter by them to say I had met them, which I shall do to-morrow. They are much superior looking men to the people of Wawa, and from their knowledge of white men in their own country, have been very civil to me. They seem to entertain a poor opinion of the courage and behaviour of the people of Youri and of this country, and say that with a few men they could take them all.
Thursday, 23d.—I had heard various stories, at different places on the road, concerning the fate of the late unfortunate and enterprising travellers Park and Martin, none of which I considered worth relating except that which I now heard from the governor’s head man; but they all with whom I have conversed agree in asking me if I am not going to take up the vessel, which they say still remains. The head man’s story is this: that the boat stuck fast between two rocks; that the people in it laid out four anchors a-head; that the water falls down with great rapidity from the rocks, and that the white men, in attempting to get on shore, were drowned; that crowds of people went to look at them, but the white men did not shoot at them as I had heard; that the natives were too much frightened either to shoot at them or to assist them; that there were found a great many things in the boat, books and riches, which the sultan of Boussa has got; that beef cut in slices and salted was in great plenty in the boat; that the people of Boussa who had eaten of it all died, because it was human flesh, and that they knew we white men eat human flesh. I was indebted to the messenger of Yarro for a defence, who told the narrator that I was much more nice in my eating than his countrymen were. But it was with some difficulty I could persuade him that if his story was true, it was the people’s own fears that had killed them; that the meat was good beef or mutton; that I had eaten more goats’ flesh since I had been in this country than ever I had done in my life; that in England we eat nothing but fowls, beef, and mutton.
The women here are marked on the body somewhat in the manner of the lace on a hussar’s jacket: in some, where the skin has not healed properly, it looks very disgusting.
The widow Zuma has been kind enough to send me provisions ready cooked, in great abundance, ever since I have been here. Now that she has failed with Richard, she has offered Pascoe a handsome female slave for a wife, if he could manage to bring about matters with me. Not being much afraid of myself, and wishing to see the interior arrangement of her house, I went and visited her. I found her house large, and full of male and female slaves; the males lying about the outer huts, the females more in the interior. In the centre of the huts was a square one of large dimensions surrounded by a verandah, with screens of matting all around except in one place, where there was hung a tanned bullock’s hide; to this spot I was led up, and, on its being drawn on one side, I saw the lady sitting cross-legged on a small Turkey carpet, like one of our hearth rugs, a large leather cushion under her left knee; her goora pot, which was a large old-fashioned English pewter mug, by her side, and a calibash of water to wash her mouth out, as she alternately kept eating goora and chewing tobacco-snuff, the custom with all ranks, male or female, who can procure them: on her right side lay a whip. At a little distance, squatted on the ground, sat a dwarfish hump-backed female slave, with a wide mouth but good eyes: she had on no clothing, if I except a profusion of strings of beads and coral round her neck and waist. This personage served the purpose of a bell in our country, and what, I suppose, would in old times have been called a page. The lady herself was dressed in a white coarse muslin turban; her neck profusely decorated with necklaces of coral and gold chains, amongst which was one of rubies and gold beads; her eyebrows and eyelashes blacked, her hair dyed with indigo, and her hands and feet with henna; around her body she had a fine striped silk and cotton country cloth, which came as high as her tremendous breasts, and reached as low as her ankles; in her right hand she held a fan made of stained grass, of a square form. She desired me to sit down on the carpet beside her, which I did, and she began fanning me, and sent hump-back to bring out her finery for me to look at; which consisted of four gold bracelets, two large paper dressing-cases with looking-glasses, and several strings of coral, silver rings, and bracelets, with a number of other trifling articles. After a number of compliments, and giving me an account of all her wealth, I was led through one apartment into another, cool, clean, and ornamented with pewter dishes and bright brass pans. She now told me her husband had been dead these ten years, that she had only one son, and he was darker than herself; that she loved white men, and would go to Boussa with me; that she would send for a malem, or man of learning, and read the fatha with me. I thought this was carrying the joke a little too far, and began to look very serious, on which she sent for the looking-glass, and looking at herself, then offering it me, said, to be sure she was rather older than me, but very little, and what of that? This was too much, and I made my retreat as soon as I could, determined never to come to such close quarters with her again. During the night squally, with thunder, lightning, and rain.
Friday, 24th.—Amongst my numerous visitors this morning, I had a travelling musician, attended by two boys. His instrument was a violin made of a gourd, with three strings of horse hair, not in single hairs, but a number for each string untwisted; the bow the same; the body of the violin was formed of half a long gourd; the bridge, two cross sticks; the top, the skin of a guana stretched tightly over the edges; the neck was about two feet long, ornamented with plates of brass, having a hollow brass knob at the end. To this instrument was hung a diminutive pair of sandals to denote his wandering occupation, a piece of natron, strings of cowries, and stripes of cloth. He said he would take any thing that was given to him. The boys had hollow gourds with stones or beans in them, with which they kept time by holding them in one hand and beating them against the other. The musician himself was past the middle age, his beard being tinged with gray, and neither too long nor too short; his face inclining more to long than oval, with a nose slightly hooked; his forehead high; his eyes large, bright, and clear, with a kind of indefinable expression of half rogue and half a merry fellow, and when he sang he sometimes looked sublime; his mouth and teeth were good; his voice clear and melodious; his stature about the middle size, and spare form; his dress was a white turban and large sky-blue tobe or shirt. He accompanied his instrument with his voice, the boys joining in chorus. His songs were extempore. I should have taken one down, but found they were all about myself; and a number of visitors coming in, I gave him fifty cowries and sent him away rejoicing. Received a present of a sheep, yams, milk, eggs, and a goat, from the governor.
I went outside the town with Yarro’s messenger to see the kongkonie tree which I have before mentioned, and from the seeds of which they are said to extract the poison for their arrows. The tree is a parasite (meaning probably a creeper), about the thickness of a man’s thigh at the root, from which shoot up several stems, that ascend the large tree at the root of which it grows, twisting itself round the stem and branches to the top of the tree; the bark of the young branches is like the darkest of the hazel; the stem and older branches smooth and whitish, like the bark of the ash; the flower, which is now fading, has five leaves tapering to a point, from which they have a string about two inches in length hanging; they are about the size of our primrose, but of a darker yellow; the leaves of the tree are rough and furry, exuding a gum that sticks to the fingers; the part which grows from the flower and contains the seeds is about a foot and a half in length, and one and a half or two inches in circumference in the thickest part; the seeds are like caraway seeds, and are surrounded by a silky substance; they are boiled until they turn into a paste, when they are fit for use, and put on the arrows. I had a present of five alligators’ eggs sent me by the governor; they are only eaten by the principal people, and considered a great delicacy: they were brought from the banks of the Quorra. The taja called upon me, but he appeared still to shuffle off coming to any arrangement, saying he could not say for how much he would carry me to Kano, until he saw whether I was to go with him or not. I observed to him it was very easily said, and that until he told me how much, I would not ask the governor to go with him. He said he wanted half the money here. To which I replied, “You must go with this understanding in all future affairs between you and I, that I will not give you one farthing until I arrive in Kano, when, the day after I arrive there, you shall have every cowrie of the money. If you come to any bargain with me, it must be with the understanding that I have no money here.” “Well,” says he, “I will call to-morrow and see your things, and then come to a written agreement with you—half the money here.” This taja must take me for a fool; I will sooner stay here all the rains, than let him have the money and leave me in the lurch.
Saturday, 25th.—Clear and warm. At noon the taja visited me, when, after a great deal of unnecessary palavering and manœuvring on his part, we came to the following bargain,—that he is to carry all my baggage and stores to Kano for 200,000 cowries. I also found out that he does not go to Boussa, but crosses the Quorra at a place called Comie, and goes to Koolfu in Nyffé, where he stops for a few days. I am therefore to ask the governor here to carry my baggage to Koolfu, where the taja will find bullocks. I must however go out of the way to visit the sultan of Boussa, as all this part of the country is nominally under him. The sultan of Niki is next to him, and equal to him in power. My baggage, therefore, and stores with my servants must proceed to Koolfu without me, as I have no other alternative but to take this route or that of Youri. After the taja left me, I went to the governor, and acquainted him with the agreement I had come to with the taja, who immediately promised to send a messenger with myself to Boussa, and another with my servants and baggage to see them safe to Koolfu. I would not on any account miss the opportunity of going to Boussa, being most anxious to see the spot where Park and Martin died, and perhaps get their papers. If I am detained, my servants go on with the taja; and I have left directions with them how to proceed in the event of my death or other accidents.
Sunday, 26th.—On inquiring to-day of the same person, the governor’s head man, concerning the fate of Park and Martin, he said the natives did shoot arrows at them, but not until guns had been fired from the boat: in all other parts of the story he agreed with what he had told before, adding, that the boat was to be seen above water every Sunday. They all treat the affair with a great deal of seriousness, and look on the place where the boat was wrecked with awe and superstition, telling some most marvellous stories about her and her ill-fated crew. I also learnt from this man their manner of burial in Borgoo, which is as follows: they dig a deep round hole like a well; the corpse is put in the hole in a sitting posture, with the wrists bound tight round the neck, the legs bent, and the thighs, legs, and arms, bound tight round the body. The grave is made in the floor of the deceased’s house, and his horse and dog, if he has any, are killed to serve him in the next world. The Mahometans bury in their usual fashion, and have a burying-ground on the east side of the town, inside the walls.
Monday, 27th.—Received a present of a goat, two fowls, yams, and milk, from the brother of the governor, who has got a sore leg, and wishes me to cure it. In the afternoon we had thunder, lightning, and rain. I took this opportunity of waiting on the governor to press my departure, as the taja is rather too slack for me. I asked him if he would not send me to Koolfu to-morrow, as he saw now that the rains were close at hand. “Oh,” says he, “they will not set in these two months, yet it is always thus before the rains.” I told him that no one knew the seasons better than I did; and that, if I travelled as slow as I had done of late, I would be caught by the rains in Houssa, and I might as well have a sword run into my breast. He said he would send for the taja to-night, and give me into his charge. I said, I must go to Boussa, and make a present to the sultan; that if I did not, he would say, a white man has passed through my country without paying his respects to me, or bringing a present: it would be going out of the country like a thief, not like the messenger of the king of England. “Very well,” says he, “I will despatch a messenger with you to request he will not detain you. You must send all your things up to my house; I will give them and your servants in charge of the taja, and all will go well; my messenger shall accompany them to Koolfu”—(sometimes pronounced Koolfie and Koolfa). He then began asking me if Englishmen would come into the country. “Yes,” says I, “if you use them as well as you have done me: there is now a doctor on his way to join me from Dahomey.” He said he would be very glad to see him, and would forward him on to me. I asked him if this country or Borgoo owed any allegiance to Yourriba: he said, none; and laughed at the idea. He said he owed allegiance to Boussa, as Kiama, Niki, and Youri did; that he was separated from Kiama by the brook I halted at the second day I left that place, and that the province of Wawa extended as far south as Rakah; that Kiama owed no allegiance to Yourriba, but was a province of Borgoo, subject to the sultan of Borgoo, who was the head of all: he added, the sultan of Boussa could take Yourriba whenever he chose, but, says he, the Fellatas will take it now. I asked him if he thought the sultan of Boussa would give me the books that were found in the boat belonging to the white men lost there. He said, if there were any, he would certainly give them to me, as they were of no use to him, he could not read; and he then related to me the same story nearly that his head man had told me of that affair, and asked me if the unfortunate people were not my countrymen, and had great riches: I said they were, but that they were not rich, but honest men like myself; that one, the head man, was a doctor.