Thursday, 22d.—Left Bullabulla, and travelled through plantations of grain, indigo, and cotton; the soil and clay mixed with sand, and here and there large blocks of sandstone, in which were nodules of iron, and veins of clay ironstone; the face of the country diversified with hills and dales; some of the hills to the south rising into table-topped mounts; the country open and clear; every thing at this season looking green and gay. Halted at the walled town of Rajadawa, the head man of which wished me to stop in the town, but I preferred halting outside. He sent me a present of cooked meat, rice, and honey. I gave him in return three yards of silk, a pair of scissors, and fifty Gora nuts. At this town they take, for the chief of Youri, from every loaded bullock 500 cowries, and from every loaded ass 300 cowries. The inhabitants are Cumbrie and pagans, except the head man and about a dozen others, who profess to be Mahometans. They say the governor, like his master of Youri, is a great rogue; and invites people within his walls to detain them, and screw as much out of them as he can. Rajadawa is walled (a clay wall and ditch), and may contain from 6000 to 7000 inhabitants. The environs are clear of wood, and planted with grain, yams, gaza (a kind of potatoe, yellow inside, and very watery, leaving an unpleasant taste in the mouth after eating), indigo, and cotton. We had a plentiful market in the camp. The principal articles for sale were raw bullocks’ flesh, fowls, millet, boiled yams, pudding, &c.
At noon on the 24th, after passing numerous villages, we arrived at the town of Wazo, or Wazawo, the first town in the province of Kotongkora, where the merchants had to pay 250 cowries for every loaded ass, bullock, horse, or mule: of course I passed free, being a white man, and went through the town with my baggage, and encamped about a mile to the eastward of the town. The town of Wazo is built on the shelving side of a rocky mount: on the south-east side is a wall with two gates; the steep sides of the mountain serving as a wall on the other side. The inhabitants are all Cumbrie and pagans; and to-day they are holding a festival, so that we can get nothing to buy. After my tent was pitched, I engaged one of the natives for a few cowries to accompany me to hunt. I saw very little game, except five antelopes, out of gunshot. On my return to the tent I found the head man of Wazo had sent me one fowl, and some millet for the horses, for which he expects nine or ten times the value in return. The value of his present altogether, at the highest price, is not above 200 cowries. I had to make my dinner of raw flour, water, and an onion, reserving the fowl for my sick servant. During the night heavy rain, but without thunder or lightning.
Monday, 26th.—Morning dull and cloudy. The chief servant of Wazo’s head man came to my tent early in the morning in a great fright, saying his master was going to hang him, as he thought he had stole part of the present I had sent him. He said he wished that Moussa or myself would go into the town and bear witness that he had delivered all I gave him. I thought it was only a trick to cause further delay, or to catch something else; I therefore sent Moussa, and on his return had the bullocks loaded; and at 9.30 A.M. left the place of our encampment near Wazo. Our path was rocky and very winding, having high rocky mounts to the east, with steep perpendicular sides, the tops of most occupied by villages and little walled towns. The inhabitants came into the valleys with millet, boiled beans, yams, and cashew nuts, &c. to sell; the sellers were all women, every two or three having an armed male protector. In a narrow pass in the valley, as I had lingered behind the caravan, I fell in with a very interesting group, consisting of about a dozen of the natives, all young men, gaily dressed in their beads and tasselled skins, armed with bows and arrows and a light spear, some sitting and others standing; in the midst of them were three Fitakies, and a jackass without a load. The north side of the pass was formed by a high mount, rising perpendicular for about thirty feet above the path, over which hung trees, and on the top of the mount a little village, to which the young men belonged; the south side was formed by a large block of granite, on which the party were seated, the Fitakies looking as grave as the poor ass. At first I thought it was a robbery, and began to prepare my gun, but as I drew close and inquired what was the matter, before I intended to fire, it proved to be the Fitakies selling a sick jackass, which was unable to carry its load to the natives, to kill for food, as they consider its flesh as medicine, and good for coughs and pains in the chest. At noon arrived at the town of Wazo, which is situated in a narrow part of the valley, partly built on the shelving side of a mountain, which forms the south side of the pass and valley, the other part of the town and wall, on the north side; here the Fitakies had to pay ninety cowries for each loaded ass or bullock; I, of course, passed without payment. After passing Worm, or Wormzou, as it is sometimes called, the valley opened out to the south as far as the eye could reach; the mountains on the left bending more to the north. At 3 P.M. crossed a small stream running to the south, whose bed, when covered with water, is dangerous to man and beast, owing to the sharp rocks in its bed, which, from the muddiness of its waters, are not seen. We halted at a short distance from its eastern bank. Our place of encampment was soon filled by the inhabitants of the neighbouring little towns, having raw goat’s flesh, boiled beans, millet, and pudding for sale; as usual all Cumbrie, and every two or three women attended by an armed companion to see fair play; the men and women dressed in the same gay style as usual; upon the whole they were a fine, active, clean-looking people: most of the men had a bastard kind of greyhound following them, whose necks were ornamented with colours and strings of cowries. Every man working in the plantations, as I came along, was armed, owing, they say, to the frequent inroads of the Fellatas. At sunset all our visitors left us, and we had a severe storm of rain, thunder, and lightning.
Wednesday, 28th.—For the last five days we have been travelling through a rich and beautiful valley and over woody hills, and arrived at Womba. The capital of this province is called Kotonkora, and distant from Womba, north, thirty miles. Before the Fellatas took Haussa and its dependencies, Womba belonged to the province of Kashna; and at the death of Bello’s father, it, along with the rest of the Towias, threw off the yoke of the Fellatas, declared its independence, which it still maintains, and joined the Towias, or confederation, against their conquerors. All the caravans from the east and west halt a day or two at this town, and pay for each loaded ass or bullock five hundred cowries; besides, the head man of each caravan makes a present, for which he receives, in return, a dish or two of cooked meat, or a sheep. The town is in latitude 10° 35′, and longitude 7° 22′. It is situated on a rising ground, having a commanding rocky hill of granite to the east, one on the south, and another to the north, all bare of vegetation except a few patches here and there; to the west is an open valley. A small stream of water runs past the western gate, from which the town is supplied with water. The valleys for two miles round are cleared, cultivated, and planted with millet, doura, yams, cotton, &c., as is likewise every spare space within the walls this year, as there is a scarcity of grain this season throughout the whole of the eastern interior, owing to last year’s rains being very scanty, and they fear this may be the same. The town is walled round; the wall is also in good repair, and has a dry ditch on the outside; its height between twenty and thirty feet. It has four gates, which are shut every night at sunset. The inhabitants may amount from ten to twelve thousand souls; they possess plenty of sheep, oxen, and horses, the latter apparently a cross from the large Bornou and the small native African, and are a strong, hardy race, like what in Scotland are called highland ponies, but not quite so tall.
Friday, June 30th.—At daylight loaded the bullocks, and at 7 A.M. sent them off. I went to the governor’s house and took leave of him. He gave me a messenger to the chief of Guari, and lent me a man to lead my camel. After leaving him, I rode and joined the caravan. Passed two towns called Gilma, the one built on the top of a rocky hill, the other at a few hundred yards from its base. They are at hot war one with the other, and seldom a day passes without some one or other belonging to either town being killed. Yesterday we heard there were twelve of the lower town’s-people killed in a pitched battle between them. Their usual field of battle was pointed out to me by the messenger; it is a clear spot of about three hundred yards broad, between the south wall of the lower town and the base of the hill. Parties of women belonging to both towns were working in these fields, but parties of armed men kept walking up and down between them and the enemy.
Saturday, July 1st.—Left our encampment, and travelled through a country well cleared and cultivated near the road planted with millet, &c.; the soil, red clay and gravel. At 10 A.M. passed round the south side of a town called Akingie, which was walled, large, and populous, the environs cleared and planted with grain on the east side. Found the town’s-people collecting the toll from the Fitakies of the caravan who had preceded us in the morning. They had here a regular toll-gate, not painted white and hung on hinges like those in England, but the collectors of the toll were lusty rude fellows, armed with clubs and staves, the head man with a sword. After passing the toll of Akingie the country became more hilly and woody; the soil stony and gravelly, and little cultivated. At noon arrived at the town of Curigie, where I halted, the head man of which, having provided me with a house, made a present of two fowls, with millet for my horses and camel. The walls of this town are extensive, but the houses are few, partly built on a hill and part in the valley. At this season both inside and outside of the town has a beautiful appearance, from the large spreading and shady trees inside the town. The houses, some of which are built on the top of the blocks of granite which form the hill, are beautifully situated; green plats, overhung by shady trees, growing out of the clefts of the rocks.
Sunday, 2d.—Morning dull and cloudy. At 7.30 A.M. left Curigie. The path through a woody country, with small cultivated spots here and there. The soil is red clay, mixed with sand and gravel, and diversified with gentle hill and dale. At one passed a town called Sabonque, apparently a favourite name in Kashna from the number of that name. They till the ground for a considerable distance, and plant it with doura, millet, yams, and sweet potatoes. Close to the east of the town runs a small stream, which is now full and deep. We had to unload the bullocks and carry the baggage over; a great many of them getting wet, and Pascoe lost my shot belt in the stream. In the evening we halted outside the walls of a town called Guber in Dushee. The head man, and the greater part of the inhabitants, were out of the town, at their plantations in the country, attending the growing grain; we therefore could get nothing for man or beast but grass. Guber in Dushee, or “the rock without an equal,” is situated on a height, with several large blocks of granite, inside the walls, which are extensive: few houses are to be seen, except those situated on the highest ground.
Monday, 3d.—At 7.40 A.M. left Guber in Dushee wet and hungry. The country woody; the path stony, wet, slippery, and cut up by deep ravines, through which run streams of water; the descent and ascent dangerous to man and beast. As we approached Guari, the country became very hilly, and the path winding; the valleys began to be cultivated, and the road thronged with passengers; and on the sides of the road were the remains of camps of caravans; and as we drew closer to the city the camps were occupied by the merchants of the caravans bound to the west. At four arrived at the walls of the old city, and entering the western gate, rode round and over part of the hill on which the city is built, by a footpath, which cuts off about two miles: entered the eastern gate of the new city, where I was met by forty horsemen sent by the chief to conduct me into the town. I rode up to the door of the chief’s house or castle, who came out instantly, and received me very kindly, and, after exchanging compliments, he sent me with his chief eunuch to a house prepared for me, where shortly after was brought a live sheep, millet for the horses and camel, cooked meat for me and my servants, consisting of pudding made from the seeds of grass, the same as what is called tiff in Abyssinia, equal to any flour pudding made with milk and eggs in England: it is called asha in Houssa: I had also two stewed capons, the largest I ever saw.
Tuesday, 4th.—I waited on the chief, and made him a present of a silk umbrella and other articles. I then told him that what I had given him did not belong to me, but to my master, the king of England, who had sent me to visit Houssa and Bornou, where I had been two years before; that I wanted the chief of Guari to give me his assistance and protection as far as he could give it. He said he thanked me for the present I had given him from the king, and I should have every protection and assistance he could afford; that he and the Fellatas, I knew, were at war, and that his sending an escort of horse to Zegzeg with me would be of no service, and only expose me to attack from the Fellatas who infested the road on the frontiers of the two states; but from the last town in his territory bowmen on foot should escort me as far as Fatika, the first town in Zegzeg, and under the dominion of the Fellatas, and then I should be in perfect freedom to go where I pleased; that his horsemen should go with me as far as the last town in his territory, and would provide every thing, and see me off, escorted by the bowmen, before they returned; that the bowmen were the best escort in the woods I had to cross between Guari and Zegzeg, and, God willing, I should perform it in safety, as I had done the long and dangerous journey I had already come; but that if I thought any other way was better, or if there was any thing I wanted, to mention it, and if it could be got in Guari I should have it. I thanked him; said, if there were any curious animals or birds, I should like to have them; and if he had any written account of the country, I should like that more than all. He said he had no written account of the country; that no one troubled their heads about affairs of that kind; that if I would remain with him in Guari some time, I should have all the curious birds and beasts in the country, but that at present every person that could be spared was out in the country attending the growing grain; that they had a scarcity over all the country last year, and they were afraid the same thing might happen this year, as the rains as yet had not been very abundant. After I left the chief I returned home, and opened all the cases, and put the things that were wet out to dry.
Guari, formerly a district of the province of Kashna, was conquered by the Fellatas a short while after their rising, along with the rest of Houssa. At the death of old Bello, this, with the greater part of the province of Kashna, made itself independent by joining in the Towia, or confederation and rebellion against the Fellatas. Bonaga, the chief of Zamfra, was the first to rise and shake the spear, as they express it. He was joined instantly by the inhabitants of the province of Goober, whose chief, a lad, was kept as a slave in Sackatoo; but, by the assistance of his countrymen, had made his escape, and now heads his people. The northern part of Kashna was the next to join, under a son of their former chief or governor. Guari and Katongkora, both districts of Kashna, and belonging to Houssa, also joined, but declared themselves independent of the authority of Kashna. The states of Youri and Cubbi have also since joined, as have Doura and the southern part of Zegzeg. Youri, they say, was forced to join by the others of the Towia, as their districts nearly surround it. The strength of Guari lies in the bravery of its inhabitants and the number of horse they can bring into the field—they say a thousand: this may be all true, but I think they owe their strength to the hilly and woody nature of their country. The capital of this district, also called Guari, is situated in latitude 10° 54′ north, longitude 8° 1′ east; built partly on the north-east side of a hill, and partly in a narrow valley, through which a muddy stream runs that is dry in the summer months; this stream rises only a day’s journey in the mountains or hills south of Guari, runs through part of Zamfra, and divides in one part the states of Katongkora and Guari, and enters into the Kodonia in Nyffé. The city or town has two walls, the old and the new; the old in ruins ever since it was stormed by old Bello. At the rising of the Fellatas it surrounded the hill on which the city is built, and great part of another; the new wall runs over the ridge of the hill, cutting the town into one half the size it was formerly; and even now the wall is much too extensive for the inhabitants to defend, and appears enclosing a few scattered houses and villages, not a town or city. The house of the chief is like a walled village, with a large clay castle at one end: this serves as the harem of the chief, and is well filled, or, more properly speaking, there are a great number of women in it. The other houses in the enclosure are huts, or coozies, occupied by blacksmiths, weavers, tailors, dyers, &c. all belonging to his household.