Journal of a second expedition into the interior of Africa, from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo

by Hugh Clapperton

Some of the Fellata women have the hair frizzed out at the ends, all round the head; others have the hair plaited in four small plaits, going round the head like a riband or bandeau. This, and all the plaited parts, are well smeared over with indigo or shumri. The razor is applied to smooth all uneven places, and give a high and fine arch to the forehead; they thin the eye-brows to a fine line, which, with the eye-lashes, are rubbed over with pounded lead ore, and done by drawing a small pen that has been dipped in this ore. The teeth are then dyed with the gora nut, and a root of a shining red colour; the hands and feet, the toe and finger nails, are stained red with henna. A lady thus equipped is fit to appear in the best society. The looking-glass is a circular piece of metal, about an inch and a half in diameter, set in a small skin box, and is often applied to. The young girls of the better sort of people dress much in the same manner as their mothers, after they arrive at the age of nine or ten; before that, they have very little dress, except the binta or apron, scolloped or vandyked round with red cloth, with two long broad strings vandyked round in the same manner, hanging down as low as the heels behind. This is the dress of the poorer sort of people, until fit for marriage, as also of a great many of the virgin female slaves.

Their marriages are celebrated without any pomp or noise. The bride, as far as I was informed, is always consulted by her parents; but a refusal on her part is unknown. The poorer class of people make up matters much in the same way; that is, after having got the consent of one another, they ask their father and mother. The dowry given by a man of good condition, with regard to riches, may be said to consist of young female slaves, carved and mounted calabashes or gourds, filled with millet, dourra and rice, cloths for the loins, bracelets, and the equipage of her toilet, and one or two large wooden mortars for beating corn, &c. and stones for grinding, &c.; even these are carried in procession on the heads of her female slaves, when she first goes to her husband’s house.

It is said that, in the event of the husband sleeping or having connexion with any of the female slaves given as dower to the wife, he must give her in lieu a virgin slave of equal value the next day. This never causes any dispute between the parties.

Their mode of burial I have never seen; but I understand they always bury their dead behind the house which the deceased occupied while living. The following day all the friends and relations of the deceased visit the head of the family, and sit a while with him or her. If the husband dies, the widow returns to the house of her parents, with the property she brought with her.

The domestic slaves are generally well treated. The males who have arrived at the age of eighteen or nineteen are given a wife, and sent to live at their villages and farms in the country, where they build a hut, and until the harvest are fed by their owners. When the time for cultivating the ground and sowing the seed comes on, the owner points out what he requires, and what is to be sown on it. The slave is then allowed to enclose a part for himself and family. The hours of labour, for his master, are from daylight till mid-day; the remainder of the day is employed on his own, or in any other way he may think proper. At the time of harvest, when they cut and tie up the grain, each slave gets a bundle of the different sorts of grain, about a bushel of our measure, for himself. The grain on his own ground is entirely left for his own use, and he may dispose of it as he thinks proper. At the vacant seasons of the year he must attend to the calls of his master, whether to accompany him on a journey, or go to war, if so ordered.

The children of a slave are also slaves, and when able are usually sent out to attend the goats and sheep, and, at a more advanced age, the bullocks and larger cattle; they are soon afterwards taken home to the master’s house, to look after his horse or his domestic concerns, as long as they remain single. The domestic slaves are fed the same as the rest of the family, with whom they appear to be on an equality of footing.

The children of slaves, whether dwelling in the house or on the farm, are never sold, unless their behaviour is such that, after repeated punishment, they continue unmanageable, so that the master is compelled to part with them. The slaves that are sold are those taken from the enemy, or newly purchased, who, on trial, do not suit the purchaser. When a male or female slave dies unmarried, his property goes to the owner. The children of the slaves are sometimes educated with those of the owner, but this is not generally the case.

The male and female children of the better sort of the Fellatas are all taught to read and write Arabic, but are instructed separately. The male children of the great are generally sent to another town, at some distance from that where their parents reside, to receive their education; in which case they usually reside in the house of a friend, and a malem or man of learning attends them. Those of the middle and lower classes generally send their children to the schools, which they attend for an hour at day-break, and another at sunset, reading their Arabic lessons aloud and simultaneously. They are required to get their lessons by heart before the writing is washed off the board on which it is written. The ink thus diluted is drank by the scholars, when their master writes a new lesson on the board.

The government of the Fellatas in Soudan is in its infancy; but, as it now exists, and is likely to continue, is a perfect despotism. It was left by will to Mahomed Bello, who was the eldest of Sheik Othman’s sons, and is meant to descend to his eldest son at his death. The governors of the different provinces are appointed during pleasure, as, in the event of any improper conduct, they are displaced; and all their property, at their death or removal, falls to the sultan. The appointment to a vacancy is then sold to the highest bidder, who is generally a near relation, provided his property is sufficient to bid up to the mark. All the inferior offices in the towns of the provinces are sold in like manner by the governors, who also succeed to the property of those petty officers at their death or removal.

Of their revenues I can say very little. I only know that in the province of Kano they have no regular system of taxation. A great deal of marketable property is claimed by the governor, such as two-thirds of the produce of all the date and other fruit trees, the proprietor being allowed only the remaining third. A small duty is also levied on every article sold in the market; or, in lieu thereof, a certain rent is paid for the stall or shed: a duty is also fixed on every tobe that is dyed blue and sold. On grain there is no duty. Kano produces the greatest revenue which the sultan receives, and is paid monthly in horses, cowries, and cloth. Adamawa pays yearly in slaves; Jackoba, in slaves and lead ore; Zegzeg, in slaves and cowries; Zamfra, the same; Hadiga and Katagum, and Zaonima, in horses, bullocks, and slaves; Kashna, in slaves, cowries, and cloth; Ader or Tadela, in bullocks, sheep, camels, and a coarse kind of cloth of cotton, like what is called by us a counterpane. Every town, on being visited by the governor or other public functionaries, must contribute to the support of these officers, and bear the expense of travelling, and feed all his servants and his cattle.