Friday, 22d.—In the morning the Gadado sent for Allah Sirkie to tell me the sultan wished to see Richard my servant, as he had never seen another Christian besides myself; and he also wished to see me, and I was to bring the sheik’s letter, which he by no means wished to take from me, or to open; he only wished to see how we addressed him, and if it was in a tin case like his. I went after the mid-day prayers with the Gadado, taking with me my servant Richard, whom they all called Insurah Coramina, or the little Christian, and Allah Sirkie, to the sultan’s, where we found him sitting in an inner room, better dressed than usual, and Mohamed Ben Hadji Gumso and Sidi Sheik sitting on his left: the Gadado sat down on his right, I with my servants in front. After his asking Richard and I how we were, and a few other questions, he then said he had sent Ben Hadji Gumso and Sidi Sheik to me, to inform me that he had sent for my people and baggage. Before he had not informed me, but now he would tell me how matters stood. The king of England had sent me to him, but I wished to go to the Sheik of Bornou: that between him and the sheik there was war; and therefore, though I had come from the king of England, he would not allow me to go: that there were three roads, out of which I must choose one; and he would send people with me; one road was the way I had come, the second by way of Timbuctoo, and the third by way of Aghadiz and Fezzan. I answered, that by the way I had come he could not send me, nor was it safe I should attempt it, as all Yourriba and the other countries at war with the Fellatas were now well acquainted with my having come here as a messenger, with presents from the king of England to him, for the purpose of putting a stop to the slave trade. That the way by Timbuctoo was almost impassable, for the Fellatas from Foota-Torra and Foota-Bonda, &c. who had arrived here a short while ago, had with the greatest difficulty been allowed to come here with nothing but a staff and a shirt, and had been twelve months on the road, owing to the war; and that, were I to go, all the country would hear of me, and his enemies would have me and all my baggage before I had been two months on the road. That the road by Aghadiz would require a number of camels, more than I could afford to buy at present, also a great deal of provisions, water-skins, &c. as there was no place for seven days’ journey that supplied either wood or water: that the Tuaricks were a people without either law or government; and if they did allow me to go, I should have to pay very dear for their permission, at least two camel-loads of blue tobes and turbans; but if he would allow me to go by the way of Baghermi, Darfoor, and Egypt, I would go at all risks. He replied that was just going by way of Bornou, as I must pass through from Adamawa to Logan. “With truth,” said old Ben Gumso with great earnestness to Sidi Sheik, and loud enough for the sultan to hear, “do you hear how that man talks before the prince of the faithful?” He, the sultan, then asked to see the sheik’s letter; I showed it to him, as also the Arabic list of medicines which I had brought as far as Badagry for the sheik, but had sent them back. He asked me to open the sheik’s letter, after he had read the list of medicines. I said, it was more than my head was worth to do such a thing; that I had come to him with a letter and presents from the king of England, on the faith of his own letter the preceding year, and I hoped he would not break his promises and his word for the sake of seeing the contents of that letter which he had now lying beside him. He then made a motion with his hand for me to go, and I accordingly rose, made my bow, and went out: I saw Pascoe at the door, ready to have his audience, the Gadado accompanying me as far as the door. Instead of going to my house, I went to see Hadji Salah, who certainly was but poorly lodged by the Fellatas. I asked him, as there was none present but the son of the former sultan of Fezzan, and whom he had brought from Kano with him, what had brought him to Soccatoo? He said, they had not yet told him, but he did not care for them. The house, as soon as it was known that I was there, was soon filled with Fellatas, and I left him.
Saturday, 23d.—Hadji Salah to-day saw the sultan, and I was informed by the master of my house that he was to return to Kano in four days after this. In the evening, Hadji Salah, having asked the Gadado’s permission to pay me a visit, came about eight P.M.: he was not watched, that I could see. He informed me that he had seen the sultan to-day, who had desired him to tell the truth, whether I had given him the sheik’s present, or any thing for the sheik before I left Kano. He said he certainly never received any thing from me for the sheik, neither letter, nor goods, nor any thing else. After answering to this effect, as also the two friends that had come with him, the sultan told him it was well; he would allow him to return to his family in four days. He said, with respect to me, he would advise me, as a friend and a man of peace, to give up to them the present I had for the sheik, and return home by the way of Aghadiz, which they had proposed to me; that there was not a Fellata, from the sultan to the meanest man amongst them, that could bear the sheik of Bornou, or any one who had ever been friends with him; that, thank God! I had put nothing into his hands for the sheik, or he would have lost his head; that he would (most earnestly repeating it again) advise me to give up the sheik’s present to them, as I could not keep it. I observed that it was the same thing as forcing the letter from me; it would be the last injury they could do me; that they had broken all faith with me; I could have no more to say to them: after their cheating or robbing me of the letter, they might take what they pleased. I was only one man, I could not fight against a nation: they could not, even by taking away my life, do worse with me than they had done.
Sunday, 24th.—I saw the Gadado this morning, who complained that he had got a bad cold: I recommended him to take a dose of senna. He said he had to ride out of town a short distance, to meet Mohamed Ben Abdullahir, Bello’s first cousin by the father’s side: he is the Fellata king or sultan of Nyffé, and is coming here to get permission to go down this year, as before he had sent only a relation or head chief to command there, which was Omar Zurmie, whom I had seen when there. He asked me to go with him to meet Abdullahir. I told him no; my affairs with them were now at an end: after the manner in which the sultan had behaved to me, it was impossible for them to put a greater affront on me than what they had done. He said that when I came here before, I had come with letters from the Bashaw of Tripoli and the Sheik of Bornou, and that at that time they were all at peace; now they were at war, and the sultan neither held, nor allowed others to hold, any communication with the sheik or his people: that I had come then with a letter and presents from the king, and delivered them; that I had a letter and presents from the king of England’s vizier; that when I sent the sword from Katagum to Bello, from the king of England, the Sheik of Bornou had seized the letter that came with it, and they had now done the same by him; and that, if I would give up the present, they would send it by Hadji Salah. I said there was no letter whatever came with the sword and box I had sent from Katagum. I observed to him, that the conduct of Bello was not like that of a prince of the faithful, who, in defiance of his letter requesting the king of England to send a consul out, had broken all faith between us; that they had done every evil to me they could. The Gadado pleaded the letters sent from the Sheik and the two Hadjis of Tripoli, saying that I was a spy, and that we wanted to take this country, as we had done India. He was very sorry for what the sultan had done, he said—as sore at heart as I could be: that they had sent for Hadji Salah, who had been fourteen years in this country, and all that time transacting the business of the Sheik, to tell him, if he chose to go to Bornou, to go; if he remained, he must not interfere any more for the Sheik. I said, what had I to do with the Sheik or Hadji Salah’s affairs? he was my agent before, and that was the reason I had employed him a second time. I then took leave of the Gadado, after repeating to him what I had said above, two or three times, till he perfectly understood what I had said; and adding, that I never wished to see the sultan again, and I must insist on the Gadado to repeat to him what I had said; and also that I must for the future consider every part of his dominions as a prison, for he had broken his word in every thing. Notwithstanding all this, the Gadado and his brother Moodie still send me milk and food the same as usual; there is not the least difference in their conduct. The common conversation of the town now is, that the English intend to take Houssa.
Monday, 25th.—Being Christmas-day, I gave my servant Richard one sovereign out of six I have left, as a Christmas gift; for he is well deserving, and has never once shown a want of courage or enterprise unworthy an Englishman. The Gadado early sent to know how I was, and desired my servant to tell me he had acquainted the sultan with all I had said; and he inquired if my heart was difficult as ever, which is their way of asking if I meant to talk in the same strong language. Pascoe was to-day sent to the house of Ben Hadji Gumso, from that of the Gadado’s servant, with all his baggage; whether for the purpose of fishing him or making him say what they want, or to make him a slave, I do not know. He made a fair recantation of his faith to-day before an Imam and the Gadado: the latter told him, when he had done, to go and wash himself from head to foot—that yesterday he was a Kaffir, but now he was friends with the prophet. I had provisions sent as usual in the evening.
Tuesday, 26th.—Early this morning I was visited by Hadgi Salah and Malem Moodie, the Gadado’s brother. They said they had been sent by the sultan, who had read the letter addressed to the Sheik, in which it was said that I had six guns for the Sheik, two boxes of balls and one box of powder, and one chest of goods as presents, and they were come to demand them. I said it was untrue; no such thing could have been put in the letter, for that the guns belonged to myself and servants, except those of the gentlemen who accompanied me, and who had died in Yourriba, and two others as presents: this falsehood they must have had from their friend Pascoe. The present I had intended to give the Sheik I had all ready prepared, and the Gadado entering, I ordered my servants to bring it forth: the Gadado, looking over the articles, said he did not want any thing of mine; whatever belonged to the Sheik they would take, for he was making a very unjust war upon them, and they would not allow any one to carry arms or warlike stores to him. I told the Gadado that they were acting like robbers towards me, in defiance of all good faith; that no people in the world would act the same, and they had far better have cut my head off than done such an act; but I supposed they would do that also when they had taken every thing from me. The Gadado flew off in a great passion, and the rest followed, carrying the present for the Sheik with them. Hadji Salah said he was afraid they would cut his head off, and he was a man with a large family; he would from this time forward have no further concern with me or my affairs. A short while after this, Hadji Salah and his attendants came with a message from the sultan, to say the sultan had ordered them to tell me that he did not wish to do any thing or say any thing unpleasant to me; all he wanted was to know if I had any arms or warlike stores for the Sheik—if I had, to give them up: I told him all I had for the Sheik they had already taken. Hadji Salah wanted me to give up all my own arms: I told him I would not give one. He said, I was once, he thought, a wise man, now I acted like an unwise one, not to give up all to save my head: I told him I would not give them a charge of powder to save my head. They went off displeased again.
My servants and all my visitors fell off at this time. My servants said they were afraid to remain, even Allah Sirkie. This cowardice and ingratitude I did not expect from one I had found a slave, with only a leather skin about his middle, and whom I had clothed, fed, given him wages the same as my other servants from the day I bought him, and made him free. I told them they were at perfect liberty to go where they thought proper; that I could soon get others who, after the manner in which I had behaved to them, could not behave worse: they however returned in the evening, and begged I would take them back, which I did; as lies, and ingratitude, and petty robbery, no servant who is a native of Houssa, Fezzan, or Bornou, is free from.
Thursday, 28th.—The Gadado left to-day for Magaria: before he went, he told me he should not stay long away; that if any thing unpleasant happened to me during his absence, to send an express off to him directly. In the afternoon the sultan left for the Sansan or new town, which he is building. He sent, by Sidi Sheik, to ask me to go and show him the way to build a house and fortify it; but as I did not believe what he said, I took no notice of the message. It afterwards turned out that Sidi Sheik had a relation who had lately arrived, who was a builder, and he wanted to introduce him to the sultan.
Friday, 29th.—I applied a large blister to my side, as, from the enlargement of the spleen, it gave me great pain, having increased to such a size that I was unable to eat, and had little or no rest.
Sunday, 14th January, 1827.—No news from Magaria. After sunset, a messenger with a horse for me arrived from the Gadado at Magaria, wishing me to go there.
Monday, 15th.—Started at sunrise for Magaria; but I was so ill on the road that I did not arrive there before 5 P.M. All the reports of the enemy being near proved untrue.