24th.—Paid my respects to the sultan in the morning; remained with him upwards of an hour; and on leaving, he said in a feeling tone, shaking hands with me at the same time, “Good bye, little Christian; God take you safe to Soccatoo.” He sent a letter by me to my master, and desired me to give his compliments to the king of the Mussulmans (sultan Bello, who was invariably designated by that appellation). On returning to my house, found Hadji Hat Sallah waiting for me. He told me it was necessary I should take the whole of my master’s money, which consisted of 212,000 cowries, to him. As this could not be done conveniently without a camel, I purchased one for 62,000 cowries.
25th.—At half-past seven in the morning, left my house, accompanied by old Pascoe, a messenger from sultan Bello, and one from the king of Kano. Could not, however, get without the gates of the city till ten, the bullocks being very restive, and throwing off their burdens repeatedly. At one o’clock halted at Zungugwa: the camel, in endeavouring to enter the gate, unfortunately broke two boxes in which was stationery, &c. This accident detained us an hour outside the walls, and the men were ultimately obliged to carry the goods on their heads to the residence of the chief, which was a quarter of a mile’s distance. I waited on him, and gave him a pair of scissors, fifty needles, and a small paper of cloves, which pleased him highly. The chief showed me into one of his best huts, where, he told me, I might remain till I thought proper to leave the place; and shortly afterwards sent me butter, sour milk, a couple of fine fowls, and tuah and corn.
26th.—At six in the morning left the hut of this hospitable chief; and, after a ride of six hours, came to Markee, a large, but rather thinly inhabited village. The chief, a kind-hearted old man, upwards, I should suppose, of ninety years of age, and very feeble, was delighted to see me, and testified the pleasure he felt by shaking hands with me repeatedly, and by doing me many acts of kindness. He presented me with fowls, rice, corn, and tuah. After a little conversation, he took me into an inner apartment, and bidding me to sit, took from a calabash, which was suspended to a piece of wood attached to the roof, a small box made of skin, round which was wound, with the greatest care, upwards of five hundred yards of thread, which occupied him twenty minutes in taking off. In this box he showed me four bits of tin, about the size of swan and common shot, which he told me were silver. The old chief gave me to understand, with much seriousness and earnestness of manner, that they had been given by an Arab fifteen years before, who told him they were possessed of life. The larger pieces, he continued, were males, and the smaller females; and were to produce young at the end of every twelve years, before which time they were by no means to be looked at. He had enveloped them in a quantity of cotton-wool, in order to impart warmth to them; and the thread was tied round the box that the offspring might have no opportunity of escaping! “But,” said the old man, with a disappointed air, “though I kept them with the greatest care for twelve years, suffering no one to approach them, I found, to my sorrow, at the expiration of that time, they had made no increase; and I begin to fear they never will:” in saying which the old man was so grievously affected that he burst into tears. It was with considerable difficulty I could refrain from laughing aloud in his face. I succeeded, however, in subduing the great inclination I had to be merry; and told him, with all the solemnity the occasion deserved, that the Arab was a rogue, and had deceived him; that the articles were bits of tin, and not of silver; that they were without life, and therefore could not produce young. I consoled the old gentleman on the hoax that had been played off upon him, and sympathized with him in his sorrow. He soon afterwards became more composed, although at times he could not help sobbing audibly. After answering the numerous questions he put to me about my country, &c. I complained of fatigue, and retired to rest. Ill with dysentery all day.
27th.—Passing a very restless night, got up at six in the morning and proceeded on my journey. At 10 A.M. passed close to a large Fellata town, called Kaowah, in the neighbourhood of which were numerous herds of cattle grazing. Here, as in other parts of Houssa, the cows are mostly white; and the sheep generally white, with black and red spots, which had a very agreeable appearance at a distance, and put me strongly in remembrance of Jacob’s spotted sheep, mentioned in Scripture. A ride of four hours brought us to Goguay, a large walled town. The beasts were unable to enter the gate with their loads, by reason of its extreme narrowness; and being ill, and much in want of rest, I was unwilling for so much time to be consumed in conveying them into the town on men’s heads: I accordingly reposed for the night underneath the branches of a large tree. On learning of my arrival, the chief came to see me, seated himself by my side, and entered familiarly into conversation. He observed that tigers abounded in the neighbourhood, and advised me by all means to keep fires burning the whole of the night round my attendants and cattle, to prevent their being attacked by those rapacious animals, which would very likely be the case if that precaution were not used. The chief told me that about two years before the Gooberites took and plundered his town, and put to the sword nearly the whole of its inhabitants, he himself very narrowly escaping with his life. This was no doubt the reason of the scantiness of the population, and the poverty of the chief and his remaining subjects. As soon as the chief left me, a new married couple paid me a visit. I gave the bride, a very pretty girl of eighteen, guinea nuts to the value of one hundred cowries, for which she dropped on one knee, and thanked me in a graceful and becoming manner. I shortly afterwards received some butter-milk from her, which was a welcome present.
28th.—Left Goguay at half-past six in the morning, and halted at Kookay, a small wretched looking village, at twelve at noon. The chief sent provisions for myself and people, and provender for the cattle; and the inhabitants complained sadly of the mischief done to their crops by wild pigs, a great part of which was completely destroyed. They were miserably clad, and exhibited signs of extreme poverty. This night slept a little, which is a comfort I seldom enjoy.
29th.—At half-past six in the morning proceeded on our journey, and at twelve stopped at Duncammee, a moderately sized walled town. I was both surprised and pleased to observe the neatness of this town, and the cleanliness of its inhabitants. Every inch of spare ground was planted with tobacco, and very tastefully fenced round with dried tobacco stalks. The natives manufacture large quantities of cotton cloths, which are neat and durable; and at the north end of the town are several dye-pits. The wall surrounding the town is in rather a ruinous state. The chief welcomed me to his house, and offered me the best apartment in it. Provisions were plentiful, and we fared exceedingly well. In return for his kindness, I gave him a clasp knife, and a hundred needles.
30th.—At six in the morning were again on our route, and halted at Gaza at one at noon. The chief was happy to see me, lodged me in his own house, and seemed to take pleasure in obliging me.
31st.—Continued our journey at the usual hour, and halted at Rayoo at one o’clock. In this town I was considerably worse, became debilitated in a surprising manner, lost my sight, and could not rise in bed. Fancying I should not be able to proceed any further, and that my life was drawing to a close, I called Pascoe to my bed-side, and advised him, after he had buried me, to make all haste to my master at Soccatoo; to take particular care of the property he would have the charge of, and I had no doubt my master would reward him.
December 1st.—This day was dreadfully ill—unable to taste any kind of food, and expecting every moment would be my last.
2d.—Did not find myself at all better this morning, and was surprised I had lived so long. At 2 P.M., finding myself a little revived, but unable to sit up, I determined to see my dear master, if I could, before I died. For this purpose ordered my people to make a couch on the back of the camel; after which they gently lifted me into it, and I almost immediately ordered them to proceed. The chief of Rayoo, who was one of Bello’s principal fighting men, behaved particularly kind to me, and, I really believe, sincerely sympathized in my distress. He expressed much sorrow on parting, and hinted it would be dangerous to proceed, but did not oppose my determination. The path, the greater part of the way, being very narrow, and thickly lined on each side with a species of thorn, I was annoyed greatly, by reason of the thorns frequently tearing the covering from my bed, and exposing me to the intense heat of a burning sun. The sultan of Kano’s messenger, however, seeing me in this state, rode before the camel, and dexterously lopped off the overhanging branches with his cutlass: this proved of the utmost advantage. The violent shaking of the camel caused me to be faint several times on the road; on which occasions my party uniformly halted until I revived. In this manner we journeyed till seven in the evening, when we entered a walled town called Koolefee. The chief, a very fine old man, never having seen a white man before, was in raptures when he learned of my being in the town; and running to the camel, took me from its back, and carried me in his arms into an apartment which had been hastily prepared for my reception. Placing me on a bed, he took a gora nut from his pocket, and holding it betwixt his finger and thumb, wished me to chew one end of it, that he might have the pleasure of eating with a Christian. I did it after some difficulty, when he immediately ate the remainder with much apparent satisfaction. His great men, who surrounded me, reproved him sharply for doing this. He quickly answered them, in a pleasant but firm tone, that he believed the “little Christian” was as good a man as himself or any of them; which effectually silenced their remarks. He shortly afterwards went out, and returned with a bowl, containing six quarts of new milk, with which a little flour and some honey had been mixed. He told me he was determined to see me eat the whole of it before he left the apartment. I partook sparingly of it at first, but in the night tasted it several times, which refreshed and invigorated me.