The chief and his head men and bowmen received us in a similar manner as at other places, with great pomp and solemnity, his priests taking the lead in conducting us into the market-place, advancing at a slow pace and repeating some select portion from the Koran. This ceremony, upon the whole, reminded me of a funeral procession in England. After we reached the palaver place in the market, we were invited to sit down, and water was handed to us. Nothing else, however, of a liquid nature was offered us. We were, as usual, interrogated as to our purpose in visiting the country. These questions I answered to the same effect as I had previously done. My reply seemed to give general satisfaction. The chief was surrounded by bowmen and spearmen, many of whom were very fine-looking men. During this time, the chief, or sheik, as he is here called, amused himself by playing with his beard, rather an uncommon ornament amongst these people, and highly esteemed. We were presented with two fowls by one of the head men, to whom in return I gave two papers of needles.
This town is well supplied with good water, and the cattle, both sheep and oxen, are very handsome; the horses are small, but well bred. The dromedary and elephant are here to be met with tame. The sugar-cane is also cultivated, and very large, but not manufactured. The liquor after boiling the cane is used mixed with the meal of the Indian corn, instead of, or rather as we use tea or coffee; sometimes a little ginger, which grows here spontaneously, is added to it. This is a very wholesome and palatable beverage.
Here the small-pox had made dreadful havoc amongst the inhabitants, and was still destroying numbers daily. The sheik or chief took great interest in my recommendation to inoculate from the cow-pox, and several times put the question to me, whether I could not myself perform the operation, and instruct his doctors, of whom he has a great number. I excused myself for want of material, or matter. The inhabitants vary very much in colour, which proves the undoubted mixture of the tribes from distant countries. The greater part of the inhabitants of Sagbo are very dark, tall, and well formed. The general development of their cranium is good; they are very keen traders, cheerful and affable, and nearly all Mahomedans.
I was, as usual, obliged to draw on my little stock, which was now fast diminishing, and to give a few needles and a thimble, as well as a Jew’s harp, to the chief, who deemed the Jew’s harp a wonderful piece of consecrated iron. We then recommenced our journey, the country bearing the same very pleasant aspect, and with trees a little larger than I had met with during my last four days’ journey.
After a rather tiresome march, we arrived, at thirty-eight miles, at the town of Jakee. The chief of this town is subject to the chief of Sagbo, who directs or governs six large towns in his own locality. It appeared that a private messenger had been despatched from Sagbo to inform the chief of this town of my coming. The same messenger was with the chief of Jakee when he met me half a mile from the town. The old man received me with marked courtesy, and without much ceremony we were conducted into his court-yard.
As it was getting late, and we had expressed our intention of remaining all night, the chief readily showed us an apartment or hut, in his own court-yard, where we were to repose for the night; and upon our informing him of our long journey, he seemed to sympathize with us, and in a great measure dispensed with the usual palaver, but joined us in our quarters, where he seemed delighted to receive information respecting white man’s country, and also of the country we had passed through. He expressed his great surprise that a man should venture so far from his home and relations, and run the risk of casualties in so many strange lands. This man had by some means heard of the unfortunate Niger expedition, probably from Terrasso-weea, with whom he has been long acquainted. He took great interest in the trade of his own town, and expressed a great desire to know by what means he might increase it. We were rather annoyed during the early part of the evening by numerous curious visitors who came to have a peep at us, and some watchfulness was required, though we had little to be robbed of; however, it was the more necessary to preserve the little we had got.
30th July.—Early in the morning we were aroused by the ringing of a number of bells or gong-gongs, which, in accordance with an ancient custom, are rung round the town every morning at day-break to apprise the inhabitants that it is time to get up. These gong-gongs are used also to give the alarm in case of any sudden attack upon the town. As soon as this procession had passed, the chief paid us a visit, and inquired very kindly after our health. We were supplied with a quantity of the juice of the sugar-cane, and some meal mixed with it, about the consistence of gruel. Upon this we made a hearty breakfast, with the addition of some round balls, about the size of a potato, made from an under-ground bean, which is very abundant in this country. This bean is ground into meal and made into round balls. It is then fried in an earthen pot with palm-oil, and used for food. It is of a tolerably good flavour.
After distributing some needles and Jew’s harps, we recommenced our journey. During this day our bearing varied from N. 25° W. to 12°, 35°, 40°, and 22° N. towards W. At six miles we arrived at a small market on the path for the sale of provisions to travellers. Here they also sold water, which is at all times a bad omen for travellers, as showing its scarcity. We secured a calabash filled with water for a paper of needles, which seemed to take well in this part of the country. We were, however, happily mistaken in our fears respecting water in this instance, for, at ten miles, we arrived at a small village called Kiroaso, where we found plenty of good water. This kroom is famous for its tan-pits and dye-vats: the inhabitants of several towns at a distance visit this place for the purpose of dyeing their cloths and thread. Besides the indigo, they have a yellow and red colour which they manufacture, with which they dye both leather and cloth. Here the natives carve quantities of wooden bowls out of the cotton-tree with considerable taste. They seemed much alarmed at our presence, many of them running away upon our approach. As soon, however, as they learned that we were friends, they returned and would soon have become too familiar. We remained here only a short time, and then resumed our journey; and, at nineteen miles, arrived at the Kabra Mountains, along the sides of which we travelled, passing several small krooms or towns at their base, some of which we entered.
We found here several chalybeate springs, strongly impregnated with carbonate of iron of a deep orange colour. At twenty-five miles we arrived at the river Jenoo. This river is navigable by large canoes at all seasons of the year. It runs to the eastward, and is fordable at this season by persons on foot, not exceeding three feet and a half deep, with sandy bottom, and not more than twelve yards wide, with a current not exceeding two miles per hour. Fish, however, are not very abundant, as the natives are unacquainted with the method of catching them; I observed, therefore, very few for sale. It is rather singular that the conchology of all the inland rivers in this part of Africa is very limited, a sort of mussel being the only shell which I observed.
Of the crustaceous tribes a sort of shrimp or prawn is the only thing I noticed. The land-tortoise, however, is abundant on the banks of rivers, and is used by the natives for food. Having halted a short time after crossing the river, we again resumed our journey, passing amongst some beautiful shrubs and sweet-scented climbing plants, whose blossoms spread a sweet odour for a considerable distance. We marched some miles through this interesting panorama before we again reached the open plain. Here the soil again assumed a lighter colour, of a gravelly nature, and studded with trees of various kinds. The soil and small brooks still proved the presence of iron.