"MAHOMMED"
This may be considered as the conclusion of the information which was obtained respecting the fate of Park; although Clapperton expresses it to be his opinion, but founded on very slender grounds, that the journal of Park is yet to be recovered.
On leaving Boussa, Clapperton retraced his steps to the Cumbrie villages, and then turned to the south-south-west to another of their villages, named Songa, situated on the banks of the Quorra. About two hours above Songa, there is a formidable cataract, "where," Lander observes, "if Park had passed Boussa in safety, he would have been in danger of perishing, unheard and unseen." An hour and a half below Songa, the Quorra rushes with great force through a natural gap, such it seems to be, between porphyritic rocks rising on each side of the channel. Between Songa and this place, the river is full of rocky islets and rapids, and these occur occasionally all the way down to Wonjerque, or the king's ferry at the village of Comie, where it is all in one stream, about a quarter of a mile in width, and ten or twelve feet deep in the middle. This is the great ferry of all the caravans to and from Nyffee, Houssa, and is only a few hours from Wawa.
On reaching this ferry, Clapperton was told, that, so far from his baggage having been sent on to Koolfu, it had been stopped at Wawa, by order of the governor; but this extraordinary proceeding was in some degree accounted for, as it appeared that although neither Clapperton nor Lander would have any thing to do with the corpulent widow Zuma, she was determined not to let them off so easily, and, to their great surprise, the travellers heard that she was at a neighbouring village, from which she sent them a present of some boiled rice and a fowl, giving them, at the same time, a pressing invitation to come and stop at her house. The governor's son informed Clapperton, that his baggage would not be allowed to leave Wawa till the widow Zuma was sent back. "What the d—-l have I to do with the widow?" asked Clapperton.—"You have," he replied; "and you must come back with me and take her." Clapperton, however, refused, in the most positive terms, to have any thing to do with or to say to her. At this moment Lander returned from Boussa, whither he had followed his master, to acquaint him with the detention of his baggage; all of which was owing to the widow having left Wawa about half an hour after he did, with drums beating before her, and a train after her, first calling at his lodgings, before she waited on the governor. It was also ascertained that she had given old Pascoe a female slave for a wife, without having previously asked the governor's permission. The widow had also intimated her intention to follow the travellers to Kano, whence she would return to make war on the governor, as she had done once before. "This," said Clapperton, "let me into their politics with a vengeance; it would indeed have been a fine end to my journey, if I had deposed old Mahommed, and set up for myself, with a walking tun-butt for a queen." Clapperton, however, determined to go back to Wawa, to release his baggage; and scarcely had he got there, when the arrival of the buxom widow was announced, her appearance and escort being as grand as she could make it, hoping thereby to make an impression upon the flinty hearts of the Europeans. The following is the description of her dress and escort:— Preceding her marched a drummer, beating the instrument with all his power, his cap being profusely decked with ostrich feathers. A bowman walked on foot, at the head of her horse, a long train following, consisting of tall, strong men, armed with spears, bows, and swords. She rode on a fine horse, whose trappings were of the first order for this semi-civilized country; the head of the horse was ornamented with brass-plates, the neck with brass bells, and charms sewed in various coloured leather, such as red, green, and yellow; a scarlet breast-piece, with a brass plate in the centre; scarlet saddle-cloth, trimmed with lace. She was dressed in red silk trousers and morocco boots; on her head a white turban, and over her shoulders a mantle of silk and gold. For the purpose of properly balancing her ponderous frame on the horse, she rode in the style of the men, a-straddle; and perhaps a more unwieldy mass never pressed upon the loins of an animal; had she, however, been somewhat younger, and less corpulent, there might have been some temptation to head her party, for she certainly had been a very handsome woman, and such as would have been thought a beauty in any country in Europe.
The widow was summoned before the governor; went on her knees, and, after a lecture on disobedience and vanity, was dismissed; but on turning her back, she shook the dust off her feet with great indignation and contempt; "and," says Clapperton, "I went home, determined never to be caught in such a foolish affair in future."
The travellers, having secured their baggage, returned to the ferry, and crossed the Quorra. They were now on the high-road to Koolfu, the emporium of Nyffee. In the course of the first two stages, they came to two villages full of blacksmiths' shops, with several forges in each. They got their iron ore from the hills, which they smelt, where they dig it. In every village they saw a fetish house in good repair, adorned with painted figures of human beings, as also the boa, the alligator, and the tortoise. The country is well cultivated with corn, yams, and cotton; but the ant-hills were the highest the travellers had ever seen, being from fifteen to twenty feet high, and resembling so many gothic cathedrals in miniature.
In the afternoon of the third day, they crossed a stream called the May Yarrow, opposite the town of Tabra, by a long narrow wooden bridge of rough branches covered with earth, the first that they had seen in Africa; it will not, however, bear a man and horse, nor can two horses pass at once. Tabra, which is divided by the river into two quarters, was at this time the residence of the queen-mother of Nyffee, who was governor ad interim during the absence of her son. It may contain from eighteen to twenty thousand inhabitants, who, with a few exceptions, are pagans, and they all, men and women, have the reputation of being great drunkards. There are only a few blacksmiths here, but a great number of weavers. The Houssa caravans pass close to the north side of the town, but seldom enter it. Before the civil war began, the Benin people came here to trade. The war, which was still raging, originated in a dispute for the succession, between Mohammed El Majia, the son of the queen-mother, who was a moslem, and Edrisi, who was represented to be a pagan. The former was supported by the Fellatas, whom the people of Nyffee cannot endure; the other had the best right and the people on his side, but there was little doubt of his being obliged to succumb.
Clapperton, accompanied by Lander, repaired to the camp, to pay his respects to El Majia. He was found mounted on a good bay horse, the saddle ornamented with pieces of silver and brass; the breastplate with large silver plates hanging down from it, like what is represented in the prints of Roman and eastern emperors on horseback. He was a tall man, with a stupid expression of countenance, a large mouth, and snagged teeth, which showed horribly, when he attempted a smile. His dress consisted of a black velvet cap, with flaps over the ears, and trimmed with red silk; a blue and white striped tobe, and ragged red boots, part leather and part cloth; in his hand he bore a black staff with a silver head, and a coast-made umbrella and sword were carried by his slaves. Altogether his appearance was far from being either kingly or soldier-like, and he displayed the most mean degree of rapacity. He was the ruin of his country by his unnatural ambition, and by calling in the Fellatas, who would remove him out of the way the moment he is of no more use to them. Even then, he dared not move without their permission. It was reported, and generally believed, that he put to death his brother and two of his sons. Through him the greater part of the industrious population of Nyffee had either been killed, sold as slaves, or had fled from their native country. Lander considered that it would have been an act of charity to have removed him altogether.
The sanson, or camp, was a large collection of bee-hive-shaped huts, arranged in streets, and thatched with straw. But for the number of horses feeding, and some picketed near the huts, the men being all seen armed, and the drums beating, it might have been taken for a populous and peaceful village. Here were to be seen weavers, tailors, women spinning cotton, others reeling it off; some selling foofoo and accassons, others crying yams and paste; little markets at every green tree; holy men counting their beads, and dissolute slaves drinking wabum, palm wine. The king, when the travellers went to take leave of him, was found in his hut, surrounded by Fellatas, one of whom was reading the Koran aloud for the benefit of the whole, the meaning of which not one of them understood, not even the reader. It is by no means an uncommon occurrence, both in Bornou and Houssa, for a man to be able to read the Koran fluently, who does not understand a word in it but Allah, and who is unable to read any other book.
On the 2nd of May the travellers left Tabra, and journeying along the banks of the May Yarrow, crossed a stream running into it from the north, and soon after entered the great market town of Koolfu. Captain Clapperton, it would appear, was doomed to be brought into contact with the rich widows of the country, for in this town he took up his abode with the widow Laddie, huge, fat, and deaf, but reputed to be very rich. She was a general dealer, selling salt, natron, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera; but she was more particularly famous for her booza and wabum. The former is made from a mixture of dourra, honey, chili-pepper, the root of a coarse grass on which the cattle feed, and a proportion of water; these are allowed to ferment in large earthen jars, placed near a slow fire for four or five days, when the booza is drawn off into other jars, and is fit to drink. It is very fiery and intoxicating, but is drunk freely both by moslem and pagans. Every night, a large outer hut belonging to the widow, was filled with the topers of Koolfu, who kept it up generally till dawn, with music and drink. The former consisted of the erhab or Arab guitar, the drum, the Nyffee harp, and the voice. Their songs were mostly extempore, and alluded to the company present.