The chief's eldest son was with them during the greater part of this day. The manners of this young man were reserved, but respectful. He was a great admirer of the English, and had obtained a smattering of their language. Although his appearance was extremely boyish, he had already three wives, and was the father of two children. His front teeth were filed to a point, after the manner of the Logos people; but, notwithstanding this disadvantage, his features bore less marks of ferocity than they had observed in the countenance of any one of his countrymen, while his general deportment was infinitely more pleasing and humble than theirs. When asked whether, if it were in his power to do so, he would injure the travellers, or any European, who might hereafter visit Badagry, he made no reply, but silently approached their seat, and falling on his knees at their feet, he pressed Richard Lander with eagerness to his soft naked bosom, and affectionately kissed his hand. No language or expression could have been half so eloquent.
They were now preparing to proceed on their journey, when they learned with surprise and sorrow, that a part of the populace had expressed themselves decidedly hostile to their projects, and that the leaders were continually with Adooley, using all their influence, and exercising all their cunning, in order to awaken his slumbering jealousy. They endeavoured to persuade him to demand, before he granted them leave to pass through his country, a sum of money, which, they were aware, was not in the power of the travellers to pay; and therefore it was imagined they would be compelled to abandon the undertaking. The first intimation they received of the effect of these insinuations on the mind of the chief, was brought to them by a person, who pronounced himself to be "on their side." This man assured them, with an ominous visage, that Adooley had declared, in the hearing of all the people, that the coat which Richard Lander had given him was intended for a boy, and not a man; it was therefore unworthy his acceptance as a king, and he considered that by the gift, they meant to insult him. The coat alluded to by Adooley was certainly extremely old-fashioned, and belonged to a surgeon in the navy about twenty years ago, notwithstanding which, it was almost as good as new, and was made showy by the addition of a pair of tarnished gold epaulets. It was, however, clear to Lander, that as this very same coat had been, only two days before, received with great satisfaction, that some enemy of theirs had been striving to render the chief discontented and mistrustful. To counteract the efforts of the malicious, they judged it prudent to sound the dispositions of those, who they were inclined to believe, from the fondness which they evinced for their rum, that they were favourable to their intentions and devoted to their interests.
At this time, there were two mulattoes residing in the town, one of whom, by name Hooper, acted as interpreter to Adooley, and shared a good deal of his confidence. He was born at Cape Coast Castle, in 1780, and was for many years a soldier in the African corps. His father was an Englishman, and he boasted of being a British subject. He was excessively vain of his origin, yet he was the most confirmed drunkard alive, always getting intoxicated before breakfast, and remaining in a soaking state all day long. This did not, however, make him regardless of his own interest, to which, on the contrary, he was ever alive, and indeed sacrificed every other feeling. The other mulatto could read and write English tolerably well, having received his education at Sierra Leone; he was a slave to Adooley, and was almost as great a drunkard as Hooper. These drunken political advisers of the chief they had little difficulty in bribing over to their interests; they had likewise been tampering with several native chiefs, apparently with equal success. Unfortunately every one here styled himself a great and powerful man, and Hooper himself calls a host of ragged scoundrels "noblemen and gentlemen," each of whom he advised Lander to conciliate with presents, and especially spirituous liquors, in order to do away any evil impression they might secretly have received, and obtain their suffrages, though it should be at the expense of half the goods in their possession. There is hardly any knowing who is monarch here, or even what form of government prevails; independently of the king of kings himself, the redoubtable Adooley, four fellows assume the title of royalty, namely, the kings of Spanish-town, of Portuguese-town, of English-town, and of French-town, Badagry being divided into four districts, bearing the names of the European nations just mentioned.
Toward the evening, they received an invitation from the former of these chieftains, who by all accounts was originally the sole governor of the country, until his authority was wrested from him by a more powerful hand. He was then living in retirement, and subsisted by purchasing slaves, and selling them to Portuguese and Spanish traders. They found in him a meek and venerable old man, of respectable appearance. He was surrounded by a number of men and boys, his household slaves, who were all armed with pistols, daggers, muskets, cutlasses, swords, &c., the manufacture of various European countries. In the first place, he assured them, that nothing could give him more pleasure than to welcome them to Badagry, and he very much wondered that they had not visited him before. If they had a present to give him, he said, he would thank them; but if they had not, still he would thank them. A table was then brought out into the court before the house, on which decanters and glasses, with a burning liquor obtained from the Portuguese, were placed. In one corner of the yard was a little hut, not more than two feet in height, wherein had been placed a fetish figure, to preserve the chief from any danger or mischief, which their presence might otherwise have entailed upon him. A portion of the spirit was poured into one of the glasses, and from it emptied into each of the others, and then drunk by the attendant that had fetched it from the house. This is an old custom, introduced no doubt to prevent masters from being poisoned by the treachery of their slaves. As soon as the decanters had been emptied of their contents, other ardent spirits were introduced, but as Richard Lander imagined that fetish water had been mingled with it, they simply took a tea-spoonful into their mouths, and privately ejected it on the ground. The old chief promised to return their visit on the morrow, and lifting up his hands and eyes to heaven, like a child in the attitude of prayer, he invoked the Almighty to preserve and bless them; they then saluted him in the usual manner, and returned well pleased to their own habitation.
CHAPTER XXX.
They were now most anxious to proceed on their journey, out the chief, Adooley, evaded their solicitations to depart, under the most frivolous and absurd pretences. He asserted that his principal reason for detaining them against their inclinations, was the apprehension he entertained for their safety, the road not being considered in a good state. Under this impression, he despatched a messenger to Jenna, to ascertain if the affairs of that country warranted him sending them thither. The old king of Jenna, who, it will be recollected, behaved so kindly to Captain Clapperton, was dead; his successor had been appointed, but he had not at that time arrived from Katunga. That being the case, there would not be any one at Jenna to receive them. Meantime, the rainy season was fast approaching, as was sufficiently announced by repeated showers and occasional tornadoes. They were also the more anxious to leave this abominable place, as they were informed that a sacrifice of no less than three hundred human beings, of both sexes and all ages, was shortly to take place, such as has been described in the second journey of Clapperton. They often heard the cries of many of these poor wretches, and the heart sickened with horror at the bare contemplation of such a scene as awaited them, should they remain much longer at Badagry.
Early on the morning of the 25th March, the house of the travellers was filled with visitors, and from that time to the evening they resigned themselves to a species of punishment, which cannot be characterized by any other terms than an earthly purgatory. After cracking fingers a hundred times, and grinning as often, they were informed, that the chief's messenger had returned from Jenna, but for some reason, which Lander could not define, the man was almost immediately sent back again, and they were told that they could not quit Badagry until he again made his appearance. It is the custom in this place, that when a man cannot pay his respects in person to another, he sends a servant with a sword or cane, in the same manner as a gentleman delivers his card in England. They this day received a number of compliments in this fashion, and it is almost superfluous to say that a cane or a sword was at all times a more welcome and agreeable visitor than its owner would have been.
They had scarcely finished their morning repast, when Hooper introduced himself for his accustomed glass of spirits, to prevent him, according to his own account, from getting sick. He took the opportunity of informing them, that it would be absolutely necessary to visit the noblemen, who had declared themselves on their side. As they strove to court popularity and conciliate the vagabonds by every means in their power, they approved of Hooper's counsel, and went in the first place, to the house of the late General Poser, which was at that time under the superintendence of his head man. Him they found squatting indolently on a mat, and several old people were holding a conversation with him. As the death of Poser was not generally known to the people, it being concealed from them, for fear of exciting a commotion in the town, he having been universally loved and respected they were not permitted even to mention his name, and the steward set them the example, by prudently confining his conversation to the necessity of making him a present proportionate to his expectations, and the dignity of his situation. Muskets and other warlike instruments were suspended from the sides of the apartment, and its ceiling was decorated with fetishes and Arab texts in profusion. Gin and water were produced, and partaken of with avidity by all present, more especially by the two mulattoes that had attended them, which being done, the head man wished the great spirit to prosper them in all their undertakings, and told them not to forget his present by any means. They shortly afterwards took their leave, and quitted the apartment with feelings of considerable satisfaction, for its confined air was so impure, that a longer stay, to say the least of it, would have been highly unpleasant. As it was, they had consumed so much time in Poser's house, that they found it necessary to alter their intention of visiting the other chiefs, and therefore resolved to pay their respects to Adooley, whom they had not seen for two days. Accordingly, they repaired immediately to his residence, and were welcomed to it with a much better grace, than on any previous occasion.
The chief was eating an undrest onion, and seated on an old table, dangling his legs underneath, with a vacant thoughtlessness of manner, which their abrupt intrusion somewhat dissipated. He informed them of his intention to send them on their journey on the day after to-morrow, when he expected that the people of Jenna would be in a suitable condition to receive them. He was full of good nature, and promised to make Richard Lander a present of a horse, which he had brought with him from Sockatoo on the former expedition, adding, that he would sell another to John Lander. So far, their visit was attended with satisfaction, but it was rather destroyed by Adooley informing them that it was his particular wish to examine the goods, which they intended to take with them into the bush, as the enclosed country is called, in order that he might satisfy himself that there were no objectionable articles amongst them. Having expressed their thanks to Adooley for his well-timed present, and agreed to the examination of their baggage, they all partook of a little spirit and water, which soon made them the best friends in the universe. During this palaver, the chief's sister and two of his wives were ogling at the travellers, and giggling with all the playfulness of the most finished coquette, until the approach of the chief of the English-town and the remainder of the travellers' party put a sudden stop to their entertainment, on which they presently left the apartment. These men came to settle a domestic quarrel, which was soon decided by the chief, who, after receiving the usual salutation of dropping on the knees with the face to the earth, chatted and laughed immoderately; this was considered by the travellers as a happy omen. In that country, very little ceremony is observed by the meanest of the people towards their sovereign, they converse with him with as little reserve, as if he were no better than themselves, while he pays as much attention to their complaints, as to those of the principal people of the country. An African king is therefore of some use, but there are kings in other parts of the world, of whose use it would be a very difficult matter to find any traces, and who know as much of the complaints or grievances of their subjects, as of the nucleus of the earth. Nor was king Adooley supposed to be entirely destitute of the virtues of hospitality, for it was observed that the remainder of his onion was divided equally amongst the chiefs, who had come to visit him, and was received by them with marks of the highest satisfaction.
In the afternoon, a herald proclaimed the approach to the habitation of the venerable chief of Spanish-town, with a long suite of thirty followers. The old man's dress was very simple, consisting only of a cap and turban, with a large piece of Manchester cotton flung over his right shoulder, and held under his left arm. This is infinitely more graceful and becoming in the natives, than the most showy European apparel, in any variety of which, indeed, they generally look highly ridiculous. After they had made the chief and all his attendants nearly tipsy, the former began to be very talkative and amusing, continuing to chat without interruption for a considerable time, not omitting to whisper occasionally to the interpreter, by no means to forget, after his departure, to remind the travellers of the present they had promised him, it being considered the height of rudeness to mention any thing of the kind aloud in his presence. The rum had operated so cheerily upon his followers in the yard, that fat and lean, old and young, all commenced dancing, and continued performing the most laughable antics, till they were no longer able to stand. It amused the travellers infinitely to observe these creatures, with their old solemn placid-looking chief at their head, staggering out at the door way; they were in truth, but too happy to get rid of them at so cheap a rate. Hooper shortly afterwards came with a petition from twelve gentlemen of English-town, for the sum of a hundred and twenty dollars to be divided amongst them, and having no resource, they were compelled to submit to the demand of these rapacious scoundrels.