The travellers now ascertained that the king would not allow them to go to Jenna by the nearest beaten path, on the plea, that, as sacred fetish land would lie in their way, they would die the moment in which they trod upon it.
The pleasant news was now received, that the king of Jenna had arrived at that town from Katunga. His messenger reached Badagry on the 30th March, and immediately paid a visit to the Landers, accompanied by a friend. They regaled him with a glass of rum, according to their general custom, the first mouthful of which he squirted from his own into the mouth of his associate, and vice versa. This was the first time they had witnessed this dirty and disgusting practice.
Adooley again sent for the travellers, he having recollected some articles, which were necessary to complete the cargo, which the king of England was to send him. To their great surprise, however, the first article that he demanded was nothing less than a gun-boat, with a hundred men from England, as a kind of body-guard; for his own private and immediate use, however, he demanded a few common tobacco-pipes. It was a very easy matter to give a bill for the gun-boat and the hundred men, neither of which, they well knew, would be duly honoured; for, before they could come back protested to king Adooley, the drawers of it knew they would be far beyond his power; and they had received such specimens of the extreme nobleness and generosity of his character, that they determined never to throw themselves in his power again. In regard, however, to the tobacco-pipes, they dared not part with them on any account, because, considering the long journey, they had before them, they were convinced they had nothing to spare; indeed it was their opinion, that the presents would be all exhausted long before the journey was completed, and this was in a great measure to be imputed to the rapacity of Adooley, when he examined their boxes. With the same facility that they could have written the order for the gun-boat and the hundred men, they now wrote a paper for forty ounces of gold, worth there about two pounds an ounce, to be distributed amongst the chief of the English-town and the rest of their partisans. Adooley had now summed up the measure of his demands; the travellers were most agreeably surprised by an assurance from him, that they should quit Badagry on the morrow, with the newly-arrived Jenna messenger. They accordingly adjusted all their little matters to the apparent satisfaction of all parties, nor could they help wishing, for the sake of their credit, that they might never meet such needy and importunate friends as pestered them during their residence at Badagry.
In regard to king Adooley, we have been furnished with some most interesting particulars respecting him, and some of his actions certainly exhibit a nobleness of character seldom to be found in the savage. His conduct towards the Landers was distinguished by the greatest rapacity and duplicity, whilst in his intercourse with his own immediate connexions, his actions cannot be surpassed by any of the great heroes of antiquity. He evinced in early youth an active and ingenious disposition, and an extraordinary fondness for mechanical employments and pursuits. This bias of Adooley soon attracted the attention and notice of his father, and this revered parent did all that his slender means afforded of cherishing it, and of encouraging him to persevere in his industrious habits. Whilst yet a boy, Adooley was a tolerable carpenter, smith, painter, and gunner. He soon won the admiration of his father, who displayed greater partiality and affection for him, than for either of his other children, and on his death nominated this favorite son his successor, to the exclusion of his first-born, which is against the laws of the country, the eldest son being invariably understood as the legitimate heir. For some time, however, after his decease, no notice was taken of the dying request of the Lagos chieftain; his eldest son ruled in his stead, notwithstanding his last injunction, and Adooley for a few years wisely submitted to his brother without murmuring or complaint. The young men at length quarrelled, and Adooley calling to remembrance the words and wishes of his father, rose up against the chief, whom he denounced an usurper, and vehemently called upon his friends to join him in disputing his authority, and endeavour to divest him of his power and consequence. All the slaves of his deceased parent, amongst whom were a great number of Houssa mallams; all who bore any personal dislike to the ruling chief, or were discontented with his form of government; those who preferred Adooley, and the discontented of all ranks, formed themselves into a strong body, and resolved to support the pretensions of their favourite. The brothers agreed to decide the quarrel by the sword, and having come to a general engagement, the partizans of the younger were completely routed, and fled with their leader before the victorious arms of the opposing party.
Fearing the result of this contest, Adooley, with a spirit of filial piety, which is not rare amongst savages, and is truly noble, dug out of the earth, wherein it had been deposited, the skull of his father, and took it along with him in his flight, in order that it might not be dishonoured in his absence, for he loved his father with extraordinary tenderness, and cherished his memory as dearly as his own life. The headless body of the venerable chief, like those of his ancestors, had been sent to Benin, in order that its bones might adorn the sacred temple at that place, agreeably to an ancient and respected custom, which has ever been religiously conformed to, and tenaciously held by the Lagos people. But Adooley displayed at the same time another beautiful trait of piety and filial tenderness. At the period of his defeat, he had an aged and infirm mother living, and her he determined to take with him, let the consequences be what they might. With his accustomed foresight, he had previously made a kind of cage or box, in case there should be a necessity for removing her. His father's skull having been disinterred and secured, he implored his mother to take immediate advantage of this cage, as the only means of escaping with life. She willingly acceded to her son's request, and was borne off on the shoulders of four slaves, to a village not far distant from Lagos, accompanied by Adooley and his fugitive train, where they imagined themselves secure from further molestation. In this opinion, however, they were deceived, for the more fortunate chief, suspicious of his brother's intentions, and dreading his influence, would not suffer him to remain long in peace, but drove him out soon after, and hunted him from place to place like a wild beast. In this manner, retreating from his brother, he at last reached the flourishing town of Badagry, and being quite wearied with his exertions and fatigues, and disheartened by his misfortunes, he set down his beloved mother on the grass, and began to weep by her side. The principal people of the town were well acquainted with his circumstances, and admiring the nobleness of his sentiments, they not only pitied him, but resolved to protect and befriend him to the last.
For this purpose they presently invited him to attend a council, which they had hastily formed. When in the midst of them, perceiving tears falling fast down his cheeks, they asked him why he wept so? "Foolish boy," said they, "wipe away those tears, for they are unworthy of you, and show yourself a man and a prince. From this moment we adopt you our chief, you shall lead us on to war, and we will fight against your brother, and either prevail over him or perish. Here your mother may dwell in safety, and here shall your father's skull be reverenced as it ought to be. Come then, lay aside your fears, and lead us on against your enemies."
These enemies were in the bush, and hovering near Badagry, when Adooley and his generous friends sallied out against them. The fighting or rather skirmishing lasted many days, and many people, it is said, were slain on both sides. But the advantage was decidedly in favour of the Badagrians, whose superior knowledge of the district and secret paths of the wood, was of considerable service to them, enabling them to lie in ambush, and attack their enemies by surprise. The Lagos people at length gave up the unequal contest in despair, and returned to their own country. Adooley was thus left in quiet possession of an important and influential town, which declared itself independent of Lagos for ever. Since then various unsuccessful attempts have been made to compel the Badagrians to return to their allegiance. The latter, however, have bravely defended their rights, and in consequence their independency has been acknowledged by the neighbouring tribes.
In the year 1829, the warlike chief of Lagos died, and Adooley considering it to be a favourable opportunity for his re-assertion of his claims to the vacant "stool," as it is called, determined to do so, and assembled his faithful Badagrians for the purpose of making an attack on his native town. He imagined that as his brother was dead, he should experience little opposition from his countrymen; but he soon discovered that he had formed an erroneous opinion, for almost at his very outset, he met with a stout resistance. His brother had left an infant son, and him the people declared to be his legitimate heir, and unanimously resolved to support him.
The sanguine invaders were repulsed, and entirely defeated, notwithstanding their tried bravery and utter contempt of danger; and were forced to return home in confusion without having accomplished any thing. In this unfortunate expedition Bombanee and all the principal warriors were slain. A similar attempt has been made on Lagos more than once, and with a similar result. On the arrival of the Landers at Badagry, Adooley was but just recovering from the effects of these various mortifications and other disasters; and singular enough, he had the artfulness, as has been previously noticed, of laying the whole blame of them to his having permitted the last African mission to pass through his territories, contrary to the wishes of his neighbours, and those, who were interested in the matter.
Justice is not unfrequently administered at Badagry by means of a large wooden cap, having three corners, which is placed on the head of the culprit at the period of his examination. This fantastic piece of mechanism, no doubt by the structure of internal springs, may be made to move and shake without any visible agent, on the same principle as the enchanted Turk, or any other figure in our puppet shows. It is believed that the native priests are alone in the secret. When the cap is observed to shake whilst on the head of a suspected person, he is condemned without any further evidence being required; but should it remain without any perceptible motion, his innocence is apparent and he is forthwith acquitted. The frame of this wonderful cap makes a great fuss in the town, and as many wonderful stories are told of it here, as were related in England, a century or two ago, of the famous brazen head of Roger Bacon.