During the whole of this night it rained most heavily; but their hut, although of the very worst description, had a pretty good thatched roof, and sheltered them better than they could have expected. There are seasons and periods in our life-time, in which we feel a happy complacency of temper and an inward satisfaction, cheerfulness, and joy, for which we cannot very well account, but which constrain us to be at peace with ourselves and our neighbours, and in love with all the works of God. In this truly enviable frame of mind, Richard Lander says he awoke on this morning, to proceed onwards on horseback. It was a morning, which was fairly entitled to the epithet of incense breathing; for the variety of sweet-smelling perfumes, which exhaled after the rain, from forest flowers and flowering shrubs, was delicious and almost overpowering. The scenery which gratified their eyes on this day, was more interesting and lovely, than any they had heretofore beheld. The path circled round a magnificent, cultivated valley, hemmed in on almost every side with mountains of granite of the most grotesque and irregular shapes, the summits of which were covered with stunted trees, and the hollows in their slopes occupied by clusters of huts, whose inmates had fled thither as a place of security against the ravages of the warmen who infest the plains. A number of strange birds resorted to this valley, many of whose notes were rich, full, and melodious, while others were harsh and disagreeable, but, generally speaking, the plumage was various, splendid, and beautiful. The modest partridge appeared in company with the magnificent balearic crane, with his regal crest, and delicate humming birds hopped from twig to twig, with others of an unknown species; some of them were of a dark, shining green; some had red silky wings and purple bodies; some were variegated with stripes of crimson and gold, and these chirped and warbled from among the thick foliage of the trees. In the contemplation of such beautiful objects as these, all so playful and so happy, or the more sublime ones of dark waving forests, plains of vast extent, or stupendous mountains, that gave the mind the most sensible emotions of delight and grandeur, leading it insensibly
"To look from nature up to nature's God."
Speaking on these subjects, Lander very feelingly expresses himself, "For myself," he says, "I am passionately fond of them, and have regretted a thousand times, that my ignorance incapacitated me from giving a proper representation of them, or describing the simplest flower that adorns the plains, or the smallest insect that sparkles in the air. This consideration gives me at times many unhappy reflections, although my defective education arose from circumstances over which my boyhood had no control."
Having passed through the immense valley already mentioned, they had not travelled far before they arrived and halted at a large village called Tudibu; here they rested a while, and then continuing their journey for two hours over even ground between high hills, they rode into the town of Gwen-dekki, in which they purposed passing the night. The chief was either very poor or very ill natured, for the only thing he sent them was a little boiled yam, with a mess of unpalatable gravy, which he would not have given, if he had not expected ten times its value in return. Divine service, it being Sunday, was performed in the course of the day, and this was a duty, which to persons in their situation, was found inconceivably pleasant. It rendered them happy and resigned in the midst or their afflictions and privations; reposing their confidence in the all-protecting arm of that beneficent Being, who is the author and disposer of their destinies, and in whom alone, thus widely separated as they were from home, and kindred and civilization, the solitary wanderer can place his trust.
On the morning of Monday the 26th April, a thick mist obscured the horizon, and hid in deep shade the mountains and the hills; every object indeed was invisible, with the exception of the pathway and the trees growing on each side, which they could hardly distinguish as they passed along. It continued hazy for two hours after leaving Gwen-dekki, when the mist dispersed and the atmosphere became clear. Preparatory to ascending a steep granite hill, they halted to refresh their horses under the branches of a high spreading tree, near a town called Eco. Here they were visited by several of the inhabitants, who, as soon as they were informed of their arrival, came flocking to the spot. They formed themselves into a line to pay their respects, and entreated them to wait a little for the arrival of their chief, who was momentarily expected. But after staying as long as they conveniently could, and no chief appearing, they mounted their beasts and began the toilsome ascent. On attaining the summit of the hill, the coup d'oeil was magnificent indeed, and the fog having been dispersed by the sun, the eye was enabled to range over an extensive horizon, bounded by hills and mountains of wonderful shapes. Some of them bore a very striking resemblance to the Table mountain at the Cape of Good Hope, and another was not unlike the Lion's Head and Rump of the same place. Their course was north-east, and those two mountains bore due west from them. There was no continued range of hills, but numbers of single unconnected ones, with extensive valleys between them. In some places, several were piled behind each, and those most distant from them appeared like dark indistinct clouds. Nothing could surpass the singularity, and it may be added the sublimity of the whole view from the top of the granite hill which they had ascended, and they contemplated it silence for a few seconds, with emotions of astonishment and rapture.
Descending the hill, they continued their journey over a noble plain, watered with springs and rivulets, and in the afternoon entered Dufo, a most extensive and populous town. The inhabitants appeared to be industrious and very opulent, as far as regarded the number and variety of their domestic animals, having abundance of sheep, goats, swine, pigeons, and poultry, amongst the latter of which were observed for the first time, turkeys and guinea-fowl. They had likewise horses and bullocks. The chief did not make his appearance for a long time, but as soon as he had introduced himself, he desired them to follow him into a cleanly swept square, where was the house which he intended them to occupy. Presently after his departure, he sent them a quantity of yams, a basket of ripe bananas, and a calabash of eggs, which they soon discovered to be good for nothing, although sand had been mixed with them, that they might feel heavier than they really were.
They were on this evening visited by four Burgoo traders, who informed them that they had crossed the Niger at Inguazhilligie, not more than fourteen days ago, and that although the rains had commenced, the river had as yet received no great addition to its waters.
The travellers were early on horseback, on the morning of the 27th, and preceded by the carriers of their luggage, they rode out of the town of Dufo. The country, indeed, appeared inferior, as to the boldness and beauty of its scenery, to that which they had traversed on the preceding day but still it possessed features of no common interest. Another table mountain was observed to the left of their path in the course of the morning, as well as another lion's head and rump. Ponderous masses of granite rock overhung the road way; they were almost black, and seemed to have been washed by the rains of a thousand years; in many of them were deep and gloomy caverns, which, were they in Cornwall instead of in central Africa, they would be selected by some novel-monger, as the scene of some dark and mysterious murder, or as the habitation of a gang of banditti, or perhaps of the ghost of some damsel, who might have deliberately knocked her brains out against some rocky protuberance, on account of a faithless lover. They were followed a long while by hundreds of the natives, and who annoyed them so much by their noises and curiosity, that they were compelled to resort to violent measures to drive them away; but this was a line of conduct rarely adopted towards them, and never without extreme reluctance. They were at length frightened away, and they saw them no more. About eight miles from Dufo, they arrived at a large straggling village, called Elokba, where they halted a little, as the path had been so stony, rugged, and irregular, that a few minutes rest was absolutely necessary to recruit themselves. From this place the road became excellent, not at all inferior to a drive round a nobleman's park in England, and continued to be good till they came in sight of a capacious walled town, called Chaadoo, which they entered about mid-day. Outside the walls is a small Fellata village, the huts of which are constructed in the circular or coozie form. Its inhabitants employ themselves solely in the breeding of cattle, an occupation to which they are passionately addicted. They are simple in their manners, and extremely neat in their dress and appearance.
Not long after their arrival, three or four young Fellata shepherdesses from the village came to pay their respects to the travellers, who felt much pleased with their society, for they were extremely well-behaved and intelligent; they remained, however, a very short time, their customary avocation not permitting a longer stay. The hair of these females was braided in a style peculiarly tasteful and becoming, and the contour of their oval faces was far from disagreeable. Their manners also were innocent and playful; the imaginary shepherdesses of our pastorals were not more modest, artless, and engaging in description, than these were in reality; they left behind them an impression very favourable, both as regards their morals, naiveté, and rustic simplicity.
On the road from Dufo, Richard Lander unthinkingly shot a crane, which fell in an adjoining field. The report of his gun brought out a number of natives from "the bush," who being in continual dread of an attack from "the war men of the path," imagined it to be a signal of one of these marauders. They were all armed like their countrymen with bows and arrows, and with a threatening aspect would have lodged a few shafts in the person of Richard Lander, had it not been for the timely interference of one of their Jenna messengers, who fortunately happened to be with him at the time, and who gave an immediate and satisfactory explanation. The head of the party then sought for and picked up the bird, but Richard took it from him, after he had rewarded him liberally for his trouble. The man, however, was neither satisfied nor pleased, but roughly demanded the bird as his own, because it had fallen on his land. As there were no game laws here, Richard Lander would not admit his claim, and was retiring, when the fellow begged with much importunity that the head and legs of the animal, at least, might be given him to make a fetish of. This was likewise objected to, at which the man was out of all patience, and went off foaming with passion. In the evening, the crane was dressed for supper, and a similar request was made by a eunuch from Katunga, who being a good-natured fellow, his wish was readily complied with. The chief of Chaadoo, however, presently sent a messenger to request the said precious head and legs, and to him they were finally committed by the disappointed eunuch, who could hardly forbear weeping on the occasion; these relics are considered extremely valuable as a charm.