The chief sent them a goat, a quantity of bananas, a dish of pounded or rather mashed yam with gravy, and a large basket of caffas. These are a kind of pudding, made into little round balls from bruised Indian corn, which is first boiled to the consistence of thick paste. From being made entirely of coarse flour and water, they have an insipid taste when new, but when kept for a day or two, they become sour, and in this state are eaten by the natives. There are several deep wells in the town, but most of them are dried up, so that water is exceedingly scarce, and it is sold in the market-place to the inhabitants. They were daily accosted on the road with such salutations as these, "I hope you go on well on the path," "success to the king's work," "God bless you white men," "a blessing on your return, &c."
They remained the whole of the 28th at Chaadoo, in order to give the carriers with the luggage, time to come up with them, having been unavoidably detained by the roughness and unevenness of the road from Dufo to Elokba. The Katunga eunuch already mentioned, was sent by the king of that place to receive the customary tribute of the governors of various towns on the road between Katunga and Jenna. This man was treated with much respect both by the governor of Chaadoo and his people, who prostrated themselves to the eunuch, before addressing him.
Being in want of money, they sent some needles this morning to the market to sell. It is a custom in Youriba, that after a buyer has agreed to pay a certain sum for an article, he retracts his expression, and affirms that he only promised to give about half the sum demanded. This occasioned violent altercations between the Landers' people and the natives, but it is an established custom, from which there is no appeal.
The mother of the governor was buried this afternoon, at a neighbouring village, and the funeral was attended by all his wives or women as mourners. They were dressed in their holiday attire and looked tolerably smart. The mourners exhibited no signs of grief whatever, on the contrary, they were as lively as a wedding party; attended by a drummer, they passed through their yard on their return to the governor's house, which was only a few steps distant, and they kept up singing and dancing during the whole of the day, to the noise of the drum.
The inhabitants of the town have immense numbers of sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry, but bullocks are in the possession of Fellatas alone. It was believed, that the natives have not a single animal of that description. Like many other places, the market was not held here till the heat and toil of the day are over, and buyers seldom resort to it, till eight o'clock in the evening.
On the morning of the 29th April, it commencing raining at a very early hour, and continued with uncommon violence, till between ten and eleven o'clock, when it suddenly ceased, and they quitted Chaadoo. Before their departure, however, the credulous governor, who in common with his people, imagine that white men possess an influence over the elements, paid them a visit with a calabash of honey as a present, to thank them he said, for the rain that had fallen, of which the country was greatly in want, and invoked blessings on them. The kindness of this good old man was remarkable; he never seemed weary of obliging them, regretted his inability to do more, and solicited them very pressingly to remain with him another day.
They traversed a mountainous country intersected with streams of excellent water, and at noon entered a small, but pleasant picturesque village, which was ornamented with noble and shady trees. Here they waited a very short time, and continuing their route, arrived towards evening at a capacious walled town, called Row, wherein they passed the night. In many places, the wall, if it be deserving the name, was no more than twelve or fourteen inches from the ground, and the moat was of similar dimensions. The yard to which they were conducted, shortly after their arrival, was within three or four others, and so intricate were the passages leading to it, that after a stranger gets in, he would be sadly puzzled to find his way out again without a guide. Nevertheless, this was no security against interruption, for the yard was speedily invaded by five or six hundred individuals, who had been induced to visit them from curiosity. As usual, they annoyed the travellers for a long time to the best of their ability, till they completely wearied them out by their importunity and forwardness. They then hung sheets round the door-way of their dwelling, and laid down on their mats; and then only, the natives began to disperse, and left them at their ease.
The governor of the town was a morose, surly, and ill-natured man. He sent them only a few bananas, and a calabash of eggs, which were all stale and unfit to be eaten, so that some of their people were obliged to go supperless to bed. The governor ascribed the badness of his fare to extreme poverty, yet his vanity exacted from their Jenna messengers the most abject method of salutation, with which they were acquainted. These men walked backwards from him several yards, to throw dirt on their heads, and with the dust and filth still clinging to their hair, they were compelled to address the chief with their faces to the ground. The apartment of the travellers unfortunately communicated with his, and the restless tongues of his numerous wives prevented either of the Landers from dosing their eyes long after sunset. In the centre of their yard grew a tree, round which several stakes were driven into the ground. This tree was a fetish tree, and the stakes also fetish, and therefore a strong injunction was issued not to tie the horses to either of them. Calabashes, common articles of earthenware, and even feathers, egg-shells, and the bones of animals; indeed any kind of inanimate substance is made fetish by the credulous, stupid natives, and like the horse-shoe, which is still nailed to the door of the more superstitious of English peasantry, these fetishes are supposed to preserve them from ghosts and evil spirits. It is sacrilege to touch them, and to ridicule them, would be dangerous.
It was between seven and eight o'clock of the 30th April, before carriers could be procured, and every thing got in readiness for their departure. The sun was excessively hot, and the sky brilliantly clear. They crossed two or three rivulets of cool delicious water, as they had done on the preceding day, and then passed through an insignificant village, whose chief sent them a calabash of bruised corn, mixed with water, to drink. At noon, they arrived at the foot of a very elevated hill, and perceived a town perched on its summit, and knew it to be the same to which they had been directed. They dismounted, and after a laborious ascent, which occupied them three quarters of an hour, at length reached the top. Stones and blocks of granite interrupted their path, so that it became a very difficult matter to force the horses along before them; they fell repeatedly, but without materially injuring themselves.
The name of the town was Chekki; their arrival was rather unexpected, and therefore the governor was not prepared to receive them, and they sat down under a tree, until they were tired of waiting. At length, a man came to conduct them to his residence, which was but a little way from the tree, under which they were reposing, when a tumultuous rush was made by the inhabitants to precede them into the yard, and notwithstanding the presence of their chief, they so surrounded the travelling party as to prevent a particle of fresh air from reaching them. The governor received them with bluntness, but not unkindly, though without much demonstration of good-will. While in his yard, he regaled them with water, and afterwards sent them a large calabash of foorah sweetened with honey to their lodgings, which did not taste unlike thick gruel or burgoo, as it is termed in Scotland. It is made of a corn called goorah, is very palatable, and is in general use with the natives of these parts. A quantity of bananas from the chief soon followed the foorah, and something more substantial than either, was promised them.