They were here daily assured that the path was rendered exceedingly dangerous by banditti, and the governor of Jaguta endeavoured with a good deal of earnestness, to persuade them that their goods would not be respected by them. It will, however, scarcely be believed, that this universal dread originates from a few Borgoo desperadoes, who, although only armed with powder and a few broken muskets, can put a whole legion of the timid natives to flight. The inhabitants of the town kept firing the whole of the evening, to deter their formidable foe from scaling the wall and taking possession of their town.
On the night of Saturday May 8th, they were visited by thunder storms, from which, however, they did not receive any great annoyance. The natives as usual imputed the seasonable weather to their agency alone, and in consequence, their arrival at many places was hailed with transport, as the most fortunate thing that could have happened.
Extraordinary preparations were made by the governor of Jaguta, to ensure the safety of the travellers on the dreaded pathway; and a horseman armed with sword and spear, in company with four foot soldiers, who were equipped with bows, and several huge quivers full of arrows, were in readiness to offer them their protection. The horseman preceded the party, and played off a variety of antics to the great amusement of the Landers. He seemed not a little satisfied with himself; he flourished his naked sword over his head; brandished his spear; made his horse curvet and bound, and gallop alternately; and his dress being extremely grotesque, besides being old and torn, gave him an appearance not unlike that of a bundle of rags flying through the air. But with all this display of heroism and activity, the man would have fled with terror from his own shadow by moonlight, and it was really regretted by the travellers, that a few defenceless women were the only individuals that crossed their path to put his courage to the test, the formidable "war men" not being at that time in that part of the country.
Their journey this day was vexatiously short, not having exceeded four miles, for it was utterly beyond the power of either of the Landers to persuade the superstitious natives, who conform only to their fetish in these matters, that the robbers would be afraid even to think of attacking white men. They halted at a small town called Shea, which was defended by a wall. It appeared to possess a numerous population, if any opinion could be formed from the vast number of individuals that gathered round them, immediately on their entrance through the gateway. A stranger, however, cannot give anything like a correct estimate of the population of any inhabited place, in this part of Africa, for as he can only judge of it by the number of court-yards a town or village may contain; and as the one court yard there may be residing at least a hundred people, and in the one adjacent to it, perhaps not more than six or seven, the difficulty will be immediately perceived. Generally speaking, the description of one town in Youriba, would answer for the whole. Cleanliness and order and establish the superiority of one place over another, which may likewise have the advantages of a rich soil, a neighbourhood, and be ornamented with fine spreading and shady trees; but the form of the houses and squares is every-where the same; irregular and badly built clay walls, ragged looking thatched roofs, and floors of mud polished with cow-dung, form the habitations of the chief part of the natives of Youriba, compared topmost of which, a common English barn is a palace. The only difference between the residence of a chief and those of his subjects, lies in the number and not in the superiority of his court yards, and these are for the most part tenanted by women and slaves, together with flocks of sheep and goats, and abundance of pigs and poultry, mixed together indiscriminately.
Shea lies four miles E. by S. of Jaguta. The governor of the town presented them with a pig, and a quantity of country beer, and they also received little presents of provisions from a few of the people.
May the 9th was on a Sunday, and they were invited to witness an exhibition of tumbling; it was with great reluctance that the invitation was accepted, not only on account of the sanctity of the day, but for the delay which it would occasion them. They, however, considered it politic to lay aside their religious scruples, and they attended the exhibition mounted on their horses. As soon as it was over, they were escorted out of the town by beat of drum, preceded by an armed horseman, and an unarmed drummer, and continued their journey, followed by a multitude of the inhabitants.
They passed through a very large walled town called Esalay, about six miles from Shea, but its wall was dilapidated, and the habitations of the people in ruins, and almost all deserted. This town, which was not long since well inhabited, has been reduced to its present desolate and miserable state, by the protection which its ruler granted to an infamous robber, whose continued assaults on defenceless travellers, and his cruelty to them, at length attracted the notice of the king of Katunga. But previously to this, the inhabitants of another town not far off, many of whom had at different times suffered from his bold attacks, called in a number of Borgoo men, who bore no better reputation for honesty than the robber himself, and resolved to attempt the capture of the ruffian in his strong hold, without any other assistance. Their efforts, however, were unavailing; the governor, entrenched in his walled town, and supported by his people, sheltered the miscreant and compelled his enemies to raise the siege. About this time a messenger arrived at Esalay from the king of Katunga, with commands for the governor to deliver up the robber to punishment, but instead of obeying them, he privately warned the man of his danger, who took immediate advantage of it, and made his escape to Nouffie. The governor was suspected of aiding the escape of the robber, and a second messenger soon after arrived from Katunga, with orders for the guilty chief either to pay a fine to the king, of 120,000 kowries, or put a period to his existence by taking poison. Neither of these commands suiting the inclination of the governor of Esalay, he appointed a deputy, and privately fled to the neighbouring town of Shea, there to await the final determination of his enraged sovereign. The Landers saw this man at Shea, dressed in a fancifully made tobe, on which a great number of Arab characters were stitched. He walked about at perfect liberty, and did not seem to take his condition much to heart. The inhabitants of Esalay, however, finding that their ruler had deserted them, that they were threatened by the king of Katunga, and that the Borgoo men emboldened by the encouragement they received from that monarch, were also lurking about the neighbourhood, and ready to do them any mischief, took the alarm, and imitating the example of their chief, most of them deserted their huts, and scattered themselves amongst the different towns and villages in the neighbourhood. Very few people now resided at Esalay; and this town, lately so populous and flourishing, was on the visit of the Landers little better than a heap of ruins.
After passing through Esalay, they crossed a large morass and three rivers, which intersected the roadway. The croaking from a multitude of frogs which they contained, in addition to the noise of their drum, produced so animating an effect on their carriers, that they ran along with their burdens doubly as quick as they did before. They then arrived at an open village called Okissaba, where they halted for two hours under the shadow of a large tree, to allow some of their men who had been loitering behind to rejoin them, after which the whole party again set forward, and did not stop until they arrived at the large and handsome walled town. Atoopa, through which Captain Clapperton passed in the last expedition. During their ride, they observed a range of wooded hills, running from N.N.E. to S.S.W., and passed through a wilderness of stunted trees, which was relieved at intervals by patches of cultivated land, but there was not so much cultivation as might be expected to be found near the capital of Youriba.
The armed guides were no longer considered necessary, and, therefore, on the 10th May, they set out only with their Badagry and Jenna messengers and interpreters. On leaving Atoopa, they, crossed a river, which flowed by the foot of that town, where their travellers overtook them, and they travelled on together. The country through which the path lay, was uncommonly fine; it was partially cultivated, abounding in wood and water, and appeared by the number of villages which are scattered over its surface, to be very populous. As they rode along, a place was pointed out to them, where a murder had been committed about seven years ago, upon the person of a young man. He fell a victim to a party of Borgoo scoundrels, for refusing to give up his companion to them, a young girl, to whom he was shortly to be married. They, at first endeavoured to obtain her from him by fair means, but he obstinately refused to accede to their request, and contrived to keep the marauders at bay, till the young woman had made her escape, when he also ran for his life. He was closely pursued by them, and pierced by the number of arrows which they shot at him; he at length fell down and died in the path, after having ran more than a mile from the place where the first arrow had struck him. By the care with which this story is treasured up in their memory, and the earnestness and horror with which it is related, the Landers were inclined to believe, that although there is so great a fuss about the Borgoo robbers, and so manifest a dread of them, that a minder on the high-way is of very rare occurrence. When this crime was perpetrated, the whole nation seemed to be terror-struck, and the people rose up in arms, as if a public enemy were devastating their country, and slaughtering its inhabitants without mercy. This is the only instance they ever heard of a young man entertaining a strong attachment for a female. Marriage is celebrated by the natives as unconcernedly as possible. A man thinks as little of taking a wife as of cutting an ear of corn; affection is altogether out of the question.
A village in ruins, and a small town called Nama, where they halted for a short time, were the only inhabited places they passed through during the day, till their entrance into the town of Leoguadda, which was surrounded by a double wall, and in which they passed the night. The governor happened to be in his garden on their arrival, so that they were completely wearied with waiting for him, but as he did not make his appearance, they themselves found a convenient and comfortable hut; and though they were assailed by a volley of abuse from the mouths of half a dozen women, they succeeded in sending them away, and they remained in tranquil possession of their quarters. In the centre of their yard was a circular enclosure without a roof, within which was an alligator that had been confined there for seven years. This voracious animal was fed with rats only, of which he generally devoured five a day. One of the inhabitants perceiving that John Lander was rather inquisitive, volunteered to go to a river in the vicinity of the town, and to return in a few minutes with as many young crocodiles as he might wish for; but as he had no opportunity of conveying animals of that description through the country, he declined the man's offer. The inhabitants of Leoguadda, having probably no vegetable poison, make use of the venom of snakes on the tips of their arrows. The heads of those serpents, from which they extract this deadly substance, are exposed on the sticks, which are thrust into the inside of the thatch of their dwellings as a kind of trophy.