With about three hundred of this puissant chivalry before and around him, the sultan was himself seated in a sort of cage of cane or wood near the door of his garden, on a seat, which at the distance appeared to be covered with silk or satin, and through the railing looked upon the assembly before him, who formed a kind of semicircle, extending from his seat to nearly where the English were waiting. The courtiers having taken their seats in due form, the embassy was allowed to approach within about pistol shot of the spot where the sultan was sitting, and desired to sit down, when the ugliest black that can be imagined, his chief eunuch, the only person who approached the sultan's seat, asked for the presents. Boo Khaloom's were produced in a large shawl, and were carried unopened to the presence. The glimpse which the English obtained of the sultan, was but a faint one, through the lattice work of his pavilion, sufficient, however, to show that his turban was larger than any of his subjects, and that his face from the nose downwards was completely covered. A little to the left, and nearly in front of the sultan, was an extempore declaimer, shouting forth praises of his master, with his pedigree; near him was one who bore the long wooden frumfrum, on which ever and anon he blew a blast loud and unmusical. Nothing could be more ridiculous than the appearance of these people, squatting under the weight and magnitude of their bellies, while the thin legs that appeared underneath, but ill accorded with the bulk of the other parts.
This was all that was ever seen of the sultan of Bornou. The party then set out for Kouka, passing on their way through Angornou, the largest city in the kingdom, containing at least thirty thousand inhabitants.
During his residence at Kouka and Angornou, Major Denham frequently attended the markets, where besides the proper Bornouese, he saw the Shouass, an Arab tribe, who are the chief breeders of cattle; the Kanemboos from the north, with their hair neatly and tastefully plaited, and the Musgow, a southern clan of the most savage aspect. A loose robe or shirt of the cotton cloth of the country, often finely and beautifully dyed, was the universal dress, and high rank was indicated by six or seven of these, worn one above another. Ornament was studied chiefly in plaiting the hair, in attaching to it strings of brass or silver beads, in inserting large pieces of amber or coral into the nose, the ear, and the lip, and when to these was added a face, streaming with oil, the Bornouese belle was fully equipped for conquest. Thus adorned, the wife or daughter of a rich Shouaa might be seen entering the market in full style, bestriding an ox, which she managed dexterously, by a leathern thong passed through the nose, and whose unwieldy bulk she even contrived to torture into something like capering and curvetting. Angornou is the chief market, and the crowd there is sometimes immense, amounting to eighty or one hundred thousand individuals. All the produce of the country is bought and sold in open market, for shops and warehouses do not enter into the system of African traffic.
Bornou taken altogether forms an extensive plain, stretching two hundred miles along the western shore of Lake Tchad, and nearly the same distance inland. This sea periodically changes its bed in a singular manner. During the rains, when its tributary rivers pour in thrice the usual quantity of water, it inundates an extensive tract, from which it retires in the dry season. This space, then overgrown with dense underwood, and with grass double the height of a man, contains a motley assemblage of wild beasts—lions, panthers, hyenas, elephants, and serpents of extraordinary form and bulk. These monsters, while undisturbed in this mighty den, remain tranquil, or war only with each other, but when the lake swells, and its waters rush in, they of necessity seek refuge among the abodes of men, to whom they prove the most dreadful scourge. Not only the cattle but the slaves attending the grain, often fall victims; they even rush in large bodies into the towns. The fields beyond the reach of this annual inundation are very fertile, and land may be had in any quantity, by him who has slaves to cultivate it. This service is performed by females from Musgow, who, aiding their native ugliness, by the insertion of a large piece of silver into the upper lip, which throws it entirely out of shape, are estimated according to the quantity of hard work which they can execute. The processes of agriculture are extremely simple. Their only fine manufacture is that of tobes, or vestments of cotton skilfully woven and beautifully dyed, but still not equal to those of Soudan.
The Bornouese are complete negroes both in form and feature; they are ugly, simple, and good natured, but destitute of all intellectual culture. Only a few of the great fighis or doctors, of whom the sheik was one, can read the Koran. "A great writer" is held in still higher estimation than with us, but his compositions consist only of words written on scraps of paper, to be enclosed in cases, and worn as amulets. They are then supposed to defend their possessor against every danger, to act as charms to destroy his enemies, and to be the main instrument in the cure of all diseases. For this last purpose they are assisted only by a few simple applications, yet the Bornou practice is said to be very successful, either through the power of imagination, or owing to the excellence of their constitutions. In the absence of all refined pleasure, various rude sports are pursued with eagerness, and almost with fury. The most favourite is wrestling, which the chiefs do not practise in person, but train their slaves to it as our jockeys do game cocks, taking the same pride in their prowess and victory. Nations are often pitched against each other; the Musgowy and the Bughami being the most powerful. Many of them are extremely handsome, and of gigantic size, and hence their contests are truly terrific. Their masters loudly cheer them on, offering high premiums for victory, and sometimes threatening instant death in case of defeat. They place their trust not in science, but in main strength and rapid movements. Occasionally, the wrestler, eluding his adversary's vigilance, seizes him by the thigh, lifts him into the air, and dashes him against the ground. When the match is decided, the victor is greeted with loud plaudits by the spectators, some of whom even testify their admiration by throwing to him presents of fine cloth. He then kneels before his master, who not unfrequently bestows upon him a robe worth thirty or forty dollars, taken perhaps from his own person. Death or maiming is no unfrequent result of these encounters. The ladies even of rank engage in another very odd species of contest. Placing themselves back to back, they cause certain parts to strike together with the most violent collision, when she who maintains her equilibrium, while the other lies stretched upon the ground, is proclaimed victor with loud cheers. In this conflict the girdle of beads worn by the more opulent females, very frequently bursts, when these ornaments are seen flying about in every direction. To these recreations is added gaming, always the rage of uncultivated minds. Their favourite game is one rudely played with beans, by means of holes made in the sand.
Boo Khaloom having despatched his affairs in Bornou, wished to turn his journey to some farther account, and proposed an expedition into the more wealthy and commercial region of Houssa or Soudan, but the eager wishes of his follower pointed to a different object. They called upon him to lead them into the mountains of Mandara, in the south, to attack a village of the Kerdies or unbelievers, and carry off the people as slaves to Fezzan. He long stood out against this nefarious proposal, but the sheik who also had his own views, took part against him; even his own brother joined the malcontents, and at length there appeared no other mode in which he could return with equal credit and profit. Influenced by these inducements, he suffered his better judgement to be overpowered, and determined to conduct his troops upon this perilous and guilty excursion. Major Denham allowed his zeal for discovery to overcome other considerations, and contrived, notwithstanding the prohibition of the sheik, to be one of the party. They were accompanied by Barca Gana, the principal general, a negro of huge strength and great courage, along with other warriors, and a large troop of Bournouse cavalry. These last are a fine military body in point of external appearance. Their persons are covered with iron plate and mail, and they manage with surprising dexterity their little active steeds, which are also supplied with defensive armour. They have one fault only, but it is a serious one, they cannot stand the shock of an enemy. While the contest continues doubtful, they hover round as spectators, ready, should the tide turn against them, to spur on their coursers to a rapid flight; but if they see their friends victorious, and the enemy turning their backs, they come forward and display no small vigour in pursuit and plunder.
The road to Mandara formed a continual ascent through a fertile country, which contained some populous towns. The path being quite overgrown with thick and prickly underwood, twelve pioneers went forward with long poles, opening a track, pushing back the branches, and giving warning to beware of holes. These operations they accompanied with loud praises of Barca Gana, calling out, "Who is in battle like the rolling of thunder? Barca Gana. In battle, who spreads terror around him like the buffalo in his rage? Barca Gana." Even the chiefs on this expedition carried no provisions, except a paste of rice, flour, and honey, with which they contented themselves, unless when sheep could be procured; in which case, half the animal, roasted over a frame-work of wood, was placed on the table, and the sharpest dagger present was employed in cutting it into large pieces, to be eaten without bread or salt. At length they approached Mora, the capital of Mandara. This was another kingdom, which the energy of its present sultan had rescued from the yoke of the Fellata empire; and the strong position of its capital, enclosed by lofty ridges of hills, had enabled it to defy repeated attacks. It consists of a fine plain, bordered on the south by an immense and almost interminable range of mountains. The eminences directly in front were not quite so lofty as the hills of Cumberland, but bold, rocky, and precipitous, and distant summits appeared towering much higher, and shooting up a line of sharp pinnacles, resembling the Needles of Mont Blanc. It was reported that two months were required to cross their greatest breadth, and reach the other side, where they rose ten times higher, and were called large moon mountains. They there overlooked the plain of Adamowa, through which a great river, that has erroneously been supposed to be the Quorra or Niger, was said to flow from the westward. The hills immediately in view were thickly clustered with villages perched on their sides, and even on their tops, and were distinctly seen from the plain of Mandara. They were occupied by half-savage tribes, whom the ferocious bigotry of the nations in the low country branded as pagans, and whom they claimed a right to plunder, seize, and drive in crowds for sale to the markets of Fezzan and Bornou. The fires, which were visible, in the different nests of these unfortunate beings, threw a glare upon the bold rocks and blunt promontories of granite by which they were surrounded, and produced a picturesque and somewhat awful appearance. A baleful joy beamed on the visage of the Arabs, as they eyed these abodes of their future victims, whom they already fancied themselves driving in bands across the desert. "A Kerdy village to plunder!" was all their cry, and Boo Khaloom doubted not that he would be able to gratify their wishes. Their common fear of the Fellatas had united the sultan of Mandara in close alliance with the sheik, to whom he had lately married his daughter; and the nuptials had been celebrated by a great slave-hunt amongst the mountains, when, after a dreadful struggle, three thousand captives, by their tears and bondage, furnished out the materials of a magnificent marriage festival.
The expedition obtained a reception quite as favourable as had been expected. In approaching the capital, they were met by the sultan, with five hundred Mandara horse, who, charging full speed, wheeled round them with the same threatening movements which had been exhibited at Bornou. The horses were of a superior breed, most skilfully managed, and covered with cloths of various colours, as well as with skins of the leopard and tiger-cat. This cavalry, of course, made a most brilliant appearance; but Major Denham did not yet know that their valour was exactly on a level with that of their Bornou allies. The party were then escorted to the capital, amid the music of long pipes, like clarionets, and of two immense trumpets. They were introduced next day. The mode of approaching the royal residence is to gallop up to the gate with a furious speed, which often causes fatal accidents, and on this occasion a man was ridden down and killed on the spot. The sultan was found in a dark-blue tent, sitting on a mud bench, surrounded by about two hundred attendants, handsomely arrayed in silk and cotton robes. He was an intelligent little man, about fifty years old, with a beard dyed sky-blue. Courteous salutations were exchanged, during which he steadily eyed Major Denham, concerning whom he at last inquired, and the traveller was advantageously introduced, as belonging to a powerful distant nation, allies of the bashaw of Tripoli. At last, however, came the fatal question,—"Is he moslem?" "La! la!" (No, no.) "What: has the great bashaw caffre friends?" Every eye was instantly averted; the sun of Major Denham's favour was set, and he was never again allowed to enter the palace.
The bigotry of this court seems to have surpassed even the usual bitterness of the African tribes, and our traveller had to undergo a regular persecution, carried on especially by Malem Chadily, the leading fighi of the court. As Major Denham was showing to the admiring chiefs, the mode of writing with a pencil, and effacing it with Indian rubber; Malem wrote some words of the Koran with such force, that their traces could not be wholly removed. He then exclaimed with triumph, "They are the words of God delivered to his prophet. I defy you to erase them." The major was then called upon to acknowledge this great miracle, and as his countenance still expressed incredulity, he was viewed with looks of such mingled contempt and indignation, as induced him to retire. Malem, however, again assailed him with the assurance that this was only one of the many miracles which he could show, as wrought by the Koran, imploring him to turn, and paradise would be his, otherwise nothing could save him from eternal fire. "Oh!" said he, "while sitting in the third heaven, I shall see you in the midst of the flames, crying out to your friend Barca Gana and myself for a drop of water, but the gulf will be between us." His tears then flowed profusely. Major Denham, taking the general aside, entreated to be relieved from this incessant persecution, but Gana assured him that the fighi was a great and holy man, to whom he ought to listen. He then held out not only paradise, but honours, slaves, and wives of the first families, as gifts to be lavished on him by the sheik, if he would renounce his unbelief. Major Denham asked the commander what would be thought of himself, if he should go to England and turn Christian. "God forbid," exclaimed he, "but how can you compare our faiths? mine would lead you to paradise, while yours would bring me to hell. Not a word more." Nothing appears to have annoyed the stranger more than to be told, that he was of the same faith with the Kerdies or savages, little distinction being made between any who denied the Koran. After a long discussion of this question, he thought the validity of his reasoning would be admitted, when he could point to a party of those wretches devouring a dead horse, and appealed to Boo Khaloom if he had ever seen the English do the same; but to this, which after all was not a very deep theological argument, the Arab replied, "I know they eat the flesh of swine, and God knows, that is worse." "Grant me patience," exclaimed the major to himself, "this is almost too much to bear and to remain silent."
The unfortunate Kerdies, from the moment they saw Arab tents in the valley of Mandara, knew the dreadful calamity which awaited them. To avert it and to propitiate the sultan, numerous parlies came down with presents of honey, asses, and slaves. Finally appeared the Musgow, a more distant and savage race, mounted on small fiery steeds, covered only with the skin of a goat or leopard, and with necklaces made of the teeth of their enemies. They threw themselves at the feet of the sultan, casting sand on their heads, and uttering the most piteous cries. The monarch apparently moved by these gifts and entreaties, began to intimate to Boo Khaloom his hopes, that these savages might by gentle means be reclaimed, and led to the true faith. These hopes were held by the latter in the utmost derision, and he privately assured Major Denham, that nothing would more annoy the devout Mussulmans, than to see them fulfilled, whereby he must have forfeited all right to drive these unhappy creatures in crowds, to the markets of Soudan and Bornou. In fact, both the sultan and the sheik had a much deeper aim. Every effort was used to induce Boo Khaloom to engage in the attack of some strong Fellata posts, by which the country was hemmed in, and as the two monarchs viewed the Arabs with extreme jealousy, it was strongly suspected that their defeat would not have been regarded as a public calamity. The royal councils were secret and profound, and it was not known what influences worked upon Boo Khaloom. On this occasion, however, he was mastered by his evil genius, and consented to the proposed attack, but as he came out and ordered his troops to prepare for marching, his countenance bore such marks of trouble, that Major Denham asked, if all went well, to which he Hurriedly answered, "Please God." The Arabs, however, who at all events expected plunder, proceeded with alacrity.