They continued to travel with the utmost speed, but the people soon began to fag, and the lady of the Fellata chief, who rode not far from Clapperton, began to complain of fatigue. In the evening they halted at the wells of Kamoon, all extremely fatigued, and on the following morning, they discovered that all their camels had strayed away in quest of food; they were, however, recovered by the exertions of the escort, to the commander of which Clapperton made a handsome present, consisting of some European articles, and to his officers a present of minor value.
On the following day, Clapperton left the wells of Kamoon, followed by his escort and a numerous retinue, and a loud flourish of horns and trumpets. Of course, this extraordinary respect was paid to him as the servant of the king of England, as he was styled in the sheik of Bornou's letter. To impress them still farther with his official importance, Clapperton arrayed himself in his lieutenant's coat, trimmed with gold lace, white trousers, and silk stockings, and to complete his finery, he wore Turkish slippers and a turban. Although his limbs pained him extremely, in consequence of their recent forced march, he constrained himself to assume the utmost serenity of countenance, in order to meet, with befitting dignity, the honours they lavished on him as the humble representative of his country.
From the top of the second hill after leaving Kamoon, they at length saw Sockatoo. A messenger from the sultan met them here to bid the travellers welcome, and to acquaint them that the sultan was at a neighbouring town, on his return from a ghrazzie or expedition, but intended to be in Sockatoo in the evening. At noon they arrived at Sockatoo, where a great number of people were assembled to look at the European traveller, and he entered the city amid the hearty welcomes of young and old. He was immediately conducted to the house of the gadado or vizier, where apartments were provided for him and his servants. The gadado, an elderly man named Simnon Bona Lima, arrived near midnight, and came instantly to see him. He was excessively polite, but would on no account drink tea with Clapperton, as he said, he was a stranger in their land, and had not yet eaten of his bread. He told Clapperton that the sultan wished to see him in the morning, and repeatedly assured him of experiencing the most cordial reception. He spoke Arabic extremely well, which he said he learned solely from the Koran.
After breakfast on the following morning, the sultan sent for Clapperton, his residence being at no great distance. In front of it there is a large quadrangle, into which several of the principal streets of the city lead. They passed through three coozees, as guardhouses, without the least detention, and were immediately ushered into the presence of Bello, the second sultan of the Fellatas. He was seated on a small carpet, between two pillars supporting the roof of a thatched house, not unlike one of our cottages. The walls and pillars were painted blue and white, in the moorish taste and on the back wall was sketched a fire screen, ornamented with a coarse painting of a flower-pot. An arm-chair with an iron lamp standing on it, was placed on each side of the screen. The sultan bade Clapperton many hearty welcomes, and asked him if he were not much tired with his journey from Burderewa. Clapperton told him it was the most severe travelling he had experienced between Tripoli and Sockatoo, and thanked him for the guard, the conduct of which he did not fail to commend in the strongest terms.
The sultan asked him a great many questions about Europe, and our religious distinctions. He was acquainted with the names of some of the more ancient sects, and asked whether we were Nestorians or Socinians. To extricate himself from the embarrassment occasioned by this question, Clapperton bluntly replied, we were called Protestants. "What are Protestants?" said he. Clapperton attempted to explain to him, as well as he was able, that having protested more than two centuries and a half ago, against the superstition, absurdities, and abuses practised in those days, we had ever since professed to follow simply what was written "in the book of our Lord Jesus," as they call the New Testament, and thence received the name of Protestants. He continued to ask several other theological questions, until Clapperton was obliged to confess himself not sufficiently versed in religious subtleties, to resolve these knotty points, having always left that task to others more learned than himself.
The sultan was a noble-looking man, forty-four years of age, although much younger in appearance, five feet ten inches high, portly in person, with a short curling black beard, a small mouth, a fine forehead, a grecian nose, and large black eyes. He was dressed in a light blue cotton tobe, with a white muslin turban, the shawl of which he wore over the nose and mouth, in the Tuarick fashion.
In the afternoon Clapperton repeated his visit, accompanied by the Gadado, Mahomed El Wordee, and Mahomed Gomsoo, the principal Arab of the city, to whom he had a letter of introduction from Hat Salah, at Kano. The sultan was sitting in the same apartment in which he received him in the morning, and Clapperton laid before him the presents, in the name of his majesty the king of England. Amongst these presents, the compass and spy glass excited the greatest interest, and the sultan seemed highly gratified when Clapperton pointed out, that by means of the former he could at any time find out the east, to address himself in his daily prayers. He said "Every thing is wonderful, but you are the greatest curiosity of all," and then added, "What can I give that is most acceptable to the king of England?" Clapperton replied, "The most acceptable service you can render to the king of England, is to cooperate with his majesty, in putting a stop to the slave trade on the coast, as the king of England sends every year large ships to cruise there, for the sole purpose of seizing all vessels engaged in this trade, whose crews are thrown into prison, and of liberating the unfortunate slaves, on whom lands and houses are conferred, at one of our settlements in Africa."
"What!" said the sultan, "have you no slaves in England."
"No," replied Clapperton, "whenever a slave sets his foot on England, he is from that moment free."
"What do you do then for servants?" asked the sultan.