He Assigned To Them Some Huts,
Which They Had No Sooner Entered Than They Were Much Incommoded By Crowds
Of Visitors.
They were most liberally supplied with provisions; besides
bullocks, camel loads of wheat and rice, butter, and honey, they
Had a
daily allowance of rice mixed with meat, and paste made of barley flour.
On a second interview, they delivered to the sheik the present intended
for him; he examined the gun and brace of pistols attentively, and seemed
much pleased with them. He was delighted when he was told that his fame
had reached the king of England, and said, "This must be in consequence
of our having defeated the Begharmies;" and one of his most distinguished
chiefs asked, "Did he ever hear of me?" "Certainly," was the reply; and
all the court exclaimed, "Oh, the king of England must be a great man!"
The sheik was much gratified by the present of a musical snuff-box, of
which he had previously expressed strong admiration. The whole populace
were afterwards gratified by a discharge of sky-rockets.
On the 2d March, the travellers set out to Birnie, to visit the sultan.
At this court it was the fashion for the grandees to emulate each other
in rotundity, and when the desired result could not be attained by high
feeding, they used wadding, and in spite of the sultry climate, put on a
vast number of garments, one over another. Surrounded by three hundred of
these great men, sat the sultan, enclosed in a species of cane basket
covered with silk, his features scarcely discernible beneath his huge
turban. The presents were received in silence.
The travellers departed for Kouka, passing Angornou, a city containing
thirty thousand inhabitants. The market of Angornou is held in the open
air, and is attended by immense crowds; the principal articles sold are
grain, bullocks, sheep, and fowls, together with amber, coral, and brass;
also young lions, which are kept as domestic pets.
The kingdom of Bornou is of great extent. Its chief physical feature is
the lake Tchad, which is about 200 miles in length, and 150 in breadth,
and is one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world, second only
in extent to the great inland seas of America. Its dimensions vary
according to the season; and during the rains, many miles of territory
previously dry, are submerged. This tract, covered with dense thickets,
and rank grass twice the height of a man, is the habitation of wild
beasts, "abounding with elephants of enormous dimensions, beneath whose
reclining bodies large shrubs, and even young trees were seen crushed;
tenanted also by lions, panthers, leopards, large flocks of hyenas, and
snakes of enormous bulk." These monsters of the wood are driven from
their fastnesses by the advancing waters, and seek their prey among the
dwellings of the natives. "At this period, travellers, and the persons
employed in watching the harvest, often fall victims; nay, the hyenas
have been known to carry walled towns by storm, and devour the herds
which had been driven into them for shelter."
The soil of Bornou is fertile, and though only turned up by the hoe,
yields pretty good crops of the small grain called _gussub_. Vast herds
of cattle abound.
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