Here One Of The Landers Obtained From An Arab A Gun
Which Had Belonged To Mr. Park, In Exchange For His Own.
The walls of Yaoorie are between thirty and forty miles in circuit; but
this space encloses clusters of huts, with pasture grounds and corn
fields.
The land is fertile, and produces excellent crops of rice. Yet it
must be very unhealthy, for it is in many places swampy, and exposed to
inundation. The sultan's residence is substantially built, and two
stories in height; most of the other houses are built in a circular form.
The place has rather a pleasing appearance, being adorned by many clumps
of trees. The soil is cultivated by a peaceable, industrious, half
servile tribe, called the Cumbrie, who are often subjected to much
oppression.
On the 1st August, they paid a farewell visit to the sultan before
proceeding on their return to Boussa. They were ushered into a large,
gloomy, and uncomfortable apartment, through which naked girls and boys
were constantly passing, carrying dirty calibashes in their hands, and
swallows flew about the room in all directions. The sultan sat upon a
platform covered with faded damask, and smoked a pipe of huge dimensions.
Next day they departed, travelling in a direct line towards the river
Cubbie. They embarked in two canoes, each about twenty feet long, and
constructed of a single log. After they had sailed for about four miles,
the Cubbie fell into the Niger. They took a different channel from that
by which they had before ascended, and reached Boussa on the 5th. They
now determined to proceed to Wowow, to purchase a canoe better fitted for
navigating the Niger. They arrived at Wowow on the 12th, and had a
favourable interview with the old chief. They then returned to Boussa to
complete their preparations, but the arrival of the vessel was delayed,
under various pretexts, until past the middle of September.
Early in the morning of the 20th, however, their goods were embarked in
two canoes, and they set off. Some of their Boussa friends implored a
blessing upon them before they started. They had not proceeded far before
they found that the smaller of the two canoes was so unsafe, that they
were compelled to lighten it much. After passing several towns of
considerable size, they reached a large and beautiful island called
Patashie, very fertile, and adorned with groves of lofty palm-trees. One
of the Landers went to Wowow to procure better canoes, while the other
remained on the island with the baggage. At length they succeeded in
their object, and were again borne along the river. For some time they
met with no obstacle; but at one part they came to a reef of rocks, to
clear which they had to proceed through a very narrow channel, overhung
with the branches of trees, and more than half filled with rushes and
tall grass. Soon after passing into the main river, they landed at the
town of Lever, or Layaba, which contains a great number of inhabitants,
and was then in the hands of the Fellatahs; here they remained till the
4th October.
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