But Just As He Was About To Pull The Fatal Cord, A Man That Was
Nearest Him Rushed Forward And Stayed His Arm.
At that instant we stood
before them, and immediately held forth our hands; all of them trembled
like aspen-
Leaves; the chief looked up full in our faces, kneeling on the
ground; light seemed to flash from his dark rolling eyes, his body was
convulsed all over, as though he were enduring the utmost torture, and
with a timorous, yet undefinable expression of countenance, in which all
the passions of our nature were strangely blended, he drooped his head,
eagerly grasped our proffered hands, and burst into tears. This was a
sign of friendship; harmony followed, and war and bloodshed were thought
of no more." His followers showed equal delight. They gave repeated
shouts, thrust their arrows into their quivers, fired off their muskets,
shook their spears, danced, laughed, sung, and cried in succession, and
in short behaved like madmen. The chief sat down on the turf, with the
Landers on each side of him, while his men stood around leaning on their
weapons. Employing an interpreter who understood the Haussa language, the
chief stated, that he had taken them for a hostile party, who meditated a
midnight attack upon the village, to carry away the inhabitants as
slaves, but that his heart had relented when he saw them approach in
peaceful and friendly guise, and that he had thought that they were
"_children of heaven_" who had dropped from the skies. "And now," said he
"white men, all I ask is your forgiveness." "That you shall have most
heartily," said the travellers, shaking hands with him cordially; and
they internally returned thanks to God for this signal preservation.
Fifty miles farther on, they came to Damugoo, the chief of which place
gave them a very kind reception, and sent a canoe, manned by some of his
subjects to accompany and guide them to the coast. Yet he was a
tyrannical despot, and told the travellers to cut off the heads of his
people, if they annoyed them by crowding to see them. Here they saw
manifest traces of European intercourse; the natives wore Manchester
cottons, and the chief presented the travellers with a case bottle of
rum, a liquor which they had not tasted since they left Kiama.
About a mile from Damugoo, they saw two streams which appeared to be
branches of the Niger; one of which came from the eastward, while the
other flowed from the westward. At the junction formed by this latter
branch with the river, they saw a large town, called Kirree, in front of
which lay a great number of canoes. They appeared to be very large, and
had flags flying at the end of long bamboo canes. The travellers passed
without molestation; but in a short time came in contact with a fleet of
fifty war canoes, each of which had a six-pounder lashed to the stern,
and the crews were well provided with muskets.
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