Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
- Page 161 of 302 - First - Home
A broad and good road thronged with
passengers and loaded animals, led in another day's journey to Kano.
CHAPTER XXVII.
The travellers found the city of Kano in a state of dreadful
agitation. There was war on every side. Hostilities had been declared
between the king of Bornou and the Fellatas; the provinces of Zamfra
and Goober were in open insurrection; the Tuaricks threatened an
inroad; in short, there was not a quarter to which the merchants
durst send a caravan. Kano being nearly mid-way between Bornou and
Sockatoo, Clapperton left his baggage there, to be conveyed to the
former place on his return, and set out for the capital of the sultan
Bello, bearing only the presents destined for that prince. On his way
he found numerous bands mustering to form an army for the attack of
Coonia, the rebel metropolis of Ghoober. The appearance of these
troops was very striking, as they passed along the borders of some
beautiful little lakes, formed by the river Zirmie.
The appearance of the country at this season was very beautiful; all
the acacia trees were in blossom, some with white flowers, others
with yellow, forming a contrast with the small dusky leaves, like
gold and silver tassels on a cloak of dark green velvet. Some of the
troops were bathing; others watering their horses, bullocks, camels,
and asses; the lake Gondamee as smooth as glass, and flowing around
the roots of the trees. The sun, in its approach to the horizon,
threw the shadows of the flowering acacias along its surface, like
sheets of burnished gold and silver. The smoking fires on its banks,
the sounding of horns, the beating of their gongs and drums, the
blowing of their brass and tin trumpets; the rude huts of grass or
branches of trees, rising as if by magic, everywhere the calls on the
names Mahomed, Abdo, Mustafa, &c., with the neighing of horses, and
the braying of asses, gave animation to the beautiful scenery of the
lake, and its sloping, green, and woody banks. The only regulation
that appears in these rude feudal armies is, that they take up their
ground according to the situation of the provinces, east, west,
north, or south; but all are otherwise huddled together, without the
least regularity.
The sultan was himself encamped with the forces from Sockatoo,
whither the travellers repaired to join him, and they arrived just in
time to be eye-witnesses of a specimen of the military tactics and
conduct of these much-dreaded Fellatas. This curious scene is thus
described: -
After the mid-day prayers, all except the eunuchs, camel-drivers, and
such other servants as were of use only to prevent theft, whether
mounted or on foot, marched towards the object of attack, and soon
arrived before the walls of the city. Clapperton accompanied them,
and took up his station close to the gadado. The march had been the
most disorderly that could be imagined; horse and foot intermingling
in the greatest confusion, all rushing to get forward; sometimes the
followers of one chief tumbling amongst those of another, when swords
were half unsheathed, but all ended in making a face, or putting on a
threatening aspect. They soon arrived before Coonia, the town not
being above half a mile in diameter, nearly circular, and built on
the banks of one of the branches of the liver, or lakes. Each chief,
as he came, took his station, which, it was supposed, had been
previously assigned to him. The number of fighting men brought before
the town could not be less than fifty or sixty thousand, horse and
foot, of which the latter amounted to more than nine-tenths. For the
depth of two hundred yards, all round the walls, was a dense circle
of men and horses. The horse kept out of bow-shot, while the foot
went up as they felt courage or inclination, and kept up a straggling
fire with about thirty muskets and the shooting of arrows. In front
of the sultan, the Zeg Zeg troops had one French fusee; the Kano
forces had forty-one muskets. These fellows, whenever they fired
their muskets, ran out of bow-shot to load; all of them were slaves;
not a single Fellata had a musket. The enemy kept up a slow and sure
fight, seldom throwing away their arrows, until they saw an
opportunity of letting fly with effect. Now and then a single
horseman would gallop up to the ditch, and brandish his spear, the
rider taking care to cover himself with his large leathern shield,
and return as fast as he went, generally calling out lustily, when he
got amongst his own party, "Shields to the walls! You people of the
gadado, (or atego, &c.) why do you not hasten to the wall?" To which
some voices would call out, "Oh, you have a good large shield to
cover you." The cry of "Shields to the wall!" was constantly heard
from the several chiefs to their troops; but they disregarded the
call, and neither chiefs nor vassals moved from the spot. At length
the men in quilted armour went up "per order." They certainly cut not
a bad figure at a distance, as their helmets were ornamented with
black and white ostrich feathers, and the sides of the helmets with
pieces of tin, which glittered in the sun; their long quilted cloaks
of gaudy colours reaching over part of their horses' tails, and
hanging over the flanks. On the neck, even the horses' armour was
notched or vandyked, to look like a mane; on his forehead, and over
his nose, was a brass or tin plate, also a semicircular piece on each
side. The rider was armed with a large spear, and he had to be
assisted to mount his horse, as his quilted cloak was too heavy; it
required two men to lift him on. There were six of them belonged to
each governor, and six to the sultan.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 161 of 302
Words from 163870 to 164878
of 309561