They Found In Him A Meek And Venerable Old Man, Of Respectable Appearance.

He was surrounded by a number of men and boys, his household slaves, who were all armed with pistols, daggers, muskets, cutlasses, swords, &c., the manufacture of various European countries.

In the first place, he assured them, that nothing could give him more pleasure than to welcome them to Badagry, and he very much wondered that they had not visited him before. If they had a present to give him, he said, he would thank them; but if they had not, still he would thank them. A table was then brought out into the court before the house, on which decanters and glasses, with a burning liquor obtained from the Portuguese, were placed. In one corner of the yard was a little hut, not more than two feet in height, wherein had been placed a fetish figure, to preserve the chief from any danger or mischief, which their presence might otherwise have entailed upon him. A portion of the spirit was poured into one of the glasses, and from it emptied into each of the others, and then drunk by the attendant that had fetched it from the house. This is an old custom, introduced no doubt to prevent masters from being poisoned by the treachery of their slaves. As soon as the decanters had been emptied of their contents, other ardent spirits were introduced, but as Richard Lander imagined that fetish water had been mingled with it, they simply took a tea-spoonful into their mouths, and privately ejected it on the ground. The old chief promised to return their visit on the morrow, and lifting up his hands and eyes to heaven, like a child in the attitude of prayer, he invoked the Almighty to preserve and bless them; they then saluted him in the usual manner, and returned well pleased to their own habitation.

CHAPTER XXX.

They were now most anxious to proceed on their journey, out the chief, Adooley, evaded their solicitations to depart, under the most frivolous and absurd pretences. He asserted that his principal reason for detaining them against their inclinations, was the apprehension he entertained for their safety, the road not being considered in a good state. Under this impression, he despatched a messenger to Jenna, to ascertain if the affairs of that country warranted him sending them thither. The old king of Jenna, who, it will be recollected, behaved so kindly to Captain Clapperton, was dead; his successor had been appointed, but he had not at that time arrived from Katunga. That being the case, there would not be any one at Jenna to receive them. Meantime, the rainy season was fast approaching, as was sufficiently announced by repeated showers and occasional tornadoes. They were also the more anxious to leave this abominable place, as they were informed that a sacrifice of no less than three hundred human beings, of both sexes and all ages, was shortly to take place, such as has been described in the second journey of Clapperton. They often heard the cries of many of these poor wretches, and the heart sickened with horror at the bare contemplation of such a scene as awaited them, should they remain much longer at Badagry.

Early on the morning of the 25th March, the house of the travellers was filled with visitors, and from that time to the evening they resigned themselves to a species of punishment, which cannot be characterized by any other terms than an earthly purgatory. After cracking fingers a hundred times, and grinning as often, they were informed, that the chief's messenger had returned from Jenna, but for some reason, which Lander could not define, the man was almost immediately sent back again, and they were told that they could not quit Badagry until he again made his appearance. It is the custom in this place, that when a man cannot pay his respects in person to another, he sends a servant with a sword or cane, in the same manner as a gentleman delivers his card in England. They this day received a number of compliments in this fashion, and it is almost superfluous to say that a cane or a sword was at all times a more welcome and agreeable visitor than its owner would have been.

They had scarcely finished their morning repast, when Hooper introduced himself for his accustomed glass of spirits, to prevent him, according to his own account, from getting sick. He took the opportunity of informing them, that it would be absolutely necessary to visit the noblemen, who had declared themselves on their side. As they strove to court popularity and conciliate the vagabonds by every means in their power, they approved of Hooper's counsel, and went in the first place, to the house of the late General Poser, which was at that time under the superintendence of his head man. Him they found squatting indolently on a mat, and several old people were holding a conversation with him. As the death of Poser was not generally known to the people, it being concealed from them, for fear of exciting a commotion in the town, he having been universally loved and respected they were not permitted even to mention his name, and the steward set them the example, by prudently confining his conversation to the necessity of making him a present proportionate to his expectations, and the dignity of his situation. Muskets and other warlike instruments were suspended from the sides of the apartment, and its ceiling was decorated with fetishes and Arab texts in profusion. Gin and water were produced, and partaken of with avidity by all present, more especially by the two mulattoes that had attended them, which being done, the head man wished the great spirit to prosper them in all their undertakings, and told them not to forget his present by any means. They shortly afterwards took their leave, and quitted the apartment with feelings of considerable satisfaction, for its confined air was so impure, that a longer stay, to say the least of it, would have been highly unpleasant.

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