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
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They
Then Arrived At An Open Village Called Okissaba, Where They Halted
For Two Hours Under The Shadow Of A
Large tree, to allow some of
their men who had been loitering behind to rejoin them, after which
the whole
Party again set forward, and did not stop until they
arrived at the large and handsome walled town. Atoopa, through which
Captain Clapperton passed in the last expedition. During their ride,
they observed a range of wooded hills, running from N.N.E. to S.S.W.,
and passed through a wilderness of stunted trees, which was relieved
at intervals by patches of cultivated land, but there was not so much
cultivation as might be expected to be found near the capital of
Youriba.
The armed guides were no longer considered necessary, and, therefore,
on the 10th May, they set out only with their Badagry and Jenna
messengers and interpreters. On leaving Atoopa, they, crossed a
river, which flowed by the foot of that town, where their travellers
overtook them, and they travelled on together. The country through
which the path lay, was uncommonly fine; it was partially cultivated,
abounding in wood and water, and appeared by the number of villages
which are scattered over its surface, to be very populous. As they
rode along, a place was pointed out to them, where a murder had been
committed about seven years ago, upon the person of a young man. He
fell a victim to a party of Borgoo scoundrels, for refusing to give
up his companion to them, a young girl, to whom he was shortly to be
married. They, at first endeavoured to obtain her from him by fair
means, but he obstinately refused to accede to their request, and
contrived to keep the marauders at bay, till the young woman had made
her escape, when he also ran for his life. He was closely pursued by
them, and pierced by the number of arrows which they shot at him; he
at length fell down and died in the path, after having ran more than
a mile from the place where the first arrow had struck him. By the
care with which this story is treasured up in their memory, and the
earnestness and horror with which it is related, the Landers were
inclined to believe, that although there is so great a fuss about the
Borgoo robbers, and so manifest a dread of them, that a minder on the
high-way is of very rare occurrence. When this crime was perpetrated,
the whole nation seemed to be terror-struck, and the people rose up
in arms, as if a public enemy were devastating their country, and
slaughtering its inhabitants without mercy. This is the only instance
they ever heard of a young man entertaining a strong attachment for a
female. Marriage is celebrated by the natives as unconcernedly as
possible. A man thinks as little of taking a wife as of cutting an
ear of corn; affection is altogether out of the question.
A village in ruins, and a small town called Nama, where they halted
for a short time, were the only inhabited places they passed through
during the day, till their entrance into the town of Leoguadda, which
was surrounded by a double wall, and in which they passed the night.
The governor happened to be in his garden on their arrival, so that
they were completely wearied with waiting for him, but as he did not
make his appearance, they themselves found a convenient and
comfortable hut; and though they were assailed by a volley of abuse
from the mouths of half a dozen women, they succeeded in sending them
away, and they remained in tranquil possession of their quarters. In
the centre of their yard was a circular enclosure without a roof,
within which was an alligator that had been confined there for seven
years. This voracious animal was fed with rats only, of which he
generally devoured five a day. One of the inhabitants perceiving that
John Lander was rather inquisitive, volunteered to go to a river in
the vicinity of the town, and to return in a few minutes with as many
young crocodiles as he might wish for; but as he had no opportunity
of conveying animals of that description through the country, he
declined the man's offer. The inhabitants of Leoguadda, having
probably no vegetable poison, make use of the venom of snakes on the
tips of their arrows. The heads of those serpents, from which they
extract this deadly substance, are exposed on the sticks, which are
thrust into the inside of the thatch of their dwellings as a kind of
trophy.
Leoguadda is almost surrounded by rugged hills, formed by loose
blocks of granite; these added to a number of tall trees, always
green and growing within the walls, render the town inconceivably
pleasant and romantic. Immense tracts of land are cultivated in the
vicinity of the town with corn, yams, &c., and abundance of swine,
poultry, goats, and sheep are bred by its inhabitants. Formerly, also
herds of cattle were to be seen in the meadows, but they belonged to
Fellatas, who, they were told, fled from Leoguadda some time since,
to join their countrymen at Alorie.
They left Leoguadda early in the morning of 11th May, and about the
middle of the forenoon reached a walled town of some extent called
Eetcho. This place is of importance on account of a large weekly
market which is held in it. Eetcho had recently been more than half
consumed by fire, and would not, it was supposed, regain its former
condition for some time. Like most large trading-towns, it is in as
unsettled and filthy a state as can be conceived. This day's journey
was highly agreeable, the path lay through a beautiful country,
varied in many places by hills of coarse granite, which were formed
by blocks heaped on each other. Trees and shrubs of a beautiful green
grew from their interstices, and almost hid the masses of stone from
the view.
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