Opposite To Them Were Hung Horse Accoutrements, And On Each Side Were Dirty Scraps Of Paper, Containing Select Sentences From The Koran.

On the floor lay muskets, several handsomely ornamented lances, and other weapons, all confusedly heaped together, by the side of a large granite stone used for pounding pepper.

These were the most striking objects they observed in the king's hut, adjoining which were others, through whose diminutive doors, the wives of Yarro were straining their eyes to catch a glimpse of the white men.

When Lander spoke of proceeding to Yaoorie by way of Wowow and Boussa, the king objected to their visiting, the former state, under any condition whatever; alleging that three of the slaves who carried the goods for Captain Clapperton, had never returned to him again, but had remained at Wowow, where they were protected by the governor Mahommed, and that if he should send others with them to that place, they might do the same thing. He, therefore, promised to send them to Boosa in four days by another road. Independently of the above considerations, the king was highly incensed against the ruler of Wowow for his harsh treatment of the widow Zuma, who was his friend and relative, and who had lately fled to Boosa for the purpose of claiming the protection of the king of that country.

It was reported that Yarro's father, the late king of Kiama, during his life time had enjoyed the friendship of an Arab from the desert, which was returned with equal warmth and sincerity. A similarity of dispositions and pursuits produced a mutual interchange of kind actions; their friendship became so great that the king was never happy except when in the Arab's company, and as a proof of his esteem and confidence, he gave him his favourite daughter in marriage. The fruit of this alliance was the restless widow Zuma, and hence her relationship to the then reigning monarch of Kiama. The friendship of his father and the Arab lasted until the death of the latter. The king, however, was inconsolable for his loss, and looked round him in vain for some one to supply the place of his friend, but the ardour of his affection was too strong, and held by the hope of following his friend to another world, he committed suicide. This was the most affecting instance of genuine friendship, and indeed the only one, that came to the hearing of the travellers since they had been in the country. Yarro was much attached to the widow Zuma, and she would have fled to Kiama, instead of going to Boosa, if her intentions had not been suspected, and her actions narrowly watched by the ruler of Wowow.

Unwilling as the Landers always were to infringe upon the observance of the Sabbath, they were nevertheless compelled on Sunday, May 30th, to submit to the mortification of cleaning and polishing a sword and pistol, which were sent them for that purpose by the king, against the approaching mahommedan festival. Yarro shortly afterwards sent them a turkey, and one of his women presented them with a roasted badger, a quantity of yams, &c. for the use of one of their people. On this evening, the wives of the king unanimously bestowed a severe reprimand on their royal husband for neglecting to offer them a portion of a bottle of rum, which was given to him on the preceding day. The ladies scolded so lustily, that the noise was heard outside the wall surrounding their huts, which led them to make the discovery. To appease the indignation of the irascible ladies, and to reconcile them to the loss of so great a dainty as a glass of rum, they were presented with a few beads, and some other trifles, but still it was evident that these fancy articles bore no comparison in the eyes of the ladies with the exquisite relish of the spirituous liquid.

It was generally supposed that the ruler of Wowow would make war on this state, as soon as he should be made acquainted with the fact of the Landers being at Borgoo, without having paid him a visit. Although it was within the dominions of the king of Boossa, who was acknowledged to be the greatest of the sovereigns of Borgoo, Wowow was reported to have lately received a body of Nouffie horse soldiers, consisting of eight hundred men, which rendered its chief more powerful than either of his neighbours. These soldiers were the remnant of the army of Ederisa, (the Edrisi of Clapperton) who was the rightful heir to the throne of Nouffie; they deserted him in his misfortunes, and sought a refuge in Wowow from the fury of their successful countrymen, leaving their leader to his fate. Shortly after the return of Richard Lander to England from his expedition with Captain Clapperton, it was reported that Magia, who was a younger son of the late king of Nouffie, was reinforced by the soldiers from Soccatoo; that he took immediate advantage of the panic into which this intelligence had thrown his brother, by attacking and routing his army, and expelling both him, and them from their native country. Ederisa was for some time after a wanderer, but at length he was said to have found an asylum with one of the chiefs of a state near the kingdom of Benin where he continued to reside in tranquillity and retirement.

They received visits almost every hour of the day from a number of mahommedan mallams residing at Kiama, as well as from those merchants, who formed part of the fatakie that accompanied them through the forest from Keeshee. The former sent two boys to pray for them, in the expectation, it was supposed, of obtaining something more substantial than thanks, for the good that might result to them from their charitable remembrance of the frailty of their nature. The boys dropped on their knees, and recited the lesson that they had been taught, without committing a single blunder.

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