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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Having Expressed Their Intention Of Continuing Their Journey, The
Elders Of The Town Remonstrated With Them, That It Would Be Highly
Dangerous To Go By Themselves, And Endeavoured To Persuade Them To
Alter The Arrangement For Their Own Sakes.
They promised to procure
them a convoy of traders, if they would consent to wait three days
longer, which was to leave Egga at the end of that time to attend a
famous market called Bocqua.
When they sent word to the chief that
they intended departing on the following day, he begged of them to
remain a few days longer, declaring the banks of the river to be
inhabited by people, who were little better than savages, and
plundered every one that came near them. He was then asked, if he
would send a messenger with them, but he refused, saying, that the
Fellata power and his own extended no further down the river; that
Egga was the last town of Nouffie, and that none of his people traded
below it. "If that be the case," said Richard Lander, "it will be as
safe for us to go to-morrow as any other day," and with this
determination he left him.
He then proceeded to give directions for his people to prepare
themselves for starting, when to the great astonishment of himself
and his brother, Pascoe and the mulatto Ibrahim were the only two who
agreed to go, the rest of them refusing to a man. Richard said all he
could to them to change their determination; he talked to them half
an hour, telling them they were cowards, and that his life and that
of his brother were as good as theirs, but he could not make the
slightest impression upon them, and therefore told them to go out of
his sight, and that they would do without them. Partly, however, by
threats, and partly by bribes, the men agreed to accompany them,
although the impression could not be effaced from their minds, that
they were going where they should be murdered, or at least sold as
slaves.
At length every thing being in readiness, they bade farewell to the
old chief, and several of the principal inhabitants came hurrying
down to the waterside to take their leave, to give them their
blessing, and to wish them a successful voyage. The men at first
paddled sluggishly, and the canoe went slowly through the water, for
which reason they were two hours before they reached the middle of
the river. A few miles from the town, they saw with emotions of
pleasure a seagull, which flew over their heads, which to them was a
most gratifying sight, for it reminded them forcibly of the object
which they had in view, and they fondly allowed it to confirm their
hopes, that they were drawing very near their journey's end.
For many miles they could see nothing but large, open, well-built
villages on both banks of the river, but more especially on the
eastern, yet they touched at none of these goodly places, but
continued their journey till the sun began to decline, when they
stopped at a small hamlet on an island, with the intention of
sleeping there, cut the inhabitants mistrusted their intentions, and
were alarmed at their appearance; they would not even grant them an
accommodation for the night, although they assured them, that the
most homely, the most shattered hut would answer their purpose;
fearing, however, that they might enforce their request, they did all
they could to induce them to proceed onwards a little further, when
they would arrive at a city of considerable importance called
Kacunda, where plenty of provisions could be obtained, and where the
inhabitants would pay the greatest attention to them.
Kacunda is situated on the western bank of the river, and at a little
distance, it has an advantageous and uncommonly fine appearance. The
only access to the town was by winding channels, that interspersed an
unwholesome swamp, nearly two miles in breadth. It was evening when
they arrived there, and the people at first were alarmed at their
appearance, but they were soon welcomed on shore by an old mahommedan
priest, who speedily introduced them into an excellent and commodious
hut, once the residence of a prince, but then the domicile of a
schoolmaster.
Kacunda, properly speaking, consists of three or four villages, all
of them considerably large, but unconnected, though situated within a
very short distance of each other. It is the capital of a state or
kingdom of the same name, which is quite independent of Nouffie, or
any other foreign power. The only dress that the natives wear, is a
piece of cotton cloth round the loins. The women wear small ear-rings
of silver, but use no paint, nor do they bedaub their persons with
any sort of pigment.
On the morning subsequently to their arrival, a large double bank
canoe arrived at Kacunda, and they shortly found that the king's
brother had come in her to pay them a visit. He was saluted on
landing with a discharge from five old rusty muskets. A messenger was
immediately despatched to the Landers, announcing that he was ready
to see them. Their meeting was very cordial, and they shook hands
heartily with him, and explained to him their business. He brought a
goat as a present, and in return Richard Lander presented him with a
pair of silver bracelets, but he did not appear to be much interested
about them, or indeed to care at all for them, but looking round
their room, he perceived several little things to which he took a
fancy, and which being of no value whatever to them, were readily
presented to him.
They had now become great friends, and he commenced giving them a
dreadful account of the natives down the river, and advised them by
no means to go amongst them, but return by the way they had come. He
said to them with much emphasis, "If you go down the river, you will
surely fall into their hands and be murdered." "Go we must," said
Richard Lander, "if we live or die by it, and that also on the
morrow." He was then asked if he would send a messenger with them,
for that he might ensure their safety, coming from so powerful a
person as the chief of Kacunda.
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