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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The Delay Seems Partly To Have Been Occasioned By The
Heavy Baggage And Stores, And By The Difficulty Of Obtaining
Bearers.
The Eyeo people, as they were afterwards told, are unaccustomed to
carry hammocks, and they ought to have proceeded
On horseback, in
fact, Lander did not hesitate to express himself in rather severe
terms, in regard to the manner in which the early part of the
expedition was conducted; for, had the plan been adopted of making
use of horses for the conveyance of the baggage, and not have allowed
themselves to be delayed by the difficulty of procuring human
assistance; had the whole party pressed forward to Laboo, and there
attempted to recruit their strength, it is highly probable that they
would have altogether escaped the poisonous effects of the miasmata.
The country thus far appears to have been an almost perfect level; in
some places swampy, for the most part covered with dense forests, but
partially cultivated, and very populous. Towns and villages were
numerous, and everywhere on the road they were met by numbers of
people, chiefly women, bearing loads of produce on their heads,
always cheerful and obliging, and delighted to see white men. At
Humba, the inhabitants kept up singing and dancing all night, in the
true negro style, round the house allotted to the white men. Their
songs were in chorus, and, as Lander expressed himself, "not unlike
some church-music that I have heard."
On leaving Laboo, they were attended for some distance by the
caboceer of the town, at the head of the whole population, the women
singing in chorus, and holding up both hands as they passed, while
groupes of people were seen kneeling down, and apparently wishing
them a good journey. The road now lay over an undulating country,
through plantations of millet, yams, and maize, and at three hours
from Laboo, led to Jannah, which was once a walled town, but the gate
and fosse are all that remain of the fortifications. It is situated
on a gentle declivity, commanding an extensive prospect to the
westward; to the eastward the view is interrupted by thick woods. The
inhabitants may amount to from eight hundred to a thousand souls. The
account which Lander gave us of the natives of this district was
highly favourable. He had only to complain of the eternal loquacity
of the women, by which he was exceedingly annoyed; in addition to
which, they appeared sometimes to be highly offended because, as he
was ignorant of their language, he very often committed the most
extraordinary blunders, in the answers which he gave by signs, and
which were wholly opposite to what they had every reason to expect,
from the significant language which they made use of. The women here
are, however, not much better treated than in more central Africa;
not only the domestic duties are performed by them, but in all
matters of industry the labour appears to be imposed upon them,
whilst their husbands or owners are loitering away their time,
telling unaccountable stories to each other, or sleeping under the
shade of some of the beautiful trees which adorn this part of the
country.
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