Their Language Is A Dialect Of The Youribanee, But The Houssa Is That Of The Market.

They are civil, but the truth is not in them; and to be detected in a lie is not the smallest disgrace; it only causes a laugh.

The men drink very hard, even the Mahommedans and the women are not particularly celebrated for their chastity, although they succeeded in cheating both Clapperton and Lander; they were not, however, robbed of a single article, and they were uniformly treated with perfect respect. The people seem, indeed, by no means devoid of kindness of disposition. When the town of Bali was burned down, every person sent next day what they could spare of their goods, to assist the unfortunate inhabitants. In civilized England, when a fire takes place, thieving and robbery are the order of the day, but during the conflagration at Bali, not an article was stolen.

To their domestic slaves, they behave with the greatest humanity, looking upon them almost as children of the family. The males are often freed, and the females given in marriage to free men, or to other domestic slaves. The food of the slave and the free is nearly the same. The greatest man or woman in the country is not ashamed, at times, to let the slaves eat of the same dish; but a woman is never allowed to eat with a man. With a people, who have neither established law nor government, it is surprising that they are so good and moral as they are; it is true, they will cheat if they can, but amongst the civilized nations, who have both laws and government, cheating is by no means a rare occurrence, and by those too, who are the loudest in the professions of their honesty and integrity.

The country round Koolfu is a level plain, well cultivated, and studded with little walled towns and villages along the banks of the May Yarrow, and of a little river running into it from the north. Between the walled towns of Bullabulla and Rajadawa, the route passed through plantations of grain, indigo, and cotton; the soil clay mixed with sand, with here and there large blocks of sandstone, containing nodules of iron and veins of iron-stone.

At five days from Koolfu, the route entered at the town of Wazo, or Wazawo, the district of Koteng Koro, formerly included in Kashna; and for another five days' journey through a rich and beautiful valley, and over woody hills, the travellers reached Womba, a large walled town, where the caravans both from the east and the west generally halt a day or two, and where, as at Wazo, a toll is levied on merchandise. The town stands on a rising ground, at the eastern head of a valley watered by a small stream, having three bare rocky hills of granite to the north, east, and south. The inhabitants may amount to between ten and twelve thousand souls. The travellers were here objects of much kindness; the principal people of the place sent presents, and the lower ranks sought to obtain a sight of them by mounting the trees which overlooked their residence.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 309 of 587
Words from 162252 to 162783 of 309561