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 Latter Are Very Seldom Grateful, And Never Acknowledge
Gratitude As A Virtue.
The indifference, unconcern, and even
contempt, which they often evinced on receiving the presents which
the Landers made them, was a proof of this, and with a very few
exceptions, they never observed a Youribean to be sincerely thankful
for any thing.
On the following morning, John Lander was able to sit on horseback,
and as they were on the point of taking their departure, the governor
came out to bid them farewell, and presented them with two thousand
kowries to assist them on their journey.
Two hours after leaving Bohoo, they passed through an agreeable,
thinly inhabited village called Mallo, and in somewhat less than an
hour after, arrived at Jaguta, a large and compact town, fortified by
a neater and more substantially built wall than any they had yet
seen.
Jaguta lies E. S. E. of Bohoo, from which it is distant, as nearly as
the Landers could guess, from twelve to thirteen miles. In the course
of the journey, they met a party of Nouffie traders from Coulfo, with
asses carrying trona for the Gonja market. Among them, were two
women, very neatly clad in their native costume, with clean white
tobes outside their other apparel, resembling as nearly as possible
the chemise of European ladies. These asses were the first beasts
they had observed employed in carrying burdens, for hitherto, people
of both sexes and of all ages, especially women and female children,
had performed those laborious duties.
The governor of Jaguta came to apologize in the evening, for not
having attended them the greater part of the day, on the plea that he
had been engaged in the country with his people, in making a fetish
for the prosperity of the king of Katunga. The return of the governor
and his procession to the town, was announced by a flourish of drums,
fifes, &c., with the usual accompaniments of singing and dancing. The
musicians performed before him, for some time, in a yard contiguous
to that where the Landers resided, and their ears were stunned for
the remainder of the night, by a combination of the most barbarous
sounds in the world.
They were here daily assured that the path was rendered exceedingly
dangerous by banditti, and the governor of Jaguta endeavoured with a
good deal of earnestness, to persuade them that their goods would not
be respected by them. It will, however, scarcely be believed, that
this universal dread originates from a few Borgoo desperadoes, who,
although only armed with powder and a few broken muskets, can put a
whole legion of the timid natives to flight. The inhabitants of the
town kept firing the whole of the evening, to deter their formidable
foe from scaling the wall and taking possession of their town.
On the night of Saturday May 8th, they were visited by thunder
storms, from which, however, they did not receive any great
annoyance. The natives as usual imputed the seasonable weather to
their agency alone, and in consequence, their arrival at many places
was hailed with transport, as the most fortunate thing that could
have happened.
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