Extent, and although in all
probability, he was as opulent as most chiefs on the road, yet he did
not follow their example in giving them provisions, but left them to
procure what they wanted for themselves, in the best manner they were
able. It is the general custom here, when any stranger of consequence
approaches Katunga, to send a messenger before him, for the purpose
of informing the king of the circumstances; and as they were
considered to be personages of consequence, one of their Jenna guides
was deputed to set out on the morrow, and in the mean time they were
to remain at Eetcho until a guard of soldiers should be sent to
escort them to Katunga. They, however, having no inclination for the
honour, as it would expose them to a thousand little inconveniences,
determined to avoid them all by leaving the place by moonlight.
An extraordinary instance of mortality is here mentioned by Richard
Lander, who says, "that not less than one hundred and sixty governors
of towns and villages, between this place and the seacoast, all
belonging to Youriba, have died from natural causes, or have been
slain in war, since I was last here, and that of the inhabited places
through which we have passed, not more than half a dozen chiefs are
alive at this moment, who received and entertained me on my return to
Badagry three years ago."
On the night of the 12th, they were visited by a tornado, and in the
morning it rained so heavily, that even if they had not been obliged
to remain in Eetcho that day, it would have been next impossible to
have pursued their journey.
