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
- Page 937 of 1124 - First - Home
The Name Of The Village Was Damaggoo.
Being In No Condition To Force Themselves From The Men, Who Had
Interrupted Them With So Little Ceremony, They Pulled With All Their
Strength Against The Current, And After An Hour's Exertion Landed
Amidst The Cheers And Huzzas Of A Multitude Of People.
The first
person they observed at the landing place, was their little friend in
the red jacket, whom they found out afterwards was a messenger from
the chief of Bonny.
Whilst a hut was preparing for them, they were conducted over a bog
to a large fetish tree, at the root of which they were made to sit
down, till the arrival of the chief, who made his appearance in a few
minutes, bringing with him a goat and other provisions as a present.
He put a great many questions respecting themselves and their
country, the places they had come from, their distance up the river,
and also concerning the river itself, and was astonished at their
answers.
They were now conducted through filthy streets of mud to a very
diminutive hut, which they found excessively warm, owing to the small
quantity of light and air, which were admitted into it only through a
narrow aperture, opening into a gloomy and dismal passage. The
appearance of the inside was better than that of the outside, being
rudely plastered with clay, and surrounded with indifferently carved
fetish figures, either painted or chalked a red colour.
As signs of European intercourse, with which the Landers, as it might
be reasonably supposed, were highly delighted, they received from the
chief as a present some fofo, a quantity of stewed goat, sufficient
for thirty persons, and a small case bottle of rum, a luxury which
they had not enjoyed since they left Kiama; the latter was a treat
that they did not expect, although it was of the most inferior kind.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 937 of 1124
Words from 257398 to 257714
of 309561