Tuesday, 4th.—I waited on the chief, and made him a present of a silk umbrella and other articles. I then told him that what I had given him did not belong to me, but to my master, the king of England, who had sent me to visit Houssa and Bornou, where I had been two years before; that I wanted the chief of Guari to give me his assistance and protection as far as he could give it. He said he thanked me for the present I had given him from the king, and I should have every protection and assistance he could afford; that he and the Fellatas, I knew, were at war, and that his sending an escort of horse to Zegzeg with me would be of no service, and only expose me to attack from the Fellatas who infested the road on the frontiers of the two states; but from the last town in his territory bowmen on foot should escort me as far as Fatika, the first town in Zegzeg, and under the dominion of the Fellatas, and then I should be in perfect freedom to go where I pleased; that his horsemen should go with me as far as the last town in his territory, and would provide every thing, and see me off, escorted by the bowmen, before they returned; that the bowmen were the best escort in the woods I had to cross between Guari and Zegzeg, and, God willing, I should perform it in safety, as I had done the long and dangerous journey I had already come; but that if I thought any other way was better, or if there was any thing I wanted, to mention it, and if it could be got in Guari I should have it. I thanked him; said, if there were any curious animals or birds, I should like to have them; and if he had any written account of the country, I should like that more than all. He said he had no written account of the country; that no one troubled their heads about affairs of that kind; that if I would remain with him in Guari some time, I should have all the curious birds and beasts in the country, but that at present every person that could be spared was out in the country attending the growing grain; that they had a scarcity over all the country last year, and they were afraid the same thing might happen this year, as the rains as yet had not been very abundant. After I left the chief I returned home, and opened all the cases, and put the things that were wet out to dry.

Guari, formerly a district of the province of Kashna, was conquered by the Fellatas a short while after their rising, along with the rest of Houssa. At the death of old Bello, this, with the greater part of the province of Kashna, made itself independent by joining in the Towia, or confederation and rebellion against the Fellatas. Bonaga, the chief of Zamfra, was the first to rise and shake the spear, as they express it. He was joined instantly by the inhabitants of the province of Goober, whose chief, a lad, was kept as a slave in Sackatoo; but, by the assistance of his countrymen, had made his escape, and now heads his people. The northern part of Kashna was the next to join, under a son of their former chief or governor. Guari and Katongkora, both districts of Kashna, and belonging to Houssa, also joined, but declared themselves independent of the authority of Kashna. The states of Youri and Cubbi have also since joined, as have Doura and the southern part of Zegzeg. Youri, they say, was forced to join by the others of the Towia, as their districts nearly surround it. The strength of Guari lies in the bravery of its inhabitants and the number of horse they can bring into the field—they say a thousand: this may be all true, but I think they owe their strength to the hilly and woody nature of their country. The capital of this district, also called Guari, is situated in latitude 10° 54′ north, longitude 8° 1′ east; built partly on the north-east side of a hill, and partly in a narrow valley, through which a muddy stream runs that is dry in the summer months; this stream rises only a day’s journey in the mountains or hills south of Guari, runs through part of Zamfra, and divides in one part the states of Katongkora and Guari, and enters into the Kodonia in Nyffé. The city or town has two walls, the old and the new; the old in ruins ever since it was stormed by old Bello. At the rising of the Fellatas it surrounded the hill on which the city is built, and great part of another; the new wall runs over the ridge of the hill, cutting the town into one half the size it was formerly; and even now the wall is much too extensive for the inhabitants to defend, and appears enclosing a few scattered houses and villages, not a town or city. The house of the chief is like a walled village, with a large clay castle at one end: this serves as the harem of the chief, and is well filled, or, more properly speaking, there are a great number of women in it. The other houses in the enclosure are huts, or coozies, occupied by blacksmiths, weavers, tailors, dyers, &c. all belonging to his household.

Friday, 7th.—Morning cloudy. At 8 A.M. loaded the bullocks and camel, and sent them off. I went and took leave of the chief Abubuker, where I found an escort of four horsemen ready to conduct me to the frontier. This was more than I expected; for both he and his people knew I was going to Bello: at least I told the chief I had a letter and present for him: at all events they knew I had to go through his territory—there could be no mistake as to that. The road from Guari was hilly and woody, and winding and rocky, and filled with sharp gravel stones; the soil a deep red clay; the rocks a slaty sandstone: a number of what in England are called the Malacca cones were growing by the sides of the streams.

At 1 P.M. passed the town of Makundi, where a large caravan from the eastward had just halted, a number of the merchants of which had seen me in Yourriba and Borgoo, and came to wish me joy and a blessing at being so near their country. A number of tongas, or camps, were around this town, some empty and some filled. Arrived at the walled town of Cazigie, where I remained for the night.

Saturday, 8th.—The country, as we approached Fatika, became more uneven and cut up by deep ravines between the long ridges which the land formed. At 5.30 P.M. passed to the south of Fatika, which is walled, and of considerable size. I sent to the head man to inform him of my arrival, and to tell him who I was, and that I was going to halt near the tonga, as the gates of the town were too narrow to admit loaded bullocks. At 6 A.M. halted near a large camp, or tonga. The caravan had preceded us from Guari, and had travelled all night through the wood. They said they had seen the robbers, but from the numbers composing the caravan they were afraid to attack. A short while after halting, the head man of the town sent me pudding, stewed meat, and millet for my horses and camel. I certainly felt very light-hearted and comfortable, as I thought now I had entered the territories actually under the dominion of the Fellatas. All my cares were over; not even thinking of my sick servant, or the chance of my having perhaps to-morrow as much anxiety as ever I had before.

Sunday, 9th.—Morning dull and cloudy. At 8.30 A.M. left our encampment to the eastward of Fatika, the road winding and very gravelly; passed through several plantations of millet, sweet potatoes, indigo, and dourra, the path winding to the south and south-east, when we came to the ruins of a large town, where we turned up, E.S.E. at noon. At 1 P.M. saw the mount inside the walls of the old city of Zaria, appearing over the long ranges which the land forms, like islands in the midst of the sea.

Monday, 10th.—Morning cloudy, with rain. At 7 A.M. the rain ceased, and we loaded our animals, and started at eight. Shaped our path across gentle rising and declining ridges; the soil a deep red clay, with now and then rocks of sandstone and clay ironstone, and the country woody. Within about four or five miles of Zaria the country became altogether clear of wood: except a patch here and there, all was in pasture, or planted with rice, millet, and dourra. Herds of beautiful cattle were feeding in the valleys, or lying chewing the cud on the higher grounds. Zaria was seen to the eastward, and known by its tall trees, like a long avenue of gigantic poplars; running across the horizon from north to south, stretching from the south end of one detached mount to the north end of another. At two, entered one of the gates on the west side of Zaria; but, instead of finding houses, I could just see their tops over the growing grain. At about a quarter of a mile distance all was walled fields, full of growing millet and dourra, with here and there a horse or mare tethered in the open spaces.

At sunset Abdulkrum, the acting governor, arrived, and waited on me instantly. He was very kind, offered me his own house to live in if I did not like the one I was in; sent for a fine fat sheep, with plenty of provisions for man and beast.

Tuesday, 11th.—Morning dull and cloudy. After breakfast I had a visit from Abdulkrum. I told him who I was, and what I was, and where I was going; and desired he would give me a messenger to Kano, as I intended going to Sackatoo by that route. He said he would send to the sultan, or governor, and inform him of my arrival; that the messenger would return in three days, and in the meantime I should have every assistance that he could afford me. I told him I wanted the loan of a horse to Kano, and should leave my little mare until she recovered, when she was to be sent to me, and I would pay all expenses. Abdulkrum appears to be a very good fellow, but is in great distress he tells me; and there is nothing in his possession but he will give me if I will only relieve him, for he declares I can. A number of visitors coming in put an end to his story, as it appears to be with him a great secret.

The old city of Zaria was taken by the Fellatas about a month after they had taken the provinces of Goober and Zamfra, in or about the year 1800, as they do not care much about a year or two. It only stood a siege of two days; the sultan and the greater part of the inhabitants flying to the southern and western part of the province, which is hilly, and inhabited by pagans. Here they still remain, and preserve their independence, though the Fellatas seldom let a month pass without making an attack on them; but of late they have suffered severely, and begin to be more cautious in their attacks. The old city is now only known by its ruined wall surrounding the before-mentioned mounts, which were in the centre of the city.

The new city built by the Fellatas, the walls of which extend from the south-east side of the old, about two miles to the south, enclosing a great space of ground, on which are built a number of little villages and detached houses, is surrounded by high clay walls. Abdulkrum’s house, where I lived, is in latitude 10° 59′ north, and longitude 8° 42′ east. Near the centre of the wall stands the principal mosque, built of clay, having a minaret about forty or fifty feet high. The principal market is at the south end, inside the walls, and here the caravans make their tongas, or camps. One twentieth is exacted from the merchants as a duty; and they dread halting at Zaria, from the rapacity of the inhabitants, who are all Fellatas, and often keep travelling by secret paths through the woody country, to evade the city, until they enter the province of Guari. The house of the governor is north of the great mosque, and is surrounded by a high clay wall; inside this wall are large coozies, or huts, surmounted by ostrich eggs, and some single rooms of a square form, with a flat roof. The houses of the principal inhabitants are much the same. Of the number of inhabitants I can form no estimate: they say there are more than in Kano, which I should suppose to contain 40 or 50,000 at least. They are mostly all Fellatas; a great many of them from Foota Bonda and Foota Torra, and know the French and English well they say; but I am sorry to add, that they have not improved by their acquaintance. They rattle over the names of the towns between Sierra Leone, or the Senegal, and Timbuctoo, like a, b, c, then sit down, and will not start until they get something. These fellows are generally armed with French fusees. They prefer the guns of the French and the powder of the English. The late governor was a native of Foota Bonda: so that the Foulahs and the Fellatas are the same people. Foota Bonda, Foota Torra, &c. they call Meli. They now possess Jinnee, near Timbuctoo, and I think will soon have the whole of the interior. Inside the walls there are a great number of shady trees, which are pruned every year for fire-wood; they look at a distance like immense poplars: swamps, corn fields, and green plats, make up the rest of the town. Date trees, palm oil trees, papas, melons, plantains, Indian corn, millet, dourra, rice, yams, sweet potatoes, &c. are in abundance, particularly rice. They say they raise more and better rice than all the rest of Houssa put together. Horses, sheep, and horned cattle abound in every part of the province inhabited by the Fellatas. Game is also in abundance; such as antelopes of all the different kinds. Guinea fowls and partridges are also in great numbers. The elephant and buffalo inhabit the southern part of the province, which they say is twelve days south of Zaria, and reaches close to the salt water. It is bounded by the province of Kano to the east; Jacoba to the south-east; by the mountains inhabited by pagans to the south, where they say the sea is; by Nyffé to the south-west; Guari and Kashna to the north and west. The environs of the city are beautiful, being formed of gentle ridges of land and plains; here and there fine large shady trees, and small streams of water; the rocky mounts to the north and south adding to the beauty of the scene. A small river, dry in summer, runs at a little distance from the eastward wall: its course is south.

Friday, 14th.—Morning clear. No messenger having arrived from the governor, as was expected, I had the bullocks and camel loaded, and told Abdulkrum I would stay no longer, and if he attempted to stop me, it would be at his peril. He said there was not the least objection to my going; that, on the contrary, he would send a messenger of his own with me to Kano, and should accompany me part of the way. It was 8 A.M. before I was able to leave the town, Abdulkrum proceeding with me: he has behaved very well to me while I remained in Zaria, and is as decent a Fellata as I ever met with; and he is the only man in the place who bears a good name with strangers. Poor man, his secret came out at last. He was very earnest and rather bashful about it for a Mahometan. It was as usual with them who have too many wives: one, he said, was the governor’s daughter, and he was convinced I had medicine that would be of use to him. It was too serious a matter, and lay too near his heart, for me to laugh at him, or to say I had none; so I gave him a box of Seidlitz powders, the effervescing of which surprised him very much, desiring him to take one once a week. He was made perfectly happy, and fully believed in their virtue. It is the first time I have given medicine for such a disorder, generally laughing them out of asking me for such a thing. As he and I rode after the bullock, a great deal of our conversation was about England, which he, as well as a great many others here, declares to be a small island in the midst of the sea. I had hard work to convince him to the contrary. He then talked a great deal about the inferiority of the Christians to the true believers in battle. I told him he had never yet had Christians to deal with in battle, or he would tell another story. “Oh! do not say that,” says he; “did we not kill forty at Adamowa, and make all the rest run away?” I said they were all Mahometans and Arabs, not a Christian amongst them: but all I could say he would not be convinced, until I told him he lied like a thief, and whenever I saw Bello I should insist on his writing to the governors of the different provinces of Houssa, to inform their people of the truth of that affair: that it was Arabs and Mahometans, headed by Boobecker Bookaloom, who made the attack on Adamowa; and that they had, to save themselves, taken advantage of our being in Bornou at the time to throw it on our backs. Mr. Abdulkrum began to be a little alarmed at the earnestness of my language and threat, and begged I would think no more about it; he himself knew it was a lie told by the Arabs to save their credit. We parted not quite such good friends as we had been.

The country at present, on this side of Zaria, looks like some of the finest in England, about the latter end of the month of April. All around is green and beautiful, with only trees here and there. The soil a red clay, mixed with gravel. The cultivated ground continued until 11 A.M. when we entered a wood of low trees, which continued until noon, when we found ourselves amongst the cultivated grounds belonging to the town of Leokoro, which we passed, and halted on the east side. It is of considerable size, walled round, but the wall is in very bad condition, being broken and falling down in several places. The houses are in good repair, and the inhabitants numerous. Towards sunset several large herds of cattle came in from grazing in the neighbouring woods, and were secured in thorny enclosures outside the walls for the night.

Saturday, 15th.—At 4.30 P.M. arrived and halted at a town called Roma, in English, Soup, whose walls are extensive; and, from the number of shady trees within them, must have once been a populous and well inhabited place. The present inhabitants do not amount to more than forty, poor, mean, and miserable. They were all collected under one of the old shady trees in the town to receive me, with their chief man at their head, bearing a long white wand, or peeled palm-tree branch in his hand, dressed in a ragged dirty white tobe, his skin spotted black and white like a leopard with disease. He conducted me to his house, which was large and spacious; but the courts were overgrown with weeds and grass; the roofs of the huts falling in; the floors wet, damp, and dirty. I could not amongst the whole find one fit to shelter man or beast. I went out, and he accompanied me until, amongst the untenanted houses, I found one, where I put my baggage for the night. He brought me a little corn in a gourd for my horses, and I asked him the cause of the sad state in which the town was: he said, the Fellatas, and held his peace. “Why is your house in such a state?” I asked. He said he once had fifty wives, but they had all run away one after another, and he could not take care of it himself. Plenty of guinea fowls came to roost on the shady tree. Towards sunset I went out and shot six, which served all hands.

Sunday, 16th.—At 12.20 halted at the town of Aushin, where I was provided with as good a house as the place afforded; and this being the day of the aid kebur, or great feast, they had killed a bullock, of which the head man of the town sent me a part, with Indian corn for my horses and camel. I had not taken possession of my house more than ten minutes, and hung my watch and compass up to the rafters, as was my usual custom, than, having occasion to go out, I found my watch torn forcibly from the ring; but I fortunately caught the thief, who was one of the bullock drivers: I threatened him very much, but was glad I had got my watch again without any serious injury. The bullocks on this day’s journey were nearly all worn out; it was with great difficulty we could get two of them on with very light loads.

Monday, 17th.—Having passed Roma and several other towns, at noon of this day we entered the town of Dunchow, the first to the westward in the province of Kano. I rode up to the head man’s house, who was just coming out of his door to take his ride; a jolly looking tall Fellata, about thirty years of age. After we had exchanged compliments, he took me to a very good house to lodge in, and promised to send me every thing I wanted, which was food for man and beast. I got corn sent me in abundance, but nothing else; all his other promises proved to be nothing but empty words.

Tuesday, 18th.—Clear and cool. Thermometer at sunrise 68° F. in the open air. After giving the head man of Dunchow a knife, and a lecture for not performing his promises to me, in giving me meat or milk, or lending me a horse, he said, they had no meat, because they had killed no bullock; no milk, as all the young women were dancing last night, as their custom is after the aid, and they did not milk the cows; his horses had all been killed this summer at the war with the sheik of Bornou. All these excuses were made with as much ease as he made the promises, and I could not help admiring the courtier-like manner in which he behaved, though he has only been here a month as governor. At 7 A.M. I left Dunchow and its polite governor, and travelled through a well cultivated and populous country, the inhabitants of the villages all out in their plantations, giving the millet and dourra the second hoeing, and drawing the earth up to the roots of the grain: the soil a fine black mould, covered with a thin layer of sand. Passed several plantations of rice, which was sown in beds in the low and swampy grounds; also beds of sweet potatoes, yams, and a root called goza, like a small short yam, more watery, and of a yellow colour inside: it has a broad flat leaf.

At 2 P.M. entered the town of Baebaegie. I rode to the house of the governor, whose head man gave me a part of his house to lodge in; and shortly after I had halted he sent me a sheep, two fowls, some wheat, the first I had seen since I left England, and plenty of millet for my horses and camel. I sent him in return a knife, six yards of red silk, a gilt chain, and a pair of scissars. In the evening the governor sent me pudding, boiled rice, milk, and stewed meat.

Wednesday, 19th.—The town of Baebaegie is in latitude 11° 34′ north, and longitude 9° 13′ east, and stands as it were in the midst of a large plain, having in sight, from the granite mount about a musket shot outside the southern gate, the hills of Nora, about ten miles east; to the south, the mountains of Surem, distant about twenty-five miles; to the west I could distinguish the tops of one or two of the hills of Aushin, in Zegzeg; to the north a plain bounded only by the horizon; to the north-east the two mounts inside the walls of Kano could just be distinguished above the horizontal line, bearing north-east by north. One hill bore north, breaking the horizontal line, twenty or twenty-two miles; the land, every where the eye turned, looked beautiful; the grain was just high enough to wave with the wind; little towns and villages were numerous; the trees full of foliage, none being left hardly but such as were fit for use, such as the micadania or butter-tree, the nutta or durow, and the tamarind: heads of fine white cattle were seen grazing on the fallow ground; horses and mares were tethered in the small spaces left between the plantations in cultivation; women, to the amount of a hundred, were thrashing out corn with large sticks, on the flat rock at the base of the mount, the wind, blowing fresh from the westward, serving them as a winnowing machine. The town was below, in the form of an oblong square, the four sides facing the four cardinal points; the head man’s house in the centre of the town, and is like one of the old keeps or castles in Scotland, near the Borders; it is also of the Moorish form, and the general one for all the governor’s houses in Houssa. A high clay tower, through which is the gate or entrance from each side, overtops a wall of clay about twenty feet high, in the form of a square; inside are huts or coozies for the women, eunuchs, domestics, and horses; the governor occupying the upper part of the tower in times of alarm and danger, and his men-slaves and armed retainers the lower. This, like all the others, is built of clay, and is three stories high, with a flat roof and battlement. In the lower story, at each side, and above the gate, are oblong holes, which serve for archers and to give light in the upper stories; the windows are like ours in England in form, four on each side, but no attention as to regularity in placing them; the windows are either shut by a mat on the side next the wind, or by a number of coloured and plaited lines of grass strung over a small rod, which is hung across the top of the window; the ends falling down, admit sufficient air and light, and keep out flies. This plan is also used for the doors of inner apartments in the lower houses, and requires no opening or shutting. The rooms in the town are supported by pillars formed by lashing long poles together until sufficiently strong, and, when they are up, plastering them thickly over in all parts with clay, and then a coating of cow-dung, to prevent the white ants and other insects eating away the wood; the great beams are formed in the same manner. The floors of the upper rooms are first laid with rafters of stout poles, then short diagonal pieces are laid over as close as they can be laid, then a coating of clay and small gravel is laid six or eight inches thick. The walls are made, first by mixing clay well up with a little chopped grass or cow-dung, and making it up in lumps of two handfuls, and letting it dry in the sun; when dry, they build with them as our masons would do with rough stones, laying a thick layer of well-wrought soft clay between each layer of hardened lumps, and a good thick coat outside: their hand is the only trowel; and, without plumb-line or level, they manage to make pretty fair walls and buildings, taking these things into consideration. The walls outside, before the commencement of every rainy season, get a fresh plastering, the tops are repaired, and parts that may be washed down are built up. The water is conveyed from the tops of the houses, clear of the walls, by long, baked, clay funnels, like what are used on the tops of smoky chimneys in England, and look like great guns mounted on the tops of the walls. The other houses of the town are like almost all others outside the capital towns, a number of circular huts within a high, square, clay wall; frequently a single room, with a flat roof, used by the master of the house as a safe repository for his goods. Every house has two or three date trees within this wall or enclosure, which bear fruit twice a year, like those of Kashna and Kano; once before or at the commencement of the rains, the other after the rains a month or forty days. They use two pieces of flat board or gourd, one fixed, the other moveable, to which is attached a line for the purpose of clapping one against the other to frighten the vampire-bat and a kind of jay which lodge on the trees and destroy a great quantity of fruit. The ibis, stork, crane, adjutant-crane, and several other birds, build their nests in the shady trees of the town. A market is held daily, which is well attended: grain, oxen, sheep, and all the necessaries of life, abound. A tame ostrich is kept in the market-place to avert the evil eye—a Bornou and eastern custom. There are several places of prayer in the town, but one principal mosque or jama, as they call them, stands on the right of the governor’s house, forming one side of the square before his door. The inhabitants may amount to about twenty or twenty-five thousand, the greater part of whom are refugees from Bornou and Wadey, and their descendants, who are all engaged in trade: from the little I saw of them, they appeared to be cleanly, civil, and industrious. In the afternoon I went through a great number of these houses, shooting pigeons, of which there are four kinds here: the domestic or house pigeon, the large wood dove, a larger kind with a fleshy substance round the outside of the eye like the carrier pigeon, and the small dove with purple breast and black ring round the neck. The inhabitants offered not the least objections to my shooting in their court-yards, but were as much amused as I was, and afforded me every assistance in procuring the wounded birds. At sunset I took leave of the governor, who lent me a horse and a messenger to go with me early to Kano to provide a house, for I had not yet heard from Hadje Salah. The governor’s son sent me a present of a turkey and some wheat, but I sent him nothing in return, as all my things were packed up ready for starting.

Thursday, 20th.—Daylight, fresh breezes and cloudy; thermometer, at sunrise, 75° Fahrenheit. Landed the bullocks, and saw them out of the north gate of Baebaegie, when I started ahead, on the horse I had borrowed from the governor, his servant and the messenger of Zaria accompanying me. I left the baggage in charge of Richard, desiring him to halt at the nearest town or village if it should come on to rain, and not to start in the morning if the weather was bad. My road was through a well-cultivated country, the soil clay and gravel; the villages were numerous, the inhabitants of which were busy in their plantations, dressing up the earth to the roots of the dourra, and hoeing away the weeds. The road was broad and good, thronged with passengers, asses and bullocks loaded with goods and grain, going to and returning from Kano. At 7 A.M. crossed a small stream which runs south and falls into the Girkwa. At 8.30 A.M. passed the town of Madagie, which is walled, and appeared to be well filled with houses and inhabitants. At noon, arrived at the banks of the river which passes Girkwa, and which rises amongst the hills of Aushin. All the streams to the south of the granite ridge passing Roma, close to the south of Kashna, fall into this river. One considerable river passing Duncomee and Fariroa, flows south of Kano close to the walls of Girkwa, runs east past the town and hills of Dushie, near Katagum, and enters the river Yoau near Hadega. This is the river which has been spoken of by the Arabs as coming from Timbuctoo, and continuing its course to the Nile of Egypt. It is dry for nearly the whole length of its course during six months: the stream, when full, is broad but shallow; at this place, about 100 or 120 yards across: its waters are now muddy with yesterday’s rains; the depth five feet. I got wet up to the middle as I crossed, the horse I rode being a small one, and at times off his legs and swimming. I halted on the other side to dry my clothes, and after an hour’s rest under a tree, when my clothes were pretty well drained and half dry, I again started, and, about five in the evening, arrived at the city of Kano.

CHAPTER V.

JOURNEY FROM KANO TO THE CAMP OF BELLO, AND FROM THENCE TO SOCCATOO.

Wednesday, Oct. 11th.—Last night my horse died, and this morning I lost my pocket journal and remark book[1], spectacles, inkhorn, and pens, &c., which my servant had laid on the saddle outside the door of my hut, ready for me when I came out. The person in whose house I had lodged while at Baebaegie I had permitted to remain in the same enclosure; and my servant at once accused him and his men of the theft. I was desirous of searching them, but they made off the moment that the theft was discovered.

At 7 A.M. I proceeded on my journey, passed through a large village, and several times crossed the river which I have frequently before mentioned as coming from the granite hills, to the south of Kashna;—it here winds beautifully, with steep and high-wooded banks, sometimes composed of rock, and sometimes a mixture of clay and rock. My camels I could hardly get along, as they were nearly worn out with sores and fatigue. The country around Zurmie is well cultivated, and planted with millet, Indian corn, and dourra. The villages are numerous, the soil a light red clay, mixed with small crumbling rocks scattered over the surface, which is generally covered with a thin layer of sand.

The army has now increased to a large size, the forces of Zurmie and Jaroba having joined, the roads on every side crowded with horse and foot, camels, bullocks, and asses, all striving who shall get foremost. Some of the people of Zurmie are entirely naked, save only tanned sheep skin bound round the loins, cut into tassels, and ornamented with cowries, their woolly hair cut in parts or shaved, the rest plaited and formed into crests, circles, &c. Some have it drawn out, and hanging in shaggy ringlets, which gives them a wild and savage appearance.

About noon, arrived and halted at Quarrie, and immediately waited on the Gadado, to inform him of the robbery, and by whom I had every reason to suspect it was committed. He promised to send off to the governor of Kano, and to desire him to have the people of Baebaegie searched; and there was little doubt but that I would have my books restored.

By the assistance of one of the Gadado’s principal officers and a near relation, I hired a bullock to carry my baggage to Soccatoo for 5000 cowries; as, after the load had been removed from the back of the camel that was worn out, the poor creature was unable to rise, and was in consequence killed, and the carcass distributed among the poor.

Thursday, 12th.—Morning clear. Having waited in vain for the stolen property until mid-day, I then started, and found that the bullock which had been hired for me was miserably thin, and had the itch very bad; and that if offered for sale, it would not have brought me more than 3 or 4000 cowries.

After leaving Quarrie, the road lay through plantations of millet and dourra. Passed through several villages and one walled town, also called Quarrie; crossed the river Foutchir, at a ford about four feet deep. The river was upwards of one hundred yards broad, and full of water, with a current of about two and a half or three miles an hour; the banks low, sandy, and woody; and here it is close to its junction with the river Quarrie, which is on our right, running to the north. We travelled along its banks for an hour; and after leaving it, the country became a succession of sandy ridges and swamps, and thick woods, the principal trees of which were the acacia and a mimosa. Both my bullocks and camel were fairly exhausted; and I had to wait until these animals had got some rest, and until the heat of the day was over: the poor camel was unable to move.

At sunset, no assistance arriving from the Gadado, and no messenger with my lost books, I hired five of the footmen belonging to Zamfra, to carry the camel’s load for 2000 cowries, as far as the camp; and the exhausted camel I left to its fate. We had not proceeded far, however, before a messenger arrived from the Gadado with a camel, when the loads were taken from the bearers by force, by the Gadado’s messenger; but I gave them 500 cowries for their assistance, and they were well pleased, and returned me many thanks. My servants had carried the greater part of the bullock’s load on their heads all day; and I could not but admire their patience, as their only food in the morning was a little ground dourra and water; and of this I was also obliged to partake.

It was 9 P.M. before we arrived at the camp, which was by the side of a lake. I sent my present to the Gadado, to carry on his camels, as all that was now left me was a bullock with the itch, which we could hardly drive along, with only the tent, my servants carrying the rest. All that I had to eat was a little ground Indian corn, boiled with salt and water; and I slept in the open air.

The governors of the several provinces had each a singing or crying man, in addition to the drums and horses. The one of Zegzeg was the most disgusting, being a large black man, mounted on horseback, with an unshaven head, roaring out like a person in great agony, and every now and then screaming out as loud as he could bawl, and calling me a Kaffir, threatening to eat me. In the morning, at an early hour, I left our place of encampment; and ascending a gravelly ridge, I had an extensive view to the west and south-west, over the extensive plains and swamps of Gondamie. The soil on the ridge was a red clay and gravel, the trees low and stunted. At noon, halted for the bullock to rest; and at 1 P.M. got him to move on again. At 5 P.M. halted on the borders of a large lake, which is formed by the rivers Zurmie and Zarrie—or, more properly speaking, a chain of lakes and swamps, extending through all, or the greater part of, the plains of Gondamie, approaching nearly to Soccatoo. The borders of these lakes are the resort of numbers of elephants and other wild beasts. The appearance at this season, and at the spot where I saw it, was very beautiful; all the acacia trees were in blossom, some with white flowers, others with yellow, forming a contrast with the small dusky leaves, like gold and silver tassels on a cloak of dark green velvet. I observed some fine large fish leaping in the lake. Some of the troops were bathing; others watering their horses, bullocks, camels, and asses: the lake as smooth as glass, and flowing around the roots of the trees. The sun, on its approach to the horizon, throws the shadows of the flowery acacias along its surface, like sheets of burnished gold and silver. The smoking fires on its banks, the sounding of horns, the beating of their gongs or drums, the braying of their brass and tin trumpets, the rude huts of grass or branches of trees rising as if by magic, every where the calls on the names of Mahomed, Abdo, Mustafa, &c., with the neighing of horses and the braying of asses, gave animation to the beautiful scenery of the lake, and its sloping green and woody banks.

The only regulation that appears in these rude feudal armies is, that they take up their ground according to the situation of the provinces, east, west, north, or south; but all are otherwise huddled together, without the least regularity. The man next in rank to the governor of each province has his tent placed nearest to him, and so on. I always found out my quarters, which were close to the Gadado, by inquiring what province the people belonged to.

In the evening, the governor sent me a present of a sheep, and directly afterwards ordered a musquet to be brought to me, that I might put a screw to its lock; and on my declaring that I had no screws, and could not make one, his people went off rather dissatisfied, and shortly afterwards I missed my powder horn, which was hanging, with my gun and sword, to the branch of a tree: the rascals had stolen it.

I now was informed, for the first time, by the Gadado, that before we went to Soccatoo, we should have to go by Coonia, the capital of Goobur, near which the sultan Bello was then encamped, with the forces from Soccatoo; and which place they intended to take before they returned to Soccatoo. The Kano troops are considered to be the best, and found to be more orderly than any of the others, but, on the whole, they are the poorest, and the most inefficient I ever saw, or could have imagined.

Saturday, 14th.—Morning cool and clear, but a heavy dew had made me quite wet and chilly. At 5.40 A.M. left our encampment, the path generally skirting along the banks of the lake. Saw the traces of elephants every where, and last night the lions were roaring close to the camp. The heat of the sun from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon was the most oppressive I had ever felt it; and the dust raised by the number of men, and animals all pressing forward as hard as they could, made the air at times quite suffocating; and now that we are supposed to be surrounded by enemies, it is who shall be foremost: no halting is allowed. My servant, with a load on his head, was obliged to lead on the fatigued bullock; and I, with another servant, managed to drive it along at a quick pace, but not without incessant beating, which, in a country like ours, famed for its humanity, would have appeared extreme cruelty; but a man will do many things here in Africa, that his humanity would revolt at in our more happy country.

At 4.40 P.M. halted along with the camp, fatigued and low-spirited; for what with the loss of my horse and camel, and what is still worse than all, my books and journal, leaving me only some loose paper and a pencil; when I beheld my servants carrying loads on their heads, and myself assisting and encouraging them to drive beyond its speed a poor scabbed and worn out bullock along the road; and when I have no prospect before me, but to subsist on water and boiled Indian corn, I cannot but feel a disposition to despond; but I trust things are now at the worst. Our place of halting was on the banks of a creek branching from the lake, very low and wet. My consolation is, that Bello is not at a great distance from us, and has sent to-day to ask after my health, and how I stood the fatigues of the journey.

Sunday, 15th.—Morning clear. At 5.45 left our encampment, and at 9 arrived at a spot in the swampy wood where a stream of water was running through it. We had to cross this stream, which was about twenty yards in width, the banks steep, and water deep, appearing as if it had been artificially cut for a canal. We crossed it without accident, though many of the party, with their camels, bullocks, horses, and baggage, crowding together, were seen sticking in groups in the boggy swamp. I had not gone many paces on the other side before my horse sunk to the belly; and as I did not immediately dismount, thinking to ride him through, I got severely hurt on the pommel of the saddle, by his plunging. At last I got off, put the saddle on my head, and got him to a firmer spot under a tree; close to which, I found my servants endeavouring to drag the bullock out of the place where he also had sunk. I sat as a guard over my baggage; but all the exertions of my people could not get the poor ox out, and I called them off to rest, sending one to the camp for assistance.

In the mean time, some of the people of Zamfra, coming post without loads or arms, were on their way to assist their friends, who were sticking in the mud, and to drag the governor’s baggage out of the swamp. I asked them, in a good-natured way, to lend a hand to help out my bullock, that was still sticking in the bog. “Well,” say they, “christian, give us that meat you have got in your dish, and we will assist you.” “Take it,” said I, “my lads;” and giving them the sheep’s heart, which was boiled and covered with fat, they divided it among them; and going to the spot where the unfortunate bullock was, had him out in an instant.

After letting the bullock breathe a little, we started again, but had new difficulties to encounter. There was a second stream to cross, worse than the former: I stripped, and waded over, leading my horse. On the other side, under a tree, I found a sick Fellata unable to move, with a burning fever, a native of one of the neighbouring villages; his friends, he said, had taken away his horse, and left him there, to the mercy of whoever might choose to assist him.

About mid-day arrived at the court of Bello; the Gadado saw me passing to my quarters, and sent to request I would halt, and to say I must go to the sultan, who would excuse every thing about my dress, as he was so anxious to see me. I accordingly dismounted, and accompanying the Gadado, we were instantly shown into the residence of Bello, which was formed of a number of huts, screened off by cloth fixed to poles, making quite a little village of itself. His reception of me was most kind and gratifying; he asked after the health of the king of England, and if we were still at peace, and how I had found all my friends. He was surprised when I said I had not seen them, and that I had remained only four months in England. He said, he had not received either of my letters, the one from Bornou, or that which had been sent by the way of Ghadamis from Tripoli. He asked me if I had not experienced a great many difficulties in getting through Yourriba; said he had heard of me when I was at Eyeo or Katunga, and that he had sent a messenger to that place, to assist me in getting through; and had also sent another to Koolfu; but neither of whom, as I told him, had I seen.

During this interview, it began to rain, thunder, and lighten very heavily; but as he and the old Gadado remained exposed to it, I was of course obliged to do so too. He had heard, he observed, that our camels had died on the road, but said he would send one of his men with a camel this evening, and who would take care that all my baggage should arrive safely at Soccatoo; but that it would be better that every thing should remain with me, until my setting out for the capital, where I could then deliver to him the present, and the king of England’s letter, as he intended making an attack on the capital of Goobur on the morrow. The rain having now ceased, I was permitted to take leave, and made the best of my way to that part of the camp assigned to me, which was not far distant from the sultan’s abode.

During the night, a pretty strict guard was kept, by horsemen in quilted armour; and all the horses in the camp were saddled at sunset, and remained so during the night.

Bello’s appearance was very little altered from what it was when I saw him last, except that he had got a little lustier, and dressed somewhat better. He was dressed to-day in a white striped muslin shirt and turban, and the finest tobes that the country produces.

Monday, 16th.—Morning clear, with a heavy dew. At 4 A.M. all was ready for commencing the war; but it was six before they started; the intermediate time being spent mostly in praying. I kept close to the Gadado, as it was his wish I should do so. Our path was through the plantations of millet and dourra of the enemy. At 8, the sultan halted under a tree, and gave orders for a camp to be formed, which was speedily done by the troops, cutting or pulling up the millet and dourra, and making huts, fences, and screens of the stalks. I waited on the sultan, who was dismounted, and sitting under the shade of the tree, near which he had halted. He was surrounded by the governors of the different provinces, who were all, with the exception of the governor of Adamawa, better dressed than himself.

After the midday prayers, all, except the eunuchs, camel drivers, and such other servants as were of use only to prevent theft, whether mounted or on foot, marched towards the object of attack; and soon arrived before the walls of the city. I also accompanied them, and took up my station close to the Gadado. The march had been the most disorderly that can be imagined; horse and foot intermingling in the greatest confusion, all rushing to get forward; sometimes the followers of one chief tumbling amongst those of another, when swords were half unsheathed, but all ended in making a face, or putting on a threatening aspect. We soon arrived before Coonia, the capital of the rebels of Goobur, which was not above half a mile in diameter, being nearly circular, and built on the bank of one of the branches of the river, or lakes, which I have mentioned. Each chief, as he came up, took his station, which, I suppose, had previously been assigned to him. The number of fighting men brought before the town could not, I think, be less than fifty or sixty thousand, horse and foot, of which the foot amounted to more than nine-tenths. For the depth of two hundred yards, all round the walls was a dense circle of men and horses. The horse kept out of bow-shot, while the foot went up as they felt courage or inclination, and kept up a straggling fire with about thirty muskets, and the shooting of arrows. In front of the sultan, the Zegzeg troops had one French fusil: the Kano forces had forty-one muskets. These fellows, whenever they fired their pieces, ran out of bow-shot to load; all of them were slaves; not a single Fellata had a musket. The enemy kept up a sure and slow fight, seldom throwing away their arrows until they saw an opportunity of letting fly with effect. Now and then a single horse would gallop up to the ditch, and brandish his spear, the rider taking care to cover himself with his large leathern shield, and return as fast as he went, generally calling out lustily, when he got among his own party, “Shields to the wall!” “You people of the Gadado, or Atego,” &c., “why don’t you hasten to the wall?” To which some voices would call out, “Oh! you have a good large shield to cover you!” The cry of “Shields to the wall” was constantly heard from the several chiefs to their troops; but they disregarded the call, and neither chiefs nor vassals moved from the spot. At length the men in quilted armour went up “per order.” They certainly cut not a bad figure at a distance, as their helmets were ornamented with black and white ostrich feathers, and the sides of the helmets with pieces of tin, which glittered in the sun, their long quilted cloaks of gaudy colours reaching over part of the horses’ tails, and hanging over the flanks. On the neck, even the horse’s armour was notched, or vandyked, to look like a mane; on his forehead and over his nose was a brass or tin plate, as also a semicircular piece on each side. The rider was armed with a large spear; and he had to be assisted to mount his horse, as his quilted cloak was too heavy; it required two men to lift him on; and there were six of them belonging to each governor, and six to the sultan. I at first thought the foot would take advantage of going under cover of these unwieldy machines; but no, they went alone, as fast as the poor horses could bear them, which was but a slow pace. They had one musket in Coonia, and it did wonderful execution, for it brought down the van of the quilted men, who fell from his horse like a sack of corn thrown from a horse’s back at a miller’s door; but both horse and man were brought off by two or three footmen. He had got two balls through his breast; one went through his body and both sides of the tobe; the other went through and lodged in the quilted armour opposite the shoulders.

The cry of “Allahu Akber,” or, “God is great,” was resounded through the whole army every quarter of an hour at least (this is the war-cry of the Fellatas); but neither this, nor “Shields to the wall,” nor “Why don’t the Gadado’s people go up,” had any effect, except to produce a scuffle among themselves, when the chiefs would have to ride up and part their followers, who, instead of fighting against the enemy, were more likely to fight with one another. There were three Arabs of Ghadamis in the army, armed at all points. Hameda, the sultan’s merchant, was one. He was mounted on a fine black Tuarick horse, armed with a spear and shield, an Arab musket, brace of pistols, blunderbuss, sword and dagger. The other two, Abdelkrim, and Beni Omar, armed with musket, pistols, sword, and dagger. Abdelkrim was mounted; Omar on foot, who received a ball from the Coonia musket, which carried away his cartouche box, with all his ammunition, early in the attack. The other two, Hameda and Abdelkrim, kept behind the sultan and Gadado the whole of the action, and always joined lustily in the cry of “Allahu Akber.” Once Hameda asked me, when I was near him, why I did not join in the cry: was it not a good place? I told him to hold his peace for a fool: my God understood English as well as Arabic.

The most useful, and as brave as any one of us, was an old female slave of the sultan’s, a native of Zamfra, five of whose former governors she said she had nursed. She was of a dark copper colour. In dress and countenance very like one of Captain Lyon’s female Esquimaux. She was mounted on a long-backed bright bay horse, with a scraggy tail, crop-eared, and the mane as if the rats had eaten part of it; and he was not in high condition. She rode a-straddle; had on a conical straw dish-cover for a hat, or to shade her face from the sun, a short dirty white bedgown, a pair of dirty white loose and wide trowsers, a pair of Houssa boots, which are wide, and came up over the knee, fastened with a string round the waist. She had also a whip and spurs. At her saddle-bow hung about half a dozen gourds, filled with water, and a brass basin to drink out of; and with this she supplied the wounded and the thirsty. I certainly was much obliged to her, for she twice gave me a basin of water. The heat and dust made thirst almost intolerable. Numbers went into the shade as they got tired, and also to drink at the river. When it drew near sunset the sultan dismounted, and his shield was held over him for a shade. In this way we continued until sunset, when the sultan mounted. We left the walls of Coonia for the camp. Upon the whole, it was as poor a fight as can possibly be imagined; and, though the doctrine of predestination is professed by Mahomedans, in no one instance have I seen them act as men believing such a doctrine. The feudal forces are most contemptible; ever more ready to fight with one another than they are with the enemy of their king and country, and rarely acting in concert. During the night we were cut off from water by the inhabitants of Coonia, and a cry was raised that they had come out to attack us, when the whole of the forces of Zamfra, horse and foot, were tumbling over us in our quarter, pell-mell, who should get the soonest out of danger. I had not undressed, but had my horse saddled, and the camels loaded. My servants would have run too, but I made them stop and load the camels, when I sent them off with those of the Gadado, which now only remained.

The flags of the Fellatas are white, like the French, and their staff is a branch of a palm. They are not borne by men of honour, but by their slaves. The sultan had six borne before him; each of the governors had two. They also all dress in white tobes and trowsers, as an emblem of their purity in faith and intentions.

Tuesday, 17th.—Morning clear, with a heavy dew. We were last night disturbed several times by reports of the enemy’s approach; and at one time so great was the confusion, that most of the people and animals of the camp were tumbling over each other, and rushing together to save what they could by flight. The forces of Zurmie, who were encamped nearest the town, fled through the general camp, upsetting every thing in their way. My servants would have followed, but I declared, if they started without the baggage, I would shoot them. This threat, and my seizing the rifle to put it in execution, had the desired effect. I ordered them, however, to load the camels, after which I allowed them to go off, along with the camels of the Gadado. They begged hard that I would go with them; but I remained until the Gadado and the sultan departed; and thus ended this harmless campaign, for at five in the morning both he and the Gadado set out, and at seven halted where we had suffered so much fatigue in getting through the swamps two days before. Here the south and eastern governors took leave of the sultan, and pursued the road we had come with them the other day, while I remained with the Soccatoo party. Our road lay once more along the banks of the lake. Numerous tracks of elephants, and other wild beasts, were every where seen. The face of the country, on the higher grounds, was but thinly wooded, and the trees low and stunted, except in the ruins of towns, where they usually grow to a large size, and very luxuriant in foliage. No traces whatever of inhabitants. The sun was excessively hot; and only for the plentiful supply of water the lake afforded, we certainly must have died of thirst. At 7 A.M. halted at an old encampment of the sultan.

I now, for the first time, learnt the cause of our rapid flight, which was the desertion of the Zurmie forces, and all the foot; who had started on the first alarm, as they were all aware that the horse would not wait for them. I passed a number of the foot who were wounded, a very few of whom had been fortunate enough to procure bullocks to ride on. The rest were poor slaves, and were obliged to walk. One poor fellow had been wounded in the night, attempting to get water, for they had been cut off from the supply of that necessary article. The night we attacked the town, his face had been laid open by a sword, and he had received a severe wound in the arm. His wounds were much swollen, as they were exposed both to the sun, and the cold of the night; and only tied up with a bandage or slip from the inner bark of a tree, which did not cover one half, or a third of the wound.

Wednesday, 18th.—At 2.30 we left our encampment, and, half running, half walking along the Soccatoo road, which still skirts the banks of the river or lake, no appearance of inhabitants to be seen, passed the ruins of three towers; and the traces of elephants and other wild beasts were numerous: the soil a deep red clay, mixed and covered with a thin layer of sand. At 2 saw a range of hills extending from south-west to north-east, not of great elevation; as we approached them, the lakes and swamps took a direction to the southward; the soil became clay and gravel, with rocks of clay iron-stone on the surface. At 5 we got amongst the ravines, and beds of torrents at the foot of the hills, and turning to a bend in the hills south, kept winding amongst them, fatigued and tired, until 10 the next morning, when I halted at one of the Fellata’s former encampments. I passed many walking on foot, driving their horses before them, and for several miles before I came to the camp, the foot, some of whom we had now come up with, were lying along the road, unable to move further. My camels, which had got amongst the first, had halted two hours before.

Thursday, 19th.—The road still lay over hills of clay iron-stone, imbedded in a dark red clay, for about four hours, when we arrived on their south-west side, where we had to pass about a mile and a half of low swampy ground, before we came to the Zurmie river, which was here broad, full, and running with a current of about two miles and a half an hour to the westward; its depth at the ford about five feet, its breadth about sixty yards. As usual, there was a great assemblage of horses, camels, bullocks, and asses, and of course great confusion, every one striving to drive before the others. I stripped, and taking the bridle of my horse, plunged in, and drove him on before me. I got a severe head-ache, as the water was very cool, and I was warm. I lay down, after I had dressed, under a tree on the other bank, until the camels had fed a little, when I started again. The river below forms a chain of lakes and swamps, skirting the south-west sides of the hills. Our road lay through plantations of cotton and millet. The sides of the road were crowded by the foot, with whom we were now come up. They looked miserable in the extreme from hunger and fatigue: a great many of the horsemen were walking, driving their poor goaded animals along.