"At Markee," says Lander, "the chief, a kind-hearted old man, upwards, I should suppose, of ninety years of age, and very feeble, was delighted to see me, and testified the pleasure he felt by shaking hands with me repeatedly, and by doing me many acts of kindness. He presented me with fowls, rice, corn, and tuah. After a little conversation, he took me into an inner apartment, and bidding me to sit, took from a calabash, which was suspended to a piece of wood attached to the roof, a small box made of skin, round which was wound, with the greatest care, upwards of five hundred yards of thread, which occupied him twenty minutes in taking off. In this box he showed me four bits of tin, about the size of swan and common shot, which he told me were silver. The old chief gave me to understand, with much seriousness and earnestness of manner, that they had been given by an Arab fifteen years before, who told him they were possessed of life. The larger pieces, he continued, were males, and the smaller females; and were to produce young at the end of every twelve years, before which time they were by no means to be looked at. He had enveloped them in a quantity of cotton wool, in order to impart warmth to them; and the thread was tied round the box that the offspring might have no opportunity of escaping! But,' said the old man, with a disappointed air, though I kept them with the greatest care for twelve years, suffering no one to approach them, I found, to my sorrow, at the expiration of that time, they had made no increase; and I begin to fear they never will:' in saying which the old man was so grievously affected that he burst into tears. It was with considerable difficulty I could refrain from laughing aloud in his face. I succeeded, however, in subduing the great inclination I had to be merry; and told him, with all the solemnity the occasion deserved, that the Arab was a rogue, and had deceived him; that the articles were bits of tin, and not of silver; that they were without life, and therefore could not produce young. I consoled the old gentlemen on the hoax that had been played off upon him, and sympathized with him in his sorrow. He soon afterwards became more composed, although at times he could not help sobbing audibly."

"On the 4th of May, the weather was intolerably hot, and the dust was rolling in thick clouds in every direction, entering my eyes and nostrils, and pene trating into the very pores of the skin. I felt nearly suffocated, and was faint and exhausted. Finding I was unable to proceed, I ordered Pascoe to overtake the camels, his horse being fresh and vigorous, and bring me some water. I then dismounted, and sat under a tree by the road-side, whose branches afforded but an indifferent shelter against the scorching rays of an African sun, and holding the bridle of my poor horse in my hand, I implored the hundreds of Fellatas and Tuaricks who were passing to sell me a drop of water; but the cold-hearted wretches refused my earnest request, observing one to another, ‘he is a Kafir; let him die.' At length a young Fellata, from Footatoora, accidentally seeing me, came to the spot, exclaiming ‘Nasarah, Nasarah, triffi manora !' (Christian, Christian, go on!) I answered, I am faint and sick for want of water; no one will give me any; and I am so weary that I cannot proceed.' On hearing which the young man kindly gave me a small calabash full; part of which I drank, and with the remainder washed the nostrils of Boussa Jack, and sprinked a little into his mouth. The people, who observed the Fellata performing this generous action, upbraided him in strong language for giving water to the Ghristian; but he, showing them a double-barrelled gun, remarked that he had obtained it of my countrymen, who were all good men, and would do no harm. This somewhat appeased them."

"At Cuttup an old woman came to me one afternoon, full of grief, informing me of her having frequently been robbed of the little money she had saved from her earnings, from holes in her hut, where she had hid it, by some of her neighbours and acquaintances. She entreated me to let her have a charm to prevent such dishonest acts in future. Being ever willing to oblige the simple-hearted Africans, I gave her a tea-spoonful of common sweet oil, in a small phial, telling her that she must, on her return to her hut, pour it into the hole in which she intended concealing her money; and that if any one but herself touched the money while there, without her permission, he would not long survive. I advised

her by all means to give the virtues of this charm as extensive a circulation as possible, and I had no doubt she would not be robbed again. The poor old woman could not express the gratitude she felt for my kindness; she dropped on her knees before me, thanked me in the warmest terms, and pressed me to accept of forty cowries, the only money she had then in the world. Of course I refused to deprive the old woman of her substance, and sent her away highly pleased with the treatment she had received."

"30th August. Having finished cleaning the muskets and pistols, asked the chief permission to leave Wowow. The old man, smiling, told me not half my business was done; he wanted six charms, which I alone could write. These charms were to be worn on his person, and to possess the following virtues : 1st charm. If his enemies thought of making war on him, it would cause them to forget to put it in practice. 2d. If they should be on their way to his city, for the purpose of warring, it would turn them back. 3d. If they should discharge their arrows at his people, when close to the city walls, it would cause them to rebound in their own faces, and wound them. 4th. It was the province of this charm to prevent his guns from bursting. 5th, was to preserve the person who might hold the gun from receiving any injury, should it unfortunately explode. The 6th and last charm was to make him the happiest and most successful of

men.

"31st.-Carried the charms to the king, on which I had written scraps of old English ballads, which made him in the best humour in the world."

17th September.-Asked the king of Kiama's messenger why he was so much afraid of crossing the water, observing that I had myself swam across many larger and more rapid rivers; and among others mentioned the Niger. The man, in great trepidation, begged me, as I valued my life, not to mention the names of rivers in the hearing of the Mossa; who was a female river, and had many rivals in the affections of the Niger, who was her husband. She had a capricious, jealous, and cruel disposition: and if I ventured to place myself in her power, she would certainly swallow me up, as I had spoken slightingly of her. She was continually quarrelling with her husband, thinking he was too familiar with other rivers; and where they met they made the 'devil's own noise' with their disputes. I roared with laughter when the man had done speaking, at the loves of the Niger, which made him very angry, and I had much to do to pacify him."

The manners of the people are those of a very rude state of society, but their dispositions are, in the main, kind, and our travellers had not often to complain of a want of good feeling among the negroes. This did not extend to the Moors, a bigoted, crafty, and persecuting race, that has always formed the great obstacle to expeditions in the interior of Africa. The compliment, however, which the gallant sailor pays to the honesty of the savages, is done certainly without apparent necessity, at the expense of all the fair, or rather female sex, throughout the globe :

"I cannot," he says, "omit bearing testimony to the singular and perhaps unprecedented fact, that we have already travelled sixty miles in eight days, with a numerous and heavy baggage, and about ten different relays of carriers, without losing so much as the value of a shilling public or private; a circumstance evincing not only somewhat more than common honesty in the inhabitants, but a degree of subordination and regular government which could not have been supposed to exist amongst a people hitherto considered as barbarians. Humanity, however, is the same in every land: government may restrain the vicious principles of our nature, but it is beyond the power even of African despotism to silence a woman's tongue : in sickness and in health, and at every stage, we have been obliged to endure their eternal loquacity and noise."

If, indeed, the loquacity is in proportion to the number, an African husband must find his domicile rather uncomfortable; for Clapperton observed in Soudan the same inveterate propensity to increase the amount of conjugal felicity, which so grievously thwarted the pious schemes of the Portuguese missionaries on the Congo.

"At eight in the evening, the sultan of Boosa came accompanied by the midaki (his principal wife,) and one male slave. He asked me if the king of England was a great man. 'Yes,' I said, 'the greatest of all the white kings.' But,' says he, 'you live on the water? Oh no,' I said, 'we have more land than there is between Boosa and Badag (as they call Badagry), and more than five thousand towns.' 'Well,' says he, I thought, and always have heard, that you lived on the water. How many wives has the king? Only one wife,' I said. "What!' says he, only one wife?" "Yes,' says I; 'no man is allowed more than one wife, and they hang a man if he has two at one time.' 'That is all very good for other men,' says he; but the king having only one wife is not good.' When I told him, if the king had a daughter and no son, she would rule the kingdom at her father's death, he laughed immoderately, as did the midaki, who was apparently well pleased with the idea of only one wife, and a woman ruling."

"A chief whom they met at Chaki, sat until near midnight, talking and inquiring about England. On asking if he would send one of his sons to see our country, he rose up with alacrity, and said he would go himself. He inquired how many wives an Englishman had? Being told only one, he seemed much astonished, and laughed greatly, as did all his people. What does he do,' said he, 'when one of his wives has a child? Our caboceer has two thousand.'"

The fondness for music, which has been generally looked on in this country as a marked characteristic of the negro race, seems strongly to attach to them in their savage state; and the liveliness and love of amusement which are so strikingly displayed even in slavery, are frequently adverted to by Clapperton, and were exhibited in one instance under the singular and unexpected form of a dramatic entertainment. The descriptions of the strolling musicians, and of the rude sons of Thespis, are graphic and amusing:—

"Amongst my numerous visitors this morning, I had a travelling musician, attended by two boys. His instrument was a violin made of a gourd, with three strings of horse hair, not in single hairs, but a number for each string untwisted; the bow the same; the body of the violin was formed of half a long gourd; the bridge, two cross sticks; the top, the skin of a guana stretched tightly over the edges; the neck was about two feet long, ornamented with plates of brass, having a hollow brass knob at the end. To this instrument was hung a diminutive pair of sandals to denote his wandering occupation, a piece of natron, strings of cowries, and stripes of cloth. He said he would take any thing that was given to him. The boys had hollow gourds with stones or beans in them, with which they kept time by holding them in one hand and beating them against the other. The musician himself was past the middle age, his head being tinged with gray, and neither too long nor too short; his face inclining more to long than oval, with a nose slightly hooked; his forehead high; his eyes large, bright, and clear, with a kind of indefinable expression of half rogue and half a merry fellow, and when he sang he sometimes looked sublime; his mouth and teeth were good; his voice clear and melodious; his stature about the middle size, and spare form; his dress was a white turban and large sky-blue tobe or shirt. He accompanied his instrument with his voice, the boys joining in chorus. His songs were extempore. I should have taken one down, but found they were all about myself;

and a number of visitors coming in, I gave him fifty cowries and sent him away rejoicing."

"It is the custom, during the time that the caboceers from the different towns remain on their visit to the king, to act plays or pantomimes, or whatever they may be called. I shall attempt a description of the one I saw to day. The place chosen for this pastime is the king's park, fronting the principal door where his majesty usually sits. A fetish house occupies the left side; to the south are two very romantic and large blocks of granite, by the side of which is an old withered tree. On the cast are some beautiful shady trees; and on the north his majesty's house, from whence he views the scene. In the centre are two beautiful clumps of trees; in one of which is a tall fan-palm, overlooking the whole area, a space that may include some seven or eight hundred yards square. Under these clumps of trees were seated the actors, dressed in large sacks, covering every part of the body; the head most fantastically decorated with strips of rags, damask silk, and cotton, of as many glaring colours as it was possible. The king's servants attended to keep the peace, and to prevent the crowd from breaking into the square in which the actors were assembled. Musicians also attended with drums, horns, and whistles, which were beaten and blown without intermission.

"The first act consisted in dancing and tumbling in sacks, which they performed to admiration, considering they could not see, and had not the free use of their feet and hands. The second act consisted in catching the boa constric tor: first, one of the sack-men came in front and knelt down on his hands and feet; then came out a tall majestic figure, having on a head-dress and masque which baffle all description; it was of a glossy black colour, sometimes like a lion couchant over the crest of a helmet; at another like a black head with a large wig: at every turn he made it changed its appearance. This figure held in its right hand a sword, and by its superior dress and motions appeared to be the director of the scene, for not a word was spoken by the actors. The manager, as I shall call the tall figure, then came up to the man who was lying in the sack; another sack-dancer was brought in his sack, who by a wave of the sword was laid down at the other's head or feet; he having unsown the end of both sacks, the two crawled into one. There was now great waving of the manager's sword; indeed I thought that heads were going to be taken off, as all the actors were assembled round the party lying down; but in a few minutes they all cleared away except the manager, who gave two or three flourishes with his sword, when the representation of the boa constrictor began. The animal put its head out of the bag in which it was contained, attempting to bite the manager; but at a wave of the sword it threw its head in another direction to avert the blow it then began gradually to creep out of the bag, and went through the motions of a snake in a very natural manner, though it appeared to be rather full in the belly; opening and shutting its mouth, which I suspect was the performer's two hands, in the most natural manner imaginable. The length of the creature was spun out to about fourteen feet; and the colour and action were well represented by a covering of painted cloth, imitating that of the boa. After following the manager round the park for some time, and attempting to bite him, which he averted by a wave of the sword, a sign was made for the body of actors to come up; when the manager, approaching the tail, made flourishes with his sword as if hacking at that part of the body. The snake gasped, twist ed up, and seemed as if in great torture; and when nearly dead, it was shouldered by the masqued actors, still gasping and making attempts to bite, but was carried off in triumph to the fetish house.

"The third act consisted of the white devil. The actors having retired to some distance in the back ground, one of them was left in the centre, whose sack falling gradually down, exposed a white head, at which all the crowd gave a shout, that rent the air; they appeared indeed to enjoy this sight, as the per fection of the actor's art. The whole body was at last cleared of the incumbrance of the sack, when it exhibited the appearance of a human figure cast in white wax, of the middle size, miserably thin, and starved with cold. It frequently went through the motion of taking snuff, and rubbing its hands; when

it walked, it was with the most awkward gait, treading as the most tender-footed white man would do in walking bare-footed, for the first time, over new frozen ground. The spectators often appealed to us, as to the excellence of the performance, and entreated I would look and be attentive to what was going on. I pretended to be fully as much pleased with this caricature of a white man as they could be, and certainly the actor burlesqued the part to admiration. This being concluded, the performers all retired to the fetish house. Between each act, we had choral songs by the king's women, in which the assembled crowd joined their voices."

The government, if such it can be called, which prevails. throughout the whole of the country, is an absolute despotism, vested in the hands of a single individual. It seems, however, to be exercised with patriarchal simplicity, and generally without any very great tyranny; though the utmost subservience of deportment is always required in the presence of superiors, and great efforts are made to support the barbaric splendour of the prince. Numerous instances of this are recorded by Captain Clapperton, both in describing his escort through the country, and his reception at various courts.

"The road to Katunga was wide, though woody, and covered by men on horseback, and bowmen on foot. The horsemen armed with two or three long spears hurrying on as fast as they could get us to go; horns and country drums beating and blowing before and behind; some of the horsemen dressed in the most grotesque manner; others covered all over with charms. The bowmen also had their natty little hats and feathers, with the jebus, or leathern pouch, hanging by their side. These men always appeared to me to be the best troops in this country and Soudan, from their lightness and activity. The horsemen however are but ill mounted; the animals are small and badly dressed, their saddles so ill secured, and the rider sits so clumsily on his seat, that any Englishman, who ever rode a horse with an English saddle, would upset one of them the first charge with a long stick."

"At 2 P. M. the baggage having all arrived, a message came from the king to say that he wanted to see us. A band of music accompanied us and the escort, with an immense multitude of men, women, and children. As there was much open and cultivated ground, the dust they caused almost suffocated us, though the escort tried all gentle means to keep them off. At last, after riding one hour, which was full five miles, we came to the place where the king was sitting under the verandah of his house, marked by two red and blue cloth umbrellas, supported by large poles held by slaves, with the staff resting on the ground. After the head caboceers had held some conversation with the king, they came back to us, and I thought they were talking about our prostrations. I told them if any such thing was proposed, I should instantly go back; that all the ceremony I would submit to should be to take off my hat, make a bow, and shake hands with his majesty, if he pleased. They went and informed the king, and came back and said I should make only the ceremony I had proposed. We accordingly went forwards: the king's people had a great deal to do to make way amongst the crowd, and allow us to go in regular order. Sticks and whips were used, though generally in a good-natured manner; and I cannot help remarking on this, as on all other occasions of this kind, that the Youribas appear to be a mild and kind people, kind to their wives and children and to one another, and that the government, though absolute, is conducted with the greatest mildness. After we got as far as the two umbrellas in front, the space was all clear before the king, and for about twenty yards on each side. We walked up to the verandah with our hats on, until we came into the shade, when we took off our hats, made a bow, and shook hands; he lifting our hands up three times, repeating, Ako, Ako,' (how do you do?) the women behind him standing up and cheering us, calling out 'Oh, oh, oh!' (hurrah!) the men on the outside