Clapperton's Second Journey.

Encouraged by the discoveries made by Denham and Clapperton, and by the safe return of two members of the mission, government resolved to send out another expedition. Captain Clapperton, Captain Pearce, a good draftsman, and Mr. Morrison, a naval surgeon, were the gentlemen selected for this enterprize. They landed at Badagry about the beginning of December 1825, and set out on their journey on the 7th. At the outset, they were so imprudent as to sleep in the open air, in consequence of which Morrison and Pearce were attacked with fever, and Clapperton with ague. On the 23d, Morrison set out on his return to the ship, but died before he reached it. On the 27th, Captain Pearce died; and Clapperton was left to pursue his journey, attended only by Richard Lander, his faithful and attached servant (whose name has been since associated with the discovery of the Niger's termination), and Pascoe, an African.

After proceeding sixty miles into the interior, they reached the kingdom of Yarriba or Eyeo. The soil is fertile, and well cultivated, yielding abundant harvests of Indian corn, millet, yams, and cotton. The females are industrious, and were frequently seen carrying burdens, spinning cloths, and dyeing them with indigo. Here they met with a much better reception than at Houssa, where they had been looked upon as Caffres, and enemies of the Prophet; the negroes of Eyeo, on the contrary, regarded them as beings of almost a superior order. At the entrance to each town, they were greeted by thousands, with every demonstration of respect, and the night of their arrival was sometimes spent by the natives in festivity.

Their route now lay through a romantic range of hills, "the passes of which were peculiarly narrow and rugged, hemmed in by gigantic blocks of granite six or seven hundred feet high, sometimes fearfully overhanging the road." Every level spot along the bottom, and even in the cliffs of the mountains, bore crops of yams, millet, and cotton. Lander describes one of the lovely spots that so beautifully relieved the sterner magnificence of the rocks. "At noon we descended into a delightful valley, situated in the bottom of a ridge of rocks, which effectually hid it from observation till one approached almost close to it. It was intersected with streams and rills, the elegant palm, and the broad-leaved banana, covered with foliage, embellishing the sheltered and beautifully romantic spot. In the centre was a sheet of water, resembling an artificial pond, in which were numbers of young maidens from the neighbouring town of Tschow, some of them reposing at full length on its verdant banks, and some frisking and basking in the sun-beams, whilst others were bathing in the cool waters." After leaving the mountains, the travellers came to Tschow, a walled town of considerable size. As the road was infested with robbers, they here procured an escort from the king of Yarriba, consisting of 200 horsemen, and 400 warriors on foot, armed with spears, bows, and arrows. The troops were dressed in a grotesque fashion, some wearing gaudy robes, while others were in rags. The whole cavalcade had a wild and romantic appearance as it wound along the narrow and crooked paths, to the sound of rude instruments of music.

At noon, they came in sight of the city of Kakunda, picturesquely situated at the foot of a mountain, and surrounded with trees. After riding nearly five miles through the streets, pressed upon by the escort, and almost stunned by the noise of the musicians, the weary travellers at length reached the palace. The king sat under a verandah, with two umbrellas spread above him, surrounded by above 400 of his wives, and many of his chief men. He was dressed in two long cotton robes, decorated with strings of glass beads, with a pasteboard crown, covered with cotton, upon his head. They dismounted at about 20 yards distance, and walked up close to the monarch, who rose and cordially shook hands with them, repeatedly vociferating, "Ako! ako!" which means, "How do you do?" at which his chief men and wives gave loud cheers. A house was assigned to the English, and each day they received a plentiful supply of provisions.

Under various pretences they were detained at this place for the space of seven weeks. The Quorra or Niger was only about thirty miles distant to the eastward; but though the king had promised to afford them every facility for reaching it, one delay took place after another. He endeavoured to deter them by false accounts of the dangerous nature of the route, in consequence of an alleged incursion of the Fellatahs, and insurrection of the Houssa slaves. At last, however, he suffered them to set out, by the kingdom of Borgoo, towards Houssa.

They now entered the Borgoo country. They passed several villages which had been pillaged and burnt by the Fellatahs; indeed, the whole country bore testimony to the ravages of war. Lander gives a spirited account of an adventure which happened to him in this part of the country. "We left a village at four o'clock in the afternoon; and the horse on which I rode being in better condition than the others, I was considerably in advance of the rest of the party, when the animal came to a sudden halt, and all my endeavours could not make him proceed. There he stood like a block of marble, keeping his eye riveted on something that was approaching us, and I had scarcely time to consider what it could be, when a fine antelope bounded before me with incredible swiftness, and in the next moment two huge lions, with mane and tail erect, crossed the path but a couple of yards from the horse's head, almost with equal speed, and covered with foam. A tremendous roar, which made the forest tremble, informed me in another minute that the lions had overtaken their prey; but the sudden—and unexpected appearance of these ferocious animals startled me as much as it had intimidated the horse before, and I hastened back to the party, my poor beast trembling violently the whole of the way. Fortunately the lions, which were male and female, were so eager in the chase that both the horse and its rider were unobserved by them, otherwise it might have gone hard with me, for I saw not the slightest chance of escaping. We halted in the woods that night; but fancying every sound I heard was the roaring of a lion, I could not compose myself to sleep."

Kiama, the next city at which they arrived, contains 80,000 inhabitants. The king came to meet Clapperton, attended by a singular train. He rode upon a handsome steed, followed by an admiring crowd; six young girls, each flourishing spears, and who had only a fillet on their heads, ran by his side as he galloped on. "Their light form, the vivacity of their eyes, and the ease with which they appeared to fly over the ground, made them appear something more than mortal." When the king entered the hut in which the travellers sat, these damsels, having deposited their weapons at; the door, and attired themselves in blue mantles, came in and waited upon him.

They now crossed a river which was said to have its source in Nyffe, and to flow into the Niger above Rakah. It abounded in alligators. The scenery in the neighbourhood is said to be very fine. "Our ears," says Lander, "were ravished by the warbling of hundreds of small birds, which, with parrots and parroquets, peopled the branches of the trees in the vicinity of the stream, whose delightful banks were thereby overshadowed; and the eye met a variety of beautiful objects,—groves of noble trees, verdant hills, and smiling plains, through which the river winded, carrying fertility and beauty in its course, and altogether forming a rich and charming landscape." They then arrived at Wa-wa, a large city, through which the Houssa caravans pass, and which has a population of 15,000. The inhabitants are dissolute and extravagant, spending all their money in drinking and festivity. The ladies were very attentive to the English, especially a fat widow called Zuma, who even pressed marriage upon Clapperton, after she had exhibited to him all her wealth. She afterwards gave him a good deal of trouble by following him on the journey at the head of a band of armed attendants, and he rejoiced much when he finally got rid of her.

On their way to Comie, they visited Boussa, the scene of Park's tragical end. The natives were extremely reserved upon the subject, but what they told, bore out in every particular Amadi Fatouma's account. They said that the attack was caused by the English having been mistaken for an advanced guard of Fellatahs, who were then devastating Soudan. The King of Boussa received Clapperton and Lander with great kindness. Here they found boats lying ready for them, with a message from the Sultan of Youri, requesting a visit, and promising, if they consented, to deliver up some books and papers of Mungo Park, which he said he had in his possession. Clapperton's arrangements, however, prevented him from paying this visit.

They crossed the Niger, and on entering the kingdom of Nyffe, beheld proofs of the effects of civil war. Two princes had struggled for the ascendency, one of whom, by obtaining the help of the Fellatahs, had overcome the other. As Clapperton travelled towards the camp of the conqueror, he saw nothing but ruined villages, and plantations overgrown with weeds. "This African camp consisted of a number of huts like beehives, arranged in streets, with men weaving, women spinning, markets at every green tree, holy men counting their beads, and dissolute slaves drinking; so that, but for the number of horses and armed men, and the drums beating, it might have been mistaken for a populous village." After journeying along the banks of the Mayyarrow, and passing a walled village called Gonda, they entered Coulfo, which is the most considerable market-town in Nyffe. It is enclosed by a high wall, with a deep and broad ditch beyond it, and contains about 16,000 resident inhabitants. Markets are held daily, and a great variety of articles of native and foreign manufacture are exposed for sale. Traders resort in vast numbers from Bornou and Sockatoo to the north-east, and the sea-coast to the west, with the produce of their respective countries. The inhabitants are professedly Moslems, but are by no means bigoted in their belief. The greater part of the traffic is carried on by the females, many of whom possess great wealth.

Clapperton next passed through several independent states, one of which mustered a force of 1000 cavalry.

He next came to the Fellatah district of Zeg-Zeg, one of the most beautiful and fertile parts of Central Africa. The fields bore luxuriant crops of grain; rich meadows abounded, and groves of tall trees waved upon the hills. Thence he went to Kano, which he found in a state of great commotion, a war having sprung up between the king of Bornou and the Fellatahs. Having left his baggage at this place, he proceeded to the residence of Sultan Bello, with the presents intended for that potentate. He saw bodies of troops on their way to attack Coonia; the soldiers had a peculiar appearance as they passed by the lakes formed by the river Zurmie; he thus describes the scene:—"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 was 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 hut of grass and branches of trees rising as if by magic, everywhere the cries of Mohamed, 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 army, amounting to 50,000 men, under the sultan's command, surrounded the walls of Coonia. The account which Clapperton gives of the action which then took place is curious, "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 ending 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 rivers 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 the front of the Sulfcaa, the Zeg-Zeg 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 Fellatah 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 horseman would gallop up to the ditch, taking care to cover himself with his large leather 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. 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 their flanks. On the neck, even the horses' 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 semi-circular 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 foremost 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 robe, the other went through and lodged in the quilted armour opposite the shoulders."

Clapperton was desired by the sultan to repair to Sockatoo, where he found the same house in which he had formerly lodged prepared for his reception. He resided there six months, harassed by disappointment, and worn down by severe illness. No farther was this gallant and intrepid traveller to be permitted to advance; in the midst of his discoveries he was to be cut down, his dying couch tended by none but his faithful and kind companion and servant, the depth and fidelity of whose attachment is attested by the affectionate manner in which he speaks of his master.

The feelings of the natives and of the king seemed to have undergone a most unfavourable change towards the travellers. The Africans entertained some vague suspicion, that the King of England, in sending the white men to their country, had some sinister object in view. A letter had reached the sultan from Bornou, intimating, that in sending missions to Africa, the English were acting in the same manner as they had done, in order to subdue the Indian princes, and even advising that Clapperton should be put to death. Bello evidently put some faith in this ridiculous assertion. He seized Clapperton's baggage, under the pretence that he was conveying arms and warlike stores to the sultan of Bornou, and ordered Lord Bathurst's letter to that prince to be given up to him. Clapperton's remonstrances against this unfair treatment were vain; grief preyed upon his ardent spirit, and though the sultan, some time afterwards began to treat him more favourably, this returning kindness came too late. He was attacked with dysentery, brought on by a cold, caught by lying down under a tree on soft and wet ground, when fatigued and heated with walking. "Twenty days," says Lander, "my poor master continued in a low and distressed state. His body, from being robust and vigorous, became weak and emaciated, and indeed was little better than a skeleton." Towards the beginning of April, his malady increased in violence. His sleep was short and disturbed, broken by frightful dreams. One day he called Lander to his bedside, and said, "Richard, I shall shortly be no more,—I feel myself dying." Almost choked with grief, Lander replied, "God forbid, my dear master,—you will live many years yet." "Do not be so much affected, my dear boy, I entreat you," said he; "it is the will of the Almighty, and cannot be helped." Lander promised strict attention to his directions concerning his papers and property. "He then," says Lander, "took my hand within his, and looking me full in the face, while a tear stood glistening in his eye, said in a low but deeply affecting tone; 'My dear Richard, if you had not been with me I should have died long ago; I can only thank you with my latest breath for your kindness and attachment to me; and if I could have lived to return with you, you should have been placed beyond the reach of want; but God will reward you.'"

He lingered a few days, and even seemed to rally a little. But on the morning of the 13th April, Lander was alarmed by hearing a peculiar rattling sound in his throat. He called out "Richard," in a low and hurried tone. Lander hastened to his side, and found him sitting upright, and staring wildly around. He clasped his master in his arms, and felt his heart palpitating violently; he leant his head upon his shoulder to catch his last words, but only "some indistinct expressions quivered on his lips, and as he vainly strove to give them utterance, his heart ceased to vibrate, and his eyes closed for ever." Bello permitted Lander to bury the body near a village about five miles from the town. The grave was dug by two slaves, and Lander, having saddled his camel, placed the body upon it, covered it with the British flag, and having reached the grave, read over it the funeral service of the Church of England, "showers of tears" falling from his eyes upon the book. He then gave the natives a sum of money to erect a shed over the spot, to preserve it from the wild beasts.

Lander returned in sadness from the grave of that master to whom he was so justly attached. Bello allowed him to depart, and he resolved to make his way to the coast by the negro countries. In spite of the limited nature of his resources, he even attempted the solution of the great problem of the Niger's termination. He proceeded to Kano, and struck off to the eastward of his former route, passing on his way several towns, the inhabitants of which all treated him kindly. He travelled through the beautiful plain of Cuttup, which contains five hundred little villages, situated near to each other, and surrounded by groves of trees, among which towered the plantain, the palm, and the cocoa-nut. The sun shone brightly upon the numerous hamlets; the oxen, cows, and sheep, presented a picture of comfort and peace; and the air was filled with the song of birds. Thence he proceeded to Dunrora, and conceived that a few days farther journey would enable him to attain his object, when four armed men, mounted on foaming steeds, dashed into the town, and ordered him immediately to return to the king of Zeg-Zeg. He was obliged to journey back by his former route. After being exposed to various dangers from the enmity of the Portuguese slave-traders on the coast, he embarked on the 13th February, and reached England on the 30th April 1828.