AFRICAN BABOONS. Ar the Cape whole regiments of haboons assemble, for which this station is particularly famous. They stand six feet high, and in features and manners approach nearer to the human species than any other quadruped I have ever seen. These rascals, who are most abominable thieves, used to annoy us exceedingly. Our barracks were under the hills, and when we went to parade, we were invariably obliged to leave armed men for the protection of our property; and, even in spite of this, they have frequently stolen our blankets and great coats, or any thing else they could lay their claws on. A poor woman, a soldier's wife, had washed her blanket and hung it out to dry, when some of these miscreants, who were ever on the watch, stole it, and ran off with it into the hills, which are high and woody. This drew upon them the indignation of the regiment, and we formed a strong party, armed with sticks and stones, to attack them, with the view of recovering the property, and inflicting such chastisement as might be a warning to them for the future. I was on the advance, with about twenty men, and I made a detour to cut them off from caverns to which they always flew for shelter. They observed my movement, and immediately detached about fifty to guard the entrance, while the others kept their post; and we could distinctly see them collecting large stones, and other missiles. One old gray headed one, in particular, who often paid us a visit at the barracks, and was known by the name of Father Murphy, was seen distributing his orders, and planning the attack, with the judgment of one of our best generals. Finding that my design was defeated, I joined the corps de main, and rushed on to the attack, when a scream from Father Murphy was a signal for a general encounter, and the host of baboons under his command rolled down enormous stones upon us, so that we were obliged to give up the contest, or some of us must inevitably have been killed. They actually followed us to our very doors, shouting, in indication of victory; and, during the whole night, we heard dreadful yells and screaming; so much so, that we expected a night attack. In the morning, however, we found that all this rioting had been created by disputes about the division of the blanket; for we saw eight or ten of them with pieces of it on their backs, as old women wear their cloaks. Amongst the number strutted Father Murphy. These rascals annoyed us day and night, and we dared not venture out, unless a party of five or six went together. One morning Father Murphy had the consummate impudence to walk straight into the grenadier barracks; and he was in the very act of purloining a sergeant's regimental coat, when a corporal's guard (which had just been relieved) took the liberty of stopping the gentleman at the door, and secured him. He was a most powerful brute, and, I am persuaded, too much for any single man. Notwithstanding his frequent misdemeanours, we did not like to kill the poor creature; so, having first taken the precaution of muzzling him, we determined on shaving his head and face, and then turning him loose.. CLAPPERTON'S SECOND EXPEDITION A NARRATIVE of travels into regions of the earth hitherto unexplored, while it is sure to awaken curiosity, must be dull indeed, and its author destitute of the talent of common observation, if it fail to communicate new and amusing information. The posthumous journal of the late lamented Clapperton, which contains a copious detail of occurrences, mingled with lively sketches of the scenery of a country untrodden by Christian foot, and of the manners and customs of tribes of people entirely unknown, will not disappoint the expectations of the reader in this respect; while regret and sympathy will be strongly excited by the sufferings, the unkind treatment, and the untimely fate, of a brave, straightforward, and kind-hearted officer, who, at the very outset of the journey, had the melancholy misfortune of burying the only two companions joined with him on an expedition full of interest and enterprise. Thus left alone, and in a state of great debility himself from disease, he boldly pushed forward, determined, should life remain, to accomplish, as far as human means would admit, the object of his mission. When Denham and Clapperton returned from their successful mission into the cen tral parts of Northern Africa, the latter brought back a letter from Bello, the Sultan of the Fellans, or Fellatas, resident at Soccatoo, addressed to the King of England, in consequence of conversations that had passed between him and Clapperton. In that letter the sultan proposed three things:-the establishment of a friendly intercourse between the two nations, by means of a consul, who was to reside at the seaport of Raka; the delivery of certain presents described, at the port of Funda, supposed to be somewhere near Whidah;—and the prohibition of the exportation of slaves, by any of Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Africa, from the Bight of Benin to Soccaton. By the late Captain Clapperton, R. N. To which is added, the Journal of Richard Lander, from Kano to the Sea-coast, partly by a more eastern route, London, 1829. the Houssa merchants, to Atagher, Daho mey, or Ashantee. On the arrival of Clapperton in England, Lord Bathurst, then secretary of state for the colonies, conceived these proposals to afford a fair opportunity for endeavouring to carry into effect objects of such considerable importance; and Clapperton immediately volunteered his services on the occasion. He had arranged with Bello, that his messengers should, about a certain time, be at Whidah, to conduct the presents and the bearers of them to Soccatoo. Clapperton was allowed to take with him, on this novel and hazardous enterprise, two associates; one of whom was Captain Pearce, of the navy, an excellent draughtsman; and the other, Dr. Morrison, a surgeon in the navy, well versed in various branches of natural history; and, at his particular request, a fellow-countryman, of the name of Dickson, who had served as a surgeon in the West Indies, was added to the list. These gentlemen, with their servants, embarked in his majesty's ship Brazen, on the 25th of August, 1825, and arrived off Whidah on the 26th of the following November. Mr. Dickson, for some reason or other, Janded at Whidah, and proceeded, in company with a Portuguese, of the name of De Sousa, to Dahomey, where the latter had resided for some time. Here he was well received, and sent forward, with a suitable éscort, to a place called Shar, seventeen days' journey from Dahomey, where he also arrived in safety, and thence proceeded, with another escort towards Youri, but has not since been heard of. The Brazen proceeded with the rest to the river Benin, or Formosa, where they met with an English merchant of the name of Houtson, who advised them by no means to think of proceeding by that river, as the king bore a particular hatred to the English, for their exertions in putting a stop to the slave trade; nor did he (Mr. Houtson) know how far, or in what direction, that river might lead them. He recommended Badagry as the nearest and most convenient spot to proceed from, with safety, into the interior; and offered to accompany them to a certain distance, which offer was accepted. It appears that their inquiries at Whidah after Bello and his messengers were entirely fruitless; and equally so as to Funda ör Raka-names never heard of on that part of the coast. It is now known that these places are near two hundred miles inland, and that Raka is not even on the banks of any river; and that neither of them were then under the dominion of Bello. On the 7th December they commenced their journey from Badagry, accompanied by their servants, and a Houssa black, of the name of Pascoe, who had been lent from one of the king's ships to accompany the late Belzoni as interpreter. Clapperton was attended by his faithful servant, Richard Lander, to whose care and discretion we are entirely indebted for the materials which compose the present volume. For a short distance they proceeded in canoes to a place, where a great market is held, called Bawie. The banks of the creek are represented as low, and covered with reeds; and from the following sentence we are persuaded that this is the spot, where the seeds of those diseases were sown, on the very first night of their journey, which speedily proved so fatal to a part, and eventually to the whole, of the company:-" The morning thick and hazy; and, though sleeping close to the river, in the open air, for the first time since we have been on shore, we did not hear the hum of a single mosquito.". How an old naval surgeon, and two experienced naval officers, could commit such an imprudence, in such a climate, is to us most surprising, when most dreadful conse→ quences are well known to have almost invariably resulted from such a practice in tropical climates. The next night (the 9th), they again slept in the open air, in the market-place of Dagmoo, a large town where they might have had as many houses as they wanted. On the 10th, Clapperton was seized with fever and ague. On the 12th, Dr. Morrison was attacked with fever. On the 13th, Captain Pearce was severely indisposed; and, on the 14th, Richard Lander was taken ill. On the 23d, Dr. Morrison, after being carried in a hammock to the distance of about seventy miles, finding himself worse, requested to return to a town called Jannah; and Mr. Houtson accompanied him. The next day one of the servants died; and, on the evening of the 27th, Captain Pearce breathed his last. "The death of Captain Pearce," says Clapperton, " has caused me much concern; for, independently of his amiable qualities as a friend and companion, he was eminently fitted, by his talents, his perseverance, and his fortitude, to be of singular service to the mission; and, on these accounts, I deplore his loss as the greatest I could have sustained, both as regards my private feelings and the public service." The following morning the remains of this lamented officer were interred in presence of all the principal people of the town. The grave was staked round by the inhabitants, and a shed built over it. An inscription was carved on a board, placed at the head of the grave, by Lander-"I being unable," says Clapperton, "to assist, or even to sit up." Two days after this, Mr. Houtson returned, with the information of Dr. Morrison having died at Jannah, on the same day as Captain Pearce, where he had his remains decently interred-the people of the town attending the ceremony. These unfortunate officers had been con veyed thus far, about seventy miles, in hammocks, by the people of the country; every where experiencing the kindest attentions, lodged in the best houses, and supplied with every thing that the country afforded. Clapperton was able occasionally to ride on horseback, and sometimes to walk; but greatly debilitated, and not free from fever. He describes the country between Badagry and Jannah, the frontier town of the kingdom of Yourriba, as abounding in population, well cultivated with plantations of Indian corn, different kinds of millet, yams, and plantains, wherever the surface was free from dense forests. Every where on the road the party was met by numbers of people, chiefly women, bearing loads of produce on their heads, always cheerful and obliging, and delighted to see white men, frequently singing in chorus, holding up both hands, and clapping them as tokens of joy, as they passed along, and whole groups kneeling down, and wishing the travellers a good journey. Towns and villages were very frequent; and some of the former were, estimated to contain from eight to fifteen thousand souls. At Jannah, the crowds were immense, but extremely civil, and highly amused to see white men. "In the evening Mr. Houtson and I took a walk through the town: we were followed by an immense crowd, which gathered as we went along, but all very civil; the men taking off their caps, the women kneeling on their knees and one elbow, the other elbow resting upon the hand. In returning we came through the market, which, though nearly sunset, was well supplied with raw cotton, country cloths, provision, and fruit, such as oranges, limes, plantains, bananas; and vegetables, such as small onions, cha-. lotes, pepper and gums for soups: also, boiled yams, and acassons.* Here the crowd rolled on like a sea, then jumping over the provision baskets, the boys dancing under the stalls, the women bawling, and saluting those who were looking after their scattered goods, yet no word or look of disrespect to us." Of the honesty of the black population of the kingdom or province of Badagry, Captain Clapperton gives the following testi mony : "I cannot 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 barbarians. HuPaste of pounded Indian corn, wrapped in a particular leaf. manity, 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." The people of Jannah are ingenious as well as industrious. They are excellent carvers in wood: all their doors, drums, and wooden utensils, being covered with figures of men,snakes, crocodiles, &c. Numerous looms were in operation-sometimes eight or ten in one house; their cotton-cloths good in texture, and some of them very fine. Their looms and shuttles are described as being on the same principle with the common English loom, but the warp seldom more than four. inches in width. They have abundance of indigo, of an excellent quality. The women are. generally the dyers, and boys the weavers. They also manufacture a tolerable kind of earthenware. The old caboccer, or chief of the town, was delighted to see the strangers; assigned them good lodgings; and sent thither hogs, ducks, pigeons, plantains, yams, and whatever the place would afford; while his numerous wives, about two hundred, welcomed them with songs of joy. On being informed that an Englishman had only one wife, he and the whole crowd, particularly. his wives, laughed immoderately. The old gentleman wore a rich crimson damask robe and a red velvet cap; but during the ceremony of reception he changed his dress. three different times, each time increasing the splendour of his appearance. The approach to Emmadoo is described as. extremely beautiful, through a long, broad, and majestic avenue of trees, at the end of which a stockade, eighteen feet high, with a wicker gate, and another of the same kind, at the distance of a hundred paces, defend, the entrance of the town. The surface of the adjoining country is broken into gentle hills and dales, a sinall stream of water. running through every little valley. At Afoora the granite formation began to show. itself. The town of Assulah is surrounded with a wall and a ditch, and may contain six thousand people. Assouda, another walled town, had about ten thousand inhabitants. At both the party was abundantly supplied with provisions; and regaled with dancing and singing the whole night, by the apparently happy inhabitants. The appearance of the country improved as our travellers advanced; they had now. reached the mountainous range, the width of which is stated to be about eighty miles. The highest point would appear not to exceed two thousand five hundred feet at that part where the travellers crossed them; and the road, by the edge of the hills and through the valleys, not more than one thou sand five hundred. The valleys were planted with cotton, corn, yams, and plantains; and on the tops and hollows of the hills were perched the houses and villages of the proprietors of these plantations. The town of Duffoo in these mountains is said to have a population of fifteen thousand souls; and Chiadoo, seven thousand. On departing from the latter, Clapperton was attended by the chief, and an immense train of people, of all ages and sexes, with drums, horns, and gongs, making a strange discord when mingled with the agreeable voices of the wo men. The highest summit of these mountains is between Erawa and Chaki. "The road through this mountain pass was grand and imposing, sometimes rising almost perpendicularly, and then descending in the midst of rocks into deep dells; then winding beautifully round the side of a steep hill, the rocks above overhanging us in fearful uncertainty. In every cleft of the hills, wherever there appeared the least soil, were cottages, surrounded by small plantations of millet, yams, or plantains, giving a beautiful variety to the rude scenery. The road continued rising, hill above hill, for at least above two miles, until our arrival at the large and populous town of Chaki, situated on the top of the very highest hill. On every hand, on the hills, on the rocks, and crowding on the road, the inhabitants were assembled in thousands; the women welcoming us with holding up their hands and chanting choral songs, and the men with the usual salutations and every demonstration of joy. The caboccer was seated on the outside of his house, surrounded by his ladies, his singing men and singing women, his drums, fifes, and gong-gongs. He is a good-looking man, about fifty years of age, and has a pleasing countenance. His house was all ready for us and he immediately ordered us a large supply of goats, sheep, and yams; pressing us strongly to stay a day or two with him. He appeared to consider us as messengers of peace, come with blessings to his king and country. Indeed a belief is very prevalent, and seems to have gone before us all the way, that we are charged with a commission to make peace wherever there is war; and to do good to every country through which we pass. The caboceer of this town indeed told us so; and said he hoped that we should settle the war with the Nyffé people and the Fellata; and the rebellion of the Housa slaves, who have risen against the King of Yourriba. When I shook hands with him, he passed his hand over the heads of his chiefs, as confirming on them a white man's blessing. He was more inquisitive and more communicative than any one whom we have yet seen. He 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 VOL. I. 3X 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 town of Koosoo, at the northern termination of the mountains, is stated to be the largest that our traveller yet had seen, and supposed to contain twenty thousand inhabitants. Next to it was Yaboo another large town, and then Ensookosoo, between which and the former is a beautiful plain, well cultivated, and studded with a number of Fellata villages, whose inhabitants are living here, as they do in most parts of Soudan, a quiet and harmless pastoral life, unmolested by the black natives, and not interfering with any of the negro customs. From hence to the capital of Yourriba, which is named Eyeo, or Katunga, many of the villages were deserted, and the towns, more or less, in ruins, from the incursions of the more warlike Fellatas of Soccatoo, and the insurrectionary slaves of Houssa, who had laid waste the country. Town followed town in quick succession, but all of them had suffered from the recent incursions. The approach to the town of Tshow was through a beautiful valley, planted with large shady trees and bananas, having green plots and sheets of water running through the centre, where the dingy beauties of Tshow were washing their well-formed limbs, while the sheep and goats were grazing around on the verdant banks." This picture of repose is stated, however, to be frequently disturbed by inroads from the neighbouring kingdom of Borgho, the natives of which are described as thieves and plunderers; and as our traveller was now close on its borders, he thought it necessary to brush up his arms. In the evening, however, a chief, with a large escort of horse and foot arrived from Katunga, to conduct him safely to the king. They were so numerous that they ate up all the provisions of this small town; every corner was filled with them; and they kept drumming, blowing, dancing, and singing all night." On leaving this place," the road through which we passed 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." They soon arrived at the gate of Katunga, which is said to be delightfully situated at the point of a granite range of hills: a band of music accompanied them, followed by an immense multitude of men, women, and children. They proceeded about five miles in the city before they reached the residence of the king, who was seated under a veran dah, with two red and two blue umbrellas, supported on long poles held by slaves. The chiefs were observed to be holding a parley with the king, which Clapperton conjectured to relate to his being desired to perform the usual ceremony of prostration. "I told them,' says he, if any such thing was proposed, I should instantly go back; that all the ceremony I would submit to would be to take off my hat, make a bow, and shake hands with his majesty, if he pleased.' This being granted, 'We accordingly,' says our author, went forwards; the king's people had a great 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 Yourribas 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."" This ceremony of prostration before the king is required from all. The chiefs, who come to pay their court, cover themselves with dust, and then fall flat on their bellies, having first practised the ceremony, in order to be perfect, before a large fat eunuch. There is something whimsical, we admit, in the comparison we are about to make; but it really strikes us, that nothing is wanting at Katunga but the yellow screen, whose unexpected appearance occasioned some misgivings in Lord Amherst's mind, to imagine the scene described by Clapperton to be laid in a provincial town of the Celestial Empire. The umbrellas-the negociations for the ceremony-the rehearsal of it—the sticks and whips so good-naturedly laid across the shoulders of the crowd-are completely, and to the letter, Chinese; and these heavenly people of the east are successfully imitated by the Yourribas of the west, in the extraordinary degree of politeness practised towards each other when equals meet, they kneel on one knee; women kneel on both knees, the elbows resting on the ground." Nor are these dingy people outdone by the Cecestials in another respect: the accredited traveller is subsisted entirely at the expense : The of the sovereign-that is to say, of the public. He is also invited to theatrical entertainments, quite as amusing, and almost as refined, from Clapperton's description, as any which his Celestial Majesty can command to be exhibited before a foreign ambassador. The king of Yourriba made a point of our traveller staying to witness these entertainments. They were exhibited in the king's park, in a square space, surrounded by clumps of trees. The first performance was that of a number of men dancing and tumbling about in sacks, having their heads fantastically decorated with strips of rags, damask silk, and cotton of variegated colours; and they performed to admiration. second exhibition was hunting the boa snake, by the men in the sacks. The huge snake, it seems, went through the motions of this kind of reptile, "in a very natural manner, though it appeared to be rather full in the belly, opening and shutting its month in the most natural manner imaginable. A running fight ensued, which lasted some time, till, at length, the chief of the bag-men contrived to scotch his tail with a tremendous sword, when he gasped, twisted up, and seemed in great torture, endeavouring to bite his assailants, who hoisted him on their shoulders, and bore him off in triumph. The festivities of the day concluded with the exhibition of the white devil, which had the appearance of a human figure in white wax, looking miserably thin, and as if starved with cold, taking snuff, rubbing its hands, treading the ground as if tender-footed, and evidently meant to burlesque and ridicule a white man, while his sable majesty frequently appealed to Clapperton whether it was not well performed. After this, the king's women sang in chorus, and were accompanied by the whole crowd. The The city of Eyeo, called in the Houssa language Katunga, has a thick belt of wood round the walls, which are built of clay, about twenty feet high, and surrounded by a dry ditch; they are fifteen miles in circumference, and are entered by ten gates. The houses are of clay with thatched roofs. posts that support the verandahs and the doors are carved in bas relief, with figures of the boa killing an antelope or a hog, with warriors accompanied by their drummers, &c. It has seven markets, held every evening, in which are exposed for sale yams, corn, calavances, bananas, vegetable butter, seeds of the colocynth, goats, fowls, sheep, cotton cloths, and various implements of agriculture. The country produces small horses, but fine horned cattle, many of them with humps on their shoulders like those of Abyssinia; sheep, hogs, muscovy ducks, fowls, pigeons, and turkeys. They have various kinds of fruit, such as oranges, limes, and, so Clapperton says, pears and apples. The cotton plant and indigo are extensively cultivated; but the commerce with the coast is almost ex |