Robert Huish

“ The distance between the resting places is not sufficiently great, for the dread of want of water to be alarmingly felt, and the track, though a sandy one, is well known to the guides. The burning heat of the day is succeeded by cool and refreshing breezes, and the sky ever illumined by large and brilliant stars, or an unclouded moon. By removing the loose and pearl-like sand, to the depth of a few inches, the effects of the sunbeams of the day are not perceptible, and a most soft and refreshing couch is easily formed. ”

“ A brisk wind sprung up the river full in their faces, relieving them from the extreme heat of the weather, which was remarkably fine; the scene before them was very animating, and the whole of them were in high glee and spirits. Other canoes joined them, and never did the British flag lead so extraordinary a squadron. The king of the dark water might have been mistaken for a river god, and his wives, now and then showing their pretty black faces from under the awning, cast many an arch look at them with their sparkling, jetty eyes. ”

“ Some of the troops were bathing; others watering their horses, bullocks, camels, and asses; the lake Gondamee as smooth as glass, and flowing around the roots of the trees. The sun, in its approach to the horizon, threw the shadows of the flowering 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 and drums, the blowing of their brass and tin trumpets ”

“ The unfortunate Kerdies, from the moment they saw Arab tents in the valley of Mandara, knew the dreadful calamity which awaited them. To avert it and to propitiate the sultan, numerous parlies came down with presents of honey, asses, and slaves. Finally appeared the Musgow, a more distant and savage race, mounted on small fiery steeds, covered only with the skin of a goat or leopard, and with necklaces made of the teeth of their enemies. They threw themselves at the feet of the sultan, casting sand on their heads, and uttering the most piteous cries. ”

“ In Africa, whether a person be ill or well, it is exactly the same, nothing like peace or quiet is any where to be found; independently of the continual fluttering of pigeons, which roosted close to their ears, the bleating of sheep and goats, and the barking of numerous half-starved dogs, they were still more seriously annoyed by the incessant clatter of women's tongues, which pursued them every where, and which it was believed nothing less than sickness or death on their part could eventually silence. ”

“ However, they were all as timid as hares, and if the Landers happened to look fixedly in their faces for a moment, most of them, more especially the females and the junior classes of both sexes, started back with terror, as if they had seen a serpent in the grass; and when the Landers attempted to walk near any of them, they ran screaming away, as though they had been pursued by a lion, or were in danger of falling into the jaws of a crocodile, so horrified were these poor people at the bare sight of a white man, and so frightful did their imaginations picture him to be. ”

“ But the conduct of Lake has left us no alternative, and whatever my opinion of that individual may be, he surely must be destitute of all those manly characteristics of a British seaman, as well as of the more generous feelings of our common nature, to be guilty, on a sick bed, of an action which might, for aught he knew or cared, produce the most serious consequences to his unfortunate countrymen in a savage land, by exposing them to the wretchedness of want, and the miseries of slavery, to mockery, ill-usage, contempt, and scorn, and even to death itself. ”

“ Central Africa is a region distinguished from all others, by its productions and climate, by the simplicity and yet barbarian magnificence of its states; by the mildness and yet diabolical ferocity of its inhabitants, and peculiarly by the darker nature of its superstitions, and its magical rites, which have struck with awe strangers in all ages, and which present something inexplicable and even appalling to enlightened Europeans; the evil principle here seems to reign with less of limitation, and in recesses inaccessible to white men, still to enchant and delude the natives. ”

“ Whirled about in a vortex of dissipation, the mother of civilization bears no memorial about her of the infant that is in its grave; but the uncivilized African carries about with her the image of her child, and, in the full force of her maternal affection, feeds not herself until in her imagination she has fed the being who once was dear to her. ”

“ It is in the earlier part of the morning too, or in the cool of the evening, that nature can be leisurely contemplated and admired in the simple loveliness of a verdant plain, a sequestered grotto, or a rippling brook, or in the wilder and more mysterious features of her beauty in the height of a craggy precipice, the silence and gloom of vast shady woods, or when those woods are gracefully bending to the passing gale. ”

“ During the performance of the ceremony, the forests appear in a blaze, the most discordant shouts rending the air, intermixed with the sounds of their instruments, composing altogether a tumult, which is heard at the distance of many leagues. The dancing is described as of the most ludicrous kind, marked by those indecencies, which generally distinguish the amusements of the savage tribes. In these sports, the women are always the foremost in the violence of their gestures; the young ones selecting the objects of their affection, to bestow upon them some token of their attachment. ”

“ Man has, perhaps, an instinctive sentiment, that his own fate and that of the universe are ruled by some supreme and invisible power, yet he sees this only through the medium of his wishes and imagination. He seeks for some object of veneration and means of protection, which may assume an outward and tangible shape. Thus the African reposes his faith in the doctrine of charms, which presents a substance stamped with a supernatural character, capable of being attached to himself individually, and of affording a feeling of security amid the many evils that environ him. ”

“ The condition of the Arabs soon became alarming, scarcely a man was left unhurt, and their horses were dying under them. Boo Khaloom and his charger were both wounded with poisoned arrows. As soon as the Fellatas saw the Arabs waver, they dashed in with their horse, at the sight of which all the heroic squadrons of Bornou and Mandara put spurs to their steeds, the sultan at their head, and the whole became one mass of confused and tumultuous flight. Major Denham saw too late the peril into which he had inconsiderately plunged. ”

“ The clearness of the sky is pleasant, and its brilliancy, the softness of the moon, the twinkling brightness of the stars, and the silence of night, the warbling and the flight of birds, the hum of insects, and the varied and luxuriant aspect of beautiful nature, are all charming to us ”

“ Never was a spectacle more wild and terrific. When this sally of passion to which they had worked themselves, had subsided into calmer and more reasonable behaviour, the Landers presented each of the war-men with a number of needles, as a farther token of their friendly intentions. The chief sat himself down on the turf, with one of the Landers on each side of him, while the men were leaning on their weapons on his right and left. At first, no one could understand what the Landers said, but shortly after an old man made his appearance, who understood the Houssa language. ”

“ Whenever a town is deprived of its chief, the inhabitants acknowledge no law; anarchy, troubles, and confusion immediately prevail, and until a successor is appointed, all labour is at an end. The stronger oppress the weak, and perpetrate every species of crime, without being amenable to any tribunal for their actions. Private property is no longer respected, and thus, before a person arrives to curb its licentiousness, a town is not unfrequently reduced from a flourishing state of prosperity and of happiness to all the horrors of desolation. ”

“ They were glad to get out of the Thomas, for the unfeeling commander, notwithstanding that Lander's men had rendered him every service in getting his brig out of the river, and had done every thing required of them, afterwards employed every means he could think of to annoy them, and to make them uncomfortable, while they were with him. At night, while the people were sleeping, he would make his men draw water, and throw it over them, for mere amusement. There are many commanders as bad as he is on the coast, who seem to vie with each other in acts of cruelty and oppression. ”

“ Inheriting from their ancestors a peaceful, timid, passionless, incurious disposition, they fall an easy prey to all who choose to molest them; they bow their necks to the yoke of slavery without a murmur, and think it a matter of course; and perhaps no people in the world are to be found who are less susceptible of intense feeling, and the finer emotions of the human mind, on being stolen away from their favourite amusements and pursuits, and from the bosom of their wives and families, than these Cumbrie people, who are held in general disesteem. ”

“ After regaining the road, they moved till noon, when their horses were watered at a well called Kanimani, or the sheep's well, where some really sweet milk was brought to them, in immensely large basket bottles, some holding two gallons and more. They had drank and acknowledged its goodness, and how grateful it was to their weak stomachs, before they found out that it was camel's milk.
No traveller in Africa should imagine that this he could not bear, or that could not be endured. It is most wonderful how a man's taste conforms itself to his necessities. ”

“ Here for the first time in Africa, did nature appear to the English to rival in the production of vegetable life. The trees were covered with luxuriant and bright green foliage, and their trunks were hidden by a crowd of parasitical plants, whose aromatic blossoms perfumed the air. ”

“ But for the number of horses feeding, and some picketed near the huts, the men being all seen armed, and the drums beating, it might have been taken for a populous and peaceful village. Here were to be seen weavers, tailors, women spinning cotton, others reeling it off; some selling foofoo and accassons, others crying yams and paste; little markets at every green tree; holy men counting their beads, and dissolute slaves drinking wabum, palm wine. ”

“ To their domestic slaves, they behave with the greatest humanity, looking upon them almost as children of the family. The males are often freed, and the females given in marriage to free men, or to other domestic slaves. The food of the slave and the free is nearly the same. The greatest man or woman in the country is not ashamed, at times, to let the slaves eat of the same dish; but a woman is never allowed to eat with a man. With a people, who have neither established law nor government, it is surprising that they are so good and moral as they are ”

“ Of all the wretched, filthy, and contemptible places in this world of ours, none can present to the eye of a stranger so miserable an appearance, or can offer such disgusting and loathsome sights as this abominable Brass Town. ”

“ With a frankness perfectly commendable in an African widow, and wholly at variance with the hypocritical and counterfeit bashfulness of the English one, the widow Zuma at once exposed the situation of her heart, by declaring that she sincerely loved white men, and as her visitor belonged to that species, he saw himself at once the object of her affections, and the envy of all the aspiring young bachelors of the town, who had been for some time directing a vigorous attack against the widow's heart. ”

“ Park told him his reasons for passing through his country, but his majesty did but seem half satisfied. He thought it impossible, he said, that any man in his senses would undertake so dangerous a journey, merely to look at the country and its inhabitants. When, however, Mr. Park had delivered his presents, his majesty seemed well pleased, and was particularly delighted with the umbrella, which he repeatedly furled and unfurled, to the great admiration of himself and his two attendants, who could not for some time comprehend the use of this wonderful machine. ”

“ In the frequent instances which have come under my observation, the general effect of the treatment of the Arabs on the minds of the Christian captives, has been most deplorable. On the first arrival of these unfortunate men at Mogadore, if they have been any considerable time in slavery, they appear lost to reason and feeling, their spirits broken, and their whole faculties sunk in a species of stupor, which I am unable adequately to describe. Habited like the meanest Arabs of the desert, they appear degraded even below the negro slave. ”

“ A fragrance also was exhaled from the forest, more odiferous than the perfume of violets or primroses, and they might almost fancy, when threading their way through scenery, which cannot be surpassed for beauty in any part of the world, that they were approaching those eternal shades, where, in ancient time, the souls of good men were supposed to wander. The woods rang with the song of the nightbirds, and the hum of the insects, which continued to salute them with little intermission till about ten o'clock at night, when they entered Laatoo, a large and pleasant town. ”

“ This space, then overgrown with dense underwood, and with grass double the height of a man, contains a motley assemblage of wild beasts—lions, panthers, hyenas, elephants, and serpents of extraordinary form and bulk. These monsters, while undisturbed in this mighty den, remain tranquil, or war only with each other, but when the lake swells, and its waters rush in, they of necessity seek refuge among the abodes of men, to whom they prove the most dreadful scourge. Not only the cattle but the slaves attending the grain, often fall victims; they even rush in large bodies into the towns. ”

“ They were now obliged to station armed men around their house, for the purpose of protecting their goods from the rapacity of a multitude of thieves that infested this place, and who displayed the greatest cunning imaginable to ingratiate themselves with the travellers. On the following morning, they awoke unrefreshed at daybreak; the noise of children crying, the firing of guns, and the discordant sound of drums and horns, preventing them from enjoying the sweetness of repose, so infinitely desirable, after a long day spent in a routine or tiresome ceremony and etiquette. ”

“ As for their two brave fellows, Sam and Antonio, they took to their heels, and scampered off as fast as they could, directly they saw the natives approaching them over the long grass, nor did they make their appearance again, until the chief and all his people were sitting round them.
All the armed villagers had now gathered round their leader, and anxiously watched his looks and gestures. The result of the meeting delighted them, every eye sparkled with pleasure; they uttered a shout of joy; they thrust their bloodless arrows into their quivers ”

“ The whole region is still more inaccessible on a grand scale, than the petty states are in miniature; and while the rest of the earth has become common, from the frequency of visitors, Africa still retains part of the mystery, which hung over the primitive and untrodden world.
Passing over the attempts of the very early travellers to become acquainted with the geographical portion of Africa, in which much fiction, and little truth, were blended, we arrive at that period, when the spirit of discovery began to manifest itself amongst some of the European states. ”