Boussa. We shall follow him at present to the former place, where he did not find any of his baggage, but learned that the widow, having placed it under arrest, had left Wawa with drums beating and a numerous train; and besides, that she claimed a full right to his person, because his servant Pascoe had accepted a wife at her hand. It was whispered, moreover, that she was meditating to supplant the governor, a scheme which, aided by the personal bravery of the strangers, she might probably realize,-and afterward she meant to invite the Captain to ascend the throne of Wawa. "It would have been a fine end to my journey indeed," says he, "if I had deposed old Mohammed, and set up for myself, with a walking tunbutt for a queen." Scarcely had he received this account when a present from the widow intimated her arrival in a neighbouring village. Our author, however, insensible to all the brilliant hopes thus opened, set off full speed for Wawa to recover his baggage. On his arrival, the governor refused to liberate it till Zuma's return,-Clapperton in vain protesting that his movements and hers had no sort of connexion. However, next day, the sound of drums was heard, and the widow made her entrée in full pomp, astride on a very fine horse, with housings of scarlet cloth, trimmed with lace. The large circumference of her own person was invested in a red silk mantle, red trowsers, and morocco boots; and numerous spells, sewed variously in coloured leather, were hung all round her. She was followed by a train of armed attendants, and preceded by a drummer decked in ostrich feathers. On the whole, the scene was so splendid, that our hero's resolution seems for a moment to have wavered. However, his part was soon taken. Pascoe was directed to return his wife, and thus extinguish all claim that could be founded upon her; and having received his baggage, our countryman set forward without even admitting the fond widow to any farther conference.

On his way to Comie, Clapperton had visited Boussa, a place chiefly interesting as the scene where the career of Park terminated in a manner so tragical. Every thing tended to confirm the report of Amadi Fatouma, and to dispel the skepticism with which it had been originally regarded. The king, however, and all the citizens, spoke of the event with deep grief and reluctance, and disavowed all

personal concern in the transaction. One man gave as the reason of the attack on the discoverers, that the English had been mistaken for the advanced guard of the Fellatas, who were then ravaging Soudan. It was added, that a number of natives died in consequence, as was imagined, of eating the meat found in the boats, which was supposed to be human flesh. That the English have no abode but on the sea, and that they eat the flesh of the negroes whom they purchase, are, it seems, two ideas most widely pre valent over Africa. Even the king of Boussa could scarcely be brought to believe that they had a spot of land to dwell upon. The Captain and his party were received, however, with the same kindness and cordiality which they had experienced ever since they entered the country. Seven boats were here waiting for them, sent by the sultan of Youri, with a letter, in which he earnestly solicited a visit, and promised, on that condition, and on that only, to deliver up the books and papers of Park. It is deeply to be regretted that our traveller could not reconcile it with his plans to go to Youri at this time, proposing to visit it on his return, which, it is well known, never took place.

On crossing the Niger, Captain Clapperton entered Nyffe, a country which had been always reported to him as the finest, most industrious, and most flourishing in Africa; but he found it, as indeed he had been forewarned by the king of Yarriba, a prey to the most desolating civil war. The succession being disputed between two princes, one of them called in the Fellatas, and, by giving up his country to their ravages, obtained the privilege of reigning over its ruins. Our traveller, in his journey to the sansan or camp, saw only wasted towns, plantations choked with weeds, and a few remnants of a miserable population. This African camp consisted of a number of huts like bee-hives, 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.

Amid this desolation, two towns, Koolfu and Kufu, being walled and situated on the high road of the Houssa caravans, had protected themselves in some measure from the common calamity, and were still flourishing seats of track.

All the merchants halted for some time at Koolfu, and those from Bornou seldom went farther. The market was crowded with the same articles as that of Kano. The Moslem religion was the most prevalent; but it had not yet moulded society into the usual gloomy monotony; nor had it succeeded in secluding or subjecting the female sex, who, on the contrary, were the most active agents in every mercantile transaction. Our traveller knew twenty-one female brokers living at the same time in one house, who went about continually from market to market. Many had amassed considerable wealth, and were persons of great consequence, quite in their own right. Elated with this distinction, they claimed considerable latitude as to their deportment, and spent whole nights with the men in singing and drinking,-a species of indulgence very prevalent in all these entrepôts of African trade. The English, however, experienced here none of the bigoted enmity which they had encountered in other Moslem cities. On the contrary, they were the objects of much kindness; the principal people of the place sent presents, and the lower ranks sought to obtain a sight of them by mounting the trees which overlooked their residence. The Koran does not seem to have much embarrassed the Koolfuans. Their only mode of studying it was, to have the characters written with a black substance on a piece of board, then to wash them off, and drink the water; and when asked by our traveller what spiritual benefit could be derived from the mere swallowing of dirty water, they indignantly retorted,"What! do you call the name of God dirty water?" This mode of imbibing sacred truth is indeed extensively pursued throughout the interior of the African continent.

Captain Clapperton passed next through Kotongkora and Guari, two states which, united in a league with Čubbi and Youri, had shaken off the yoke of the Fellatas. Guari, strongly situated among hills, could bring a thousand horse into the field. He then entered Zeg-zeg, a Fellata country, which, especially around Zaria, its capital, seems to be one of the very finest in all Africa. It was beautifully variegated with hill and dale, like the finest parts of England, was covered with plentiful crops and rich pastures, and produced the finest rice grown in any part of that continent. Rows of tall trees, resembling gigantic avenues of poplar,

extended from hill to hill. Zaria, like many other African cities, might be considered as a district of country surrounded with walls. When the Captain entered, he saw for some time only fields of grain, with the tops of houses rising behind them; still such was its extent, that its population was said to exceed that of Kano, and to amount to at least 50,000.

Setting out from Zaria, he soon reached his old quarters at Kano; but he unfortunately found that great city in a state of dreadful agitation. There was war on every side; hostilities had been declared between the king of Bornou and the Fellatas; the provinces of Zamfra and Goobur were in open insurrection; the Tuaricks threatened an inroad; in short, there was not a quarter to which the merchants durst send a caravan. Kano being nearly midway between Bornou and Sackatoo, Clapperton left his baggage there to be conveyed to the former on his return, and set out for the capital of Bello, bearing only the presents destined for that prince. On his way he found numerous bands mustering to form an army destined to attack Coonia, the rebel metropolis of Goobur. The appearance of these troops was very striking as they passed along the borders of some beautiful little lakes formed by the river Zirmie. These waters were bordered by forests of flowering acacias, with dark-green leaves, the shadows of which were reflected on the smooth surface of the lake like sheets of burnished gold and silver. "The smoking fires, the sounding of horns, the beating of their gongs or drums, the braying of their brass and tin trumpets, every where the calls on the names of Mohammed, Abda, Mustapha, 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."

At length the army mustered to the number of 50,000 or 60,000, chiefly on foot; a rude feudal host, arranging themselves according to their provinces and chiefs, without any military order. In a short time, they formed a dense circle around the walls of Coonia. Captain Clapperton expected to see some brilliant exploit performed by the united force of this great army, commanded by the sultan and Gadado in person. The whole, however, both horse and foot, kept carefully out of the reach of the arrows, which, with a

sure and steady aim, the enemy directed against them. From time to time indeed a doughty warrior, well covered with armour, rode up, calling, "Shields to the wall! Why don't you come on?" but he instantly and quickly rode back, amid the derisive shouts of his countrymen. The only parties who exposed themselves to real danger were a few chiefs, in quilted armour, ornamented with gaudy robes and ostrich plumes, and of such weight that two men were required to lift them on horseback: several of them were brought down by the fire of one well-directed musket from the walls. Evening closed without any thing being effected by this band of heroes; and in the middle of the night, an alarm being raised of a sally from the garrison, the whole besieging army began a tumultuous flight, tumbling over each other and upsetting every thing in their way, thinking only how they might soonest escape from danger. The retreat was continued through the whole of the following day and night, no halt having taken place till ten of the second morning. Thus closed this memorable campaign.

Clapperton, at the sultan's suggestion, repaired to Sackatoo (which he now calls Soccatoo); the monarch himself remaining behind at Magaria, a neighbouring town, which he was raising into a new capital. The traveller's time was spent between the two places. He found, however, an entire change in the feelings of kindness and cordiality towards himself, which had been so remarkably displayed in the former journey. Jealousies had begun to fester in the breasts of the African princes. They dreaded some ambitious design in those repeated missions sent by England without any conceivable motive; for, that men should undertake such long journeys out of mere curiosity, they could never imagine. The sultan accordingly had received a letter from the court of Bornou, warning him that, by this very mode of sending embassies and presents, which the English were now following towards the states of Central Africa, they had made themselves masters of India, and trampled on all its native princes. The writer, therefore, gave it as his opinion that Clapperton should immediately be put to death. An alarm had, in fact, been spread throughout Sackatoo that the English were coming to invade Houssa. The panic was groundless; no European potentate would at present dream of attempting to conquer