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Their pathway led through a champaign country, partially wooded; and after a pleasant ride of three quarters of an hour, they entered the small village of Bidjie. Here their carriers dropped their loads, nor could they be induced to resume them by the most pressing solicitations.
They were now in momentary expectation of hearing some account of their horses from Badagry, and indeed they waited the whole of the day at Bidjie for that purpose, and in order that the men with the luggage might have time to overtake them, for they had been hindered by the swamps and quagmires, which they themselves found so much difficulty in crossing.
On Sunday, April 4th, they arose at sunrise to make the necessary arrangements for leaving Bidjie, which was no easy task, and shortly after they sent to signify their intention to the chief. He expressed a desire to see them as soon as they could conveniently come, accordingly after breakfast, they repaired to his habitation, which was contiguous to their own.
At last, on the 31st March, Richard and John Lander succeeded in getting away from Badagry; and preceded by an escort sent in advance by the king, arrived at Katunga on the 13th May, having halted by the way at Wow-wow, a good-sized town, Bidjie, where Pearce and Morrison had been taken ill, Jenneh, Chow, Egga, all towns visited by Clapperton, Engua, where Pearce died, Asinara, the first walled city they saw, Bohou, formerly capital of Yariba, Jaguta, Leoguadda, and Itcho, where there is a famous market.
A traveller in England, who enjoys the goodness of the roads, does not often murmur at the demands which are made upon his purse by the turnpike-keepers, but in Africa the frequency of the turnpikes on the road from Badagry to Bidjie, was a matter of some surprise to the Landers.
The person also who had met them with a horse after crossing the river Yow near Bidjie, proceeded thither on his own account, without the knowledge or consent of the governor, but as he was a Fellata and a respectable man, little was said or done about that matter.
There is one which deserves the particular notice of the botanist, because, contrary to the nature of its tribe, it is full of seeds, and is therefore called Pissang Batu, or Pissang Bidjie; it his however no excellence to recommend it to the taste, but the Malays use it as a remedy for the flux. Grapes.
After a charming journey of eight or ten miles, they entered the large and populous town of Bidjie, where the Landers first crossed Clapperton's route, and where Captain Pearse and Dr. Morrison fell sick on the last expedition.
Many of the women of Bidjie have the flesh on their foreheads risen in the shape of marbles, and their cheeks are similarly cut up deformed. The lobes of their ears are likewise pierced, and the holes made surprisingly large, for the insertion of pieces of and ivory into them, which is a prevailing fashion with all ranks. The church service was read this morning agreeably to their general custom.
This day, however, they mounted him on the extra horse, on the back of which he retorted their revilings, and the whole of them became as envious of his dignity, as they were before facetious at his expense. They took their departure from Bidjie while the morning was yet cool and pleasant, and arrived at Chow before eleven o'clock in the forenoon.
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