Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 3, 2025
Their common fear of the Fellatas had united the sultan of Mandara in close alliance with the sheik, to whom he had lately married his daughter; and the nuptials had been celebrated by a great slave-hunt amongst the mountains, when, after a dreadful struggle, three thousand captives, by their tears and bondage, furnished out the materials of a magnificent marriage festival.
The road led through a wood of low, stunted, scrubby trees, on a soil of gravel and sand, and the destructive ravages of the Fellatas now became apparent, in the half deserted towns and ruined villages. Akkibosa, the next town, was large, and surrounded inside the walls with an impenetrable wood.
It took a siege of two days, when it was evacuated by the sultan and the greater part of the inhabitants, who took refuge in hills south and west, where they still maintain their independence, though subject to the continual attacks of the Fellatas. The old city is now known only by its ruined walls, surrounding some high mounds, which were in the centre of the enclosed area.
You are aware that nothing but the unfortunate occurrence of the Fellatas' conquests with the period of his expedition, and his being mistaken for one of their parties, occasioned its unhappy result; and by striking across the mountains, which we shall do at Baranco, about four hundred miles up, we shall have only twenty-four days' land journey to the mighty Niger, where he has scarcely command of water enough to float a canoe.
In front of it there is a large quadrangle, into which several of the principal streets of the city lead. They passed through three coozees, as guardhouses, without the least detention, and were immediately ushered into the presence of Bello, the second sultan of the Fellatas.
The district of Guari was conquered by the Fellatas, in a short time after their rising, together with the rest of Houssa. On the death of old Bello, the father of the then reigning sovereign, these districts, with the greater part of Kashna, joined in the towia, or confederacy, against the Fellatas.
The Fellatas have a tradition, that when Danfodio, Bello's father, and the first king of Soccatoo, was a simple shepherd, he made a vow to the great author of evil, that if he would assist him in the subjugating the kingdom of Houssa, he would be his slave for ever after.
Clapperton now began to see that no chance existed of his prosecuting his journey to Youri; but it must be admitted, that some of the suspicions which he entertained were groundless, for the state of the country was afterwards found to be, if possible, worse than had been described; and the ravages of the Fellatas so terrible, that any one coming from amongst them was likely to experience a very disagreeable reception.
It appeared also most strange to the Landers, that the very day after their arrival, the Fellatas should so opportunely seize upon a town, through which they were to pass, and that the information of the inroad of so dreaded an enemy should not have reached Katunga at an earlier period, when intelligence of no moment whatever flies through the country with the swiftness of an arrow from the bow.
There was war on every side. Hostilities had been declared between the king of Bornou and the Fellatas; the provinces of Zamfra and Goober were in open insurrection; the Tuaricks threatened an inroad; in short, there was not a quarter to which the merchants durst send a caravan.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking