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The governor's house is surrounded with a clay wall, about thirty feet high, having large coozies, shady trees, and square towers inside. Unlike their neighbours of Kiama, they bear a good character for honesty, though not for sobriety or chastity, virtues wholly unknown at Wawa; but they are merry, good natured, and hospitable.
Therefore, continued Ebo, the Yaoorie messenger will of necessity be compelled to wait here till authentic intelligence be received of the truth or falsehood of the rumour, before he sets out on his mission to Kiama.
At Jenna it fell suddenly one day from 94° to 78°, and remained stationary for some hours. At Assinara at noon, on the 23rd April it attained the height of 99°. Near Katunga it fell upon one occasion to 71° in the shade, the air being then cooler than they had felt it since landing. At Kiama the extremes were 75° and 94°, the mean 84°. At Youri, the range was the same.
An hour's ride brought them near to the site of a town, which was formerly peopled only by robbers. It was, however destroyed some years ago, and its inhabitants either slain or dispersed, by order of the spirited ruler of Kiama, since which time the road has been less dreaded by travellers.
Kiama, the next city at which they arrived, contains 80,000 inhabitants. The king came to meet Clapperton, attended by a singular train. He rode upon a handsome steed, followed by an admiring crowd; six young girls, each flourishing spears, and who had only a fillet on their heads, ran by his side as he galloped on.
Hunger had driven back their Keeshee carriers, who were to have accompanied them to Kiama, and therefore they were obliged to send a messenger to Yarro for men to supply their place. Late in the evening, the governor of the village returned from his labour in the fields, and presented them with corn and honey.
Bessie, rather to her surprise, found that she was not to room with Margery Burton, or Minnehaha, as she had expected, but was to share a big room, under the roof, with Dolly Ransom, the merry, mischievous Kiama, as she was known to her comrades of the fire. "Do you mind if I snore?" asked Dolly promptly, when they were alone together.
Here they saw manifest traces of European intercourse; the natives wore Manchester cottons, and the chief presented the travellers with a case bottle of rum, a liquor which they had not tasted since they left Kiama. About a mile from Damugoo, they saw two streams which appeared to be branches of the Niger; one of which came from the eastward, while the other flowed from the westward.
All the intermediate villages had shared the same fate. Algi, according to the information received, no longer belonged to Youriba, but to the sultan of Kiama. It comprised three small villages, and before it was burnt down had been of considerable size.
On the 11th, the travellers once more crossed the Moussa, which formerly divided the kingdoms of Youriba and Borgoo. It was now dry in a great many places, with a very rocky bed; when full, it is about thirty yards in breadth, and flows with a very strong current. On the other side, the road to Kiama lay through a flat country, thickly wooded with fine trees, and inhabited by large antelopes.
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