178 clapperton's second journey. 



indulgence in the luxuries which her wealth afforded had en- 

 larged her dimensions till they could be justly likened to 

 those of a huge water-cask ; yet she had still some beauty, 

 and, being only of a deep-brown complexion, considered 

 herself white, and was in the most eager search after a 

 white husband. In this pursuit she cast her eyes first upon 

 the servant, to whom our traveller hesitates not to assign 

 the palm of good looks in preference to himself; and he 

 gave Lander full permission to follow his fortune. But that 

 sage person, unmoved by all her charms and possessions, 

 repelled the overture in so decided a mamier, that the widow 

 soon saw there was nothing to be made of him. She then 

 withdrew her artillery from Lander, and directed it entirely 

 against his master, the Captain, to whom she laid very close 

 siege. At length, in a frolic, he agreed to visit her. He 

 found her surrounded by every circumstance of African 

 pomp, seated cross-legged on a piece of Turkey carpet, with 

 an English pewter mug for her goora-pot, and dressed in a 

 rich striped silk and cotton robe of country manufacture. 

 Her eyebrows were dyed black, her hair blue, her hands and 

 feet red ; necklaces and girdles of beads, coral, and gold 

 profusely adorned her person. She made a display of ad- 

 ditional finery lodged in her repositories, leading him 

 through a series of apartments, one of which was orna- 

 mented with a number of pewter dishes and bright brass 

 pans. After these preliminaries, she at once declared her 

 wish to accompany him on his journey, and proposed to 

 send forthwith for a malem, or holy man, to read the fatlia^ 

 by which their fates would be indissolubly united. Clap- 

 perton, who seems to have been completely stunned by this 

 proposal, stammered out the best apology he could, and has- 

 tened away. His conduct, however, does not appear to 

 have been so decisive as to deter the lady from the most en- 

 ergetic perseverance in her suit. She even obtained his 

 permission for his servant Pascoe to accept a wife from 

 among her slaves ; but he was not aware that, according 

 to African ideas, she had thus acquired a sort of claim to 

 himself 



Regardless of all these tender solicitations, our traveller 

 had no sooner completed his arrangements than he set out 

 for the Niger, leaving directions for his baggage to join 

 him at the i'erry of Comic, while he went round by way of 



