OF RABBAH. 87 



inside their arms, buckled round the wrist, and 

 also swords slung carelessly over the left shoul- 

 der, — which latter are brought from Tripoli 

 by the Arabs. They look upon fire-arms with 

 great dread ; and the only weapon of this kind 

 we met with was a double-barrelled pistol, with 

 the maker's name (I think, Richardson, Lon- 

 don) between the barrels. Mr. Lander recognised 

 it as the pistol of the late Captain Pearce, who 

 died on his way up the country with Captain 

 Clapperton. Mr. Lander exchanged another 

 pistol for it, Captain Pearce's pistol being 

 broken. I am very much afraid that this pistol 

 was lost when Mr. Lander was attacked, after- 

 wards. 



The army of Rabbah is composed of liberated 

 slaves, whose freedom is granted them on consi- 

 deration of their taking up arms. In the winter 

 or wet season they follow their ordinary occupa- 

 tions ; and in the summer or dry season, when 

 the Quorra is low, they assemble from all parts 

 of the kingdom of Houssa, Soccatoo, Kano, &c. 

 They travel very quickly, taking the unsuspect- 

 ing inhabitants by surprise. They seldom fail 

 in capturing hundreds of prisoners, as well as 

 cattle, horses, &c. 



