Chap. XXXVI. THE MISSION REPULSED. 
497 
Mohammed Lowel, so far from being a slave of the 
sultan of Sokoto, was renowned far and wide as the 
almost independent governor of a large province ; 
that the fame of his father A'dama, as a nobly-born, 
learned Piillo, extended far and wide throughout 
Tekrur, or JNTegroland, and had even reached our 
own country ; that it was absurd to argue that I was 
greater than himself, and that on this account he 
could not receive me on his own responsibility, but 
was obliged to refer my suit to his liege lord in 
S6koto.* I brought forward the examples of Katsena 
and Kano, especially the latter place, in which, though 
it was the seat of a governor dependent on the Emir 
el Miimenin, in the same way as the governor of 
A'damaVa, I had long resided, without any repre- 
sentations being made to the sovereign lord. " Oh ! 
but the relations of Katsena and Kano," said the mes- 
sengers of the governor, " are entirely different from 
those of this province. These are large and busy 
thoroughfares for all the world, while A'damawa is a 
distant territory in the remotest corner of the earth, 
and still a fresh, unconsolidated conquest." There 
was certainly some truth in this last remark; and 
whatever I might say to the contrary, the question 
was decided, and all reasoning was in vain. 
The two messengers having gone through their 
business in this way, informed me that they were 
* Although ' Aliyu, the present Emir el Mumenin, resides in 
Wurno, nevertheless Sokoto is still regarded as the official capital 
of the empire. 
VOL. II. K K 
