116 
JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
respectable man, and formerly head man to the king of Nyffe, but 
who had fled to escape the civil war, told me that the river was full 
of rocks and islands nearly the whole way to the sea, which it 
entered at the town of F undah ; that the people of that country 
visited the southern parts of Nyffe ; that the people of Benin came 
up by land, and had the river to cross, as they never travelled by 
water if they could avoid it, it being against their fetish ; that the 
river farther down ran more to the eastward, until joined by the 
river Kadania, flowing from the east, when it turned to the west, and 
fell into the sea. 
I now proceeded on my journey towards Kano, and having 
travelled about six miles, came to a walled village called Dallu ; and 
beyond that five miles to El Wata, which appeared to be inhabited 
by blacksmiths. Though the village was small, I counted, on the 
way to where I was to lodge, four large blacksmiths’ shops with 
five forges in each. The blacksmiths were very civil to me ; they 
gave me their best house, some corn for my horses, and a goat and 
some yams. 
The natives of Borgoo, of whom I have now taken leave, and 
to whom the Arabs and their neighbouring nations give such a bad 
character for theft and robbery, always behaved honestly to me. 
I never lost the smallest article while amongst them. I have 
travelled and hunted alone with them, and myself, servants, and 
baggage, have been at their mercy. I ever found them cheerful, 
obliging, good-natured, and communicative ; and the plundering of 
the sheep, goats, &c. from the villages, by the slaves of Yarro and 
Mohamed of Wawa, was not the act of natives of Borgoo, but of 
Houssa ; as were the four messengers of Wawa, who had also 
formed a design to plunder me. These persons are nearly half- 
starved, and possessed w T itli the idea that it is only right their 
masters’ subjects should feed them when on a journey, as they 
have no other provision but what they can catch in this manner ; 
