280 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
On the 28th I made Ben Gumso a present of four yards of blue, 
and the same quantity of scarlet damask, an unwritten journal- 
book, two pairs of scissors, and two knives: with these articles I 
endeavoured to get into the good graces of this old Arab. By a 
singular piece of good fortune he had just begun to exercise a 
powerful influence over the mind and opinions of the sultan. Bello, 
in an excursion into the Gooberite country, had come to an en- 
gagement with a large party of the natives; and in the midst of the 
tight was shot in the neck with a poisoned arrow, which turned the 
tide of victory in favour of his enemies. On his return to Soccatoo, 
Ben Gumso wrote a charm on a bit of wood, which was washed off 
into a calabash of water, and drank immediately by the sultan; who, 
shortly after recovering, attributed it solely to the virtues of this 
charm, and he was advanced accordingly. 1 begged Ben Gumso 
to use his influence with the sultan to obtain leave for my departure 
from his capital, and make the best of my way homewards. He 
accordingly represented to Bello the impolicy and injustice of de- 
taining any longer a subject of the king of England; advised him 
to allow me to quit Soccatoo as soon as possible ; and insinuated 
that, if 1 were to die in his dominions, a report would be circulated 
and believed that he had murdered both my father and me, by 
which he would get a bad name. The sultan approved of these 
weighty arguments of Ben Gumso; and word was sent me, almost 
immediately, to appear before him. After a little preliminary 
conversation, Bello asked me which route 1 should prefer. Al- 
though my master had advised me to proceed with the Arabs to 
Fezzan, just before his death, I much feared that the papers in- 
trusted to my care would be stolen, and myself murdered, by that 
wily and treacherous race, whose behaviour to my master, from the 
time of his arrival in Houssa, I very much disliked; and would 
rather cast myself, unarmed and unprotected, upon the good faith 
of the natives, than go with them. Under these impressions I an- 
