188 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
The king of the country, Adooley, of whom Richard 
Lander retained a friendly remembrance, was in low 
spirits. His town had just been burnt, his generals and 
his best soldiers had perished in a battle with the people 
of Lagos, and he himself had had a narrow escape when 
his house and all his treasures were destroyed by fire. 
He determined to retrieve his losses, and to do so at 
the expense of the travellers, who could not get per¬ 
mission to penetrate into the interior of the country 
until they had been robbed of their most valuable 
merchandise, and compelled to sign drafts in payment 
for a gun-boat with a hundred men, for two puncheons 
of rum, twenty barrels of powder, and a large quantity 
of merchandise, which they knew would never be deli¬ 
vered by this monarch, who was as greedy of gain as lie 
was drunken. As a matter of course the natives followed 
the example of their chief, vied with him in selfishness, 
greed, and meanness, regarded the English as fair spoil, 
and fleeced them on every opportunity. 
At last, on the 31st March, Richard and John Lander 
succeeded in getting away from Badagry ; and, preceded 
by an escort sent in advance by the king, arrived at 
Katunga on the 13th May, having halted by the way at 
Wow-wow, a good-sized town, Bidjie, where Pearce and 
Morrison had been taken ill, Jenneh, Chow, Egga, all 
towns visited by Clapperton, Engua, where Pearce died, 
Asmara, the first walled city they saw, Bohou, formerly 
capital of Yariba, Jaguta, Leoguadda, and Itcho, where 
there is a famous market. 
At Katunga, according to custom, the travellers halted 
under a tree before they were received by the king. 
But being tired of waiting, they presently went to the 
residence of Ebo, the chief eunuch, and the most in¬ 
fluential man about the person of the sovereign. A 
diabolical noise of cymbals, trumpets, and drums, all 
played together, announced the approach of the white 
men, and Mansolah, the king, gave them a most hearty 
welcome, ordering Ebo to behead every one who should 
molest them. 
The Landers, fearful of being detained by Mansolah 
