Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/379

 YAURI— BUSSA. 819 present the largest and most conimercial place in this region. Gomha, on the right bank of the Niger, at the Sokoto confluence, is a mere village, and YaHn, lower down on the left bank, has been ruined by the Fulahs. It was formerly capital of the flourishing kingdom of Yauri, and was at that time a city of '* prodigious extent," as populous as any other on the continent, with an enclosure from 20 to 30 miles in circumference. The great commercial city of h'u//o has also been razed to the ground by the Fulahs. Some years ago the king of Ndkicamach, the state bordering Yauri on the east, made a slave-hunting expedi- tion in the Niger valley, during which he destroyed fourteen cities, including the powerful Ubaka, of which the walls alone now remain. This razzia secured for the conqueror thousands of captives, but the destruction of life was enormous ; whole districts renuiined uninhabited, and fugitives from Yauri fled for refuge to all the surrounding lands, Koniokora {Kontagora), capital of the Nakwamach or Bamashi Negroes, was recently visited by Joseph Thomson, who found it a largo city lying in a delightful hilly country, GO miles east of the Niger. In one of the rocky islets, GO miles above Bussa, stands the town of Jkiutrf, a famous market which in peaceful times attracts traders from all the surrounding lands. Bima {Bi(.s,s(ni), near the rapids whivh proved fatal to ^lungo Park, lies within half a mile of the right bank, some miles north of the ruins of another town bearing the same name. At the time of Flegel's visit in 1881, Bussa was the capital of a petty state, completely independent of the Fulahs ; fifty years previously, the brothers I^ander had spoken of the king as the most respected sovereign in AYest Africa, not so much for his power or opulence as for his ancient pedigree, for he was " the first monarch of West Africa at the beginning of the world." llichard Lander relates that after the death of Mungo Park the inhabi- tants of Bussa were attacked by a raging epidemic, which was regarded as a visitation from heaven. " Take care not to touch the whites lest you perish liko the people of Bussa," then became the password throughout the land. West of the petty states of Bussa and Woh-Woh stretches the Borghu country, comprising several distinct kingdoms, of which iV//r/ is the most powerful. By the brothers Lander the city of this name was reported to be " immense," and its king had such a strong army that the Fulahs did not ventufe to draw the sword against him. The traveller Duncan, coming from Dahomey, penetrated in 1845 eastwards to Adn/udia, in a fertile undulating district draining to the Niger, and dotted over with numerous towns inhabited by courteous, hosi)itable Moham- medan Negroes. Duncan mentions As,sa/nda, KircunpuHma, Kaasokano, Sahakano, KaUakandiy and Addfudia, following from south-east to north-west on the northern slope of the Mahi water-parting, all with six thousand to ten thousand inhabitants, . and even more. He mentions incidentally on hearsay that the natives, probably akin to the Mossi, have succeeded in taming the elephant ; but in any case they raise a fine breed of horses, the playmates of the children from their infancy. Over GO miles below the Bussa, rai)ids stands Glajebo, already within (i Nup^ territory, which, thanks to its position on both sides of the river where it approaches nearest to the coast at Lagos, occupies one of the vital points for the