Esalay, he appointed a deputy, and
privately fled to the neighbouring town of Shea, there to await the
final determination of his enraged sovereign. The Landers saw this
man at Shea, dressed in a fancifully made tobe, on which a great
number of Arab characters were stitched. He walked about at perfect
liberty, and did not seem to take his condition much to heart. The
inhabitants of Esalay, however, finding that their ruler had deserted
them, that they were threatened by the king of Katunga, and that the
Borgoo men emboldened by the encouragement they received from that
monarch, were also lurking about the neighbourhood, and ready to do
them any mischief, took the alarm, and imitating the example of their
chief, most of them deserted their huts, and scattered themselves
amongst the different towns and villages in the neighbourhood. Very
few people now resided at Esalay; and this town, lately so populous
and flourishing, was on the visit of the Landers little better than a
heap of ruins.

After passing through Esalay, they crossed a large morass and three
rivers, which intersected the roadway. The croaking from a multitude
of frogs which they contained, in addition to the noise of their
drum, produced so animating an effect on their carriers, that they
ran along with their burdens doubly as quick as they did before. They
then arrived at an open village called Okissaba, where they halted
for two hours under the shadow of a large tree, to allow some of
their men who had been loitering behind to rejoin them, after which
the whole party again set forward, and did not stop until they
arrived at the large and handsome walled town. Atoopa, through which
Captain Clapperton passed in the last expedition. During their ride,
they observed a range of wooded hills, running from N.N.E. to S.S.W.,
and passed through a wilderness of stunted trees, which was relieved
at intervals by patches of cultivated land, but there was not so much
cultivation as might be expected to be found near the capital of
Youriba.

The armed guides were no longer considered necessary, and, therefore,
on the 10th May, they set out only with their Badagry and Jenna
messengers and interpreters. On leaving Atoopa, they, crossed a
river, which flowed by the foot of that town, where their travellers
overtook them, and they travelled on together. The country through
which the path lay, was uncommonly fine; it was partially cultivated,
abounding in wood and water,