were desired to place themselves near him.
The walls of this apartment were adorned with very good prints of
George IV., the Duke of York, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington on
horseback, together with an officer of the light dragoons, in company
with a smartly dressed and happy looking English lady. Opposite to
them were hung horse accoutrements, and on each side were dirty
scraps of paper, containing select sentences from the Koran. On the
floor lay muskets, several handsomely ornamented lances, and other
weapons, all confusedly heaped together, by the side of a large
granite stone used for pounding pepper. These were the most striking
objects they observed in the king's hut, adjoining which were others,
through whose diminutive doors, the wives of Yarro were straining
their eyes to catch a glimpse of the white men.
When Lander spoke of proceeding to Yaoorie by way of Wowow and
Boussa, the king objected to their visiting, the former state, under
any condition whatever; alleging that three of the slaves who carried
the goods for Captain Clapperton, had never returned to him again,
but had remained at Wowow, where they were protected by the governor
Mahommed, and that if he should send others with them to that place,
they might do the same thing. He, therefore, promised to send them to
Boosa in four days by another road. Independently of the above
considerations, the king was highly incensed against the ruler of
Wowow for his harsh treatment of the widow Zuma, who was his friend
and relative, and who had lately fled to Boosa for the purpose of
claiming the protection of the king of that country.
It was reported that Yarro's father, the late king of Kiama, during
his life time had enjoyed the friendship of an Arab from the desert,
which was returned with equal warmth and sincerity. A similarity of
dispositions and pursuits produced a mutual interchange of kind
actions; their friendship became so great that the king was never
happy except when in the Arab's company, and as a proof of his esteem
and confidence, he gave him his favourite daughter in marriage. The
fruit of this alliance was the restless widow Zuma, and hence her
relationship to the then reigning monarch of Kiama. The friendship of
his father and the Arab lasted until the death of the latter. The
king, however, was inconsolable for his loss, and looked round him in
vain for some one to supply the place of his friend, but the ardour
of his affection was
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