The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-15 00:00:00

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Royal Geographical Society.

Three papers were discussed yesterday, at the
evening meeting of this society, at Burlington House
—Sir R. I. Murchison, president, in the chair. The
first was an account of a journey, performed in
1862, to Kano from the Niger Bay, by the late W.
B. Baikie. The account was derived from various
extracts from the doctor's journal, in the possession
of the Foreign Office. In Dec., 1861, Dr. Baikie
left the settlement he had formed at the confluence
of the Niger and Binuwe and went to liida, the
capital of Nupe, a town of great size, to the north
of the Kwora, from which it is distant about 16
mi'es. It was not before the month of April that
a. rangements for the journey were completed, pack
oxen bought, and the jealousy of the native traders
overcome. On the 12t1i April, 1862, Dr. Baikie
set out in company with Ibrahim, a native of Zo. iya,
then returning with presents from King Massaba to
his chief. The first was a short march of nine miles
to Kpakpag6 over level wooded country. Next day
many towns of considerable size were passed, and
the boundary of the kingdom of Nupe crossed. The
party slept at Lernu, inhabited by Gbari, a heathen
race, who, on the arrival of the travellers, were cele-
brating a Pagan festival. On the 14th they came
to Teije, which overlooks the valley of the river
Kaduna, the country passed consisting of low undu-
lating plains with sandstone ranges, covered with
grays, bush, and forest. The meadow in front was
clothed with grass and a few large trees scattered
here and there, in which the people had placed bee-
hives made of basket-work. On the 16th they crossed
the alluvial valley and reached Gbogi, and spent
the night at a town of the Bassa people, from which
an extensive view was obtained over a flat mono-
tenous landscape. These Bassa are part of a wild,
turbulent race, living in isolated communities. At
the foot of a sandstone ridge on which the town was
built lay a pool of water full of crocodiles, fed and
worshipped by the Pagan inhabitants of the place.
After crossing seeerid sandstone ridges clothed with
bush and trees, among which were the fleshy en-
phorbia, 'they made a steady ascent to GarouGobez.
On one of the ridges before coming to Gumna there
are several prominent peaks of semi-vitrified rock.
Gumna is built between iwo rocky hills which rise
from a well-cultivated plain. It is the chief town
of this portion of Bassa, and contained 3,000 mixed
population. Leaviag Gamna they crossed a low ridge
of granite, and entered a rocky defile with perpen-
dicular faces 200 fee high, on which were native
villages, whose inhabitants are an industrious race,
cultivating the rich lands below. Tegyina, which
they came to next, contains as many inhabitants as
Gumna, chiefly Kamuko. Although inferior in rank
to that place, it is a town of greater importance. In
the market milk and butter were cheap and plenti-
ful, as also were vegetables—but gu'nea worm is
very prevalent among the people. On the 21st April
they came to a detached rock named Ungwoi Ka-
rami, which rises 500 feet out of the plain. Here is
a barrier of thorns, at which toll is demanded of a'l.
caravans at the rate of five cowries each man. Being
the King's guest this toll was not demanded, but a
present given instead. After passing the second of
these barriers' the rocks retire t) the west, leaving
an open valley and a huge rock standing in front
at a small village. While huts were being prepared,
the party sat down under a baobab tree. Behind
was a perr enclicular face of rock, and near it some
women were rubbing down grain into meal under
the shade of euphorbia which grew from one of the
crevices. The green valley in front, dotted with
trees, pools of water, and herds of cattle, seemed
l'ke an English park. The chief's daughter, a lady
of mature age, brought water to drink ; she was
dressed with only a few leaves hung in front from a
cord round the waist ; the men had a leather apron
behind. Yet this independent, Jude people ere
-kind a-id intell'gent. From Unuwoi they pro-
ceeded successively to Kamuko and Wassaba ;
the last a wa'led town, bui't at the foot of
a corical hill of granite, from halfway up
which a general view of the country was obtained,
but Dr.Baikie was prevented ascending, its summit
being held sacred by the natives. Inside the town
walls were borassus, hyphaene, and date palms ; by
the river sides in the surrounding districts the raphea
and wild date-palms are abundant. Their path was
next through dense jungle, with open glades in which
herds of cattle were grazing. 'The rhea-butter tree
attains an unusual size, and ripens its fruit in June.
The people were busy collecting fruit of the locust
tree. On passing Gideon Magaja they left Kamuko
and entered again among the Gbari, sleeping in
the town of Karsi, beautifully situated in a valley.
Many smelting furnaces were seen, and iron-ore is
abundant. At Ruku the papan tree was seen in
cultivation, and on the 28th April they entered the
country of the Zariya, and crossed a dense forest
fo'l of wild animals on the banks of the Karsi. The
deleb palm forms a marked feature in the landscape
with its tall swollen stems. On the 30th they were
before Zariya, one of the centres Qf commerce in
Haussa, and frequented by merchants from Bornu,
Adamawa, and Nupe. The silk cotton trees which
surround the town distinguish it in the plain; of
these there are upwards of 1,000, varying from 50
to 70 feet high. When close to the city a small
stream is crossed, and the ground rises to the walls,
which are ten miles in circumference, and from 16
to 18 feet high, pierced by eight gates, the
ninth having been closed after the entrance of
Mallam Musa. At a former time the space in-
cluded by .he wall was much greater, and included
the Kufena Hills to the north-west, 700 feat high,
and from which the only general view of the city is
to be had. The general height of the plain of Zariya
is about 200 ft above the sea. The King was absent,
engaged in war, but messengers went to inform him
of Dr. Baikie's arrival. The slave market here has
diminished of late years, not more than 300 daily
being usually found, whilst three years previously
as many as 4,000 might have been seen. The
mosque is a large bulldinz„ 120 feet long, with two
domes and a square tower. Dr. Baikie joined the
King, and numerous incidents were detailed. On
July 25 he reached Kano ; returning from thence
he got back to Gumna Sept. 25, and finally reached
his own station on the confluence of the Kwora and
Niger in December.
The second paper, " On the North-east Province
of Madagascar," was by the .Wshop of Mauritius;
and a third, "A Diary of a Hill Trip in Burmah,"
was by Lieut. Lewin.