The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware advertiser., 1826-07-20
INTERIOR OF AFRICA.


of Kano, the great emporium of the king
dom of Houssa:
.sOn arriving at the lake, Maramy left us,
as he said, to look for the elephants, as the
Sheikh had desired him to take me close to
them; and ! commenced shooting and ex-
amining the beautiful variety of waterfowl
that were in thousands sporting over the wa
ter and on its shores. succeeded in shoot
ing m ost beautiful white bird of the crane
kind with black neck and long black bill,
and some snipes, which were as numerous
as swarms of bees, and in three shots killed I
four couple of ducks, and one couple of Wild !
geese: these were very handsomely in arked, |
and fire specimens. While | was thus en-
ploved, Maramv came galloping up, saying
that he had found three very large elephants
grazing to the southeast, close to the wa
ter. When we came to within a few hundred
yards Of them, all the persons on foot, and
nv servant on a mule,w ordered to halt,
while four of US, who were mounted, rode up
to these stupendous animals.
"Thc Shelkhs people began to screech
most violently. and although at first they APP
pcared to treat onr approach with contempt,
vet after a little they moved off, erecting
their cars, which had until then hung
fat on their shoulders, and giving roar that
shook the ground under us One was an
immense fellow, I should suppose sixteen
i feet high; the other two were females, and
moved away rather quickly, while the male
kept in the rear, AS if to guard their retreat
I'VE wheeled quickly round him, and Ma
ramv casting spear at him, which struck
him lust under the TAIL and seemed to give
! him as much pain as when we prick our fin
ger ;yth pin. the huge beast threw up his
proboscis in the air with loud roar, and
from it cast such volume of sand, that, ul-
prepared as was for such an event, nearly
blinded me. The elephant, rarely, II ever
attacks, and it is only when irritated that he
is dangerous; but he will sometimes run up
on q man and horse, after choking them
with dust, and destroy them in an instant.
7 AS we had cut him off from following his
companions. he took the direction leading to
where we had left the mule and tootmen.--
They quickly fed in all directions, and my
man Columbus (the mule not being inclined
to increase its pace) was so alarmed,' that
he did not get the better of it for the whole
day, We pressed the elephant not very
close, riding before, t hind, and on each side
of him; and his looks sometimes as he turn
ed his head, had the effect of checking in
stantly the speed of my horse-his pace ne
I yer exceeded clumsy rolling walk, but was
sufficient to keep our horses at a short gal
lop. gave him ball from each barrel o.
nv gun, at about Fifty yards distance, ;nc
the second which struck his car, seemed tt
give him a moments uneaslness only; nu
! the first, which struck him on the body, tail
, , ed in making the least impression. hite'
! giving him another spear, which iiew on M
tough hide without exciting the least sehsa
ton, we left him to his fate.
News was soon brought us that eight el
IL o.t No rIe1 distance and WcTi
: coming towards us: it was thought pruden
: to chase them away, and we all mounted TO
: that purpose. They appeared unwilling t
u go. and did not even turn their backs unit
q we went quite close, and had thrown seyera
l. spears at them; the flashes from the pan
4 Of the guns, however, appeared to alarm
J them more than any thing they retreate
very maestcally, first throwing out, as be
e fore, quantity of sand. a number OF tn
N birds, Eere called Tuda, were perched o
:, the backs of the elephants.-Ihese resem
"a blc thrush in shape and note, and were re
,. presented to me as being extremely useiui
II the elephant, in picking off the vermin froI
10 those parts which it is not in his power
reach.
to oJust before sunset we came upon her
u, of eIephants. fourteen or fifteen i'll number
4 these the negroes made to dance and IRIS
like so many goats; by beating violently
So brass basin with a stick and as night no
N began to cast over US its gloomy veil we as
NJ termined on fixing ourselves until mornin
y in small open space, where large tre
~ destroyed by the attacks OF the whte an
ne had fallen, and afforded us hrc-wood to pre-
40 pare our suppers; to seek it any distanc
x. would have been dangerous at that time
IS, the evening on account of the lions; and u
OF little grass which was gathered tor 0,
OF horses was furnished by the space in slgl
Of our tents.
90 sour animals were broght as close to
=. possible, and we kept up fires the grcat'
part of the night; few roaring salutation
and those principally from the elephant al
., iackal, were the only disturbance that
;c met with.
tie "The city is of an irregular oval snap
= about fifteen miles in circumference, al
&C. surrounded by clay wall thirty feet hlg
GU with dry ditch along the inside, ana a
,se other on the outside. There are hf.e'
jth gates: including one lately built up. ~
ke. gates are of wood, covered with sheet ITO
ch and are regularly opened and shut at su
NJ. M rise rise and sun set. Not more than one four
ny of the ground within the walls is occupi
,e. lby houses; the vacant space is laid out
fields and gardens. The houses are bulit
all CLAW. and are mostly of a square form, IN 7
r,.h;op with a central room, Z