A biographical memoir of the late Dr. Walter Oudney, Captain Hugh Clapperton, both of the Royal Navy, and Major Alex. Gordon Laing, all of whom died amid their active and enterprising endeavours to explore the interior of AfricaNelson, Thomas
History
A biographical memoir of the late Dr. Walter Oudney, Captain Hugh Clapperton, both of the Royal Navy, and Major Alex. Gordon Laing, all of whom died amid their active and enterprising endeavours to explore the interior of Africa
Nelson, Thomas
Africa -- Description and travel; Clapperton, Hugh, 1788-1827; Laing, Alexander Gordon, 1794-1826; Oudney, Walter, 1790-1824
At Wawa, or according to Lander’s orthography of the town, Waw Waw,
Clapperton had a singular adventure with a rich widow of Arabian
extraction. This lady was between 30 and 40 years of age, and being
fairer than the natives of the city of her residence, was anxious to
be regarded as a white woman. She was the richest person in Wawa,
having the best house in town, and a thousand slaves; and was withal
a “perfect Turkish beauty—just like a walking water-butt.” Her great
riches, and her intriguing disposition, had prompted her oftener than
once to rise in rebellion against her rightful sovereign, who always
had the gallantry generously to pardon her on her submission. Though
it might have been supposed that the age of the tender passions was
over with the widow, yet she fell violently in love with Lander, and
tried all the female arts and winning ways her ingenuity could suggest
to induce him to visit her at her own house, but without success. She,
however, visited him; and on these occasions Clapperton humoured the
joke, and fanned the love-sick widow’s flame by sounding the praises
of his servant. He sat with as much _non challance_ as if he had been
at home in a Scottish cottage, with his arms folded, rolling out great
volumes of smoke from his pipe, enjoying this singular scene of African
courtship, and saying at intervals, to induce the widow to persevere
in her suit, “See what beautiful eyes he has,—if you were to search
from Badagry to Wawa, and from Wawa to Badagry, you would not find such
eyes.” While all the time poor Lander was embarrassed with the amorous
attentions of the widow, and was afraid lest he should be squeezed to
death by the closeness of her tender embraces. At length he mustered
courage fairly to tell her that he could not return her passion; and
though she afterwards ceased to persecute him farther, she was not, as
many of her sex in similar circumstances would have been, actuated by
the least feeling of revenge. On the contrary, she continued to regard
him with kindness to the last, but forthwith transferred her love to
Clapperton.
To ingratiate herself with him, she sent him rich and abundant store of
provisions ready cooked, and endeavoured to gain his black rascal of a
servant, Pasko, to her interests, by bribing him with a handsome female
slave for a wife. She invited the captain to pay her a visit, which
he accepted, and has given us, in his journal, the following graphic
account of his entertainment:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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