Journal of a second expedition into the interior of Africa, from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo : $b To which is added, the journal of Richard Lander from Kano to the sea-coast, partly by a more eastern route.Clapperton, Hugh
History
Journal of a second expedition into the interior of Africa, from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo : $b To which is added, the journal of Richard Lander from Kano to the sea-coast, partly by a more eastern route.
Clapperton, Hugh
Sudan (Region) -- Description and travel
Tuesday, 27th.—Morning clear for the first time since we left
Jannah—a strong wind blowing—our sick and myself the same—had
them well wrapped up in their hammocks. I suffered much from cold,
being lightly dressed. After leaving Ekwa we crossed a deep ravine,
and descended a hill on the ridge of which we travelled until we
arrived at Engwa, at 9 A.M.
At 11 A.M. Pearce had become much worse and quite insensible; and at
nine in the evening he breathed his last. From the moment of Captain
Pearce’s being taken ill, his wonted spirits supported him through
the progress of a disease that was evidently wasting his strength from
day to day; but after Dr. Morrison left us, he became less sanguine
of recovery, and wished Richard to remain in his room to keep him
company, as my duties in attending to the business of the mission
prevented me from being as much with him as I could have wished. On
the morning of our leaving Tshow I gave him some bark, but afterwards
the heat of his skin was so great, that I thought it prudent not
to give him any more, and he was too weak to venture on any strong
medicine. The death of Captain Pearce has caused me much concern,
for independently of his amiable qualities as a friend and companion,
he was eminently qualified by his talents, his perseverance, and
his fortitude to be of singular service to the mission, and on these
accounts I deplore his loss as the greatest I could have sustained,
both as regards my private feelings and the public service.
Wednesday, 28th.—At eleven this morning I interred the remains
of Captain Pearce, the whole of the principal people of the town
attending, and all the servants. The grave was staked round by the
inhabitants and a shed built over it: at the head of the grave,
an inscription was carved on a board by Richard, I being unable to
assist or even to sit up.
Saturday, 31st.—As I had heard nothing from Mr. Houtson as to the
fate of Dr. Morrison, I determined to wait here until I should get
a little stronger. In the evening, however, Mr. Houtson arrived,
who informed me that Dr. Morrison had died at Jannah on the same
day as Captain Pearce.
With the assistance (says Mr. Houtson) of old Accra, and the
caboceer’s messenger, I had the body washed and dressed, and at 8
A.M. on the morning of the 28th buried him at the south-west end of
the house we lived in; the king’s messenger and a number of people
attending. I read the church of England service over his remains,
and paid all the respect that circumstances permitted. I sent to
Badagry for a head board with an inscription stating his name and
the date and place of his death.
Tuesday, January 3d, 1826.—Left the town of Engwa in a hammock,
and reached the town of Afoora, where we were well lodged, and had
a present of yams, fowls, a goat, &c. The town is surrounded by a
stockade; the state of the atmosphere much changed for the better.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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