Bofghö is said tóhé böundéd on the south by Yarriba, and
on the north by a large eodntry térified Cöuttea, which the
natives off Borgho assert to be inhabited by naked savages J
but thé Mohammedans, by civilized people.- Borgho is divided
into petty states ; Niki, K hiama, Wawa, and Boussa,
the last situated on the Niger* The people havé few cattle
but plenty of com, yams and other esculent plants. Their religion
is Paganism, but they óffer no human eSGrifiees. The
people of Boussa eat monkies, dogs, cats, rats, fish and mutton
# the latter only after sacrifices. The towns ÉS Borgho
are populous. Niki is said to be the superior state m the
empire^ though this dignity appears to he disputed, and is
sometimes claimed by Boussa. Khiama, the capital Of an inferior
province, may contain, as Clapperton informs u$ according
to a moderate estimate, 30,000 people. Wawa is sup-*
posed to contain 20,000.
The kingdom of Yarriba or Eyeö, supposed by some to her
the Gago of Leo Africanus, is situated to the southward df
Borgho.f It extends from about the 10th degree df iidrth
latitude to within a short distance off the sea-coast* occupying
a space between Dahomeh and Benin, from which last
country it is separated by the Niger or Quorra, Dahomeh,
Maha, and Badagry are considered as tributaries td Yarriba,
of which Eyeö, or Katunga, is the principal toWn.J
Captain Clapperton repeatedly assurés us, that the people
of Yarriba speak the same language as the natives of Borgho.§
We thus trace a connexion between the great empires in
* Clapperton says, that he was with the sultan of Boussa, when his breakfast
was brought in, which consisted of a large water-rat with the skin on, rice, &c.
V Eyeo or Yarriba in situation agrees nearly with the Gago of Leo, which is
placed by that writer four hundred miles to the southward of Tombuktü. But Leo
reckons Gago among the countries where the language óf Tombuktü is spoken,
while Kano, which lies between these two countries belongs to the Gubery family of
natrons. The language of Yarriba has no affinity to either of the Sudaniaii idioms.
t Clapperton’s Second Exped. p. 56.
§ Clapperton, p. 95. In p. 105 he says, w The language of the people of
Boussa is the same as that of the other states of Borgoo, and appears to be a dialect
of the. Yarriba, but the Houssa language is understood by all classes, even by
the Cumbrie.” At the end of this chapter the reader will find a vocabulary containing
specimens of the three principal languages of Stidan, viz. Tombuktd, Gtiber,
and Bom6, compared with each other and with thé idiom of Borgho and Yarriba,
and with that of Mobba or Bergó, which are all entirely distinct.
the interior' of Africa or Sudan, with the countries on the
coast. For Borgho is considered as an ancient dependency
of Bomu, and Yarriba extends, to Badagry, which borders
oh the^sf& of Bohia*
‘ic;According f©..Lander.,-.the .king .of Niki is.styled, by way of
distihotioH or euiinence, the sultan ,of Borgho. His .empire
includes theffollowing states? Niki, Bury, Khiama, Bandero,
Bangka, Korokoo, iLoogOP, and Fund.a. Boussa and Wawa
are said by Landerf© he no part of^the^empire of Borgho,
but to fepan a separate country, whene a different languageis
spoken and different manners prevail. It^eeiiis,lOffthe whole,
that the domain termed Borgho, is one of very uncertain extent,
and the relations of the tribes inhabiting this and the
Neighbouring countries are very little known- We haye to
regret the negligence so common among, dogfish travellers
in collecting vocabularies, in aid of'researches into ethnor
graphy. d: - ƒ ■1 -
It seems ffhat.the Niger or Quorra forms the .eastern boundary
pf Borgho and the country supposed to he connected
with it. On the opposite ride of this river .are the several
states of Youri, Nyff‘6 or Tappa, Jacoha and Fnnda. The
inhabitants of these countries appear to .be Negroes similar
in description to those of Borgho and Yarriba. -Clapperton
asspres us, that the language of the people of Ooulfu,
whielfrls: the principal town in Nyffe, is a -ffudect of the
Yarribean language.* It is dbemfore highly probable that
the people of Nyff6, and perhaps of o.ther countries tothe
eastward of the Quorra, are, as well as the Yarribean people,
of the same race as the natives of Borgho.
The people of Nyff6 are in part Pagans, of the same religion
as the Yarribeans.. The figures on their houses are the
same, vise, the lizard, crocodjile, tortoise and boa serpent.
They sacrifice once a-year a black hull, a black .deg, and a
black sheep, on a hill in .one of the southern provinces.
Many of the people of Nyffdj and a great proportion of those
of Borgho, have embraced Islkm.
We are informed by Lander, that the people of Boussa,
which He terms the principal state of Borgho, together with
* Clapperton, ,p. 142.