When Lander spoke of proceeding to Yaoorie by way of Wowow and Boussa, the king objected to their visiting, the former state, under any condition whatever; alleging that three of the slaves who carried the goods for Captain Clapperton, had never returned to him again, but had remained at Wowow, where they were protected by the governor Mahommed, and that if he should send others with them to that place, they might do the same thing.  He, therefore, promised to send them to Boosa in four days by another road.  Independently of the above considerations, the king was highly incensed against the ruler of Wowow for his harsh treatment of the widow Zuma, who was his friend and relative, and who had lately fled to Boosa for the purpose of claiming the protection of the king of that country.

It was reported that Yarro’s father, the late king of Kiama, during his life time had enjoyed the friendship of an Arab from the desert, which was returned with equal warmth and sincerity.  A similarity of dispositions and pursuits produced a mutual interchange of kind actions; their friendship became so great that the king was never happy except when in the Arab’s company, and as a proof of his esteem and confidence, he gave him his favourite daughter in marriage.  The fruit of this alliance was the restless widow Zuma, and hence her relationship to the then reigning monarch of Kiama.  The friendship of his father and the Arab lasted until the death of the latter.  The king, however, was inconsolable for his loss, and looked round him in vain for some one to supply the place of his friend, but the ardour of his affection was too strong, and held by the hope of following his friend to another world, he committed suicide.  This was the most affecting instance of genuine friendship, and indeed the only one, that came to the hearing of the travellers since they had been in the country.  Yarro was much attached to the widow Zuma, and she would have fled to Kiama, instead of going to Boosa, if her intentions had not been suspected, and her actions narrowly watched by the ruler of Wowow.

Unwilling as the Landers always were to infringe upon the observance of the Sabbath, they were nevertheless compelled on Sunday, May 30th, to submit to the mortification of cleaning and polishing a sword and pistol, which were sent them for that purpose by the king, against the approaching mahommedan festival.  Yarro shortly afterwards sent them a turkey, and one of his women presented them with a roasted badger, a quantity of yams, &c. for the use of one of their people.  On this evening, the wives of the king unanimously bestowed a severe reprimand on their royal husband for neglecting to offer them a portion of a bottle of rum, which was given to him on the preceding day.  The ladies scolded so lustily, that the noise was heard outside the wall surrounding their huts, which led them to make the discovery.  To appease the indignation of the irascible ladies, and to reconcile them to the loss of so great a dainty as a glass of rum, they were presented with a few beads, and some other trifles, but still it was evident that these fancy articles bore no comparison in the eyes of the ladies with the exquisite relish of the spirituous liquid.