Chapter IX

DIPLOMACY; DEPARTURE, AND RETURN TO LAGOS.

‘The Captain’ advanced swimmingly in his diplomatic movements, much to his own satisfaction. But this is a race equally regardless of the past and reckless of the future, with whom the present is ever all in all, and actual life the ‘be-all and end-all of all things:’ their brains are in matters of novelty marble to receive and wax to retain: nothing, if to be permanent, can be done in a hurry, or, rather, without a long delay: they forget all that has not been impressed upon them by many repetitions, and they regard what Englishmen call a ‘business-like manner’ with a supreme contempt. ‘He does half who does quickly,’ should be the Anglo-African’s rule.

Wednesday was a holiday; Thursday had its work. About 10·30 A.M. we proceeded to the ‘palace,’ where we were to be honoured with a private interview. This time we came ‘in mufti’ as friendly visitors; the demands of dignity had been satisfied; it was no longer necessary to keep us waiting or to send us back. Passing, as before, under the main entrance into the great patio, we entered the smaller and interior court, and sat down in the verandah where former audiences had been held. The hangings and draperies having been removed, we saw certain daubs like hatchments on the walls, placed to show where the Alake’s father and mother reposed: they were apparently intended for the human form divine, but they were too blurred and smoked to be readily distinguished. After sitting for a short time we were summoned into the interior. We dived under the verandah, and after a moment of _demi-jour_ we emerged into a room where the Alake was waiting to receive us.

The room was a complete Roman atrium—a style of architecture for which I can assign no reason in these climates. The hypæthral portion, where the mid-ceiling might be expected, was garnished with a large inverted cone of mat and thatch, which would direct the rain into the rude impluvium, a parallelogram sunk in the clay. Beneath it various doors opened into other minor rooms, and the walls were painted with the usual mixture of horse or cow dung and indigo. Above the great man’s place were hung ten Tower muskets, and a leopard’s skin so pale and pink that it might be mistaken for an ounce’s.

The Alake lay upon a plain carpet in an alcove at the head of the room, and four scattered feathers dangling to a bit of twine above him appeared to be his protecting fetish. There were no hangings, and his elbow rested upon a common bolster. He was more plainly and comfortably attired than usual, in a red fez without beads, with blue and red chequered cloths round his middle, the rest of the body being exposed to the abebe, or hide-fans of his wives. Besides the interpreters, four chiefs were present, namely, the two Akpesi, a stout personage called Okolomo, and a gray senior, the Lemo of the Ikporo township—each dirty little village has here its own dignitaries, and the number of titles seems endless. The great men, such as Somoye the Ibashorun, Osho the Oja’a or General, and Akodu the Balogun, were at the camp: these dignitaries, when not consulted upon public measures, especially foreign affairs, can, and probably will, object to everything done without their leave. The principal ministers—the ‘setters up and pullers down of kings,’—such as Ogubonna, Shokeno, and Ogushaye the Anaba, are, alas! no more.

The conference was manifestly intended to be private—for a good reason, it might afterwards, when necessary, be ignored. It began with much mystery, and all who entered were dismissed with some indignity. Presently, however, it was gradually broken into by women, children, and confidential slaves. It reminded me of the confabulations of the Sindh Ameers, who on such occasions of _haute politique_ stationed guards round their council-chamber to keep off eaves-droppers, and soon becoming excited, bawled so loud that they could be heard a mile off.

The talkee-talkee lasted about two hours. When the palaver flagged a deal table was brought in, and Abeokuta Williams, the pedagogue, indited, under dictation, a letter of apology to the acting governor of Lagos. The new treaty was then copied out in triplicate and signed with all formality. Commander Bedingfield wrote the names and marks, whilst the Alake and the two Akpesi, grinning as if on a funny occasion—were I in their waist-cloths no grin would have come from me—touched the pen’s end with the finger tip, and thereby legalized an instrument couched as follows:—

TREATY.

‘In consequence of the representations of Commander Norman B. Bedingfield, R.N., Senior Officer of the Bights Division of H.M.’s ships, the Alake and the chiefs of Ake express their regret that there should have been occasion for the complaint of their want of faith in keeping the treaty made between them and H.M.’s Government by Capt. Forbes in 1852.[1]

‘They now solemnly declare that the three articles mentioned below, and to which they have now affixed their names, shall be strictly enforced for the future, and be at once made public.

‘1st. With a view of strictly enforcing the 1st Article of the above- mentioned treaty, the Alake and chiefs hereby promise to stop the roads leading to Okeadon and other places by which slaves are sent to the coast for exportation against such export as far as it is in their power; and they will also punish severely any of their own people against whom it can be proved that they have broken this law.

‘2nd. The Alake and chiefs also solemnly declare that now and after this date no human being shall be sacrificed either by them, their people, or others inside or outside the walls of the town, or anywhere else in their territory.

‘3rd. It having been fully explained to the Alake and chiefs by Commander Bedingfield the injury caused to legal commerce by shutting the road between Lagos and Abeokuta, out of friendship to the Queen of England they are willing to promise that this road shall never again be stopped on any pretext whatever, without the consent and approval of H.M.’s Governor at Lagos: provided always, that when it is deemed expedient to prevent the Egbas from going to Lagos, the merchants must provide themselves with canoe men from that place.

‘Signed at the King’s Palace, this seventh day of November, 1861.

his
(Signed) ‘THE + ALAKE.
mark.

his
(Signed) ‘APESI + KEMETA.
mark.

his
(Signed) ‘LEMO + TROCU.
mark.

his
(Signed) ‘APESI + ERUNOON.
mark.

his
(Signed) ‘OKOLOMO +
mark.

(Signed) ‘NORMAN B. BEDINGFIELD,
Commander, R.N., Senior Officer for the Bights
Division of H.M.’s Ships.

(Signed) ‘RICHARD F. BURTON,
Captain, H.B.M.’s Consul, Fernando Po.

(Signed) ‘HENRY EALES,
Surgeon, H.M.’s Ship “Prometheus.”

(Signed) ‘DAVID WILLIAMS,
acting as Secretary to the Alake, witness
to the above signatures.

(Signed) ‘S. WILLIAMS,
Interpreter.’

It would hardly be believed that within the week after our return to Lagos a letter was received from Abeokuta confessing that a human sacrifice had taken place in broad daylight, and that some women had been kidnapped from the house of a Mr. King. The reason of the Alake and chiefs reporting these breaches of faith was their conviction that the news would go abroad, and the transaction be discovered, if not communicated by themselves. The misdeeds were not punished. The fact is, the subjects are too powerful for the sovereign.

[_Note._—The following is a copy of the original treaty concluded with the chief of the Egba nation, 5th Jan. 1852, and abridged from ‘Hertslet’s Commercial Treaties,’ vol. ix.:—

Frederick Edwyn Forbes, Esq., Additional Commander of H.M.S. ‘Penelope,’ on the part of Her Majesty the Queen of England, to the chiefs of the Egba nation and of the neighbourhood, on the part of themselves and of their country have agreed upon the following Articles and Conditions:—

I. Prohibits export of slaves to foreign countries under severe punishment.

II. No slave-traders to reside in territory of the king or chiefs of Lagos, and no buildings to be erected for the purpose of slave-trade; with permission to British officers to destroy such if the king consents.

III. Boats engaged in such slave-trade may be seized by British officers.

IV. Slaves for exportation shall be delivered to British for conveyance to British colonies, where they shall be liberated.

V. European slave treaty to be respected, and slave factories if not converted to lawful purposes within three months to be destroyed.

VI. British subjects may buy and sell throughout dominions, and have favours and privileges of most favoured nation.

VII. _Abolishes human sacrifices for religious purposes_, and prisoners taken in war not to be murdered.

VIII. Affords complete protection to missionaries; allows houses, schools, and chapels to be built by missionaries or ministers, and sets apart places of sepulture.

IX. Power reserved to French Government to become party to the treaty, agreeably with provisions contained in Art. V. of the convention between Her Majesty and the King of the French for the suppression of the traffic in slaves, signed at London, May 29, 1845.

In faith of which we have hereunto set our hands and seals at Abe, 5 Jan. 1852.

(L. S.) F. E. FORBES,

SAGBUA. OBASARON. OGUBONNA. SIKENO.

_Presidents of Abeokuta, or the Egba race._

TAMBALA, _Bulagon of Ikerehu._ AKIONME _for_ ARROBA, _Egba Agorra._

IMEMUNU, _Owu._ LAGEMO, _Owe_.

SUPPLEMENTARY TREATY.

ART. I. That Sierra Leone emigrants, natives of whatsoever country, are not allowed to be kidnapped.

ART. II. That we will not attempt to hinder the advance of missionaries, merchants, or others into the interior.

In faith of which we have hereunto set our hands and seals at Abe, 5 Jan. 1852.

Signed and sealed by the same parties.]

We then took formal leave. I can scarcely, however, quote on this occasion,

‘Such partings break the heart they fondly hope to heal.’

In good sooth we all seemed heartily glad to get rid of one other and of the whole business. In return for some little presents the Alake presented ‘the captain’ with a horse, which was supposed to be rather a superior animal. It was afterwards taken to Lagos, and sold. With due deference to superior judgment, I cannot but think that this part of the proceedings was a complete mistake. A present of provisions from an African chief or king must often be received, as its rejection would be deemed an insult, and an equivalent is easily sent back. But the rule which applies to all gifts of horses, arms, and jewellery in India ought equally to be carried out at the native courts in this part of the world. And, at all events, the sale of such present would be looked upon, not as a slight to the donor, but as a mark of bad breeding in the donee.

We had entered Abeokuta on Friday, the 1st, and Friday, the 8th of November, 1861, was to witness our departure—bad days both. The captain had, or fondly supposed that he had, succeeded in the principal objects of his mission, the three points of the new treaty, viz., the opening to Lagos of the Ogun River—which presently became tightly closed; the cessation of human sacrifice—which will not cease till the ‘screw’ is ‘turned on’ much more tightly; and, lastly, the abolition of the export slave trade—which requires to rest upon a much stronger basis than the mere marks of a petty barbarian prince and his chiefs.

‘_L’homme sensible en voyage_,’ says M. Boiste, ‘_est tenté de s’arrêter chez les premières bonnes gens qu’il trouve: chaque départ lui devient un supplice_.’ This was not quite our case, for Abeokuta was becoming of an almost intolerable dulness: we took regretful leave, however, of our hospitable entertainers. At 9 A.M. Commander Bedingfield and I walked—without cavalcade—to the Aro Gate, accompanied by Mr. Hughes, and closely followed by Mr. Eales and Messrs. Harrison and Wike. The luggage had been sent down in the morning, and the first and second gigs had been drawn up from midstream, where they had anchored, to the landing- place. A wild beast of a Yoruba pony charged down upon me, and the umbrella with which the attack was received nearly put my eye out: considering, however, that it was Friday, I congratulated myself upon a very pretty escape. A final libation to Bacchus was poured out, and after another shaking of hands we found ourselves once more upon the broad bosom of Father Ogun.

The stream is essentially a rain river, filling gradually and uniformly, without freshets. During the last week, though there had been three heavy down falls, it had sunk several inches, a sure sign that the ‘dries’ were setting in. The deeper pools were like the beads of a chaplet connected by a thread of shallows, and the boat, though drawing barely a foot, touched bottom on each middle ground as we crossed the sandbanks joining the salient and the re-entering angles. Almost within sight of Aro we shot a little rapid, a clear way in a ridge of rocks, which seemed to rise under both bows. At 11·30 A.M. we dropped past Agbameya, the lower port or landing-place of Abeokuta: the ferry, where people are sometimes drowned, was in full activity, and the market-wives left their blies and baskets of maize and manioc, kankie and fufu, to stare at the departing strangers. Another hour, and we were alongside of Moroko, where on the up voyage we had halted for a pleasant breakfast. Another brought us to Takpana, where the naked nigger boys would bathe with their mammas and sisters, who apparently do not believe that

‘The chariest maid is prodigal enough

If she disclose her beauties to the moon.’

Our Krumen found it necessary to lie upon their oars, and to ‘chop water’ every half-hour, which rendered progress slow. Down-stream, however, was very different ‘challing’ from up-stream. We reached Baragu about 7·30 P.M.; it was black dark, and the number of cross ropes rendered the navigation of the river peculiarly troublesome after the short twilight had been extinguished by the gloom.

We spent a right merry evening at Baragu, where the head-man cleared out for us the verandah of a large fetish-house, which showed through the bamboo walls the usual number of ugly little dolls, enshrined in a large bare room. The Baraguans, however, must be a somewhat bigoted race. They would not allow us to set foot within the sanctuary, an unpleasant contrast with the Rationalists of Mabban. The male population squatted round to see ‘the captain’s’ hammock-lines made taut, and the fairer sex, which still displayed the _vis superba formæ_—in figure, not in face—formed an outer ring. A drum soon made its appearance, and after we had passed round a social glass of toast, rum, and gin, the merriment waxed fast and furious. There was singing, feasting, and dancing; in fact, quite an African ‘swarry,’ only lacking the mutton and caper sauce. Our hosts were perfectly civil and obliging, and so were our hostesses—rather too much so I could prove, if privileged to whisper into the reader’s ear. But what would Mrs. Grundy say? The night was soft and balmy; after the reeking sunny day, we enjoyed the refreshing season of rest, and the verandah floor, though not without knots, was more satisfactory than a feather bed in the best bedroom of ——. Upon the whole, our trip was decidedly ‘jolly.’

On Saturday, the 9th, we arose betimes, and left Baragu at 5·30 A.M., before any of the revellers were awake: these people have the good sense to sleep as long as they can. The river-fog was as dense and clammy as ever; the snags were numerous; so were the ropes, and we were obliged to row carefully for fear of an upset. About sunrise we halted for a few minutes at Illugu, where the ill-fated Sancho (pronounced Sanco) had strayed from his mourning owner. The Krumen went up to the village, and inquired concerning that amiable but mangy animal—in vain; our pleasant companion had probably found a living grave in the bread-basket of some hard-iliac’d Illaguan—the canine _salmi_ is relished by these races—and we left the fatal spot with spirits sadly depressed.

Halting for breakfast at Igaon, we had the satisfaction of finding Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in the very best of health. The head-man brought us a fowl, for which he demanded rum or a head of cowries; he then begged for something to eat, and was told that it was his duty to take in, not to let in the stranger. He was also warned that sundry complaints against him had been sent to Lagos, and that he must no longer levy ‘black mail’ upon travellers and canoe-men going up the river. Our stay was short; the rum was ended, and the claret running very low; we were naturally anxious to arrive at a place of plenty—Lagos. There is one advantage in these excursions. Although the _jeunesse dorée_ of Abeokuta looks upon that sea-port much as the English young woman from the country-house regards the season and the great matrimonial bazar of London, I had hitherto held it to be the last and lowest of created places, save and except only Fernando Po. Twelve days of sweltering at ‘Understone’ had so modified my views, that it now rose before the mental eye as the home of comfort and luxury. Thus Saadi’s philosopher cured his slave of howling with terror in the boat by throwing him for a few minutes into the sea.

We left Igaon at 8·40 A.M., and after passing sundry settlements, which were not exactly like

‘Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain,’

we halted off the mouth of the Agboi Creek to await Mr. Eales in the second gig. Commander Bedingfield and I determined to inspect the longer route, _viâ_ the main stream, and the ‘doctor’ was equally resolved to reach head-quarters with the least possible delay.

At 10·30 A.M. we parted, and struck in the first gig down the lower Ogun. It rapidly narrowed, and in places widened out again. The banks on both sides were thickly forested, and we judged from the number of the paths abutting upon the water that many villages must be scattered through the bush. The river appeared, however, almost deserted; hardly a canoe was upon its waters, and the windings at times threatened a return to ‘Understone.’ The fishing-ropes also were many and troublesome; being thinner than those in the upper stream, they more than once unshipped our rudder. About half-way we passed on the right a wretched fishing- village—six huts, mere wattlings, thatched with palm-leaves, raised on piles above the inundation, redolent of squalor, and surrounded by filth and fetid mud. We asked its name, and were told ‘Ojogu.’

Advancing, we found that as we neared the mouth the river narrowed. Such is frequently the case in these regions, where the beds of streams want slope, and where the soppy ground, half-reclaimed from the waves, absorbs the greater part of the down-flow. For the reverse reason, the head or upper waters are, for the most part, mill-torrents. We were fortunate enough to meet a canoe at a critical point where the Ogun falls; the left appeared to be the larger branch, but it terminated in a _cul de sac_. Taking the right, we bade leave to forest trees, in which the long-tailed monkeys were disporting themselves, ascending the topmost boughs for the benefit of their health, and cautiously and curiously walking along the horizontal branches, to enjoy, as we went by, a better reconnoitre of their ‘big brothers.’ Presently we entered the mangrove forest, whose aërial roots, a conework of props converging where the trunk springs, must often have been upwards of fifteen feet high; it is not improbable that they suggested to the first African the idea of the first hut. In some places, especially at the bifurcation of the river, the trees were so high and thick that they suggested the idea of a raised bank—a frequent formation near the courses of West African creeks and rivers. It is probably caused by the vegetation being based upon a firmer soil, not upon the soft mud in which the smaller and more scrubby mangrove delights.

We came to the conclusion that the line of the main river was considerably longer than that of the Agboi Creek, and the eastern sweep of the former, compared with the regular northing of the latter, justified it. Presently the mangroves lessened in size, and the stream narrowed to a few yards: it was so thickly banked with tall, light-green grasses and aquatic plants that the oars could hardly work, and we anticipated the pleasing task of turning back. A short furlong, however, exposed the broad and well-known face of the Ikoradu water, which we greeted as if it had been a firm friend, instead of a fierce enemy, to the white man. According to all local authorities, Father Ogun, until quite lately, boasted of a broad and open mouth, such as becomes a sacred stream; of late years it has apparently been blocked up by its own growth. This must greatly reduce its value; none but the smallest of river tugs could plough a way through the tangled entrance; and thus communication on an extensive scale between Lagos and Abeokuta will be confined to canoes, roads, tramways, and eventually the rail.

Exactly at noon we found ourselves in the lagoon. The coast here forms a deep, narrow bight, with a comparatively high and a densely-wooded point, extending far out on each side. To our left, or westward, lay the market-place or bazar, where the bushfolk and the citizens of Ikoradu meet every eight days. There were a few tattered huts, all at that time deserted. They are about half an hour’s walk from the town. The way is a deep rut in the red clay, forming during the rains a rivulet unmanageable to any nag but a Yoruban, and at all times tiresome to English feet and ankles. The land is a mass of impenetrable vegetation, where no umbrella is wanted till within a few yards of the habitations. On a subsequent occasion I visited it with Mr. M‘Coskry, and found it to be the normal Yoruba settlement, girt with clay wall and dry ditch, and gates like bungalows for the accommodation of the guards. The interior was a _rus in urbe_, containing much more jungle than house. The only semi-civilized being seemed to be a native teacher stationed there for propagandist purposes. Formerly it was committed to the charge of M. Flad, a German missionary. The people were by no means startled by the weird apparition—and none but the smallboys showed emotion—and we were allowed to saunter into and about the open Ogboni lodge, whose inmates we inspected with that nonchalant stare peculiar to Britons and to the higher order of savages. ‘Produce me,’ said Mr. Jollins, ‘a respectable inhabitant of an English country town, and I will match him in the matter of solid and silent staring against any man over the whole surface of the world.’ On another and a subsequent occasion, however, the burghers of Ikoradu town were not so civil to a party of more dignified visitors, and if rumour speak truth, their town somewhat narrowly escaped a summary bombardment.

Return we to the first gig, which was in no pleasant plight, as she emerged from the embrace of Father Ogun. The sea-breeze blew steadily in our faces, and the tide ran strong against us. We were still seven miles from Lagos, and our progress was painfully slow, chiefly owing, said ‘the captain,’ to the size and the obstinacy of my umbrella. As we progressed, a new appearance was noticed in the water, which was verdant with a substance apparently floating up with the tide. The material was disposed in clots, lumps, and balls, varying in size from a pin’s head to a grape-shot, which when taken in the hand, proved to be slimy and soft, like agglomerations of decayed vegetable matter. We afterwards found the beach at Lagos pea-green with several inches of the deposit, which, after drying in the sun, emitted a most peculiar and offensive odour.[2] The thermometer showed 6° (Fah.) higher than usual, and the sea breeze, which usually sets in at 11 A.M., delayed till the afternoon: there was no change in the barometer. The deposit was first remarked on November 8th, and the merchants lost no time in removing it from their ‘beaches.’ The old hands, however, began to presage evil, and their predictions were accomplished but too well. Out of ninety-eight English crew, H.M.S. ‘Prometheus’ had lost during twenty-three months only two men from fever, and during the last third of the year, when she had been lying off Lagos, exposed to all its evil influences, there was only one decidedly febrile case on board. But these climates are treacherous beyond description. Immediately after the appearance above noticed, the sick began to flock in apace; we heard first of one death, then a second,—whilst twelve bad cases were reported. Before the end of December there were one hundred and seven fevers, intermittent, remittent, and continued: between 14th of November and December 3rd, no less than forty-eight were on the sick list. Finally, after a few weeks, except one old quartermaster there was not a ‘Promethean’ who had not had fever; and it was only by removal to Ascension Island, where fifty- seven men were sent, that the lives of the crew were saved.

At 1 P.M. we sighted the second gig emerging from the Agboi creek. We flattered ourselves that her course would be a hypothenuse, and much we prayed that she might ground or stick; but Jupiter turned a deaf ear—she beat us by a good half-hour. Doubtless that umbrella! Our Krumen were urged to exertion by an awful-looking cloud, a purple black pall, with a broad, white arch, that seemed to open a gateway for the coming blasts, and the mass rose steadily against the wind, which presently fell to a calm. At 5 P.M. we landed, after twelve days’ absence, at Lagos, somewhat wiser if not better men. After passing—

‘Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum—’

all on a very small scale, I reinstated myself with a lively sensation of pleasure in the old quarters at the house of my kind and hospitable friend, M‘Coskry, where it was easy to forget the minute discomforts and inconveniences of our Flying Visit to Abeokuta.

L’ENVOI.

Yoruba, as the list of its trade articles proves, may in time become a valuable possession, and its sole important port, Lagos, is now in our hands. The seaboard will supply large quantities of palm oil; the interior is rich in shea butter, ivory, and, if due encouragement be given, a certain amount of cotton. The gossipium, even wild, is, and I believe always will be, better than the best crop ever grown in India. The transit is shorter, and should be less costly. At present, however, there is a want of population, resulting from three causes—human sacrifice, slave exporting, and petty wars.

Human sacrifice does not absorb much of the population; but it points to habits of destruction, and to a moral degradation which cannot but be prejudicial to the increase of a birth rate. Slave export still thrives in the Bight of Benin: the Ijaye are said during the last two years to have lost 20,000 of their number, partly kidnapped for domestic slavery, partly exported to Cuba. Petty wars are at present the normal condition of the land, and the causes are so complicated, that nothing but _main forte_ can put them down. The Moslems of the Sudan, or Upper Nigerian regions, are pressing heavily upon the peoples of the South. The Yorubas, or non-maritime races, removed sixty miles from the seaboard, are fighting for free transit. The Egbas, or tribes lying between Yoruba and the coast, especially the Abeokutans, under pretence of recovering their ancestral homes, are contending for the monopoly of the road, and are aspiring to change honest labour for the lazy life of brokers or middlemen, like the townsmen at the mouth of the Oil Rivers in the Bight of Biafra. It is evident that, under such circumstances, regularity, which is the first requisite of the cotton crop, cannot be expected.

The remedy for these various evils consists in stationing at Lagos a military force sufficiently strong to impose terms upon obstinate breakers of the public peace. As bygone details have proved, no extensive establishment is required; the force need not exceed six hundred men. At present, the people require a lesson: they own the superiority of the English by sea, but—the error is excusable—they still hold themselves to be on land the greatest warriors in the world. To consult economy rather than efficiency at Lagos, is—quoting an old saying—‘to throw good money after bad.’ The object of such a colony should be economy; to diminish the expense of a squadron which, including head-money for captured slaves, and other minor items, can hardly amount to less than one million of pounds sterling per annum.[3] As the West African coast comes more directly under our command, this disbursement may be reduced to one-tenth.

We have now an excellent opportunity of trying a novel and modern experiment in colonization, and I sincerely hope that experience will have enabled us to steer clear of the errors and misconceptions that have operated so fatally upon our settlements at Bathurst and Sierra Leone. The latter is, indeed, a warning. If the exact reverse of everything that was done in the early part of the present century had been done, we might have seen a thriving and extensive colony of liberated negroes where now there is a wretched and degraded population of hucksters and idlers.[4]

There need no longer be any objection to stationing European officials at Lagos. A future page will show that, within two days’ steam of that dangerous port, there is a mountain range which, with little labour, may be made a sanitarium for the whole coast of Western Intertropical Africa. Camaroons Mountain, where snow falls at times all the year round, and upon whose glorious summit the mercury sinks at night below zero at all seasons, is thus more easily and effectually connected with Lagos than the Mahabuleshwar Hill Station is with Bombay.

I need hardly repeat the phrase _publicâ trita manu_, that if my exertions tend in any way to develop the resources of the West Coast of Africa, my expenditure of time and trouble will have been amply repaid.

[Footnote 1: See _Note_ on page 7.]

[Footnote 2: It appears at uncertain intervals about June, lining the beach and extending for some yards from the water. Mr. Eales found by the microscope that it was composed of animal and vegetable in different stages of decomposition, and gas was evolved, most probably sulphuretted and carburetted hydrogen.]

[Footnote 3: A thoroughly efficient blockading squadron would consist of at least 13 steam-cruisers, besides a provision-ship, and a frigate for the Commodore’s flag, viz.:—

For the North Coast 3 | The Bight of Biafra 1
|
The Bight of Benin 4 | The South Coast 5

This is not more than the squadron which the French Government stations off Goree and St. Louis de Senegal, but I am convinced that the prevention of slavery would be more easily effected by land than by sea. The mere capture of slavers exasperates the evil by rendering other shipments necessary. The encouraging and supporting commerce, induces the people to turn their attention from illicit to licit traffic.]

[Footnote 4: N.B.—This was written in 1861.]

THE CAMAROONS MOUNTAINS.

AN EXPLORATION.

* * * * *