Chapter XX

Departure from Eboe — Addizetta — Superstitious Ceremonies — Passengers of the Canoe — Banks of the River — The Tide observed — The Travellers met by the Chief of Brass Town — Description of King Forday — Fetísh Ceremonies — Procession of Canoes to Brass Town — Arrival — Description of Brass Town — Its Productions — The King’s House — The Travellers neglected — Interview with King Forday — Preparation for leaving Brass Town.

_Friday, November 12th._—A great tumult arose last night between the natives and the men of Brass, which might have had a serious and fatal termination, if the latter had not taken timely precaution to convey their canoe from the beach into the middle of the stream, whither the natives could not follow them. The natives had flocked down to the water’s edge in considerable numbers, armed with muskets, spears, and other offensive weapons, and kept up a dreadful noise, like the howling of wolves, till long after midnight, when the uproar died away. During the night my brother experienced a smart paroxysm of fever, which left him towards morning very languid and heartless. He was prevented from taking medicine, not only from our exposed situation, but likewise from its awkwardness and unpleasantness, originating from the number of people amongst whom we were literally jammed. King Boy slept on shore with his wife _Addizetta_, who is Obie’s favourite daughter, and on her account we waited till between seven and eight o’clock in the morning, when she made her appearance with her husband,—who we understand has embraced the present opportunity of making an excursion with her to his native country, to vary her life a little by a change of air and scene, and to introduce her to his other wives and relatives residing at Brass. She has besides expressed a desire to see white men’s ships, and it is partly to gratify her curiosity in this particular that she is going with us. On stepping into the canoe, with a spirit of gallantry, Boy handed her to the best seat, which was a box, close to which he himself sat, and which we had relinquished in her favour from motives of delicacy. Her face was towards the bow, while my brother and I sat directly _vis à vis_ on a heap of yams; but we were so close to the opposite party, that our legs came continually in contact, which threatened to produce much inconvenience and some confusion. We were still further detained by removing various heavy articles into another canoe which was lying alongside, because ours was pronounced too deeply laden to be safe; but after all she did not appear to be lightened very considerably. This being done, at half past seven we pushed off the Eboe shore, and for a little while, with forty paddles dashing up the silvery foam at the same moment, we glided through the water with the speed of a dolphin. To us it afforded no small gratification.

The eyes of man are so placed in his head, that it has been frequently observed, whether sitting or standing, he can behold earth and sky at the same moment without inconvenience, which is an advantage, I believe, that no other animal possesses in an equal degree, if he does at all. As I was reflecting on this circumstance, I happened to cast my eyes towards the horizon, to convince myself of its reality, when I found the tall, masculine figure of Obie’s favourite daughter intercepted it entirely from my view. Being thus baulked for the moment in my intentions, I was instantly diverted from them, and I thought the opportunity favourable for studying the physiognomy and person of King Boy’s ‘Ladye-love.’ Addizetta may be between twenty and thirty years of age, or perhaps younger, for she takes snuff, and females arrive at womanhood in warm countries much sooner than in cold ones. Her person is tall, stout, and well proportioned, though it has not dignity sufficient to be commanding; her countenance is round and open, but dull, and almost inexpressive; mildness of manners, evenness of temper, and inactivity of body also, might notwithstanding, I think, be clearly defined in it; on the whole she had a perfect virginity of face, which betrays not the smallest symptom of feeling. Her forehead is smooth and shining as polished ebony, but it is rather too low to be noble; her eyes full, large, and beautiful, though languid; her cheeks of a Dutch- like breadth and fulness; her nose finely compressed, but not quite so distinguished a feature as the negro nose in general; there is a degree of prettiness about her mouth, the lips not being disagreeably large, which is further embellished by a set of elegant teeth, perfectly even and regular, and white as the teeth of a grey-hound; her chin—but I am unable to describe a chin; I only know that it agrees very well with the other features of her face.

Addizetta seldom laughs, but smiles or simpers most engagingly whenever she is more than ordinarily pleased; and she seems not to be unconscious of the powerful influence which these smiles have over the mind of her husband. Her dress and personal ornaments may be described in few words; the former consisting simply of a piece of figured silk, encircling the waist, and extending as far as the knees; her woolly hair, which is tastefully braided, is enclosed in a net, and ends in a peak at the top; the net is adorned, but not profusely, with coral beads, strings of which hang from the crown to the forehead. She wears necklaces of the same costly bead, copper rings encircle her fingers and great toes, bracelets of ivory her wrists, and enormous rings, also of elephant’s tusks, decorate her legs, near the ancle, by which she is almost disabled from walking, on account of their ponderous weight and immense size. I had almost finished the scrutiny of her person, when Addizetta, observing me regarding her with more than common attention, at length caught my eye, and turned away her head with a triumphant kind of smile, as much as to say, ‘Aye, white man, you may well admire and adore my person; I perceive you are struck with my beauty, and no wonder neither;’ yet I immediately checked the ill-natured construction which I had put on her looks, and accused myself of injustice. For though, said I to myself, Addizetta, poor simple savage, may be as fond of admiration as her white sisters in more civilized lands; yet her thoughts, for aught I know, might have been very remote from vanity and self-love. However, that she smiled I am quite certain, and very prettily too, for I saw a circling dimple radiating upon her full, round cheek, which terminated in a momentary gleam of animation, and illuminated her dark languishing eye like a flash of light—and what could all this mean? I had forgotten to say that the person of Obie’s daughter is tattooed in various parts; but the incisions, or rather lacerations, are irregular and unseemly. Her bosom, in particular, bears evident marks of the cutting and gashing which it had received when Addizetta was a child; for the wounds having badly healed, the skin over them is risen a full half inch above the natural surface. By the side of each eye, near the temple vein, a representation of the point of an arrow is alone formed with tolerable accuracy. They look as though indigo had been inserted into the flesh with a needle; and by this peculiarity, with which every female’s face is impressed, the Eboe women are distinguished from their neighbours and surrounding tribes.

Before breakfast, Addizetta was employed above an hour in cleaning and polishing her teeth, by rubbing them with the fibrous roots of a certain shrub or tree, which are much esteemed and generally used for the purpose in her own country, as well as in the more interior parts. Great part of the day is consumed by many thousands of individuals in this amusing occupation, and to this cause the brilliant whiteness of their teeth, for which Africans, generally speaking, are remarkable, may be attributed.

About ten in the morning a mess of fish, boiled with yams and plantains, was produced for breakfast. As King Boy was fearful that our presence might incommode his lady, we were desired to move farther back, that she might eat with additional confidence and comfort, for, alas! we are not placed on an equality with Addizetta and her kingly spouse. When they had breakfasted, and swallowed a calabash of water from the stream, we ourselves were served with a plateful, and afterwards the boat’s crew and the slaves were likewise regaled with yams and water. In the evening another refreshment, similar to this, was served round to all; and these are the only meals which the men of Brass have during the twenty-four hours. Before eating himself, Boy makes it a practice of offering a small portion of his food to ‘the spirits of the river,’ that his voyage may be rendered propitious by conciliating their good-will. Previous also to his drinking a glass of rum or spirits, he pours a few drops of it into the water, invoking the protection of these fanciful beings, by muttering several expressions between his teeth, the tenor of which, of course, we do not understand. This religious observance, we are told, is invariably performed whenever the Brass people have occasion to leave their country by water, or return to it by the same means; it is called a meat and drink offering, and is celebrated at every meal. A custom very similar to this prevails in Yarriba, at Badágry, Cape Coast Castle, and along the western coast generally;—the natives of those places never take a glass of spirits without spilling a quantity of it on the ground, as a ‘fetísh.’ In the morning we observed a branch of the river running off in a westerly direction, the course of the main body being south- west.

We stopped awhile at various little villages during the day, to purchase yams, bananas, and cocoa-nuts; and the curiosity of their poor inhabitants at our appearance was intense. They are chiefly fishermen or husbandmen, and, notwithstanding our uncouth and remarkable dress, they behaved to us without rudeness, and even with civility, so that their inquisitiveness was not disagreeable. Speaking-trumpets, we should imagine, are quite a novelty with the men of Brass, by the extraordinary rapture which they display for their music, which certainly is anything but melodious. Two of these instruments, as we said yesterday, are in the canoe, for the convenience of issuing orders, and they have not been from the mouths of the officers for ten minutes together during the whole day, so great has been the desire of all to breathe through them, and add to the deafening noises made by their constant quarrelling with each other. This is a great annoyance, but we are constrained to submit to it in silence; besides, it is entirely superfluous, for the voices of the people are of themselves loud and powerful enough for all the common purposes of life; and when they have a mind to strain their _brazen_ lungs, no speaking-trumpet that has ever been made, be it ever so large, could match the quantity of horrid sound which they make—it would drown the roaring of the sea. In addition to the officers and attendants in the canoe that we mentioned yesterday, we have one drummer, the king’s steward, and his lady’s maid, and two persons to bale out water, besides three captains, to give the necessary directions for the safety of the canoe. The noise made by these fellows as we started, in bawling to their fetísh through the trumpet, was beyond all description. Their object was to secure us a safe journey, and most certainly, if noise could do so, we were pretty certain of it. The villages that we passed in the course of the day were very numerous, and distant not more than two or three miles from each other on the banks of the river. They were surrounded by more cultivated land than we have seen this last fortnight; the crops consisting of yams, bananas, plantains, Indian corn, &c., &c., and we have not seen so much since leaving Kacunda. The banks here seem to be well calculated for the growth of rice, and every other grain that we have seen in the interior. The villages had a pleasing appearance from the river. The houses seem to be built of a light-coloured clay, and being thatched with palm branches, they very much resemble our own cottages. They are of a square form, with two windows on each side of the door, but have no upper rooms.

The villagers seem to be equally as distrustful as those above Eboe town, in trading with our people, for the men only came down with their yams and fish, and were armed with guns and swords. The fish they brought us consisted of cat-fish and shrimps, which had been smoked over a wood-fire, and when boiled were very palatable. The villagers had no tattoo marks; they wear the grass cloth fastened round their waists, and the better sort wore printed cottons. We engaged two small canoes to carry the yams we had purchased.

In many places we observed that the river had overflowed its banks, and was running between the trees and thick underwood. In the widest part it did not seem to be more than a mile and a half across. The course of the river has been to-day nearly south-west: its width is sensibly diminishing, indeed it is fast dwindling away into an ordinary stream.

_Saturday, November 13th._—Perhaps there cannot be a greater comfort under the sun than sound and invigorating sleep to the weary; nor, in our opinion, a greater grievance than the loss of it; because wakefulness, at those hours which nature has destined for repose, is, in nine cases out of ten, sure to be the harbinger of peevishness, discontent, and ill-humour, and not unfrequently induces languor, lassitude, and disease. No two individuals in the world have greater reason to complain of disturbed slumbers or nightly watching than ourselves. Heretofore this has been occasioned chiefly by exposure to damps, rains, and dews, mosquito attacks, frightful and piercing noises, and over-fatigue, or apprehension and anxiety of mind. But now, in the absence of most of these causes, we are cramped, painfully cramped, for want of room, insomuch that, when we feel drowsy, we find it impossible to place ourselves in a recumbent posture, without having the heavy legs of Mr. and Mrs. Boy, with their prodigious ornaments of ivory, placed either on our faces or on our breasts. From such a situation it requires almost the strength of a rhinoceros to be freed: it is excessively teasing. Last night we were particularly unfortunate in this respect; and a second attack of fever, which came on me in the evening, rendered my condition lamentable indeed, and truly piteous. It would be ridiculous to suppose that one can enjoy the refreshment of sleep, how much soever it may be required, when two or more uncovered legs and feet, huge, black, and rough, are traversing one’s face and body, stopping up the passages of respiration, and pressing so heavily upon them at times, as to threaten suffocation. I could not long endure so serious an inconvenience, but preferred last night sitting up in the canoe. My brother was indisposed, and, in fact, unable to follow my example, and, therefore, I endeavoured, if possible, to render his situation more tolerable. With this object in view, I pinched the feet of our snoring companions (Mr. and Mrs. Boy) repeatedly, till the pain caused them to awake, and remove them from his face, and this enabled him to draw backwards a few inches, and place his head into a narrow recess which is formed by two boxes. However, this did not allow him liberty to turn it either way, and thus jammed, with no command whatever over his suffering limbs, he passed the hours without sleep, and arose this morning with bruised bones and sore limbs, complaining bitterly of the wretched moments which the legs of Mr. and Mrs. Boy had caused him, with their ivory rings and heaps of yams.

It was not till two o’clock this morning that we arrived at a convenient place for stopping a while, to give the canoemen rest from their labour; and at day-break we launched out again into the river, and paddled down the stream. At seven in the morning Boy and his wife having landed to trade, I took their place, and slept soundly an hour and a half, which quite refreshed me. Without encountering anything remarkable, we passed the day in much the same manner as yesterday, stopping occasionally at certain villages, which are scattered along the banks, for the purpose of bartering with their inhabitants. Plantains, bananas, and yams, are cultivated by them to an extraordinary and almost incredible extent, and for the space of nearly twenty miles scarcely anything else but plantations of these shrubs and vegetables are to be seen. This circumstance has led us to infer that the country is infinitely more populous than its general appearance would seem to indicate. It is flat, open, varied, and beautiful in many places, and its soil is a rich dark mould or loam. But notwithstanding this extensive cultivated tract, and other large and verdant patches, the useless mangrove tree (_rhizophera mangle_), with its pendent branches and impenetrable roots, is fast encroaching on every moist situation, the nearer we approach the sea.

We continued our course down the river until two hours after midnight, when we stopped near a small village on the east side of the river. We made fast to the shore, and the people settled themselves in the canoe to sleep. Having sat up the whole of last night, for the best of all reasons, because I could find no room to lie down, in consequence of the crowded state of our canoe, and feeling myself quite unequal to do the same again, I took my mat and went on shore, determined, if possible, to sleep on the ground. Overcome by fatigue, the fear of being attacked by alligators, or anything else, and I selected a dry place, and laid myself down on my mat. I had nearly dropped asleep, when I was roused by several severe stings, and found myself covered with black ants. They had got up my trousers, and were tormenting me dreadfully. At first, I knew not which way to get rid of them, and ran about as fast as I could, with the idea of shaking them off me; but with all my endeavours it was long before I could get rid of them. Our men, Paskoe, Sam, and Jowdie, seeing the condition I was in, landed from the canoe, and made large fires in the form of a ring, and I laid down in the midst of them, and slept till daylight. The sting of a black ant is quite as painful as that of a wasp.

_Sunday, November 14th._—This morning at daylight, when the natives brought their fish and yams to our people for sale, they did not appear to be at all surprised at seeing our white faces, from which I am led to believe that they have seen white men at the sea-side. At five in the morning we again resumed our course down the river. At 10 A.M. we passed a small branch of the river running off east-south-east.

In the course of the day we passed several sand-banks in the middle of the river, and our people ran the canoe aground on them purposely, to get into the water and to have a wash. The sun was exceedingly powerful, and they appeared to enjoy the water very much. The channels of the river on each side of the banks appear to be very deep, and the depth on the banks I concluded to be about three feet. After our people had taken a good wash, we again proceeded onwards.

At seven in the evening we departed from the main river, and took our course up a small branch towards Brass Town, running in a direction about south-east by east from that which we had left. The course of the river has been about south, and continued in the same direction when we left it. It has overflowed its banks in many places that we passed to- day, and is considerably diminished in its breadth. The widest part was not more than a mile and a half across, and the narrowest about three hundred yards. We have seen many villages in the course of the day, and where the banks were not overflown, there was much cultivated land.

At half-past eight in the evening, to our great satisfaction, we found ourselves influenced by the tide. We had previously observed an appearance of foam on the water, which might have been carried up by the flood-tide from the mouth of the river; but we now felt certain of being within its influence. We were constantly annoyed by the canoe running aground on a bank, or sticking fast in the underwood, which delayed our progress considerably, and the men were obliged to get out to lighten and lift the canoe off them. Our track was through a narrow creek arched over by mangroves, so as to form a complete avenue, which in many places was so thick as to be totally impenetrable by the light above. At 10 P.M., a heavy shower of rain wetted us thoroughly; and after this was over, the dripping from the trees which overhung the canoe, kept us in constant rain nearly all night. The smell from decayed vegetable substances was sickly and exceedingly disagreeable.

_Monday, November 15th._—Through these gloomy and dismal passages we travelled during the whole of last night, without stopping, unless for a few minutes at a time, to disengage ourselves from the pendent shoots of the mangrove and spreading brambles, in which we occasionally became entangled. These luxuriant natives of the soil are so intricately woven, that it would be next to impossible to eradicate them. Their roots and branches are the receptacles of ooze, mud, and filth of all kinds, exhaling a peculiarly offensive odour, which no doubt possesses highly deleterious qualities. The reason adduced for not resting during the night, was the apprehension entertained by King Boy of being unable to overtake his father and brothers this morning, they having left the Eboe country the day before us. A certain spot had previously been fixed on by the parties for the meeting, and we arrived there about nine o’clock A.M., and found those individuals in three large canoes, with their attendants, waiting our arrival. Here we stopped, and made our canoes fast to the trees, to take refreshment, such as it was, and half an hour’s rest; and here we were introduced to the renowned King Forday, who, according to his own account, is monarch of the whole country. In one of the canoes sat old King Forday, in company with several fetísh priests; the second canoe belonged to King Boy, and the third was Mr. Gun’s. These canoes had come thus far for the purpose of escorting us into their country.

King Forday is a complacent venerable-looking old man, but was rather shabbily dressed, partly in the European, and partly in the native style. Like most savages, his fondness for spirituous liquors is extreme, and he drank large potations of rum in our presence, though it produced no visible effect either upon his manners or conversation. In the jollity of the moment he attempted to sing, but his weak piping voice did not seem to second his inclination, and the sound died away from very feebleness. His subjects, however, amounting to nearly two hundred individuals, testified their approbation of the effort by a tremendous ‘Yah!’ shouted simultaneously by every voice, which sounded like the roar of a lion.

During the time we had been at breakfast the tide ebbed and left our canoes lying on the mud. Breakfast being over, the fetísh priests commenced their avocations by marking the person of King Boy from head to foot with chalk, in lines, circles, and a variety of fantastic figures, which so completely metamorphosed him as to render his identity rather questionable, at the distance of only a few yards. His usual dress had been thrown aside, and he was allowed to wear nothing but a narrow silk handkerchief tied round his waist; on his head a little close cap was placed, made of grass and ornamented with large feathers. These we found were the wing feathers of a black and white buzzard, which is the fetísh bird of Brass-town. Two huge spears were also chalked and put into his hands, and thus equipped his appearance was wild and grotesque in the extreme. The same operation was performed on the rest of the party, and the fetísh priests were chalked in the same manner. Our own people were merely marked in the forehead, and ourselves, perhaps from being already white, although our faces were not a little tanned, were exempted from the ceremony.

At eleven A.M., we were ordered into King Forday’s canoe to sit down with him. The old man asked us immediately in tolerably good English to take a glass of rum with him, and having seen us wondering at the strange appearance of King Boy and the rest of the party, gave us to understand that in consequence of no man having come down the river as we had, it was done to prevent anything bad happening to them. We also understood from him that a certain rite would be performed to Dju-Dju, the fetísh or domestic god of Brass-town, in honour of our coming. The tide was now fast returning, and preparations were made for proceeding to Brass-town. For this purpose the canoes were all arranged in a line, that of King Boy taking the lead, ourselves and King Forday in the next, followed by King Boy’s brother, Mr. Gun and the Damuggoo people in others, and in this order we proceeded up the river. Gun is styled the _little military king_ of Brass-town, from being entrusted with the care of all the arms and ammunition, and on this occasion he gave us frequent opportunities of witnessing his importance and activity, by suddenly passing a short distance before the rest of the canoes and firing off the cannon in the bow of his own, and then dropping behind again.

The whole procession formed one of the most extraordinary sights that can be imagined. The canoes were following each other up the river in tolerable order, each of them displaying three flags. In the first was King Boy, standing erect and conspicuous, his head-dress of feathers waving with the movements of his body, which had been chalked in various fantastic figures, rendered more distinct by its natural colour; his hands were resting on the barbs of two immense spears, which at intervals he darted violently into the bottom of the canoe, as if he were in the act of killing some formidable wild animal under his feet. In the bows of all the other canoes fetish priests were dancing and performing various extraordinary antics, their persons, as well as those of the people in them, being chalked over in the same manner as that of King Boy; and to crown the whole, Mr. Gun, the little military gentleman, was most actively employed, his canoe now darting before and now dropping behind the rest, adding not a little to the imposing effect of the whole scene by the repeated discharges of his cannon.

In this manner we continued on till about noon, when we entered a little bay, and saw before us, on the south side of it, two distinct groups of buildings, one of which is King Forday’s town, and the other King Jacket’s town. The cannons in all the canoes were now fired off, and the whole of the people were quickly on the look out to witness our approach. The firing having ceased, the greatest stillness prevailed, and the canoes moved forward very slowly between the two towns to a small island a little to the east of Jacket’s town. This island is the abode of the Dju-Dju, or grand fetish priest, and his wives, no one else being permitted to reside there. As we passed Forday’s town, a salute of seven guns was fired off at a small battery near the water. The canoes stopped near the fetísh hut on the island, which is a low insignificant building of clay. The priest, who was chalked over nearly in the same manner as Boy, drew near to the water’s edge, and with a peculiar air asked some questions, which appeared to be answered to his satisfaction. Boy then landed, and, preceded by the tall figure of the priest, entered the religious hut. Soon after this the priest came to the water-side, and, looking on us with much earnestness, broke an egg, and poured some liquid into the water, after which he again returned to the hut. The Brass men then rushed on a sudden into the water and returned in the same hasty manner, which to us appeared equally as mysterious as the rest of the ceremony.

After remaining at the island about an hour, during which time Boy was in the hut with the priest, he rejoined us, and we proceeded to Forday’s town and took up our residence at Boy’s house. In the extraordinary ceremony which we had just witnessed, it was evident that we were the persons principally concerned; but whether it terminated in our favour or against us—whether the answers of the Dju-Dju were propitious or otherwise, we shall be able to ascertain only by the future behaviour of the Brass people towards us.

We saw with emotions of joy a white man on shore whilst we were in the canoe, waiting the conclusion of the ceremony. It was a cheering and goodly sight to recognise the features of an European in the midst of a crowd of savages. This individual paid us a visit in the evening; his behaviour was perfectly affable, courteous, and obliging, and in the course of a conversation which we had with him, he informed us that he is master of the Spanish schooner which is at present lying in the Brass river for slaves. Six of her crew, who have been ill of fever, and are still indisposed, likewise reside in the town.

_Tuesday, November 16th._—Of all the wretched, filthy, and contemptible places in this world of ours, none can present to the eye of a stranger so miserable an appearance, or can offer such disgusting and loathsome sights, as this abominable Brass town. Dogs, goats, and other animals, run about the dirty streets, half-starved, whose hungry looks can only be exceeded by the famishing appearance of the men, women, and children, which bespeaks the penury and wretchedness to which they are reduced; whilst the persons of many of them are covered with odious boils, and their huts are falling to the ground from neglect and decay.

Brass, properly speaking, consists of two towns, of nearly equal size, containing about a thousand inhabitants each, and built on the borders of a kind of basin, which is formed by a number of rivulets, entering it from the Niger through forests of mangrove bushes. One of them is under the domination of a noted scoundrel called _King Jacket_, who has already been spoken of; and the other is governed by a rival chief, named _King Forday_. These towns are situated directly opposite each other, and within the distance of eighty yards; and are built on a marshy ground which occasions the huts to be always wet. Another place, called ‘Pilot’s town’ by Europeans, from the number of pilots that reside in it, is situated nearly at the mouth of the First Brass River, (which we understand is the ‘_Nun_’ river of Europeans,) and at the distance of sixty or seventy miles from hence. This town acknowledges the authority of both kings, having been originally peopled by settlers from each of their towns. At the ebb of the tide, the basin is left perfectly dry, with the exception of small gutters, and presents a smooth, and almost unvaried surface of black mud, which emits an intolerable odour, owing to the decomposition of vegetable substances, and the quantity of filth and nastiness which is thrown into the basin by the inhabitants of both towns. Notwithstanding this nuisance, both children and grown-up persons may be seen sporting in the mud, whenever the tide goes out, all naked, and amusing themselves in the same manner as if they were on shore.

The Brass people grow neither yams nor bananas, nor grain of any kind, cultivating only the plantain as an article of food, which, with the addition of a little fish, forms their principal article of diet. Yams, however, are freely imported from Eboe and other countries by the chief people, who re-sell great quantities of them to the shipping that may happen to be in the river. They are enabled to do this by the very considerable profits which accrue to them from their trading transactions with people residing further inland, and from the palm oil which they themselves manufacture, and which they dispose of to the Liverpool traders. The soil in the vicinity of Brass is for the most part poor and marshy, though it is covered with a rank, luxuriant, and impenetrable vegetation: even in the hands of an active, industrious race, it would offer almost insuperable obstacles to general cultivation; but with its present possessors the mangrove itself can never be extirpated, and the country will, it is likely enough, maintain its present appearance till the end of time.

The dwelling in which we reside belongs to King Boy; it stands on the extreme edge of the basin, and was constructed not long since by a carpenter, who came up the river for the purpose from Calebar, of which place he is a native; he received seven slaves for his labour. The man must have seen European dwellings, as this is evidently an attempt to imitate them. Its form is oblong, and it contains four apartments, which are all on the ground floor, lined with wood, and furnished with tolerably made doors and cupboards. This wood bears decided marks of its having once formed part of a vessel, and is most likely the remains of one which was wrecked, we hear, not long ago, on the bar of the river. The house has recently been converted into a kind of seraglio by King Boy, because he has, to use his own expression, ‘plenty of wives,’ who require looking after. It also answers the purpose of a storehouse for European goods, tobacco, and spirituous liquors. Its rafters are of bamboo and its thatch of palm-leaves. The apartment which we occupy has a window overlooking the basin, outside which is a veranda, at present occupied by Paskoe and his wives. The whole of its furniture consists of an old oaken table; but it is supplied with seats, made of clay, which are raised about three feet from the ground. These, together with the floor, which is of mud, are so soft and wet, as to enable a person to thrust his hand into any part of them, without any difficulty whatever. In one corner communicating with the other apartments, is a door which is destitute of a lock, and kept always ajar, except at night, when it is closed. One of the sides of the room is decorated with an old French print representing the Virgin Mary, with a great number of chubby-faced angels ministering to her, at whose feet is a prayer on ‘Our Lady’s good deliverance.’ The whole group is designed and executed in very bad taste.

When the tide is in, the water flows up to the doors and windows of our house, which may perhaps account for its dampness; it is held in very high estimation by its owner, and called an English house. The houses in general are built of a sort of yellow clay, and the windows are all furnished with shutters. There are several huts opposite the town where the people make salt, after the rains are over: the water at present is brackish, from the effect of the rains; but in the course of two months, Boy tells us, that it will be quite salt, when they will again commence making it. It is an article of trade, and appears to be taken in large quantities to the Eboe market, where it is exchanged for yams, the cowrie shell not being circulated lower down the river than Bocquâ. The principal employment of the people consists in making salt, fishing, boiling oil, and trading to the Eboe country, for not a particle of cultivated land is to be seen. They live exclusively on yams and palm- oil, with sometimes a small quantity of fish. They bring poultry from the Eboe country, but rear very little themselves, and what they have are carefully preserved and sold to the ships that frequent the river.

A little palm-oil would be a great luxury to us, but King Boy will not give us any. Our allowance consists of half of a small yam each day; but this evening, King Boy being out of the way, two of his wives brought us half a glass of rum each, and four yams: this was a great treat to us, but a considerable risk to them, for had Boy discovered the theft, it is more than likely he would have had them flogged and sold.

Wet and uncomfortable as is our dwelling, yet it is infinitely more desirable and convenient than our confined quarters in the canoe, for here we have the pleasure of reposing at full length, which is a luxury we could not have purchased on the water at any price. The Spanish captain visited us again this morning, and left the town in the afternoon on his return to his vessel: slaves, he tells us, are very scarce, and obtained with difficulty and expense.

To-day I was requested to visit King Forday, and I accordingly complied with the summons. His house is about a hundred yards distant from that of King Boy, and on entering it I found him sitting half drunk, with about a dozen of his wives and a number of dogs, in a small filthy room. I was desired to sit down by his side, and to drink a glass of rum. He then gave me to understand, as well as he could, that it was customary for every white man who came to the river, to pay him four bars. I expressed my ignorance and surprise at this, but was soon silenced by his saying, ‘that is my demand, and I shall not allow you to leave this town, until you give me a _book_ for that amount.’ Seeing that I had nothing to do but to comply with his demand, I gave him a bill on Lake, the commander of the English vessel, after which he said, ‘To-morrow you may go to the brig, take one servant with you; but your mate (meaning my brother) must remain here with your seven people, until my son, King Boy, shall bring the goods for himself and me; after this they shall be sent on board without delay.’ Much as I regretted the necessity of parting with my brother, I was obliged to agree to this arrangement, and with the hopes of profiting by it, I told King Forday that we were all very hungry, and begged him to send us a fowl or two, which he promised to do.

In order that I might make a decent appearance before my countrymen to- morrow, I have been obliged to sit all the afternoon with an old cloth wrapped round me, until my clothes were washed and dried. It is now six in the evening, and the mean old king has sent us neither fowls nor yams. This is the most starving place that I have yet seen. Mr. Gun has given us two meals since our arrival here, consisting of a little pounded yam, and fish stewed in palm oil, and for this he has the impudence to demand two muskets in payment. These fellows, like the rest on the coast, are a set of imposing rascals, little better than downright savages. We are told that they have absolutely starved three white men to death lately, who were wrecked in a slaving vessel, when crossing the bar.