ess peculiar to ladies of
her color, she fabricated a story which not only quieted the Mongo,
but added lustre to Esther's character.

The credulous old man finding Unga so well disposed towards his
watchful clerk, restored the warehouse to her custody. This was the
height of her avaricious ambition; and, in token of gratitude for my
profitable malady, she contrived to let Esther become the nurse and
guardian of my sick bed.

As my fever and delirium continued, a native doctor, renowned for his
skill, was summoned, who ordered me to be cupped in the African
fashion by scarifying my back and stomach with a hot knife, and
applying plantain leaves to the wounds. The operation allayed my pulse
for a few hours; but as the fever came back with new vigor, it became
necessary for my attendants to arouse the Mongo to a sense of my
imminent danger. Yet Ormond, instead of springing with alacrity to
succor a friend and retainer in affliction, sent for a young man,
named Edward Joseph, who had formerly been in his employment, but was
now settled on his own account in Bangalang.

Joseph proved a good Samaritan. As soon as he dared venture upon my
removal, he took me to his establishment at Kambia, and engaged the
services of another Mandingo doctor, in whose absurdities he believed.
But all the charms and incantations of the savage would not avail, and
I remained in a state of utter prostration and apparent insensibility
until morning. As soon as day dawned, my faithful Esther was again on
the field of action; and this time she insisted upon the trial of her
judgment, in the person of an old white-headed woman, who accompanied
her in the guise of the greatest enchantress of the coast. A slave,
paid in advance, was the fee for which she undertook to warrant my
cure.

No time was to be lost. The floor of a small and close mud hut was
intensely heated, and thickly strewn with moistened lemon leaves, over
which a cloth was spread for a couch. As soon as the bed was ready, I
was borne to the hovel, and, covered with blankets, was allowed to
steam and perspire, while my medical attendant dosed me with half a
tumbler of a green disgusting juice which she extracted from herbs.
This process of drinking and barbecuing was repeated during five
consecutive days, at the end of which my fever was gone. But my
convalescence was not speedy. For many a day, I stalked about, a
useless skeleton, covering with ague, and afflicted by an insatiable