ng of a hut, and the purchase of another wife. But he does not
remain long at home, before he prepares to set out again for the
purpose of making fresh accessions to his wealth, so that he may
increase his household up to the desired point where his own personal
labour will be rendered unnecessary to his support. In this way he
continues to visit Sierra Leone, accumulate property, and purchase
wives, the general number of which varies from six to ten, until he has
secured the requisite domestic establishment, when he "_sits down_" (as
they call it) for the remainder of his life, in what he considers
affluence and happiness. The process of wife-buying is remarkably
curious. For the first wife they pay two bullocks, two brass kettles,
one piece of blue baft, and one iron bar; but the terms upon which they
obtain the rest, depends entirely upon the agreement they make with the
parents of the brides. A convenient condition is attached to the
marriage articles, which secures the husband against any risk of being
disappointed by the bargain. If, after marriage, he discovers in the
lady any imperfection, or qualities that falsify the account given of
her previously by her parents, he is at liberty to turn her away in
disgrace, and the rejected bride is for ever after looked upon as an
abandoned character. In a very ancient history of Ireland, it is
stated, that a practice formerly prevailed in that country, of
permitting the bride elect to live with her intended husband twelve
months before marriage; and if, at the end of that time, the gentleman
was not satisfied with the lady's character and disposition, he was
allowed to send her back to her parents, taking upon himself the charge
of their offspring, in case they should have any. The gallantry of that
people, however, appears not to hare visited the female with any odium
in consequence: she was regarded by her friends with the same respect
and tenderness as before. The Kroomen cohabit with their wives in
succession, passing two days in rotation with each.

Of course, it does not fall to the lot of every Krooman who goes to
Sierra Leone, to secure such luxuries for the decline of life, many of
them being too imprudent to take sufficient care of their earnings.

The Kroomen sometimes come to Sierra Leone in their own canoes, which
are comparatively small for such a voyage, but they manage them with
skill, taking the precaution to keep close in with the land, and go on
shore