from them, and who expected so
much more, but they had answered his purpose, and therefore he took
no further notice of them. In two more hours, Hooper made his
appearance in Adooley's war canoe, which he had prevailed on him to
lend them. This was placed directly between the two others, and
their contents speedily transferred into it. It was between ten and
eleven o'clock at night that they were fairly launched out into the
body of the river. The canoe was above forty feet in length; it was
propelled through the water by poles instead of paddles, and moved
slowly and silently along. It was a clear and lovely night; the moon
shone gloriously as a silver shield, and reflecting the starry
firmament on the unruffled surface of the water, the real concave of
heaven with its reflection seemed to form a perfect world. The
scenery on the borders of the river appeared wild and striking,
though not magnificent. In the delicious moonshine it was far from
uninteresting: the banks were low and partially covered with stunted
trees, but a slave factory and, a fetish hut were the only buildings
which were observed on them. They could not help admiring at some
distance ahead of their canoe, when the windings of the river would
permit, a noble and solitary palm tree with its lofty branches
bending over the water's edge; to them it was not unlike a majestical
plume of feathers nodding over the head of a beautiful lady.

Proceeding about ten miles in a westerly direction, they suddenly
turned up a branch joining the river from the northward, passing on
the left the village of Bawie, at which Captain Clapperton landed.
They saw several small islands covered with rank grass, interspersed
in different parts of the river. They were inhabited by myriads of
frogs, whose noise was more hoarse and stunning than ever proceeded
from any rookery in Christendom. As they went up the river the canoe
men spoke to their priests, who were invisible to them, in a most
sepulchral tone of voice, and were answered in the same unearthly and
doleful manner. These sounds formed their nocturnal serenade.
Notwithstanding the novelty of their situation and the interest they
took in the objects, which surrounded them, they were so overcome
with fatigue, that they wrapped a flannel around them, and fell fast
asleep.

The hard and uncomfortable couch, on which they had reposed the
preceding night, made their bodies quite sore, and occasioned them to
awake at a ver