menced his journey to the city.

On his arrival at Wowow, he was too much fatigued to pay his respects
to the sovereign, but on the following day, he had prepared himself
for the visit to the king's house, but to his great surprise the
eccentric old man excused himself from being seen on that day, on the
plea that he had taken a ride in the morning to see his gardens, and
the exercise had so much tired him, that he felt no inclination
whatever to receive his visitors till the following day. It was,
therefore, not until the 26th, that he granted Lander an audience,
and he then said with the greatest indifference, "I have not yet been
able to procure you the canoe which I promised to get, but I have no
doubt that the ruler of Patashie will have it in his power to supply
you with one to your satisfaction, for which purpose I will send an
express to that island without delay, whom I will furnish with the
necessary instructions to effect an immediate purchase."

Finding that nothing definitive could be arranged relative to the
canoe, Lander prepared to take his departure, but previously to his
setting out, he requested the monarch to show him his collection of
charms, which were written on sheets of paper, glued or pasted
together. Amongst them he discovered a small edition of Watts' Hymns
on one of the blank leaves of which was written, _Alexander Anderson,
Royal Military Hospital, Gosport_, 1804. From the Wowow chieftain, as
well as from his good old brother, and their quondam Abba, Richard
and his attendants received the most liberal hospitality, and on his
taking his leave of them, they wished him farewell in the most
cordial and affectionate manner.

On the return of Richard Lander to Patashie, preparations were
instantly made for their departure, but after all their luggage had
been packed up in readiness, information was brought them from the
chief, that they could not start until to-morrow, because the Niger
would receive a great influx of water during the night, which would
be considerably in their favour. To raise any objection to this
arrangement was considered as wholly useless, and therefore they
quietly awaited the coming of the following day.

Between eight and nine in the morning, horses were brought from the
chief and his nephew to take the Landers to the water side, where
their luggage had been previously conveyed. Here they had to wait a
considerable time till the canoes were brought from another part