crew and the slaves
were likewise regaled with yams and wafer. 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, Boy himself made it a practice of offering a
small portion of his food to the spirits of the river, that his
voyage might be rendered propitious by conciliating their good will.
Previously also to his drinking a glass of rum or spirits, he poured
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, they did not understand. This
religious observance, they were told, was 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 at Yarriba, at Badagry, 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 fetish." In the morning, they observed a branch of
the river running off in a westerly direction, the course of the main
body being southwest.

They stopped awhile at various little villages during the day, to
purchase yams, bananas, and cocoa-nuts, and the curiosity of their
poor inhabitants at their appearance was intense. They were chiefly
fishermen or husbandmen, and notwithstanding the uncouth and
remarkable dress of the Landers, they behaved to them without
rudeness and even with civility, so that their inquisitiveness was
not disagreeable. Speaking trumpets, it was imagined, were quite a
novelty with the men at Brass, by the extraordinary rapture which
they displayed for their music, which certainly was anything but
melodious. It has been already stated that two of these instruments
were in the canoe, for the convenience of issuing orders, and during
the whole of the day, they were not ten minutes together from the
mouths of the officers, so great was the desire of all of them to
breathe through them, and which adds considerably to the deafening
noises made by their constant quarrelling with each other. This was a
great annoyance to the Landers, but they were constrained to submit
to it in silence; besides, it was entirely superfluous, for the
voices of the people wer