ages, they travelled during the
whole of the night of the 15th November without stopping, unless for
a few minutes at a time, to disengage themselves from the pendant
shoots of the mangrove and spreading brambles, in which they
occasionally became entangled. These luxuriant natives of the soil
are so intricately woven, that it would be next to impossible to
eradicate them. Their roots and branches are the receptacles of ooze,
mud, and filth of all kinds, exhaling a peculiar offensive odour,
which no doubt possesses highly deleterious qualities.

The reason adduced for not resting during the night, was the
apprehension entertained by King Boy, of being unable to overtake his
father and brothers, they having left the Eboe country the day before
them. A certain spot had been previously fixed upon by the parties
for the meeting, and they arrived there about nine o'clock a.m., and
found those individuals in three large canoes, with their attendants,
waiting their arrival. Here they stopped, and made their canoes fast
to the trees, to take refreshment, such as it was, and half an hour's
rest; and here they were introduced to the renowned King Forday, who
according to his own account is monarch of the whole country. In one
of the canoes sat old King Forday, in company with several fetish
priests; the second canoe belonged to King Boy, and the third was Mr.
Gun's. These canoes had come thus far for the purpose of escorting
them into their country.

King Forday was a complaisant venerable-looking old man, but was
rather shabbily dressed, partly in the European and partly in the
native style. Like most savages, his fondness for spirituous liquors
was extreme, and he took large potations of rum in their presence,
though it produced no visible effect upon his manner or conversation.
In the jollity of the moment, he attempted to sing, but his weak
piping voice did not seem to second his inclination, and the sound
died away from very feebleness. His subjects, however, amounting to
nearly two hundred individuals, testified their approbation of the
effort by a tremendous "Yah!" shouted simultaneously by every voice,
which sounded like the roar of a lion.

During the time that they had been at breakfast, the tide ebbed, and
left their canoes lying on the mud. Breakfast being over, the fetish
priests commenced their avocations, by marking the person of King Boy
from head to foot with chalk, in lines, circles, and a variety of
fantast