ts. The poor doctor was soon
caught in the snare; the motive of his visit was found to be of an
illegal nature, and the enraged duke has ordered both to be bound
hand and foot and thrown into the river on the following day.

Lander found seven French vessels lying in the river, one Spanish,
and two English. One of the latter, named the Caledonia, a ship of
five hundred tons burden, was the property of Sir John Tobin, of
Liverpool, which, with the other, the brig Elizabeth were taking in a
cargo of palm oil.

The river Calebar is very serpentine, and there is scarcely any other
tree but the mangrove to be seen on its banks. The right bank is
intersected by numerous creeks, well known to the natives, who
frequent them in their canoes; they communicate with all the rivers
that fall into the Gulf of Guinea, between this river and that on
which Benin is situated. The natives go as far as Benin in their
canoes, but there is no communication by water with the Camaroons
river, which seems to be totally distinct from the Calebar. The
canoes of the natives are the same sort as those of the Eboe people.
The river is full of crocodiles which are generally about twelve or
fourteen feet long, and are very daring in their search of prey. A
short time previous to their arrival two deaths had been occasioned
by them. Sir John Tobin has a large store close to the river side, in
which palm oil is kept for shipment on board the Liverpool vessels,
and one evening an unfortunate native boy, tired with his day's work,
fell asleep on the shore. In the course of the night an alligator
attacked him, and was awakened by finding himself in the jaws of the
monster; his struggles and cries were all in vain; the powerful
creature lacerated him in a dreadful manner, and tore off one of his
legs, with which he retreated into the water, and the remains of the
unfortunate boy were found the next morning shockingly disfigured and
weltering in blood, the death of the other was occasioned by his
losing an arm in a similar manner.

Provisions are generally dear at Duke Town. Bullocks fetch twenty
dollars each, and those not of a very good quality. Goats and sheep
are valued at three dollars, ducks at half a dollar each, and fowls
at half a dollar a pair. Yams are cultivated by the natives very
successfully, and are considered the best flavoured and finest of the
country. There are no cleared portions of ground on the banks of the
river, and their cultiva