14 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE 
Yet it is possible I may be deceived; for scarcely any trees 
at present are in blossom, many have only fruit, and others 
are without any characteristic organ. The Baobabs are abun- 
dant, most of them have the habit of old thick oaks, only 
they are perhaps proportionally lower, but I have met 
with none which has answered the expectation raised by 
Adanson and Golberry. Among Palms, the Oil Palm alone 
is frequent along the river and in marshy places: the Fern 
Palm occurs here and there; and the Cocoa extends as far as 
Iddáh. I believe that I saw through the telescope a Tree 
Fern. Parasitical Orchidee grow occasionally, though not 
commonly, lower down the river; here I have not met with 
one. A leafless Euphorbia, forming monstrously thick bushes, 
grows on Mount Patteh. JLianes are abundant; but their 
tree-like stems affect little the character of the landscape ; 
they form, with the mother-stem, a thick vegetable mass. 
The most interesting are the towering and climbing herba- 
ceous plants, which, especially along the shore, invest the 
shrubs and trees to a great height, often presenting real vege- 
table walls, adorned with the sparkling blossoms of Convol- 
vuli, Cucurbitacee, and Asclepiadee. There is no fruit here 
adapted to European palates: the best is the Hog-Plum, 
which is worse than our Sloes, and its name indicates its 
quality. On the coasts grow good Pine-apples, Bananas, 
&c., but they are introduced : the latter alone are cultivated 
here, though rarely. Horses are very scarce and not larger 
than asses ; and the oxen resemble sheep. Butter and milk are 
rarely or never procurable ; the eggs which are brought are all 
set upon; we have nothing but old hens for poultry. Bearing 
these matters in mind, I cannot help exclaiming with 
Ovid: 
* Heu terra felici non adeunda viro.’ 
The natives, who come to us from far and near, behave 
extremely well; they have never shewn the slightest sign of 
enmity, on the contrary, they are rather too confiding. 
They are not of that deep black hue which is observable in - 
