382 ADDITIONAL NOTICES. [June 27, 1859. 



in, we came to the principal street, whicli, lil^e those we saw afterwards, was 

 broad, clean., and open ; the houses or huts very large and lofty, some fully 

 seventy feet in length, others double that dimension in circumference, with 

 conical roofs. A rude battery of ship's cannon, of various nations, calibres, 

 and dates, — many very old ; a singular building, having a tower or turret at 

 each end, — the king's warehouse ; and a loopholed building, the common prison, 

 attracted our attention. 



We were told that a sorceress was confined in the last for having bewitched 

 one of the king's sons (his Majesty enjoys the reputation of being the father of 

 sixty), and caused an alligator to bite off the prince's leg .while bathing, from 

 which he died. 



At last we reached an open square, shaded by fine trees, and were conducted 

 to the king's house, or rather a spacious piazza, rudely made and covered with 

 palmetto leaves, in front of the royal residence. The walls were of wood, 

 singularly carved, perforated and painted ; the roof of tilts ; and strewed about 

 in wild confusion, or piled in heaps, lay relics of vessels, figure-heads, anchors, 

 tackle, chains, ropes, furniture, pictures, European implements; among other 

 strange articles a life-buoy of the latest improved construction, — melancholy 

 tell-tales of shipwreck, bloodshed, and plunder. 



The king holds absolute power over the properties, liberties, and lives of all 

 his subjects, from the highest chief to the lowest slave. No one can receive a 

 present, trade, cultivate ground, move to any distance, or leave the island 

 without the royal permission : there is no appeal from it, and he ordered his 

 eldest son, " O'Toommea," to be confined and shot for coming intoxicated with 

 palm wine and creating a disturbance in his father's presence before the " white 

 faces." King Neeocesar is an unqualified miser, hoards up all his plunder and 

 presents in a depot full of merchandise, wines, liquors, confectionery, gold and 

 silver coins of various nations, jjlate silver and gold, cloths, uniforms, many 

 going to destruction from not being used ; so that at his death a great civil 

 war is likely to take place among the several claimants to the royal treasure. 

 At the king's demise his eldest wife is killed and buried in the same grave 

 with her husband, and a large supply of corn, rice, oil, palm wine, and fruit to 

 feed them on their journey to the next world. 



Chairs were prepared for us under the verandah, the chiefs, king's sons and 

 wives forming a wondering circle round. The women, immensely gross, heavy, 

 and handsome, wear a girdle of grjps or palm fibre round their loins, and 

 occasionally another on their necks, which when it falls down conceals the 

 upper part of their persons ; their thighs and legs are finely formed and turned, 

 but of dimensions unknown in Europe, and such as fully entitle them to bear 

 off the palm of African beauty. Their children are goodlooking, but sadly 

 disfigured with red or yellow paint on the foreheads and over their heads. 



The king came to the palaver without the usual noise of tomtoms, singing 

 men, and barbarous music ; he shook us by the hand and sat down on a small 

 stool opposite to me. Neeocesar in appearance is old, infirm, filthy, and crafty 

 looking ; in manner peremptory, decided, overbearing, but cautious, cool, and 

 cunning. He opened the palaver by bemoaning his poverty : " That he was a 

 very poor man (the miser's usual cant) ; that he was a child to me (he meant 

 in worldly affairs) ; that I was a great and rich king (all governors are styled 

 kings);" and speaking, as the Africans are wont, in parables, said, "A river 

 of sweet waters, flowing from a distant country, fertilizes the desert and the 

 plain ; it makes the corn, rice, maize, ground-nuts, yams, plantains, fruit, grass 

 to grow ; so a man with a good name, the messengers of the winds carry it far 

 and wide, and the people are glad to get the heat of his face. I heard of you 

 that you were at * Kanabac ' many moons ago, and I am glad to see you, and 

 let us open trade." Speaking of various other matters, he said, " When I lie 

 down in the night I think there must be a great God over the Morld, who 



