Two Months' Bird-collecting on the Gold Coast. 283 



bably owing to the precautions we took and the hospitality 

 shown us by the many friends we found out there, which ob- 

 viated the necessity of our having to " rough it." We cannot 

 pass over the kindnesses we received while on our travels, and 

 the assistance which was always so heartily given us, without 

 offering our warmest thanks to the friends we met with at Cape- 

 Coast Castle and Accra. 



The year out here may be divided into two seasons — the 

 summer or wet season, and the winter or dry season : the first 

 is the most dangerous, on account of fevers, though the best 

 time for collecting; while the latter, at which period we were 

 out, is, towards its close, the worst for dysentery ; and on long 

 excursions the want of good water is a serious drawback. The 

 wet season is ushered in by tornadoes; and, owing to their being 

 rather earlier than usual, we had several during our stay at 

 Cape Coast. These storms, though of short duration, are very 

 heavy, and are accompanied by a downpour of rain such as is 

 rarely seen in more northern climes, while the lightning is in- 

 cessant. At other times the nights are damp, and the days close 

 and muggy, which causes the least exertion to be felt. The 

 sun's rays are very powerful ; and the risks of over-fatigue or 

 taking a chill were so frequently brought before our notice, that 

 we were rarely out of doors after ten in the morning or before 

 three in the afternoon. 



No assistance can be obtained from beasts of burden; for 

 they cannot live in these bushy parts of the west coast, owing 

 to the " Tsetzi Fly," while at Accra, seventy miles to the east, 

 where the country is more open, there are a few horses — though 

 they cannot be taken far inland even here, on account of this 

 pest. At Cape Coast there are a few light carriages, drawn by 

 natives ; but the usual mode of progression is in a hammock. 



On the 30th of January we started at 5 a.m. in a carriage 

 drawn by six men, for Abrobonko. The road leads out of the 

 town by an avenue of cocoa-nut palms, then turns off by the 

 side of the Salt Pond, and is soon enclosed on each side by 

 dense bush. On reaching Abrobonko (a small village of square 

 mud huts thickly thatched with grass) we met with the first 

 large trees we had seen in Fantee ; some of these are at least 



