Cape Palmas to the River Congo. 

 lea, butter, white liiscnit, and wine, arc short, oval, and reccdio 



591 



Presents, of greater vahic and bulk, are 

 sent to him in the sl)i|)'.s boat. His 

 })Ower is absohite; aiul the siirroiuuling 

 country, to a considerable distance, is 

 subject to his dominion. His war canoes 

 are capable of carrying; one hiiiidred and 

 forty persons cacli, anil have ol'len a gnn 

 of large calii>rc mounted on the i)c)\v. 

 He has destroyed the town 0!' New 

 Calabar twice, and boasts (jf liavin^ 

 eaten partof the heart of its kinj;'. His 

 Jew Jew, orfeticlie iionse, isnrnamented 

 with rows of the skulls ot captives taken 

 in battle. 



SUPF.KSTITION. 



The iguana is the Bonnians' fetiche, 

 or Jew Jew ; and these re])lil(s may be 

 seen crawling about the to'.vn, wbere 

 they arc caressed and fed by the natives; 

 and he, into whose house one of tliem 

 enters, thinks himself most fortunate. 

 One day, when thirty or forty <anoes 

 surrounded the vessel, an iguiina was 

 discovered near the middle of llie river, 

 proceeding- to Peter's side, which is op- 

 posite to Bonny, when ail the eanf)cs ini- 

 iiicdiately pushed oil"; an<l great was 

 tire contention among then), as to who 

 should reach the reptile first, anil ferry 

 it to the spot to whicli it seemed to be 

 bending its com se. 



Human sacrificesarecommon. When 

 a chief dies, many of his wives are 

 destroyed, and interred with hiui. 



OLI) CALABAR. 



The people of Old Calabar have, for 

 a long [leriod, dealt in the prodnelions 

 of the soil, as also in slaves ; and liave 

 exported, annually, seven or eight hun- 

 dred tons of palm oil, besidi^s barwood. 

 It is probable, that their allention was 

 first directed to the manul'aelnre of palm 

 oil, in large (jiiantilics, in cdnseipience 

 of Bomiy beeomiuir the gieat slave mar- 

 ket, and monopolizing the tnidc in 

 slaves, which Old Calabar carried on to 

 a considerable exteid before it ; but 

 which the chiefs of <Jld Calabar lost, 

 by exacting from the vessels trading, 

 exorbitant duties or customs. 



An extensive trade in slaves lias been 

 carried on at Camaroons, where also a 

 larger (piantity of ivory is procured, and 

 of a superior quality to that t)l' any oilier 

 port in Africa. A consi<lerable |)r<ipor- 

 tion of the negroes, obtained both hero 

 and at Gaboon, are a miserable race of 

 beings, and held in but little estimation 

 in the AVest Indies. They ai)pe:ir to 

 be the descending link in the great ani- 

 mal chain, whicli connects man with 

 the otir^iij^-oulang. Their foreheads 



eyes 

 close together ; noses searcely above 

 liie level of the cheeks; mouths widc^ 

 and projecting; receding chins; hair, 

 thinly sown, soft and woolly ; narrow 

 chests, long bodies, abdouiens protu- 

 berant, short lower extremities, and 

 long arms; legs without calves and long 

 feet. They have [loor constitutions, and, 

 when assailed by disease, generally sink 

 under it. 



FOGS. 



During the months of January and 

 February, there occur here what the 

 natives call Smokes, from the atmo- 

 sphere being rendered so extremely 

 thick, that objects caimot be seen at 

 the distance of a hundred yards, except 

 when the sun is near the meridian, when 

 it clears away a little. These smokes 

 arc accompanied by a moderate north- 

 east wind, which frcfjueiitly coiilinues 

 six weeks, and produces on plants the 

 same eft'ect as the harmattan, by wither- 

 ing their leaves; and jirecisely as the 

 blast, or northwind, does on the cotton 

 plant and the other vegetable produc- 

 tions of Guyana. The tliermomctef 

 generally sinks ten degrees, and the na- 

 tives feel the change so sensibly, that 

 they wrap their bodies up in cloth very 

 closely, and have fires constantly in 

 their houses. Their skins have at thia 

 time a white scurf upon it, and this 

 season is extremely obnoxious to them. 

 The rigging of a vessel acquires hard- 

 ness, and rattles as if it were frozen, 

 from the jjeculiar astringency, which 

 the air at this time seems to possess. 



ST. THOMAS. 



The island of St. Thomas is of consi- 

 derable extent and great fertility ; it 

 bears south-west from the island of 

 i'rinces, distance tvventy- seven leagues.- 



'I'he hills of this island are high, co- 

 nical, and covered with wood ; the face 

 of the low countiy, at the north-cast 

 end, is undulating, and adorned with 

 luxuriant verdure, and exhibits many 

 fine jdantations of the sweet casiivi and 

 calavancies, also groves of cocoa-nut 

 and plantain. St. Thomas is sometimes 

 visited by slave-ships retpiiring refresh- 

 ments and water; but, as tornadoes 

 blow here with unusual violence, and 

 the bay where vessels anchor is open 

 and entirely exjjosed to their violence, 

 they in general call at Princes island in 

 preferent e, particularly during the tor- 

 nado season. 



The town of Chaves, at the bottom of 



the buy is the usual place where the go- 



vcrnor-in-chicf resides, and there is a 



tolerable 



