CAPTAIN TUCKEY’S NARRATIVE. 91 
The precariousness of the sea breezes by which alone we 
could get the Congo up the river, and the necessity of my 
losing no time in endeavouring to arrange matters at Em- 
bomma, made me determine on proceeding thither in the 
sloop’s double-boat; and I accordingly quitted the Congo 
with the Naturalists (except Mr. Cranch, who preferred the 
accommodations afforded by the Congo), at 4 o’clock in 
the evening, keeping within boat’s length of the shore; we 
found no current until reaching the point named Scotsman’s 
Head, where it ran 35 miles an hour; and the breeze being 
very weak, we barely stemmed it. In the hope of meeting 
a counter current on the opposite shore, I now crossed the 
stream, and it being dark when we reached it, I anchored 
on one of the banks in six feet, entirely out of the current. 
This evening’s sail along the banks was particularly agree- 
able, the lofty mangroves overhanging the boat, and a 
variety of palm trees vibrating in the breeze; immense 
flocks of parrots alone broke the silence of the woods with 
their chattering, towards sun-set ; and we learnt that those 
birds make a daily journey across the river, quitting the 
northern bank in the morning to feed in the Indian corn 
plantations on the south side, and returning in the evening. 
July 22. The shoals and low islands near which we an- 
chored are composed of a border of sand and clay, with a 
