NEGRO LITIGIOUSNESS. 319 



burlesque, but also a most iniquitous proceeding, 

 which weighs heavily upon fair commerce. The 

 natives are extremely fond of litigation ; and the 

 scenes in court baffle all description, and much 

 resemble a gathering of baboons previous to 

 migration, from the incessant jabbering, grotesque 

 gesticulation, and insupportable stench that ever 

 reigns. There is quite as much in common 

 between the ape and the negro, as between the 

 negro and the white man. 



On Monday we spent the day at Government 

 House, where I got much valuable information 

 about the country from Major Hill, the son of the 

 Governor, who had lately been wounded in the 

 shoulder during a skirmish a couple of days' march 

 in the interior. Fighting was still going on, and 

 the Governor offered me the command of 800 

 Colonial Militia in a proposed attack of some 

 stockade where the natives were still holding out, 

 which I declined ; for although fond of the excite- 

 ment of "a brush" when it comes in the way of 

 duty, I had no idea of being associated with the 

 " Sierra Leone Skedaddlers," a corps which would 



