The Journal of a Sporting Nomad 
being accommodated on the quarter - deck, 
screened off from the rest of the ship. 
On the voyage up the coast I had my first 
experience of a tornado. These storms occur 
suddenly, passing as quickly, and for the few 
minutes they last the wind whips the sea into 
foam, the rain pours down in torrents, the 
thunder rolls, and brilliant flashes of lightning 
cut the darkness. Then the sun shines forth 
once more, making one doubt the just-passed 
tribulation. Tornadoes have one thing at least 
in their favour—they cool the air for a short 
spell. 
I was quite impressed with the importance 
of Old Calabar, which is situated some thirty 
miles up the river of the name, on one side of 
which is a massive cliff, and on the top of this 
a plateau of some two hundred cleared acres. 
Here the Consulate houses, the Court-house, and 
the Barracks had been placed in order to be free 
from the vaporous fever-laden air that rises at 
night from the marshes of the river. This 
plateau falls in a sharp decline on either side to 
the river, at whose edge are the various factories 
and stores which trade with the natives, a trade 
of bartering in gold, which is brought to the 
stores in bird quills, ebony, palm-oil, and 
mahogany, for hardware, cotton goods, beads, 
wire, and general merchandise. 
On the down side of the river was the native 
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