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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