88 PRESENTS TO SEVERAL CHIEFS. 



off their killed or wounded, and we saw no ap- 

 pearance of either ; and I am in great hopes that 

 the expenditure was confined to powder alone. 

 In the course of the day we were visited by the 

 chiefs of several villages, who, having heard of 

 our burning the village, came to congratulate us 

 on having destroyed the greatest fetish or charm 

 depot between the sea and Eboe ; and to secure 

 our friendship, they all brought us presents, and 

 received others in return. A soldier's jacket was 

 the utmost of their wishes, and afforded us re- 

 peatedly much amusement. On receiving it, the 

 first thing they did, of course, was to squeeze 

 themselves into it, which, being all of them men 

 on an immense scale, they had no little difficulty 

 to manage. However, having achieved it, the 

 air with which they walked to the side of the 

 vessel to show themselves to their admiring sub- 

 jects was highly entertaining ; whilst these ex- 

 pressed their delight by loud yells of appro- 

 bation. 



At six in the evening we were under weigh, 

 having several of these chiefs on board, whom we 

 dropped abreast of their respective villages, and 

 continued steaming up the river until half-past 

 two on the morning of the 4th, it being a fine 



