KING BOY AND HIS WIVES. 91 



had presented him with a soldier's jacket, of 

 which he was vastly proud ; and, jealous of his 

 splendid acquisition, he besought us not to be- 

 stow such a present on his neighbour on the op- 

 posite bank of the river. 



The latitude of this village is 5" SV N. 



In the afternoon, I landed on a sandbank on 

 the opposite side of the river, to try the range of 

 some one-pound Congreve rockets, which Mr. 

 M'Lean had presented to me at Cape Coast. I 

 found here our old friend King Boy in his canoe, 

 in which he had stowed away four of his wives, 

 two of whom were dressed in Guernsey frocks, 

 a third in a soldier's jacket, and the fourth, 

 who was the best-looking, in her own inimit- 

 able glossy dress which nature had bestowed on 

 her, freshly polished and shining with palm-oil. 

 This damsel was yet but thirteen years old, accord- 

 ing to Boy's account ; who told me a long story of 

 the number of muskets and pieces of cloth which 

 he had given for her, and concluded it with a 

 sigh, adding, " She no be fat enough for two 

 moons yet," although she was, at least, fourteen 

 stone weight. While this interesting history was 

 related, the lovely creatures, grinning and show- 

 ing their beautiful teeth, were softly ejaculating 



