124 TOWN OF ATTAH. 



and that of Dr. Briggs was, under Providence, 

 the means of saving us. After this is done, I 

 do not think that medical skill can go further — 

 the question becomes a pitched battle between 

 the fever and the constitution of the person 

 attacked with it; and medicine, after the first 

 necessary emetics and purgatives, does more 

 harm than good. 



In recovering, the greatest caution is neces- 

 sary ; excitement of any kind must be avoided, 

 and great care must be taken that the patient 

 does not give way to his voracious appetite: a 

 relapse is generally fatal, and always more dan- 

 gerous than the first attack. 



The town of Attah, off which we had anchored, 

 presented a most picturesque appearance. It is 

 seated on the summit of a hill, the perpendicu- 

 lar side of which rises immediately from the river 

 to the height of about two hundred and fifty or 

 three hundred feet. The King of Attah has the re- 

 putation of being the most powerful between the 

 sea and Fundah, and carries on a considerable 

 trade in slaves and ivory. We found two men 

 there from King Peppel of Bonny, buying slaves 

 for their master : the price was as low as five 

 dollars, or goods of that value, for a prime slave. 



