MUSQUITOES. 243 



a girl of thirteen, was one of the most perfect 

 models, as to figure, I had ever seen ; her foot 

 and ancle were exquisitely beautiful, and her car- 

 riage was at once graceful and dignified. She 

 was unmarried, and wore merely a cloth around 

 her loins, but was intended for the chief ; I be- 

 lieve, however, that thirty thousand cowries, or 

 about thirty shillings, would have bought her. 



If ever the musquitoes had a paradise, it must 

 have been at this town, for the myriads that 

 greeted us the first night of our arrival was 

 beyond anything I had yet witnessed even at 

 Fundah, which I had thought so bad that nothing 

 could be worse. They had long ceased feasting 

 on me ; but Hector, who had recovered wonder- 

 fully from his illness, and had some flesh on his 

 bones, was too good a subject to be missed, and, 

 when daylight arrived, I hardly knew him, so 

 completely was his face besmeared with blood 

 that had been oozing out of the numerous bites 

 all night. 



In the morning we paid a visit to the king, 

 who was rather annoyed at our not staying inside 

 the walls of the town. He was an old and in- 

 firm man ; said he was very poor, which his ha- 

 bitation evinced, as it was completely in ruins, 



R 2 



