278 RETURN TO FERNANDO PO. 



made an excursion up the river for ten or twelve 

 miles, to the great delight of our guests and the 

 inhabitants. 



There were three Liverpool vessels lying 

 opposite the town, loading with palm-oil and 

 red wood, of which articles this port annually 

 exports from four to five thousand tons of the 

 former, and great quantities of the latter. 



After remaining three days, we returned to 

 Fernando Po, which is distant from the mouth of 

 the river about fifty miles; Duke's Town, where 

 the ships lay to take in their cargoes, being sixty 

 miles inland. From the entrance, or Tom Shot's 

 Point, as it is called, to Duke's Town, it is a 

 complete swamp, overgrown with mangroves, by 

 which the vessels are shut in, the sea-breeze pass- 

 ing over it, imbibes the malaria arising from it, 

 and causes the great mortality that distinguishes 

 this port even upon this deadly coast. 



On my return to Fernando Po, I recovered ra- 

 pidly, and was able to walk and ride about in a 

 fortnight after my arrival. The splendid scenery 

 that distinguishes this beautiful island is well 

 known from former descriptions, and to persons 

 coming from the low marshy shore of the main 

 land has indescribable charms. The view from 



