294 BARBAROUS PRACTICES. 



human sacrifices that were openly performed on 

 the shore, in the day-time, are now perpetrated 

 under the veil of night, and are not so numerous 

 as formerly. I am aware that this is saying lit- 

 tle ; but it proves, I think, that they are getting 

 ashamed of their religion. The commander of 

 one of the Liverpool ships that was lying there 

 assured me that within his memory these sacrifices 

 had decreased considerably, but that on the death 

 of a chief they were still common. The chief, 

 part of whose obsequies I had witnessed, belong- 

 ed to a village a short distance up the river; and 

 his canoe came down after his death, with the 

 skulls of the men who had paddled her stuck 

 upon each thwart, to the number of forty. That 

 such a state of society should exist where British 

 trade has been carried on to an enormous extent 

 and for a considerable time, may well excite as- 

 tonishment in those not aware of the diabolical 

 influence which the slave-trade exerts both upon 

 the enslaved and upon the enslaver. 



After witnessing the dance, we dined with 

 Duke Ephraim, who entertains all strangers 

 every Sunday. The weather was excessively 

 hot, — and we had an equally hot dinner, consist- 

 ing of black soup, Calebar chop, palm-oil stew. 



