SALUTATION OF THE NATIVES. 383 



The river is about one mile wide at Eboe, and 

 we entered a creek about two miles long, at the 

 extreme end of which we landed. The left bank 

 has several steep landing-places, and between the 

 Niger and the town of Eboe is a very large 

 morass. A great number of natives were wash- 

 ing themselves with country soap, said to be 

 made from palm-oil and alkali, obtained by the 

 incineration of plants : it is of a darker colour 

 than English soap, and of the consistency of 

 soft soap. From the late heavy rains, the ground, 

 which is of a dark and light yellow clay, was very 

 slippery, and it was with difficulty we ascended 

 the brow of the hill up to the town, the bank 

 being upwards of thirty feet high. The distance 

 from the landing-place to the king's residence is 

 two miles. The morning was very sultry, and as 

 I passed on, I was met by several persons who, 

 my interpreter informed me, were the gentlemeji 

 of Eboe. It seems that they were proud to 

 *^ crack fingers with (Eboe) white man ;" a custom 

 they have obtained, perhaps, from our mode of 

 salutation. They press the fingers, and in with- 

 drawing them make a kind of cracking noise. I 

 was met by so many, and all anxious to have a 

 crack, that we were a considerable time before 



