NATIVE PATIENTS. 37 



Several applications were made to remove steri- 

 lity, and fancied diseases of the kidneys, barren- 

 ness, &c. Another portion came to ask advice 

 respecting other diseases, some of which were 

 real, others only imaginary. — One very large 

 woman, with a still larger corporation of real fat, 

 came to consult me about some living animal 

 which had been in her inside so long as the river 

 had taken to fill seven times — (her way of ex- 

 pressing seven years). She did not know what 

 it was, but she thought it might be a leopard, 

 a lion, or perhaps a young elephant ; one or 

 other of them she was certain it was. She re- 

 minded me of the story of the man who declared 

 he had got a cobbler in his stomach. However, 

 I administered a dose of calomel and colocynth, 

 telling her that whether it was a lion, leopard, 

 or elephant, it would most certainly accompany 

 the medicine. — From some of the natives, for 

 my advice, I received presents of mats, sheep, 

 goats, calabashes of rice, onions, pots of honey, 

 and cowries ; and, without having an eye to our 

 trade, I recommended spectacles, several pairs 

 of which were sold at one thousand cowries per 

 pair. 



Among the numerous patients I attended, was 



