138 COUNTRY AROUND KIRREE. 



but our interpreter hailed them, telling them to 

 go and cut wood for us ; and a boat was des- 

 patched to the king. He was presented with a 

 looking-glass, and in return promised, although 

 evidently much terrified, that his people should 

 cut wood to-morrow for the white men's canoe. 



The current ran at the rate of three knots per 

 hour over the rocks in this part. The surround- 

 ing scenery is extremely beautiful, being the 

 first high land to be met with on coming up the 

 Niger from the sea-side : it was therefore the last 

 we expected to see. The corn-fields were nu- 

 merous, and yams and rice appeared to be grown 

 by the natives in abundance. The ground was 

 covered with the richest verdure ; the luxuriant 

 foliage of the trees, among which were seen the 

 tamarind and locust, was diversified by gentle 

 eminences, whose verdant banks added still more 

 to the beauty of the scene, and it seemed as if 

 Nature had intended to form a striking contrast 

 betwixt this and the low flat country which lay 

 between this part and the sea-side. 



Kirree, the town off which we have anchored, 

 is within a few hundred yards from the spot 

 where the Messrs. Landers were attacked, plun- 

 dered, and taken prisoners to Eboe. There are 

 several scaffolds erected on the banks, thatched 



