THE PRINCE AND MARKET-INSPECTOR. 209 



with more vigour. But this gave me an oppor- 

 tunity of witnessing the charms he wore. There 

 were eight leathern thongs round his neck, and 

 four round each wrist, to which were attached 

 charms encased in leather. Under the two 

 Houssa tobes he wore a Yarriba one, which was 

 very small and made to fit closely to the body : 

 the front of it was completely covered with 

 charms. As soon as he had divested himself 

 of his tobes, he leaped overboard, and assisted 

 materially in extricating the vessel. The market- 

 inspector, to show his zeal, immediately imi- 

 tated the example of his prince. 



I secured the assistance of these two eminent 

 persons by informing them that Abboka had be- 

 haved ill in not sending his people to help us, 

 although he was aware of our being aground 

 and was within four hundred yards of the vessel. 

 I presented each of them with a looking-glass 

 for their trouble. 



I had not seen Abboka for two days. He was 

 very anxious to get some beautiful printed cot- 

 tons into his possession, and my non-compliance 

 with his wishes, I suspect, offended him. I was 

 told that he was now collecting all the ivory he 

 could, in order to try what quantity of goods 

 VOL. n. P 



