322 DESCRIPTION OF 



sheep, goats, fowls, and dogs ; — while his ears 

 are saluted with " Gewaw, gewaw," (A tooth, a 

 tooth,) from several fine well-formed slaves, who 

 are carrying elephant's teeth on their heads, 

 weighing from fifty to a hundred pounds. As he 

 proceeds through the market, ho observes dozens 

 of traders drinking their beer and gossiping over 

 the bargains they have made. Under the mats 

 and in the enclosures are to be seen male and 

 female slaves, from the age of five up to thirty. 

 Some of these children of misfortune, more in- 

 telligent than others, are to be seen sitting pen- 

 sive and melancholy, apparently in deep thought, 

 while their poor legs are swelled from confine- 

 ment in irons, or being closely stowed at the 

 bottom of a canoe ; some are eating yams and 

 Indian-corn bread, while their owners are mak- 

 ing a bargain or bartering them away for ele- 

 phants' teeth or cowries. It is painful to con- 

 template the number of slaves annually sold at 

 this market, most of whom are forwarded to the 

 sea-side : allowing there to be fifty canoes — which 

 there are, and nearly double — and each canoe 

 generally takes eight or ten slaves, — calculating 

 thus, fifty canoes, with ten slaves each, make 

 five hundred. The market is held every ten 



