May.] 



THE GUINEA-WORM. 



313 



fathoms ; while an oppressive, suffocating weight accompanied the 

 masses of sand through which we had to make our way, with ex- 

 treme difficulty and labour. Our dogs, in the mean time, with their 

 tongues hanging from their mouths, refused to face the clouds of sand, 

 and a parching thirst, to which water afforded only a temporary relief, 

 oppressed every individual of the party : the fine light dust was inhaled 

 at every breath. This storm lasted about six hours ; but it was more 

 than thrice that time before the atmosphere became tolerably clear 

 of floating sand. 



The immense piles of sand which line this seacoast probably owe 

 their existence to the easterly, or what is called the sand-wind, blow- 

 ing so much stronger than the prevailing southerly winds ; the former 

 carrying the sand before it, and depositing it on the borders of the coast, 

 burying beneath it cliffs, rocks, and every thing but the highest hills. 



We lay at Angra Pequena until the 5th of May, during which period 

 •we overhauled and put in order our sails and rigging, and resalted the 

 skins we had taken on this coast, being six thousand. This process 

 was necessary to secure their preservation on the passage home. In 

 the mean time I had repeated opportunities of intercourse with the 

 natives, and gaining from them all the information I could respecting 

 the interior of the country, with its animal and vegetable productions. 



More than one of these degraded people were afflicted with that 

 appalling complaint called the Guinea-worm, which, I was informed, 

 is frequently found on this part of the coast, invading the feet and legs 

 of the natives. It is a dangerous and disgusting animal, so small at 

 first as scarcely to be perceptible to human vision, which penetrates 

 the skin of the sufferer, and takes up its abode beneath it. Here it 

 will remain for years, feeding on the juices of the system ; and unless 

 removed by excision, will increase to the enormous size of from eight 

 to ten feet in length, and to the thickness of a violin's largest string. 

 Its general place of abode is the calf of the leg, as affording the most 

 nourishment ; but if it has pitched on any other part of the body, the 

 pains of the sufferer are always increased in proportion to the scarcity 

 of flesh in its vicinity. In all cases where this troublesome inmate is 

 not removed, its continued presence for a succession of years will 

 inevitably result in convulsions and death. 



Poor Africa seems to be cursed with many evils unknown to the rest 

 of the human race in any section of the globe : — reptiles of the most 

 deadly venom, beasts of unparalleled ferocity, deserts of sand, and 

 moral deserts a thousand times more dangerous and appalling. But 

 her greatest curse of all is the white man's cupidity, tearing asunder 

 the tenderest ties of human nature, and plunging villages and families 

 into mourning and despair. The hyena, the tiger, the crocodile, are 

 creatures existing by the will of Heaven — the man-stealer is a self- 

 created monster of hell. The depredations of the former are the 

 effects of hunger ; those of the latter, avarice — the meanest passion 

 that can enter the human breast. 



The Hottentots in the interior of this part of the country are called 

 Macasses, and though melancholy low in moral degradation, have 

 often been misrepresented by those who affect to believe that a dark 



