334 
DESCRIPTION OF BISSAO. 
is stony. The springs which supply it with water, have a 
marshy taste, which indicates their unwholesome quality. 
The climate is damp and burning ; the heat during the rainy 
season is suffocating, and almost insupportable ; want of 
appetite, extreme weakness in the limbs, fever, violent head- 
aches, are the consequences of the continual calm which then 
pervades the atmosphere. But as soon as the dry season 
returns, the east wind in the morning is so sharp, that I doubt 
if I ever suffered so much from cold in France, as I have 
done in this climate. Though the look of the inhabitants 
is unhealthy, and they are, in fact, never well, they live as 
long as other people. The houses on the sea-shore are built 
of stone ; those in the interior of the town are only of earth 
and thatched,* . 
Bissao is defended by a stone fort, built fifty years ago ; 
it is very spacious, and surrounded by a wide ditch ; it was 
formerly useful in subjecting the Papels who occupied the 
country. Though capable of withstanding the attacks of the 
neighbouring nations, it could not resist those of Europeans; 
the barracks, the chapel, and the governor's house, occupy 
the interior. The garrison is chiefly composed of blacks and 
mulattoes, and a few whites. The soldiers have neither shoes 
nor uniform ; some wear small helmets, or round hats, others 
* In the dry season, they uncover them to prevent their being set on fire. 
