SKETCH OF GABOON. 
439 
to become equally convinced by firing at him. His son bribed 
this man to endue him with the same fetish, and eagerly making 
trial of its virtue, received a musket ball, which fractured the small 
bone of his arm. The address of the fetish man accounted for this, 
to the entire satisfaction of every body, by declaring (being the 
most probable crime he could guess in the emergency) that it was 
at that instant revealed to him by the offended fetish, that this 
young man once had a stolen intercourse with his wife at an im- 
proper season ; it was immediately confessed as a truth, and they 
are as obstinate believers as ever, 
Naango consists of one street, wide, regular, and clean. The 
houses are very neatly constructed of bamboo, and afford a ground 
floor of spacious and lofty apartments. They sleep on bedsteads 
encircled with musquito curtains of bamboo cloth. The manners 
of the superiors are very pleasing and hospitable, and a European 
may reside amongst them, not only with safety, but with comfort 
and dignity. I do not think the old and new town contain 500 
inhabitants between them. From the sickness which prevailed on. 
board the vessel, the climate must be very insalubrious. The 
density of the atmosphere from exhalation was even more oppres- 
sive than the heat, which was intense before the setting in of the 
sea-breeze, and at all times sensibly much greater than I had ex- 
perienced on the Gold Coast, or in the interior ; there was no ther- 
mometer on board. The Empoongwa is the softest negro language 
I have ever heard, being characterized by the duphcation of vowels, 
separately pronounced. Their numerals are; 
One - - - Hemobdee 
Two - - - Mban 
Three - Ntcharoo 
Four - - - Nahee 
Five ^ „ „ Nchanee 
