46 
REVIEW— TRAVELS IN WESTERN AFRICA. 
in no case do they exhibit any feeling either of regard or affection, 
to merit even a comparison with any of the lower animals, being 
also selfish in the extreme, in every point where no traces of edu- 
cation are found.” 
On a small island, on the opposite side of the Lagoon from 
Popoe, Mr. Duncan “ observed the first cattle he had seen on this 
part of the coast. They are properly attended to, having proper 
sheds, and slaves appointed to attend to them. He also saw a very 
handsome pony here, and in good condition.” 
The Avoga — a .sort of Viceroy of the King of Dahomey’s at 
Whydah — “ has in his possession a very fine donkey, as well as 
pony, which he prizes very much. He seldom rides upon either ; 
and when he does venture, he has always a couple of men to hold 
him on.” 
Mr. Duncan met with here, as well as locusts of a different kind 
from what he had elsewhere seen, the large-winged ant, so well 
known to African travellers ; and he observed in regard to it a 
peculiarity which had been unnoticed before, and that is, the emis- 
sion of an effluvium poisonous to that degree that other insects were 
destroyed by it ; a dog made to howl through it who had the ant 
simply held to his nose, and a horse to resist the odour “ with bitter 
determination.” Even Mr. Duncan found himself sick at stomach 
in the morning after sleeping in a room in which two of these ants 
had been left alive shut up in a box. 
“ I have often heard of oysters growing upon trees , but would 
never before give credit to such information. Here (on the banks 
of the Lagoon), however, I had ocular demonstration of the fact ; , 
the roots of the trees (and as high on the stems as the water rises) 
being covered with thousands of oysters, as well as the bed of the 
river for several miles. Some of them were of enormous size ; but 
they have not the delicious flavour of the Thames oysters.” 
“ Oxen are not so numerous here (at Cape Coast) as in Whydah, 
no attention being paid to the breeding ; nor are sheep or goats so 
numerous as in other parts of this country. The Portuguese and 
Spaniards are the principal parties who hold any stock; conse- 
quently the breed of oxen is much inferior in size to those I have 
observed in many other places on this coast. Sheep and goats are 
better bred than oxen ; but horses are not at all bred here. Some 
of the Portuguese and Spaniards have small horses, brought from 
Badagry and Abomey. Neither the ox nor horse is used for agri- 
cultural purposes, although the soil is so well calculated for the 
plough, being very level, and without a stone even of the smallest 
size. The wild ox is abundant in the bush near this place, as is 
also a species of deer, both black and red. The head is broader 
