104 DIFFICULTY OF WOODING. 
tolerable shelter from everything except the swell, that 
sweeps around the rocks, and is, however, almost the 
only danger, as it rarely blows hard on this coast. 
The paddle-box boats were found to be of incalculable 
service ; no others could have borne such rude work. We 
used the utmost dispatch in getting the wood off, em- 
ploying such natives as would work for hire, as well as 
our own black-men ; and it was fortunate we had com- 
pleted at the time we did, for within a quarter of an 
hour after the last boat-load had left the shore, the swell 
became so violent, lashing the rock which we had selected 
as a landing-place with such fury, that approach would 
have been impossible. 
The Americans have also a settlement here, with some 
respectable-looking houses ; but Cape Palmas is chiefly 
