346 
OUYAH MARKET. 
advice, (tlie vessel being surrounded by difficulties,) 
rather than indulge the impulse of feelings, which dic- 
tated the wish to liberate all that were discovered in 
bondage on the water. On the 9th the vessel grounded 
for about an hour, on a bank near Tanuku Market, in 
passing which a large concourse of people were observed 
bartering various kinds of food, grass mats, country 
cloths, &c. At 4 P.M., they were abreast of Onyah 
Market, the highest limit of the Ibu territory; the 
sandbanks here were even more extensive and higher 
than any yet met with, averaging nine feet above the 
surface of the stream. On all these, immense crowds of 
people were encamped in tents, to the number of at 
least fifteen hundred ; each tent had its own appro- 
priate flag, decorated with various fantastic devices. 
Apparently there was but little trade going on, but in 
its absence plenty of “ palaver,” as is indeed the case 
throughout all African communities. Soon after 5 p.m. 
they were abreast of the river ‘Edoh,’ supposed to be 
a tributary of the Benin river, which the ‘Soudan’ 
attempted to ascend in the previous season, without 
any definite conclusion as to its source. 
The object so judiciously kept in view by Lieutenant 
Webb, was to make the passage up, as rapidly as was 
consistent with the safety of the ship, as he thereby 
hoped, if the crew kept in good health, to be able to 
reach Rabbah and conclude the treaty with the King 
of that place, or at any rate, to make an appearance 
off the city. Soon after noon of the 10th, the ‘Wil- 
