bours. Their hair is woolly, and shaved into every fanciful form that can be imagined; the part that remains is generally dressed with red ochre and palm oil.

Every Bijuga is a warrior; his delight is war, his amusement is the chase. Except a few days in the year, when he is employed in the cultivation of rice, war and the chace are his sole occupations. The Bijugas do not weave; the men wear only a goat, or deer skin, the women only a large thick fringe of palm leaves hanging down from the waist. In their arms they are more splendid. A long buccaneer gun, kept in the most perfect order, is carried in the right hand; a sword about four feet in length, and sharp as a razor, not figuratively speaking, for it is sometimes used as one, is slung on the left shoulder, the hilt coming close under the arm. In the left hand is held a round convex shield, formed of witheys, interlaced, and covered with a buffalo's hide; the same hand grasps a hassagay. The Bijugas are never without their arms, and no people understand the use of them better. With their gun they seldom miss their object; with their hassagay I have seen them strike a reed about ten inches long, and not thicker than a tobacco pipe, at the distance of twenty yards; and in the use of the broad sword they are most expert and active. They consider the world as their own, and what it contains they have a right to plunder..

The negroes of the Rio Grande of both sexes wear two cloths, one hanging down from the waist, and one thrown over the shoulders. I saw some of these, which came from the Gambia, very fine, with blue or scarlet edges. The women wear

beads, bracelets, and ear-rings; the men greegrees. A man's wealth is calculated by the number of his wives; these have each a separate house within the same inclosure; and the extent of his inclosure is the indication of his consequence, and his title to the respect of his neighbours.

From the vicinity of Geba the Moorish priests travel to the Gold Coast, and to the shores of the Mediteri anean, selling gree-grees. These men are held in great veneration, and are said, according to an expression of the Bijugas to "talk with God." Whereever they go they are the guests of the king, and are welcome to remain as long as they please. Their merchandise consists of some paper, à reed, and some ink, with which they manufacture their charms. If, by chance, any person escape an impending misfortune, it is attributed to the greegree he wears, and the person who made it is. considered as selling "strong gree-grees," which would obtain a preference, and an increased price. Gree-grees should be sentences of the Koran, written in Arabic; but there is reason to believe that some of them are written by impostors, who understand, though they cannot write this lan-、 guage; for I have now in my possession half a dozen gree-grees, which I bought of a Mandingo priest, that are composed of scrolls and figures, but have not one Arabic letter in them.

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These countries are infested with the black ants, and it is difficult to stop the progress of these formidable and innumerable insects; if a brook be in their way, they will go under it; if a wall or house, they will either go under or over it. It is said that they will kill an elephant: I have no

doubt of their eating it, if it were killed. They generally march in countless millions, and I have frequently seen them, like a stream of black ink, about two inches broad, and many hundred yards in length. At certain intervals, about four or five inches on either side of their line, there were always larger ants stationary, with their heads towards the line of march, and their forceps wide open. These officers seemed to be stationed to enforce the preservation of the exact line, which was as perfect as a ribband. These ants quit the habitations of men, otherwise men must quit them, for the torment of such inmates could not be endured; but in a place where settlers had just arrived, I have known them destroy, in one night, a whole litter of pigs, and more than a dozen fowls.

North of the Rio Grande is the river Cacheo, on which the Portuguese have settlements; the principal is called Cacheo, and is situated near the mouth of the river. The Portuguese have navigated this river about 150 miles. The territory between the Geba and the Cacheo is inhabited by a people called Papels. They wear long sabres, which they use with great dexterity; their wealth consists of oxen. Bordering upon the Papels are the Balantes; and these two, being men and neighbours, are, of course continually at war with each other.

About sixty miles farther north, is the Casamanca, on which the Portuguese have also settlements, and up which they have advanced nearly 180 miles. The inhabitants of these countries are Felloops. They rear cattle, which they defend with great bravery against the lions and

leopards of their forests, whose skins, together with wax, goats and poultry, they often bring for sale to the factories of the Gambia.

The hair of the Felloops is very woolly, but not very short; they gather it into a kind of tuft which stands erect on the top of the head, and is five or six inches in length. They also collect and twist their beard, so that it projects many inches from their chin. They are short and thin, strong and nimble. They carry quivers with poisoned arrows, and use their bow, which is six feet in length, with considerable skill. They speak very quick, and their pronunciation is obscure and guttural. They are warlike, but not ferocious.

The Felloops observe faithfully the law of retaliation. If the father have no opportunity of revenging an injury he has received, the obligation devolves upon his eldest son, who puts on his father's sandals on the anniversary of his death, till he have acquitted himself of this duty. English property has frequently been confided to the care of the Felloops at Vintain, and they have uniformly manifested the strictest honesty and punctuality.

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CHAPTER II.

THE GAMBIA. THE KINGDOMS OF BARRA, WALLI, WOOLLI, AND BONDOU.

FROM the Casamanca, I sailed to the mouth of the Gambia, which is six miles in breadth. Beyond the points which form the entrance, it opens to the width of seventeen miles, after which it diminishes. At the French settlement of Albreda, which is about twenty-six miles from its mouth, the river is about three miles wide, and this width it continues to Pisania, a British establishment, which is nearly 240 miles from the coast.

The Gambia is navigable for sloops to the falls of Baraconda, six hundred miles from its mouth, and the tide reaches to this place. The mean temperature of the thermometer during the months of November, December, January, February, and March, was, at six o'clock in the morning 75°, and at noon 90°, in the shade. During the months of April, May, and June 83° and 96. On the 6th of October the waters of the Gambia were at their greatest height at Pisania, being fifteen feet above the high water mark of the tide. After this they subsided, at first slowly, and then very rapidly, sometimes sinking more than a foot in twentyfour hours. By the beginning of November, the river had sunk to its former level, and the tide ebbed and flowed as usual.