the laws and usages of the country he was not only entitled to our own persons, but had equal right to those of our attendants; that he should take no farther advantage of his good fortune than by exchanging us for as much English goods as would amount in value to twenty slaves. In order to have the matter fairly arranged and settled, he should, of his own accord, prevent our leaving the town, till such time as our countrymen at Brass or Bonny should pay for our ransom, having understood from ourselves that the English at either of those rivers would afford us whatever assistance we might require, with cheerfulness and alacrity. Concerning the goods of which we had been robbed at Kirree, he assured us that he would use his utmost exertions to get them restored. He lamented that circumstance more than any one, but he denied that a single subject of his had any thing to do with it, and attributed the whole of that unfortunate affair to the rashness and brutality of a certain people that inhabited a country nearly opposite to his own, whose monarch was his particular friend, therefore he apprehended little difficulty in seeing justice done us; but then,' said he, it is necessary that you should wait here for an indefinite time till a council of that nation be held, when the plunderers will be examined, and your claims established. The Damuggoo people that have come with you have, like yourselves, suffered much loss; for my own part I shall make them a present of a slave or two as a compensation, and they have my permission to go along with you for the present, which I understand you have promised their monarch; but you must not expect them to be your guide to the sea, for their responsibility ends here.

When all this was interpreted to me by Antonio, I was thunderstruck. It was in vain that I assured Obie that there was not the slightest necessity for our detention in the town, that our countrymen would redeem us the moment they should see us, but not before; and equally unavailing were my solicitations for him to alter this arrangement and suffer us to depart; but the fears of his subjects, and the representations of the men of Brass, had made too deep an impression on his mind to be so easily eradicated: we found it too late either to implore or remonstrate.

This final decision of the king is a bitter stroke to us; for we fondly indulged the hope of a more favorable result from the deliberations of the savage council, at whose dissolution we expected to be sent to the sea coast without being perplexed with farther embarrassments. We have now to await the return of a messenger from thence, who has not yet been sent on his errand, and he is to bring back with him the value of twenty slaves ere we obtain our freedom. Heaven only knows whether the masters of English vessels at Bonny or Brass have the ability or will feel a disposition to ransom us. We only know that if disposed of at all, we shall be sold for infinitely more than we are worth.

As may naturally be supposed, I returned home much depressed and afflicted, to inform my brother of the result of the palàver, and he was as greatly surprised and affected as myself at the intelligence. But though we are full of trouble and uneasiness at our gloomy situation, yet we do not repine at the Divine dispensations of that almighty Providence which has comforted us in the hour of adversity, and re

lieved us in times of pain and distress,-which has rescued us from the lap of danger, and snatched us from the jaws of death.' (lb. pp. 225-227.)

On the 12th of November they took their departure from this miserable place, and on the 15th arrived at Brass town, where they were introduced to King Forday, whom they found to be a complacent, venerable looking old man. This they found to be a wretched and filthy place, more so than any they had seen. After much vexatious.delay, they were finally informed by the king of the following conditions of release: :

He gave me to understand, as well as he could, that it was customary for every white man who came to the river, to pay him four bars. I expressed my ignorance and surprise at this, but was soon silenced by his saying, "That is my demand, and I shall not allow you to leave this town until you give me a book for that amount." Seeing that I had nothing to do but to comply with his demand, I gave him a bill on Lake, the commander of the English vessel, after which he said, "To-morrow you may go to the brig, take one servant with you; but your mate" (meaning my brother) "must remain here with your seven people, until my son, King Boy, shall bring the goods for himself and me; after this they shall be sent on board without delay." Much as I regretted the necessity of parting with my brother, I was obliged to agree to this arrangement; and with the hopes of profiting by it, I told King Forday that we were all very hungry, and begged him to send us a fowl or two, which he promised to do.' (Ib. p. 257.)

Complying with these conditions Richard Lander left Brass town, and on the 18th came to an English brig, lying at anchor near the mouth of the Niger, or as it is here called, Nun. But what was his disappointment at finding the unfeeling captain as callous to his sufferings as any of the most hard-hearted Africans had been. After much difficulty, however, he succeeded in rescuing himself and brother, from the hands of the African prince, though he was unable, in consequence of the unfeeling heart of the English captain, to satisfy the demands which had been made for his ransom, and which he had pledged should be given. The following account of the manner in which they escaped from this place, will show the dangerous navigation at the mouth of this mighty, and hitherto mysterious river :

At ten in the morning, the vessel was got under way, and we dropped down the river. At noon the breeze died away, and we were obliged to let go an anchor to prevent our drifting on the western breakers at the mouth of the river, A few minutes more would have been fatal to us, and the vessel was fortunately stopped, although the depth of water where she lay was only five fathoms. The rollers, as the large high waves are called, which came into the river over the bar, were so high, that they sometimes passed nearly over the bow of the vessel, and caused her to ride very uneasily by her anchor. We had been obliged to anchor immediately abreast of the Pilots' town,

and expected every moment that we should be fired at from their battery. Time was of the greatest importance to us; we had made Boy our enemy, and expected, before we could get out of the river, he would summon his people and make an attack on us, while our party amounted only to twenty men, two-thirds of whom were Africans. The pilot also, whom Lake had offended so much, is known to be a bold and treacherous ruffian. He is the same person who steered the brig Susan among the breakers, by which that vessel narrowly escaped destruction, with the loss of her windlass and an anchor and cable. The fellow had done this merely with the hopes of obtaining a part of the wreck, as it drifted on shore. Another vessel, a Liverpool oiltrader, was actually lost on the bar by the treachery of the same individual, who, having effected his purpose by placing her in a situation from which she could not escape, jumped overboard and swam to his canoe, which was at a short distance. The treatment of the survivors of this wreck is shocking to relate: they were actually stripped of their clothes, and allowed to die of hunger. It would be an endless task to enumerate all the misdeeds that are laid to this fellow's charge, which have, no doubt, lost nothing by report; but, after making all reasonable allowances for exaggeration, his character appears in a most revolting light, and the fact of his running these vessels on the bar proves him to be a desperate and consummate villain. This same fellow is infinitely more artful and intelligent than any of his countrymen, and is one of the handsomest black men that we have seen.

Not long after we had dropped the anchor, we observed the pilot, with the help of a glass, walking on the beach and watching us occasionally. A multitude of half naked suspicious looking fellows were likewise straggling along the shore, while others were seen emerging from a grove of cocoa-trees and the thick bushes near it. These men were all armed, chiefly with muskets, and they subsequently assembled in detached groups to the number of several hundreds, and appeared to be consulting about attacking the vessel. Nothing less than this, and to be fired at from the battery, was expected by us; and there is no doubt that the strength and loftiness of the brig only deterred them from so doing. The same people were hovering on the beach till very late in the evening, when they dispersed ; many of them could be seen even at midnight, so that we were obliged to keep a good look-out till the morning.

Thursday, November 25.-The vessel rode very uneasily all night, in consequence of the long heavy waves which set in from the bar; these are technically called by sailors ground-swell, being different from the waves which are raised while the wind blows; the latter generally break at the top, while the former are quite smooth, and roll with great impetuosity in constant succession, forming a deep furrow between them, which, with the force of the wave, is very dangerous to vessels at anchor. Our motions were still closely watched by the natives. About eleven we got under way, but were obliged to anchor again in the afternoon, as the water was not deep enough for the vessel to pass over the bar. The mate sounded the bar again, and placed a buoy as a mark for the vessel to pass over in the deepest water.

Friday, November 26.-The wind favoring us this morning, we made

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T-V4 missed a restess and most unpleaDe emple were much alarmed for the e ery" ground-swer, which set in, increased by to also ner ʼn much and labor so hard, that a quia de que ant give notice the moment it com* "ANAL_STESSO. vuch meant the moment it gave Jarig iad scarcely dawned when the pall of The purpose of this is to prevent the windlass HHỨC MON IT is as against any strain to which it may be Jusementy i was no sooner broken than the windlass A WI Irene velocity, having nothing to resist, the strain ND VINEET Was passed round it. The chain cable ran out so tanut a minute the windlass was broken to atoms. My with our people rendered all the assistance in our power 160p Tam drifting. We succeeded in fastening the cable ous ne leck, until we got sufficient of it clear to go round o, when we had no sooner effected, than the ring-bolts were aw out of the deck by the strain on the cable.

egit A. M. a terrific wave, called by sailors a sea, struck the ser with tremendous force and broke the chain cable. "The cable gone." shouted a voice, and the next instant the captain cried out

arm, collected tone, " Cut away the kedge!" which was promptly eyed, and the vessel was again stopped from drifting among the cakers. The man who had been stationed to look out on the cable ane running aft on deck as soon as he had given notice of the danr, calling out that all was over. "Good God!" was the passionate exclamation of every one, and a slight confusion ensued. But the captain was prepared for the worst; he gave his orders with firmness, Javed with promptness and decision.

riding by the kedge, a small anchor, which, however, was

the only one left us, and on which the safety of the brig now depended. The breakers were close under our stern, and this was not expected to hold ten minutes,-it was a forlorn hope-every eye was fixed on the raging surf, and our hearts thrilled with agitation, expecting every moment that the vessel would be dashed in pieces. A few long and awful minutes were passed in this state, which have left an indelible impression on our minds. Never shall I forget the chief mate saying to me, "Now, sir, every one for himself; a few minutes will be the last with us." The tumultuous sea was raging in mountainous waves close by us, their foam dashing against the sides of the brig, which was only prevented from being carried among them by a weak anchor and cable. The natives, from whom we could expect no favor, were busy on shore making large fires, and other signals, for us to desert the brig and land at certain places, expecting, no doubt, every moment to see her a prey to the waves, and those who escaped their fury to fall into their hands. Wretched resource! the sea would have been far more merciful than they.

Such was our perilous situation, when a fine sea-breeze set in, which literally saved us from destruction. The sails were loosened to relieve the anchor from the strain of the vessel, and she rode out the ebb tide without drifting. At ten A. M. the tide had nearly ceased running out, and the fury of the sea rather abated, but it was quite impossible that the brig could ride out another ebb tide where she lay, with the kedge anchor alone to hold her: the only chance left us, therefore, was to get to sea, and the captain determined on crossing the bar, although there appeared to be little chance of success. At half past ten A. M. he manned the boat with two of our men, and two Kroomen belonging to the brig, and sent them to tow, while the anchor was got on board. This had no sooner been done than the wind fell light, and, instead of drifting over to the western breakers as yesterday and the day before, the brig was now set toward those on the eastern side, and again we had a narrow escape. With the assistance of the boat and good management, we at length passed clear over the bar on the edge of the breakers, in a depth of quarter less three fathoms, and made sail to the eastward. Our troubles were now at an end: by the protection of a merciful Providence we had escaped dangers, the very thoughts of which had filled us with horror; and with a grateful heart and tears of joy for all his mercies, we offered up a silent prayer of thanks for our deliverance.' (Ib. pp. 283-289.)

On the first of December they landed at the island of Fernando Po, on which the British had formed a small settlement for the convenience of trade on the coast of Africa, this island being situated within a few hours' sail of the Gold Coast. Here they were cordially received and hospitably entertained by the governor of the island. After remaining here for some time to refresh themselves, which, indeed, they much needed after such a fatiguing and suffering voyage, they set sail January 22d for Rio Janeiro, where they arrived on the 16th of March, and on the 9th of June arrived from thence to Portsmouth, in England, after an absence of one year and five months.