Remarks on the Country Extending from Cape Palmas to the River Congo: Including Observations on the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants ...

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G. & W.B. Whittaker, 1823 - Africa, West - 265 pages

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Page 14 - Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains In cradle of the rude imperious surge ; And in the visitation of the winds, Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them With deafning clamours in the slippery clouds, That, with the hurly, death itself awakes ? Canst thou, O partial sleep!
Page 14 - Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them With deaf'ning clamours in the slippery clouds, That, with the hurly, death itself awakes ? Canst thou, O partial sleep! give thy repose To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude; And, in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a king ? Then, happy low, lie down ! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
Page 144 - Many of the natives write English; an art first acquired by some of the traders' sons, who had visited England, and which they have had the sagacity to retain up to the present period. They have established schools and schoolmasters, for the purpose of instructing in this art the youths belonging to families of...
Page 182 - ... and is so shallow, that it is dangerous for boats drawing more than six or seven feet water to pass it. Formosa, or Benin river, is two miles wide at its entrance from the sea, and has across it a bank of mud, extending to seaward three-quarters of a mile, on which there are only twelve feet of water at spring tides. Vessels, whose draft of water does not exceed nine or ten feet, may generally pass it in safety, by taking the proper time of tide for doing so. A few miles from the sea, this river...
Page 247 - ... sterling per ton. Salt being very cheap in Liverpool, and always in demand at Calabar, the vessels going there generally take, of that article, the amount of their register tonnage, beside a well assorted cargo of the other enumerated articles. A house on shore, for the storage of oil as it is purchased, is therefore requisite, until a quantity of salt is disposed of, so that the oil can be received Names of the various Goods.
Page 152 - ... from St. Thomas thirty-two leagues, bearing south-west southerly. It is a beautiful little island, and inhabited wholly by blacks, who call themselves subjects of the crown of Portugal. There is an open bay on the north-east side where vessels may anchor in twentyfive fathoms water, about a quarter of a mile from the shore. Vessels from the bight of Benin call here sometimes, and obtain a few goats, poultry, and cocoa-nuts. Water is difficult to get, in consequence of the heavy surf, and that...
Page 98 - D impaled while I was at Lagos, but of course I did not witness the ceremony. I passed by where her lifeless body still remained on the stake a few days afterwards. Male dogs are banished to the towns opposite to Lagos, for if any are caught there, they are immediately strangled, split, and trimmed like sheep, and hung up at some great man's door, where rows of the putrid carcasses of their canine...
Page 81 - Wells have, therefore, been made in different parts of the town, which is a very unusual thing in this part of Africa. The natives of Ardrah are industrious, and have acquired some proficiency in the arts, particularly in manufacturing cotton and iron. Cloths of various patterns, though simple, are made by them, both of cotton and grass, but chiefly of the former, into which they frequently weave threads taken from the red India silk taffity, having no red dye which they can render permanent. The...
Page 158 - The superior healthiness of the castle itself may be accounted for, by its southern rampart wall being built on a ledge of rocks which project a little way into the sea, and against which rocks the sea beats with great violence, thereby creating at all times a cool and refreshing current of air within the castle. The...
Page 231 - Rains, when the sea-breeze blows both in the day and night, and at a few leagues from the shore, from very near the south point of the compass, stand off shore for twenty-four hours, when the wind will mostly be found to blow at SSW or S. by W. and often at the South...

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