enly
resolved on a foray among the natives on my own account; and equipping
a couple of my largest canoes with an ample armament, as well as a
substantial store of provisions and merchandise, I departed for the
Matacan river, a short stream, unsuitable for vessels of considerable
draft. I was prepared for the purchase of fifty slaves.

I reached my destination without risk or adventure, but had the
opportunity of seeing some new phases of Africanism on my arrival.
Most of the coast negroes are wretchedly degraded by their
superstitions and _sauvagerie_, and it is best to go among them with
power to resist as well as presents to purchase. Their towns did not
vary from the river and bush settlements generally. A house was given
me for my companions and merchandise; yet such was the curiosity to
see the "white man," that the luckless mansion swarmed with sable bees
both inside and out, till I was obliged to send for his majesty to
relieve my sufferings.

After a proper delay, the king made his appearance in all the
paraphernalia of African court-dress. A few fathoms of check girded
his loins, while a blue shirt and red waistcoat were surmounted by a
dragoon's cap with brass ornaments. His countenance was characteristic
of Ethiopia and royalty. A narrow forehead retreated rapidly till it
was lost in the crisp wool, while his eyes were wide apart, and his
prominent cheek-bones formed the base of an inverted cone, the apex of
which was his braided beard, coiled up under his chin. When earnest in
talk, his gestures were mostly made with his head, by straining his
eyes to the rim of their sockets, stretching his mouth from ear to
ear, grinning like a baboon, and throwing out his chin horizontally
with a sudden jerk. Notwithstanding these personal oddities, the
sovereign was kind, courteous, hospitable, and disposed for trade.
Accordingly, I "dashed," or presented him and his head-men a few
pieces of cottons, with some pipes, beads, and looking-glasses, by way
of whet for the appetite of to-morrow.

But the division of this gift was no sportive matter. "The spoils"
were not regulated upon principles of superiority, or even of
equality; but fell to the lot of the stoutest scramblers. As soon as
the goods were deposited, the various gangs seized my snowy cottons,
dragging them right and left to their several huts, while they
shrieked, yelled, disputed, and fought in true African fashion. Some
lucky dog would now and then leap