the palm of his hand:--and that the scales
of justice hung upon his finger,' I was also entreated to report to
his Excellency the Governor of Sierra Leone, the choice they had made,
and their hopes that it would meet with his approbation. The people
expecting that I should address them, I rose, and by my interpreter,
said, 'that I should not fail to report to my master, His Excellency
the Governor of Sierra Leone, the good order and unanimity which had
prevailed in the assembly; that I had no doubt but His Excellency
would approve of the object of their choice that day; that from what I
had heard of their new king, I had no doubt, but that he would justify
the confidence they had placed in him; and I trusted that the same
good sense and attention to the true interests of their country, which
they had shewn that day, would guide all their future deliberations.
In conclusion, I begged leave to congratulate them, on having chosen
such a ruler; and to congratulate their king, on the distinction that
day conferred upon him.'

"The day closed as usual with every manner of licentiousness.

"_Monday, March 5th_.--This being the day appointed for the
inauguration of the new king, it was ushered in with the firing of
musketry and other demonstrations of joy. At 10 A.M. the chiefs and
headmen assembled, and immediately proceeded to the performance of
certain mysteries, which take place in the depths of the bush; and to
which the initiated only are admitted.

"At noon they emerged from the bush, having the new king with them;
whom they now regarded as a complete stranger, providentially sent
them from heaven to be their ruler.

"A deputation now requested my presence at the Palaver House, to which
they were then conducting the king; the headmen and people dancing
around him, as he passed through the streets, in the most fantastic
manner. On my arrival the late Regent pronounced a very long harangue
in the Boollam language, which was repeated sentence by sentence in
the Mandingo and English by the respective interpreters. In this
speech, which however I did not note down, Nain Banna rehearsed what
had from time immemorial been the practice of the Boollams, in cases
such as the present, and declared that all the rites and mysteries
proper for the occasion, had been duly performed. He then pronounced a
long encomium on the virtues of their late king, and conclu