of
brandy from his chest, he gave to each man a glass of the spirit,
when, on a sudden, a very extraordinary change appeared to take place
in their opinions and sentiments. They might have been misled as to
Barraconda being the end of the world, and they did now remember some
instances of persons returning, who had been beyond the falls, and as
to the enormous animals, who were said to have devoured the voyagers;
they now believed that no other animals were meant than crocodiles
and river horses, which, although certainly formidable, were not by
any means such dreadful objects as to prevent them prosecuting their
voyage. Thus, what the powers of oratory could not effect, nor the
arguments of sound and deliberate reason accomplish, was achieved in
a moment by the administration of a small quantity of spirituous
liquid, giving bravery to the coward, and daring to the effeminate.

They had now arrived at the dreaded boundary of the habitable world,
but the falls were not found to be nearly so formidable as they had
been represented; they bore rather the character of narrows than of
falls, the channel being confined by rocky ledges and fragments,
between which there was only one passage, where the canoes rubbed
against the rocks on each side. Contrary to the reports, which had
been in general circulation, of the dispositions of the natives of
the Upper Gambia, in which they were represented to be of a most
ferocious and savage nature, they were found to be a harmless, kind,
and good-humoured people, who, on every occasion, hastened to render
every assistance in their power to the navigators, making them
presents of fowls and provisions, and, in some instances, refusing to
take any thing in return for the articles which they gave away.

The most laborious part of the journey now presented itself, which
consisted in the great exertions, which were necessary in order to
pass the flats and quicksands, which seemed to multiply as they
ascended the river, and which obliged the natives to strip and get
into the water, to drag the boats over the shallows by main force.
Although the natives had now ascertained beyond all further doubt,
that Barraconda was not the end of the world, yet, one part of their
story was fully verified, which was that relating to the enormous
animals, with which these desolate regions were tenanted. To the
present travellers, they appeared far more formidable than to their
predecessors, for the very eleph