plovers of various species, are seen on
the edges of the marshes, and also great numbers of wild ducks. Other
species frequent the reeds, and the surface of the water is covered with
geese of different kinds, among which is that whose head bears a fleshy
tubercle like that of the cassowary. The fishing nets are made of date
leaves; their upper edge is furnished, instead of cork, with pieces of the
light wood of the _Asclepias_.--The sails of the canoes are made of cotton.

Several shrubs, and a large number of herbaceous plants of this part of
Africa, are found also in the Antilles. But among the indigenous plants,
are the Cape Jessamine, the _Amaryllis Rubannee_, the Scarlet Hoemanthus,
the Gloriosa Superba, and some extremely beautiful species of _Nerions_. A
new species of Calabash, (Crescentia) with pinnated leaves is very common.
Travellers appear to have confounded it with the Baobab, on account of the
shape of its fruits, the thickness of its trunk, and the way in which its
branches grow. Its wood, which is very heavy and of a fallow colour, has
the grain and smell of ebony: its Yoloffe name is Bonda, the English have
cut down and exported the greatest part of it.

In short, Africa, such as we have seen it either on the banks of the
Senegal or the Peninsula of Cape Verd, is a new country, which promises to
the naturalist an ample harvest of discoveries, and to the philosophical
observer of mankind, a vast field for research and observation. May the
detestable commerce in human flesh, which the Negroes abhor, and the Moors
desire, cease to pollute these shores! It is the only means which the
Europeans have left to become acquainted with the interior of this vast
continent, and to make this great portion of the family of mankind, by
which it is inhabited participate in the benefits of civilization.

[1] The _Medusa_ was armed en flute, having only 14 guns on board;
it was equipped at Rochefort with the _Loire_.

[2] Equipped at Brent.

[3] Came from L'Orient.

[4] The town of Chassiron is on the point of Oleron, opposite a
bank of rocks called _Les Antiochats_.

[5] The light house of La Baleine is placed at the other end of
the Pertuis d'Antioche, on the coast of the Isle of Rhe.

[6] _Les Roches Bonnes _are 8 or 9 leagues from the Isle of Rhe,
their position is not exactly determined on the charts.

[7] Three knots make a marine league of 5556 meters.

[8] These are very large fish which every moment a