o until the
troops arrived from England; and to all, a trip down the coast was a
pleasant change after the long monotony of rolling at anchor. For some
distance from Cape Coast the shore was flat, but further on the country
became hilly. Some of the undulations reached a considerable height, the
highest, Mamquady, being over two thousand feet.

"That ought to be a very healthy place," Frank said. "I should think
that a sanatorium established there would be an immense boon to the
whites all along the coasts."

"One would think so," an officer replied "but I'm told that those hills
are particularly unhealthy. That fellow you see jutting out is said to
be extremely rich in gold. Over and over again parties have been formed
to dig there, but they have always suffered so terribly from fever that
they have had to relinquish the attempt. The natives suffer as well
as the whites. I believe that the formation is granite, the surface of
which is much decomposed; and it is always found here that the turning
up of ground that has not been disturbed for many years is extremely
unhealthy, and decomposing granite possesses some element particularly
obnoxious to health. The natives, of course, look upon the mountain as
a fetish, and believe that an evil spirit guards it. The superstition
of the negroes is wonderful, and at Accra they are, if possible, more
superstitious than anywhere else. Every one believes that every malady
under the sun is produced by fetish, and that some enemy is casting
spells upon them."

"There is more in it than you think," the doctor joined in; "although it
is not spells, but poison, which they use against each other. The use of
poison is carried to an incredible extent here. I have not been much on
shore; but the medical men, both civilian and military, who have been
here any time are convinced that a vast number of the deaths that take
place are due to poison. The fetish men and women who are the vendors of
these drugs keep as a profound secret their origin and nature, but it is
certain that many of them are in point of secrecy and celerity equal to
those of the middle ages."

"I wonder that the doctors have never discovered what plants they get
them from," Frank said.

"Some of them have tried to do so," the doctor replied; "but have
invariably died shortly after commencing their experiments; it is
believed they have been poisoned by the fetish men in order to prevent
their secrets being discovered."