vanced in life, or recaptured slaves, cannot be expected to accomplish much. The first great difficulty required to be overcome is the English language, in the pronunciation of which even those who are initiated early seldom attain a proficiency; and in places apart from the Colony the Mahomedans are invariably the instructors, who, generally ignorant themselves, cannot be expected to impart any great amount of knowledge. However, they are "wondrous wise" amongst their kind, and are superstitiously respected, being readers and expounders of the Koran. Their mode of teaching is as follows:

At night, or dusk, the boys light a large fire in the centre of the town, around which they all sit, each with a wooden board, on which are written scraps from the Koran, which they repeat aloud. It is no great burthen for "one small head to carry all" that even the professors know, yet, little as it may be, it is thought too much to encumber the ladies with, as women are never allowed to be participators in literary pursuits, being reserved for (as literature stands) the more useful study of domestic economy, at which they physically drudge; whilst the men loll in their hammocks, or hold palavers (conversations), all "sound and fury signifying nothing," or wash, and pray in the mosques aloud many times in the day. The pens are slit reeds, and the ink is made from the leaves of a wild berry.

The huts are of mud, and shaped somewhat in the form of a sugarloaf; the interior is of very humble pretension, and would be a greater puzzle for George Robins's puff than the finest mansion in England. The sleeping couches are solid masses of mud, of which cheap and convenient article the tables and chairs are also composed; these, however, are frequently highly and handsomely ornamented with ingenious carving. The floors of the meaner class are mud and cow-dung, well mixed, which after a little becomes as solid as brick, and can be very easily distinguished from the gales of Arabia; yet the inhabitants pique themselves on the richness of the effluvium-the louder the smell, the more genteel; to which, with everything else that the hut contains, you are heartily welcomed.

The natives of all classes are extremely partial to tobacco, particularly as snuff ground with the Lubi (an alkali from leaves), of which, however, the nose is not always the recipient, as it is deposited between the

D

teeth and under lip; so taken, it discolours them, and is intoxicating. When a belle means to honour her beau with a labial salutation, she washes her mouth-a very desirable observance.

African Horses, or rather ponies, are generally well formed, and sometimes vicious; they are sold from £10 to £25. English horses seldom live long, whilst mares stand the climate better: there are not half a dozen in the Colony.

Bullocks in abundance from the surrounding country, and are good; they bring from 10 to 15 dollars each, the dollar 4s. 2d. The cow is never slaughtered, and seldom milked, as the calves are always reared. Goats are very numerous, and used for their milk, which sells for one penny per wine-glass, or one shilling a quart. Price from six to eight shillings each.

Hogs in swarms, killed for pork.

Sheep numerous, from six to eight shillings. The coat is a kind of hair; and English sheep, after shedding their wool, have it replaced by a coat of hair.

Fowls plentiful, about 8s. 8d. per dozen. They are smaller than the English breed.

Dogs.-The African dog is small; and English dogs soon lose their ferocity, becoming lazy, dull, and short-lived.

Pigeons, wild and tame, in abundance.

Turkeys, wild and tame, with ducks and geese, plentiful; the latter, from England, thrive well.

Birds of beautiful plumage, but not songsters. Parrots, plenty from Cape Coast, from 10s. to 20s. each.

Wild Beasts.-Elephants, bullocks, lions, leopards, deer, monkeys, baboons, &c. To become personally acquainted with these in a state of nature, the interior must be visited, as they never appear in or immediately about the Colony. Leopards have occasionally been seen, yet seldom. The rivers abound in places with crocodiles and snakes; and reptiles of all kinds are frequent in the bush, &c. The shores and bay swarm with "sea attorneys."

Grass is long and straight, from three to four feet high, with a blade of an inch or more in breadth-a kind of brake. English grass is sown for plats in gardens and lawns, &c. &c.

Fruit. Almost every kind of tropical fruit is to be had in abundance, of the finest quality, viz., oranges, limes, mangoes, guavas, granadilloes, golden apples, plums, grapes, pines, sour sop, sweet sop, bananas, plantains, &c. &c., with several European kinds, which succeed admirably. Flowers are plentiful and beautiful; but, not being a botanist, I cannot attempt a particular description.

The Vegetable kingdom includes almost all the European kinds, together with the tropical.

The Colonial Villages are divided into three districts-the mountain, eastern, and western. The eastern district is governed by a resident manager and sub-manager. The mountain district comprises the villages of Aberdeen, Wilberforce, Regent, Bathurst, Gloucester, and Charlotte ; the eastern district, Waterloo, Hastings, Wellington, and Kissey; the western district, York, Kent, Bananas, Hamilton, and Goderich.

Since the new arrangements in the liberated African department, the management of the different districts do not command much attention, and is very properly left to the missionaries and Government schools.

The villages are entirely of an agricultural character, and the produce is brought to town for sale. They are occasionally the residence of persons from town, for the recovery of health. Kent and Bananas, on the sea shore, are in the greatest estimation. The houses, or rather huts, in all the African villages, are much of the same character as those described above, the African Wrens and Barrys having simplified the architectural orders into the diabolic, from which the pepper-castors of Trafalgar-square are an evident plagiarism.

These village edifices, like those of the towns, are of the everlasting wattles and mud, and from the continual wood fires the roofs are as deeply dyed as the inmates' faces, with accumulated soot, which is constantly dropping on your clothes and food.

The natural philosopher would find one of these habitations a most accommodating residence, the innumerable supply of all creeping things saving him the trouble of toiling through the sun to furnish his museum. Cockroaches uncountable, red and black ants ad lib, musquitos in phalanxes, scorpions at discretion, centipedes with as many paws as Briareus, all equally affectionate in their nocturnal attentions, literally devouring you with love. Pleasant! rather!

Good reader, if you can procure a slice of bread and butter in merry old England, remain at home, and thank Heaven when the fleas bite you. The Island of Bananas is generally the resort of invalids, who shortly become invigorated by the sea air. It contains a large Government house, the residence of the manager. The island is about four or five miles long, half a mile broad, and in some places mountainous. It yields abundance of fowls, eggs, yams, &c., and was formerly the property of the Clevelands and Caulkers, native chiefs; and when the slave trade was legal, the resort of vessels from Liverpool and other places was considerable. It came into the possession of an English merchant in payment of a debt due by the Caulkers, and was rented by him to the Government as a residence for liberated Africans; but the manager having been withdrawn, it would appear to be of little consideration at present.

In the burying-ground there is a gravestone upwards of a hundred years old, bearing date 1742, upon which the inscription to some young man from Liverpool, whose name I forget, is as legible as if cut but yesterday.

FREE TOWN.

THE Colonial capital presents a most picturesque scene, from the custom of washing and painting the houses of light and gaudy colours, which, in the dry season, from the cheerfulness of the appearance, dissipates the impression of mortality with which the climate terrifies the

new comer.

A long sand-bank stretches across the entrance of the harbour, or rather estuary, and it must be approached on the south point, on which is Carpenter's rock, to be seen at low water but covered at high, which ships safely avoid by taking a wide berth when they come to good anchorage off the town. The only danger to be apprehended is during the Tornado season, when such is its violence that ships are frequently driven from their anchors and compelled to put to sea to avoid being dashed to pieces.

The appearance of the Colony from sea is particularly marked by a high-peaked mountain, which, from its conical shape, is commonly called the "sugar-loaf," in the neighbourhood of which are three other hills of minor attraction. The most elevated is frequently seen far above the clouds, and may be descried at the distance of thirty or forty miles, perhaps more, long before the low land, on which the town is situated, appears.

The town was judiciously laid out, on the formation of the Colony, at the foot of a hill declining to the bay; the streets are at right angles, apparently with a view to ventilation, and as giving the readiest outlet to the heavy rains, sweeping off all accumulated and offensive matter. From the custom of the regular inhabitants and natives residing so much apart from each other, Free Town has been split into marked divisions, such as the Settlers' Town, Maroon Town, Foulah Town, Soldiers'