his zeal, sallied out to disperse the party; but proceeding with too great violence he was resisted, and upon his horses's rein being seized, he drew a knife, or some sharp instrument, and wounded one of the party; the matter, however, was quickly hushed up, by the man's being pe sioned, and the offender shipped off to England. Yet the " Watchman newspaper, (or more properly it should be termed a mere register), the acknowledged organ of this sect, took no notice of this exploit, whilst it is not wanting in moral courage to slander and calumniate the absent, who have too much in their keeping for their credit or peace of mind.

RELIGION, &c.

The Ecclesiastical Establishment is the most honoured and honourably conducted department in the Colony, being placed under the guidance of persons who are able and willing to fulfil the serious confidence reposed in them.

The Chaplain, with a salary of £500 a-year, presides at St. George's Church, Free-town, and the assistant missionaries are scattered through the various villages. They have a large institution at Fourah Bay, a mile from town, for the education of African youths, and another in the town, as well as numerous schools in other directions. The management of the whole is admirable, and cannot fail to impart a moral and literary training that must fully repay the trouble and expense so willingly bestowed.

The Sectarian Denominations have not that variety which mark secession in England and other countries, being confined to Baptists, Huntingdonians, Calvinists, and Wesleyans; the latter are rather a numerous body; and were it not for the worldly and speculative character of a leading member, its operations would be more useful and respected. A preacher of "the Word" should be divested of all such secular engrossments as lead to the suspicion, nay, certainty, that his preaching and practice are at variance. The Shylock who seeks gain by all possible devices, even to demanding his " pound of flesh," is more suited for the Exchange than the pulpit, however skilled he may be in "the painted flourishes of the tongue." If he who possesses two coats, and will not part with one to his naked brother, be unworthy of his Master of whom he is the disciple, what must he be who would deprive his neighbour of his only garment, for the sake of adding to an already overburthened store, forgetful (though he preach of fire) that Africa is not the hottest place in creation?

Religion with some is a trade, with others trade is a religion, but to unite the two principles is the consummation of pharisaical hypocrisy.

The Mahomedan religion is very prevalent in Africa, and of the natives those professing it constitute the most respectable and intellectual class; but the greater mass are Pagans who, from the nature of an idolatrous worship, are incomparably more superstitious.

It is astonishing how many human beings with sufficient rationality to distinguish between night and day, or their own species and a tiger or a tree, can indulge in the ridiculous beliefs that beset the various tribes; for though Paganism upon the broad principle is the general religion, yet there are national offshoots from the parent stem which are nurtured with a devotion worthy of a better cause.

As Sierra Leone is the principal Colony on the West African coast, it has the greatest influx of native visitors from the interior, which, together with the liberated negroes from the slavers, introduce a greater variety of religions than probably are to be found congregated in any other place; not that a manifestation is at all times exhibited; nay, their superstitions are frequently concealed, particularly by those who pretend to have been converted, which, however, are discoverable by intimacy and conversation. Nor are these gross superstitions confined to the poorer class; indeed some of the more intelligent and independent in other matters, are the most ignorant and grovelling when their superstitious prejudices are referred to.

Kolloh is a spirit supposed to reside in the neighbourhood of Yangroo, in Western Africa. He lives in the woods and is seldom visible except upon the death of a king or chief, or when persons are interred without the usual ceremony of dancing, feasting, and particularly drinking; he is represented by an oval bamboo basket about three feet long, made to fit a man's shoulders; it is covered with a net and decorated with porcupine quills on the nose; its appearance is frightful, and excites the inhabitants with childish terror. Frequently some man more knowing than the rest, who is short of cash or wishes a good entertainment, pretending to "have a call," assumes the kolloh, and goes about with it on his head to see if the ceremonies are observed, and very soon contrives to form an African " Almack's," where he presides as master of the ceremonies, ringing a bell concealed within the kolloh, and bran

dishing his rod of office.

It is unnecessary to add that those selfordained priests are the most hardened and plundering vagabonds in the country.

The word fetishe or fetish is often heard amongst the negroes from the Portuguese fetico, or witchcraft, and means a charm or mode of conducting worship, and is often applied to the representatives of their divinities.

The fetishes of Whidah are the serpent, tall trees, and the sea. The first is the most powerful, and the other two are subordinates. The serpent has a large round head, piercing eyes, short pointed tongue, solemn movement, except when it darts upon its prey, and is then very rapid. Its tail short and sharp, and skin smoothly variegated with elegant colours-it is exceedingly tame and familiar. Priests and priestesses are appointed to its service, and valuable offerings are made to it, which the priesthood most religiously appropriate to themselves; it is invoked in all great difficulties, and as the Whidahens, like wiser people, imagine that of their little difficulties are great, the serpent, or rather the many serpents, are enriched.

The inhabitants of Benin believe in an invisible deity, who created heaven and earth; but, because he can only do good, they think it useless to propitiate him. Their devil, or malignant spirit, receives all the honours, which are offered in the sacrifice of men and animals, to satiate his thirst for blood; but they have many other objects of less rational note, such as elephants' teeth, claws, bones, dead men's heads, to which they make daily offerings of boiled yams mixed in palm oil. On great occasions they present a cock, giving the divinity the blood, and reserving the flesh for themselves. Persons of rank give annual feasts to their gods, when great numbers of cattle are offered to the idols, and the priests make each person offer his own sacrifice, in order that they may enjoy the sacerdotal profit without trouble, something on the principle of a plurality of livings.

In Guinea some tribes assemble around a sacred tree, near which they have a table decorated with boughs in the form of crowns, and covered with their best fare, at which they eat and drink in honour of their fetishes. The day is passed in dancing and singing, accompanied by drums and brass instruments, the priest in the centre at an altar, on

which he offers sacrifices, whilst the worshippers congregate around him to hear and witness his incantations. At the conclusion he twists a wisp of straw, and dipping it into a pot of some particular "hell broth," in which there is a serpent, he sprinkles the children, uttering some mummery, and then, performing the same ceremony on the altar, empties the pot, when his assistants close the sacrifice with yells and unintelligible words of applause.

They wash themselves every morning, as an act of devotion, and draw white lines across their faces in honour of the fetish. Their oracles are accomplished by a black dog, who sits at the sacred tree, and very cleverly responds to questions that would puzzle the priest himself. No doubt this sacred tree is hollow, but not empty.

The Dahomans are a particularly idolatrous cast; they worship the moon, certain animals, trees, stocks, and stones. A particular serpent, called daboa, is in high divine estimation; it is kept in a basket, and secretly fed with rats, the worshippers being persuaded that it "lives on the chamelion's dish, the air." The priestesses are supported by the Government, and every year there is a grand feast in honour of daboa, at which the chiefs assist, not more assiduously in the rites than the debauchery. This serpent is particularly honoured by ladies who are. "as ladies wish to be who love their lords." The tiger is also propitiated occasionally by a few children, which shabby fare is compensated for upon important festivities by the senior part of the family being placed at his tender mercy. Many other observances of a still more abhorrent character might be added which fully entitle the Dahoman to the boast of their nation—a temple dedicated to the devil; they, however, have a mystified notion of a Supreme Being, but pay him no worship but through the fetish, being convinced that he is too good to barm them.

Though the Ashantees are considered the most intelligent nation of Western Africa, they are gross idolaters and most profligate in human sacrifices. At their festivals and funerals they have a tradition which has become orthodox by descent from ages. It is, that at the beginning of the world God created in Africa three black men and three white, with the same number of women, and placed before them a large and attractive box and an insignificant-looking sealed paper. The black men had the