One very fine old fetish-woman, accompanied by her two daughters, presented me with some eggs, which she brought me on a soup plate of English manufacture, for which I gave in return needles and thimbles. With these they seemed much pleased, but unfortunately on their way home they dropped the plate and broke it into several pieces. The young ladies returned crying bitterly, earnestly entreating me to mend it, and seemed still more grieved when I told them that it was beyond my skill. To console them, however, I told them that I would certainly send them one from Whydah by the Abomey messenger, who would forward it to Savalu by the traders. This promise I fulfilled.

Late in the evening the caboceer again visited me, when I presented him with a few ornamental trinkets, as well as a knife and a pair of scissors. With these he seemed pleased. I also presented his head men, and the Abomey merchants who had treated us so kindly, with some trifling articles. In return, they presented me with a live goat and some fowls.

August 19th.—Early in the morning I was visited by the caboceer, who came to pay his morning visit. The night had been very wet, and I was still suffering a little from fever; however, I was determined to proceed on my journey. We were furnished with a good breakfast, of which I partook a little. I had now become quite the African in my diet, which agreed with me very well, and I would recommend all travellers to adopt the same plan. When my party were announced to be all ready for the march, we were conducted through the principal market-place, where we found a fine young bull tied to one of the trees. The gay young caboceer here prostrated himself, and after the usual rubbing with dirt, presented me with this bull, which he sent to Abomey by carriers.

During my stay at Savalu the caboceer supplied me with seventy-seven large calabashes of ready-cooked provision, besides plenty of fruit, the principal of which, in use at this season, were the gwaba, pine-apple, oranges, popans, mangoes, and the kidney cachu. The caboceer, before leaving his town, begged me to do him the honour to insert his own and the name of his head men in my book. I here give them, for they tend to show the names peculiar to different countries:—

Caboceer Bagadee.
Head men Agbuzzee.
Kootakoo.
Naghwoolyaemadah.
Dissou.
Naghohennah.
Agyddymoosee.
Agbadyea.
Kpwaghooda.
Agoyae.
Daffo.
Bozavee.
Kudjo.
Koko.
Attlah.
Athaly.
Dakphway.
Boka.
Vaugh.
Kogilee.
Lyhoo.
Bossou.
Gbazoo.
Oosa.
Atholoo.
Mirahoo.
Modjekossee.
Azamodoko.
Jayaloogo.
Kudjo 2d.
Akyea.
Jagadidjee.
Yakadya.
Caboceer’s Head wife Selamee

The thermometer now ranged from 80° to 73° of Fahrenheit.

It may be well to observe here, that the name of Kudjo is not peculiar to this country, but rather to the Gold Coast, and is only given to those who are born on particular days.

After finishing the above ceremony, we marched on our journey, bearing W.S.W., crossing the range of Savalu Mountains. The grass, which was very long (being nearly six feet), and hanging across the path, quite wet from the previous night’s rain, soon drenched us as much as a heavy rain would have done, but the sun very soon dried all of us, and perspiration succeeded. At two miles we reached a fine open plain studded with shea butter-trees, now ripe; their fruit was lying in large quantities under the trees.

The direction of the path now changed more southward. Here we passed numbers of ash-trees not different from that of Great Britain, except that they had a rougher bark, with deeper fracture. Journeying a few miles farther, we passed through some thick bush, where we found large quantities of wild grapes hanging in bunches over the path; the vine clinging to various trees, and running from one to another. This grape was of the green tribe, very similar to those which ornament the walls of our cottages in England, but the bunches were not so compact. At eight miles, we crossed the River Zoka, running S.E. with a rapid stream, on account of its being the rainy season. At nine miles we crossed another brook, with excellent water, running in nearly the same direction.

At fourteen miles, we passed some curious shrubs of the same description as I observed in the Fellattah country; although in full vegetation, the leaves were coloured and marked like the feathers of a partridge. There is here also a great variety of the aloe tribe, some of which I found to change their colour and marks by transplanting to a different soil. The wild gwaba is very abundant here, and much larger than in the neighbourhood of Cape Coast. The yellow fig also abounds here as well as the kolla-nut.