They Laugh Directly." So It Was Supposed, That They Cried From Habit, Rather Than From Feeling, And That They Can Shed Tears And Be Merry In The Same Breath, Whenever They Please.

About seven o'clock this evening, they heard a public crier, proclaiming with a loud voice, that should any one be discovered straggling about the streets after that hour, he would be seized and put to death.

Many houses in the town had lately been set on fire by incendiaries, and this most likely gave rise to the above precautionary measure.

They were compelled to remain the whole of the following day, on account of the inability of the governor to procure them carriers for their luggage, The number of people who visited them to-day was so great, and their company so irksome, that they were perplexed for some time how to get rid of them without offence. One party in particular was so unpleasant, and they so seriously incommoded them, that they had recourse to the unusual expedient of smoking them off, by kindling a fire at the door of their hut, before which they were sitting. It succeeded agreeably to their wishes.

A company of women and girls from the Fellata village of Acba, impelled by a curiosity so natural to their sex, came likewise to see them in the afternoon, but their society, instead of being disagreeable, as the company of all their other visitors proved to be, was hailed by them with pleasure. For these females were so modest and so retiring, and evinced so much native delicacy in their whole behaviour, that they excited in the breast of the travellers the highest respect: their personal attractions were no less winning; they had fine sparkling jetty eyes, with eyelashes as dark and glossy as the ravens' plume; their features were agreeable, although their complexions were tawny; their general form was elegant; their hands small and delicate, and the peculiar cleanliness of their persons, and neatness of dress added to these, rendered their society altogether as desirable as that of their neighbours was disagreeable.

The Fellatas inhabiting Acba were all born and bred in that town, their ancestors settled in the country at so remote a period, that although some inquiries were made respecting it, all their questions were unavailing, and in fact, not even a tradition has been preserved on the subject. These "children of the soil," lead a harmless, tranquil, and sober life, which they never suffer passing events to disturb; they have no ambition to join their more restless and enterprising countrymen, who have made themselves masters of Alorie and Raka, nor even to meddle in the private or public concerns of their near neighbours of Keeshee. Indeed, they have kept themselves apart and distinct from all; they have retained the language of their fathers, and the simplicity of their manners, and their existence glides serenely and happily away, in the enjoyment of domestic pleasures and social tenderness, which are not always found in civilized society, and which are unknown among their roving countrymen. They are on the best possible terms with their neighbours like the Fellatas at Bohoo and by them are held in great respect.

The governor of Keeshee was a Borgoo man, and boasted of being the friend of Yarro, chief of Kiama, but as the old man told them many wonderful stories of the number of towns under his sway, his amazing great influence, and the entire subjection in which his own people were kept by his own good government, all of which was listened to with patience; they were inclined to believe that the pretensions of the governor were as hollow as they were improbable. As to his government, he gave them a specimen of it, by bawling to a group of children that had followed their steps into the yard, ordering them to go about their business. But every one in this country displayed the same kind of ridiculous vanity, and in the majority of towns which they visited, it was the first great care of their chiefs, to impress on their minds an idea of their vast importance, which in many instances was contradicted by their ragged tobes and squalid appearance. Yet, if their own accounts were to be credited, their affluence and power were unbounded. All truth is sacrificed to this feeling of vanity and vain glory; and considering that in most cases they hold truth in great reverence, they render themselves truly ridiculous by their absurd practice of boasting; every circumstance around them tending to contradict it. In the case of the Landers, however, these toasters had to deal with strangers, and with white men, and perhaps it may be considered as natural, amongst simple barbarians, to court admiration and applause, even if no other means were employed than falsehood and exaggeration. After a deal of talking, tending to no particular subject, from which any useful information could be obtained, the governor of Keeshee begged the favour of a little rum and medicine to heal his foot, which was inclined to swell and give him pain; and another request which he made was, that they would repair a gun, which had been deprived of its stock by fire. He then sung them a doleful ditty, not in praise of female beauty, as is the practice with the songsters of England, but it was in praise of elephants and their teeth, in which he was assisted by his cane bearer, and afterwards took his leave. They received little presents of goora nuts, salt, honey, mi-cadamia, butter, &c., from several inhabitants of the place.

Some mallams and others, who wished to accompany the Landers to Kiama, whither they were going for the purposes of trade, persuaded the easy-minded governor on the preceding night, to defer getting their carriers until the following day, because, forsooth, they were not themselves wholly prepared to travel on that day. They were, therefore, obliged to wait the further pleasure of these influential merchants.

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