On Entering The Principal Yard Or Court, In Which They Were Introduced To The King On The Preceding Day, A Common English Chair, Covered With Inferior Red Cloth, Was Placed For The Use Of The King.

He soon afterwards entered, his fat, round cheeks were swelling with good humour, real or assumed, as he shook hands with a sprightly air, when he instantly seated himself to receive the prostrations and addresses of his subjects and others.

The business of the day was entered into with spirit, and a violent altercation arose between the Brass and Bonny people, and although not much was communicated to the Landers, of the conversation that passed between them, yet a sufficiency was imparted to them to let them know, that they would never leave the country without a high ransom.

Bonny was the real place of their destination, and they had with them a messenger from the present and a son to the late ruler of that state, (King Pepper,) whilst on the other hand, they knew nothing of Brass, never having heard the name of such a river in their lives before. The Brass people affirm that the Bonny Creek, which is a small branch of the Niger, was dried up, and that the main river, which runs to Brass, belongs to King Jacket, who permitted no foreigners whatever to pass up and down the Niger, without exacting the accustomed fees or duties. The Brass people, therefore, would have a very plausible reason for taking them entirely out of the hands of Obie and the Damaggoo people.

In the evening, Antonio and five other Bonny people came to their hut with tears in their eyes. On asking them, what was the matter, "The chief," they said, "is determined to sell you to the Brass people, but we will fight for you, and die rather than see you sold." "How many of you Bonny people are there?" Richard Lander asked. "Only six," was the reply. "And can you fight with two hundred Brass people?" Lander asked. "We can kill some of them," they answered, "and your people can assist." Lander then asked Antonio the reason why he did not interpret what was going forward to-day at the king's house. He said, that he was afraid it would have made their hearts sore - that it was "a bad palaver." "We have all been to the chief," he added, "crying to him, and telling him that black man cannot sell white man, but he will not listen to us, he said, he would sell you to the Brass people."

The Landers felt much hurt at their situation, for they did not expect that it would be so bad as it turned out to be, but they made up their minds to prepare themselves for the worst, for it was impossible to foresee the lengths to which the savages would go. On the following day, Richard Lander was taken very ill with the fever, and was consequently unable to attend the summons to the king's house, he therefore sent his brother in his stead, who gave the following account: -

"On my arriving there this morning, to my infinite surprise I found King Boy (Gun's eldest brother,) with a number of his attendants already assembled. He was dressed in a style far superior to any of his countrymen, and wore a jacket and waistcoat over a neat shirt of striped cotton, to which was annexed a silk pocket handkerchief, which extended below the knees. Trousers are not permitted to be worn, either by natives or strangers, of the same hue as themselves, the kings alone being an exception to the rule. Strings of coral and other beads encircled his neck, and a pretty little crucifix of seed beads hung on his bosom. This latter ornament, which has probably been given him by a slave captain, had by no means an unbecoming appearance. King Boy introduced himself to me with the air of a person who bestows a favour, rather than soliciting acquaintance, and indeed his vanity in other respects was highly amusing. He would not suffer any one to sit between him and the platform, but squatted himself down nearest the king's seat, which, as a mark of honour, had been previously assigned to us; and with a volubility scarcely imaginable, he commenced a long narrative of his greatness, power, and dignity, in which he excelled all his neighbours, and to this I was constrained to listen with assumed composure and attention for a considerable time. To convince me of his veracity, he produced a pocket book, containing a great number of recommendatory notes, or 'characters,' as a domestic would call them, written in the English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese languages, and which had been given him by the various European traders, who had visited the Brass River. This practice of giving written characters, which has for some time been adopted by Europeans, is both praiseworthy and useful, and it has become almost universal on the western coast; because it is not to be supposed that the natives themselves can understand these documents, and strangers are made acquainted with their good or bad qualities by them, and taught to discriminate the honest from the unfaithful and malicious. Boy's letters mentioned certain dealings, which their authors had had with him, and they likewise bore testimony to his own character, and the manners of his countrymen. Amongst others is one from a 'James Dow, master of the brig Susan, from Liverpool,' and dated: 'Brass First River, Sept. 1830,' which runs as follows: "Captain Dow states, that he never met with a set of greater scoundrels than the natives in general, and the pilots in particular." These he anathematised as d - - d rascals, who had endeavoured to steer his vessel among the breakers at the mouth of the river, that they might share the plunder of its wreck. King Jacket, who claims the sovereignty of the river, is declared to be a more confirmed knave, if possible, than they, and to have cheated him of a good deal of property.

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