The Writer Describes King Forday As A Man Rather Advanced In Years, Less Fraudulent But More Dilatory.

King Boy, his son, alone deserved his confidence, for he had not abused it, and possessed more honour and integrity than either of his countrymen.

"These are the rulers of the Brass River, and pretty fellows they are, truly. Mr. Dow further observes, that the river is extremely unhealthy, and that his first and second mates, three coopers, and five seamen, had already died of fever, and that he himself had had several narrow escapes from the same disorder. He concludes, by cautioning traders against the treachery of the natives generally, and gives them certain directions concerning 'the dreadful bar,' at the mouth of the river, on which he had nearly perished.

"This business had been no sooner settled, than Obie entered the yard, attended as usual, but clad indifferently in loose silks. After the customary salutations, Boy directed the monarch to appeal to me, that he might be satisfied in what estimation he was held by white men. Of course I said a variety of fine things in his favour, which were received with a very good grace indeed; but that a piece of paper simply, which could neither speak, hear, nor understand, should impart such information, was a source of astonishment and wonder to Obie and his train, who testified their emotion in no other manner than by looks of silly amazement, and repeated bursts of laughter.

"The king then said with a serious countenance, that there was no necessity for further discussion respecting the white men, his mind was already made up on the subject, and for the first time, he briefly explained himself to this effect: That circumstances having thrown us in the way of his subjects, by the laws and usages of the country, he was not only entitled to our own persons, but had an equal right to those of our attendants; that he should take no further advantage of his good fortune, than by exchanging us for as much English goods as would amount in value to twenty slaves. In order to have this matter fairly arranged and settled, he should, of his own accord, prevent our leaving the town, till such time as our countrymen at Bonny or Brass should pay for our ransom, having understood from ourselves that the English at either of those rivers, would afford us whatever assistance we might require, with cheerfulness and alacrity. Concerning the goods of which we had been robbed at Kirree, he assured us he would use his utmost exertions to get them restored. He lamented that circumstance more than any one, but he denied that a single subject of his had any thing to do with it, and attributed the whole of that unfortunate affair, to the rashness and brutality of a certain people, that inhabited a country nearly opposite to his own, whose monarch was his particular friend, therefore, he apprehended little difficulty in seeing justice done us; 'but then,' said he, 'it is necessary that you should wait here for an indefinite time, till a council of that nation be held, when the plunderers will be examined, and your claims established. The Damaggoo people, that have come with you, have like yourselves suffered much loss; for my own part, I shall make them a present of a slave or two as a compensation, and they have my permission to go along with you for the present, which I understand you have promised their monarch, but you must not expect them to be your guides to the sea, for their responsibility ends here.'

"When all this was interpreted to me by Antonio, I was thunderstruck. It was in vain that I assured Obie that there was not the slightest necessity for our detention in the town; that our countrymen would redeem us the moment they should see us, but not before; and equally unavailing were my solicitations for him to alter this arrangement and suffer us to depart; but the tears of his subjects, and the representations of the men at Brass, had made too deep an impression upon his mind to be so easily eradicated. We found it too late either to implore or remonstrate.

"This final decision of the king is a bitter stroke to us, for we fondly indulged the hope of a more favourable issue, from the deliberations of the savage council, at whose dissolution we expected to be sent to the sea coast, without being perplexed with further embarrassments. We have now to wait the return of a messenger from thence, who has not yet been sent on his errand, and he is to bring back with him the value of twenty slaves, ere we obtain our freedom. Heaven only knows whether the masters of English vessels at Bonny or Brass, have the ability or feel the disposition to ransom us. We only know that if disposed of at all, we shall be sold for infinitely more than we are worth.

"As may naturally be supposed, I returned home much depressed and afflicted, to inform my brother of the result of the palaver, and he was as greatly surprised and afflicted as myself at the intelligence. But though we are full of trouble and uneasiness at our gloomy situation, yet we do not repine at the divine dispensations of that Almighty providence, which has comforted us in the hours of adversity, and relieved us in times of pain and danger, and snatched us from the jaws of death."

On the following morning, Richard Lander was rather convalescent, and in truth they both wondered much that their health, generally speaking, had been so good, when they reflected for a moment on the hardships and privations, which they had lately undergone, the perplexities in which they had been entangled, and the difficulties with which they had had to contend.

During the few days that they had spent in this place, they had been sadly in want of provisions, and their people, who for the first day bore their privation in silence, have since then been loud in their complaints.

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