It Must, However, Be Remarked, That Friends And Acquaintance Are Often Called Brothers In Yarriba; And To Make A Distinction In The Above Instance, They Assert That Mansolah And The King Of Benin Were Of One Father And One Mother.

They made some inquiries of Ebo on this subject, but he soon silenced their remarks by observing, that they

Were too inquisitive, or to use his own words, "that they talked too much." It was the intention of the Landers, after leaving Yaoorie to proceed direct to Guarie, the prince of which country would no doubt send them to Funda, whence it would be their endeavour to discover the termination of the Niger, agreeably to their written instructions.

Instead of the jarring noise of women's tongues, which had hitherto annoyed and followed them at every stage of their journey from Badagry, they at length enjoyed as much of composure and tranquillity, as they could well desire; for the wives of Ebo residing at some distance from the part of the yard which they occupied, the shrill sound of their voices was pleasant, contrasted with the former loud, discordant, and perpetual din which rang in their ears from morning to night. Their male visitors were, likewise, few and select, and did not remain with them any very considerable time together. An order was issued by the king, that if any impertinent individual troubled them at any time with his company, when it was not desired, Ebo was at liberty to behead him, and no one according to the strict injunction of Mattsolah, should tax the eunuch with injustice or cruelty in the performance of his duties. This royal proclamation as it may be termed, had the desired effect, for it was regarded with greater exactness and punctuality than some royal proclamations are in Europe, the people having a great dread of Ebo, who, independently of the high office which he held of chief eunuch, somewhat similar to the office of Lord Chamberlain at the court of St. James', was also the occupant of the delightful office of public executioner, an occupation which, in that despotic country, was frequently called into practice.

The king of Katunga, like other kings, has also his master of the horse, who at the time of Lander's visit was an elderly person, possessing no small degree of influence over his royal master. The European and the African master of the horse, however, in some respects bore a great similarity to each other, although contrary to the opinion of the metaphysicians, the same cause produced a different effect. The European master of the horse has a great number of useless horses under his nominal care, and yet has nothing to do; the African master of the horse has also nothing to do, for the very best of all reasons, that he has no horses to take care of, the whole African stud consisting of one or two half-starved, ragged ponies, which would disgrace a costermonger's cart in the streets of London. Katunga, however, is not the only place in which the sun shines, where the office is made for the man, and not the man for the office; but as they have no pension list in Katunga, nor any retired allowances, nor any Chiltern Hundreds, to enable them to vacate their offices, they are immediately sent about their business when age, sickness, or other infirmity disables them from performing the duties of their office.

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