It Would Not Be Paying Him That Respect," He Continued, Which His Rank And Situation Demanded, Were The White Men

To leave his dominions and the country altogether, without first coming to pay him their respects, and he would therefore

Entreat them to pay a visit to Wowow for that purpose, or if both of them could not leave Patashie, he requested that Richard Lander would come and bid him adieu, because he had not done so when his illness compelled him to leave his city.

The monarchs of Boossa and Wowow seemed to entertain very different opinions regarding the journey of the Landers. The former insisting on the necessity of their proceeding down the Niger on the eastern or Nouffie side, and the latter making use of strong language to persuade them that the Yarriba side of the river would be the most convenient, the most agreeable, and the safest; and if they would make up their minds not to attend to the king of Boossa's advice, he would send a messenger with them, who should protect them even to the sea. This difference of opinion, they were apprehensive would involve them in a thousand perplexities, yet they could only be guided by circumstances.

At Boossa, they experienced the greatest difficulty and trouble in procuring the bare necessaries of life, but in the flourishing Patashie, provisions were sent to them from the chiefs of the two islands in such abundance, that half of them were thrown to the dogs. The natives of all ages displayed the greatest anxiety to see the white men, and large crowds assembled every day, and waited from morning to night patiently till they had gained the object of their visit. However, they were all as timid as hares, and if the Landers happened to look fixedly in their faces for a moment, most of them, more especially the females and the junior classes of both sexes, started back with terror, as if they had seen a serpent in the grass; and when the Landers attempted to walk near any of them, they ran screaming away, as though they had been pursued by a lion, or were in danger of falling into the jaws of a crocodile, so horrified were these poor people at the bare sight of a white man, and so frightful did their imaginations picture him to be.

On Friday, September 24th, Richard Lander landed for the purpose of proceeding to Wowow, and took possession of a house on the banks of the river, which had been prepared for him. The king of Wowow's messenger accompanied him, and having got everything ready as soon as he could, he commenced his journey to the city.

On his arrival at Wowow, he was too much fatigued to pay his respects to the sovereign, but on the following day, he had prepared himself for the visit to the king's house, but to his great surprise the eccentric old man excused himself from being seen on that day, on the plea that he had taken a ride in the morning to see his gardens, and the exercise had so much tired him, that he felt no inclination whatever to receive his visitors till the following day.

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