It was supposed that
he was the bearer of a message to the chief of Jenna, from the king
of Katunga, and that it had some reference to themselves, but whether
it was an act of caution or of compliment could not be ascertained.
They met a number of people of both sexes in the path, who were
returning from Egga to Chow, and several naked boys on their way to
the coast, under the care of guardians. These were slaves, and would
be most likely sold at Badagry. Some of the woman bore burdens on
their heads, that would have tired a mule and broken the neck of a
Covent Garden Irish woman, and children not more than five or six
years old trudged after them with loads that would have given a full
grown person in Europe the brain fever.
They departed from Chow before sunrise; a surprising dew had fallen
during the night and distilled from the leaves and branches in large
drops. They passed during the forenoon, over three or four swampy
places, covered with reeds, rushes, and rank grass, which were
inhabited by myriads of frogs of prodigious size. On crossing the
streams, they were invariably saluted by a loud and unaccountable
hissing, as if from a multitude of serpents. They could not account
for this extraordinary noise in any other way, than by supposing it
to have proceeded from some species of insects, whose retreats they
had invaded.
