many ropes; and often, when half way down, or more, a stem will divide into four or five smaller ones, and these growing down side by side, each one becomes a separate tree. The roots of the parent tree, at the same time, as they grow, elevate its trunk into the air until it seems mounted on stilts, and being thus bound fast to the ground, both from above and below, it rests in its place as securely as a man with his neck and his feet in the stocks.

To this list of forest trees others might be added, which I never saw or heard of except in Africa, and with regard to which I know of nothing peculiar, unless it be that, like every other product of vegetable life there, they grow to an immense size. We hasten, therefore, to the palm tree, of which there are several kinds. One of these is the palmetto, which is very much like the cocoa-nut and the cabbage tree of the southern United States. But the more useful are those from which the palm oil and wine are produced, of which there are three varieties. Palm trees send up their smooth, round trunks to the height of from twenty or thirty to eighty and one hundred feet, their long feathery branches shooting forth with a graceful curve from the highest point, and thus, as they here and there tower above the other trees of the forest, they give a peculiarly wild and Oriental cast of beauty to the richly verdant landscape.

Palm wine is drank extensively by the natives of Central and Western Africa, and has about the strength of common cider. The juice is obtained from the tree either by making a hole in the trunk, and inserting a portion of the leaf as a spout to conduct it off, much in the same way as the sap of the sugar-maple is collected in New England; or, in other cases, the tree is cut down, the branches and leaves are removed, a trench is made in the upper surface as deep as the heart of the tree, and a slight fire being made upon this every morning, it will furnish from a quart to two gallons of sap daily for several successive weeks. Two or three gallons a day are obtained by the other process, the juice running mostly by night. It soon changes to the color of milk and water, and is a very sweet, pleasant drink; but within twentyfour hours it ferments so as to make palm wine, containing eight or ten per cent. of alcohol, If kept some time longer, and exposed to the air, it becomes sharp vinegar.

This wine is commonly kept in earthen pots or jars, manufactured by the natives, their tops being covered with plaited

When

leaves, to prevent the fermentation from going too far. used by the natives, the master of the feast places the cup from which all are to drink, between his feet, when a plate, containing a mixture of red pepper and salt, is passed around, of which each one puts a little on his tongue. The pot is then opened and the cup filled, when the woman from whose house the wine was brought takes the first draught, and the master of the feast the next, to relieve the minds of the company from all fear of poison; and for the same purpose the master of the feast is required to drink the dregs.

Palm oil is obtained from the nuts which grow on the palm tree, by boiling, and then bruising them in a mortar, and pouring them into a vessel of cold water. The pulp is then agitated and squeezed by the hand until the oil is pressed out, when it is skimmed off and put in jars. In this crude state it is used by the natives and colonists, its color being a deep, yellow, approaching to red. When clarified, it is colorless as lard, and then, as used with food, is thought by many to be equal to the best olive oil. When slightly purified, it is said to be superior to whale oil for burning in lamps.

The

Palm oil is an important article of commerce, and the demand for it is constantly increasing, since it is the basis of most of the refined and cosmetic soaps which are used so extensively both in Europe and America. Cape Palmas alone could furnish 150 puncheons of this oil annually, when we were there, and twenty-five cents a gallon were paid for it. From the river Bonny, some distance below Cape Palmas, fifteen or twenty ships, of five or six hundred tons each, are annually loaded with palm oil; and thus are eight or ten thousand tons of it shipped each year to Liverpool, Bristol, and other English ports, from this single river alone. cost there is not more than eight or ten dollars a cask, though in England it is worth ten times as much. The health is much exposed in this trade, as the seamen have to go up the rivers some distance; and such is the difficulty of obtaining crews, that they are commonly brought on board intoxicated, and hence know nothing of their destination until they are fairly at sea. This way of obtaining hands, however, is by no means confined to a single branch of trade, but is often resorted to in seaport towns. The male and female landsharks, who live by plundering poor Jack, will get him drunk and sell him to the highest bidder as soon as his pockets are empty; nor is it strange, that so long as by his drunkenness

he makes a beast of himself, there should be found those who will treat him like a brute.

The shea, or butter tree, resembles the American oak in appearance, but is not larger than a common apple tree, and rarely measures more than two or three feet in circumference. I know not that it is found on the coast, but in the interior great numbers are met with. Like the tamarind, the nutta, and other valuable trees, it is there left standing when the forests are cleared; and, like the palm tree on the coast, it furnishes a valuable substitute for butter, and a useful oil for lamps. The fruit, which is enclosed in a thin green rind, is shaped like a peach, but more pointed. The outer pulp is eaten, and the kernel or stone within is boiled, bruised, poured into water, and the butter skimmed off, the same as in the case of palm oil. Park says of it, that it will keep the whole year without salt, and is whiter, firmer, and of a richer flavor than the richest butter from the milk of cows. To the east of the Niger it is used in a less pure state, not for food, but only for lamps.

The fruit of the nutta, or doura tree, which is also found in the interior, is roasted like coffee, then bruised and allowed to ferment in water, after which it is washed and pounded to powder, which is made into cakes like chocolate, and forms an excellent sauce for food.

The natives used to bring palm-nuts to us on board ship. The kernel is enclosed in a pleasant, oily pulp, of nearly the size and form of the common olive. It may be well here to notice the fact, that the timber of the houses in Liberia is not liable, as in many other parts of Africa, to be destroyed by

ants.

CHAPTER XXV.

CENTRAL AND WESTERN AFRICA.

African Insects, Birds, and Quadrupeds. - Slavery. - Extent of Africa. Mountains. Inhabitants. - Polygamy. Social Condition. - Trade of Africa. - Caravans.- Slave Trade and Wars. - Trade of the Colonists. Provision for New Settlers. - Foreign Commerce.-Trade of the Native Tribes.- Extent of Liberia. - Cape Mount.- New Settlements. - New Georgia. Caldwell. - Millsburg. - Health of Colonists. — Excursion up the St. Paul's. Canoes. - Mangrove Trees. - Native Villages. - Colonial Protection. - A Funeral.-Music.- The Pastor. - Contentment. Opposition. Preaching.

A BRIEF notice of some of the numerous tribes of animals with which Africa abounds, may aid us in better understanding the resources for the support of human life, which are to be met with there, and at the same time enable us to account for some striking peculiarities in the habits and modes of life of the inhabitants, arising from their exposure to danger or annoyance from the hostile attacks of various kinds of animals. And here, beginning with reptiles and insects, as the lower orders of animated existence, we find that extensively, in Western Africa, the floors of the sleeping huts of the natives are elevated by means of stakes some two or three feet from the ground, as a protection from snakes, lizards, ants, and other uncomfortable companions. As a defence against the bite of insects, you may often see the naked bodies of the natives thickly besmeared with clay or other adhesive substances. The entrances to their huts, too, are commonly mere holes, into which they creep, that thus flies and other insects may, as far as possible, be excluded; and for the same reason they have no windows, or other openings for the admission of light. It may be for a similar cause, that in Bornou, where the exposure from this cause is peculiarly great, the inhabitants, like the birds, close the day with the sun, and few indulge in the luxury of a lamp. Denham informs us, that when travelling in this same region, he and his companions made fires to the windward, to drive off the insects with the smoke, and that their singing was like the humming of birds. The necks and legs of their horses were

covered with blood, and they could scarcely stand from the state of irritation in which they had been kept for so many hours. Chickens were there often killed by flies and insects soon after they were hatched, and two children of one of the chiefs had been literally stung to death. Liberia, however, is mostly exempt from such annoyances, and, during the days and nights which I spent on shore there, I was much less disturbed than at Athens, where the vexatious little gnats, from which it is almost impossible to defend one's self, were constantly buzzing around and biting me during the night.

The Landers, in their travels, speak of having met with millions of butterflies, of the most brilliant colors, so thick as to darken the air; frogs in untold numbers, more hoarse and loud than were ever heard in Christendom, and glowworms so luminous that one could almost see to read by their golden splendor. Bees abound in the forests of Southern and Western Africa, depositing their honey, as with us, in the cavities of decayed trees, from whence it is taken by the natives for food, while the wax has long been carried in large quantities to Catholic countries, to supply the numerous candles which are there burnt in the churches, and in funerals and other public processions. There is a species of cuckoo called the honey-guide, which is said by its notes to attract the attention of man, and then, fluttering on before, leads him to the hive of the wild bee, in hopes of partaking of the honey.

The various species of ants occupy an important place among the insect tribes of Africa. Of these, the termes bellicosus, or large white ant, is noted for the high conical nests of mud and clay, which it rears upon the surface of the earth. These we met with everywhere in Western Africa, and sometimes climbed up their sides to test the strength and solidity of their structure. They are commonly ten or twelve feet high, terminating in a point, with a base eight or ten feet in diameter, and in the interior divided by thin partitions into numerous cells and arched galleries. These galleries, winding around from the base to the summit, are said to be of immense length, and the ants, in order to protect themselves when they go abroad, construct covered passages in those directions where food or pleasure calls them. They are divided into sovereigns, soldiers, and laborGuards are stationed at important points, which, when any violence is done to their castle, instantly report the fact

ers.