The idea of palm-oil may be unpleasant to an English reader, but when it is fresh, it is not unpalatable, and I must confess, that I greatly relished a dish of fish and yams which was brought on board the Kent, as a present to the captain:  of course it was cooked in their best style.  I remember, at one time, having as much prejudice as any of my countrymen against oil; but when I went to France, I partook of it insensibly, until I began to like it; and, when in Italy, I fell into the custom of using it with vegetables, as a substitute for melted butter:  fresh oil, in warm climates, being generally preferred to butter, even where both are to be had, which is not always the case in southern latitudes.

There are very few good fish in the Old Calabar river; the best I met with was a species of sole, but very thin, which, I suppose, is owing to the muddiness of the river itself, and to the extensive mud-banks which flank the channel.  The water in the river is also so bad as to be unfit for use, in consequence of the quantity of decayed animal and vegetable matter that must constantly be mixed with it, in a climate where the progress of putrefaction is so rapid; however, fortunately for the shipping, there is a good spring on the bank of the river, about a mile below the town, where it is usual to send for supplies.

King Eyo went on board the African, schooner, and remained with Captain Smith to select goods, equal in value to twenty bullocks.

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[36] It is the custom here to bury their dead in their own houses.

[37] Brother to King Eyo.

CHAP.  XII.

Captain Owen’s Departure—­Runaway Slave—­Egbo again—­Duke’s Sunday—­ Superstitious Abstinence—­Anecdote of a Native Gentleman—­Breaking Trade—­Author’s Visit to Creek Town—­Bullocks embarked—­Departure from Calabar—­Chased by mistake—­Dangerous Situation—­Mortality at Fernando Po—­Detection of a Deserter—­Frequency of Tornados—­Horatio hove down—­Capture of a Slave Vessel—­Loss of Mr. Morrison—­Another Slave Vessel taken—­Landing a part of the Slaves—­Author’s Daily Routine—­ Garden of Eden—­Monstrous Fish—­Continued Mortality—­Market at Longfield

Monday, 17.—­After breakfast, Captain Owen sailed in the Victoria for Fernando Po.  The Lady Combermere also departed for the same destination; the latter vessel, being on a trading voyage along the coast, contained a number of articles in her freight, much required by the people at the settlement.

Soon after these vessels were out of sight, two parties of slaves came down from the Baracoons, to wash themselves in the river; they were chained in pairs, the right leg of one to the left leg of another.  Before the Victoria arrived, they were brought down daily; but were not seen during the time she remained, notwithstanding there were several depots for slaves in the town.

Some black gentlemen came on board to-day to barter for bullocks.