In One Of Those Excursions, Having Rambled Farther Than
Usual, In A Hot Day, I Brought On A Return Of My Fever, And On The 10th
Of September I Was Again Confined To My Bed.
The fever, however, was not
so violent as before; and in the course of three weeks I was able, when
the weather would permit, to renew my botanical excursions; and when it
rained, I amused myself with drawing plants, in my chamber.
The care and
attention of Dr. Laidley contributed greatly to alleviate my sufferings;
his company and conversation beguiled the tedious hours during that
gloomy season, when the rain falls in torrents; when suffocating heats
oppress by day, and when the night is spent by the terrified traveller in
listening to the croaking of frogs, (of which the numbers are beyond
imagination,) the shrill cry of the jackal, and the deep howling of the
hyaena; a dismal concert, interrupted only by the roar of such tremendous
thunder as no person can form a conception of but those who have heard
it.
The country itself being an immense level, and very generally covered
with woods, presents a tiresome, and gloomy uniformity to the eye; but
although nature has denied to the inhabitants the beauties of romantic
landscapes, she has bestowed on them, with a liberal hand, the more
important blessings of fertility and abundance. A little attention to
cultivation procures a sufficiency of corn; the fields afford a rich
pasturage for cattle; and the natives are plentifully supplied with
excellent fish, both from the Gambia river and the Walli creek.
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