No Sooner Did
They Conceive Themselves Safe, Than A Huge Crocodile Rose Up Close To The
Canoe, Plunging Near It With Much Violence:
One blow from him would have
split it to pieces.
Shortly after they came to a place where the current
rushed with the impetuosity of a torrent over a broad sand bank; they
were carried along with irresistible velocity, and the canoe struck
against the roof of a hut which was covered with water.
They now passed the mountains which they had observed on the preceding
day; they were flat table mountains, and appeared to be not far distant
from the bank. One or two were entirely barren, while a few were most
fertile, being covered with corn up to the very summits; they rest
displayed only stunted vegetation. Several villages, surrounded by groups
of tall trees, were situated at their foot. On the 19th October, they
arrived at Egga, a large handsome town, behind a deep morass. It is
upwards of two miles in length, and the people carry on a great trade. A
large number of canoes, laden with merchandize, lie beside the town, and
many of the natives reside in them. Half of the population is Mohammedan.
When they left this place, they were informed that in their farther
progress towards the sea, they would pass through states of an entirely
different character, inhabited by fierce and lawless people, from whom
both their lives and property would be exposed to peril. The friendly
natives exhorted them to return, or at least if they were determined to
persevere, to pass, if possible, the towns by night.
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