Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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It Is Generally
Called The Miraculous Berry, And Whoever Eats Of It In The Morning,
Must Be Content At Least
For that day to forego the flavour of every
kind of food, whether animal or vegetable, for all will be
Alike
saccharine to the palate, and the most ridiculous effect is often
produced by playing tricks upon those, who are not aware of its
peculiar property. Lander himself was one of the dupes, and he
relates, that the first time he partook of one of these berries, he
thought himself under the influence of witchcraft - the fowl of which
he partook at dinner seemed to him as if it had been soaked in a
solution of sugar - the lime juice appeared to him as if it were mixed
with some saccharine matter - his biscuit tasted like a bun - and
although he was convinced that he had not put any sugar into his
grog, it seemed to him as if it had been sweetened by the first maker
of punch in his native country.
The beasts of prey are numerous and dangerous, and often commit great
havoc amongst the sheep, and other live stock, notwithstanding every
precaution to put them in a place of security at night. The tigers
and leopards are not contented with what they actually carry off, but
they leave nothing alive which comes within the reach of their
talons. During the residence of Lander in the country, a good mode of
astonishing a tiger was practised with success. A loaded musket was
firmly fixed in a horizontal position, about the height of his head,
to a couple of stakes driven into the ground, and the piece being
cocked, a string from the trigger, first leading a little towards the
butt, and then turning through a small ring forwards, was attached to
a shoulder of mutton, stuck on the muzzle of the musket, the act of
dragging off which, drew the trigger, and the piece loaded with two
balls, discharged itself into the plunderer's mouth, killing him on
the spot.
Elephants are common in Dahomy, but are not tamed and used by the
natives, as in India, for the purposes of war or burthen, being
merely taken for the sake of their ivory and their flesh, which is,
on particular occasions, eaten.
An animal of the hyena tribe, called by the natives tweetwee, is
likewise extremely troublesome; herds of these join together, and
scrape up the earth of newly-made graves, in order to get at the
bodies, which are not buried here in coffins. These resurrection men,
as Lander termed them, make, during the night, a most dismal howling,
and often change their note to one very much resembling the shriek of
a woman in some situation of danger or distress.
Snakes of the boa species are here found of a most enormous size,
many being from thirty to thirty-six feet in length, and of
proportional girth. They attack alike wild and domestic beasts, and
often human kind.
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