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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One End Was Occupied
By A Number Of Noisy Goats, Whilst The Travellers Took Possession Of
The Other.
Pascoe and his wife lay on mats at their feet, and a
native Toby Philpot, with his ruddy cheek and jug of ale, belonging
to the chief, separated them from the goats.
The remainder of the
suite of the travellers had nowhere whatever to sleep. The walls of
their apartment were ornamented with strings of dry, rattling, human
bones, written charms, or fetishes, sheep skins, and bows and arrows.
They did not repose nearly so comfortably as could have been desired,
owing to the swarms of mosquitoes and black ants, which treated them
very despitefully till the morning.
Between six and seven on the morning of the 2nd April, they continued
their route through woods and large open patches of ground, and at
about eleven in the forenoon, they arrived at the borders of a deep
glen, more wild, romantic, and picturesque than can be conceived. It
was enclosed and overhung on all sides by trees of amazing height and
dimensions, which hid it in deep shadow. Fancy might picture a spot
so silent and solemn as this, as the abode of genii and fairies,
every thing conducing to render it grand, melancholy, and venerable,
and the glen wanted only a dilapidated castle, a rock with a cave in
it, or something of the kind, to render it the most interesting place
in the universe. There was, however, one sight more beautiful than
all the rest, and that was the incredible number of butterflies
fluttering about like a swarm of bees, and they had no doubt chosen
this glen as a place of refuge against the fury of the elements.
They were variegated by the most brilliant tints and colourings
imaginable:
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