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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The Dwelling In Which The Landers Resided, Belonged To King Boy, And
Stood On The Extreme Edge Of The Basin, And Was Constructed Not Long
Since, By A Carpenter, Who Came Up The River For The Purpose From
Calabar, Of Which Place He Was A Native:
He received seven slaves for
his labour.
This man must evidently have seen European dwellings, as
there was decidedly an attempt to imitate them. It was of an oblong
form, containing four apartments, which were all on the ground-floor,
lined with wood, and furnished with tolerably-made doors and
cupboards. This wood bore decided marks of its having once formed
part of a vessel, and was most likely the remains of one which,
according to report, was wrecked not long ago on the bar of the
river. The house had recently been converted into a kind of seraglio
by King Boy, because ho had, to use his own expression, "plenty of
wives," who required looking after. It also answered the purpose of a
store-house for European goods, tobacco, and spirituous liquors. Its
rafters were of bamboo, and its thatch of palm leaves. The
apartment which the Landers occupied, had a window overlooking the
basin, outside of which was a veranda, occupied at the time by Pascoe
and his wives. The whole of its furniture consisted of an old oaken
table, but it was supplied with seats, made of clay, which were
raised about three feet from the ground. These, together with the
floor, which was of mud, were so soft and wet as to enable a person
to thrust his hand into any part of them without any difficulty
whatever.
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