lett, who could no longer repress his surprise; " and I see, that these people, as they are zealous in their faith, so they are religious also in their practice! Here are works, the fruits of faith."

"Assuredly," said Mr. Hartley; "and perhaps, I have well-nigh said enough to furnish you with what is the fairer side of native Negro manners. I will now turn your attention more particularly to the landscape, the amount of population, state of arts, and natural history of this Central Africa. Crossing a river called Akkeni, and still in the empire of Yariba, the party reached the village of Afoora, their journey to which had been rendered even more than ordinarily pleasant by the fragrant odour of the cotton-plant, in plantations of which the country abounded, and which was then in its full blossom;-by the wild solitary whistle of the gray parrot, and by the delightful melody of hundreds of small birds, poured from the branches of tall trees. The country, indeed, every where improved, as they penetrated further from the sea. Fields of maize, and plantations of cotton were numerous, while groves of palm, and clumps of cocoa-trees, scattered upon all sides, rendered the prospect from the hills inexpressibly beautiful. In the paths toward Assudo, the first walled town they had seen, they observed numbers of fine birds, with silky and brilliant plumage. The town of Assudo contains upwards of ten thousand inhabitants, whom the strangers found as curious as their rustic fellow-countrymen, and full as noisy; but still more modest and respectful, and therefore still more pleasing in their manners. Provisions, in abundance, at this, as at all other places, were supplied to them by the chief. In another part of their journey, they speak of the country as unspeakably fine, almost

clear of wood, and looking as fresh and beautiful as the richest parts of England, in the summer months. 'Plantations of rice and cotton,' says the narrator; ́ fields of undulating corn; meadows covered with a lovely verdure; and gentle slopes, with herds and flocks grazing and browzing on them, looked as picturesque and rural as any landscape I had beheld in my own, or, indeed, in any country.' The scenery on the road from Afoora to Chiadoo, is extremely picturesque, The track wound by the sides of the Cong Mountains, over rocks and by the edges of precipices, or through romantic glens at their base, intersected by innumerable streams; and on all sides immense masses of granite, jutting abruptly from the hills or valleys, reared their heads, in some places, to the height of several hundred feet; while others, fearfully overhanging the narrow foot-way, inspired, into those who passed beneath them, a shuddering awe. With some danger, and more difficulty, the natives who carried the hammocks of one of the travellers, clambered with it the summit of one of the mounts; the prospect from which, up the one side, was immeasurably grand and imposing, and upon the other, enchantingly beautiful. Below their feet were lovely dales, cultivated in the highest degree, and planted with cotton, yams, plantains, and other crops; and fertilized with meandering rivulets, sparkling in the sunbeams; while all behind, was naked rocks, precipitously steep and rugged, many standing singly, and others piled loosely upon each other, apparently ready to tumble into the vale below. The vales, as well as the slopes and summits of the hills, studded with the cleanly habitations of the natives, completed the scene; throughout the whole of which was a grandeur, cheerfulness, and beauty, such as

the travellers had never seen surpassed. Pursuing still their route, they traversed, at another time, a region charmingly diversified with hills and dales, streamlets of water, groves of superb trees, which were peopled with birds of the gayest plumage; and enclosures of maize, yams, indigo, cotton, wheat and millet. But this was beyond Yariba, in the dominions of the Falatahs, whose government, but not the whole of whose people, is Mohammedan."

You surprised me," said Mr. Paulett, “when you spoke of a walled town, containing ten thousand inhabitants!"

"Oh! there are towns in this part of Africa," replied Mr. Hartley," containing ten, twenty, thirty, and forty thousand inhabitants, and more. Soccatoo, the Falatah capital, contains a hundred and forty thousand. But you are to understand that these walled towns, like ancient Babylon and Nineveh, and all the ancient fortified towns in the world, are in reality walled districts or tracts of country; and comprehend, besides the sites of the houses, the grounds on which the inhabitants graze cattle, and from which they raise provisions; and sometimes rivers, lakes, woods, and morasses also. When Captain Clapperton entered the city of Catunga, the capital of Yariba, he found it a five miles' ride, through the heat and dust, from the northern gate to the king's palace; and Cano, one of the towns in possession of the Falatahs, and ten miles in length within the walls, is intersected by a wide and deep morass, alternately filled with water, or else drying up. The walls of these towns are of clay; and the fortification includes an excellent provision of rows of trees, growing parallel to, and within the walls; which, in the no unfrequent case of actual siege, obstruct no

operation of the besieged without, afford an extra shelter to the low houses within; and, if necessary, can be cut down for any purpose rendered needful by warfare."

"I should like to be there to fight," said Richard; "but I do so much want to hear about those beautiful birds; and pray, Mr. Hartley, tell us whether there really are any serpents, and how big they are?"

"As to serpents, Master Richard," answered Mr. Hartley, "there is no denying that there are not a few in every part of Africa; but, as I hinted before, they commonly take care to get out of every body's way, so that bites, even of those that are venomous, are very rarely heard of. There are frequently seen in the woods of the countries of Borghoo and Hoossa, snakes of a large species, swinging in the sunbeams, with their tails encircling the branch of a tree; but, upon the approach of a human creature, they glide to the summit in an instant, and it is only thence that they venture to look down upon the head of the man or men beneath. Once, in the course of my rambles, I saw, and wounded, if not killed, with my gun, a boaconstrictor, of the thickness of a man's thigh, but the reptile would have been very glad to hide itself, and take no notice of me; and frequently, on waking in the morning, I have observed slender green snakes, variegated black, and common in most of the inhabited parts of Africa, and whose bite is mortal, gliding from under the mat upon which I had been sleeping, and making toward the door of the hut, without having injured me in the least, and with no thought but of escape. It is observable of all the reptile tribes, serpents as well as lizards (and which are all cold-blooded animals), that their fondness for warmth, which leads

them to bask in the sun, also draws them to beds and bed-chambers; that they thus seek the society of man; and that, different in nature from man, and from warmblooded animals in general, as they so strikingly are, they even court domestication, and are far from being insensible to human kindness! A gentleman in England kept one of the harmless English green snakes for fourteen years, and the animal knew him well; and a friend of mine, resident in Jamaica, finds every morning, upon his washhand-stand, a lizard which has lived a length of time in his bed-chamber. While he is at the stand, the lizard keeps winking his eyes and looking at him; and it readily submits to be put a little aside occasionally, which my friend is accustomed to do, when, in the act of moving any thing, there is danger of hurting it."

"I hope I shall have a lizard,” said Richard," and I am sure I will not hurt it; but the birds-the beautiful birds;-you say there are such beautiful birds in Africa?"

"Well, among the great variety of species, there are many of rich and brilliant plumage. Parrots, the wild Guinea-fowl, and many species of doves, are seen among the beautiful trees which fill the forests interspersed throughout the country, and by their cries, their chatter, and their cooing, impart a grateful animation to the scene. Sometimes we see the golden pigeon, so called from the shining yellow which tinges the feathers upon its breast and under its wings; while the general colour of the bird is a rich and vivid blue. I may mention, also, the harvest-bird, known southward, even to the Cape, but there called the finy-fink. There are two varieties of this beautiful bird; the one yellow and black, and the other a bright scarlet,