during which time the winds were variable from S.S.W. to N.W. by N. and E.N.E.; the weather for the most part moderate and cloudy; but on the 5th (September) the the temperature (always alluding to that of the surface of the sea) rose to 53°, and the wind came from N.E. by N. and North, but light. The next day it shifted to S.E. by S., and the temperature rather decreased, but the breezes were light. On the afternoon of the 7th, after a calm, during which it remained at 50°, there was a decrease of 8°; and 36 hours after, a gale from S. by E. suddenly arose. During the five following days it was nearly stationary, at the temperature of 394, and the wind was variable from W.N. W., S.W., and West, blowing hard. From noon on the 12th, to 4h a.m. on the 13th, it fell to 36°, and that night we had a gale at W. by S., which continued all the next day. At night there was a further decrease of 4°, when the wind veered to S. by W., and blew strong gales. The temperature kept down at 35° until midnight of the 15th, when it rese 5°; and the 16th, at 4h a.m., the wind changed to W.N.W. and N.W. by W. The temperature, however, soon decreased again 4°; and at 9h a.. the following day, the wind came from S.W. by S. and S.S.E., where it continued, and the temperature remained nearly stationary until we made Cape Horn, when it rose to 42°. It would, perhaps, be too hazardous to assert, upon such short experience, that these changes are the forerunners of shifts of wind, though I found similar variations attend the southerly gales of Spitzbergen, where we had always indications of their approach by the increase of the temperature of the sea. I am, however, persuaded that, like the barometer, it speaks a language which, though at times not the most intelligible, may nevertheless often prove useful. ON THE HOME PASSAGE OF THE BLOSSOM, June 22nd, 1828, the ship had an easterly wind, which veered to S.E. and drove her away to the latitude of 56° 18' S., and longitude 75° W., when she encountered S. by E. winds, which carried her past Cape Horn on the 30th. The winds were now fair; but off the Falkland Islands they were variable, until they settled in the E.S.E. quarter. With this she advanced to the 35° N., when she encountered N.E. and N. W. gales, with heavy cross seas, and then several pamperos, which were attended with vivid lightning. We afterward, says Capt. Beechey, made progress to the northward, and arrived at Rio Janeiro on the 21st July. "In this passage, which was made in the depth of winter, the greatest cold was 21°. From Cape Horn to the Falkland Islands we had thick showers of snow; and had we been bound the opposite way, I have no doubt we should have felt the weather severely. The barometer, as on the former occasion, proved an invaluable monitor. From the time quitted Mas a Fuera until we were off Staten Land, the winds were advantageous for making the passage to the Pacific, and so far they favour the opinion of the winter time being the most desirable for this purpose. The current in this passage ran to the S.E. to the latitude of 46° S., then North two days, and from 48° to 57' S., between N.W. and S. W., at the rate of 13 miles a day. From 57° S., and longitude 68° W., they ran to the N.E., until we had passed the cape, and then westerly and north-westerly to the Falkland Islands. Off the River Plata they ran to the S.W. and South. On our arrival at Rio Janeiro the whole effect of the current from Coquimbo was S. 62° W. 82 miles." From the experience of these two passages round the Horn, I am of opinion that a ship bound to the Pacific should pass inside the Falkland Islands and round Staten Land, as closely as possible; as she will most likely encounter S.W. winds directly the Pacific is open. A N.W. wind off the Falklands will, I think, generally veer to West and S.W. on approaching Staten Land. With S.W. winds off Staten Land, nothing is left of course but to stand to the southward. I should not, however, recommend keeping this board longer than to get an offing, except westing was to be made by it; and if not, I would go about directly a mile of longitude was to be gained on the inshore tack; avoiding, however, a near approach to Tierra del Fuego, eastward of Cape Horn, on account of the north-east set through Strait Le Maire, with southerly winds. I see no good reason for going to a high southern latitude, if it can be avoided without loss of longitude. With regard to the fact, that gales of wind are stronger near the land, I own I cannot concur in such an opinion. On a comparison of the Blossom's passage out with that of a brig recommended by a Lieutenant Parker, which rounded the Horn at the same time, it appeared, that whilst she was experiencing strong winds and heavy seas, which washed away some of her boats, the Blossom, close in with the land, had fine moderate weather, and no other indication of the gales the Hellespont was encountering than by a long southerly swell setting upon the shore; and that the Blossom had the advantage of a westerly current, while the brig was put back 20 miles daily by one in the opposite direction. With regard to passing inside or outside the Falkland Islands, I think the latter preferable, especially in winter, as the winds sometimes hang in the eastern quarter at that period, and are apt to run a ship in with the River Plata. From the Falkland Islands to Rio Janeiro the winds are very uncertain. Ships may, however, generally reckon upon encountering, at least, one pampero, between 33 and 27° N., and on meeting with northerly or north-north-easterly winds, when within 200 or 300 miles of Cape Frio. It is better, in the latter instance, to stand out to eastward in preference to the other tack, as it will almost always happen that they will there meet an easterly wind to carry them up to the cape. It has been found very difficult to get up near the shore from Isla Grande and St. Catharine's.— Captain Beechey's Appendix, pp. 632-634. The navigation around Cape Horn, and on the western coast of America, as well as of the whole of the Pacific Ocean, will be found in the DIRECTORY FOR THE NAVIGATION OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, in 2 volumes. Part I., containing descriptions &c., of its coasts; Part II. of its islands, winds, tides, currents, sailing directions, &c, SECTION VI, THE COASTS OF AFRICA, FROM CAPE MOUNT TO CAPE LOPEZ, INCLUDING THE ISLANDS OF FERNANDO PO, PRINCES, ST. THOMAS, AND ANNO BON. I.-GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DIRECTIONS. IN our book for the North Atlantic Ocean, we have given a description of, and dirictions for, the African coast, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the River Gallinas, or Galinhas; our present object is, therefore, to give a similar description of, and directions for, the coasts and harbours between Cape Mount and the Cape of Good Hope; and, farther, a continued description of the coast to Algoa Bay, &c. These we divide under two general heads; the first, from Cape Mount to Cape Lopez; and the second, from Cape Lopez to the Cape of Good Hope, &c. The WINDWARD COAST, with which we commence our description, comprehends all the coast from Cape Mount, 15 leagues westward of Cape Mesurado, to the country in the victnity of Cape Lahou, nearly 20 westward of Cape Three Points, where the GOLD COAST begins. The Windward Coast includes the three particular coasts called the Grain Coast, or Malagette Pepper Coast; the Ivory, or Teeth Coast ; and the coast of Adou, or Quaquas. The GOLD COAST extends eastward to the RIVER VOLTA. The interior, to the northward, comprises the kingdoms of Ashantee, &c. Beyond these, farther eastward, are the kingdoms of DAHOMEY, BENIN, and WARREE, extending, on the coast, from the River Volta to Cape Formosa. Thence follows the BIGHT of BIAFRA, from Cape Formosa to Cape Lopez, iucluding the islands of Fernando Po, Princes, St. Thomas, and Anno Bon, all of which we include in the present section. The NATIVES.-The general and particular circumstances, habits, and customs of the people of these countries have been very copiously described.* In matters of trade they commonly possess sufficient acumen; and it has been especially intimated to the European visitor that, in trading with them, punctuality is of the utmost importance; for confidence once lost by breach of contract, or unfair dealing, is not to be regained. Of their dialects, Captain Adams says:t-The Tower of Babel might have been built on the western shores of Africa, 5° North of the Equator, and its inhabitants dispersed to the Nort, East, and West; for almost every tide (and they are innumerable) has a distinct language, unintelligible to the others; and as they have not among them any written character, the different languages spoken can be learned only in those countries where they are used. The enunciation of all that I have * In a subsequent page we have alluded to an excellent paper on the Ethnography of Akkrah, &c., by W. F. Daniell, Esq., M.D., F.R.G.S., F.E.S. The interesting work, by the same author, entitled "Sketches of the Medical Topography and Native Diseases of the Gulf of Guinea, Western Africa," 1849, contains many details on the same subject. + Captain John Adams, in his "Sketches taken during Ten Voyages to Africa, between the years 1786 and 1800, with an Appendix on the European Trade, &c." 8vo., no date. heard spoken is soft and harmonious: the words composing them abound in vowels, and generally terminate in them. Their compound words seldom exceed four syllables; and frequently entire sentences not more. Their language is adapted to their habits and wants; and as these are extremely few and simple, and nearly similar in all, the construction of the different languages is the same. The Kroumen are, in many respects, an extraordinary race of people; and, as mentioned above, a different language is spoken at every 10 or 12 miles, though these different languages are generally understood by the natives all along the coast. The Kroumen have a singular custom, peculiar to themselves, which is a system of apprenticeship. A number of young men will attach themselves for a certain period to a headman. This headman has made one or more voyages to leeward to the Oil Rivers, before he can obtain a name, or be allowed to build a house, or to trade; and it is the duty of this headman to ship the boys off for the Oil Rivers on board of any vessel he can; and for this service the headman is entitled to one month's advanee always paid by the ship. He is also entitled to a certain portion of the boy's wages on his return. When the boy has made two or three voyages, and can speak English fluently, he becemes a headman himself. The language of Kroumen is principally a combination of vowels; and, from the peculiar nasal pronunciation, can rarely be acquired by Europeans. The Krouman is generally found faithful in a strange country, but must not be trusted in his own. Their national mark is an arrow on each temple, the point toward the eye. Speaking of their physical qualifications, I believe them to be the bone and sinew of the nogro races of Western Africa, the only men of the Ethiopian tribe who will bear any amount of hard work without complaining. In proportion as the vessel advances to the eastward, the natives will be found more barbarous, and consequently more treacherous; and about Drewin and St. Andrews they were formerly a fierce, unruly, and sanguinary race, notorious for their treachery and repeated attacks upon vessels. I have had no intercourse with these people for the last seven or eight years; but I am assured that their condition and manners is very much improved, and that small vessels may now trade there for ivory and palm oil in perfect safety, by adopting only common precautions. The St. Andrews people have been repeatedly fired upon by the crews of different vessels, for their various acts of theft and treachery; and it was formerly very unsafe to allow more than five or six of them upon deck at once, as they generally come on board armed with a long knife, in the use of which they were very dexterous. Upon one occasion I very suddenly dispersed a multitude of them off the deck, upon the very point of open warfare, by merely throwing about a dozen heads of leaf tobacco over the side, for they all immediately jumped overboard after it. Upon another occasion, the plentiful distribution of boiling water amongst them proved quite as efficacious. On board a French barque, where two of the crew had been wounded by the knives of the natives, they were beaten off with empty glass bottles, a large quantity of which happened to be on deck at the time. Harsh as these measures may appear, they are surely better and more humane than the use of cutlasses and muskets. The natives of Cape Lahou in many respects resemble the Kroumen in their manners and disposition, and, like them, are almost amphibious. Cape Lahou may be considered as the western extremity of civilization on this part of the coast of Africa, for the Gold Coast may be here said to commence.-Captain Midgley. CLIMATE, &c.-The extreme unhealthiness of Western Africa to the European constitution arises from its moist und hot atmosphere, impregnated, as it commonly is, the miasma or malaria of the marshes; but prejudicial as it is to the European, the natives seem to enjoy good health, and to live to a tolerably old age. The wet season, however, like the winter of Europe, produces inflammatory attacks of the * Mr. Consul Hutchinson's "Impressions of Western Africa," London, 1858, see pages lungs and pleura, with catarrh, or colds, &c.; and the Africans seem peculiarly sensible of the least change in the temperature of the atmosphere.* From some experiments on the waters of the rivers and coasts (in 1840), it was shown that this unhealthiness may arise from the extraordinary presence of sulphuretted hydrogen gas in these waters. In one instance it amounted to nearly as much as that contained in the well known springs at Harrogate, in Yorkshire, which owe their properties to the same cause. It is difficult to account for this important fact, but the deadly effects of the climate of this part of the world are very easily referrible to such a cause. It has been experimentally found that so small a mixture as a fifteen-hundredth part of sulphuretted hydrogen in the atmosphere acts as a direct poison upon small animals; and the sensations of languor and nausea described are exactly those which have been experienced by persons who have been exposed to its deleterious influence in small quantities. The peculiar unhealthiness of mangrove swamps in all parts of the world probably arises from that tree requiring salt water for its growth, and its decaying foliage being thus brought into immediate contact with the sulphates. The hypothesis also agrees with the fact, which has been established, that the unhealthiness of such situations does not extend to any considerable distance from the sea. What is known of the action of vegetable matter upon the sulphates, and the immense quantities of vegetable matters which must be brought by the rivers within the influence of the saline matters of the sea, renders this origin of the sulphuretted hydrogen extremely probable. The only other source from whence it could be derived would be volcanic action. "When this matter was first brought under my consideration," continues Professor Daniell, “I was surprised that the nauseous smell which must be necessarily evolved from water impregnated with this gas, at so high a temperature as that of the equinoctial regions, had not been noticed. I have in consequence turned to some of the accounts of the late travels in Africa, to seek for evidence upon the subject; and in the Narrative of an Expedition into the interior of Africa, by the River Niger, by Macgregor Laird and R. A. B. Oldfield, I found the following important observations: "The principal predisposing causes of the awful mortality were, in my opinion, the sudden change from the open sea to a narrow and winding river, the want of the sea breeze, and the prevalence of the deadly miasına, to which we were nightly exposed from the surrounding swamps. The horrid sickening stench of this miasma must be experienced to be conceived. No description of it can convey to the mind the wretched sensation that is felt for some time before and after daybreak. In those accursed swamps, one is oppressed not only bodily but mentally with an indescribable feeling of heaviness, languor, nausea, and disgust, which requires a considerable effort to shake off." Another remarkable action of the water is the injurious effect it has upon the copper sheathing of vessels, and as the same agent will produce this result, nothing is wanting to identify this rapid decay of the ships' copper with that of the mortality of the climate. Although these views are questioned by some, still there is great probability of their being correct, and it is a subject well worthy of future inquiry.† The narratives of the ill-fated Niger expedition, as well as of every other traveller who visits those regions, will place the mariner on his guard as to the best means of counteracting the deadly effects of the climate. In the Appendix will be found some medical hints for the preservation of health, which are recommended to attention. * Adams's Sketches, p. 69. + See, also, Report." App. "Nautical Magazine," November, 1841, pp. 737-8, and " Parliamentary S. 4. O. 3 M |