it because it is the Lord's will. The only thing that gives me any relief is brandy—Have you any about you?"
"No, I haven't."
"Rum, perhaps?"
"No, nothing of that kind."
"Dear, dear—Pardon this spasm, it will be over in a minute. Perhaps the sailors have some. Will you lend me a shilling, and I will go and inquire?"
His spasms must have come on very badly after he left, for in about half-an-hour's time I saw him ardently hugging a stanchion, and apparently trying to tie a true lover's knot with his legs. I inquired who he was, and learned that he was a gentleman at large. I was much surprised; I should certainly have taken him to be a native missionary from his manner.
We arrived at Badagry about 10 a.m. The lagoon here is 600 yards wide and 24 feet deep, and the sand-ridge which separates it from the sea measures one-third of a mile in breadth. I should imagine that Badagry is not a healthy place of residence; it is low-lying and swampy, and sanitary considerations have evidently never been taken into account. In fact sanitary law is a dead letter on the whole of the West Coast of Africa, with the exception of Sierra Leone, and the most ordinary and necessary precautions are
