Foreign Affairs in the late Derby Administration. My reception was cordial, and I was afforded convenient accommodation at the Consulate all the time I continued at Lagos.
A disgusting spectacle presented itself at. the entrance of the river: on the right margin stood two bodies, transfixed by poles passing through their mouths. They were nearly dry, and strange to say were not disturbed by buzzards, although a great number of these birds—fortunately very abundant in Africa—were flying about them. They were two of five men who were executed for robbery: one of them was the son of a chief, and his connection with the party gave rise to a great "palaver," his friends contending that in consequence of his birth he should not suffer a malefactor's death, while others contended that his crime had degraded him to the position of other men, like whom he should answer for his offenses.
Lagos is a small island about six miles in circumference, located on the west coast of Africa, in the Bight of Benin, Gulf of Guinea, lat. 6° 24' N., long. 3° 22' E. Like Bathurst, on the Gambia, it is very low, and formed by an accumulation of sand. In some places lower than the surface of the river, it is very swampy from the infiltration of water. Like many
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