Narrative of Captain James Fawckner's Travels on the Coast of Benin, West Africa |
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anchor appearance approach arms arrived Badagry bamboo wine beautiful boat Bowbee calabash canoe Cape Coast Cape Coast Castle captain cargo clothes COAST OF BENIN colours coral cowry crew deck delight distress dreadful dress dysentery endeavoured enquire eyes fate feared feelings feet felt fetish flute foliage following morning fu-fu Gatto governor ground hammock hand head hope Houtson huts immediately Indian corn journey kindly king of Benin knees Lagos land looked mainsail mate mats messengers miles Mongyee muskets musquitoes Narrative natives Navrey night nine o'clock noise o'clock old chief ordered ourselves plantains Portuguese schooner proceeded rain received requested returned river sail seemed sent shells ship shore shortly Sierra Leone slave ship slaves slouched hat soon spot supercargo surrounded taken thing tide took tornado town TRAVELS trees vessel whilst wind wood yams Yarcella
Popular passages
Page 55 - Ye winds, that have made me your sport, Convey to this desolate shore Some cordial endearing report Of a land I shall visit no more ! My friends, do they now and then send A wish or a thought after me? Oh tell me I yet have a friend, Though a friend I am never to see.
Page 99 - WE brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Page 99 - I AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.
Page 103 - I witnessed a strange ceremony peculiar to these people, called the time of the grand devils. Eight men were dressed in a most curious manner, having a dress made of bamboo about their bodies, and a cap on the head, of various colours and ornamented with red feathers taken from the parrot's tail ; round the legs were twisted strings of shells, which made a clattering noise as they walked, and the face and hands of each individual were covered with a net. These strange beings go about the town by...
Page 80 - ... four times his age. I afterwards found that his father, who held the situation, had recently been sent to conduct the war in the interior, and had fallen in battle ; the office therefore devolved on the son, who is next in rank to the king. As soon as I entered, he approached me, and as a token of friendship presented some gooras [Kola nuts] in a long wooden box, beautifully carved and ornamented.
Page 94 - And human frailties, were forgotten quite: Could he have kept his spirit to that flight He had been happy; but this clay will sink Its spark immortal, envying it the light To which it mounts, as if to break the link That keeps us from yon heaven which woos us to its brink.
Page 102 - ... tail; round the legs -were twisted strings of shells, which made a clattering noise as they walked, and the face and hands of each individual were covered with a net. These strange beings go about the town, by day and by night, for the term of one month, uttering the most discordant and frightful noises; no one durst venture out at night for fear of being killed or seriously maltreated by these fellows, who are then especially engaged in driving the evil spirits from the town. They go round to...
Page 16 - Behold yon black and batter'd hulk That slumbers on the tide, There is no sound from stem to stern, For peace has pluck'd her pride. The masts are down, the cannon mute, She shows nor sheet nor sail, Nor starts forth with the seaward breeze, Nor answers shout nor hail. Her merry men, with all their mirth, Have sought some other shore ; And she with all her glory on, Shall rule the sea no more. So landsmen speak. Lo ! her top-masts Are quivering in the sky ; Her sails are spread, her anchor's raised,...