Over and over again parties have been formed to dig there, but they have always suffered so terribly from fever that they have had to relinquish the attempt.

The natives suffer as well as the whites.

I believe that the formation is granite, the surface of which is much decomposed; and it is always found here that the turning up of ground that has not been disturbed for many years is extremely unhealthy, and decomposing granite possesses some element particularly obnoxious to health.

The natives, of course, look upon the mountain as a fetish, and believe that an evil spirit guards it.

The superstition of the negroes is wonderful, and at Accra they are, if possible, more superstitious than anywhere else.