The trees are very tall and straight, and the forests gloomy and damp; the ground in these solitudes is quite covered with yellow and brown mosses, and light-colored lichens clothe all the trees.

The soil is extremely fertile, being generally a black loam covered with a thick crop of tall grasses.

We passed several villages too.

The head man of a large one scolded us well for passing, when he intended to give us food.

Where slave-traders have been in the habit of coming, they present food, then demand three or four times its value as a custom.