New-York daily tribune., 1854-05-24

dticn a. civilized men ana christans, IS Oi thc
uost pleasin things have ever seen in Afrcs Whist
yIorious results NAV reasonably he excepted IL chris
tisu nations and christian churches VII do tc. whole
duty 70 the African Colonies
We arrived at Lagos on the --th OF August here
We were 10 leave the sip AMI penetrate ito 'ae me
rior The first difficulty 70 GET ashore Tor on all
this coast tie surf runs yerl high and QeoPc air some
times drowned by the upse.tRg az boats lLe captain
Of rr English rp.n OfWar then Ing IN gne Tpals so
unfairly cent boat and conveyed ~ Saie'! up tne
river to Lagos which stands an Island spou' tntee
miles from he sea Tie town contains about lrVO'
peOule who speak the Narriba Language. Beyond tne
town is fresh water lake IL or IL miles VIDE 'he
proler name o which is 0sss. Several rivers meet NJ
Lagos. wide one, called Ossa, comes n iron' west
bringing waters from lketu Dahoncy. larros, ahd
NAH (Mak-hse) The Ogun, which drains good part
of Central YarIba in fromthe north II : about
$50 Yards wide and in the rainy season might be nsyi-
gated by light boats to the distance Of about 100 miles
Another wide river. also called Ossa, flows IN from
the cast. IL communicates with Niger, above bean,
sud receives several rivers from the north on Its way 10
Lscos. One OF these called 0shun (Os-shH') il lar
ger than the Ocup free from rocks AMI probsb, nayl
cable 70 the heart Of Eastern larriba The bar at La
sos is DANGEROUS vet there is sufficient depth to admit
steamers draw ing 10 feet water.
For long tine past Lagos has been strong hold
of the slave trade Ii contains dozen or two fertu-
euese houses come of which are covered with tiles
For some wears the King Of Lagos was usurper'
named Eosoko (kos-s0kkT,r) In December, l>'l, ne
was expelled for bis miscOntuct by the Brsh squad
ron, and Aketcye, the rghtful sovereign, was rein
stated Being already opposed TO the slaye-tradef
Aketoye readily entered into treaty 10 abolish Il IN
his dominion. and Lagos was then open to English mer-
chants ard missionaries short time before our ar
rival kGsoko collected al army ald made an attempt
to re-estatlish himself and the slave trade lie was
repustd but most Ct the town was burnt. and in this
condition We found IT, The enemy were still CA the
Iae and the river Ogun which desired to ascend.
was thus rendered impossible
Ia of ,,are~
Mr. spd Mrs Dennsrd were attacked with fever. from
which the, both recovered Tue Others were not SICK
till they reached Abbeokua.
Ne. long after our arrival at Lagos the King died,
and WAS succeeded by his few days after this
the English guRb boats sailed up the lake IN search OF
Koscko They were unable TO find his fleet of armed
canoes but they burnt two three villages belonging
10 his sdheren.s Surprising that the river was pow
clear ard that all the villages were penlcstrcken, we
resolved 70 risk canoe voyage OF three DAYS TO A0eeo
kuta II was well tlnt we did so, for 0lly few days
after the enemy retaned and some natives were lost
in attempting 10 pass The gunboat theu made au
other excursion but returned without much success
The natives who went on shore, however, met and
killed five or six of the Portuguese sayers, which was
probably the whole number. These unfortunate men
had long used every CNerton 10 sustain their perncous
traffic and at last they lost heir lives in defending it,
Their goods at ess part OF them tell INTO the hands
of the essaants some of whom died h. drinking to OK
cess of the rum found in the barracoons or store
houses.
We left Lagos On the l2th of September, not with
out some apprehension of danger especially as we had
70 mass the village of AqbOy which known to be
in favor kosoko Mr. Dennard aud IN! self thought 1t
lawful To charge doubled. .bareled guns with very
heavy shot Much of the lake was shallow that tie
canoe men pushed their narrow crafts rapidly through
the water with long poles made OF single footstalk
OF palm leaf. We did no. enter the main river, but
deep and creek or cutoff called ltaw At the
mouth little white flag hung there by the peo
-. >f. .1..,s-a 80 tho slfSh
Tie creek lead into the heart OF dismal aud exten
siye mangroys swamp, where the stencil was so dsa
greeable that glad to make use OF cologne 10
concealt In less than hour we arrived at Agboyi,
where We found palisade across the stream with
narrow passage for canoes. The village stands on
Hat piece of damp ground in the midst OF the swamp,
yet the peeple amounting to several hundred, appear
to he healthy. Two three miles further up the
banks Of the creek became higher and the coil dry.
Flowers of different cOlors hung in clusters, and es-
toons among the exceedingly dense foliage OF the tor
est and the air resounded with tho various notes Of
birds In the afternoon We entered the Ogun. The
scenery continued the same as also ON the following
day, presenting continued mass OF forest, IN which
the trunks Of all the trees nearly white In some
places the clustering leaves Of trees vines and busees
have the appearance of solid perpendicular wall of
yerdure The woods were full Of large and small brds,
some Of which uttered mel0dlOus notes. and others
screamed forth the most dscOrdant cries imaginable
Every now and then We saw troop OF monkeys
been several days journey up st Paurs river, aud
have made good many Journeys in larIiba and the
adjacent countries have been fortunate as to
be- pelted by these mischeyOus animals az some tray
elers report that they have been. Possibly monkeys
have abandoned the practice of throwing sticks fruit,
&c, at people and have betaken themselves to better
manners Well behaved as they were however. could
not resist the temptation Of shooting in which bad
example I was followed by Mr.. Dennard To this the
ladies objected as wantOn cruelty, but the
were Dleased and declared that monkeys are excel
len, eating, better than squirrels. We took their
word for it and did not partshe Of the delicacy
This part of the African coast rises gradually from
the sea without bills or stones. Yet the ascent IS so
rapid that TIE tide does not ascend the Ogun onetenth
of the distance that il does the Gambia. To-day no.
tced in bluff of the river small deposit OF drift
similar to that in the Atlantic States but the stones
were not so large nor so much water-won have
seen ths drift higher up the river and several days
journey from the the plains OF farrlba, but al
ways in small quantities
On the Eight of the 18th We pitched our tent on
beautiful ssndbank between the impenetrable forest
and the water. | found that party consisted OF
about 20 canoes, and more than 40 natives, only
10 of whom were heathens The rest were members
of the mission churches at Abbeokuta Before return
ing 10 rest they asked NE 10 pray with m which
did in the Ysrriba language
Next morning the 18th, arose about oclock,
and prepared for an early departure but before we
were quite ready start and after had taken down
our tent there came peltng shower OF rain which de-
tanned US wrapped up in the canoes till daylight. In
the afternoon we frequently farms on the banks
Of the river and passed several villages belonging TO
the Eebas, or people OF AbbeoAuta There were
good many grassy islands in the stream aud us banks
were sometimes Oyerhung by tGick shady trees the
branches of which disposed az 70 form roman
tic recerses and bowers. Ten twelve miles below
Abbeokuta there are masses of hard gness in the river
which would obetruct the passage OF steamers though
not Of barges Toward sunset we were amazed by