birds, for soon the ship was crowded from stem to stern with natives from the shore jabbering away in such a manner very alarming to a new-comer. I am not ashamed to confess that I was anything but sorry when the ship was cleared and we were off once more; this was soon done as we had only to take on board our Kroo men, or boys, as they are always called, although some of them are as finely built as ever a man could wish to be. We took about twenty of these boys, who engage for the voyage and become, like ourselves, part of the ship's crew. After each one had received one month's pay from our captain, and duly handed it over to their friends, and said their good-byes, general good-wishes were given, and we again up anchor, and set sail for the well-known port of Half Jack, which ought to be called the Bristol port of Half Jack, for here we met some half-dozen Bristol ships, who gave our captain a regular good old Bristol welcome.
A few words about this important port may be of interest, although I am sorry to say we have managed to let it, valuable as it is, get into the hands of the French, like many more in that part. Half Jack is a very low-lying country with a large lagoon, as it is called running, between it and the mainland. Along the sides of this lagoon the country villages are situated, which produce that great product palm oil; this is sold to the Half Jack men, who in turn sell to our Bristol men and they ship it to all parts of Europe. We now leave Half Jack to its traders and natives, and after our captain has paid his complimentary visits, we set sail for the Gold Coast town of Accra; but before reaching that, we have to pass many fine ports and splendid headlands. Axim, in particular, I must mention, as it has recently come very much to the fore, owing to the great quantity of
