complexion, with long black hair.

[Footnote A: William Smith, page 145.]

Most parts of the Slave Coasts are represented as equally fertile and
pleasant with the Gold Coast. The kingdom of Whidah has been
particularly noted by travellers.[A] William Smith and Bosman agree,
"That it is one of the most delightful countries in the world. The great
number and variety of tall, beautiful, and shady trees, which seem
planted in groves, the verdant fields every where cultivated, and no
otherwise divided than by those groves, and in some places a small
foot-path, together with a great number of villages, contribute to
afford the most delightful prospect; the whole country being a fine
easy, and almost imperceptible ascent, for the space of forty or fifty
miles from the sea. That the farther you go from the sea, the more
beautiful and populous the country appears. That the natives were kind
and obliging, and so industrious, that no place which was thought
fertile, could escape being planted, even within the hedges which
inclose their villages. And that the next day after they had reaped,
they sowed again."

[Footnote A: Smith, page 194. Bosman, page 319.]

Snelgrave also says, "The country appears full of towns and villages;
and being a rich soil, and well cultivated, looks like an entire
garden." In the Collection,[A] the husbandry of the Negroes is described
to be carried on with great regularity: "The rainy season approaching,
they go into the fields and woods, to fix on a proper place for sowing;
and as here is no property in ground, the King's licence being obtained,
the people go out in troops, and first clear the ground from bushes and