JOURNEY FROM BADAGRY TO KATUNGA. o hammocks which they supplied us with, I mounted my friend Ali’s small horse, without a saddle, and Houtson and I agreed to ride and tie, as my feet were cut and blistered with a pair of new boots I had mounted yesterday, and I could only wear a pair of slippers. We set off in this state, accompanied by the caboceer of Jannah’s messenger, named Acra, and Mr. Houtson’s boys. Puka, which we are leaving, has once been a large town, surrounded by a wall and deep ditch; the wall is now down, and all the houses of the town in ruins. After leaving this place it soon became dark, and we frequently lost our way. We could see, however, that the road in the open part of the country was through fine plantations of corn; the rest was through thick dark woods, where we could not see the heaven over our heads, the path winding in every direction. My slippers being down at the heels I soon lost them off my feet, which were miserably cut; but I became so galled by riding without a saddle, that I was compelled thus to walk barefooted, which was the worst of the two ; for whenever I crossed an ant path, which were frequent, my feet felt as if in the fire, these little animals drawing blood from them and from my ankles. We halted at a village called Isako, after passing several others on the road : here the people offered us a house for the night, but on their telling us that our people had gone on to a town a short distance off, we remained only a little w hile and set off again. They kindly gave us guides with lamps to show us the way. Our short rest and ride had had a bad effect on us, and the road only wanted thorns to make our misery complete. However, after struggling on till midnight, we arrived at a town called Dagmoo, where we found our servants with the heavy baggage and the canteen, but our beds had gone further on, so that we were obliged to sleep in the marketplace, in the open air: even this, with a little cold meat, was better than travelling.

Saturday, 10th.—The morning raw, cold, and hazy, and we had