CHAPTER VII.

Packing up.—­Letter from Mr. Stanley.—­Mr. Stanley.—­Celebes.—­Dress of the Alfoors.—­Curious Hospitality.—­Java.—­Whimsical Superstition.  —­Productions of Java.—­Sumatra.—­Water Spouts.—­Burman Despotism.  —­The White Elephant.—­Sir James Brooke.—­Borneo.—­Isle of Bourbon.—­Isle of France.—­Madagascar.—­The Four Spirits.—­The Missionaries.—­Horrible Custom.—­The Pirates’ Retreat.—­Malagassy Fable.—­Kerguelen’s Land.—­Isle of Desolation.—­Story of a Sailor.—­Morocco.—­A Moorish Beauty.—­Algiers.—­Egypt.—­Abyssinia.  —­Abyssinian Customs.—­Religion.—­African Coast.—­Seychelle Isles.—­Mozambique.—­Smoking the Hubble-Bubble.—­Caffraria.—­Story of the Little Caffre.—­Algoa Bay.—­Graham’s Town.—­Cape of Good Hope.—­Cape Town.—­Constantia.—­The Boschmen.—­A Transformation.  —­Dressing in Skins.—­The Slave Trade.—­Fish Bay.—­St. Helena.  —­Kabenda.—­Black Jews.—­Ferdinand Po.—­The Ape and the Oven.  —­The Slave-Coast.—­Dahomey.—­Ashantee.—­King Opocco.—­A Singular Belief.—­The Ashantee Wife.—­Liberia.—­A Bowchee Mother.—­Sierra Leone.—­The Lakes of Africa.—­Bornou.—­The Sultan of Bornou.—­African Wedding.—­The Deluge.—­The Telescope.—­The End

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,

It is not my purpose to detain you with a long preface, because I am aware that long prefaces are seldom read; but I wish to inform you that I have written this book, in the humble hope of being useful to those in whom I am so anxiously interested.  I am myself happy in acknowledging the endearing appellation of “Mother,” and I love all children, and regard them as priceless treasures, entrusted to the care and guidance of parents and teachers; with whom it rests in a great measure to render them blessings to their fellow-creatures, and happy themselves, or contrariwise.

Should the perusal of this little volume imbue you with a taste for the beautiful and ennobling science of Geography, my object will be gained; and that such may be the result of these humble endeavors is the sincere wish of

Your affectionate Friend,

Fanny Osborne.

London.

CHAPTER I.

  Oh ye seas and floods,
  Bless ye the Lord: 
  Praise him, and magnify him forever.

“Oh! what beautiful weather,” exclaimed George Wilton, as he drew his chair nearer the fire.  “This sort of evenings is so suitable for story-telling, that I regret more than ever the disagreeable necessity which has taken Mr. Stanley to foreign countries, and broken up our delightful parties.  But yet, there are enough of us remaining at home to form a society; we might manage without him.  Do not you remember, papa, you said, when Julia Manvers was with us last summer, we were to examine into the particulars respecting the seas and oceans of the world; and not