however, that his Fernandian vocabulary was scarcely more copious than a sensible parrot might acquire in a month:  his knowledge of the English, at all events, was so exceedingly defective, as to make another interpreter necessary, to explain what he meant to express, in our language.  This man was left to pass the night at the royal residence, in order that he might avail himself of opportunities to inspire his Majesty with confidence, and be ready to accompany him on his visit in the morning.

Wednesday, Oct. 31.—­The steam-vessel (African) arrived to-day, and brought in two vessels under Brazilian colours, which Lieutenant Badgeley had boarded and detained, under strong suspicion of their being engaged in the slave-trade.

At nine o’clock, the King of Baracouta, accompanied by his brother and five or six other chiefs, came on board according to promise, and without betraying any symptoms of timidity.  The party were immediately conducted to the captain’s cabin, and entertained with wine and biscuit, which they appeared to partake of with considerable relish.  His Majesty, however, had not come unprovided, his canoe having been stored with some calabashes of palm-wine, which he sent for and distributed freely.  We partook of this wholesome beverage, but some of the natives mixed it with Madeira.  I must not omit to mention that, whether as a point of etiquette, or intended as an expression of gratitude for the attentions they were receiving, the King, and his Chiefs, were particularly desirous of rubbing their long beards against those of our party who happened to be possessed of a similar ornament.  Amongst other circumstances which gave them satisfaction, they were highly gratified by sitting on our chairs; and we have since learned, that, in their own residences, they are in the habit of using logs of wood for this purpose, a custom differing from many of the African nations.

A description of their dress, which was in the most fanciful savage taste, cannot fail to be interesting.  In the first place, the body was completely smeared over with the kind of paint I have before described:  His Majesty’s colour, like that which distinguishes the imperial family of China, being yellow, while the livery of his attendants was dark red.  The hair of the head was dressed in long small curls hanging down behind, and which, instead of hair powder and pomatum, were well stiffened with ochre and oil:  in front, similar curls dividing from the forehead, hung down on each side below the ears, somewhat in the style of Vandyke’s female portraits of the age of Charles I. The forehead was generally round, sufficiently elevated to give phrenological indications of a fair portion of intellect, and, perhaps, unusually well displayed by a custom which prevails of having the hair shorn in front an inch beyond the line of its natural growth, so as, in conjunction with the peculiar disposition of curls before described, to