Gun, though blunderbuss or thunder would have been as appropriate a name; and without solicitation, he informed them, that though he was not a great man, yet he was a little military king; that his brother’s name was King Boy, and his father’s King Forday, who, with King Jacket, governed all the Brass country.  But what was infinitely more interesting to them, than this ridiculous list of kings, was the information he gave them, that besides a Spanish schooner, an English vessel, called the Thomas of Liverpool, was also lying in the first Brass river, which Mr. Gun said was frequented by Liverpool traders for palm oil.  Full of joy at this intelligence, they passed on to a little artificial creek, where they were desired to wait till the king’s pleasure respecting them should be known.  They were afterwards drawn in a canoe over ooze and mud to a house, where, if the countenance of their host had been at all in unison with the agreeableness of his dwelling, they imagined that they could live at ease in it, for a few days at least.  The harshness, however, of this man’s manners, corresponded with his sulky, ill-natured face, and deprived them of a good deal of pleasure, which they would have enjoyed, in reposing at full length on dry, soft mats, after having been cramped up for three days in a small canoe, with slaves and goats, and exposed to the dews by night and the sun by day.

An hour or two of rest invigorated and refreshed them extremely, and they then received a message from the king, that he was waiting to see and converse with them.  Having little to adjust in regard to their dress, they rose up, and followed the messenger.  Passing near the outskirts of the town, the messenger conducted them, by paths little frequented, to the outward yard of the palace, before the door of which was placed the statue of a woman in a sitting posture, and made of clay, of course, very rude and very ugly.  Having crossed the yard, in which they saw nothing remarkable, they entered by a wooden door into another, which was far superior.  From this enclosure they were led into a third, which, like the former, had its porticoes.  Opposite the entrance was a low clay platform, about three feet from the ground, which was overlaid with mats of various colours, a large piece of coarse red cloth covering the whole, and at each of its corners they observed a little squat figure, also of clay, but whether they were intended to be males or females, it was impossible to conjecture.  Here they were desired to place themselves among a crowd of half-dressed, armed men, who were huddled together on the left of the platform, some sitting, and others standing, and awaiting the coming of the prince.  Their friend, Gun, was with them, and he immediately claimed priority of acquaintance with them.  He chatted with amazing volubility, and in less than two minutes, he was on the most familiar footing, slapping them with no small force just above