Palm wine at the colony, as well as on the coast, is the common and favourite drink of the natives.  It is easily procured in any quantity, and is used in either an unfermented state, when just fresh from the tree, or after it has been kept some days.  It seems peculiarly intended by a bountiful providence for the untutored and destitute Indian, who is unable to supply himself with those beverages which are the result of art.  The palm tree affords him a pleasant drink, a valuable oil, a fruit from the nut, and besides food, it furnishes him with a material to construct his hut, and is always ready for any immediate purpose.  The juice, which is called “wine,” is obtained by making a hole in the trunk of the tree, and inserting a piece of the leaf into it, so as to form a spout; the liquid flows through this, and is received in a calabash placed beneath it, which probably holds two or three gallons, and will be thus filled in the course of a day.  It shortly assumes a milky appearance, and is either used in this state, or preserved till it acquires rather a bitter flavour.  The produce of the palm tree, fish, and yams, form the principal food of the natives; they devour monkeys when they can get them.

This method of obtaining the juice of the palm tree is exactly similar to that which is adopted by the Indians of North America, with respect to the maple tree.  A hole is made in the same manner in the trunk of the tree, and a piece of birch bark inserted into it as a spout, which, from its peculiar nature, answers the purpose remarkably well.  The juice of the maple instead of being preserved is converted into sugar by evaporation.  There are various sorts of timber at Fernando Po, amongst which the African oak is very plentiful, and particularly so in George’s Bay, where it grows close to the sea side; satin wood, ebony, lignum vitae, yellow cam wood, and several sorts of mahogany, besides other wood of a very hard nature, grow in profusion all over the island, and may probably hereafter become valuable.

The Landers had the good fortune to arrive at the island during the season of fine weather, but they had not enjoyed much of the sea breeze, which about noon, sometimes set in from the north west quarter, The harmattan is said to be experienced here, although it extends not to the other islands of the gulf.  This wind, which passes over the sands of Africa, would be almost insupportable, were it not for the sea breezes.  While the harmattan lasts, the dryness in the atmosphere produces an unpleasant feeling, although it is said not to be injurious to health.  The atmosphere is filled with a fine light sand, which prevents objects from being distinctly seen; the sun loses its brilliancy, and everything appears parched and suffering from a want of moisture.  The effect of the harmattan after the rainy season is said to be most beneficial in drying up the vapours with which the atmosphere is loaded, and it has been observed, that on the return of this wind at the end of the rainy season, the recovery of invalids commences.  The harmattan has also the effect of drying up the skin of the natives in a very extraordinary manner.  After an exposure to it, the skin peals off in white scales from their whole body, which assumes an appearance as if it were covered over with white dust.