According to treaty he had been given by the King of
Ashanti to the Hollanders, and he had served them so long that he spoke
only Low German and Malay. He will be compelled to end his career
somewhere within the range of our fort-guns, or his owner's family will
claim and carry off their property.
At 8 A.M. we steamed against a fine fresh wind past mount Mesurado _en
route_ for Grand Bassa (Bassaw), distant fifty-five miles. To port lies
Montserrado County, where the shore-strip looks comparatively high and
healthy. The Bassas begin some thirty miles below the Jong River, and now
we enter the regions of Grand, Middle, and Little Piccaninny
(_pequenino_), Whole and Half, _i.e._ half-way. Thus we pass, going
south-wards, Bassa, Middle Bassa, Grand Bassa, and Bassa Cove, followed by
Cestos and Cess, Settra and Sesters, Whole and Half. The coast is well
known, while the interior is almost unexplored. Probably there is no
inducement to attract strangers.
We are grateful for small mercies, and note a picturesque view from the
open roadstead of Grand Bassa. The flats are knobbed with lumpy mounds;
North Saddle Hill, with its central seat; Tall Hill; the blue ridges of
the Bassa Hills, and St.
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