During the dry season it had been
remarkably good, but now it began to change for the worse; and soon it
will become impassable for three or four days at a time. My surf-boat,
when coming across it, shipped three seas. On my return down the river
(April 15) the whole sand-bank to the west of the mouth had been washed
away, forming dangerous shoals; the sea was furiously breaking and
'burning,' as the old Dutch say, and the waves which entered the river
were so high that canoes were broken and boats were seriously damaged.
I stored my goods in the surf-boat, and set out in our big canoe early
next morning. A string of dug-outs was next passed, loaded with
palm-kernels, maize, and bananas; it appeared as if they were all bound
for the market at Axim. I took specimens of swish and stone from 'Ross's
Hill.' The top soil showed good signs of gold, and the grains were
tolerably coarse. Here a floating power-engine would soon bare the reefs
and warp up the swamp. Messieurs Allan and Plisson, who were floating down
in a surf-boat, gave me the news that the steam-launch _Effuenta_ had at
last succumbed in the struggle for life.
I landed at Akromasi, a village where the true bamboo-cane grows, and
found the soil to be a grey sandy clay; there were many 'women's washings'
near the settlement.
Pages:
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283