a league out to sea, and there juts out from the river a point of land on which grow five trees which may be discerned two or three leagues off when coming from the westwards; but the river itself cannot be seen till close upon it, and then a small town may be seen on either side, each of which has a _diago_ or captain. The river is small, but the water is fresh and good[238]. Two miles beyond the river, where the other town lies, another point runs oat to sea, which is green like a meadow, having only six trees growing upon it, all distant from each other, which is a good mark to know it by, as I have not seen as much bare land on the whole coast[239]. In this place, and three or four leagues to the westwards, there grow many palm trees, from which the natives have their palm wine, all along shore. These trees are easily known almost two leagues off, as they are very straight, tall and white bodied, and thickest in the middle, having no limbs or boughs, but only a round bush of leaves at the top. In this top the natives bore a hole, to which they hang a bottle or empty gourd, and in this they receive the juice that runs from the tree, which is their wine. [Footnote 238: From the indicated distance eastwards from Cape Palmas, and the description in the text, the river and point in question seem those called Tabou, in long. 7° 10' W. from Greenwich.--E.] [Footnote 239: It is hardly necessary to observe that these are very bad land-marks, being subject to alteration from many causes; besides that this description is above 250 years old.--E.]