At almost every forty or fifty miles there is a distinct race, whose names and customs are different, and who can scarcely understand each other’s language. At Dixcove the natives regard alligators as fetish or sacred. At Cape Coast, a few miles from this, they destroy them. At Accra, I believe, the hyæna is fetish. On the western side of the town of Dixcove is a small river, and the mouth being choked up with sand, it had spread itself into a swamp, covering about half an acre of ground. In this are many crocodiles, frequently known to devour goats, fowls, etc., when near the banks. These reptiles, as well as snakes, are considered fetish, and are worshipped by the natives. Near the river lives an old fetish woman, who is held in awe and treated with great respect by the natives. She is supposed to have great power over crocodiles. I went with the Resident to see this extraordinary fact. On being applied to, the old hag issued from her hut. She was covered with a sort of white mud-wash, and wore about her person several absurd superstitious ornaments, such as a pair of goat’s horns, some tiger’s teeth, and several pieces of gold. Her body was uncovered down to the waist; her breasts hung down like the flaps of an old saddle. She was nearly blind from age, and supported herself by a long, mysterious-looking stick. The witch took her position under a tree, and to my astonishment I saw one of these horrid-looking crocodiles, after having been invoked and charmed for some minutes by her (she held a doomed chicken in her hand, and while going through many extraordinary gestures and motions, repeated some unintelligible jargon), gradually emerge from the rushes on the opposite side, where he had been entirely hid from view, swim across, and creep up the bank towards where we stood. My first impulse was to bolt, but on turning round I felt ashamed. A number of native women, with their children, stood by, apparently without the slightest fear, so much confidence had they in the power of the old woman over the reptile. I therefore stood my ground manfully, and allowed the crocodile to approach within a yard of me, and receive the chicken from the old hag at the end of a reed. I certainly felt a great relief when the brute crushed the unfortunate bird, feathers and all, which he seized in the most ungracious and savage manner, and turned again into the river. I had seen crocodiles before, both in the East and West Indies, but never heard of their facing a concourse of people. The people trade in palm-oil and gold-dust. Mr. Swansen, the Resident of Dixcove, is a young man of about two-and-twenty. He had very comfortable, roomy quarters in the fort, and was the only white man in the settlement. Nothing could surpass his kindness and attention. [Sidenote: Oct. 22.] Anchored off Elmina. Fort St. George, the chief settlement of the Dutch, is the largest and handsomest place on the coast.