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Abbeokuta , Or, Sunrise Within the Tropics
Abbeokuta Or Sunrise Within the Tropics Author:Sarah Tucker Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. " Who maketh thee to differ; aud what hast thou. that thou didst not receive ?"—1 Cor. iv. 7. There was mercy in s... more »tore for Yoruba, though she knew it not; and while she appeared to be sinking lower and lower in darkness and in misery, the God of all grace was, by his Providence, preparing the way by which the day-spring from on high should visit her, and guide the feet of many of her children into the paths of peace. But it will make the succeeding history more intelligible, if we devote a few pages to a description of the land, and of its people. For many miles from the coast, the country, though fertile, is low and swampy ; but as you journey on towards the interior, it becomes diversified with hill and plain; and, from the descriptions given of it by the Landers, as well as by 'our own missionaries, it must be very picturesque and beautiful. Deep and fertile valleys lie among the hills; granite rocks, some lofty, bold, and bare, others clothed with trees or verdure to their summits; andclear streams, tumbling over their rocky bed, add to the beauty of the scenery. The appearance of the towns, from a distance, is often imposing; the walls enclose a large extent of land, and fields and trees are interspersed among the thatched roofs of the lowly dwellings. It is strange, that in a tropical climate the natives should take such pains to exclude the air; but the African hut, like that of the Hindoo, is without windows or any opening but the low door, while the roof projects so far beyond the walls, that but little air can find its way even here. The houses of the better classes are built round a quadrangle, into which the separate dwellings open, and a rude piazza runs along the whole interior. The head of the family occupies the la...« less